A new school year

Everyone was up bright and early this morning for the start of a new school year. Thomas is a kindergartener this year and Candace and Sarah are in second grade. I swear that time moves more quickly with each passing year.

 Thomas. Candace and Sarah pose by the sign before abandoning me on the sidewalk without so much as a good-bye hug.  Sniff.

  

 Candace and Sarah are off the bus... I missed the moment with speedy Thomas.

He was very excited to tell Daddy about his first day in kindergarten.

Home after a successful first day!

My fledgling

Six years ago, I did not have a good birthday. Tom was out of town, Kenneth was gone somewhere and the girls were at gymnastics camp in Iowa. A friend called and I cried about how I was just going to be an old and lonely woman. I remember I said that Kenneth would be going to college and before you know it, Emily will leave and then poof! Anna will be in college, too. My friend paused a beat and then said "Paula, Anna's twelve." Not fazed by this response, from a mom whose oldest child was three at the time, I wailed "You just wait and see how fast it goes!"

How fast it goes, indeed.

The dreaded day arrived on Saturday, and while it turns out that I'm not going to be alone and lonely after all, I still feel incredibly sad about my little Anna flying the nest. We're much more efficient about moving a kid to college now that we've done it multiple times, but it doesn't get any easier. My heart feels squeezed just as much as it did when we drove away from UNO when our Kenneth was a freshman.

 Anna with bestie/roomie Kenzie

 Our little Huskers will miss big sister Anna.

 A good-bye hug, with a pitiful attempt by me to fake a smile.

Just have to keep reminding myself that being a good mom means that eventually, they have to spread their wings and fly away.

Olympic dreams

I love the Olympics. The first one I remember seeing was the Munich Olympics in 1972. The one where I fell in love with all things Olympic was Montreal in 1976. And this little girl is the reason why:

With Nadia Comaneci and her perfect 10's, I was swept into the world of gymnastics, a place where I hung out for many years as a gymnast and later as a coach.  Her routines still give me goosebumps.

Now my little girls are being enchanted by a new gymnastics princess, Gabrielle Douglas.  It was so fun watching her and seeing the twins get excited by the success of a "brown girl" like them.  It seems gymnastics lessons are again in our future.

We have some other Olympic favorites too, like Purdue University diver David Boudia (right).  He and partner Nicholas McCrory won a bronze medal in the 10m platform synchronized diving.  Boiler Up!

And finally, we were thrilled today to see Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba win the women's 10000m race in convincing style.  Go Team Ethiopia!  And let the Games continue.  :)

Back home again in Indiana

Last Friday we took off on our annual summer trip to Indiana to visit with our extended family. It was just Tom and I with the littles this time around as the bigs all have jobs and have to work (yes, this is a good thing.) This year our visit coincided with the Newport family reunion, which is Tom's mother's family. It was fun for the littles to meet some relatives they didn't even know they had, as well as catch up with our more immediate relatives.

We were very blessed that the day of the reunion was pleasantly sunny and comfortable.  After weeks of sizzling high temperatures, we couldn't have asked for a nicer day to be outside.
  

 It's not a family reunion without a water balloon toss.

  Candace with cousin Becky, Sarah with me and Thomas partners with Uncle Andy.

 Cousin Paul in one of the sillier relay games
 concocted by Aunt Linda.

 Sarah and Candace ready for the ducky relay.

 Thomas awaits his turn.

Another fun thing we did was visit my sister Johanna in her classroom.  She teaches eighth grade math.  She showed us around her school... the littles were dazzled, as this middle school is much larger than any of the schools in our hometown of Ashland.

Aunt Johanna with the littles.

 

 One of the science teachers offered 
to show the kids his animal collection.

Here they are petting his python, 
Thomas and Sarah somewhat reluctantly.

We were invited to an ice cream social to meet up with some old friends from high school.  My sister Laura and her husband Richard drove in for the day to attend.  Which was crazy of them, but nice for us.

 

Me with Laura

I also managed to squeeze in a lunch with my oldest friend in the world, Kristen.   We met when we were teammates in club gymnastics, lo those many years ago.

 

Kristen and me

 Finally, we loved staying with my mom and her sweet little dog, Percy.  Mom had just returned from a Baltic cruise, but she let us descend on her home anyway... love you, Mom.

  Grandma Miles and Percy with the littles.

 

Sister visit number two

Last week, my sister Teresa arrived with her two boys, Jeffrey and Noah. We are pretty lucky to get visits from two of my siblings in one month! I will see my third sister, my brother, my mom and my in-laws this weekend when we drive to Indiana for a reunion. It's great to be able to visit and get up to date on everything that has been going on in each others' families. In addition to the usual lake fun we provide to visitors, the outrageous heat drove us indoors to the Strategic Air and Space Museum, which is right here in Ashland. Omaha was the home of the Strategic Air Command of the USAF for many years, and there is a very impressive array of aircraft and other interesting exhibits.

Here are some photos of their visit, in no particular order since I was having trouble with the new Blogger interface.  

    

 My sister Teresa attempting to beat the 100+ heat.

 Thomas playing a game at the SAC Museum.

 Teresa helping Jeffrey with a game.

 Sisterly love.

 Teresa on the jet ski.

 Noah, Sarah, Thomas, Candace, Jeffrey and Emily

 Astro Jeff

Jet skier Noah

 Sarah and Candace piloting some type of lunar vehicle.

 Three boys taking a break.

 Jeffrey and the littles.

 Jeffrey loved the lake!

  Noah and Teresa

Pictures I love

This is a picture of Anna competing at the Cornhusker State Games last summer, 2011. I just think it's a cool shot. :)

Ethio-adoptive families at the beach!

 This Saturday, we hosted a get together at our house for local area families with children adopted from Ethiopia. We have met some of these families before, at a previous gathering, and some are new friends. The weather was hot and sunny, but the water was refreshing, the food was tasty and the fellowship was outstanding. Thomas was thrilled beyond words to have so many little boys to frolic around with! Candace and Sarah enjoyed playing "big girl" to some of the littles, and making friends with some of the older siblings. A great day was had by all... hope to make it an annual event!

Ethio kids!

Sarah and a new friend.

 The twins help out a new buddy on the boogie board.

Thomas loved sampling the flotation devices
 brought by others.  :)

Sister visit number one

We are having a lot of visitors this summer. Last weekend, my older sister Johanna and her family came to visit us. Her daughter Meredith is very popular at our house... the littles could barely contain their excitement that she was coming. Meredith is at that convenient age where she is still fun for the littles to play with, and also fun for Emily and Anna to take shopping at the mall. We really enjoyed having them visit and are thankful that Colin and Johanna decided to visit us at the end of their vacation tour of the upper midwest and great plains.

Our sweet and sassy Meredith!

Colin and Johanna

My cousin Crystal, husband Don and their kids joined us for some lake fun. Here the grown-ups are relaxing while the kids swim.

Boatload of kids!

Sarah working her charm on Uncle Colin.

Johanna takes the jet ski for a spin.

Colin's turn


Johanna and me

Johanna playing Sorry with little cousin Caden.
He won, using his creative rules for the game.

As a final disclaimer, I want it to be publicly known that Meredith did indeed drive the jet ski on her own... for some reason I can't find a picture. She did an excellent job, and the absence of photographic evidence should in no way indicate otherwise.