I miss blogging ...

I've realized in looking back over old blog posts how much I miss blogging about family events ... not even big events, just normal family times and how fun it is to look back. I want to be better about this again!

TJ and Abby are back to school now. Abby to 3rd grade, and TJ to 8th grade. So hard to believe he'll head to high school next year. And Drew has about 2 weeks until he heads back for his senior year of college. Two big milestones for us in May, 2012 ... the 8th grade promotion for TJ, and college graduation for Drew!

Last weekend we went to Kenosha and got a great start on getting Drew settled into his new apartment for the school year. It's really nice, and he's looking forward to the extra space and the freedoms of leaving the dorm and working about 24/7 as an RA. He saved us several thousand dollars the past two years working hard as an RA and scoring a free room ... he's good like that!

Part of our moving weekend adventure included our first trip to an IKEA store. I was completely ignorant of the shopping experience there and expected something like a super-sized box store ... not the THREE floors of shopping we found! haha We were total tourists, even fascinated by the escalator reserved just for shopping carts to ride solo from level to level ... so of course that warranted a couple of pictures, haha


On the drive home, we ran into torrential rain storms that made driving interesting ... and then once the storm cleared, we were treated to a beautiful double rainbow! Abby was sleeping so I had to take a picture to show her later.

Drew is working full-time at the job he had in high school, and has returned to the past 3 summers. He'll stay on there until the end of August, and head back to Carthage on Labor Day weekend. It has been great to have him home for a few weeks after his trip to Shanghai. He's such a confident, independent 21 year old. We're proud of him!

Summer Update!

Bad blogger here ... time continues to fly by! School has been out for over a month and the kids are enjoying their summer days.

Drew is spending 8 weeks in China this summer, studying Mandarin in Shanghai on a scholarship he received. He's being a better blogger than his mom right now, so I'll share his link, haha

Drew's Shanghai Blog

New Season, New Sport!

Spring has sprung ... basketball is behind us ... and now it's time for track! TJ has been enjoying his first season of track, doing a little relay running and long jump. It's fun to take in the nice afternoons outside and see all the kids in action!

We had a great spring break trip to Destin, and the boat is back in the water here. There is only a little over a month of the school year left and we're busy enjoying every moment!

The days fly, the weeks fly, the months fly!

Wow,almost the middle of March! And so much has happened since I last blogged!

January involved sitting at a LOT of basketball games! TJ's team advanced through regionals to sectionals and to the Final Four at state! Lots of excitement, lots of tense moments, and great team and character building for fine group of 12-13 year old boys!

February 1st brought a big blizzard to our area, and we were all homebound on the 2nd! This was the first time in the 28 years we have been married that Mitch did not go to work due to bad weather, and that was just because it was SO bad outside that the bank was closed!

All in all, I think we piled up about 14 inches of snow in that storm and I'm not posting any pics now because I'm ready to not look at snow again until next winter! haha

Abby took part in a cheer clinic and also played a little basketball this winter. One of these days in the school world she'll probably have to decide which one she most wants to pursue ... but for now, it's just all fun!

Just this week the 2nd graders had "Dinosaur Day" and did a little music and choral reading program for parents and families. It was lots of fun and made me think back to our first "Dinosaur Day" 13 years ago when Drew was in 2nd grade. Where do the years go???



And thank goodness Spring is around the corner! Just 10 days until we hit the road for Destin and (hopefully) lots warmer days!!