Gymnastics

Sullivan Grace has hounded me for MONTHS to enroll her in gymnastics.  With the summer busy with travel and vacations, it just wasn't the right time.  Now that school has started and fall has come, it seems like the perfect time to make this wish a reality.

This little peanut started gymnastics last week....

Sullivan was beside herself - so happy!  She was one of three students in her class and loved the attention she got from her teacher.  She can't wait to go back again next week!

Mourning...

I have been avoiding this post topic like the plague, as it is still very raw and painful.  The tears come in waves and words can not express the void our family feels.

After nearly 15 years in our family, we made the painful (yet appropriate) choice to put Duff down last week.  Her time on Earth was becoming too difficult for her ailing body to handle and her enthusiasm and joy for life was waning. She spent a considerable amount of time asleep and if she wasn't asleep, her failing leg muscles made it difficult for her to stand up or maneuver around.

While all those physical symptoms made it very obvious that it was time for her to move on, the emotional side of it was not so easy.  Ryan had been patiently waiting for me to come to grips with this decision for quite some time.  And for that, I am ever grateful to him.  He was patient with me when I couldn't bear the thought of making this decision and supportive beyond words when we finally did.

I struggled with the decision because how do you choose to let go of someone you love so much?! How do you say goodbye?!

The saying goodbye stunk.  Plain and simple.  Trying to explain what was about to happen to Quinn and Sullivan was difficult.  Quinn asked lots of great questions and wanted to know what would happen to Duff.  She wanted to be assured that Duff was going to heaven and that Grandpa Dar would find her there so she wasn't lonely!

We tried to make Duff's final days as glorious and happy as we could for her.  She started getting table food - something she was forbidden to have for the past 15 years.  Boy, oh boy, did she love that!

The night before her passing, the girls and I took her for a car ride.  When she was younger, she used to LOVE to ride in the car with her head sticking out the window. Duff seemed to still like it, although her body prevented her from being able to sit in the seat really well.

We took lots of pictures in her final days so that we could capture our sweet memories of her.  She was beyond a good dog - the best dog ever!

We are trying not remember Duff as the old dog with a failing body, but for all the happy memories we created with her.

She was our first baby - entering our family a week after Ryan and I got married.  She had spunk and energy and LOVED to play.  You couldn't say the word 'walk' or even spell W-A-L-K without her tail wagging and her bounding toward the door.  She racked up more miles on those little legs of hers!

2003 - Both Duff and Ryan look so young!

And when Quinn entered our world, she was quick to take a liking to her.  Within a minute of carrying Quinn through the door, Duff had already showered her with plenty of kisses smack dab on Quinn's tiny face.  I think Duff knew she was taking a backseat to this tiny creature, but loved her all the same! The same was true when Sullivan Grace entered the world.

In her younger years, Duff also knew how to chase animals like no other.  She could smell a rabbit a mile away and would freeze at the sight of one.  If only that silly leash wasn't attached, I am certain she would have gotten her fair share of them!  There was the time she stared a skunk right in the face - with only a glass door separating the two!

She traveled the country with us when we visited for the holidays - from Nashville to SD and back again.  And again from Indiana to South Dakota.  She was the best traveler and a great companion.

She was patient with us when we moved her from one city to another to another.  She transitioned to each new house and each new location with grace and without issues.  Did I already say she was the best dog?!  Because if I have failed to make that point clear, I am happy to restate it.  Duff was the best dog EVER!

We had lots of nicknames for Duff over the years - Duff, Duffer, Duffy, Duffer Dog, Ffud, Duffaroni, Flufferous, Dufferous, Doofay, Doofay Poolay, Big Pup (her given name when we adopted her).  But no matter what we called her, one thing remained true - we loved her beyond words.

Her love and loyalty and enthusiasm for life will forever be cherished.  She is running around heaven chasing rabbits, playing tug of war, going for long walks, and moving quicker than she has moved in years!  Those thoughts bring a smile to my face - as that is how I choose to remember her!

RIP, Duffer!  We love you more than you will ever, ever know!  

1989

We found out last fall that Taylor Swift was going to be taking her 1989 album on tour and Indy was going to be one of her stops this September.

The girls, especially Quinn, LOVE Taylor Swift. So Ryan and I surprised the girls with tickets to her concert for Christmas.  Going to the concert is one of those once in a lifetime experiences.  Although I am sure Taylor Swift will be back in Indy again in the future, knows if the girls will still like her then or if we will be able to go.  So we seized the opportunity and bought tickets.

The past few days leading up to the concert, the girls were very excited. They started listening to songs to get themselves prepared. The day of the concert, the excitement only mounted!

This being the girls' first true concert, I was uncertain what they would think.  

But the concert was an absolute blast! All four of us (Ryan included) really enjoyed ourselves and were in awe of how incredible the concert was.

Taylor Swift was such a great entertainer and had such a way of being so energetic, down to earth and engaging.  The girls sitting behind us were attending their tenth Taylor Swift concert - yes, tenth!  At first I thought that was insane, but after being at the concert, I sort of get it!  It was that good!

Quinn and Sullivan waiting in the LONG (and I repeat LONG) line for souvenirs.  

Quinn picked out this incredibly cute shirt....

And Sullivan picked out this coffee mug.  Sullivan loves herself a good cup - go figure! 

Every person had a bracelet taped to their seat when we arrived that looked like this...

We could tell it was supposed to light up, but we couldn't figure out how to make it work.  Everyone around us was in the same boat.  None of theirs worked either. Until.  Until Taylor Swift got on stage and began her first song.  All of a sudden the bracelets all lit up at the same time and was synced to her music.

