Today was the first official day of Christmas break for the boys. Parker had a friend over and although it was FFFF-RR-EE-EEE-ZZZING outside they wanted to play outside. They played outside for a while then would come in and warm up only to go right back outside. I kept calling Carey and asking him if they were ok playing outside since it was so cold and he told me to quit meddling and let them play. Cade and I decided it was much warmer and cozier inside. I find it funny how much alike we are. While talking with Cade about Christmas break and what he wanted to do he remembered the movie Marley and Me. This movie is suppose to be out on Christmas day. Megan and I have talked about going to see this movie so Cade decided Megan should take him to see the movie and not me. I am attempting to post a video of Cade asking Megan to take him and not me to this movie. So darn cute!

Posing Pokes

My sister in law was offered the chance to sew the patches onto the OSU football team jerseys for the bowl game. My kids were SO excited to see (and try on) their favorite players jersey. Posted are a few pictures of the kids being silly in their favorite players jersey.

Yea for Michelle

Last night I had a girls night/biggest loser party. A group of friends gathered at my house to cheer on Michelle towards her goal of The Biggest Loser. Thankfully she won! I couldn't stand Vicky and Ed didn't really act like he wanted to win so Y-E-A for Michelle!

Ready for another trip

I love to travel. I love to see new places, different people, different smells, etc... Our last trip (to Bolder) didn't work out so well with everyone getting sick so I have the urge to go again. I'd love to go back to San Diego, which by the way is one of my favorite places I have visited so far. Since the football team will play there the end of the month I have been trying to convince Carey that we should go. Unfortunately I haven't had any luck. So I continue to nag and plead and maybe, just maybe we will go again soon. Somewhere... anywhere.... soon!

The verdict is in....

The verdict is in and it's not great news. Another fracture. The good news is that because it's a small fracture he is only wearing a splint vs. a cast. The other good news is he only has to wear the splint until December 17th and then based on progress we either are done or go to a sling. Not exactly what I was hoping for but as the ladies in the waiting told me, "It could be much worse. He could need surgery." Thank goodness for nothing more serious but a sprain or just a strain would have been okay with me. Tomorrow I am off to find calcium chews. :-)

Wish us luck

Saturday Cade and Parker were playing tackle football outside. Cade came running into the house screaming that he broke his elbow... AGAIN. I was hoping he was just exaggerating the pain but after a couple of hours of non stop whining we headed to the ER. The ER doctor looked at the ex-rays and couldn't determine if it was broken so he called the radiologist to come look at the ex-rays. Side note... this is the larger than life night in Stillwater, BEDLAM. So glad we sold our tickets early! I'm sure the radiologist was less than thrilled to get that call. I can only imagine the poor guy trying to do a little tailgating before the game and R-I-N-G goes the phone. I have a feeling he really didn't want to answer that call. His opinion was to sling the arm and check in with the orthopedic to see if there's damage to the small tissue connecting the elbow. UUGGGHHH! My lil' wrestler is side lined, or side mat... whatever you call sitting out. So, off we go to the orthopedic tomorrow to find out the good news (cups half full today, I'm being optimistic!). The wrestling coaches seem to think the recovery time is about the same for tendon damage vs. a fracture. My lil' boy is fragile. He gets that from his Aunt Stacey. I'm taking no part in the lack of calcium in his diet and transfer all fault to you aunt Stacey. :-)

Finally getting somethin' done

We have lived in our new house about 5 months and finally I'm getting some stuff done. Carey and I were talking about Christmas the other evening and I told him I just wanted stuff done for Christmas. I have a list of things I have been wanting done and no I'm not even kidding! Floor reducers, mantel, different paint colors, and the gate entrance to our house. All of this stuff should have been done LLL-O-N-G ago but it gets pushed aside with the events of our hectic life. However, I am proud to say my mantel is up and mostly done. We still need the rack and logs but hey, it's a start. Since Christmas is right around the corner it is time to decorate it with my Christmas decor but for now, it's at least mounted to the fireplace. :-)

Can we take a break now?

Cade pins his first match!


