Cheap family

For my dad!

2010-07-22T22:35:00.002-05:00

I guess my dad has been complaining about his children's lack of blogging, and yes mine has been absolutely pathetic! So this is for my dad!

This evening I was not able to function in my house. Nerf bullets were flying everywhere, and I mean everywhere! I finally ended up leaving and going for a jog! Sometimes I feel like I'm surrounded by to much testosterone (sp?)! Yes, the biggest child in this picture causes the most chaos!

Shocked!

2010-02-01T17:21:00.005-06:00

Yes, I am sure that some of you are shocked that I am actually posting on my blog! I have obviously missed several important blog worthy events (birthdays, milestones, Christmas, etc.) But none the less I am bringing you pictures of our sledding adventure!

Since we the snow hit us hard (not nearly as hard as they said it would) we took full advantage and took the kids for a little outing. Luckily Uncle Bert and Aunt Sally have the perfect pasture for sledding behind the pickup! It was so nice outside and the snow was just the right consistency.

Lucy kept trying to get in on the fun as well.

Ben loved every minute of it! He kept falling off and he didn't even care. He would just hop back on and yell "Go faster!" I swear the child is fearless.

This inner tube didn't last very long after this ride! Chad was just a little to heavy!

Max was like a little leach. It was almost impossible to get him to fall off!

We had a blast and can't wait until it snows again.

Hopefully I will be a better blogger, but I'm not making any promises!

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

2010-01-29T12:18:00.002-06:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

Trying to fix things!

2009-12-30T15:02:00.003-06:00

Okay so I have been catching a bunch of slack from lots of people about the condition of my blog! You know who you are. So this post is an attempt at "fixing" it and then maybe I will post something, you know, "real".

Wordless Wednesday!

2009-08-26T17:43:00.003-05:00

Flashback Friday

2009-08-14T07:32:00.003-05:00

I had to scan some of our wedding pics into the computer the other day because Jolyn was making a video slide show for Lanus and Joe's 50th wedding anniversary so I decided I would post this as a flashback! I guess I never realized how tall I am compared to my mother in law. I don't even have heels on and she does!

Wedding Invite

2009-08-05T07:23:00.003-05:00

Ok so most of you probably know that I am taking the suggestion from Annie's blog and posting the poem that my Pa Gramps wrote for our wedding invitations. It meant so much more to all of us that our grandfather was able to be such a special part of our weddings. He is a very talented. man. Thanks Pa.

Remember! Oh remember! It was not too long ago,
A princess with a tilted smile would set our hearts aglow.

But those moments turn to hours, and hours soon depart,
Leaving only treasured memories to dwell within the heart.

It was bound to happen, inevitable some say,
Along would come a handsome prince and carry her away.

The messengers with trumpets were dispatched throughout the land,
To announce the royal wedding as he takes her by the hand.

The people come together, they bow their heads to pray.
And ask for them God's blessing, on this, their special day.

What happens the princess and the charming prince as well?
Why that's a storybook ending that only a tongue can tell.

We have them fast in Heart's fortress, justice swift and true,
We can only keep them forever, perhaps we can make it two.

Chad has lost it

2009-07-07T10:57:00.002-05:00

his mind that is. For some reason he got this crazy idea that we needed a jumpy inflatable thingy. Being the avid Ebay shopper that he is he went online and found this "bargain". So needless to say this will be present at Sam's birthday party Sunday (if it gets shipped in time). I really hope it is not one of those things that looks and sounds good when you buy on line and is complete you know what when it gets here. We shall see!

Missed Milestone!

2009-06-30T10:31:00.003-05:00

So in my pathetic blogging past I missed blogging some significant milestones. For instance Sam lost his first tooth a couple of months ago and although I took these pictures, I never posted them. Honestly, I did not believe that Sam had a loose tooth. He kept telling us that he did but we thought that he was just "wishful" thinking because Max had lost so many teeth and had been receiving visits from the tooth fairy. It took Max convincing us "Mom, Sam's tooth really is loose!" that it was true. I told Sam that if he wanted to go the movie later that night than he would have to let me pull his tooth. He said okay and opened his mouth but alas the tooth was all ready gone! He was upset because he didn't have a tooth to leave for the tooth fairy but we left a note and she understood!

Maybe later in the week I will catch up on other missed blogging opportunities, such as EASTER!

Hade to share!

