Time Needs to SLOW DOWN!!

I swear I put it on my to-do-list to write blog posts and for some reason or other I end up getting busy and putting it off, and before I know it, almost a month has passed.

What's been happening in the last month .....

Marching Band season has ended along with Cross Country season.  David had a very good cross country season, medaling at every race that gave medals.  He ended up placing 18th at Regionals -- just 3 spots shy of making it to States.  He PR'd in that race though, so he went out in style and was happy with the way his season ended.

Jonathan has started (and is in the middle of) driver's training class ... watch out world, this boy wants to be behind the wheel!!  He seems to be doing pretty good so far, and should have his permit before Christmas.

David was nominated for 12th grade student of the month for the month of November.  Here's what Mr. Bennett had to say about him:

David Gormley: nominated by Mr. Bennett:  “David is diligent about making sure all his work is done and done correctly.  He combines a strong work ethic with a pleasant sense of humor to make for a student that is a joy to have in class.”

If you visit www.montabella.com and look on the right side, you can also see his picture and the write up on the school's webpage.

I got to go to Louisville, KY for the annual TLCU Conference the first week of November.  (TLC = The Library Corporation and is the company that sells our library automation software, the "U" stands for Users) .  It was a nice trip ...  a pretty easy drive down and back.  We had a nice time and learned a lot.  We went "incognito" ... our rental car was from Illinois. I don't know why it surprised me that the car could be from a different state, but it did.  The other picture is of the view out our hotel room.  It was kind of pretty at night.

We've hit the busy time at work ... all the selectors (the people who buy the materials we have available here at the library) have a deadline of 5:00p.m. next Wednesday (night before Thanksgiving) to get all their budgets spent, so everyone is busy buying, buying, buying and so the three of us who catalog and process books are busy, busy, busy!!!!

Both boys have started basketball practice and this momma can't wait for the season to start.  I have 2 new, really cool, shirts to wear while cheering on my favorite players!!

Well, that's all for now .... I hope everyone is keeping warm, it seems winter has descended upon is fast!
~Kati





 

5 for 5!!

Saturday was HOT!!

But this kid still ran a great race and so did the rest of the team.  David came in 9th place, and the team took first place overall!  Way to go Mustangs!!

We were supposed to go camping in Central Lake (where the meet was), but decided at the last minute to not go, which was disappointing ... but since we didn't go camping I was able to get a little more crafting in this weekend than I probably would have.  I finished the last of the squares I needed to sew together for my Cubbyhole Quilt. Hopefully next weekend I'll be able to start laying it out and sewing it all together!
 

 It's Homecoming week in Mustang Territory ... the boys have a 1/2 day of school today (Tuesday) and another 1/2 day tomorrow ... seems weird, but that's the way the schedule rolls.  Friday will be a busy day with the parade, and ball game, etc.  David was voted onto the Homecoming Court and has his tux all ordered ... I will be sure to share pictures of him all dressed up later this week.

Hope everyone has a great week.

More later,
~Kati

Senior Year off to a GREAT Start!!

Well, as always, I have been slacking and haven't done a good job of keeping everyone up-to-date on what is happening with those of us here at the Red House.

Summer went by too fast ... it felt like it lasted a whole of 15 minutes.  We did get some camping in.  We were able to visit Outdoor Adventures Mt. Pleasant, Hartwick Pines State Park, Interlochen State Park (picture to the right was taken at Sleeping Bear Dunes), we went with the Cross Country team (team camp picture below .... great group of kids to hang around with!) again this year to the Dutch Treat Campground in Zeeland, we camped in Benzie for David's first cross country meet and will be camping again this coming weekend in Central Lake for another of David's cross country meets.  This weekend coming up will probably be our last trip for this year.











David had his senior pictures taken ... here's one I snapped on my phone.  We're still waiting to see the final product and pick out what we want to buy ...
 
We've closed the pool and are slowly getting the yard ready for winter.  I'm NOT ready for winter yet ... and David has been working on his senior project ... he's redoing the porch on the front of the house.  He made it a little bigger than it was previously. The plan is that someday we will have a professional come in and finish it off into a 3 season room so we can sit and enjoy the summer breezes without getting eaten alive by bugs.  I've picked out this railing for it -- we wanted something that didn't require stain and wouldn't be too expensive, since we anticipate it will be temporary.






