Life in Ohio

2009-06-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

Boy it's been a long time since I've posted anything here. The girls are getting very big and we are enjoying the lazy days of summer. Keeping the girls just busy enough that they still have time to have lemonade stands and play in the water outside, etc.. Taylor has started doing volunteer work. She is working with the children with disabilities at middle school each day and will start volunteering at Ohio Wildlife that rehabilitates injured wild animals and releases them back into the wild. Her compassion and love for others seems to know no depths. She makes me so proud. All three girls are swimming on the swim team. Jo is taking a break from gymnastics and was itching to go back as soon as we made good on our promise to let her take a break or quit whenever she wanted. I want to let her go back but Jon always seems to be so much more level headed than I and thinks it's important she take the break for the entire time that she insisted on....:) Tahlia is taking care of the 7th grade bunny (Taylor's science class) for the entire summer. She has fallen in love and checks in with me daily to see how she is doing. She hopes to be able to own her own bunny at the end of the summer. There is bunny poop everywhere Tahlia has been and Tahlia is vacumming daily. YUCK!!! Anyway, all is well in Ohio and I am happy to enjoy these days with the girls when their lives are soooo carefree.

Jon's First 26.2 Miles!!!!

2008-10-19T17:37:00.000-07:00

Jon has been training to run the Columbus Marathon for months! Today, the big day rolled around bright and early of course. We were all SOOO excited for him! The girls wrote on all the car windows, messages of encouragement when he went to bed so that he could drive the car to the big race in the morning. I put together a playlist for the race and had to throw on the Chariots of Fire theme song for good measure. He left early in the morning and the girls and I got ourselves together and headed downtown to cheer him on..... We caught him at mile 13, barely, hence the picture of the back of him. Taylor spotted him just after he ran by... We went to a coffee shop and then window shopped for a litte while. If anyone comes to visit, we have to take you to the "Short North" in downtown Columbus (really cool shops and restaurants). Anyway, then we walked about a mile away where the course double backs to catch Jon at mile 25. We waited for a little while. They had bands playing at each mile mark... so we waited and listened to music. As we knew Jon was getting closer, we hoped that he turned the corner as the band was playing "Johnny be Good", he didn't but the pace group he had been with passed by and we started getting concerned hoping he wasn't hurt and was doing OK. I explained to the girls how hard it must be by mile 25... Lo and behold we all spotted him and he looked good but definitely pained. Taylor was poised and ready and ran him in the last mile to the finish. We are SOOOOO proud! To add to the whole experience, I have to throw in the picture of the homeless man that insisted Jo take his picture. It's good to get out of suburbia every once in a while! :0)

The BAD haircut!

2008-09-26T11:53:00.000-07:00

Ever since college, Jon has been having me cut his hair. It takes me forever!, at least an hour to get it just right. Well, lately he just wants it short. This time I thought I would just buzz it all over maybe 1/4 on the bottom and 1/2 inch on the top and then I would go through the whole thing with the scissors and even it out. Halfway up his head I realized that might have been a bad idea when I could see a patch of scalp. I turned the clippers off and couldn't stop laughing. Jon was NOT laughing. Taylor ran over to inspect and said "Dad, I can see your scalp!" Well I switched it to a slightly longer attachment and did what I could to salvage it. I have to say, it's not my best work, and if it was on my head, I would not be a happy camper. Jon didn't say much but kissed me and said thank you. Poor Jon! He did tell me two days later that the guys at work were making comments about his short haircut. When Jon asked one of them if he liked it, he said NO, I actually don't, I think you got a bad haircut. It's shorter in some parts and some parts are sticking out. This is the guy that Jon says reminds him of me with no filter. Thanks honey! :) I would take a picture of him and post it, but I think he would be on to me and know that it could end up on the blog.

A NEW Cross Country Runner

2008-09-19T14:22:00.000-07:00

This is at about the 1 mile mark, Jo was shocked to see that her sister was fast and was ahead of the pack!

Finishing up STRONG!

