What a Life!

I cannot believe that mid June has come and gone and we are staring July in the face! We are having a great summer ~ enjoying every minute of our times together as family. The kids finished another school year. Mason is heading to high school next year, Allie to 7th grade and Maggie to 5th. I know time is going to continue to speed up and slip away, so we cherish each day and develop memories that we can hold dear for a lifetime. My Aunt Judy and Uncle Terry told us years ago that the "kids" get more fun each year as they get older. . . I didn't believe at that time that we could possibly enjoy them more than we did then - but we do!

May Update

The past few weeks have been crazy busy! We celebrated Mother's Day at Kim's parents this year. We strayed from the usual bash hosted at our house and enjoyed the wide open big back yard of my parents new house. They have just moved back to the country. They have an acre yard, suited for baseball or touch football games or whatever! It was a beautiful day and we all had a ball! We are finishing up the school year this week. Yeah! Nobody is more excited about summer than me! We just finished up track season last week, with the Lutheran State Track Meet in Chicago. Scott's nephew, Matt, and their oldest daughter Anna (2 yrs) came to see us at the track meet. It was very convenient, as they live just 20 min. from the meet. Mason and Allie both participated in the meet. It was quite an honor for Allie to go to the state junior high meet as a 6th grader. She qualified for the state meet the first time she did the high-jump, with a jump of 4' 4". She is a natural! She was also a part of an 8th grade relay team in the 4X800. We are proud of her ~ she has no where to go but up! Mason qualified in 6 running events, but they only allow 4 events per person. He was a part of a couple of relay teams and he finished 3rd in the individual 800 meter race with a time of 2:18. He didn't break any records, but did well for only attending 2 practices! His soccer practice usually conflicts with track practice times. We are closing down the soccer season with one more game scheduled for this week and the final tournament the first weekend in June. We then head into the thick of the summer swimming season for all three. A busy, but more relaxed season!

Maggie Moo Celebrate 10 in Florida!

Our youngest, who was practically born on the beach, celebrated her 10th B-day, on Saturday, here in Florida. We are continually amazed by our Maggie and we thank God for giving her to us! We have had a 3 day celebration, so far, and will have a party with her friends after returning to Decatur! We celebrated Maggie on Saturday, which was her actual birthday, then celebrated Easter and Mags B-day on Sunday with Uncle Brad, Aunt Debbie and the boys. We had a great day on Easter Sunday, starting with a great church service and then lunch on the pool deck, under the Florida sun, with family. We then headed over to the YMCA outdoor basketball courts for a little guy 3 on 3 (+Allie). The games were as tight as the final 4, with the lead going back and forth by a point, until the end. Brad, Kyle and Caleb squeaked out a victory ~ but there's alway next year! We then headed back to Grandma and Pa's to cool off in the pool. What an amazing day! Last night we went to dinner at one of our favorite spots, right on the water, on Siesta Key. They brought us a special dessert for our birthday girl.

Florida Sunshine!

We headed south, last Saturday, for a 2 wk. stay with Kim's parents in Sarasota, FL. We were greeted by brilliant sunshine right off the plane. We immediately headed to a nearby wharf for a late lunch, by the water. We were forced to move under an awning because of the intense sun and heat! This is our kind of place! We woke up to rain showers on Palm Sunday morning ~ which was okay as we headed for church then returned home to unpack and settle in for the stay. We have had non-stop sun showers and mid 70 to 80 temps all week. We have battled bouts of sunburn, as the kids reach the age where they can "do it myself". . . so it's what I call the "hit and miss sunburn". We have seen burns with finger prints, even one large white finger print in the center of a lacy edged sunburned neck OR a sunburn 1" edge along the hairline in addition to a missed - burned spot near the eyes and a burn on the cheek about the size of a quarter ("oops missed sunscreen there!"). Mason actually asked dear old Mom to assist with the application of his sunscreen today. We have enjoyed our visits with Kim's brother Brad's family. Caleb (freshmen in high school) is still "home" but Rachel and Kyle are away at college. Kyle, however, is home for a 4-day weekend, for Easter, so we had some great times with them at Siesta Key Beach today.

