Our Busy (but fun!) Weekend

Whew! What a fun weekend! We started out Friday night by heading downtown to pick up my Fort 4 Fitness race packet. Parkview Field was buzzing with everybody getting ready for the big race. The girl's were excited to see the finish line right on the field! We ate giant pieces of pizza at the Pint & Slice downtown to finish out our night. Saturday I awoke very early (4:00a to be exact) with Carlie very upset! She was stung by a bee! In the middle of the night - IN HER ROOM! We had Chet out on Thursday because we had noted a bee's nest in our shingles. Well, apparently, one had snuck through the walls into Carlie's room. After Benadryl was administered, ice applied and she had fallen back asleep, it was nearly time for me to be picked up for the race. I got got picked at 6:30a and it was a yucky, dreary, dark morning! What a horrible race day forecast!! The race went very well, and my goal was 10 minute miles, and I finished the four miles in 40:09. Pretty close! I then was off to cheerleading, a 50th wedding anniversary party and then naps. Thanks goodness for naps. That evening we were ready to party again and went to a co-worker's house for the ND v. Purdue game. Now this was a party....They had five babysitters, four different kid movies going on on two different houses (boy movies vs. girls movies), jumpy house, tons of food, and a projection tv set up outside to view the game. Lots of chili and hot cider ... I love this about fall!! Sunday - I am embarrassed to say we slept in. All of us. Skipped church. Yup, that's right. Skipped church. It was a nice morning of pajamas and homemade waffles, with yummy maple syrup from the State Fair (thanks Lacey!). We did go to House Church that afternoon, which was held down by Foster Park. I forgot how much I love that area. After House Church was over, I convinced our host to walk around the blocks with me some so we could house look. Always gets me in the home improvement mode. Not such a good thing when you are broke! I think we'll slow down this fall sometime...perhaps...but then there is Thanksgiving...and then Christmas. Okay, let's shoot for January.

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Wake up. Shower. Do hair. Wake Carlie up. Dress. Help Carlie dress. Wake Lucy. Carlie's hair. Carlie's breakfast. Pack lunch. Dress Lucy. Lucy's hair. Vitamins, claritin. Book bags checked. Breakfast dishes put away. Dishwasher unloaded. Crockpot started. Shoes on, coats on. Van loaded. Drop off Lucy. Drive to Carlie's school. Drop Carlie off. Discuss PTL items with school secretary. Answer questions about Upward. Small talk, small talk, small talk. Drive to work. Get coffee. Go through emails, print important emails. Return voice mails. Work, work, work. Work out. Eat lunch. Go through more emails. Check facebook (hee hee, that one is for me). Attend meeting. Participate in phone conference. Drive home. Dinner. Read paper. Go for walk, play game with kids. Unload back pack. Practice scripture. Go over sight words. Discuss our days. Bath time. Stories & devotions. Running. More email responses. Upward devotions, planning. Bible study. Load of laundry. Dishwasher loaded, started. Kitchen floor swept. Toys & books picked up. Blanket put away. Brush teeth, take vitamin. Climb into bed. Watch a little TV, fall asleep thinking about my to-do list tomorrow.

And I wonder where I can fit in more blogging?

Lucy's First Day Of School

Today was Lucy's first day of Preschool, and in her words.. it was "GRRRREAT!" She went to class in style and with a smile. She even told me that she didn't cry the whole time. I wonder if she had her doubts about that? She looked adorable and although my eyes teared up a little when I got into the van, I am so proud of my confident little girl's. We celebrated by going to lunch with Grandpa Toad and Grandma Barb. And I must admit, I was a little sad to be giving up my "mama day" with my girls to school...but as it turns out - I can get A LOT more errands done without them...who would have thought?

Upward Cheerleading

The "Micki Squad" doing half time cheers (Lucy first on left, Carlie is the third)

My Squad on the sideslines.


My Lucy girl :)

Carlie on the right..this is the tunnel the girls make for the football players as they are announced.

What do we do with our Saturday mornings? Well...lots of purple and lots of spirit! We are three games into our eight game season with Upward Cheerleading/Flag Football, and I am having so much fun. Sure, there are the normal struggles with getting 12 little girls doing the same cheer at the same time, but for the most part - my squad ROCKS! The football games are pretty short (18 minute halves) - but it never fails that about five minutes to go, the girls are d-o-n-e. They are ready for snacks, award stars and rest time. Just cracks me up. Both of my girls are enjoying themselves, and I hope that the other 10 are too!

Sample of one of the girl's favorite cheers:

Back To School BBQ

Central had their Back To School BBQ today, and the weather was perfect. We had hotdogs, hamburgers, chips and cookies to start off the day. Then we proceeded onto free games for all - and so many games to pick from! Carlie won a fish, after standing in line four times to try! She threw over 20 ping pong balls to win this one!! So accordingly, the fish's name is "Patience." How appropriate! We went out and bought fish food and now Patience's home is in one of my vases. Anybody want to take bets on how long Patience will live??

Everybody Said It...

When you have a baby, everybody says, "enjoy this time with them, they grow up fast!" And then they start walking, everybody says, "enjoy this time with them, they grow up fast!" And then Preschool starts, Kindergarten and now First Grade, and I think I am beginning to understand just how fast time goes when you are busy with children. Lucy pulled out some of the baby albums today, and I can so vividly remember being pregnant with Carlie, and telling my parents that I was pregnant, Carlie being born, and being so fussy those first several months, and now I am picking her up from school, and listening to her talk about this friend said this, and that friend said that. Carlie has continued to have her good heart that I was so worried would be tarnished by the world. I am praying for that continually. But I definitely see rough waters ahead with some of the girls in Carlie's class this year. But God is in control, right? We have taught Carlie (and continue to teach Carlie) what it like to be a Christian, and now it's her turn to live it out. Oh boy...this part is hard. Nobody warned me about this....

On a much lighter note, Lucy had her four year check up today (yes, I know...I am a few months late...) and she has gained almost 5 pounds since her tonsil surgery! She is up to a whooping 38.2 pounds! She is still so very tall for her age - in the 90th percentile! Everything else checked out right on schedule. We also found out today that she has Miss Linda for preschool this fall (yeah!). Carlie had Miss Linda when she attended Pre K and now Lucy will have her too. Funny...I was very unsure of Miss Linda when Carlie first enrolled in the class, but she did an excellent job of preparing Carlie for Kindergarten. I am excited to see what this school year has in store for both of my children....I know, I know....enjoy this while I can, they grow up fast.

First Day of 1st Grade

Today is Carlie's first day of First Grade! No tears!! (I was talking about mommy here...not Carlie, obviously) She was so excited that she was up at 6:04 a.m. this morning ... only to wiggle and giggle in my bed until I got out to take my shower. I must admit, today was not NEARLY as hard as dropping her off on her first day of at Kindergarten. Perhaps is was because I know she loves this school, loves her friends, and loves learning. That makes it so much easier. Her teacher had the entire day "scheduled" on the board for the kids. I may just like this teacher!! I love her organization already. She reminds me a Ginger when she was first teaching, and that melts my heart too. I'll surely report how the day went when I picked her up!

See how my baby girl has grown....

First Day of Pre - K

First Day of Kindergarten

First Day of First Grade

New entrance at the school - snazzy!

Doesn't she look SOOOO big here?