Birthday Eve

I like to celebrate Birthday Eve. It's my thing. Like, my mom calls everyone in the family on their exact birth minute each year, and Gram always calls first thing in the morning and sings into the phone, and Birthday Eve is my thing.
Today is the Birthday Eve of 2 of these people. Mark's brother Tim, will be 41 tomorrow, and his mom, will be eligible for Medicare.
We took Gram to Italian Gardens for a surprise party on Saturday, then, last night, just the 4 of us took her to Carlos O'Kelly's. Yeah, we are that sweet! Haha!
Unfortunately, we won't be able to see them tomorrow, because Emi has dance, and Val has a track meeting at BCCHS, but Mark will be able to stop over there to see them for a while.
In any case, I love these two people very much, and I wish them Happy Birthday for many more times to come.

This and That

I know, I know, I have been lazy. There is no excuse, so here are my updates.

Val rocked out at the last game Bishop Carroll will ever host in the Concrete Cave last week. They won (of course-haha), both the boys and the girls. It is bittersweet I think. I remember, as do many of you, a lot of fun times in that old gym, but out with the old and in with the new, and we have the t shirts to commemorate the event.
Val also has to pre enroll this week, so she needs to think about what she wants to do next year, and she also has 2 track meetings. Busy Busy!

Emi went to Dr. Grimes for her ear check, and he said her ears had no blockages, so on to step 2, which is a headphone test, next Friday. Then, we will have a better picture of what is going on with her ears.
Her dance is complete, so now they just practice.
Track starts for her on Monday.
Busy Busy!

Mark is still greening up Greensburg. He likes it there, and is always home for the weekend so that is nice. I think this job will last part way into the summer, so then, there hopefully will be local work available.
He is also getting ready for track, and designed and ordered new uniforms for the team. Busy Busy!

I have to keep track of all these schedules and drive the girls around.
Not too busy!
HAHA!

Happy BIrthday To You

Today, you are 38. And I am only 36. HAHAHA!!!!
We love you and miss you, and wish you were home with us!
How much do I love you? I even posted a picture of you in your
beloved work overalls. That is how much. Now, that is love!

More Homecoming

These are the kids Val and Chris went to the dance with. Jared is the boy with the afro. He went 70's. He is 6 foot 5, and has about another 2-4 inches to grow, according to his doctor. His date is Kaitlin, who is Val's BF.
Sarah is in the pic by herself. She and Val met at testing last year, and instantly hit it off, and went out to the mall, and have a good time together now. She is a W so, they locker near each other.
Luke and Felicia, are the ones in the pic with the girl with the crazy hair. I take her home every day. We have known them forever thanks to St Anne's softball. Remember that????
Bridget and Jacob are a new couple, and Val met her at Registration, and has a few classes with them.
THey all had a fun time....

Emily

I thought this was a sweet picture of Emily. I took it when we were waiting for the kids at Timberline. Emily had fun going in and seeing them all dressed up, then we waited by the door for them, and she ate peanuts, and spit the shells on my feet, and the bench, but that was an accident!
She is adorable.
Almost time for free throws.... 1:00 is coming soon, more to post later about that...

Love Is In The Air

Val and Chris before Homecoming. They went to Timberline, and then to Hobby Lobby, Braum's and then the dance.
They are so cute! I know you are getting tired of hearing that from me all the time, but you can't disagree with me.
They are at the dance now, so I will hear all the stories when I pick her up this evening.
While they went to Timberline, Mark, Emily and I were going to eat at Ted's, but the wait was too long, so we ended up going to Arby's, then went to Marble Slab for ice cream, and met up with Chris's parents and brother, and we went and embarassed the kids by taking pictures at the restaurant, this is the best one of the kids together!
P.S.- You wil notice that the hair is flat. It was a losing battle today! I tried, but failed...

