Summer 2010

Oh my goodness where has time gone? The summer over already? Can that seriously be?

I must say in retrospect that I honestly believe that this was one of the best summers that I can remember in a long time.

Of course, it was ballgames, ballgames, and more ballgames, but what great ballgames they were. All four kids played ball this summer as usual. I will never forget the summer several years back when I looked at Vic and said, "Why don't we just take the summer off from ball this year?" (In my head I was thinking of all of the things we could do if we weren't tied down to ballgames.) The look on his face was horrendous. You would have thought I just asked him to go rob a bank with me! LOL Needless to say I never suggested it again.

Megan had an interesting summer. Last year as an 8 year old in softball they played coach pitch. She told me last year that she wanted to pitch and would take herself outside and practice what she had learned from watching pitching instructional videos on youtube for hours. I was amazed at her dedication. Well, this year she took some pitching lessons and jumped right in! I LOVED LOVED LOVED watching her pitch! She really did a wonderful job considering she was only a nine year old in the nine/ten year old league. She played on both her league team and a traveling team. In fact, we took an awesome short trip to OK City to watch the ASA USA championship game. It was Jennie Finch's last game with the USA team. It was AWESOME!

Brady and Vic of course did the baseball thing. The league was WONDERFUL! If I remember correctly they only lost one game. Brady was a guru on the mound and as always a joy to watch. His mellow demeanor when he pitches is just a sight to behold. Sometimes when it is a stressfull situation and I am pacing all over I look out on the mound and marvel at his calmness.

Tori played as usual and did great! She has an amazing arm and a great bat most of the time. She made the varsity softball team this year as a freshman. I couldn't have been prouder.

Aubrey played also and would have to get my vote for most improved! She had some nice hits and just really did a good job! Unfourtanately it seems that it is always her age group that gets shorted on games for some reason and so she didn't get in as many games as she would have liked.

Vic and Brady have takin a liking to fishing down below the Grand River Dam. There always seems to be a lot of fish caught everytime we go. Yesterday was Vic's birthday and it was so fun to go over to Grandma Wall's house where she fried us up some of the fish that Vic and Brady had caught. She is an amazing woman that can cook like no other! Of course Vic had to comment repeatedly how good it was to have a home cooked meal. Hint Hint! I think he forgets though that everytime I cook they scream NO MORE PLEASE! LOL

Vic has worked all summer long in the 100 degree heat. I am amazed by him and his dedication and hard work. I have no idea how he does it! I know that I wouldn't be able to do 1/10th of what he does.

Vic and the gang took a couple of weeks off the last few weeks while his dad went to Sturgis. So, we loaded up the whole family, yep...all seven of us, and went to Branson for some much needed R & R! Nolan drove his new jeep, so it was nice having two vehicles. We got adjoining rooms for the first time so that everyone didn't have to cram together in one little room. It made the relaxation part of the hotel soooo much better! Brady, Tori, and Aubrey rode the rip cord! Screams were a plenty! LOL Of course we had to make a go of the go-carts or it just wouldn't have been a trip to Branson. We did the Silver Dollar City day, but it was just so hot and crowded it wasn't my favorite time. However, they were open until 10 o'clock, and stupid me listened to my son. Brady talked me into riding the Powderkeg with him in the first car. Mind you it is pitch black and the track was not lit in anyway. So, it was honestly the scariest ride I have ever been on. I talked like I had a frog in my throat for three days after I screamed so much. Great times! White Water was a new experience for the kids. It was also open to 10, and unlike SDC, the later it got the less people there were. So, there was virtually no waiting in line for rides and once again we rode them in the dark which made them that more exciting! Also, because it was late it was cool which made everything more bearable. We shopped a little bit while there, but it was so stinking hot it just took all of the enjoyment out of it. Our big splurge was our ride in the helicopter. It was fun and really gave the kids something to talk about. We wound up staying five days and hated to have to come home. (Even though we did miss our dog, Johnson, and our cat, Millie.)

