A New Title

It only seems appropriate that our little girl, who has traveled with us SEVERAL places throughout Indiana to cheer on her brothers her entire life, that she officially become a "cheerleader."  And that happened last night.  She has officially earned that title for the John Young Middle School for next year!!!!  After months of working on her gymnastic ability and working extra hard at ICE these past couple of weeks (skill building month), Gabi can do a round off, back handspring on the ground!!! 

This was her goal so she could use this as her "stunt" during tryouts.  She has been practicing with a couple of her friends from school as well, learning cheers and jumps.  Has had many practices on her trampoline we got her for her birthday.  Gabi has worked hard!!!  In fact, quite a few from Hums made it on the cheerleading squad - Nikki, Lisa, Sloane, Sydney, Danielle and Kara (basketball only).  And Gabi was happy that her friend, Brooke (from Beiger and ICE) made it also!!!  I'll never forget when they posted #18 on the list and Gabi running and jumping into my arms so excited that she made it!!!  Looking forward to some stress free football games this fall!!!!  Good job, honey!!!
Special thank you to Aunt Pam, who made some SUPER cute bows that Gabi wore every day during tryouts!!!!  We swear they helped in the judge's decision ;)  Love you!!! 

Still in awe that this girl is going to be in the 7th grade.....{sigh}

Championship Elkhart League

Sooooo, the Elkhart Sports Center decided to change the Championship round for basketball to last night instead of this weekend.  We would play Jimtown first (5:30pm) and the winner of North Liberty and Northwood at 7:30pm.  Jimtown ended up forfeiting to our team for the first round so we got to move onto the Championship round immediately.  Uncle Dave, Gabi and I ran down to Arby's for a quick dinner and we were ready!!!  The girls did great!!  We played Northwood or "Black Swish" and it was somewhat close by half time.  We were only up by like 3 points.  The girls must have gotten it together at halftime because we ended up winning handedly 31-14!!!  It's been a busy few weeks there at the Elkhart Sports Center but I think Gabi is ready to move on to something else for a bit...way to go Mishawaka girls!!!!  Great job!!!

PS  Gabi loves the trophy :)

Special thank you to family who came to support Gabi throughout - Aunt Annie, Uncle Jay, Grandpa R., Uncle Dave, Trenton, Tyler, Maw Maw, Paw Paw!!!  We love you and LOVE your support ALWAYS!!!!

Northwood and Jimtown

Back to basketball after a long break (Spring Break).  We played Northwood first which was pretty close.  Northwood is a 5th grade team and probably the best we have played in this league.  We ended up winning 32-24.  Gabi had an awesome 6 points in this game. 

The second game we actually let Jimtown "borrow" two of our players to complete a team to play against.  We won again, 26-7.  Gabi again, had 6 points and some AWESOME passes in both games. 

Next Sunday will be our last day in the league and the tournament, which is looking good for us :)

Flying

We lucked out with ICE having their "Skill Building" in April.  For only $50 Gabi goes Monday through Thursday for two hours and does tumbling, cheer, dance and jumps!!!  This lasts three weeks and I was soooo excited about it.  When I shared it with Gabi, however, her immediate reaction was that she didn't want to do it.  BUT, me being a "mean" mom, made her go on the first night to see if she would like it.  I was right (go figure).  She LOVED it.  Ben and I watched the last half hour of the girls working on pyramids and Gabi happened to be the "flier."  Her smile could have lit up the room.  Sometimes it is definitely worth being a "mean" mom and forcing the issue :)

Easter

Missing the boys today.  Missing their small feet coming down the stairs to get their Easter Baskets....only have one pair of feet this year.  We sent Tyler his basket complete with candy (namely Reese's Easter Eggs), a gift card to Olive Garden, and some sandals.  We were able to take Trenton his basket while visiting Chicago last week.  His basket had some of his favorites (Cadbury Caramel Eggs, a gift card to Chipotle and some sandals. 
Gabi awoke to see her basket this morning with her favorite candy...Cadbury Caramel Eggs, some nail polishes for nail art, some new headphones for her ipod and a new Hello Kitty bikini!  She was happy about all of it, therefore, making the Easter Bunny very happy as well.

