Barron's Invitational 2011

Better Late Than Never

Wow - it's been a very long time since I've written anything...oops!

We've had a wonderful and busy fall. School started in August and I am Class Chair for the 7th grade, which doubled in size from last year, and have enjoyed meeting all the new families. Jake is having a good year, including working in 8th grade math. He will take the SATs in December to apply for a summer academic program at Duke University...kind of cool!  The biggest news with Jake is that he becomes a bar mitzvah in February.  My fabulous husband has been working with my friend Emily and planning the party and working with the Rabbi and Cantor and all sorts of other important stuff.  He's been amazing!

Anna is still heavily involved in gymnastics. She worked her behind off all summer and just recently got moved up from Level 5 to Level 6. She's very excited for the upcoming season, which starts in December. Anna is LOVING her teacher, Mrs. Waters, and is finding her groove with school, social life and gym.  It's been fun watching her find her way.

It's amazing to me to see the growth in both of my kids - they are strong, determined and loving kids...who sometimes make me completely crazy! :D

MICDS Class of 2020 - Taken by Debbie Higgins, MICDS Communications Dept.

At my parents' 50th anniversary party - Jake had a separated shoulder from 7th grade camp

Camp Sweet Camp

There are a few things a mom knows...just because.  1. When your children are away, they may or may not choose to bathe on a regular basis; 2. they may or may not choose to change their underwear; and 3. there will be LOTS of laundry to do when they get back, whether they wore the clothes or not.

Jake and Anna came home from camp today.  Jake was at Camp Lincoln in Minnesota for 3 weeks and Anna was at the sister camp, Camp Lake Hubert, for two weeks.  When we got back from the airport, I got to go through their dirty and no-so-dirty clothes.  Hmmm...two weeks at camp and there were more clean clothes than dirty in Anna's bag.  Why did I wash them, you ask...because when you put a damp towel in with clean clothes, things start to smell just a bit.  Three loads of laundry down...two or three to go.

When asking my children questions about camp, I got very vague answers.  Other than, "I had a great time," I wouldn't really know what they were doing if there weren't pictures...(by the way, these are NOT necessarily in chronological order)

Arrival at Camp!

Jake narrating his cabin's skit

Archery King

Movie Night

Jake played LOTS of Frisbee Golf!

...and some baseball

...and some basketball

but mostly frisbee golf. 

 

 

4th of July Sibling Lunch

He stepped out of his comfort zone and tried the low ropes course!

 

Texas Hold 'em during Casino Night

Anna and Kendell

Happy Hollow Cabin

Anna doing martial arts

Receiving an award for riding her bike around Lake Hubert

Making a lanyard

Color Wars...Anna was on the green team (in case you couldn't figure that out)

Checking in to camp

Going to the lake

Jake is On Par

Jake competed in his first golf tournament today at Pheasant Run Golf Course in St. Charles. He is playing Gateway PGA Junior Golf - they play 9 holes at different courses around the Metro St. Louis area. He shot a 38 on a Par 28 and finished in the top 10. PRETTY COOL!

They May Get Older, But Not Necessarily Bigger

I may not get the Mother of the Year Award this year, but not for lack of trying...I mean, Anna did have a broken leg for a month before we actually knew anything was wrong...and I was about 4 months late on getting Jake in for his 12 year old doctor's appointment. Oh well...maybe next year!

So, they both had their check-ups about 2 weeks ago. They are both extremely healthy (other than Jake knocking his head against another boy's head at school). Jake weighed in at a whopping 67.4 lbs and is 56.25 inches tall. For those of you, like me, who lack the quick math skills, that's a little over 4'8". In percentiles, Jake is in the 20% for height and the 5% for weight. Considering the size of his classmates, I am NOT surprised!

Anna weighed in at 50.4 lbs. and is 50 inches (4'2"). She's on the charts (5th percentile or over) for height, but not for weight. I have joked for as long as I can remember that Anna is going to have to learn how to drive out of her booster seat.

They may be small, but they are mighty!

Some Snippets of Jake's Chess Championship Win!

Thanks Mr. Fitz!

Home Sweet Home?

In the 18+ years that Andy and I have been together, we have lived in 5 houses, 1 townhouse, and we each lived in apartments when we met.  We have owned 4 of the 5 houses and are now jumping back into home ownership after living in a rental home for the past 18 months.

