Circle of Stars

The most recent meet Kelsey has competed in is Circle of Stars in Indianapolis.  Wow, was this big!!  There were about 18 girls in Kelsey's age group.  There were actually a lot more, but they were on different days because there were just too many to compete all at once.  There were big gyms from all over the country.....Michigan and Missouri to name a couple.  Some of these girls practice 20+ hours a week!  For those of you who don't know, Kelsey practices 6 hours a week.  That's a big difference!  So, considering how big this meet was, Kelsey did great.  It was a good experience for her.  I didn't get a lot of great pictures, but here are a couple of fun ones:-)

Back tuck during her floor routine

Vault

She got 2nd on floor.  Great job, Kelsey!

The Great Race

In January, Kelsey competed in The Great Race meet at Zionsville. This meet was a little bigger than the others she has competed in....she was competing against quite a few more girls (I don't remember how many, but it was around 15).  Besides Excel Gold, there were also girls from Excel Silver, which was very exciting because her 2 best buddies were there with her!

The 3 Amigos....MaKenzie, Kelsey, and Braci

Introducing Bella Rose

Not sure if you can see it or not, but she has the hugest smile on her face because she had just landed her back walkover!

Love this picture

Relaxing after the meet, waiting for awards to start

3rd on bars

1st on floor

Quest for the Diamond

In November, Kelsey had another meet, and this time it was in South Bend.  It was called Quest for the Diamond.  There were girls from Excel Gold and Excel Platinum. Again, it was a very small meet.  I didn't get very many good pictures, but here are a few:-)

Ready to vault

Time for beam

She got third on something, but I can't remember what it was!  I'm thinking it was either floor or bars.  I'll have to go look that up.....

Graveyard Smash 10-19-13

Kelsey is still in gymnastics, and competitions started in October for the 2013/2014 season.  Kelsey is competing in Excel Gold this year. Her first meet was in Lafayette around Halloween time and was called the Graveyard Smash.  It was a very small meet! I hope to post more pictures of other meets later on:-)

Here she is ready for her first meet of the season

Stretching.  There were also girls from Excel Platinum and Levels 7 and 8 competing at the same time.  It was fun for them to all be there together!

Introducing Bella Rose

Kelsey and Cassidy

All the girls after the meet

She got first on bars!

I had to throw these last pictures in there....while gymnastics is a lot of work, there is time to play too:-)  Kelsey has made some amazing friendships through the gym.  She had a sleepover with a few of the girls this past summer.

Fall Break Fun

We never make a big deal over fall break, mainly because we never know if Lance will still be harvesting.  This past year, Lance got done right before fall break, so that was really nice!  I took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese one afternoon, and then we all went to a hotel for a night later in the weekend.  Like I said, not much, but still fun!

Landon's 8th Birthday

This past October, Landon turned 8 years old.  Wow.  We are so proud of the young man he is becoming.  He is very kind and tenderhearted (most of the time!), and is such a joy.  I thank God every day for this blessing and choosing me to be his mom.

Landon currently loves to play football and basketball with his friends.  Once summer is here, baseball will be what keeps him busy, and he is really looking forward to it.  He loves to play outside or be at the shop helping dad.  I look forward to seeing what God has in store for this little boy.

  Happy 8th Birthday, Landon!

This is the first year Landon was allowed to have a sleepover party with more than one friend.  Let me just say....boys are sure different than girls! They had a lot of fun, though.

Seriously.  So different than girls.

Presents from grandma and grandpa

More presents :-)

His basketball birthday cake.

