Meet #2 - Got the picture!

We finished another swim meet today and girls placed first again! GO TEAM! Today, Erica swam 100m backstroke. She was a little nervous since she has never swam this before. She was worried she would get tangled in the rope! She did great and I think the coach is actually going to start working with her on this more! The cutest thing was when she did her turns - she would touch the wall and instead of turn around and just push off, she would touch the wall, back a little and then do her flip! It was so cute and her words were, "I didn't know I didn't have to do the flip turn!!!" Next time, I think she will have it really down for sure! I was so proud of her -- we just yelled and cheered for her! One of the other coaches came today and ended up the pool! Not by choice .... another school swimmer was swimming freestyle, made her turn under the water, came up and started splashing and sinking! She had an asthma attack right there in front of the coaches. Leave it to our coach who immediately recognized the problem, dove right in after her and yelled for her inhaler! The swimmer was okay, thank God, for quick thinking and immediate action! Makes us all feel a little safer knowing our girls are in good hands!!!! Doesn't she look like a little fish???!!!!

First Grade First/Last Centers

One might wonder what this means .... I continue to do my first/last everything with Jack. For instance, he lost his first top tooth and this is my last time I will say that. I went to his class yesterday and we did Apple Centers -- this was my first apple centers with Jack and my last apple centers ever. So in the midst of everything I do with Jack, it his first and my last. It is pretty sad when I actually think about it and write it out. Don't get me wrong ... I'm not pining for a baby and wishing we had another one. I mean, I'm almost 37 which brings up a whole separate emotional state of mind ... I mean, I'm sliding into 40 here. I'm not "old" by any stretch of the imagination so don't go trying to give me a lecture. But it definitely does cause some re-evaluation and that can be a good thing. Some people must do this and go off the deep end --- new sports car, new home, new young wife/husband, new family, etc. We've all seen it happen. I'm not there .... but hmmmm... what am I going to do now ..... right now, I am going to finish laundry and think about how many more first/lasts I will do in October ... pumpkin patch field trip ..... His second top tooth .....

Accomplishing Tasks ...

I was reading Scott's contribution to the blog. I love how he starts off with always, "Scott here." I think that is pretty funny and it is always the same. We all do things like that, don't we?

I was thinking about my visit last weekend with my aunt. I didn't tell you all the things we accomplished and how great it felt! She had things that needed done at her house so I got to be the lucky one to help only because I love to do stuff like organizing and cleaning and changing things around. So after the other family left on Saturday, we left my aunt's house for Lowe's at 2:00pm. We spent two hours in Lowe's, went to Target, ate dinner at Chipotle and got back to my aunt's to work which was around 6:15pm. We put together five shoe shelves, two cube shelves, hung a curtain rod and curtain, moved her bed, organized her cords for her computer on a shelf, cleaned out her books, magazine racks, hung a blind, bagged 15, yes FIFTEEN, pair of old shoes/suitcase/lunchbox for Goodwill, dumped dirt out of several planted pots in her garage, organized a stack of things in the garage, swept out the garage, organized the shoes on the new racks, ran back to Target and Walmart for two more items, threw out the old shoe rack AND cleaned some curtains. We went to bed at 1:30am.

Sunday morning, we were up at 8am. We painted a flag pole, cleaned some floor register vents, and I decided that I could paint her kitchen before I left for the airport at 11:30am. I climbed on top of the fridge to reach the cathedral ceiling in her kitchen and started rolling and trimming. I made my aunt run to Lowe's to get a gallon of paint since we only had a quart and to buy two more lights for her track lighting. So before I got on the plane, I painted 3/4 of her kitchen and changed out her track lighting over the stove. She got home and painted the second coat on what was needed and painted the floor registers and a basket. At least I am hoping she did do that!!!

Do you ever just think "if I only had an extra pair of hands?!!?" Of course, my aunt was thrilled with our accomplishments and it really was no big deal...but she just couldn't get her mind around how fast I painted the kitchen!!! I'm thinking --- do you know how many times we have painted???? People fly us to Kentucky for our painting abilities!!!!! LOL!!! She painted her kitchen purple --- a deep gray/blue/purple color which is absolutely beautiful and looks wonderful with all her fruit/vegetable decor she has. I loved it and she did too! It is such a good feeling to get things done ......

Just keep Tracking

I'm sitting here with Scott and he is laughing at me. For those of you who know me, I say random things that make absolutely no sense at all. I use words incorrectly. I mispronounce words at least on a daily basis. I reverse words and phrases all the time when I'm talking. I am determined to be an "abiding law citizen" instead of a law abiding citizen. I actually thought in my Aunt's car that the cruise control buttons that said ACCEL RES and DECEL SET was written in Spanish and English which is why I could not figure out how to "SET" the cruise control until I was driving back to my Aunt's work, which then I laughed at myself for the next ten minutes. I had no idea what MPH meant in the car until Scott explained it to me ---- which then I proved to him that most women do not know that so I called a friend and she didn't know it either. So if you are participating and reading my blogs and you catch all the things that he does, just keep tracking with me. And over my long weekend away with four other women of my gene pool, it is in our gene pool.!! We all do it. Every single one of us reverse our words, mix them up, use the wrong ones ... my Aunt tried to send with me snavel tracks in the car instead of TRAVEL SNACKS and she has her PHD! Things blow my other Aunt OUT rather than blow her AWAY! I finally was able to see where it comes from .... it is a gene pool mishap .... oh God .... what if Erica gets it?? So whenever you are with me and you hear it, just tell me you are tracking with me .... that was our phrase for the weekend....someone else would say something, one of us would start laughing and I would say, "it's okay ... I'm tracking with ya!!" And Scott is amazed that we can all decipher the language in the midst of it ...... it is like our own little female subcultural language!! Maybe the boys will get it, too .....

