The 29th times 29

Coty and I are celebrating today...

the 29th anniversary of our first date! On September 29, 1977 , we baked bread together, went for a long walk in the pasture behind my house (and got lost) and came back and looked at slides from his year in Kenya. Bread, walking, and Africa - we've continued with all three to this day. I still love to bake and he loves to eat wonderful homemade breads. One of our favorite things to do is walk and hike together, and Africa - well, there was Kenya in the early 80's and early90's, Cameroon in 2001, and who knows where in 2011? Somewhere in Africa, I hope!

Goalie punt!

Joel is playing on both the middle school and the varsity soccer teams at Covenant. He gets LOTS of playing time in the MS games and only a little in the varsity games.

So far, the MS team has yet to win a game. Joel remains hopeful! He plays forward or goalie. He prefers forward and usually has two or three break away shots on goal each game. He's scored about 2/3 of his teams goals this season. When he goes in at forward he usually ramps up the pace of the game.

He is also an awesome goalie. Not much gets past him. He is a very fun player to watch and not afraid at all of forwards charging toward him or feet swinging around him as he scoops up a ball.

The varsity team has had a better season. They are 4-4-1. Joel gets to go in when they're way ahead or way behind and he is a favorite of the older guys. "Kick it to Joel, kick it to Joel." He's having a lot of fun.

My Greek Scholar and "delight directed" learning

On Wednesday Matthew told me something very interesting. He said that he tried to take notes on Sunday’s sermon in Greek. It took me a minute to realize what he meant. Then I asked to see the bulletin he used. He fetched it from his Bible, and there on the teaching notes page were Greek words interspersed with English. He actually did a Greek/English weave translating Greek words written in the Greek alphabet script when he heard them in the sermon. He even transliterated some of the English words into the Greek alphabet. I was amazed.

Some of you know that back in August, Matthew asked to start learning Greek again. Coty had shown him the New Testament Greek language program developed by Professor Hildebrand at Gordon College, under whose teaching Erin happily fulfilled her college language requirement. We had bought the teaching CD and book and that’s what Matthew chose to use. Now, this is truly “delight-directed” learning at it’s finest. How did it happen?

I had exposed Matthew to the Greek language three or four years ago. We were studying the Ancients and one of the things we learned about was the Greek alphabet. Matthew thought it was very cool, like a secret code, and asked to learn more. At that time, I purchased a program for him called, funny enough, “Hey Andrew, Teach Me Some Greek.” (Actually, our Andrew is the French scholar in the family, but that’s another story). Anyway, for a couple of years Matthew plugged away at this user friendly and decidedly child directed language program. He enjoyed it but after about Level 3, his enthusiasm flagged and I let him stop. I was planning to do French with the boys, anyway. So, I chalked the couple of years of late elementary, early junior high Greek learning up as a fun learning experience whose time had passed.

When Matthew brought up his desire to learn Greek again back in August, I was happy to oblige. I figured he could pursue it as much as he wanted, and we’d still do French together. If he stayed interested in the Greek, fine, if not, fine.

A month into his studies, he is happily listening each day to his CD lesson, reciting Scripture in Greek, and telling me about declensions. This kid loves Greek. That’s what I mean about “delight directed” learning. He is delighted with his studies. He is delighted at the sound and appearance of the language. He is delighted with the differences in Greek and English and the clarity of Greek. And this delight is what directs his learning. I don’t have anything to do with it, except marvel. He is completely self motivated. Not only is he learning, he is now actively applying what he is learning. Taking sermon notes in Greek is a case in point. I must say, I am thrilled. I hope that he has now reached a level from which he will not want to retreat.

I pray that as this homeschool year proceeds, more of our studies will be characterized by this kind of delight. Imagine learning to balance chemical equations with this attitude. Thankfully, we are beginning to experience some thrills in our study of chemistry - the elegance of the Period Table, the still-to-the-boys mysterious way that electron arrangement determines reactivity. I keep saying things like, "You'll really think it's cool when you understand it." I'm waiting on the edge of my chair for those "ah, hah!!!" moments. They're coming. I can feel it in the way they ask questions. They know they're about to figure out something really amazing. And I'm not going to tell them. I am, hopefully, going to guide them to the discovery and when they make it, it will be their own, not just a fact learned, but a mystery revealed.

