End of the Year Craziness

I haven't blogged in months so get ready for a long post…

This time of year is nutty for everyone but I feel it is especially so for us.  We go from Thanksgiving to Max's birthday to our anniversary to Christmas.  Throw in a puppy, three swim meets (one being a travel meet), a sick child for 6 days, shopping to do, wrapping to complete, work to finish before the end of the year… you get the idea.  NUTTY!   No wonder I haven't blogged.  ;)

For Thanksgiving this year Max and I ran the Turkey Trot.  It was our first time doing so for three years.  We just did the mile course because 1) I have not been able to run for over a year and 2) 5 miles is probably just too long for Max.  Max wanted to win.  Like the whole thing.  Guess what?  He almost did.  He ran an 8:07 mile and crossed the finish line 7th!  Haha.  What a kid!  Next year he says we are doing the 5 mile run!  Ok!

Max before the run.

On Nov. 30th Max turned 10.  Double digits.  Man, that is old.  It was Thanksgiving weekend so we had several days off in a row.  It was fun to just hang out with him!  On the 29th he had a party at our house.  The party was a Fear Factor theme, from the tv show.  Max and 11 of his friends competed in lots of gross competitions and the winner scored $10.  It was silly and messy and weird but so much fun!  Afterward he chose three buddies to sleep over.  We went out for pizza, they watched movies and played games, and had a great night.

Awesome Fear Factor cake

10!!!

Max is concerned as Ryan gags on something he had to eat.  Fear Factor style.  :)

Max makes a wish.

The whole gang!

Max and his BFFs.  James, Bret, and Joe

Chris and I celebrated 16 years on December 5th, our wedding anniversary.  No big plans this year as the day fell during the week and Max had a swim meet that weekend.  I did get to meet him out for lunch that day though at Bravo, one of our faves.  It was perfect.  Just living a normal, happy, healthy life is worth celebrating, right?


The weekend of Dec 12-14 Max had a huge swim meet at Miami University.  I hate that he turns the next year older right before that meet.  He was the youngest 10 year old competing for sure.  He had such an awesome meet and made it back to finals every session, which meant SUPER long days for us.  He also got a national zone cut in the 100 butterfly, dropping over 3 seconds during the course of prelims and finals and now gets to compete with Team Ohio at the zone meet next summer.  It's a HUGE deal!  He works so hard; what an accomplishment!

Max in the black/gold jammers getting ready for the 100 Fly

Max and some of his teammates before finals

Max and Joe, Best Buds.  They swam the 500 Free on 12/20 for the first time.  Walked out like this.

For Christmas this year Max really didn't ask for much from Santa.  The "biggest" gift he wanted was a popcorn machine.  Santa delivered.  Of course he has had swim practice every night so we have yet to be able to sit down and pop some corn and watch a movie.  Maybe tonight?  I was able to get a cute mini session in with Max at a local prop shop for some Christmas photos… and of course we did our annual shoot for birthday/Christmas pics in late October as well.

During the last week we spent a few nights driving around looking at lights.  Enjoyed family time on Christmas Eve at Grandma's.  I made a french toast casserole and scrambled eggs for breakfast with my mom and dad on Christmas day.  Spent all day playing games and watching movies before dinner at my parents on Christmas night.  And we just enjoyed celebrating the season, as crazy as it got.

This year has been such a fun one for our family.  We moved into our new home.  Got a new puppy.  Max started 4th grade.  Chris started a new job.  We have made new friends.  Traveled the midwest for swim meets.  Enjoyed good health and many blessings.  And so much more!  We are looking forward to 2015 and all the adventures it will bring!  

Merry Christmas and Happy 2015 from Us!

Swim-A-Thon 2014

The Sharks biggest fundraiser of the year has come and gone already!  The Swim-A-Thon.  It's a lengthy night of swimming and eating!  Max's two favorite things.  This year Max once again had to swim 3750 yards, or 150 laps, without stopping.  He swam on like a champ, determined to finish first.  (cause everything is a race, of course… ha).  He raised $125 for his team which helped put him a step closer to his fundraising requirement for the year.  I know he made phone calls to thank those who supported him (but he had to leave a message for one).  But I wanted to take a minute to thank Mamaw & Papaw, Grandma & Grandpa, and Aunt Tara.  Without you, Max would have shown up empty handed.  Thank you for showing him some love.  :)

After all those laps he got to join his friends for a pasta dinner.  Well deserved.

