Crouch's Conundrums

Double Digit Celebration!

Wow!  I blinked and both my boys are BIG boys!  Collin celebrated his double digit birthday at the end of April!  He decided he wanted a Game Day celebration, so we set off to come up with some fun and entertaining games for his guests.  I do believe that they had a great time!

They started off with the "Cookie Face Challenge" - his friend Coen was the only one to complete it and did it within 30 seconds!

After completing the game challenges, we took a break for cake and ice cream!

May is always a busy month around here with birthday celebrations and end of school activities.  Collin participated in a spring soccer league with practices two nights a week and games/tournaments on the weekends.  He really improved his soccer skills and enjoyed playing outdoor soccer again!  He was one of two players on his team that served as goalie this season - I think he liked it!  Tryouts for next fall are coming up this week - we wish him luck!

Once soccer was over, we quickly turned to end of year testing and wrapping up the school year.  Collin had a fantastic year and earned a few awards at his 4th Grade Awards Day.  We are so very proud of him, and can hardly believe he will be in 5th grade next year!!  Today was their last day of school, and he brought home an ALL A's report card AND a perfect attendance certificate!

Needless to say, both boys (and momma too) were more than ready for the last day of school today!  Cooper is officially an 8th grader (sniff, sniff) and looks to have finished his 7th grade year with ALL A's as well!  Now, to rest, relax, and enjoy summer vacation!

 

Spring is Here!

Wow, I blinked and spring is in full bloom around here!  That means birthday celebrations are in full gear too!  The boys are officially on Spring Break from school. We started off in style by celebrating Cooper's 13th birthday!  Yep, you read that correctly...13 years ago, we welcomed Cooper to the world!  We started the celebration with a birthday breakfast at IHOP, followed by a surprise birthday shopping trip.  (I apologize, I have not been able to get the portrait pictures to insert correctly.  I am hoping to figure out a correction soon.)

After breakfast, we headed to Quest Outdoors for Cooper to pick out his overnight hiking backpack...that's right, he and Andy are planning some backpack hiking adventures this summer.  

After a restful afternoon, we headed to dinner and a movie with a final stop for ice cream before ending the day!

Leading up to Spring Break, the boys have been busy at school learning new things each and every day.  In February, Collin earned a Blue Ribbon for his science fair project.

They both brought home All A's on their report cards at the end of February too :)  They are now preparing for the annual testing cycle in a few weeks.

At the end of February, the boys enjoyed a day off for an in-service day, so Andy loaded them up and headed to the Red River Gorge for some day hiking.  I wish I had gone with them!  They had a fun day and the views were beautiful.

Check back again soon for more birthday celebrations - we have one turning double digits soon!

Back to School...Say What?

It seems just like yesterday that I was posting the highlights from the end of their school year in May!  Boy, this summer was a busy one, and I had the best intentions to post more often, but that didn't happen as you know.

The first day of school was last Wednesday, August 10th, and I am happy to report that both boys had a fabulous Back to School experience!  Collin has a fun and enthusiastic teacher, and Collin has been excited every time he walks through the door the last three days.  They have a new STEM lab at his school this year, and he has a goal of trying out for the Quick Recall team.  Look at that 4th Grade smile :)

Cooper has had a great start as well!  His second leg of the bus route now has two buses, so he is super excited about that addition.  He has a full schedule, and seems to enjoy all of his teachers.  They have worked hard this summer preparing for some exciting learning activities for the 7th graders!  I wasn't able to capture the official first day picture, but I did convince him to pose for one during the "first week" to show off how tall he is now.  He has grown over 6 inches between last summer and this summer!  He has seven class periods instead of six this year, and his Social Studies class has iPads this year!  His class has already taken a virtual field trip their first week back!

Summer 2016 was full of activity for sure!  Cooper was only out of school about one week before heading to church camp at Country Lake in Southern Indiana.  He had a great week, and enjoyed meeting new friends from our new church home.  

Over Memorial Day weekend, we had our first family camping trip overnight in TENTS!  Yes, I even participated on this mini adventure.  We didn't go far, and we had some veteran campers with us that day/night to help cook the meals.  It was a fun evening, and Momma survived!

