First Day of School

Well the first day of school has come and gone along with the second and third days. My kids are glad tomorrow is Friday as they are wearing down. It is so hard to get back in the routine of getting to bed early and getting up early and not to mention having to stay after school for cross country and volleyball practice every night for Damon and Court. Makenna is so tired tonight that she asked to go to bed at 8:30....it was still daylight out so I know she is exhausted! This morning she asked me if she was done for the week and I told her one more day to go and she could sleep in on Saturday. All in all I think she is going to be ok. It is a huge adjustment going from precschool which was 2 1/2 hours 3 days a week to all day every day. I remember when Damon and Courtney went to kindergarten it was all day every other day and they were both so tired on that off day. Poor little Makenna doesn't get that break. Tonight was Open House night so we got to go in and see some of the things she has been doing this week and to meet parents of some of the other kids in the class. Here are some pictures I took on Tuesday morning before they all headed out the door.

My big girl......although she will always be my baby
My 6th grader Courtney

Sisters are forever and I'm so glad your mine!

Showing off backpacks

My Freshman.......ugh.......I'm not liking him going to high school at all :(

Momma and her baby girl

Makenna wanted to ride the bus the first day so Court said she was going with her as she didn't want her to go on the bus by herself. How sweet and overprotective is that?? Damon had me take him to school and I went to the primary building to wait on Makenna to get there.

First photo in Mrs. Jacob's Class

Until next time......

Maria

Good Times

Damon received 2nd place in the 14u Bring the Heat XC race on 7/25 and 6th place overall

Barr-Reeve 10u girls softball team 1st place at the Odon Tourney on 7/26

Mike, Court and I

Damon, Court and Makenna at Six Flags St. Louis on 7/31

Court, Makenna & Damon at St. Louis Zoo on 7/30

This picture taken at Six Flags on 7/31 after riding the Scooby Doo Ride

These swings are going to be so much fun!

Courtney feeding a bottle of milk to a little goat at Grant's Farm in St. Louis on 8/1

Makenna being attacked by a herd of goats at Grant's Farm.........I think she needs more bottles!

Damon has a friend for life

Wow! Where has the summer gone?? As I type this at 9:50 on 8/10 my kids are in bed waiting for tomorrow morning......the first day of school! I still can't believe how it can possibly be that time again. As I tucked my baby in bed I felt such emotion overcome me. She however is so excited about her first day of kindergarten and for that I'm excited for her too. It will be different tomorrow not having a child at home.....they really do grow up so fast. As Makenna starts her big day of kindergarten, Courtney moves on to 6th grade; the last of her elementary years, while Damon begins his Freshman year......the start of his high school journey. I pray that each day is full of happiness for them and that God protects them each step of the way. I'm sure I'll have more to post tomorrow and pictures too! I do want to mention one more thing before ending this post and that is Mike and I celebrated our 17th anniversary on August 8th. I'm so blessed to be married to such a wonderful husband and father. I love you very much Mike and thank-you for everything you do for our family. You always put us first above anything else and I'm looking forward to the many more years with you to come.

Until next time.......Maria

Tooth Fairy Time!!

Today was a big day for Makenna! The day started with her 6 year check-up at Dr. Ruff's in Jasper to get ready for kindergarten. She did such a great job! Dr. Ruff told her she would do just fine in school.....she is so ready :) From there, she and I went to McDonalds for some lunch and then it was off to the nail salon where we both got our nails and toes done. Makenna had such a fun time and it was nice for the two of us to spend the day together. To finish out her big day, I was downstairs doing some work on the computer when she runs up to me so excited holding that tiny little tooth in her hand. It has been loose for weeks and she has been eating apples quite often just waiting for it to come out. So tonight as the Tooth Fairy makes her rounds, she will be adding a stop on Eagle Dr. to her list!! Below is a picture I took right after she pulled her tooth and also some pictures from the softball tourney on Saturday. Hope everyone has a great week!

Thumbs up for the Tooth Fairy is coming tonight!!
2nd place finish at Loogootee Softball Tourney on 7/18/09

Tyanna & Court

Until next time.......Maria

Summer 2009

It has been over a month since my last post that there is no way possible I can capture everything that has been going on this summer. I can't seem to come to terms with just how fast time goes......amazing! Anyway, the best I can do is just post some pictures of happenings and tell a little as I go. I will again try to do better with getting updates posted to my loyal readers......two of which told me over the weekend...."will you just update that darn blog"....not to mention any names Angel and Jana! Speaking of the weekend, Barr-Reeve Summer Softball hosted the first annual Jim Miller Classic which had 20 teams entered.....it was HUGE and a HUGE SUCCESS! Thanks to all the teams for coming and to all that pitched in to make this a special event to remember. I'm not going to post any pictures on my blog as I would like all readers to click on the link to the left "Whats Left of Me". This link is Brittany Millers; Jims oldest daughter. She pretty much captures what the weekend was about and why it was so special to her, her mom and sisters. PLEASE READ IT.

Makenna with Ronald
Peyton, Court, Hannah, Annie and Leah......don't mess with the best!

Court with her tropy after the Ireland Tourney

The Team placed 2nd at the Ireland Tourney

Dad is so proud of his girl!

