FUMA football

Russell played in his first FUMA football game yesterday. We all drove down to watch, and it was worth the time in the car both to see him and watch the game. They won 28-0 and Russell started as Guard on Offense and End on Defense. He played a good game and got one sack. It was so cool to watch him play on a team that really plays good football. He has never been on a winning team in 8 years of playing football, and the past 3 years he has been one of 5 kids on the team who actually knows how to play. It is the first time in 3 years that Russell has not been on the field for every second of the game. They actually have good players at all the positions and are two deep in a few places. Russell didn't have to be on the special teams which was great because it gave him a break. At the end of last season he was the quarter back, kicker, punt receiver, and middle linebacker for the last 2 games and was thouroughly exhausted after every scathing defeat. It was nice to get to see him play ball and enjoy the celebration after. He didn't even look tired. LOL. He said hi, and we talked a few minutes. He gave Caden and Olivia hugs ( not mom of course -- are you kidding the guys were there ). Then he asked me for money -- with his hand out. We wanted to go to dinner with them, which the parents are welcome to do, but they were driving 45 minutes towards school first and away from our house which was already 3 hours away. So, we said goodbye and went home. The kids road great both on the way down and back. I bought a new CD of old childrens classics like Old MacDonalds Farm and I've Been Working on the Railroad. We had fun singing them and it entertained the kids the whole way down. Mommy could have turned it off after an hour, but childrens tunes were preferrable to screaming babies. On the way back, we at dinner and the two youngest passed out and slept all the way (they even moved right into their beds with no problem when we got home). Zeke and I talked about a lot of stuff -- He likes to talk almost as much as me. Unfortunately he talked me right through my exit at one point and added 15 min to our drive -- Oh well. The biggest hitch in the day was POLLY. She messed not once, but twice and stepped all in it etc. . . . So house stank and had lots of cleaning up to do when we got home. She was not happy when I made her stinkiness sleep in her kennel all night instead of in her bed in my room -- no time to bathe a dog at 11pm. Can't wait till next weeks game. They are playing Liberty Christian in Lynchburg on Thursday night. Kritsy might bring a couple of her boys down to watch and then the next day we will all drive to grandma's house for the weekend. (Oh yeah : He is number 52)

A Couple Recent Pictures

Home Life without Russell

Well, I would have to say there are three major changes in the house since Russell went to school. Less mess, Less food consumption, and Less CONVENIENT. The most noticeable of all of these things is the convenience factor. I can no longer make a quick trip to the store and leave Russell with the little ones. I can't just swing by Walmart while I am out and run in while Russell watches everyone else in the car. However, for the most part everyone has adapted pretty quickly.

I must say that I really miss our talks. He is really getting to that age where having one on one conversations is really interesting. I miss teaching him, and in general I just miss having him around -- especially when Chris is deployed. I really miss watching his football practices. Even though the little ones could be a handful and occasionally practices were just down right inconvenient as far as getting things done in the evening. I love to watch him play football. He is really good at it. I love to watch him play football as much as I love to watch Zeke at Tae Kwon Do. It is so much fun to watch your children do something well. Even more so if they love doing it.

Olivia still occasionally calls for Russell or Daddy when she gets mad at me it is kinda funny. Although I have noticed more and more lately she has even added in a little YEEKE (Zeke). She really loves playing with Zeke and Caden and running around the yard carrying her little gun. Yes, she is still very girly but she can hang with the boys too. Her gun is always a machine gun -- she has perfected the sound. She is repeating more and more things lately. I am so excited about her starting to talk more. It will be so awesome to get out of the grunting stage. She has nearly all her teeth, and her hair is getting really long. She is 17 months old and still wearing 12 month clothes (they are not even close to outgrown), and she has not made 20 pounds yet (yes I know she is supposed to be rear facing in her car seat). She loves chocolate and ice cream and got her stubbornness, strong will, and temper from me. We are working on the temper but sometimes it is so darn funny I have to leave the room to laugh.

Caden is AMAZING. I am shocked at how rapidly his school skills have grown. He is cutting shapes out of paper better than Zeke did in K5. He counts to 30 with very little help. Knows all his days of the weeks, shapes, and colors. He recites his alphabet, recognized about half the letters, and can copy almost all the letters by hand -- He is even writing his own name and can spell it for you. Just watching his coloring skills is amazing. The improvement in his hand coordination alone in the last month his been incredible. I am anxious to see what he can accomplish by the holidays.

