Catch up

Two days after Tyler turned 6, I loaded the kids into the van and we were off to Ohio. Grandma rode with us to Charleston where we parted ways, she to Columbus, us to Cincinnati. After 11 hours of travel we finally pulled into my dad's driveway. Ah the kids were so ready to get out of the car and run! They were amazing travelers! We had a great time seeing all our cousins and Papaw. We had a huge cook out ( 9 children!) and even got to go to a really cool pool with a huge diving board and twisty slides. The life guards were a bit nervous to see Dylan standing on the edge of the diving board, but he did great! We made a stop at my grandparents house in Columbus where we enjoyed some very yummy meat loaf before heading to Cleveland the next morning.
The Charlotte Eagles were in Cleveland to do a soccer clinic and play a game that evening. It was fun for the boys to see the Eagles on the road. We were excited to see Daddy and to get to have some great time with some friends. The boys loved going to a soccer clinic in another state and still having all their favorite coaches! Miss Ava was a champ and took little naps here and there on the road. She perfected her car seat dance and discovered a greater love for books.







We got back from Ohio and seemed to arrive to a whirl wind of a week! Dustin was officiating a wedding that weekend as well as playing in a soccer game! It was a great time as the Eagles clinched 1st place in the league and a sweet time celebrating Rob and Jessie as they took their wedding vows. It was amazing watching my sweet husband officiate the wedding of someone he is so close to. I must say he was the hottest "minster" I have ever seen!
Dustin and I rushed home from the wedding to grab the kiddos and take them hiking up Kings mountain! We had a great time on our first family hike! The boys did amazingly well on a 3. 4 mile hike that was so incredibly rocky, windy, and uphill. Ava enjoyed her ride in the Moby wrap and ended up falling asleep. When we finally made it to the top, the boys said they wished the mountain was a diving board and the view was a pool. The thought of that just made me want to throw up! On the way down, Dylan feel 10 times and screamed bloody murder every time! Ah the joys of no nap and an exhausted 2 year old. We made it up and down in just 2 hours! I was excited for early bedtime for the kids and myself. I can't remember the last time I went to sleep at 8:15!
I can't believe the summer is coming to a close! It has gone so fast! The Eagles have just 2 more games of the season. The marathon is 8 weeks away. The boys will start their soccer season in the next few weeks, women's Bible study will start up and we will start the "other, off season " life. Will you pray for us as we transition into a new schedule?!

Calling All Super Hereos!

I sit here amazed that my 'baby' is 6!! WOW, 6! He woke up this morning certain that he had grown an inch! It was one of the cutest things as his face was just glowing. He could not wait for 3 o'

clock to roll around and all his "super hero" friends roll in. So fun as Daddy was in charge of the party and had some seriously good games fighting bad guys and looking for Green Lantern rings.

Ty is such a delight! He is a sweet little guy that loves that he is "the leader", the biggest brother that gets to help lead, protect, and love all his younger sibs. He is such a little lover and loves to please. We are so blessed to have him in our family. We are excited to see what this next year holds for him!

"A milk baby"

A suprise delivery

Sound asleep after a long day.....I ran 13 miles at 5:30 in the morning, Dustin scored two goals in his match against Wilmington, and of course we have four kids! We collapsed into bed exhausted only to be awakened by little sounds. Our sweet cat, Grace, hugely pregnant, delivered her litter on our bed! I just laughed in disbelief as I woke up to the little mewing sounds of little kittens at 3:30 AM! Dustin looked on line to see if we could move her as I just watched her deliver #3 in complete silence. Dustin just looked at Grace and said, "you aren't the only one to deliver in this bed!" Too funny!

Dylan can swim!!

Shark Fishing!

Ava loves her cake

Happy One Year Ava Joy!

Yup, Again!

How I LOVE Davie Park! This is the 2nd time Ty has fallen off the monkey bars and broke his arm! As soon as he landed, he knew that it was broken and just screamed, "mommy, I broke it, I broke my arm!" Well he would know!! I calmly leave the park with all four kids in tow,(Daddy of course was on the road) and head to the house to feed them lunch and put the two little ones down for a nap before seeing our favorite Dr George! Ty got to pick a color this time as we got water proof casts! Yes, casts, yes Bryce has one too! Bryce was so upset that he is the only one that has not ever broken a bone that he actually tried to break it by hitting against anything hard! So when Bryce asked Dr. George if he could have one too, we said yes! He was so excited. He has had it on for 9 days without much complaint! Such a silly boy. You should see the looks I get when we are out. People whisper (LOUDLY), surely that can't happen. I look and explain one is really broken and one is a sympathy cast. Oh the stares I get!

Week of Champions

We were so blessed to be able to go to Hilton Head for the Week of Champions again this year. We had a great time sharing a 3 bedroom place with 13 people, 7 of which were children 5 and under! It was great fun watching all 3 boys learn to swim without the life jackets!!! Ava actually liked the water this time and loved to splash around and drink all the water she could. The two big boys and Daddy went with "Captain Bill" one morning out on the boat and caught SHARKS! They LOVED it. One day we had to exit the water as hundreds and hundreds of sting ray swam right by the shore. It was wild! Ava girl loved eating the sand and the boys enjoyed surfing the waves. Daddy enjoyed all you can eat crab legs, while I enjoyed a sweet game of signs! It was a great week of relaxing, trying new things, and wild and crazy fun!

