Moving...

...for the next two days we will be moving to our new home. May be absent for awhile, until we settle in and get the computer hooked up again. Wish us luck!

Secret, secret...

...I've got a secret.

Okay, so it's not much of a secret anymore. Word is out, and it's true - we are MOVING!

Finally, after at least seven years (I'm not kidding) of looking, we have found a different house and are moving. None of us have really come to grips with it yet. We've been looking for so long, that it doesn't seem real. It is all going to sink in about two weeks from now, when we will be knee deep in boxes and trucks. (Not really looking forward to that part.)

We are totally PSYCHED! Finally, each kid gets their own room, and we will have a basement to "shove" the kids down to when they have friends over. I get to go furniture shopping, and TV shopping, and decor shopping! We are kind of in the process of packing, but that seems to be going slow. Could it be softball games every night? Hmmmmm.....

At the same time, we are a little (stress little) sad. There are a few things we will miss about our current home:

• My kitchen - Jeff and I designed our kitchen when we decided to completely remodel the dining/kitchen area. Jeff built the bar with glass blocks himself. Plus, I love my cabinets.


• Our porch - It is a really nice, old-fashioned porch for sitting and watching people.


• Neighbors - We actually felt a little guilty when we told our close neighbors about our upcoming move. I feel like we are abandoning them. :(


• Walking to the football games. Sure, now that I have double the games to go to, I have to wrestle with a parking spot.


• Walking to Rocky Top for ice cream, or the movie store for videos.


• Halloween - Our neighborhood totally rocks at Halloween. For some reason, people flock here. We may just have to come back for that occasion.

I won't get in to the things I won't miss about the house, but there are a few. Obviously, or we wouldn't have started looking. It has been a nice "starter home" and we have made a lot of upgrades to it over the years. It is the house we brought two of our babies home to - the only home they have known up to this point. That makes me a little melancholy. It will be fun to see them adapt to the new house. Whitney is my sentimental one, and I have a feeling she will spend quite a bit of time "missing" the old house. I keep telling everyone - we are taking the memories with us - we will never leave those behind. All of the kids have friends in the new neighborhood, so I think the transition will go smoothly overall.

I've promised softball photos, so here are a few. We've been a little preoccupied, so there aren't as many as there have been in the past.

Whitney plays for Convoy. Occasionally, she gets to pitch, which she really likes.

Cassidy plays for Ohio City. Don't ask how I managed to have two kids play for two different towns. Long story. She is trying her hand at catching this year. (She has also started to pitch.)

Oh, Whitney also got to ride a float in the Peony Parade, for Flip Tuck Gymnastics.

Our summer is shaping up to be quite an adventure!

Dance Recital 2009

It has taken me awhile to get these on here. Dance recital was a few weeks ago - just haven't had time to update. Here are some action pictures of the girls.

I can't believe Whitney got her 10-year trophy this year. She was pretty excited...it's almost as big as she is! (hehe)

As usual, they all got flowers after their performance. They were being a little silly while we were trying to get them to pose with their bouquets.

Whitney tried out for 7th grade cheerleading and made it. So, that means even MORE football games next year. Boy, those stadium chairs I bought last year are sure going to come in handy.

In other news....school is finally out! Whew! That is always a relief, although our summer is action-packed. Cassidy had an awards day the last day of school.

I'll try to get softball pictures on here soon. It has either been chilly at the games, or I have just plain old forgotten to bring the camera.

More exciting news to come, so stay tuned. Although most people already know by now (I'm starting to realize just how small of a town Van Wert is), I want to form my thoughts about how to post about our latest announcement......

Sweet 16

Kaylee turned 16 last Sunday. It was a pretty low-key celebration here. I feel bad. I'm sure every girl would like to have a big Sweet 16 party, but it just wasn't in the cards. We don't have the house for entertaining a bunch of teenagers. Maybe we'll do something special later in the year. We did have a few relatives over for cake.

She couldn't give me any good birthday ideas, so she got money. I know - how boring. Nope - no car. Again - just not going to happen yet. We still need to get some driving hours in before she can get her license. It's just hard to find the time to even do that right now. Once she has that, she will "share" with her dad, and we'll see how that goes.



She tried out for cheerleading this week, and made it. Another year of football games for us! We are excited for her. It was a lot of fun to watch her last year. I just hope that there is no accompanying drama...you know how teenagers can be. Sometimes I feel like I'm back in high school.

This weekend is the dance recital, which will take most of our time. Pictures to come soon.

Whitney and Cassidy have each started their softball seasons. I'll post about that after dance. One thing at a time!

HAPPY 16th KAYLEE!

Mother's Day - A little late

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day. Mine was....well, not too bad. Cassidy was very sweet, and made me breakfast. She actually had me place my "order" the night before. I took her and Whitney to see the Hannah Montanna movie - just to get out of the house awhile. Other than that, I was totally lazy.

