Ups and Downs...

Okay, so after yesterday and the day before, I was hopeful today would be better....and it is...on some levels...even last night was good when Alex's team got their first win!! Alex got 4 hits and scored 4 runs! It was a great game. As for today...
-Alex had his last day of Red's camp!

Alex and his buddy Sam get to meet Former Red's 1st Baseman, Dave Collins! They are very excited!

The boys each got 4 tickets to a Red's game and 2 tickets to the Red's Hall of Fame!

One of the team coaches signs Alex's shirt- and hat!

All of the men there autograph his hat and shirt- so cool!

-The girls and I went to the water fountain park again with our friends, the Boothe's and the Brody's. It was fun as usual!

Another hot day in the sun!

Celeste steps a little closer today...but still never enters the fountain area!

Leah soaks it all up!

How cute is she?!

-So, 2 good things, but when we returned home, we found Daddy in bed with yet another fever! This time it is nearly 102 degrees! He is not doing well, and is still in bed. I feel terrible for him- he has no idea what is wrong with him, but he just keeps getting fevers and then when they break he gets convulsing chills and then repeats over and over again. Tomorrow I am going to call the doctor.

-The house is coming undone throughout all of this! I haven't made it to the grocery this week, Alex has another game tomorrow night, Dana and I both have meetings tonight that we obviously won't be able to make, and the days just keep coming! When it rains, it pours, right?!

Manic Monday to Turnaround Tuesday

Yesterday was a Manic Monday for me! It began at 7:15am when the alarm sounded for me to arise- it was not a pleasant wake-up for me- I don't usually arise for another hour, so already I am not happy. But, I have things to do, many things, actually, so the day starts....Alex and his friend, Sam are in a baseball camp with the Cincinnati Reds this week, so I have to get them to the park where it is held by 8:45am, dressed, breakfast eaten, sun screened, water bottles filled, and myself and the girls too! Dana has a workshop all week, so he is of no help in this department! So, I get that all done, and start to get Celeste dressed, my last effort before hitting the road. I stand her on the toilet to put her hair up in pretties. As I part her hair, a little brown bug scurries on her head- I immediately start crying!! I cannot handle another battle with lice- I will lose my mind, what very little is left of it! I can feel my stomach get queasy, and I frantically search her head for the bug, with no avail. At risk of being late, I get her hair up and we leave. Driving through morning traffic is not fun, and the park is not exactly where mapquest says it is, so we have to detour a minute or two until we find it. I drop the boys off, in the beginning of a 94 degree day for them to play outside for 3 hours! I take the girls to the outside mall to spend 3 hours instead of driving back home and wasting precious gas- but first we stop at Target where my meltdown officially begins. I call Renee, and tell her and she calms me a bit and tells me to just treat her and she will check her tomorrow (since she was cutting Leah's hair the next day). I finally calm down, and we pick up a few things at Target before heading to the water part of the mall. When we get there, my friend, Suzanne comes with her three, and finally the day has some sun for me- this is what fun they had...

Leah and Spencer pretty much stayed in the fountain the whole time! It was so refreshing!
Celeste, on the other hand stayed away from the fountain nearly the entire time!
They are drying off without their towels- odd!
Is this not the cutest shot- those two tushes are just too cute!
This is as close to the water as Celeste got- a puddle!
They enjoyed splashing around and this was as wet as she got too!
As we were getting ready to go, my friend, Debbie came with her 3 and they got a little soaked with the others!
Even Olivia joined in the fun!

So, it wasn't all manic, at least not all, well, let me proceed...I made it to pick up the boys, who had a fabulous time at baseball camp, and make it home for lunch. Celeste fell asleep on the way home, so I just put her to bed. Nice. When she woke up, and Dana got home, sort of at the same time, they both said they weren't feeling well. Celeste was quite warm, and Dana just went to lay down. Celeste became very clingy and restless and only wanted me to hold her. No problem, I did, but I needed to leave, because Jennifer and I were going shopping for the evening, and Dana was in charge. I manage to pawn her off on Daddy, and Jennifer and I head out. We have an amazing time, well, at least I did. We shopped for a dress for her, and found a perfect fit with one with green and brown, and it is stunning on her! She even took me to the Olive Garden for a date! It was just perfect! That is my ideal girlfriend time: shopping and food! We stayed in my driveway for an hour and a half before I headed in at 9:30.

When I came in, it was crazy! The girls had just gone to bed, and Dana was a wreck! He was flushed from head to toe, and so was Celeste. Apparently, in my absence, the little thing got worse. She kept falling asleep and wouldn't eat and just got hotter and hotter. He didn't take her temperature, since he was so ill himself! I went in to check on them and she was on fire....but so was he! I ended up in the middle of our bed- the middle of the furnace with our fan blowing full blast on us! It was not fun! Finally around 12:30, Dana's fever broke and he drenched the bed! I had him change his shirt, and he finally fell into a good sleep. Celeste, on the other hand took longer, and I woke her at 3:30 to give her Motrin. Her fever finally broke around 4am, and then it was cooling off in the bed. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep, and they probably didn't either.

