Lots of stuff since last post

OK. I am still lacking in the motivation to update this blog, but here goes nothing for our activivities since the last posting. In a nutshell, starting with the most dramatic news and going downward:

-Peri got assaulted at school(She is fine and didnt sustain any serious injuries)
This occured last Wed, 4/28/2010.


-Ella went to the prom in her lovely prom dress that she made.
Ella went to the prom with a bunch of swimmers this past weekend and had a wonderful time. She looked quite stunning in the dress that she made with many thanks to Cindy for her direction and coming down a few weeks before with Joanne. Thanks also to my mom with her guidance also. The prom was in Indianapolis and lasted from 7-11. Post-prom was from 12-2 at the high school. Sarah and I helped set up for the post-prom on Friday and Saturday. It was a county fair type prom, with carnival-type booths and numerous activities, including a broncing bull. (I did give it a test ride before the kids arrived and determined that this type of activity is definitely not for me. I am way to injury prone it seems at this time in my life and I think i lasted all of 7 seconds. It was fun though.) The operator of the bull, which was run with a computer, was very good and I observed the bull quite a bit from my vantage point from the game I was working(basketball shoot) and none of the kids really got tossed like a real rodeo. Ella lasted pretty good when I saw her ride with her long legs and "gumby" type bending to balance herself.

-Peri made JV cheerleader for next year
Peri made JV cheerleader last week for the high school. She was one of three freshman to make the JV squad for football and basketball. I guess you can pick which sport you would like to cheer for and Peri picked them both. Way to go Peri!

-Peri has had numerous track meets
Peri has had 5 track meets and has done quite well. Her best event has been the long jump and her best is 14 feet so far. She has a few firsts and a few seconds.
She also runs in the 400 relay and the 1600 relay. She is going to run in the 400 from my understanding, starting this week.

-Ella is swimming again in club
Ella started swim club a few weeks ago, so she is back in the pool most nights after school.



-Ella is participating in Academic Super Bowl
When Ella finished swimming, a good friend of ours asked her if she would like to participate on the Academic Super Bowl team. Ella said she would and they have qualified for state competition at Purdue this weekend.

-Peri is going to Washington DC this weekend with 8th graders from her school
Peri leaves Friday for Washington DC with a group of kids from the middle schools and numerous chapperones. It is Peri's first flight ever. She comes back Sunday evening. They do quite a bit of walking for the entire weekend, so they are pretty tired when they get back. Peri is rooming with 2 of her good friends and another girl.

-Peri is still dancing in competitions
Peri also had a dance competition this weekend and unfortunately, we got there 2 dances too late. Sorry Peri. We had to take Ella to meet the limo and get some pictures and thought we had time based on the dance schedule. They ran like 15 minutes ahead of schedule, so we did not make it on time. Dance competitions are never on time, let alone early.. Go figure. We tried.

-We went to the Final Four
We had a great time at the Final Four. Peri was rooting for Duke. Wassup with that? She is a rebel. We had a wonderful time.

OK, so I am still a slacker

Been a little while, so here goes nuttin'. Peri and Ella both got straight A's for the first trimester. Way to go, girls. Peri is busy with dance, cheerleading, cross-country. She hasn't run in a meet since her knee injury in the first meet that she ran. She is planning on running next week in an invitational. We are not expecting her to burn the course up due to the fact that she has only practiced on a very limited time schedule. Ella is doing conditioning for swimming which starts the end of this month. She is taking the SAT this Saturday, so good luck to her. Peri has just signed up for the Washington DC trip with her school in May. Sarah has been busy with work, home, aerobics and hauling Peri to all her activities. I assist when I can. I have been nursing a shoulder issue and it appears I might have rotator cuff tendinitis. It is just kind of painful, but I can still play ball and do stuff, except my shoulder has some weakness. I really noticed it affecting my jump shot, and that just isn't going to work. So, I started some physical therapy last week to strengthen and loosen the tendons. It seems to be going well. It may take a little time, but I will get it there. Last weekend I had my 30th year reunion. I had a good time and Sarah, well, at least she knew a few people and there was a live band that she seemed to enjoy. Anyway, that is about the extent of our life in the ville for the moment and I hope all are doing well and love ya'll.

Libby Update:
Libby finished her last round of chemo after they did not find any cancer from the tests that she had. The reason she still needs it is because it is protocol for this type of cancer. Sometimes with neuroblastoma there can be microscopic cells that hide. The chemo was quite a bit stronger than the regular rounds and she got rather sick. She came home Sept 24 and has limitations on where she can go because her immune system is low. Her mother is due with child this month. After the baby is born, Libby will have one more round of chemo that will be stronger than the last round. Just keep her and the family in your prayers.

