District Championships

This morning Nate swam his last meet of the 2010-2011 Swim Season. The District Championships were held in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Nate had a great meet.

200 Free 3rd Place with a personal best time of 3:18.76

50 Back 11th Place with a personal best time of 48.07

50 Free 12th Place with a personal best time of 40.33


Here is the awards ceremony for the 200 Free.

Way to go Nate! Congratulations on a great season!

"Searching for a Prom Dress"

This message is from Kaylee:

Please sign up for swagbucks using my referral link. You can use Swagbucks to search for anything. You earn swagbucks randomly during searches. I notice I usually win after 3-5 searchs in a row. I usually search twice a day once in the morning and once in the afternoon or evening. I usually get some swagbucks within 5-10 minutes of searching. Once I have 450 swagbucks I trade it in for a $5 amazon gift card (they offer other kinds of gift cards too but the amazon one is the best value). Then as soon as I get the amazon gift card I load it onto my amazon account. I'm currently building up my account to buy a cute prom dress. When you sign up for swagbucks using this link you we both earn swagbucks.

Party On

Kaylee's birthday always sneaks up on us. February 3 sounds like its far enough from the holidays not to be a problem, so its on the back burner. I usually start thinking about the boys birthdays in October before Halloween, then we are getting through Thanksgiving, then Christmas, then New Year's Eve. Then just as I settle into the routine of the new year I realize that Kaylee's birthday is just a couple weeks away.




Now that she's older that's both more and less of a problem. Less of a problem because I don't need to find a cute theme and mail cute invitations (She specifically requested that I stop doing that about 2 years ago), more of a problem because she and her friends are so busy its hard to find a weekend to have a party.

This year it worked out that all but 1 of her friends could attend a party on Saturday night. It seemed perfect. Most would just come to church with us on Sunday morning. We'd rent a few movies, put some food out, and leave them to themselves. (Just what teenagers want).



We called this a "not birthday cake" since Kaylee doesn't like cake, its layers of brownies & rice krispy treat.


Everything was going according to plan until around 10:30 on Saturday morning when Nate vomited and I took his temperature. A sick kid sure has a away of messing up the best laid plans.

I really didn't want to try to reschedule the party. A couple years ago this same thing happened and we weren't able to have Kaylee's party until April! So I needed a Plan B!

Plan B turned out to be calling all the parents to inform them of our germiness. We decided to take the girls out to a restaurant and movie and give the parents the option of having the girls sleep over or go home after the movie.

We quarantined Nate and used a lot of Lysol throughout the house. It turned out he only threw up once in the morning but ran a fever most of the day. 3 of the girls decided to be brave and sleep over.

Not exactly how we had planned it, but party on!


How to Make a Teenage Girl happy? Give her shoes for a birthday present!

Free Flavor Friday

I had a fun experience today. I was selected by Coffee Mate to host a Free Flavor Friday Office Party. They send me a Nescafe Dulco Gusto Piccolo Machine and a bunch of samples. I made up goody bags and lots of cookies and took them into work. From 1-4pm I manned the break room, showing my co-workers how to use the machine and keeping the coffee pots full. The best part is we get to keep the machine. Most of you know I love to host partys, but this was a side of me my co-workers rarely see. It was fun.

Fifteen

Happy Birthday Kaylee!

The past two weeks have brought many changes in your life. Dad & I are praying for you. You are growing up to be a beautiful, precious Princess. We know that God will take care of you.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:10-12

Taylor Swift isn't our source of guidance but it seems appropriate to play it today.


Just remember, there is someone who tells you he loves you everyday. AND you can believe him.