Awards and More Awards!!

Man, we have some great kids. I know I'm biased, but really, when half of spring is spent going to awards ceremonies, it's hard not to be a little proud!!  First was Riley's HHS MCJROTC Awards Ceremony. Yes, that's a mouthful! He was awarded ribbons for Arts and Academics, Athletics, and Physical Fitness Achievement. We were very proud, and it was an incredible awards ceremony. This is only Hendrickson's 4th year to have an ROTC program, and the awards these kids received, it was amazing to see. They have some very dedicated, motivated kids at this school.

Next up was Regan's Girl Scouts of Central Texas awards. This was for everyone in our council area, which is most of Texas. Regan was a top seller, so she got an award and her picture taken with the CEO of Girl Scouts! She also got to pick up her big prize, her Kindle! She was most excited about that.

Then it was Regan's Girl Scout local service unit awards. She was the 4th highest cookie seller in our service unit, so she got a cute little cookie booth trophy.

Riley also got a few more ribbons for Sea Cadets, and Regan got a few more awards at school, so they have been pretty busy.

Updates...

I haven't posted much lately, we've been pretty busy. Thought I would do a big update post.

Riley is nearing the end of his 9th grade year. He's in Sylvan for some extra help 2 nights a week. So far it seems to be working well, he's learning to study better and take good notes, and we are hoping it will help him with his AP Human Geography test that he has coming up. He is in study sessions 2 or 3 times a week, before or after school, for that, and ROTC keeps him busy with PT tests and different drill and marksmanship challenges. Add in football, and a pretty rigorous AP biology and AP English class, and then Sea Cadets, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and church, he's a busy guy. But he's a good kid, and has a great attitude, and he keeps us laughing.

Regan is nearing the end of 5th grade, elementary school, my baby!! She's in the middle of the dreaded STAAR testing and so afraid that she won't pass the STAAR tests and they will hold her back! I hate the fear they put in these kids. She makes all A's and B's so she has nothing to worry about, but she's also been in tutoring at 7am every morning for about a month, to work on math. They have one more to go, and then we might just have to take a mental health day! She's getting excited to go to middle school though, even if I'm not. I just can't believe my baby will be going to middle school.

And other than that, we've just been getting stuff done around the house. Finally worked on the downstairs bathroom, needed to fix the light in there and change out the curtain, then decided to switch out the toilet, but hey, why don't we change the floor too, it just kind of snowballed on us! But, now that it's done, it looks great, and we're ready to tackle other parts of the house now. It seems like every room needs SOMETHING. I guess that's the price of being a homeowner! No complaints here though.

David and I are great. In fact, our church asked us to go to Africa on a missions trip in December, and David said yes! He's never had any desire to go to Africa, but he knows I have always wanted to go. Our church has a campus in Xai-Xai, Mozambique, and in December, they host Christmas parties for the kids there, and we will be going with a team of mostly married couples to help with the Christmas parties. I can't wait, I'm so incredibly excited about it! Just have to get those dreaded shots first, ugh!!!

So, we would appreciate your prayers as we get ready, and of course, I will be updating along the way, and I'm sure I am going to have tons of pictures when we get back. I can't wait!!

 

Elise's Visit

We had another court date this week, so Trista, Chris and Elise decided to come down for the weekend, since court was on a Monday this time. It was so great to see her! I mean, them! :)

They got in Saturday and we went to eat and then went to church. Then Sunday we went to Chuck E Cheese and then shopping for Elise some new clothes. Then home to grill fajitas. She was so sweet and so cute. David really missed her, but now that she's almost 2, David realized how much work they are at this age, and realized how she's in the perfect home!!  Court went well, Kenzie had decided to relinquish her rights, and then they terminated the rights of the "father" so she is now officially ready to be adopted, and that's in the process and should happen in the next couple of months. Everyone was so excited. They'll be back in a couple of months for an update with the court, and then things should be finalized not long after that. I am so happy that this is happening for all of them. They are such a cute little family!