I am thankful for my van

This could be a post full of whining. But, in leiu of that, it will be a post of thanksgiving. What am I thankful for, you may ask? Just keep reading...

I am thankful that I am posting this from my sister's house in Ohio.
I am thankful that the 8 hour drive here only took 24 hours - it could have taken longer.
I am thankful that only 21 of those 24 hours were spent in my van.
I am thankful that the seats in my van are pretty comfortable for long periods of time.
I am thankful that my children are really, really good van riders and didn't mind granola bars for dinner.
I am thankful for portable DVD players and movies!
I am thankful that the WV turnpike was only closed for 5 hours - it could have been all night.
I am thankful that we didn't have to pay any tolls. $6 saved.
I am thankful that we arrived in one piece and the van had no dings, flat tires, or mechanical issues.
I am thankful for my cell phone and the ability to call family to see why traffic is stopped and to call 911 when needed (for another vehicle, not us).
I am thankful that I was able to stay awake behind the wheel until we could find a city with motel rooms available.
I am thankful for cheap motels for a few hours of stretching out and sleeping.
I am thankful that the beds didn't have bed bugs. I did wonder when I saw the room...
I am thankful for the beautiful scenery of snow covered trees and hills and that I had plenty of time to take all of it in and praise God for his incredible creation!
I am thankful for the memories created on this very memorable trip!

But most of all, I am thankful for all the prayers that were lifted up on our behalf and for being reminded that God watches over and takes good care of me and loves me more than I could ever ask or imagine.

Proud: P-R-O-U-D, proud.

She did it! Even though she was very nervous, Katey competed in her first school-wide spelling bee and she did GREAT!

This shot is just before the bee started.

There were 21 students competing from the 3rd-5th grades and Katey was the last 3rd grader standing!! She made it to round 4 and correctly spelled the words "holiday" and "applause". There was one more word she got correct but none of us can remember what it was! Katey was eliminated on the word "significant" and it was heartbreaking. She started off with "s-i-n-g" then stopped and asked the judges if she could start over. Unfortunately, that is against the rules, so she had to continue the word knowing that she misspelled it. We were so proud of her for finishing the word and keeping her head held high!

Getting ready to spell her 2nd word

When I walked Katey back to her class, she opened the door and all of her classmates whooped and cheered for her!! That was an extra special moment and brought a big smile to both of our faces!

For the record, Mike and I asked Katey afterward how she would have spelled her word if she could have started over. Signifacant. We told her that competing in the spelling bee was a significant event and we love her and are so P-R-O-U-D!

5K-Wordy Katey and Tied-Up Seth

What a busy and exciting weekend!!

We kicked off the weekend with a note in Katey's book bag from the principal (dun-dun-duh!) letting us know that Katey won her classroom spelling bee and will be competing in the school-wide bee on Wednesday! Now we are helping her with a spelling list which includes words such as: rendezvous, bromeliad, umlaut, barukhzy, knavery and euphemism. Wow! And we'll be looking up the meaning of many of these words...since some of them I have never heard of.

The next big thing on our weekend list of fun was that Seth learned to tie his shoes! We have been working on this for a few months now. Okay, probably 5 months, at least. Thanks to Daddy, the hard work has paid off! Believe me when I say that there was crying, there was wailing and there might even have been gnashing of teeth. But, with the reward of ice cream dangling like a carrot in front of him, Seth finally conceded and picked up the shoe laces. Wahoo!!

Look at those perfect bunny ears and that proud grin!

And now, for the big weekend event: Katey ran a 5K!! She has been in a program through school called "Girls on the Run" since September. There were 15 girls in 3rd-5th grades and 3 coaches. The kids spent 2 hours a week getting to know each other, talking about dealing with social situations that might be difficult and running. Saturday morning was the culmination of 2 1/2 months of hard work and all the girls did a GREAT JOB!! All of the elementary and middle schools in our county participated and we heard there were about 630 girls running. The weather was a little less than ideal, being one of the coldest days we have had this year. It was about 45 degrees and damp, but thankfully, not raining like was predicted! Above: Katey's team at Rocky River Elementary School

The girls are off! This is a shot of about 2/3 of the crowd that was running Saturday morning

Katey said it was hard and she got tired, but she was so proud of herself - though not half as proud as we are of her!! She told Mike that she would like to keep running with him and do another 5K - this time running alongside Daddy!

Our proud 5K finisher showing off her medal!

Katey with her running partners, Adajah and Ms. Lawrence

What a GREAT weekend!