Award Winning Writer

I just found out that one of the documents I wrote for work won an "Award of Excellence." While I've been working here for almost 10 years now, we just recently started entering our documents for judging, and this is my first technical writing award with my name on it. I kind of won the first time we submitted anything last fall, but my name wasn't on the award because someone else updated the document after I wrote it. They're supposed to get that fixed, but that happened well before I went on maternity leave and haven't heard anything since, so I'm not holding my breath. :) I have the feeling that I would have won one for my own document if it had been entered in the correct category, but at least I have this one now.

ETA 7/12: We finally got our other award in (with my name on it too), so we took a couple pictures of us with our awards.

Trip to Austin

I drove my dad, Mara, and Jack down to Austin this weekend to watch Lori and Lani participate in a skating competition. While it was a short trip, we had a lot of fun. Too bad John had to work and couldn't make it with us. I need to go back and edit the pictures, but I wanted to go ahead and share these from our weekend.

Saturday, June 26

Both girls did very well at the skating competition. Lani placed second at the Beta level (6-9 year old female division), and Lori finished first at the Freestyle 2 level (9-10 year old female division).

Sunday, June 27
We went to the state capitol today before heading back home. While John and I had driven around it before, I had never actually been inside.

Summer fun

Monday, June 21

Jack loves to blow bubbles. He blows them so much that he usually gets the collar of his clothes wet.

Tuesday, June 22

Jack really enjoys his school, and the teachers really like him as well. Doesn't hurt that he's the only boy in a room full of girls. ;) His teachers have been nice enough to take some pictures for us of his day at school.

Wednesday, June 23

Since John had to close tonight, I took the kids up to have dinner with Lori on her birthday. She also opened her present from her parents.

Thursday, June 24

We got rain for the first time in a long time today, and it was roly poly city when I went out to get the mail. Probably half of them had already crawled away by the time I came back with the camera.

Friday, June 25

Mara had a splash day at school today, and she had a lot of fun. I was able to get a few quick pictures of her and her friends before I had to leave for work, but I missed out on the splashing fun.

Happy Father's Day & Our Anniversary

Monday, June 14

Jack wore his "Born in 2010" flag shirt today in honor of Flag Day.

Tuesday, June 15

Mara is supposed to take a picture of her and her daddy to school for show and tell this week, so we took pictures of the two of them tonight.

Wednesday, June 16

I used the gift card that my dad gave me for my birthday to get the Toy Story 3 game for the Wii, which came out yesterday. We got home too late to play it today, but we look forward to playing it tomorrow.

Thursday, June 17

Jack recently started playing with his feet. He likes to try to intertwine his toes or grab things with them.

Friday, June 18

See Friday's pictures here.

Saturday, June 19

Toys R Us had a LEGO build today. While Mara had a lot of fun, it wasn't as good as the ones we've been to at Wal-Mart and the LEGO Store – mainly because there wasn't a specific thing they built. However, it was neat to see what Mara wanted to create and keep from the event (a swimming pool).

Sunday, June 20

We celebrated Father's Day and our 12th anniversary today along with Lori's10th  birthday, which is officially Wednesday. We started off the day going to church so that Mara could sing with the VBC group during the service.

Vacation Bible Camp

Mara attended Vacation Bible Camp (not school) this week and had a blast. This morning, we went to the church to watch them perform the songs they've been learning this week. Mara really liked her teachers Ms. Allison and Ms. Sarah.

It's good to be back home

While we enjoyed staying with my dad while our air conditioner was replaced, it's nice to be back home. John even managed to get some things done around the house this week, including starting assembly on the backyard play set.

Monday, June 7

Since I have to leave from my dad's house to take the kids to school, we have to get up that much earlier. Mara was so tired this morning that she covered herself with her blanket and fell asleep on the way to school.

Tuesday, June 8

Mara's making herself quite at home at Granddad's – just in time for us to head back home. We got our new air conditioner today, so I snapped this picture before we loaded up the cars (and cats) to go home.

Wednesday, June 9

When I picked Mara up from school yesterday, she had a rash covering her cheeks and arms. At first it looked like a sunburn, but it was all splotchy. It seemed a little worse today, so I called the doctor's nurse. As soon as I described it, she said it was fifth disease; however, by the time the rash appears, she is no longer contagious. At least it's not bothering her too much.

Thursday, June 10

I was a day late in taking Jack's three-month pictures, but I managed to get a few good ones. You can see the pictures posted here.

Friday, June 11

In addition to Jack's three-month pictures being late, we were behind getting our family picture taken as well. It's hard getting all four of us to look at the camera with a decent smile. This was the best one out of the group. :)

Saturday, June 12

Lani stayed the night last night, and the girls had fun playing with the Littlest Pet Shop and My Little Pony play sets on Mara's bed. Jack showed how much he has grown by showing an interest in holding his bottle already.

Sunday, June 13

Tonight, Jack wore an outfit that I bought for him last June – when I was pregnant with him but didn't know it yet. I fell in love with the animal outfit when someone I worked with got it for a baby they knew, and I decided I wanted it for our next baby. Even though it was a boy outfit, I decided to go ahead and get it anyway. Ironically, before I knew I was pregnant with Mara, I picked up a couple of ducky dresses. So, maybe I do know when I'm pregnant and what the baby's gender will be before I can even tell I'm pregnant.