School starts later this year. I start back on Friday the 20th, and the kids start back on Tuesday the 24th. It has given us some downtime between ballgames and school. I have LOVED it! It has really revived us all I believe. My philosophy this year is that I am really ready for once to go back to school. However, I just wish that it started at noon!

Brady started jr. high football practice this week. Aubrey started jr. high volleyball practice this week. Tori started high school volleyball practice this week. Tori, Aubrey, and Megan are all cheering for football this year. Tori at the high school, Aubrey at the jr. high where I am her cheer sponsor, and Megan for the Mini Lancer football team which I am proud of her for making co-captain of the 5th and 6th grade squad. Megan is also playing in a fall softball league. She just wasn't ready for the season to end.

So, as you can see, the craziness has once again begun! :-) But, I wouldn't have it any other way. I keep telling myself that someday I will miss this!

Megan's game last night...

Disney On Ice

Over spring break we had beautiful weather on Friday. The whole Colvin clan and the whole Thompson clan loaded up and drove to Springfield to go to Lamberts and Bass Pro. The weather couldn't have been better! (We're talking sunny and in the 70's.) The next day we were supposed to go to Disney on Ice in Kansas City. I wanted to take Megan so she could have that experience. I went to see the Smurfs on Ice when I was in first grade and still remember how awesome it was! Well, wouldn't you know it it snows! The snow was so bad that my friend that was supposed to go with me called to say she didn't feel comfortable. Well, I knew that I could go slowly up there, and if it got too bad I could always stay with Pam for the night instead of driving home. (I took Tori and Aubrey since Debbie and Anna weren't going to use their tickets.) It was a slow ride up. The snow was blinding at times and we saw numerous cars off of the road. However, we made it on time and had a BLAST! It was so cool and Megan LOVED it. (So did I!) The roads back were treacherous, but we made it. (I think I counted 10 cars off the road on the way home.) It was a great trip and I am so glad we went!!!! Also shows the crazy Kansas weather!

Spring Has Sprung

WOW! I love, love, love spring, but it also seems to be our busiest and most stressful time of year.

Vic is once again coaching the Southeast Lancer High School Baseball Team. His passion has always been baseball. It does take up a lot of his time though (and mine) and can be stressful at times. However, we have had wonderful weather this year and it has made sitting through double headers a little more enjoyable. :-)

Aubrey had junior high cheerleading tryouts last week. She made both the football squad and the 8th grade basketball squad. She is a wonderful cheerleader! All of her dedication to dance over the years is really paying off, because she was fantastic in all of the dances that they performed this year!!! She is running track right now. She is a hurdeler...Yep...That's right, a child of mine jumping over hurdles. Sure doesn't even seem possible to me. Don't quite know how that happened. LOL She had some funky old wooden hurdles at one meet and fell, skinning herself up. I told her I didn't want her doing hurdles anymore because I didn't want her to get hurt. She laughed and said, ya right, I'm doing hurdles. I am proud of her.

Megan is in full mode of softball. She is playing on a traveling team out of Frontenac and her league team here for Southeast. She has decided that she wants to be a pitcher. She does a really good job too. Besides softball she is also taking baton classes and practicing her baton for the dance recital that is coming up!

Brady is playing baseball again. This year Cherokee has mixed it up a lil' bit and they have one 11-12 team. This team is going to play other surrounding towns instead of having three 9-12 yo teams and playing just home games. Last weekend the Mini Lancer Football team hosted a little tournament here in Cherokee. They had three teams. Our team made it to the championship game to face an opponent that had rocked us earlier in the day with a score of like 16-1. They decided to throw Brady out there the championship game. He ROCKED! He pitched all 6 innings, faced 19 batters and struck out 15!!!!! (Walking only one kid.) WOW! We won like 8-1. Vic and I were in the score box that game and it was fun listening to some of the dads from the other team stand under us talking about Brady's good delivery and the fact that he was a good lil' pitcher! Woo Hoo

Tori is going, going, going. Tori made the starting varsity softball team as a freshman. AWESOME! She works hard and LOVES the game. She still keeps up with going to dance classes. She has high school cheer tryouts this week, so yesterday and tomorrow she will be putting in 13 hour days at school. Saturday she has cheer practice from 8-9:30, dance from 10-2, and tryouts at 2:30. On top of all of this we are trying to get everything ready for prom, which is next Saturday.

