Tennis and Softball

This summer I told the kids they could try a new sport if they wanted.  Nell and Chet wanted to try tennis, just like mom and Katie choose softball.  Luckily for mom they were offering tennis and softball at the same park at the same time!  Nell and Chet did a great job with tennis.  Nell's coach thinks she has some potential and should continue.  With her gymnastics schedule this isn't going to happen, but maybe she can be like her mom and do gymnastics till high school and then switch to tennis.  I was also very impressed with Chet, he has a nice swing and he is always prepared to return any ball (most of the other kids just stood and watched the ball bounce past them).   Katie, I a mean Katherine (that is what she told her coaches to call her) is great at softball.  She can hit any ball that is pitched to her and has quite an arm when it comes to throwing.

  

  

Summer Rolls & Grasshopper Pie

   

When  we go out to a Thai or Vietnamese restaurants summer rolls are one of our favorite things to order.  Unfortunately they can be a bit pricey and you usually only get two and when you have to share them 5 ways no one ever gets enough.   So this Father's Day I decided to try making them at home.  They were surprisingly easy and for about the cost of two orders I was able to make two big plates full.  They sure hit the spot on hot day.  In addition to the summer rolls I also made a grasshopper pie, with a Cocoa Krispi crust.  It was pretty yummy, but a little hard to eat.

Tae Kwon Do Tournament

Last Saturday the Kirby family skipped soccer and headed to Bloomington, IL for a Tae Kwon Do Tournament.  Chet and Katie had been practicing hard for the tournament ever since their instructor mentioned that they might be ready to compete.  Katie was a little nervous and unsure about competing, she doesn't like to fail at anything.  Her instructor was very good as easing her mind and preparing her, so when the day came she was confident and ready knowing that we everyone only expected two things from her 1) To do her best and 2) To have fun.  Well Katie did just that and she took 1st place!  She was so excited/happy/proud it was great to joy she was feeling when she realized she had won.  Chet also did his best and had fun taking 3rd place, missing second by only a tenth of a point.  Both Katie and Chet had a great day and are looking forward to competing again next year.

Happy Birthday Chet!

Chet turned 10 back in April.  Things were a bit hectic then, I was still working full time, my folks came for a visit and various other activities kept me from posting.  We celebrated his day with a family party at our house.  In attendance was both sets of grandparents plus Rob's brother and his family.  Grandpa O made some delicious ribs for everyone, and Chet choose an ice cream cake from Marble Slab.  Then a few weeks latter, we had a friends party.  For his friends party Chet choose a Dr. Who theme, and we played laser tag in the backyard.  It was a really laid back party with minimal work, but everyone had a good time. 

Chet helping Grandpa with the ribs.

Easter

Easter this year started with me putting on our towns Easter Egg Hunt.  I was told that last year there were about 20 kids and not to expect too many.  Here is a photo of the last of the three age groups which was the smallest, so I had a few more than last year.  For Easter we hosted this year.  Rob's family joined us.  Between the egg hunt on Saturday, the church egg hunt on Sunday and our family hunt on Sunday the kids ended up with way too much candy (although mom is always willing to help them with their chocolate).  It was a nice day.

Florida

We just got back from 4 busy days vacationing in Florida.  It was an almost perfect trip, but we wont dwell on Rob leaving his wallet in the rental car when we were leaving.  We started our vacation with a trip to Kennedy Space Center.  While there we checked out all the rockets, I Max Movie, Space Shuttle Launch simulator, bus tour of the launch pad and had lunch with Astronaut Jon McBride.  It was a very cool day and we didn't have time see everything!

Our next day was probably my favorite.  We spent the day at Discovery Cove.  It wasn't cheap, but it was a wonderful experience that we will always remember.  We swam with dolphins, snorkeled, feed stingrays and relaxed on the lazy river.

Our tickets to Discovery Cove included passes to Sea World so that was how we spent the next day.  We took in the Shamu show, dolphin show and of course Clyde and Semore (the sea lion show).  Clyde and Semore were the kids favorites.  

