I'll tumble for ya'...

Poor, Scott! I am sure when the girls get older they will start to share more his interests: hunting, fishing, golfing, etc. (oh please, who am I kidding! ha!) But, for now this house is filled with girls that love to dance, flip and cheer! Abby has had a sudden surge in her interest in wanting to tumble. With all the coaching I do, they are total gym rats, but I never push it on them or make them take classes, etc. Any thing they ever do is because they want to, and if I can find them a different coach, I do. (I don't even let Abby take dance at the gym where I work, because I want her somewhere where she has her own teacher, own studio, something separate from what I do) But, lately all these kids want to do is FLIP! Anywhere, everywhere!...and, you know I am down with that! :) Above is Liv working on her back hand spring. There is a good video below, too!

Here we are jumping! ha! And, I have to note, Scott's photo shooting was on delay and we never did get one of all of us at our highest points in the air at the same time, and I am getting old so after a few takes I was DONE! ha!


And, this cracks me up. Abby took this picture of me jumping and I immediately thought of the photo under it that I had just taken of her jumping a few weeks ago....too funny! That child is such a mini version of myself, it's often scary. She makes the same faces I do, the same gestures, and clearly, the child looks like I spat her right out without any help from Scott! haha! But, we are making the SAME. EXACT face in these pics! Creepy.....

And, some videos of the girls tumbling...check out Liv stretching in the first one while Abby is running around. That child cracks me up!



And, little one doing her flips! She has ZERO fear when it comes to this stuff and actually jumped backwards to do a back handspring on her own at the gym the other day and landed right on her upper back/neck and flipped feet over head. Thankfully, she was on a wedge mat but it scared the crap out of me and we had to have a loooong talk about never doing that without a coach to help! Ugh...she is going to give me a heart attack one of these days with her lack of fear!

Abby Update...

I had a few people get a hold of me last night, asking about her day, etc...

I actually ran into her teacher yesterday afternoon (she had to leave a little early for a doctors appt. and I just happened to run into her...fate, perhaps-ha!). She said that Abby had a GREAT day. No tears at all after drop off. She also said that she thinks (and, I quote) 'a lot of it has to do with the attention I give her and I'm trying to ignore it more since I genuinely think the only issue is that she misses you all, but she is just so sweet and cute and when she comes up to me with that sweet face, I can't help but hug on her and talk to her!' Yep, Abby....my master manipulator. I have always said that child will grow up to be a lawyer! ha! She also said that Abby is a VERY smart girl, always listens well and does her work perfectly (there's the control/OCD issues again). (Abby even corrected her when she wrote something on the board that was incorrect during math-ha!)

When I picked Abby up she came running and excitedly told me all about how she got a 'Caught Being Good' ticket! So, that was very exciting. And, today there were no complaints in the morning and no tears at drop off. So, if you said a prayer for her or sent her a good thought...THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. They are working! :)

She still will not eat at school, which I believe is a total control thing. That is the one thing that she can still control, so I am trying to not over react. Of course at first I was horrified and asking her about it and I am sure she could tell that I was worried, etc. (who doesn't worry when their child is going ALL day with NO food), but this morning, I just packed her lunch, didn't give her a single option about what went in it and I didn't say a word, just handed her her lunch box and that was that. Tomorrow is grilled cheese day and she LOVES grilled cheese, so I am going to have her eat lunch at school...her first time, so I hope it doesn't send her over the edge, but I have faith she will do just fine. What's the worst that could happen? She won't eat? She doesn't anyways! I hope in the next few weeks we are done with this issue, too.

Some other things to remember about her first week of Kindergarten:

-She has a new friend, Mackenzie, that she talks about all the time. She calls her her best friend from school! :)

-She talks about a little boy named Griffin all the time. He sits at her table and he is the one that chased her down that day @ pick-up! :) He's a cutie and she said 'he's always messing with me and trying to make me laugh!' He also fell off the monkey bars earlier this week and that was the most exciting thing to happen at school so far this year! ha! She says he is also a little wild and his color stick is already on red! (that's the worst color...they start @ green, move to yellow, then red). I asked why he got his stick changed and she said, 'he's really nice and funny, he's just wild and doesn't listen!' ha!