CAROWINDS water park

Dustin and I took the boys to Carowinds water park one hot afternoon. It was such a fun time running from slide to slide and swimming in the huge wave pool!

The Cash Family Farm

We got to spend an amazing week with the Cash family at their family farm! We had a blast swimming in the lake, learning to kayak, fishing, and floating about on tubes. It was such a treat to spend time with Chip and Em and their sweet children. The boys loved jumping from the dock and doing silly jumps. Ty loved loved kayaking, and Bryce really enjoyed fishing. Ava girl did great just hanging out and being thoroughly content and entertained by her brothers.

Screams, Trees, and Skate Boards!

Ava girl LOVES to scream! It is so funny to see the differences between a boy and a girl so early! She screams when she is excited, frustrated, wants something, or needs attention. It is cute and annoying all at the same time. Here she is screaming with delight because she LOVES getting her picture taken! She is cruising around things so well and has even taken a chance and let go to stand alone! She is bound to be walking in just a few short weeks! Not sure that my heart can handle it. My BABY completely mobile!

Dylan......well Dylan started out as my sweet, easy going, laid back 3rd child! Now.....I don't think there are enough words to describe him! He is such a delightful child MOST of the time, but there are days where Dust and I just look at each other with utter despair! Here he is filling up the pool on Memorial Day.....that and threatening to spray anyone or anything that gets in his way! Then we see Dylan in Ava's dress! He is so OCD about his clothes. He has to pick them out or else the world will fall apart! He has his favorite.....Power Ranger PJs, Buzz Light Year PJs, Team Kenya kit, and now Ava's little blue dress! Are you kidding me! He is a riot!

Daddy and Chip Cash are building the boys a tree house!! Not just a simple little tree house, but a mansion tree house! Seriously it is big time! Perfect for the boys to camp out in some day, complete with a zip line! They have the floor down...next come the walls!!

The boys have been saving up their allowance to buy skate boards! So today we made our way to Target to get them! They walked out with skate boards, and LOTS of pads!!! They were so stinkin cute trying to figure out just how in the world one uses a skate board. Here is a video of their first attempts!

Smokin Hot!!

Atleast once a month at dinner time, we go around the table to share what we love most about each other. It is very sweet to hear the boys say sweet things about each other. Tuesday night was beautiful and we were eating outside. We started with everyone telling something that they love about Mommy. So fun! Well it got to Mommy telling something that I love about Daddy. So the rest of the time goes like this.......

Mommy: " I love that Daddy is so smokin HOT"
Boys: BELLY LAUGHING!!!
Bryce: gets out of his chair and goes to Daddy and touches him and says "Ouch, Daddy is so HOT!"
Everyone is again belly laughing!!

Then it is time to tell things about Bryce......
Dylan:" I love that Bryce is so smokin hot!"
giggles
Bryce: "Hey Daddy, can I tell something that I love about Bryce?"
Bryce:"I love that I am the fastest and best soccer player on my team!"

I love this game! It is so fun to hear the sweet things the boys really love about each other and about us! Dylan said he loved that I was pretty, such a sweet boy.......

Not just a pretty face

"You Ain't Gonna Paint No More!"

So what started out as the boys painting sweet pictures for a friend, ended up as three naked boys completely covered in paint! Oh my what a sight and what a mess my shower was!!!! Got to LOVE boys and the things they think to do!

"This Life is Amazing" by Charlotte observer

'THIS LIFE IS AMAZING'
Soccer built on a mission
Eagles' Swinehart finds world humbling
DAVID SCOTT

