Oct 2011 - Halloween & Birthdays

Oct was a busy month (as usual).

We started out the month with a nice visit from some of David's family.
I didn't get to see them much (I ended up with the flu that week), but David and the kids did - which was good.

Darrell's knee is doing better, but he missed most all of cross country season.

Oct also brings homecoming.
Darrell participated in it all - spirit week (where they dress up every day), decorating and riding on the parade float, decorating the hallway, working the powder puff football game, the bonfire - you name it, he was there.

Costume Day


Blast from the Past Day


Spirit Day


All that school spirit must work because, Point Pleasant is 13-0 now.
For the 1st time ever, we're headed to the State Championships this weekend.

Austin's football season is officially over.
I think he'll find himself missing it (and the comraderie) more than he thinks he will - but maybe not.
I'm sure he won't miss practice 7 days a week though.

A Cold Game


One of His Biggest Fans


Although they didn't have a winning season - they won more games this year than ever before.
KCU is on it's way.

'Our' Player


We've been working on the paperwork to get Austin transferred to Fairmont (what a pain).

Oct is also a big birthday month here.

Leila turned 4 on the 29th.

Decorating Cupcakes


4 Years Old

And Darrell turned 15 on the 31st.



He took his test and got his driving permit on his birthday.
I must say - he was more excited than we were.

The end of the month brought Halloween.

We carved some cool pumpkins.

Ready to Carve


Leila's (and Daddy's) pumkin


Hard at Work


Darrell's pumkin


Trick-or-Treat night was COLD and rainy.
We still had a good time (even though the block party got cancelled).
Leila got LOTS of candy.
And Leila made a very cute little witch.

September

Yes, I know it's (the middle of) October - but I'm just now getting around to posting about September.
Sept was an eventful and emotional month.

We had 3 family reunions.
The first was my Dad's family.
As wonderful as my cousins are (and they are quite the assortment) and as much as I love them (I really do), it was also the hardest.
We spent the day at my uncle's.
Turned out to be the hottest day of the year too.
Later that evening, some of them came here for some swimming, food, fun and drink.

We celebrated our 3rd (can you believe it) 'Gotcha Day' on the 16th.
Not a big celebration (we had a lot going on that week), but we did meet Austin in Huntington and went out for Chinese (of course).


That same week, a sad event occurred.
A good friend of ours at church passed away. He wasn't actually related to us, but he was related to some of our relatives (make sense?).
Anyway, he was only 40 years young.
And one of the most selfless, giving people you could ever hope to meet.
He'd been sick all summer with an unexplained illness.
Turned out to be cancer of the spleen.
He was also Darrell's piano teacher for the last 2 years.
At this point, I don't know if Darrell will ever go back to it.
He says that although he knows Darren would want him to - he just can't imagine taking lessons from anyone else.
David and I have decided to just let things ride for now.


Dad's birthday was also in Sept.
He would have been 74 on the 19th.
We had a big party for him last year.
We had debated about it - do we have one for '73' or do we wait and have a BIG one for '75'?
I am SO very glad we didn't wait.


We did something else that I think is neat.
We took some of the flowers from my Dad's service and had them made into jewelry.
I had never even heard of it before, but my sister-in-law had and mentioned it.
I did some research back at that time, and found the info that we needed.
We dried some of the flowers and sent them off.
I got an oval necklace and matching earrings. I got Leila a smaller round set.
My Mom and sister-in-law also got one.
They all also have a name on the back.
Leila's says 'Papa', mine says 'Dad', etc.
I even got keychains for the boys - since they weren't too interested in jewelry.
They have quite an extensive keychain collection from our travels (and Mom and Dad's) over the years - all over the country and I even think 5-6 foreign countries too.
I think it's a wonderful, meaningful keepsake and so much better than having flowers pressed in a book somewhere that are going to fall apart if they're touched.


