Regan's First Cross Country Meet...

On September 5th, Regan had her very first Cross Country meet.  I was not able to go to her race because Riley had her first soccer practice on the other side of town at the same time.  It broke my heart to miss my daughter's first XC race but Tony was there to cheer her on and my friend, Lori, got a lot of great photos.  Thanks Lori!!!  There were 4 middle schools participating in the race and it was a very hot afternoon.  Tony said most of the girls towered over Regan and looked much older then her (and probably were) but Regan held her own against her big competition.  Tony also said everytime he saw Regan she was smiling and looking strong.  She ended up placing 2nd for her team and 19th overall.  We are not completely sure of her time but it was around 12:55 for 1.45 miles.  Regan said she felt good afterwards and could have gone faster.  It was a great way to start off the season. 

 The team stretching before their race.

 The team walking the course before the race.

 The girls lining up for the start...

 And they are off....

My friend, Lori, captured this picture and it cracks me up.  Look at Regan's competition! :)  Tony said this was at the end of the race and they were finishing on the track.  Regan tried to stay with her but I think the girl barely edged her out at the end. 

Smiling after the race!

        Regan and her best friend, Hannah, went 1 and 2 for their team.  Way to go girls!!!!

Happy 38th Birthday, Tony!!!

On September 1st, Tony turned 38 years old.  Since the girls were going horseback riding on the morning of his birthday, he did some of his own riding that morning, but not on a horse.  Tony has taken to road biking and is doing quite well.  I jokingly told him he should go 40 miles on his birthday.  Well, he liked that idea and of course had to top it and went 45 miles instead.  He is really enjoying this new hobby.  After his ride, he came home and enjoyed an afternoon on the sofa watching football while Reece napped on top of him.  This brought back memories for him of watching football while his baby girl slept on him.  Well, his baby girl is now almost 50 lbs. so although he liked the cuddling he did not like how he felt when he got up.  The girls and I made Tony a red velvet cake for his birthday, took him out to dinner and then we went to a local racetrack to watch some racing with Joe and Abby.  His present from me was a "groupon" voucher for a 60 minute introductory flight lesson.  Tony is very excited and I finally surprised him with a gift he had NO clue about. 

 It takes several to blow out candles when you are OLD! :)

 A beautiful night for racing...

 Before the race there was a "Meet and Greet" the drivers.  The girls got to check out the cars, get autographs, and pose with drivers for photos. 

 This driver, JP Morgan, had no clue my daughter would later change up the race he was in and cause him to make it to victory lane! 

 The girls got to sign the back of this race car.

 Daddy's racing buddies...

 Reece and Lizzie enjoyed being together, as always!

On the way to the race track I joked with Tony that I should have gotten him a big button to wear that says, "It is my Birthday!" and maybe he would get into the race free or get to do something special.  Tony said, "I would never wear that and besides we have 3 cute girls maybe if they act real

cute they will get us something special."  Well, Riley must have been sitting there cute because she was selected to come down and draw an envelope halfway during the race to determine if the line up would change or not.  She ended up choosing the envelope that inverted the entire field of drivers.  #23, JP Morgan, had been in the back of the race most of the night but because of Riley's inversion he ended up in front and won the race! 

 JP Morgan doing a burnout after his win.

JP Morgan in "Victory Lane."  We got a good chuckle out of the small track version of victory lane.

 Racing??  What Racing??  The kids were entertained by snacks, each other and of course Daddy's phone.  They behaved well but I am not sure they even knew a race was going on.

 The brothers enjoying their time together at a race.  Abby and I enjoyed our time together too! 

The cousins chillin' together watching Strawberry Shortcake.

Horseback Riding....

For Christmas, we got the girls a "groupon" special for Horseback riding and lessons.  Our friends, the Doucet's, also got their kids the same special so our kids could do it together.  Well, we finally redeemed our "groupons" on Sept. 1st and the kids had a good time.  They got to groom the horses, learn how to put the saddle on, learned how to ride the horse and control the horse and they also went on a trail ride. 

 All the kids are very excited to be cowgirls/cowboys for a day.

 Reece grooming her horse, Twilight.

 Riley grooming her horse, Guess. 

 Regan and Hannah grooming their horse, Miya.

 The helmets the kids had to wear were huge.  We got a big laugh out of them because they looked like the characters from Wii Mario Cart.  We told the kids to put their helmets together for a photo.

 Rachel and Riley

 This is what Caleb and Reece did when we told them to put their helmets together.  I guess they are reaching the cooties stage. :)  This made Kristen and I laugh!

 Regan walking Miya up to the riding ring.

 While the Doucet's took their turn at riding, my girls enjoyed playing with this dog, Bandit.

 Regan gets a turn at riding her horse.  Regan has been horseback riding several times by herself so she knew most of this stuff already.  Unfortunately, they did not let the girls ride by themselves, they had to be led by an instructor.  My girls were a little bummed they could not do it on their own.

 After they rode around in the ring for a while they took to the trail.  Again, my girls were a little disappointed they did not get to ride by themselves.  They had to ride two people to each horse and the instructors led them on the trail.  They still had fun especially since they were with their friends!

  And they are off...

Riley's New Guitar...

In January, Riley started guitar lessons and was using a beginner's guitar we had bought at Target the year before.  For her birthday, we had told her we were going to buy her a new guitar.  However, her guitar instructor said the one we had would do just fine to start with.  So, Riley got an "IOU" from us for a new guitar.  Well, 8 months has gone by and she was still using the beginner's guitar, I guess we got our money's worth out of that "Target" guitar. :)  Riley's instructor finally said it was time to get a new guitar.  She is getting into more challenging songs and the old guitar was not working well anymore.  So on August, 29th, Riley finally got her new guitar and she is very excited.  Hopefully, I can post some videos of her playing it soon.

Regan's First Cross Country Practice...

On Wednesday, August 22nd, Regan had her first Cross Country practice.  It was a very hot and humid day but that did not keep Regan from smiling.  There are not many places to run on their school campus so they did 9 laps around the school which is close to 3 miles.  It seems like just yesterday I was the one running for my school and my parents were cheering me on.  Now, I am that cheering parent and Regan is the one running for her school.  It is so hard to believe she is old enough to compete in a sport at school!!!!  I really am enjoying that she chose a sport that I can relate to and can do with her.  She and I have been enjoying a lot of runs together lately.  She used to run with her daddy but his foot has been hurting him lately so now she runs with me.  It brings me great joy to run with my daughter!

 She is all smiles...

 

1st Day of School.....

Regan and Riley started school on August 22nd and Reece started on August 27th.  All 3 girls had a great first day of school.  Reece has to wake up much earlier then her sisters and leaves 1 hour before them.  On the first morning, she came down and knocked on my door.  When I opened the door at 6:25 am she asked, "Mommy, my alarm just went off but it is still dark outside, are you sure you set it right?"  I laughed and replied, "Yes Reece, welcome to the EARLY morning!"  She said, "Ok" and bounded upstairs excitedly to get dressed.  She was full of excitement that morning.  Two days later, Reece came downstairs woke her daddy up and once he was out of bed she climbed in and tried to go back to sleep.  The excitement was starting to wear off.  On Day four, Tony actually had to go wake her up.  So, she is not enjoying the early mornings but she is enjoying school.

 Poor Regan woke up on the first day of school with a Stye in her left eye.