Meet Charlee

This our new golden retriever, Charlee. Bailey has wanted a dog since she was a little girl but Jeremy and I aren't really animal people, so we held off as long as we could. Finally, we gave Bailey a stray dog that Colleen found. He is a really good dog, but not a fun dog for her. So the begging started again!!! We had been looking and couldn't find one that was reasonably priced and not a lab until I stumbled across Charlee on Craigslist. Her first owner's have three small children and the mom quickly realized it was way too soon to have a pet. We drove way out into the country to meet her and immediately fell in love. The couple was so happy to find a family that really wanted her they gave us her, her crate, toys, bowls, leash, and food all for free! We brought her home to surprise Bailey and she cried she was so happy!!! She's a good and fun dog and we all love her. We had some issues naming her though. Her original owners named her Lily, which is cute but also the name of our niece so that couldn't work. Then we called her Chloe for a day and Riley decided he did not want to yell that name out in public :) Finally, we all agreed on Charlee. The first picture is one that we re-created for Bailey...long story. The second one is Bailey painting Charlee's toe nails (Riley was again not a fan) and finally the bottom one is Charlee now at 5 months.

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games premiered at midnight and I am not one for staying up that late, so I thought it would be a nice surprise to take Bailey out of school early and go see it. I figured since she's about to start High School (sad tears) I won't be able to take her out much anymore, so I did it while I still could. After the movie we headed over to Yumilicous for a frozen yogurt. I had a lot of fun and I always love our mother-daughter dates!! For those of you who haven't seen recent pictures...yes she is a few inches taller than me now :)

Riley's First Track Meet

I have been telling Riley to join track since he was in the 7th grade and this year he finally did. After only a couple weeks of practice he is the starting Varsity High Jumper. I kept telling him he had some unusual ability to jump and I was right. Today, he competed in his first track meet. This meet happens to be one of the most competitive of the year, so he was nervous. He has been jumping right at 6' during practice, but being so new to the sport he really didn't know how he would compare to others. Honestly, I was a little nervous when I saw all of the other high jumpers. Some of them were huge!! One of the guys he jumped against has a personal best of 6'7". The bar was set at 5'6" as the starting height. Riley was third to jump and had a pretty awful start. He messed up on the run, drug his toe on the track, and missed the jump. In order to move on to the succeeding rounds a high jumper must clear that height and has three chances to do so. Riley's coach was watching another event, so he was alone. I didn't know if I should walk over there and talk to him or just let him be. I decided to go over there and do my best to encourage him. He wanted to watch the video I had taken to see where he messed up. I told him that the pressure was off since they already knew who was taking first and just told him to calm down and do his best. He easily cleared the next jump, so he was able to relax a little. There were a lot eliminated with each round, so things were looking good for Riley. I felt so bad, because with each round I just kept hoping that the other boys would mess up. Riley was one of only four to clear 6' feet and one of only two to clear 6'2". The whole thing was so exciting and nerve racking and I loved it!! It was so much fun to watch him and I am so proud of him!!! In his first meet ever he won second place. His coach thinks he will definitely make district finals. Jeremy pointed out that based on his height and the height jumped Riley definitely won. The winner was 6'5 and jumped 6'6, while Riley is 5'10" and jumped 6'2" :)

FaceTime with Dad

While Jeremy was in Afghanistan we had to rely of Skype and FaceTime to talk, neither of which were very reliable. I don't know when these photos were taken, because I didn't see them until after Jeremy was home. I wanted to post them because I think it's pretty cute and accurately depicts their silly, sweet relationship.

Valentine's Day

A couple of years ago I started making the kids heart shaped pancakes and now it's become a valentine's tradition :) I can't begin to explain how much I love getting homemade gifts from Bailey and the text from Riley was so sweet it made me cry. I love my kids more than they could ever know!!!! I give so much credit to their dad for teaching them how to give thoughtful gifts from the heart. He has been such a wonderful example of what Bailey should look for in a future spouse and of how Riley should treat his future wife.

Long Boarding

A couple of weeks ago we got our first real chance for a snow day. Riley was beside himself with excitement!! He was sure that school would be closed, so he and his friend Travis decided to go long boarding at night in the ice! Crazy boys!! Anyway, they got all bundled up and spent almost two hours outside. When he got home he was freezing and soaking wet, but he said it was worth it.

KMS 8th Grade Girls Basketball

The girls getting ready for their last game of the season. Bailey had a great final game to finish out the year.