Poor Darrell.
He started cross country practice back in Aug.
He did all the practice. (This is his favorite sport.)
He only got to compete in 2 meets.
And then he hurt his knee.
So far, I've had him to the doctor 3 times, had x-rays twice, and now we're scheduled for an MRI.
He had planned to 'letter' his freshman year, and that just did not happen.

Austin is still at KCU - for now.
It's a wonderful school. Small classes. Very personal.
They had 'Grandparent's Day' in Sept.
My Mom, David's Mom and his girlfriend's Grandmother all went down together.
They had a great time.

We've been to a couple of his games.
He looks good in his uniform.


And... he's decided to transfer schools next semester.
Although I do think KCU is great - I also think he's making the right decision.
Even though he denies it - we believe a big part of his decision to go there had to do with the fact that his girlfriend and his best friend were going there.
The problem with such a small school, is that their choice of majors is not overly extensive. And they don't have anything that he REALLY wants to do.
Austin likes (and is good at) drafting. That's not an option there.
It looks like he's headed to Fairmont (in WV) for the spring semester.
They have a drafting program (and in-state tuition).
I really think this is a much more 'grown-up' decision and one that will benefit him in the long run - even if it means the headache and hassle of figuring out what needs to be done to transfer and moving him north next semester instead of south.

1st Days of School

Everyone is now back in school.

Leila has made such progress in the last few months - leaps and bounds. Her speech is exploding. She isn't as clingy. She is learning that she can do things on her own, and I will still be here when she's done. She has come to realize that even if I leave - I will come back.

She went to school on Thurs.
She did SO good. (She is so much more ready for it this year.)
Although she started to whine just for a minute when I got ready to leave - she stopped.
She didn't cry!!!
She did good all day.
She even laid down on her cot at rest time - and fell asleep.
She got a 'Good Day' note in her backpack.


Darrell started high school (9th grade) on Aug 18. They went back earlier this year than ever before. He's got a full load of all honors classes. (He didn't cry his first day either.)


Although Austin has been at school since Aug 1 (football), he didn't actually start class until Aug 23 - after Darrell. He's taking 14 hrs this semester. So far, he says he's doing fine. (And as far as I know - he didn't cry either.)

They're all getting so big!

China Reunion

We've been very fortunate in that we've been able to stay in contact with some of the families we traveled with back in Sept 08.
Even nicer is the fact that 4 of our families live within range of a day trip.
The summer after we came home, we started the tradition of getting together for an annual 'China Reunion'.
Last Sat, was our 3rd one.

It's such a blessing to get together and catch up.
To see how the kids have grown and changed and are developing.
Some families have since gone back to China and increased in numbers - so we get to meet new faces as well.

Food was great.

The kids played on the swingset and the trampoline.

They played with a various assortment of other toys.





Kids and grown-ups alike played a fun, non-competitive game of volleyball.





This year seemed to be especially good, in that all the kids played together really well.

Austin didn't get to go of course - he's already at school.
David didn't make it again this year either.
Back when the date was originally set, he was fine. BUT,... he had to switch his on-call schedule around because I went to New York City 2 weeks ago. SO,... it was my fault, he was on-call and didn't get to go (as he has so often reminded me the last few days).
My mom went with me in his place. It was nice for her to finally be able to put faces with the names she's heard so much about the last 3 years.

Our beautiful '2008 China Dolls' this year.


Look at how they've grown!

2010


2009


Our thanks go out to our wonderful hosts - Susan and Thad.
We had a great time and can't wait for the next one.

Busy Summer

Gosh, it's been awhile since I've 'blogged'.
Summer has been busy - but isn't life always?

The last few years, David's brothers have come to visit for the 4th of July. Neither one was able to make it in this year.
We still celebrated though.
We had a cookout with my family and went to the parade.
We normally take the boat out watch fireworks from the river, BUT since we don't have that anymore - that wasn't really an option.
David and Darrell went to watch go-cart races. Leila and I went to one regatta for a music concert. Austin and his girlfriend went to another regatta and are the only ones that actually stayed out long enough to see fireworks.

