Updates

Ok, so, you are probably wondering where I have been...and I don't have a good excuse. I do have excuses, just none of them are very good.Heehee!
Mark is plugging away at work. His job is going good. He is doing the electrical at the new Freddie's in Derby. What he is really enjoying right now, is his position as Athletic Director. Cross Country season is winding down this week, football has a ways to go, and volleyball is over now, except for tournaments, except for 8th grade, they are done.
I have been enjoying my glamorous life as a lunch lady. Easy hours, fun people, good times. I love my job!
Val was down and out last week with the Swine Flu. That's right. You heard me! She had it!!! Confirmed by her doctor. Of course, she went to the doctor too late for him to be able to give her an antibiotic to help her, so she had to just ride it out. It was not an easy ride!
She did make it to her Homecoming Dance, just got sick the day after it. She went with her boyfriend Tyler. There are pics of them on my Facebook. Add me!
Like I said before, Emi is done with volleyball. She is bummed! She has a great potential, so we are going to look into a club league for her to play in, or somewhere to go to get some extra help. She does have a great talent!!
Anyways, just wanted you to know that I am still around!

A Moment Of Your Time

Just a moment of your time, to remind you of how FABULOUS Emily is at playing volleyball. She played at Magdalen on Monday night, and yes, they lost to SEAS and St. Francis, but this is a team sport, remember!~
Emi got a series of 8 serves over the net during a SEAS game, and brought them to a close win, and then at the beginning of match 2 of the St. Francis game, scored 14 serves in a row, sending them to tie breaker! 14!
Just keeping you up to date on her scores! It is hard to get pics because I keep score, and Mark line judges, but I will give it a try for this weekend, because they should be looking good~wink, wink!!!!!

Star Power!

OK, so I know some people will say I am biased (because I am), but Emily has Volleyball Star Power! Yesterday morning, we played against St. Pat's, and the game was SO good!!!! Emily missed her first serve of the day, but she made up for it! The second she was up for the serve she served not 1, not 2, but 12 in a row!!! The crowd was going wild! She was in the zone for sure!!!! Our girls didn't return the volley, so the serve went to St. Pat's. We returned the ball, for the game point.
Coach Lynn decided to keep Emi in on Service, since she was on such a hot streak, and she served another 10 in a row, only stopping her streak, because we hit the return volley out of bounds!
All of the girls played an awesome game! There were dinks, spikes, sets (Emi likes to do a backwards set) and bumps! We had Sheridan from St. Joseph School who went on a 6 serve streak,and all of the girls had a lot to be proud of!
Then, Magdalen game. We lost the first match 21-25. THey were watching the St.Pat's game, and shut down Emi quick! She did get all of her serves over though, the rest of the day, they just volleyed them back to us, in our weak spots. We won the second match 25-19, so we went to tie breaker, but couldn't quite get it back after they went on a 9 point streak, and lost by 6.
Oh well, they have an even record, won 2 lost 2, so they are actually doing better than these girls have done Ever!
And, not to keep bragging, but Emily's streak yesterday was the "best" streak that SMM has seen maybe ever, but for sure for at least the last 5 years!

And on one more note, our girls have the BEST team spirit of any team I have seen! THey cheer and chant for each other, and never show bad sportsmanship, which we unfortunately encountered against Magdalen, but our girls played with class all the way!!!!

8th Grade Volleyball is off and running (or serving and spiking as it were)! The team had their first 2 games last week, and they lost (barely) to St. Anne's and then played St. Peter Schulte and won both games, so there was no need for the tie breaker. They did a great job! The team has really improved from last year, and as proof by the picture, we got Tarah back on the team!!!! She played in 6th grade, didn't last year, but was persuaded to come back for her 8th grade year! The Lady Tigers play again on Saturday, making it a very busy weekend, since, we are also kicking off our 8th grade fundraising that weekend, but I am confident we can get everything done we need to do! They play at Collegiate next Saturday morning. They petitioned the CSAL last year to join, and the Athletic Directors voted at their meeting, and welcomed them into the league.If I have the time, I would love to go check them out before we play them, since we have never seen their girls play before, but time is an issue for us for the next couple weeks, so we will see!
I will try to be more faithful about my blogging~sorry!!!!