Taylor has recently started running cross country for her middle school. Jon and I were ALL for her picking up running but wasn't sure she knew what she was getting herself into... Well...during meets she runs 2 miles for a time and during practice will run as much as 6 or so miles. She is doing fantastic. I've told her now she knows why God gave her those long legs. She was meant to run like her dad. Her cross country girls team is broken into 2 groups for the big invitationals. The top 7 runners from her team run against the fastest runners from every other school. Taylor has a large team, so the rest of the girls run in the second race. Well, Taylor's time puts her in the 8th spot so one of the fastest runners in the second group. She has run in two invitationals and received two medals! :) In the first race she came in 18th, and the second 17th out of 130+runners. She has definitely been bitten by the running bug and is SOOOO proud. She runs about 8 minute miles which is too fast for me to comfortably keep up with...... Jon and I love going to her meets and running through the woods and fields to be able to yell encouragement to her as she runs by... It's my new favorite thing. I hope she keeps it up through High School.

Before and After

2008-09-05T14:56:00.001-07:00

Tahlia got her braces off yesterday!!!!!!! Hoorah! Her teeth look beautiful but they left the bands on in the back so she still has to wear her headgear but she is SOOOO stoked. Her teeth look gorgeous.

First Day of School

2008-08-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

Wow!!! It was a busy morning! Taylor and Jordan are off to middle school together. I talked to each of them separately about giving each other space and being supportive of one another. They both seemed receptive. We will see. Taylor was extra confident and excited about going to school and has tons of friends. She has definitely tapped into the social aspect of school. Jo is joining Taylor at school. For any of you who remember, we switched Taylor into another middle school in the district that was just a MUCH better fit. We did this mid year for Taylor but was well worth it. She's doing great and it's a great school. Anyway, all of Jo's friends that she has made last year were going to the old middle school and so this middle school is like starting all over as far as being "the new girl". She is willing to do it and is trusting our guidance. I know she will do well, but will take some time acclimating. My biggest worry is the lack of sleep she will have while doing gymnastics 5 days a week for 4 hours at a time. Anyway, she wanted me to drive her to school and help her get situated at her locker. I just sensed that she needed me and am so glad I went. She was happy I was there but was OK that I was leaving her too! :) Meanwhile Tahlia was at home getting ready with her dad who both blow dried AND flat ironed her hair for her. Check out the pics! He did a great job. Tahlia is SOOOOO sad to be going back to her public school. We were hoping that she would get into St. Brigid's Catholic School over the summer. We are praying that she will get in mid year and she is hanging on to that hope and prayer. She is number one on the waiting list so it will just be a matter of time. She is telling her friends she is just temporarily attending Chapman. Jon made sure to have a heart to heart with her that there is a possibility that she may not get into St. Brigid this year. There were no tears from Tahlia for me this morning. I guess Jon wiped away the tears earlier in the morning while I was gone with Jo. I'll keep you all informed if she will be putting back on a uniform if and when that happens. Well I'm off! There are a million things I should be doing before the girls come home.

Guess who was our mystery guest on our Lakeside Vacation?

2008-07-01T17:28:00.000-07:00

Read the next post to find out!

Vacationing in Lakeside

2008-06-30T17:23:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of my favorite pics from our week long vacation in Lakeside Ohio. It was like taking a trip back in time to a town in the 60's, just like Mayberry! We rode our bikes all over the little town. We hung out at the little beach and pier on the lake, played shuffle board took in evening shows featuring big bands and a comedian. We went to Cedar Point (one of the best roller coaster amusement parks in the country) much to Jordan's sheer delight. Jon went on most of the "BIG RIDES" with Jo until he just couldn't do another. I had to wrap up the day with one more of the big boys with Jo and it completely did me in. I get cotton mouth just thinking about it! Jana flew in to join us for 3 days that we completely enjoyed. We played tons of board games and shuffle board with no cable, no internet and no video games. We really "unplugged" and just enjoyed being together. We all miss riding our bikes together, EVERYWHERE!

Some pictures from mom and dad's visit

2008-06-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

Here is Dad getting patiently wrapped up by Tahlia. Poor Dad, who knows why Tahlia was inspired to make him her victim. Dad wasn't feeling well this day and so he waited for Tahlia to wrap him up while he sipped hot tea and then wore it around for a while. Here is the finished product below.

This one is my favorite and so typical of my dad! They were playing basketball and my dad scored a basket. :)

I've turned 36!

