Queen City

Sebastian had a meet in Cincinnati this past weekend. The host gym was Queen City Gymnastics... a very well-coached and super-talented team! It was a BIG meet. It took a LONG time to get through SIX events (equalling 12 rotations - 2 flights per event... sigh). Their check-in time was 5:00pm. We walked out of the building sometime around 11:00pm. Late.

Sebastian did a GREAT job! He's so talented and loves this sport so much! It is such a joy to watch him! He started on floor... had to step out of his handstand at the very beginning, but picked right back up and went on. Plus, he did both of his bonuses this time (a press to handstand and a round-off back handspring)!! Yea!!

Pommel horse actually went very well. Mushroom (a secondary part of pommel horse for the lower levels) did not. But oh well. Pommel horse is a tough event anyway. He'll get it.

Rings and Vault he scored a 15.0 on both! And he scored near a 15 (14.7 maybe?) on high bar.

And on Parallel Bars!! Oh my word! He looked incredible! And his score... 15.5!!! Out of 16.0! Fabulous! I thought I'd share his Parallel Bar routine with you. (Turn the volume down, I have a loud mouth! *lol*)



The results:
Floor: 9th place
Rings: 7th place
Vault: 3rd place
P. Bars: 1st place!!!
H. Bar: 9th place
AA: 9th place

He is already looking forward to his next meet! He is sure that he will do better on both floor and pommel horse, and he has set a goal for himself to win parallel bars at every meet this year. I think he can do it!!

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Grandpa's Girl

Friday means new releases at The Lilypad! This week, I actually had a chance to scrap (late at night after the kids went to bed) one layout. I used new goodies from Allison Pennington and Jenna Desai, as well as some of my favorite alphas from CD Muckosky. *love*



These are photos of Meagan and Grandpa H. from our train ride last October. I love the expressions on their faces. You can just tell by looking at these pictures that they're buddies.

(Click here to view full layout credits)

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Project Life 2012: Week 2

Finally finished up my second week of Project Life! I got a bit behind with all of last week's events, so I took one day earlier this week to try to get caught up a bit. I resurrected my *ancient* photo printer... ancient as far as technology goes... I think it's at least 5 years old. Probably more. The last time I remember using it, it was to print out photos from a day trip when Meagan was just 1 year old!! It still works pretty well! And having the ability to print the photos right here without the waiting and running to pick them up helped me to just get it done. Love that!

So here's week 2. I have yet to regain my paper-scrapping comfort zone, so I am still keeping it pretty simple. Maybe as I get my groove back, I'll fancy it up a bit. Or maybe not. I think one of the things i like about this project is the ability to get it done pretty quickly without much fuss. I'll save my digital pages for those layouts I want to fancy up a bit.

Here's the 2-page spread:


Left side close-up:


Right side close-up:


I also added a few 8 1/2 x 11 pockets to hold the kids' report cards. If I ever get around to actually setting up a school album for them, I'll pull these out and move them to that album, but at least for now they won't get lost.


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First things First!

What a week we had last week! I spent a good chunk of my time running back and forth between home and downtown Indy for the Circle of Stars meet that our gym hosted this past weekend. Thursday was set-up, and the meet ran Fri-Sun. I was there every single one of those days. For hours. And hours. But it was good.

Meagan competed Sunday afternoon/evening. She had to be there at 3:15. I think we left the parking garage around 8:00. I was a LONG day.

But she did great!



First event... beam. Eh, okay. She had one fall... that sillly handstand has gotten her twice now in competition. She scored an 8.0. On to floor. Floor was a train wreck of sorts. She didn't make her bridge kick-over, and so the rest of her routine sort of fell apart from there. *sigh* 7.6 on floor.

Vault was next. She runs like a mad woman... that's good! And she hits the board with power... also good! Problem is, she has a tough time controlling her momentum, so she ends up taking steps at the end to stop herself from launching into the wall. *lol* Still, even with the steps, she scored an 8.6 on vault. Pretty good!!

Bars was last. Never know what you're going to get on bars. She has the ABILITY to do the whole routine, but I had only ever known her to make one of the elements ONE time in practice. Ever. And she certainly did NOT make it during warm-ups. And in warm-ups, she flew off of the bar on her dismount and bounced on her booty. She got up and announced "I'm Okay!!" for the whole gym to hear. *smile* So we weren't really sure what to expect when she mounted the bar.