On our last day we headed back to Kennedy to finish the bus tour.  We were able to see the Saturn V rocket, touch a moon rock and visit the building where they get items ready to go up to the Space Station.  There are only 3 more items that will go up in the Space Shuttle to complete the Space Station and we saw them!  From there we headed to Cocoa Beach, where Mom and Dad relaxed on the sand and the kids played.  The kids found some Jellyfish that had washed up and of course Katie was fascinated and had to have her picture taken touching one.  This was one of the nicest trips that just our family has taken, the only downside was it was too short 

Nell's Hair

Nell has been growing her hair out to donate for sometime now.  Today she decided it was time to cut it.  She was very excited and proud, till they finished.  Then the tears came, because she didn't want short hair.  Luckily they didn't last long and Mom rewarded her by letting her pick out some new hair clips.  I think it looks really cute, but she is set on growing it out.  Katie wants her to keep it short so they can have the same hair.  Only time will tell what happens.

Irish Dance

Katie had her big dance recital on March 7th.  This year I skipped curling her hair and bought a wig.  Katie did a great job!  She always has to be the center because she is the smallest, she is even smaller than the kids in the beginning class.  Sometimes this bothers her, but tonight she didn't let it get to her.  We were joined by Rob's brother and his family.  It was very nice of them to come and made Katie feel very special, as did her present from Grandma O, an Irish dance outfit for her doll. 

Daddy Daughter Dance

This past Friday night was the Daddy Daughter Dance at my work.  This was my first time being in charge of the event.  It was a lot of work, but also very rewarding.  Since I was in charge of things I gave my camera to Chet  to be photographer.  Needless to say I don't have many good pictures.  Everyone had a great time, I hope to add some better pictures once my friend sends them to me, so check back later.

Family Tree

Chet's class at school has been working on a project called "Voices from the Past".  As a part of the project children had to put together a family tree.  This is something that can be difficult for an adopted child, but Chet handled it so well.  He decided he wanted to include everyone, his birth family, foster family, adoptive family, sisters birth family, foster family and half sister and half brother.  The amazing thing is how he came up with a way to include everyone, by having different branches come off of a 3 dimensional tree, with leaves that included extended family members, such as cousins.  Chet continues to amaze me with his creativity.

Cheerleading Clinic

The girls participated in the Illini Cheerleading clinic again this year.  Katie was a little unsure at first because Nell knew so many girls from gymnastics and she didn't really know anyone, but she ended up having a great day.  Nell enjoyed seeing her old friends from gymnastics that moved up to team this fall.  Both girls did a great job, and so did the Illini Women's Basketball team.  The best part of this year was that I didn't get my camera stolen. 

Lego Build Off!

My work hosted a Lego Build Off.  All the children were given a new tub of Lego's and one hour to create what ever they wanted out of their Lego's, then prizes were awarded for the best creations. Chet created a mechanic shop for spy boats.  He won 2nd place, no I didn't do the judging otherwise he would have won 1st.

Inaugural Ball

To celebrate the inauguration of our new President, Rob and his students put together an inaugural ball. I borrowed an old bridesmaid dress from my sister in law and we headed of to the ball.  It was fun to see the students so excited about the future of our country, but I have to say it made me feel old.  I only new a couple of the songs they played and Rob didn't know any of them!  It was still fun to get dressed up and go out though.

New Years

I am trying to get all caught  up on my posts.  For New Years this year we headed up to the Chicago area to visit the girls half sister and their family.  It had been a while since we had seen them, but the kids started playing right away as if they had never been apart.  The girls always have a good time together and were up till the wee hours talking.  Chet also has a good time spending time with their boys, whom he considers to be his brothers too.  After New Years we said good bye to Rob as he left for Jamaica on a mission trip with some of his students.

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008 has gotten off to a great start.  The kids were up bright and early this morning, all excited about Christmas.  We have opened out presents and had a yummy breakfast of crepes with Nutella.  Latter in the day we will head over to the Peoria area to celebrate with Rob's family.  So far the favorite presents for the kids are as follows.  Chet: his new red video camera and the Wii game Ravin Rabbids 2.  Katie: her new blue camera that she plans to use to take pictures and create her own newspaper.  Nell: her quillo (quilt/pillow) and her new pink camera. Rob: our new couch.  Darice: our new couch and my Rumba whom I have named Pepe. I hope everyone is having a nice Christmas morning.