Busy Busy Busy....

WOW!!!!
This is the only way I know to express things right now.  We have been going nonstop since we got home from our wonderful trip home to VA and WV back in June.  We had a wonderful trip home and it was so great to see everyone again. So we have had so much going on that I have not had much time to myself all summer.

I wish I could say that all of it has been wonderful and great, but that is not the case, however, many many months ago I promised myself that I would no longer look at things in a negative light and that I would find the positive in everything that happens so although we have had some rough spots this summer those rough spots came with many positive things attached to them that I am ever so great-full to God for. I learned long ago that for everything that happens there is a reason and a lesson to be learned.  I am very thankful to God for those lessons and blessings.

getting ready to get on plane

Now on to the great stuff....Heather got to go to NY for 3 1/2 weeks and she had a really great time with the Ortiz family.  It was very hard for me to put her on the plane for the first time on her own, but I survived it. She made it safely there and back and had a great time.

Alex has been enjoying his summer but playing with his friends and on the computer playing Risk.  He is also preparing for his first season as a football player.  We went and registered him for NFC Football with the Boys and Girls Club.  It is the only place that plays tackle football and he will be able to do this for the next two years which will take him up to the 7th grade when he can then play for the Jr. High School team.  Wow! I can't believe he will be graduating from the 5th grade at the end of this school year and heading on to Jr High and in 2 years he will be in the 7th grade!  Wow where does the time go...It was just yesterday that I was bringing him home from the hospital wasn't it?

Heather and Alex start school next Monday, August 23rd and Tiffany starts school on August 26th.

I hope to be able to sit and get my camera down loaded and all my postings from this summer done once the kids start back to school.  I have a week from the time they start back until I go back so we will see.

Achieving Dreams....

Tiffany's summer has been so busy from the very beginning.  She was able to come out for the weekend to visit with the family and then she flew home with Nana and her summer began the very next day, but this summer has not been about fun and playing for her.  It has been about working hard and long hours towards a goal. 

Tiffany got up every morning at 6am to be at the school gym by 730am and started Strength and Conditioning class.  This class was all about getting into shape and really pushing her body to the limits.  She worked from 730am until Noon every day and then on Tuesdays and Thursdays she would come home and rest for a few hours and at 430 she would be back in the car and off to the school again for Summer League Volleyball until 9pm at night.  This schedule continued from June 7th until July 15th.  She had from the 16th of July until August 1 to enjoy summer then at 6am on August 2nd she started what she called the most grueling schedule she was ever had. 

At 6am on August 2nd the alarms went off and up her and I got.  Now why would a 14 year old get up at 6am one would ask?  To work towards achieving her dreams is the answer... And what dreams would that be?  Well one of the very best Volleyball programs in the area is at Copperas Cove High School.  This last school year they sent 4 girls to college on Volleyball scholarships.  Tiffany has wanted to play volleyball for CCHS for 3 years now and the first part of her dream was to make it onto their team.  Now some would say that shouldn't be to hard to do, not true at all.  There were 40 girls in the 9th grade that were fighting for their chance to be 1 of 18 girls to make the Freshman Volleyball team, then there is the Junior Varsity Team that only had 15 slots available and 42 girls fighting for those spots, then the Varsity had only 15 slots available and again there were 37 girls fighting for those slots.  So a grand total of  119 girls trying out for only 48 slots.  Hmmm talk about some competition! 

So every morning for three grueling days Tiffany would get up at 6am to eat a good high protein breakfast, pack her gym bag with clothes, her factor in case she gets hurt, a lot of Gatorade and water, snacks and her lunch and off to the school we would go to drop her off by 730am at 5pm I would be on the road headed back to pick her up.  Then the day try-outs would end came.  The girls all practiced and did their best to show that they should be on the team from 730am until Noon.  Then the Coaches have seen all they can and send the girls out of the gym telling them to check the front of the gym doors at 1pm and the list of those who made the team will be posted. 

Tiffany called me and asked me if I would come and sit with her and wait for the list to come out.  So shortly after Noon I arrived.  Tiffany came out and ate her lunch in the van and we talked.  She was so nervous.  We both prayed that the Coaches would see the skills that Tiffany has worked so hard on for the last three years and choose her....

1pm came and Tiffany along with 118 other girls made the mad dash to the front of the Gym doors.....Drum roll please.....As my heart beat so loud I thought the whole world would hear it I sat staring at the front of the gym waiting to see Tiffany's face to see what I was going to need to do next.  Do I give her a hug and tell her not to give up that she can work hard and do outside Volleyball programs and try again next year??? How upset would she be?  Do I jump out of the car and cheer along beside her? Dang it I still can't see her...There she is! 

