The Flu...

Kristen called me on my lunch today to let me know that Connor and Madison both have the Flu. Influenza A or the Swine....supposedly it's all the same....they don't know but they have "it" nonetheless. Please pray for the kiddos.

I was hugging and kissing all over that baby this weekend so who wants to place a bet on when I start feeling symptoms? My immune system stinks....

Happy Birthday, Callie!

You could say that this was Callie's birthday weekend. I'll be telling this story in reverse because my pictures loaded in the wrong order and I'm too lazy to fix it. :)

Callie and I went to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Derby Dinner tonight for her birthday. We had a seat right beside the stage. I had seen this musical in college but this version was the best. Callie even said it was her favorite afterwards. She loves musicals.

On Saturday, Callie had a little party at the bowling alley. It was fun hanging out with them. Here's a picture of Aunt KK and Connor. Poor baby...he hasn't been feeling well all weekend....

Kristen and I even shot a pic with our Aunt Jessie.....

Bowling shoes...

Seriously...Callie was soooo excited to take a picture....

Maddie and Callie had very different approaches to getting the ball down the lane...

It's been a fun weekend celebrating. I still can't believe it's been eight years ago that she was born.

I love you, Callie! :)

Memories....

I'm feeling a little nostalgic tonight...forgive me if you're not a fan of sad posts....

I'm not the kind to wallow in any kind of sad or angry emotion. I'm really okay so nobody has to worry about me or anything. I've just had them on my mind a lot. So here are some things that I miss....

I miss talking to my momma each and every day. I used to call her and talk to her for a few minutes each day. It's like my day wasn't complete until I did.

I miss my dad's jokes, even the ones I heard a million times. I miss his laugh and the look on his face when he made other people laugh.

I miss my mom's cooking. I wish I had paid more attention to her when she cooked-One of my life's biggest regrets!

I miss my dad's realistic view of life and his no-nonsense advice. He always cut the chase and told me what I needed to hear, not what I wanted to hear.

I miss how my mom always told me what I wanted to hear and then we ate ice cream or cake or whatever we could get our hands on.

I miss laughing at the kitchen table on the weekends.

I wish mom could have met her grandbabies and I wish dad could have met Connor.

I wish they both could have met Jonathon. I never dreamed that I would find someone that my mom and dad would both have loved but he's it. Jonathon's sense of adventure with food would have won my mom's heart over. His ability to fix just about anything and wanting to "do it himself" would have earned my dad's respect. They both would have loved the way he loves me.

I don't talk about it much, but I do miss them both very much every day.

Updates!

Things have been so busy lately with the start of the new school year. I've pretty much been working, coaching, running, and working some more. The transition to business always takes about a month before I can get my time management under control. Here are some things that have been going on....

-Charlestown Football: I'm loving going to the games. It's so exciting to watch some of my former students get to play now that they are getting old enough. I also LOVE the feel of the community and the pride in Charlestown these days. It's really great to see.

-Family: I found out this week that my cousin, Kelli, is going to have a baby boy! I'm so happy to have another addition to our family. Kelli is my cousin, but I also consider her a close friend. I can't wait to meet Baby Brooks in a few months!

Labor Day Weekend: Jonathon and I didn't have much going on. We got invited two different places over the weekend and they both got cancelled. I got to hang out with Kristen's family a bunch last weekend. We played games, the girls hit me with their latest fundraiser, we had a great dinner, and I got to hold baby Connor a lot.

-Marathon training: Things are still going well. I'm so happy to report that I just finished week 5 and I'm sticking with it. I ran 10 miles on Saturday and I wasn't sure I would be able to do it. In the past I would have trained for a couple months to hit 10 miles, but the marathon training schedule is accelerated. It think it proves that it's really a mental game you play with yourself. I told myself I was not going to leave the gym until the treadmill said ten. I slowed down and took it steady. It felt great!

-Jonathon: He didn't get to come home this weekend and I'm missing him like crazy. :(

I've been so awful about taking pictures and posting things lately. I'm going to try to be better in the weekends to come as we have something going on every weekend over the next month. :)

I don't see what all the fuss is about....

I don't speak too often on political issues in my blog, but I just had to share my opinion about something. I heard all the fuss being raised over Obama's address to students on Tuesday. From what I've heard over the weekend I wasn't sure I would want to my child to listen to the message, but I just read the speech released on: http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/

...and I have to say that I think the speech is great. I don't see anything wrong with it. I'm a pretty conservative minded person, politically speaking, and I have to admit that I agree with his message. Kids MUST come ready to listen and work hard.

Now I know this is probably not the first draft and who knows what it said before it actually got published....but I would welcome this message in my classroom. I think this is an example of people being upset about who the message is coming from rather than listening to what the message is saying. There's plenty of things our president has said that I don't agree with, BUT this speech has nothing to do with politics....it's about encouraging kids to do their best and work hard.

Note: Our school has decided not to show the video so our students won't hear it at my school. I really feel that parents should read it themselves before they make a decision about whether their children should listen to it. For the matter, no one should ever trust what they hear in the media on an issue. Check it out for yourself and make your own decisions!

Baby Connor

Jonathon and I babysat Connor Saturday night so Kristen and Chris could have a date. The girls were at a sleepover so Kristen took the opportunity to have some free time out on the town. He did pretty well...just one little fit when Kristen left. It was a sad moment. He was crawling toward the door with a smile on his face as they left. The door shut and his brief depression set in. I took him outside to get his mind off of it and Jami brought Cooper over to distract him too. It worked! After that it was smooth sailing. He's a pretty easy baby. (Editor's note: I've never actually had him longer than four or five hours.)

I love his little face...

You can see all of his teeth in this one...I don't like it when he is sad but his little lip is adorable. Plus....look at those eye lashes. I'm super jealous!

Running Group

I was invited to run with a group of people Saturday morning. There were six of us and we are all training for something (except Alicia who just likes to workout a lot). It was so much fun! We ran a little in Indiana and through downtown Louisville up to Bardstown Road. There were tons of runners and walkers out along the way and it sure made the time go by faster when someone from the group told a funny story or made a comment. Toward the end we were all kind of spread out on our own just trying to finish but it was great. I'm planning on meeting up with them next Saturday. It's going to make getting in the longer runs for the marathon a lot easier.