Blueberry Baseball

No, we didn't play baseball using blueberries! :)  During our Blueberry Festival they have a c-league baseball tourney that all the teams compete it. It is very official even with brackets based on how you finished regualr season, etc.  We spent the ENTIRE labor day weekend at the ball field!   The tourney was double elimination and they lost their 2nd game, but went on to beat our two biggest rivals and earn a spot in the championship game!  Way to go DQ Phillies!  The kids were exhausted and played so hard.  So proud of them all.  We finished 3rd in the regular season and the boys got a trophy for that.

Unfortunately we lost in the championship game, but we were so proud of our kids. They had only 20 minutes between their last two games but played their hearts out and did a great job!  Here's the team for one last picture together.

And of course their huddle cheer of:  Who are we? DQ!  Who? DQ!  Who!  DQ!!!!

Grant with his 2nd place Blueberry Festival tourney trophy.

And of course we had to go to Dairy Queen ONE more time to finish off the season.  We went after every win during the regular season, so it was only fitting to go one last time!

Great job boys!  You had a great summer...Now it's off to football practice!

I Win! I Win!!!

No, I didn't win in the sense of the word you may think!  I was not in first place...in fact in my age group I finished 14th out of 30, but I still WON!  I feel like this race was MY win against my pain...after 7 years of struggling wtih this nasty neck pain, I WIN!  I proved that the pain is not in control of me and that God can and will give me strength to keep on keeping on!  Last fall, my pain was at an all-time high and I was feeling hopeless.  I've been through some very down times in the past year (besides the last 7 years)...but God brings me through each of those times with flying colors, with lessons learned, growth in Him happening and achievements that make me wonder how they happened.  If you have known me very long you know that I am NOT a runner...I have never enjoyed it and in fact have mostly disliked it strongly my whole life, but I'm actually starting to enjoy it and have great satisfaction in it.  It feels good!  i can't believe i just said that!  AND, I finished the race in my personal best time, which isn't fantastic, but is my best, so I was very excited.  My time by my watch (started and stopped by my croosing start and finish vs. the gun to start) was 29: 52!!So here I am...this is about 1/2 mile into the Blueberry 5K race.

This picture is about 2.5 miles in and believe it or not, I still felt great!

We had to be there early for me to run my race, so Daddy took the kids and got McDonald's and they had a picnic breakfast before the parade, along the street for the parade route!

They are smiling bigger than me for some reason! HA!

Kiara LOVED the parade this year and screamed and clapped and waved at the floats and especially the characters dressed up in the parade.  It was fun to watch in the eyes of a 2 year old!

So, I did it.  It's over. I feel accomplished...yes, I spent money to run what I run every day anyway...but there's something about proving I can do it to the world and to my pain that gave me great satisfaction!  I truly feel like I won!!!!!

The Beach!

I realize those of you who read this who TRULY go to beaches are laughing...but yes...we call it going to the beach here in Indiana if you go to a lake with a beach on it!  Not the same as the ocean and we all realized that very quickly after being at the ocean this summer already.  BUT, we still had a great time.  Kiara does not like having to be held or near us.  She wanted to take off and just go by herself.  She just has no fear at all.  Scares me to death!!!

The boys usually play in the sand a lot and build sand castles with moats etc...this year after being at the ocean, sand castles wren't quite as exciting to them and they wanted to be out deeper in the water.  They loved jumping off the side of the pier into the water.  Grandma got a couple of actions shots of that on her camera...but I don't have them yet.  I may have to re-post them when I get them. 

If it had been up to them, we would've stayed much longer...but after nearly 5 hours there...Kiara really needed a nap and we also enjoyed some air conditioning too!

I don't think she ate TOO much sand! :)  She did make some friends close to us that had potato chips...my girl and her chips and cookies.  Luckily the family was nice and didn't mind her invading them.

Beach days are over for now...at both lake and ocean.  I think next year will be even more fun when Kiara is a little more independent...or should I say when I am able to ALLOW her to be independent?  We know she can do it all on her own already!

Splash Pad Fun

The last week of summer...yes, that was nearly 3 weeks ago...but I"m just making time for it!  We decided we were going to get out and do some things.  Rain was forecast every day so it was spur of the moment fun.  I called my super friend and invited her and her kids to go to the Bourbon splash pad for a couple of hours.  The kids had a blast and especially enjoyed having the water dump on them from the big bucket.

