Memorial Day weekend 2010

All I can say is “I’m exhausted”!

Friday Ron and I both got out of work early which is a great way to start a long weekend!  Both girls had a friend stay over so they all entertained themselves playing outside and trading Silly Bandz.

Saturday morning Emily, her friend, and I walked in our first 5K with some of my co-workers and their families.  The 5K was the Freedom Run/Walk/Roll.  The weather was hot but beautiful!  Emily and I walked the 3.1 miles while her friend ended up running ahead with some of my coworkers.  Emily wasn’t a fan of walking so far because there were some hills.  The scenery was beautiful and walking around the Dayton VA campus was very enlightening.  Made us think of the real reason we have a three day weekend and why the day is called Memorial Day.

Em’s friend won 1st place in the girls’ age division.  Emily won 3rd (which means there were only three girls in their age division)!  We were all surprised when they called her name at the medal ceremony!!!

After we returned home after the 5K, we got a lot of yard work done.  Em’s friend went home because Em was going to go to her house that night to spend the night.  Had to give the girls a break from each other!!!!!

Sunday Ron went to the Indy 500 which he has every year since 1993 or so.  I always try to find something fun to do with the girls.  We went to the Cincinnati Zoo!  We enjoy the Cincy Zoo because they have giraffes and you can feed them.  We went with the wife and kids of Ron’s friend whom he goes to the race with.  Again Mother Nature didn’t let us down because the weather was HOT and HUMID!!!

The air conditioner in the van is not working so it was a long hot drive home.  When we pulled in the driveway this is what I found…

Once the girls shook out their sleepiest they wanted to play with the hose.  Along with the neighbor girl, they took turns squirting each other with the hose while the others swung on the swing set.  They had to use their swim goggles to keep the water out of their eyes.  Funny.

We all slept good Sunday night!

Monday was supposed to be our day of rest.  Megan woke up around 5 a.m. with a belly ache.  She was not feeling the best so she spent most of her day laying around.  Poor thing didn’t even eat.  I took Emily to Dicks to buy a bathing suit.  The entire 4th grade at her school is walking to the rec center on Wednesday and she didn’t have a suit that fit.

Emily and I also did Day 1 of The Couch to 5K program.  She was NOT happy about that.  Once we were done I took her home and then went back to the sports complex and did it again by myself.  The second time was hard because I was already hot and tired.

Megan started to feel better around 4:00 p.m.

Ron cooked some chicken on the grill for dinner then we headed out to Helke Park and practiced some softball with the girls.  Now we are having our bedtime snack and I think everyone will be in bed early tonight.

The upcoming week is going to be a busy one.  Lots of softball for both girls, regular games,  make up games and All-Star practices.  Last week of school which means Em’s last week in elementary school.  Going to be a very emotional week!  Stay tuned for lots of posts!!!

Bulletproof

I feel the need to explain the song playing on the blog right now.

I am one who tends to link songs to events in my life.  I can't tell you who the 23rd president of the United States was but I can tell you what song was on the radio one night when my dad and I went to Harts (anyone remember that store) one night to pic some things up!  I mainly remember because he told me to shush up!

Anyway...

Every morning while getting ready for work and school, I put music videos on in my room.  The song Bulletproof by La Roux seems to come on every morning.  It has turned our mornings in to a little dance-a-thon!  If one of the girls are grumpy or whiny this song snaps them out of it!

Megan and I also heard it on the radio on the way to her first softball game in West Milton.  Somewhere around that time frame is when I ran over a squirrel so now every time the song comes on she throws in a "Ka-thunk"!  Gotta love that kid!!!

May 2010

Wow, what a busy month May has been for the Allen Family.  Once I started writing everything we had to do on the calendar I immediately started to stress out.

The month started out Megan’s First Holy Communion.

I had to put this picture on the blog.  The cake center piece was the center piece that was on my First Communion cake and it was on Emily’s too!

There were lots of softball games on the calendar for the month of May but all but two games for each girl were rained out.  Opening day of softball was on May 8th.  It was very cold and windy.   The kids had so many layers on I am surprised they could move.

The 4th graders at Helke visited their respective middle school for next year.  She also had to decide whether or not she wants to be in band or choir next year.  She chose to be in band and will play the flute.

We attended two Dayton Dragon’s games.  The first was Helke night and the second was MVP night.

I was able to go on a field trip with Megan’s class!  The field trip was to Possum Creek.  I was fortunate enough to go on the same trip with Emily when she was in second grade so I wanted to make sure I went with Megan too!

This is a picture of Megan with Rosie!  She was worried Rosie would eat her hair!!!