Our First Broken Bone

     This past September, Maddox was at a friend's house while Lance and I went out to eat.  When we got home, my friend was holding Maddox, and he had been crying.  She said that all the kids were sliding down the stairs in a sleeping bag (how fun!), and he must have landed funny, because he started crying. A lot.  She was getting ready to call us when we got there (about 15 minutes had passed).  I figured he was just overly tired, and after time, he would be fine. Well, he couldn't sleep at all that night, and he couldn't move his arm very well.  I asked him if he would like for me to take him to the doctor, and he said yes, so I knew it must hurt pretty bad.  So, we called my mom to come watch the other 2 kids and headed over to Jasper County Hospital for x-rays.
     When we got to the hospital, we double checked with him, "Maddox, before we go in to the hospital, are you sure your arm still hurts??" I mean, who wants an E.R. bill if it can be avoided, right?  He was very sure it still hurt, so we went in.  Once in the back, the nurse asked him how bad it hurt, and he said "A little."  What?!  A little?!  Ok.  Then the nurse proceeded to twist and turn his arm and asked him if that hurt, and he said "A little."  WHAT?!  Oh brother!
    Next came time for x-rays.  He was a little trooper and let them do whatever they needed to get the pictures.  While waiting for the doctor (a little annoyed at this point because I'm feeling like they are going to tell us he is fine and send us home with $500 ice pack), Lance all of a sudden looked out the door and got wide-eyed.  He said, "If that x-ray is Maddox's arm, then it's definitely broken!"  So Lance went out to ask the nurse about the x-ray he was seeing on the computer screen in the hallway.  Sure enough, it was Maddox's, and his left arm was broken.  At this point, I am nearly in tears because we waited several hours to get him checked out, and a little while ago I had been annoyed with him because he was saying it only hurt a little.  He proved how tough he actually is on this night!!
     JCH didn't feel like they should cast it until he saw an orthopedic doctor, just in case.  There is an orthopedic doctor that comes from Lafayette to JCH, so they sent us away with a splint and said they would call us Monday (this was Saturday) with an appointment time.
     That was a long weekend.  Maddox cried a lot because his arm hurt, and he hardly slept at all.  Monday couldn't come soon enough!  When Monday rolled around, we didn't hear from the hospital all day.  Lance finally called the doctor's office in Lafayette to see if they would just see him down there.  After much convincing, they squeezed us in.  Thankfully, no surgery was needed and they went ahead and put a cast on.
     Maddox was in a cast for 5 weeks and healed wonderfully!  The toughest part was getting him to keep his fingers moving.  Once we overcame that obstacle, it was easy sailing!

Here we are at JCH getting a splint

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All splinted and ready to go home!

No words needed.....ouch!

At the doctor's office getting his cast.  He chose orange to match his Bears outfit

He was excited to get some special deliveries from Nanny and Papa, and Uncle Kevin, Aunt Heather, Seth, and Linsey

Working on his homework that he missed from school

Trying to move those fingers!!

Last day with his cast - yay!!

It's off!

Aahhhh....back to normal!  Almost.

1st Day of School!

I seriously still can't get over that all of my babies are in school.  It's weird. I still miss them during the day when they are gone.  But, it's part of life, and I'm going to enjoy this stage too.  You would think I have all the spare time in the world, but that's not the case!  I try to go up to the school often and stay involved.  They are all doing really well in school.  I can't say they love it, but nonetheless, they do well.  I am so proud of each of them and just pray that they continue to do well with their schoolwork and can be a light to those around them!

2013 - Camping, Camping, and More Camping!

We were able to go camping several times this past year, which was a lot of fun.  Here are just a few pictures of some of our adventures:-)

This was at Caboose Lake in Remmington. Here we are getting ready to take paddle boats out on the lake.  They also had some fun activities for the kids to do (trampoline basketball and some water slides).  You had to buy wristbands to be able to use them, though, and since it was chilly we chose not to.  We will probably go back to this campground, so hopefully it will be a little warmer next time!

Maddox, Landon, and me out on the paddle boat:-)

Landon loved to chop wood...he actually did this quite a bit while camping!  We usually made him put on glasses....not sure how he got away with not wearing them here.

The kids got Indiana Beach tickets for meeting a reading goal at school, so we camped in Monticello and let them use their tickets. I can't remember for sure which campground we stayed at.  I'm thinking it was Lost Acres, which was not very nice....we probably won't be going back this year!

We went to Oak Lake Campground with the Pilarski's.  This was such a nice place! There was a beach area where the kids could play and swim.  Out on the water were trampolines and launch pillows (I can't believe I didn't put a picture on here!).  There were also several activities for the kids (with the purchase of a wristband), but it was well worth it.  We will definitely be going back this year!!

Kelsey and Emily riding "bikes."  I'm not sure what these are actually called.

We tried out Raccoon Lake for the first time, which is right by Turkey Run.  It was so fun, and I hope we can go back again this year! We went hiking at Turkey Run for a day.

Landon wanted to see these ladders SO bad.  They were a far hike away, but he really wanted to see them.  Kelsey and Maddox were tired of hiking, so Lance took them back, and Landon and I hiked on.  He was glad he continued....it was pretty neat!