October 9 - Brotherly Love

Today was the last middle school cross country meet of the year, the league meet. I like to attend as many of my children's sporting events as possible, especially when dad can't be there.

Ralph and Theo had their therapy at Heartspring this afternoon, and Ruby always comes along. Since we were already on the other side of town, my plan was to stop at the meet before heading home. I had grandma coming over to care for the other kids after school.

We did a quick trip to Sam's Club for dog food and snacks before driving to the coliseum. When I opened the back of the van to load the dog food I saw, to my dismay, that the stroller was not there! Heavens! How could I take those three little kids to the meet without a stroller? Could they even walk that far?

Well, we managed. Theo wanted to sit and play in the grass...or the gravel...or the asphalt...wherever we were, he wanted to sit and lick it, grab it, or fiddle with it! I carried him a little way, but mostly I strenuously insisted that he walked, meaning that I was often holding him by one arm as he lifted his legs and refused to walk.

Thomas ran a great race today, a personal best by about 20 seconds! After the run, he shared snacks and drinks with the little ones.

Thomas knows how to keep Theo from dumping the whole water bottle on his head. 

And he knows when to put it away.

And he's not embarrassed to be hanging out with babies, eating animal crackers when his friends are watching. He is the kindest, and coolest 7th grade boy in the universe. Love these kids. Love my life!