Star of the Week

This week Gabi is "The Star of the Week" in her classroom.  They celebrate this by allowing her to bring in photos and all kids of fun favorites of hers.  This is posted on the wall for all to enjoy.  Wednesday she is supposed to bring in a letter from her parents that she is to read in front of the class.  I am instructed not to put anything embarressing in it ;)
I know her letter will include the following I asked Ben to fill in:
G - Giving
A - Anxious
B - Beautiful
R - Resilient
I - Intelligent
E - Exciting
L - Loving
L - Likable
E - Entertaining
Her stars that she filled:
When I Grow Up I Want To Be:  Marine Biologist
My Favorite Sport Is:  Basketball
The Best Book I've Read Is:  The Lost Hero
My Favorite Pet Is:  Maizy
My Favorite Memory Is:  Swimming with the dolphins
My Favorite Subject Is:  Science
Thursday each person in the class gets to write a nice note to Gabi that will be put into a nice booklet for her to keep.  Anxious to see that!  Anyways, doesn't she make for a beautiful "Star of the Week!"

Move In Day

Yesterday was the day...We got Tyler settled into his dorm at IU Bloomington - Forest Quad Tower B, Room 905.  His roommate...Tanner Barr from Reelsville, Indiana.  Didn't get to meet him since we moved in right at 8am.  Tyler had MORE than enough room and it made for a quick move in with as organized as he was.

Broke the television on our way up so we had to make a quick stop at Walmart...but then again, what freshman doesn't make a stop there before completing his/her move in at college?  Grabbed his books and took our boy and Abby to eat at Yogi's (a new fave in Bloomington) before saying our "see ya laters."  Yes, I refuse to say goodbye.  It was hard....just like with Trenton.  But we made it and he is ready for the year ahead. 

We are excited too.  Changes...something I am never good at, but it makes us all grow.  There were tears and lots of "looking back" on my part, but I know this is a chapter we must go through and he wants to go through.  He is right where he wants to be in life and that could not make me happier.  So for now, I am looking ahead...looking forward to visiting Bloomington in a month or so and seeing my boy again... 

And then there were three...

The time has come...

Send Off Dinner

Got the family together last night for a "send off dinner" of sorts for Tyler.  SOOOO lucky to have Trenton home to join in (came home to go to the Michigan race with his dad and brother for the weekend).  Hacienda was the restaurant of choice for Tyler and everyone was able to come - Uncle Chad, Aunt Amber and girls, maw maw and paw paw, Uncle Dave and grandpa, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Pam and kids too!  So thankful for family...
Amber was the smart one and brought her camera - looking forward to getting the photos from her but here is what I captured on my phone...

Great Grandparents

We were fortunate enough to visit with my grandma and grandpa Jones the other evening and let Tyler say his goodbyes before off to college.  I love visits like these...makes me realize how lucky I am to have them in my life.  For all the memories I have had with them.  For all the memories my children will have of their great grandparents. This is their past.  This is their opportunity to learn from the past and I certainly encourage them to grab the moment while it's here.

Back 2 School

Gabi's first offical day back to school today...had to arrive early to post up for her safety patrol duties.  She was actually excited this year.  She has a male teacher and more than a few of her closest friends in her class.  She was extra excited about that.  Last year in elementary school scares me so I am taking this entire year one day at a time to soak in EVERY moment. 

Some Favorites and Cupcakes!

Gabi purchased a book called, "What's New, Cupcake?" this past school year at the book fair at school.  I had promised we would try an idea or two out of it and that day was today....we didn't have anything planned and had missed out on church because of a migraine I was VERY glad to get rid of by lunch time.  Gabi and I hopped in the car and bought the ingredients.  Didn't take us long and I allowed Gabi to do much of it herself.  We improvised on some of it, like the color of the eyes and beak.  They turned out better than what I had imagined and Gabi's opinion was, "it was alot harder than what I thought it was gonna be."  She is truly into the show DC Cupcakes and Cakeboss so this was right up her alley.  We had fun baking together, though.  Memory made :)

Oh, and some other things we have been passionate around here about lately....
Gabi has a small piggy bank set up for donations.  We are instructed to put our every leftover change in the bank...Trenton told her about "The Cove" when he was home last and she has been heavily investigating this.  Her little heart broke when she discovered the tragedies in Japan over dolphins.  A favorite show of ours is Whale Wars and she most definitely enjoys watching with us.  We had a few discussions on both whales and dolphins and how the two tie in together.  If you have a moment....and for Gabi :)...check out this link to save Japan's dolphins.  Gabi is saving up (in the piggy bank) for a bracelet.  I know she would love you for it!  This girl...and her love of animals!!!  Gotta love her.  Got. To.

