40 posts tagged “steve”
About three months ago, I did this post about Stephen's Shadow:
http://coleclan9rdfc.vox.com/library/post/stephens-shadow.html Here we are 3 months later and Sam has indeed made a drastic improvement in just this short time of training! He could not even make it across the pool without stopping but now, he makes it look SO easy. This season of swimming has shown him that he absolutely LOVES to swim, even though every workout was grueling.
Steve too has been working hard with all his different strokes and has been fairly happy with how he has improved in the butterfly! Stingrays ends for the boys next week already. The time there was quick but very beneficial. The coaches are tough but they certainly helped to train the boys to swim correctly. Steve hopes to continue training well this summer (in prep for a fall triatholon and the Grace swim team) when our neighborhood pool finally opens in two weeks as he leads his siblings in a challenging swim workout routine. I hope he isn't too tough with them?!?!
Stephen performed in his first recital for his second instrument, GUITAR! He has been doing well and enjoying the learning process.
Click here to see it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6eh1A1L9fc
So cool to see how one thing leads to another...
Taryn made this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH1nCiKLQQk for the God at Work focus for church this past Sunday and now she is being asked to help with slides at church. Something she loves and wouldn't mind doing..
Then, it was really neat when the children's director acknowledged Stephen's drawings in front of all the Kid Venture children and now the assistant pastor says that "he has got to design next year's youth retreat t-shirt!"
Also, here's the final result of Steve's poster he is entering into our town's yearly Labor day weekend festival! If he wins, it will be used on t-shirts and banners and more, not to mention a great money prize, but if he doesn't, it was a great experience for him anyways!
Tonight we got a taste of all the art projects the
kids at Grace Academy have been doing! We happen to know 5 of the students that are taking art there; our own Stephen and Paige, their cousins Meagan and Maddie and our family friend, Amanda. Here are some of their creations:
Self-portraits, wire figures, paper mache, paintings, poreclain bowls, drawings and so on! Paige, Amanda and Meagan made a great effort at their first ever self-portraits(photos below)!
Us Coles and our Fernandez friends had a really special night at the Winter Sports Banquet at Grace Academy! We were thoroughly ecstatic when AMANDA received the most improved award for the individual who continually kept getting better and better from the first day of practice to the last meet with the most amazing amount of personal best times!
As for STEPHEN, we were overjoyed when his name was announced as the recipient of the Lion Heart Award! This award is given to the one who put the team above himself, was an encouragement to his teammates, employed consistent hard work at practice and meets and also showed increasing improvement during the season. We are so proud of him! He has really grown into the meaning of his name, "servant leader." This video is for Howard, who due to always having to work on Thursdays was unable to be there tonight....
Now that Grace Lions is over for the season, Steve and Sam have started a 3-month training stint with the Stingrays, a homeschool hour swim club down the street from us that uses the same pool that Grace did. That will take them through till May when our neighborhood pool is finally open for the season! Sam has decided that although he 'likes' basketball that it isn't a sport he wants to continue unlike his brother Chris who is learning to love it more and more. So, since big bro Steve loves swimming, he wants to learn to love it too. We shall see how he fares this Spring!
The Grace Lions season officially ended yesterday with the team having their own private meet to beat their best times for the season. This truly was a bunch of neat teens; very encouraging and inclusive of one another from 7th to 12th grade. The Coach was also a big hit with the students, truly an "awesome" man and very inspiring!
The other four Cole kids were able to help time by pressing a button in case the touch pads failed and had fun contributing to the meet. Afterward, the whole crew was treated to a free dinner at one of the swimmer's family restaurant in Charlotte. What a treat!
Howard is pretty syked (yeah, I know, a very 80's term) about doing the FIVE ASPECTS of MANHOOD with 5 young men and their dads! Since this curriculum, http://www.fiveaspects.com/catalog/five-aspects-young-c-23.html highlights five characteristics of manhood, we came up with the idea of recruiting 4 other guys between the ages of 14 and 16 (to add to the Howard and Steve combo) to do the study with them for 5 months/5 meetings. Then, during their fifth meeting, celebrate by having dinner together at the FIVE GUYS burger joint (much like In N Out). They kick-off with their first meeting this month with the first aspect of manhood!
THE FIVE ASPECTS OF MANHOOD:
Lord of the Earth - from dependent to decision-maker
Husbandman - provider
Savior - protector
Sage - from a fool to a wise man
Glory of God - from follower to leader
IF all goes well this first-time around, he hopes to repeat this again in about 5 years when the time comes for Chris and Sam to be launched toward manhood!
That's a good number! I love odd numbers and especially any number with
"7" in it. We marked our 17th wedding anniversary today by joining Iglesia Del Redentor during worship as Howard was the guest preacher with the text of Isaiah 60: 1-6
in preparation for Epiphany on Jan. 6. He had to use his training that he has been getting in his preaching classes to keep his sermons tight and short, especially today as it was translated REAL time into Spanish. It was a blessing too to have both sets of parents there today to celebrate with us. Speaking of which, we honor them both today as 'our family' wouldn't exist without them. Thanks for raising us Al and Eve (Pa & Lola) and Dave and Wendy (Dad and Mom Cole) especially with faith in Christ and the desire to serve Him in our generation! We are very thankful for you all and your great love for the Heavenly Father and for us.
HOME Sweet "Sketched" HOME and Silent Night performed by Stephen Cole
