It's hard to believe that we've kept this blog "post-less" for six months already.  Where does the time go?  It seems like yesterday we were celebrating children's Fall birthdays and gearing up for the holidays.  Now it's past Spring Break and getting close to the end of another school year.  So much has happened in our wonderful life since the last post.  We'll try to keep is short... :)

Bethanie: She continues to be one of the smartest Kindergarten kids Ms. L says she's ever had. Bethie reads at a 2nd grade level, tests in math at a 2nd grade level and reportedly has "English and writing skills of a 10-year-old".  She remains a small beautiful little girl with a lot of spunk and energy.  We cannot imagine our lives without Bethanie's wit!

Emmalie: She is still the sensitive, motherly angel she always has been.  Third grade has been a new world for her... girls starting to form "clique's" and the separation between boys and girls becoming apparent.  But all in all, Em has managed to adjust well (despite her strong belief that everyone in the world should get along).  She also remains a smart girl in the classroom.  Em has given up softball for this summer and will be joining a competition league volleyball team instead.


Dalton: What to say about Dalton?  Other than the fact that I'm teary eyed every time he brings up that he's "almost a Senior!"  He has spent the winter working out for football, and nursing a pectoral injury along the way.  Dalton has starting getting personal invites to invitation only football combines in prep for the "official" start of college football recruiting season on July 1st.  The biggest combine he'll attend is coming up in late April.  He's had a lot of DII and NAIA colleges looking to recruit him and viewing his recruitment video/profile (and some DI, too!).  Whichever way he goes, we know he'll be successful.  Of course, he can always fall back on his culinary expertise and use one of his $6000 in culinary scholarships to be a chef!


Devin: Devin and his beautiful girlfriend of nearly 4 years got engaged early last year.  However, instead of planning a May/June wedding in 2014... they are planning for the addition of our first grandchild in mid-May.  (Not exactly what the plans were, but they're excited and happy nonetheless).  So in a little over a month, Devin and Sabrina will be welcoming a baby boy into our family.  We are all on pins and needles waiting to greet him!  Devin and Sabrina both just received promotions to management positions at their jobs, and Devin is looking to go back to college to get his Bachelor degree so he can become a middle or high school English/Literature teacher.


Tony: Tony is doing well. One year cancer free in March... WHOO! HOO!  Though he's still on routine visits to monitor his progress.  He has finally had enough time to put together his portfolio and add "web design" to his photography company.  He's been creating custom online sales sites, medical/healthcare sites, athletic program sites, etc.  So the vast array of his website design has been a plus to his portfolio. 

Shelia:  Well... I'm still managing the clinic staff and helping run the office.  I always left HR to my older sister, and now I remember why!  It's a headache sometimes.  Personally, I'll stick to the patients and nursing over dealing with personalities and complaints any old day.  I'm still volunteering my time with the schools, March of Dimes, church and high school football program.  The only thing I'm not doing this summer is coaching softball again (so I can spend time with the new grandbaby instead!). 

That is our life update in a nutshell.  Hope everyone is staying grounded in this Midwestern wind that keeps blowing by.  More updates to come... (hopefully!).

Bethanie's teacher tells me at conferences that she had to restart one of Bethie's tests because the teacher couldn't proceed without laughing. This is what the teacher continues to tell me about the testing (Phonics).

Ms. L: "Bethanie, what does mud start with?"

Bethie: "Well... an 'M' (as she reportedly rolled her eyes)."

Ms. L: "No. Not the letter, the sound."

Bethie: "That would be 'Mmmm'. But it's an 'M' that makes that sound!"

Ms. L: "Very true. But we only need the sounds for this test." (Now laughing... even as she retells the story).

Bethie: "Fine."

Ms. L: "What does truck start with?"

Bethie: "Well... I guess you're looking for 'Trrrr'. But technically it's the 'Tttt' from the 'T' that goes before the 'Rrrr' of the 'R'."

According to the teacher, she was laughing so hard at this point that she couldn't continue. She had to start the test over to regroup. I guess Bethanie is a little more logical than most five and six year olds. LOL!

I'll close with some photos from Bethanie's "Barbie Birthday Bash".

What can we say, other than "we interrupt this blog for football season! That's right, it has officially started. And two games into his Junior season of high school football... Dalton has shown just how focused and talented he truly is. I'd say we're only being partial because he's our son, but he's getting noticed by other teams and the media too. He is a beast on the middle line and great at reading the opposing offense (courtesy of his devotion to watching game tapes, I'm sure). The MHS Eagles start the season at 2-0 after beating the top ranked team in the state last night!



While we try to put our photos and videos, I'll let you see the local news video clip of Dalton recovering the fumble last night. WHAT A GAME!!!

Today our family has another milestone that will be our last... Bethanie officially started school this morning. Our precious baby girl is now a mighty Kindergartener!

Over the years, we've now watched all four of our children make their way into grade school with a backpack and a smile!