2009-06-26T11:10:00.002-05:00

Max has been playing baseball this summer and I haven't even taken any pictures! I thought I would share his team photo because . . . well, its just Max. Yes, he is the child on the front row not even facing the camera. looking at the kid next to him making a weird face. Yes, Katie, Max's inability to take a normal picture carries over to other photographers as well!
Here is his individual picture. A little better than usual, but Max seems to have a little of the "Chandler Bing" problem. Plus I noticed the tattoos on his arm after the pictures where taken. Oh well, I am sure we will just laugh at this someday! My goal is to get some action pictures taken next week since his season is ending then. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Wordless Wednesday!

2009-06-24T15:44:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday!

2009-06-10T13:07:00.000-05:00

Ziplining

2009-06-09T11:33:00.003-05:00

Chad and I decided to zip line when we were in port in Ketchikan Alaska. It was beautiful, and exhilarating, and a little scary, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Alaska has some gorgeous rain forests (because it rains more than 230 days a year here) and the view from the zip lining platforms was amazing!

Here Chad is all geared up and ready to go!

Of course here is me being a dork. This is at the top of one of the platforms we zipped from. I told Chad to kind of take the picture looking down so we could tell how high up we were, but obviously that did not happen.

Chad is taking off. Can't even see where is he heading, this was the longest zip line that we "flew" on. I think it was about 850 feet long. The professionals that were helping us said that we were probably going around 30 mph this day. The zip lines go faster when it is wet but I was happy we had the sunshine.

If you look really closely you can see me halfway down the line. Chad was a little late on the trigger.

We also walked over three suspension bridges. We were hooked onto a rope above the bridge so there was not anyway we could fall. Therefore we were free to jump around and swing the bridges if we wanted to. It was soooo fun, and the view from up here was breathtaking.

Chad and I on one of the three suspension bridges.

These trees that we are connected to are about 300 to 400 hundred years old!!
My favorite view from the top of one of the platforms. As beautiful as the scenery was here (and is was awesome) this girl was ready to get back to the flatness of Oklahoma. Something about not being able to leave a place unless you take a boat or an airplane kind of bothers me. I would go back for a visit in a heartbeat!

Cruisin'

2009-06-08T08:56:00.002-05:00

I really don't know where to start bloggin' about our cruise. It was wonderful and we had a great time. Since I depended on my mother to do the major portion of the picture taking I will just put up a couple of pics and you can check out my moms blog to see the better pictures!

This picture was taken at Glacier Bay. It was so beautiful and pristine here. I don't have that great of a camera and this picture was taken through a window but this was one of the bigger glaciers that we saw.
During the cruise we had two formal dinner nights. It was kind of fun to get all dressed up. Doesn't really happen that much around here!

One of the funniest things about the ship was that they had these rugs in the elevators that said the day of the week. At first I just thought it was funny, but I came to rely on those things. It was really easy to lose track of time!

Here is a funny picture of my mom and dad in Sitka. I think my mom spent half of her time on shore shopping for the grand kids. Imagine that. She bought these hats for Ben and Ryder, they are hilarious!

I really do have a ton to blog about so hopefully since school is out I will continue to update regularly. I plan on more cruise bloggin tomorrow!

Wordless Wednesday!

2009-05-20T15:38:00.001-05:00

These are my kind of posts!

Ants your pants

2009-05-14T20:49:00.004-05:00

Actually I should have titled this post "Ants in your pants, in your ears, on your feet, between your toes, under your diaper, on your tummy, in your belly button, crawling up your neck, and completely covering your clothes!"

Poor little Ben was covered with ants today at my mom and dads house. The kids were outside eating snow cones (yes, this probably had something to do with attracting the ants). Max comes into the house and says "There are ants on Ben". This was voiced very unenthusiastically, therefore I was really not concerned. My children for some reason have ant phobias. I did not at all rush to Ben's rescue, I simply took my time walking outside. Then I hear Emily say these exact words "Man that has to hurt", as I hear Ben's blood curdling screams! I was completely taken by surprise when my almost two year old baby was standing there with hundreds of ants on him! It was terrible. I started stripping his clothes off of him while Aunt Sally got the water hose. Those little boogers don't come off very easily either. Before I knew it, I had ants all of over me as well (luckily not in my pants!). These bites don't really seem to bother Ben anymore, but they do a pretty good job of making mommy feel bad!

No love!

