"We Are Sparks to Light the World"

I woke up this morning too early, fell back asleep, then rolled over and looked at my clock after awhile and realized that 1) my alarm never went off and 2) it was only 15 minutes away from the time Kaylee and I were supposed to be on the road for her Awanas Sparks-A-Rama games which were being held 50 minutes away. I later looked, and the alarm was set properly, but I think someone bumped the volume knob all the way off. Nobody else was awake, so it's a very good thing I woke up early on my own. So I woke up Kaylee, threw some cereal at her, ran through the shower, took my makeup with me in the car, and we were on our way, on time.

We arrived just when we were supposed to, Kaylee got her red "Bible Baptist Sparks" shirt to wear, I found a seat in the stands, and the festivities began. There was a session of welcoming, announcements, and the local pastor got up and gave a short message about "running the race" and doing your best, while having good sportsmanship. In these games, kids who stomp their feet or show bad sportsmanship lose points for their teams, and unlike many sporting events, there is no 'trash talking' on the floor or in the stands by the parents. That doesn't make any team want to win any less, and the winner actually gets a trophy plaque, so it's not just a 'feel good' game, but you can be competitive and do your best with a little dignity at the same time, which is a little refreshing to see these days.

Kaylee's team kicked hiney. They beat the next closest team by 20 points and won almost every event. I ended up sitting in the section where most of an opposing team's parents were, the team that came in last place in fact, and there I am the only one cheering on "red" who is creaming everybody else. I didn't feel guilty, either. ;)

Kaylee did great. She got all the way around the circle without dropping the beanbag off of her head, didn't get hit with any balls during "dodge ball", didn't let balloons hit the floor on her shift, etc. As a second-grader, this is her last year as a "Spark" and the last year she'll do these "Sparks-A-Rama" games. She had a blast, and she did very well, and she got to win big, so she had a very nice morning.

On the way home we were both starving, so we stopped at Wendy's where we both tried out their new fish sandwich. Not bad.

Steve wasn't able to go with us because he needed to attend the funeral of one of the airport guys, Dave G., who passed away last week from aggressive cancer. Kaylee needed to keep her commitment to Sparks, and at least one of us needed to go to Dave's funeral, so we divided the duties. I of course took some photos of the games, which you can see on the bottom half of her "March 2009" page.

This is the perfect, gorgeous weekend. Temps almost up to 60 tomorrow, light winds, blue skies. I think it's making me crankier than the cold gray did, because I can't do anything with it. *sigh*