Kindergarten Graduation 2011

(May 27, 2011)


Another kindergartener down the line. Or should I say walking the line! Grant proudly accepted his diploma as he participated in graduation ceremonies last night. It has been another great year and Grant has learned SO MUCH. As we started the year out I was concerned about some of the frustration he was having with his homework, but it didn't take long before he was improving and even excelling at his work! His wonderful teacher, Mrs. Lyons, describes him as having this extraordinary "drive" to improve and learn. He always wants to know what to expect, what's next. By the end of the year he was moved to one of the top reading groups in his class and I could tell by his reading homework that he was improving dramatically over the course of the year. One thing I'm sure of is that he had no trouble in making friends! He often talked about his classmates and I know he looked forward to school each and every day because of that camaraderie. And he again managed to keep his teachers laughing the whole year through! By now we are used to hearing "Grant has such a sense of humor!" We love him and are so proud of the wonderful year he's had. Way to go Grant! Congratulations buddy!

In his classroom prior to getting on his cap and stole

Receiving his diploma from Mrs. Lyons during the ceremony

With Mommy - I love you buddy!

Proud parents

The whole crew

Our graudate

10 Year Anniversary

I know neither of us can believe it's been 10 years! Our family has been BLESSED, through good times and bad and I am so thankful God gave me you to go through it with. I wonder what the next 10 will bring?!

Evan's Preschool Graduation

Today our little Evan graduated from preschool!! Evan did not start the year out in preschool, but we were very fortunate that there was room for him in the public preschool classroom at our older boys' school and he got to go for these last two and a half months of school. To say he loved every minute of it would be an understatement! Evan looked forward to going to school every day and was eager to tell me about each day's experiences - finally... one who will talk to me about school!! Although, that does go right along with his talkative nature, lol. Evan is still only 4 and will not be 5 until July, but both his teacher and I see no reason to hold him back. He is as ready as ever for "big-kid" school! Here are some snapshots from both his first day of school on March 7th and today's graduation.

And I cannot leave this post without saying HOW MUCH we appreciate the teacher and assistants of our preschool program. I have personally been with these staff for FIVE years between the older 3 boys and it has been a wonderful experience to say the least. We've laughed together and cried together (of which there was a lot of today!). I cannot say enough good things about them! I also cannot believe that this is the last of my children who will be in this preschool program as is. Unfortunately, due to space constraints, the preschool program is moving to another public elementary school and so these ladies will all be taking on different journey's after this school year. We hate to see you "go" and we love you and wish you the best!

1st Day

Graduation Day!

Mrs. Lee, thank you SO MUCH for EVERYTHING! You are forever a part of our family!!

First Lost Tooth - Grant

(May 22, 2011)

Another first for another of my babies! Here is his new smile!

Field Trips 2011

(May 19th and 20th, 2011)

Clayton and Grant's classes recently went on field trips just a day apart. With Clayton's class, we visited Kentucky Down Under and with Grant's we went to the zoo! It turned out be be great weather for both and we enjoyed our days!

Opening Ceremonies 2011

(April 15th & May 7th, 2011)

Baseball has begun! Here are some pictures from the boys different nights of their official opening ceremonies. I am helping coach both Clayton's 7-8 year old team and Grant's 5-6 year old team. It is busy but I love it!!!

Grant

Evan

Evan and Grant

Clayton

Clayton and Mommy

Kentucky Derby Festival Mini Marathon 2011

(April 30, 2011)

13.1 miles - sound like a lot? Well, it IS! A few months ago I am on the phone with my [super-athlete] brother, Lewis, when he tells me "By the way, I want us to sign up and run a half-marathon in April." I know that doesn't sound extremely convincing, but because a longer-distance race was on my mental list of eventual goals, I felt like I couldn't refuse. Might as well get it over with, right?! So I nervously accepted the challenge and began the necessary training to reach this elusive goal. I even took seriously the consideration of changing the way I eat in order to improve my performance and have since developed a whole new outlook on the way I feed my family! The efforts of my 10+ weeks of training came to fruition this past Saturday when I crossed the finish line of my first-ever half-marathon. Although Lewis was supposed to run the race with me, a bike-wreck-injury of sorts (he hit a dog while out cycling and injured his hip) kept him from being able to do so. This was actually not an issue for me because I knew he would push me hard and now that pressure was off! Ha! I must say I was pretty scared and still couldn't believe I was even doing this right up to the starting line. I hadn't felt very confident in my improvement throughout my training and was concerned that I could even finish without walking! During registration, they ask you to put down your expected finish time so that you can start in a "pace-group" that will finish in about that time. I honestly guessed an accurate time for me would be definitely over 3 hours and so I put down 3:15. Lewis said he expected I could do it in more like 2:30 and I thought he was crazy! Well, what he always tells me about your race performance being nothing like your training performance was definitely true for me this time around. I finished the race in 2:17:44 and could NOT believe how good I felt the entire time and how much I enjoyed it. The course was not hilly/difficult at all which was great - I needed that for my first! There were 15,000 people that ran this race so it was pretty neat to be surrounded by that many other runners! Lots of encouragers/spectators along the way sure doesn't hurt either! I am excited to say I've checked that goal off my list and I look forward to various other races/events in the future! Just waiting on bro to get me a bike so I can do my first triathlon! WAHOO!

Putting on my bib number

The weather was P-E-R-F-E-C-T

Pre-Race pics

In the loooooooong starting line

Me and Lewis just before race-time

Hi!

Getting ready to finish - thumbs up!

Post race - Yay, I did it!!