2009-05-11T19:18:00.001-05:00

I am not really feeling the love today. I am walking down the hallway and I find this note on Max's door. I take it he doesn't want Ben or I in his room, but Sam (of course it is his room also) and dad are okay!

Martian Men!

2009-05-09T16:05:00.002-05:00

2009-05-01T18:17:00.004-05:00

Hope your weekend is just "BEACHY"

This is a pic of Max and Sam before school the other day. It was "Beach Day" at Sam's school and this is the get-up he put together all by himself for the occasion!

Brotherly love!

2009-04-27T17:26:00.002-05:00

Sometimes you just have to use your big brother as a pillow!

But for some reason at our house, one way or another, that always seems to turn into a "dog pile".

Blizzard 2009

2009-03-28T14:09:00.002-05:00

Of course I am sure everyone has heard how much snow we received in Northwest Oklahoma. My boys woke up this morning and could hardly stand themselves when they looked outside. I did not let them go outside until about 10:00 and they finally ventured back in about 12:30! They are having so much fun.

Here is my little man. He of course could not be left out of all of the fun!

Ben is actually having more fun than this picture shows. It was pretty hard for him to get around because the snow drifts are so high, and let me tell you how hard it is to carry a 26 lbs. child in knee high snow! My legs are still burning!
Our neighbor has his brother come and clear a small portion of his driveway and it ends up making this use pile of snow. Max and Sam made a huge slide out of it and slid for over an hour!

And of course we know that Daddy had to get in on the fun. This picture makes me laugh but you had to see Chad try to get out of the situation to truly appreciate the humor. I about wet my pants.

Sam jumped off of our small brick wall on our front porch and got stuck here. He really didn't even care, he just smiled and me and ate snow! The boys are out again (even Ben) and I am going to have to go get them! I played for awhile, but I am just not as young as I used to be and I get tired fast! I really need to get into better shape! Hope everyone is enjoying this weather as much as we are! We love it!

Spring Break Part 2

2009-03-20T12:19:00.003-05:00

After we left Incredible Pizza we went to meet baby Allie. She is so tiny it amazes me. Especially since the last newborn I held was monster Brock who is actually twice her size. Max decided that he wants another baby at our house, but he really wants another boy not a girl! He may be disappointed :)

While we were at the Meekers Uncle Kent got out his real fireman's hat and let Max try it on. Max was ecstatic!

After we left the Meekers we headed to the hotel and of course the boys wanted to swim. They were a little nervous at first and needed some encouragement to get in the pool. So I just threw them in. Some spectators at the pool got a kick out of it!

Ben wasn't real sure about the water at first!

but he eventually remembered what a water dog he was last summer. We had to pull him kicking and screaming out of the water. Chad's lips were turning blue and the other boys were ready to go back to the room!

Here is Max warming up in the hot tub while we try to persuade Ben to leave the pool!

We had an exhausting Tuesday but the boys loved it. Stay tuned for the next post!

Spring Break Part 1

2009-03-19T14:23:00.002-05:00

Since I have been such a horrible blogger lately, I thought I would break our trip to OKC into several posts, just to make it last longer. On Tuesday when we arrived in OKC we decided to take the kiddos to Incredible Pizza and of course they had a blast (and spent a ton of money!).

I noticed while looking through my pictures that I have a ton of Ben at Incredible, but not a lot of the older boys. Mostly because I was stuck with Ben in the kiddie section while Chad ran around acting like a child with the older two! Ben loved riding this little train a threw a complete tantrum every time I had to get him off to let other children ride.
He also loved playing with these balls. He could have stuck balls in this little tube all day long!

Max playing "Whack a Shark!"

Skee ball was a big hit and Ben even joined in the fun, but it was completely dangerous for anyone in the near vicinity!

Tune in for part 2 tomorrow!

Big Plans

2009-03-16T10:05:00.002-05:00

Okay, so we don't actually have "Big Plans" for spring break but here are the things that I would like to get accomplished: my taxes, my kitchen finished (this requires my mother and she is in high demand, darn her for being so talented!), house cleaned (yeah right, not real high on my priority list), go see baby Allie (JoLyn's precious new one), take the boys to the zoo, and take naps! I would also like for my children to get healthy. Sam has not been feeling well, he has a horrible cough, and now Ben in joining in the fun! Needless to say, I did not get a lot of sleep last night, as Chad slept right through it all. I leave you with this picture that I have been meaning to post, but haven't. Hope everyone has a great Spring Break!