Oh, and message to Tim, in case you didn't read the Sport Page on Saturday~Bishop Carroll beat Heights.....just thought you would like to know :P

Dating Tips Fridays

Val has Morality class this semester as her religion class. Her teacher, Mr. Brandt, has deemed Fridays to be the day that he gives the kids tips and they can talk about dating, and relationships.
Part of this, are a "girl" and a "guy" tip.
His tip for the girls this week, is to always carry a sucker with them, when they are out with a boy. That way, if they are not comfortable kissing the boy, they can stick the sucker in their mouth, cause who would kiss someone with a stick in their mouth.
The boy tip was that a boy should always carry a pen and a folded notecard. On the outside of the card, he can write topics to discuss, and on the inside, he can write things that interest the girl he is with.

So there you have it. I will ask Val for more tips next Friday.
PS~ She did take a sucker with her tonight, but only one. And she took one for him too! He said he was going to go find a notecard~heehee!

1 Week Down!

Well, my camera didn't have batteries. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it, when I tried to take the traditional first day of school pictures, and now I know, there are no batteries in it. It is a good thing they wear the same thing every day. I will get pics of them next week.

Emily loves 8th grade. She started Tuesday. Her class has 15 kids in it. Ky moved to Florida, but he might come back at semester, they all hope so! Every day the 8th graders go to the lunchroom and help the kindergarteners with their lunch trays, so I get to see her a couple of times a day. There really isn't as much homework as she thought, so she is happy about that! Volleyball is going well. There are 8 girls on her team, 3 of them are from St. Joseph school, and then Emi,Tarah,Olivia,Theresa,and Elizabeth. It looks like a good team! Em got her serve back, and is doing awesome!!!!
Val was born to go to high school! I will always think so. She is having the time of her life!!! She got a full size locker again, teachers and classes that she loves, and is going out on a movie date tonight. What more could she ask for???
Val is assistant coach to Emi's volleyball team.
Well, that's about it. Valleri had school pics taken yesterday, Emily,Tarah, and Diem are supposed to be going to the mall with some guy friends from St. Jude's. Emily had a cold yesterday though, so I will have to see how she is feeling first.
I am 8th grade room mother, so I am trying to figure out a schedule for fundraising for the kids for their graduation expenses, t shirts, and class trip. YUCK!!!! I don't really mind though!

Hideous!

This is not for the weak of stomach!

What I've Been Up To....

...so, I've been MIA for almost a month. Yikes! The summer just flew by for sure!
The girls have been so busy going out with friends, and Mark has been busy at work, and I have just about completely beat the %$#@@* out of myself!
I will explain.
A week ago today, I was sweeping the hall by the bathroom, and I stopped to go get something from Emily's room. It was probably laundry, because I was multi-tasking that day. Anyway, I came back, and took a step over Mighty, and right onto a dustpan. Of course, it slid, I ended up doing the splits, my left foot ended up flat against the floor, and basically I sprained it.
So, on Wednesday, I knew I would be on my feet for a long time, since we were going to be at BC registration, so I wrapped it up, and away we went. After we paid fees and bought books in the small gym, we stepped outside, but the sun was so bright, I stepped off the stair, but did not realize I stepped onto a concrete ramp, which I stepped off of with my bad foot. I fell flat on my face. Scraped the skin off around my eye, which is now also bruised, had blood dripping down both legs, scraped my knuckles. Yikes! It was so embarrassing!
Val was such a sweetie though, and just threw her locker together in like less than 5 minutes so we could leave.
So, now I am healing,and praying that some of these bruises go away before school starts.
Tomorrow, I am going to my sister's new home in Derby to help them move in....I wonder if they will let me carry their fine china.....heehee!

