Summer Break 2026: Week 2

 

Last weekend, we got to catch Eli in action on his 8U All Star team! (And yes, he is just 6 years old)!  No All Stars for Maddox this year since the tournament dates conflicted with our upcoming beach trip. It was fun to have one last weekend of baseball to kick off our summer and Eli’s team went undefeated in their opening weekend! We spent week #2 of summer break catching up with friends. On Monday, we met Aunt Kelly for lunch at Freddy’s. Tuesday, we went for our annual Waffle House outing for Mr. Ben’s birthday. Jackson, Zander’s best friend, spent the night after soccer practice on Tuesday evening. You can see we fit in grabbing our good grade donuts to finish out the school year after soccer practice. The Krispy Kreme was on the way home so it was perfect timing. Honor Roll for both boys with their final grades this year! Zander had all As for 7th grade and Maddox had all As and one B (in reading) for 4th grade. They have worked so hard all year and did amazing on their end of grade tests! I’m so proud of their determination and commitment to doing their best! For the first part of the week, I refurbished a coffee table we got from our friend, Sarah. Since the boys (with the help of a friend) have broken the last two coffee tables, I told myself I wasn’t buying a new one until these crazy boys “left the nest”. I think this is a good addition until that time comes! The boys and I met the Kennedys and Williams family at the pool on Wednesday afternoon before Zander and Jackson had youth group Wednesday night. Thursday held our biggest adventure of the week. We took the cousin crew to Great Wolf Lodge for the day! The three elementary kids had been given free day passes so we made our way to Concord for a day of water fun! The moms got a sweet treat for the drive which ensured spirits were high the whole day. We went on all the water slides, spent time in the wave pool, treehouse/bucket area, the basketball/lily pad pool and even checked out the outdoor water features since this is the first time we have been there in the summer. We spent 9 hours there and definitely got our moneys worth. Today, we don’t have plans on the summer agenda as we try to recover from the excitement yesterday and get ready for a fun and busy weekend ahead! Stay tuned….. we love summer break!

Summer Break 2026: Week 1

What a wonderful first week of summer?! I’m so very excited about all the plans we have for Summer 2026! We started off week one by checking off many of the activities we look forward to each year! On Monday, we played at Top Golf with Grandpa (and Grammy) as an early Father’s Day celebration. Monday night, the boys and I had our annual tent camping in the backyard adventure. The weather was perfect and I might have even gotten a few hours of sleep! We played Apples to Apples and listened to the fourth Harry Potter book as we settled in for the night. The boys are already asking if we can do it again this summer…. We’ll see! Haha On Tuesday, we ran errands (like getting my car serviced). We fit in some fun at the local recreation center and had some rest time at Grammy and Grandpa’s after a Chick-fil-A lunch. Three nights this week Zander has had volleyball camp at his school. On Thursday night, both boys had soccer practice. Zander also started playing in a junior golf league on Sunday nights (thanks to Grandpa)! I know it is the highlight of his week! We also have fit in some much needed rest time after an incredibly busy year and started learning how to type using an online typing program. The boys work each day on improving their accuracy and their speed (words per minute). On Wednesday, we stopped at 7 Brew for the first time ever to try the new Dude Perfect featured drinks for June. Then, we hosted a lemonade stand for the Harris family, raising funds to cover some of the expenses related to Mr. Harris’ cancer treatments. We had a great turnout and are so blessed by the village we have to step in and help others in need. On Thursday, the Bakewells girls enjoyed our annual spa day complete with massages, champagne, a relaxation room, time by the pool and a delicious dinner at Green Valley Grill. It is one of our favorite days of the year! Today (Friday), Zander met up with some of his buddies from school to play disc golf. I took most of them to grab lunch afterwards at Zaxby’s before shuttling them back to their houses. The boys were so polite and I continue to be thankful for the friends Zander is making in middle school. While they played disc golf, Maddox and I entertained ourselves in other areas of the park! We finished up the week with an afternoon at the pool with the Kennedys and the Williams family! This will be the last year for the swim test for Z as he will be headed to high school by next summer! Green bands for both boys and the swim test is officially checked off for the summer! As I type this, Zack is grilling dinner for us and we are having a relaxing summer evening at the house. Summer is my favorite season and I am so thankful we have many weeks of fun ahead!:)

 

Last Day of School 2026

Today was the last day of school for this 4th and 7th grader! They are headed to being the big guys on campus next year to finish out elementary (M) and middle school (Z). Both boys finished with honor roll report cards, great scores on their end of year testing, perfect attendance for the year (thankful for no sickness) and positions on competitive soccer teams starting in August. It has been a big month for the Houston boys! The boys have also enjoyed seeing old friends (thanks to after school hangouts while I finished work for the day), extra time with family (grateful for a trip back home last weekend), end of year awards celebrations at school and Maddox walked away with the Majors tournament championship with his baseball team. The last day of school was eventful with inflatables before school and the cousin crew hanging out after school before evening activities (baseball, youth group and gymnastics). Look out summer….. here we come! 

