I ♥ Faces~PINK~ Week

Who else would I put up for PINK week then my daughter Ryan, a.k.a Pinkie. As soon as I heard about this one I thought about her first day of ballet when she was two. This is one of my favorite shots of her. It was taken through the glass from 30 feet away so it looks a mess but I love the expression on her face and I always wonder what she's thinking. Editing did wonders for this shot but I think the PINK remains in tact. Head on over to I ♥ Faces to see all this weeks entries. PINK was chosen in honor of breast cancer awareness month.

Cancer never sleeps and we need more then just one month to raise awareness of this awful disease!
Feel free to also check out my relay for life link.
Working together, everyday, to save lives.
Someday we WILL find a cure!

Jonesboro recap

Wow, what a weekend. Last weekend we had a swim meet with a 5:30 am wake up. We did the corn maze on Sunday afterward and I have yet to post those pictures. Here we are a week later and I need to post more updates, where did the week go?!

This weekend we had to split up again. Kevin had a football game on Saturday morning. Rob was doing the chains so he had football duty. I again went with the swimmers. I am looking forward to next weekend, no meets and I get to watch Kevin play!

Rob said the game was fantastic. Kevin got a lot of play time and they came so close to winning. Apparently the kids on this team were HUGE, remember the "oak tree"?? There were three on this weeks team. Oh, and they were undefeated-well, they still are undefeated. BUT, the Kell team gave them a run for their money. Way to go boys! Coach sent over this shot that someone took on Saturday.


The swimmers had a great meet as well. Considering they had a meet last weekend (back to back meets are for the birds) their times were really good. Most of thier results shaved time off their seeded times and are right about what they did last weekend. Oh yeah, and Ryan got a trophy. She came in 5th place overall for the 8 and under girls. This was a 14 and under meet so there were no 25's, just 50, 100 and 200's. She swam a TON but hung in there. It's really weird to hear people yelling, "go Pinkie" from all over the aquatic center. Folks from the other team were cheering her on today. What an awsome thing! She has so much spunk and is so stinking cute when she swims. She didn't do her breast stroke pull out yesterday, she said she wasn't comfotable doing it so I told her to do whatever she could to post a time. I didn't want her to panic on the block since this was her first 100 breast. Coach Karen asked later why she didn't do it and she said, "mommy told me not to". Whoa there girly, not my words. Anyways, she did the pullout today and shocked quite a few folks. I had people coming up to me saying that she really did a great job and that she looked fantastic. That was really neat. :)


Jared is working on his endurance and Coach says he's doing great. He's making new friends and is having so much fun. He is getting closer and closer to a state cut. Not sure if he'll make it this year but he's trying. He was 18th overall in points today-top 15 got a trophy. He was SO close :) Here's the recap:

Jared:
200 free-3.20.14 took 8 seconds off seed time
100 breast-1.52.35 took 5 seconds off seed time
50 fly-50.55 took 1 second off
100 back-1.41.35 took 6 seconds off
50 free-38.81 1 second over seed time
50 back-46.35 took 6 seconds off
200 IM-3.45.42 28 seconds off previous time
50 breast-50.68 took 3 seconds off seed time
100 free-1.36.24 right on seed time (1.36.29)
100 fly-1.51.93 took 6 seconds off

Ryan:
100 breast-new event, posted a 2.12.48
100 back-2.04.24 took 20 seconds off
50 free-51.34 took 5 seconds off seed time
50 back-57.47 took 7 seconds off
50 breast-1.02.05 took 14 seconds off
100 free- 2.01.63 took 22 seconds off seed time

Ryan with her first year round swimming trophy. I remember my first trophy...

Sunday Swim Update

Did I really wake up at 5:30 am or was I just dreaming all day? The kids swam so fast today it must have been a dream. First up was Ryan and her 25 free style. All summer she was dropping her times and I was hoping that she would break 20 seconds and she DID!! I went nuts, seriously nuts. Next time I act like that will be WHEN Jared makes state. He has decided this year that it's worth going (all his friends are making state cut times) so I guess we have something to work for now. Here is the recap of their times. NO DQ's this weekend-awesome!!
Out of the 17 events the kids did, only one, ONE, event was an added time and it was only (+.20)--that makes me so happy!

Ryan:
25 Free, 19.36-dropped 4 seconds! Woot Woot!!
50 Back 55.98-broke one minute-YAY!! dropped 9 seconds off her time
25 Breast 31.63-dropped 2 seconds.

Jared:
50 Free-right on his time (swam Friday and same thing on his time)
100 Back-1.39.18 dropped 8 seconds-awesome!
50 Breast-50.41-dropped 3 seconds
200 Free-3.22.00 dropped 6 seconds-wowza!

