Look what I got today

A new niece!

Miss Ava Grace.

7lbs, 0 oz

19 3/4 inches

Never have there been prouder older siblings

Mad Monday

Every Monday, I take 15 minutes out of practice to do something different with my team.

We play games, learn dances, cook, create art, etc.

It's called Mad Mondays and the girls LOVE it.

Yesterday's challenged involved building sculptures using toothpicks and marshmallows.

Leah and her team built a volleyball net.

Oh my. It was adorable.

Okay, okay, we're almost done

I did a little maternity shoot for my sister-in-law yesterday afternoon.

We included her two older kids who are anxiously awaiting the birth of their baby sister.

The kids did great, but got a little impatient with me toward the end.

It's probably because I kept saying, "Just one more pose, then we're done."

This is how my niece felt about the whole thing.

And at one point, my nephew told me my idea was dumb.

Thanks, kid.

We did get some great shots, however, and Melanie looks beautiful!

I'll post favorites on the photo blog soon

saturday morning

Mark and I had a little coffee break this morning.

I had the best latte I've ever had. ever.

Get yours here.

How Many is 143,000,000?

There are approximately 143 million orphans living in the world today.

But just how many is that?

Consider that 143,000,000 is the total combined population of the states of California, New York, Texas, Florida, Colorado, Illinois, Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Main, and Kansas. That's eleven different states!

Or how about the fact that if you had all 143,000,000 orphans together at one time, you could fill Invesco Field in Denver 1,878 times.

Or what if each word in the Bible represented one orphaned child? You would fill 182 Bibles and still have thousands of words left over.

And what if each breath you took represented an orphaned child? Well then, you could breathe for 22.5 years.

143 million is a big number. It's too big to comprehend really.

But the thing that really gets me is that we aren't counting something arbitrary here -- like grains of sand or marbles in a jar. No. We are talking about living, breathing, humans. Children with hopes and dreams and potential. Children who laugh and play and dance.

And children who have experienced grief and sorrow beyond what most of us will ever know.

So what are we going to to about this? How can we even begin to help 143,000,000 children?

I don't know.

My best guess is that we will have to help them one (1) at a time.

Done

I did it.

I finished my autobiography.

It is 10.5 pages, 5,803 words, and it took me 10.25 hours.

And it's done.

Done. Done. Done.

So, now what?

Excuse me while I repeat myself

This is my seventh season coaching volleyball for ECA.

And for the past four seasons, I've had more than 20 girls participate in the junior high volleyball program.

I wish that I could explain to you what it is like to be the only adult in a gym with 22 junior high girls. Perhaps I can give you a little glimpse.

You see, at every practice, there are about 10 things that I repeat. Over. And over. And over.

And over.

So our practices tend to go a little something like this...

1. Please stop bouncing the balls.

2. Okay, let's focus.

3. Hey, (Insert one of 22 names), could you please stop talking?

4. Please put that away. You don't need to eat snacks during practice.

5. Keep trying! You'll get it!

6. Please stop playing basketball.

7. Please stand up. You're not going to die.

8. Well done!

9. No, I won't tell you what we are doing next.

10. Hey, (Insert same name as used in #3), please stop talking.

And in between, we play a little volleyball and have alot of fun. :)

Spoiled

This weekend, I received a manicure from a two-year-old and an up-do from a six-year-old.

I felt quite pampered,

and I looked just like a princess.

Yep, just like one.

For the record

If you happen to see my credit card bill,

and if you happen to notice that I purchased a Jonas Brothers song,

please know

that I bought that for the Junior High Volleyball Warm-up CD.

Not for my own personal enjoyment.

Just so you know.

Up

Happy Birthday to Us

Last month, Mark bought me a concert ticket for my birthday.

"Coincidentally," I bought him a ticket to the same concert for his birthday.

Funny how that works out.

These guys were there. They are a favorite and I thoroughly enjoyed them.
And these guys were there and I couldn't get enough. They put on a GREAT show. Woah.
And there was a third band, but they aren't really worth mentioning. I enjoyed them for the first three songs, and then I was over it.

Let's just say, they sang about "small things" and their concert seemed to go on "forever, and ever, [they made] it last forever..."

This weekend...

...we saw a moose.

Three actually.
So, did we see three mooses? Or is it three Meese?