Just A Neat Picture

Emily and James

This is Emi's boyfriend. They went to the drive in last night along with Val, Jared, Sarah, Julie, and Diem. And me. Driver. As usual. We had a lot of fun, got home at 6:15 this morning and still are trying to wake up, but planning to do it all again soon.
I love Emi and James together. They are so sweet!!!! They have a lot of fun, it is cute to watch!!

This Will Be Interesting For You!

I can't believe I let him leave town, without taking pictures, but Val has a new boyfriend, and he leaves for Colorado on Vacation before she will see him again, and I don't have a picture (yet) and I am sorry! That out of the way....
His name is Cameron. He will be a Junior at Bishop Carroll, he has a Jeep, but our rule for dating, has always been that we don't let Val ride in a car until she, herself, can drive, so unless it is a special occasion, we will continue to take her places. He is FUNNY!!!!!
I have just known him, for a week or so, seen him 2 1/2 times (once was at the mall, and he was leaving when I got there), but my goodness, he makes me laugh~I know I laugh easily too, but still!
She has known him for the last year, and just been kind of Hallway Friends with him at school, and then, found him on Facebook last week, and started chatting,and invited him to her Movie and Swim Parties this week, and the rest is history.....

Now, for the interesting part~Emi has a boyfriend too! She is dating James, who is Val's Bff Jared's younger brother. Jared is the tall one, and James is probably already about 6 feet tall. He is an 8th grader at St. Jude's, and is very sweet, but also very quiet! We are taking him, along with us and a large group of kids to the drive in on Saturday, so I will take a bunch of pics of them and post them afterward.

So, there you have it. 2 daughters, 2 boyfriends. Mark is doing ok with it. He will meet James on Saturday, but will have to wait to meet Cameron.
I will let you know about that too.....

The Boy

Today is the Boy's birthdaY!!!!
I can't upload any pics for some reason today, so I will have to add a picture when Mark gets home, but I wanted to tell you why my nephew Landon is so special on this, his 11th birthday.
L is for the Love he has for his favorite aunt.
A is for All the fun he creates everywhere he goes.
N is for his Neverending energy
D is for Danelle, his momma, never forget your momma!
O is for Oh, he makes us all laugh! He has a great sense of humor!
N is for never wanting him to change!!!!


Love you buddy! Hope your day is great, and can't wait to see you tonight!!!!!!!

Yikes!!! Where Have I Been????

First of all, I have no pictures to post.
Secondly, I can't believe this much time has gotten away from me!!

We are just living life.
Mark~Busy working, got some overtime a few days this week, which is unheard of, in the IBEW, but he is what he calls First Call, so he is the apprentice they go to if they have something extra.
Valleri~goes to pole vault, when they have it. It has been hectic with the holidays and such, but she is doing good, and still loves it. She goes out 5 out of 7 days typically with her friends, and has begun spending quite a bit of time with a Cutie from Kapaun. Now, we will see if my sweet brother in law Tim reads this, because he won't be able to hold back a comment if he does!
Emily~dancing the summer away! She also enjoys going out with her friends a few times a week, and has struck up a friendship with Val's BFF Jared's younger brother.
Lauren is back. A few days a week, but I missed her!
Mighty and Wrinkles are sharing the house well.
We went to Lawrence Dumont for July 4th. We watched a ball game, and KAKE TV honored the Atomic Veteran's as Hometown Heroes, so Nancy was so honored to receive a certificate for his sacrifices. That was a fun evening and we got to sit with Tim, Danelle, Shelbie and Landon, who I can't even remember the last time I have seen them....
We did have to cancel my mom's surprise party on the 5th. That was her 60th birthday, and my dad called that morning, with the news that she had been up sick all night, so we had to scramble to cancel the party before everyone showed up.
We did get it done, and cleaned up, came home, and got a call that she had passed out and was rushed to the hospital by ambulance. She was extremely sick, but they stabilized her, and got her blood pressure down, from 230 over 170 (!), and after spending the night in the hospital got to come home, after being diagnosed with anxiety coupled with an inner ear infection. It's all good now, though, and she is happy to be home!
The grandkids did get their gifts from my mom. Every year, she celebrates her birthday by giving gifts to her grandkids, because noone can tell her not to, since it is her birthday. A sweet tradition for sure, and one that all of Val's friends would like to be adopted for...haha!

