SEPTEMBER ALREADY?

I cant even begin to say how shocked I am that summer is OVER.

 My sweet little Madison started Kindergarten.  It is full day Kindergarten here.  I love that it is full day.  ALL of my kids have energy to burn, and they just do so well.  It is the third week of school, and Madison is already reading like crazy! I am just so impressed with this sweet young lady of mine!  The first day of Kindergarten came, and I drove her to school.  I went to park so I could walk her in to her class room.  She wouldn't LET me.  I had to drop her off at the door so she could go in on her own because "I KNOW HOW TO DO IT MYSELF".  But that is Madison.  She is the most independent person I have ever met.  She really loves being a big kid, and going to school.  She is also in dance again this year, taking Kindergarten Combo (tap and ballet).  It is her 4th year of being in dance. 

Bethanie is now in MIDDLE SCHOOL (5th and 6th grade is middle school here, and she is in 5th).  She is doing amazingly well adjusting to a new school.  She is a social butterfly.  She is still very shy, but I think I can see her coming out of her shell better with the adults around her.  This year she starts band.  Her instrument of choice is the FLUTE.  I am so excited because *I* played the flute from 5th - 12th grade!  But, it doesn't stop there.  She is in a group of middle school kids that are in a group that sings.  It is The Singing Panthers.  So awesome!  She starts Volleyball this month and is taking not one, or two, but THREE dance classes this school year.  She is in jazz, ballet and tap.  She has an abundance of energy and for that, she gets lots of exercise to help her burn it off.  At the end of the days, she is zonked.

Matthew is still being home schooled.  He is not doing the Virtual School any more.  I am not really sure where to go with him academically.  As expected, hitting puberty has been a very difficult change for him.  It has sort of set us all on our ear a bit.  So, we will find the niche some where, and some how. 

Same old same old with me.  I guess there are some changes.  I found out my thyroid quit working, so we are adjusting that.  I cant believe the difference in how I feel.  Also, we discovered I have high blood pressure.  I am sure it is justifiably stress related.  Jeff and I are in a "sandwich generation".  In other words, we are taking care of our parents as well as raising our children.  But we love that we can do it, and look forward to helping them more. 

GOOD NEWS:  Finally, my parents have sold their house in Delphos.  They are buying one in Concordia, which is where we live.  Finally, I will live in the same town as my parents for the first time in 21 years.  I cant tell you how excited I am for that!

Jeff is still working as Risk Manager at the hospital he works for.  His duties never seem to end, and I don't envy all that he has to do, but the best part is he LOVES every bit of it.


Sophie is getting fat.  Laylee is a snob.  Lady is a flirt. 

I guess that sums it up pretty much.  We will be doing some work getting my folks moved to town over the next month or so.  I CANT WAIT!!!!!

summer has been very HOT  we have spent many days over qpp degrees in a row with very little rain  so we have spent much of our time @ the pool    we took the kids to the new waterpark in Beloit (ks) and just had a great time as a family  we celebrated July rth with just the t of us  we grilled and did a few fire works  our county is one of the few that allowed them this year because of the dryness.  so all in all its summer and getting to the point the kids are looking forward to school again.

My Bethanie

Ten years ago tonight, I unexpectedly went into labor.  I was terrified!  From the moment I unexpectedly found out I was 8 weeks pregnant, to the time she was born, I had a hard time believing that this was actually something happening to our family.  Bethanie took 10 years for us to create.  I suppose it was because it takes time to create perfection.  I always sort of kid around when I say that God gave us Bethanie because He gave us Matthew and Madison.  Its sort of true.  Bethanie is such a sweet and loving young lady.  She has great morals and standards.  She is curious at the world, yet very shy.  She loves to perform and loves to help, create and entertain.  I just am so proud of this young being that I helped come into this world!  She is AMAZING!  I love you so much, Bethanie!  HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

 Beautiful dancer.  She is quite talented with ballet, jazz and tap dancing!

 This is a glimpse of Bethanie's TRUE personality.  It is reserved for those closest to her.  She quite a jokester and loves to be amusing!

 Bethanie and I were dancing to "Better" by the Celtic Tenors

our mutually favorite group.  I love cuddling with her!

 Raggedy Ann for The Nut Cracker

 These were all her Spring Dance Recital "Alice In Wonderland".

I really loved this one, three generations of McCall's.  :P

Tomorrow is her big day!  More pictures are sure to follow! 

