Benjamin Reads Thomas

Benjamin's favorite books these days are a set of three Thomas the Tank Engine board books that we've had since Josiah was our little guy toddling around!  Their edges might be a little worn, but they're still as good as ever; and the delight they bring to our youngest son--as they have done to his older siblings through the years--is certainly difficult to measure because it's such a large quantity! And speaking of large quantities, I wonder how many times I've read these books during the past 15 years.  If I had a dollar for every time...  :)

Benjamin's latest fun is "reading" the books himself.  It's funny: every single page sounds exactly alike when he reads it!!  ;-)

 We adore this little guy!!

The Time Josiah Was Benjamin

When I was a senior in high school, my school celebrated its 75th anniversary; and as part of the festivities, we sang (if my memory is correct) a piece that Alice Parker wrote for the occasion--and she came to be with us and possibly direct it.  Somewhere around here (but currently safely hidden away where no one can find it, myself included!) is a picture of me with her.  Someday I'll unearth it!  ;-)

At the time, she seemed ancient to my 16-year-old eyes.  Never could I have imagined that 25 years later, I would see Alice Parker again...and what's more, that my firstborn would sing in her opera and have his picture taken with her!!

But look!  Here it is!  Although it's a low-quality cellphone picture, you can see that the lady in purple front and center is none other than Alice Parker herself, and the black-vested young man behind her is my son!

How did such a thing come about?  It was like this...

Shortly before we left for Camp-of-the-Woods, Josiah was asked to be in an opera called Singers Glen.  The composer of the opera?  Alice Parker.  The subject of it?  A man named Joseph Funk who compiled the hymnal that is still used (later editions of it, of course) in the Harmonia Sacra singings that I so enjoy.  Josiah's role?  The youngest son of Joseph Funk--Benjamin, obviously (what else would youngest sons be named?).  ;-)

With our impending trip which would knock Josiah out of the first several rehearsals, we weren't sure whether he could/should do it; but the director informed us that it was just fine for Josiah to miss the beginning practices.  He could catch up after our vacation.

And so he did, using my help just a little to get started with the music, but then doing it almost entirely on his own--except for our help to drive him to rehearsals.  His driver's license is on the horizon, but isn't here yet.  ;-)

A few days ago, during their dress rehearsal, I took a few pictures and videos--not high-quality, as you can see, but enough to give a feel for it and capture a memory for us.

Josiah's role as the youngest son meant that he was a little bit of a troublemaker and, in particular, he got into mischief when he kept initiating dancing (horrors!) during the singing school.  We're talking about Mennonites in the mid-1800s, so the dancing was mild, to say the least.  ;-)  But it was still enough to get Joseph in trouble with the bishop for his lack of discipline with his children!

They had three performances this weekend: two on Saturday and one yesterday.  I got to go to the Saturday evening one and the Sunday afternoon one, and I relished the chance to be reminded of a bit of history from my home area, hear some of the grand old hymns from Harmonia Sacra, and best of all, watch my oldest son have a ball in his first real experience with musical theater.

 He ate it up like candy.  Can you tell?  ;-)

This opera, Singers Glen, is only performed every five years in this area, so we'll have to wait a while for another chance to see it; but the memories will linger of this special weekend when Josiah shone on the stage...

...and when, for once in his life, he got to be Benjamin!  ;-)

His Dear Little Voice

Last night, during a wonderful, relaxing, stay-at-home evening, I was more aware than usual of Benjamin talking as he toddled around, playing with this and that.  "If what all the older moms say is true," I thought, "this stage will be gone in the blink of an eye.  It's time to pick up a camera and try to capture it before that happens."

The results...

Benjamin was having the best time toting around this toy microphone and occasionally singing/speaking into it.

The challenge of making videos of him comes when he becomes aware that I'm pointing the camera (err, the phone) in his direction.  And then of course, he wants to see what's on the screen!

But finally, I was able to catch him walking back and forth by the couch, pushing along this LEGO car that Tobin (I think) had made.

Someday, I'll wish that I could travel back in time and revisit a normal Sunday evening when Benjamin was still a baby toddler.