Back in Action

Well, I made it back from my superdee dooper long weekend away ALONE .... I visited my Aunt in Ohio. I flew up Wednesday morning and stayed until Sunday afternoon. I think I have the best husband on the planet .... those of you who think your husbands are the best on the planet will need to send me an email as to why you think that so I can be convinced otherwise. I came back to a clean house and all three children were unharmed and alive ... I have not checked their mental states but all in all, they seem to be intact!!! He is the BOMB!

My aunt and I got to eat a late lunch at Cheesecake Factory and do a little walking and shopping. This is the first time I have had a significant amount of time with just my aunt alone. Usually when I am with her, I have my mom or her other sisters (my aunts) with us. This was really a neat opportunity for me to be with her. I enjoy quality time. I am beginning to think it is a one of my love languages that I am developing. We talked non-stop which was really great because, well, I like to talk. I got to visit one of my dearest friends, Mette, who moved away this past summer. We met half way in Cincinnati in their MainStrauss Village area for breakfast/brunch. It was really funny because we found this quaint little shop with no one in it and sat down. It was perfect and we could not have asked for a better place to spend a few hours catching up and talking. There were two women behind the counter who greeted us and we immediately, well, okay it was me, struck up conversation with them. I asked them which one owned the shop and the one answered, "we both do." And I said, "oh you're partners?" To which they looked kind of oddly at me and then I realized after it had come out of my mouth and I actually took in my surroundings that yes, they were partners in every sense of the word. Mette is of course looking at me very intently and when I look at her, she is hiding her face with her hair and she mouths to me, "shutup." Which I then look down because I am just about on the verge of busting a gut with laughter and she was about to kick me under the table. And to top it all off, five minutes later, a man walks in and he might as well have had neon green flashing lights over his head announcing his sexuality .... he had stopped by to see his mom, one of the owners. Once again, I seem to attract the most random opportunities to stick my foot in my mouth! We had a great time catching up, did some shopping, took some pictures, hyperventilated in the tiny German store that had 1, 576,923 knick knacks, and cried over the bridge crossing the Ohio River after we parted ways. I am thankful that we both only had to drive a little over an hour to see each other for a short period of time but was sad when it ended. I had flashbacks of Pennsylvania crossing that old, large metal bridge ..... weird ........

I drove back to where my Aunt works. I got to spend three hours that afternoon with one of my friend's daughters. Her daughter is there and it was great to see her and catch up. I got to see her living quarters and we found a cute coffee shop in town to relax in. I could not have asked for a better day with both of them. I realized, too, how thankful I am that even though distances is between us, it was as if time never was. I love sitting down and picking up where I left off with people. Do you know what I mean? Some people you can naturally sit down and just pick up where you were last. And some people you have to work at it and it feels awkward and you aren't sure what to say, etc. Most people tease me because I could talk to a paperbag but there are times even I am at a loss for words ---- those of you laughing can hush!!!! I just think friendship is such a gift ...... I don't know what I would do without my friends, near and far..............all of you are the best!!!

A chip off the old block........

Scott here....that is likely obvious from the way the pictures are not lined up well...not familiar with this thing but doing my best.

Marsha has been gone since this past Wednesday on a trip to see some friends and family in Ohio. It is probably best that we not tell her that we have been staying up late, getting up early, and eating whatever is handy. For example, yesterday at Disney World, the boys and I grabbed a quick lunch consisting of a soft pretzel, Cheetos, and Doritos.......they sure seemed happy....me too.

Honestly, it has been a lot of fun and today the boys had their first soccer game of the Fall season. Let's just say that of the twelve goals scored by their team, these two kicked half of those in.......I have always assumed my stellar athletic ability would be passed on but to see it in action is something for which there really are no words....just tears............really big tears...

Anyway, I have to go get suited up for a game of indoor water gun tag--pictures to come soon....

First Swim Meet

Saturday was Erica's first official swim meet! We had to be at the pool at 6:45am for warm-ups and it was still dark outside! Erica swam in the 25m and 50m for her first time. I could not believe how incredibly fast she was in the water and she made it look effortless! Her coach says she has improved tremendously over the last month and Erica absolutely loves it. What I love most is the team spirit and the girls --- they range from 6th grade to seniors and the girls are incredibly mature, responsible and simply good kids. The good news? The Girls Team took first place out of all the schools competing AND they took first place for small school category!!! They had every right to be incredibly proud of their win -- they all swam very hard and looked great!!! And we were so proud of Erica! She has told us she loves swim team and hopes they continue in the spring!! A couple of teens told her at the meet when she was getting ready to swim, "Man, you are tiny!" As she got on the board, she told me later that she swam as hard and fast as she could just to prove to them that size doesn't matter!! You go GIRL!!! I was proud that she didn't take it to heart ...... Eat my BUBBLES!

Introduction to Graffitti

Well, Spencer got his first introduction to graffitti today. Imagine that ..... we were sitting at the dinner table and Spencer said, "Dad. My friend took me to the bathroom and someone wrote on the wall." We naturally asked what did it say? "My balls are soft and squishy." You must take a moment after your shock of him saying this to reflect as Erica says, "What balls are soft and squishy?" To then Spencer pointing down to his private area, Erica covering her eyes and shaking her head and Jack interjecting, "Well, they are!" As Erica then says, "well, I thought they would have been talking about these" as she is holding her hands up as if to be holding boobs. Okay ... stop for a minute ... because if you are laughing, we were having dinner for the love of God....... so as we began to reel back in the conversation and head it in the appropriate direction and offer correction, I have decided that I along with my children are sheltered. I like sheltered. These are not the conversations I enjoy .... particularly at the dinner table. These are the things that I will remember :)