Ups and Downs

I'm sitting here watching the Closing Ceremonies for the Olympics as I type this. I just love the Olympics. I remember watching as a little kid. Probably the first one I remember watching was the '88 games is Seoul, Korea. I only would've been about 10 years old. I remember watching Greg Louganis dive. Is that the same games where he cracked his head on the diving board? I can't quite remember. I really got into the Winter games in '92 when Paul Wylie won his silver medal. Yeah... just Silver, but it was amazing. He wasn't expected to come close. I remember Shannon Miller winning the Silver Medal that same year in Barcelona. In '96 who doesn't remember Kerri Strugg and the famous vault? She was a part of the "magnificent 7" women's gymnastics team that won the team gold in Atlanta. There have been many exciting moments in Beijing. Michael Phelps winning a record 8 gold medals, (I was jumping up and down in my living room several times during the swimming competitions! Talk about close!) Nastia Liukin winning the all around gold, the women's volleyball team winning the gold medal and a record 108 matches, the Men's basketball team or the "redeem team" so they called it, Dara Torres competing at her age and still winning silver while showing superb sportsmanship to her competitor who had a torn swimsuit, Shawn Johnson FINALLY getting that gold medal after coming in second so many times.... There were some disappointments as well.... Track and Field not even qualifying for the finals of the relay, the one gymnast that kept missing her routines and probably cost us the gold, some of our swimmers not even making the finals, the Chinese track star plagued with an injury and feeling as though he had let down a nation, etc. I love hearing the individual stories of the athletes, their trials, heartache, and hard work. Through adversity and perseverance, the amazing feats they are able to accomplish. I love the Olympic spirit.
This has been a week filled with many ups and downs. On one hand the kids have started school, I've started back into scouts, work is picking up for Jonas, and our family has gotten into their everyday routines. Life is good. Then we get some bad news. One of our dearest friends and a coworker of my husband was diagnosed this week with terminal brain cancer. He has a wife and three children. I was sick when my husband told me. How can someone seemingly be so healthy and have a hidden germ inside them? He had a surgery on Friday to remove the tumor. He is doing remarkably well, but is obviously not the same. He is good man and one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. For example: His wife was telling me that they would be eating at a restaurant and see an elderly couple eating. He would ask their server for their ticket and pay for their meal. He would then tell them on their way out... "I don't get to take my grandparents out to lunch anymore, so I'd like to take you out to lunch instead!" Those random acts of kindness were just normal for our friend. Now begins a long road of healing and rehabilitation. The doctors gave him two years. I think of the Olympians preparing for a meet or a gold medal game, etc. How many times does the underdog win? I think of the Men's swimming relay. They weren't favored for gold, just when it looked like they were going to lose the race, they came back fighting, using their last boost of energy and ended up winning. Attitude is important. Doctors can say what they "think" a man's time left on earth is. Do they really know? I believe it's all according to someones determination, will , and desire. Will he win the race? Only time will tell. I do know one thing for sure... if we could all be a little more charitable, a little more kind, putting ourselves in the service of others, working hard, and determined to do what is good..... I believe we will be at the top of the podium one day. May a little bit of the Olympic spirit burn inside all of us.

Back to School

Today was the first day of school. I remember when we used to start the day after Labor day. They start earlier and earlier every year. It was time though. My boys were beginning to be couch potatoes. Honestly, if I had to watch one more episode of Sponge Bob, I think I'd have to do something drastic. We went out on tax free weekend and bought all of the necessities. They got new clothes, new shoes, and all of their supplies. I am beginning to think that the August school preparations are worse than Christmas. It is so expensive. Last night as we put them to bed, they were excited to wake up, meet their new teacher and see their friends. They even woke up EARLY! I give that, oh, about a week. Then I'll be dragging them out of bed and the whining and complaining will begin! I took their pictures before they left. Jeremiah got his taken at his desk. Jonas, being a 4th grader, was too embarrassed. Sigh. I just can't believe I have a 4th grader, a first grader and a preschooler. Time really does fly. It didn't seem like that when I was growing up. I picked them up and both said they had a great day! They liked their teachers and are anxious to go back tomorrow. Jeremiah told me about the fun things in his classroom and Jonas told me that the best part of his day was at recess when he just "talked" to all of his friends. He said they just walked and walked around the track and said what they had been doing all summer. I hope they keep good friends. I recently got reacquainted with an old friend from elementary school thanks to Facebook. We hadn't seen or heard from each other in about 18 years. Isn't that crazy? She has a husband, a daughter and is a journalist. It's been fun to reconnect with her and it has brought back many memories of my school days. I remember a lot about 1st grade and even more about 4th. It's funny to think I have kids that age now and they will one day be looking back on their school days as I am. I hope they continue to make many good choices and in turn have many good memories.

