Pardon me if I brag.....

Last week Dan and I attended parent - teacher conferences at Erin’s high school and it coincided with Erin’s first quarter report card. All her teachers had good things to say about her participation and her social interaction with the other students. None of them knew she was only 12 and all assured us her interactions we on par with other students (more mature than some even!!). As for her grades, we are proud to announce that she made Dean’s list, Summa Cum Laude with a GPA of 4.32. Not one class grade under 95%. We want everyone to know how incredibly proud we are of her!! She’s working hard and keeping up with all her work. She helps others who need it and has a growing group of friends. She proudly tells anyone who will listen that her friends make up the geekiest group of geeks in a school full of geeks.

First Swim Meet of the Season

Another place where I feel the need to brag is swimming. Last weekend we had the first meet of the swim season and every one of the kids kicked all their old LTBTs (Life Time Best Times). Elise blew us all away by dropping a full 12 seconds off her 100 yard Freestyle time!! She's become a really great swimmer and even though she has moved up an age group and is swimming with older and faster girls this year, she is ready for the challenge. Liam not only bested all his old times but set some new "records" swimming in longer events he hadn't be eligible for last year. Declan got a couple of really nice high-fives from coach for the seconds he shaved off too. You would never know that they all had 3 months off since regularly being in the pool. They were dropping full seconds off their times as if it were nothing. Looks like it’s going to be a really fast season. We’ll see if the trend continues at this weekend’s meet. I’ll keep you posted. Oh... District Qualifying watch: Liam's relay team qualified already, as did Erin's relay team and Erin Qualified in her 50 yard Freestyle. So it's back to IUP in Indiana, PA in March - gonna be a great season!

Halloween

Elise created an awesome costume this year. She was a dark “possessed” fairy, with glue on Elf ears, a black cape, fairy wings and heaps of make-up. It was beautiful and dangerous at the same time. It was, of course, something of her own design. Liam was a Star Wars Stormtrooper and Declan decided on a caped cyborg Alien that shot Nerf bullets out of his arm! It was a gorgeous clear night with temps in the 60’s F and it made walking around effortless. Of course it helped that as we hit my girlfriend’s house she handed me a rum and coke to ease my tired feet!! The kids had a great time and we ran into quite a few kids we knew. We had an awesome time even though Erin chose to trick or treat with friends this year instead of us. The loot, of course, topped all expectations and when added to the pile that Erin brought from her trip exceeded excess. It should keep us in chocolate based snacks through, oh, say …. Easter! - J