2010 in Review

Wow! I can't believe 2010 is over! It's been another good year for us! Here is a recap of some of the things from our year:

1. Katelyn was diagnosed with discoid lateral meniscus in both knees and had surgery on both knees (March and November)
2. I was diagnosed with a mild case of mitral valve prolapse
3. Katelyn played organized basketball for the first time and loved it!
4. Rachel played organized softball for the first time and was pretty good at it! She thinks it's kind of boring though!
5. Katelyn was saved and baptized this summer!!!
6. We spent time at Fall Creek Falls this summer with Robert's family.
7. We went to the beach with Mamaw & Papaw for fall break.
8. Both girls played soccer and did well!
9. Rachel started indoor soccer and is loving it!
10. Rachel finished 3rd grade and Katelyn finished 1st grade.
11. Rachel began her last year (4th grade) at Eaton Elementary.
12. Katelyn began her 2nd grade year.
13. Rachel had an awesome swim season!
14. Rachel finished 1st in backstroke, 4th in butterfly, and 7th in freestyle at the GKAISA City Swim Meet (out of over 250 girls in her age group!).
15. Rachel finished up her 3rd grade year with the 2nd most Accelerated Reader (AR) points in the entire school!
16. Katelyn finished up her 1st grade year with the 13th most AR points in the entire school! (That's quite a feat for a 1st grader!!!
17. Rachel won the school science fair and went on to win as a Grand Champion at the County Science Fair!
18. Rachel won 1st place in the school technology fair!
19. Robert competed in several triathlons!
20. Rachel competed in three kids triathlons! She placed second in two of those triathlons!
21. I competed in my first triathlon!
22. Rachel broke her arm.
23. Katelyn had her first (of many) visit to the orthodontist.
24. Rachel won 1st place in the school social studies fair!
25. Katelyn won 3rd place in the school social studies fair!
26. Katelyn lost 6 teeth (bringing her grand total to 10)
27. Rachel lost 3 teeth (bringing her grand total to 16)
28. We went to the zoo.
29. We went to Dollywood.
30. The girls sang in the children's musical at church. Rachel was one of the main characters.
31. We went to VBS and Worship Camp
32. Rachel & Katelyn both had solos at Worship Camp.
33. Both girls have had solos in church.
34. Rachel received awards in AWANA for completing T&T books 1 and 2!
35. Katelyn received an award in AWANA for completing Sparks book 1!
36. We went to numerous Lady Vols events: swimming/diving, soccer, volleyball, and basketball! Go Lady Vols!
37. Rachel turned 9 years old and Katelyn turned 7 years old.
38. I turned the big 40!
39. Robert continues to play tennis numerous times a week (at least twice a week at 5:30 am!!!)
40. My women's tennis team won our local league and did well at state.
41. Katelyn had the coolest Magic Tree House birthday party!
42. Rachel had the coolest Minute to Win It birthday party!
43. We have had lots of fun playing in the backyard!
44. We have had lots of fun playing various card games and board games!
45. We have ridden quite a few miles together as a family on our bikes!
46. Robert & I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary!!!
47. Robert turned 42.
48. Robert & I both participated in the Gladiator Games again and my women's team won again! (Of course, I think we were the only women's team to compete this year!)
49. Robert, Rachel, and I all started reading the Harry Potter series. Robert & I are finished, and Rachel is on the last book.
50. I have started reading more and am really enjoying it!

So there's 50 things that we did in 2010. I didn't include anything outside our immediate 4-person family because that could've taken days to write down!!! Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

Playing in the Snow - 12/27/10

It snowed here over the Christmas week-end and we probably ended up with about 2-3 inches by Sunday. We took our snow stuff to Mamaw & Papaw's house thinking we would play in the snow there on Sunday, but they didn't have any! They just live 15 minutes away and when I say they didn't have any snow, I mean they just had a little white on the rooftops or in the mulch. That's pretty much all they had when we got there a little after noon! So no playing in the snow at Mamaw & Papaw's house! When we got back home Sunday night we still had all of our snow! Monday morning after we had all eaten breakfast and done a few things inside, we decided to go outside and play in the snow. It's a good thing we went outside when we did because it had already started melting! Within a short time, most of the snow was gone!

Christmas Morning 2010

The girls got up at 6:00 Christmas morning ready to go downstairs! We had told them they couldn't get up before 6:00, and I think they must have been lying in bed watching the clock!! We went downstairs and the girls were surprised to have a new Wii waiting on them! Then they started opening presents. Rachel got a GREEN camera, a GREEN camera case, a GREEN scooter, some books, a DS game, a karaoke CD, and a pair of earrings! Katelyn gave Rachel a memory card for her camera and a pair of GREEN earrings. Katelyn got a Nintendo DS, DS starter kit, Littlest Pet Shop animals, some books, a DS game, a karaoke CD, and a locket. Rachel gave Katelyn a doll named "Katelyn" which was a huge hit!