Flashback

2009-03-06T11:22:00.002-06:00

I realize I haven't posted anything in awhile and to be quite honest I haven't taken pictures of anything in awhile. So since I am home with a sick kid today (JOY) I thought I would look and see what kind of old pics I could come up with. I came across these and thought I would share.

My grandmother gave me these pictures and I think I can see a little of baby Ruby in these. It might be all the hair! I am five weeks old in this pic.

I am six weeks old in this pic. I know "WHAT A CUTIE!
I decided to download these two pics so everyone could see my "Smokin' Hot" mom and dad. Don't they look so young? I guess they were young. My mom is 24 and I think my dad is 21.

The decor and styles in these pics are priceless! Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Flashback (one week)

2009-02-19T16:21:00.003-06:00

It has taken me so long to post these Valentine party pics that I feel like it should be a flashback :) Anyway, I just thought I would share some photos of the boys and their parties. They came home with a bunch of loot and they are still devouring it!

Here is Sam and his cheesy grin (he loves these hats they made and will not let me get rid of it!)

Max does not like me taking his picture, so I just have to snap away and he pretends like I am not even there.

Max and his crew. These boys are so funny!! Poor Mrs. Stone probably is tired by the time class is over!
Here they are posing with their bags full of goodies!

Progress is happening!

2009-02-14T16:39:00.002-06:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that we are still working on the kitchen makeover. My mother did not want me to post this picture, but oh well.
These are the things that have been finished:
old lights taken down
sheet rock holes patched
sheet rocked taped
wiring completed for new light fixtures
one fixture hung
old trim taken off of top of cabinets

These are the things that still need to be done:
finish texturing (will be done thanks to my mom)
paint
put new trim on cabinets
paint trim
put up second light fixture

Hopefully, it will not be to terribly long before I can post completed pictures!
Happy Valentines Day!

Sam's half birthday!

2009-02-12T17:15:00.002-06:00

On Wednesday Sam celebrated his half birthday at Free Spirit Preschool. All of the children with summer birthdays get to have a "half" birthday during the school year. Sam was pretty excited. This first picture is of the class singing to him, it was so funny because he acted like he was embarrassed. Right before this picture was taken he was singing a song in front of the entire class by himself, so I don't think he really gets embarrassed easily.

Sam's teachers gave him a gift bag full of goodies and this is Sam embarrassed about everyone watching him open it (book was included).

Sam chose to take individual ice cream cups to share with everyone at school. It was a big hit.

Here is a picture of Sam being the model student that he always is. (I really hope that I am not jinxing myself on how good of a kid he is!)

Picture tag!

2009-01-31T09:09:00.001-06:00

This picture cracks me up. It is my dad in highschool taking football pictures. I bet he still wishes he had all that hair!

Now to complete this tag go to your fourth picture folder to the fourth picture and post it for everyone to see. I tag Annie, Katie, and Sally!

Muffins with Mom

2009-01-29T17:45:00.005-06:00

I have been meaning to do this post for awhile. A couple of weeks ago Sam's preschool had a Muffins with Moms day. Moms, grandmothers, or other special loved ones were invited to school to have a muffin and watch the kids play for awhile. My mom and I joined him that day. Sam is such a good boy and always does exactly what he is supposed to (at school, not at home). I never really have to worry about his behavior. Max is another story, but he is getting better, and I can't even imagine what Ben has in store for us someday.

More info

2009-01-27T17:43:00.001-06:00

Just to let you know. The Slippin' and a Slidin' (see below) was not such a good idea. The second time the boys went out today Sam ended up with a busted chin. No worries though, we took him to see the doc and he said that it wasn't bad enough for stitches. This is only the fourth time Sam has busted his chin! As my dad would say "Shaving may be interesting for him someday!"

Slippin' and a Slidin'

2009-01-27T11:52:00.002-06:00

The boys decided they wanted to go outside today, even though it is a mere 14 degrees. I figured oh well, if they get cold they will come in. They did get the sleds out of the garage, but when I ventured out to check on them they had decided they could just slide better on their bodies, especially when the flurries had cleared to a spot of solid ice! I remember the days of not feeling cold and playing outside!

And for Hilary and Leslie. They did not even cancel school here today, the kiddos played outside after Max got home from school!

Things I Have Done

2009-01-26T15:36:00.002-06:00

Here's the game. Copy and Paste the list below and then highlight/bold the things you have done. It is kind of fun. There is really not any directions to add explanations, but I just really felt the urge to explain some things!

