"A Wink and a Smile"

After picking my 6.5 year old up {c} from soccer practice the other day ... Me:  "How was soccer?" {c}: "Good ..." Me: "Did all your friends show up?" {c}: "One girl had dance and Bella couldn't come because she had too much on her plate" my 9 year old chimes in ... {b}: "What does too much on her plate mean?" {c}: with an expression that totally screamed DUH ... "It means that she had too much dinner left to eat and she couldn't come" LOL!  Just another (smile) gift at the very end of a long, crazy day.  Thank you GOD!  This mommy sure appreciated that.

I'm trying my best to get caught up, but things are busy with school, work, swim team, and trying to register for middle school/high school next year. In the mix of that we had some snow days that really shut our town down (5 day weekend). The girls were home from school, the husband even spent part of the week working from the dining room, I still had to homeschool as well as do a little bit of work from home, doctor appointment was cancelled, and a shadow day at our local Catholic school NOW needs to be re-scheduled. It's nice to have snow days, but they honestly can wreak havoc on LIFE. Some things that did take place (eventually) ... Fun in the SNOW I turned the big 4-0 ! My dear hubby took me to a fine restaurant and we enjoyed every minute of it . There was yet ANOTHER swim meet ... our last one until STATE championships in early March. The girls did so, so ... not enough practice the week before with all the snow days and certainly too much in the way of junk foods ;) ...

There is no swim meet (it was an off weekend for USA Swimming and the high school meet was cancelled). There are no basketball games ... CANCELLED due to the icy roads. Except for dropping my 10 year off at a sleepover party later today, there is nothing major to do! I *could* do ... laundry bathroom cleaning re-organizing of my closet "help" the girls with their mess in the playroom BUT ... My husband has dared me to sit and relax today. He told me to read and put my feet up. So ... I may just have to do that! Speaking of books, did you know that the Pioneer Woman has a children's book coming out? I knew about her Black Heels to Tractor Wheels - A Love Story book ... which I may just have to buy because I'm curious. Reading and watching these girls today. Sounds like a plan!

In pictures of course ... Mommy and Daddy had to tag team today and split up. The 8 year old had a basketball game and the three older girls had a 3 day swim meet out of town. {b} did great at her first game. She was so excited. She did a little bit more running of the court and guarding than being aggressive with the ball (like she has in the past), but it was the first game in nearly a year AND with only 2 practices. Big girls are 3 hours away swimming their hearts out. They are also blowing their noses A LOT. Of course they have not been sick all winter, but they get sick after signing up, booking hotel, and paying for a meet. So far though ... GREAT SWIMS. I have a wonderful hubby who will do the travel without a bit of complaining. THIS IS LIFE for us ...

Who am I kidding? It's ALWAYS that time of the year ...

I'm fairly sure this is GOD working through my 8 year old ... So this week I will be cheerful, positive, and apparently SKINNY!

In early August 3 of my 5 girls participated in a kid's triathlon. The two older ones in the picture below participated last year, so this was TRI #2 for them! It was actually a really GOOD year for Miss {m} who placed 1st in the girls 10 year age group. This was a big improvement from last year when she had some troubles with transitions. This year ... she nailed that part of it. {k}, the 12.5 year old also placed 4th in the 13 year age group ... another improvement from last year. {b}, my just turned 8 year old did really well considering she biked and (partially) ran with her shoes NOT on in the back. I guess those no tie laces that we thought would help were too tight for her to get her feet in fast enough for her liking. I think it was halfway through her run that she decided she needed to really have her shoes on correctly. She placed 6th for her group. 350 participants ... MY GIRLS DID AWESOME! Just a few weeks ago we also came upon some bad news with our 17 month old ...

She was so, SO excited to turn "8"! What better way to spend a birthday than in a warm sunny place with sandy beaches! This girl is pretty lucky. 8 wonderful things about my special girl ... (and there are way more than that) most often in a happy mood creative smart loving (she is a great hugger) helpful people pleaser athletic/strong great smile

I'm not sure a little girl can look any prettier than on the day of her First Communion. This 7 year old girl was just beaming with JOY. Hopefully she will always remember this day ...

I always got really, REALLY plain sneakers ... White KEDS most of the time. They matched everything. My mom was practical. Once my dad bought me sneakers ... They were bright blue with a clown decal on them . I know, sounds weird. My mom despised them. But, I loved them! So when my 7 year old saw these sneaks ... I couldn't resist. They are funky ... fun! We even bought r a i n b o w laces. They match very little, but I DON'T CARE. The 7 year old LOVES THEM! I wonder if they make these babies in my size???

{b}'s First Reconciliation took place a few weeks back, but somehow I forgot to mention it. Just the two of us went to Church for this wonderful sacrament. I'm so proud of her ;)

So far it is starting off WELL ... Really great weekend with sunny skies, a longest run, pumpkin carving, trick or treating, Feast of All Saints (beautiful mass and my mom's b-day), and yard cleanup. I love when I can create a list and actually accomplish it. My girls had a blast and were so cute to look at. Little {c} was so excited this year. She loudly spoke "trick or treat" at each house and concluded with a very thankful "THANK YOU!" after receiving her candy. I wish I would have dragged around my video camera. My FLAPPER ... My WITCH ... and my ANGEL ... Today is the Feast of All Souls . I'm not sure I could explain it any better than Karen . Go visit her blog if you can!

I'm taking a few minutes to update the blog while eating my shredded wheat and rice milk ... sounds yummy, eh? I just got three little girls off to school while the other 2 are waiting on me to start their day. Homeschooling is getting a little better. This school year had a shaky start, but we seem to be settling into a groove now. I put on my running shoes the other day for the first time in a few weeks. We've had so much rain and mostly that was my excuse for not running. Yesterday I had a pretty good run while listening to "A Wrinkle in Time" on my iPod. I find that stories and podcasts are much more stimulating to me than music while I run. I always get bored with playlists and after a few songs, I feel like I am watching the clock. It has also helped to have some sunshine ;) Swim team is starting to get busier. We just had our first meet 1.5 weeks ago and we will have one this weekend. The girls did great at the first one ... really cutting their times from the...

I know that I have complained a little about the oh so unattractive still photos that the schools or sports teams "encourage". Well, this year for team photo day, I just grabbed my girls and said ... "SMILE!" I think this may be cuter ... and then I can even play around with it ... This was still cute from last year, but now I saved some $$ ... *HT and much thanks to SARAH for showing me how to make my pictures BIGGER!!!!!