When not combing the hair is a good sign.

Colleen tonight has gone to a party for one of the boys on the swim team. There are about 10 boys ,Colleen, plus the girl having the party. Being a mom of a soon to be 13 year old I was a bit worry about leaving her there. When we were getting ready to leave Colleen still had her hair in a ponytail and hadn't combed it all day. I asked her if she was going to brush her hair. She looked surprised, "Does it need it?" Then I realized I had nothing to worry about, she had taken no extra steps in making sure she looked pretty. (Yes, Colleen you always look pretty) When I dropped her off I was talking to a couple of the moms and they said Colleen is one of the guys she can take care of herself. I sure hope so.....
The boys both lost their basketball games today. Neither game was pretty.

UH-OH Colleen is in the Kitchen!

Finally SNOW!

We have been waiting for our first snow fall. The kids are home. It is funny how they act as they get older. Colleen is still in her PJ's. Conlan has been out a couple of times and Donavan has been in and out of the house a dozen times. Just think in a couple of years I will be back to having to dress a little one for the snow. UGH!

Sports and more Sports

Volleyball
Colleen made the first cuts on the Volleyball team. Wednesday is D-day!


Basketball
Conlan's team won 15-12. Conlan is all about defense. He fouled out! His last foul was a great foul. The other team was going up for a lay-up with a minute left, and Conlan took the boy out. His coach had to remind him he is playing basketball, not football.

Donavan's team won 24-4. Donavan scored 8 points! Their team is pretty amazing for 2nd graders. They don't foul and they pass. At one point I think they passed the ball about 8 times before they shot.


Swimming
Colleen had a 50/50 meet. She took time off her 50 breast and 100 back, but added a bit on her 100 free and 200 breast.

Tomorrow except for church and taking Colleen to Cotillion, I am going to rest!

Ultra Sound Day

WOW! What a day. Ray and I went to Henrico's Doctor Hospital is have a ultra sound done for screening of chromosome defects. The ultra sound was neat. Technology has changed a lot in the last eight years. We could see the whole baby, and its heart just beating away. It would of been much more warm and fuzzy for me if I hadn't had a full bladder. The technician was trying to get the baby to move so she was bouncing/pushing the wand on me. I thought for sure I was going to pee my pants. After she was done a nurse came and took us to another room to go over the results. She was super nice and didn't put any pressure on us. The chances of a 43 year having down syndrome are 1 in 32. After the screening my chances went down to 1 and 162. The chromosome Tri 21 was 1 in 650. We took that has great news. We knew going in we won't going to doing any invasive testing. The nurse gave us lots of info and took all families medical history. We go back on March 3 for the follow-up. We felt very blessed that things seem to be going so well. It is always good when the doctor doesn't show up!
I treated Ray with lunch at the Bass Pro Shop. Then gave him an hour to wander around and dream. I told him next time we are going to Short Pump Mall:)

Who is Bert? Oscar? Big Bird?????

I work with four/five year olds that have very hard lives. I usually block out what I know b/c I would cry if I thought about their home lives. Yesterday I was reading to one of my little buddies. He lives with his grandparents. His dad is in prison for murder and mom is in and out for drugs. His home is total chaos.
I was reading a Sesame Street book about Erenie'e busy day. Half way thru the story he asked who Bert was. I said you know Ernie's best friend. Then I thought does he not know??? After the story I went back to the pictures and started asking him if he knew the characters. He only recognized Elmo. He said he had never watched the show. This boy can tell you every wrestler on Smackdown and probably repeat the plots of any horror movie you want to know about it.
This just broke my heart. I think it really hit home that no one has ever really cared about this kid's well-being. Sad Sad!

Happy Birthday Jane

Jane is 39! I hope you have a great birthday!

16 years and counting

16 years ago, I first laid eyes on Ray. My first impression was he is cute and polite. Apparently he liked me too! He is still polite and crazy about me. Maybe we wouldn't be having baby 4 if he was less crazy about me:) I am very blessed he swept me off my feet and I do love him with all my heart!
Today my parents have been married 46 years and Ray's sister Ginny celebrates 18 years of martial bliss.

Evening with the Cognata's

Tim's family came to visit his mother, and we got invited over for dinner. Mrs. Cognata had enough for a small army. We had a great time. I laughed until I cried. Colleen saw a side of her father that she didn't know about. I was hoping he would of kept the "I'm still a ten year old boy." hiding for a little longer:) Ray needed a night of great laughs, for some reason he has been a bit stressed.

He Scores!

Donavan's team won 14-6. They looked good. They have a group of tall kids and a one super quick small one. Conlan's team lost in double overtime.

Jumpball

Donavan's first jumpball. He is a bit of an overachiever! He got it right the second time.

Ray to the Rescue

Our mail lady some how got stuck in the ditch. Ray didn't want to get involved, but I reminded him if his wife was stuck in a ditch he would want someone to help. Instead of sitting in their warm house laughing about the fat lady that can't drive. Ray and the neighbor across the street helped the poor woman, and she was able to continue to deliver the mail.

SPY MEET

This weekend Conlan and Colleen swam at the University of Maryland. This meet is for the best YMCA swimmers in the Mid-Atlantic region. We call this meet the Reality Check meet. One starts feeling like they are a great swimmer( or parents think their child is it) and this meet brings them back to reality. There are lots of great swimmers out there. Conlan barely qualified to go, so the fact he was there was pretty exciting. He is swimming faster and is only 2 seconds away from qualifying for states in his 100 free! Colleen had been fighting a sinus infection all week, so she didn't do as well as she wanted. But on the last event Sunday afternoon, she looked for redemption and qualified for finals! She ended up getting 5th in her 100 Breaststroke. The videos didn't want to download last night, so I will try again today.

BIG BABY NEWS

Ray and I got a huge surprise a few weeks ago! We are being blessed with baby in July! Needless to say we were quite shocked, but we are getting use to the idea. The kids are ecstatic. Colleen said she has been praying for this for 8 years, of course her prayers consist of a sister. I was blaming it all on Ray, but now Colleen can take some of the responsibility! Donavan is excited about being a big brother instead of the baby. Please keep us in your prayers. I get the title of high risk, due to my advanced maternal age:) We had a scare before Christmas that got me put on bed rest for almost two weeks, but everything is fine now. Apparently it is a fighter and likes to have it's picture taken! Ray is beginning to come out of his daze, realizing retirement and the Rocky Mountains are going to be a few more years away.....

2nd FCA Meeting

Yesterday, Thornburg Middle had their second FCA meeeting, and it doubled in sized from the first meeting. This time boys showed up! It is wonderful to see the Lord working in these middle schoolers. Colleen is took on more responsiblity this meeting. The FCA adminstration hopes the kids can start leading on their own in a couple of more meetings. Colleen's best buddies hate getting up in front of people, so she is having to go outside her comfort zone to not only get up and talk in front of the group, but to also enlist other's to help take on leadership roles.

We are back!

We have our computer back! The computer decided to crash a few days b/f Christmas. Colleen and I had the hardest time functioning. We had a great Christmas. I am not going to review the last two weeks, I am just going to start right back up!