Super Soccer Star

Macey loves soccer.

 

She got a little taste of it last year in Florida.  She loved it and excelled at it.  She never seems to get tired running up and down the field and up and down again and again.  I get winded just watching.

 Her team has not won many games but they are really improving.  This last week they did very well passing the ball and moving up the field. 

 Most of her games have been at 9:00am so we have needed to be there at 8:30am.  It usually takes us about 30 minutes to get where we are going.  We have so missed the chance to sleep in on a Saturday.  In this respect - mid November can't come soon enough.  However, seeing Macey enjoy the sport makes the early Sat mornings worth it.

She is our silly soccer superstar! 

Updated Family Photos

I've been reluctant to change our family photo on our blog or on my Facebook page until Austin returns home from his mission and we have a truly updated family photo with all of us in it.

However, I was determined to get a photo of Riley before he headed out the door to college once again.  We didn't ever really have Senior year photos taken, nor did we have a nice pre-mission photo done either.  Our kids grow and change whether we want them to or not.  I want to remember the kids at all phases of life and photos are the one way to do just that.

So, thank you, Mickisha Glen for coming on Dec. 31, 2011 late in the afternoon and taking a few casual photos of the kids and the rest of us to document this moment in time.

Riley

Parker

Macey

The kids and me.

Silly kids having a good time.  Love the laughter.

Another Thought!

Can you believe it?!  I am actually having another thought and THIS time I am actually posting it!  I had to laugh at Nicole's comment "I'm glad you had a thought today!" regarding my last non-existent post.

I have been a little busy - STUDYING - actually (20+ hours this week alone).  I set a goal to get all my ducks in a row to be 'qualified' and accepted to be a Non-Instructional Substitute in the school district here.  I don't have an Assoc. Degree or 60 credit hours so extra testing required.  I finished my online testing (last of 8) late last night.  Prior to that I had to take a Para Professional test at the District offices.

Today, Tues. 3/6/12 was 1/2 day of school for kids.  I had a limited amount of time this morning but got my friend, Nicole Prime to tag along on some errands for fun.  My errands you ask?

1.  Pickup Johns suits from JOS Banks - funny that I got off on the right exit and headed over but then turned N instead of S and was almost to 2nd errand before even getting the 1st one checked off my list.  Oh well - I adjust well.  Errand #1 will turn into Errand #3.

2.  Drop of Scout re-chartering paperwork at the Scout office and request printout of my own son's progress.  I have no idea where he really stands.  They don't work on merit badges at scouts (someone explain that one to me) so I'm afraid he's horribly behind but don't even know.  I was pretty on the ball with the older boys.   Maybe because they started out with a really great Scout Master (Travis Mitchell) that got them off and running from the get go and maybe because my husband was Scout Master towards the end of their scouting experience and I was his go-to-GAL for badges and record upkeep.

3.  HOBBY LOBBY!  Why else do you think I was eager to go to the Scout office to drop off paperwork?!  They are both in Ft. Myers.  I have to have a reason to go to Ft. Myers and justify the trip to Hobby Lobby!  We only had time to run in and get the fabric we had in mind and head back out.  I want to make Macey a couple of under-skirt ruffle slips to make her dresses longer and Nicole is making some adorable bibs for baby gifts -Shhhh - don't tell.  Nicole's youngest daughter had preschool so we rushed back to get her there almost on time.  Another time we will do our browsing and really enjoy.

4.  Dropped her off at home with an extra child, my daughter, and returned back to my 1st errand of picking up John's suits. 

Parker had a friend, Max over after school.  You know all they want to do is play video games.  However, when I got home I made them take a break and treated them to a cold drink of their choice @Walgreen's (exciting, I know) and found kites & gliders.  Perfect for our blustery & windy day in Florida.  A little fresh air and outside time didn't hurt anyone - not even them.

I even treated myself to a little outside time and enjoyed feeling the wind in my hair.  The boys decided to get out the skateboard, wood board, broom stick and take each other for a ride.

Macey and Janiel came back to our house.  It is never hard to get them to be outside.  They are masters at tree climbing.  We have the perfect tree in our front yard and they spend HOURS up in it!  Literally!

Permission Request!

I need someone to give me permission to spend an entire day doing nothing but updating the blog with the many simple events the last couple of months have been made up of.  I get up in the morning and think if I can just get this, this and this done then I'll LET myself blog a bit.  Somehow I never seem to get to that point.  Somehow today is already Thursday.

Monday - regroup from the weekend - laundry, job lists and more, appt with John and then lunch, hair-cut and hi-lite, friends for dinner, FHE and games.

Tuesday - Alli Gator to the groomer, cleaning, moved TV from garage to Parker's room all by ourselves, sewing project w/Macey and friend (skirt - so cute)(For Macey's bday - her friend, Janiel, gave here this fabric, a pattern for a skirt, matching thread & elastic and the promise to sew one with her.  Janiel's mom is a pro-sewer!  What a great gift! I would never have thought of that.), start replacement claim for missionary clothing items to missionary mall, pouring rain, scout physical for Parker, late dinner.