The boys' school year has started off well.  David has medaled at each of his races so far this year -- hopefully he can keep up this streak.  The team as a whole is doing very well and they are hoping they can continue with the way they are running.  Their goal -- States!!

David was nominated to the Homecoming Court last week, so we've been busy making "Vote for David" posters and getting ready for Homecoming.

All the seniors medaled at the Central Montcalm meet!

Jonathan seems to have transitioned into high school quite seamlessly ... he and his classmates will be using our barn tonight to decorate their Homecoming banner (they don't do floats anymore, each class decorates a banner for the competition).

Busy, busy, busy as always, but we try to have some fun along the way.  Hope this finds everyone well and enjoying this bit of Indian Summer we seem to be having.

~Kati

I Need More Hours in My Day!!!!!

So, seriously, I need more hours in my day.  I have so many things that need to be done and then add to that the things I WANT to do .... well, you know how it goes.  Since there aren't unlimited hours I end up planning on doing things or thinking I'll do them, then they don't happen.  :-(  One of those things .... keeping my blog posts up-to-date.  So, here goes, let's see if I can catch you all up on what's been happening at the Red House since I last posted (OK, now I'm truly embarrassed ... July 19th was my last post.  *sigh*).

So, since mid-July was my last post ...
Chris and David ran the Warrior Dash, along with Craig, Marybeth, Jenna, Chad, Cory and Chase.  They had fun ... and got really dirty.

Chris and I helped with Cross Country Camp again this year.  It was a fun time and although we had quite the rain storm the first night and a lot of the kids' stuff got wet, we managed to get things dried out and the rest of the weekend went well.
David's had a pretty good Cross Country season so far ...  
He was injured in early September which affected his times and actually kept him out of at least one race, but he seems to be bouncing back and had a season record at last week's meet at Portage.  His PR was from last year at the Mustang Invite which is this Friday .... hopefully he will PR again!!

We enjoyed camping this past weekend in Kalamazoo ... the weather was FABULOUS!  It's nice when we can camp the weekend of that Portage meet.  It's much nicer to get up at 5 or 5:30 rather than 3:30 or 4, LOL.

Lastly, a little shout out to Chris .... he got the "results" back from his teacher evaluation for last year and he ranked as "Highly Effective".  Way to go Chris!!
Well, that's all for now .... more from the Red House soon!!
~Kati

Lions and tigers and .... Penguins!!

Hello all!

David & Jonathan 2016

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything.  The last month or so has been rather calm around the Red House (something I for one am extremely thankful for!).  We've been doing some swimming and lots of running, walking and bike riding.  We've been using the Fred Meijer Heartland trail quite a bit this summer -- sure wish it was closer to our house so we didn't have to drive to get to it, but at least it's not a long drive.  I've biked over 70 miles since June 17 -- my friend Julie and I did 17 miles one day riding from Edmore to Stanton and back!!

David & Jonathan -- 2006

Today we took a little trip to the Detroit Zoo.  It's been quite a while since we've been there .... as best as I can figure, the last time we were there was 2006.    The boys have changed just a little bit, LOL

The zoo is still much the same, though of course the new Penguin exhibit was open.  It's a pretty neat building ... I kind of wish you could go in whenever you wanted and not just right off the bat.

It's been nice to have more down time, I've been able to sew quite a few blocks for my current quilt project, I have 120 blocks done ... I need 165, so I'm almost there.  Another week or two and I should be able to start putting the blocks together!

I've also been working on my cross stitch ... still quite a ways to go, but I'm definitely making progress.  This is the first "full coverage" piece I've ever done (meaning there are no spaces where there aren't stitches) ... that's a lot of fabric to cover!!

Well, we hope you all are enjoying this beautiful weather we've been having -- the weather man says it's going to get really hot over the next few days .... stay cool!  Talk to you soon!

~Kati

Happy Mother's Day??

It was a busy and somewhat strange weekend at the Red House ....

Friday was the MS play ... the kids did a very nice job and since there was only one cast this year we had things partially torn down and were home by about 9:00 on Friday night.  Saturday was full of errands and jobs -- grocery shopping, taking the junk to town for "dump day", tearing down the play set, hauling it home and putting it away, running to the pool store for chemicals -- fun stuff!