When I think about learning this way, I am intensely grateful to "dear CM" as some of her devotees call her. Reading Charlotte Mason has helped me more than anything, to want my children's education to be filled with relationships to their learning; to learn about rhetoric or reagents, algebra or atoms, Greek or grammar, not because we have to, but because we are greatly enriched by new knowledge and delighted in it. And I want them to understand, as I am quite sure she understood, that our delight in learning should be not only in our subject matter, but first and most in the Lord, the creator and sustainer of life, who is the author of all true knowledge. To Him be the glory!

By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. Proverbs 24:3,4

Martha's Peach Cake

We had a bunch of people over for lunch on Sunday to spend time with Michelle. Martha brought a really yummy peach cake that won rave reviews from everyone who tasted it. Several of us asked for the recipe and she graciously consented to share it with us. It is her mom's recipe and a Staley family favorite! I think it will become a Pinckney family favorite, too.

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

2 scant tsp. baking soda

2 dashes salt

3 cups canned, sliced peaches, drained

4 tbsp. butter

brown sugar (3-4 tbsp.)

pecans (My mom always spread them out so there was one whole pecan per piece of cake.)

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

-Melt butter in a 9x13 pan.

-Mix flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. (I use a whisk to get them well mixed.)

-Add peaches to flour mixture and blend well.

-Pour batter into pan and sprinkle with brown sugar and pecans.

-Bake 30 minutes.

-Serve warm with cool whip.

You can halve the recipe to make a 9x9 pan for a smaller crowd.

My note: I think this warm cake would also be really good with vanilla ice cream. Ymmm! I also think this is a great recipe for unexpected guests since I always have the ingredients in my pantry. It doesn't use milk or eggs and canned peaches are the only thing I might not have, but from now on, they'll be on my staples list. I think you could substitute other types of fruit as well - apples, pineapple, even ripe mangoes!

Playing Grandma!

I had the great pleasure of playing Grandma this weekend to Vera Snead, while she and Michelle stayed with us. With Michelle's foot in a cast and her hands needed to manage the crutches, I had plenty of opportunities to hold, feed, change, and play with Vera. And what a sweet, fun little girl she is! She didn't seem to have any reluctance to go to any of us and just snuggled right in. She laughed and smiled, played and talked up a storm. Her favorite word "puppy" was heard lots as she watched the Balbuena's two Maltese "puppies" on the porch. She also liked watching Max, the parrot, and Madison, the cat, though I must say that Madison is not very fond of babies....too unpredictable for him! Coty, who loves babies, got in lots of Vera time, holding her whenever he had the chance. He's going to be a great grandpa! The boys, of course, loved Vera too, and were willing stand-in uncles for the weekend, eliciting plenty of smiles from Vera as they played peek-a-boo and "Where's Vera?"

Sunday night our living room floor was strewn with clothes, packaged food items, baby toys, contact solution, and other items that Michelle was packing for her return to East Asia. She managed to squeeze almost everything into the three pieces of luggage and at the airport, they only weighed in a pound or two heavy. Amazing!

Coty and I got gate passes to accompany Michelle through the airport and got to meet her younger brother, Stephen, whose layover on his way back to New Orleans, coordinated with Michelle's departure. Vera certainly has an adoring uncle.

The gate attendant allowed me to carry Vera onto the plane for Michelle - another sweet pleasure. When Coty and I left the gate, returned to the car and headed home, my eyes welled up with tears. I was missing them already! I was also feeling the weight of the privilege of knowing Matt, Michelle and Vera and having a small part in holding the ropes for them here at home. Having Michelle and Vera stay with us this weekend reminded me once again of the preciousness of our dear ones who have left home and family for the sake of the Name. Part of my heart goes with them to their faraway home.