Great job guys! Let's see what next week brings out of Jonesboro. I'll have pictures from that pool, it's easy for the camera.

Saturday Sports Update

No pictures today, too hectic. Last night we started off with Jared swimming two events and me timing. Jared did well on his 50 free, right on his time. He also swam the 200IM to which he has never posted a time. I think he's tried it two or three times and he always gets a DQ. This time he posted a time which was very close to his friends seed times. I thought he did great!

This morning we had to split duties. Rob took Kevin to football in Canton and I took the swimmers to Mt. View. I H.A.T.E to miss my kids playing sports. It tore my heart out to not be there for him. Stupid schedule conflict. Kevin's team lost but he said he had a great time. He played defense for the first quarter and only one offensive play. Maybe he'll start next week...we will have to wait and see.

Jared and Ryan we up at oh-dark-30 for a 7am warm up. We had many guest appearances today, Grammy, Auntie Nancy, Mrs. Havird (Ryan's teacher) and her hubby Scott. Mrs. Havird used to swim for Gold so that was fun for everyone. Many thanks to everyone that came out to cheer on the kids! :)

Jared's times:
100 Free dropped off 2 seconds
50 backstroke dropped 5 seconds
100 breast right on his time (+.20) AND he was in a last heat.
50 fly dropped 4 seconds....AWESOME JOB today Jared!

Pinkie's times:
50 free dropped 14 seconds
25 back dropped 3 seconds
25 fly dropped 2 seconds AND was in the last heat (the fastest swimmers)
100 IM she dropped13 seconds....GREAT JOB PINKIE!!

Off to watch some football and catch a snooze!!!

Homecoming videos of Kevin

This video cracks me up. I love how excited Kevin gets at the line, watch him take his down...then he followed the play, great job Kevman.

This is Kevin and another Longhorn taking on the Oak. They had to double team him since he was so big! Kevy did stay with him though...

Another shot of Kevin and the oak. Loving the follow through!

one-one-oh baby!!

Kevin was lined up as a starter when the first game of the season rolled around. Due to rain the game was canceled and we didn't get to play. The next two weeks we were at Disney and Kevin didn't get to play. The following Saturday we were on the fields but Kevin lost his starter spot. He was so disappointed to only get to play 8 plays that game. We told him that he had to work twice as hard and double his efforts at practice. Last week was a bye week so he had plenty of time to show the coach he was ready to get his starter spot back. Today came and we were pretty sure that he was going to be a sub again since he didn't practice as a starter. But guess what?!? He ran in for the first play of the game!
We were so excited, he got to play the entire first quarter (and most of the rest of the game). Kevin kept looking back thinking the coach was going to pull him. He finally settled in and totally rocked the house. There was a kid on the other team, I kid you not, as big as Rob. He was H.U.G.E! Kevin called him the oak tree. I was taking all kinds of pictures and I actually caught one of Kev and another kid double teaming him-take a look:

Kev had an awesome play where runner fumbled the ball and Kevin made the recovery. Sadly the ground caused the fumble so it was a dead ball but it would have been a stellar play had the ball stayed in play. Way to be there Kevy!
When we got in the car on the way home he said it was the 1-1-0 that made the difference. I kept telling him after practice, "if the coach want's 100% from you, give him 110". Whenever he would look over at me I would give him a one-one-oh hand sign and he would thumbs up. He said it was the extra 10% that did it. Wow-he does listen! AWESOME! Here are some more shots of the boy, we are so proud of him!! :)


p.s. Kell lost 12-6 but as Kevin said in the car, "I won so much more today"...


look how he's watching that ball!

look at that hustle! Go Kev!

reviewing the plays...

heres a shot of the oak tree. Look at Kevin in the top left, great block dude.

will post video tomorrow, Auburn's on!

Changing colors

This is a fun post, our kids are now famous. Just kidding. They were chosen from a long list of qualified applicants to become web models for the Changing Colors website. Kidding again, Sorry. They really are models but the short list was really, really short ;) You have to know people I guess. hehehe

My girlfriend Eva owns a couple stores down in the Ft. Myers area. Years ago we met and each time we went into her store we talked a bit more. I know, I never talk, right? So anyways, she has this awesome store with really cool clothes, jewelry and nail polish. YES!! I L.O.V.E. nail polish!! We have such a hard time going into her store and finding shirts. One design is cuter then the other and it's so hard to make a choice. I think we own them all...seriously, no kidding here. In the shade the shirts are in black and white and in the sun they turn into full color. Super Cool! Go to her website and check it out. The kids pictures just got to Eva today so they will be up after her hubby works some technical magic. Stay tuned!

Ryan looked a bit stiff so I told her to, "put some sass into it". What do you think?

God willing and the creek don't rise...

What a mess. When I left for work this morning the little lake in my neighborhood was higher then I have ever seen it, up to the fishing dock. While I was driving in to work in Alpharetta I was getting a bit more concerned. The Noonday creek had flooded, the soccer fields were gone and things were looking pretty bad. I made it in to the office and sat there and listened to the POURING rain for about 5 hours. Rob called and said the middle schools were shutting down so I needed to figure out what was going on with our kids. We figured they wanted to move the MS up to 1:30 dismissal and keep the elementary and high school on their schedules for the buses.

I called Karen to find out what was going on and got no answer. I decided to leave work-allowing for plenty of time to get home for the bus. I got a call back from Karen that she had picked up her daughter and that I should do the same. Streets were closing and blocked by fallen trees. She warned me that the little lake was close to crossing the street...what!?! I decided to hang up when the thunder was hitting before the lightning. At a light I called Rob and warned him to come home then hung up to drive. The amount of rain on the road was unbelievable. It was white-capping on the street and I was throwing a wake behind the truck.

After a few road closures, downed trees and broken street lights, I made my way to school to get the kids. Since the road was washed out I wanted to get them and get back home before the little lake spilled over onto Day Lily, if that happened we would not be able to get back home. Rob had called and told me that he made it home but Day Lily may get flooded soon. I got the kids, took a weird way home and made it before the street got closed off. Not sure how it is out there. I don't think it's wise to be walking around.

Rob did get some pics while we were coming home. I also have video. Karen sent me some more pictures but for some reason they are very small. You should be able to click on them to see better. School is canceled for tomorrow and I am quite sure we won't be going anywhere. More then one neighborhood has a bridge or two washed out-gone-people stuck in their homes. What a mess. The forecast calls for rain for the rest of the week...

This is Mistflower, the lake usually drains into a creek that flows behind our house.

Here is the creek that is usually about 12 inches deep and about 3 feet wide. It stretches as far as we can see and is flooded over the tennis courts.

This is a picture from Karen, it shows the other side of the creek, the first side is in my back yard, the other side is halfway across the club house parking lot. All in all this is about 200 feet wide.

The courts are flooded...we just had them resurfaced a month ago.

another shot of the back yard....

Disney or Bust 2009

DISNEY 2009

Ryan LOVES the huge "rainbows" that greet you as you enter the parks. Her favorite is the one that you see from the main Disney road with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald. I tried to get that one but it didn't come out as good. I have to admit I love these signs too, it means we're there! :)

A few years ago we bought a My Pal Mickey. He talks to you, laughs, tells jokes and lets you know important information as you walk around the parks. He's an interactive wonder and the kids love him. Ryan was the keeper of the Mickey this year and even though some things were lost in translation, we all had a great time with him. This is on the tram ride into the park...he had something to say to Jared apparently. Mickey did have a slight mishap. He decided to stay on the Buzz Lightyear ride after we rode it and had to take a trip to the Lost & Found. We picked him up the next day and all was again right with the world. He is now sporting a new "leash" thanks to Gran. :)

At the train station-look at the bootiful Not-So-Scary decorations!

more decorations, I love Fall in Disney. I would LOVE to see Main Street decorated for Christmas. Put that on my bucket list...maybe someday.

Main Street USA
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE coming around the corner off the monorail and hitting Main Street---We're Here!!

Walt and Mickey

On the Jungle Cruise, one of my favorites. Very punny ride.

Be still my heart, it's Goofy!! The kids wanted in on the picture :)

After the boys and I rode Splash Mountain we went back and got Ryan for Thunder Mountain Railroad. She LOVED it. Afterwords, Rob decided to get her on Splash Mountain, I ran to fetch the camera from Gran. She did NOT love this ride. I wish the zoom came out, her face is priceless. Her grip on Rob is deathly and so was her attitude when she got off the ride. Opps, guess no more downhill drops for this little thrill seeker.

All is forgiven after the water ride, time to go find some more attractions.

Donald (Jared's favorite)...can you tell Kevin wasn't into it?

Kevin on It's a Small World, I love this picture. The other one of him holding his ears through the entire ride was funny, but he just looks so handsome in this shot.

Um, Ryan? Watch where you're driving. Just cause you hear the shutter open....

Jared driving solo. Oh dear.

After the Spectromagic parade they have a beautiful fireworks show, definitly worth waiting for in the crowd. I took this shot for mom-purple castle!!

We had a great week but now it's back to reality. Boo Hiss :)

I ♥ Faces-Contemplative

This is one of my favorite shots of Ryan ever. This summer we were at the top of Stone Mountain, everyone was running around looking at the views and she was just sitting there. I wondered what on earth was going through her little mind. I think it fits this weeks theme of "contemplative" perfectly...what do you think? Head on over to I ♥ Faces for more pictures on this weeks photo challenge.