Saturday night we started noticing something strange going on with the electricity in the house.  The stove (clock) kept going off and on, and our bedroom would intermittently not have power, but the rest of the house would be fine.  We're so thankful we have an electrician dad .... Bruce drove up Sunday morning to try to fix it, but in the end it turned out it was a Consumer's Power issue ...

 Thanks so much to this guy who wasn't able to spend the afternoon with his mom, but came out and chopped up our tree (sad to see part of another tree go, but he said probably the entire tree should come down at some point or we may find it on our garage ...)  Seems there was a wire that had been rubbing against that tree for quite some time and it broke, so every time the wind blew on Saturday it was bumping the broken wire causing parts of the house to lose power.

Glad that's been fixed, but it did throw a wrench in how I got things like laundry done.  :-/

The second load of pool water still hadn't shown up by the end of Sunday, so Monday morning I called to be sure they hadn't forgotten .... nope, they hadn't, but I guess the milk hauling business has issues right now, so they didn't have any spare trucks and they didn't even think they would be able to get out with the second load until May 20th .... YIKES.  They were able to give me the name and phone number of someone else that might be able to get me some water, and not only were they able to, they even managed to bring it out on Monday night!  Only about 6-7 more inches of water needed and the pool will be ready to swim in.  We'll put those last few inches in with the hose bit-by-bit.  So happy "The Water Boys" from Hemlock were able to help us out (even if the water did cost more, LOL)  The boys are ready to go swimming so I really hope the sun starts shining and the temps go up so they can get in and splash around!

Hope you all have a great week.  It's a busy one here ... MS Band Concert on Tuesday, track meet on Wednesday, a funeral (my Uncle Steve) and the HS Band Concert on Thursday, and I have to work BOTH Saturday and Sunday (I am not looking forward to this, but am trying to look on the bright side .... one weekend is completely shot, not two!!).  We are planning to go camping the following weekend, so we are just plugging away knowing a bit of fun and relaxation is around the corner!

Love,
~Kati

Almost there ....

David was really impressed this guy backed all the way in the driveway ... the other water people just backed in the trail and ran hoses from out there ...

Come on mother nature ... bring on the heat!!

Exciting things happening here at the red house ... another item on our spring maintenance list was taken care of today.  We woke up to rain this morning and cold, so I was a little surprised the pool people showed up, but they did.

Sometimes you have to make things look worse before they look better (although if I'd have included a picture of the pool before they took the old liner out, you'd say this was an improvement ... it was gross!!)

New liner and 1st load of water went in today.  The water guy will be back with another load sometime this week.  I think I'm going to LOVE the new patterned liner, it's very pretty and makes the water look REALLY blue!!

And, so far, the project has come in under budget, so we may look at replacing the deck boards on that top section of decking.  We'd like to put composite decking up there ... that area of the deck gets a lot of exposure to water, so it really takes a beating.  I used that new "Deck Over" stain on it last year, and I'm not impressed ... I also don't like how it looks.  It was worth a try, but I think the boards are still in need of replacement with something that can withstand the water better.

Now, we just need some sunshine and warmer temperatures so we can start swimming.  We've never opened our pool this early in the season, so come on sunshine .... I want to use the pool vs. look at it.

Hope all is well with everyone.  

Talk to you soon!

~Kati

Spring Cleaning and Projects have Begun!!

This spring at the Red House is all about finishing up projects and doing maintenance.  The first of those projects has been finished, and although it meant a lot of furniture moving, I think it was worth it.  (The pictures with the wrinkles are of course the before ...)!!  Much improvement.  It was actually kind of nice to move all that furniture and clean the layer of dust that normally can't be reached, and get rid of the extra cables that had accumulated behind the entertainment center over the past 8-10 years.  We have everything back in place and this weekend we'll be on to some of the next projects on the list.  Enjoy this nice weather folks .... it seemed like winter really wanted to hang on, but I think spring is truly finally here.


 ~Kati

It's Officially Official ...

His "real" license came in the mail.  I made him pose for the obligatory picture.  :-)  He was happy though, he didn't like carrying around the paper version.

~Kati

My Kind of Town Chicago Is ....

... well, that's what Frank Sinatra always said.  Personally, I think it's a great place to visit, but I don't know as I could ever live there.  So many people, so many cars (and they drive like maniacs) and so many buildings practically on top of each other.