The bad alarm sounded at 7:15 am again today, so I could do this all over again!! Joy, Joy! Celeste woke up happy and Dana said he felt better too. Finally! That over with, so I thought, at least for now, I head back up to take the boys to day 2 of camp. I make it at 9am and then head to Renee's for Leah's cut and Celeste's lice check. ( I couldn't treat her last night, she was not in the mood, plus I hadn't been able to find one shred of evidence that it was a lice on her head). Renee checked her head and couldn't find anything, either, so it could've just been a brown but- she said to keep checking her until Friday- another chore- but very important, nonetheless! So far, so good. Leah gets her signature cut, and since the rain has stopped (oh, to top off my night of restlessness because of the fire in my bed, it thundered and lightening lit up the sky for hours last night!!), we went to Renee's pool! Are we crazy?! I didn't take suits, thankfully Renee had an extra for Leah, and Celeste just got her shorts wet! The girls had fun while Renee and I chatted, which is always fun for us! I made it back to pick up the boys and home for lunch again. Now, Dana just came home, and he is still not good and Celeste is supposed to be napping but is up in her room whining!

I was hoping for a Turnaround Tuesday- maybe there is still hope- Alex has a game tonight- that might do it!

The Pink Ladies

Leah had rehearsal today - her recital is actually next Saturday, but I could only video today, so this is what you get! The lights on the stage are so bright, so she is a bit washed out (though she did have on some blush and lip gloss!). I was fairly close to the stage, but it is still a little farther than I hoped. Nonetheless, she was so cute, as were her dancemates- this was her 2nd year of tap, and next year she wants to do tumbling! So fun! I think she will be an excellent tumbler, since she is tiny and quite flexible, but we shall see- her least favorite part of dance is the stretching!! Little does she know how much more stretching tumbling requires! She is happy though, because she will still have the same dance teacher!

*******note that the video would go here, but I can't get it to upload, so for now, here is the pic of her on stage- when I figure it out, it will eventually replace this space!!************

Since we were on a "date", I took her to dinner, wherever she chose, and she chose McDonalds!! Of all places, seriously...I begged for Bob Evans, but no, she wanted "all white-meat chicken nuggets and apple dippers with caramel!" She saw that on a commercial and has been begging ever since- so, that is where we spent our meal! She was so cute, in her dance costume, that the manager gave her ice cream - "since she is so cute"! I know you agree- you would've given her free ice cream too, right?!

I was not a dancer growing up, I mean, I took tap for a few weeks, but it interfered with my Saturday morning cartoons, so I dropped out! So, I love that she loves dancing. I watch the older groups of girls and I imagine her continuing and becoming a performer like them. I don't know if she will dance for many more years, and I am glad she is trying something new next year- she will figure out what works best for her and what she loves. Right now, I love this age of dancers, and I love that they love every minute of it!

School's Out- Summer is here!!

Today was the last day of school for Alex and Leah! What an amazing year they have had. I don't know where the time has gone, seriously. I just blinked and a year passed me by! I have seen such growth in my children this year- mainly because they both had tremendous teachers who have loved and nurtured them. This year in Kindergarten, Leah has learned to read and write and is doing fantastic. Her social skills have increased and improved (you do know her mother, right?!) and she has really come a distance. Alex has progressed better than I would've imagined and is reading at a very high level. He has exceeded my expectations and has changed and grown up so much! I am tearing up, it has been just amazing.

To thank their teachers this year, they each made them a gift.
Leah, for Mrs. Deiderich created these note cards...

She drew a picture, we scanned it, then scaled it down, printed it off on card stock and used brads to attach it to a note card. Then Leah wrote "A note from..." on it. She even made some for her bus driver- didn't they turn out cute? She was very proud!

This is Leah and her teacher today on the last day of school!

Alex's teacher, Mr. Cracraft has been wonderful this year, too. Alex has flourished in his classroom and they have become friends, too. Alex made him a poem with his name and this is it...oh, and Leah baked both their teachers chocolate chip cookies, too.

Cute and cute!! -2 Cuties!

I have been very happy with the teachers my children have had at their school, and very much look forward to more great teachers next year - but first we have 84 days of summer (as Leah is reminding me!)!

WELCOME TO SUMMER BREAK!!

Throwback Thursday 3

This has begun to be so fun for me!
SO, since it is June, and graduation month for so many, I thought I would post a few of my Graduation pictures! Fun, Fun!
This one is from my Senior Picture Portfolio 1993- High School! Laugh and laugh, go on...it's okay- I am too!! Just so you know, this hair and outfit was HOT then, and I was COOL- okay, well, not that cool, but I was popular, doesn't that count as cool?! This one is the one in my Senior Yearbook, from which, I was the Editor! Yes, again, you may laugh, but this is the one that had to have a solid background, and no props- this was taken the same day, though. And might I point out that I was actually a Junior when these were taken, because I was chosen to be an "ambassador" for this photographer, meaning he took 3 sessions of pictures of me, and used them as examples for his work. He chose me, mainly because I knew him from working on the Yearbook for 3 years, but he also chose 2 of my best girlfriends, which was so great because we got many pictures for free and got to be photographed a bunch!! Lucky! Sorry it's a little grainy, but I had to scan it from my yearbook! Check out the gold chains- wow! Those are something! Do you so love the length of my hair- it hasn't been that long since then- or at least not that hot-rolled!! It seriously took a long time to get this look- I am sure the ozone layer is damaged mainly from me and my AquaNet! Can you see the tanning bed tan, too?! That is a whole other story in itself!

