Fall in the Mountains

We've had a break down in our family system of taking, saving, and storing photos of Myles...so probably most of the photos I post in the near future will come from our church photo-sharing. So here's Myles at Peace Camp last month, in music. Is he beautiful or what?

Mylestones: Since I last wrote, Myles has started his new preschool class. We absolutely love his new teacher! She bikes 200 miles/week (and has adult children, I don't know exactly how old she is) and has the energy to prove it. She's extroverted and fun, and I never have to worry whether Myles is being expected to sit still too much in class, because she doesn't sit still for long herself.

Myles also began soccer. He practices for a half hour on Mondays and games are held most Saturdays. This is his first time participating in an organized sport. We hope soccer will teach him to work as a member of a team not to mention serve as a good outlet for all his energy. 3 of his good buddies are on his team, and although he sat out the first game with a rare case of shyness, I think overall he's having fun and learning a lot. One boy on his team--who happens to be the shortest of all the players--scored nearly every goal this Saturday. He runs like a juggernaut down the field with the foot-eye coordination of a podiatrist and slide kicks the ball into the goal. It is amazing to see the wide spectrum of coordination between all the kids and how evident it appears. During the second practice of the season the coach had the team scrimmage. He gathered the kids into a group at center field and explained that the idea was to get the ball into the goal. He then unleashed them into chaos. Team one started with the ball and drove it past team two who stood frozen in center field while the other team went on to score a goal. The coach quickly gathered the kids together and said, "I forgot to tell you another important thing called defense."

When left to his own devices in the backyard, he can be found digging holes, filling them with water, and making full body mud masks for all his super-hero and playmobil figures. He also fancies submerging various toys in full cups of water and leaving them around the kitchen for mom and dad to find. Last week he made a home for a new caterpillar friend using a card board box full of driveway gravel and mulch from the plant beds. Of course the project took up all 20' of the front porch, which is so emblematic of wonderful son: The footprint of Myles personality and physical presence is five time as large as he is.

Tonight Seth helped Myles build a fort in his bedroom while I was at a church event. They draped sheets between the bed and dresser. Actually, it was more like a lair than a full fledged fort. They army crawled inside with a dozen books and read together until I got home.

Smokin' Seth: In a dramatic, long-awaited victory, Seth's Blue Ridge Relay team not only placed first this year (narrowly beating a Charlotte team by just minutes in a 208 mile race), they set the new record for the relay, running 5:53 minute-miles on average. Seth ran 17 miles total, in three legs, and his final leg gave his team the first lead of the race. The next weekend he agreed to be a pace-leader for the Asheville half marathon (pace 1:30), but forgot to pick up his jersey ahead of time, arrived to find his sign was missing and so didn't gather too much of a crowd for whom to set the pace. Maybe next time he should just race? Next big race: the 17 mile shut-in through the mountains of Pisgah forest, a trail race with 5,000 feet of climb. I'm sure it will be a blast.

All is well in the land of the sky, as fall descends we are enjoying cool breezes, falling leaves and the colors of the season. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.