Cooper got up the next morning and made pancakes for everyone!

For two weeks in June, they vacationed with Mim and Pop in Mayfield!  They had many projects and enjoyed time visiting with family during their time there.  We all celebrated over a lovely dinner at Patti's with the family before we headed back to Louisville - thanks again Grandmama and Granddaddie!  It was a beautiful evening!

 

And, thanks again to Mim and Pop for another summer filled to the brim with fun memories!

 

While the boys were on vacation in West Kentucky, Andy and I were on vacation too!  We headed south with some goods friends for five days in Punta Cana.  It was a relaxing vacation by the pool with lots of reading time :)

 

 We enjoyed some good food while we were at the resort.  The picture above was right outside the Brazilian restaurant overlooking the beach.  We also enjoyed a meal at the Swedish Fondue restaurant on the property as well.

We returned to Louisville at the end of June.  Collin enjoyed two weeks of Zoo Camp at the Louisville Zoo while Cooper enjoyed a week of soccer camp.  Cooper then headed back to Mayfield for a couple of weeks to practice his wood working skills with Pop.  While he was away, Collin attended his first church camp!  He attended the same camp location as Cooper did back in June.  He was assigned to the same cabin and room number too!  

On the last day, I arrive to pick him up along with two of his buddies.  I was able to locate all of their luggage, as I walked through the luggage area one last time, a pile of shoes caught my eye at the end of the row.  That neon green and gray tennis show sure does look familiar...oh, wait...I think it is Collin's!  But, wait, there is one tennis shoe and one flip flop.  That can mean that (1) Collin is currently wearing one of each, or (2) he is barefoot...

Oh, it was one of each!!  But, he was all smiles, and truly had a wonderful experience at church camp.

That same week, we headed back to Mayfield to say good bye to our sweet Granny.  It was a sad time for the entire family, but so much hope for we know that she is celebrating in the arms of Jesus!  She brightened every room with her smile and kindness, and she was one of the strongest prayer warriors I have ever met.  We are truly blessed to have been touched by her love and grace.

We pray that everyone has a safe start to the new school year.  We have been trying to enjoy some family time kayaking, bike riding, and fishing before the official end of summer.  Check back soon for more pictures!  We have a family camping trip coming up at LBL, so we are getting very excited!
 

It's A Wrap!

School is OUT and Summer has officially begun around our house!  I blinked and their school year has come to a close.  I am so proud of these two!  They both finished the year strong with ALL A's across the board! 

Collin's 3rd Grade class celebrated the end of the year with a Poetry Cafe - his poem was titled, "Hot & Cold".  They also had several field trips in May.  Andy got to chaperone the one to the Falls of Ohio, and I chaperoned the Downtown Scavenger hunt.  We had a great time with Collin and his friends at school.

We ended the scavenger hunt on the Belvedere overlooking the Ohio River.  It was the only day that week it didn't rain!  We were thankful for the beautiful sunshine that day!

AND...Collin earned the "MATHLETE" award from his fellow classmates this year.  He was so excited!  He has rocked his multiplication tables this year and has done very well in Math.  He says that math is his favorite subject.  He definitely gets that from his daddy...

Cooper had a busy spring semester too!  He tried out for the middle school Flag Football team in April!  He really enjoyed it.  It was a short season, but I was able to capture a few pictures :)

Cooper is #12 - Go Golden Eagles!

He also rocked out the Spring Concert in early May!  Playing the trumpet just like his Daddy :)  He also earned ALL A's in his classes!  Such a big accomplishment for his first year in middle school.  He earned the "The Mr. Goodbar" award.  :)

The boys were pumped for their first day of summer break, so we filled it to the brim!  After a relaxing morning sleeping in, we headed to the Main Event for some bowling and gravity ropes!  We had a great time, and I am excited to say that Momma was the top bowler yesterday!  lol

Collin was also brave enough to try the gravity rope course!  No fear...

To end the day, Cooper had a school friend over to go kayaking and fishing down Floyd's Fork in the Parklands.  It was a lovely evening!  I didn't get to capture many pics, but Cooper caught 11 fish including a large catfish at the very end!  He was pumped!  That definitely calls for ice cream and staying up late playing nerf gun wars!