I'm meeting myself coming and going between everyone's activities. On top of all of this it is the end of the school year. There is still so much that I want to accomplish and now I am trying to cram it in before it is too late.

Update!

Wow! What a bad blogger I have become. I just clicked on my blog thinking I hadn'tchecked up on the blogs I follow in awhile. Apparently I haven't done anything with my own blog either! HELLO MARY! OCT. 3RD? WHERE DID TIME GO?

So much has happened since the beginning of October I don't even know where to begin, but I will try to get a few things in.

October held Tori's first high school homecoming dance. She went with a wonderful young man, Jake Thompson. We scoured the mall trying to find the "right" thing to wear. WOW! That was a long shopping day. However, I think we came out alright. Our favorite part had to be the shoes! Red High Heels!





Halloween was a blast as always!
This year Brady skipped the night with us to go hunting with his father. Seems those two are hunting or fishing together any spare chance they get.
This year my friend Debbie came over with her kids and we did the trick or treat Cherokee thing. I love walking around Cherokee. Megan was Taylor Swift, Aubrey was a 70's girl (thanks to a fun 70's outfit she purchased for spirit week 70's day at school), and Tori was going to go with nothing. However, Debbie's boys pulled up with some "scary" masks on, so she ran inside and grabbed a mask I had purchased after Halloween one year and threw it on. She was a hoot!
One house always rakes up all the leaves in their yard and lets the kids jump to their hearts desire. We were fortunate to be the first ones there, and so the kids had a blast jumping in the leaves. When we finished trick or treating we made a trek to Thayer to visit the Erie high school spook trail. I screamed / laughed soooo hard! Good times! :-)





November brought Thanksgiving. Fun with the family like always. For some reason the pictures never made it to my computer...
December brought a fun trip for Aubrey. She has a great little friend that asked her to go to KC to see KISS with her. We are all big Gene Simmon's Family Jewels fans at our house, so we were excited for her. She had a wonderful time!






December brought another fun high school time. Tori was nominated for basketball homecoming queen. So, we had to purchase a formal dress. What fun that was! But, it worked out, because we found her prom dress the same day, so we killed two birds with one stone. I'm excited because during the rush of prom season I will be doing other things besides fighting the crowds. We purchased both dresses at The Jean Scene in Pittsburg! They were wonderful. We walked in and told the two girls working what we needed and they went above and beyond pulling dresses and working with us! Megan played the part of Stacy London very well telling us what she liked and didn't like. Brady however, wasn't all that impressed and spent most of the time sitting in the van. Jake was her escort for homecoming. While she didn't win, (the senior candidates won) it was a great night. Heather, Alan, Rachel, and Matt all made it up from Oklahoma. Bo and the girls made it over from Parsons, as well as Grandma Walls, Aunt Lou, and Grandad. She was beautiful!






Christmas day was kind of a bummer at our house. Brady woke up in the middle of the night Christmas Eve throwing up. So, while he was feeling better we decided not to spread our Christmas fun and he and I stayed home Christmas day and missed out on getting to see everyone. However, Vic and the girls all had a great time. It snowed and so Uncle Mark brought his four wheeler over to Carol's and pulled them all. They had a blast. Unfortunately Brady decided to share his germs with me. It knocked me down hard. It was the stomach flu and while I was only sick for like a day, I was down and out for like four or five days following. I Think I have stayed almost the whole break in my PJ's.