Madi's first day of 8th grade!

Remind me to never, ever, wait four months in between posts again! I’ve spent days mulling over creative ways to fill you all in on our summer.  I’m tired just thinking about it; all the writing, all the pictures! Ugh. It’s really no wonder I’ve been putting this post off for so long!  Anyway, I've decided to save myself the headache and just skip it all! Yup, skip it, because honestly after all this time, who cares anymore?? It’s old news man!

Let me say, in short, that our summer was pretty good. The highlight of which was my sister, Melanie, nephew, Jimmy and niece, Mimi's visit.  If we’re “friends” on Facebook you’ve probably already seen the pictures from that week.  I think it’s pretty apparent how much fun we all had!  It was so awesome and we truly enjoyed every minute of their visit!

I figured the best place to pick up posting would be with the official end to our summer – August 21, 2011, Madison’s first day of 8th grade.

This is our gorgeous girl on her first day as an 8th grader!  She picked out the outfit for her first day without any input from me, which was a first!  I gotta say, before I actually saw her wearing it, I thought the shirt (which her Nana got for her, thank you Nana) looked a little too grown for her.  But, what do I know?!  'Cause once she put it on, I realized I was wrong.  She looked Perfectly beautiful! 



She was really getting tired of all the pictures at this point! But, she managed half a smile.



Gotta include one with Madi and her sister, Bella!  Do you see Bella's face...she's totally pouting!

I didn’t cry when I dropped her off at school on that first morning, which is another first. But, she made it easy for me, she was worry-free and seemed eager for a new school year.  Plus, just before Jack and I drove her to school, we (Jack, Madi and I) joined hands and prayed for her.  So,  I was pretty confident that Madi would have a fantastic first day!

Jack and I continued to pray throughout the day for our sweet girl and our prayers were answered as Madi came home to report that she had had a "great day"!  And thankfully, most of Madi's school days have been great, so far. 

As an 8th grader, Madi is doing something a little different this year; sports wise.  She had decided last year that she would continue to with club swim at Swim Belton, but that she would not swim for the Belton Middle School Swim Team.  She didn't want her only other sports opportunity to be another swim which would be the case if she swam for the middle school again this year.   Instead, she wanted to try her hand at other sports, such as; volleyball, basketball and track. Her Dad and I totally supported her decision on this – especially since she’s continuing to swim regardless.

So, since Madi does not have swim practice for the middle school, she now has an “athletics” period. It’s during this class that she is couched on the seasonal sports. Remember when I said most of Mad’s days have been great?  Well, there was on day that wasn't so great.  A day of pure heartbreak over not making the volleyball team. :-(  She really wanted to be on the team!  I tried to reassure her,  tell her that she had never even played the sport and that she needed more than four days training (in a 50 minute class) to prepare herself for it.  She's been a swimmer all these years, not a v-ball player.  She just needed more prep time is all.  I know had she had more time to prepare, she would have made the team.  Anyway, She was pretty tore up about it and it was sad to see her so upset, but in true Madi fashion, she was over it in no time!  Now, she preparing for basketball.  I think basketball starts up in October, but I’m not exactly sure. Anyway, Jack has promised to help couch her after school (when there is time) and on the weekends.  So, with her training during athletics and her Dad couching her for the next month or so, she’ll have a better chance of making the team, I’m sure.

On a super positive note however, Madi is on the Belton Middle School Cross Country team this year!! She has totally stepped out of her comfort zone and has dedicated herself to the sport!  She's been running and training (which is usually at 6:30 in the morning!) for about three weeks now and I've already seen an improvement in her running. We took her for her first trail run with us on Saturday.  She never quit, she whined a little, but never quit!  I can’t even begin to tell you how very proud of her we are! 

As you can imagine, Madi's weekdays are total madness between school, XC (Cross Country) and swim!  But, so far she is balancing everything nicely! Her longest days, which are Tuesdays and Thursdays, are 12 hours long!  It's reall crazy and I'm amazed at her drive and energy!

Y'all pray for Madi today.  She has a XC meet this evening at 5pm.  It's her first ever non-swimming event!  YAY!  She’s really nervous about it and I can't blame her, I would be too.  Jack and I are praying for her to do well - if only for her self-esteem and confidence in the sport.  Unfortunately, Jack is out of town on business travel, so he will not be there. :(   I know Madi's going to miss seeing her Dad there, but her Aunt Virginia and cousin, Jason will be there with me cheering her on!  I pray that she will keep in mind what her Dad and I have been telling her this week - that it doesn’t matter where she places, just as long as she doesn’t quit!!  

I haven’t gotten pictures of her in her XC uniform yet, but I plan to today during the meet. She does not love the uniform, so she might freak if I take a picture of her in it and post it here. But, I think she looks great in it and if I’m sneaking enough, she’ll never even know! ;)

It's going to be 102 today, so please pray for all our kiddo's out there running in this heat. Thanks!