With these videos, I can--sort of!  :)

The Busiest Two Weeks of the Summer

As soon as I signed up the kids for swimming lessons, I knew that those weeks--the last two weeks of July--would be busy.  Being gone every morning for their lessons means that a lot goes undone around the house; it's just the sacrifice we make in order for them to learn to swim, but it's such an important skill that I don't mind having a fortnight each summer that is especially busy.

But when I signed them up back in June, I had no idea that so much other stuff would get crammed into those two weeks, too!

Here's how it started...

~ Saturday, July 15 - The kids and I drove up to Patrick Henry College to pick up Josiah from his week at Speech Camp.

~ Sunday, July 16 - Josiah, David, and I were up early, preparing breakfast for those who gather to eat together before our church service.  After the service, we had a family reunion, and then that evening, we had a carry-in dinner and time of prayer back at the church building.

~ Monday, July 17 - Swimming lessons began.  

And from there, it continued; every morning Monday through Friday, Tobin and Shav had their lessons, beginning at 9:15, Josiah and David had theirs at 10:15, and Moriah had hers at 10:45.  Besides that, we carried on with our normal activities: Josiah and David volunteering at the library, David doing gymnastics, Josiah mowing for one of the librarians, etc.  

And then there were the extras we squeezed into those two weeks...

~ Shav's 8th birthday, a wonderfully joyous celebration that included me taking the kids to Jump Trampoline Park across the mountain

~ a meeting for our High School Support Group, through which Josiah will be taking a few classes this coming year (and David will be taking one, too)

~ blueberries were ripe, so we made the trek out to the blueberry farm and picked and froze 30 pints

~ we took a meal to some friends whose daughter has been going through some major health challenges

~ the orchard called (well, a person from the orchard) ;-) and told me they had two bushels of peaches ready for us so I picked them up and did some canning and freezing and drying of peaches

~ Tobin went horse riding 

~ the kids from church had a pool party

~ we took a couple friends and went to a Harrisonburg Turks baseball game

~ Josiah and David participated in a two-day speech workshop

~ the orchard called again and told me they had two more bushels of peaches for me, so I spent more time preserving peaches

~ we hosted a potluck Bible study here in our home

And at the very end of our string of extraordinarily busy days came a pool party at the home of one of the older couples in our church on Sunday, July 30.  When that was over, I heaved a great sigh of relief that those weeks which had been packed so full were over--because even though those activities were wonderful and worthwhile and fun, they didn't leave us much time to relax, or even to do the normal household tasks that sustain life and order in our home!

The next week stretched out before me, blessedly free of much ink on the calendar; but then I heard that my friend Amanda was taking her kids and a Fresh Air Fund boy that they were hosting from New York City to Riven Rock, so I decided to take my kids and go along with them.  And the next day, I ended up taking the Fresh Air Fund boy and Amanda's kids (and my kids, too, except for Benjamin, who stayed with Jeff) to Grand Caverns so the boy from NYC could enjoy the amazing experience of being underground and witnessing such awesome (in the true sense of the word) beauty.

But then today came, and I didn't have any plans.  Nothing written on the calendar at all.  An open day.  An at-home day.  It was thrilling.  :)

It seemed like a good day to finally sit down and write this blog post and share some pictures from the weeks of swimming lessons--with apologies for the low picture quality, since I didn't take my good camera to the pool, but instead snapped quick pics with my phone (which has horrible picture quality).

Shav was in Level One and was so happy to have Alex, his teacher from last year, again; and Alex remembered Shav and seemed very happy to have him again as well.  :)  One thing about Alex: at the end of last year's lessons, we had given him a thank-you note and a gift card to a local place to get ice cream; and he remembered that we had done that and made a point of thanking me for that--a whole year later!  :)

Tobin was in Level Three, Josiah was in Level Four, and David in Level Five.  Yes, David was a level ahead of Josiah.  That happened because Josiah had chosen to not take swimming lessons last summer (thinking that he already knew how to swim and wasn't terribly interested in perfecting his strokes); but as it turned out, Levels Four and Five were combined anyway and taught together by the same teacher.  Moriah was in the first level of the preschool classes and had the sweetest teacher--just perfect for her first experience with swimming lessons.