LOVE YOU, B!

Preschool Graduate! Miss Madison, Kindergarten, HERE YOU COME!!!

My sweet little Bella!  She finished successfully a two year Preschool program tonight!  I am so proud of her!  She is a very smart young woman.  She is our only left handed child, and it has been a little different in teaching her how to write.  But like everything, she studies and studies and then goes to work and does it right each time.  This is her teacher Mrs. M. 

 You cant have a wonderful experience like this without Grand Parents!!! Like my moms cast?  Yep, broken leg and surgery. 

Proud Mom and Dad.  This is our last child going through Preschool!  I cant believe all of my kids are going to school now.  Well, technically Matthew still will be home schooled and in 8th grade.  But still, they grow so fast!!!!

Madison at the reception.  The cake was awesome, and she LOVED getting the graduation head band!  She feels like such a big kid.  I just LOVE HER TO PIECES!!!!

Congratulations, my sweet Madison!  I LOVE YOU!

On December 28th 2011, I had foot surgery done on both of my feet.  The right foot had a terrible arthritis filled bunion on it and I had it shaved off and fixed.  It is still healing but all together much better. 

Spring Recital 2012!

Oh WOW!  I am BLOGGING again!  So, since I last blogged, the whole blogspot format has changed.  So I am not used to it yet.  That said, it lets me put a whole ton of pictures on it at a time!  So I will take advantage and work on catching up some things...

This past weekend was the Spring Dance Recital.  Both Bethanie and Madison do dance.  This year, Bethanie took a jazz class and a ballet class.  So she had two performances in this years recital.  Really it was like having another daughter in it because of costume, hair changes.  But it was a SUPER CUTE recital.  The theme was Alice In Wonderland.  I took all of the pictures myself because I don't like to RELY on the photographer that does the photography because while the pictures are good, they only have a couple of the girls, and they are my focus.  :P

I really love and admire the relationship my daughters have with one another.  BEST FRIENDS ARE WE, MY SISTER AND ME. 

 This picture is so fun because Madison is just grandiose! She has such a big personality, and she is just a force to be reckoned with!  She is 5 years old now, and he will be graduating from preschool just next week!  For the recital, she did a sweet tap dance as a lady bug!

 This is actually two preschool groups.  It was too big to have them all in one class.  Madison's class is the lady bugs and the other class is bumble bees.  ARENT THEY SO CUTE?!?!

 This is Bethanie's ballet costume.  Her dance group was Pink Rose Princesses.  I LOVE LOVE LOVED this routine.  It was just beautiful and graceful.  Bethanie has really come a long way with her dancing.  I am in awe of her.  She is so shy, but as a performer, she is very open.  I LOVE that in her!

 This was Bethanie's Jazz group.  Not all the same girls as the ballet.  This one was a flamingo dance where they danced and used pink flamingo's as golf clubs and hit beach balls out into the audience.  It was really cool!

Looks like I got these pictures out of order, but this is her in performance mode of her ballet.


OK, I might get some video clips up later of the recital.  But for now, I will play catch up.  :P

Earlier this month, we took my dad and the kids to Kansas City to the new LDS Temple that was having its open house.  We were really excited to get them into the temple so they could stop imagining what it was like inside it, and could see for themselves.  Madison was the one that was the most impressed.  She has talked a lot about it, and especially on the way home.  She drew her fingers into a heart and said, "The Temple is Beautiful".  That really warmed my heart!  Funny how I expected Bethanie to have more of a reaction, but it was Madison.  I STILL love thinking about it!

 This is Sunny, my older brother and my dad.  Out for a motorcycle ride.

 Sunny and my mom (before she fell and broke her leg.  Never thought she would have made it onto the motorcycle, but she REALLY enjoyed the ride...

I miss you, dear friend!!!  CoriAnn and I have been friends for a number of years.  I love her to pieces.  In February I flew out to Utah to stay a few days with her and her sweet family.  I had such a good time.  While I was there, I met some of my cousins that I have not met before, but have communicated with through the wonder-ment of technology.  :P

This sweet girl is one of my cousins.  Her name is Katherine Nichole.  She is my first cousin, though a great deal younger than me.  She just turned 19.  I love her to death!  I was so happy to meet her.  Her mom and my mom are sisters.  Recently her mom passed away.  I was so thankful to have been able to meet Katherine and see Aunt Teresa again. 


So, slowly I will catch things up.  I am just amazed I got this much in.  :)