School is out

Elizabeth informed me that no one talks about school during the summer, so I should not ask her, Michael, or any of their friends anything about school.  I hope these few sentences on the blog are allowed.  Monday was their last day of school.  E had her usual straight A year (they no longer give individual subject awards, just GPA awards).  It was such a good year for her - we love her friends and her school and her engaging, self-possessed personality.

Michael spent almost all of Field Day at the dodge ball game (he's in the white shirt in front).  He picked up the usual awards - math, art, music, reading, social studies.  Smiles all-around on that last day - E immediately went home with a friend for a sleepover and Michael had his friend Stephen (when in doubt, assume it's Stephen) spend the night. 

One of my graduate school mentors, Monica Harris Kern, retired this year, and I was able to attend her retirement party at UK.   She seemed quite happy, with many plans to write fiction stories, practice the piano, and avoid committee meetings.  I was bummed my friend Robin couldn't come, as there was plenty to discuss!





I forgot to mention the blast from the past encounter Steven had in Lincoln County earlier this spring.  Michael had a basketball tournament there, so Ty Howard (he was a groomsman in our wedding), who lives there, came to the games to catch up with Steven.  Ty is now married to Candi Brown, who also went to high school with us.  It was great to see him and hear of his academic career (he was Lincoln County's principal and currently is an Education specialist) and his three children.  Hopefully another 5 years won't pass before we see him again.

And so our summer has begun - we've been with E only one night this past week.  Thank goodness M is a homebody, or I'd think my children had left for college.

EJM: Extraverted, Joyful, Magnificent

Elizabeth is 12.  12!  That age seems mature and wise to me.  Unlike the girls in the photo on the left!!!  :)  We told E she could invite a "few friends for an overnight" or a "lot of friends for an afternoon party" - something went wrong in the semantics of it all, because somehow she ended up with a "lot of friends for an overnight."  She decorated lovely invitations - all purple and pink.  She designed her own cake and told the baker at Kroger exactly how to construct it.  She received thoughtful gifts from her friends and family (thank you).

Steven and I didn't realize just how much noise 10 preteens could make - especially when you mention the name Justin Bieber.  (Insert lots of shrieking.)  Trust me, all of our neighbors were well aware that a party was in session.  There was a group walk around the neighborhood, lots of Superman ice cream, limited drama, but again, I feel compelled to mention the random screaming.  I think E had a fantastic time - as did I, because I fell asleep at 11 p.m., leaving Steven to monitor and take care of the guests throughout the night.  You can see that the girls were still quite energetic the next morning.  It really was a great party, and E deserved it.

Zoe and Niki

Zoe turned one!!!  Okay, it happened back in February, but I'm finally posting a picture - and a video (see video at very bottom) - totally worth the wait.  We celebrated by taking them to Bruster's ice cream for a doggie ice cream treat.  It was a first for Niki, but Zoe had been twice before.

I remember when we first got Zoe and wondered whether it was illegal to drive while she was in our laps.  Well, we've become bolder!  Niki can actually drive a car!  In addition, you can see that she likes to study and read - we just made it through another semester and school year!


Steven and I usually take them on a walk each evening.  Michael still plays with them every day when he gets home from school - they go nuts when they hear the bus.  

Don't forget to watch the video!!!

Mothers' Day 2012

We had multiple Mother's Day celebrations this year.  First, Mom spent the day with us and  brought us to dinner at Wilshire's, the golf course restaurant.  It's one street over from where we live, so the original plan was to walk there but you know how that goes - maybe it was a little too cool outside, maybe we were running late (that gets my vote), maybe I didn't want to walk in heels, maybe we just all wanted to be in close quarters in my vehicle together.  Regardless, the dinner was delicious! the service was excellent! (it always helps to have GC students as servers) and Carola had quite the time after drinking her Manhattan!  Shall we say giddy???  It was a good day - Mom helped Steven with the bird feeder and pulled all the dead parts off our pansies.  Steven and Mom spent a lot of time talking about her impending new car purchase.  Loved the day.

The next day we had dinner with Steven's mom and his family in Frankfort.  We ate at Johnny Carino's, an Italian restaurant.  It was a fun and funny get together as usual (David had lots of opinionated advice for Elizabeth, who mentioned she wanted a tattoo - or 3 - when she turned 18; I don't think she'll bring that up again.).  I was bummed Matthew didn't go, because I have been looking forward to talking about his first year at GC with him.  I run into him maybe once a month, although I do leave surprise desserts (and sometimes even healthy snacks) for him when I can.  After dinner, Elizabeth suggested dessert at the nearby ice cream parlor, so we all headed there.  Another good day.

Five month old news

 

Oh dear, I just noticed I have a draft page from January!  Oops!!  I have no clue why I gathered this assortment of photos and stuck them in the "draft", but I'm sure I originally had a very clever way of weaving all these photos together.  It eludes me five months later.  So let's just look at sweet Niki!!  She is so precious - look at her with Zoe, how they are best friends and never tire of one another.

Then we have Michael, whose team won a tournament, probably in January.  Michael was named MVP of the tournament and got to keep the team plaque as a result.  He looks so tall, eh?  Must be the George Sprague genes (I never tire of saying that).

Finally, we have Elizabeth, who had invited her two closest friends to go to the mall for a couple of hours to walk around, with me as the chauffeur (and person who was instructed to stay very far behind them when at the mall - and also not to speak while driving the girls to and from Lexington).  I was more than happy to oblige, although I did lose a few years of my life when I lost the three at the mall - those Brahmin purses were just so tempting to look at and then when I turned around, the girls were just gone.  I admit this happened twice, so I clearly didn't learn my lesson, but it all worked out in the end, and Elizabeth thought it gave her additional ammunition for her perpetual plea for a phone.

e

A little work, a little play

Elizabeth represented Finland this past week during her school's Parade of Nations event, which involves a poster presentation to her class and an evening event for all students and parents.  Although it was in the 80s outside in Georgetown, she was true to her country's weather and wore her winter garb for a couple of hours while explaining Finland's habitat, pasttimes, and geography.  She worked hard on her project for several weeks and her effort paid off: After she gave her class presentation, her teacher e-mailed me, telling me how proud she was of Elizabeth's spectacular work ...400/400 points!

Meanwhile, Michael's basketball career is over for the season and he's back with his soccer team.  Today the 4 of us (sans puppies) traveled to Indiana to watch him play.  Apparently soccer is like riding a bike and you never forget how to do it; you'd never know this was his first game in 8 months.  He played most of the game, which ended in a 3-3 tie.  (Lame officials.)   The first photo reminds me of the "Airplane" game that kindergarteners play! 

What the hail

My kids loved the book "Wacky Wednesday" (do you remember it?) and it sure was a bizarre one this past week.  Hail arrived out of nowhere, destroying all plants, tulips, and pansies in sight.  Elizabeth and Michael thought it was absolutely delightful, and Elizabeth took pictures through the open door (imagine freeeeeeeeeeezing cold temperatures coming in through a wiiiiide-open door) for your viewing pleasure.




On another note, UK is in the championship game of the NCAA tournament!  In 27 hours, they will be the reigning team!!  Go UK!