Thanksgiving 2009

The Lasley's went to Lake Zurich this year for Thanksgiving with the Mukai's, Friends/Relatives that we met through our good friends the Wheeler's. It was lots of fun. No snow, but great food and great company. Meg couldn't keep her hands off their dog "Ace". She had a ball!

Labor Day with Kennards! The blueberry festival was fun, but where were the blueberries? Meg wanted to know why she couldn't have a darn piece of blueberry pie! There were none to be found, except for the canned ones we had on our enormous elephant ears. Yumm! And the best corn on the cob ever! Seth and I held down the fort, watching the stroller while everyone had a turn on the rides. It was a fun time.

Back to School 2009

Well here are our BIG GIRLS on their first day of school, Aug. 19, 2009. All excited and nervous for different reasons. Meg is nervous because she has a hard time saying her teacher's name, Mrs. Alsopp. I told her to just call her Mrs. A and she felt better. She is so excited to get to stay the whole day and eat lunch at school, we'll see how long that lasts. Madeline's not too excited about her teacher Mrs. Kuroski because Morgan told her she was mean, nice... Morgan's off to middle school. She's nervous about her stupid locker and I don't blame her. We went on Mon. night for the walk through and could only get it opened a couple times after trying about 20. Just kept jamming. Then yesterday we went back to practice more, and got it open 3 times out of about 30 tries. A teacher and a custodian could only get it open with the master key. I'm stressed for her. They just told her to find a teacher to open it up if she couldn't, but wouldn't give her another locker. That makes me stressed for her, hopefully she is handling it better! Well all the kids are off and what to do??? guess i'll go clean the house and mow the lawn. This is the day I've been waiting for, for 6 years right? I miss Meg already!

Tippecanoe River 8/09

The last outing of Summer 2009. Tippecanoe River State Park 8/13-8/15. What fun we had! The Lee's, Kennard's& Lasley's. We rented these little cabin's (you can see our's in the middle of the collage), three in a row. Moved all the picnic tables in front of the Kennard cabin (which was in the middle) and set up shop. I still can't believe that Sarah with a 6 mo. old and Celeste with a 3 mo. old went camping... What troopers! There were no potty's in the cabins. We had to walk about 3-4 min. away to the nearest bathroom/shower house. It was sooooo hot and humid, and there was no swimming anywhere. I think everyone came home with a million mosquito bites, and Isaac brought home a free-loader tic. That all said, I think everyone had fun. The kids made the best of the water-less situation by playing in the spickets nearby, and they all took turns on our bikes, went on hikes, loved the night-time bon-fires for roasting weenies and marshmallows. All in all, it was great company, great food, great friends!

Haddon Visit 7/09

We had a visit last month from the Haddon Family. They moved to the Chicago area and we sure miss them. They came and left their girls, Erin, Kellie,Kara and Erika at the house with our girls(Morgan was still at camp so she missed the fun). Us grown-ups went out to dinner to meet up with some friends from the ward, The Jacobson's, Hurst's, & Slabach's. Dinner was yummy, but the company was even better. It was great to catch up. Of sourse the visit was much too short. All was well with 6 girls in the house when we got home except a little make-up in the carpet (Could have been worse... nail polish).

Blueberry Pickin 7/09

Our day at the Blueberry Patch with the Lee's. Look at how big Coleman is getting! The Kennards were late getting to the patch because of a Dr. appt. I of course already had my camera put away byt the time they got there. The girls and I picked 16 pounds of berries that day. I came home and made 4 batches of jam, a blueberry/blackberry pie, blueberry muffins, and froze about 5 pounds of berries for smoothies. It was a very productive day, I must say!

Meg's 6th Birthday 7/6/09

Meg had a great Birthday this year. As always, her Grandma Linda was here. Even though she probably shouldn't have traveled with a bursted eardrum(is that the correct term?). Meg finally got her very own DS-Lite (pink of course) with a Tinkerbell skin to cover it. Meg was all about TinkerBell this year. Anything fairies is her favorite. She got a fairy or TinkerBell necklace, shirt, frame, snow globe, fairy wings. Grandma took her for her special shopping trip and bought her this super cute striped dress that she wore to her special lunch, and so many other very cute and bright outfits. She also got a darling pair of fairy dress-up shoes. Meg took two little friends, Manaal and Makayla to her Birthday lunch at Don Pablo's and while we were there some friends Deb and Audrey stopped by with a gift for her- This super cute Life in Good bag that she's holding. Then it was off to the theatre to see the new Ice Age movie. I forgot to get a picture of that- I can't believe it! But they had fun all the same...

