Competition . . .

To get ready for this past weekend I'd been collecting these dress clothes for the boys over the past few months.  I found them at consignment stores and Value Village.  Two of the boys had jackets from last year but the Professor had grown so much he needed a bigger one and I needed an assortment of dress shirts in various sizes because I'm never sure when a boy is going to grow an inch overnight.
The boys have been part of a Christian Homeschool Speech Club this school year and this past weekend was their first time at a tournament.  We were gone 4 days in Olympia and it was exciting and tiring.  You would think I would have taken a bunch of pictures but I didn't.  I managed to take this one on the last day.

Here, the Architect is getting ready to deliver his 4 minute speech on Football for the 3rd and final time in the junior competition.  Josh and I were able to sit in on this one and we were super proud of his delivery.   This was the culmination of 5 months of work in speech club.
The Professor participated and competed in the 12-18 year old group which was much more serious and intense.  By his 3rd and final 8 minute speech on collecting, he had found his groove and was receiving good marks and feedback from the judges.
It was an intense time for me and that's probably why I didn't get a single photo until we started the drive home.

The drive was rainy and windy but we made it in 4 hours.

Today, the boys were able to read the judge ballots from the 3 rounds of speeches.  They took the constructive praise and criticism very well.  This extra curricular club has been a lot of work but the benefits have been great.  It seems a fitting time to say, "hard work, done well, feels good!"