"Sammie"

Here are some pictures of our new puppy! The girls have been having an absolute blast. She is a very sweet puppy... so far she hasn't chewed on anything!!!! The club house in the picture is something the girls made and Sammie seems to like it as much as the girls!!

Finally - New Information

So I am a little slow at posting new information - and "darn" I was doing pretty good for a while. Well, maybe I will start doing a little better now that we are back in school. Well the girls officially start school on August 23rd. Can you believe they will be in 1st and 3rd grade - well I can't!!! When did they get to be that old?

Well we have news!!! We have added a new member to our family - another girl!! Her name is Sammie and she is a mini Australian Shepherd. The girls are very excited. We were able to keep it a secret from the girls until we drove up to the house. They thought we were going to look at a boat that "Daddy" might be detailing. When we pulled up they asked if they could play with the puppies and after a few minutes we told the girls to pick one out to take home. They didn't believe us for a while - quite funny. In fact - Macie said this morning "it still doesn't seem real - it feels like we are "babysitting" the puppy." It is so fun to watch the girls with her - they will make great mommies some day. I will hopefully be adding pictures this weekend for everyone to see. We just brought Sammie home last night so I haven't had time to take a lot of pictures yet.

The girls are getting all their school supplies together - they have packed their new book bags several times. And - yes I will have pictures of all that fun coming in the near future.

Summer 2010 7/15/10 at OneTrueMedia.com

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Go Go Go...

I have to wonder if we can possibly fit anymore "stuff" into one month, one week, even one day! Everyone told me we would get busier as the girls got older... well they were not joking. But I have to say - how much fun this is. I can't believe Macie is 8 years old. Where did that time go? She has had a very active summer. I think this year she is ready to go back to school so her schedule will slow down. In fact, as I type I am watching her work on basketball with one of our coaches. This has been so great for her. The coach is so great with kids and she loves working with him. She really loves basketball (happy dance) and her fundamentals have really improved this summer. Macie has also been to volleyball camp this week. I have to say she wasn't that thrilled after her first day. But after day three she is thinking it is pretty fun! (Another happy dance) Then both girls have been playing softball. (Daddy's happy dance) They have both definitely improved as the summer has gone. We are finishing up the season with a double header - if the weather permits. Oh and did I mention they were in the 4th of July parade, and had swimming lessons? It's all so fun!!!

Kaitlin isn't old enough for all the camps but she has done great at softball (they are on the same team) and she is the dare devil when it comes to swimming. Yesterday we went to the pool and she had a blast jumping off the high diving board. (yes the high dive) I was a bit nervous but she did just fine!

It's hard to believe but we start back to school in 11 days. How depressing yet I am somewhat ready. It's time to get back in a routine and I think my DH would agree with the routine part. Enough about us for now - I need to work on uploading summer pics for you to enjoy!!

V A C A T I O N - in the Summer Sun

So for most of my family who follow's the all time blogger - my SIL - you will know that she already has posted info and pics about our visit and time at the lake. For those of you who haven't seen it you should really check it out - pretty good stuff. As for my version - fun fun fun. Yes - I didn't actually get in the water - after watching everyone shiver and my niece and nephew almost turn purple/blue when they got out of the water I decided it might be a bit too cold for my taste. It was fun to watch all the kids play - and that includes Brad and his brother!

It was a great day - we visited two lakes - one with a beach and one that we were able to jump off a dock where the kids could float on a tube or just swim.



The cousins sure enjoy playing with each other. We are also planning Macie's 8th Birthday Party while we are here. Since my SIL is so crafty she has been kind enough to help me "design" her birthday invitations. The only problem is that the kids haven't figured out how to get the cousins to the party! Amazing how quick they forget that long car ride.

It is very pretty here - except for getting a terrible cold/sore throat it has been a great vacation. The weather is so unbelievable - sweatshirts in the evening is hard to believe the end of June!

Where did June go?

So we are making final plans for our trip "north" (this way I don't get the state wrong) and it finally sinks in that June is almost over. This means several things - some good and some bad. One it means that we are moving along with all the girls activities - softball, swimming lessons, basketball lessons, dance camp, and on and on and on - and all is well! Second it means my dear oldest is about to have another birthday. She is growing up so fast - 8 years old. I can not believe that she is going to be 8 already. Where did those years go? We won't even mention that my "baby" is 6 (and she would add the 1/2). Third we are already starting to think about how much time we have left until Brad and I go back to school - WHAT? I just had a meeting yesterday (all day). So this means school hasn't been over long enough to think about when we go back!

To keep from simply rambling this will be short - just wanted to stay somewhat up to date and let everyone know to be prepared for some pictures soon. I have lots to share just have to get them organized.

Summer is Here!

So we are off and running - as fast as possible - trying to keep up with everything going on this summer. I can't believe we are already looking at the middle of June. Wow how time flies! The girls are playing softball - it's a 7-9 year old league that is machine pitch. Both girls are playing on the same team and doing absolutely great! Brad couldn't be more proud of them and the way they are picking up on all the skills. They played their first game last week and won 11-2. Next game will be Thursday evening if anyone is interested! What a hoot! Moving on - Kaitlin has "Dance Camp" this weekend. She loves dance and thinks it is so cool to get to do some extra dancing this summer. Both girls are in swimming lessons this week and next. I know what you are thinking - could we squeeze anymore into these few weeks of summer. Oh - just wait - we can... Macie is meeting a couple times a week with one of our basketball coaches for some lessons. We couldn't find a good camp for her at this age so we felt this would be something for her instead of not doing anything. Her first lesson was Tuesday and it went great!! I am so excited for her. Both the girls love basketball - yes anyone who knows me knows that I am more than thrilled about that. Then Macie will have a volleyball camp in July. So I think we have most everything covered this summer and everything is strategically fit so we don't miss anything. Whew!

We are planning our summer vacation - North Dakota here we come. The girls are very excited to get to see their cousins. They keep asking if we can fly instead of drive because they don't want to be in the car that long. HA! Should be a very fun trip. So the pictures that are posted are of our Public Library summer kick off day. The girls stood in line to get face painting right after they signed up for the summer reading program. All is good - Kaitlin says she has to study for 1st grade and Macie is determined to help make sure she is ready.

I have had a busy week with school stuff and yesterday I was leaving for Topeka for a few days. Kaitlin was pretty upset about me leaving. So we were trying to comfort her when it finally came time that it was just time for me to go. Brad told Kaitlin that I had to go and everything would be fine, it was only a couple of days, so she just needed to stop crying and eat her supper. Macie turned to him and with the most honest face asked him: "Where did you go to daddy school? That isn't how you calm down a little kid who is upset?" I thought we were both going to die laughing. Where do kids come up with this stuff?