Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Thanksgiving

Photobucket We were just playing around when we took this picture a few nights ago, but this is one of those mornings that I think locking them in the dog kennel for a while would be nice and maybe give me a few minutes of peace and serenity...Jaidyn and Addy are already at it with each other this morning, Levi is not feeling well and is more whiny than the usual and Reid is just adding to the fire as he is in his prime. He is already in a second change of clothing because the minute I finish dressing him from his bath he goes and reaches his arms in the tub to dump a cup of water on Levi. And of course, the new shirt I picked out was not the one he wanted it to wear so it was a fight to pull it down over his head and shove his arms in the sleeves. Regardless, I am still very THANKFUL for all four of them and the unique personalities of each one. I'm thankful for their health and their hardworking, competitive, caring and sweet spirits (most of the time). The girls had some celebratory Thanksgiving fun yesterday before getting a 5 day break away from school. Photobucket Addy was a Puritan Woman in her school play. She had the one-liner of "Mercy Me" that she repeated several times during the play and of course it wasn't said without her dramatic actions accompanying it. Photobucket Jaidyn's Wee Willy Gobbler on display as an entry in her class Turkey Dressing contest. She didn't place, but we had fun creating him and she came up with a cute little story that she wrote on back to go with it. Photobucket Jaidyn's class made Teepee's from tortilla wraps to decorate their Thanksgiving feast tables. Photobucket 2nd grade class having fun in their pilgrim attire. Photobucket Exchanging gifts of friendship with her Native American friend during the feast. Photobucket Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday, November 19, 2012

Operation Christmas Child, Parade & Gymnastics

As a family, we love collecting items all year long and aim to fill 10 shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. We fill them with school supplies, personal hygiene products, basic clothing items and toys. Even Nana jumped on board with our efforts and bought the tooth brushes, colored pencils and some basic clothing items to pack in the boxes. This week was National Collection Week so the kids helped finish packing them with all the items and we loaded them in the van for delivery. Photobucket Photobucket Levi festively dressed and modeling his Native American attire made at preschool. His feathered headband made it through Pizza Hut for dinner and Wal-mart the next day. :) Photobucket Jaidyn and Addy competed in their first apparatus meet consisting of a floor, bars, beam and vault. Both girls did really well with Jaidyn winning a gold medal as she placed 1st in her division on 3 of the 4 events and Addy placing 2nd as she placed 1st in 2 of her events. They are not shy in front of a crowd and love competing! And you can probably tell from the pics below that they aren't shy in front of a camera either. And their Papa J.R. spent the day watching them perform. Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket We rushed back from the gymnastics meet just in time to meet some friends and watch the Ozark Christmas Parade. I love that it starts just after dark and the floats are decorated in lights. Photobucket Photobucket This boy is smart...he decides to just cover her mouth instead of using selective hearing. Photobucket Photobucket Wes spent the week up in Northern Missouri with uncles and cousins searching for the big kill. It took him several days, but finally he prevailed. I honestly don't mind him taking several days to go hunting, but I really don't like the "trophy" that he feels he needs to bring back. It's about the last thing I want as decor on the walls. :( Photobucket Thanksgiving at Papa & Nana's!! Don't you just love the fruit themed turkey? Nana has recently joined the world of Pinterest!

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

"Running On Faith" 5K & 1 Mile Run & A Gymnastics Meet

The big event of the week (or at least for me) was the 2nd Annual St. Joseph the Worker "Running On Faith" 5K & 1 Mile Run. Helping to plan and co-coordinate this event has been a huge commitment of my time over the past couple of months. Just under 170 people participated in the run which upped our total by 50 from last years participation. I'm sure the gorgeous November weather on Saturday helped the turnout as we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day! We had many great sponsors and volunteers on race day who truly helped to make this a huge success. Thank you to the grandparents for helping with the kids on Saturday and especially my mother-in-law for spending a couple days prior with us so that I could wrap up all last minute details. Wes couldn't have been more supportive as he gave up his time to help me mark the course, set up sponsor signs and help with the dreaded clean-up. He was also both the lead and follow-up biker. Jaidyn, Addy & Levi all enjoyed participating and seeing their faces of determination while running the course makes all the hard work worth it in the end! The proceeds of the run help our St. Anne's Guild group at church fund many of the youth activities throughout the year. Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Addy was the 3rd overall female in the 1 mile fun run! Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Jaidyn is so competitive and pushed herself so hard that she threw up crossing the finish line. She highly deserved winning the first place medal in the 11 & Under age group. She finished the 5K in 27.11 which is a PR over her last 5K last spring by about 3 1/2 minutes! She's one tough competitor! Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket And as if hosting and participating in a 5k wasn't enough for one day, the girls had a gymnastics meet in the afternoon. Photobucket Jaidyn finished 2nd place in the 7 year old Advanced Division for her floor routine and that finish wouldn't have been too disappointing if she wouldn't have left out an easy-peasy one-armed cartwheel out of her routine. Forgetting that one element cost her 5/10ths of a point and also cost her the gold medal. Oh well, live and learn! Photobucket Addy finished 1st place in the 6 year old Intermediate division for her floor routine. I loved watching her climb to the top of the medal stand mat! Photobucket Dynamite Duo! Photobucket Haven and Jaidyn helped one of the judges out during another session by showing the score received on a marker board. Photobucket Jaidyn & Addy's #1 Gymnastic Fans! And a I have a few random pics to share... Photobucket The girls dressed festively in their red, white and blue for the Veteran's Day assembly at school. Photobucket Reid all crashed out while still wearing Levi's rain boots! Photobucket Photobucket Both Jaidyn and Addy had turkey "dressing" projects for school. Jaidyn wrote the cutest little story about her turkey who she named Wee Willy Gobbler and dressed him wearing flannel pajama pants and a night cap. With the help of her Dad, Addy dressed her turkey in camouflage garb hoping to help disguise him from being the next Thanksgiving Dinner. :)