After opening our gifts and having a quick breakfast, we got ready and went to Cookeville to have Christmas with Robert's family. It snowed on us a little on our way there, but not much. We had a great time at Puddin & Papa's and had lots of good food! The girls were spoiled by everyone (and Robert & I got some good stuff too!)! They got Just Dance and Disney's Sing It for the Wii; they each got a new DS game; 2 new board games (Clue and Life), and 2 new movies. When we left Cookeville it was snowing and the roads were a little white. The interstate wasn't bad in Putnam County, but when we got to Cumberland County it was if they had never heard of salting the interstate. We saw the aftermath of three wrecks and came very close to stopping and getting a hotel. But we kept going. Once we got to Roane County the interstate got a little better and we made it home safely. It was a tense, stressful drive home, but we made it!

Sunday morning we woke to more snow! We went to church and then headed to Kingston to have Christmas with Mamaw & Papaw and Lloyd & Wendy. We spent most of the day there and had lots of fun! We all got some really nice gifts! We got more Wii remotes and some bar stools! The girls got books, Fur Real cats, gift cards, movies, DS games, games, and some other cool stuff! We took the Wii over there with us and we all played! We learned that you don't mess with Papaw when it comes to swordfighting! He's the champion!!! Canoeing was hilarious!!! We ended the evening playing a new card game and then Clue with Mamaw & Papaw before heading home.

The Real Christmas Story

This afternoon the girls decided they wanted to memorize the Christmas story from Luke 2. So they worked together on it for a while and then came to recite it to me. They actually learned it rather quickly! They said it to Robert & I several times and then before we headed to church for the Christmas Eve service, they said it again so I could video them. I think they did a wonderful job!

2010 Dollywood Christmas

Yesterday we went to Dollywood! Robert & I had won 2 free admissions from the Gladiator Games we participated in back in August. It was a nice day to be there. It was a little cold, but we the sun was out and we had on plenty of layers. AND most of the shows are indoors! We got there around 1:15 and it doesn't open until 2:00. But we were able to get parked and get to guest services to get our free passes. We got those upgraded to season passes and then just had to wait a short time before the park was opened! We got to see all the shows we wanted to see and had it planned out perfectly to get from one show to another. We saw the Polar Express in 4-D, Christmas in the Smokies, Babes in Toyland, O Holy Night, and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. In between the shows, we did make it to Santa's workshop to get the girls picture made with Santa. It was perfect timing because there were only 2 kids in line in front of us! Santa and Mrs. Claus look so authentic! And Santa was so funny! He asked Rachel what she wanted for Christmas and she told him a scooter. He started talking about he had a scooter once and went down a hill, and it wasn't a pretty sight at the bottom!! He told her not to ride on hills and to make sure she wore a helmet!!

Gingerbread Train

Kate & Jessica gave the girls a gingerbread house kit and a gingerbread train kit. Today we worked on the train. The girls had a fun time putting the train together and decorating it. We'll save the house for another day! Only so much fun can be had in one day!!!

School Christmas Parties

Katelyn and her friends Joy and Macy during the book exchange


Katelyn and her teacher, Mrs. Patterson

Katelyn and Macy

Rachel and her friend, Elise

Rachel and her friend, Samantha
Rachel and her teacher, Mrs. Dongarra

"What Will You Do With Jesus?" song

The Kids Worship choir sang at church this past Sunday night. Both Rachel & Katelyn had solos in the song. By the way, the reason they all have on black is because they also did a blacklight performance.

New & Improved Play Room

This week-end Robert & I spent quite a bit of time working on the play room. We had decided we wanted to rearrange it to make it more usable for its many purposes. We use it as a guest bedroom, play room, my computer room, the girls' craft/work area, TV room, girls' computer room, etc. We painted it on Saturday and then rearranged some of the furniture. Then Sunday after church we headed to Target to buy some storage cubes and shelves. We got all of those assembled and in place. Today we got the TV mounted to the wall and everything put in its place. The girls helped clean out the play room and their rooms and we ended up with over 2 big garbage bags of trash and over 4 big rubbermaid tubs of toys to give away or sell! We're really pleased with the result! We actually have several of the storage spaces completely empty!!!

Snow Day!

Yesterday evening it snowed enough for us to get out of school today! We took advantage of the snow day and bundled up and headed outside. We were able to sled in our yard and make snow angels. The snow wasn't a very good "packing snow" so we weren't able to build a snowman (other than Katelyn's mini snowman). But we had lots of fun! The girls even had fun playing on the playground! They thought it was fun to go down the slide and fly off the end because it was icy! Most of the snow has melted now, but we are out of school again tomorrow.

Christmas Around the World - Katelyn's solo

2nd Grade Musical - Christmas Around the World

The entire 2nd grade class at our school (all seven classes!) performed Christmas Around the World tonight. The kids did such a great job! Katelyn had a solo in one of the songs and she did a wonderful job.



