Looking Back at a great year.

I am sitting in a cafe across from Flagler College in St. Augustine, Fl. Andrea and Krista are at tennis camp. I have posted about that before, but that has been a wonderful experience. Briana has finished her course in Argentina. She is saying her goodbyes and will leave Buenos Aires this evening. It was so difficult for me that she was so far away and communication was not always the best. I am sure I will not know my daughter. She will have matured in many ways. I am glad she has had this experience but I am more excited that she is finally coming home.



Andrea has also matured. Her tennis game has reached new heights. She is playing so incredibly. She, mentally, has grown so much in her game. She is going to be unbeatable on the courts this year. She will also begin her dual enrollment courses next month.



Joanna finished school with great grades. She did much better staying on pace and finishing the course. We are proud of her, we think she will be our computer guru. This will be an assest to us I am sure. Joanna's tennis and fitness are improving by leaps and bounds this summer.



Krista entered the youth group this summer. She went to her first youth camp. Actually, she went with Joanna to her first. They have not been since junior camp when I went with them. This was their first time without me. She is also improving in tennis this summer.



As the kids have been busy and going many places, I am beginning to wonder if I will like retirement. Jimmy is very boring. This, I am sure, will make me very bored when I am not as consumed with the girls. I guess it is a good thing I have taken up quilting although I may need to get a job to support it.



Life moves on and things change but the security I find in Jesus Christ and my family stay the same. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. The dynamics of our family change but the fact that we are close and enjoy each others company doesn't. The times we spend together may not be as frequent, but still we have each other.

Please take time to view the slideshow I have posted.



Have a blessed summer

Oh My, What a Wonderful Week!!!!

We thought this week would be a disapointment. The girls helped paint Grandpa's house to pay for a week of tennis camp at University of Florida. Andrea went last year and had a great time. When we tried to sign them up, it was full. We had to find another camp and that we did, Flagler. The girls were sad. This week turned out to be the most incredible experience. The girls learned more this week than they ever had. UF camp was just playing pro sets. The Flagler camp was run by the coach of the tennis team at Flagler and they concentrated on technique. The videotaped their shots, critiqued them and gave them pointers. Andrea's shots improved tremendously. They hit for 2 1/2 hours straight. It was a much shorter time but much more productive. After tennis we went to the beach and pool at Grandma's. We also walked down George St. St. Augustine is such a cool place.

The girls bought the WII game rock band and have been spending every available minute playing it. It is really hilarious to watch. Andrea is the official drummer and Joanna is the singer and Krista plays the guitar. Joanna sings all the time in the car. Every song only has one note when she sings so it is ironic that she is the singer.

We are down to less than 2 weeks before Briana comes home. I haven't talked to her much lately due to the internet and both of us being very busy. Jimmy and Bro Tom have furiously been trying to get the car going. Hopefully it will be done.

The little girls ( I am going to have to quite calling them that because they are not little anymore) are going to camp tomorrow. We have been packing for that. They are so excited. They have never been to camp without me. They are 12 and 14 now, they should be okay. Andrea has been going to camp since she was 5. But she has always been grown up.

Happy Summer Days to all.

Summer Times

We have settled into a nice summer routine. We are busy, but very content. Monday, Wednesday and Friday we are at Boone Park in the mornings and sometimes on Monday night playing tennis. It is hot but very fun and we get a lot of exercise.

Our quilting is going quite nicely. All three girls are doing well. I think we can count this as school. We added a new worker, Amanda Aenis. I think she will fit in nicely. Briana is already talking about joining us when she gets home. Speaking of which, in about 15 minutes it will be 21 days until she gets home. We are soooooooo excited. I am sure she will come home with a list of things to do and we will oblige.

The girls will play their second match tomorrow night.

Have a wonderful, blessed summer!!!!

Quilting

A project I have always wanted to tackle was quilting. I used to sew quite a bit, but as the children got bigger, my personal space dwindled. I had no place to set my stuff up and leave it until the project was finished. Therefore, I didn't start projects. Last evening we bought most of the supplies for three quilts. One (after Andrea was finished making choice) large project and two small. I chose a 3 color log cabin for Andrea to do, she couldn't settle on 3 colors so....it is 7. She wanted something that is referred to as shabby chic, something I can't even pronounce properly. We actually started sewing on hers and it is coming together very nicely. Joanna and Krista's are just simple block patterns with dogs as the theme. The colors are very bright and lively. They did not go with me but are very satisfied with the choices I made.