And lastly, last weekend a trip to the mall brought us to Bath and Body Works where we tested, smelled and looked at all the fragrances, etc etc etc.  We came upon True Blue Body Scrub and actually bought some to take home.  LOVE <3 and definitely a new FAVE of both Gabi and I....it smells so yummy and leaves your skin soooo smooth! 

Slowing Down A Bit

As you have probably noticed things have slown down quite a bit now...hence no new posts on the blog.  We have, however, been dreading, yet preparing for an upcoming event this month...moving Tyler down to IU Bloomington.  The loans have gone through and he is all set.  Mixed emotions have come over me during this time, much like they did when Trenton was preparing to go.  I saw something in the newspaper last week that somewhat did explain these feelings...they said sending a child off to college is similar to giving birth to them.  You have them in the womb for 9 months, but this time feels like forever.  When the time is close you have mixed emotions of not ready for it all, but you really want the child out asap knowing it IS time.  Seemed like a good comparison.  We've spent 18 years of his life nurturing, teaching, loving them so they are ready for the world when it comes time.  It is time.  Although it will be sad to see him go and I know the series of emotions since I have been through this before, I know that we have given it our all and our best shot at preparing him for this time.  I just wish there was a preparation course for letting go...to make it easier.

$10

This picture is worth $10!...well, $20 to be exact.  Would you believe that after being sooo busy for the past couple of months we were finally able to have my niece from Texas (Mackenzy) overnight with Gabi.  They are just about a year apart so they always have a good time when they get to visit.  With our schedule, we just have not been able to get them together like I wanted to.  Mackenzy came home with us on Monday evening after going over for Pam's birthday and we spent most the day together yesterday doing girlie things...namely, SHOPPING.  She told me she had not even been to our mall so you know I HAD to take her!  And HAD to take her to Charming Charlie as well!  Only one problem...the girls had no money to spend...so, I said I would take a picture of them that morning and I wanted them to make it worth $10 (to each of them).  Worked out well!
Us girls went from one end of the mall to the other and back, trying on clothes, testing out fragrances, picking out school options, etc etc etc.  It was a big hit!  Their fave part, or at least Gabi's, was trying on a formal dress at Deb - with the high heels of course! 

The girls did well with budgeting and actually ended up getting the same things...a cute little clutch from Charming Charlie and some items from Forever 21 (necklace and some barrettes).  SOOOO glad we were able to do this with Mackenzy before she left and so glad I was actually able to make good on a promise to have her over.  She is back in Texas today and we miss her cute smile already!

Christmas In July 2011

It could not have been a bigger contradiction...it was most DEFINITELY HOT HOT HOT for Christmas this month!  We have had a big heat wave the week prior and it continued into this weekend for Christmas in July at Jellystone in Fremont.  An annual tradition.  We shop for cute gifts...gag or otherwise being $5-$10 for each person and have a get together with the family while camping.  Always look forward to it.  Only thing missing this year was Trenton.

I had Addy this year, Gabi had Amber, Tyler had Presley and Ben had Chad.  Ben, of course, had to go after the gag gift for Chad and all I'll say is "let 'em hang!"  In the evening we always enjoy the family "sleigh ride" to look at all the Christmas decorations that the campers bring.  GREAT FUN! 

Lots of swimming, laughing, eating and Gabi even conquered her fear of the "speed slide" this year! 

Maw maw and the girls won "Biggest Snowman" this year with a basketball player to add to our collection of winners :) 

Aside from about an hour of rain, it was a beautiful weekend and I can say I was very thankful there was not a blackout and we were able to run our ac all weekend!  GOOD TIMES.

Take a look back here, here, and here to see how everyone has grown and changed since we started this tradition of "Christmas in July" - amazing how time flies!