2008-06-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

It's been a little while since I have posted anything! This picture was taken on my birthday while we went to visit a butterfly exhibit. My parents came to visit and celebrate birthdays since my mother's birthday is 2 days before hers. What a gift I have always been to her! Just kidding!!! Anyone who knows us well, knows that we have grown into this beautiful friendship, mostly because I'm growing up. The girls when they were looking at the pictures from my birthday said, "Mommy, look at the wrinkles under your eyes!" Thanks, but true! Wrinkles and gray hair have arrived but how incredibly blessed have I been in my 36 years. I'll take all the wisdom I've gained with age.

I really liked this quiz

2008-03-22T15:55:00.000-07:00

I saw this quiz on Tezzie's blog. Click on it and take it yourself. It's cute! Tezzie's assessment was right on.... that's why the girls call her crazy Aunt Tezzie.

Jo is ELEVEN!

2008-03-03T08:11:00.000-08:00

Jordan has turned one year older and as Taylor has gone into Middle school, I will treasure this, her last year in the elementary age. She is just as rowdy, mischievious and fun as ever but is definitely gearing up for those pre-teen years. She celebrated with a few of her friends at a family fun center (gambling for kids) complete with laser tag and topping it off with a sleepover. This is one of those things you do as a parent that is an act of love because I don't think ANYONE in their right mind looks forward to a bunch of giggly girls staying up all night talking about the last time they threw up.

Tahlia is victorious!

2008-03-03T07:47:00.000-08:00

We have officially completed Tahlia's first winter swim season with a 2 day championship swim meet. As I have said before, the season ran a little long for her but the highlight was definitely, yesterday when she won her first heat ribbon on the second day of swimming. Jon and I prepped her, showing her that she had the best time going into this heat with the 50Meter Freestyle and that she could take them! She is so cute! She told us later that she thought everyone else had already gotten out of the pool when she arrived on the other side and no one else was there. She was thrilled when she got her ribbon and a gift certificate for a free kids meal at Max and Erma's Restaurant. She might as well have come in first place for the whole event. We celebrated by cashing in that gift certificate at the restaurant and getting an all you can eat sundae for Tahlia. It turned out to be 2 scoops that all of us couldn't finish. A quote from Tahlia sums up her season, "Mom, they told us that it doesn't matter how we end up swimming, we all get a trophy!" It wasn't whether she won or lost, it was how she played the game and she was almost always delightful, with a smile on her face.

Jon, Taylor and Jo's new obsession

2008-03-01T16:02:00.000-08:00

We decided to purchase a Wii for "the kids" this past Christmas and have had a blast with it. We have been wanting to get a game called Guitar Hero for it and just recently picked it up at Costco. Ever since, our house has been transformed into a concert as Jon, Taylor and Jordan are OBSESSED with it and they have to listen to it in stereo. Jordan always stands on the coffee table as she rocks out. They are so funny as they yell encouragement to each other like "COME ON DADDY!". They crack me up but it always gets to the point where I've had enough of the jam session and call time.

SNOW DAY!!!!!

2008-02-13T06:28:00.000-08:00

Notice Roxy in the photos, she loves the snow most out of anyone in the family. She is definitely a snow dog. I think she wants us to ship her to Alaska, that's probably why she is SOOOOO naughty. She chewed up all the sleds about a half hour after this picture was taken.

The girls got to experience their very first snow day in Ohio. There's been a lot of hype surrounding snow days and the girls were able to experience first hand why they are SO fantastic yesterday. Sleeping in, NO SCHOOL, and playing in the snow!! They went to bed knowing that 5-8 inches were forcasted to fall through the night and through the next day. LO, and behold, God delivered. We are now living in a winter wonderland. They were so excited, but I have to tell you, yesterday's snow day came after Jo being home sick all last week and Taylor coming down sick last Friday. Someone has been home sick with me for a week and a half and Jon was gone all last week. I just about skipped to the bus stop with all of them going to school today! Yipeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I get to tackle the millions of things I should be doing right now and maybe go for a run. I love being me right now!!

Tahlia is going to the championships

2008-02-13T06:17:00.000-08:00

Tahlia is finishing up her winter swim season with championships next week. She is swimming 6 events- She will be swimming all four strokes in 25's and two 50's in backstroke and freestyle. She was so funny when we told her what she was swimming. You would have thought we had told her she was going to be running a marathon. She is a great little swimmer but the season has run a little long in her book. She will definitely swim on team this summer and this has been a great experience. Here are some pics that mom took while she was here.

Jordan is on a roll

2008-02-13T05:58:00.000-08:00

A winning salute with a first place vault!