-Abby, on the other hand, has been on green all day, every day and if she ever got her stick changed, she would probably have a heart attack.

-She also talks about a little girl named Taylor that sits at her table and her friend that she has known for years, Faith. And, 2 little girls from her tball team, Ella and Kelsey. It sounds to me like that crew is pretty tight.

-She LOVES music class (they have it on Mondays and Wednesdays) and computer lab (which they also have twice a week, I think). She got in the car on Tuesday and said, 'we learned how to access Ms. Clark's web page!' Uhhhh...okay! haha! I am sure by the end of the year she will be more computer savvy that I am.

-Tomorrow is the first day they will be allowed to check out books from the library. She is SO EXCITED about that.

Abigail Jenette....

Well, folks this is going to be a post dedicated to my sweetheart, Abby! I don't want to mention it again on Facebook, but I feel like I can come here and ask for just a small prayer, good thought, fingers crossed, etc. for her. She is having a hard time transitioning into Kindergarten, which in turn is making things extra stressful and the worry of a kid at school is multiplied to a degree that I didn't know existed. It has just been a rough week. :(

Day 1 they only went for about 2hrs. She cried when we left (let me add, she is not a clingy, loud, obnoxious crier...she tries so hard to be brave, but those big eyes just well up and it breaks your heart). Anyways, when we peeked in after dropping her off on day 1, we saw she was crying so my friend went in and talked to her, hugged her, etc. After that she had a good day. Day 2 was her first full day of school ever. She was a WRECK about lunch (still not sure why other than its something new and she's always had eating issues), but Friday when I picked her up she said she cried a few times but she was happy more than she was sad! That night I got an email from her teacher just letting me know she was upset, missed me, asked when would it be time to go numerous times, etc. By the time I got the email, Abby had already started puking and was just a mess from a day of worry and being tired, etc. The weekend was fine, we talked about things and prepared for this week. Sunday we were driving into town and Scott mentioned something about how Liv and I could return something at the mall this week. Looked back and she was crying....BINGO!! She is also scared to death she is missing something around here, etc. Rest of the day was fine, she picked out a special outfit to help her have a better day Monday and all of that good stuff.

Monday I pick her up and she has eaten NOTHING! No food since breakfast! UGH! But, she was in a good mood. Said she had a good day, the teacher said the day was much better, we were all thrilled. She excitedly talked about school all night but did mention in passing that a little boy called her a cry baby and let me tell you, I can't even type that without crying myself. :( But, she didn't seem phased by it, we told her if he says it again to tell him to be quiet and just ignore him. Tuesday morning she starts complaining about a belly ache first thing (ugh, here we go again, please not more puking!) We make it to drop off with only a few tears, we hear again that she had a GREAT day, she's excited, a little boy chases her down and hugs her good bye, she talks about all of her friends, music class, computer lab, etc. so I know things are going better but she still won't eat at school. This morning, she really starts with the 'I don't feel good, I'm sick!,' by the time we pull into the parking lot she is crying!

So, I am not sure what to expect today. Hoping for good news and more excitement from her! Keep your fingers crossed!

I just want everyone to see and experience THIS little girl! :)
And, I know we will get there. Abby is a worrier and over-analyzer by nature and not knowing the schedule was killing her, but the more she is familiar with things, the better things seem to be. And, I love her school, I love her teacher, I know she is meeting friends and having fun, I am just so sad about how difficult this has been for her. And, of course, I am scared to death that we will get over this hurdle just in time for Scott to leave and then we will have a whole other transition on our hands.