Nationals

After recovering from Tyler's North South All Star game in Indianapolis and making the return trip on Saturday, we turned around to make Gabi's AYBT Nationals in Ft. Wayne Sunday through Tuesday.  Saturday and Sundays games were actual pool games...they would determine where each team would fit into which pool according to scores, etc.  Unfortunately the team had lost two on Saturday (Gabi was with us coming back from Indy) and Sunday's games we also lost (two of them).  Monday was a bit different.  This day was basically just practice for teams to get ready for the actual tournament today.  Our team won both games.  The first (against WolfPak) we won by a last second basket by Lizzy (20-18) and the second we won 16-10.  Gabi made one basket in each of the games on Monday.
Today was the actual tournament and we were pooled with four other teams. The first team we would face would be the team we had faced last (won 16-10). This team was very aggressive and liked to foul. In fact, one girl actually shoved Gabi after the whistle. The ref took her aside to tell her it was a "no no" - uh...this is Nationals...you would think the girls know that by now. Anyways, our girls seemed a bit slow and it was close all the way up til the last few minutes. Gabi had three points (free throws) and the score was 15-10. We learned we would face Team Elite (the last team we played on Sunday and got beat by 8 points). That team was good from what we could remember but thought we had a legitimate shot at winning and getting first place in our pool. The girls were very tired but they fought hard. We lost 18-34 and ended up getting second place. Gabi had one basket in the game and was a little heart broken that they didn't get first. We were proud though...she did well. It was a nice tournament and we were very glad to have air conditioned at Spiece Fieldhouse. The girls had fun looking at all the equipment, etc. in this place. It was actually pretty cool comparing feet and hands to some extraordinarily big basketball players. Gabi has come a long way in this league and she thoroughly enjoyed it. Aside from the out of pocket expenses here and there because of traveling, it wasn't too bad. Enjoyed the time with friends and really enjoyed watching our girl :) Very proud today!

North South Game

Wow...what a weekend!  Started things off Thursday night with a VERY nice formal banquet for the Grange Insurance North South Game that Tyler was chosen to play in.  It was held at Primos banquet hall in Indianapolis at 7:30 pm.  My parents came as well and were able to mingle with all the players, North and South, along with the families and coaches.  Tyler looked tired, but said he was very excited to play the next evening.  They shared stories of the practices and their visits to the Indiana Football Hall of Fame and Camp Riley.  Tyler met some awesome team mates (one being Matt Neal - his brother Mike Neal from the Packers and his dad played for the Giants)

We decided to head to North Central High School around 4 pm on Friday before the game to do some tailgating so we had some time to kill in the morning.  Chad and family was coming early and they gave us the idea to check out the Indianapolis zoo.  It was a nice visit and Gabi had a good time.  Got finished right around 1 ish so it gave us some time to go grab up Tyler from University of Indianapolis (where he has been practicing all week), grab some lunch and head back to the hotel.  It was fun to meet some of the other team mates from the North team - one even gave Ben and I a quick show with a card trick (6 of clubs).

We ordered a Jimmy Johns platter and get together the foods my mom and I had prepared ahead of time.  Cookies, brownies, chips, watermelon, subs, etc etc was on the menu.  We took the cornhole and we were ready to rock.  It was fun to see other people having the same idea.  The Colts also set up a display where a couple of players and cheerleaders were there to entertain and sign autographs.  One happened to be from Notre Dame!

7:30 pm was kickoff and we were more than ready!  Ben's dad and brother, my parents, my brother and his family, Aunt Annnie and Aunt Becky all showed up for the big game.  What an honor to have such loved ones come to this.  Tyler was chosen on this team to play outside linebacker and the North team had chosen to rotate players in every three plays.  When Tyler was in, everyone knew it! In the first quarter, in fact, the first few minutes, Tyler recovered the South's fumble for a turnover!  He was also in on a bunch of solo and group tackles all evening long.  He had a GREAT game.  The North looked like they were on a roll until the South scored just before half time and making a field goal (the North defense held them from a td) making the score 10-0.  The second half came and the North pushed ahead to score a touchdown making the score 10-7.  The South got the ball, pushed forward and looked as if they would score again, but the North defense held them AGAIN.  They were forced to go for a field goal making the score 13-7.  We knew with the few minutes left in the last quarter all we had to do was score to win by 1 point.  We drove down field, in fact, we thought we would get that touchdown but just couldn't get it in.  The South held on and the North was defeated 13-7.  That's okay though, Tyler played hard and he knew he played his best.  That is all that mattered.  This game was a HUGE honor and it was fun for him to play in.  The best of the best playing in this game.

Tyler was honored to have such a wonderful fan base come and support him as well.  I went to bed with Tyler sleeping in my parents room as I checked my facebook one last time before bed only to see Tyler had written on my wall...
"words can't express how much you and dad have done for me this past year. i know you are going to miss watching me take the field on friday nights and i will miss it too. thank you for all you've done and coming to watch me play for the last time. i love you"
I just layed there and cried for a few minutes...trying to soak it all in.  Tyler was sad.  Sad it was over.  And I was sad.  It took me a while to actually wrap my head around it all.  We have some WONDERFUL AWESOME memories of Tyler playing football, and it has come to a close.  This chapter is over.  A HUGE thank you to everyone who has supported Tyler throughout his football career.  I can only say that this support has carried him through some rough times.  We love you all!  It felt all too much like standing on that field at North Central High School last night after the North South game as the parents and players were talking and mingling on the field together.    The stadium lights were all on so they shut off half of them to start shewing them off to close up shop.  The lights went off one by one....and it was done.