Just two to share on Tuesday...

The first one is just a glimpse into some of our activities this week... Had a football game--a home game, played volleyball, played soccer in Midland/Odessa, practiced the trumpet, did homework, drove carpool...

Also, a family we've known since Tyler was in kindergarten or first grade lost their older son to suicide last week. Tyler spent quite a bit of time over there with his friend, Scott. Tyler was deeply affected by it all. It's so sad to think that Marc's life was cut short because he couldn't see any other way out.

The second one is for Ginny. :) I know how much she's enjoying the campaign and all things political right now.

Randomness

David and I ate at Freebirds on our last trip to Lubbock. Love that place! :)


We WON the volleyball game! Right now, we are the only undefeated 8th grade team. (And we've played all the harder teams! Yay!) For the winning point, Hadley had a super hard hit--one of those that makes people say WOW! They got it up, but ended up not being able to get it back over.

It pays to have friends in HIGH places. Literally! Lance got to play around in the press box during Friday night's game. He thought that was pretty cool. He was impressed with the snacks they had available up there. :) He sent us a text telling us to look for him. They didn't stay long--it's more fun to be in the fray.


About that game, we ended up losing in double overtime. It was exciting, but didn't end the way we hoped. Our playoff hopes are still alive, but just barely...

Ten on Tuesday

No pics today. Just notes from the week.

1. RAIN. RAIN. RAIN. So much rain that our middle school's basement level (most of the 6th grade classes) flooded. Lance got to spend the first half of the day in the band hall. He wasn't complaining!

2. I'm nearing completion of the first draft of my little project. It will go out for review, then back to me for revision. We hope to go live by mid-November. Yikes!

3. More appointments this week. September and October have been filled. I'm ready for a little break there...

4. David had Columbus Day off. We didn't do anything special, mostly because I was busy. It was a nice change of pace regardless.

5. Mom and Dad came to town this weekend. Just hung out. That was nice.

6. My brother and sister-in-law became godparents on Sunday. Yep, you read that right. Godparents!

7. I'm using this list to take a break from my project. Shh!

8. We have an important volleyball game this week. If we beat them, there's a great chance we'll be city champs!

9. We have an important soccer game this week as well--it won't determine our standings, but could really help or hurt our morale.

10. We have an important football game this week. We're hanging on to playoff hopes by a thread... :)

Notice a trend in the last three? :)

Super powers, graduation and such

Enthralled in a video game...

We went to our first "senior" meeting of the school year last night. OMGoodness! I just can't believe it. So much to know and do!

First off, we have a date for graduation.
May 29 at 8:00 at the Civic Center---Baccalaureate around Mother's Day weekend, date TBD

Save the date, ok? :) We bought his senior t-shirt, got info on caps/gowns and announcements, all night party and all that fun stuff. The college counselor also reminded us that we should be applying for schools between now and Thanksgiving and preparing for scholarship apps shortly after. Wow! David and I left a little overwhelmed. It's hard to believe he's ready for all that. We talked on the way home about all the possible scenarios, etc. When we got home, Tyler greeted us at the door to tell us what he and Lance had been cooking up while we were out. If they could each choose their own super powers, do you know what Ty's would be??? He would be able to fart out his belly button. Since Lance can already do that, he would be able to fart confetti. All this while we were trying to figure out what 3 colleges we should start with...Nice. Do you think he's ready?? David thinks we need to be on the lookout for schools that want kids that are special. ha!

Today, Hadley and Lance had well check-ups with our pediatrician. Lance got 2 shots. Hadley got FOUR! Poor things. They both thought they should be able to skip the rest of the day, but I was mean and made them go back. We did get to stop for a nice lunch before going back, though. I think that catches them up for a while. David, Tyler and I still need our flu shots, so we'll have to work on that later. The flu shots were an unexpected bonus today---our actual appointment for them wasn't until late October. I was happy to get it all done today--saves time and money. :) Enjoy the rest of your week!

Just another tidbit...

