Catch Up Time Again!

I guess the past few weeks I've been a little slow in getting things blogged. I'll just give some highlights.

Last Thursday (not 2 days ago), Rachel & Katelyn got to go spend 2 nights with Puddin & Papa!!! We met halfway for Puddin to get the girls. I don't have pictures from their time their, but they had a blast!!! They got to do lots of playing, go to the park, go to the library, buy books at the library's book sale, go to the children's museum, color, play with Beth & Donald, and lots more I'm sure!!! While the girls were gone, Robert and I really led exciting lives!!! Thursday evening we played basketball! Robert has an agent who's been wanting to play some basketball, so Robert told him if he'd drive over here, we could play in the church gym. So that guy brought 2 other guys with him. We got Lloyd and a guy from church to play with me & Robert. At first the 3 other guys said they'd play us 3-on-4. (I guess they thought playing against a girl as a 4th player would be easy!) However, after we BEAT them the first game and I made several shots, they decided they just wanted to play 3-on-3!!! Guess I wasn't so bad!!! Friday morning I played tennis twice; Friday afternoon we mowed the yard; and then Friday night we went out to eat using a gift card and then rented a movie using a free promo code!!! We're big spenders!!! Then on Saturday morning Robert went to work on a Habitat for Humanity House and I went to an Uppercase Living open house. After that it was time to go meet Puddin halfway to get the girls.

On the way back from getting Rachel & Katelyn, we stopped off at Mamaw & Papaw's house to swim a little bit. Robert met us there after working on the Habitat house.

Sunday we went to church and then afterwards went to Mamaw & Papaw's to grill burgers and swim with Lloyd & Wendy and Mamaw & Papaw. It was a fun afternoon.

Monday I played tennis again! After running an errand or two, the girls & I went swimming again at Mamaw & Papaw's house. We're taking advantage of these hot summer days to be in the pool!!!

Tuesday we went to work out and ran some errands. After that, we met some of our friends, Alison, Catherine, and Virginia, at Mamaw & Papaw's house for a swimming play date! The girls had a really good time!!! We had tried this a few weeks ago, but when we were getting ready to get in the pool, it started storming. We kept waiting and waiting for the storm to blow over, but after a couple of hours, we decided to go home. I'm so glad that the weather cooperated this time and Rachel & Katelyn were able to swim with Catherine & Virginia!!! Tuesday night Robert played tennis, and the girls & I hung out at home. They were pretty tired from their afternoon of swimming!

Wednesday was registration day at school!!! Both girls got to meet their new teachers. Rachel & Katelyn are both so excited about the upcoming school year!!! I'm excited about their teachers! I think both teachers are going to be excellent!!! Rachel will start school on Monday (11th). Katelyn will start on the 20th. Half of Katelyn's class will go on the 18th and 19th, then half will go on the 20th and 21st, then they all go together on the 22nd.

Wednesday night we went to a birthday party at the local pool. Once again, the girls had a great time swimming and playing with friends.

Thursday we went to work out again and once again run some errands. Then Thursday afternoon we went to a back-to-school party for Rachel's upcoming 2nd grade class! A couple of the other moms in the class had come with the idea to invite all the kids in the class to a party! It was a great idea and the kids had a lot of fun! After the party, we headed to church for the Upward soccer evaluations. The girls are both playing, so they had to be evaluated, and Robert & I both helped with the evaluations.

Friday morning Mamaw came over and got the girls so that they could spend the night with her again before school starts! They got to swim, play, read books, play games, swim, make stuff, color, and have lots of fun while they were there! Friday afternoon Robert & I mowed (it's becoming a Friday afternoon tradition!) and then we went out to eat once again using a gift card! A friend of ours had rented a movie that they don't have to return til next week, so they let us borrow that. So once again a free meal and a free movie!

This morning Robert & I headed out to the Gladiator Games! It's a sporting competition held by a local non-profit organization as a fundraiser. Robert put a team together at the last minute. It was Robert, my brother Lloyd, and our neighbor Mark. Wendy & I went along to watch and cheer (although I would've loved to do it too!!!). There were 22 teams competing in 8 events. Here's a breakdown:

1st event was swimming. This was a 2-person 100m relay, with both people swimming 50 m each. Robert & Lloyd swam and did pretty good, but didn't finish in the top 5.

2nd event was golf. It was a 2-person closest to the hole event. Each person got 2 chances. You took the best shot of your team's 4 shots as your closest to the hole. Lloyd & Robert did this event, and Robert's shot was about 8 feet from the hole!! We came in 2nd in golf!!!

3rd event was baseball. It was a 2-person event. It was an accuracy contest. Each player got 20 balls to try and throw into a target that was half a tennis-court away. Mark & Lloyd did this event. We didn't do so well in this event and didn't finish in the top 5.

4th event was basketball. It was a 2-person event. Each person got 2 minutes to make as many 3-pointers and/or free throws as they could. The scores of the two teammates were added together to determine the winner. Mark & Robert did this event and won 1st place!!!

5th event was weightlifting. This was a 1-person event. You had to see how many reps you could do in 2 minutes using a 45 lb. bar. This doesn't sound that hard, but try it! It's very tough! The biggest, strongest looking guys were struggling on this one. It's definitely a combination of strength and endurance. Mark did this event and won 1st place!!!! What's great is that there were several fitness clubs that had teams of their trainers and stuff, and Mark beat them all!!!

6th event was the obstacle course. This was a 2-person event. It was a combination of tire drill, hurdling, going under ropes, cone drills, sprinting, and climbing an inflatable rock wall. Mark & Lloyd did this one and came in 3rd!

7th event was punt & pass. This was a 2-person event. Each team got 2 punts and 2 passes. Your best punt and best pass were added together for your total distance. Lloyd had 2 nice punts, and then Mark had 2 nice passes. They won 2nd place!

8th event was a mile realy. This was a 2-person event. Each player runs a half mile. Robert started out and ran at a good pace, but it's hard to keep up with those young kids! He did good though, and passed a few runners as he handed off the baton to Mark. Mark sprinted like he was running a 50 yard dash! He passed several folks on the way down the field, and then continued passing people on his way back to the finish line. We're not sure what place we finished in this - either 5th or 6th.

In order to determine the overall winner they added up all of your finishes. You got a point for each place you were in. For example, 1st place gets 1 point, 10th place gets 10 points, etc. The object is to have the lowest score. Guess who won? WE DID!!!! It was very exciting!!! And listen to what they won - 4 SEC Championship Football Tickets, a weight bench, gift certificate to Bonefish Grill, 4 personal training sessions at a local fitness place, hats, and trophies!!! Since it's the Gladiator Games, the trophies are swords!!! There's also the big trophy that has the team name engraved each year. The winners get to keep it for the year, then bring it back the next year. So it was an exciting day!!!!

We finished off the day by going to get the girls at Mamaw & Papaw's house and swimming before coming home.

I know this is a VERY LONG post. I'm surprised if any of you made it this far! I have pictures to post later, so check back!