Warren Dunes 7/4/09

We went to Warren Dunes for a few hours on July 4th. The Lees, Hurst's, Jacobsons, & Johnson's joined us. Kennard's couldn't make it, and they were missed. Don't know how I missed getting a picture of Madeline & Meg. They were brave enough to go in the water the whole time, and I wasn't going near it! Morgan and her Dad built a pretty neat sand castle. And a few of us(not me) climbed the Dunes. We were glad we went (but sad that Grandma didn't feel well enough to come with us, she was at home with a blown ear drum). As you tell by Melissa with the towel wrapped around herself, it was cold...

Museum Trip 7/09

Grandma came out for Meg's 6th BD and we took a trip to Chicago to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the Harry Potter exhibit.(note the famous blue car above). The museum was crowded as usual, but the exhibit was amazing! The girls really loved being able to see so many things that we have seen in all of the movies. It was a great time!

Murphy's Lake House

One Saturday last month we went up to visit the Murphy's lake house in Michigan. The weather couldn't have been better and we had so much fun. We had lunch and then went out on the boat for some fun play time. Their house is just gorgeous. The water was clear and beautiful.

GM Banquet July 2009

This has been a busy summer. It's already the middle of Aug. and I'm just now blogging pictures of the GM Banquet that was in July. Alot has happened since the banquet. Two of our gyms best coaches Adam & Camille Cole were let go from the gym. We decided to follow them along with about 25 other gymnasts. Were in limbo right now, renting space at a gym in Elkhart, until the Coles can find their own building. Hopefully it won't too long until we are somewhere more permanent. There are many people that we will miss at GM that decided to stay there.

Lake Owen 2009

We just returned from our 4th trip to Camp Lake Owen. The first two years Morgan just went and we stayed in cabins nearby with Madeline and Meg. The second year Grandma even joined us for part of the week and we visited Morgan at camp throughout the week. Last year Grandma came to stay with Meg for the week and both Chuck and I went with Morgan and Madeline and worked at the camp. Chuck as a boys counselor and I as the camp nurse. This year Meg was invited to come even though she was under the age limit. She did great the whole week, only had one night of "Mommy, I'm tired", which was Thur. night. She sat on my lap most of practice and even fell asleep. I can't blame her. She is used to having one hour of gymnastics a week. Last week she had 20 hours in the gym, that's not including all the fun play time outside of the gym. It's non-stop all day long. I was very proud of her making it through the week. We had an eventful week. It rained from the moment we drove into Wisconsin and continued for the first 5 days of camp. We were not prepared for this. We have never gone before during the first session of camp. It never got above 40 degrees. The girls still had a blast, soaked clothes and all! Chelsea Memmel was the famous gymnast for the week. Our gym took 34 gymnasts so this qualified us for VIP perks. We got 1. VIP t-shirts 2. a private signing/picture party with Chelsea (which are the pictures of her in the red sweatshirt)3. Our girls also get their picture in the brochure for next year( which will be the picture of all the girls in the foam pit)& 4. a VIP dinner on the beach which was yummy fondue and games (you see how well Meg "Limbo's"- not her strong est event. They also had a drawing with all the girls at the camp and the winner got to have Chelsea come to their cabin one evening and read to her, have question/answers and tuck her into bed, which Madeline won! Chelsea even gave her a stuffed bunny rabbit. I absolutely lucked out and got partnered with another nurse which I loved! Her name was Michele and that is her sitting with me underneath the Lake Owen sign. She is someone I hope to keep in touch with for years to come. We had a very busy week with a ton of kids on meds, a broken wrist, 1 tick removal, a sleep-walker kid who the whole camp was looking for, and lets just say, by the end of the week neither one of us wanted to hear "can I have a band-aid?", "can I have motrin?", or "I need cough drops" again!!!. Bottom center picture in Morgan with her favorite coach Kari Lords, who is a coach at Southern Utah University. She is also LDS, and we love her! She has been there every year we've gone to Lake Owen. We were very lucky to get to see her this year, the first session is the only one she is going to this year because she is getting married Aug. 1. Chuck celebrated his 38th B-Day at camp. Not exactly a day at the spa, but he was a trooper as the same. He had a pretty good group of boys(some of those boys can be let's just say rebellious, and mouthy!) About 75% of the camp is girls gymnasts and 25% is skate board guys (with those big ramps and things they do tricks on). It was Thur. when the rain stopped and we got a little sun and were able to play at the waterfront on the toys. Chuck and Morgan also got to do the ropes course, and Madeline, Meg, and I had our turn on the bungee tramp. All in all another fun week at camp!

Here's our big girl, Meg all grown up and graduating from Kindergarten...how the year's go by so quickly. We're very proud of her. She had a great time this year with lots of new friends and many fond memories.

Morgan's 5th Grade Graduation

Morgan is now a middle-schooler! Mom's definately having a harder time with this transition than Morgan. This was a great year having all three girls at the same school for the one and only time. Mom Dad & Meg were able to go to her promotion. She was honored with a certificate for high honors in Math, Language & Science signed by Pres. Obama. This is her favorite teacher for the last year in the middle top row (in turquoise) Miss Brown taught her Language. Her principal in middle right(in black) Mrs. Stephan. Mrs. Kurowski in the middle- Honors Math , Miss Grannan on the left (home room teacher). Bottom Left- Mrs. Bogart her favorite teacher of all times taught her in 1st grade but not since (but happens to be her friend Maddie's mom. Good Times, lots of memeories.

Field Day 2009

What could be better then playing all day with your girls in beautiful 80 degree weather. Today was Northpoint's Field Day. The kids had a blast, and are a touch sunburned from the adventure. School's out next week and this is an annual tradition where all the kids from the school participate in all kinds of outdoor activities including...tri-cycle racing, tag, relay races, water games, etc.

Madeline's 3rd Grade Graduation

We went to 3rd Grade Graduation last night 5/20/09. Don't understand it really, she will be at the school 2 more years. Nevertheless, they worked hard on lots of songs and she did great. These are two of her friends, Hannah with the red hair and Alexis with the silly face. I will post some video next of her singing.

Well Madeline had her final meet of the season. She worked hard and managed a 1st place medal on bars, a 3rd on vault, 5th on floor and a 3rd place medal in the all-around.

Miss Tacy for Dinner 5/14/09

  Miss Tacy was in town this week for work-stuff. So the night beore she went back home to Florida, we had her over for dinner. She left Samson at home this trip, so the girls were sad, but happy to see Miss Tacy. We miss her living closer, to be able to see her more. She requested I make her favorite, so we had tonkatsu, yakisoba, rice, won tons, and for dessert lemon bundt cake with fresh berries and cream. We celebrated her birthday a little late. The girls each gave her a ceramic mushroom to put in her yard back home. They were so pretty. One was a bright red, turquoise, and mustard yellow. I guess I missed that photo-op. Looks like I just got a picture of the bag. Dang! The night went too quick as usual, but it was great to see her. Can't wait for her visit this summer. She was reminded by all three girls to bring Sammy (They miss Sammy can you tell?, He started out as our puppy the year we moved here, with a brand new little Meg, and a million feet of snow I was a little overloaded with life so Tacy took him for us and moved to Florida where she has spoiled him rotten, and loved him for us). We love you Tacy!!!

Madeline's Author Celebration 5/14/09

 

Madeline's 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. White agreed when I called Madeline "sassy" in the poem that I had to write when I went to her celebration yesterday. "A perfect description!", she said. Not sure how enjoyable it is to go to these things when I have to write a 17 part poem with no warning about a child who sits and stares at you while you do it! Geeze!!! But Mom made it through, and it ended up pretty good if I must say...

Little Seth

 

Yeah... He's here! Celeste finally had Seth on Tues. May 12! Seth is the cutest little thing. Not very tiny at 8lbs. 4 oz. but next to Sarah's Coleman he's just a little peanut. I was lucky enough to go to the hospital when Celeste was still in recovery, Tues. morning. I got to hold him and go with them to her room. Boy Mom and Dad were soooo tired, not to mention Mom still "loopy". I visited the next day as well and held Seth. Mom and Dad felt better that day, and were then ready to leave the hospital. Celeste and Seth went home yesterday on Thur. Not a very long stay for a C-Section but Celeste was in great need of peace and quiet (2 things you don't get much of on the Mother/Baby unit that's for sure). Apparently she thinks she will be able to get that at home with 4 other kids running around- Hah!