weekend ramble (from morning Clemson adventure to evening fancy adventure)

This weekend was full of beautiful moments.

Otto was invited to join our friend Brent and his son on an adventure to Clemson University.

They got up super early (the rest of us resting luxuriously in our beds) and headed to the stadium.  I know less than nothing about college football.  However, I have somehow raised a son who thinks that football is fantastic and I am super grateful when other people can help feed that passion.  

Because as much as I adore my youngest son, I find it hard to continually answer the same stream of questioning.  “Mom, who is your favorite player?”  “Who is your favorite player on the Steelers?”  “Do you know who number 32 is?”  “Guess how many passes/touchdowns/somethings Antonio Brown has had.”

At the Clemson stadium (which is a big deal in South Carolina) the boys got to head on to the field, play games, run through some training exercises and listen to Coach Dabo talk about …. I don’t know …. football things.  Actually, I think he talked about fatherhood and relationships.  At any rate, it was a really special experience and Otto was delighted with the whole thing.

After the field activities, the boys got loaded up on snacks and watched the Clemson team (who just won some national big deal event) run through their practice.  Brent said Otto was equally stoked when he was allowed to order whatever he wanted – even TWO things at once.  (These are privileges rare for the sixth child in a family.)

That was the day’s (early) start.

In the evening, our family attended the Fifth Annual Raymond Awards.

The Raymond Awards are basically a youth group’s version of the Oscars.  

It’s an annual event put together by the youth group my big kids attend.  The students work individually or in teams or in some combination of both to create short films and movies.  

Everyone dresses up.  A red carpet is laid out.  The kids (the stars) enter on the red carpet and we parents and guests assemble around and flash all the lights we can as they walk the red carpet.  Fancy snacks are at tall tables, the shiny gold Raymonds wait on the table and the night proceeds like a miniature version of the popular Oscars.  

The leaders do a stellar job.  The kids are stoked to get dressed up.  They’re kind and supportive of one another and it’s really just a ridiculously fun time.  

We first have a viewing of all of the films and then the judging takes place.  After that the winners are announced and a people’s choice award is given too.

We spent half the afternoon getting hair and makeup done.  But for real.  Except the boys.  They did not.  Girls take a lot of time to do things.

A lot of time.

Thanks to the expertise of Lucy and Hannah, our hairs and our faces looked better than our normal versions – or at least shinier and smoother.  Actually – they really did a great job and if I could have either of them meet me every morning and fix me up, I’d do it.

Being a part of the evening, watching my teenagers interact with their friends, seeing all that hard work and fun on the big screen, watching them cheer one another on, was endearing and charming and all the best parts of this terribly hard imperfect parenting gig.

Berg didn’t submit any film, although he had a small role in acting in London’s.  I was really proud of the way the girls cheered for each other and were good sports about both the winning and the losing that happened throughout the evening.

It was fun to get dressed up.  To see my girls morph into adults before my eyes.  To let the big girls head off to the “after party” at Chick-fil-a.  To laugh with kids who are genuinely hilarious people creating hilarious content.  To see such a group of interesting and unique young people who aren’t perfect but are really heading in a good direction.

Also, I do not own one single pair of high heel shoes.  Or shoes that are not boots, Chacos or Chuck Taylors.  So I did this grown up thing and went to TJ Maxx and bought myself a pair of grown up shoes.  But first, I called my adult daughter and sent her a photo of said shoes and asked her if people were still wearing shoes like that and if they matched my dress.  A stranger in the aisle with me overheard my conversation.  Because I am who I am, I asked her to offer her opinion as well.  She was firm.  “Those shoes don’t match.  That’s just my opinion, but I think people don’t wear that type of shoe and that color of shoe with that dress.”

I thanked her for her opinion.  I thought about what she said.

Then I waited until she left the aisle, picked up the shoes and bought them.

Saturday was kind of a whirlwind day, from beginning to end.

But it was an all around happy sort of whirlwind.

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