Suzanne McGrath Photography

Six on Sunday

We're definitely back into the swing of things.  Here goes...

1.  Soccer has definitely started.  We had four soccer games in three days!  #2 played Friday night, #3 played Saturday morning, #1 played Saturday afternoon, and #2 played again today.  Phew.  That's a lot of soccer.  

#1 is now playing on a full size field, which is strange.  That thing is huge!  Her team (U-11) is playing up against 13 year olds so that is also strange.  The 13 year olds look so big!  Her team is doing really well.  They haven't won yet (played 2 games so far this season) but they haven't lost by much.  I'm so proud of her and her team.  Those games are an absolute blast to watch!

#2 has a new coach this year so that alone is a big change.  Her new coach is a total hard-ass but I'm loving it.  Coach Jesi is getting results!  The team looks great this season.  They passed really well in their two games; something I felt they needed to work on since they are all ball hogs:)  It is really fun to watch their team play, too.  

#3 had her very first ever soccer game yesterday.  At this age they don't keep score.  But I can tell you #3 scored a goal!  Isn't that awesome?  For this shy girl who takes forever to warm up, she had a great game!  Unfortunately I missed it so I can't wait to see her play in a couple weeks.  Here she is before her very first practice.  Cute, no?

Since #4 doesn't yet play organized soccer, here is a picture of her during halftime.

She wanted to bring a soccer ball to the game to practice her "duggling" skills.  (She hears us talk to her big sisters about working on their juggling and apparently she is working on a head start for when she turns five!)

2.  Why did I miss my daughter's very first soccer game?  I ran 20 miles!  So I guess that's a legitimate excuse, right?  My very first 20 miles and I did great.  I felt good afterwards and kept a decent pace (for me) so I was happy.  I think I ran right around 9:45 - 10:00 minute miles - for 20 miles!  Woo Hoo.  It rained off and on for the entire 20 miles but we made the most of it.  And honestly?  I'd rather run in that weather than 80* and 80% humidity!  

The marathon is not until October 20th so I think I'll be in shape and ready for it.  At least that's my plan - barring any injuries.  Here is me sandwiched in between another Suzanne and Carmen.  We are missing our friend Nikki who seemed to disappear right after we were done.  But all in all I was really glad to run with my friends!  (I "stole" this picture from Carmen.)

3.  School went well for the girls this week - at least for #1 and #2.  #3 still isn't so sure about kindergarten.  She doesn't embrace (or remotely like) change.  Her teacher said she isn't miserable all day but it does take her the entire morning to warm up.  I hope it gets better for her and I'm sure it will.  She will be enjoy kindergarten; she's just on her own time-table.

#1 is going to be in the school play and that is exciting.  She will start rehearsals this week.  The kid is busy but she wouldn't have it any different.

4. Last Tuesday night was Taco Tuesday so our neighbor and friend, Miss Karen, took ALL FOUR GIRLS out to dinner.  BY HERSELF!  Can you believe that?  They loved it and had so much fun with Miss Karen.  And we embraced a few hours to ourselves and headed out to dinner at a great seafood restaurant in town, the Bristol.  We just sat at the bar and had a beer and a delicious dinner.  We don't get a lot of time to ourselves and it was a joy to be able to eat dinner AND carry on a conversation.  

Here is Miss Karen with the girls:

5.  We're headed to the lake next weekend for one last final hurrah.  We're all excited to go boating one last time.  And after that our weekends will all resemble this last one - busy!

6.  We had a guy come out to bid the install on hardwood floors.  We're so excited to pull the trigger.  We have needed new floors on virtually the entire first floor since the day we moved in.  9 years ago!  That's a long time to have put up with gross floors.  We're hoping to be able to also do the stairs and upstairs hallway in wood, too.  But our stairs are really difficult so we need to get those bid on separately.  Cross your fingers for us!

And there you go.  Have a great week!  

Six on Sunday...First of the New School Year

Can you believe it is already August 19th?  I can't.  That's just crazy.  I should be getting back to a more normal blogging routine now that we'll be around more.  At least that's my hope.

1.  Two weekends ago we headed to SD for my family reunion.  My mom was one of 13 kids growing up.  So I've been going to her family reunion ever since I can remember.  It's so much fun for me to see my kids get to experience the same thing!  

Friday night started out at the golf course.  I had the little two girls with me, the hubby had #2 and my dad had #1.  I haven't golfed in two years but I had a great time - so did the kids.  

On Saturday we headed back out to Garretson, SD.  There is a ton of hanging out and chatting, catching up with everyone.  I stole this next picture off my aunt's Facebook page so forgive the image quality.  But these are all the brothers and sisters, with my cousin, Chad, sitting in for his dad who died years and years ago.

Top row:  Deb, my mom Shari, Jim, Marge, Dick, Elaine, Bob, Barb

Bottom row:  Pat, Jo, Mary, Shirley, and Chad for Dan

If you could see it close up it's funny how much the sisters look alike!  It was really fun to have them all in one place.  They are spread out from New Mexico to South Dakota to Minnesota (they really do have an accent!) to Wisconsin to Arkansas.  I was really glad we made it back for this one.

This is one of my fabulous aunts.  As you can see, she is really a wall-flower!

My kids each ended up making "friends" with their cousins - it took some longer than others - but it was fabulous.  Here are a few of the cousins...

 

These three are all within 3 months of the same age.  From left to right:  #2, Peyton, and Ellie.  #2 was so mad when we had to leave and now she wants to move up to SD so she can hang with her cousins more often!  (Technically, they are her second cousins since their moms are my cousins.  Just a little factoid for you.)  Aren't they just adorable?  And I love how they bonded with each other after just a few hours together.  