 Sometimes during one of the lessons, I would take some of the kids up the hill to the playground.  With the staggered lesson times, I had to do something to keep everyone (especially Benjamin!) occupied and happy.  :)

Benjamin really loved this alligator and eventually learned to climb on and off it by himself.  It was his favorite thing at the park this year.

Sweet brother bonding.  :)

When we weren't at the playground, Benjamin entertained himself by walking around and exploring the picnic table area by the pool.

Of course, tractor books are always a hit!  :)

Tobin made friends with this boy who is from China and who actually missed the last day of class because he and his family were flying back to Beijing on that day.  During the second half of the swimming lesson mornings, while we waited for Josiah, David, and Moriah to be done, Tobin and Shav enjoyed hanging out with him and missed him when he was gone.

One unique thing about this year's swimming lessons is that two of the days of lessons were cancelled in the first week because of a big storm we had had that blew dirt and leaves and mulch from the playground into the pool, necessitating a huge process of draining, cleaning, and refilling the pools.  That had never happened before in all our years of going there for lessons. Those missed lessons were made up in the second week (although we could only attend one because during the other one, we were at the baseball game).  Other than that, the weather had been great for lessons all along, except for the very last day that was rainy.  No matter.  They had lessons anyway.  :)

Even though it was a sacrifice to get up and out the door every morning and be gone from home so much more than normal, those weeks of swimming lessons were SO worth it!!  All of the kids advanced in their abilities by leaps and bounds, and all of them moved up to the next level.  Well, all except for David, but that's only because he's already in the highest level class.  ;-)

I was so proud of each of them and so delighted to see their progress.  It was ample reward for enduring the busiest two weeks of the summer!  :)

Three Things that Make Us Smile

~ Moriah saying "seriously" - ever since she started saying this word somewhere along the line in her toddler/preschooler years, we've loved the way she says it with her own special mispronunciation and inflection  :) - I had to capture it before she learns to pronounce it correctly!
~ and Josiah demonstrating a "dance" he learned during his week away at Speech Camp - it involves laying a sword and sheath on the ground and dancing over and around them - very Scottish, I suppose!  ;-) - a kilt would have been more fitting to wear, but since this performance of his was right after we got home from one of his swimming lessons this past week, a swimming suit will have to do  :)
~ and Benjamin!  He just makes us all happy, whether he's singing or talking or pointing to his nose.  :)  We especially think it's fun that when he sings (as he so often does), it sounds a lot like "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star!"  We didn't teach him that; where did he learn it from?  :)
As you can see, he does pretty well with nose, tongue, hair, etc.  But that ol' ear!  Why does it have to be so hard to find?  No matter how hard Benjamin pushes on his eyes, they never turn into his ears!!  ;-)

Well, it won't be long until he gets it right; and when he does, we'll be glad we made this little video to capture the time when he couldn't remember where his ears are!  ;-)

Bottling Up Time

Having Josiah gone all last week at Speech Camp was a vivid reminder for me of how quickly time is passing--as if I needed another reminder about that!  I keep thinking, "Three more years.  We've got three more years together as a family before Josiah goes off to college and our little family circle stretches wide and gets gaps in it.  Lord, help me treasure these next three years so that when that transition comes, I won't have regrets about the way I spent this time!"

I find myself looking from Josiah to Benjamin, remembering when my firstborn was toddling around on unsteady legs, and picturing my lastborn becoming a big strong teenager capable of going out into the world on his own.  It all goes so fast.

And so, to slow it down a little, I pulled out my camera today (just the poor-quality one on my cell phone, but at least it takes pictures that can record a memory) and froze some moments in time.  Moments like...

...after a family reunion this afternoon, we dropped by and visited my mother.  She especially perked up at the sight of Moriah...

...and hugged her and hugged her.

My mother was fairly alert today--more so than she is sometimes--and she even tried to tell me something (although she sadly had to stop after just a few words).  Seeing her beautiful smile did my heart good.