Not much else going on right now. Next week, we have a drive in night planned, and a few other things, so I will remember to take some pictures for you.

Smile, And The World Smiles Back At You!

Look what Val found when she was outside with Mighty tonight! It is so cute, wanted to share!

If I Blinked, I Would Have Missed It!

Last night, was Nancy's BFF's Retirement Party. She worked for the school district at East High for 16 years. That is a lot of detention slips! She retired after this school year ended.
Sharon has 2 kids and 2 grandkids. Todd is the proud father of Lily and Luke, and lives in Chicago and Michelle lives in New Orleans. They came as a surprise. Nancy and the kids set up the evening, and Nancy had to get Sharon there without catching on. She was successful!
Mark and Emily went and were there the whole time. Val had Leapfrogs~summer pole vault club~so I took her to Maize High, then called Mark to see if it was "worth it" to drive from Maize to 13th and Webb then back to Maize. He said to come over, so I did, and was there maybe 4 minutes before everyone decided to leave. Oh well! I just turned around and drove back to Maize....
Wouldn't have missed that hug from Sharon for anything though!!! Now she gets to spend some time with her kids, and that will be the greatest gift of all for her!!!!!

Even Big Kids Love The Zoo

These are some of our pics from our trip to the zoo. Mark loves to go to the zoo, and of course, the girls are happy to oblige, so each year, we get a membership, and go as often as we can. We skip the petting zoo now, don't mind doing it either, I have never been a fan of petting the animals.
We do hit all the other exhibits, and were really happy to get to see the tigers. It wasn't too hot the day we went, and stayed most of the morning. Emily loved the bald eagles, and Val loved the tigers. The monkeys weren't very active. There were only 2 of them inside on exhibit and none outside, but we mostly went to see the Tiger Trek, which is really pretty awesome. They did a really good job on it. I was a little disappointed in the Penguin exhibit. I thought it would be bigger, but they are fun to watch too.
We will go again on Father's Day. Buddy and Mark love to look at the cars, and the kids will be distracted by the animals, so it's all good!

Half Vegetarian

This is for Austin, he will get the joke!
Austin is one of Val's friends, he calls her an anorexic vegetarian, so she took this pic to prove to him that she does like some meat. Her fave though, is Denis's beef jerky. BBQ chicken, is second place. I guess she could always be a Chicken Model if nothing else works out for her....haahaa!!

