SPRING?

Can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted...it's been a rough winter.  I miss Melissa every single day, and I'm missing my sister Sue...a lot.  I miss her daily phone calls, I miss her going to lunch with me, keeping me company with the boys.  The boys have been begging to go to Boonshoft, (the local Museum of Natural History).  I love taking them there, but realized I'm having a hard time going because SUE was supposed to go with us.  In fact, that was her Christmas present to the boys - a day at Boonshoft....looking forward to warm weather so I can distract them with another activity.  Just can't go there yet...

A lot has happened since my last post - a lot of GOOD things.  We'll start with Fairmont basketball....

This was the final score of the STATE BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP game...FAIRMONT 52!!!!  Melissa would LOVE this.  As you know, the reason we follow the girls basketball team is because it was the LAST thing Melissa wanted to do, and couldn't...(remember? she was coming home from Hospice and said she wanted to go to the girls game.  I told her NO! there will be too many sick people there...duh.  So she asked the doctor if she could go - she said "she can do anything she wants to, her oxygen tank is good for 2 hours.  I got that "I told you so" look from Melissa, and we were planning on going to the game.  A visit from a couple of good friends that morning wore her out, so we didn't make it to the game.  We haven't missed one since)  And that year was the beginning of an amazing transformation of Fairmont girls basketball.  Although they didn't make the State Tournament that year, Cassie Sant was a junior and received the first Melissa Fortener McLaughlin B POSITIVE Spirit award (Cassie now starts for the University of Dayton Flyers-who just made it to the second round of NCAA tournament, they played #2 seed Kentucky, although they lost in the second round, Cassie was the leading scorer in that game!)  The next four years would take Fairmont to the FINAL FOUR...losing in the first round the first year, losing the finals the next two years - to the same team, Twinsburg.  Then THIS year was Fairmont's turn.  I KNOW Melissa would have been with us at the games...in fact, I'm pretty sure she WAS there.  I could feel her there.

Wow. I got a little A.D.D. there, didn't I?  I do that a lot lately.  Anyway, some fun shots from the
games....

              Fairmont gets a Police escort to I-675 on their way to Columbus.....

Celebrating after the win!

ONE HAPPY TEAM!!!!!!

Pam and Donny with their FAVORITE player...Lindsay Breslin (my cousin Sharon's granddaughter!)

Katherine Westbeld and Lindsay

Donny & Chelsea (this was at the celebration with the team after the game. It was in an auxillary gym outside the Schottenstein Arena.  They had music playing in the background...when I took this picture of Donny and Chelsea, VIVA LA VIDA came on...I haven't heard it in a LONG time.

I KNOW she was there.  She always finds a way to let us know!!!!

(Oh..Chelsea is a senior and will be playing at Dusquene next year!)

Pam & Katherine Westbeld

(Katherine is a junior...right now she is looking at U Conn, Notre Dame, OSU (I mean THEY are looking at HER!)...just to name a few. She is an amazing player and an even more amazing young lady.  I can't say enough good things about her.

Donny & Katherine

Can't say it enough.  We are SO proud of these girls...they are incredible ON and OFF the court.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

Finally got a chance to keep Bennett (Angie, one of Melissa's best friends baby)...OVERNIGHT!

He was so cute...just like this the whole time we had him!

This is what happens when you leave the room for just a minute, and leave a camera 

out for the boys to find...there were about 20 more pictures, most of them indiscernible,

you can at least tell that it's Drew and Max in this picture...

And finally, winter had a LAST HURRAH here in Ohio.  Late March, and it is SPRING.

Or so we thought.  Had to pull out the winter gear and get them outside for THEIR last hurrah!

Thirty minutes to get them dressed, thirty minutes outside, ended with a snowball fight (that THEY wanted...) I threw a couple at Andrew, then one at Max, when he was bending over...as soon as I threw it, Max stood up and it hit him in the face...it wasn't a packed snowball, just a soft one...but he DIDN'T like it.  At all. I tried to get him to throw one at me, but he was DONE.  Hot chocolate and a popcicle later and everything was fine.  Hopefully he'll forget this incident, because I more than anyone else know that paybacks are hell....

Probably can't tell, but that's a snowfort they are behind, and our snowman is in the background.

I am not the best  snowman builder, but they were happy to be outside!

So that's it.  The end of March.   Winter is over (FINALLY). Spring is here (FINALLY).

I am a warm weather person, and I need sunshine.  And there just happens to be sunshine today...so I'm out for a walk today. Need to get back into the walking routine.  It starts today.

Don't forget to register for the First Annual Melissa Fortener McLaughlin 5K.  If you need more info, let me know.  And have a good spring.