Started your own blog
Slept under the stars
Played in a band
Visited Hawaii
Watched a meteor shower
Given more than you can afford to charity
Been to Disneyland/world
Climbed a mountain
Held a praying mantis
Sang a solo (this of course was in elementary school!)
Bungee jumped
Visited Paris
Watched a lightning storm at sea
Taught yourself an art from scratch
Adopted a child
Had food poisoning
Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (I am going to be honest, I remember going to see the Statue of Liberty, I don't really remember walking to the top)
Seen the Mona Lisa in France
Slept on an overnight train
Had a pillow fight
Hitchhiked
Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
Built a snow fort
Held a lamb
Gone skinny dipping
Been to a Broadway show in NY
Ran a Marathon
Been in three states at once
Ridden in a gondola in Venice
Seen a total eclipse
Watched a sunrise or sunset
Hit a home run
Been on a Cruise (I haven't actually done this, but I am going on an Alaskan Cruise in May woohoo!)
Seen Niagra Falls in Person
Visited the birthplace of your Ancestors
Seen an Amish community
Taught yourself a new language
Had enough money to be truly satisfied
Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
Gone rock climbing
Seen Michelangelo’s David
Sung karaoke
Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
Visited Africa
Walked on a beach by moonlight
Been transported in an ambulance
Had your portrait painted
Gone deep sea fishing
Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
Kissed in the rain
Played in the mud
Been to Grace Kelley’s grave in Monaco
Gone to a drive-in theater
Been in a movie (Do home movies count? :)
Visited the Great Wall of China
Started a business (The neighbor girl and I started a fake chapstick selling store when we were kids, even took peoples money!)
Taken a martial arts class
Swam in the Mediterranean Sea
Visited Russia
Served at a soup kitchen
Sold Girl Scout cookies
Gone whale watching (Plan on doing this in May also!!)
Gotten flowers for no reason
Donated blood, platelets or plasma
Gone sky diving
Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
Bounced a check
Saved a favorite childhood toy
Visited the Lincoln Memorial
Eaten Caviar
Pieced a quilt
Stood in Times Square
Toured the Everglades
Been fired from a job
Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
Broken a bone
Been on a speeding motorcycle
Seen the Grand Canyon in person
Published a book
Visited the Vatican
Bought a brand new car
Walked in Jerusalem
Had your picture in the newspaper
Read the entire Bible
Visited the White House
Killed and prepared my own meat
Had chickenpox
Saved someone’s life
Sat on a jury
Met someone famous
Joined a book club
Lost a loved one
Had a baby
Seen the Alamo in person
Swam in the Great Salt Lake
Been involved in a law suit
Owned a cell phone
Been stung by a bee

I tag Sally, Sam, Mandy G., and Leslie!

Long time no blog!

2009-01-20T23:03:00.002-06:00

I seriously have a list of things that I have been meaning to post it just seems like I never get around to doing it. I don't even have a good excuse! Anyway, Monday night was Family Literacy Night at Max's school so we went to check it out. Max's teacher, Mrs. Stone, snapped this picture of all of us and then e-mailed it to me today. She is absolutely wonderful by the way and Max is having a great year because of her. We just rarely have pics of the entire family so I enjoy this one. The look on Ben's face basically depicts his feeling about the entire night. Until they started serving cookies! He enjoyed that and made a huge mess! I hope everyone has a great hump day!

I also wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS to the Harrel fam for their new beautiful baby girl. She looks precious and I can't wait to see her this weekend!

Little Update!

2009-01-15T21:24:00.002-06:00

I just thought I would post a little update on the kitchen renovations. Oh yeah, there is nothing to report. It looks exactly like it did when I took the pictures from the previous post! This is the way we funtion. I can't help it.

OH MY!

2009-01-07T22:19:00.003-06:00

That is what I thought when I got home from work today. Chad was off and I guess he got ambitious. We had (somewhat still have) dropped lighting in our kitchen that I really, really hate and I told Chad that for my birthday (February 13th) I wanted the kitchen lighting redone. Well, I guess he took me seriously. I will just be absolutely surprised if this is completed by my birthday because Chad and I are not the "getter done" kind of people I wish we were. I truly hope that my kitchen does not look like this for an extended amount of time!