Devin's 1st Day of Kindergarten

Dalton's 1st Day of Kindergarten

Emmalie's 1st Day of Kindergarten

Bethanie's 1st Day of Kindergarten

I can't lie. Some tears were shed this morning (by both Bethanie and Mom), but they were happy tears as Bethanie embarks on the next stage in her journey towards growing up. Plus, unlike with her three older siblings, Bethie has the added benefit of her big sister being right there to sit with Bethie and walk her to class each morning. Thank goodness for loving big sisters!

Should be an exciting school year ahead!

Let me start by being Captain Obvious as I state this fact...

The boys had birthday sleepovers many times, and I don't recall one time that there was as much drama as we experienced this past weekend celebrating Emmalie's 8th birthday.  I think we were a little naïve about things.  Of course, how bad can having a birthday slumber party really ever be, right?!  Well, let me share a little something to all you mothers of young girls... not only can some of these innocent, beauties cry at the drop of a hat... but some of them can be really mean trying to make the other girls cry.  WOW!  The good news is, we all survived.  (Well, the boys were smart and stayed over at friend's houses so they didn't have to suffer a night of Estrogen and hormonal tears).  I definitely must've forgotten what grade school girls were like.  And I'm even more fearful now about what middle school will be like.. UGH!

Seriously though... Emmalie's birthday party was a success and they all had a great time.  So good, in fact, that two of them cried and fought with their mothers about having to leave.  They had manicures, pedicures, facials, hairstyles, a fashion show, a talent show, watched movies and laughed A LOT! 

So, tomorrow officially marks the day we became blessed with our first daughter... Little Miss Emmalie Irene.  (Though she's not hardly the premature little girl any more).  Emmalie has grown to become a very intelligent, caring and kind-hearted young lady.  Her outer beauty is nothing in comparison to her warm heart and inner beauty.  We only hope that she continues to keep these wonderful traits and hold them dear as she grows older. 

THEN:  Emmalie was born at 35.7 weeks and weighed 5 lbs, 3 oz at 18.5 inches long.

NOW:  Em is among her taller classmates at just under 51 inches tall.  (She won't let me share her weight, but let's say it's two quarters + three pennies worth!).

THEN:  Emmalie made sure she was the center of attention by crying.

NOW:  Em makes sure she is the center of attention by singing.... NON-STOP!  (Good thing she has such a pretty voice when she sings).

THEN:  Emmalie's favorite foods were fruit and anything fruity... and anything that shouldn't go in your mouth!

NOW:  Emmalie's favorite foods are fruit and anything that tastes fruity (plus cake!).  Guess some things never change!

The last eight years have been a true blessing to us. 

The summer is half-way over already... WOW! It's been so fun and busy and just great! I absolutely LOVE making memories with my family. Devin came up to me the other day and said "Do you remember that summer we...?!" Hard to believe he'll be 21 yrs old next month. And to know that he remembers those summers we spent finding creating (and often inexpensive) ways to have fun with the kids makes a mother's heart melt! This has been another one of those summers...

We've made it through softball and T-ball season (even with me being the coach for one). Notice the stylish ways our darling duo decided to show up for softball. LOL! Definitely trend-setters!



We've made it through football camps, summer conditioning and officially into the Junior year of high school and all of the NCAA hoopla that comes with having a son that wants to play college ball.



We've made it through trips to the zoos and picnics in the park.




We've taught two little girls how to fish. (YES! They bait their own hooks, cast their lines and even throw fish back into the water. Now if we could just teach them to stop letting the 10-lb catfish swallow their hooks, we'd be in business!).




We've watched moves, played games, spent time with family, went for walks and even mustard up the guts to let one teenage boy go on a week-long vacation with a friend. (That was the longest week of this mom's life!).

I hope that everyone following our journeys as a family has been able to make some great summer memories too. Nothing is better than realizing how much those memories mean to our kids now that they are older. Now... on to the last half of our summer. Which basically means... school supplies, school clothes, haircuts, schedules and all that other not so fun stuff.

Until next time... :)

Tony has had a very busy year for his photography business and building his name up.  He's done Senior portraits, school portraits and a lot of event photography.  And if there is anything that I've learned from Tony about taking pictures, it's that there is a lot more to it than meets the eye.  Here in our neck of the woods, there are a lot of aspiring and amateur photographers.  Some think it's all about a certain brand of camera.  Others think it's about the right posing.  But Tony has shown me that it's not really about either of these things.  In fact, his last Senior photo shoot went so well that everyone's started coming to Tony to ask him how he does it and where they can improve.  I have to laugh when someone approaches Tony for photography insight after they paid $90 for a five week class that barely taught them anything.

So, what is it?  What is one of Tony's biggest points of sharing?  Tony will tell you that alot of times is starts with just getting out there and playing around.  Tony has told everyone that asks him that it doesn't matter what camera you have.  It's more important that you go out and truly play with your camera to learn what it's capabilities are.  Capabilities for different lighting situations, action versus stabile subjects, etc.  As I've been told by my husband many times... "for every 50 photos you shoot, you can count on getting maybe three or four really good ones!".  The more familiar you are with your camera (and your subjects), the more good photos you can expect to get.

Here are some of Tony's most recent examples: