Alexis and "Pennies for Peace" Fundraiser

Alexis (in the black and white stripes on the end) being presented to the Longview School Board by her principal, Mr. Opgrande.

Alexis and the rest of the girls from her school involved in the fundraiser with the school board, superintendent and their principal.

Alexis and one of her best buddies, Sarah, wait for the board meeting to start.

In January, Alexis' school principal asked her and some other girls from her school to help head up a fundraiser called "Pennies for Peace." It is a program where children in the USA raise money in penny drives and send it to Pakistan where they build schools for girls. Alexis was really into this and did lots of the legwork to make it happen. They raised over $1,600.00!

On Valentine's Day (hence why JD and I had to have lunch that day) night, the Longview School Board met and asked the girls involved to be presented for recognition and lead the flag salute. She was nervous, but excited. We spent A LOT of time making her hair into big ringlets for the meeting.

Valentine's Day 2011

JD and I were not able to go out on Valentine's Day evening this year because of an event Alexis had to go to (see later post), so we decided to have a nice lunch together instead. We met at our favorite restaurant in town where he brought me flowers. I really enjoy spending time with my best friend. He's such a wonderful husband and father. I'm so lucky to have him!

Alexis and her friend, Mikaila, went to school early on Valentine's Day and "heart attacked" their teacher, Mr. Clift. They put up hearts all over his desk, chair, the floor of the classroom, the blackboard, windows and even the clock. Their teacher thought it was pretty great! Katie also made her teacher a giant valentine. I'll get a picture of it on Thursday to post.

Eye troubles for Alexis

With the dilating drops in her eyes, she is having trouble focusing on things, so she's about ready to crack...

Alexis' teacher is noticing some trouble with Alexis reading and we decided to have her eyes checked. Good thing we did! Her glasses prescription was improperly filled last year and she's had the wrong prescription for a year and a half! She is such a nervous-Nelly when it comes to going to the doctor and she about had a come-apart when the machine blew a puff of air into her eye. I had to snap a picture of her in the examining room after the doctor put the dilation drops in her eyes for the exam. She was SO freaked out! In this picture she is on the verge of a complete melt-down.

End of the wrestling road, errh, mat.

Derek at the podium for 3rd place in districts

Derek did VERY well wrestling his second year of high school and we are so proud of him! He only lost one match in league and placed third in the district at 160 pounds. At regionals, we had a bit of a difficult time because his weight bracket was stacked with REALLY good kids. Of the eight kids in the regional bracket, six were ranked in the state or had placed in state last year. He also was the youngest kid in his bracket. Needless to say, he won his first match and it was downhill from there. His teammates didn't fair much better, but two did make alternates to state. Derek is pretty disappointed how it all turned out because he felt like this would be a great year for him, but he's got two more years to make his goal of wrestling in the state tournament. We have no doubt that he'll reach that goal!

Derek's deciding right now whether he is going to play soccer for the high school this spring (he hasn't played soccer since he was 11!) or freestyle wrestling again.

P.S. He is going to be 16 years old in about 2 weeks. This means he is going to be driving and dating. Pray for me/us/him/others!

Egyptian Change

After my boys had left for school and the girls were busily running around getting ready, I sat down in the living room and sipped my cocoa. As I was watching the morning news, a breaking story interrupted the broadcast. Alexis walked in and we watched as the news told us that the Egyptian president had been ousted by the people. It was interesting to see all the people of that country gather around the palace celebrating Mubarak leave the country. Even the military eventually turned on the President. Although he used to a fair ruler, he had eventually become a tyrant. There is much uncertainly still for the Egyptian people, and we hope that Islamic terrorists do not take rule there, it is still a victory for the people to be liberated for a space. We hope Heavenly Father will be able to influence them for good.

Chillin'

Derek snuggling up after a long day at school and wrestling practice. He's texting (again!--for hours) to lovely young ladies.

JD relaxing. "Did we wake you?"

Welcome to another exciting weeknight in the Troy rec room! (pictures courtesy of Evan).

Severed Head and Me

"Hey! Look at me and the severed head!"

"Ahhh! It's a SEVERED head! Scary..."

Once again, I was spotted in Longview driving around with a severed head in my vehicle. This time the head did not have ticks or blood on it. We had Evan's first buck mounted, as well as the antlers from Derek's.