Merry Christmas (finally)

2009-01-02T12:28:00.003-06:00

I wanted to title this post "Pathetic" because it has taken me this long to post Christmas pics, but I didn't think that went along with the Christmas spirit to well! We have had a wonderful holiday. We had a total of 5 Christmas celebrations, yes 5 and we had a great time. We also celebrated Chad's 35th birthday, watched OSU blow it big time, and had an 80's party for New Year's Eve. Oh, yeah, and Sam got his tonsils taken out. Needless to say, we have been pretty busy, and I am a little depressed that I have to go back to work on Monday! Time really does fly by.

I asked Chad what is was like turning 35. He says that it kind of stinks because everyday after his birthday he is that much closer to 40 than to 30, but since he can still do back flips on the trampoline he says he is not going to let it get him down!
These pictures of Ben and Ryder crack me up, they are going to be the best buddies. (Please ignore the messy house in the background!)

And what not better to share than a bag of Cheetos!

I hope everyone had a great 2008 and has an even better 2009.

Christmas Program #2

2008-12-23T16:49:00.003-06:00

Sam did such a good job at his Christmas program. We are so proud of him and he is getting so big it truly makes me sad that he is not "momma's little boy anymore". He did tell me today that he did not want to grow up and that he would just stay my little boy forever! Okay by me. Here is Sam walking out of the program and I posted a little video footage of his Santa Claus is Coming to Town song. I think it is hilarious!

Sorry about the video quality I am not sure what is up with that!

Santa attended Sam's Christmas program as well, and all of the children were able to tell him what they wanted for Christmas. I honestly wonder what Sam is asking for here!

Not everyone wanted to tell Santa what they wanted!

I truly hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas! I am sure that I will not be posting again until after the big day! See ya then!

Christmas Tag!

2008-12-19T12:08:00.004-06:00

Mandy G. tagged me so long ago, I am really embarrassed that it took me so long to complete this post. I also thought I would add the picture Max took of the gingerbread house the boys made last week! They are quite the architects.
Here is a picture of them fighting over the candy!

1. EggNog or Hot Chocolate? I love my mom's chocolate eggnog. In fact I may make some this weekend!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Both

3. Colored lights on house/tree or white lights? Usually white lights on tree, but we moved to colored this year and colored outside also.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope

5. When do you put your decorations up? The Wednesday before Thanksgiving we do the tree, and then I try to put more up as I have time. I will admit I haven't been as good about putting them up this year!

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? I am with Mandy G. Chicken-n-noodles!!

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? I have so many, but they mostly involve getting together with my family and I especially remember the years that we received our Nintendo and the year of the trampoline, those were the best gifts.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Honestly, I don't remember

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?Yes, we rotate who we spend Christmas day and Christmas Eve with so we always either open gifts with Chad's parents or mine.

10. How do you decorate your tree? Light and ornaments, no theme or anything. The kids do most of it!

11. Snow! Love it or dread it? If it is just snow and not ice, than I love it. If it is nice outside, snowy and not windy, I would go out and play with the kids!

12. Can you ice skate? It has been a long time since I have done this, but you know me I try just about anything!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I remember getting a trampoline that I had asked for forever, and I remember my Nintendo!

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays for you? I love spending time with family and passing that tradition on to my kids.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? If it involves some kind of sugar, than I probably like it!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Reading the Christmas Story out of the bible before we open presents.

17. What tops your Christmas tree? A while star.

18. Which do you prefer-giving or receiving? Giving

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? Mary Did You Know

20. Candy Canes-yum or yuck? Candy Canes are OK, but the Starburst ones are YUM, YUM

21. What do you want for Christmas? Nothing really, Chad and I aren't exchanging this year.

22. Do you attend an annual Christmas party? We attend several Christmas get togethers. Our Sunday School Party was last Friday night, and it was a blast!

23. Do you dress up on Christmas or wear PJs? PJ's

24. Do you own a Santa hat? Yes, the boys have a couple thanks to mimi

25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with? Rotating between our families.

I tag mom and Sally. (Sally this does not involve pictures, so you can do it anytime!

Hopefully I will have Sam's Christmas program pics up tomorrow!

2008-12-15T13:55:00.003-06:00

I know what you are thinking. Two posts in two days? What's up? Let's just say it probably won't continue. Max's Christmas program was last Thursday and he did a pretty good job, even coming from this biased mom. This first picture was taken before they started singing.
This picture was taken during the performance. Notice the "not smiling face". This is what he looked like almost the entire performance. Although he did sing and participate in all of the movements, he just didn't look like he was enjoying himself overly much.