Drive In

Val and her friends have been wanting to go to the drive in. So, on Saturday, they got it together and planned to go. They wanted to see LAND OF THE LOST, DRAG ME TO HELL, and TERMINATOR, but Mark wanted to see NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2, so Mark took Emily to one side,and I got to take the High Schoolers to the other. I know, you are thinking, "But Michelle, how is it that you got so lucky, and got to take all the kids, and Mark just had Emily?" heehee!
First, we went and got Julie, and her niece Tham. Julie is a NOW sophomore at Kapaun~I know, but I love her still~ and Tham will be a freshman at East. After that, we swung over to the East side and got Jacob~also Kapuan~so now Val was outnumbered, it was a good thing that Jared did not flake out, and went with us too. We ended up parking next to Joe Ast, who had Montana~freshman at BC and his little brother Mason, who spent the 1st 2 movies in the van with the kids, but they were good sports about it!
Jason McNeal and Hoang Tran also showed up, one each from BC and Kapaun, and they hung out too.
It started raining at the end of DRAG ME TO HELL (excellent movie, by the way, and my pick for the night), so we moved everything into the van, and I promptly took a nap, because TERMINATOR has never interested me.
I did wake up toward the end, to find the drive in practically deserted, because it started to rain pretty hard, and Julie and Jared outside of the van, Julie trying to teach Jared how to turn a cartwheel. Guess, they didn't like it much either.
After we packed up, Jared wanted to go to McDonald's, but the one on Hydraulic was closed, so I took Julie and Tham home, then noticed the one in Park City (where Jared lives) was open, so they got to eat after all, took him home, got to Kellogg and Rock Rd, to find out he left his phone in the car, but it was ok, he could get it later (duh), got Jacob home, went to bed for about 2 hours, to get up, return the phone, get a new phone charger for Val, pick up party invites for Nanny, deliver some of them, went to bed last night at 9, got up at 5, so I am very well rested, and looking for stuff to do now.
But, maybe not the drive in again for a while. haha!

Mush Mouth

Emily and I went to the grocery store this morning, and she saw Corn Dogs, and wanted them. You all know of my hot dog aversion, but the rest of the family likes them, so we bought them.
Of course when we got home Mark, Val and Emi all wanted corn dogs for lunch, so I set about putting them in the toaster oven while Val was unloading the other bags.
This morning, she cut her gum on a Dorito, and it was sore, so while we were shopping, we bought some Orajel for her.
As I was preparing the corn dogs, Val was opening her Orajel, and unknown to us, the cap must have flown off, and ended up under Mark's corn dog.
He took his, and was eating them, and found the cap, and as he was examining it, his tongue started to go numb. So, we figured out what happened...I am thinking about adding it as an ingredient to things they don't really enjoy eating, that way, their mouths will be too numb to complain about my cooking.....HEEHEE!

Dress Code

The girls have always gone to private school, so they have always had to adhere to a strict dress code. Baggy, not form fitting, red polo, skirt to the knee, tennis shoes, their only rebellion is wearing No Show socks instead of anklets, and since most of the school does this at St Margaret Mary, they let that slide.
Val's is a little different. Still, the skirt to the knee, but with a white button down collared shirt, and knee socks with leather shoes. They don't give an inch there.
So, what is my point? Well, the girls are used to a dress code that has them "cover up", so imagine Emily's discomfort when Raeann has decided to impose a dress code on them in summer dance, and it is not to cover up, but to actually show more skin.
They are now required to wear form fitting tank tops and something like spandex shorts. It is because the stretches and moves they do now, when wearing loose fitting clothes, can sometimes cause certain body parts to be seen, so now they are going to be banned from loose fitting t shirts, shorts, sweats of any length, etc.
Emily was like whoa!!!! but, after thinking about it, I do see her point. Some of the stretches and poses they do are very revealing, if wearing the wrong kind of clothes, so I guess tomorrow, we will be going out to look for a pair of spandex shorts. She has only a zillion tank tops, so we got that covered~or uncovered as the case may be (;

Ice Ice Baby

If you really know me, you know how much I hate hot things. Not just heat, but hot drinks, hot tubs, too hot of food, not only temperature but also spice.
Anyways, my point is, that I love the cold, so as many of you know I love ice. I love to drink a pop, then eat the ice, and my favorite ice is from Sonic. I actually will buy bags of their ice to enjoy at home. Really, it is like $1.60-something, but well worth it! I also like the ice at Quik Trip, but only the crushed, and since you can get a 32 ounce Dr Pepper with crushed ice for 49 cents, well, that is quite a deal!!!!
Back to the point, Aunt Sherry called, and she wanted to talk to me about ice. She told me that Braum's also sells their ice, which is crushed just a bit bigger than SOnic, and that I should give it a go. Well, me and the girls are going to go get some ice soon. Aunt Sherry said that she likes Braum's better, because it is not so clumpy.
I like all ice, and am planning a blindfold taste test soon. Carol knows how much I enjoy those, from my days in the kitchen.I will conduct this very scientific experiment, and then will post my results as soon as it is done. I am sure you will all be on the edge of your seats~haha!
Until then...

