April 28, 2018 - FTK ALL DM DAY

It was a DM day.  We started out with a (slightly frigid) picnic with our friends at IUDM.  From there, we headed to Bedford North Lawrence for their Dance Marathon and then back to Bloomington to pick up a friend of Riley's, then to Martinsville for their DM.  Lots of money was raised FTK.

April 27, 2018

It's always such a great feeling to have a Friday night with something fun planned.  Tonight, Rick and the rest of the Pacers Pep Band wandered around downtown Indy and played music to get people up for the game against Cleveland.  Riley and I wandered along, then were happy to find the setup for America Ninja warrior.  We eventually left there and headed to the gym (the exercise one, not the gymnastics one) for some workout and pool time.

April 26, 2018

Yes, this is a weird photo but I took pictures of Riley working on her vault and she did some screen shots to see how it was going.  She did one in practice that made her strength and conditioning coach tell her that it was a 10.  Of course, he's not a gymnast or a judge but it still helped to know it was good.

April 25, 2018

Every now and then, I get a hankering for processed cheese potatoes.  I have a hard time remembering which I prefer so I try to put it in my blog so I can do a little research to help me remember.  I have learned that I prefer Au Gratin to Scalloped potatoes but I saw these Three Cheese potatoes and figured I'd give them a shot.  It was a head to head competition and I definitely preferred the Three Cheese.  Rick liked the Au Gratin and Riley hated both.  

Our protein was Rick's all time favorite...pork tenderloin a la Alton Brown.  And yes, that's a picture of Riley doing homework at the dinner table.

April 24, 2018

It's my first Spring at my new job and if I were rating my old job vs this one, this one would get the checkmark for prettier environment.

So far, the only two things that I liked better at my old job were the flexibility and the pay rate.  

Too bad those are huge advantages.

April 23, 2018

I think Rick was really in the mood for steak tonight.  

I'm pretty sure she's playing Chubby Bunny with cherry tomatoes.

April 22, 2018 - Gershwin

Rick had a concert today with the Brass Choir and it just so happened to be on our side of town AND it just so happened to have Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue on the schedule.  Riley was as giddy as a teen at a Bieber concert.  Every time the pianist would get to one of her favorite parts, she'd grab my arm or my hand in excitement.  My dad also loved it.  Also, I planted some strawberry seeds, a couple of strawberry plants and some flower seeds for the mailbox.

April 21, 2018 - plane pull

Today was an interesting one.  We went to the airport and along with other Riley kids and some celebrities, Riley pulled a plane across the floor.  Well, she held on to the rope and her friend Braden's wheelchair so she could get him out of the way of the plane. 

We left there and met up with my mom to see Peter Rabbit, got some dinner and then went to Ben Davis High School's DM. 

April 20, 2018

About a month ago, I was riding into work with a co-worker and I mentioned that Riley had a meet scheduled for a Friday.  Prior to this year, I think she only had one other meet on a Friday and this year, she's had 4.  Anyway, I commented that I'd have to take the day off and she shook her head and said, "You have mandatory training that day.  Sorry." UGH.

So, Rick drove Riley to St. Louis last night while I was at work.  Then this morning, I walked across campus to my training class.  It was kind of a long walk AND I got chased by a goose.  I did take a snack with me and some water and got a lovely photo of Riley and Rick at the arch.  Rick texted me scores as I headed out from work to Southport High School DM.  Why, you might ask, was I going to a DM without Riley?  After all, my good friend who is mentioned above was quite puzzled when I told her I was going to a dance marathon with Riley.  Well...you see, about ten years ago, Riley went to one with my parents and so she was one DM ahead of me AND holds the record for most DMs ever.  Until now...

BUT, I felt bad so I took a #flatdmRiley with me and held it up for pictures so it would look like she was there.  And while I was there, I found out that she had placed FIRST in vault...at a National meet.  All of her DM friends were with me at Southport so they got the results with me...very cool.

April 19, 2018

1.  The cats must have been cold or lonely.

2.  Riley is raising money for the hospital.  This week's deal was a $5 donation earned cookies.

3. The tree is still in bloom.

 

April 18, 2018

Someone got a trim.  She attempted to complain to the hair lady about the color of her hair.  Katie said, "people pay hundreds of dollars to get hair that color.  Leave it alone."  According to Riley, she'd like to grow it out to donate it but we'll have to see how that goes.  It's the longest I remember it being since she's been making her own decisions on her hair.

 

April 17, 2018

April 15, 2018 - The one with the duck

Riley had a really rough day today (but hey, the Pacers won) and she needed some retail therapy.  The unsuspecting "winner" of her retail therapy was her beloved Uncle Jason.  She bought him not one but two baby ducks.  I bought them some food and a food/water dish.

 Yes, the cat appears to be doing homework.

April 14, 2018

More excitement in our house as we brought home the newest member of our family.  Yes, that's right, Rick bought a new grill.  I told him to make sure it was the grill of his dreams because man, they are pricey but yay, here she is.  He elected to make pork tenderloin as the first meal off the grill.

 He had to wait until we got home from another dance marathon.  Riley had a blast at this one, much thanks to the ladies from Butler who were there to help out.  So funniest moment of the night was when Riley kept calling my name and I couldn't find her anywhere.   Turns out, she was hiding behind a sheet...see the picture on the right below.

April 13, 2018

So much excitement!  Not only is it Friday so yay, but our tree is in bloom and so are my daffodils.  The concert went well although brother Jason and Rick giggled all the way through the many (many) squeaks from one of the clarinets.  We went to a dance marathon at Whiteland (240) and we saw a funny sign which I still have NO idea what it means.