Kind Words, Twice in One Day

I received this email from Jackson's first grade teacher today..."I love having Jackson in my classroom. He is so mature and a joy to have around...wish I had more like him!"

And after the softball game, Deana, one of our players' moms who has a son named Parker who is a friend of Jack's, sent me this text..."Conversation with Parker: How did you get that ball park pickle? Oh, Jack gave me a quarter from his pocket cuz I said I was hungry. You know, he is a really good friend!"

I hope I am a joy to be around some day...D

Checklist...

1. softball game tonight - 6:00
2. swimming tomorrow, practice violin and clarinet, get groceries
3. softball game Thursday night, Cub Scout meeting
4. Swimming, get packed, get Pete packed, Jack spelling test review
5. Saturday morning - leave for Cape! Swine flu - STAY AWAY this year!

D

Off to a great start...

Our school year is off to a great start! Jack's open house was Tuesday, Gray's is tonight. There has been some homework - not a lot, but some. We won our first fall softball game, 12-6. Swimming is back in session, every M-W-F. Violin starts this Sunday with a new teacher. The clarinet has been cleaned NIGHTLY but has yet to be played...all in due time, her teacher says. I have numerous small checks for band tshirt, reeds, reed case, school sweatshirts, science notebooks, etc. And get this...every student in the first grade had to bring in a ream of copy paper so their teacher can make copies - guess the school is no longer supplying copy paper??? That was a new one.

Pete is on his way back from Canada today...D

And the fun begins!

My first grader and my sixth grader! Both of them were up at the crack of dawn and ready to go.

Sweet kids.

We dropped Alexa off at school as well.

Gray saying "Dad, enough with the camera!"

This was the last we saw of them as we pulled up to drop off. They ran and never looked back as Pete was snapping shots and yelling WE LOVE YOU!

Jack outside of Woodrow Cummins.

And we are off and running...D

Last Day of Freedom

As I type this, Gray and Jack are sleeping soundly in their beds, not a care in the world...for today, at least. Today is the last day of summer fun with Ashley. I think the pool and a movie are on the list. Tomorrow we unleash the fury.

Got to meet Jack's first grade teacher last night, Mrs. Lakey. She is new to our school this year, but has been teaching for 9 years, and seems AWESOME! And yes, Mom, he is VERY disappointed that he didn't get Mr. Smith. But he liked Mrs. Lakey. She kept telling him how handsome he was.

First day of school pics tomorrow. I have a 1st grader and a 6th grader???
D

The Girls of Summer 2010

Good girlfriends, good memories...D

Final Splits

We finally got the final split times and rankings from Saturday.

Swim - 1:40.5 (4th fastest in her age group)
Transition 1 - from swim to bike - 1:31.3 (she took too long to tie her shoes :))
Bike - 16:16.2 (2nd fastest in her age group)
T2 - from bike to run - :30.0
Run - 8:17.9 (second fastest in her age group)
Total time - 28:16.2

Only 26 seconds separated her from the first place finisher in her age group. Overall, she finished 46 out of 400 participants. Lucky #352 this year!

And for those of you who do not have video watching abilities from the previous post...

...our little powerhouse pulled one out today! Gracie Renee Karl brought home a second place trophy for the girls 12 age group! She is one proud athlete! Hard work pays off! Here she is pre-game with SarahGrace, her BFF from swim.

" Calling all 12 year old girls." Game face is on before heading into the pool tunnel.

Here she is coming out of the pool and running toward bike transition.

This is her after the race, waiting for final results. We still do not have her splits breakout, but her overall time for 100 yard swim, 4 mile bike, and 1 mile run was 28 minutes-ish. The Christmas bike upgrade was the right call. She smoked her time on the bike from last year. She had quite a cheering section and had that game face on the whole race. When she turned the corner into the finish line, she sprinted the uphill 25 yards like no one's business.

She is the second girl from the left. You can double-click on the picture to see it larger.

All in all, she got a participation medal, a team medal since her swim twim had the largest group of participants, and the BIG prize. And even more fun when your BFF trophies too - SG won 4th in the 11 group.

Gray, SG, and Maddie, SG's little sister who won 3rd in the 8 year olds.

What a great day for our favorite girl! She is smiling non-stop. And Jack is so proud of her, he is setting up a party for her in the living room.

And yes, it was HOT, but we survived...D

Our Little Powerhouse

Swim, Bike, Run - go GrayGray!

We will be up and at 'em early tomorrow morning for the annual Conway Kids' Triathlon. Gracie will spend the day today hydrating and visualizing. Pasta with my homemade alfredo sauce for dinner. If she puts together a good total race, she should do very well. Her swim pace for 100 yards is 1.31.00, her bike pace for 4 miles hovers around the 16-17 minute mark, and she ran a 7.43 mile last night. She is AWESOME, no matter what the outcome.

Please pray for cooler temps...D

August 1, 2010

It all started over a beer at a Sigma Chi party. We've been best friends for twenty years and married for eighteen. That was some pretty good beer. Happy Anniversary, Pete...you are MINE...D