The last week of school came and went! We’ve ended 10th, 8th, 5th and 3rd grade all with all As! Before the week finally wrapped we had a few more award ceremonies. E received one of 7 Presidential Awards for her entire grade. It was a bit of divide and conquer as E’s awards and N’s awards overlapped. Thankfully, Mr. Serious stayed to pin the award on E. N received student of the year in band at her 8th grade award ceremony and I was able to be there for that and her walk over to the high school. Because of the 8th awards and HS finals, and early release, the oldest two and I did a weights w ..read more

We’re in the home stretch now. Just a couple more awards and final exams and it’s summer. We are all excited about that now, but will crave the consistent schedule the school year brings by July. N and E had their track awards banquet. It’s the last middle school track banquet for N and first for E. N got the “Extra Mile” award and E got the “Rising Star” award. It was a great track season, and this week, we start back up ready for cross country! N had her 8th grade dance and went with a bunch of friends. She asked for a picture with me, so we had to make that happen! Thankful for friends w ..read more

We’ve officially wrapped up track season this week. The oldest ran at the Georgia state race. To say that she was able to compete is amazing all by itself! Then, we wrapped the season with the middle school track team with a 5K to round out the season and start thinking about cross country. This is the first time all 6 of us have run a 5K. Only B and I ran together. Everybody else was racing themself and their teammates. A little pre-race family selfie was in order. N, Mr. Serious and I took this same picture last year, so we made sure to do it again this year. Her last race as a middle scho ..read more

Between all of these training plans, sometimes it feels like it’s all we do around here. My runs, rides and weights, the kids runs, races. I don’t sit down often, but even when I do, I get restless. Monday, E and B had a run to do. I had already done my own training and knew I didn’t have another run in me. Bicycle to the rescue. I rode, they ran. (Grandma, if you are reading, this is the same bike from PALM…Pedal Across Lower Michigan from when I was my girls’ age) Turns out, it’s pretty hard to bike with them running. At least on a narrow sidewalk next to a busy road. Look at E off in the ..read more

The region championship track meet was this past week. The oldest ran in the 1600 and was really hoping for a PR! And she did PR by about 6 seconds. What was more exciting was everybody in the race finished exactly where they were seeded except the oldest and the girl seeded in front of her. The oldest hustled and passed the girl once, the girl pushed and passed the oldest, and then in the final 50-100m the oldest pushed ahead and beat her! She wasn’t a top 3 finalist to move onto sectionals, but she really raced and got uncomfortable and that was a goal. Mr. Serious didn’t come to the race ..read more

I’ve been continuing my running, cycling and weight journey. And The older three have been running with their track teams this winter and spring. Last week while we were walking during one of their runs (I had already done my run), I asked B if she wanted to join at the end of season 5K and she said yes. Without pressing her anymore, she mentioned that she wanted to start running and training again for it. Friday, I didn’t have a run of my own (but I sure was spent), so we did a 2 mile interval run/walk to get her started. She’s hypercolor like her mom! If she’s hot, she’s pink or red! We did ..read more

It’s Spring Break and we are staying put. Sunday we didn’t have anything on the calendar and I thought it was time to put the pictures back on the walls. We’ve had them down since the kitchen renovation this past summer and I couldn’t commit to new holes in the walls. But, it was time. N wanted to do the math-ing and measuring to get this photowall back up. So, we let her. And she rocked it. I think it might be time to get a family picture. But, one day we’ll get them done. Look at all of those cute baby pictures! Then, the cleaning kept on going. We moved some stuff around in our bonus room ..read more

When you walk into the kitchen and find you are wearing matching Dunder Mifflin hoodies, you must take a picture. Those are the rules, right? What I don’t recall is if she’s wearing shoes and and I’m not, but excuse me, when did you get to be the same height (maybe taller) than me? E and N had a track meet this weekend, too. N was able to run in the 4x800m and 1600m and E ran in the 1600m and 800m. It was the hottest and sunniest meet we’ve had so far this year. We all have some redness to show for it. No PRs this time, but good races by the girls! We all needed to chill Sunday. But, the o ..read more

It was a week of doing all of the things, and yet not capturing pictures from almost all of them. I volunteered at a financial literacy program at the high school, went to a booster club meeting, Mr. Serious went to a track meet, E went to a 5th grade dance, the oldest had her band competition, N and I went to a Krav Maga self-defense class with 2 of her friends and then lunch with them. And another race with the oldest. And yet, I took no pictures from any of those. Sunday night as the oldest two were watching Wakanda Forever, I decided it would be a good time to practice the Krav Maga self ..read more

In December, we decided we needed a family trip. There had been too much staying put for school breaks and vacations. (Mr. Serious even carried over a week of vacation time). Not recommended is waiting less than 3 months to book a cruise with a party of 6. We found a cruise out of Port Canaveral, but we didn’t feel like it was the one, so we kept looking. Then we found one out of New Orleans and made it happen. Merry Christmas to us, we were booked for February break cruising. Now, the pictures. And because I’m not fighting with the computer today, they are all in a block and then more text a ..read more