So, if you think of her, just send a good prayer/thought her way! :) Like I said, I know I will be able to look back on this one day and it will be the least of what we have been through with her-ha!, but it sure isn't fun right now. I am trying to not draw any attention to the crying other than telling her things like, 'remember when preschool was scary at first, but you loved it after a while' etc. I want her to know that we are comfortable with her being at school and that we know she is safe and having fun and learning new things. I really thing the issue is 1. change, 2. her getting used to a new routine 3. her being away from us all day. I don't for one second think it's a major issue, but it doesn't make it any easier on this Momma! :( We talk a lot about how the more fun you have, the faster the day goes and I tell her funny stories of things that happened when I was in school and stories about Scott, Mom, Dad, etc and all of that good stuff, so I hope it's working. I hope we are doing the right things, saying the right things. And, I hope I am updating with a GREAT report VERY soon!! I have to laugh, though, because I don't know why I would ever think this would be easy with Abby...nothing ever has been. She has been high maintenance since Day 1. ha! She told me today she wishes she could just skip to 5th grade! ha! Of course she does...she also thinks she is an adult! ha!

Oh, Abby!!!

I'm not a player, I just crush a lot! ;)

haha! Okay, I couldn't resist quoting that gem of a song for this blog off!

As always, feel free to play along. This time the topic given to us was...who were/are your crushes! Ones from when you were a teen or current ones! And, yeah...I have a lot of current ones! Sorry, Scott! haha!

Okay, all of mine are SO random, but here we go:

Crushes from back in the day (SEE ABOVE since this STUPID blogger won't let me type above a picture anymore-grrrr)....I don't really remember having a lot of crushes. I liked the NKOTB guys, but didn't have a die hard crush on any of them. I don't really remember watching much TV, so I didn't love Kirk Cameron or any of the usuals from back then! BUT....I love music, always have, and in high school I LOVED me some Gavin Rossdale! I'm still a little jealous that Gwen Stefani stole him from me, but oh well...whatever! Can't you just hear him singing Glycerine now! ahhhh! haha!

Another crush that started way back in the day when I was a teenager but is still going strong today is Wade Robson. Since things didn't work out for us at first ;), I now say that he's going to be my second husband and we are going to have little dancing babies! ha! Most of you are probably wondering who he is....he's a dancer/choreographer. Supposedly, he's the one that broke up Justin and Britney! He briefly had a show on MTV, he's a genius choreographer, and well...just look @ him...he's HOT...and, did I mention he can dance! ha!

Another current day crush is Dierks Bentley. I know he has great songs, but I would rather just watch his cute curly headed self on videos. The good music is just a bonus! ha! This is the only crush that Scott acts offended by...as if I am going to run off to Nashville to go get him or something!...I think Scott is just jealous that Dierks can play the guitar and he can't! haha!
Okay, here is one that might throw you for a loop since I am pretty sure this guy bats for a different team so to speak, but hey...I am a equal opportunity crusher and I don't care if he likes men because I LOVE HIM! Anderson Cooper! I love an intelligent guy with a sarcastic sense of humor and a smart mouth! (Hence my marriage to Scott! ha!) And, the salt and pepper hair doesn't hurt either!
That about sums it up! Like I said, totally random. The only other 2 guys I can think of are...

Kyle Chandler....the Dad/head football coach on the Friday Night Lights show! And, David Morse...he played Tom Hanks' friend and the other nice guard in The Green Mile. He was also in Crazy Alabama. Yes, he's older than my parents, but like I said...the salt and pepper hair...love it!

And, of course...SCOTT is my #1! Really, I did have a big crush on him when we first met. We even went to homecoming together my freshman year of college, but we just stayed friends for years and never dated. God knew when the timing would be right! :) Funny enough, though....someone saved a note that I left him in the library one day YEARS before we ever started dating (and he still has it). Sounds like someone had a crush on me, too, huh?! ;)

And, she's baaaaaack! :)

And, I STILL can't figure out how to write above the first photo of a post! GRRRRRR....ha!

So, I happened to look at my blog and realized that the last photos and events I posted about were from...wait for it...MID-MAY!! WHAT THE...that's insanity, and I am slightly embarrassed. I do read all of your blogs and stay current, I just can't keep up with mine. But, this is a BIG week for us, and now that summer is coming to a close and things will be on a tighter schedule, I WILL get this blog back up and running and up to date. I just hope I still have some followers. Let's see...since mid-May we have:

1. Made the blog private! YAY! Now, I can curse if I want to (I tend to let one slip every now and then :/... and I can tell you things without getting attacked like, 'hi, my name is Andrea and I am a Republican!' ha! And, I can post about us making Auntie Anne pretzels without getting contacted by the company! (True story...it wasn't for a bad reason, but still creepy none the less!)