After that, we came home, and some of us got to have much-needed naps.  

 Benjamin was still wearing his name tag from the reunion...

 ...and was holding a truck, of course.  :)

This evening, we gathered with some friends from our church to eat together and pray, and the kids got to enjoy some time to play outside in the beautiful evening air.

 Watching Benjamin (and the others) climb in and out and up and down on this "ark" made me wonder what Noah and his family did with their Ark after the Flood.  Did Noah's grandchildren use it as a huge playhouse?  Wouldn't that have been fun to explore?!  :)

One of Benjamin's favorite things to do is play in our minivan.  

 It must make him feel powerful.  ;-)

It won't be too long until Benjamin's biggest brother is driving this thing, for real!

This evening at home, I was watching Benjamin walk around in the yard and remembering how it wasn't so long ago that he scooted, rather than walked--and how it wasn't long ago that he did NOT like being on the grass!  Things have changed.  ;-)

In years to come, I want to remember these moments.  I want to see what it was like to watch Benjamin slightly stagger and stumble as he walked across the yard in his toddlerish way.  I want to recall how Josiah and David played catch in the cool of the evening as the sky darkened.  I want to be reminded of the sweetness of this season of life and parenting.

But what's more, I want to know then that as I experience this now, I am aware of how precious it is...

...and I give thanks for it.

Out of All that I Could Write About...

...I only have the mental energy to slip in a quick post here about Benjamin.  There are so many other things I want to record here on the blog, and now that the next two weeks have much less ink on my calendar than the preceding...oh...35 or so weeks did, I might actually get a chance to do that!  ;-)  But for tonight, just this.

Benjamin is obsessed with tractors.  He says "tractor" WAY more than any other word at this stage of his life, he loves to look at them in books, he delights in seeing them in real life, and he plays with them every day.  Oh, and "tractor" doesn't just mean tractor.  He seems to use that word to describe nearly everything with wheels: cars, trucks, buses, trains, lawn mowers, even wheelchairs.  :)

A couple days ago, I grabbed my phone before I walked into his room to get him out of his crib, and this is what I captured...  :)

Another thing that Benjamin loves is music, and he sings (his version of singing, anyway) probably more than he speaks.  This morning, he was not only singing, but also dancing...that is, until someone at church came to the doorway of the room and distracted Benjamin.  :)

Benjamin is in a bit of a difficult phase right now (revolving around two issues: his clinginess to me, and his habit of screaming which hasn't yet been broken), but he is so precious to me.  I'm doing the illogical balancing act that moms do when they simultaneously wish that their kid would hurry up and grow out of whatever tough stage they're in but also wish that their kid would remain small and not grow up quite so fast.  It doesn't make any sense, but moms know it's true!!  :)

I'm Not Good at Saying Goodbye

Seems like it wasn't very long ago that I was just returning from a trip to North Carolina for a speech and debate tournament for Josiah; and here we are again, ready to head out for another one.  Like before, Jeff will keep the home fires burning and spend extra time with the younger three while the older three and I head out to North Carolina.  Different town this time though.  ;-)

During the course of my years as a wife and mother, I haven't had to spend too much time away from my family; and I am ever so glad about that.  It is not easy for me to leave Shav and Moriah...

...and Benjamin...

...and Jeff, my groom of almost 20 years.

It's not easy for me to miss all the everyday moments that happen in my family.

As much as I relish the chance to go off and have these adventures and make special memories with Josiah, David, and Tobin, I already long for the reunion to come when we are all together again.

I'm just not very good at saying goodbye...

When My Creative Energy Is Gone

I had intended to write a blog post tonight--a real blog post, with actual thoughts being expressed through words.  But then I helped both Tobin and Josiah with speeches for upcoming tournaments (yes, Tobin is preparing one, too...for a Juniors tournament next month), and just like that, all my creative energy was gone.

Will a blog post with a few little video snippets suffice instead?  :)

The first two videos are from February 4--the first is Benjamin doing the singsong vocalization that he often does when we travel somewhere.  It's a little hard to hear his voice over the sound of the van.  My apologies for that!