Lance had a chair test in band on Friday. Guess who is trumpet first chair??? Pretty cool, considering he never practices... :) Now he probably won't stay there unless he starts practicing, but it's cool nonetheless!

The post with lots of bffs.

Ok. A Lotus??? You're kidding me, right?? I don't know who this car belongs to, but one of the homecoming nominees rode in it for the parade. Ay yi yi. A Lotus! The other arrow points to a nondescript guy wearing a hat and sunglasses. It's our old friend Stan. He's just recently moved back to town. One of my bffs, his ex-wife, warned me that he was back in town. She was certain we'd run into him. And, we DID. I was expecting to see him at the store or church or someplace like that. Certainly NOT at the homecoming parade. But that's where he was. Weird, huh?
Of course, it was all about the football boys. The parade is huge--crazy for a high school football game. He enjoyed it. See the smile? 'Course that smile disappeared when he saw me with the camera.
We had to provide a poster for the float. I had no clue how it should look, but here's what I came up with--the balloons and streamers are attached to his poster. I guess it turned out ok.
Here's the birthday girl and one of her bffs, Alli, at the parade.
Here's Hadley and two of her bffs--Alli and David. Notice Alli's mum??? Too clever. She's such a fun girl. Love her! You can kind of tell here how tall David's gotten. He's 6 feet tall now... His dad came over to take pictures too and ended up bringing his big brother Josh and eating hamburgers with us. It was fun---very casual and fun. There's more, but that'll have to do it for now. Lots of work to do!

Weekend Fun

Hadley had a soccer game today. Just sharing a couple of shots. I wish the header shot was crisper--it's some really cool action!








Yesterday, we took H & L fishing. Ty was working. Everyone caught a few fish--a few catfish and carp. The shadow picture is me and Lance as we walked around the lake... (my one and only appearance in these shots) Hope you enjoyed your weekend!

Good News Friday!

Good news today! Lance had a check-up with our specialist. His lung function is AWESOME!! Even better than it was in the summer time. FEV1 is 128%!! I don't remember it EVER being that good--it probably was when he was very little, but not since he's been old enough to do the test.

Whooo hoooo!! One number was lower, but the doc said that number isn't as important or as accurate for how he's doing. So. Great, huh? :) He had also gained a teensy bit of weight and grown just a hair. The only bad part of the visit was the annual labs & xray we had to do--you know how much Lance hates needles. Thankfully the tech was smooth and fast.

On a side note, I added a short playlist to my blog. Typically I hate music on websites, so I probably won't leave it long. I'll take it off sooner if you all hate it too. Let me know.

The Lost Colonyyyyyyy

Thought you'd like to see the latest school project. School projects weren't this much fun when I was in 8th grade!! The girls finished it at our house today. They had a ball doing it and are pleased with their work. I thought they did a great job! Other than a couple of technical things they needed help with, they did every bit of it. It was very creative--some people just did posters, papers, etc. The movie and song was so much better, imo. Make sure you have your volume turned up. And,ENJOY!

**Ok... Forgot the last names were mentioned. I tried to save a new project without their names, but for some reason it didn't work. I'll leave it up a day or two and then remove it. Just can't take any chances...

88 in 08

Happy Birthday, Mema! Today is another crazy day, so if I wanted to celebrate with Mema--it had to be at lunch. I took cake and ice cream over there for dessert. She really loved it--as did all the ladies. Joe doesn't say much, but it looked like he was enjoying the cake. :) She also liked the balloons--they made it seem more festive. Should've gotten a picture of them, too. Oh well. We enjoyed our visit as always. Mema's friend, Lena, left just before I arrived. Mema liked that, too. I think Mema's enjoying her special day. She ate every bite of lunch and dessert and smiled the whole time. It's so good to see her so happy!!!

Friday Night Lights

We're famous! We got stomped by the team they made a movie after... hehe. Last night's game was far from successful. Once it got started, it was obviously going to be a blowout. We were just happy to get on the scoreboard. I think our guys were outmatched in every way--size, speed, coaching. Everything! The other team is ranked in the top 5 or 10 teams in the state. I don't think we're even on the list. It was their homecoming. Apparently their side sold out, so we were surrounded by their fans on our side as well. Yuck! It was a long night--we got home around 3:00 a.m. Ty got home about thirty minutes after us. All I can say is thank goodness it's over!