A Weekend in the Windy City

We spent last weekend in Chicago. We were scheduled to be there Friday night and Sat. for the State Swim Meet ~ but extended our stay, an additional night, to spend the evening together as a family. Scott was flying out on Sunday, to head to Germany for a week. He would have had to head right back up to Chicago on Sunday. We decided to stay and "hang out" with him. We had a great time together all weekend. We particularly enjoyed our time with Scott's nephew Matt, his wife Laura and their two girls, Anna (just 2 yrs) and Elsie (4 mos.). Our kids are getting so big! It is easy to forget how precious little ones are and how much work goes in to an evening out with them! Our hats go off to Matt and Laura for making the effort, after an already long day, last Saturday. Thanks for a great dinner!

Mason did quite well at the swim meet! We are so proud of you Mason. A job well done, as usual.

Sweet 14!

Mason celebrated his 14th B-day last week. We enjoy our boy more and more every year. Praise God for the person he is becoming. We are blessed to call him our son! We love you Mason!

Update on Our Crew

Well ~ It has been about 6-7 weeks since I updated the blog. Needless to say, it has been VERY busy! We have been in the middle of our winter swimming season, with all three kids. We head out this afternoon, to head to Chicago, for the State Swim Meet with Mason. He has worked very hard and we are so proud of his accomplishments and more importantly his work ethic! We have just finished the volleyball season, with Allie. They had a great season. They were undefeated in the regular season and won one tournament and got second in another ~ and had a great time! We just finished winter-indoor soccer with Mason and are starting the spring soccer season this week~ pheww!

Scott has been extra busy, with work, traveling a lot this month. He was in Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina a week ago and he leaves for Germany on Sunday, for a week! This single mom stuff is for the birds. We are always happy when Daddy comes home!

We head to FL, for a couple of weeks, at the end of March. It is a much needed break for all of us, from our crazy, busy lives. I hope to have more time to update the blog during our break!

Quick Trip South

This past weekend was a long weekend for the kids. They had Friday and Monday off for MLK Day. Scott was in Brazil (or Brasil as they spell it) on business. We decided to check last minute flights to see if any deals were to be had. We found a reasonable rate, from Bloomington, right in to Sarasota. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to soak up some sun for a long weekend. We left Thursday morning and returned Tuesday night. The kids had to miss 2 days of school. They didn't mind!! Grandpa and Grandma welcomed us with open arms. It was also fun to catch up with Kim's brother, Brad, and his family. Scott joined us for a couple of days over the weekend. He was already booked to fly in to Miami from Brasil. He drove, from there to Sarasota, then flew home from Sarasota on Monday afternoon. We left our shorts and bathing suits in the drawers, at Mom and Dad's house. We won't need them here, in this yucky weather! We are scheduled to head back to FL, at the end of March for 2 weeks, over spring break. We thoroughly enjoyed the mid 70 degree weather and wonderful SUNSHINE! Sometimes I forget what that is, during these winter months, in the Midwest.

Project Completed ~ Finally!

For those of you that have been wondering when we were going to get the stairs matched up with the floors ~ we did it, finally! We finished our "stair" project just before Christmas. We had our hard wood floors refinished, almost 2 years ago now, and have been waiting for the right time and person to redo the stairs to match. The dark wood floors and the "honey oak" rail was mismatched for too long! We, again, worked with our wonderful Amish guys from Arthur, IL. They are incredible craftsmen and so pleasant to work with. They refinished all the rail and posts and stained them to match the floors. While we had everything torn apart, we decided to add wrought iron balusters in place of the old white ones (which were in need of a sanding repainting anyway). It looks so much better, now that it all matches. Our next project is to work on the master bath. The other day, after a soothing soak in the tub, I discovered water dripping from the light fixture in the kitchen below, and a pool of water on the kitchen counter and floor. Not a good sign. . . but a reason to rip up the OLD tile and fix matters! Stay tuned.

Happy Birthday BobBob!

Scott's Dad ("BobBob" to us) celebrated his 81st birthday a little over a week ago. We gathered in Bloomington for a get together. He is amazing for a man in his 80's! We had a great time together and look forward to the next gathering. It is a bit of a let down, to be together as families for Thanksgiving, then Christmas and New Years, to realize life gets back into a routine and it may be months before we are all together again.