Memorial Day Weekend 2012

Well it was disgustingly HOT this past weekend, almost breaking some records on the heat index. Glad I wasn't at the track!........while Andy and his friends brave that feat every year, I have no desire to ever sit on a hot-as-hell bleacher, in direct sunlight, watching a bunch of Indiana's finest act like buffoons, with the sound of race cars whizzing by.

No Thank you.

Instead, the kids and I headed up to my dad's river cottage for the day/night. I always forget how far "out there" it is. And by "out there" I mean OUT THERE. No paved roads, no cell service, no Starbucks, no running water, no electricity.

Juuuuuuuuuuuuust kidding.

We enjoyed ourselves, kayaking twice down the river. Drew was even able to come along on the first trip. And overall, I'd say he enjoyed it. He just didn't like the "taking off" part. Emma, Drew, and I were in a 2-person kayak (with the kids being smaller, this fit them perfectly) and my dad was in another single-man kayak. Drew wasn't a fan of seeing Papa in another boat.........he either didn't like Papa being that far away from him, or he thought that Papa was leaving him. Either way, he didn't like it when we first started taking off, seeing Papa in a different boat from us. But he quickly calmed down and was fine for the rest of the ride. (I can't say that Missy Lucille didn't ask "Are we there yet." a few times during our excursion, though.......)

So this is a little small, ya think?!?
There wasn't a life jacket small enough for Drew, so I squeezed his tiny, little-man body into this one-piece floaty from last year.

He looks like a little wrestler, doesn't he?

Such a helper she was!
After her 2nd trip down the river, she fell asleep at the paddle.

Rookie Run

To kick off the exciting month of May in Indianapolis, we took the kids downtown to enjoy all the festivities that the 500 Festival Kid's Day had to offer. This was a free event that the city hosted, so coupled with the beautiful weather we had, it was jam-packed downtown!

But that didn't stop us from having a little fun by participating in the Rookie Run and enjoying some cool Dippin' Dots!
 

Mr. Man, enjoying some Dippin' Dots.
(does he look like Andy here, or what?!?)

There she is.
My Rookie Runner.
Ready for her very 1st race!

I was so unbelievably proud of her! She started at the back of the pack at the Start Line, raced passed all the other kids, tieing for 1st place.
She would have won if the DANG 500 Princess didn't pop out of no where to "high five" the kids as they turned the corner.
Stupid Princess.

SO PROUD OF MY BIG GIRL.
SHE'S BEYOND AWESOME.

Girls Only Baseball Team

It took some convincing, but Emma agreed to join baseball again this year. She didn't like very much last year because - quite frankly - baseball is a miserably boring sport. To watch and play. Even as an adult.

So I can't imagine how horribly boring it must be for a 5-year old!

But - it's important for us, to keep our kids active, so once we found out there was a "girls only" 6-year team, we did some major convincing. Which worked.

And it's paid off!

She's enjoying it much, much more than she did last year. The coaches are far more organized and involved with the girls than the coaches last year.

And - turns out - Emma's really coachable.

She actually listens to her coaches and does what they tell her to do.

And you should see her stance! She looks like such an athlete: those solid thighs; broad shoulders holding the bat up. It's hard to believe that my little Missy Lou is only 5 years old. She's on the 6-year old team, and she's STILL the tallest player out there!

Batter up, Emma. Batter up!

#6: Emma Swickheimer

Making It To Muncie

As many of you know, I'm training for a Half Ironman.  This journey - so far - has been rewarding, demanding, challenging, gut-wrenching, and flat-out FUN.

So I decided to log my journey on a separate blog.  If you're interested, check it out by clicking here.  It's www.makingittomuncie.blogspot.com.

Nothing fancy.  Just some personal entries that I'm recording to log this journey of mine.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Drewbie!

Dear Drewbie,

You are such a sweet, sweet little man who brings a smile to my face the moment you flash that darling dimpled smile of yours........

.........Until you then trample us all over, with that rambunctious personality that you've developed this past year!

My, how you've grown into quite the little mischievous man over the course of the year. You're constantly getting into something, but yet you've somehow learned how to "work the system" with that charm of yours! You've definitely learned that it takes a lot to outshine your sister's shadow, and you take just about every opportunity possible to do so! You've become a confident and social soldier. Gone are the days when you cry, when left with a stranger. In fact, you walk right up to new faces at the gym by proclaiming ever so proudly, "I'm Doobie. What's your name? What's your daddy's name?"

You are just the most amazing little man, Drewbie Doo. You continue to bless your Daddy, Sissy and me with your lovable nature and I love you more than words could ever express.

Love,
Momma

May 6, 2012

May 6, 2011

May 6, 2010

May 6, 2009

Drew's 3rd Birthday

We celebrated Drew's THIRD birthday yesterday, with a Despicable Me theme. He loves the little "one liners" that the movie has, so I thought it would be fun to do a Despicable Me theme! I didn't go all out, though. Reason number 1 why I didn't: I personally think it's pointless to spend oodles of money of children's birthday parties when - quite honestly - they don't remember them until they're older anyway. Number 2: they could care less about all that extra crap.....they just want cake and presents.

So cake and presents is what we had!

I found the cutest Minion cupcakes on Pinterest. If you're interested in the step-by-step directions, click here to check out The Real Housewives of Riverton's blog. That's where I got my inspiration!

Minion Cupcakes!

The picture's fuzzy, cause I couldn't get him to hold still for 2 seconds!
This present was the biggest hit, by far!

Gross!
Don't her parents bathe her?!?

Attempt #1

Attempt #2
I give up on trying to get any good shots of all four of us. The ages of our kids are just IMPOSSIBLE to get good shots. Emma's (5) in a mood, and Drew (3) can't be serious any time a camera points in his direction!

Go figure.
When Drew's got a normal smile going on, I'm not even looking at the camera!

Look Who Got Their Ears Pierced!

A couple of months ago, Emma had asked me when I got my ears pierced (my answer, BTW: I don't remember exactly; I think I was in 2nd grade or so), as she started taking an interest in earrings. So it sparked me to think about when I should "let" Emma get her ears pierced. I asked Andy his point of view on the subject and he didn't really have a strong opinion one way or the other.

So, I talked to Emma about it

Told her the responsibilities of getting them pierced. Cleaning them every day and night. Dealing the pain when she sleeps on them. Yadda yadda yadda. I even showed her a couple of youtube videos (both the good AND the bad videos), so that she fully understood the process of how it works, getting the "guns" to your ears.......

..............and she was all for it!

So we decided to take our big girl to the mall, let her pick out the earrings that she wanted, and voila! My Missy Lucille is now part of the Pierced Ears Club.