Zeke is still doing well in the fourth grade. He actually seems to be genuinely enjoying learning this year. He is loving Tae Kwon Do, and drums and is looking forward to Swim Lessons starting in October. Now that he is a Green Belt in Tae Kwon Do, we will have another class each week, as he starts Sparring. This is what he has been looking forward to since he started. His drumming is actually starting to really sound cool, and I am actively seeking to find him a private swim instructor. He has also been running 5-6 days a week with me. I have been pushing the double jog stroller (about 65pounds with both kids in it), and we have been in a regular routine. As a matter of fact we have actually been walking in the park once and day and running in addition. We are both comfortably running 3 miles each run in around a 9 minute pace. This week we are increasing our run to 4 miles. Ultimately we would like our long days to be 6 miles. He really wants to start road racing with me. We are going to try to do a 3 mile race together before the end of the year. Maybe next year we will do the 4 mile race that Fork Union Puts on each fall.

Well, as far as the pets go: the new puppy seems to be starting to settle in and Balou is getting over whatever his allergic reaction was.

September 11, 2001

Today I felt compelled to say a little something about that day. I think perhaps the day still stands in my mind as unbelievable as the first pictures of Pearl Harbor to our grandparents. I remember watching the towers fall and everyone saying-- there's no way that tower just fell. Surely it is just hidden behind the smoke. We kept watching and watching. Even as phones rang and crews were put on alert we watched. Hoping and praying that it wasn't true and that the smoke would clear and it wouldn't be as bad as it looked. But as the smoke cleared and the images were replayed we realized it was as bad as it looked. Then we began to ask -- how? Not why but how. We couldn't grasp the magnitude of the event. We walked around in shock days, even as bags were packed and loved ones kissed goodbye and planes took off. Then, we were angry. How dare they. We were so angry people fought to be on the last crew leaving, and begged to go as staff, support, etc. . . Everyone wanted a piece of the fight. Everyone wanted to pay "them" back three fold what had been done to all those people at the Towers. Today, I still cry when I watch the footage or take the time to stop and think about what happened. Today, I am still angry, but it is not only at those who perpetrated this awful act against so many. Today, I am angry at all the godless people who have led our children to believe there is no God and therefore nothing to believe in except oneself. What an awful lonely world with only oneself. Therefore if there is nothing to believe in there is also nothing worth fighting for and consequently nothing worth dying for. How sad. Those people who died deserve more from us as a nation than remembrance.

Spike -- the baby bird

Today on the way into our subdivision I spotted a small object in the middle of the road. I'm not quite sure how I spotted it as small as it was, but I did. Then I had a dilemma. It was a baby bird about the size of a golf ball. I searched everywhere around where I found him and couldn't find a nest. It appeared as if he was pretty close to flying on his own but just not quite ready yet. Perhaps he fell out of his nest and hopped this far? I couldn't leave him there to die so I brought him home to see what I should do about it. I finally got in touch with my friend, Heidi, who knows a bit about birds, and she gave me some advice. Then I checked the internet, and my father FINALLY returned my call (the preacher must of been long winded at his church today LOL). After looking into everything we decided that the best thing for SPIKE was to take him back to where we found him. First, You have to feed baby birds like every 20 minutes which is not something I am prepared to do. Second, if the parents are still alive they will care for him if they find him on the ground in a make shift nest. Third, even if we were able to get him to eat and able to feed him that frequently he could still die, and then you have to deal with the kids KNOWING hi died right there in your hands. Nope, time to let nature take care of it's own. So, nest you say? Well we just happen to have an abandoned nest. A bird made a nest in one of the motorcycle helmets in our garage while we were gone this summer (and laid an egg). We had not cleaned it out yet. So, we took the abandoned nest put the abandoned baby bird in it and took it and placed in the area where we found him. We hope that Spikes parents are, in fact, near by to help him. Caden named him spike because he had some spikey tuft of baby down sticky up through the feathers on his head