SHE MADE THE TEAM!!!! Tiffany made the Freshman team!!!!! She was so happy that she was jumping and waving her arms.  All that hard work for the last three years and that final push for the last 2 months as hard as it was paid off she was now a CCHS Lady Dawg Volleyball Player! She has worked hard and achieve her first dream. Tiffany's overall dream for High school is to play Volleyball and be the best so that she can get a Volleyball Scholarship to attend Penn State and play Volleyball for them.

My thoughts were that WOW she made the team okay so now we will slow down a bit...hahaha not so. The girls had a Team meeting and hour later and then practice for 2 more hours.  Friday practice from 730am until 5pm again and their first scrimmage on Saturday August 7th, then the Season Opener on August 9th, another game on August 10th, practice every day and then Friday and Saturday we had a Tournament that the girls had to be at starting at 6am and did not leave until 8pm both nights.  Sunday they had off and back to practice on Monday, Game on Tuesday, then practice Wednesday and Thursday, a game this Friday and Saturday and then we head into regular games every Tuesday and Friday.  All of this so far and school hasn't even started yet. Tiffany is starting her Freshman year this year and is going to be the Graduating Class of 2014.  Congradulations to you my dear and we all look forward to watching and assisting you in acheiving the rest of your dreams!

It's sort of a family reunion

We headed home for vacation and to see my Great-Grandma McIntyre who was turning 100 years old.  After her birthday party at the church, we realized for the first time in 7 years we had just about the entire family there so we wanted to get a picture.

I am sorry that we could not have the entire family as we all had hoped for this photo.  Those who were missing in this photo were: Aunt Merri who is Uncle Rick's wife was able to be at the parties even though Uncle Rick could not make it, but she exscaped from the church and back to the house before we could get a photo. Their daughter Little Ricci was not able to be there.  Brittany and her husband were not able to come because Brittany is deployed to Iraq right now.  Aunt Terri's daughter Kristy and her son were not able to come down.  Uncle Tom's wife Kathy and their two children also could not make it and finally the only other persons missing was my Stepdad Rob and my husband Jon both who were working and could not make it either.

Here are pictures of the family from the party.

After the party we went back to Grandmaw and Pops McIntyre's house for what ended up being an indoor picnic because it was raining off and on all day. Several people helped out by making platters, and different dishes so that making the food for everyone did not fall all on one person.

We also were able to take a photo of Mom with her two children which we have not been able to do since Tim and I were young kids.

Next we also took a Five Generation photo of the oldest kids.  Which would be My Great-Grandma McIntyre, Pops (her son), Diana (my Mom), myself and my oldest Heather.  Then we had a photo with Tim and I and Great Grandma, Pops, and Mom and Heather.

I also got some random shots of the family as they spread out around the house.
To the left is Kristy and Tim. The Right is David Samantha's Husband.

This is Samantha (Uncle Tom's oldest) and her youngest Luke.











To the left is Little Jimmy, Aunt Terri's son.

This is Pops

Tiffany

Heather and Mom

Alex and Eli

It was so nice to be able to be around my Mom's side of the family for the first time in 7 years.  We all had a great time despite the weather and when I first saw the table of food and the number of people we had I was not sure if it was going to be enough to feed us all.  The good Lord does always provide and he did this day as well.  We ended up with more food than we knew what to do with.  I am so grateful that I have a family to go home to and that I was able to spend these special moments with my Great-Grandma and my Grandparents as well. 

This flower arrangement along with three others were created by my oldest Heather.  She got everything to make them from scratch with no patterns or help from the dollar store. All the flowers except the roses were fake, and the roses were from Great Grandma's Assisted Living Center Birthday Party where she got 100 red roses.

This Date in History June 3, 2010

As I posted in an earlier blog my Great-Grandma McIntyre turned 100 years old on June 3, 2010.  On this day my Grandmaw McIntyre, Pops McIntyre, Aunt Terri, her friend Jimmy, Heather, Alex, and I were able to go to the Assisted Living Center where my Great-Grandma McIntyre lives in Romney, WV to celebrate her birthday with her there along with all the other residents and staff.

The local florists in the area all donated roses to my Great-Grandma as a way of showing their care for her turning 100.  What surprized us all was that she got 100 red roses.

Great-Grandma Peggy also got a birthday card from President Obama and his wife Michelle Obama as well.

During her party Alex was listening to an iPod and Great-Grandma asked him what he had. Alex showed her what it was and even helped her to listen to it. Which she really enjoyed.  I found this very cool that she enjoyed it so much at 100 years old.  Just think about it, when she was 11 years old there wasn't even a thought in any persons mind about inventing an iPod.

All the residents and staff really seemed to enjoy themselves and we all had a great time celebrateing her birthday with them on that day.

I have a ton of pictures to share. As the old saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words." That being said I will let the photos speak for themselves.  Enjoy.