I was also feeling for Vera's biological grandparents, three of whom I got to see this weekend. If I feel so emotional at Michelle and Vera's leaving, how much more must they feel. And then I thought about how I will feel someday, if the Lord wills and in His timing, when I perhaps, put one of my own grandchildren on a plane for a faraway place. Given our world traveling children already, I anticipate that happening someday. Oh Coty, you'll have to have a big box of tissues ready!

This month's homeschool hymn

In our AmblesideOnline curriculum we have a monthly hymn rotation. This month's selection is Marching to Zion. I must confess that I'd never really read the words of this hymn carefully. What precious words of joy and glory in the here and now as we march through Immanuel's ground to fairer worlds on high!

Marching To Zion

Come, we that love the Lord,
And let our joys be known;
Join in a song with sweet accord,
And thus surround the throne.

We're marching to Zion,
Beautiful, beautiful Zion;
We're marching upward to Zion,
The beautiful city of God.

The sorrows of the mind
Be banished from the place;
Religion was never designed,
To make our pleasures less.

Let those refuse to sing,
Who never knew our God;
But favorites of the heavenly King,
May speak their joys abroad.

The God that rules on high,
And thunders when He please,
Who rides upon the stormy sky,
And manages the seas.

This awful God is ours,
Our Father and our Love,
He will send down his heav'nly powers,
To carry us above.

There we shall see His face,
And never, never sin!
There, from the rivers of His grace,
Drink endless pleasures in.

Yea, and before we rise
To that immortal state,
The thoughts of such amazing bliss,
Should constant joys create.

The men of grace have found,
Glory begun below.
Celestial fruits on earthly ground
From faith and hope may grow.

The hill of Zion yields
A thousand sacred sweets
Before we reach the heav'nly fields,
Or walk the golden streets.

Then let our songs abound,
And every tear be dry;
We're marching through Immanuel's ground
To fairer worlds on high.

This Morning's Hymns

We sang three of my favorite hymns this morning:

All Creatures of Our God and King

All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam!

Oh praise Him! Oh praise Him! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou rushing wind that art so strong,
Ye clouds that sail in heaven along,
Oh praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou rising moon, in praise rejoice;
Ye lights of heaven, find a voice!

Oh praise Him! Oh praise Him! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou flowing water, pure and clear,
Make music for thy Lord to hear,
Oh praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou fire so masterful and bright,
That givest man both warmth and light.

Oh praise Him! Oh praise Him! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

And all ye men of tender heart,
Forgiving others, take your part,
Oh sing ye! Alleluia!
Ye who long pain and sorrow bear,
Praise God and on Him cast your care!

Oh praise Him! Oh praise Him! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Let all things their Creator bless,
And worship Him in humbleness,
Oh praise Him! Alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
And praise the Spirit, Three in One!

Oh praise Him! Oh praise Him! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

This hymn together with Let Everything that has Breath Praise the Lord and a responsive Call to Worship from Psalm 150 filled the first part of our service as we focused on our theme, The Universe Exists to Praise You, Lord God!

As we considered the exhortation, May We Spur Each Other on to Praise You More! we sang Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing. I treasure so many lines from this hymn:

Streams of mercy never ceasing call for songs of loudest praise….Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by thy help I’m come…O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be! Let thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to Thee…Prone to wander, Lord I feel it....Here's my heart, O take and seal it....

And the last verse which I don’t remember singing as a child but love now as I cling to the precious hope of my salvation:

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Cloth`ed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

As I sang our final hymn, May the Mind of Christ My Savior, I was reminded of how desperately I need to be transformed by the indwelling presence of Jesus:

May the mind of Christ my Savior, live in me from day to day,
By His love and power controlling all I do and say.

May the Word of God dwell richly in my heart from hour to hour,
So that all may see I triumph only through His power.

May the peace of God my Father rule my life in everything,
That I may be calm to comfort sick and sorrowing.

May the love of Jesus fill me as the waters fill the sea,
Him exalting, self abasing; this is victory.

May I run the race before me, strong and brave to face the foe,
Looking only unto Jesus as I onward go.

May His beauty rest upon me as I seek the lost to win,
And may they forget the channel, seeing only Him.

As I reflect on the morning, I am filled with gratitude for those at DGCC who week in and week out lead us with undistracting excellence, grace, creativity, energy and humility in God-centered, Christ-exalting, Joy-pursuing worship.

The recipes of the weekend

Jalapeno syrup and Cream Cheese Stuffed Peppers

This Jalapeno Syrup has become a favorite of our family and friends with whom we’ve shared it. I heard this treat described by Lynne Rosetto Kasper on The Splendid Table radio program. She didn’t give exact amounts so I’ve worked with the ingredients a bit and come up with a recipe we love.

15-20 jalapenos, sliced in half lengthwise and seeded, then chopped

3 cups brown sugar

¾ - 1 cup cider vinegar (I’ve also done it with Balsamic vinegar – we like it both ways)

Put all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer til thickened. Strain out jalapenos and voila! You have a delightfully spicy, sweet, tart syrup that livens up just about anything. We love it over rice and beans, curry, and cream cheese stuffed peppers. Our friend, Josiah, uses it on his school lunch sandwiches! And I’ve even tried it over vanilla ice cream. Different and interesting.

The other recipe of the weekend – Cream Cheese Stuffed Peppers – is one that I got from my sister, Anne. Her husband, Rusty, makes these and I adapted his recipe using the syrup above.

Slice lengthwise and remove seeds and membranes from jalapenos or any other spicy peppers. I usually do 20 or so at a time and I really like to use my Hungarian wax peppers. Spread cream cheese (we use fat free) in the sliced peppers. Place in baking dish and drizzle jalapeno syrup over the peppers. Bake at 400 for about 10 minutes. Mmmmmmm!

Another win!

The Stallions did it again, beating North Charlotte 56-20. Thomas had 13 carries for 120 yards and 6 of those carries were touchdown runs! It was a sweet win, to be sure. Several guys on this team have played together for three years. Two years ago, they had a winless season. Last season, they had two league wins. Finally, their hard work, perseverance, and maturity as a team have paid off in an incredible start to the season. They have trounced the leagues’ typically toughest teams. We are enjoying seeing our Thomas have a super senior football fall, so far!

Football!

It took two things to spark in me a love for the game. Number one was moving to an NFL city the year before the team made it to the Super Bowl. That would be Charlotte and the Carolina Panthers in 2003. I have enjoyed following the Panthers along with my guys. I’ve had my favorites – Ricky Proehl (now retired), Julius Peppers, John Kasay, Keary Colbert. The boys and I even had our picture on the front page of the Charlotte Observer sports page last year when we went to Wofford to the last day of training camp. Fun stuff.

The second thing that sealed my love for the game is having a son that plays. The football games I enjoy more than any other are Thomas’s PFL games. His team, the Cabarrus Stallions, has not had the best record in the three years he’s played. In fact, his first year, they lost all their games. Last year things started looking up with four wins and a trip to the NACA tournament in Dayton, Tennessee. This season has started off on a high point, with a win over the Asheville Saints, usually the strongest team in the league.

This year, it was all Stallions at Memorial Stadium in Asheville. The defense stopped Asheville time after time, and the offensive line opened up holes for the running backs. (As the mother of a running back, I am especially happy to see my son have some room to run and not get CREAMED every time he has the ball!). Our veteran quarterback was out with an ankle injury, but the JV QB overcame his early game jitters and completed 6 out of 8 passes. Preston McCutcheon caught two touchdown passes, one of them especially exciting as he escaped his coverage and leaped for the ball. It was mostly a running game though, with the rushing shared between Thomas and Ben Holmes, who’s returning after a season out with a torn ACL. Brookes Evington was also awesome on both offense and defense and had some beautiful long, high punts. It was definitely a team effort.

I love watching Thomas play because he plays so hard and never, never quits. In the fourth quarter, after a run, he got up and headed across the field. He fell to his knees and threw up and didn’t look like he was going to get up. When the ref told Thomas he'd have to call the paramedics, Thomas summoned his strength and headed up across the field. After sitting out a few plays, some water poured over him and Gatorade poured in him, he was back in. He scored the Stallions final touchdown, wobbled toward the sidelines and looked like he was about to pass out. When he reached the sideline, he sort of collapsed and rolled over on his back. It takes a whole lot of self control on the part of a mother to keep from running down to the field when your son looks like death warmed over. But when he raised his arms up in the air and started shouting, “WE WON!!!!” I knew he was OK, just in need of water, bananas, and rest!

It was a very exciting start to our PFL season. Next week will probably be the hardest game of the season when the Stallions play North Charlotte. They’re ready and it’s sure to be a hard fought game!

You can always pick out Thomas on the field. He's the one with one red sock and one black one!

One more birthday!

We finished off birthday week with one more party last Friday night (sorry, no pictures yet). We were able, with the help of our friend Carrie and her family, to pull off a surprise party for Andrew with some of his friends. Andrew was unsuspicious and went right along with our ruse to get him to the party. We had a good time playing "I've got a spoon", the leader game, and Taboo. He finished off the evening at home watching Phantom of the Opera with his brothers and the Balbuena guys.

His real birthday was Saturday. We spent most of the day in Asheville at Thomas's first football game, which his team won 47-18! But that's a story for another day.

I'm so thankful for our precious gift number 4, born at home in Massachusetts at 12:45 AM, just missing Erin's birthday by 45 minutes. In missing her birthday, Andrew ended up with the coolest birth date going. He was born on 9-9-90. The day after he was born, when we went to see our pediatrician for the post home birth baby check-up, our doctor pointed out that on 9-9-99, Andrew would be 9! Yep, he was!

This past year, Andrew has played the cello in the UNCC Youth Orchestra, backpacked in Pennsylvania, trekked in East Asia, learned lots of French, learned to drive, started playing soccer with Covenant, dogsat, babysat, washed and waxed cars, and grown about a foot! At least, that what it seems like sometimes.

Happy Birthday, Andrewska. You're a fine young man that makes your mother proud!

The Birthday girl

I'm looking forward to the next time we can be together to drink tea and knit, laugh and cook. It is a very special joy to have a grown daughter who is such an amazing young woman!

About this time 23 years ago...

I was sitting in the courtyard at Flora Hostel in Nairobi. I was having a lovely visit with Sister Agnes, a hard working and somewhat unconventional Catholic nun and nurse, with whom I had worked teaching village health care workers in rural Kenya. As we visited, I started having contractions. Sister Agnes asked me if I thought I was going to have the baby that day and I replied, “Oh no, the doctor said it would be at least another week.” How wrong the doctor and I were!

I drove Agnes to the grocery store for some provisions for her before she headed upcountry and then I went home. I still think it’s amazing that I was driving all around Nairobi that day. At lunch time, I’d taken a Davidson friend who was visiting, down to the bus station in a less than desirable part of town. I’d even been having contractions at that point, but they seemed so easy and far apart, and given what the doctor had said the day before, I thought nothing of them. Anyway, Coty and I were planning to go out to dinner that night at our favorite Indian restaurant with a professor friend who was visiting from Stanford and I sure didn’t want to miss a meal at The Minhar. Certainly no baby tonight.

By the time Coty got home from work, the contractions had become a little more serious. My back started to hurt and I started to wonder. I drank some lemonade and promptly threw up. At that point, I was beginning to doubt the doctor’s words, but still….tonight??! We decided that even though we didn’t think the baby’s arrival was imminent, I was becoming too uncomfortable to go out to dinner. Bummer! We called our friend and cancelled. Less than an hour later we were on our way to the hospital.

When we arrived at the hospital, the admitting nurse scolded us for waiting too long to come to the hospital. But they had told us to come when the contractions were 10 minutes apart. That’s what we had done! Labor progressed quickly and a few short hours later, Coty and I had received the first of the six most wonderful gifts of our life.

Erin Elizabeth Pinckney arrived at 9:30 PM, Kenya time, to our great delight and joy. She was a tiny babe - only 5 pounds, 6 ounces - a beautiful, perfect, little girl.

And now…she is a beautiful woman…inside and out. And I am the most fortunate of mothers to have a daughter who is...
a follower of the Lord Jesus, serious about her commitment to Christ,
happily married to a man she adores (and so do I!),
working hard at a job she loves in a gorgeous part of the country (too bad it's so far away),
looking forward to creating a home,
a horsewoman, a poet, a cook, a singer and
the most precious daughter imaginable!

Happy Birthday, Erin. I know I say this often but I mean it every time, and I'll always feel it...I wish I could be with you!

Hugs,
M

Music to my ears

This evening as we returned from the International student cookout, the boys in the back seat were discussing tomorrow morning. I heard the words, “Yeah! We’re doing school tomorrow.” I perked up. I turned around. I asked, “Who said that?” Andrew smiled, and I asked, “Did you mean that?” He said, “Yes!”

Need I say his words were music to this homeschooling mother’s ears? We started “back to school” last Wednesday, took Friday off for Matthew’s birthday, and today off for Labor Day. So we’ve only been at it for two days since our summer break ended. I hope that Andrew and the other boys will feel that same sense of anticipation throughout the year. I pray that they will be excited about and thankful for the privilege of learning together at home.

By God’s grace, I am more organized this year. I have devised new assignment spreadsheets and done a better job of scoping out our year. I am using more AmblesideOnline suggestions and trying a couple of new resources, i.e. Friendly Chemistry and The Easy French. Do you detect a theme here? Actually, I’m very impressed with both resources. Friendly Chemistry is just that, very user friendly, but also quite thorough as an introductory chemistry course. I’m using it with Joel and Matthew, 7^th and 9^th grades. The Easy French is new to me, too, but was recommended by Carla. After email correspondence with the creator, Marie Filion, I decided to take the plunge and order both Levels 1 and 2. Level 2 just came out in August. Actually, my French books haven’t even arrived yet so I am hoping they come sometime early this week. In the meantime, we’ll continue with the Rosetta Stone computer course.

I am also joining forces with Carla this year to do a small co-op. We were quite inspired by our friend Amber’s comments about her co-op last year and also by several speakers at the Charlotte Mason conference at Gardener Webb University back in June. Carla and I attended the conference together and came home so encouraged and energized. In our co-op we’ll be doing picture study - CM style starting with Winslow Homer; Shakespeare – Macbeth this fall; Nature Study –learning about squirrels by observing, drawing, and reading A Squirrel of One’s Own; and French – using some of our Easy French activities and hopefully learning a French folk song or two!

At home right now, we are all studying early American history. The older boys are reading Paul Johnson’s History of the American People as well as selections from Churchill’s History of the English Speaking People, Volume Three. Our breakfast read-aloud is Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography. The younger boys and I are reading H.E. Marshall’s This Country of Ours and Genevieve Foster’s George Washington’s World. We’ll continue adding to our family Book of the Centuries and read some historical fiction along the way. I love homeschool history lessons!

I haven’t mentioned Robinson Crusoe (our current “school" read-aloud), writing, vocabulary, science for the big guys, math, literature, hymn study, or composer study but if I’m going to be awake for all the reading aloud tomorrow, I’d better quit and get to bed.