In this one, Moriah shows us how she can "read" a book--an activity she has been enjoying quite a bit recently.

The next one is from February 5, when we were at the home of some friends for a Super Bowl party.  Dear Miss Janie from our church was helping Benjamin ride this horse.  Benjamin was more interested in pulling the mane!  (He loves to pull hair--his own included!)

And lastly, on February 10, Benjamin had a ball scooting around on this smooth, shiny floor while Josiah had his biology class.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll discover a new supply of creative energy!

Capturing His Baby Voice

From a very young age, Benjamin was extremely imitative with his voice.  He'd heard us say something, then repeat it back--in his unique baby version, of course--but the number of syllables and the inflection would be similar enough that it would catch our attention and make us smile.

At the time, it was suggested that he might be an early talker.

How silly.  Apparently, Fisher babies aren't early in anything.  ;-)

Here he is at nearly 17 months of age, and the only things he says are "Dada" (his most common word, by far), "uh-oh" (usually when he's dropped something), a version of "hi" (that he likes to say when the dryer door is open and he catches sight of me in the reflection of it), and "Mama" (although his occurrences of that are few and far between, and NEVER when I'm trying to coax him to say it).  ;-)  

So he's not much of an orator.  Yet.

But he does use his voice, and recently I've been trying to capture it.  This is made difficult by the fact that, when he sees me pull out my phone to record him, he sometimes clams up and doesn't deign to say a thing.  But while we waited for Josiah to finish his NCFCA club meeting last week, I managed to catch a little of Benjamin's noise...

...and two days after that, I caught this on tape.  Benjamin scooting around gleefully with a roll of toilet paper is pretty cute, but his vocalizations are significant, too.  :)

Speaking of speaking...  There are two interesting times when Benjamin periodically pipes up with a hearty "Dada."  One is when we're praying before we eat supper; he must have developed that habit because, in the morning as we begin our homeschool day, we pray together after each of us has had an opportunity to say at least one thing we're especially grateful for that day.  Some of the kids try to get Benjamin to say "Dada" during that time, as if Benjamin is stating that as his particular reason for thankfulness.  I think that must have bled over to our suppertime prayer; and now when Benjamin sees us bow our heads and start to pray, he decides it's time to add his voice.  :)

The other time is when David tries to get Benjamin to give him a high-five.  Somehow Benjamin got the signals mixed; and when David approaches him, holds up his hand, and says, "High-five!", Benjamin responds with "Dada!"  He's getting better about this one now and will sometimes raise his hand and hit David's; but for a while, "Dada" was his customary response.  :)

With five older siblings who have paved the way, it's not as if Benjamin is the first little baby we've marveled at as he's developed speech.  But goodness, what fun it is to observe the progression--to really stop and notice these moments as they speed by!

In a Parallel Universe

This second decade is certainly getting off to a slow start.

In my second-to-last post--from a week and a half ago already!--I celebrated the accomplishment of one entire decade of blogging, then looked forward with anticipation to the next.  And then I went silent, except for one short little post, for eleven days, which is not my usual modus operandi.

The first three days of my absence here can be attributed to the speech and debate tournament Josiah participated in, mentioned briefly in this post.  The hours were long, and the pace was grueling, leaving little time for extras; and so blogging fell to the wayside.

After that, I could have blogged, but didn't, finding some reason each night to put off for another day this glimpse into our life during the tournament--or any other blog post, for that matter.  I could blame part of that on continued fatigue as I tried to catch up from the exhaustion of the tournament, but in reality, I was probably just enjoying the break.  ;-)

You see, while I was at the speech and debate tournament, I felt like I was living in a parallel universe, only vaguely aware of what was happening outside the walls of our tournament location.  I would hop onto Facebook to post a picture, for example, and would see what other people were posting about life in the real world--but only as if I were looking through a fog.  I would think of someone--a mission team from our church, for instance, who was returning from India--and would take a moment to pray for them before all my focus returned to the world I was existing in.  I even realized with a jolt on Friday morning, January 20, that we had a new President.  Unlike previous years, I didn't watch even a minute of the inauguration or any of the hoopla surrounding it.  The world went along just fine on the outside, but I only paid attention to what was happening on the inside, in the immediate vicinity around me.

