abby's 11th birthday

hey everybody. just a quick little note before christmas... abby celebrated #11 december 13th, with a slumber party on the 14th. she and her 3 best friends sang, danced, watched movies, did crafts, played with make up, sang some more, sang some more, and sang some more ALL night long! :) i think she had a great time. it's hard to believe she's already 11! we had a little photo shoot in the basement the other night and i begged her to pose for some shots (she's not all that into having her picture made for some reason). i am SO happy she stopped for these pics - she is BEAUTIFUL, and the pics we got are really 'her'. i think she caught on to the fact that the photo-op was FUN and maybe i'll get her to stop for pictures more often.... here's hoping (seeing as how i am obsessed with taking pictures)! she has 2 make-up indoor soccer games tonight and then is off to nana's to have a birthday night with nana and pa (the kids get a spend the night/shopping trip for their b-days every year). soon - s.

abby's state championship game...

well.... abby's team (shelby co. extreme) made it to the state championship game in elizabethtown this weekend! :) they played spencer co. 'footie chicks' for first place on saturday afternoon. the footie chicks had not had a goal scored on them ALL season, so we knew we were really going to PLAY SOME SOCCER! after an AWESOME game - it ended in a tie 3 to 3 (spencer co. girls were shocked, as were the families watching the game from their side)... a championship game can't end in a tie - so it went to a 5 minute overtime; the first to score wins. a couple minutes into the game... footie chicks got the goal, so overtime stopped and the footie chicks became state champs. our girls had a few emotional moments - and then accepted the 2nd place trophy. they have had the best season! i can't tell you how much miss abby improved this fall - it's incredible. she had a blister on the bottom of her foot and we didnt expect her to play much (if at all) this weekend - but oh my goodness did the girl play some soccer each time she was on the field! (one game she even tried out some fancy footwork that totally paid off). it's been so much fun to watch - i never dreamed i would be this into a sport, but it's the kind of soccer where you CANNOT sit down - and you are hoarse by the time the game is over. :) the same team is playing indoor soccer starting this weekend - i havent seen an indoor game yet, but they even play off the walls so it should be really fun to watch, too. take care - s.

max's extreme makeover - home edition

hey everybody! :) some of you may have heard, but extreme makeover: home edition has come to louisville (off bardstown road). david works for united rentals, who supplies TONS of equipment for the 'makeover' and so david's been spending TONS of time at the house. saturday they had a VIP tent and so david took max - they had limo rides to and from the site - the whole 9 yards. it's been interesting to see how they go about it all... they are doing a makeover this week in louisville - and in kansas city - so the stars are back and forth/back and forth. the house goes up from scratch (i always thought it had to go up in pre-prepared pieces, but i was wa-rong!). the hughes family are the deserving family of this makeover (and they really are deserving - which is awesome). david has most definitely had an exciting week last week, exciting weekend, and then the 1st half of this week should be great, too. the reveal is wednesday (we are hoping to get to be there for 'move that bus'... but we aren't sure yet). wednesday night there is a wrap party, and david and i get to attend that! i'll stick pics of the finished product on here in a few days (hopefully). i'll also let you know when the episode airs (we've heard february sweeps?). david was in the 'brave heart' march on demolition day, and then later that day the scene where ty contacts the family to show them a glimpse of what's going on while they are gone... so - who knows - he may have a couple seconds of prime time. :) (www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTiYA1WiY8 is a clip of patrick henry hughes, the story of the family getting the home). soon - s.

abby gets a goal...

we spent this weekend in elizabethtown where we watched our girls play some AWESOME tournament soccer. the first game (sat. 11am) was GREAT - the girls had nothing handed to them, that is FOR SURE! made the win that much sweeter because they really worked for it! :) the second game (sat. 4pm) is a game we (and abby!) will always remember - she got her very first goal ever... then turned around a few minutes later and did it AGAIN! :) just typing the memory brings tears to my eyes it was so exciting... she had wanted it for so long - to get it at tournament time was just ... HUGE! we spent saturday night in e-town with the team (swimming, dinner, and just being together) ... and then sunday morning prepared to play a TOUGH team at 9:30am. the team they played was great (super, actually) ... but our girls really had it together and won 2-0. they played THE BEST GAME we'd seen them play all year! so, we go BACK to elizabethtown this coming saturday for 2 more games. abby has come so far this soccer season. the coaches work great together and have done an awesome job with these girls. it's been a pretty special team to watch. on several different occasions this weekend i heard the girls offering words of encouragement and praise to each other - one on one - when they didnt realize others were listening and it made me really proud. that kind of support, a prayer before the game, and a hug after the game - well, that goes a long, long way. here's a pic of abby right after her goals.... i'll keep you posted about next weekend! love, s.

sara turns size 4...

sara girl turned size 4 this week (monday) - we celebrated a bit over the weekend - again on monday - again on tuesday - and then she had one last hurrah at school today (thursday) with mrs. alana. on her 'real' burday, she got in bed with david and i early that morning and fell back asleep. i got the kids off to school and david off to work - and went back to snuggle with sara just to soak her up and reminisce about the last 4 years... when she woke up, she looked up at me with that sweet happy sleepy smile and said 'is TODAY my burday?' - i said "YES!" - and she said "YES" full of excitement back.... while quickly uncovering, she said 'i have to see how big i am!' (how sweet is that!? she thought for sure since she had gotten a whole year older, she had surely gotten bigger while she slept!). she asked me what size she was - i told her size 4! she asked me how big her feet were. i told her size 4! she asked how big her smile was. i told her size 4! how big her hands were, how big her hair was, how big her freckles were ... you get the point. i told her everything was a size 4 :) . i know all too well how soon she'll be size 5... thought i would share a pic of her with her barbie burday cake. she loves all things barbie these days! i have had this blog for months now and decided no time like the present to start USING it! take care - soon, s.