No, you say? No braggin allowed? It's not God's way? Ok, well, then I won't tell you that in Kami's 3rd XC meet, (DON'T READ THIS>) she finished 5th of 162 girls!!! Nope, I'm keeping that one all to myself. I warned you!
I also won't tell you Kami is fitting right in her new school, new surroundings, like a runner's foot in a cross country shoe. Naaaaa, you don't need to know that.
And most certainly, I cannot say that Kami's XC Middle School Girls' Team WON THEIR ENTIRE DIVISION! (Watch out Trojan fans, may not want to read any further>) Beating Jenks, Union and Broken Arrow! Way to go Patriots! 
Should I say that I am becoming more and more at peace with how God has led Kami to her new school, her new friends, her new teammates? Should I say that this is definitely the right decision for her? Maybe I'm not quite ready for that but growing closer by the day.
And finally, should i give God the glory for each and every one of my little braggin' moments, (every good and perfect gift is from above) worship Him for my moments of peace and thankfulness and just fall on my knees in dependence on Him for each and every moment? 
Yep, I think I'll do that.
To God be the glory great things He has done. Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord! Let the earth hear his voice, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice!
For obvious reasons, we have always kind of been a basketball family. In fact, instead of listening to classical music in the womb, my children heard the steady squeak of basketball shoes on the court and the thump of adrenaline raising songs played at timeouts. That's just the way it's always been.
The 13th Annual Kids' Triathalon was held yesterday. I noticed that I sometimes tri to make up for my childhood weaknesses (in this case lack of athleticism) by getting my kids involved in things that might have been difficult for me. There's got to be something Freudian about that. So despite the fact that I am completely wacking out my children, I am proud to say that they participated in the event along with the Streeter kids and cousin Hallie.
Here are number 68, 69 and 71 (niece Hallie was 70).
We learned a lot about how triathalons work including an education on "transition areas." This is Luke's square.
First, the kids lined up at the pool. The cool thing about this triathalon is that they started the kids at 10 second intervals instead of all at the same time.
He woke up crying fat tears this morning: "I don't WANT to do a triathalon," (see I AM mentally messing with my kids), however, he was so excited to jump into the water at race time!
Hallie and Ellie during the biking portion of the race.
Luke headed to the finish line!
They all crossed the finish line! Woo Hoo! You will be glad to know that I was rational enough to allow them to participate in the SHORT course instead of the LONG course, and that the SHORT course was truly that - SHORT. 25m swim, 1/2 mile bike ride, 1/4 mile run. Maybe the damage is minimal!
They were all smiles after the race and Ellie said with satisfaction, "THAT FELT GREAT!" I smile because of all three of our kids, she is most like me. Her weakness is probably athletic ability. Hmmmm. Maybe I AM doing something right after all.
Everybody who finished got a medal on stage. They didn't even hand out 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. How's that for increasing everyone's self esteem?
Basketball is a matter of prayer in our family.
Some people think it's just a silly game, and God doesn't care about that. "He has bigger things to worry about than your little game."
Well, I ask you, have you ever prayed your husband would win the contract he's been working so hard for? Have you ever petitioned God that more clients may walk through his doors? Have you ever asked the Lord to instill your husband with wisdom and discretion so that he may succeed at the work the Lord has given him?
Amen. Me too.
Take this most recent game that we played on December 23rd. We were faced with playing an undefeated opponent ranked #12 in the nation with our remaining 7 scholarship players. 7 players. If you don't know anything about basketball, suffice it to say that's like playing Bunco with 7 people. Hard to do and not a lot of fun.
I was nervous. But then a sweet friend of mine who is dealing with a battle of her own sent me these verses:
“Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God Himself will fight for you.”Deut 3:22
“Listen! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. Go out and face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”II Chron 20:15, 17b
They couldn't have been more apropos. So I forwarded the verses to the other prayer warriors and into battle we went, equipped with His words.
I was prepared for God's answer.... either way. Win or lose, I was not to be afraid or discouraged, because this was HIS BATTLE!!!
And then... against all odds, we won. WE WON! Big! It didn't even take a last second shot. It was our second biggest win since this this one.
Praise be to God in heaven who fights our battles if we will let him.
Being a coach's wife and all, we don't get the opportunity to attend many sporting events but our own. Even though basketball season officially stretches from November to March, it seems like there are always team dinners, weeks and weeks of recruiting travels, extra workouts, late night practices and other things to attend to. To actually branch out and wear something except the Navy Blue and Vegas Gold seems, well.... weird. But when an opportunity with two old friends (who were in my wedding!) came callin', we made it work, and had a blast doing it. It was sure fun to be there with husbands and kids in tow, reuniting all together for the first time in a long, long time. Here we are below, except Tom who volunteered to take the pic. (Convenient, he doesn't like posing for 'em!)
