August 31, 2008

Caitlin sighting






Today we got to see Caitlin for all of 4.5 minutes! She and some of her team mates went to Kentucky for the weekend. On the way back to campus they stopped by for a few minutes....and I mean a few. They were in and out. But it was nice to see her and the girls she was driving with. She got to have a good look at her room which I've spent two days cleaning. She looks so happy and I'm so happy for her. :)

August 29, 2008

Cross Town Rivalry


Tonight is the annual cross town rivalry football game between Columbus North and Columbus East high schools. Conner went with some swim kids and they decided to paint their bodies in support of North. I see an itchy evening ahead for them. :)

August 27, 2008

Caitlin update

Well, tomorrow will be one week since we dropped the girl off. She has called a few times and sounds EXTREMELY happy. She just loves it and is so happy to be there. She loves all the girls on the team and has made fast friends with most of them. The weekend was packed full of stuff for her to do...Quad Day, Fall Fest, physical, dorm meetings, and she even went to church on Sunday with some of the other girls. When she called the other day she said it was so fun "like a great big slumber party". UH.....Okay.....one with homework that is getting done...right? Speaking of homework, classes started on Monday. She said her math class has 400 people in it. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I'm sure not by much. She's had a few practices to ease them into the season which officially starts on Tuesday. She said they are hard and killing her but I think she's happy to be in the pool. I had a little "cry" day on Friday. But since then I don't feel sad at all, I can't be sad when I hear how happy she is. It just makes me so happy and thrilled for her. When she calls I just walk around like a fool with a huge smile on my face, and I want to tell everyone that she called and how happy she is. I just hope she's looking both ways when she crosses the street and puts sunscreen on when she's out in the sun. :-)

August 24, 2008

Happy Birthday Hank!

Friday was our good friend Hank's 50th birthday (wow, that's 10 years and one month to the day older than ME!). Yesterday his wife, Diana (who is OBVIOUSLY much YOUNGER than Hank), had a little surprise birthday party for him. And boy was he was surprised! Brian, Daniel and Bart went golfing with Hank...a normal occurrence....then when he got home there were about 40 of his closest friends there to greet him. :)
Happy 50th Birthday Hank.....we just love ya!!

August 21, 2008

I'll call this one ... Wow, the day finally came.

It seems like we've been talking about Caitlin going to college forever and most recently what day she was leaving. Everyone would ask me "so, when does she leave". I kept thinking we have time, we have time....TIME IS UP! Here is how our day went....

Loaded Car.....
Thankfully it all fit! Left town....

Got to University of Illinois
This is where I have to say that they have moved 10,000 students in before! This was the most organized chaos I've ever seen. Traffic patterns were changed and there were more orange cones in this town today as there are in the whole state of Indiana. After waiting in a car line for your child's dorm room parking lot, you got a piece of paper that they wrote down the dorm room number, your cell phone number and the time you got into the parking lot. You had exactly 20 minutes from that time to park, unload your car and get out of the parking lot. They meant business because we saw several cars getting towed because those folks thought it didn't really mean them. They had tons of upperclassmen there with carts to help move things up to rooms. Then there were people going around from room to room to help set up computers, printers, Internets etc.

I won't lie...the room is small. But I think by bunking the beds they will have plenty of room.

It didn't take Caitlin long to want to take a nap!

Her roommate is also a swimmer and I think they will become fast friends.

These will be some wonderful years for Caitlin. I will miss her dearly, but I'm so happy for her to experience all of this. Good luck, study hard, swim fast, and HAVE FUN!!!! I love you with all my heart. xoxo

August 20, 2008

Move in day eve....

Well, tomorrow is the big day. Caitlin moves into her dorm. This was how we spent the night....trying to pack all her STUFF so that we can fit it in the car. It's amazing what you can fit into a small refrigerator! We will leave around 9:00 a.m. with our girl...and return around 7:00 p.m. without her. :( She won't even have time to notice. After moving in tomorrow, she will have her physical at 6:10 a.m. Friday (no time to sleep in!) and then a compliance meeting at 1:00 followed by a meeting with her athletic academic advisor. I think they have their team photos taken some time this weekend and then there is some shin-dig on Sunday at the baseball field. Classes start Monday along with swim practice. She will have to hit the ground running....but she wouldn't want it any other way!

August 14, 2008

My Baby is a Freshman!

Today is the first day of High School for Conner, today his is a Freshman! I can't believe it. It just seems like yesterday when we moved here and he was a little 2nd grader. He was not nervous until last night when it hit him, but I know he will have a great high school career. Conner, you are funny, smart, compassionate, kind, and the nicest kid I have ever known.......I love you kid!

August 4, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAITLIN!!!

Today is Caitlin's 18th birthday. My birthday wish is that she has a fantastic Freshman year in college. She deserves the best because she is the best! I'm so proud of the young woman she has grown into and I know she will succeed in all that she does. As my mom's birthday card said to her.... "fun, fun, fun, swim, swim, swim, dance, dance, dance". Happy Birthday Cait. xoxo

Update......as I was posting this blog, Caitlin's girlfriends came over to help celebrate her day. Sharpie (aka Catie) and Victoria came over and brought a cake that Sharpie made just for Caitlin. How sweet is that? Thanks girls for being...well, for being you. :)

August 3, 2008

Age Group State

This weekend our swim team hosted the Indiana Age Group Swim Meet. This is the huge meet that the kids 14 and younger all over the state try and qualify for. We hosted 1001 swimmers in the past three days. One of them being my son. Conner qualified to swim in the 100 fly, 200 fly, 200 free and the 200 free relay, 400 free relay and 200 medley relay and the 400 medley relay. Three of the relays took 6th place the 400 medley relay took 3rd and he placed 11 in the 200 fly, 15th in the 100 fly and 27th in the 200 free. He dropped time in all of his events, which is fantastic!! Congratulations to Conner and his relay team for such a great job!