Parker pins his first match!



Anther boy from the wrestling club 4th place, Parker 1st place, Cade 1st place.


Boy am I ever thankful for Thanksgiving. Maybe more this year than any other year. Hopefully it will bring some much needed rest for my family. We have battled the stomach bug once and it seems to be trying to make round two for my family. We wrestled in El Reno this weekend and on our way home Parker fell victim to that pesky stomach bug again! Parker started complaining about his stomach hurting on the way home. Of course we had just eaten enough food at Teds for multiple families. Me, being the loving and nurturing mom that I am just told Parker he over ate. I did so I figured he did too! He kept complaining and complaining until we walked in the door of the house and he started vomiting. He vomited all night long! Poor boy - I guess he didn't over eat :-) He wrestled awesome this weekend. Both boys did. They both got first place. I think our hectic life is wearing him down. He has been puny all day today. I've spent most my day bleaching and washing everything... bathrooms, counter tops, sheets, blankets, clothes some dirty and some the kids just throw in the laundry because they don't want to put them up (remember those days mom?) So, I got a lot accomplished today and a short week to look forward to. Posted above are pictures from this weekend. Megan, I am posting one just for you. Look at Parker's butt! Where did he get that from? We all know my butt may be wide but it's not Jay-Lo like his. ha ha

Knelling to the porcelain

The anxiety of catching the stomach bug is completely gone. Why? Because I knelled to the porcelain all night last night. UGGHHHHH.... my stomach muscles hurt so bad! I hate-hate-hate to be sick. Fortunately this stomach bug runs its course in about 24 hours. That means I only have a few more hours and I should be on the road to recovery. The boys are so funny and sweet when I'm sick. Cade laid in bed with me and gave me a foot massage. Parker just wanted to know if I'd be able to cook tomorrow. I don't think he enjoyed Carey's cooking (AKA... convenient store food). So I'm looking forward to a much better day tomorrow.

Parker's Choice

Parker was upset because I didn't post his favorite picture from our trip to Colorado. For those of you that can't quite make it out, it's an elk. Isn't it HUGE? This picture was taken on our drive through Estes Park. Definitely a place I could visit again. Soon, I hope!

We're back and in the mood for Christmas

Our trip to Colorado was fast, furious, and sickly :-( We went to Bolder to watch the cowboys play football and thought a little skiing would fit in great. Unfortunately, the stomach bug didn't get the message not to come around during our weekend in CO. Parker got sick at the game but managed to stick it out until half time. Apologies to the poor clean up crew.... sorry about the steps, the bathroom, and the parking lot. Oh, and the area near the concessions area. Surprisingly, he wasn't up to skiing the next day so a quick change of plans sent us to Estes Park and the Rocky Mt. National Forest. Cade fell sick to the stomach bug early Monday then Carey later on Monday. Uggghhhh! What can you say, it happens. I refuse to consider the possibility of being sick. What mother has time to ever get sick. Sometimes the thought of being sick is a thought that crosses my mind in a twisted way: laying in bed all day, having someone cook for me, somebody taking care of the boys and pets BUT who am I kidding??? I'd be doing all of that and be sick! ( ha ha ) I did manage to get a few pictures even though Parker really had to put on a pretend face. The mountain were B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L ! Family that's reading this... where did we get that? I think one of the kids, but which one said that all the time? I hope everybody had a good weekend, without the stomach bug! :-)

Tagged

I was tagged by Brooke who was tagged by her friend who was... you get the idea. The tag was to open your fourth folder and post your fourth picture from that folder. I guess I had saved possible house plans to folders. I didn't even know I had this on my computer. This is the downstairs of one the house plans that we didn't choose to build. So here it is, interesting facts that proves I need to do some sort of clean up on my computer. ha ha!

More Wrestling

Parker on top in orange beat this boy from Blackwell for third place.




Cade is on top in this picture. He pinned this boy, from our own wrestling club, for third place.




Megan and Cade in between matches.