We pray everyone has a fun and safe summer!  

Memory Lane

Boy - it has been WAY TOO LONG since I last posted to the blog!  I fully intended to post about a month ago, and then both of my boys decided to have birthdays.  He he  Oh, and Spring Break happened somewhere in there too!  

I believe I last posted at the end of October...YIKES!  We did have the holidays, and were blessed to be able to spend them alongside family and friends.  It was bittersweet for me, as this was the first round of holidays without my beautiful mother.  But, we celebrated Christmas "Nana" style complete with stockings and her famous breakfast casserole :)

We did start the year off with some snow, and we enjoyed sledding as a family (and with friends) in January at a local park!  We bundled up and "headed for the slopes".  Daddy even joined in on the fun!

In February, we celebrated several birthdays, including mine!  The boys even dressed up to take me to a nice dinner out!

Andy had a few events planned for that week including a night of painting at a lovely art studio in Jeffersonville!  He EVEN painted something for me too!

In March, we traveled to Bowling Green for Collin's first karate tournament!  There were a few times that you could find me biting my nails, but I was very proud of Collin for finishing in three areas that day!  Go Collin!  

The first picture is Collin "grappling" also known as wrestling.  This was the most nervous I have felt in a very long time.  Collin was up against another student who solely focuses on wrestling whereas Collin's studio teaches martial arts.  But, he did survive and finished without any broken limbs or tears!

This picture below was his Sparring session - he did awesome!

He finished the afternoon with weapons and showed off his nunchucks routine.

Before Easter weekend, we celebrated Cooper's birthday a couple of weeks early...he was excited to celebrate with his new friends from middle school over a game of paintball.  For Real?!?  Ok, here goes!  I am still having a hard time that Cooper is now 12 years old!  Time truly flies by when you are having fun with these two!

They all had a good time, despite some warrior wounds from the afternoon!

We then traveled to Mayfield to celebrate Easter weekend with family.  

Following Easter weekend, we loaded up the van and traveled to Gatlinburg for Spring Break.  We vacationed with Aunt Lolo, Uncle Clay, and Cousin Lila, and we all had a blast!  It was truly a fun and adventurous week.  The big boys tried their hand at fly fishing in the Smoky Mountain National Park for a couple of days.  It was fun watching them "gear up" for the outing!

Pardon the side view picture...

We also went on some hiking trails and saw some breath taking waterfalls!

We also enjoyed some shopping in downtown Gatlinburg...you cannot walk the strip in Gatlinburg without having a corndog!  And, Collin decided he MUST have a souvenir!

We ended the week with a trail ride at the Big Rock Dude Ranch!  Momma was a bit nervous to get up on the horse, but I did wear a helmet just in case!  

At the end of April, we celebrated Collin's 9th birthday!  The boys jumped to their heart's content at the "House of Boom"...unfortunately, we did not escape injury that day.  Cooper ended up with an ankle sprain, but we are happy to report that it has healed nicely.

And, his favorite birthday present has been his Batman Snuggie...yep, you read that correctly!

We are quickly approaching the end of the school year for the boys.  I am happy to report that Cooper has survived his first year in middle school...I should correct that to say that I have survived his first year in middle school!  They have both had another outstanding year in school.  We are extremely proud of all of their accomplishments!

Stay tuned for more updates, and I will try much harder to post sooner next time!

 

 

 

BOO-rific Updates!!

Whew!  Sorry for the long lapse between updates...it has been a bit crazy around our household lately.  And, when we have a few minute of downtime, Momma has been resting between budget season, campaign season in Jeff, and after school activities!

Since our last update, Collin successfully completed his Yellow Junior Belt test at the end of September!  Woo hoo!  He is definitely getting taller these days.

First report cards came home for our middle schooler in early October!  We are very excited to report ALL A's for Cooper!  He is having a great start to middle school despite the very early morning schedules.  He has been participating every week on the A@S Quick Recall team, and enjoying the matches.  He has also taken up a new sport...trap shooting!  He has been enjoying the beautiful Sunday afternoons shooting clays with new friends.