Just wanted to put out an update on how Jo has done in gymnastics. My mom was out visiting a couple of weeks ago and was able to go to 2 of Jo's meets and experience what it's like watching her first hand. Sometimes nerves get the best of her and for all her preparation, she is so disappointed. Other times she absolutely nails it and is beaming! Here are a couple of pics. When mom was here she absolutely rocked on the vault and got the top score of the whole meet with a 9.4. At her last meet she almost reached her goal of getting a 9.0 and better on all events. She received on vault (8.6), bars (9.2), beam (9.35), and floor (9.35) with an all-around score of 36.5.

It's been a while

2008-01-16T12:04:00.000-08:00

Notice all the alcohol, this is how I cope. Just kidding! This was during Christmas, Jon whipped me up a delightful little concoction. Anyway, Boy it's been a while since I posted the haps here. I have recently gone to work very part time at a church as the church secretary for a whopping 6 hours a week. I love it and love the women that I work with at the church. It's great and the I'm still able to do all the things at home that I always do. Our holidays were great and the girls are loving the snow when we get it. We are missing California (family and friends) and need to go back for a fix but all of us agree that we are VERY happy living here! I feel very blessed. Jon is doing great and is such a trooper with all of us girls especially the prepubescent ones, is that how you spell it? Speaking of which, I don't know if TJ will live to see 18, just kidding! She is something else and Jon and I are now a few brains cells short of the brilliant people we used to be in her eyes. She has all the answers. I teach her religion class and often times after class she tells me, "I can't believe you said or did that!" Oh well, I used to be cool. She has started ski club and does indoor soccer. Jo is still loving gymnastics and all the new skills she learns. She did her first "fly away" last week and LOVED it. A fly away is a flip off the high bar as a dismount and then stick the landing. She came home with her blisters ripped open and bleeding but with a huge smile on her face. She wrote on her dry erase board, "Goals for the week, DO More flyaways!" Tahlia, is such a sweety and is almost always smiling. She is a great little swimmer and is doing great on the team. Jon told me yesterday he went to watch Tahlia in practice and when Tahlia had gotten out of the pool after a 50 yard swim with a flip turn, he had to REALLY look to see if that was his daughter. He had watched her swim without realizing it was her and had been so impressed with her swimming but he hadn't realized it was Tahlia until she got out. Funny!

Love you all!

Tash

Jo's First Meet of the Season

2007-11-10T16:19:00.000-08:00

We just came home from Jo's very first Level 5 meet of the season. She did very well and came in 4th place overall out of 16 girls in her age group. As she is progressing up a level, the skill is definitely harder but she is so much more polished, seasoned and prepared. She is fun to watch. I have to say it can be frustrating to watch when we've seen her do a routine beautifully in practice and then at a meet, she gets so nervous and loses it. Not so much this time! Her beam routine was BEAUTIFUL!!! She nailed it! I kept telling her not to get herself all worked up and all she has to do is impress herself! She did just that and Jon, the girls and I were beaming for her. Taylor exclaimed, "That was beautiful!" We look forward to 8 more meets this season with a grand finale at the State meet. I'll keep you updated with her progress.

Jordan is first in this very cute lineup waiting for the bars!

Saluting after receiving 2nd place for her 9.175 beam routine!

Integrity, Jo's gym received 2nd place for Level 5 out of 6 teams. I just happened to capture Mr. Baldy in front of me too!

Halloween

2007-11-04T14:51:00.001-08:00

The girls are still very much into trick or treating and dressing up. This year Taylor was an old hag with Claudia. She kept calling herself a grandma but I told her I didn't think her grandmothers would appreciate that. Jordan was a bag of groceries (hilarious, loved it) and Tahlia was a "spa girl". One of our neighbors thought she was a desperate housewife. SO FUNNY!