It’s the end of the year as we know it….

 And I feel fine! ;) haha

We are in the final countdown of the school year with seven student days left of school, but who’s counting?! Tonight we had our end of year Awana celebration and we celebrated Maddox finishing his third book! He has one more year and one more book to get the Timothy Award! He has already diligently worked on the written portion of the fourth book so he will memorize the verses next year and be ready to achieve his goal of earning the Timothy Award. All three cousins who are in AWANA got medals for the books they finished this year! I’m so proud of all of them!  We fit it a Carolina Core game last night and were able to (finally) celebrate the boys’ honor roll for 3rd quarter report cards with their “good grade donuts” from Krispy Kreme. We might be a little behind on the celebration but we are so incredibly proud of how hard our boys are working in school. Maddox also found out this week that he made a travel soccer team for next year that he tried out for which he is quite excited about. Zander’s tryouts are this upcoming week… stay tuned…

We also had end of grade testing this past week which made for a hard week for the test takers and the testing coordinator (me). One of my friends made us matching shirts that said “Houston, We’re ready for testing” (quite appropriate with my last name and job responsibilities). Maddox’s teacher did an experiment the day before testing to make their worries disappear. Check out Maddox’s surprise face! While our boys did an awesome job on their end of grade testing, I really loved the letter that Maddox’s teacher gave to the kids on the night before testing began. I pray that they always know that their identity and worth is found in Christ and not in specific grades or scores. I am so thankful for how well rounded our boys are and for the young men they are becoming. Finally (for this post), I included a card from one of the families at our school. Since this blog is where I document our lives so the boys will have these posts to reference with their families one day, I really try to “keep it real”.  This year has held a lot of uncertainty with my job. I’ve been in public education for 21 years and it is becoming more challenging each year to stay in the teaching field. Due to decreased funding and our district’s mismanagement of funds, my position was cut for this upcoming year. My principal (who thinks I do a great deal for our school) was able to find a position within our building that I could fulfill this upcoming year while also still completing tasks within my former job title. Basically it will be more work for the same pay and I will officially be doing the job of 3.5 people (who used to be paid to do all these things). We will take it one day at a time and I’m so thankful I can finish out Maddox’s fifth grade year with him at the same school. I don’t know what the future holds as my limited plans had me retiring from this school one day. I know God has a purpose for this upcoming year and what happens next. I am trusting in his providence and provision. This sweet family’s letter below reminded me that I do make an impact daily and I pray I continue to see my purpose where God has me. 

Happy Mother’s Day 2026

One of my greatest joys and blessing is getting to be mom to these boys! They spoiled me this weekend with beautiful flowers, a card and homemade keychain. Zander had a soccer tournament about 1.5 hours away so the boys headed there on Saturday while I went to the “soft opening” of Carmen’s coffee shop. I had my first cup of coffee ever! While the boys were still occupied with soccer, I came home to mow, cook and grocery shop…. If that doesn’t say “Happy Mother’s Day” I don’t know what does … haha! We enjoyed a leisurely evening at home. Zander and I woke up early Sunday morning to finish out his soccer tournament. The rest of my boys met us for lunch with my extended family when we got back into town. I fit in an hour nap (interrupted when Maddox came to check on me because he missed me). We worked on a puzzle for a bit and then I drove Maddox to his soccer tryouts. We finished out the Mother’s Day weekend with blizzards from Dairy Queen and a dance party to T-Swift and Bruno Mars! I missed going to our church’s Mother’s Day service (a first since becoming a mom) but continue to feel incredibly blessed by God calling me to be a mom. He handpicked the boys I would call my own and I cannot help but marvel at what an awesome God we have. 