When the tournament was over, I was ready to return to real life; but in the meantime, I had learned something: I'm happier when I spend less time on Facebook, and I'm definitely more peaceful if I pay less attention to politics.

I'm not advocating the head-in-the-sand approach to everyone, because I believe some people are called to use their voice to try to influence others in the public realm--whether that be in a legislative body or simply through social media.  But I've been so disgusted by politics during the past year or two that my absence from that realm now has brought about a reduction in my blood pressure, I'm sure!  ;-)

So, what was life like in that parallel universe that existed for three and a half days?  I'll tell you, and intersperse the telling between pictures I randomly snapped on my cell phone during the tournament.

For Benjamin, the tournament meant new territory to explore, new floors to crawl on, new people to smile at, and generally a grand adventure.  Since it was held in Fishersville, I had to wake him up each morning about 5:45 a.m. so that we could leave here shortly after 6:00 a.m. (on the mornings we needed to go by Strite's Donuts on our way to pick up the donuts they were generously donating for judge hospitality) or 6:30 a.m. (on the morning we could go directly to the tournament).  That is not his usual wake-up time, but he didn't complain.  In fact, the last morning, as we were driving south, all the occupants of our van were fairly silent, either veering towards the realm of Slightly Grumpy or teetering on the edge of Half Asleep.  But not Benjamin.  He was happily doing his version of "singing," not bothered at all by the fact that the sun hadn't even come up yet when we had to pull him out of his warm, cozy bed!  By the way, on Thursday morning as we traveled south, we saw a gorgeous sunrise.  We kept watching it and watching it and really soaked in the beauty of that splendid sight.  I thought, "Wow!  If we hadn't had to get up so early, we would have missed this!  I'm sure glad we got to see it."  But, sad to say, that thought hasn't convinced me to get up that early the mornings since the tournament, just to see if another beautiful sunrise might be happening!  ;-)

I took snacks and activities for Benjamin, but he mostly liked the chance to scoot around and see new things, which was usually fine--unless I happened to need to be doing something else, like helping to serve food to the competitors and their families.  I got some extra practice in the area of How Much Can You Do with One Arm?

Each day, Jeff got off work early to come down and get the younger kids and take them home; and until he drove into the parking lot in our old white Chrysler (modern-day equivalent to a dashing knight on a white horse), I felt a level of stress about how the kids, particularly Benjamin, would do.  Sure, they could all be happy one minute, but what might happen in the next?  Would Benjamin get fussy and inconsolable, especially as his fatigue built up?  Would I be able to handle everything and meet the needs of all of them?  As it turned out, Benjamin never hit the wall.  Sure, he needed a little extra attention from time to time, and sure, sometimes his diaper needed changing when it wasn't exactly convenient.  But there were no major meltdowns, and overall, he was a cheerful little fellow who brought a smile, not only to my face as I watched him and snuggled with him and carried him on my left hip, but also to the faces of others.  They particularly liked watching his unique method of scooting across the floor.  ;-)

Moriah spent quite a bit of time playing with the activities we had brought along, especially coloring books and notebook paper.  She does love to draw!  Besides that, she sometimes helped with Benjamin--like giving him pieces of food when he was sitting in his stroller and I needed to help with other things--and also enjoyed running up and down a sidewalk area between two buildings.  An occasional break to get some fresh air and stretch her legs did wonders, when the prolonged inside time was getting to be too much.  When we were outside together, she would sometimes wonder what to do, and I would ask her to count the blocks in the sidewalk or some such thing, and she would do so happily, giving me time one day to actually have a sort-of-extended conversation with an NCFCA mom that I had not met before!  :)  The other thing that was special for Moriah during these days was that occasionally one of the moms who was helping with food would have a job for Moriah to do--like helping Linda S. roll a cart downstairs to get some supplies from Linda B. or helping Patti put out bags of chips on a tray (as can be seen in a picture later in this post).  I was SO grateful for the way they included her and made her feel important.  :)  Their kindness touched my heart and brought delight to Moriah's soul!

