Quizzing. . .

I haven't said too much about it on the blog but quizzing started up again about a month ago. This will be Zach's 7th and last year of quizzing. His first year, 2004, there were just three people on a middle school team: Zach, Zac Stallman and Ashlie Breshears. I wasn't involved at that time and I don't really remember too much about it. The second year he quizzed, we had two middle school teams- 4 boys and 4 girls. I love this picture: (back row l to r) Andrew, Jered, Zach, Zac, (front frow l to r) Alyssa, Steph, Corrie and Ashlie:


After that year, we dwindled down to just one team and it has continued that way over the last 4 seasons. This year, for the first time since 2005, we have 2 teams again!! Our middle school team is Gloria, Megan, Corri and Cade . . .


. . . and our high school team is Zach, Steph, Andrew and Alyssa!!

We have a quiz meet coming up this weekend in Newberg! We're studying the book of John. All of the quizzers are pretty visual learners so we've been trying to get the information stuck in our heads through several interesting means. These drawings are from our very first practice:

We leave Friday morning and come back on Sunday. We're riding over on a school bus. Yep, 8 hours on a school bus. That's the only part I'm not looking forward to. . .

The Cat's In The Cradle. . .

So Tracie informed me yesterday (via Facebook) that it has been 12 days, 3 hours and 4 minutes since I've posted to my blog. (Never mind the fact that her last post was on July 18th :) I thought it was sweet that I was missed and I determined that I would put something up today.

This summer has been seriously busy. Brutally busy. And I've come to realize that I'm not getting any younger. I'm reminded of that fact in many ways, one of which is watching my first born turn 18. Eighteen. I keep saying things like, "He's old enough to buy cigarettes. And vote. And get drafted. . . " He's an adult. It's weird.

Sometimes in all of the busy-ness, my kids take a back seat to the business. I try really hard not to let that happen and I think that for the most part they are assured of my love for them and the importance they hold in my heart but it's too easy to let things slip by with a flimsy promise of "we'll do (fill in the blank) when the season is over. . . " I've been humming the old song "Cat's in the Cradle" a lot lately. All that to say, I didn't want to let Zach's 18th birthday go by without a really memorable celebration. He wanted to spend it at the cabin with friends, his collection of Nerf guns, his new PS3 and an outdoor movie. I knew I just had to make it happen. It was a huge bonus that Rob and Grandpa put up a zipline just in time for the party!!!

I think we were able to check off all of the things on his list that he asked for. . .

Friends. . .

A "friendly" Nerf Gun battle. . .

PS3. . .

The cabin and all it's critters. . .

An outdoor movie on the big screen (just for the record, I don't recommend watching "I Am Legend" outside, in the woods, at night. . . )

No birthday party would be complete without cake . . .

And last, but not least, everyone had a turn on the new zipline. . .

It was a very brief respite from work but well worth it. It was a good thing we had a little bit of a chance to relax and celebrate because the week took off fast and furious starting on Sunday night with a big set up and didn't let up until the next Sunday night when we finished tearing everything down. . .

Just a few more weeks and . . . "we'll get together then, yeah. You know we'll have a good time then. . . "

Tracie's Reading Meme

I didn't know if I was to put this as a comment on your blog and put it on my blog. So I just e-mailed it to you :-)

Well I actually had 3 books to choose from. They were all stacked on top of each other. I had "His Excellency George Washington", "Lincoln and Booth Beyond the Conspiracy", and "The Civil War". Any idea what I have been obsessed about lately. :-)

This is from "The Civil War":

Coffee was the preferred drink of both armies. Union troops crushed the beans with their rifle butts, drank four pints of it and day, "strong enough to float an iron wedge," and when they could not build a fire were content to chew the grounds. Southerners often made do with substitutes brewed from peanuts, potatoes, chicory.

Love and miss you

Tracie