Dustin Swinehart plays for the unbeaten Eagles (4-0) in the United Soccer Leagues Division II. He's the franchise's career scoring leader, has scored in each of the Eagles' games this season. His team will face the Harrisburg (Pa.) City Islanders at 8 p.m. today at Charlotte Christian. In Dustin Swinehart's 11 years as a high-scoring striker for the Charlotte Eagles, he has journeyed to Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos and Haiti on offseason missionary trips.
"We go to some of the hardest places in the world," Swinehart said. "It's truly humbling. Whatever we can do to help, we do. Sometimes, we play against a team that has no shoes. I'll think, `Hey, after the game, I'm going to give them my shoes.'
"And if we play on a field that's mostly dirt and rocks, well, I know we can play on anything here and it won't bother us."
That perspective has helped Swinehart and the Eagles on the field, where -- thanks to the seven goals he's already scored -- they are off to a 4-0 start in the United Soccer Leagues' Division II.
Despite having one of the league's lowest payrolls and no stadium to call their own (although they hope a proposed soccer complex in Matthews will include one), the Eagles are perennial USL-2 contenders.
"Some people like to go through life with the wind at their backs," said Swinehart, whose Eagles face the Harrisburg (Pa.) City Islanders tonight at 8 at Charlotte Christian. "I'd rather play going against the wind."
Swinehart, the franchise's career scoring leader (111 goals), has scored in each of the Eagles' games, including a four-goal outburst in a 6-0 victory against Bermuda.
Does he remember ever scoring goals at such a rapid-fire rate?
"Not since U-8s (youth soccer)," Swinehart, 33, said with a laugh.
The Eagles are not a typical pro sports franchise (players must be committed to the team's Christian mission) and Swinehart is not an average pro athlete.
He lives with his wife Betty in a sizeable house in south Charlotte, their hands more than full with four small kids -- Tyler, 5; Bryce, 4; Dylan, 2; and Ava, 10 months. Their expansive, wooded front yard is marked by a rope swing hanging from a huge tree and an Ohio State flag at the front door (more on that later).
The equally large backyard has everything necessary for the children -- mini-soccer goals, a wooden swing set, a plastic slide, toy trucks and balls of all kinds.
Swinehart is every bit the suburban husband and dad, feeding baby Ava blueberries while talking about accompanying Dylan to "Gopher Buddies," a youth program at a nearby Calvary Church.
"This life is amazing," Swinehart said. "It's all I could have ever dreamed of, plus."
With blue eyes and shaggy hair so blond it's nearly white, Swinehart would look at home on a surfboard in southern California. Actually, he grew up in Columbus, Ohio, dreaming of playing defensive back for Ohio State.
The closest he came to that was selling soft drinks at Buckeyes football and basketball games in high school. But he was a natural athlete, playing five sports -- soccer, basketball, baseball, golf and soccer -- as a kid.
"I wanted to be a pro athlete," Swinehart said. "I just didn't know what that looked like."
He earned a scholarship to Miami (Ohio), where he was the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year and a three-time all-league performer. A broken leg shortened his senior season in 1996, ending his chances of playing Major League Soccer.
Swinehart eventually ended up with the Eagles, and he's bounced around different levels of soccer's minor leagues with them ever since.
So think of Swinehart, who said he turned down an offer from MLS' Colorado Rapids in 2002, as soccer's Crash Davis, the catcher in "Bull Durham," whose career was spent playing -- and excelling -- in baseball's minors.
"He's crafty," said Eagles defender Brady Bryant, a former opponent when he played for the Wilmington Hammerheads. "If you leave him alone for one second, he'll put it away.
"He's going to find a way to score."
David Scott: 704-358-5889

Dustin Swinehart
TEAM: Charlotte Eagles
POSITION: Striker
AGE: 33
COLLEGE: Miami (Ohio)
NICKNAME: "Whitey," because of his extremely blond hair.
STATS: Seven goals and two assists in four games this season; 111 goals in 10-plus seasons with the Eagles. ... He played on championship teams in 2000 and '05.
Hidden talent: Swinehart has a flair for music. He plays his guitar at church and for his teammates. He once wrote a song about a pair of quarreling teammates called "Two Grumpy Old Men."

May Madness

Chicago here we come!!

Well the rumor is true......I AM RUNNING ANOTHER MARATHON! Yes I said that I would never run another full one again, but that was 7 years ago, before I had 4 children, been married 8 years, and realized there are worse things than not being able to walk up the stairs for a couple of days!! Really I am excited because I will be training with some of my closest friends! I am sure with all the great conversations those 20 mile runs will just fly by!

One small catch....because we all decided to run so late, the marathon was full, so in order to run , we get to join a team! WORLD VISION! What a great team to be a part of! I have to raise $900.00 to be a part of the team. They are a Christian ministry that supports Africa. To learn out more please go to my world vision , Chicago marathon website. You can see a bit more of what World Vision is about and learn how you can sponsor me to run at:

http://www.firstgiving.com/bettyswinehart

Please take the time to check this out, I really need your help!!!!!!! Thanks so much!

Tag, I'm It!

I’ve been tagged! I’m it! My friend Amanda has tagged me to list the Top Ten Things I Love About My Husband. How fun!

Rules:
1) Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules.
2) List the top ten things you love about your husband.
3) Tag 4 people and link to their blogs at the end of your post.
4) Let the people know they are tagged by leaving them a comment on their blogs.

So, without further ado...

Top Ten Things I Love About My Husband

1) He loves Jesus!
2) He loves to teach our children about the love of Jesus and to teach them to be Mighty Men of God.
3)He loves me like no one in my life ever has.....unconditionally and completely, to the best that he humanly can. He is amazing at this!
4)He believes the best in people. Even if they hurt him or say hurtful things, he tries to see the best in that person and the situation!
5) He is so HOT! Seriously, he has buns of steel!
6) He is a man of his word. He is honest, vulnerable, real, and humble.
7) He really works hard to help me in the everyday tasks...laundry, cleaning the floors, taking the kiddos out so I can have a break....a great servant
8) He can make some serious french toast and eggs!
9) He is great at giving sweet meaningful gifts. He really listens and knows what I want and works hard to get that. Such a romantic!
10) He is an amazing father! Our boys love him to death and are so blessed to have such a great Daddy!

Ok.....so Megan, Katie J, Devon, and Kari.......you are it! Happy blogging. (their blog links are on the side panel.)