Shav spent HOURS playing at this table with the things we brought, and I was thankful once again for his easy-going, self-entertaining, non-demanding personality.  I remembered from our tournament last year how much he enjoyed playing with these magnetic pieces, so I brought them along and, sure enough, they were a huge hit--not only for Shav and Tobin, but also for other younger siblings of competitors--and even (as you'll see in later pics) some of the competitors themselves!  :)  I'll also add that Shav was an invaluable help from time to time with Benjamin, willingly watching out for him when I was called away.

Here Shav describes one of his creations.  :)

I'll pause here to add that one of the neat things about these tournaments is how friendly everyone is.  Just like last year, Benjamin got to hang out with some kind "big kids" when they weren't giving speeches or debating.  :)

One of the competitors even paused to play a game with Tobin and Shav one day.  :)

I just love the way Benjamin sits, with legs crossed and one foot on top of the other.  This is a common pose for him, and I think it's so cute.  :)

Benjamin loved scooting under the table where his older siblings were playing...

...and he loved pushing this little car along.  It makes a satisfying click-click-click as it goes along, and it has an easy-to-hold handle.  Perfect for Benjamin's stage of life.  :)

I've described what Benjamin, Moriah, and Shav did to fill their time; but what about Tobin and David?

Well, they could occasionally be found at this table, too; but what they did most of the time (and really loved to do) was be timers for the rounds.  You see, there are some limited prep events in which, for example, the speaker is given a topic and two minutes to prepare a five-minute speech.  The person doing the timing in those rooms keeps a close eye on the time and calls out certain times during the prep time--then gives certain hand signals during the speech itself.  David had done a good bit of that last year and was quite proficient in doing it again.  Tobin had done a little last year and had watched some but wasn't completely confident; the lady in charge of timing this year had an older, more experienced timer watch him at first to make sure he was doing it right.  But even before that round was up, she told the other timer he could leave because Tobin was doing such a good job with it.  He really, really enjoyed getting to do this.  :)

When David wasn't timing, he was often off with (or without) Josiah, watching a debate round, for example, or sitting in a circle with the big kids and talking with them.  That was fun for him.  :)

OK, more pics...  Fewer words...  :)

Shav used the dice from our Tenzi game as soldiers in his epic battle.  :)

It struck me at this tournament how grown-up Josiah is becoming.  Actually, I barely saw him the whole time.  :)  He had entered so many categories of speeches that he was kept quite busy. Besides Lincoln-Douglas debate, he did an Informative speech, a Persuasive speech, Impromptu speeches (that's one of those limited prep events I described earlier), and an Open Interpretation (basically, acting out a book--in his case, a children's book about Anansi the Spider). I think he barely ate, and every time I saw him, I would encourage him to please eat something.  ;-)  One day I spotted him in this common area, munching on a banana, and I was happy.  ;-)

He enjoyed this tournament so much, and it is a JOY to see him grow in intellect, maturity, communication skills, and character.  Unlike last year when he didn't place high enough to advance to the next level, this year he "broke" (the term they use for moving on to the next level) in his Open Interp, so he is qualified to go to the Regionals championship in April.  When they announced that he broke to Semifinals in this tournament--and then later, after that round, when they announced that he broke to Finals--we were OVERJOYED.  There was some serious elation happening; as he told me later, it was one of the happiest moments of his life.  I did what I always do in moments like that: I cried.  ;-)  One of the sweet girls who was competing saw me in the bathroom where I was dabbing my eyes and trying not to completely lose it, and she was concerned about me.  I managed to choke out the cause of my tears, and she gave me a hug.  :)  Later, our paths crossed in the common area, and she told me again how happy she was for me and Josiah.  I loved that.  :)

Oh, that's another great thing about NCFCA: as keenly as the competitors want to win, they also desire to help each other.  Josiah was part of a group of debaters, for example, that got together online and shared their cases with each other so they could help each other and strengthen each other's arguments.  These are kids who debate each other in the tournaments; and obviously, one of them has to win.  And yet, rather than trying to make each other weaker, they're actually helping each other become stronger.  It's amazing.  They also pray with each other.  It's an incredible feeling as a mom to look across a room of teenagers and see the guy you judged that morning in an Apologetics round praying with your son...or to see your son and a group of his friends surrounding one of their friends who is getting ready to give a speech and praying that God will guide her words and help them to be effective.  How did we get so blessed that this is Josiah's chosen circle?!

