Dirt Bike Season/Race 10/The Maize

The Dirt Bike Season is almost over.  Well, for a few months anyway.  Last Saturday was a gorgeous day to be outside.  We had not seen the sun in so long.  It felt good.  To make the day even better, family and cousins were there and everyone had a great race.
Here's the breakdown:

Laurel and Landon raced first.

  Landon was racing like I had never seen him race before!  He got the hole shot and was out in front! This was Landon's first time getting the hole shot.  He is usually a little conservative on the start, but not this time.  He blasted off and we all went crazy.  There is a 9 year old boy, Noah, who has won all the races.  Landon did get passed by him during the race, but this time Landon was only 30 seconds behind Noah.  Usually Noah is so fast he ends up doing one lap more than all the other racers.  Landon was flying past us.  I literally almost screamed, "slow down!"  I had to bite my tongue and remember, he WAS racing! Landon came in 2nd place!

Laurel is trying to decide if she wants to race the next season.  She's not quite sure if this racing business is for her.  She amazes me how she gets out there and continues to try her best.  She is definitely getting faster.  She was in third, but had a wreck in the woods and couldn't get her bike started quick enough.  I love how she never quits.  She finally got the bike started and took off.  She came in 4th place!

Sawyer raced in the strider race against twelve other little kids.  He got to race against his two cousins, Luke and Alistair.  This was Alistair's first strider race.  He was really cute to watch.  Laurel helped Alistair during the race.  Sawyer came in 2nd place! Luke came in 4th place!

Seth redeemed himself from the last race.  He came in 1st place!  I really love that he is getting to race.  When we were first married, most of the races were on Sunday, so he didn't get to participate in racing.  Finally, a guy started up this Secca Series that is held on Saturdays.  It was a dream come true for Seth.  I remember him telling me a few years ago that his dream was to come in first place, in his class (Senior A)  and to be in the top 10 over all, which is out of about 130 racers.  Well, he has accomplished first place several times now.  There is only one more race left and Seth is now holding the number 10 spot!  Cross your fingers the next race goes well, and another dream will come true.

They may race against each other, but Laurel and Abbey have become good friends.

Alistair and Luke getting ready for the strider race.

A celebrity was even there!  We met Grayson Russell, who plays in Diary Of A Wimpy Kid!  He is the cousin of Abbey, one of the girls Laurel races against.

Love, Love this picture

Congratulating daddy on his first place win!

Love this picture too!  This was at the end of the day.  We were waiting on the trophy presentation for Seth.  Luke was tired and was pouting.  Sawyer went over to him to see if he was okay.

Wow, I think I took about 100 Pictures!
Race Day Is Fun!

The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway.....

Schools were closed again.  Alabama has some crazy weather!  One day, it is in the 60's, the next day, we are having temps in the low 20's and sleet is covering the deck.

We spent almost all day watching and laughing at home videos.  Seth has done such a good job of videoing life around here.  Although we did discover that there are not as many of Sawyer!  OOPS;(
Poor fourth child.

When the kids saw the deck covered in sleet, they wanted to go out and skate.  Well, everyone except for Savannah.  We hung inside and took pictures.

Spring, the Clayton's are so ready for you!

Kindness

Last week, Laurel was awarded the Character Leader of the Week, Kindness.  Each teacher picks one student from their class that they feel fits the character.

It makes my heart happy that Laurel was chosen for this trait.  Fifth grade is hard.  Girls can be so mean.  It makes me happy that she chooses to be kind.  

It made me proud when I received a call from a mom one afternoon, who I don't even know that well.  The first thing she blurts out when I say hello is, "give your precious girl a hug from me and tell her I said thank you for taking up for Taylor at recess!"  "That takes a lot of courage!"

Snow Day/Or Not!

School was cancelled yesterday because snow was in the forecast!  Us Alabamians don't want to be caught out on the roads ever again during a snow/ice storm!
We waited inside for the snow.  All we got was rain.  The snow was happening north of us.  Oh boy were there some disappointed kids in this house.  They played with play dough.  They made up dances.  They wrestled.  They whined.  I got aggravated.  Sawyer came to me and said, "put my hat on and my coat on and my rain boots on so I can go spash in the mud puddles!"  As he said this, he pointed to his head, his chest and his feet.  So I did.  They all went outside and played in the rain  for about 45 minutes, until they could stand the cold no longer.

I put this crew in the bed between 7:30 and 8:00 because by that time I'm done!
I looked out the window around 8:30 and it was snowing!  For a moment I thought about waking them to see the snow.  The house was so quiet and I remembered a saying, "don't ever wake a sleeping baby."

The End.

Valentine's Day/Surprise Laurel and Savannah!

After Luke's party, I blindfolded Laurel and Savannah and put them in the van!  They had no idea what I was up to!  It was so much fun surprising them.

I had the best time listening to them.  They were trying to figure out where in the world I was taking them.  We would stop and one would say, "I think we are going to turn to the right!"

They have been wanting to get their nails done at a "real" nail salon for a very long time.  Especially Laurel, as you can see from her expression!  Oh my goodness, that is a priceless face right there.  When they realized we were in front of the nail place, they screamed and tackled me and told me that I was the best mommy ever!  They kept saying over and over that this was the best Valentines they had ever had.  Then they realized we were meeting......

Ava and Lily!  The day got even better!

Laurel's face makes me laugh so hard!  She was about to die when he was filing her toes.  Laurel doesn't really like for anyone to touch her feet, so this was definitely stepping out of her comfort zone!  

Savannah's toes

I love surprises and I love to see these two, sweet Valentines so happy!

Laurel's last valentine box.  :(

Poor Savannah was sick the whole week, with the flu.  She missed out on all the Valentine festivities at school.

Valentine's Day/Luke's Monster Truck Party

We spent part of Valentines Day celebrating my nephew, Luke's 4th birthday!  We just love this little guy and we had so much fun watching his big, huge smiley face and listening to all the funny things he has to say!  Happy Birthday, Luke!

He loves MONSTER trucks!