Day off for everyone

Spurred by Laura's e-mail asking for an update and the fact that I am tired of transferring "Make blog entry" on my list of things to do week after week after week, I am writing this post instead of grading papers about - ironically enough - procrastination. 

As we know, basketball is a big deal in Kentucky.  The high school Sweet Sixteen tournament is a huge deal in Kentucky.  Scott County (Georgetown) traditionally has a fairly good team (this year Scott County lost in the finals to a private school out of Louisville.)  Apparently so many Scott County teachers - and students - would skip the Friday of the tournament in order to watch the games that the School Board decided to make that Friday a professional development day for the teachers.  That way the teachers and students could go to the games without having to pay for substitute teachers or having low attendance rates for that day.  Crazy but true.  And don't get me started on how most people don't want a second desperately-needed high school in Scott County because then the athletes would be split up across the 2 schools and we'd no longer be a sports powerhouse - oh no!  Who cares about the 38-student classrooms, at least we have some shiny trophies!

Thus, last Friday E&M didn't have school, Steven took a vacation day, and I was on Spring Break (Zoe and Niki were hanging out with no place to go as usual).  So we made it a Family Day.  Steven and I thought Family Day meant the four humans would hang out together and be a family.  Elizabeth and Michael convinced us that Family Day meant the parents chauffeur them around Lexington with one of their friends, in separate cars.  And of course separate tables at Applebee's during lunch.  So E's friend Andrea spent the night with us, and Stephen Jasper (M's best friend) came over Friday morning and the 6 of us went to Lexington (apparently puppies aren't included in Family Day).  The kids played laser tag, ate out, and ran errands (thank goodness the parents get to drive the vehicles or that last one likely wouldn't have happened).  Then E spent that night at Andrea's and attended a UK softball game Saturday, while Stephen, Steven, Michael, and I went to Frankfort to watch the GC women's basketball team in the national NAIA tournament.  The women have advanced to the Final Four - we have gone to all the tournament games and will go to the game tonight as well (do not report us to Child Services for abandoning our children, I'm sure they will have plenty of homework to do to keep them busy).  It is just so lucky that the tournament is in Frankfort, KY of all places this year.  Michael had 3 basketball games this weekend and they were undefeated Saturday after 2 games, but then lost Sunday morning so that was the end of the tournament.  I love watching him play basketball so very much.  So that's what our weekend was like and now I will start grading those papers.  Perhaps.

Christmas 2011

Our first Christmas as a family of 6 was splendid.  Lots of rest, relaxation, sleep, and laziness (Michael "I sleep until 11 a.m. each day" suggested the last one).  Mom spent three days with us, full of a 1000-piece puzzle, good food, and basic hanging out.  We also spent a day with Steven's family (Zoe and Niki were thrilled to explore all the nooks and crannies at Aunt Angie's and play with their 2 dogs). 
 Matthew survived his first semester at GC and is still smiling (thank goodness; that first semester can be so tough).  This year was the first year E and M created the Christmas village without any parental supervision (only one figure was beheaded, and I think that was actually Steven's fault).  E and M had lots of sleepovers and get-togethers with friends (read: Karyn made a lot of pancakes over the holidays).

Zoe and Niki continue to enrich our lives.  They loved being out of their crates all day long while everyone was on vacation and only ate 5 of the Christmas decorations.  Not bad for two puppies' first Christmas.  Mom has been slow to warm up to the puppies, but we were proud of her when she progressed to letting Zoe on her lap.  Unfortunately, Zoe thanked Grandma by licking Grandma's mouth, which made Grandma shriek. 

Thank you to everyone who sent the children gifts.  Michael loves the mini football helmets (especially when he beats me at the apparently-you-get-to-make-the-rules-up-as-you-go game we play) and the legos (who knew 1000 tiny seemingly random plastic pieces could form such coherent structures?).  Elizabeth will need thumb surgery within a year if she continues texting and game-playing on her new ipod touch at the same rate.  She was also excited to finally get the jewelry and bag she selected at a fair trade market on campus a couple of months ago.  It really was such a happy Christmas, although we missed being with my siblings and their families and hope that changes next year.

Out with the Old, In with the New

Left: Zoe, Harley, Niki

Right: JarJar, Zoe, Niki

After 2 years on the market, 100 Gateway Path is no longer ours. Yay!!!!!!   Happily, the same weekend we closed on the house, we also got our sweet little puppy Niki!!   Robin got her puppy JarJar (from Star Wars) the same day, so we met Jo at Robin's in northern Kentucky and had a puppy party. 

         Jake & JarJar              Cara & Niki; Elizabeth & JarJar            Vadim & JarJar

Jo brought the puppies' dad, Harley, who is also Zoe's dad.  The three puppies and their dad played and played (it seemed like a bit of roughousing to me, but apparently that's normal).  I swear Zoe remembered Harley and Jo - there was quite a bit of frenetic jumping involved by Zoe.  The puppies and Harley were so happy playing outside they didn't notice the cold like the rest of us did!  The pictures say it all (I assume the video footage says the same thing, but alas, I left the flip camera at Robin's) - how beautiful, how happy, how sweet they are.  And how lucky all of us are to have them in our lives.

