First Day of School 2015-2016

I am going to try and keep up with my blog this year.  Until last year, I always printed the blog into a book for the kids to have someday.  They will be missing pictures from their last school year and this past summer.  Maybe I will get up enough energy to go and do some "back posting."  But, if I don't at least they will have this post to explain why they don't have any pictures or commentary from last year. This year, I vow to do better for them so in the years to come they will have a book to look back on.

The kids started school last week on 8/18/2015. Kira is in 8th grade, Keenan in 5th grade and Keylee in 2nd grade.  So far, they are off to a great start. I am excited to see what the year brings for each of them and hopefully some are excited to see if I document any of it :)

Catching Up - Part 2



 

Kira continues to play tennis a few days a week at our local tennis club and she has played a few more tournaments this summer than she did last summer and has shown great improvement and has had some success.  Tournament weather has been hot but she has worked hard and battled through the heat. 

 

 Keenan played summer baseball with The Force which is the same team he has played on the past several years. 

 Joe is the keeper of Keylee's Barbies during the games when she is busy running around with friends.

 Keenan's black eye is the result of a bad hop. The ball hit a rock and bounced right into Keenan's eye.  He didn't cry at all and he seemed to like the attention when everyone would tell him how tough he looked. 

 In May I ran the Lincoln Half Marathon with some running friends.  It was a fun race that ended in the University of Nebraska Stadium.

Playing Catch Up Part 1 - Big Cedar Easter 2014

We spent Easter at Big Cedar Lodge.  It is one of my favorite places to go.  We have so many memories there as we have been going to Big Cedar for many years with my parents.  The weather was great this year.  The last time we were there for Easter it rained the entire time and the egg hunt was indoors.  This year, the kids had their egg hunt outside and were even able to swim outside.  

 The kids decorated cookies to leave out for the Easter Bunny.  

 Even my parents stopped for a photo-op with the Easter Bunny

 Keylee found the "golden egg."  She actually found two of the ten that were hidden and she tried to give one to another child but he walked away totally ignoring her.  We decided to keep both and give one to Kira since she had to miss the egg hunt since she arrived later after her State History Day Competition.

 I really love their workout room.  The treadmill has a TV on the screen and the treadmill faces the windows looking out over the lake and cabins.  It is really pretty and makes for a nice scenic run even being indoors.

St. Louis Running Weekend

April 6th Tanna, Angela and I traveled to St. Louis for the Go 1/2 Marathon. We had a great weekend.  After arriving on Friday night we hit the Expo and then Pi Pizzeria.  Saturday morning we went to Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis and then gave ourselves an informal tour.  It was a beautiful church.

We had our pre-race dinner at The Cheesecake Factory and we ordered our "usual" and yes, we were dressed matchy-matchy.

The race route was great. We ran through downtown. 

 Finished!

I tried to keep an eye on the guy at the start line with no shoes but lost him shortly after the start.  I cannot imagine running 13.1 with no shoes.  I am not sure if he made it or not. 

A Disney Spring Break

As always, I am a little late with this post.  Spring Break was severeal weeks ago but I have not had time to post about our spring break Disney trip because I am still recovering from it. The trip was fun but it was exhausting.  The first two days, including the day we arrived, we were at Magic Kingdom.

Kira and Keylee met several Disney Princesses at Magic Kingdom.  Keenan met them too.  He was a good sport and did agree to take some pictures with Kira and Keylee for me but I had to promise him I would not post them. There were several other rides Keenan enjoyed doing with Joe while Kira, Keylee and I stood in long lines waiting to meet the princesses. Did I mention the long lines??

We spent the third day at Animal Kingdom. I think the kids would vote the Dino-Spin as their favorite ride.  I could not convince anyone to ride the Mt. Everest roller coaster. 

 Goofy and Pluto

Day four we spent at Hollywood Studios.  The kids really liked the Toy Story Mania ride and Star Tours.  Kira and Keenan loved the Star Wars themed areas at this park.

 Day five was spent at Epcot where Keylee had her lunch with the Princesses.   I will post pictures from the lunch on another post. Stay tuned because there is a slight possibility that some pictures with Kira, Keylee AND Keenan with the princesses might appear. Our Epcot day it rained and rained.  We were soaking.  I did pack ponchos which helped keep us dry except our soaking shoes and socks.  Yuck.

Day six we were able to go back and spend more time at Epcot before we had to go to the airport. I will post some more Epcot pictures when I post the pictures of Keylee's princess lunch.  I don't want to overload my three readers with pictures with this post and I know a promise of more pictures will keep you checking back day after day. 

The Challenge for Lent

This is not typically the kind of post you see from me, but it is that time of year again, Lent. It is when everyone asks each other "so, what are you giving up?" I generally reply "I am not giving up anything."  Then, I get a look like what an awful person I am followed by "you know it is Lent and you have to give up something."  Personally, I believe that the Lent period of 40 days (beginning today, Ash Wednesday and ending on Holy Thursday, April 17th) is a time when I try to add something to my life, something that will extend beyond the 40 days.  Personally (again, personally), I feel that giving something up like, cookies, ice cream, coffee, soda and other things of this type don't necessarily contribute to my spiritual life.  In years past, I have done these things only to then binge on whatever I gave up on day 41.  I know that giving something up is a sacrifice and may be symbolic of the sacrifice that was made for each of us. In the past, I have felt better about the season when I have attempted to spend more time each day dedicated to my Faith. This year I asked my sister, Tamie, for suggestions and here it is..this year's Lenten Challenge

On the Mend

 This past Fall, against Joe's wishes, I purchased a new dog, "my" dog.  I had been looking for a female Goldendoodle and they are hard to find and often there are waiting lists for puppies that have not even been born yet.  I finally found one in Missouri that would be ready to go home in October.  I thought the timing is perfect.  It is football season and I can get the dog and Joe will not even notice.  He tends to be preoccupied with football in October so I can bring the dog home and she will be part of the family before he even realizes she is there, ha. Sadie has been the best dog. I love her and the kids do too.

Two weeks ago Sadie became very sick.  Sadie is a great dog but she does like to chew on things, specifically socks.  Sadie must have swallowed Keylee's sock and it got stuck in her intestines. She became very sick and was not able to keep food or water down.  I finally took her to the veterinarian and they gave me many different options.  All of the options were very pricey.  After seeing the estimated costs for the proposed procedures, I felt like I was not going to be able to keep any food or water down. Sadie had to have surgery and 4 inches of her intestines had to be removed.  Part of her legs are shaved because of the IV they and to put in her.  Nonetheless, I will say this is the most expensive sock and dog we will ever own.  I am very glad that she is ok. I was very worried about her and I am not sure I can handle the loss of another dog.

The dog....The sock. The Veterinarian was kind enough to keep the sock and before handing it to me she said, "don't worry we bleached it." Hmmm, probably not going to use that sock again, but thanks.