We've had a couple cookouts this summer with food, cornhole and swimming.
You would think that after so many, I would be getting better - but nope.
Unless my partner carries me - I lose every time. At least I'm a good sport. And I still enjoy it!

Leila went fishing for the 1st time this summer.
Mama and Papa got her a Barbie pole for Christmas, and we finally got around to using it.
Seems she likes the IDEA of fishing better than the actual sitting and waiting for a fish. (Just like her Mommy.)



Darrell went to Camp Electric. It's a Christian music camp run by Toby Mac.
This was his 2nd year. As before, he LOVED it.
Last year he went to the one in Nashville. This year, they opened one in Cedarville, OH. That was so much easier for us.
And he talked us into signing him up for next year too.

Austin left for college this week.
His classes haven't started yet. But football has.
We took him down on Mon.
His coach said - here's your room key, get your stuff carried in and unpacked, we have a run at 4:00.
Wow - what a welcome!
He said last night that it wasn't bad so far (wrestling was worse). It's just exhausting. They only have a one hour free a day, and the heat is terrible.
I told him this is the 'initiation period' - it will get better.

Beach

Last week was our 2nd annual 'Girls' Week'.
We went to Atlantic Beach last year and had such a good time that we decided to try to make it an annual thing.
There were 6 of us last year. 5 this year. My aunt, my cousin, my mom, me and Leila.
We went to the Outer Banks - Duck, NC (such a funny name).

This year was SO much better.
Leila was not exactly what one would call a 'beach baby' last year.
She HATED the sand. She wasn't thrilled with the water (because it had sand in it). She didn't get enough sleep - something she desperately needs.
She didn't make the trip the most fun one ever.
She was good this year. She enjoyed herself. She had fun. Therefore, I enjoyed the trip immensely.

It was a lazy, relaxing week.
Early every morning (O'dark thirty), Mom and Marcia would walk on the beach.
By the time, they got back, Leila and I would be up.
We would have coffee on the balcony, and send Leila up to wake Jessica. (Sometimes she woke her - sometimes, she just crawled into bed with her.)
Then we'd go to the beach for awhile.
Come back and get cleaned up.
And then go driving around to see what we could see or do the rest of the afternoon and evening.

I had a better time, but I spent more money this year.
Last year, we ate in almost every meal.
This year, we ate out more. (Not the best arguement for why it's such a great idea that we go again next year tho.)

David and the boys enjoyed their week of 'bachelorhood'.
They played golf several days while we were gone.
We came home on Sun - Father's Day.
He was pretty understanding about us being gone all that day.
Our resort was paid for up until Sun morning, so we figured we might as well stay as long as we could.
Honestly, it was a pretty sucky day.
I knew it would be.
That's another reason I wasn't real keen on coming home early.
It's been a hard week since we've been back - too many thoughts.

Graduation Week

Last week was Austin's 'Graduation Week'.
It's no longer just a one day affair. There's so much involved.

We started out last Sunday.
Our church had a surprise dinner in his honor last week.
Lots of good food, cards and well wishes.
He was completely clueless too - which made it all that much better.

Tues was Class Night.
That's when they announce the 'Personalities', read the 'Class Poem', read the 'Class Will', announce their activities.... fun things like that.


Thurs was Awards Night.
Austin was upset with me initially because I said he had to go.
He didn't think he would be getting anything, so he thought it was pointless.
He wanted to go to work instead, since he'd already missed work Tues.
(I knew he was getting one thing.)
We were all surprised!
He got 4 scholarships!!!


Sat was THE big day. Graduation!
It was outside - down at the Riverfront Park.
The weather was perfect.
He graduated with honors.
(1 down - 2 to go.)








I even let him wear his 'toe shoes' thru the line.
He mentioned it as a joke.
When I agreed - he just about fell over with shock.


Our baby is off to college later this summer.
He's going to Kentucky Christian University, which is in Grayson, KY (about an hour and a half away).
At this point, he plans to major in youth ministry.
He's turning into a pretty amazing young man, and we're quite proud.