Waiting

So, I haven't blogged since school let out. You want to know what I have been up to?
I've been waiting.
Waiting for kids to get out on the last day of school.
Waiting for them at the mall.
Waiting for them to call for a ride.
Waiting for them to get out of the pool.
Currently, I am waiting to pick Val up from Cosmic Bowling.
I think it would be great if she could drive. I know that will begin a whole new phase of worry, but I will wish it for now, when I know she is still safely only 15, and under the legal age.
I don't really mind it. Both of the girls are very chatty, and their stories are hilarious! I love the ride home. They always give up all the dirt on what went down with their friends~a reference I use for Carol....
If they don't give up everything, they do give up a lot of the info, that is for sure! Of course, I take it with a grain of salt!

In other news, I really and truly had no idea that my mom is turning 60 this year. I thought she was 59. Yikes! Imagine my surprise, when I was contacted a few days ago to start planning a surprise party for her. I thought a year in advance was a little excessive, I guess 5 weeks is not! So, we will start getting stuff ready this weekend. My mom does not read me blog, so I know the details are safe here, as long as I can trust all of you! Don't rat us out!!!!!

Sorry to make you all WAIT on my blog update, I guess we have all been in the same boat...haha! I will try to do something interesting soon!

First Pool Party~Last Day Of School

Last day of school!!!! Emily had Field Day, and Val had Finals. On Thursday, she took her harder ones~ Word Processing, PE, Algebra, and Chemistry, so today she had Spanish, English, and Liturgy. I am sure she did great! She has summer school this year~she is enrolled in Pole Vault Academy~Gotcha!!!!!It's not really summer school, but she really will be practicing all summer! She passed everything, and so did Emily. She just has one more year until high school, and can't wait!!! Neither can I!
Val and her friends had a small pool party after finals yesterday.
I picked up Val, Taylor, Luke, Jessica, and Jared, then we took Taylor home, but picked up Mighty, and then went and got Emily, Diem, and Tarah, then got Julie. Andrew came a little later, because he got a ride from his sister.
They ate lunch, played in the pool, had fun, got sunburned, messed around with the dog, then went home.
We do these every Wednesday, the kids change, but the days stay the same!
Next week, I will get shots of Emi and her friends, Val used her camera, and I guess they were not on her picture priority list!Heehee!!!

The Many Faces Of Emily

These are just some cutie pix of Emi. I was going through pictures and liked these. One is right after she got highlights for her birthday. One was killing some time before her dance recital and the other was laughing.
So pretty!

This and That

Val went to JV City League on Thursday. She got 3rd place in Pole Vault, then later in the evening was invited to participate in the 4x4 relay, which also placed 3rd, so tomorrow she will get her medals. She is pretty excited!
My cousin Jake graduates tonight from BCCHS, and Friday we went to his party. Val especially had fun, as there were many VERY cute guys there, and one in particular that paid very close attention to her :)
Tomorrow night is Emily's Sport Banquet at SMM. There will be surprises!!!!
Yesterday morning we put up the pool in my parent's back yard. Val and Emi have a pool party on the last day of school each year, so we had to get it up and filled this weekend, so they can jump in on Friday.
Can't believe Friday is the last day of school!

Mighty

Look who is joining our family next weekend.....

That's right! Val's friends Taylor's dog had puppies, and they had one that had no home, and Taylor offered it to Val. So, we are getting a dog. Another dog. I heard that he doesn't bark much, and he has short hair, so that is good, and of course, Val is going to do EVERYTHING for the puppy, so no problem, right?
We will see.....

Ain't Nothing Wrong....