It's been an interesting journey...our FABULOUS agent, Beth, took us to a number of houses starting in January.  Nothing really caught our eyes.  We continued looking a put in a VERY low-ball offer on a house.  They rejected the offer...we were glad.  Then we put in an offer on another house and everything was going very well until they discovered termite damage...not fun!  When it came down to repairs that we requested, they didn't seem very interested, so we walked away from that house.  The hunt continued...unsuccessfully for a while...and then we found THE house.  It will be our third house within a stone's throw to an elementary school that our children will not be attending. 

The inspection was today and went fairly well.  We'll submit our request for repairs and cross our fingers...I'll keep you posted.

Countdown to Cast Off

After a long 4 weeks the cast is off and Anna can scratch her itchy leg...now it's time to get back in shape...Pro Rehab, here we come!

Femur Update

Andy took Anna back to the doctor on Friday for a follow-up.  She is pleased with the progress the bone is making.  The cast will come off in three weeks and then they will determine whether she'll still need to be on crutches and what kind of physical therapy will be required.  Jake is still being very helpful, most of the time, and Anna still has a very good attitude!  I'm sincerely impressed!

Mystery Solved

Thanks to Nan, we figured out where Anna first injured her leg.  When we went to Chicago to compete in the IGI Chicago Style meet, Nanny, Jake and Anna had a tumble in the lobby of the Marriott.  Anna went down on her knee and Nan and Jake fell onto Anna.  She said her knee hurt, we iced it and then didn't hear anything else about it until now...

Anna's gymnastics season ended with a boom...unfortunately, it wasn't the boom of the spring board or the vault table...it ended with a broken femur and four weeks in a cast.  We're not exactly sure how she broke her femur, but the orthopedic said Anna probably had a fall at some point and landed on her knee, then continued to work out, run, play, etc. and the fracture increased, until she couldn't handle the pain anymore.  I'm guessing my daughter has a very high tolerance for pain since the doctor couldn't believe that she wasn't LITERALLY writhing in pain. 

She's an amazing kid with a great attitude.  She's upset that she can't compete at State, but knows that the leg will heal and she'll get back into her gymnastics routine with some rehabilitation and more hard work.  If anyone can come back, she can!  I am very proud of her. 

Jake has been very sweet during this whole "ordeal" and has helped out as much as he can.  When we found out the leg was broken, Jake's first thought was what he could do to make Anna feel better.  Gotta love him!

The End is in Sight...

Whew - we are almost there.  Almost to the end of the 2010-2011 meet season.  It has had its ups and downs, but definitely more ups!

Today's meet was the All American Spring Invitational hosted by and held at All American Gymnastics in Olivette.  The gym is fine, but small and VERY warm.  There were five teams competing in the afternoon session of level 5s.

Donna came to cheer on Anna (so did Robin, Mark and Grammie)

We started on vault and let's just say, it was a very rough start!  Anna's first vault was more of a cartwheel across the vault table and the second one was just sloppy.  She got an 8.0.  Not a great score, but she didn't let it get her down.

Next was bars.  She had a very nice routine and scored a 8.95.  I love watching the girls mess around with each other during warm-ups.  It shows their personalities and lets them chill out in what could be a very tense situation.

Beam was our third event and the Team Central girls rocked!  Anna scored a 9.15 and had a very solid performance.  Floor was our last event and our girls did a great job there too.  Anna came away with a 9.05 and seemed very happy with her overall performance.

Sorry...not a great picture, but I love getting pictures of her mid-air

The highlights of the day came with Emma landing her cartwheel on the beam for the first time all season and Katie getting her highest bar score of the season.  The girls rallied around them and made them feel special for their achievements!  Also, some of the "older" girls came to cheer on the level 5s.  They were so excited to have the support of the rest of the team!

Anna finished out the day not placing on vault (no real surprise there), tied for 2nd on bars (but getting 3rd place because they break ties), 3rd place on beam, and tied for 3rd (but getting 4th) on floor.  She then finished 5th all around in her age group (9 & under).

All Around 9 & Under: Caroline (6th) Anna (5th) Olivia (4th) and Rebecca (1st)

Anna and Olivia

Rebecca and Anna

Okay...one more meet...I'll keep you all posted.