Thursday, September 3, 2009

First Day of School




School has started. Max is in the 6th grade and enjoying being the oldest in the school! Molly is in 2nd and loves it! I was able to snap a few pics.

Summer Fun and Birthdays

It's hard to believe summer is behind us. June, July and August flew by. We had a great summer with swim meets, birthdays and hanging out. Here are a few pics.



Molly at the park

Max feeding (really hitting them with the bread) the ducks

Molly and Bella are scrubbing bugs and each other!



Molly on her birthday! She is very excited over her
Ipod Shuffle!







Great Cake! Thanks Aunt Janice



Swim Meet


Molly and Tess at a swim meet



Max's 12 birthday


Max wakeboarding















Wednesday, June 17, 2009

We are still here...












Life has been very up and down for us this spring. After Molly had her tonsils out, Dennis' dad took a turn for the worse. After 2 strokes, rehab,and a short stay at home, a doctors visit brought bloodclots. After a 2 month journey, we lost Dennis' dad on May 1st. It is hard to believe he is gone. My heart breaks for my husband and my children. The loss of your spouses parent is a very unusual thing. You put aside your grieving to help them, your children and the rest of the family. Everyday is a little better but the world will never be the same...
What was so surreal about the experience is that the world keeps on moving and we are still here. We celebrated Easter ( I think it rained) and Mother's Day. Molly danced in Swan Lake at the FOA's spring recital. It was her first year to dance with the big girls!! The kids had awards ceremonies and end of the year parties and now it's summer!! Summer swim team has started, so we are off at meets most weekends. Feels very normal. Max went to swim camp and had a great time. We are waiting to see all that hard work pay off!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Goodbye Tonsillitis!

Molly has had several bouts of tonsillitis this winter. So, the doctors decided her tonsils needed to come out. She had them removed Friday morning at St. Bernard's. We decided to do it this week since Spring Break starts on Mon. She should only miss 1 day of school this way. We weren't going anywhere since we need to stay close to home because of Dennis' dad.
So Friday morning we got up at 4:45 and got to the hospital by 5:30 (very impressive considering we are not morning people!). Molly was decked out in her jammies and furry pink robe carrying her bitty baby, Abby. The staff decided she was a princess!
The procedure went off without any problems. Dennis and I even managed to check in on his dad.
We are now at day 3 and she is doing awesome! She had a little case of the throw ups early this morning. (Did you know phenigren now comes in a gel you rub on your wrist? Amazing!) The biggest problem we are having is keeping her entertained and not dancing!
We are so thankful that everything went so easily. Hopefully the next few days will get her back to full speed!

Monday, March 16, 2009

Molly's Locks of Love








Mrs. Julie was so awesome. She washed and dried Molly's hair. Then she measued it out!









Measuring the 10"
The BIG cut!!














Check out that smile...
Molly was so proud to donate 10" of hair to Locks of Love. She grew her hair out for just over 2 yrs.


We are really proud of her for her dedication and willingness to share. If you ask her if she's going to do it again, she just smiles and says maybe...










Holding the fruits of her labor! That is 2 yrs of tangles and buns, ponytails and braids. Molly loves her new cut and everyone seems to think it makes her look older - and while I'm proud that makes me a little sad...





Thursday, March 12, 2009

Catching Up

Recently, Max won 2nd place in Craighead county in the DAR essay contest. The topic was The Gettysburg Address and how it is still relevent today. We are so proud of him.


Max and several of his classmates and their teacher went to the awards ceremony. IS took 2nd, 3rd and both Honorable Mentions in the contest.

Molly is having her hair cut tomorrow. She is having 10 inches cut off and donating them to Locks of Love. She is really excited. She tells everyone "I'm having my hair cut and making a wig!" We are all ready for the big cut- the tangles are out of control!!
Then next Friday she is having her tonsils removed. We have been down this road before with Max so I'm stocking up on ice cream, jello and mini pancakes! Hopefully, she'll do great. We are doing it the Friday before Spring Break starts so she will only miss one day of school.:)Of course this means no trip for us-instead we are going to spend some more time in the yard doing ice storm damage clean up.:(

Both kids are getting ready to participate in the Swim for the Gold Swim-a-thon for their swim team-the Jets. They are swimming laps to raise money to attend the Olympic Swim Clinic with Josh Davis in May. (Let me know if you would like to be one of their sponsors!)

Enjoy this last snowy day! Jackie

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Pretty but Dangerous

Our backyard

Max's treehouse has seen better days!



This was early Wed. morning


So the ice storm hit this week. It is amazing how something so beautiful can be so dangerous. Max always makes the most accurate comments- he said to me today: "Mom, ice is like in the books. The prettiest stuff is always the deadliest."
We have some significant damage in the yard (almost every tree is down or coming down). We are very lucky though that the house seems OK so far. And after a couple of days w/out power, we are back home. The kids spent 1 night at Janice and Adam's because they had power (until 11:00pm) and truthfully our house was terrifying Tues. night. Dennis and I stuck it out. We wanted to be at the house in case any trees came through the roof. Mom and Dad got their power back on Wed. morning so all 14 of us kids, spouses and grand kids moved for one big sleepover! While there was not a lot of sleep we did have fun. I haven't spent the night in my old room in a lot of years! But I am glad to be home in my bed tonight.


Stay warm- Jackie