But... she totally shocked us all. That child turned in the best performance of her life! She MADE her middle circle (the element she has only ever done once) like a PRO! Her form was amazing... there were none of the bent legs she usually has. And she not only did her dismount without the butt-bounce, but she STUCK that puppy! It was beautiful! I almost cried! Even before I saw her score, the tears were threatening. And when her score was posted, all of our parent friends who were sitting around us started cheering for her... she got a 9.0!! Her first score ever to break out of the 8's (or 7's or 6's for that matter). I was SO beyond proud of her! She did so great!


As we were walking over to the awards room, she squeezed my hand and said, "Mommy, I think a 9.0 is pretty close to first place." I wasn't sure it WAS first place, so I said, "It just might be, baby girl." and left it at that.

So here's how awards went for her...

6th place on vault


1st on bars!!!


and 6th AA


Considering that this meet had teams from Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, and on and on, I'd say 6th place AA was pretty good! We were all so super proud of her!

And a bonus, John Roethlisberger (a former US Olympian) was on of the announcers for awards, and Sebastian had the chance to meet him face to face. As John walked away, Sebastian looked at me and almost whispered "That was COOL."


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Just in case you're wondering where I've disappeared to...

This weekend is Circle of Stars, which is a meet that our gym hosts. It's a big deal, as it's one of the qualifying meets for the Nastia Liukin Cup. We've been planning and prepping for quite some time. Set-up was yesterday, and the meet starts first thing this morning. Meagan competes Sunday evening. I'm working at the meet today and tomorrow, as well as during Meagan's session. So this will be a LOOOOOOONG weekend, and I will be MIA. I'll try to get back in the swing of things after this weekend. I just wanted to let you know I've not fallen off the face of the earth.

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Project Life 2012: Week 1

I'm still getting used to doing this whole thing with paper. Feels weird, being a digital scrapper and all. But so far I think I like it.

And I did get week 1 done! I think I like how it turned out. I'm hoping that as the year goes on, I'll get a better feel for this and maybe get a little more creative. OR maybe not. Whatever. My real goal in doing this project is just simply to document daily life for the year. And to have something immediately tangible to flip through and look at. That's huge for me.

Anyway... my week 1:



An up-close look at the left side:


That top right picture is the ceiling of part of the Children's Museum in Indianapolis. It's covered with beautiful glass pieces, and they have an I-spy sort of deal set up where you have to find different glass pieces in the big sea of glass and color. Very cool deal.

And a close-up of the right side:


I attatched a Smash pocket that I had in my craft stash and used it to store letters from our sweet friends Val and Carrie. Getting those sweet notes is definitely a highlight of our first week of 2012, and it deserves a place in the album.

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Let's Eat In!

Well, I had tossed around the idea of posting recipe cards here on this blog, but it felt too jumbled and confusing to me. I decided to start up a new blog that is dedicated solely to my efforts to eat in more and eat out less. It's called Let's Eat In. I'll attempt to document my journey through 2012 as I try to get away from the drive-thru and into the kitchen. I've added a permanent link to the blog in the top right corner of this blog... Also, it's been added to my blog list to the right, a bit further down. If you want to check it out, please do! Follow me, or add me to your Network Blog list and updates will post on Facebook. Pretty easy!

So, I'll probably be moving my recipes and such over to that blog in the future. Plus, I'll be sharing lots of other recipes, tips, and feedback there. I'm hoping that maybe taking the time to document this journey will maybe help someone else feel inspired to eat in too!

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Why I hate religion... but love Jesus

So much truth and purity and beauty in this. Makes my heart fill with worship for Him.

Today - 1st Digi Dare of the year

The first Digi Dare of 2012 is up, and I love this one! The focus is on a one word focus for 2012. I admit, I didn't really give this a lot of thought. But then again, I don't think I really needed to. I think I just knew what my focus for the year needs to be. TODAY. I want to focus on the present. It's the only thing we have guaranteed, and it should not be wasted worrying about what has yet to come. More than that, though. Not just to be present in the moment and enjoy today, but also to do the most with today that I can. If this is the only day I may ever have left, how would I live it? With passion and purpose, I hope. What better focus to have for the year than to practice living each day with passion and purpose? So for me, this is my word. TODAY.


Quote: "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present." -from Kung Fu Panda

(Click here to view full credits)

Hope you'll come play along with us this week for the dare! This week's sponsor is Karah Fredricks... I adore her, and her amazing designs! It's worth a few minutes of your time to give this one a try, trust me!!

