Big Day for Barnetts

So, when you go through what we have been through, it is with great hesitation that we enter back into doing normal things. With some fear running through my blood, I allowed each of the kids to do an extracurricular thing. We really didn't have that luxury before, and I can't be certain that we have it now. But I am also not willing to sit back and wait for something bad to happen that would warrant me not allowing them to do things. I think it is important that they do "something" outside of school, but I would never force them to do anything. It is their choice.


We had three kids with three "Firsts" today. I am really proud of them all and really grateful for the day we were given (even though it was quite hectic). Ally had her first night of swimming, Evan had his first night of playing soccer with the Silver Bullets, and Carly had her first dance class.


So when Ally asked if she could do swim team, how could I really tell her no? How could I? Tonight she tried out for the Beavercreek YMCA swim team. She had to get in the water and swim one lap each of all four of the strokes. She does not do them perfectly...but she did them and she made it the whole length of the pool with each one without touching the bottom. She never stopped and she did her best. I am sure that most kids her age are flying by, but with her I just have to encourage what we have. I am sure she will learn a lot through her practices and I do believe it will be great exercise for her. Coach Chris (who was also her Idle Hour coach for the one day she was on swim team before her diagnosis) helped her out. He told her she made the team. He is super encouraging to her (and me) and said he will modify things for her if he has to. He even told me that I made his day when I asked him about her swimming. You have to love people like this: people willing to make a difference in the life of a child. Again, I have no idea what the future will bring, but I hope that all works out. My gut is telling me that I have to let her fly....my little butterfly...I have to let her go and not continue to "wait" for something to go wrong. (and I also have to get in the pool with her and teach her how to do breaststroke)

We had to go to the blood lab right before the try-out....so here she is with a band aid on her finger prick and her Ally's Army bracelet on doing the backstroke. It certainly tells her story with one picture!

And Evan....he is playing First Grade Soccer with the Silver Bullets. He is now playing outside of the squares that he learned on in Kindergarten. It can be confusing at first, but our team did great! We had a lot of goals (10?) but who is counting? Oh wait, the kids are. They are too smart now to not know the score. No goals by Evan...

And Carly girl. What a sweet day for her. I had no idea what to expect out of her dance class but she has the most amazing and imaginative teacher. They were all practicing holding a cup of milk on their heads, and having fancy pretend earrings on that weren't to touch their shoulders, etc. A bunch of cute ways to teach them posture. Then the teacher put little butterfly wings on the girls and had them strut their stuff across the dance floor, with Taylor Swift playing in the background. Well this is right up Carly's alley.....she strutted her little Miss Tudi strut right across the floor. I thought I would die it was so cute. Carly was thrilled with the whole thing. Too bad dance is only one half hour a week! She will be begging to go back. Seriously, check out her hands on her hips: (picutures not great since I took them through a window!)

Thanks to all of the Army for following us through the good times and the bad. Today being one of the best days I can remember in a long time. We need more!

And thanks to everyone who has signed up to walk behind Ally on Sept 30. The support is amazing and lifts us up so much. I believe I have the whole WSU basketball team already signed up out there. Thanks Billy. We love our Raiders! If you haven't signed up yet, you can do so here:

http://pages.lightthenight.org/soh/Dayton10/AllysArmy