My baby is 14?!?!?!

Usually Kendall has some kind of party on her birthday, but since she had a soccer tournament this weekend, we had the rare treat of having her all to ourselves on her big day. We took her to The Olive Garden (her fave) where you can see she enjoyed a giant plate of lasagna and of course the amazing salad & breadsticks. Ok, we all pigged out & loved it.

So, she's now 14 and I'm trying hard not to think about things like drivers permits, dating, and even graduation that's only 4 YEARS AWAY. Instead I'm trying to focus on how blessed I am to have such a sweet, kind, responsible & fun girl. The teenage years are supposed to be the tough ones, but I think they are GREAT! So far anyway. :)

A Challenge

This was me tonight..in my own mind..as I went for a run around the neighborhood. The perfect picture of health & fitness running effortlessly with a smile of joy upon my face. Ok, in reality I know I wasn't even close to graceful as I huffed, puffed & bumbled along, but with my treadmill out of commission for a while I finally swallowed my pride & took it outside (catch that rhyme?)

I managed to run for 35 minutes without stopping & felt so great afterwards that I really don't know why I don't do this every day. I've been doing an exercise video & the new Wii Fit thing, but nothing gives you the same "buzz" as a good run. So, I've given myself a new goal - to go for a run every day for a week. That's 7 days. Who wants to join me?? :D

A little quick post

If you are a reader of Kendall's blog, you may know that her soccer team has had a rough first half of the season. Most of their games have been really close, but they've ended up on the losing end more often than not. Well, last Thursday the Cyclones played awesome & were rewarded with a solid victory! I'm pretty sure it was thanks to this supreme combination of ballet, kickboxing & soccer skill by our own Kendall (who, by the way, reminds me constantly how many days she has left to be 13).

Hrmph

The luck of the blogger has not been with me lately. My internet was down for a few days after some lightning, and now that it's back I'm having some camera woes. Hopefully the camera issue will be resolved by tomorrow & I'll be back with pictures of girls with new haircuts with bangs and other exciting stuff!

Until then, let me at least offer this helpful tip. Always know where your bowl of chocolates is and make darn sure your dog can't reach it. We learned this lesson the hard way last weekend, and the ramifications were...well...quite discusting (as some of you were unfortunate enough to witness). You may think your peanut butter cups and hershey's kisses are safe on the end table....they're not. Be warned.

Hope everyone is enjoying the 3 NICE DAYS we've had in a row! :)

"Summer" Vacation!

So, I'm overdue for a new post & I hope I haven't lost my many, many (ha!) faithful readers to more interesting blogs. School's out (YAY!) and although it feels like October outside, we're gradually relaxing into the lazy days of summer. The mornings have DEFINITELY been lazy as I'm dragging the girls out of bed at 10:00. They're enjoying that while it lasts...which won't be much longer - heh heh.

Here are a few recent pictures. Nothing too exciting, but a glimpse into our first week of summer vacation.

Our first day at the cabin & a very brave Jenna in some ice cold water

wild women wielding wakes..er..rakes

new spring duckies (sorry, can't resist)

Jenna scored the only goal for the Rockets in last night's game!

Casey's buddy Millie came for a visit - enduring electrocution as she bolted out of her electric fenced yard. That's a true friend indeed.