Happy VAL-EM-tines Day

Do you get it? Val and Em= VAL-EM-tines Day. Cute, Huh? I think so!
Anyway, we gave our ValandEmtines their gift last night. We took them to dinner at Olive Garden, and bought them of course, pajamas. Every year, we get them new pajamas. Tonight, Val and Chris are going to Homecoming (Flashback) dance with a bunch of their friends, and to Timberline for dinner, so Emi gets to go with us again to Ted's, which is her favorite.
I will have a zillion pictures later of the kids, so you will just have to be patient.
The carnations were given to Val at school, some by Chris and some from her girlfriends. The juniors were selling them for a Prom fundraiser. Val got 8. Miss Logsdon, her teacher in the class they were passed out in, was like Jeez Val, how many more flowers are you going to get????
Must be nice to be popular....

What? Huh?

Can you hear that? Emi may not be able to!
Sr. Mary Margaret came to me yesterday and is a touch concerned about Emi's hearing. Now, the child is not deaf by any means!
She just thinks maybe she has a slight loss. I don't know! She explained her reasoning by saying that when she gives them something orally to write down, sometimes, she replaces words with really weird ones. Then, Mark says, sometimes he has noticed if she is going to repeat something he said, she will say something unintellligent. So, I called her doctor office. I did not know where to start. Well, her doc got a new receptionist, who asked me if hearing tests were done there. How am I supposed to know? So, she went on the hunt to ask. Finally, it was agreed that she will go in next Friday, and have her ears checked out. Maybe she just has a blockage. Maybe she has nothing. She doesn't think she has a problem, but would she if she did? If it was slight, she may not.
It's always something.....

Sick, Sick, Sick

Sorry I have been lax in my blogging this week. Val was sick on Monday, so she could not dress up for Disney Day at school. She was going to be Boo from Monsters, Inc.
Connor has been sick for 3 weeks now, and my sister took him to the doctor on Tuesday, and they drew a lot of blood, and think maybe he has mono. Yuck! We are staying away from that!!!!
I did not feel well last night, but have rebounded this morning. Mark is back in Greensburg after coming home for school last night.
Val is going to a wrestling duel tonight because some of her friends are getting extra credit (her teacher is not though), and you know she likes to go, but at least she can see her cuz Jake wrestle one more time, since he is a senior.
Emi has dance tonight. She learned her entire routine, so now they just do it over and over and over again, until May, perfecting it, twice a week.Although, she practices at least parts of it every night.
Not much going on this week, I guess.
I am going to try out a whole wheat cookie recipe at lunch today. The kids don't know it, so don't tell. I want to see what their reaction is. Of course, we will do a taste test before lunch, and if they are nasty, we will do something else!
Oh, and I burned my elbow at school yesterday. It hurts. :(

Vote Update

It looks like the ozone layer is going to take a major hit this weekend, and that Val will have the big hair.
Get your Aqua Net out and ready, she is going to need a LOT of it!

Val

Here are some pics from last week when Val,the bowling superfan,(actually,partly she goes to spend more time with Chris and partly to cheer her friends on), and her friends at the bowling lanes.
The girls are Sarah,Kaitlyn,Val,Jessica,and Joanna.
I think Val and Chris are getting more adorable by the day, and her little girlfriends are so cute and friendly. They all have such a good time together!
I have always thought that the friends you make in high school are friends for life, and Val, it seems, has gotten very lucky!!!!! (Of course, they are too, to have Val-Val).

A vote

Here's the deal. Val has the 80's flashback homecoming dance in a week. We have narrowed her down to 2 hairstyles, the classic side ponytail, and the hairspray laden ratting of the bangs and sides.
I think the ponytail is cute, but kind of looks like 70's roller disco, and Val was not happy with the amount of hairspray in the other style, but also understands she would need even more. This is just all she would tolerate, until the votes are counted.
So, you have until Thursday evening to decide..... Think back to that glorious decade, then let your heart guide you to the vote!
PS- She absolutely could not stop laughing the whole time we were doing this. Mainly due to Emily's comments, but these were the best pix we could get.