Swim Meets and Soccer Championships

2007-11-04T14:20:00.000-08:00

Hooray!!!! We've found a sport for Tali. She's a natural born swimmer. She makes swimming look nice and easy. She is really enjoying it. She has had two meets. The first one wasn't really a REAL one. There were no officials but had races to get the swimmers times. Today she had her first real deal meet bright and early. Her coach told her she's doing great, she just needs to kick faster and she'll be perfect. She hasn't quite gotten the concept of racing yet. I'd like to fly my brothers out to give her some private lessons. She swam her first relay and that got those legs moving. She said that was definitely her favorite swim, the relay. She was socializing on deck with her team before everyone screams like mad for you while you swim. It's fun to watch her although a little nerve racking to get her where she needs to go for each swim. I told Jon to take a picture of her buns cause it has her name embroidered on her right cheek. I teasingly told her that's how we'll know it's her when she swims butterfly, when her buns come out of the water. :)

Taylor did SO great in soccer this season. She learned and improved SOOOOO much and loved it. Her coaches were fantastic and the girls were great. They were so kind and supportive to each other. Taylor couldn't have had a better first experience. Her team ended up going to Championships and lost in a tough final game. So, they ended up placing 2nd in a league with 50 teams. She is going to now play indoor soccer and play outdoor on the same team in the Spring!

Fall Pics

2007-11-04T14:11:00.000-08:00

LEAVES EVERYWHERE! This is how Tahlia passed the time at Taylor's soccer game. Her friend Camryn was further down in the tree. My children don't tend to have much healthy fear.

Dog Walking Business

2007-11-04T13:55:00.000-08:00

Taylor, Jordan and Tali were off of school and had Reilly over to play. They decided to rake up the leaves in the backyard and had a big leaf pile to jump in. As they were raking they were chatting about starting their own business. Taylor thought it would be a great idea to rake neighbors leaves as a business. Reilly practically stated that it sounded like a lot of work. She offered, "why don't we start a dog walking business?" Everyone jumped on that idea and they ran inside to print up flyers for the neighborhood and were off to drum up business. They received their first customer with Boswell the Basset Hound across the street. Boswell is about 12 years old and doesn't necessarily like to walk but to sniff. He walks as slow as molassis and tends to poop a lot. The girls had left the house armed with poop bags because they understood the importance of being responsible for the cleanup. As the girls rounded the culdescac the second time, Taylor walking Boswell and Jordan dragging a bag behind her clearly weighted down with a significant amount of pooh, Jordan yells up to the house in disgust, " BOSWELL POOPED TWICE AND I THREW UP ONCE!" They had clearly come across the fact that this new job had an occupational hazard! :)

Taylor wants to add that now two weeks and lots of poop later, they have earned $40 and have split it between themselves! (the money not the poop)

Fall Is Here!

2007-10-15T08:08:00.000-07:00

Fall has arrived in Ohio! It took a little while to get here. A little over a week ago we were sweating out on the lake in 90 degree temps. Since then the weather has cooled off. The mornings are chilly and then it warms to around 70. It's perfect. We are all loving it. The girls even picked out some fleece lined crocs yesterday to keep their toes cozy! The leaves have started turning and Jon and Taylor have done a considerable amount of raking. With this beautiful autumn weather came a visit from our dear friends, the Tomlinsons. They came for five days. We enjoyed a day on the lake, a bon fire, shopping, dinner out and a trip to one of the strangest pumpkin patches I've ever been to.... Heather is an incredibly talented interior designer and she gave me some WONDERFUL ideas and inspiration to decorate my house. Being the dolly she is she gave us all haircuts before she left and Jon was Guy's assistant while they cut down a dead tree in our yard that has been the neighborhood eyesore for months. Thank you Tomlinsons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had a wonderful time with our friends and now we miss them so much now that they have gone back to California.

Heather and I! A bon fire in the backyard complete with smores and wine. YUMMM!!!

The girls all took turns being statues in our little niche that I have no idea what to do with.... When mom was here she said I could make it a little prayer alter, so......Here you go mom! :)

ALL the girls on the water!

Jordan captured some beautiful fall colors out on the water. It really was beautiful!

IT WORKS!

2007-09-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

Taylor came home from school a couple of weeks ago telling me about a conversation she had with Claudia. "Mom, Claudia said you CAN actually start a fire with a magnifying glass!" Claudia had tried it out and was able to successfully start a fire in the fire ring in her backyard, under her father's supervision, of course! Taylor ever since then has been begging Jon and I to sit in the driveway with her while she tries to set a leaf on fire. She is such a funny kid and I'm so glad that things like these seem to be much more facinating then boys for the moment. Well, Today is kind of a lazy Sunday and it is BEAUTIFUL outside. So here are the girls taking turns successfully burning holes in a leaf. Notice the water bottle within reach, just in case the fire got out of hand. Hopefully, I'm not encouraging pyromania! The experiment went off without a hitch and Jon figured that since everyone was outside he might as well clean his car.

