AWARDS

Today was 7th grade awards ceremony. Unlike in lower grades, there is only one award per the 5 teachers. Sara got an award from her reading teacher for best student.

Band trip

PACKED AND READY TO GO...

Sara's band had an out of town competition and in order to get there in time, they had to leave at 3 AM!!!! I was so lucky that one of the band m0ms, and also the mom to one of Sara's good friends, is a chaperon and so Sara, along with another best friend, spent the night. This also meant that the mom would bring Sara home at 1:50 AM that night....totally exhausted. I could not stay up that long, so Jeff did and she was "like a zombie" going up to bed. They got first place. After the competition, they went to a huge water park-Schliterbahn and spent 8 hours playing. I got the lowdown on the boys and girls checking each other out in their swimsuits.....I AM SO NOT READY FOR THIS! I did get the girls new swimsuits, from the Jr. dept, to make sure everything was covered, though I thing she should have worn a very long shirt over everything......wow....I sound like my mom!

moving day

Most of you know, Jeff's new job is a 3+ hour drive from home, and a night shift. We both decided it is best for him to get an efficiency closer, so now his commute is about 2 minutes. We rented a U-Haul and the move was on. We had almost enough to furnish it completely, but did buy a new mattress and another arm chair. Things are coming along well and the girls like the pools there, as long as the workout room. The girls took time in the Uhaul and at the end of the day, they (we) were exhausted

NASA

Ruth and her 6th grade team headed down to Houston for their overnight fieldtrip to the Johnson Space Center. This is Ruth and Morgan, who I have carpooled since kindergarten, ready to leave.

Ruth's Confirmation

Today Ruth was confirmed in her faith and became a member of the church.

Ruth with Pastor Mike.
Ruth with her mentors that held the classes for her group.

The actual confirmation.

The group of kids in her group along with her mentors.



Waiting with her friends to begin. Ruth, in the striped top, looks a lot like her friend Niki next to her.....guess why hehehe

ANIMALS

Jessie the guard dog.....OH, I'M SCARED!

Right after this picture, Cooper went for a haircut. He was getting too hot. Now the dogs look a lot alike!

I hope Jeff was finished with her sandwich before Puff decided to jump up and clean the plate!

JR Nat'l Honor Society

Today was the ceremony inducting Sara to Jr. National Honor Society. There were so many kids, both 8th and 7th grade. I found I had to teach Sara how to shake hands. It was very funny~first she did not know what hand to use. Then, when she shook my hand, it looked more like a bird trying to fly, and I finally said to let go of my hand at some point......we laughed so much. In the end, the correct hand was used, she did not look like she was trying to fly, and it did not last 30 seconds. She was nervous, but it was beautiful.

DISTRICT TRACK

Sara had a 3 day district track meet. She was doing the 1 1/2 mile and the mile. Thursday on the 1 1/2, she came in 4th out of 30. This is a picture of her blowing past another team to the finish line. She ran great.

On the mile, their fastest runner found out that her torn hamstring was NOT healed and hobbled across the finish line to be taken to the field house for medical attention. Sara got her foot stomped by a runner as they took off. Most of the girls wear "spike" shoes and it really hurt, so she also hobbled across the finish line in 7th place....poor girl.

They had entirely too many girls squeezed at the starting line and on both runs, they had to restart because a girl went down. I also noticed that there was a lot of pushing during this meet....the pressure of being best in district.

The 8th graders boys and girls came in first. The 7th grade girls came in 5th~~~~and Sara was upset because and also felt the upset from her coaches.....pressure from everywhere.

National Honor Society

Today Sara got her letter of acceptance into the National Junior Honor Society. This is based upon grades, character, and community volunteering. She will have her induction ceremony on the 22nd-another chance to wear her new fancy dress. There were only 2 selected from her team to receive this honor.

EASTER

We had our annual easter egg hunt. Since all of the kids but ours are in or finished with college, there is more cash in the eggs than candy. Niece Angie got the most this year and Marc got the least....better luck next year! Note the ice chest on the chair....we have to create artificial places to hide the eggs. Since Marc is 6"++, we actually had one thrown up into a huge tree....of course he just jumped and got it!

We also had the croquet competition. The game I play, well, I was very very lonely at the back.....I need to practice more I guess.

My sister Lisa brought cup cakes and let the "kids" ice and decorate them. They had a blast and were very creative.

The spoils of their hunt....time to check it out.

Happy Adoption Day Ruth

We celebrated the 12th anniversary of Ruth becoming our daughter on 4/2/1998. I took her shopping and she picked out some cool clothes.

yuck

The flu is back and I was the first down...after a good 24 hours. I did manage to pull off a great b-day party for Ruth. Updates later. Looks like Ruth has something too.....STAY AWAY!!!

Ruth's birthday party

Ruth's birthday party was so much fun. To begin with she had a frog shaped cake-from Kroger's. They painted letters for their first names and they added jewels. I later attached a ribbon of their choosing to hang them to their walls.

We, I mean they, had a lot of trampoline time. They did some at night with all the lights out wearing their glow-in-the-dark bracelets and necklaces. Good it was almost a full moon. It was so funny to see just their jewelry bouncing up and down. They had dodge ball on the trampoline. They painted sun catchers. They ate a LOT of junk food, but for breakfast it was donuts, with milk, juice and fruit.

I was surprised they were quiet by 12 and not up until 8. Most of these girls have been friends since K or first grade. They are such wonderful girls, as are their moms that I like to visit with.

15 years later

Aren't we cute!

Ode to being a mom

Yes! The flu caught up with me finally. NO time to be sick though~tomorrow is Ruth's birthday party so after almost 24 hours in bed doing what no one wants to do, I am going at a snail's pase wishing I was still in bed....no time to be sick when you are a mom. I get the impression it is good to have dad be the mom for a day....more appreciation.

Everyone else seems to be fully recovered finally. It took some extra yogart to get Jeff back on track, but he is 100% again.

Today Jeff went to Sara's track meet and she came in 4th.

Birthday party Fri pm~Sat am so pictures later.....wish me luck

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUTH

Today is Ruth's 12th birthday. We will have a family birthday party this evening and her party will be next weekend. Today she went went to a friend to see "Lightning Theif" ~a book they studied this year, and in 4th grade.

Hasn't our baby grown~~now taller than her mom!

First day of spring brought us ...

Sara and Jeff now have the stomach flu....oh to be a mom!



Oh yea~~it is also SNOWING! I know you all wonder now about global warming, but just maybe it is affecting weather patters all over. We have now beat the all time snow levels.....ever here.

Quiet spring day?

Almost spring, and I set up the hammock for my enjoyment, but the animals decided something else. Apparently I am such a soft pillow, even the animals want a chance to relax......oh well!

Ruth was playing with Cooper and his toy got stuck in our little tree and imagine our surprise when he jumped into the bird bath to get closer! He is totally obsessed with his squeaky toys!

BAPTISM

This morning Sara was baptised. Her track coach was leading the music for the service and told a special story about Sara~~making me cry it was so very sweet. Our pracher tends to speack quickly, so I asked him to speak slowly, or in Chinese, or Sara would surely say "huh?" and we did not want this. It was so exciting to watch Sara profess her belief in God and Jesus.....

Ruth did not attend because she is still sick. Thus my sister and her husband were not interested in coming over afterwards. Mom, dad, Sara and I went shopping in the afternoon and Jeff and Ruth stayed home.

WARNING~~FLU

Ruth came down with the stomach flu yesterday, just after my parents arrived. This is day 2 w/ all the symptoms, including fever!!!!!! Jeff is not feeling well and went to bed very early.....YUCK!