2. I can talk about things like...Scott leaves for Afghanistan in exactly 3 months, to this day! :( We are preparing for it already. He has training coming up. One takes place here in St. Louis and won't be a huge disruption, but another is in DC, so he will be gone for that (clearly). We are trying to plan out all of our traveling between now and the time he leaves. We don't want to miss visiting with anyone, plus we will be celebrating some stuff early, especially since he will be gone during Thanksgiving, Abby's bday, Christmas, New Year's and Valentine's Day. BUT, he will be back on his birthday! What a celebration that will be! I wanted to make this blog private so that I could regulate who sees it, but also because I will not be broadcasting his deployment on Facebook, so this will be a place where I can talk about it and keep people updated.

Other things that have happened since mid-May:

3. Abby graduated from preschool and will starting Kindergarten on Thursday! This Momma is NOT ready for that, but she sure is, so we are all VERY excited! :) She got the teacher I was hoping for, all the kids from this neighborhood are in her class, as well as some other friends from tball, etc., so she was very happy about that. The last 2 years she has been at a different preschool, so she was nervous about not knowing anyone. Once I told her about all the kids in her class, her exact words were, 'now it's time to get wound up!' ha! I will post pics of her darling preschool graduation as soon as I start getting caught up!

4. As you can see in the picture above, Scott and I had an adult night out, and it was with friends from college! Sooo much fun. Most came into town for the weekend and we all went to a Cardinals game!

5. The girls had swim lessons and did SO good. They did private lessons, so they both had one on one instruction. It was really good for them because as wild as they both are, they can be timid in big groups so this was a good fit for us. They both are water bugs and Abby is really doing a good job swimming this summer.

She evens jumps off the diving board! :)
5. We've done quite a bit of traveling...mostly Dixon to see Scott's family, New Albany to see my family and Paducah to see Scott's sister and her family! :)

The girls with Goggy and Gi-gi! (who happen to be celebrating 40 YEARS of marriage today! Happy Anniversary, we love you both very much!)
Relaxing in Aunt Sara's pool! (This is my favorite picture of the entire summer, by the way! What a rough life she leads! ha!)
Swimming with Baby Will! He is still the girls most favorite person! :)
6. We celebrated 4th of July!!! :)
7. We made mud pies and did LOTS of playing, playing and more playing!
8. Late night catching lightning bugs and taking funny pictures while we released them!
9. Spending time with friends....
and getting my first ever pedicure (I am addicted by the way, and will probably never paint my own toe nails again! ha!)
9. We went on a fabulous vacation to Tan-Tar-A Resort at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri (lots more pictures of this trip to come, also).
10. I took my cheer squads to camp in Carbondale, IL. (and sadly, because of Scott's deployment, I had to resign as coach this year, but I am still helping here and there when I can).
Both the JV and the Varsity squad had a great week at camp. Carlyle won just about every award given: both squads won Top Team, both received bids to Nationals, 4 of my Varsity girls won All-American (see above photo :), and one of my seniors won Overall Top All American of the whole camp and also received a staff application to work for NCA next year! I could not be more proud of all of the hard work they have put in since I have been their coach.

Here are both squads with all of their awards! :)
**Since I have spent less time coaching at the school, I have put in some extra time at the gym where I coach tumbling. Thankfully, the summer session is almost over, I have an almost 3 week break before fall session and my hours will be back to normal. I LOVE the job, but I have torn up my shoulder pretty bad. If the break and fewer hours do not help, I am not sure what I will do! :( Surgery is more than likely what I need, but at this point, there is no way that is possible. We just don't have the luxury of extra help while I heal, etc. But, like I said, hopefully with some rest and some therapy, all will be well on it's own.

11. And, last but not least, we have been up to....having FUN WITH OUR GIRLS!! :)
I think I have covered most of the major things, but like I said, I will be back with more photos and posts about everything from the past few months. :) It's been a busy summer and while I am no ready for Abby to go to Kindergarten, I am more than ready for fall, a new routine, etc.