Today was Emi's recital. 7 months of practice, twice a week, culminated today. Of course, she was spectacular! You don't even have to ask.
She received gifts from her Gram and her Nanny, and I always buy my Tiny Dancer flowers.
Her teacher has already picked out the song that she wants them to dance to at the recital next year. It is an older song, SWEET DREAMS by the Eurythmics. Not sure of the spelling, but I do remember the song.
She has never been able to before, but she may be performing one more time at Derby Days, and would also get to ride on a float in the parade,but we will have to wait a week or so to see.

And yes, she made it to her track meet also, and her Medley Relay team placed 5th overall.

Awesome day! Next up, is City League for Val!

Happy Mother's Day Eve!

You know, I love to celebrate the "eve" of holidays, so on this Mother's Day eve, I wanted to share pix of my babies in various ages, see the love?


Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's I know, everywhere!
Love you all!!!!!

Action Shot

Val's action shot from yesterday. I just liked it.
Hoping to get one of Emily if she makes it to the meet tomorrow, after dance.

Inch By Inch

Finally got video of Val pole vaulting in competition. She got a PR (personal record) of 6 feet 1 inch. Not bad for trying this for the first time just 2 months ago. She has the technique, and has just started bending her pole- which is good! She was really proud today, I think it is especially sweet when you see her leave the mat and her coach gives her "bumps" with their fists... I have been very proud of Val this track season. I think it is hard to leave your comfort zone and try something totally different. She worked really hard this season, and likes it so much she is going to continue as a Leapfrog this summer and fall and winter, so I will continue to film really good vaults, and treat you to them as they come along!

Out of the Mouth of a Third Grader...

I have a great job. I work with 2 of my besties for life, in a no stress job, get all the time off I could ever want, and get to see my beautiful Emily every day.
What could make it better?
Stories like this:
There is a 3rd grader at school.Her name is Anahy, she is a little Hispanic girl. Very personable! Since I can remember, she has called me Fishy,and I call her Pickles.Obviously, it is because one day, she asked me what was for lunch, it was Fish day, and she wanted to know if we had pickles too, which we didn't, but we chose the nicknames for each other.
Back to the story~ we keep our silverware in 6 plastic round containers, so they can grab one and go, and when they are empty, there is a group of kids each day, that take it upon themselves to bring them into me in the kitchen. Anahy is one of these kids. She always balances it on her shoulder (yes I wash it afterwards), and tells me it is her parrot, and can I feed it, wash it, and put it to bed. I always say yes, and then she leaves, dancing around, or bowing as she exits, or something, I never really know what she will do.
Yesterday, she had a substitute,and did not come in,so when she came in today, I told her I missed her parrot yesterday, and she said, Yeah, he went and ate lunch at Hooters.

Too funny!

Side note: VAL PLACED 5TH IN HER TRACK MEET YESTERDAY!

Everytime You Forget Your Camera...

...something amazing happens!
Val did it!


Today was a freshman/sophomore meet in Andale, and I went, of course. There is really no way she could keep me away!
Anyway, she barely missed her first vault at 5 feet, but she gets 3 chances at each height, so she got up, dusted herself off, picked up her pole, and prepared to do it again.

For those of you who know Denis, he is an amazing coach! He makes the kids work hard, but the want to, so they just have a great time! He gave her some advice, and she got back in line.

She made it, at 5 feet! I was so proud!!!!

Then, she got in line with the girls that made it over, and waited, until they raised the bar, to 6 feet. She cleared that on her first try.
6 feet 6 inches was just a little too much for her today, but I just know that she will do it!

She made my day!
Extraordinary things can happen each and every day!

Val's This and That...

