Fall Party

On October 30, Peyton had her fall party at school. Here she is participating in the Candy Corn Relay Race:
Getting her food (check out Angela's cute cheese tray):

Group shot:

Peyton with Molly and Sydney:

And, with Mrs. Phelps:

Monsters in the Closet

On October 23 - Peyton's 9th birthday! - the third graders had a field trip to BHS to watch their production of Monsters in the Closet.

I Have A Dream

Peyton's third grade musical was held on October 22. Here she is getting ready for her speaking part:

CF Clinic Checkup

4th post of the day - I don't like getting so behind on the blog where I have to post several things at the same time!

On Wednesday I took Mackenzie to her CF Clinic visit (Jason was out of town). She had a very good check up. Great weight gain, clear sounding lungs and she was so excited to tell Dr. Warren that she's running Cross Country. Her PFTs were down BUT her allergies are bad - so, is this the cause?? We have finally scheduled her allergy skin test for Monday, October 12 so I hope we finally get this figured out. I'll hear from Dr. Warren this week to see what her culture results are and if she needs an antibiotic.

I know several of you fellow CF families are familiar with the Power of Two. I was not until I received a message from a friend from elementary school (facebook really is amazing!).

From Laura on September 20:
My boyfriend, Nickolas Rossi, is a cinematographer. He is going to Japan on October 1st to shoot a documentary about twins with cystic fibrosis. They both have had double lung transplants in the US but are from Japan, and knowing you, and your research, you probably have heard of them? Below you will find the website. They are going to Japan to ask Japanese officials to allow transplants as it is not readily available there. My boyfriend will be shooting everything. The women live in San Francisco now and on Sunday they will document them getting ready for Japan, talking about the medication they have to bring with them. I would love you to be facebook friends with Nickolas as he travels through Japan with these ladies, as he documents. Perhaps you could help spread the word. This film will premier at SUNDANCE. You and your family are a bright figure in all of this and I want to make sure that the word is spread the right way, which you do well. The website is http://www.thepoweroftwomovie.com/the-book/ Check it out and let me know your thoughts!Love,
Laura

She sent this on September 20 and I wish I would have shared it sooner! Please, check out the website and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Sunday, September 27

When Jason was busy working in the yard and Mackenzie was at her youth church group, Peyton and I went with her class to see "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs". Mrs. Phelps organized the outing and the class is going to compare and contrast the book to the movie (love this!). Sydney, Peyton & Molly:

Peyton with Mrs. Phelps:

Saturday, September 26

Last Saturday was pretty busy - as is everyday lately (reason for my lack of blogging!). Mackenzie and I started the morning with a movie. The girl's dance studio had a fundraiser and we all went to see Fame. Peyton had a soccer game and didn't get to join us.

I found it to be hard taking a picture in a dark theatre. Tatum, Emily, Maddie, Mackenzie & Rachel: Peyton got to have some fun too - she went to Molly's party at Justice and she turned into a little rocker. Oh my.

To finish the day, the Urhahn's had a group over before cotillion for pizza and games.

TailGator

Last Friday night (September 25) we attended our first TailGator at Peyton's school. Peyton had a great time (and got information for her school newspaper article).
This was her favorite part of the night, the camel ride:

There was so much more but I got there late with the camera!

September 1-23

I can't believe how long it's been since I blogged! Not for lack of content but more for lack of time. What are some of the things that have been filling our time?

Peyton was selected to be on her school's newspaper staff. So cute! She is so excited. Anytime she is working on it - even at home - she has to make sure she is wearing her press pass. She is working on two big stories, one on the upcoming Tailgator fundraiser and one on some of our local parks. Fall is here - officially yesterday, but the weather lately has made it seem like it's been here for a while and I am LOVING it! My favorite time of year for so many reasons including - football! Here are my little Razorback fans on our first game day. We went to Tara's to watch the first game and Peyton had fun playing with Cadence:

Peyton started soccer. She's on the purple team and on the bigger fields this yearWe went to visit my Daddy before he left to go be with his father who is dying of cancer in Vietnam. My grandfather and I share a birthday (October 10 - he'll be 80). I know my Dad loves him so much and they didn't get to spend nearly enough time together.

Mackenzie started her second year of Junior Cotillion (and if anyone has a 50's style dress in a gray or black tone that would fit her let me know!):

Mackenzie also started Cross Country! I am so proud of her. I was near tears at her first meet when she crossed the finish line. So great for those lungs! Her pulmonologist has been encouraging her to run and when the opportunity came up this year Jason did what any loving Dad would do. He bribed her. Jason offered to pay her to participate since we knew how good for her it would be. I pointed out she would rather have a cell phone, so negotiations began. Until this year, we didn't think Mackenzie needed a phone (even if almost every other one of her peers had one). She kind of gave up asking for one and even came up with a little joke that she had an LG "Hand". Complete with a whole spiel to go with it. She still doesn't "need" a phone, but it worked and she agreed to run (and I have to say I have enjoyed her having one). But here is the GREAT thing, she actually ENJOYS it and Coach Barrett is so wonderful.

Can you find her? On the right.

Peyton also started running - she's doing Girls on the Run after school two days a week and will participate in a 5k in December. Yesterday she made me jog with her if I wanted to hear about her day. Hmmmm...maybe Jason and I should rethink this bribe thing....