Halloween

Michael was our superstar soccer player, Elizabeth was our superhero Batgirl.  They went trick-or-treating with friends in our neighborhood.  Steven and I passed out candy while sitting in the driveway (Zoe kept Steven warm, I had to rely on tea).  This was Zoe's first Halloween, and she absolutely loved all the children who pet her.  We were expecting hundreds and hundreds of kids, so we bought almost 1000 pieces of candy.  Apparently the throngs of children stop going door to door the street just before ours, as our street is slightly off the main road.  Oops.  My students are beginning to cringe when I walk into class with the Halloween bowl filled with hundreds of leftover pieces.  While many people stare at Steven in public because he is so very attractive, on Halloween people were staring at him because they were unnerved by his frightening wig (yes, that is him).  

We're Expecting!!!!

Although we have known for a while, surely none of you are more surprised than we were, trust me.  We were shocked when it was confirmed.  But it is true - we are expecting a little one!  Close your mouths, we are not THAT old, for crying out loud!  We cannot wait to hear the patter of little feet once again on the hardwood floors and we will not mind the middle of the night waking ups at all.  Everyone in our family is excited.  We talk about it all the time, you can imagine.  This is such a good thing for our family. We look forward to how everything will once again be different - our daily routines, our travel plans, our cart's contents at the grocery store, everything!

We just loved our first little girl so very much, right from the first instant, it seemed like a good time to have another.  We didn't think much about the decision once our minds were made up, and we have never looked back.  We talked about names forever and finally came up with one we all agreed on (for the most part, that is; read: no one responded with "I cannot stand that name," which was good enough for us).  The little girl will be named Nicky.

That's right - Zoe will have a little sister soon.  November 5th - mark your calendars!!  We cannot wait. Steven is out right now buying new leashes and toys and blankets.  Nicky is Zoe's younger sister (they have the same parents in Ohio; Steven was randomly looking at Zoe's family's website, saw that a new litter had just been born, and was immediately on the phone with Jo, the kind, generous woman from whom we got Zoe).  Zoe was born in February 2011 and Nicky was born in September.  So add another name to the list of fabulous relatives born in the fall (i.e. Steven and Laura). 

WELL ... did you heart stop for a moment?  Were you surprised?  Did you see the photo too soon and realize what was going?  Isn't she beautiful?  We are counting down the days until we get to see Zoe with her little sister and watch them interact. Zoe will be such a sweet, protective, loving older sister (like Elizabeth is to Michael).

Even more fantastic is the fact that Robin is adopting one of Nicky's brothers, so they will get to grown up together (sort of). We're having a puppy party at Robin's house (with Jo) the day we get to keep the puppies ... one week from today!! Stay tuned for additional photos.

Zoe with Elizabeth and Michael

Okay, so this clip is a couple of months old at this point, but I ran across it on my computer and just love it.  Puppies are so happy and they make others happy.  So make your day happier and watch this sweet little puppy running around.  Then you'll understand why Elizabeth and Michael keep asking for another one and why we sometimes consider their request.  (It's windy outside - I'm not being a creepy heavy breather.)

Random

Elizabeth let me know that it's been two months since I posted something and that is lame.  Apparently if you have a blog, you need to blog.  So here I am, without any major news, just random tidbits of family information.  Michael has had an excellent season of soccer.  Last Saturday he played offense and scored 2 of the team's goals as well as 1 assist to his best friend Stephen during their 6-2 win.  Sunday he switched to defense, and his team won 2-1.  I am thrilled to be able to finally watch him play.  Notice his cool-looking shoes, the result of an away game shopping trip after Michael realized he forgot to pack his cleats ... and shin guards.

Elizabeth is her usual social self and middle school is fabulous (she might not exactly use that term, but I'm sure her description would be close) - she joined the drama team, does a lot with the youth group at church, and last night had her school chorus recital.  $50 for anyone who can spot her in the photo.  She was the family representative and Carola's date for the Catholic Church's 50 year celebration mass last month; the next day, Mom came to Winchester to watch Michael play soccer and then we all ate together.  Only Zoe was missing. 

Steven was excited to finally convince me to get a rain barrel for our yard.  Aesthetically it may leave a lot to be desired, but Steven's joy in going green could not be denied.
I've been presenting material to various groups; this is the part of my job I love. In the past 2 weeks, I presented information to freshmen, to a women's dorm residents, and to students at UK.  Monday I give a presentation to the Women Leaders group on campus (and should be working on it now, but the guilt of no blog postings won over). And oh yeah, I got to see both Robin AND Kathy this week (insert joy and excitement here).

This photo is from Robin's house last year, but it'll stay on the blog until Robin sends me the photo she took this year (no pressure, Robin).

Zoe is as precious as ever.  She could not be more loved by our family.  I'll post a short video of her and Steven playing tug of war.  While I realize it might not be interesting for you to watch, I can't do a post without including her.  Such is the life of a parent, eh?  Okay, no time for the 5-hour loading of a video right now; maybe tomorrow.......check back - you know you want to!!  And now it's here (loaded it at work because apparently my computer at home is not as good as the one at work - who would have EVER thought THAT??).

Wish you were here - if you'd been with us earlier this month, you could have attended the Festival of the Horse Parade - lots of interesting sights and slightly frightening smells.