Damon and Conner at the Martinsville Tourney

Getting a little advice from Coach

Damon before game time

Makenna and John attacking the corn on the cob!

July 4th Cardinals vs Reds game.....a little drizzle wasn't going to spoil the fun!

Damon and JP taking it all in.....Cardinals didn't do so well that day so Damon is in shock I think and JP being the Reds fan is thinking "Oh Yeah"

Jana and I keeping dry.......we had fun despite the drizzle. There was a group of 25 of us that enjoyed the July 4th game.

My Corky and I

Baleigh and Makenna....how sweet!

This is great!

As you can tell from the pictures it has been a very busy summer. Damon went to Super Hoops this weekend at DePaw University as this was Freshman boys weekend (wow...that seems wierd typing about Freshman boys....I still can't believe I'll have a kid in high school in a few weeks) for the camp. The team made it to the championship game but came up a little short. This was the first year that Mike and I didn't make it up to watch him play but it was the same weekend as our softball tourney. Damon was very understanding as he knew that his dad and I needed to be in Montgomery.......he was glad he got back early enough on Sunday to do his part to help as he went straight to the concession stand to work after he returned.....what a sweet young man! Hope everyone is having a great summer!!!!

Until next time.......Maria

Time.....Or Lack There Of

It has been too long since my last post.....bottom line is I've had NO time. This by far has turned out to be the busiest summer ever for us. There are simply too many things it seems happening on any given day that finding time to sit at the computer to blog just keeps getting pushed to the back of the list. I finally decided I needed to take the time to blog as it really is something that I find relaxing. The kids have so much going on and on top of that our screen-printing/embroidery business has just exploded! We have probably tripled what we were doing last year at this time when we were first getting started. Not only are we covered up with continuous softball orders, but it appears that this time of year is when businesses like to have open houses or customer appreciation days and they need t-shirts, hats, door prizes, etc. It is all good though and Mike and I are both very thankful for all the support and words of encouragement we have received from our friends and customers. We have been asked often here lately when we are going to open a place in town. It is something we both would love to do at some point but the timing has to be just right as that is a HUGE jump. We even have one business owner who utilizes our services that has taken on the task of scoping out a place for us.....now that is what I call support! For now though, it is nice to be able to work from the house even though the garage at times looks more like a warehouse than a garage :)

Now on to the kiddos. Damon's schedule has just about exhausted not only him but me too! I'm telling you what, if I were to start a shuttle service back and forth to the school I would make a million quick! Damon decided he wanted to take summer PE to get that credit out of the way for high school. There were two options available....going half day for half of the required PE credit or going all day for the full credit and not have to take it any in high school. Damon decided he wanted to get it out of the way so from May 28-June 19 he has PE everyday from 7:30-4:00. After that is over, he has cross country conditioning from 5-5:45 and from that either baseball practice or a baseball game. If it is a game night, he runs from 4-4:45 and goes straight to his game. June 19 simply can't come fast enough but I know it is worth it in the long run.

Makenna's age group finished up recreation league softball last Saturday. She is not going to play travel ball as this was her first year playing plus she is only 5 and not ready for that yet. I think she enjoyed playing and I could see so much improvement from the beginning of the season until the end. Also, her dad survived coaching that age group too although I lost track of the times that he had to say "Makenna be ready!"

Last but not least Courtney starts her first travel tourney this weekend in Tell City. I'm looking forward to going as travel softball is my favorite part about summer. I'm sure it is due to the fact that Court lives and breathes for travel softball. Starting this weekend we have a tourney scheduled for every other weekend the rest of the summer some of which we will be making t-shirts and other items for too. The only part I don't like about the every other weekend tourney play is that you feel you have your entire summer planned out and before you know it school is rolling around to start again :(

Speaking of softball tournaments, Barr-Reeve Summer Softball will be hosting the first annual Jim Miller Classic at Barr-Reeve July 10-12. This will be an 8u, 10u and 12u tourney. Jim passed away last November from a heart attack on the way home from a Colts game. Jim dedicated 15 plus years of his life to the summer softball program at Barr-Reeve that it only seemed right to start an annual event in his honor. Please get the word out to teams to register for this annual event. Teams can sign up by calling 296-0670.

Until next time.....Maria

Preschool Graduation & Campground Fish Fry

Here are some pictures from Makenna's preschool graduation Sunday afternoon and also a few from the fish fry at the campground. Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day!

Makenna saying her lines for the program
Let's sing about the Lord

Receiving diploma

Grandma Mary, Makenna & Court

Best Friends Makenna & Kylie will be heading off to Kindergarten together

Makenna & Ms. April

Makenna with little buddy Drew

Don't spill that juice on Papaw Pruett!

Mom, Makenna & Dad......can ya tell she has had enough with the pictures?

Makenna & Karlye having fun at the campground

Sky, Kirsten, Bay, Court & T in the camper

DK trying to grill and Kim keeping him in line........well good luck with that Kim!

Me & Cathy taking it all in

Jason & Mike getting the fish fry going......Cathy making sure they aren't eating it as they go!

A little football action from DP

Fun times with friends!

Until next time.......Maria