It was AMAZING to see.  You can see all the dots in this picture.  It is everyone's bracelet lighting up at the same time.  Pretty cool to watch throughout the whole concert!

Sullivan Grace got pretty tired by the end of the concert and floated between Ryan and I.  She nearly fell asleep but was a trooper and held out to the bitter end.

Quinn was bright-eyed the whole time...

The concert was such a great experience and worth every penny we spent! Who knows... we might someday be the crazy people in the future attending our tenth Taylor Swift concert!

Name Game...

Coke has a good thing going. Really. Whomever created the "share a coke with _______" campaign most likely got a raise or a promotion or both.

I'm not sure whether or not it has increased sales for Coke or not, but it is creating a buzz. And buzz has to be good for something, right?!

Anytime we are at a store, Quinn and Sullivan are drawn to the coke displays like giant magnets.   They sift through all the bottles looking for their names. Sadly, they have never found their name.  Not surprising though.  Ryan has been easy to find - like really easy, but not Quinn and Sullivan!

That said, I was checking my email this past week and saw an email pop up from my dear friend, Cynthia, from Tennessee.  I opened it up to find this picture with the sweet message, "Sharing a Coke with Quinn today!"

It MADE Quinn's day! She thought that it was the coolest thing.  In fact, she was probably more excited to find her name on the side of a coke bottle than she was to learn that her face was on the cover of a magazine!

Now we are just on the lookout for Sullivan.  Might be looking for awhile!

Labor Day....

Our Labor Day weekend was pretty low key.  Football, of course, took center stage.  But aside from that Sullivan had her good friend, Katie, over to play.  They had such a great time playing together, but I sadly didn't take one picture of the two of them!

We spent A LOT of time at the pool, as it was the last weekend it was open and the weather was PERFECT for swimming!

Quinn and Sullivan played forever together....

Then they talked their sweet Dad into joining them....

And when Quinn's friend, Cole, came to the pool all her other peeps turned into chopped liver fast!  Quinn and Cole had the best time swimming and playing together....

One would have thought the feeling of Sullivan would be greatly impacted by being ditched, but this sweet girl wouldn't allow that to happen!  She was the happiest little thing and was content to swim by herself!

We also celebrated Labor Day, by allowing someone else to cook for us...

And Quinn and Sullivan and the neighborhood kids set-up an obstacle course in the front yard.  The neighbor kids had a BLAST and were occupied by this course for a LONG time.

And of course, the popsicles for the 'winners' were quite the incentive.  

A good, but quiet Labor Day weekend!  

Opening Weekend...

With the opening of the college football season this weekend, things in our household are-a-changin'.  Ryan will spend far more time inside the house - his mornings  will be filled watching College Game Day on ESPN and his afternoons/evenings will be spent rooting on the Fighting Irish.

His home improvement projects will be limited to the small window of time between these two shows and the amount of time he spends outdoors will be drastically shortened.

The volume in the house will dramatically increase, not only in the volume of the TV but in decibels of yelling.  It's as though Ryan believes that those 11 Notre Dame men on the field may just be able to hear him through the TV.  

This just about sums that up...

But despite all those things, there is something to be said for the tradition of watching and rooting for Notre Dame.  Opening weekend reminds me that fall is just around the corner - and how can you not love that?!

Ryan with his junior Fighting Irish fans....

We are looking forward to a great showing from the Irish this season.  It's their year to show their magic and make it happen.  Go out and "play like a champion" this season!

The Gig is Up..

For the past 4 1/2 years, Quinn has been convinced that she has Disney Magic.  We had visited Disney World shortly after her fifth birthday and Quinn had lunch with the princesses.  Within that luncheon, Quinn was given a magical wand and asked to recite the princess pledge. With the phrase, "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo" all the little girls in the room were given some princess magic.   Quinn included.

Shortly after arriving home from Disney World, Quinn was quick to want to try out that magic.  We were in the car one day and Quinn was playing with the windows in the backseat.  She happened to say "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo" - trying out her magic - when Ryan hit the child lock button on the windows in the front.  Her window instantly froze in place, which clearly meant that her magic was working.

From that moment on, and hundreds if not thousands of times later, Quinn has tested out that same magic.  We will be driving down the road and randomly she was state that now infamous quote.  And when that happens, Ryan or I reach for that window lock without her seeing!

I know, cruel.  Let you child think they carry magic and have the ability to control windows.  But it was entertaining.  She liked having magic.  We liked her thinking she did.  Win, win for everyone!

Quinn was so convinced that she got magic from Disney World that she told Sullivan she too could get the magic if she had lunch with the princesses when we went to Disney World again.  So shortly after Sullivan turned five, we visited Disney.  Sullivan had lunch with the princesses, and what do you know, she got the magic too.

Sullivan carried the magic home and was able to control windows in cars just like Quinn.  Crazy how that happened!  So for the past 1 1/2 years, Sullivan thought she was magical too!

Well... the gig is up!  After 4+ years, Quinn (finally) caught me controlling the windows with the child lock a couple of weeks ago. How we managed to get away with it for as long as we did is beyond me.  Quinn is a smart and very intuitive child - I am surprised this got past her.  When she found out, she was devastated to say the least.  

In true oldest child fashion, she spilled the beans and told Sullivan too.  She couldn't keep the disappointment and betrayal to herself.  She curtly said, "Sullivan, Mom and Dad have been controlling the windows all along.  There is no such thing as Disney Magic.  It's all made up.  We don't have any Disney Magic at all."

To which Sullivan, ever so sweetly replied, "That's okay, Quinny.  Maybe we an get some when we go back to Disney next time!"

Maybe, just maybe.