This weekend the boys wrestled another open tournament. Open is for kids that have wrestled more than two years. My boys have only wrestled for one year but there's not many novice (beginner) tournaments close this early. The downfall to open tournaments, other than the competition is much harder, is they last ALL day long! Weigh in (to make weight) starts at 6am then bracket play begins at 9am. We got home Saturday around 5:30pm, just in time to watch OSU choke to Tech. (That's another post at a later time... still too upset to talk about that one). Both boys placed 3rd which in excellent for an open tournament. Wrestling takes a lot of dedication of both parts: parent and kid. The kid must maintain his/her weight all week. The parents have to be dedicated to check their child weight throughout the week AND to sit through a L-O-N-G tournament. It takes great strength to watch your baby possibly get put in a crazy, jacked up position and to be able to keep your composure so you don't yell something ridiculous! Megan drove all the way to Blackwell to watch the boys wrestle. I'll post a picture of her and Cade and a few of them from their matches.

Grandma of the year goes to....

Many of you have laughed and teased about my mom and "Grandma of the year." My mom is great. She raised 3 wonderful, smart, independent, beautiful daughters and instilled her good values in us. So, I take back my words and give back the title to my mom. Here's to you mom... Grandma of the Year! Posted above is a picture of my mom, along with my dad and boys, trying to win back that title by cheering Parker on at a football game.

WHEW... What a weekend!

It was another busy weekend in our house. So much to do and so little time. Where do I start?

Friday: Cade had a play at school. He was a ghost in the play. Actually, a red ghost. The play was followed by parties. Cade was a rebel and Parker was a nerd. Parker and two of his friends dressed up as nerds in his classroom. They were so funny! We trick or treated 3 houses and boy was I thankful for just 3! Who needs all that tempting Halloween candy. We ended up at my mom's house for a "treat" for dinner. My nephews were at grandma's house too. They had a ton of fun scaring all of grandma's little trick-or-treaters although I don't think grandma appreciated their help.

Saturday: This day began very early. Up by 7am for our first wrestling tourny of the year. First, let me add how nervous I was due to this tournament being an open instead of a novice. (Advance vs. beginners) I had so much anxiety about this tournament and it didn't help that I didn't find out we were going the night before. The boys did awesome and I'm so proud of them! Cade placed 2nd and Parker placed 4th. Way to go boys!!! We raced home, with two extra friends in tow, and went to the OSU game. Of course OSU won and it just made the day even better. We were suppose to take the 2 extra friends home and go out with grown up friends for my b-day but I was POOPED! I let the boys bring their friends back to the house for a few more hours of play then I took them home.

Sunday: Early church and worked the nursery during Sunday School. I love playing with the wee ones in the nursery. They are so cute and sweet! We work the crawlers room the first Sunday of every other month. It works out great, plus it's good for the boys to see how much work babies can be. Finally, Carey's dad and step mom stopped by with Carey's aunt from TX. Oh ya, laundry, laundry, laundry, and a few dishes. Trying to get it all done so I don't have to do a thing on my actual b-day. Carey is working on my mantel and our entrance gate. I was hateful when he asked me what I wanted for my birthday. Other than another trip (hehehe) I just want all of the final things done to our house... it's been 4 months. Waaaa...I know.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Update of events

I have really neglected my blog. I hate people who use excuses but we have been incredibly busy. I haven't been conserned with posting lately due to the lack of comment but then I find out several of you just view my blog but don't leave comments. So, here's the run down of events for the last several weeks:

Cade and Snowball

Our beloved cat, Snowball, was ran over last week. Snowball was a great hunter and fearless cat. He, yes it was a he not that you could tell by his name, was the leader of our cat pack, the protector of the barn, and beloved friend to my boys. Snowballs lack of fear ended up getting him too close to the road the night of homecoming and he met his maker. Cade was devastated and demanded a new kitty. Of course, not being able to say no, I took him to Pet-Co and we bought a new kitty. Cade has named him Sam. Sam is nothing, and I do mean NOTHING like Snowball. Sam was born in a shelter, INDOORS, and fears everything. He loves our dog Daisy, or maybe that is backwards and Daisy loves Sam. Either way, we are stuck with this fearful, indoor wanna be cat, but we love him.