The First Game

2007-09-07T08:52:00.000-07:00

Immediately following the game Jon says, "The success of this season will be based in terms of improvement." Taylor went out there and gave it her all. She ran the entire time had a bit of an asthma attack, got back in the game and ran some more. Like Jon also said, It's like we're sending her out there expecting her to know how to play when she has never played soccer. I think all the girls on the teams have played for several years especially by the time they reach middle school. Anyway, she and Jon will do lots of practicing to get her up to speed. I told her I was very proud of her persistance.

Craft Central

2007-09-07T08:43:00.000-07:00

Mom went home. We are ALL sad but we enjoyed her thoroughly. We could have kept her another week. Thanks Dad for letting us borrow her for an extended stay!! These are photos of her last night. She had the basement spinning with all the girls working on different projects. They were making sheets and blankets, flip-flops and headbands and hairbows. Mom is modeling one of the hairbows) It all turned out too cute and the girls loved it!

September Visitors

2007-09-02T14:50:00.000-07:00

Jon's cousin D.J. came to stay with us 2 nights so he and Jon could go to the first Buckeye game together. They had a blast together. I know Jon was so happy to have a little reprieve from all the "girly stuff" that happens at our house. They went to the game, came home and watched more sports on TV and drank beers. Oops, with the picture of DJ and Jon I took the red eye out but I guess it also felt like leaving a couple of spots on Jon's face that weren't there. He really hadn't been playing in the ink.

Meanwhile, mom was downstairs in the basement having a jewelry party with the girls. They LOVE going through all the jewels. They put it ALL on!

Notice the shirt. This is SO true. Hey, did you know you can click on the picture and it will enlarge it? Several days ago, Jo asked to invite her new friend over to play. She is a little girl that is very nice and just moved into the neighborhood in July from Maine. She had never been over and I hadn't met her parents. When she came over, they played on the trampoline for a long time until it got quiet. I knew they had gone to the creek to explore which is fine but the silence was suddenly full of Jordan's laughter. The kind of laughter that only comes when she is doing something really naughty. I ran to the screened in porch and yelled, "Jordan are you in the mud?!" Silence. I said, "Jordan Schrock, come here!" Jordan and her new, soon to be former friend (because her parents had to have been horrified when she arrived home) slowly came out from the creek. When they were out in the sunlight I could see they were COVERED in mud. Sabrina was in her school clothes. They had mud top to bottom, front to back, so much so that they were having trouble opening their eyes. They had a no holds barred ,mud slinging fight. ALL Jordan's idea! Good glory child what is wrong with you? Being Jordan's mother is SO humbling, just picturing what Sabrina's parents would think. Sabrina's father greeted me later with a smile saying, "Are you the mother of the child who completely covered my daughter in mud?" I could have died.

Jumping on the trampoline with DJ in PJ's! They were funny to watch.

Here's the dog lady herself with Roxy. Mom has been visiting with us for a little while and is NOT a dog person! I have to say she has warmed up. So much so, that when she returned from visiting Ruth for a few days, she came back with 2 huge bags of raw hides and pig ears. She brought things to "keep Roxy busy". Roxy stays pretty busy doing things we don't necessarily want her to do, kinda like Jordan. Just kidding!! :)

Back to School

2007-08-30T10:23:00.000-07:00

The first day of school came and went last Monday. I have to say I didn't even have to dab my eyes this year. I was and continue to pray for them as they transition to this very new and different environment. Boy do I have to say that I miss Legacy (their school in California). The girls are really enjoying their new schools and I have to say I am shocked that Taylor loves her new school so much! I think having a friend like Claudia helps. She is always excited about new adventures and very optomistic. Jo has made lots of new friends and Tahlia has made one. Well at least there is one. I know there will be more in time. I will continue to keep an open mind about their new public schools. It seems like there is lots more out to experience in school (different behaviors, socio-economic groups, english as a second language students) but its all about the choices the girls will make within this new framework. So far so good! The girls love wearing "Free Dress" everyday and Taylor feels like hot stuff in middle school switching classes, dressing for P.E., etc. She is doing great with all that!

