Friday, October 05, 2007

Andrew's A "White Belt"

Tonight was Andrew's first "official" taekwondo class... and he earned his first belt - white. :)
Eastview's sports ministry started a Taekwondo Club... it is being led by a 6th degree black belt who has taught taekwondo for 20+ years. He and his wife own Victory Academy here in Bloomington that offers taekwondo, gymnastics, dance and cheerleading.
Andrew is thrilled about learning taekwondo... the first step in his dream to become a "Jedi" :')
Savannah will be continuing her ballet training at Victory Academy this next week. She's excited about the change and is especially excited that it will be ballet only (no more tap).

New Family Member

Welcome our newest family member...
He doesn't have a name yet, but I'm sure Andrew & Savannah won't let him go long without one.
He's a Silky Terrier (closely related to a Yorkshire Terrier & Australian Terrier). Hopefully this will be a much better experience than with Bella in the spring. Andrew still thanks God for Bella every night in his bedtime prayer.
She seemed to bond pretty quickly with the kids and gladly snuggled with Laurie on the couch... something we never let Bella do because she shed so bad.

The "name game" has already begun, but nothing has been mentioned by the kids that's "it" (Aaron, Zach, Puppa...). I have a feeling Laurie and I will have to throw out some names to them, too. Maybe something from Star Wars or Cinderella.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Change of seasons/arrangements

Time to switch out the summer arrangements for the fall...

Favorite hanging arrangement

This hanging arrangement is probably my favorite i did this summer - there are two of then and they take about 3-hours each to do. They have pink mandevilla, gold lantana, blue scaevola {my three favorite colors together} and originally it had margarite sweet potato vine.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Phone pictures vs. Camera pictures

You can sure tell a BIG difference when I send a phone-picture into my blog vs. when I upload REAL camera pictures... my phone's camera STINKS!!

Bent Elementary News Clip (Starring Andrew)

Andrew & Savannah's school got a "facelift" this year... they have a new playground, landscaping and entrances. A Peoria TV station covered the ribbon cutting of the new playground, which Andrew was chosen to be a part of. Click below to see the news clip...



http://centralillinoisproud.com/media_player.php?media_id=4685

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Will it ever be Fall?

Wow... it's September 22 and it's a beautiful 81-degrees!! Low-90's the last two days and it's suppose to be 89 tomorrow and 92 Monday... WOW!!! But, I've been starting to empty out the containers from the summer annuals... The high is suppose to be 79 on Tuesday and 70's the rest of the week, so... I guess Fall will really be here this week. I'm ready for it, though. The heat has gotten the best of me over the past month or so... Of course it doesn't help being a little heavier this summer (yes, I haven't lost the usual weight that I lose) and with the heat I've been feeling a little sluggish.

So, what I do today? I took advantage of this beautiful day and went running... FINALLY!!! I've been TERRIBLE about getting exercise this summer. So, I've got to get back into it this Fall and keep at it all Winter.

Andrew had his second soccer game today... here's a slideshow of his first game last weekend.


It's so cute watching them at that age. But, it can also be a little frustrating... Andrew enjoys watching the game... Which is fine, except when he's suppose to be PLAYING!! The ball will roll right by him and he'll just watch it and cheer his teammates on.

Andrew's not the most aggressive soccer player anway, so it takes a lot of encouraging to get him to really get in there and kick away at the ball. And, I guess I probably would have been the same way at that age if I would have played soccer.

I still remember my one-year experience with football... WHOA!!! It was just flag football, not tackle like the put elementary kids thru today. And, for some REDICULOUS reason, I was playing center. I was NOT center material... meaning, I was pretty skinny and weak. And, let's just say, I was getting plowed over time after time after time by the line of the opposing team. I still remember getting fed up with it... I had picked up my glasses from the muddy field for the 186th time, I was crying and I could hear the other team laughing (not just at me, but at our whole team). I walked over to my coach and begged to be taken out. I was done... no more. Needless to say, I didn't play football ever again. The closest I came to a football field was being a manager in 7th grade and half-time shows with the band in high school.

Ok... so... back to Andrew and soccer. I need to be more patient with him and more understanding... not have so high of expectations for him in sports at such an early age and (probably most important) remember that he's a lot like me Happy

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Warm again!

I love it that it's warmed back up! My bananas, upright elephant ears and other tropicals are much happier, too :-)