The water was pretty cold and took their breath away... but it was too much fun for them to care, I think.

Kiara has no fear and would gasp as the water hit her (because of the coldness) and then grin from ear to ear!

I think the kids had a great time playing and getting cooled down in the 90 degree temperatures.  Next year I don't think we will wait until the end of the summer to go back to the splash pad! 

1st Day of School

Hard to believe that another summer has come and gone.  I haven't finished blogging it all...so it shouldn't have really ended, right? :)  Last Wednesday (18th) was the boys first day of school.  This was a big year for us...Brock has moved on to a 5th-6th grade building and Grant is still back at the elementary school.  Different buses at different times and separation of these two close brothers.  They handled it really well.  They were both excited for new adventures and are more excited to see each other at night now too!  Can't believe that my oldest is a 5th grader.  Amazing how time flies. And my youngest boy is now a 2nd grader?  When did that happen? By the way, Grant had some poison ivy on his eye which is why it looks a bit swollen...we didn't beat him up before his first day!

Picture time...everyone's favorite part of the first day! HA!  They suffer through it for mom and grandma!  Here's grandma and the boys.

And Mom, Kiara and the boys!  Good luck guys!

Now that we are almost a week into the year...it's been a success.  We are all adjusting, although mommy still wishes to be home and is counting down til days off at home with the kids again!  Happy school year!

35!!!!!!!

So, the last week or so, I have spent anticipating a semi-big birthday...35.  The actual number of 35 didn't bother me all that much until I was looking at a registration for a 5K that I may run in...I realized that I would have to be in the 35-39 category this year...ummmm...that's really close to 40 ya'll! Yikes!  That made me panic for a few hours and then...I reflected on some things and I just don't care about the number anymore.
1.  I am down to the weight that I weighed at the age of 16
2.  I have three beautiful kids and a wonderful husband of 13 years
3.  I am in the best shape I've been in...well, for a long time
4.  I FEEL young!!!!
5.  I am blessed beyond belief and can't even begin to list all the blessings
6.  At 35 I still have student's parents that are older than me!
7.  I'm more active now than 10 years ago!
8.  God has blessed me with growth in those years and amazes me with each day
9.  I don't think my parents are old (yet), so I can't be old either, right?
10.  If I'm planning to run a 5K...I just can't be too bad off, right?

So...today I'm thanking God for my beautiful family and friends and another year to serve HIM...I'm asking Him for wisdom and patience as I continue to grow in Him and learn all that I need to know.  I'm thanking Him for the years that I have had in my mission field of teaching and the many more that I have to come.  So instead of worrying about that age going up, I will continue to be blessed by my days and look for ways to make those days (and years) worth it for the glory of HIM!

Baling Hay and Cousin Fun

Cousin time!  This summer the kids had several opportunities to see and play with their cousins. They always have so much fun together but they normally don't get to see each other too often.  So we definitely enjoyed the time that we had with them...Lots of swimming, golfing, playing baseball, baling hay, and good fun at the fair with them.  Here is Cailey (4) and Kiara (2) hanging out together.  They were so cute together and listening to them "talk" was adorable!

Playing in the sandbox.  Cailey was teaching her all kinds of things!

While they girls played outside of the pool, the boys took over inside the pool  playing basketball and lots of their own created games.  They LOVED this and let me tell you that it was very noisy with 4 boys (10 year old + three 8 year olds)! Whew!

Here's a picture they took at the fair this year of the Markley side grandkids...I may be biased but aren't they all just TOO cute???

The boys have been waiting all summer to bale hay (we missed the first cut because we were on vacation).  Finally the time came and they were so excited.  They got to help out on the wagon and in the field which was hard work, but they loved it!  All the boy cousins had a blast.

It was a late night that night.  The last bale of hay was put in the barn about 10:00 pm. 

Kiara decided she wanted to have her own fun and "discovered" where the markers were at Grandma's house...she was very blue for quite awhile!  Needless to say...we put the markers up and out of the way!

Here the girls stand waving at the boys coming up the lane with the hay wagon.  They would stand there waving the whole time up and down the lane.  Too sweet.

I have a few more summer fun pictures, but I'll save them for the next post...our summer fun is drawing to a close, but it's been a good one...very full this year!