Both Emily and Megan were selected by their softball coaches to try out for the All-Star team. Both girls received a letter of congratulations from VPR because they BOTH made the teams!!! Hopefully they will play in the same tournaments so Ron and I will be able to catch bits and pieces of each girls games!

We celebrated two birthday’s in May.  Ron was May 19th and Megan was May 21st.  Megan’s party won’t be until the first weekend in June but she was able to open presents from us and eat her birthday dinner at her favorite restaurant…

 

The month was also full of dance recital preparation.  Pictures, in-studio rehearsal, dress rehearsal, and the actual recital!

The month is almost done!  The tough part is over so I can breath a little easy.  Hopefully the girls will get to play a softball game or two!  So far June isn’t looking too bad for us!  Let’s hope it stays that way!

Mother’s Day 2010

Yesterday was Mother’s Day! 

The girls brought home gifts for me from school.  Megan had to give one to me right away because it was “too hard to hide”.

 

Emily was very disappointed how her gift to me turned out.  This is made of plaster.  I think it’s especially great because I know this is probably the last year she will make a gift for me at school. 

Once Megan saw how excited I got over the flower, she wanted to give me the other present she made.

I pick a flower a day for a favor from Megan!

Megan also drew a picture of the two of us.

My plan was to sleep in, stay in my jammies all day, not brush my teeth ( I know, I know), not put my contacts in, and not have face to face interaction with anyone who doesn’t live in our house!

Here is what really happened…

I was up with a sinus headache around 6:45 a.m.  I did manage to stay in my jammies until about 1:00 and I did NOT have face to face interaction with anyone besides Ron and my babies!  Not too bad!!!

As soon as Megan woke up she had me pick a flower from my card.  Megan has to set the table for a week!

I knew I needed to go to the rec center but really didn’t feel like it.  Instead Emily and I went on a bike ride!  The weather was chilly but good for a long ride.  We went about 7 miles.  Not the longest but longer than we thought we could do!

Once we returned home Ron and I took the girls to play some softball.  In the beginning Megan wasn’t in the mood to be  practicing so she chased a moth around the outfield.  It was actually incredibly cute.  I really wish I had brought my camera.

After softball we went home and I planted some pumpkin and sunflower seeds.  I am not counting on them growing but it would be really cool if they did!

Then we had dinner.  Megan had to set the table because of the favor flower I picked. Brats on the grill and misc. side dishes!  Very yummy!

After dinner the girls drew pictures for me on the sidewalk.

IT WAS A PERFECT DAY!!!

First Holy Communion

On May 1, 2010 Miss Megan made her First Holy Communion.  After a year of preparations through her G.I.F.T. (CCD, PSR) classes the day finally came!

When Mass began, Fr. Frank and the alter attendants walked to the alter and sat down. The First Communicants were walked to their seat by their parents.  Since our last name starts with the letter A we were first.  Any mistakes we made would be followed by everyone else doing the same thing!!!

The song Canon in D was played during our entrance.  The second I heard the first note I teared up.  This is the song I walked down the aisle to at my and Ron's wedding.  By the time we reached the alter my eyes were so full of tears I couldn't see anything or look at anyone.

Every little girl looked beautiful and every little boy handsome walking down the aisle to their seats.  It was more than my emotions could take!  I finally broke down and asked Ron for my first tissue!!!

During the homily Father Frank called the children to the alter where they all sat and faced the congregation. He talked directly to them and everything he said was so they could understand.  Megan glanced at me once in awhile with a big smile on her face. 

A lot of the children had "jobs" to do for the preparation of gifts (bringing the communion bread, wine, and offerings to the priest).  Megan's job was to bring the Holy Water to the alter.  The day I found out her job I started praying her Allen/Zedalis clumsiness did not decide to show itself on May 1st!  Prayers worked and she carried it down to the alter effortlessly!  Whew!  And yes, I was teary-eyed again.

Then came the moment we were all waiting for.  Time for Megan to receive her first official "body and blood of Christ".  Thankfully, we were not first but as we made our way to the alter I couldn't hold the tears back any more.  It was such a proud moment for me.  My baby looked gorgeous and so happy.  A few tears escaped my eyes and actually rolled down my cheek. 

Once we went back to our seats I was able to calm myself down by watching the other children and their reactions to drinking the wine. One little girl walked back to her seat holding her belly and another one looked like she was going to throw up!!!!  Funny.

After mass we had a little party at the house for Miss Megan.  It was her special day and we are thankful we were able to spend it with many members of the family.

Megan received some money for her big day so we allowed her take some of it and buy herself a new bigger girl bike!  She made sure we went bike shopping on Sunday even though it was raining and she wouldn't be able to ride the bike.  Luckily there were a few breaks between the rain showers and she was able to take her bike for a few test drives!!!

Megan’s new bike!