Barbies, Blisters, and Back to SCHOOL

 

I love everything Barbie!  I was still quietly playing with Barbie dolls in my room during my middle school years as not embarrass myself.  The whole world of make believe was fascinating to me.  We had the mansions, the airplane, the camper, the pool, vacation house, the Ferrari - outfits, shoes, accessories.  I could sit in my room and play for hours.  Karson liked Barbie's okay but not nearly to the extent that I did.  When I saw the Barbie movie trailer, I got extra excited.  I mean who can play Barbie better than Margot Robbie.  She is perfect.  Ryan Gosling as Ken, that's a YES!

We ordered our Barbie shirts and fun sunglasses and made a girls day out of it.  I feel like the movie has gotten a lot of mixed reviews, but I enjoyed it.  It was exactly what I expected it to be - not anything spectacular but still entertaining. 

 

 

How in the world is the summer already over?!?  People always ask the traditional questions when summer break starts...are you all going anywhere?  do you all take a summer vacation?  For us, summer generally means golf season.  High school golf consumes much of the summer.  Since Matt has some time off, he gets to enjoy a few tournaments.  However, most of my work vacation days are spent traveling to and from high school golf tournaments.  It isn't a complaint, it's just how it is, and I wouldn't trade a minute of it because I've only got one more year after this one.

The start of the season was sort of a whirlwind.  Many of the tryout dates were cancelled due to rain/weather. In that one tryout round (which wasn't the greatest), Miles pulled out a top 5 spot. We had a kick off pool party at the Baer house before the start of the season.  Of course, the boys were not fond of a group picture, but we forced them.

 

 

First Eagle of the season Henderson Country Club

 It's been a roller coaster of a season for him.  There is lots of adversity in golf, and you have to learn to roll with the punches.

 

We got play a course close to Kentucky Dam Village so enjoyed a night at Patti's.  I knew we were going to eat there, so I'd taken Miles some nicer clothes. By nicer, not gym shorts and a t-shirt.  Since the restaurant requires reservations, I felt he needed to look a little more dressy.  He was bummed when everyone else was dressed more casual with NO button up shirts/shorts, hah.  

 

Karson got to join in some of the fun when we played in Shepherdsville.  It was overnight trip to Heritage Hill and AJ Jolly.  It worked out perfectly for her because she had to run up to Louisville and get some shots for compliance to start nursing.  It sort of snuck up on her so she was able to take care of it and get back to the course rather quickly.

She captured this gorgeous photo of Miles at AJ Jolly golf course on the practice green.  LOVE IT!!!

 

I think Miles enjoyed having her tag along.  He played some of his best rounds last week despite lots of early mornings and blister covered feet.  Golf can be grueling!

 

Ready for battle on the course and through the rain!!!

Back to work for me on Thursday and had to skip out on two more rounds - one at Kenny Perry where is was pouring down rain, but he managed to pull out five )5) birdies.  That course always seems to have his back.  The breaks work in his favor, and KP is always smiling on him, it seems.

My parents took him to the tournament in Christian County on Friday.  Again, pretty yucky weather, but the team did fairly well considering. I got to reunite with all of my work besties who returned to Sky after their summer break.  It always a treat catching up and seeing everyone.

While back to school hours are always a tough transition, for golfers, it almost seems like getting up "late."  We've had some mornings as early as 3:30/AM leave times.  Most tournaments range times start during the 6 o'clock morning hour.  He handled this morning beautifully and has a decent schedule (not the lunch he wanted).  This semester he'll take Driver's Ed and also picked up an online dual credit class which means he'll be able to leave school one block early.

This year, we'll have two Juniors and one Freshman.  Pray for us as we move Isaac into Eastern Kentucky University tomorrow.  Another Deaton bird is flying away......stay tuned.

 

Golf, Screws, Bloody Noses, and Awards

 Anyone who has a kid that plays competitive high school golf knows that after dead period, you literally hit the ground running.  For years before Miles joined the high school golf team, he played in a hand full of tournaments during the summer.  When Matt allowed him to join the team as an 8th grader, and he somehow managed to take the #5 spot on the Varsity team, I was FLOORED by the commitment.  Now, I simply roll with the punches.  It's coming...full swing ahead whether or not you are ready for it.  

 

Miles has been super committed to practicing, and it is paying off.  

He's played in multiple tournaments this summer and shot even at Park Mammoth yesterday which was exciting carding a 70 and the bronze medal.  The week before, he shot a 77 at Rolling Hills (which has always been his nemesis course for years) and tied for second. 

 

He won his first tournament this summer at Country Creek carding a 74.

 

It's always fun when SW teammates are competing in the same tournaments.

For fun he played in Franklin Country Clubs 4th of July scramble.  Our team was an absolute mess.  They managed to post 15 under par.  We took a photo on this hole (#6) because it was the team's only eagle of the day.  From L-R:  Dean, Miles, Moose, Kelvin, Donna, Matt, Beverly, and Mel.  Although they didn't win (or place), a great time was had by all.  We were also introduced (thanks to Dean) to Liquid IV Hydration packets which have literally become a game changer for Miles.  We've only tried Lemon-Lime and Strawberry.  Both are pretty good.  

His last summer tournament is tomorrow at Hopkinsville Country Club before high school tryouts begin on Saturday at Crosswinds.  Send some good vibes his way.