Parker

Parker has hunted with Carey since he was very little. He has never shot a deer and I expected this year to be the same. Although, this year they leased a different field to hunt on. It's about 15-20 minutes away and they have seen a huge buck and several doe all over this 40. I hate hunting but I figured it was good bonding time for Parker and his dad. He loves the outdoors and I cheerfully say every year, "You gonna shoot a deer this year?" Always hoping he gets my sensitivity and just enjoys watching instead of harming. Unfortunately this year he pulled the trigger. He brought home his first deer, a doe. I can mark this down as a partial battle won even though he shot a beautiful animal. Parker came home very upset and told me the entire story how the doe had fawns with her and they ran off momentarily after the gun shot but came back after a few minutes to finish eating off the field. He told me he never wanted to shoot a deer again. YIPPEE! Carey loves to fish and hunt and I love to feed and pet. They say God puts opposites together for balance. Boy does he ever!

Carey and Shanon

Carey and I have been working out together for nearly a month. We go right after we drop the boys off at school and do resistance training. I feel like "The Arnold!" I love working out with my husband although there are times when I'd like to drop a weight on his toe! It has been a long time since we have worked out together. Carey, as most of you know, is very lean and must have the metabolism of a rock star. He stays leans with definition regardless if he picks up a weight or steps on a treadmill. We have been working it like champions. I am finally getting those GUNS I wanted, biceps that is. I stay late and get my cardio in since he refused to go more than a mile.

Finally, a few nights ago I drove the Gator down past the pond to fill up the deer feeders... (YES we feed and watch, no shooting on our land:-) on the way back up to the house there was a beautiful harvest moon over our house. I took a picture, it's not the best but you and see a bright full moon.

So there it is. A few of the crazy moments in the past weeks from our household. We are anxiously awaiting Halloween and our trip to Colorado. I'll post more this week about Halloween.

Busy Weekend

I have lots of pictures to post from our busy weekend. Megan is finally back in Oklahoma ... YIPPEE! She came to town to watch Cade play soccer, Parker play football, tale gate, go to the game, then spent the night with us. It's so good to have her back in OK! :-)

Family First

My cousin, Kim, was here for a long weekend from Ohio last weekend. We have been best friends since we were little girls and I hate it that she lives so far away. She has her own family, four children all under 6, and I have mine so we cherish our few visits each year. The main reason for her quick return was to check on her dad. My uncle recently had a heart attack. Kim's relationship with her dad resembles the relationship with my dad. We are very close to our fathers and worry about them immensely. Since her trip was planned quickly she was unable to bring all the kiddos but she was able to bring her youngest daughter Gabriella, or Grabs as we call her. Grabs loved my little cocker Daisy, maybe a little too much!

Little Carey

I was downloading pictures to the computer and found this picture that Parker took of himself. I can't believe how much he looks like Carey in this picture. I laughed out loud when I found it. Parker kept asking me, "What's so funny, mom? Do I look funny?" Everyone is always telling me how much he looks like his dad but I guess I just realized it for myself. We were at the OSU football game a few weeks ago when a lady stopped me and asked me if Carey was Parker's dad. At first I thought she was kidding, just trying to be funny... whose your babies daddy sort of thing, but then she proceeded to tell me she was Carey's 3rd grade teacher (the same grade Parker's currently in) and how they look just alike. She said she hadn't seen Carey in years. How funny! Enjoy the laugh.

My baby lost his first tooth

Cade finally lost his first tooth. This tooth has been dangling by a thread for a couple of days but he was too scared to pull it. Tonight, mean mom told him to pull it or she would. After a few minutes of negotiating he finally pulled his tooth. Ironically you can't even tell he pulled it because his new tooth is right behind it and is as big as the baby tooth. Cade is on the phone with grandma to tell her about his big news in the picure. Good bye cute little baby teeth--hello big, chicklet, future brace teeth.

MY KNEES HURT!

