A New Friend..

I know that everyone has been so busy. With school starting, practices, and everything else to catch up on, there's just no time for simple things like blogging. But now that I have finally found the time (and my computer is working), I would like to introduce you all to our family's newest addition:

Eleven.11

I've decided to make this a birthday tradition, writing a letter to the member of my family who is celebrating the birthday. Today, it's Breanna.
Dear Breanna,
Let me start out with how much I love you. You were my first baby sister and always will be. You always understand everything. You're very curious and athletic. Sometimes I'm jealous of your athletic ability. You have so much energy, and so much fun inside of you!
5th grade is a lot of fun! You're on top of the elementary school. It's like you've worked for 6 years, just to get to that spot. It's kind of interesting that you're on the top of the elementary school while I'm on the top of the middle school.
I'm just going to tell you right now, 11 is a tough age. I can remember really clearly what it was like when I was 11. No one treats you the way you want. Everyone treats you like a little kid. You're kind of stuck in the middle. You're not a little kid, but you're not a teenager either. But I know you can get through it. You can get through anything.
I love you so much Breanna. From the time you were first born and I called you "Annie Rose" and "Little Piggy", to now. Just know that I'll always be there for you.
Love,
Lauren

First Day of School (2011-12)

Tuesday was our first day of school. Breanna went into 5th grade, Ashley into 3rd grade, Brady into 1st grade, and I went into 8th grade. It was excited and nervous. I'm not really sure why I was nervous since I'm on top of the school now, (oh yeah!!) but I was. I couldn't sleep the night before because I kept on thinking. That always happens when I can't fall asleep. It's because I just keep thinking, about everything! But somewhere around 11:00, I finally fell asleep.
The day started very rainy.  I got ready and had to go up and feed our 4 chickens. 2 of them just recently started laying eggs. When we got out of the pouring rain and back in the house, I had to go back out to stand and wait for the bus.
On our way to school, 2 cars crashed. Right there. In front of us. Leave it to me, to be the person who witnesses a car crash before school even starts. My bus driver was so surprised. She didn't know what to do. We just kind of sat there for a while and saw that some people were calling 9-1-1.
Then later I realize I forgot my lunch. Luckily, my mom brought it in, cause that's what Mom's are for, right?
The rest of the day went well though. My schedule is busy though:

1st pd- Social Studies (my teacher is out for knee surgery so there has been a sub)

2nd pd- Pre Algebra (there are 14 boys, and 5 girls in my class!)

3rd pd- On day A, it's Health. On day B, it's Gym

4th pd. - Science. ( I love my science teacher!)

5th pd.- English.

6th pd.- LUNCH! yay! my favorite!

7th pd.- Reading on day A ( i love reading class the best!) and Computer on day B.

8th pd.- Study Hall

Then we get to go home!

Have you ever had any crazy first days of school? Comment below please!

Happy 2011-2012 school year!

PS: Sorry!  I couldn't get the pictures to work!

Last Splash

It's the last splash of summer. School starts tommorrow. So yesterday, we had our last hoorah before school. Labor Day was today, so yesterday we had a picnic. It was nice to get to see the whole family on my Mom's side. Usually my mom's brother and his family are unable to come to our party's and picnics because of their busy schedules. But they were finally able to come!
We got in the pool for the last time of Summer 2011. The pool will close after Labor Day. It was very chilly at first, but was nice after you got used to it.
We had some fresh corn on the cob, chicken legs/wings, and fresh fruit. Mmmm....I love that kind of eating!
It did start raining near the end, but we got most of our fun out by then. All in all, we had a great day.

There was a very competitive game of keep away. Girls against boys of course. But I got out halfway through because it got a little too competitive.

 There were smiles...

 ...And kisses...

...And perfect cathches.

 ...And smiling cousins...

 ...And girls eating pickels...(Doesn't it look like she's smiling?)

 ...And friendly throws...

...And then, we got mad. So I got out. But everything turned out ok. Everyone came out alive!

Happy Labor Day.(:

Ready, Set, HIKE!

Yesterday, Brady had his first football game. Brady, my little brother, who is 6 and only weighs 39 lbs, out there playing rough and tough football. It's a scary thought. But surprisingly, he did really well. When we first put on all of his pads, he was like a little robot with stiff arms and legs. His head was like a bobble head with his helmet. But of course, my dad loves it. My dad played football all the way up to college. This is my dad's dream. But Brady loves it too, of course. The first day Brady put his pads on, Dad threw the football to him. Brady fell down. My dad was wondering why he didn't get up. Brady said, "Daddy, I'm stuck!"

So Dad had to help him up. He is past his days where he can't get up, but he's still a really small guy. But most of his team is really tiny, too. We lost the game, but that's ok. Our little guys played really well, even though the coaches had to take them to their spots, and when music played, they danced in the field(: Here's some pictures I took from the day:

 Brady's number 22, standing beside Daddy.

These cheerleaders were so adorable! They were going to do a cheer for the other team.

Brady's heading toward the huddle, standing near Daddy (with the folder).

Brady is the 4th one from the left, waiting to go out to play. Notice how small most of our team is?

I'll end this with the cheerleaders, they were just so cute.

GO TEAM!

A Few Bruises But...

For us, it's the last week of summer. Last week of freedom. Last week to do whatever. We've gotta make it last, right? So yesterday, we got together with friends and had a little before-school fun. My dad took Ashley and her friend Briana, and Brady and my cousin Wyatt to go see "The Smurfs". So while Dad did that with the younger kids, Mom took my friends Rachel, Michelle, Casey, and I, and Breanna and her friend Maggie to the skating rink. We had a blast! We had tons a few falls, and I have to say that Casey took the hardest fall. But no one broke anything! So I call that a successful skating trip. My camera died part way through, so I only got a few pictures. The only really annoying thing about going skating during the summer, is you have to go on a Friday night. Not a nice, calm Sunday afternoon, because of course, no one's open! But instead you have to go with all the wild teenagers. Some of them were very annoyingly speeding past us and making us loose our balance, but let's put that behind us. Enjoy the pictures!

 It's hard to get a good picture when you can't see the screen(:

 It's also hard to get a good picture when you have 4 wheels under your feet(:

But it's easy to get a good picture when you have a good friend taking it(: