My Macy

Let's see...what has Macy been up to during my blogging hiatus? Volleyball, volleyball, volleyball.

She played this spring on a competitive volleyball team, and absolutely loved it. We went to 7 tournaments January-April, luckily all 7 were in the general area. She didn't really like spending ALL day at a tournament, but she loves playing volleyball.

After many seasons of basketball, we've learned we don't have an uber competitive child when it comes to sports.  But you know what? That's okay. She loves the game, she is a darn good player (in my opinion) because she stays calm and collected.

As a whole, the girls developed SO MUCH during these months. It was absolutely amazing to see how much the girls improved from the first tournament to the last one. It will be so fun to watch them play over the years!

 In this tournament, they won 2nd place. Got tshirts, which are as good as medals. The parents and kids were just so estastic that they made it to the championship game, we almost didn't even care they were 2nd. It was a fun day.

 Macy, Tess and Gracie--the firefighter's daughters.

 

What else has she been up to? In January she did the Polar Plunge, raising money for Special Olympics.

 

And in general, she has been growing up and becoming a teenager who is 2 inches taller than me. And I love her to death.

Trying again...

Yes, I'm alive. Just took a little hiatus of 3 months. :)

I think part of my blogging rut was the feeling that no one was reading...which is probably true, and and any readers I did have I'm sure I lost with that break.

But over the last three days, I realized something. This blog isn't for my non-existent readers. It's for me, and my family. It's a place to record our history. A year from tomorrow we lost Kobe  
and I turned to the blog to read my post and to figure out the correct date.

And after the events in Boston, I decided I needed to do another 1/2 marathon. It has been in the back of my mind recently, but after Mondays' events, it became clear. I need to do it again. I need to show the terrorists--whoever they are--they haven't won. I need to run again. So I looked for my blog  post about my first 1/2   and realized again how important this blog is to my memories and my family's memories.

So, I'm going to do my best. Going to try to record the events in my family's timeline as the girls continue to grow and change.

Thanks for hanging around for the ride.

Life with Roxy

The girls and I had a long Christmas break this year, and mine was even longer than theirs. We did a whole lot of nuthin', other than play with Roxy, which was perfect. I want to be able to remember some of the things from when she was little. In the past two weeks,

• has started going to the door to let us know when she needs to go to the bathroom. Not consistently, but doing really well
• sleeps in 2-3 hour increments--I took lots of naps over break
• sits and watches TV
• LOVES to bite
• Is scared of the dishwasher, the vacuum cleaner, the hair dryer, Kaylin's tap shoes, and the dog behind us
• has learned to climb up the stairs!
• sometimes climbs under the deck, and can't get out
• when she's down with her business, she sits down at our feet and looks up at us

The girls and I are in love with her...Bobby's verdict is still out.

Kaylin-isms

Funny Kaylin-isms to start your 2013:

A couple days ago, she took a bath. She got out, wrapped the towel around her exactly like Bobby does after a shower, and said, "Look, I'm Daddy!"

We've been talking with her about saving her money vs. spending her money like hot cakes. Today, she said, "It's not my fault! I can't help it; I was born this way!"

We were in Justice today so Macy could use a birthday gift card. Kaylin was not happy that we weren't buying her anything. She said over and over, "This is not a safe environment for me" as she kept picking up things, and giving us puppy-dog eyes.

Happy 2013!!

Introducing Roxy!

I know, I know...over a month since the blog has been updated. With Facebook and Twitter and Instagram, obviously I haven't been updating.

But I wanted to introduce you all to our newest family member, Roxy! She was an early Christmas present we picked up on Saturday night.

I'd been missing my Kobe, and in October, I started searching for a puppy that would be ready at Christmas. Most were way out of our price range--we are not on a $600 dog budget--and couldn't find any. Then, when I was in San Antonio before Thanksgiving, a friend of mine's dog had 15 puppies, and they would be ready to go home at Christmas. Dad is a chocolate lab, Mom is a labradoodle (1/2 lab, 1/2 poodle).   I managed to convince Bobby to get one, and we kept her a secret from the girls. I kept updated on her progress through Facebook, and finally, Saturday night she came home with us.

I left "to go shopping" and went to get her. She'd just had a bath, was wrapped in a pink blanket and very sleepy. I drove home on a snow-covered roads with her on my lap. I put her in a Christmas bag and placed her on the front porch. I called Bobby, who told the girls "There's a present on the front porch, go look for it!" and there she was.

She's very sweet, very playful when she's awake, and the girls are in love. Both have told me thank you about 50 times. She had a rough night Sunday night--lots of whimpering and crying---but that's to be expected. She's used to being warm and cozy with Mom and lots of brothers and sisters, and now she's sleeping alone in a crate with a pink blanket and stuffed animals.

That's the story of Roxy for now...enjoy the pictures and I'll try to keep updating more often.

Birthday weekend!

Last week we took a little trip to Columbia. If you know me or Bobby at all, you know we like to do little trips and hate just staying home.

Kaylin had her MRI last Friday morning, and she did great! Watched Toy Story 3 and laid still for over an hour. She has been, and continues to be, a rock star with all her hip, spine, and teeth issues going on.

After that, we headed to Columbia for the weekend. Checked into the hotel, and Bobby took the girls swimming while I got a birthday nap in the hotel by myself! Beautiful!

Next stop was Shakespeare's--only the best pizza in CoMo, or the world.We love this place! Perfect birthday dinner.

Then we wandered around the iconic MU columns on a beautiful fall afternoon.  I LOVE that our girls like Mizzou as much as we do, and not just because we tell them too--they love Columbia and MU because we've taken them there, and they've grown up with it.

Kaylin and the columns:

Attempt #8 at a family pic--Kaylin is on my back, and Macy is on Bobby's.

My little budding photographer Macy took this one. She says she wants to be a photographer, and loves to take the big camera. She actually listens when I suggest things to make her pictures better. She came up with this one on her own!

Macy jumping off the columns. Took several times to get this one.

Both girls on the columns

Then we went to Hearnes Center for an MU volleyball game. Not the most glamorous way to spend my birthday, but our family was together having a good time, so that made it perfect.  We ran into Truman, MU won in 3 sets, and it was fun night.


Saturday we wandered around downtown in the little shops, bought some MU stuff, and ate at my  2nd favorite Columbia restaurant, Flat Branch. Then we headed to Rock Bridge State Park to do some exploring on the trails. The caves we went to several years ago were close due to "bat hibernation" and we were pretty disappointed. But we want to go back next summer when they are open and look around.


It was a perfect birthday weekend!

Halloween 2012