 

Cooper has recently been nominated and elected to the newly formed Student Council at his school!  They are hosting spirit week at school this week.  Collin is gearing up for Book Character Day at his school on Friday.  He is playing the role of George Brown the Class Clown.  I think he will be fabulous as that character! The elementary school report cards come home next week, and Collin has been doing an outstanding job in school.  He has mastered many of his multiplication tables thus far, and has some lofty reading goals set for this year.  Go Collin!

It is hard to believe that October is quickly coming to a close.  We are looking forward to spending time with family in the coming weeks as we celebrate the holidays.  We will see you soon!

Fabulous Fall

It is already feeling like fall this weekend!  Cooler temperatures and colorful leaves have arrived!  I am happy to report that the first five weeks of school have gone very well!  It is hard to believe that the first grading period is coming to an end!

Both boys had Open House on the same night/same time, so we only made it to one...Collin was very excited to show off his classroom and his self portrait!

Yes, you might notice that very dark circle around his eye...welllll, Collin decided to run into a pole on the playground over Labor Day weekend.  Yep, he was chasing friends and was not focused on the horizontal pole in front of him, hitting his eye smack in the middle of the pole landing flat on his back!  Yikes!  Thankful for friends with ice packs so that we could apply cold compresses immediately.  And, a trip to the eye doctor on Tuesday reported no visible damage to the eye and it is healing nicely...

On a lighter note, Collin moved up to the Junior Karate class and will hopefully be eligible to test for his next belt at the end of the month!  We will keep you posted on this event :)

Cooper has been practicing with the middle school Quick Recall team two days a week after school, and attended the Robotics club last week!  He is very excited about the project that the club will be working on this semester!

I also wanted to share my boys in action at a weekly pancake breakfast that a local church hosts every Saturday morning.  They served with happy hearts and were very eager to help out this morning alongside sweet friends.  We are blessed to be able to serve and fellowship with such a sweet church congregation.

We pray that everyone has a lovely and relaxing fall season!  

 

First Day Jitters!

Well, I am happy to report that the AC Crouch household survived the first three days of school this past week!!  I think Momma won with the highest scale of "First Day Jitters"!!  Lots of new changes in the school routine this year!  Cooper is now a middle schooler and rides the bus to and from school each day.  He also gets to wake up at 5:30 a.m.  And, so does Momma.

Cooper seemed to be very excited the first day of school and maneuvered the bus depot and afternoon bus stop without any issues!  Here are a few pics from his early morning:

 

 

 

What is the first day of school without a quick game of ping pong??  Yes, Collin was so excited about Cooper riding the bus that he "woke" up at 5:30 a.m. too!  

Collin had a fabulous first day of Third Grade!  I did manage to capture a few outside pics since the sun was out!

We hope everyone has a great start the fall season!  Check back soon for more school updates.  Cooper is in the middle school band this year and has band as a class each day.  He is also wanting to try out for the archery team in the fall and soccer team in the spring!  Collin is interested in playing soccer too, so we may have to squeeze in a Winter session since they have been escaping to Floyds Fork for some fishing on their free time the past few weeks!

 

May Memories

The month of May was one of joy, laughter, tears, heartbreak, and blessings.

On the very first day of May, we celebrated Collin's 8th birthday!!  It is still hard for me to believe my little guy is eight years old...he truly is growing up way too fast!

Special thanks to Mim and Aunt Lolo for a fabulous birthday cake...it was the center piece of the party!

What is a birthday party without arcade games, laser tag, and miniature golf?!?  I may have to rethink mini golf with 8 boys...too many putters swinging all at once!  

After celebrating Collin's birthday, I did travel to West Kentucky to spend what was my sweet Mother's last few weeks of life as we know it here on earth.  I am ever so grateful for all of the love, support, and prayers from all of our family and friends during this time.  It was bittersweet being with her, and one of the hardest things I have ever had to experience.  Although my heart has shattered into a million pieces, I know she is rejoicing with our sweet Jesus and no longer in any physical pain.  

Upon returning to Louisville, we were in full end of year school mode!  Testing was underway, end of year projects, and gearing up for Awards and Graduation Day!  