David made it home from Sioux Falls on Thursday. He is scheduled to return in about a month. I think he was just happy to be home. He really hates to travel without us.

Hadley went to watch a friend swim in a swim meet today in Lubbock. (a guy friend) She wanted us to drive down there today, but I didn't think I could stay awake long enough to drive her there! You know me and the road---sleepy time even with a good night's rest. Last night was not long enough, that's for sure. Anyway, they offered to let her ride down with them. We've known them for so long, that it was all ok.

Lance is ok--coughing, but not anything major yet. School seems to agree with him. He's pretty tired at the end of the week, so I know it takes a lot out of him. He's happy today because we have internet service again. Ours went out yesterday. A technician came out today and fixed it, so we're up and running. Yay! It's crazy how much we depend on it. For so many things! We even stopped by the library on the way out of town yesterday to print our maps to the stadium. 'Course David reminded me if we'd just get him that GPS system, we wouldn't have had to do that! :)

Well, I hope you're having a good weekend. I'm off to get some stuff done.

Tuesday

Tuesday. It really doesn't feel like Tuesday. It is starting to feel like September. (finally) The days have that crisp, autumn feel to them. Love that!

I went to the eye doctor yesterday. Good news. I don't need bi-focals. Yet. I cringed when she said that word. Yet. She saw a very slight change there--not enough to do anything about. My prescription will stay the same. Phew. Staved off the aging eyes for a bit longer.

David's in Sioux Falls, or should I say he's on the way. His first flight was delayed this morning, causing him to miss all of his connections. It also caused him to stay an extra day because he won't get there in time to do any work today. Bummer. He left the house around 3:45 a.m. and will arrive in S.F. around 6:30 tonight. That's one looooonnnng day. On the bright side, he did get to have breakfast with the plant manager, who just so happened to be on the same delayed flight out of here. That was pretty cool. I mean, you can't lay off someone you just ate breakfast with, can you??? He changed planes in Houston. All he saw was a lot of water--no real destruction. 'Course he never left the airport. He should be home on Thursday.

I didn't want to post without pictures, so I'm showing you my entries for a Bible verse challenge on a forum I visit. Most of the entries are pretty---there is some GORGEOUS scenery out there! I couldn't resist adding the one of Lance, though. It's really something. So, I entered it as well. It's not a contest--just a share. There's talk of putting them together in book form. If they do that, I'll probably buy one. Neat, huh?

Well, that's all. Not much else going. Have a great week!

Now can we get back to business as usual??

The party was a success! We didn't get to tailgate--just couldn't pull it off this week. It was crazy from start to finish! I don't think the kids minded. We had pizza at the house instead. They really got into the face painting and colored hairspray,too. It was so fun watching them paint each other. Being at the game was a little nerve-wracking. I kept counting them... one, two, three, four... ha! I felt just like a teacher on a field trip. They hung out in the student section, so David and I went over to check on them regularly. It wouldn't be cool to sit with them, ya know. After the game, we got home about 11:30 and had cake. Not smart planning on my part---the sugar gave them the extra boost they needed to be nice and loud ALL. NIGHT. LONG. We went to bed around 1:00. (For those of you not familiar with our house---the stairs to the basement/game room are right under our heads. Not only do kids make a lot of noise running up and down, they LOVE to slide on sleeping bags down the stairs. Ay yi yi. What were we thinking!) At 4:00, I finally told them it was time to lay down. I guess they did---at least they were a little quieter. Then, the 'ol alarm rang at 7:00 because one of the boys had a double header beginning at 8:00. Poor kid. I know he had to be wiped out!! We woke the rest of them at 10:00 so they could gather their things and eat breakfast. Lance said he had a blast and it was a great party. That's what really counts!! Yay. Check off another successful birthday party... :)





Note Lance's position in this one... He hates how much shorter he is than his friends. It especially bothers him in pictures. The kids' solution? To hold him up on an "arm" chair. Isn't that cool?? Totally the other kids' idea!