 

The house where the reunion is located is part of a State Park.  There are really great trails just behind the house that meander along the river.  We took two hikes that day.  The kids were in heaven because they were able to climb rocks and get dirty and just be kids.  I took a few pictures from the hikes:

 

I love this one.  #3 is on the right.  Taylor is on the left.  Taylor is actually my cousin's son's daughter.  I think that makes her my first cousin twice removed?  Anyway, how adorable that they are holding hands?

 

Rock climbing.

We capped off the evening with s'mores around the campfire.  No summer is complete without s'mores and luckily we got them in just under the wire!

All in all, a great family reunion.  I only wish I had time to sit down and catch up with everyone but it never happens.  Maybe when my girls get a little older?

2.  Where did we stay since my parents have moved to Arkansas?  My friend, Rachel, to the rescue!  I have to say, it takes a special person to open her house to our chaotic clan so we were very grateful to Rachel and her family.  Perhaps she understands what it's like since she has FIVE kids!  Regardless, we had a fabulous time staying at their house.  I'm only sad that I failed to get any photographic evidence that we were together:(

3.  The broken wrist.  Yep, you read that right.  #3 broke her wrist that Friday night jumping on the trampoline at Rachel's house.  Big bummer.  But after a trip to the Urgent Care when we got back to KC and another trip to the ortho last Tuesday we are good to go.  I just need to get a picture of her with her cast.  Luckily it never really hurt all that bad and her cast is waterproof.  I'm so grateful for the waterproof cast.  Phew.

4.  Our summer nanny's last day was last Tuesday.  The girls ADORED Jackie.  We're hoping she'll come back next summer.  (Oh - there is #3's cast!)

5.  The girls had their first day of school last week.  

#1 actually went to Middle School for two hours Wednesday morning without the upper classmen.  Here she was on her first day.  Cute, no?

Thursday was the first full day for the three oldest.  #2 is now in fourth grade and #3 started kindergarten.

#1 seems to really enjoy middle school.  She has her own locker.  And all her teachers seem great.  She is going to take part in the fall play in some way.  That makes me happy because I know she'll meet even more kids that way.

#2 is very pleased with 4th grade.  She has one good friend in her class so that's a relief.  Although I know she'll make more friends this year, too.  It's odd that she has now moved on to the role of the oldest in terms of helping #3.  Thankfully she has embraced that role.  She dropped off #3 on Friday morning and made sure #3 got on the bus after school.  I'm very grateful to her for that.

#3 is a different story.  She's still not too sure about kindergarten.  The two girls she knew well ended up in the other all-day class.  I'm certain she'll be fine but she is very slow to warm up to new situations.  I've got my fingers crossed that she embraces kindergarten sooner rather than later.

Phew!  I'm done.  Have a great week!

 

 

Chloe

By now you're probably wondering what I've been up to the last few weeks.  Well, I just couldn't ramble on in my usual way - it just didn't feel right...

I've been writing about our sweet dog's health for over a year now.  If you've been reading that long, you know that last Father's Day (2011) she was basically given 8 weeks to live.  She made it a year longer than her diagnosis and for that we were all so thankful.  I feel like we had time to spoil her and make sure she knew she was loved.

We bought her almost two weeks after we got married.  Dumb?  Yes!  But she was the most adorable little fluffball I had ever laid eyes on and of course we (OK.  Maybe it was just me.) couldn't leave without her.  We spent the rest of the summer potty training her - it took THAT long! 

The hubby used to come home from work over his lunch hour to let her out.  Talk about devotion.  And she was so small she had to literally jump over the grass.  No joke.  She was such a sweet, rambunctious little puppy and we were thrilled to have her. 

She was our baby for nearly four years before we had any human babies.  Man, she got spoiled!  We took her for walks every. single. night.  It didn't matter if it was rainy or cold - we took her - all three of us together.  It stayed that way until we had #1.  Then we took turns taking Chloe for walks if the weather didn't cooperate or if #1 didn't cooperate.  By the time #2 (and #3 and #4) came along her walks were much less regular but she never minded.  She was just happy to hang out with us at home. Under the dinner table.  Or on our laps.  

I am so thankful my girls learned about unconditional love.  Chloe taught them each such a wonderful lesson about caring for another being.  They all loved Chloe and she them.  

For as hyper of a dog as Chloe was, she was remarkably gentle with each of our girls.  When we brought each of them home from the hospital she walked around the baby carrier, sniffing.  By the time #4 made her entrance, I'm not so sure Chloe was over-the-moon like her parents and human siblings, but she did just fine - sitting on my lap while I nursed.  She just needed a little sliver of my time and attention.

When her health started to deteriorate, all the girls chipped in - some more than others of course.  They learned to carry her up or down the stairs or couch.  They covered her up when she came in chilled from the cold.  They filled her food and water bowl and gave lots of treats!

We were lucky in that we each had a chance to say our goodbyes.  I can't say it wasn't the hardest decision we've ever made, but it was the right thing to do.  She is at peace now and I can't say that for at the last few weeks of her life.  

We all still miss her - the house is so empty sometimes.  When I walk in from being gone I still expect her to come to the door.  And then I realize that won't happen anymore.  I look for her when I go to bed but she's not here to carry upstairs.  It's a strange feeling.  It's been two weeks today and we're still all adjusting.  The little girls still ask questions about what happened, but they know the truth.  Chloe is in Heaven.