Been awhile

Sorry for the long delay. It has been awhile. We have been busy the last month or so with many activities, some good and some bad. I will post some pictures when I get a chance. Well, the girls are back in school. Peri is running cross-country, dancing, doing gymnastics, and cheer leading. Ella is taking a ballroom dancing class with one of her cousins, she has gotten a vehicle to drive, and I believe she is going to do some conditioning soon for swimming. She decided to not participate in fall swim club to work on her studies. That is the good stuff. The bad stuff is we had a tree fall on our garage, doing a little bit of damage, but we are about to have that issue resolved. A friend of ours who does construction did the roof repairs and such, and we are waiting on his gutter guy to come and put up some new guttering. This happened numerous weeks ago. That is about all I know at the moment, and my ankle, which was sprained about 6 weeks ago, is healing and I hope to be back on the court soon, with ankle brace on. Keep Sarah in your prayers because the teacher who was next door to her, and was 58, passed away on Saturday while mowing her yard. The calling is today and then she is being transported out to Missouri, I believe, where most of her family resides. It was a bit of a shock.

Libby Update: Libby finished her last round of chemo a 2 weeks ago. She was back in the hospital the next week after running a fever and she received some blood to get her counts up. She is in for tests this week and has her last test is today. So far, all the tests have come back positive, from my understanding.

Thanks and hope everyone is doing fine.

There's a new driver in town....

Congratulations to Ella who passed her written test and is now an official licensed driver. Yeah. OK, so she still needs a car(which she reminds me about every minute), but we are looking. I have also included a picture of my friend at work Le'gretta's baby, Keira, whom I visited this week. She was born 6 weeks early, but she is doing fine, as is her mother. She is 1 1/2 weeks old in these pictures. Also included is a couple of pictures of Ella, who got bonked in the face yesterday at swim practice while they were playing a game. It broke her goggles, but she is fine. Ella swam this weekend in Seymour at an outdoor meet and she did fine. It was rather brisk out there for the swimmers, but not bad from a spectator point of view. It did not rain either. While we were at the swim meet with Ella, Peri had a cheerleader lockdown at the middle school with the other middle school cheerleaders. She was there from Friday night through Sunday morning when her grandparents picked her up. I have also included a couple of pictures from Peri's camp. I hope everyone is doing fine and have a good one!

Senior Night Swimming and conference bball tourney

Senior night was fun for the kids. The 4 girls and 1 boy were honored after the diving and they all swam, even the young lady who was manager and another was only a diver, both, who had not swam in anything all year. We swam against Terre Haute South Vigo, and they beat us pretty handily. The boys are down to 8 swimmers, but one had gone home sick and they had like 30 boys on their team. Ella got to swim the 500, and she did a nice job (6:26) or something like that and she placed 3rd. I got to do timing on a lane by myself ( I am just talented that way ), so it was kind of hard to follow everything else that was going on in the meet. I believe Ella also finished 3rd in the backstroke which was only 2 events after she had swam the 500. Her time was 1:11, far off her best of the season, but she swam in 4 events on the night.

Peri was cheering for her 7th and 8th grade basketball teams who both had advanced to the finals of the conference tournament. They both won, beating teams they had previously beaten, I believe.

Oh yeah. Yeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Wooooo hooooo.... Today was the last day of early morning swim practice for the girls. I got up at 4:50 and took Ella in, then decided to sleep in a little this morning. I am on a flex schedule and had no meetings or deadlines at work, so I just decided to take advantage of that. I have been called numerous names from my loving wife for this action, although, it doesn't really faze me right now. I am sure she will shower me with kind and loving words when I actually see her. Love ya, Sarah!!

So, that's our Life from "the ville" for the last few days. Peace Out.

Peri and her activities

I figured I should include something about Peri because we love her just the same as we love Ella. Peri has been working hard on her cheering, dancing and gymnastics, although she has had a small break from gymnastics due to her cheerleading schedule. I believe she will be starting back with that very soon as her basketball games will be ending early next month. Although there has been some drama with the cheerleading, isn't there always, Peri really shines as a cheerleader and really takes the lead on the team. I would have to say that Peri is one of the loudest cheerleaders on the team. Can you believe that? She is also the one that a lot of the other girls look at when they get lost in a dance or routine to get back on. We are very proud of Peri and she is doing great in school, as is Ella. They are both straight A students. Way to go girls!