We're Alive!!

Yes, we are still alive and well.  Well, almost everyone is well.  My computer is giving me fits.  Thus no posts.  I am getting a bit frustrated, but still trying to work on it and keep it going.

So what has the zoo been up to?

Right now we are just hanging out at home.  Emily went with a friend to the riding stable she takes lessons at.  The friend, Reagan, has a horse she boards there so the girls were going to spend some time with Reagan's horse today.  Emily starts back with her lessons this coming Thursday.  She is more than excited to get back to riding.  We took some time off through the fall to get adjusted to the tougher schedules and homeworks loads involved with middle school.  It has been a long break, and Emily is so ready to get back on a horse.

I signed John up for baseball this spring.  Try-outs are two weeks from now and they will start playing games the third week of March.  The season starts painfully early in the year, but it is nice to be done with baseball by the second week of June.  We'll see how he fares this year.  He's been on a couple great teams and a couple that were not so spectacular to say the least.



We spent a week at Disney arriving home last Sunday about one thirty in the morning after leaving Disney at noon that Saturday.  We had a great time.  The weather was beautiful with no rain while we were there.  Eighty degree weather a few afternoons meant the pool was a fun treat as well as the parks.  Lots of pictures and stories to tell.  I am working on editing and sorting pictures a little bit at a time as my computer will allow.

Due to the snow days we've had this year, John and Emily missed an awards program at school that related to student accomplishments during the first half of the year.  It was scheduled to be held the Friday before we left for Florida, but at the last minute was changed to the week we were gone.  Bummer for them, but they decided Disney was well worth missing the program.  One of the other mothers at Barret called us while we were on vacation to let us know that both kids has won several awards.  I thought that was pretty nice of her to bother doing.

Both kids took home awards for outstanding achievement in a couple subject areas.  John had science and math.  I think Emily had social studies and language arts.  I can't remember for sure what each had.  They then got their certificates for having straight A's during each grading period.  Emily was given a citizenship award, and John was voted as 'Mr. Barret' of his sixth grade class.  I'm not sure what that means, but it sounds pretty cool.  We've had a lot of fun kidding him about being Mr. Barret.

Grace is still tumbling away at gymnastics.  Skill testing starts the end of this month.  It will be interesting to see how she compares to the other little girls since she has been out of the program since last June.  I doubt she gets moved up to the next level.  The level she is in is supposed to be for ages 5-7.  They put her in there as a four year old last year, so I'm figuring they're going to hold us captive there for a few more dollars months.  Still, skill testing is always fun to watch. 


Pictures coming later.  I promise.  This post is just so I can get caught up on the 'what's going on' stuff before it slips my mind completely.  ........Remember, I enjoy sharing pictures and stories with grandparents and others, but this is also my insurance that when I am old and have completely lost my mind I will still be able to look back and remember that there was a sweetness to these crazy days of raising our family.

I'm going to quit for now before my &^%$ computer locks up again and I lose even this little bit!

Hope you're enjoying your weekend!