We had a great time and I think all the kids really enjoyed themselves.  It wiped me out!  Mrs. Sutton was our tour guide -- she's still going strong.  We got back about 11pm on Saturday evening, she was turning around and leaving with another group on Sunday for Florida for a week.   She told us she's turning 80 this year -- WOW.  I hope I have half her energy when I'm 80!

Here is a photo gallery of a few of the pictures I took ....

Hope everyone had a great Easter.  I rather feel like I missed it -- I wasn't kidding when I said the trip wiped me out, I slept all day on Sunday.  :-(

<3 p="">~Kati

Catching Up

I realized I have missed a couple of things over the past month or so ...

David attended the Snowball dance back in February ... he and several of his friends got together beforehand to have pictures taken and then went out to dinner.

The bands attended District Band Festival on March 3.  The HS band got II, II, I, II for an overall II.  The MS band got straight II's.

David and his friend Eryn!

David is in the back in the middle!

The High School band on stage for the concert portion of their performance.  David there in the front, his friend Zoe behind and to the left of him.

Chris leading the kids through the sight reading music.

The Middle School band on stage for the concert portion of their performance.

Jonathan and the other trombones in sight reading.

Happy Birthday

So today was kinda a big day here at the Red House ... David (he's 4 months old in the picture to the left) turned 16.  He and I started out the day going to Mt. Pleasant to get his driver's license.  It's official now folks, he can drive all by himself.  I've been pleased with the way his time driving on his permit has gone, so I'm confident that if he keeps his eyes and mind on the road all will be well.  He was excited to take his first solo drive.



After returning to school, he spent the day practicing with other students from our league for the MSAC League Honors Band.  They had their concert for the public this evening.  It was a very nice concert and it's a great event where kids from all the schools can come together and work together vs. compete against each other.



No rest around here though .... Chris has the 5th/6th grade concert tomorrow evening, David starts track practice tomorrow as well.

We hope you are all enjoying the spring-like weather we've had and you are adjusting to the time change.  More to come later!

Love,
~Kati

14-5 .... What a season!

Hard to believe basketball is over .... the team went 14-5.  What a GREAT season they had.  Looking forward to watching them play again next year!!

Congratulations Chris!

I forgot to put this in my last post, but I guess that's okay, Chris deserves his own post.

He took two college classes last semester and did so well, he got a letter from the college congratulating him on being named to the Part Time Student Honors List!  Way to go honey!!

OK, I've been slacking ....

I knew it had been a while since I've posted, but yikes, I guess it's been almost 2 months (hanging my head in shame) ...

My excuse?  I don't really have one.  Yes, we've been busy, but realistically, not so busy I couldn't write a few lines.  

What have we been busy doing?  Watching A LOT of basketball (and daddy's been busy working a lot in the concession stand).  David's team has been playing really well.  They actually had something like a 7 game winning streak until Tuesday night when they lost a very close game to St. Louis (whom we don't normally play).  I truly think they probably would have won that game if they hadn't played a make-up game the night before in Belding.

Here are a couple of excerpts from the school announcements where David was listed:

Friday night the JV Basketball team also picked up a win at home against rival Sacred Heart. Connor Riley led the team in scoring with 16 points and also had 5 rebounds.  Jordan Balhorn added 8 points and 3 steals. David Gormley scored 7 points while Wyatt Sackett scored 8 points and snagged 12 rebounds.  Great job JV mustangs.

JV Boys Basketball lost a close game to St. Louis last night 42-39. Top Performers were:  Connor Riley with 12pts, 5 assists, & 5 steals; Cody Christensen with 12pts; David Gormley with 6pts, 8 rebounds, 5 steals, & 4 assists; and Wyatt Sackett with 6pts & 11 rebounds.

I'm pretty sure that's the most rebounds David has ever had!!

Jonathan got to take a limo ride on Wednesday after school .... His friend Parker's parents surprised Parker (and a few of his friends) with a limo ride to Mt. Pleasant to go to dinner at Pizza Hut for Parker's birthday.

Other than that ... Work and school ... Not much else exciting going on.  Oh, I guess one big thing -- we now have TWO teenagers in the house.  It's hard to believe Jonathan is 13 years old.  I'm not sure where the last 13 years have gone, he sure has grown up fast, and he's almost as tall as me.  I keep asking him to stop growing, but he's not listening to me.  :-) 

Well, that's all for now.