The little girls know how to pose, the boys, however......don't!!! How do you like the pic below? They just can't help it. It's the testoterone!! 
Things have really changed since my time there 16 years ago. Could that be POSSIBLE? 20 if I"m counting from the beginning of when I went to OSU. I sat through a couple painful Ofer seasons. But now, with the love of T. Boone Pickens, the stadium is fabulous with a capital F, the crowds are amazing and the wins.... 5 and 0? What planet am I living on? I remember going to a game with about 100 in attendance!!! That's it! Well, like I said, it is a different place there now. We're so glad we got a chance to go... because guess what starts next Saturday? BASKETBALL PRACTICE!!!!! 
Kamryn Rae is officially finished with elementary school. I know it sounds trite, but it seems just yesterday, she was a little girl running around in Ms. Bunch's Pre-K class. Now, 6 years later, she is moving on up to the Intermediate. The theme of their graduation party was based on the TV show Survivor. I worked with a committee of awesome women to put this together. It has been another one of those year-long projects that pays off in the end... the party was tons of fun, with a steel drum band, 4 inflatables, tribal paint, cool challenges (including one with live crickets), and an annual tug of war to end the day. How my feather-weight child ended up at the front of the tug-of-war rope is a mystery to me, but what she lacks in weight, she makes up for in competitive spirit. Just look at those fierce eyes. Congratulations to our girl. We are very proud of her!!! 
It's not like me not to post. In fact, I now go throughout my day thinking in terms of blog posts. Creating titles, opening lines, blog concepts. I can hear my non-writing sister laughing out loud at this. You DO WHAT? she laughs. Well, it's just the natural way my mind works. But due to March Madness (not just the basketball kind) I have not been able to get myself in front of a computer long enough to compose any of my thoughts! So, here they are, in a blended sort of way.
March 4th. March Fourth. March Forth. A day always overshadowed by basketball, but that's OK. My favorite birthday gift? A phone call from Granny. She's 97. Tears flowed silently down my cheeks as she sang to me. Luke has a new level of words. He's past the -sp world and onto the -ch world. Yes, I said world there, not word. I think in terms of blog posts; he thinks in terms of worlds, a la Super Mario Brothers. He IS Mario. Great is thy faithfulness, O God My Father.Are my emotions an indicator of my faith? I am sitting in the stands to watch the first conference tournament game and I think my heart must be heard by everyone in section D!!! Does this mean I don't trust HIM? Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday God Bless YOU, Happy Birthday to You. After the song, we talked. About my day. About quilting. You really only need to use 2 different sized strips instead of 4, she offered. The quilts are just as pretty with 2, and less to think about. How many more birthdays will she sing to me? -chocolate -chill -chin -chacket (no chacket starts with a "j" baby). I believe. I do believe. That HE will watch over us. If that means winning ball games, then He will do it. Is it petty to pray to WIN? Do you pray that your husband has success at his job? That he will do well and find favor with his boss? That he will be blessed and be promoted? Ditto. Everyone wanted to know how it felt to "almost" be 40. Are you kidding me? Absolutely wonderful. I am alive. I am here to enjoy my precious husband and wonderful kids. My parents have showed me nothing but love my entire life, and God has surrounded me with friends on every side. Are things perfect? Of course not. But I am happy, even if I am going to have to check the 40 and over box sometime soon. She's making an Easter quilt. It has lots of pinks and purples and some green too. We WON the first game vs. Centenary! Our awesome and spirit-filled Moses, the same one who read to Ellie's first grade class, hit 8 three pointers! Way to go Mo! And my friend Nicole got me through it, all the way from Florida, she lifted me up with text messages like this: "u hv bn here b 4 he is faithful and just." God, I can't control my emotions, but I control my reaction to my emotions. I react to nerves by saying, "I trust YOU!" and I do. 2nd game: down by 7 at halftime with only 17 points. Incredibly, He gave me peace. You're going to pull it out, He said. We did. Emotions didn't rule. -challenge -choice -chip. I felt it that morning. Grossly, I think I felt the bug actually bore itself into my right nostril. It was downhill from there. I spent the evening of our 3rd victory in my bed. Didn't even watch the game on ESPN. While my entire family celebrates our awesome victory vs. IUPUI until midnight, I am in bed with the flu. Humorous, really, but you know, what, it's OK. Great is His Faithfulness! -CHAMP!!!!