Wednesday- Made a short list of 'have-to-get-dones'!
1.  Missionary Mall Warranty claim for Austin on both pairs of shoes, charcoal suit pants, black suit pants and both pairs of washable black slacks -mmmm; 

2.  Set-up HP printer to print (call if necessary); 
3.  Check on flights to potential destinations - WA state, UT, Albania, NY (Hill Cumorah pageant), Washington, DC (Parker's dream vacation).
4.  Get box fans from girls camp back to Marji.
5.  Schedule eye appt for Parker. 

I did accomplish the first (4).  Along with making a run for groceries to Publix at 9am in my pj's before I launched into 'the list.'  Mainly because Parker & Macey were distraught that I didn't have anything they thought suitable for breakfast.  Once the cupboard was stocked with their favorite box of cereal - Parker, Cocoa Pebbles and Macey, Captain Crunch Berries; plenty of mac 'n cheese, a few cans of ravioli, along with some healthier choices - deli meat & cheese, lettuce, strawberries and blueberries, almonds, yogurt, granola bars, etc, the day could begin.

**Marji dropped off her son, Kyle to keep Parker entertained during my focus time.
**Nicole brought Janiel over for Macey to hang out with.
**Parker went to another friends mid-day to spend the night.
**I took the girls to the pool for an hour.  It poured down buckets & buckets of rain.
**They didn't let that stop them.  There wasn't any thunder or lightening so they got to really enjoy it!
**I finally took a shower and got dressed for the day at 6pm (don't tell anyone)!
**We dropped Janiel off on our way to YW movie night.
**We thought 'Legacy' was a good choice since most the girls had just been on TREK.
**They had made a bday cake for ME!  Thank goodness there were a limited number of candles.  I had a hard time blowing the few out!  We had such a good time hanging out with the girls - Macey & I didn't get home till after 9pm.

Thursday - Today!  It's 10:30am.  I've switched laundry, done some dishes, had Macey comb her hair, and *gasp* blogged a little!  It literally would take me all day to catch up a bit and that isn't on my 'to-do' list for today.  I will have to save that for another day.  At least I made a token attempt and had a little fun doing it!  Hope it continues to be a great day!

Macey & Me

Our Stake had a first annual Mother/Daughter Day Out!  So guess what Macey & I did?  We went. 

 Macey and I might butt heads about a lot of things but she seems to love it when we get to do things 'just the two of us'!  She's always asking, "when can just you and I . . .?"  I am grateful she wants to do things with me.  I hope this will always be!

We missed the scout garage sale (darn! only 2nd one in 10yrs I've missed and longest one ever!).  We got to take our friends the Rice's with us to the 'girl' activity and met some other friends there.  It was held about an hour away.  It didn't take as long to get there as we thought (we had planned for 90 minutes).  It was held at Caloosahatchee Regional Park in Alva, FL.  (Basically out in the boon docks - but boon docks with some really nice houses along the way).

They took our picture and had a portable printer to print them on the spot.  We made picture frames and hung them on string with clothespins to dry and display - cute!

We made flower rings, pins or barrets out of pipe cleaners (courtesy of Martha Stewart, I'm told).  They were the most awesome creations!

We painted nails - Macey chose a deep bright red.  It actually was a pretty color.

We also got to put 'temporary' tatoos on the girls and the girls on their moms.  Thank goodness Macey chose 3 small glittery flowers for me since they were still there the next day at church.  (I noticed them after I had sat down from speaking).

 

We did a relay race where the girls had to be the mom and the mom got to be the girl.

We took a little hike but got a great picture of all the girls we had.  I had a great time spending time with my favorite gal - my daughter, Macey.

The Night the Lights Went Out in Florida!

One night just before dinner - the lights went out in Florida.  It was an odd occurrence since there wasn't a storm brewing.  Turns out it wasn't a wide spread blackout - just 45 houses in our area. John had a business dinner so no sweat for him!  What about the rest of us you ask.  Well we decided to rough it (no McDonalds's necessary).


Before it got too dark we dug out the flashlights and lantern, pillows and blankets and parked it on the front room floor, camping style.  They really wanted to break out the tent and set it up (uh, no!  wouldn't fit for starters and it was a school night - thankgoodness for me!)


We ended up fixing peanut butter sandwiches and enjoyed our little camping excursion right in our own front room.

Sewing Basics!

Macey will come up with an urge to do something and wants to have done it yesterday!  She decided she wanted to learn how-to sew.  The way she worded it to me, "I want to learn how to sew, but you probably won't teach me."  When have I ever denied such a request.

It did make things a little difficult to grant such a request since my sewing machine is currently not working.  However, Macey's friend Janiel has a mom that is an excellent seamstress.  I suggested we team up with them.  Smart move on my part, if I do say so myself.  She already had a pattern and had previously taught a 4-H sewing class back in Utah.  Bonus!

Monday night Macey and I made a run to JoAnn's for fabric = $7.  Tuesday we got started about 11am at the Prime's house.  The girls pinned on the pattern, cut out the fabric and sewed their pj pants all on their own with minimal interference from the moms.

Pinning

Cutting

 

Nicole was an awesome teacher.  The most help they needed was feeding the elastic through the waistband.

Nicole Prime & daughter, Janiel

Janiel sewing

Macey sewing - first time!

 We started about 11am and finished about 2:30p.  We even had lunch in between.  I was so surprised they were able to go home with their finished product!  What an accomplishment.

Two fun friends!

Two silly girls!