On Saturday, we had a real treat when our friend Grace (who is an accomplished NCFCA-er but has had some serious health problems this year and hasn't been able to compete yet) and her family showed up at the tournament.  Grace has helped Josiah tremendously with his speeches, and it was so special to see her there.  Her mom, Kristine, took the next four pictures and kindly shared them with me (and Grace shared the above photo with me).  Of course, I love this one of Josiah and I...

 ...but I love the next three a whole bunch, too, because Kristine got to sit in during Josiah's final round, and she took these during that time.  Josiah doesn't actually want me to sit in when he's giving his speeches (and I don't mind! I understand how my presence could add to his nervousness, and I don't want that), so it was fun to have this glimpse through Kristine's eyes.  :)

Here is the picture I mentioned earlier.  Patti was "needing" some help with those chip bags, and Moriah was doing a great job.  ;-)

Here's a little glimpse of Benjamin in action on the last day of the tournament.  This was the day he needed to stay the longest before Jeff could pick up him and Moriah and Shav, and I discovered that letting him put granola bars into their box, then dump them out, kept him entertained for quite a while.  Whatever works, right?  :)

I know the names on this list don't mean anything to my blog readers, but I'm including it here for memory's sake.  These other competitors are very experienced and very accomplished, and to see Josiah listed with this group was thrilling.  :)

On Thursday and Friday, Benjamin would fall asleep fairly quickly in the car when Jeff picked him up--and usually Benjamin wasn't the only snoozer.  ;-)  On Saturday, however, Benjamin fell asleep (finally) in his stroller about 3: 15 or so.

I didn't have anything I needed to do inside at that point, and the weather was wonderfully warm outside (such a nice thing in January!), so I pushed Benjamin outside and let him nap while I watched the other kids run around.

So fun to watch a baby sleep.  :)

During the awards ceremony Saturday evening, I managed to catch this little snippet of Josiah's name being called.  NCFCA has a particular way they run these ceremonies, and it was so very exciting for us to hear Josiah's name for the first time ever in one of them.

The first time, yes.  But I'm hopeful it won't be the last.  The NCFCA bug has bitten Josiah hard, and he's extremely motivated to write, revise, and practice speeches, as well as get better in the area of debate.  He's already planning what he'd like to do next year (although he is still competing in at least one more tournament this year) and is lamenting the fact that he can't do something in EVERY category.  He absolutely loves it.

Sort of to my surprise, I've discovered that I do, too.  Before the tournament, I was confessing to another mom that I kind of have a love-hate relationship with NCFCA.  I love what it stands for, how it's run, and what kind of fruit it's producing in Josiah's life; but it is a sacrifice to take him to club meetings, to help him prepare here at home, and to be involved in tournaments.  The other mom knew exactly what I was talking about.

But then, this tournament began; and whereas last year I was just struggling to keep my head above water and was totally overwhelmed by the tournament, NCFCA, and life in general, this year I thoroughly enjoyed the tournament and discovered, to my shock, that I really love judging!  :)  I didn't get to judge any rounds last year--Benjamin was a nursing baby, and that isn't conducive to being a judge.  But this year, on Thursday and Friday after Jeff took the little ones home, I was able to judge two rounds on each day, and had so much fun doing that.  Previously, I had been very intimidated by the thought of judging; but as I began to do it, although I sometimes wished I could give everyone first place because they were all SO GOOD, I found out that it was heaps of fun.  The tournament was so much more enjoyable when I could be involved in it, too--involved beyond the basic level of showing-up that I did last year.

Last year, I rather reluctantly tiptoed into the world of speech and debate.  This year, I realized that I'm in.

I'm all in.

How soon can we go to another tournament?  :)