Going to the fabric store is an adventure. Serious craftpersons tend to be kindred spirits and when you are not in a hurry, you can always find someone to trade stories with. There were several of us, so we were in the cutting line for a long time. The girls picked up a conversation with a lady that went through the line twice. She told her quilting story and was very excited to see young girls with a desire to learn the craft. Briana made a purse when she was younger, but the other girls have never sewed. It is high time I got about the business of teaching my girls a necessary skill.

Joanna, as I knew she would, fell quite nicely into the process. She loved it and I think she will be very good at it. Andrea actually sewed alot of her stuff. Other that her Mario Andretti moments, she did fairly well. This is great fellowship for all of us. The Hannahs and Grandma Maroletti are helping us. Grandma is very good at it and has made several quilts. I think we are making memories that will stay with the girls forever.

We have officially started summer

I know it has been a while since I have posted. We have been very busy after tennis season trying to get our schoolwork done. It is all complete and we have officially started our summer vacation. We have alot of tennis planned and a good bit of work to do on the house.

This week the girls are with their cousins and grandpa in Palatka. They are doing work on the lake house. My biggest fear is snakes. It has been a long time since I have been down there but what I remember the most are the water moccosins. Not only are there water moccasins, but there are copperheads and rattlesnakes. We won't even talk about the spiders and flying insects of the wasp family. Well.....I got a phone call yesterday. It wasn't about spiders or snakes but went something like this "Mom, I cut my foot". A little paniced they were but I got them settled down. It was all fine and dandy until grandpa woke up (he was taking a nap). He doesn't do well with these things. Cousin David was told not to go on the zip line into the lake and he did, the others followed with Andrea cutting her foot on something in the water. Now I am concerned about all the bacteria that can be found in the lake. Can you tell, I don't like the great outdoors much, well at least the great rural outdoors. The cousins endured their punishment and all was well, Andrea called and confirmed it.

I have been without children this week. It is nice to have quiet, but I am not quite sure of what to do with myself. Monday night we bought a window ac unit for our bedroom. It stays warmer than we want it at night. Maybe this will help our electric bill. Last night I went to our annual AWANA leader meeting and Jimmy and Ronnie installed the unit. It does keep the room cool.

Today we put the motor in Briana's car. It took some finesse but it is in there and before the rain came. If you can believe it, we got buckets of rain yesterday. It is very dark now and has been sprinkling for a little while, hopefully, after the motor is in we will have another deluge. We really need it.

I will mow the yard tomorrow. It is well overdue, but I ran over a root and tore the reinforcement bar off the front. Jimmy fixed it this morning. I also was pressure washing the house and burned a hole in the hose. That is replaced but it is at the lake with the kids so I can't finish that this week.

The girls had their first match with their USTA team las Friday. It was Krista's very first real match. She won, she was so excited. She was the only person on her team to win. Andrea won as well. Joanna played doubles with Krista, they did very well. Joanna has some great shots but needs to work on her consistency.

Briana returns home in 29 days. We have alot to do until then and hopefully there will be plenty to do after she gets here. I will keep all of you who read this posted.

God Bless

Fun Fun!!

Today was a pretty good day and I am aboute to go to youth group YIKES!!! I am going to get ready at 3:00. I am nervous but my sister Joanna said she would sit with me and that she would out with me. My cousin said the same thing to me. I don't know what it is like so I am probably not going to used to it. My sister is listening to music and the Mocerana is on and she wants me to do the dance with her. I am not doing that crazy dance. I have done it before it is really wierd. She is begging me to get off so I got to go. Bye.


Krista

Life never slows down

Sunday night at church was senior night. It is always a special time of celebration. I can hardly believe that one year ago Briana was graduating. She is in Buenos Aires finishing her courses in Spanish. She has finally decided to come home in July. I am so glad. She is currently sin papeles, without papers. The school neglected to take them to file their paperwork with the embassey, consequently they have no visa and have been illegal since November. I am not at all happy about this. All I can do is pray that she is safe.

We attended a banquet last night to honor the All Conference recipients. Andrea earned All Conference for tennis. She only lost 3 matches. She went to state and had a great season. We are putting together a team to compete in the local USTA junior association. Boone Park has two teams. It has been 3 years since we competed. We are looking forward to a great year.

The girls are finishing up their exams. We are so ready for summer. We have a busy one planned with lots of tennis.