Today - May 12 - is the day that my own mother passed away twelve years ago. I last saw her on that Mother's Day in 1997, and she died the next day. So, Mother's Day, and today in particular, are bitter-sweet. It makes me stop and reflect on my childhood, my mom, and my kids. She would be very proud of them. I can't believe it has been twelve years. I was 28, Kaylee was about to turn 4, and Whitney was less than 10 months old. My mom never even met Cassidy - but I know she would have gotten a kick out of her! My dad passed away less than two years later - I had just found out I was pregnant with Cassidy.

Sorry - don't mean to be a downer!

We had a garage sale this past weekend. A relatively successful one! Got rid of a lot of junk, and made a little money to boot. Who can complain? Cassidy had another great soccer game. We are winding down with dance - with the recital taking place next weekend. Plus, Kaylee turns 16 this coming Sunday (the 17th). (She has not been able to give me any ideas for her birthday. Weird teenagers.) Whitney just had a band concert tonight. No pictures....it's too tough to get good lighting.

I'm sure there is more going on around here that I could get in to. But, it's late and I'm tired. Good night....

Where does the weekend go?

Busy is an understatement to describe our weekend. I was off of work on Friday to take Kaylee to the pediatric cardiologist in Lima. This was the check up that our family Dr. asked for after she fainted in February. As I suspected... everything is fine. He said these things just happen sometimes, especially during the teenage years. He was a little surprised that she has been having these for seven years already; but since they only happen about once a year, he didn't think it was worth medicating her for. He could have done a "tilt table" test to try to replicate her passing out, but that would have just resulted in medication, and he thought it was silly to medicate her all year when it only happens about once a year. Makes sense to me. If it continues to happen into adulthood, we might reconsider.

Saturday Whitney had a gymnastics "meet" here in town. It was really a kind of end of the year show so the parents could see what their kids had been working on all year. Since Whitney is on the team, she was asked to help and to exhibit for the parents the routines involved when you make it to team. I think she was just as nervous as if it had been a real meet. We couldn't make it to the whole thing, because Cassidy also had her first soccer game. We took the camera and camcorder, and by the time we left her game, the battery was dead in the camera, and we had run out of disc space in the camcorder, so couldn't get any of Whitney at her event. Sorry, Whit!

Here are a few shots of Cassidy's game, though. This is the first year that Upward has sponsored soccer, and she loved it. She has played indoor soccer for years, but was never a big fan of outdoor soccer...until now! She scored four goals!

Then I came home and cleaned house; went to the grocery; Jeff and Cassidy went to softball practice; Whitney and I walked over to look at prom decorations; went to the grocery store; made supper; and walked back over to watch "promenade."

Today Kaylee and Whitney had their last dance competition of the season - luckily, right her in VW at the PAC. Whew! After that, I cleaned the kids' closets and dressers to prepare for a garage sale we are planning for this coming weekend. I hope the weather cooperates.

Another busy week looms ahead. I guess I had better go start to prepare...

Bad Blogger

I can't believe what a bad blogger I have been lately. I haven't posted since St. Patrick's Day, and here it is, after Easter. I really don't mean to wait until holidays, it just works that way. I feel like I don't have much new to say I guess, so have avoided putting the "same old stuff" on here.

For instance, gymnastics finally ended. Whew! I know these pictures aren't great, but here are a couple more shots of Whitney's final meet:



She had a nice season, and is now moving on to other things....like softball. This year she is playing for Convoy. The past two years she has played for Ohio City. We switched for a few reasons, but mostly so she could play with her good friend, Saige. Cassidy decided not to play, so we figured Convoy is just about as close, so why not. Then, Cassidy changed her mind, and wanted to play. We have been happy with her experience in OC - so now, I have kids playing in two different cities. Not real bright on our part, but it will make summer interesting.

At Whitney's last meet, they had activities set up for the kids. Cassidy conquered the rock wall - easy and medium levels. She got mad at me when I wouldn't let her try the hard level. Cassidy is also getting ready for soccer. This kid never stops.

We have been busy with more remodeling/redecorating:



Here is a shot of our bedroom, after repainting. Finally! We had not painted it since moving in, and the prior owners apparently liked to decorate by painting cats...interesting. It looks soooo much better. Our room is huge, so it took forever. There are additional projects in the works, but we'll save those for a surprise!


Easter was fun. I don't have any good pictures of the kids decorating eggs. Kaylee's boyfriend came over to decorate with us, and I forgot to get any. (She wouldn't have let me anyway!) We then went to Bellefontaine (Kaylee drove) to visit my family. Here are some pics of the Easter egg hunt.

Lily

Sophie (and my sister, Terry)
Ethan

Okay, technically Ethan didn't hunt for eggs since he is only a few weeks old. Ethan and Sophie belong to my niece, Ali. Her husband is in Iraq. He left in February, and Ethan was born in March. He won't be back until December or January. I can't imagine my husband being in Iraq and me with two little ones - I don't know how she does it.

That is all I have time for right now. I have to see how Cassidy is doing (she came home sick from school today), and get my laundry out of the dryer. The excitement just never ends around here.