Ten on Ten:: August



Ten pictures in ten hours on the tenth of the month...trying to capture the

beauty in our ordinary moments of the day.

Our van was in the garage today getting work done, so Brady and I were stuck at home.

Nothing too exciting going on around here as far as pictures go...but we had a good day nonetheless.   I hope you did too!

To check out all the other ten on tens head over to Rebecca's blog!

Can you believe it's the 10th of August already?!

Summer just went too fast!



The Lazy Days Of Summer...

....has not applied to us this season.
Sometimes things just aren't the way you'd like them to be.
I miss our summers of going to the pool, laying under a tree and reading together,
playing in the sprinkler, having cookouts and just taking it easy.
I feel like I work hard to bring other things to Brady's life besides tennis.
Brady had a friend over for a couple of hours to play, we had a campfire,
 Eric and Brady went fishing one evening, Brady and I went to the pool one day.
But it's tiring when tennis seems to always win out over the other fun things.
Brady does not often ask to do other things besides tennis.
We are often traveling to and from tournaments on the weekends.
I think family and friends are often frustrated with us that we are not around much.
Brady goes to camps, and clinics, and match nights.
He gets invited to other school's tennis programs.
He hits for hours by himself with a ball machine.
He gets lessons from his dad.
Last week he was at tennis camp 7hrs. each day.
It wasn't enough for him.  He wishes he could do that everyday.
The new USTA rankings came out the other day.
Our division consists of Pennsylvania and four other states.
Brady is the top ranked 9 year old in our division.
I know to be good at something you have to put time into it....I just never
expected it to be this much time.
Brady was in his last tournament of the month yesterday.
:)
No more tournaments until September....I put my foot down.
Brady will still play tennis in the evenings...but during the day, he is mine.
I will NOT be taking him to the tennis courts.
We've been watching the olympics every evening.
Gymnastics, swimming, diving and beach volleyball are my favorites.
I think the stories behind many of the olympians are what make it even more special.
I recently watched a special on moms of olympians and I cried through it all.
It made me sad.  One of the gymnast moved 3,000 miles away from
her family at the age of 14 to get better trainning. 
It was her dream...and her family supported her.
Well, not this mom! 
I would have to sleep in a tent next to the training center...that would be the only way!
Anyway, many of the stories made me sad. 
And, I'm not saying I think my son will be an olympic tennis player...just that when those
moms were describing their kids at a young age they used words like unbelievable drive, determination and desire.  Those parents weren't the ones forcing their children to play sports. 
Howerver, without their parent's support...it wouldn't have been possible for them.
Okay...moving on!

Today is one of our first days this summer we are home without any plans.
Eric came home for lunch and I suprised him by making fajitas.
It's the only meal I have cooked in almost 2 weeks.
They were good.  I love eating out...but even I have had enough lately!

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In other news, I interviewed a few weeks ago for a teaching position at Brady's school and...
I got the job!
I'm so excited!
I have been waiting for this position to come open.
I will be teaching reading and math to kids who need extra support.
My first full time job in almost 10 years!
It's going to be a big change....but I am ready.
I am thrilled to get to be at Brady's school with him for two years before he heads
to middle school.  Brady is excited for me to be there too.
Brady says he would like to ride to and from school with me instead of going on the bus.
He has always loved the bus...so I will have to see it to believe it!
I start on Aug. 27th.

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Brady has been bugging asking me if he could start a tennis blog to record his memories.  I have to admit I wasn't very excited about this.  I knew he would need lots of help...and frankly I don't even have the time or energy to keep up with my own blog.  He was relentless and I gave in.   The other day I showed him how to make a header.  He picked out pictures and wanted it to look just like mine.  I have a feeling it won't take him long to get through the steps and before long he will be posting all on his own.  Which scares me ALOT!  I tried to influence his first post...but he knew what he wanted to say and didn't want my suggestions.  I wanted his blog to be private....and then he starts talking about how he can't wait until he gets some "fans".  Oh brother.  I told him that I will wait to share his blog with my friends once I know he is going to do a good job with it.  He wasn't too happy about that and said he wanted to go "public" right away!  Since I'm the mom, and I'm in charge around here....we're going to wait.  It should be interesting to see what he writes about.  Remember, he is 9....it's going to be hard for my type A personality to not want to correct everything.  I guess we'll see how it goes.  I'm sure once school starts he'll forget all about his blog!

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We're meeting these guys at the swimming pool tomorrow and then the boys are coming back
to our house for a sleepover.  Brady is really excited!
It's the first time he's ever had a friend sleepover at our house.
I have tears in my eyes I'm so excited for him.
To me, this is what summer is all about.