Okay, fast foward to 1997 and my College Graduation from The Ohio State University. I had these taken a couple of months before, and as you can see with the shift in big hair, I too, toned it down a bit. I even had layers and not much hairspray- imagine that!!

Next Thursday, I will post actual Graduation Photos from the day I received my diploma and degree- trust me, you will not want to miss that- check back in a week for that little gem!

Feel free to leave me comments on how much I have grown and changed- but remember that it was 15 YEARS AGO for my High School graduation and 11 YEARS AGO for my college- times have changed, thank goodness, and so have I- be thankful for that!!

Fantastic Field Days!

Yesterday Alex had his 2nd grade "field days" at the high school. It was overcast, so not too sunny, but particularly humid, but it was great nontheless. Alex was signed up for several events, including the long jump, the frisbee throw, the 75 meter dash and the super fast relay. Not the fast relay, but the Super Fast Relay!!

His first event was the long jump, and on his 2nd jump he jumped 6 feet 9 inches! That was great! I don't know how he did in comparison to the other boys in his class, but I was proud of him!

Next was the frisbee throw- and he threw 65 feet! Too bad that wasn't that great, since his friend threw it and it rolled and rolled, making his throw at 131 feet!! WOW! Here he is with his friend, Chris who had a great frisbee throw, too!

Next came the races!! Alex is a pretty fast kid, and he ended up doing really well in his races- he scored 4th place in the 75 meter dash, and his team of 4 boys WON the Super fast relay! They were fantastic!! Here are some running shots...

This is the beginning of the 75 meter dash...check out his arms pumping!!

Waiting for the baton for the "Super Fast Relay!"

These are the 4 fastest boys in the 2nd grade!!

"Run Forrest Run!!"

Overall it was such fun!! He is such a good sport, and was not that upset that he didn't get a ribbon for the 4th place finish, but was esctatic for the 1st place ribbon in the relay! Here he is with the fastest kid in the school...he is in his class, and if you consider that he is 1000 times more athletic than anyone else, then Alex is really the 3rd best!! Jared is a year older than all the other boys and comes from a very talented family- he is going places, and we will be looking for him in Sports Illustrated!

Of course, I took Celeste, so here are some shots of her enjoying the day!

We love the end of the school year! We love all the fun it brings as we end another year of learning! My children have learned so much this year and we are very proud parents!

Chapter 42

For Family Night last night, the kids and I went to the park for a nature walk. We have this very beautiful park near our house that has a pond and playground- does it get any better than that?! My kids love it there, so we ventured out- since it seems summer is just around the corner to enjoy an evening in nature.

We started at the pond....and quickly found a baby frog!

Then, as we were looking for more tadpoles that would soon be frogs like this one, we saw this...

Can you see the cute face hiding in the green blades of the pond?

This sweet little racoon is just a baby...

As we stayed a little longer, he came out from the grass to visit us...if only we had food to eat, he would've let us feed him. Celeste kept saying, "oh, he's so cute!" But then he became a "mommy racoon", but she continued to love him anyway!

He was just beneath my feet under the deck by the pond...I haven't ever been this close to one before, and it was great!

So now Celeste wants one for a pet...too bad little one...you will have to settle for our cat!

My Flower Girl and Oriole...

My roses are in bloom!! I love how they start so small and just grow into such beautiful flowers...much like my Celeste! I took these this morning, and fell in love with both.

Alex plays for the Orioles this year, so he is the bird that I wish I would see in my yard along with my beautiful roses! (They prefer oranges, by the way!) Friday was his first scrimmage and they lost...BUT, he had 2 terrific plays
- he was playing 3rd base, like his hero Chipper Jones, (he is #10 too), and the kid up to bat hits it directly to 3rd base. Alex scoops it up, and fires it straight to 1st base, our player catches it, and the runner was out! It was awesome, he had to time it just right to get there, because that runner was fast- but he did it and it was sweet!! Seriously, the throw from 3rd to 1st is really far, so he had to zing it, and he did!
- his first time up to bat, on the second pitch, he nails it past second base, to the fence!! It is an automatic double! They won't let him run past second, so he stopped there, and eventually scored, but it was so good!
I really think baseball is going to be his sport! He really loves it and practices all the time. He loves to throw, and has been practicing his swing too- really working on being a swich hitter, too. This is such a fun sport to watch with little kids, and I actually was the Varsity Baseball Stat girl in High School, because I love the game so much (well, my boyfriend at the time played too, so that was I'm sure part of the deal!). Anyway, it was great then too!
He played catcher for the last inning, but he really loves 3rd base the best....it is good to give him opportunities at other positions, who knows where he will do best. I will follow along this season and we will find out!