This week, Zander went to his second rock concert with Zack (Demon Hunter). They got home around 12:30 am but still made it to school and work on time the next day! Maddox enjoyed the game time at AWANA last week! I chaperoned Zander’s orchestra trip to Carowinds. It was definitely an education being around middle schoolers for the day. I came home even more grateful for the boys that we have. I rode all the roller coasters and had a blast with my oldest!

Sports and Family

These days I am loving any moment I can spend with my family. Lately, those moments have been while cheering on our boys doing the things they love. It’s been a bonus that my extended family has been able to join in on many of the activities we’ve had lately on our calendar. We had a workday today due to many school districts being under staffed to account for a statewide protest organized in support of public education and its educators. I opted to stay back at school for the day and I had three of the four Cousin Crew kids at school with me (think “take your kid to work day” and add “take your niece and nephew too”). I promised them Chick-fil-A lunch and unsupervised fun in our school gym. I was able to be productive and I think the kids had a blast! Grandpa took Zander golfing and I think it was a fun day for them too! Tonight, we got to finally celebrate Aunt Lindsey’s 40th birthday a couple weeks late. Also, with regards to family celebrations, we watched Uncle Boomer be ordained as a deacon at our church (snapping some pictures of the ladies of the family before the service). I love that my family lives so close and we can be there for the little and big moments in life.

Maddox’s teacher, Mrs. Flowers, got to see him in action playing baseball and the whole family got to check out a local soccer game for Z. Zander had his spring orchestra concert on Thursday night and he got the award for Most Improved. He begrudgingly took a selfie so I could document this recognition on this blog. I guess we are starting into the teenage years! I also snapped a picture of his volleyball team where they have team pictures lining the halls of his middle school. 

Field day took place two days this week and I was able to see my three favorite students at the sno cone station! There is a wet activity right before mine and it was colder this year compared to previous field day experiences. 

Last weekend we had our annual AWANA Grand Prix at church. Zander helped set up the event all weekend long with one of his best friends, Jackson. I love what a hard worker he is! He also created two cars all by himself to enter into the open division. On the day before the event (one hour before the weigh in), Maddox’s car had a malfunction and broke. (Zack had been helping him with his car for weeks.) Long story short, Zander gave Maddox one of his cars to race. It was the sweetest brother moment! Both boys came home with some new hardware due to Zander’s creativity and engineering.  Maddox had third place in speed and design. Zander took home third place in design. The Houston boys kept the streak alive of having podium performances since we started into this derby car competition years ago!;)

Beau continues to live his best life as a Houston! He is starting to cuddle more and loves spending time with Zander after school while he finishes his homework and waits for his other favorite humans to arrive home from work and school. 

Happy 13th Birthday Zander!

 Zander,

You are officially a teenager! I am so proud of the young man you are becoming! We have the best conversations on the way to soccer practice and I love the long car rides to your games that are out of town.  I love to hear how you think.  I love to hear you talk about school, what you are learning and what happens with your friends.  You continue to get all A's in 7th grade and were inducted into the Honor Society this year due to your academic, behavioral and leadership skills.  I love how passionate you are about learning new sports (taking every opportunity to practice volleyball, soccer and golf).  I love how you read your bible before bed in the evenings, taking notes on what you have read and challenging yourself to read through the bible.  You help with setting up and tearing down all the games during youth group on Wednesdays.  You are already looking for additional leadership opportunities at church (through the AV team).  I love your optimism about anything you do.  Your smile is contagious and your positive energy along with your encouragement helps me be a better mom.  Your smile might change this upcoming year as we will start the process of braces to straighten your teeth.... stay tuned...

We celebrated #13 BIG!  We went on your first ever cruise in March and were able to celebrate this milestone birthday after dinner one night with cake and singing.  You chose to have Jackson, Nathaniel, Austin and Max join us at Top Golf last Friday for some night time golfing!  We went to Jersey Mike's after church to celebrate with family.  You had cookie cakes at both celebrations (You and I both love cookie cakes)!  On your actual birthday, we went to Olive Garden (your pick) with Grammy and Grandpa to enjoy some delicious Italian and one more evening of desserts!  Going into this upcoming year, you will finish out middle school, already planning for high school by taking two classes for high school credit (Math 1 and Spanish).  I love how you plan ahead.  I love that you are collecting baseball cards and are organizing these cards into a system that works for you.  I will always be grateful that you were the one God picked to make me a mommy.  It has been one of my greatest joys to watch you grow this past year.

I love you,

Mom