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Recipe Box

I thought I'd try something new for 2012.... a recipe box so to speak. Because I know so many of us struggle with what to make for dinner, as well as having the time to actually MAKE the dinner, I thought some 4x6 recipe cards of the meals we eat as a family might be helpful. I'll share meals that are pretty easy and don't take centuries to prepare, as well as some helpful tips for time management to make dinner-making less of a dream and more of a possibility.

This was dinner for us last night:

Grilled Chicken Salad

TIME: about 35 minutes (only because of making the hard boiled eggs), otherwise, 5 minutes
TIPS: I made the chicken ahead of time... diced it and cooked it through. Then cooled it and froze it until I was ready to use it. I took about an hour on one weekend afternoon and prepped a bunch of chicken all at the same time... some diced cooked, some trimmed for chicken breasts, some trimmed for chicken fingers. Then I froze each type and labeled it for easy identification. For this meal, I took the chicken out of the freezer a day ahead and put it in the fridge. Then, just before adding it to the salad, I warmed it in a skillet (with a lid) with a bit of water and some italian seasoning. SUPER easy and quick for throwing a meal together in a hurry.I also made the eggs ahead of time and kept them in the fridge until I was ready to slice them and throw them on the salad.

Parmesan Breadsticks

TIME: 20 minutes (including oven preheat time and bake time)
TIP: I knew I wouldn't have the 20 minutes to spare for dinner time, so I made these before leaving to pick the kids up from school. Once they cooled, I but them in a container to keep them fresh, then warmed them in the microwave for just a few seconds before serving. I prefer them fresh from the oven, but this is a doable alternative when time is short.

Double Stuffed Potatoes

TIME: 15 minutes start to finish

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would you believe it!

After MONTHS. I mean, really. Months. Of waiting for this door to be fixed. And all the residual stuff (i.e. floor, trim, paint) to be taken care of properly. Months.

Today, finally finally, the finishing touches were put on the trim and the door. The nail holes have been filled. The trim has been patched. The door has been painted inside and out. It looks......nice. We no longer have an eye sore in our dining area.

*HAPPY DANCE*

I'm thinking we might finally be able to put this baby to rest. Move on. New year, new door.

(Is it sad that this is one of the major highlights of my day?)

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Other highlights...

* Meagan and her friend had a tea party with her new tea set. Water in the tea pot, banana muffins, and apple slices with Goober peanut butter and chocolate. mmmmmm.....

which leads to another highlight...

* I made banana muffins today. I had 3 VERY ripe bananas that were at the use-it-or-lose-it stage. So I printed off a recipe that I found online... a recipe that doesn't require anything fancy. No wheat germ. No buttermilk. Just the basics. And they were delish! Mini muffins are the best!

* I got a lot of laundry done today. Yes, that's a highlight. I thought it might be time to commence with laundering when I overheard this conversation this morning:

Sebastian: Isaac, I'm out of pants. Do you have any I can borrow?
Isaac: Yeah, if you don't mind wearing my football pants.
Sebastian: Uuuuh..... I think I'll just get some out of the hamper.

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in pictures

I love the whole idea of documenting life in pictures. I love capturing every-day moments and truths of who we are and how we live... the in and out of daily routine is colored by the little nuances that make each moment unique.

This year, so far, has been uneventful by many standards. We spent the first day of the year lounging around the house. Other than peeling myself up every now and then to play a game with Meagan or to make a meal (barely... does Fruity Pebbles count as lunch?), I mostly just laid around and tried not to feel as bad as I felt. But moments like this one helped...


(Meagan staged a comeback and beat me at the Lego dragon pyramid game.)

Monday, day 2 of 2012, Lucas took the day off of work. We woke up to snow and bitter cold weather. But I was feeling quite a bit better than the day before, so we decided to venture out. It was our first day out of the house and DOING something since the start of Christmas break it seems. We spent entirely too much time trading turns being sick. Blech. Anyway, we took the kids to the Children's Museum to see the frogs while they're still on exhibit. I, however, forgot my camera. I do have several photos that I took with my cell phone, but alas, they are still trapped on said cell phone. So, imagine some frogs. And smiling kid faces.

Moving on. :)

Today we said good-bye to Christmas and officially put every last trace of holiday decorating away in the corner of the basement where it will wait until next Christmas. It feels SO nice to have the living room back to normal. It almost feels empty after having been so cramped and crowded for over a month. The kids were in charge of de-ornamenting the tree. Wow. I had to break up more than a few arguments over who would put which ornaments away. Really? *sigh* Too many consecutive days together with no real break. They're ready for some new scenery and new faces to look at I do believe.



And finally FINALLY today, my Christmas gift from Lucas arrived!!! He got me the Clementine Project Life kit and album, and it is just as beautiful as I had imagined it would be! I am so excited to give this a go for 2012. The Clementine kit just makes me feel all warm and happy. I'm happy. I sat in front of the fire tonight and caught up on the first few days of the year. Hopefully, and in theory, I'll be able to keep up with this daily. Here's to hoping I find my rhythm and don't fall behind. Falling behind is bad news for me.



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catching up and starting over

Although I seriously fell of the Project 365 train in 2011, I am determined to get back up and plow through. I WANT an album of our year. No exceptions. No excuses. I am really working hard on getting caught up. So far, I'm on week 15. Yeah, I know...

My plan is to print the album in two volumes... in 2 26-week increments. Otherwise, the album will be too big - too many pages for online printing companies to accommodate. And since I'm not willing to leave stuff out, 2 albums is my best solution.

Here's what I've done in the past few days. Seems having lots of down time for sickness can prove to be a pretty effective method for getting lots of scrapping done. That's a plus.

Week 10:

My birthday, some nice weather for outside play time, and a trip to Indiana for our home inspection. The kids' first time seeing the new house.



Week 11:

St. Patrick's Day, a trip to Grandma and Grandpa's, a school music program, and a farewell party with friends.



Week 11 Extras:

There were way too many photos of the music program and the friend party to not devote a special page to each. These were some of the kids' last memories made in Ohio before having to say goodbye to the school and friends they had come to love so much.



Week 12:

Moving day, sleeping in empty houses, a family date at Pizza Hut, and the few last moments with friends before leaving.



Week 13:

Lots of boxes. New house. New school. New new new.



Week 14:

A trip to the park and a peek at the train museum. A new tree and some grass! And lots of How to Train Your Dragon.



Week 15:

A rocket launch. Warm-ish weather. The return of gymnastics to our lives.



Week 15 HOUSE PICS:

And a peek at the progress made in our home so far. We've tried really hard to make it livable for the kids in all the major areas that will matter to them. Still lots to do, but it's a start.




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As for the 'starting over' part of the title... it's the first day of a new year, and I am starting this endeavour all over again. This year I will be using Becky Higgins' Project Life. You can find a link to Becky's blog in my blog list to the right. I'm thinking I'll try this approach for 2012 and see how it goes. I'm sure I'll tweak it here and there to make it work for me. And that's fine. The only thing that really matters is that my kids have an album to look back at to remember the finer details of daily life around here. Because it's all the little moments that we stand on, and that move us forward to the next big moment.

If you haven't committed to doing something like this, but think you might be interested in giving it a try, PLEASE do! There's no pressure for perfection. It really is just about capturing life just the way we live it. Anything is better than nothing. If you're not sure where to start, Becky's blog would be a great resource. And there's a whole forum section at TLP devoted to Project Life. Come check it out, and jump on in!!

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the saga continues...

We just can't seem to get our act together around here. Just when I thought maybe we were turning the corner, Meagan got hit with another round of stomach bug, and I got slammed with a fever and head cold / flu junk that just won't let go. I've been running a low-grade fever for four straight days. No fun.

That being said, we DID go out for New Year's Eve last night! We were all just tired of being couped up. So we used a Texas Roadhouse certificate we got as a Christmas gift. Meagan and I got on 'fancy' dresses (both made of cotton, so not SO super fancy, but it was still fun to get dressed up). We called ahead (thank God!), so when we got to the packed-to-overflowing restaurant, we only had to wait about five minutes for our table. Love! And we had a very nice dinner together as a family! My favorite part... sitting next to my husband... and while we were sitting there waiting, he grabbed my chair and scooted me closer to him just so he could be near me. I love that. *mushy girly sigh*

We came home, got comfy, and laid in front of the fire, watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2. Meagan crashed about half way through the movie (and slept until 10:00 this morning). The boys stayed up until midnight. They thought it was creepy that people on tv all started kissing at 12:00. *lol* And Sebastian said Lady Gaga is even creepier than Justin Bieber *double lol*

So one more day of laying around and trying t get better.

And a very few pics from last night... (I finally got around to downloading the pictures off of my camera... almost 350 pictures... I still had stuff on there from Isaac's birthday 2 weeks ago).


The boys got lightening bug jars from Grandma and Grandpa H. for Christmas. They drive the cat NUTS! Isaac named his Verde because he got the green one.


He was TRYING to make the goofiest faces possible. Of course he was. He's a boy.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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