Jog-a-thon + Harvest Cup + Tomales Farm & Flea

Columbus Day weekend was a doozy.  

Every year the annual school jog-a-thon, Wesco Soccer Harvest Cup Tournament and the Tomales Farm & Flea Market just so happen to take place on the same weekend.  All three events!  This year, we participated in all of them.  

Holy moly.

5th Grade Class at Jog-a-thon
Grady levitating on lap 17
G's outfit of choice for this year's school photo

The school only does one major fundraiser for the year and it's the jog-a-thon.  Totally positive event wherein the kids solicit family and friends to sponsor them per lap run.  Last year, G ran a total of 20.  This year, he ran 30 laps in 45 minutes, earning about $300 towards his 5th grade class fund.  I love the fact that he made the calls and put a speech together to pitch to his would-be donors.  We have the kindest friends and family.

I volunteered and worked most of the afternoon tabulating lap sheets and cheering on the kids.  Steve even showed up to cheer the boy on in his final laps, helping G gather up his second wind.  

Shadows at Harvest Cup 2013

Harvest Cup weekend is a two-day event wherein the boys play approximately four matches (spread out throughout the day based on rankings).  While Grady's team ended up in 1st place for the regular season, they finished the tournament in 3rd place.  It was a lot of soccer for the kids, as well as the coaches and parents.  The Shadows lost their first game and tied their second on Saturday and left a little deflated, despite the bright blue hair they were all sporting.

Sunday showed that they were well rested and hungry to get out there, play hard and win.  And that's exactly what they did and that enabled them to bring home a 3rd place ribbon from the tournament.

Vying for best dressed at the soccer awards dinner

The awards ceremony was held a few days ago and the coach encouraged all of the boys to dress up in their finest.  They all looked so handsome in their dress clothes.  G put together this awesome ensemble and was selected by the coach as a finalist for best (or most uniquely) dressed.  

I absolutely love soccer season.  The games are fast-paced, the boys are getting great exercise and gaining knowledge at every practice and game.  This year's coach was a dream coach and taught them field positioning, how to lose gracefully and a lot of life lessons on and off the field.  He really inspired the team and helped me to realize it really isn't about winning or losing, but how you play the game and conduct yourself.  It was a needed reminder for all of us.

Tomales Farm & Flea with Calvin
Star Wars Origami

Sunday morning found me up and out early, early.  I loaded the car and brought G along to help set up his little art booth.  He peddled art prints, art t-shirts and handmade key chains.  I sold off some housewares that have been lingering for years in the garage.  G had to leave mid-morning to get to the remainder of his games with his dad and I held down the fort until the flea market ended.  We sold about half of our goods and G earned a little mad money.

Foggy mornings on our property w/ art studio + henhouse
New painting for upcoming art show (with live honeybee landing on it for inspection)

After the weekend, we needed a serious rest and quickly settled into nesting at home and working on a few projects.  The garden got spruced up, the house got a touch up paint job and I set about making sure our fridge was stocked so that we could cook at home this week.

Oak tree
Apple Harvest
Foxy farm hand husband

Steve harvested the last of our apples from a few of the trees in the lower orchard.  They are the most delicious apples and we have no clue what kind they are.  They are crisp and sweet, almost like a Honey Crisp.  

Grady is really in love with himself lately.  He looks in a mirror every chance he gets and is obsessed with looking cool.  He made a cool-o-meter this week and let his father know that he didn't even measure on the scale.  Ouch.  Poor Steve.

I started a new fitness program challenge with a bunch of local gals.  I've been journaling my food intake, eating at least six servings of fruits and vegetables a day, drinking lots of water, cutting down on my alcohol intake and I even went to a pilates class at the gym.  I feel good, but it's only week one.  I lose stamina and interest at about week three, so I'm going to be aware of that and try to stay the course.

Invisible World by Grady Salas Hecht
Watercolor + pencil on watercolor paper
2011

The last good news of the week was that one of Grady's paintings was selected to be published in the Spring 2014 West Marin Review.  Here was the kind note they sent him:

Dear Grady,

On behalf of West Marin Review, it is a great pleasure to let you know that your art work, “Invisible World” (Submission #5A 082) has been selected for inclusion in the upcoming Volume 5. This edition will be released in Spring 2014. 

Your art was selected from over 300 art submissions that we received from artists across the country. All submissions were arresting and unique, which made for a challenging review and selection process.

Your artwork exhibited the attributes of original eye and perspective, and an ability to affect the panel reviewers in a meaningful way. We are very pleased to feature your work in the upcoming Volume 5—the edition promises to be a compelling read and visually rich. 

West Marin Review

His current private art teacher encouraged him to submit his work to the West Marin Review after he received the crushing news that his Fisherman's Festival art submission was rejected.  We could not be more proud of our little artist.  We are sending off all of the copyright agreements today, as well as a good scan of the image and the artist's bio.  Here is what Grady had to say about himself:

Grady Salas Hecht is a 5th grader at Tomales Elementary School.  He is interested in making art, observing nature, reading and sports.  He lives in Valley Ford.

He should have added that he really likes looking in the mirror, taking selfies on his mom's phone, collecting dead flies, taking 30 minute showers, pancakes and giving his dad a hard time.