FUMA

Well, I guess it is about time I got around to writing about our trip to drop Russell off at school. We got up at 4am on Monday to drive the 3 hours down to Fork Union Military Academy. Our day at the school started at 0800 end Ezekiel and I left the campus at 1600 (4pm). There was lots of checking in to do. First we had to check in with admission to make sure we were actually admitted. How funny is that. Would someone actually show up without being admitted? Then we had to check in with the registrar to formally register for the school. This meant giving them our official correspondence address and email address AGAIN (about time number 100 and not the last time that day either - LOL). After the registrar we had to go to financial aid and business administrators to make sure his tuition was paid in full (except for uniforms which will be billed separately). Following the business end of everything we had to go to the infirmary (school nurse) to check in with his physical, insurance card, and shot records. This was a quick stop and then it was off to the next place. We left to go to the quartermaster (uniform issue and supply). Here he got the bulk of his supply issue -- pretty much everything but his shoes, dress pants and foot locker. After we left the quartermaster we had to walk back across campus to the dorms for academic schedule and room assignment. No, we didn't actually get his academic schedule at this point but I did get to sign a paper stating his and my preferences on the matter. He had the following choices: (1) for his elective he could either take a class which included drama and art or he could take Spanish I. There was no way he was taking Drama and Art. He has been taking various Spanish courses for 5 years now. Nothing as intense as an actual high school course, but enough to give him a leg up -- at least at the beginning (plus he already knows a lot of vocabulary). So, he wanted to take Spanish I (which by the way gives him one credit towards high school graduation already). I warned him that it would be more academics than others were taking and that it was a high school course -- blah blah blah -- it did not change his mind. So, I check Spanish I. (2) for Math he could either take Basic 8th grade math, Pre-Algebra, or Algebra I. Well, this was a nobrainer. Last year he took Pre-Algebra and had NO problems. He took the Algebra aptitude test (prior to finishing Pre-Algebra), and scored a 64 on it (you need a 49 to be considered ready to take Algebra I). In addition to all this, he has already been homeschooling in Algebra I for a month and has completed the first 3 chapters with NO problems. So I checked off Algebra I (another class that gets him a high school credit) and signed the form. Of course this does not guarantee he will get those classes. They had to take an aptitude test on Tuesday. Then, they add what the parent said to the aptitude test and his grades from last school year and then they place him. I got a call Tuesday morning because they needed me to contact his last school for his final transcript since they didn't seem to have on on file. Ok -- THIS IS THE 5th TIME something has come up and I have had to remind them HE IS HOMESCHOOLED. LOL. -- After filling out all that information we left to check into his room.

The rooms are small and old. Russell was the first to check into his room so had his choice of upper bunk or lower bunk. Of course I was quick to tell him LOWER - it's easier to make the bed. I also found out that many other students don't have as efficient (anal) moms as Russell. We had already washed, marked, and folded all of his clothes. All he had to do is take the neat stacks out of the bag and place them in the proper place in the drawers. His roommate was not so lucky. Not only had his stuff not been washed, but it had not been marked. As a matter or fact it had not even been taken out of the wrapping it was purchased in. Poor kid. His parents were very insistent that he needed to move faster and do more and get his act together. I was thinking what a disservice they had been to him in the whole process. They seemed like nice people I just don't think they had a clue. They were British although he was Jamaican born, and they had lived in the States for the past 12 years for his work. He does some kind of Technical stuff in Herndon VA and lives in Tyson Corner. I had a hard time not smiling a lot at first, because I have always found it amusing to hear a British accent come out of a Black person. I don't know why I just do. Anyway, I was grateful that Russell didn't have to be stressed out by the extra work involved with all that. I hope it gave him an opportunity to help his roommate out. It was while we were unpacking that we discovered that he had no pants (except athletic shorts), and found out he would get those on Wednesday. Then we had to go find out where the footlockers were (all the way back across campus). Once we returned with his footlocker he was able to quickly get his room in order. He was even able (with the help of a returning officer cadet) to begin putting a few uniform items together. Then it was time for lunch.

The dinning facilities are awesome. They always have a sandwich and salad bar. They always have a selection of desserts. They only have decaffeinated beverages. In addition to all this they offer a choice of two hot entres and 2 different vegetables at each meal. It was at lunch were we met some others and Russell hit it off instantly with another kid who is all about football. The boys had salads, and meatball subs and then we had to go to the four hour orientation meeting in the chapel.

If you are already thinking -- what a long day -- you are right and boy was I feeling it. Zeke fell asleep and slept leaning up against me for the first 2 hours of the meeting. Although I was very tired, the meeting was full of a lot of good information both for the parents and the boys. We were introduced to all of the Middle School staff and then heard from the President, the Headmaster (in charge of academics), and the Commandant (in charge of discipline). We went over Leave policy and typical schedule. Talked about athletics offered (intramurals required if not playing on a school team), and other activities offered. We also went over the actions which warrant demerits or dismissal and discussed the various conduct and academic awards. Whew. Then we were given 30 minutes to say goodbye. Yeah, It took Russell 30 seconds to say goodbye, and Zeke and I were on our way home.

They get phone/Internet privileges on 11 September. After that they are required to call or write home at least One time a week. They always have phone and email privileges on the weekends, and if they have good academic scores and behavior they can use it every day. The campus is closed until 18 Sep. This means no one can visit and no cadet can leave until then. That is the first leave weekend. This first week they have been learning how to drill, memorizing the cadet handbook (they actually have a test over it on Saturday), doing teamwork games, taking aptitude tests, getting their schedule (first day of class is today), signing up and starting their athletic schedule (first day of football practice was yesterday), etc. . . .Busy week starting as 0600 and ending at 2130 (930pm) each day. The school posts pictures of all the major events on line and so I have pictures. He seems to be having a pretty good time. I'm sure we will hear all about it on the 18th if not sooner.