Another summer favorite

Last night I made Gazpacho for dinner. I think my first recipe for this cold summer soup came from Moosewood but I just wing it these days. This is a recipe that is very adaptable to use whatever is fresh from the garden or farmer’s market. The one thing I really do prefer, however, is to start with tomato juice. It makes a smoother base than pureed tomatoes, which I sometimes use when I haven’t planned ahead and bought the juice. Anyway, here’s what went into the big white ceramic bowl last night to feed nine hungry guys (mine and the Balbuenas):

2 large cans tomato juice

8 Roma tomatoes, chopped

6 medium cucumbers, chopped

3 cloves garlic, pressed

1 large bell pepper, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

¼ cup lemon juice

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

This soup is so easy. You just dump all this stuff together and stick it in the fridge to chill for awhile. If you get a late start, like I did, ‘cause I took a Sunday afternoon nap while the guys played soccer, you can chunk a few ice cubes in to speed chill! We served it with jalapeno syrup and feta cheese for the guys to add to their soup as they liked, parmesan cornbread, and that chilled watermelon from the previous post...a perfect summer Sunday supper!

Brave disc golfers incognito and unaware of imminent danger...

I took these six brave guys to risk the perils of the Renaissance disc golf course yesterday. Our first experience there in June with lightening should have clued us in. But it was a gorgeous, almost fall like morning with not a cloud in the sky, so I thought we were in the clear.

Our first brush with hazard was fire ants on the second hole. While looking for his overthrown disc in the bushes, one of the brave men above was attacked by fire ants. When the others came to his rescue, they were attacked as well, and soon everyone was pulling off their shoes and swatting ants. A few minutes and a lot of ant bites later, they continued on.

Play through the woods was pretty good, but when we headed into the open holes of the back nine, I was worried. Those narrow fairways lined with brambles, blackberry bushes, and poison ivy are not pretty. I had walked the first nine, knitting. It's not that hard, really. You just have to have an easy project that you don't have to count too much on and a shoulder bag to keep your yarn in. You also have to look up in time to keep from tripping over the roots or sliding on the clay bank, but hey, I got several rows of a baby hat finished and I didn't even fall down once! Anyway, I knew when I saw the layout of the next nine that the knitting would go in the bag and I would become a spotter, walking ahead and watching to see where errant discs would land. Hopeful tee shots went awry, landing in no man's land, and we spent a fair amount of time searching for hidden discs. Fortunately, we only lost one. The last I saw of it, it was sailing beautifully over a tall cedar tree headed for a jungle of vines just beyond the swampy rough. One of the fearless golfers was determined to find it, but after 20 minutes of searching, I assured him it was not worth it. Besides, we'd found a better disc in the creek on an earlier hole....easy come, easy go!

It was hot and we didn't bring water, so my fearless golfers were beginning to tire by the 14th hole. We decided that we'd play until one of the two who were tied for the lead emerged victorious. It took two more holes and appropriately, Matthew, the birthday boy, at whose request we were playing this course, won out! We decided if we ever go back to Renny, we'll just play the front nine and leave the brambles and briars for other people's lost discs! It was fun, though.

The golfers were all refreshed by watermelon, salsa, apples, jam, and other samples at the Farmer's Market afterwards, and I came home with lovely tomatos, cucs, red potatos, and a watermelon that the seller assured me is sweet, ripe, and ready to eat this weekend. We'll have it when the guys get back from soccer this afternoon. As I write, it's cooling in the fridge.

Brave disc golfers revealed!

Matthew's Birthday

Yesterday was Matthew's 14th birthday. It was mostly a family celebration yesterday, with homemade cinnamon rolls, fruit, and orange mint slushies for breakfast. The boys all got the day off of school and we spent it relaxing at home til time for their afternoon soccer game. Andrew, Matthew, and Joel play for Covenant Classical School. The game yesterday was a hard fought one against Gaston Day with Covenant ahead at half time. They ended up losing, but Matthew was happy that he got to play most of the game. His soccer skills have really improved in the last year and he's going to get lots more playing time this year. We finished off the day, after showers for smelly soccer players, with homemade pizza and a movie.

The birthday celebration continues today as we head out with the boys and some of their buddies to Renaissance Park, one of the most challenging disc golf courses in Charlotte. Matthew's been wanting to play this course again, ever since had to run for cover from lightening after 8 holes the first time we went back in June! This evening, we will serve dinner with some of our DGCC family at the Charlotte Rescue Mission and then have friends over for a game night and ice cream sundaes.

Happy Birthday, Matthew!