Tennis News

Brady won the Franklin & Marshall Tournament this weekend!  Boy was he excited!  There were 6 boys in the tournament...Brady being the youngest.  Brady skated through his first two matches  easily to get into the final.  He won the final 6-2, 6-2. 

What a week it has been!  Last Monday Brady played in his first ever doubles tourament with his tennis friend Jonah.  Eric and I keep talking about it because it was the cutest thing ever!  The boys were excited and worked as a team and were 'high fiving' like crazy.  Their energy was awesome and people watching the match couldn't help but cheer them on.  Brady and his partner won.  So fun to watch.  Normally Brady is very serious on the tennis court, so it was really neat for us to see him laughing and having fun during the match.

 

Brady also played singles in the same tournament.   There were 8 boys in his age group (Brady the youngest of course, as always).  Brady had a tough first round.  He lost the first set and came back to win the next two sets.  In the second round, he won 6-0, 6-0.  On to the finals!  He played a boy that he's played a couple times before and never beaten.  This boy will soon be aging out of the 12 and under group.  Jacob is really good...Brady decided to just go out and give Jacob the best tennis match he could.  Brady lost 6-1, 6-0.  Brady played some of the best tennis he has ever played...and walked off the court as proud as can be.  Later Jacob's mom said that Brady gave Jacob one of his best matches all year.  I don't know if that's true...but it was nice of her to say that!  Sometimes our best moments aren't always the ones we win.  Later, Brady and Jonah went on to beat Jacob and his partner in the doubles final. :)

  Three trophies in one week...he is flying high!

A Video and a Question

Have you seen this video yet?  This little boy was on the Today show today...so cute!  Brady and I have watched it over and over.  I sent it to my husband at work...as his company makes equiptment for John Deere!





I cannot figure out how to get my instagram pictures to load on my blog.  I did it before...but haven't been able to do it lately.  I forward the pictures to my email address and then copy the properties...but it will not accept them.  Anyone know what I'm doing wrong or know of another way?  So frustrating since I've been taking lots of pictures with my phone and zero pictures with my regular camera!  Hows a girl to blog if she doesn't have any pictures?  Any help would be much appreciated!!  Thanks!



 

Little Lemon Cookies

 

1 box lemon cake

2 eggs

1/3 cup oil

Mix together to form dough.  Roll dough into balls and place on cookie sheet.  We flattened our balls slightly with the bottom of a cup.  Bake cookies at 375 degrees for 6-7 minutes.  Let cool.

Glaze

4 cups powdered sugar

3 TBS. vegetable oil

1/3 cup lemon juice

3 TBS. water

zested lemon

Mix until smooth and drizzle over cookies!

We made them into little bite size cookies.  Although they were soooo good...I will not be making these again for awhile.  For days,  I was popping these delicious cookies in my mouth everytime I walked into the kitchen.  Light, refreshing lemony goodness. 

Ocean City

 

We've been back from vacation two weeks today...and I'm just now posting my pictures.  Oh well, better late than never!  Summer is going by so quickly...and although I have really slacked in the blog department, I'm proud of myself for not being on the computer much at all this summer.  I will get back into the swing of things once summer is over....I promise! 



Vacation was wonderful.  You all know about my dream plans to live by the beach someday.  I talked my husband's ear off about it our entire a little on our trip!  It was just the 3 of us this year.  I imagine sometime in the next few years, Brady will want to bring a friend along.  He had Eric and I going non stop from the time he got up until we all went to bed.  We had such a good time...and even though we were exhausted after our week, I felt energized when we returned home.  Somehow vacations can just do that to you.

I didn't take quite as many pictures as I normally do.  I was too  busy boogie boarding (riding the waves), swimming and getting drenched at the waterpark!    I'm usually sitting on the sidelines watching and taking pictures...but not this time.  I'm so glad I particpated in all the fun!



Here are some of our pictures!





Our summer is already half way over. 

I'm looking forward to August because all of Brady's tennis camps will be over...and we can start our plain old normal ordinary summer....and we all know, those days are the best.

Guess Who We Met?!

  Here's a hint....recognize any of these guys?!

I knew you would!

By the way, Lily, Micah, Hyrum and Evie are even cuter in person!

Brady and I met up with Jenny and her four youngest while they were nearby visiting Hershey, PA.

Finally, after 2 1/2 years of blogging, I got to meet a real life blog friend! 

(Sorry about the bad pictures...I only took 2 and I had my camera on the wrong setting)

Thanks Jenny for meeting up with us!

I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your travels and have a safe trip back home!