With my #1 supporter/trainer - thanks Lewis, love ya!

With my #1 fan - Moms are the greatest!

Happy 6th Birthday Grant

Grant, Grant, Grant. That's what I always seem to be saying or thinking to myself. What a character. If there is anyone in this world who likes to make people laugh, it is YOU! Your spirit is so naturally full of kindness, generosity, and concern. You worry about people and their well being and show adult-like compassion. We love you very much and are enjoying watching you grow!

We celebrated today with Star Wars cupcakes at school for the whole class. Yummy!

Easter 2011

Better late than never to update the blog, huh?!! It's been a long while, but I am finally getting on here to update! So sorry for the infrequency of my posts lately. We are all doing very well. Baseball has started for our boys they are spread out on 3 different teams this year! So it will be a little crazy for awhile, but fun.

The boys recently took part in Easter festivities with an Egg Hunt and festival at church. Then we got all dressed up on Easter morning and were able to get a quick picture outside of church under an awning even though it was very very WET! It was a wonderful Easter service and here are some pictures from the holiday.

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Evan's Surgery

(April 8, 2011)

Our little sunshine recently had to have a cyst removed at our local children's hospital. We found it roughly 7 wks prior when he got a nasty virus (adenovirus) that cause it to swell and become noticeable. Apparently it is something that is congenital, meaning it was there since birth, and even started forming prior to birth. The tissue that becomes the thyroid and the tongue is initially one piece of tissue. The two should separate entirely, but sometimes there are remnants of tissue left between the two which ultimately grow into a cyst. Typically, an upper respiratory infection will cause the cyst to swell up at some point and that is most often how it is discovered. And that's exactly how it happened for us. I became very alarmed when my mom found a lump on his neck after keeping him one day after a very recent illness. After much worry and a few days, an ultrasound revealed that it was indeed a cyst. So we met with a pediatric surgeon (and how fortunate for us that she is one of the best around!) and we got his surgery scheduled for 5 wks later.

That time has come and gone and all I can say is wow, what an easy experience it turned out to be. Firstly, we are blessed that Evan is such a strong, easy-going kid when it comes to anything medical. He has no fear and embraces anything that has to be done with such maturity and confidence. He was SO compliant through every step of the process and handled everything like a champ! He did not complain of pain even ONCE. We stayed the night at the hospital for observation and I thought this would be so useful for pain control, comfort, etc. It turned out to be actually quite boring for both of us, although he did enjoy the nonstop stream of television viewing for 24+ hrs and the endless supply of slushies! We appreciate everyone's prayers, visits, gifts, texts, and calls during that time!

Here are the pictures from his surgery and hospital stay

Ice Skating for the First Time!

I have had this post saved in draft for some time - just now posting, oops!

(January 9, 2011)

Clayton, Grant, and I got to go on our first ice skating trip ever when we went with Clayton's Cub Scouts group Sunday afternoon. My biggest fear was that we would leave with a broken bone and that it would be ME! Fortunately, we avoided any accidents (although one guy wasn't so lucky and they believed he may have broken his ankle!) and actually had an absolute blast learning the "ropes" of ice skating and getting a feel for a new and different activity. I loved the fact that they had crates stacked two or three high to help the little ones navigate that tough frozen terrain. Heck, I even considered using them myself but was a little self-concious about that screaming "BEGINNER: GET OUT OF HER WAY." LOL I mustered up the courage to "sink or swim" and slowly got a feel for what I was supposed to do. Starting out holding the edge helped, lol. But soon I was making strides (literally) and although still a complete novice I can say that I enjoyed skating around that oval many times by the time we left. I love learning new things but I hated it that there was no one to teach me. What is proper form? These skates are killing my ankles, am I doing this right?? Maybe next time I can Google these questions before we go now that I have a better idea of what DOESN'T work, lol. Anyway, we had a GREAT time and the boys were already asking when we get to go back. I'd like to know, too! :-)

Grant

Clayton (who was pretty fearless)

Grant

Grant & Clayton with their crates

Clayton, Mommy, and Grant

And a boring, but cute video of their experiences on ice for the first time!

Another New Year

At church this past Sunday there was a poem on the back of the bulletin that I really liked and wanted to share:



His Unfailing Presence



Another year I enter,

Its history unknown;

Oh, how my feet would tremble

To tread its paths alone!

But I have heard God's whisper --

I know I shall be blest --

"My presence shall go with you,

And I will give you rest."



What will the New Year bring me?

I may not, must now know.

Will it be love and rapture,

Or loneliness and woe?

Hush! Hush! I hear His whisper --

I surely shall be blest --

"My presence shall go with you,

And I will give you rest."



--author unkown

Louisville Slugger Museum

(December 31st, 2010)

Back in the fall we purchased a basket at the kids' schools' fundraiser auction at the Fall Festival. In it were passes to see a Louisville Riverbats baseball game during the 2011 season, as well as passes to the Louisville Slugger Museum. According to the fine print on the museum tix, they expired the last day of the year and so we called up some friends to see if we could all fit it into our schedule that last week of the year while everyone was off work and it happened to work out that we went on New Year's Eve. It has definitely been a LONG time since I've been to the museum and it was certainly a first for our kids. We had a great time taking in the factory tour and learning about the great history behind this legendary brand of bat. We even got to hold bats used by some legendary players as well, such as Mickey Mantle! Another highlight was hitting a few balls in the inexpensive batting cages. Everyone had a great time!

Here are the pics! We are proudly wearing our Kentucky blue since the big rivalry basketball game between Kentucky and Louisville was going on that day just a few streets away while we were at the museum.