~Kati

Winter Sports Schedule

Here's the winter sports schedule -- David will be on the JV team.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B95XL12tV6ukT0JCWW9jWXQxRTA

~Kati

Charleston, SC -- Jonathan's Basketball Schedule

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a conference in Charleston, SC.  It was a fun trip -- first time I'd been on an airplane in 25 years or so, so I was a little nervous about all that, but now that I've navigated an airport with someone who travels often I think I could to do it on my own.

Charleston is truly a beautiful city, and thankfully, we had a little time while there to do some exploring.  To see pictures of my trip, click here: https://picasaweb.google.com/111671352983167570025/CharlestonSouthCarolina?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJK1h6zz2bPWZw&feat=directlink

After getting back from Charleston, we then went camping for the last time this season.  It was nice to get away.  Unfortunately it rained almost all day Saturday.  I think we had missed the great color by about a week, but I still think Hartwick Pines is one of the most beautiful places on Earth!

The boys finished off their Cross Country season -- both had a great season.  David ran at Regionals this past Friday (10/30).  He came in 24th with a time of 18:20.  He didn't make it to states, but still had a fantastic season.  They were hoping to make it as a team, but missed that opportunity by 2 points!  Unfortunately, no pictures to share of either of their last two meets .... I forgot the camera battery the first time, and the SD card the second.  I really need to get it together, LOL.

Well, I started this blog post over a week ago, but just couldn't seem to find the time to finish it, so here it is.  We have a couple of weeks "off" from sporting events.  Jonathan has started basketball practice.  His games start week after next.  Here's his schedule!  Games are mostly at 4:30, but a couple are at different times.

Hope everyone has a great week. 

~Kati

Trying to Craft and Other News

Finding time to craft seems harder and harder all the time ... I want to work on things, but it seems I spend a lot of time cleaning and picking up, etc ... typical mom stuff.  AND, my craft area seems to attract a lot of junk that isn't mine, so by the time I clear it off, I sometimes no longer have the motivation to actually do any crafting.  But I did manage to make myself avoid housework a bit this week and get a few things done.  Mainly I finished piecing the quilt top on my "camper quilt".  (Huge thanks to my mom who is patiently teaching me and helping me through the process).  The hope is that this quilt will be used as a "throw blanket" in our camper.  I'm quite pleased with how it turned it out. I know it's not perfect, but it was my first go at doing a quilt, so I feel like for a beginner ... it's not half bad!!  Next step, deciding if I want to pay someone to quilt it, or attempt to quilt it myself.

I was also able to get a couple of squares for another quilt I'm picking away at put together.  I really like the top one ... I just think it's a cool design (the fact that it only has one corner to match up is very nice as well, LOL).

 Another great week on the Cross Country course.  David PR'd again, shaving another 3 seconds off his time.  He's really working hard to break the 18 minute mark.  If he can shave a few more seconds off, he has a good chance of qualifying for the state meet at Regionals on October 30.  Jonathan also ran at the meet yesterday and did well.  He ran his 1.5 mile race in 13:29, this was a PR for him as well.

David had chairing in band this week and got 1st chair (YAY!!).  Both boys are doing pretty well in school, all A's and B's with one C+ each, which they will be working to improve this coming week!! Chris has been busy doing homework for his two college classes and aside from doing some crafting I've been trying to make sure everything is in order before my big trip.  I will be leaving for Charleston, SC Sunday for a conference.  I'm excited, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I'm a little nervous about flying.  It's been a LONG time (25+ years?) since I've been on an airplane.

Coming in for a strong finish!

Have a great week everyone ... maybe I'll be able to share some pictures of historic Charleston in a couple of days!

~Kati

David PR's -- TWICE

What a great week this kid had ... he pr'd at the meet on Wednesday with a time of 18:29 and then he did it again today at the Portage meet with a time of 18:13.  The Portage Invitational is a HUGE race with kids from all over the state.  I'd venture a guess it's almost as big as the state meet.  Very well run event and plenty of opportunities to see the runners throughout the course!

Near the beginning of the race.
Kinda surprised I was able to pick him out!

Teammate John nipping at David's heels!

The finish line is in sight!!

This week was also homecoming!

The band did the usual parade and even got to do a halftime show this year.  I did videotape the halftime show and will try to get it edited and posted online soon, but quite frankly I'm whipped.  It's been a long day, so this girl is headed in to veg in front of the tv and call it a night!

~Kati