Louisville Trip

Hello! Sorry for the blogging drought. No excuse really, just enjoying our last few days of Summer vacation. It's hard to believe we only have two weeks left. We decided to take one last little trip before school starts. We've been keeping busy by going to the pool, library, park, etc. We decided to go away for the weekend and it worked our perfectly. It was a whirlwind trip, but way worth it. The kids had a blast, we got to see a new city, hang out with a good friend, and watch some baseball! We went to Louisville, KY where our friend Adam plays for the Louisville Bats. They are a AAA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. He gave us the grand tour of their clubhouse, where the kids got to try on his Jersey and eat some of the candy they have there for the players. How cool is that? Then we got to PLAY of the field! Even me! Hey... I'm terrible, but at least I have fun. The boys were ecstatic having played little league this year and then getting to run the bases and have a "REAL" baseball player play catch with them. My husband even hit one out of the park... :) How impressive! We got to go to the Louisville Slugger museum as well. That's where I got my picture taken with Cal! Guess who else was there? AMERICAN IDOL! They were filming there already for next season. Louisville was their first stop for auditions. Sad to say this.... I'm too old to try out. Sigh. They need an old person idol, I suppose. I kept waiting to see Ryan Seacrest, but nope, never did. Oh well. Anyways, we saw three games while we were there. Adam played great and got lots of hits. It's fun for our family to have someone to cheer for. We pulled in about 2 am on Monday morning. We were worn out and exhausted, but we all came home with a lot of memories. It's really fun to visit a different city. In fact, we think we might just pick one to visit every summer. The boys are growing up so fast, and it is great to be able to have these memories to look back on. Thanks for reading.

Baking a cake with Mom

Jeremiah always wants to help me when I cook. Today I was baking a cake to bring to a friend who just had surgery. He helped break the eggs, pour in the oil, etc. We scraped the bowl and put it into the oven to bake. I always let whoever helps me lick the spatula afterwards. Apparently it wasn't enough.... I left the room for a moment and when I came back in I found this: Jeremiah with his head stuck in the bowl! Jonas ran and got the camera. We both decided this was a picture!

We're off to take a little road trip/ mini vacation before school starts. We're going to Louisville, KY to watch a friend of ours play baseball. We're all looking forward to a weekend getaway! I'll be back soon with an update of our trip!

Cole's Birthday

Today was Cole's birthday. I can't believe how the time flies. That's so Cliche', but it's so true. It's hard to believe that four years ago he was creating such havoc on a household. Really... He was the one that had colic. Just writing about this makes me cringe. He used to cry every night. It would start about 7 and go til midnight. Nothing could console him. We tried everything! Mylicon drops, the vacuum, bouncing him, taking him places, rubbing his tummy, etc. He would cry... I would cry.... everyone would cry! I didn't think he'd ever outgrow it, but he did... finally! One day it just stopped! Now he's 4. He got a "big boy" bike for his birthday. He was so excited! He LOVES the movie "Cars," so he got some of those too. He wanted to go to Chuckee Cheese for his party, so we did. I just love shelling out 50 bucks for a ten cent toy at the end and eating cardboard pizza. Gotta love it! :) It was fun though and he had a great time. He woke up this morning and said..."Mom, is it my birthday today?" "Why am I not any bigger?" I think he thought he was miraculously going to wake up this morning and be "big" like his brothers! Four is going to be fun! Happy Birthday Cole!

Splish! Splash!

We've been taking advantage of good friends that have pools this summer! They've been nice enough to let us bring the boys swimming whenever we want. We're really lucky! Here are a few pictures of them being fish. Gotta love the goggles! :)

TIMBER!

Jonas went to his electricians house to help him clear a tree that had fallen down on his property last week. It got hit by lightening and made huge mess of his yard. We went to lunch with them on Saturday and they were telling us what had happened. Jonas offered to bring his chainsaw and help him. It turned out to be a bigger job than he anticipated. It was a red Oak that was estimated to about 125 years old. While they were clearing, another part of the tree fell. Luckily no one was under it at the time. In fact Jonas had just sent someone to the shed for a rake! They ended up recruiting some more people to help... as it was now blocking the driveway. They got it done before another summer storm blew through. They were grateful for his help. Everyone was exhausted after a hard afternoon of work. Guess what was greeting up when we got home??? Yep, seems a new set of storms hit us. Now in our back yard is a huge limb that fell from our great big oak tree. Guess what my husband will be doing next weekend with the help of his friend? You guessed it!