changes...

I took off the word verification a while back because it is just easier for those leaving comments - I hadn't had any trouble until now! SO...back on it is and we will see how it goes...

this & that...

It has been a while since I last wrote...I have no excuses, we were even snowed in our house for many days, but I just never got the urge to update this blog! Sorry to the few of you who do try to keep up! Kendie's basketball is going well - our last 2 games were snowed out so we will see when they are rescheduled. Our biggest goal has been accomplished - ALL the girls LIKE basketball now and want to play the whole game - they beg me to go back in. I figure that is the MOST important thing in the 1st Grade - instilling a love for the game! Addi is going to be playing on yet another new team when the club season starts back up. She has been going to some Sunday clinics - I watched this week and she is starting to LOOK like a player (more like HS/college girls than a 3rd grader that just kind of runs around) - she positions her body well and puts up her arms like a PLAYER! She is still much better at defense but her offense is really coming along too. The coach they had this fall REALLY helped her game and confidence a TON!! Emee got some new figure skating clothes from Grandma & Grandad (they're only ones that live in a REAL city with a skate shop!) for Christmas and the clothes seem to be making a LOT of difference - she is doing great! Apparently, she hasn't passed her Level 3 test yet, but is able to do some Level 8 skills - go figure!! :o) Dave & I have definitely noticed a change in her attitude towards skating...she is also more interested in skating and skate shows on TV.

It snowed here last week and it is still VERY much around (I haven't been out in it much the last 2 days because poor Emee is home with the stomach bug). We got ICE first and then about a foot of snow with drifts up to 5 feet deep! The worst is trying to get across streets that they have plowed but the snow is a HUGE pile in the middle. We had rain forecasted for Wednesday & Thursday but now they say FREEZING rain and then SNOW again...can't wait to see what the roads are like then!

I know this has been pretty boring, but at least I wrote something!! :o)

Day of Firsts...

Today was Kendie's 1st ever basketball game! They did well and I was very proud of them, even though coaching 1st grade girls when they know NOTHING of basketball, is kind of like herding cats!! It is a good thing they didn't call walking, double dribble, running, double dribble...you get the picture. Kendie didn't play her best - she was just kind of out there, but I think you can tell by the pictures that she just doesn't look like she feels well. I guess it is back to the Dr. tomorrow - we are getting VERY good at going to the doctor on call on the weekends. I bet she has strep again - bet she is a carrier - if so, I will be talking to them about getting her tonsils removed. Could you tell that Kendie had been drinking BLUE Gatorade?



Another first today was that I did my first photography shoot. My friend, Nancy, told her granddaughter that I was getting into photography and so she and I went out and took some pictures. She was GREAT to work with and VERY patient with me. I think that we got some good shots and I can learn a lot when I go back & edit. Here's a couple that haven't been edited or anything. Thanks, Elizabeth!

We have another game tomorrow - wish us luck!

Old Friends are the Best Friends!

I don't know if I have ever had a BEST friend (aside from Dave)...& contrary to what a lot of people would say now, I still don't have a BFF. I have always been blessed to be surrounded by a BUNCH of great friends and I have never wanted to single anyone out by saying, "Oh, _______ is my BEST friend!" I have some friends that are better than others and I have had friends that are really good friends for a "season" - I think that we should live everyday like it was our last & enjoy the company that is there with us right then!! This week, it turned out that I had lunch on three different days with 3 different friends/groups of friends and they were all wonderful! Obviously, I share interests with all these girls, but I think it is interesting to think back and realize how different they all are AND how different our "connections" are...however, I love them all and cherish the time that we spent together laughing and talking! The first was girls that I am on PTA with and we had just finished a meeting, the second was someone that I get along with great but have just recently started to hang out with because I am working for her with photography and the last was a very dear, longtime friend and my maid of honor when I got married. (Just as an aside, I had to stop writing so I could run to WalMart and get ketchup - Addi went with me & we had this whole discussion about friends because apparently everybody at school has changed friends because the new semester began & everyone's in different classes - kind of weird how all that was at the same time I was writing this!) The thing that prompted this whole entry is that we talk about different things with different people and I think it is all dependent on how well, & a lot of times, how LONG you have been friends. Today, my friend & I were discussing how different people hold pens/pencils...how dorky is that? I am almost 40 years old, I go to lunch with a good friend and we talk about how to hold a pen. We also discussed how you erase when you are marking with a pencil and you make a mistake - I personally just kind of twist it in my hand but I had a friend all through school who would lay her pencil down and then pick it up so that she could erase. When she finished erasing, she would place it on the desk again to grab the other end...not wrong...just different - kind of like all our different friends! At a pause in our conversation, I told my friend that that was one of the reasons that I loved our friendship because we could discuss anything and have a great time just being together. We got tickled when I said people would think we were crazy when they asked what we talked about at lunch and we replied, "Well, how you grip a pencil, of course!" BTW, how do you hold a pencil and how do you erase?? :o)

