New Technology Allows Me To Update and Prevents Pictures

Oh dear.  Intentions are grand, are they not?  Well, I have had the best of intentions to be better about blogging, but it frankly has been swallowed up in the to-do lists of life.  So now I will resort to a list, mostly to make myself feel as if I'm getting a grip on all the scattered pieces of things I intend to get done.

And I'm doing this blog post right from my iPad, sitting on my couch with my puppy.  Hey, it's a big deal for me!  One reason blogging has become so difficult is the access to my computer.  Two of the three munckins are computer-dependent for homework.  And it is a little shallow to ban them from doing there homework so I can blog.  And by the time they are done and I can use the computer, I'm just too tired.

Yesterday, my favorite son told me he was going to give me my Christmas present early, and that I would understand why when I opened it.  This evening, he gave me my present...wrapped in Safeway bags, as is becoming his signature wrapping.  And the present is the coolest iPad case that has a keyboard attached.  I didn't even know this existed, but it does and it is so fun!  It turns my iPad into a little laptop!  He said that now I can blog without waiting for the computer!  After I hugged him and assured him of his ongoing status of my favorite son, I told him he could have saved this for Christmas.  His response, "Well, then you wouldn't have been able to help me with my college essays as easily.  Christmas would be too late for that."  Ah-ha.  Truth revealed.  Well, whatever.  I love his thoughtfulness and generosity.

So much has been happening:


1. Brenna ran an outrageous District meet, helping her team qualify for State!  The little miss dazzled us this season, running varsity the entire season.  The team took 14th at State, with their top runner taking 4th place!  Brenna also was given the Freshman Award at the banquet, given to an outside freshman who is "one to watch".  Yep, agreed.  Yet again, that girl has proven that a strong work ethic can take you far!

2.  Beth had her 12th Birthday!  I can hardly swallow the fact that my BABY is 12 years old!  One more year of a pre-teenager.  What a blessing this girl's life is.  I'm so thankful for her and her life.  The birthday itself was a FUN event.  We had her party at one of the gymnastics centers in town, and it was one of the best parties we've had.  Those girls hopped, jumped, flipped, twirled and bounced themselves silly for two and a half hours.  They were red-faced and sweaty and thoroughly worn out when we were done.  Even Beth admitted to being worn out on the way home.  And that girl does not wear out easily.

3.  We had our cheer banquet to officially end the season!  It was a great evening of celebrating 3 months of hard work (and fun) for the girls.  I cried, of course.  It's really amazing to watch these girls turning into young ladies.  Some of them have been with me for the last 5 years, and I am so blessed to be a part of their lives.

4.  Alex had the opportunity to perform his Mozart bassoon solo at the Washington Center.  It was chill-bump amazing.  So proud of his accomplishments, and it is fun to watch the upcoming opportunities begin to play out.

5.  Sweet Lucy continues to keep us laughing and on our toes.  She is such a good puppy, and we are all completely smitten with her.  She had her big spay surgery on Friday, so the current challenge is to keep her from being too keyed-up while her belly heals.  This is an 18-pound pup that can chew threw steel mesh to escape her crate and jump our short fence to get over to visit the neighbors.  She is smart as can be, and we are working to use that intelligence for good and not evil.

6.  I have a kindergarten friend who is quite the ladies man.  Holding hands with one girl for  about a week, and then switching to another this last week.  On  Wednesday, they walked up to me at recess, holding hands, and announced that they were getting married someday. "wow!"  The little lady announced that "J" was going to change all the diapers.  "Oh!"  "J" said that was because she was the one who had to "have her stomach cut off to have the baby, so I'll do the diapers." Now that's some advance planning.  The next day, they came walking up to me, holding hands, and "J" said, with a big smile on his face, "Hey Mrs. Caw-son, do you know a good place around here that we could hide to practice kissing?"  I thanked "J" profusely for asking me first, then had alittle conversation about not kissing at school. Love those little ones so much.