Another Successful Day on the Water

2007-08-13T07:25:00.000-07:00

We took the boat out on Friday with a great family we have met here, the Shealy Family. We have a lot in common with them and our kids and theirs get along great! Anyway, their oldest daughter Claudia has been on the boat with us 3 times and has seen us wakeboard. We have been promising her she could try wakeboarding next time. Well on Friday, Claudia got out there to try it. She got up on the first try and stayed up like a champ. I guess Taylor had told Claudia that if she tried it, Taylor would give it a try. Taylor has tried and tried and tried for the past 2 summers and has gotten so frustrated and exasperated. Earlier this summer she vowed that she would NEVER try wakeboarding again! Well, she made this deal with Claudia and was so inspired with Claudia's performance that this time she was going to get up. Taylor jumped in the water and on the second try was up. She got up a couple more times and stayed up. When she got out of the water she was positively radiant!!! We are so proud of her persistence! Claudia tends to have this affect on Taylor. She tends to be a point of inspiration. What a great friend to have. Having said all this, I forgot to bring my camera on this trip, SO.......

Everyone was itching to take the boat out again yesterday after church. We went to the reservoir, no tubing, just wakeboarding. We were going to just go out for a couple hours. Well a couple hours turned into 6 almost 7 I think!

Taylor got up every time and wakeboarded forever working on maneuvering the board. Jo was working on her jumps off the wakes, too cute! Tahlia just rides and smiles. Jon of course just gets bigger and better. When he got out of the water, Jordan jokingly says in the goofiest voice,

"You're SOOOOO great, I'm your BIGGEST fan!"

She cracks me up! Seriously, sometimes it hard to be married to someone who is SOOO great at everything! ~SMILE~ No actually, he is my point of inspiration to get my butt out of bed. I've gotta try to keep up. Speaking of, I got out on my wakeboard and learned a very important lesson. Try like hell to never catch your front edge!! I smacked the water SO hard face first and my feet and board came up backwards to meet my head, bending myself in two, kinda like a taco. My back hurt so bad and knocked the air out of myself. Anyway, I'm having a little trouble moving today. I feel like the right side of my body has stoked out. Just kidding! Anyway, enjoy the pictures. We as a family had a GREAT day!!!!

The Vaulter

2007-07-17T10:30:00.000-07:00

I was driving Jo to the gym today when she pipes up from the backseat, "Hey Mom!" Yes, I said. Guess what Casey (her new coach) says is my best event. I started guessing knowing which one it probably was without guessing it. Its the event that is the most improved and that she has REALLY been working on. VAULT, she says! Why don't you come hang out and watch! Her sisters just love when I hang out and watch. Jordan LOVES her new gym. It is brand new and bigger than I have ever seen and beautiful. They have a phenomenal boys gymnastics team, a girls rythmic gymnastics team, a tramp and tumbling team and and of course great girl's gymnastics team. Jordan's coach is terrific!

A couple of days ago I told Jo I would take some pictures of her doing gymnastics. Well I took a couple of pictures and realized flashes going off in the gym when gymnasts are working on flips and flyaways can probably cause a pretty good break in distraction. Jordan tells me later, one of the girls on my team said, hey, who is that lady taking pictures with flashes! Oops!!! Well, here is the 1 picture I got of Jo getting ready to vault.

The Artist

2007-07-17T07:56:00.000-07:00

Jon says to me, "So are you going to feature one child a week on the blog?" In other words, shouldn't you do a write up on what each child is doing? He's right, It's just that I started with Tahlia and got distracted.

On Sunday, Taylor got very inspired that she would like to paint the naturescapes on canvas that would add just the right touch to the walls of her room. She now is very specific in her likes and dislikes. Gone are the days of me picking something out for her. She is definitely growing up. Anyway, Jon set up her easle and canvas and she went for it. She was one with nature and her sisters were inspired as well. Jo drew while Tahlia was her water cup holder. Her painting turned out great and is now ready to hang. We LOVE that she sees the world a little differently than the rest of us!

The House

2007-07-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the pictures of the house. The front, front/right side (you can kinda see Jon weeding in the right side of the picture and of course Apollo forever by Jon's side) , the right side and driveway of the house and part of the view from the top of the driveway to the backyard. We are loving our new house and all of its spaces. The girls say its like being on vacation. We'll wait and see what they think when school starts! :)

HEADGEAR??!!!