After completing a long round of KPREP testing, Cooper participated in his school's Orchestra and Band performance at the end of May.  This was his first year playing in the band, and he followed his Daddy's footsteps and chose the trumpet.  The Farmer students played several short pieces, and Cooper even had a solo!  We also enjoyed listening to the Ramsey Middle School Orchestra and Band perform.  

He did manage a grin during their practice session :)  I *might* drive him a little crazy with all my picture taking, but I love capturing all of these memories and scrapbooking them!

Next up - FINAL week of school!  Collin enjoyed his Second Grade Awards Day and received several awards to include the Leadership Award and the Science Scholar Award!  Go Collin!  And, he ended the year with all A's and O's (Outstanding in Special Areas).

 

We wrapped up the last two days of school celebrating Cooper's 5th Grade Graduation (sniff, sniff).  Yes, you read that correctly...he is officially a middle schooler!!

Drum roll please....

Cooper even had an opportunity to speak during graduation.  Several students spoke as part of their presentation of their Class Gift to the school.  They had fundraisers during the year to purchase a class gift and they worked very hard and even had a partial sponsorship to purchase a Gallopalooza statue.  The class named it "Unbridled Possibilities".  It was fabulous!

The dragon on the front is the Farmer mascot, J.E.F. the Dragon!

We are incredibly proud of these two young men, and we are blessed beyond measure to be their parents. We are thankful to all of the teachers and staff at Farmer for another fantastic school year!

As you can see, the boys have kept us very busy!  They have just wrapped up their first full week of summer vacation at an outdoor summer camp at The Parklands.  They have had an awesome time!  They have been to creek walks, on multiple hikes, and even enjoyed an afternoon in the splash park!

Have a safe and happy June!

 

Spring Break!!

We have definitely had a fun-filled start to the month of April!  Before heading south for Spring Break week, we were able to attend a wedding to celebrate a very special couple.  My boys got all spiffed up for Mrs. Kassie! Check them out!

After the wedding festivities, the boys and I packed the van and started our trek to Florida for Spring Break! We drove half-way the first afternoon/night, and had a long, but smooth trip on Easter Sunday.  The boys were not in the park a full hour and had already made friends with Mr. Roger who showed them all around the campground!  They had a full list on Sunday night of all the things they wanted to do during their stay.

It was a fabulous week, and the weather was perfect!  On Monday morning, Collin was up early with Pop to rent bicycles for the week. :)  After checking out the park and swimming all day, we enjoyed roasting hot dogs and marshmallows with Mim and Pop's neighbors!

On Tuesday, Mim and Pop took the boys to the South Jetty and finished the day with more swimming :).  With Mim's help, Collin was floating on his back and swimming the length of the pool by the end of the week!

On the way back to our hotel that night, we came across a small gator who decided to "camp out" in the middle of the road!  The boys thought that was so cool since Mr. Roger just showed them an alligator that lives in the river at the back of the Rambler's Rest park.

On Wednesday, we headed to Venice Beach for the day...well, for part of the day.  There happens to be one in our family that cannot stand the sand...I will let you guess who!

We did manage to spend a few hours at the beach...another beautiful day and a light breeze off the ocean. What is a day at the beach without ice cream?!?  So, on the way back to RR, we stopped in Nokomis at the infamous Orange Grove!

On Thursday, we headed to Sarasota for the day!  Momma has never visited Sarasota, and I have heard so much about it!  Before the road trip, Pop and Collin brought back donuts to start our day!  Wow!

Apple Fritter for Cooper and chocolate donuts for Collin :)

First stop was the Mote Aquarium!  It was a nice stroll through the aquarium and we enjoyed all the jellyfish, seahorses, sting rays, sea turtles, and manatees!  We then had a fabulous lunch at the Columbian House in St. Armand's Circle.  Of course, we had to end the day at at the pool!

On Friday, the boys decided to stay at the campground and enjoy some of the activities!  They started the morning out with pickleball...I think they wore Mim out that morning :)  After a bite of lunch, we headed to the pool for the rest of the day!  What is a pool day without cool treats?!

We truly had a fun-filled week!  On Saturday morning, Mim made us homemade waffles before we got back on the road to head back!  Thanks again Mim and Pop!