Great Strides 2009

This past Saturday, we participated in our 13th Great Strides walk, a fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The event raised $75,000! Last year it raised $63,000 and the goal for this year was $68,000. We have such wonderful, supportive friends that join our team and/or donate to Team Mackenzie. Next year, I have a lot of ideas to raise more money leading up to the walk and I am definitely going to do Team Mackenzie t-shirts! Above: Alyssa, Mackenzie, Mason, Emily & Amelia.

Above: Elise, Logan, Meghan, Jenna L., Dejha, Mackenzie, Morgan, Amelia, Alyssa, Jenna K., Emily, and Mason.

Above: Strike, Jenna L., Jenna R., Mackenzie, Morgan, Emily, Meghan, Logan, Peyton, Mason, Amelia, Elise.

Mackenzie & Peyton

Alyssa is on the WJHS yearbook committee and they are looking for pictures of WJHSers doing things in the community.

Ashley & Peyton enjoying some yummy barbeque provided by Red Oak - it was delicious!

After the walk Mackenzie went to Emily's and joined her at her church for their SummerZover celebration - here they are after a long day!

Finger: Set, Wrapped, & Sent to School

I took Mackenzie to the Doctor first thing this morning for her broken finger. For the record - she LAUGHS when she breaks her finger, but when it comes to a shot in her hand, she gets pretty nervous. Thinking about the shot was worse than when she actually got it. No PE, swimming, etc. for a couple of weeks and we go back on September 10th.

Caution: Stuff Great Strides Participant Bags At Your Own Risk

Today we stuffed the participant bags for Saturday's Great Strides walk (and they are GREAT bags!). Here is a picture of the hard workers standing with their finished product:
Here they are a little closer up (Charlotte did a great job of hiding while she was holding Caroline, don't you think?)!

I didn't get to take a lot of time with my photo composition because right before the above pictures were taken, Mackenzie BROKE HER FINGER! Crazy accident, the kids were having a great time playing in the big open space and somehow she broke her little finger. We didn't know what she had done - it looked very crooked but she didn't seem to be in any pain and was laughing!

This angle doesn't show how crooked it looks but I took it right before we went for our x-ray confirmation:

1st Day of School

The girls had a GREAT first day of school yesterday! Peyton loved everything and Mackenzie really enjoyed Jr. High - she said she did feel a little overwhelmed, but she was still so happy about the day.
Mackenzie said we could go in with her but no camera - so here is a picture in the car with Emily. I can't wait to hear how Day 2 went. Mackenzie will meet more teachers today since they are on an A Day/B Day schedule.

New (School) Year's Resolution

The girls are tucked in bed - wide awake, excited about the first day of school tomorrow. They both are starting at new schools, Peyton in 3rd grade and Mackenzie in 7th grade - Junior High! Mackenzie will be in a school with about 1000 students (7th & 8th grade) and I am so nervous (I went to a very small school). I know it's going to be a great year!

So, here is my New (School) Year's Resolution: Every Sunday I will bag up a weeks worth of food for lunches. We did this tonight for the next few days (no, we won't win any sustainability awards but we'll turn off extra lights and recycle and reuse as much as we can in other ways - the convenience will keep me sane). We've done this in the past but never consistently.

I had to take a picture in case it doesn't happen again! Ha. Look at all those colors (that's good, right?). Their lunches for tomorrow are already packed and then they'll replenish their bags afterschool for the next day from these containers. Fruit dip, veggie dip, grapes, cheese, chicken, tomatoes, crackers for Peyton, Doritos for Mackenzie, and Oreos. Juice added in the mornings.

In the past they ate at school quite a bit but we've been told the lunch line for Mackenzie is pretty long and with it being so important for her to eat, she's going to take hers and eat then if she wants to go through the line towards the end and get even more food she can. If you pack one it's easy to pack another so Peyton will take hers this week too.

I'm going to go get a little laundry done and then go to bed (where I'm sure I won't be able to sleep either). I'll post 1st day of school pictures tomorrow.

Back to Everything Week

Last night Peyton had Open House at her new school. She met her teacher Mrs. Phelps and we walked around CPE. We loved Mrs. Phelps and we all have a great feeling and think this is going to be a fantastic year!
After Open House, the girls had their first night of dance. Peyton had ballet:

Mackenzie had Jazz and Hip Hop (here she is with Samantha):

Tomorrow is the first day of school. Today we are going to go walk every aisle of Walmart to figure out something for lunches. I hope the day goes by very slowly - I'm sad to see the girls go back. I'm going to miss them. They on the other hand, seem to be very excited to start and I guess it will be nice to get back into a routine.

NEW POSTS!

Can you believe it!? My friend Kendra had the first line of the July 20th post memorized it was up for so long. We've just been trying to get back into the groove of things. We had company for a couple of weeks and as soon as they left we started getting ready for school. I knew I had to post today because we'll have a lot of back to school posts this week. So, I'm going to cheat a little bit - in addition to the 4 posts below, Sheila posted about their visit with us here. The girls start school on Wednesday and hopefully we'll be back in a routine...I've missed catching up with all of my fellow bloggers too!

3rd Time's the Charm

Monday I took Mackenzie to get her locker for JUNIOR HIGH. Ugh. The first locker she got was a top locker - great for most people but she was going to have a hard time with the combination lock being above her head! They let us trade for this one:
We took a little self guided tour of the school and found that there was a group of 7th grade lockers near the back entrance to the nurses office and thought that would be a good place for her to be, so she changed to this one: