Fa la la la la...la la la la!

I am all DONE shopping!!!! Wooowhoo!!!! Thanks to Sean and Kim who offered (their crazy) to take Abbi and Alison for a few hours on Sunday, Doug and I have completed all shopping, that includes, family, kids, teachers, nurse, co-workers, etc. etc.! We are done! Now the wrapping begins! Abbi and Alison will be having a few late evenings at Latchkey so mommy can have some wrapping time! I am so excited for some of our purchases this year. It will be hard to wait to Christmas morning.

Thank God for antibiotics, so that Alison was able to be in the general population by Saturday afternoon. She danced in her Holiday show, and was fabulous! She is a natural on stage.

Sweetfeet totally dominated in their game Saturday. Abbi played well and it was a shut-out, 9 - 0. These girls have really gelled as a team.

Doug is off to Washington DC on Wednesday and will not back till Friday. At least we don't have dance this week, so we can be close to home.

I got to spend the morning unpacking all the boxes that I packed on Friday. But, I am finally moved into my new office space. It is really nice and new. It overlooks the Arena and new baseball field. I have lots more room than before.

Tomorrow I am going to spend the afternoon at the Mid Ohio Foodbank, spreading Holiday cheer and doing some volunteer work. It should be fun.

Clinic Day

Today is a Tuesday and that takes Alison, Doug and I over to Nationwide Children's Hospital for CF Clinic. I am sure it will be more of the same...she is too thin, doesn't eat enough calories and more talk of another G-Tube. Blah blah blah. Haven't they caught on to her yet? I hope to be able to get them to hold off on any decision till after the holidays and her b-day. Then if things aren't better...well I can run, but I can't hide.

Work is crazy...we are packing up our office and moving to our new floor, back over to the Plaza One building, into a pretty nice space.

The house in and out is all decorated for Christmas, so the girls are really starting to get excited. I need to finish up just a few more things and then the shopping is done...on to wrapping. Anyone interested in some kid swapping for wrapping purposes please let me know.

Alison's dance recital is on Saturday. She is dancing in 2 shows this year. She is excited. It will be her first recital since joining the competition team. I can't wait to see her class on stage.

Later!

The Holidays are coming...the holidays are coming...

That's right! Whether we are ready or not the holidays are upon us! This weekend, after the awesome slaughtering of the stinky Wolverines, we spent a lot of time getting ready for the Rustic clan to descend on Hilliard, OH! Once again, all 13 of us will be together for 4 days! We love it!

But first, let me just say that Abbi had a heck of a soccer game on Saturday morning. She had 2 goals and an assist. She is really improving with each week. She stays in her position, does her best to control the ball and listens to her coach. We are very proud of her and the whole Sweetfeet team! They rock!

Alison on the other hand is still not eating so great. Dance is going well. She is really a good little dancer. Her class is going to dance in a special Cinderella production in June. She is excited about that.

They both had a great conference and are doing very well in school and their teachers love having them in class. I keep asking whose children they are telling me about...

Most of you know that Keegan, our dog, is not well. He really does not seem to be getting any better, maybe even a touch worse. It's odd how all seemed fine until the vet points out all his issues, and now he seems so sickly to me. I hope he holds on through the holidays and the girls 8th birthday.

I am really starting to get into the Christmas spirit. Now, that I am wrapping up our grant cycle at work, I feel like I might be able to breathe a little. I hope to get to see our family and friends and have some fun throughout December. The last 4 months, have been work work work!

Doug is traveling a lot this year, so we have had to adjust. It's really good for his career and he seems to enjoy getting away from the 3 of us a little too much!

That's all for now! Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Great News!

We had some exciting news in our house this week. When I went to the dance studio to sign Alison for the 08-09 dance season, I was pulled aside by the owner and Alison's tap teacher for a discussion about her "future". So, I am thinking, she is only 7 1/2 so what could they possibly be talking about? Well, Alison has been invited to be in the Competition Classes with Marjorie Jones School of Dance. I am so proud of her! They told me that they feel she has some natural abilities and that they would like her to have some more instruction on technique and that the Accelerated Competition classes are the place to do that. With all that kiddo has been through this past spring, this is some special news for her. She is so excited. Doug and I were taken by surprise, she missed 4 classes last spring leading up to recital, so we were concerned she lost some skill, but I guess not.

The first 2 years will be technique building with 3 or 4 competitions, and then if she chooses to continue on she will audition for level 3 and higher, with options for solos and duets. She is taking this very seriously, Daddy is even going to build her a "floor" so she can practice in the basement. We told her part of the this commitment is that she has to practice. So, I guess I will be dusting off my tap shoes so that I can help her out. Scary, I know. She even has her little dance friend Sadie moving up also, so she already will have a friend with her on the first day.

If you see her this week, holler at your girl some congratulations.

This was Alison at this past springs recital!