the day after Christmas

Well, I still have on my PJ's from last night...I didn't do anything today but read, do stuff on the computer and play 'Words with Friends'! It was so nice not to have to run all over getting girlies to different lessons and practices! Not that I don't cherish my job as chauffeur but a break is welcome! Tomorrow, we don't have class at church so we will get to sleep in a bit before worship. Then we don't have anything until sometime Monday when my "crazy long-haired friend" from college is in for a short visit! I will have to turn the guest room back into a room instead of a walk-in closet/wrapping paper room but that won't be too hard! So excited about his visit - he hasn't been here (& we haven't seen him) in about 5 years. We were just moving into out current house when he was passing thru last - literally moving in! Tuesday evening we are spending time with my dear friend, Melynn, from Baltimore! Can't wait to catch up with her too! Our Christmas was wonderful & we were blessed beyond what we could even imagine - both of our parents really surprised us with their generosity! They girlies were spoiled by everyone (including Santa) too and are VERY happy with their presents - hopefully I'll get the pictures downloaded tomorrow!

Merry CHRISTMAS!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
I have tried for days to load our pictures that went on our cards ad don't know what the trouble is...I'll keep trying!

Super Long Time, No Post!

WOW!! Once again, I can't believe how long it has been since I posted...all I can say is that we live a SUPER busy life. I also think that since I have started writing stuff on Facebook, I update there more than on here. There have been so many things that I wanted to write about and post pictures, but I just haven't. A big one was that Addi decided to be baptized - we went to Abilene to a special spot on the ACU campus (she TOTALLY chose this on her own) and it was a very sweet time with family and friends. It was VERY spur of the moment so a lot of our family wasn't here but were able to call & talk to her, so that was good. Addi turned 12 and we had her whole basketball team (9) over for a birthday/team slumber party. OH MY GOODNESS...I have never heard such noise in all my life - it is a little different when you have active, competitive girls as opposed to girls that like to paint their nails and watch movies! We went & spray painted some cars (you're allowed to do that), chalking and silly stringing and then we came home where they played Truth or Dare (from an iPhone app) and I taught them Spoons. I think they all had a good time.
We went to Houston for Thanksgiving and were able to be there for almost a week. The girlies, especially Kendie, were SO EXCITED to get to spend time with their cousins from California. Kendie and Eliot are only 3 months apart in age and truly have a special relationship! They were able to play outside almost the whole time and Emee and Kendie FINALLY decided to ride bikes WITHOUT training wheels! I was a bit worried about taking the girlies out of school early (an hour Monday & all day Tuesday) until we were at the airport Monday about to board the plane when Addi said, "We watched Robin Hood in Language Arts, Elf in PE & Wall~E in Art today..." Great times were spent with family there - we had 29 for Thanksgiving (only 5 were not part of our actual family) and 27 for breakfast on Saturday morning for Grandad's famous biscuits! We flew out of 75 degree weather to snow...what a change! I did my first wedding Saturday as a "2nd shooter" - I was SUPER nervous but think I got some good shots. That was really all I was hoping for - my friend was the main photographer and I was just the icing on the cake trying to get some good ones at different angles. I am thinking of pursuing my photography a bit more and am talking to another photographer about helping her out and LEARNING more...we'll see how that goes.
Still haven't gotten the tree up this year, but I do have most of my shopping done...at least all the big or impossible to get things!! Better run...I have to go make copies and then an Area PTA lunch - I won't even bore you with the after school schedule - it is CRAZY! Stay warm, everyone - it is 16 here without the wind chill!