Memorial Day

Let me start by saying the tree stump is no more. Yeah!!! I called a tree service and they took care of it while I was a work. What fun to come home and see the problem gone. As an aside - have you ever tried to take a picture of 4 little girls at once? What a mess. I have tried over and over again and still someone looks funny. There does seem to be a theme involving one particular child - you guess which one.

On Saturday Grace had her last soccer game and then a potluck brunch for all the families to celebrate the season. Unfortunately they lost but Grace played well. Grace will move up to the U-10 (under 10) division in the fall. This means a new coach and going from once a week to twice a week practices. We have seen Grace take big steps forward in her confidence and ability and think she is ready. Hannah says she will start in the fall. After two failed attempts I think she is now more than ready and the third time will be the charm.

Removing the stump was the first step in our weekend dome build. My parents and my brother Drew and his daughter Emily arrived on Sunday to help us build the dome (or as the girls referred to it the dume) and get it into place. This involved a lot of work where the tree stump once was located. As you can see from the picture even Rachael helped with some racking. After the dome was built and the location prepared the guys put down 14 bags of rubber mulch. This should last a long time and cushion any falls. Once everything was finished the kids arrived like locust. Attached are a few pictures of our kids playing on it. This was my mom’s idea and gift. As always she was right, it is a hit.

On Monday we took Drew and Emily out to lunch at The Regatta. (My parents had to go home Sunday night or we would have included them – I promise we didn’t leave them home alone.). The restaurant has outside dinning on a pond with HUGH gold fish and ducks and is conveniently located next door to a great bookstore – Joseph-Beth Booksellers. The girls enjoyed eating al fresco and feeding the ducks the bread and French fries they didn’t. They saw many baby ducks and one mother duck on at least 20 eggs. After lunch we went to the YMCA and enjoyed the pool for several hours. After sending Drew and Emily home we attended a neighborhood cookout. We have a lot of great neighbors with kids Hannah and Grace’s age – it really makes us glad we bought this house. It is similar to the neighborhood I grew up in and that was the best. I just wish my kids had the woods at the end of the street like I did.

You Win Some You Lose Some

The theme of this weekend was soccer. Grace's team (the Cheetah's) had a game on Saturday and one on Sunday. The head coach was out of town so Craig as the assistant coach was in charge for both games. On Saturday the girls won and played a great game. Grace scored one goal that was taken away because the referee said the goalie had possession. The goalie wasn’t even close enough to touch the ball! Grace’s teammate had taken a shot and it didn’t go in but Grace was in position and just tapped it in. I told her it counted as far as I was concerned. She scored a second goal that was a beautiful kick with the ball sailing in over the goalie’s head. It was pretty and counted!

Sunday’s game was tough. They played the top team. This team has several very talented players and they played dirty and have learned how to act to get a penalty kick when our team isn't even near them or the ball. Several of our players were hurt. Grace took an elbow to the chest but kept on playing. The Cheetah's lost but almost all played their best and you can't ask for more than that.

I have attached pictures from the game. I still haven’t mastered capturing Grace while she has a great play. Hannah and Rachael are not the best spectators but as you can see they find something to do.

This weekend Craig worked on removing a large tree stump. The more he digs the more roots he finds. These roots are as big as trees themselves. Dynamite seems like the answer at this point but I don’t think the city would approve.

On Sunday we attempted to take a family bike ride. We recently purchased a bike trailer (see picture) for Craig’s bike. The plan was for Rachael to ride on this while Hannah and Grace rode their bikes. Rachael was her true stubborn self (I have no idea where she gets that) and would not ride on the trailer. Hannah decided to ride on it and it worked great for her and Craig. Grace was fine on her own bike. Rachael was, well stubborn. She will not pedal backwards to brake. Her preferred method is either to drag her feet or turn onto the grass. She won’t ride up or down hills (her idea of a hill is anything that is not perfectly flat.) We got to Nana and Papa’s house and I had enough. Rachael and I turned around and went home. I wonder if she would ride in one of those trailers that the child sits in? I hesitate to spend the money and have her refuse to sit in it!

Mother's Day

We celebrated Mother's Day this year by going to Cincinnati. The weather was perfect and the girls enjoyed spending time with Ohma, Hampa, Uncle Drew, Emily and Polly (Pug.) The attached photos show the girls playing together on my parent's deck. They "posed" for the first picture and then asked to take a "silly picture." My camera lesson for this weekend is to pay more attention to the shadows!

Daisies and Brownies

On Friday May 11 Hannah’s Daisy troop had a bridging ceremony for all girls to become Brownies. We have watched Hannah’s confidence grow throughout this year and we believe the Daisy troop (and her leader) is a contributing factor to that growth. Hannah was not happy that she had to wear a dress but she was adorable. The picture shows Hannah and her good friend Kendall with their new Brownie pins.

Last week was also the last meeting of Grace's brownie troop. Grace's troop is a "co-op" troop which means the mothers take turns running the meeting. The last meeting was mine. We completed the art to wear badge by painting t-shirts, making masks, beading bracelets and painting faces. Grace asked me the night before if I was going to embarrass her and I think in the end I didn't.

Introduction

After reading my brother-in-law Dan's blog I thought he was on to something. This looks like a great way to share with relatives across the country. So here I am trying out this blog thing. If you have seen Dan's site please lower your expectations. I do not have his writing skills, exciting life, or exotic chickens but I do have 3 cute girls and I take lots of pictures. Hopfully the photos will make up for my grammar skills.

Fire Station

On April 28th Rachael, Grace and I joined Hannah and her Daisy troop as they visited a local Fire Station. It was a good opportunity for the girls to see a Firefighter in his full regalia. The girls enjoyed learning about the fire trucks and ambulances. When an EMT asked if the girls had any questions the only one to raise their hand was Rachael. I think the girls’ favorite was to see the firefighters go down the pole. Grace was mad that she didn’t get to try it out.