This weekend seemed to have a lot to do with Wide Open Spaces -- The first wide open space was the dispersed, undeveloped campsite that James and the boys camped at. This weekend was supposed to be the annual Fathers and Sons campout. It was canceled due to cold, bad weather at the planned location, but some of the fathers decided to camp out closer to home on their own. James took Michael and Matthew and away they went. It was COLD! but they had fun. They shot a BB Gun, caught two fish, and taught Matthew how to go to the bathroom when your camping without facilities -- all very exciting! Unfortunately we don't have any pictures.
The second Wide Open Space was the Dixie Chicks song Katherine sang with her friends at their school's version of American Idol. The girls did great. Katherine started the song off with a solo. As she started to sing I heard a lady a couple of rows ahead of me turn to her friend and say, "Wow, she has a good voice!" They had a great time performing and it was a fun evening for the girls while the boys were away.
The next Wide Open Space was the sand pit at the end of the long jump. Katherine qualified to jump long jump in the District Track Meet for the fourth and fifth graders. Although she didn't place, it was a good experience for her and a good thing to get us up and going Saturday morning.
Next came Sarah's soccer game. The space was wide open and Sarah took advantage of it and scored a goal! She has done better at soccer than I could have imagined. She has made new friends and really plays hard and well. At the game Saturday she was being a little more aggressive than normal (which is great) and she said, "Today I'm being a soccer girl instead of a good luck thing." If you look at the faces of her teammates you can tell she isn't the most aggressive player, but she is right in there with them.
We then met James and the kids at Michael's soccer game. They had gotten home during Sarah's game and eaten and changed Michael into his soccer gear and gotten him to his game. He played exceptionally well and hard. I'm proud of him for giving it his best even when he's tired and cold. 
We then had a Wide Open Space of time where we got to regroup, unpack from camping, air out the tent and sleeping bags, change out of sports clothes, make three batches of jam before the berries went bad, and rest! I don't have pictures of the jam, but here's one of the pie from the week before.
After our rest and dinner, we headed for another Wide Open Space -- the baseball field. This week James and Michael started baseball practice. James helps coach Michael's team which is a great experience for both of them. You would think that Michael would have been exhausted, but he was wound up. Some boys were practicing batting and the rest of the team was playing positions in the field. Michael was at first base and was dancing all over singing "Hit me with your best shot." I have no idea who sings it or how he knows it. By the end we were all ready to hit him with our best shot, but he was paying close attention and playing well, so I didn't interfere as a mother from the sidelines.
All of these events left the younger kids killing lots of time in wide open spaces of their own. They were troopers!
Without having this post in mind at all, when today was a gorgeous Mother's Day, all I really wanted to do was get away into a wide open space where I could enjoy the earth, the weather, and my family. After church and dinner we drove twenty minutes away and did just that. It was the perfect thing to do to end the Wide Open Spaces weekend. I love being a mom and I love being with my family.
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