The aftermath...

The game was a success, too. At least we won. It started off a little shaky with the other team scoring 14 unanswered points in the first quarter. That woke our guys up and we ended up winning 40-27. Go team!




By the way. I changed my blog a bit--made the pictures larger. (You could always click on them for larger, but now they're larger within the post.) Is that better for you? Worse? I love the larger pictures, but I don't want to make it harder for you to view. Let me know!


**Edited to add: I just checked out the blog on our other, older computer. The monitor is 4 years old at least, and it's smaller. The size looked fine, but I noticed how much duller the pictures looked!! On my monitor, the colors are super rich and the focus is very sharp. Not so much on the other one. Weird. I'm hoping you all see what I see on our newer monitor. Makes me look like a better photog. Ha!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday dear Lance... Happy Birthday to you! Can you believe my baby is 12?? 12?? He had a great day today. We started off with a "special" breakfast, I took him Sonic for lunch, then fixed marinated shrimp for supper. He was in a great mood all day. It seems like he really enjoyed himself! Love that! :) For his party, his buddies will come over and prep for the Friday night football game between our HS and our fiercest rival. I bought face paint and colored hair spray just for the occasion. Then, either we'll eat here or go to the stadium for some tailgating--still to be determined. We'll watch the big game, then come on back home for a "sleep" over. Not that they'll do much sleeping. He's very excited. I think it'll be a fun, unique party. I threw the invitation together today, after we finally made the decision. (luckily I had extra football shots from the time I was working on Ty's ad.) After they printed, we hand-delivered. Now if I can just make it through 11 6th grade boys... ay yi yi!

Just popping in to say hello!

This is the THIRD project of this type this school year. Today is day EIGHT. Can you believe that?? I know I shouldn't complain. I'll miss these times, right? Ugh. It's just that these projects always turn into homework for me. Sometimes I think the teachers lose sight of that... Ok. Whine over.

School's been going well for everyone. Hadley made the vball team again this year. Not surprising. They actually have final cuts next week, but we're confident she's there to stay. She has her first scrimmage today. Tyler plays in Lubbock tomorrow night. Hadley plays vball here on Saturday, then soccer in Lubbock on Sunday. Maybe this is why I'm tired already?? Ha. :)

We had open house at our middle school on Tuesday. The school has us run through our kid's schedule to be able to meet all the teachers. I did Lance's schedule. David did Hadley's. While I was sitting in social studies waiting for the bell to ring, I glanced over at the door. Guess who walked in?? Chris! Cousin Chris! His daughter, Christianne, is in the same class. I didn't realize she was attending that school, but Chris said they are living in our district now because of his job. Very cool. I made sure to tell Lance that he can't be crushing on Christianne, since we try really hard not to inbreed... ha!

Well, I must get busy. Blogging doesn't count as work. Too bad, I know! Have a great weekend!

A few from the last week

First day of school pictures, a la David. I had to work at the bookstore the first three days of school--bummer! So, David got the honors of taking everyone to school the first morning. Everyone seems happy with their classes and friends. Yay! Hopefully it will keep up throughout the year.




Introducing the Varsity players for 2008!




Belushi or Flintstone? It's an ongoing debate around here. :)




Spotted.



Pep rally! The first pep rally picture is the Sandie Football Ladies. See the girl circled? That's Ty's lady. Her name is Callie. She wears her t-shirt with his name and number on the back and gets the "honor" of decorating his locker and filling it with goodies every week.



Season Passes.


Ty didn't get to play much. He was disappointed in that. But, when he was out there, he did his job and we were proud. While on the sidelines, he kept pumped up and cheered for his teammates on the field.

We win the battle for Bell Street!

This last one is just something funny I caught while shooting pics of Ty. I wasn't focused in this area and I had to do major cropping to show you, but I thought it was funny... Poor #55! Squish!

Rooster and Annie... Thanks for your comments. Glad you check out the 'ol blog! :)