2007-07-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

Tahlia, what a character! I decided to cut my hair into a bob a couple of weeks ago. I went and had it cut in the evening after Jon got home. It felt like a mini vacation, being able to go all by myself. The lady that was going to cut my hair was a little stressed that I had to wait a little bit but I was in heaven with a couple minutes to myself and a magazine. Anyway, I'm off topic, when I arrived home Tahlia, actually all the girls but especially Tahlia loved my haircut. She kept following me around all evening stroking and playing with my hair. She has such an appreciation for a good cut. She wanted her hair cut the same way, so viola here she is.... All of the girls got their hair cut... but she is so funny about the way she can appreciate and admire fashion, style, design, etc.... Jon and I know she will grow up to be probably similar in temperment and personality to my dear friend Heather Tomlinson. We told Tahlia she had to go to and finish college first but if she still wants to go to beauty school she can. I can absolutely see it at such a young age. She just cracks me up. Today I sent her up to her room with her clean clothes to put away. She comes out of her room a little while later proudly proclaiming that she had just organized all four of her drawers before she put away her clothes. Tahlia LOVES to sort and organize things.
One last note about Tahlia, before we moved from California the dentist told us we needed to consult with an orthodontist regarding Tahlia's teeth. Well I waited until we got here. Of course her sisters were with her when they did their x-rays and analysis. They laid out her course of treament starting with a heavy duty expander in her upper palet. There were so many appliances they will use in her treatment just in this first phase that I can't remember them all, but when they said headgear, her sisters said together, HEADGEAR!! One of the girls told the ortho, my Aunt Tonya had headgear. It just threw me back to Tonya's geeky headgear days. Kinda like a scene from 16 candles. Anyway, Tahlia will have to wear it at night... Poor Tahlia but in the end, she will have gorgeous teeth just like Aunt Tonya!

A few pictures from around the yard

2007-07-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

Shooting hoops, jumping on the trampoline and playing in the creek this is what the girls do most days!

A rare moment

2007-07-12T07:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Jon enjoying his new father's day present. We found a perfect spot for it in the yard. Jon made a rule that no one can swing in it. They have to just peacefully lay down and rest in it. Yah, right!!

Roxy's Sick and Apollo's Peeing On the Seat

2007-07-12T06:49:00.000-07:00

Last week we took the boat out just for a quick jaunt on the reservoir. It's not the girls favorite because they can't tube and they can't swim in the water. It's great just for a quick trip to wakeboard, much to Jon's delight! It is about 5 minutes from the house and Jon has discovered that you only have to be 10 to be an observer on the boat. In California it is 12! So that means he can wakeboard when the family goes out. I drive and the girls can watch him and tell me when he's down. Well, anyway we thought we would go out for a quick trip and take the dogs. Much to our dismay, we discovered that Roxy gets terrible motion sickness. She was bubbling like a crab before she even got out of the car. We got the boat in the water and Roxy settled in at Jon's feet. The girls were feeding her ice to make her happy. Jo was first up to wakeboard. I was busy watching Jo happily cross the wakes when all of a sudden Jon slows the boat way down until he stops. I turned to hear Jon keep saying, UGHH with a horrible grimace on his face. He seemed to just be frozen. Looking down, Roxy had thrown up all of her lunch on his foot!!! The girls were thoroughly disgusted when she began to eat it again, all the while Jon is yelling to me to clean it up so that she won't throw it up again! :)

We got that situation handled and went to float on the boat and throw Apollo's toy while the girls jumped in and out of the boat. (against the rules) Roxy threw up 2 more times before feeling better. We rounded out the day before going home with Jon finally getting to wakeboard. I was driving Jon around the lake. I just love towing him around. (Not!!, ever since he got a concussion while I was pulling him) It makes me nervous. The girls are in charge of watching Jon. He fell once after a good run (all while Apollo is whining) and right after I got him up the second time, Jordan starts yelling "Apollo's peeing on the seat". The boat came to a screeching halt a second time, as I threw Apollo out of the back of the boat to Jon. Jon is completely clueless as to what is going on. Jon's turn was cut short as I drove the boat back to dock. That was enough for me, for one day. We got the boat out of the water and the dogs couldn't have been happier to be on land. Apollo peed for about 5 minutes straight. At home we thoroughly disinfected the boat and cleaned the carpets. So rest assured if you come visit us and we take the boat out, there are no remaining dog secretions!