Halloween 2014

For the third year in a row we had terrible, horrible, no-good, crappy weather for Halloween.  Earlier in the week we wore shorts, by Saturday it was snowing.  Awful.  But Halloween came anyway and with it, Trick or Treat.

This year Max was invited to go begging with his friend Bret in Centerville, which was nice since we are new to this neighborhood and haven't met anyone with kids since we are all the way down here on our own in the new section.  We went early for dinner and left late with pounds of candy… and we froze.

Max found his costume online this year; he was a blue inflatable morph.  It was the most bizarre and hilarious thing ever.  It was a plastic suit (people asked if it was an "ebola suit"… come on!) with a nylon mask, gloves and shoe coverings (which he couldn't wear because it was pouring rain).  Inside the suit was a little fan.  You hooked up a battery pack to the fan, clipped that pack on your belt, and away you went!  It was like those blow up things people put in their yard for Christmas or the Buckeyes games… you know, like a big Santa or Brutus Buckeye.  ;)

We also got Flip a costume.  He was a lion and it suited him so well.  But he wouldn't leave it on for more than a few minutes plus it was too rainy for him to go out with us so we took a few pics then let him be.

Max and Bret cleaned up at all the neighbors houses!  Hardly any kids were out.  We chalk that up to bad weather and a big high school football night (Springboro vs Lebanon and Centerville vs Wayne).  No one was home!

More candy for Max then… or should I say for me?  He never touches it and I dig through it all day long.  Dangit.  Here are several photos from the night.  The running shots of Max make me laugh.

Four Months Old

Flip Turner.  He is now 4 months old.  He loves to chase cars, hump bigger dogs, work for treats, chew shoes, bite hands, sleep, sit outside, and more.  He knows how to high five, shake, sit, lie down, walk on a loose leash, leave it (sometimes!), and will hopefully learn to roll over soon.  I'm secretly looking forward to teaching him to play dead as well.  How cool!  He is a good dog.  And his best friend is Max, even though he bit him hard on the tip of the nose.  ;)

A Month of Growth for FTC

We have had him for four weeks now.  I had no idea how much he had changed until I compared these photos.  Wow.  He is now house broken!!! If only he were "bite broken".  Rotten nippy mouth.  ;)

4th Grade? How Did That Happen?

Back to school… already.

Max has been so excited about heading back to school this year.  The minute the class lists were posted he has been saying "I wish it were August 25th already!"  Weirdo!  I vote for summer foreverrrrrrrr.

Since he doesn't let me dress him anymore, and will ONLY wear dri-fit stuff from Nike and the like, I took him shopping and let him pick out one new outfit for school (since he has so many already!)  He is so proud of the ensemble he chose.  The color is called "laser crimson" and boy is it ever!  It's a cross between red and hot pink, I guess?  And he is decked out from his head to his toes in the color.  He even bought his Lebron shoes with his own money. (because honestly how could I afford them?  He's the money-saver!)

Here are our first day pics!  He was ready to go bright and early… even though he was up all night coughing from his cold/allergies!  What a kid!  Cheers to a wonderful 4th grade year!

He's Home! Welcome to the Family, Flip Turner!

We picked our Goldendoodle, Flip Turner (or FTC as we like to call him), up on Monday from Kareaway Kennels in Xenia.  He is now 8 weeks old and ready to be with his human family.  We were all a little anxious for his arrival, just not knowing really what to expect over the next days and weeks to come.  New house and a new dog?  Just seems crazy.

The first 4 days have been so great.  He sleeps through the night from 11 pm to 6:30 am when we have to get up to take Max to swimming (and Chris gets ready for work).  He is learning how to ring a bell hung on our back door so we know when he wants/needs to go out.  He eats three times a day.  He LOVES chew toys; the more the better!  He checked out completely healthy at the vet and at 8 weeks weighs just under 8lb.  We are exhausted from constantly taking him outside to "go potty" but we love having him home.

It will be fun to watch him grow!  Here are a few pics I took tonight with the help of Max and his friend Bret.  :)