Spring Break #1

Spring break, at least for our boys, has been this week. The girls' spring break will come the week before Easter. That will be spring break #2. 

The boys were troopers the past two days as we dug in to find the floor of their bedroom.  We sorted, donated and reorganized the chaos so at least we could walk on BOTH sides of the beds. I've been looking in their room for weeks, saying to myself that it really needs to be cleaned. After the thought crossed my mind, I'd remember something else more important and continue walking, leaving the room for another day. Not this week.  We conquered the beast and now it's done, restoring some much needed structure and order to our home. 

After finishing the room, I promised Colton a game of tennis. For months, Colton has been asking to play tennis. With his hectic soccer schedule on top of all our other schedules, we've not had time for tennis.  This week, with the room clean, dad at work, soccer over and the girls at school, it's a perfect week for some tennis. The boys and I gathered our rackets and balls, driving a short distance to the local high school.  There were quite a few people out hitting the ball around, but still plenty of room for us.  Colton wanted "his own side" so Buck and I played on the other.  I thought we would just hit the ball back and forth, but Colton informed us that we, "needed to play a match."  I'm not sure where he's learned about tennis, but as he served and kept score, he used (almost) all the correct tennis terms. "30 - love. Deuce. Advantage me. Deuce 2" and so on. He was very serious, so I tried not to giggle when he yelled, "Advantage me" and "deuce 2." It was funny.

I was really quite impressed with how much he knew.  Beyond that, I was impressed with how well he played. After a fun and competitive match, Colton ended up beating us 6 games to 1. I admit, I wasn't playing super hard and Buck had never played before, but we gave it a decent effort and Colton deserved the win. He was thrilled and I was happy to see him enjoy the game so much.  It's a perfect fit for him as he runs everywhere and is cat-like in his play.  He pulled off some great shots and was all smiles as we left.  He thanked me at least ten times and hugged me even more.

I love spring break and absolutely love spending time with the kids. I grumbled a little, at first, about having two separate break weeks, but this week I really enjoyed just having the boys, as it gave us the opportunity to do boy things.  Along with two trips to play tennis, Buck and I worked on his baseball everyday, we went to the movies, they played outside together constantly and got to spend the night at their Nana's house, too - just the two of them. They've both also been reading their books day and night, which always makes me smile. 

I'm grateful for all the special time we're spending together this week and for the absolutely gorgeous weather. Spring break #1 has been wonderful and now I get to look forward to spring break #2, coming soon...