NET Retreat

All of the freshman girls at BCCHS went on a Net Retreat yesterday, instead of school. Today the boys go, so you know what that means, 2 days without seeing much of Chris. :(
She had a good time, though. She said there were skits, and prayer groups, and Fr. Lies was there, and he really makes religion fun for the kids. She enjoys going to his masses.
I guess, they were playing Red Rover, and when Fr. Lies tried to break through between Val and Sara, he knocked right into Val, and head butted her. She shook it off, since she is such a trooper, but he felt really bad, and kept apologizing, I will have to mention it, when I see him again. Kidding! But, you know I did go to school with him.
All in all, it was a positive experience for her.
And, she gets to go to the movies with Chris tonight, so that is good too!

I Don't Know What He Was Doing...

but Val must have thought it was hilarious.
This is Val and my nephew Connor. He is in 4 year old preschool at SMM. My mom and dad were babysitting him and his brother Noah, one Saturday, and took them to one of Emi's basketball games.
He did entertain us doing impressions of Jason from Friday the 13th, and Crazy Eyes, which is where he opens them really wide and moves his eyebrows up and down.
He is so cute!
Val is too.

Summer Sisters

I just love Lauren. She calls herself the girls "summer sister", because they spend so much time together when school is out. I took this today, and just thought they were so cute together, had to share it!

Going To Hollywood

Emi is going to Garden Plains on February 15, to compete in the Regional competition. It will be at the high school there. She got to shoot 25 baskets, and the best of wins. There were 4 girls in her age group. She and another girl tied, each shooting 15. Then, there was a 5 basket shoot-off, which she went first, and got 4 out of 5, and the other girl got 3-5, so Emi is the champion, which, I always knew she was anyway, but now everyone else knows too.

Defcon 3

Val had a moment of terror yesterday morning.

We had picked up her friend Jessica, and then went to Gordman's to go shopping for her Homecoming outfit, and she was mid-text with Chris, when her phone froze. It would not turn off, and it would not reset. We tried to pry the back off to remove the battery, but could not get the darn thing off, so we decided to go to the Verizon store, and ask if they could do it.
They came out and told us they had to keep the phone. Her software was needing an update, and it would take 30 minutes. I thought we would have to sedate her, for those 30 minutes, but she pulled through, and got some more stuff for her 80's outfit, at Target while we were waiting.
When we went back to get the phone, it was all fixed, and is really pretty slick. It goes so fast now, and she got some added features, so she is very happy.

We ended up at Town West, and Emily's quest for a pair of skinny jeans ended,as she found the perfect pair. Jessica got some too. Val bought a jacket, with the rest of her birthday money.
All is right with the world.

PS- I know I am being vague about the Homecoming outfit, but Chris reads this blog, and I don't want to be the one to give out any secrets that Val may be keeping about what she is wearing. If she decides to tell him though, that is her choice.
I will take pics of her that week though, so you just have to be patient.

Tigers Basketball

This is the pic of Emi's team on their last day of tournament play. It was a huge team, with 11 players, so none of them really got a lot of playing time, but they all had a lot of fun.
Check out Shanae in the back row, first player on the left, now look down. Do you see her socks? Every game she came in Christmas socks, or valentine, or whatever. She is quirky that way.
They played tough all season, and they even won a game, against All Saints last week!
I am not sure yet, if Shanae and Emily will be playing for the Tigers next year, or for another school, but they are the only 2 7th graders on the team. Maybe Tarah will play also, Mark will have to find them somewhere to join probably though.
On to Track and Field now. Emily loves this. She is going to do hurdles, then fill in with some sprints probably. Hurdles is what she really loves.
I am pretty happy that we still have 1 more year of sports for her, before high school. I love watching her play anything, and will miss it when it ends.
Already, she is on a 1 month break before track conditioning starts. Good thing there is dance!