The 4 soloists

The grand finale


Katelyn and her music teacher, Ms. Hall

Katelyn with Mrs. Amburn and Mrs. Malone (our principals)

Katelyn and her 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Patterson

Katelyn and her student teacher, Ms. Harris

Christmas Pictures

I set up the camera this week-end to try and get a few pictures of all four of us. It takes quite a conscious effort to get pictures of all of us. Usually I'm the one behind the camera. But thank goodness for a self-timer! I think I got a few pretty good shots!

2 Week Post-Op Update

Katelyn went to see her orthopaedic doctor yesterday morning for her check-up and to get the stitches out. Dr. Crawford was so impressed with how well she is doing! He couldn't believe it! He told her she needed to write a book about how to recover from knee surgery! He told her that while she may just have a couple of small scars on the outside of her knee, he did some pretty major work inside and she was doing incredible! He told her he has adults that he does the same surgery on who are still out of work 4 weeks later. When he went to check her range of motion he couldn't believe how far she can bend her knee. He told her he would be happy with that 6 weeks after surgery, and it's only been 2 weeks! She is doing so well that he even said she didn't need to go to physical therapy! And he said she has no restrictions, so she can do whatever she feels like! Of course, she still has some fluid on her knee and some swelling, so she can't physically do some things (like bend her knee completely back), but she is free to run and practice basketball! She was so excited to get such a great report from the doctor. She smiled the entire time we were there. We will go back in approx. 6 months just for Dr. Crawford to have a good look at both knees, and then hopefully, we're finished!

Update on Katelyn's Surgery

Katelyn had her knee surgery yesterday afternoon. The surgery went well and she did great! She did even better after surgery this time than she did last time, and she did pretty good last time! I think it helps a little that she knew what to expect - she knew she'd wake up in some pain, so she was prepared.

The doctor told us this knee looked even worse than her left knee when he got in there, so that's even further confirmation to me that we did the right thing in going ahead with her surgery now. She'll go back in 2 weeks to get the stitches out and then she'll start a couple of weeks of therapy. Right now she's just supposed to take it easy, but she can put as much weight on it as she can tolerate.

She did walk a little bit last night after we got home, and she's walked some today. When I say "walk" I mean she hobbles a little bit with one of us standing there holding onto her! But she is putting some weight on it. For the most part though, she is sitting on the couch or the bed, and we just carry her when she needs to be moved. She isn't in too much pain and has been in a very cheerful mood! She's taking her pain meds about every 4.5 to 5.5 hours.

So far she's doing great! I'm sure she'll continue to do awesome and she'll be walking around unassisted in no time!

Two Week Recap

So what's been going on at our house since I posted two weeks ago? Glad you asked! Here's a recap of what has been happening.

1. Rachel started indoor soccer and is loving it! She is playing on a co-ed team. Today was her 2nd game and the coach put her in as goalkeeper in the 2nd half. She did awesome!

2. Rachel has also started swim clinics. She is enjoying these. It's a mixture of boys & girls ages 6-11. It's good for her to stay in the water during the off season so that she's ready for swim season when it rolls around late spring!

3. Katelyn had basketball evaluations last week. She is excited about basketball season starting. She'll have to sit out some of the first practices because of number 4 below.

4. Katelyn will be having surgery on her right knee on November 19th. This is the same surgery that she had on her left knee back in March. She'll have to take it easy for a couple of weeks and do a couple of weeks of physical therapy, but she should definitely be ready for the first basketball game in January!

5. I found out that I have mitral valve prolapse. Luckily, it's a fairly common heart problem and my valve just seems to have a small leak. I don't have any kinds of limitations, restrictions, etc. I wouldn't have even known anything was wrong but my doctor heard a "click" when she was listening to my heartbeat and sent me for an echocardiogram. The echo indicated mitral valve prolapse, so I had to go see a cardiologist. But all is okay!

6. The 2nd six weeks has ended at school and the girls both made straight A's on their report cards!! They also are both in the top 10 Accelerated Reader (AR) point earners in the school. Rachel is in 1st place with 220 points and Katelyn is in 6th place with 110 points (I think - not sure of her exact total).

7. Robert's MawMaw passed away yesterday. She was 94 years old. Robert said she's probably the best card player he's ever seen! She could also make some yummy mac-n-cheese!!!

Guess that's all for now! Maybe it won't be another 2 weeks before I post again.

Trunk or Treat at Church

It was a beautiful night to have trunk or treat at church! Our Bible Study class had a spot, and we went with a hippies/70's theme. One of the couples in our class made a dance floor that turned out awesome and another girl brought out her disco ball, music, and speakers. We had a blast! We all dressed the part too! I'm not sure who had more fun - the kids or the adults!!!