Early service was on the agenda...

Afterwards, with a visit to grandpa's house to see grandpa, Uncle Dave, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Pam, Bren and Leigh. 

And lastly, a nice lunch date with maw maw and paw paw...seemed we had quite a few less, considering the boys were not there and we were missing Chad/Amber (on the way back from Florida), but we made it work.  A nice lunch of bbq ribs and chicken and sides.  A nice sunny day ending with some R & R, watching Lifetime movies and naps. 

Good day.  Loved Tyler's tweet from twitter this morning...

"He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay." Matthew 28:6

Family.

Love. 

Happy Easter.

Girl Time

I had the honor of going with two other beautiful ladies to get manicures/pedicures on Saturday for Easter...my mom and Gabi :)
Had a GREAT time...lots of laughs and just getting pampered.  Gabi loves to pick out her colors and get dolled up and it was nice to see my mom get some relaxation and pampering she so rightly deserves. 
I went with some great colors that I REALLY love!!!  DS Limited by OPI for my finger nails and Jamaican Out by China Glaze for my toenails. LOVE these colors.  And LOVE that I have taken the time to let my nails grow out for this purpose.  Hopefully, we will be doing this again soon... :)

Quick Trip For Spring Break

We decided on a quickie trip to Chicago with Gabi over her Spring Break.  Since we were watching Ruby (Chad/Amber's dog), we couldn't go anywhere too far.  We have never been to the Navy Pier so we decided to check that out. The indoor shopping was cool...things that were definitely interesting to Gabi...lots of jewelry and hair items.  She enjoyed it.  Gabi has had a hunger for some shrimp lately and we happened to stumble upon Bubba Gumps when we first got there around lunch time, so we had a light lunch and did some more shopping. 

Of course, the ferris wheel there was a MUST.  We walked the entire pier and we were quite surprised at how many people were there. 

We couldn't go to Chicago and NOT stop in to see Trenton, so Naperville was our next stop.  This was probably a good idea..downtown Chicago was definitely getting more and more crowded.  Trenton got off from work at 1:30 pm so we headed there to get him.  He told us about a mall close to him that we could check out since Gabi was not quite done looking :)  Her one item on the list of wants was not to be found at Navy Pier...and this was a Hunger Games shirt.  The mall provided us nicely and we finished up around dinner time and headed for a favorite of ours...The Cheesecake Factory.  YUM!!!  Had a nice dinner and visit with Trenton, dropped him back off at the dorms and headed out.  A quick trip but most definitely, nice to get away.   

Brought home a cheesecake and a Lou Malnati's Pizza for the week <3 Definitely missing both boys this year at Easter...never want them to forget the true meaning and how important it is.  Happy Good Friday.  Rejoicing in the fact that we are loved enough for Jesus to give His life.  We are loved.  So very much.

Eggs

Finally got in some egg coloring last night.  So glad Gabi still enjoys it!

And speaking of eggs....Spring is DEFINITELY here...I was very happy that the robin who builds her nest in our front tree decided to come back this year.  Love it because we can watch everything from our front window with a front row seat.

Headed out on a "field trip" today...more to come later...happy Spring!

Spring Break

Didn't get to go anywhere this year for Spring Break...we opted to take care of Chad/Amber's baby while they enjoyed a vacation this week.  So far, she has been very good!!!  Gabi has enjoyed having a "smaller dog" to play with and carry around. 

We have, however, been able to have some time with friends who are holding down the fort here in Indiana also.  Nikki was able to come over and jump with Gabi for a while on Sunday.  This is becoming Gabi's favorite pasttime...so glad we decided on a trampoline for her birthday!!! :) 
Weather has been wonderful (in the 60's and 70's).  We have gotten some shopping done and even caught a movie this week (The Hunger Games).  Nikki fueled this fire for Gabi...she has already finished the first and second books and just bought the third one yesterday!!!  She LOVES this book series!  I have to admit, the movie was good...definitely worth the matinee price we payed on Monday to see it.