 

HIP HIP HOORAY UPDATES:

In July of last year, Karson went in for PAO surgery for hip dysplasia and a torn labrum.  Here we are one year (and one day) later.  It was a journey!  You can read about it here. Because she has such a small frame, the screws that held her new and improved hip together also cause her quite a bit of discomfort.  When this summer rolled around, she wanted to have them removed.  Monday was the DAY. We headed to Brentwood surgery center way to early and arrived about 45 minutes ahead of time.  Fortunately, there is a large Target next to the office where we killed some time.  She had to check in at 11:15, but her actual surgery wasn't scheduled until 2PM.  The surgery itself literally takes about 15 minutes.  Ugh.  She went back to pre-op fairly quickly so we were hopeful that the entire process might be fast.  She went to surgery around 1:30 and was back in the car by 3:30PM.  Prior to going back, they had asked her if she wanted her screws.  We asked if it would require more time being there and it did not, so she opted to keep them.  Ironically, when the nurse handed them to me in post-op, she told me good thing you requested these because they are worth a lot of money since they are made of some sort of titanium.  Score!  

We grabbed a quick bite a Panera because she was super hungry from having to fast since the night before.    

We got home from Nashville just in time for me to load up my car and head to a golf booster meeting at Paul Walker.  That was the end of the day, now let me tell you about the beginning....

Around two years ago, we noticed that Isaac was struggling with breathing a bit.  It progressively got worse to the point that he sounded like a vacuum when eating, listening to music, just in general.  We decided to take him in to our family physician Dr. Stiltner who told us that he had very swollen/enlarged turbinates and referred us to a local ENT.  Months later, we were able to get in to see Dr. Elbehar who told him that he had a deviated septum and a septoplasty would correct that.  The thing I liked about Dr. Elbehar is he wasn't pushy, just stated the facts and gave us the options if Isaac wanted to go that route.  We moved forward and scheduled the appointment for December 6 when he'd be home from college on break.  

Last Friday afternoon I got a call from Med Center that there was a cancellation and they could fit him in Monday (same day as Karson's surgery).  Ahhhhh!  Matt cancelled all his plans, and we both began our Monday at Med Center at 6AM.  He went back to pre-op and not long after, they called us back.  I had to take off around 8 and head home.  Matt stayed behind.  They gave him anesthesia around 9:15 and he was out of surgery by 10:30AM.  He's been a trooper although it's uncomfortable. 

 

He was able to start his saline rinse yesterday because his nose was so packed on Monday.  Hopefully, he will heal up quickly and be able to breathe better soon.  Our house currently looks like a Walgreen's with all the stuff.

Matt was officially South Warren High School's new principal on July 1.  We got his stuff moved over the week prior to get him ready for the transition.

Matt and principal Ben Frasier from Plano Elementary recently graduated from Truist Leadership Institute for School Principals through the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

 

The event took place in Lexington at Alltech.

This group was in Matt's cohort and the photo below was the entire class.  He truly enjoyed meeting all these leaders across the state of Kentucky.  What a valuable group of people!

A New Story Begins for the Three-Pack!

Oh what a weekend!  It was full of parties, celebrations and GRADUATION!  We officially have another high school graduate.  Isaac and his classmates did the ceremonial practice last Thursday (the last day of school) and visited their respective elementary schools that afternoon.

  

Isaac and the former Panther squad returned to the halls of Plano.  It's always exciting seeing your former teachers and walking the halls of the school where you spent SO much time as a child.

 

We're grateful for these early beginnings, friendships and memories made!

This has been my favorite wall to look at each morning before leaving the house.  It's full of some very special Seniors and exciting times ahead for them!
 

Our three kids being their silly selves!  Love them! Hello, hello, hello, helllooooo.....Hello!

Saturday was a whirlwind, and I quickly learned that I am not a fan of a noon graduation.  The ceremony was wonderful, and all of the speakers did a fantastic job.  I also thought the pace of the ceremony was nice.  

 

I love that Matt is part of the school and even more that he gets to hand Isaac his diploma.  Such a special thing!

 

370+ students/seniors and two hour is a long time to wait when you are STARVING.  I'm not sure any of us prepared properly for a "lunch" event.  In fact, WKU even had concessions going which was smart.  Matt, being part of the admin team, got a nice parking spot at WKU which was PACKED with people.

I did want to rally all of our troops out front for some quick family pictures.  This is never a simple task in a crowd that size.  To top it off, we were all super hungry!  You can sort of tell in the pics how hangry our senior was.  We got plenty of shots and took off fairly quickly for a nice late luncheon at Longhorn.  No wait seating was nice, and we devoured two loaves of bread quickly!

 

  

    

After a heavy late lunch, we all went home and crashed!  We need some rest to gear up for the twins graduation party at the Warehouse. We joke that my parents went from one to four grandkids which made the weekend extra special and exciting!  The three-pack graduated!

 

BGHS hosts their graduation on-site. It was a treat walking through the halls of the new school.  I'm sure being a student during the construction era hasn't been the the best experience.  However, many BG students are going to benefit from this beautiful, updated building in future years.  We're proud of Evan and Elizabeth who plan to further their education in Louisville.  I'm happy to know Karson will have her cousins there, and her brother close by.

Y'all say some prayers for Miles as he loses all four of his best friends this fall!  It will definitely be an adjustment for all of us!

Congratulations to the class of 2023!