I set a personal goal a couple weeks ago to help motivate me with my running. I set a goal of 15 miles a week. This usually comes in a combination of many different ways. I may run 4.5 miles on Monday and then maybe just 1 mile on Tuesday followed by 3 miles on Wednesday etc... I try not to set a goal for each day or I will just set myself up for failure. This system of a weekly goal had been working until last week when my knees began to ache and hurt! I've been taking the maximum amount of Motrin and today I switched to Aleve. Of course everyone has heard about how bad running is on your knees but I'm afraid I'm experiencing it. I have this vision in my head from last weeks episode of the Biggest Loser when the Dr. showed the teams their body's advanced age from the lack of proper nutrition. The only difference is my body is in an advanced arthritic age stage due to years of squats, lunges, and running. So , my point is I guess I may as well eat all the food I so desperately crave and get fat and enjoy life. Just kidding!

Poor Kitty

Since moving outside city limits we had four baby kittens. Early this week we were down to three, not sure what happened to the fourth one and I probably don't want to know. Especially if I had anything to do with the disapperance of the poor baby. Possibilites:

1) Kitty rode under my car to my mother-in-laws house and found a new home with nice caring neighbors.

2) Kitty ate some decon and met Jesus in the sky.

3) Kitty ran away to find its mom.

Since I was down to three kittens I thought I'd better take them to the vet to get their shots, neuter/spay, etc. The kittens were home less than 24 hours when our spotted kitty, Squeaky, started acting very odd. She was still bleeding from her surgery and still had no interest in walking, eating, or being around humans or it's fellow feline family. I called the vet and she got her in right away. Findings by the vet: popped a stitch and possible ingestion of some rat poison!!! I feel awful. I am waiting for my vet to call back to give me the news. The possible conversation that I'd give my kids lingers in the back of my mind. It starts with, "Mommy is an idiot for believing Grandma when she said the kittens wouldn't bother the decon." Ok, maybe not quite so dramatic but my mom definitely isn't getting Grandma of the year this year.

She's Moving Back!

I am so excited! The best news that I've heard in months... Megan is moving back!!! Officially she will be back the first of October. Although, I'm working on her to come tail-gate for the next football game. No more late night text messages of "crazy hair" or having to wait in line in the LONG list of phone calls she has to return in her "window" before bedtime. Aaron, that also means you've been replaced come October. I will no longer need you to be my stylist. You made great choices and catty remarks but your services are no longer needed. ha ha Cody's band has been playing around here again. We will have to get the entire gang together for a night out when you get back. Can't wait to see you!!

Happy Birthday Holly!

Last week several girls got together for my friend's birthday. Holly and I met about two years ago when our sons went to the same preschool. To celebrate her birthday nine girls went to the Sushi house for dinner and then to Marble Slab for dessert. The food was ok but the time with friends was a ton of fun. What mom wouldn't want a girls night out? We made an entire evening out of it. We had so much fun that we decided to do it again, only this time we did lunch. If I keep this up I will tip the scale and have to go down to the local feed mill to weigh. :-) The first picture is of my friend Holly and myself. The second picture is of the entire group minus one who had to leave early. Happy birthday Holly!

My little Pioneer

This is the first year that the Stillwater Youth Football League has gone by the school name, Stillwater Pioneers. In past years they were known as the Stillwater Golden Eagles. They have new uniforms that resemble the high school football team. They look little men! I'm posting a picture of Parker in his uniform and the other picture is his first reception as TE in the new duds.

Few more pictures from Seattle

Riley and Megan you asked for more Seattle pictures so here they are:

Parker, Cade, and Caleb at the Seahawks game being goofy. Cade got this foam finger taken away before halftime. The poor lady in front of him deserves free tickets to the next game.

Parker and Cade at Pike Place Fish Market. I loved this place! They had blocks and blocks of fruit, fish, flowers, candles, jelly and jam. This particular guy was very entertaining.

This pictures was taken at the Seattle Aquarium. They had tanks of fish and sea life the boys were allowed to touch and feel.

This is a picture of the boys and me on a dock off of the Alaskan Way. Not in this picture is a Norwegian cruise ship boarding for Alaska. We were intrigued with how large the cruise ship was!