A Change of Seasons

Summer has come and gone.

In June, Austin turned 21. He's a full-fledged adult now.

We went on a big family vacation.
We flew to FL, spent a day at Sea World and then got on a cruise ship to Mexico.
(He spent his actual birthday at Sea World - probably not the place and with who most people spend their 21st birthday, but that's ok.)

We went to Cozumel and Grand Cayman.

In Grand Cayman, the guys (David, Austin and Darrell) went scuba diving, and the girls (Lois, Linda and Leila) went on a tour of the island, on a semi-sub and to a turtle farm.


Once we got to Cozumel, we all went together and swam with the dolphins. I think that was definitely the highlight of the trip.


Darrell left shortly after we came home for 3 weeks.
He was selected to attend the WV Governor's Honors Academy in Fairmont.
We missed him (especially Leila), but it was a great honor and an amazing opportunity for him.

July brought a family wedding.
Leila was the flower girl.
She absolutely LOVED dressing up and being in the middle of everything.
She can't wait for someone else to get married now, so can do it again!


July was also another minor surgery.
This was a lip revision. It was outpatient, so it wasn't too bad.
(Allie the bear was also very brave.)


School started the middle of August.
Leila is in first grade, and Darrell is a senior!

School of course brings sports.
For Darrell that meant cross country.
This was his 6th (and final year).
He was co-captain, and a little sad when it was all said and done.

We let Leila do 2 things at the same time this year - cheer leading and soccer.
It made for an extremely busy and hectic 2 months, but we figured if it was only 2 months - surely we could handle it.


October brought Homecoming, Halloween and Birthdays.
Leila turned 7, and Darrell turned 18. (Now he's a 'legal' adult too!)





Rather than having a party to celebrate the kids' birthdays this year, we took a short weekend trip to Great Wolf Lodge.
(I guess if Austin spent his 21st with us on a family vacation, then Darrell should have to spend his 18th on a trip with us as well!)
We went with 2 other families and had a blast.
We would definitely like to go back - it's the perfect winter get-away.


Now, cross-country is over - swimming has started.
Soccer and cheer leading are over - we're back in ballet.
Fall is over - winter is upon us.
I guess - ALL the seasons have changed.

Spring 2014

Wow! I cannot believe I haven't done an update since Nov.

Let's see ... during the fall semester I went back to teaching (sort of).
I did the paperwork and put myself back on the list to substitute teach. In all honesty, it wasn't actually as bad as I was anticipating. And the money is really good. Never knowing where I was going to be each day and worrying about whether or not someone was going to be here to get Leila to and from school was a constant source of stress for me though.

Dec was Christmas and all the crazy busy wonderful that always goes with that.





Darrell also got a new car (Jeep Liberty) in Dec. His little car just wasn't doing that good. It seemed that every time we turned around, there was something else going wrong with it. With him going away to school in a year, we really wanted him to have something reliable and safe.


Winter always brings winter sports.
For Darrell, it's swimming. This was his 2nd year, and he still loves it.
Since Leila liked cheering so much in the fall, we signed her up for Upward Cheerleading this winter. Upward is a fantastic program. It teaches the basics of the sport and combines it with Bible lessons.
Plus, since it's church and Christian oriented - there's none of the petty, immature drama that sometimes goes on with other kid's sports programs.


Winter was brutal this year. The kids missed so many days of school, that they can't even get them all made up. They've changed the school calendar for next year as a precaution so it won't happen again.


In Jan, I put my 'teaching' back on hold and started babysitting.
I started keeping a 2 month old little boy. His mommy is a teacher at Leila's school, so when she drops him off - she picks her up. And when she picks him up - she drops her off. Very convenient - just not as lucrative.

March was a busy month as well.
David and Darrell both got baptized.
Since our church doesn't have a baptismal, we made plans to use one at a nearby church. However, they forgot to fill it ahead of time. We ended up filling it right beforehand - with a garden hose from outside. The water was COLD! (Definitely memorable though.)


Austin decided to trade his Jeep Wrangler in for something a little sportier. I questioned that after the winter we just had - but he's a grown-up now, and it was his decision.
It is cute though.


March was also Mom's 70th birthday.
We had her a surprise party. We actually pulled off a SURPRISE too! We had over 70 people come. It was great.


With the exception of Easter - we'll call April, 'Darrell's month'.
He was 'tapped' for National Honor Society, National Technical Honor Society and was selected to attend the WV Governor's Honors Academy this summer.
He also decided to give tennis a try this year.
He's never played it before, but thought it would be a good thing to learn, since it's a 'life-long' sport. He DID learn and enjoy the game itself, and if his coach hadn't been such a total jerk - it would have been a great experience.
Oh yeah, and throw prom into the middle of all that too.



Easter started out bright and EARLY this year.
Our Sunday school class cooked the sunrise breakfast for our church.
We had a good turn-out. (I had no idea that many people got up and out that early!)


Now, it's already the end of May. School's almost out - we're into the last few crazy weeks and summer will officially be here.