Just have some little tidbits of information about Val. Or fun facts, if you'd rather call them that.
Val loves going to SEAS CYO. I think it is a combination of the prayer time, friend time, and Jacob time. :) . In any case, CYO is a great thing, and she is even planning on going to a Youth Outing to Frontier City later in the summer.
Jacob,Val,and 7 of their closest friends got to go to the movies last weekend. They saw that X-MEN movie. I don't know anything about them.
Val was asked to audit an Honors religion class. She has such a high grade in religion, that her teacher, Sr. Mary Magdalene, asked her if she would like to move up to honors, but since that would be her only honors course, it will help her GPA to stay in a "regular" class, and "ace" it.
Val has had no demerits this year. Not even one. So, tomorrow, BC will treat her, and the other 0-1 demerit kids to a pizza party at lunch.
I know some of you out there, can't believe that she is such a goody-goody, but apparently, she did not inherit either Mark's or my mouth. HAHA!
OK, so, I think that is it for now.
She has a track meet on Thursday that she is pretty excited about, other than that, she is going to help me out by coaching the track meet on Saturday, with her dad, and the other coaches, so I can go to Emi's official dance recital.

Emily's Dress Rehearsal

Last night, Emily had her dress rehearsal for her dance recital, which is next Saturday afternoon, at Derby High. There are no set decorations yet, they just run through the dances in costume, mostly for lighting, and so the girls can get a feel for the stage. Emily's Junior class is in all black,and the Seniors are in purple and black. She is the first frame Mark focused on, so you can keep your eye on her. She's been dancing Jazz year round since March of her 1st grade year, she was 6, when she started. She started with her 2 best friends at the time, but Karly moved away in 4th grade, and Olivia stopped dancing after the recital last year. I am proud of her that she has stuck with it. I think she would be simply adorable as a Pommer at Bishop Carroll, in a few years! I think she is very talented,her goal is to be a total "senior", by the time she is a freshman. Right now, she is considered a junior/senior. I think she will make it! Now, she just needs to concentrate on keeping a smile on her face...

Val and Jacob

This is Val and her boyfriend Jacob Campbell. They have been "an item" for almost 2 weeks now, so it was about time that I got a picture of them.LOL! Aren't they just so adorable together!!!! Love it!
I am not sure how long they have known each other, and Val is with Jacob right now at SEAS Youth Group, so I can't ask her, but I know it has been at least this semester-ish.
Jacob plays the bass (?) guitar in the Jazz Band at BC and soccer in the fall, and plays Club Baseball, so he is really sporty which is good, because so is Val.
So, Monica, I know you know of him, because you mentioned it around Homecoming time, so let me know.... you know!
I also have met his family, and think they are really sweet! His little brothers and sister are so cute, and his big brother and parents were so nice to talk to.
Now, I can tell you about their adventures, and you will have a face to put with the stories.

Track Meet With Video

Mark made this awesome track meet video. It is also posted on the SMM sport website.We got pics of everyone on the team, except Ideiah who was not there, and Shanae, who had soccer games I think or a Confirmation or something. Hopefully we will get some of them at least at practice, and will either insert them, or do a new one next time. We had a lot of good races! 7th grade girls relay got 6th place, which was Emily, Olivia, Elizabeth, and Theresa, Gage got 1st in his mile and his 800, he got a PR in his mile-5 minutes and 2 seconds! I know it is not my training, but I can take credit for his lunch! Oscar got 2nd in his 400 and 1st in his 800, and Brendan took 3rd in discus!!!!! Practically all of them placed in the top 10, at least once, and that is out of 762 total athletes, and something like almost 200 heats. I know we are awesome, and we have the cutest uniforms too! Be sure to turn up your sound on your computer, and f.y.i. Emily is the first hurdler on the video!

On The Eve...

... of the next track meet, I give you pix of the first track meet, last weekend. I totally have been too busy to update, and then, I liked Emi's birthday post so much, I guess I didn't want to let it go.
Oh well!
We had a couple of 1st places, a 2nd place, a 3rd place, some 5th places, and a 6th place. Not bad for 22 kids, who have to suffer through with a coach, (me) who doesn't have a clue....lol!
Enjoy!!!!!