After they were finished singing he went back to looking pleased again! He just cracks me up. I added a little video for you enjoyment! Sorry for the poor video quality. I put Chad in charge of the video camera and I probably will not make that mistake again.

Sam's Christmas program is tonight. Maybe I can keep the ball rolling and post those pictures tomorrow. We'll see!

Booty Shakin'

2008-12-14T21:56:00.002-06:00

We bought a new video camera last May, yes May, and I really love it. Well, tonight we actually took some time and downloaded video onto the computer. Needless to say it did take awhile because we have done alot of recording since May. I came across this little booty shaker and I thought I would let you enjoy it also!

It's Beginning to

2008-12-06T18:57:00.002-06:00

look a lot like Christmas and I love it. I have finally gotten most of our Christmas decorations put up (mostly so my oldest child and my mother will get off of my back!) My boys love putting up decoration, and Max has taken to rearranging things as well. Just thought I would post these pics of the boys decorating the tree!

This is a picture of the yard ornament that my mother made for us. The boys love this thing and play with it all the time. Well, actually they try to run up it. I am surprised it is still standing. Of course, they were severely threatened that if I ever caught them "fighting" the snowmen again then a belt would be involved in the punishment!

6 Random Things

2008-12-05T15:20:00.003-06:00

Okay Ashley tagged me so I thought I would participate! Here are the rules!

1) Link to the person who tagged you. Ashley
2) Post the rules on your blog (copy and paste 1-6).
3) Write 6 random things about yourself.
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

1. I really don't like feet (baby feet are pretty sweet, but they get a little older and no thanks). They just kind of gross me out. I don't even really like anyone messing with mine. You will never see me give someone a foot massage and I will probably never ask for one either!

2. I am a complete night owl. Before I had children I would stay up until all hours of the night and I could sleep past noon. This was of course in the summer when I was not working.

3. I love playing games, any type of game (video game, board game, computer game, athletic games, whatever) and I really like to win. One of my best memories is coming home late at night and my mom being up playing Tetris. I would make her start taking turns with me and we could play forever. (She was very stingy, by the way and never wanted to share!)

4. I love to read. I get this from both of my parents. I could read just about anything and I get so addicted to book that I cannot let myself start new books until I get other things accomplished. I have been known to read for over 24 hours straight. Only stopping to eat and go to the bathroom. This can give you a neck ache by the way.

5. I balance my checkbook online everyday.

6. I am addicting to blog lurking (it is such a waste of time, but I don't even care). I feel like I know certain people very well just because I look at their blogs all of the time. I never even post a comment I just like to see what is going on in their lives!

I tag Mandy G., Leslie, Tara, Sam, Lacy, and Billie!

Indoor Activity?

2008-12-02T18:10:00.002-06:00

I didn't think so either. Max received this as a birthday gift from his Aunt JoLyn. I had not blown it up yet because we did not really have a place to play with it. Needless to say Chad found it and had it blown up within minutes. How long did this toy last you say? Actually, it made it about 2 weeks (surprise, surprise) before it had a hold in it. I was not totally thrilled about the boys playing with it in the house, but they loved every minute of it!

Soccer Stud

2008-11-25T16:10:00.002-06:00

I know that soccer season has been over for awhile but I couldn't help but post a picture of this little cutie! I was going through a stack of pics earlier and come across this picture. It just makes me laugh because he is so snaggle toothed (and it is only getting worse!) I love this little man, he definitely keeps me on my toes.

One Strange Little Indian

2008-11-24T13:46:00.002-06:00

Sam had a small little Thanksgiving program at his school today along with a feast! He was so excited because Mimi, Aunt Annie, Lily and Cooper were going to get to come to his school. The kiddos came walking into the room wearing their Indian hats and necklaces and Sam's looked a little bit different (see picture below). I guess he just wanted to have his own little style. That is my Sammy boy for ya!

This is Sam and his good buddy Caden. Notice Caden's feathers look a little more "Indianish" than Sam's!

Samisms

2008-11-19T09:46:00.002-06:00

I thought I would start documenting some of the things Sam says. It just amazes me the things that come out of his mouth (for a four year old). Anyway, since I am the mom I probably think that these are cuter than some of you do, but I wanted to start documenting them. I don't have a very good memory so I will just post them as I remember.

Yesterday

Sam walks through the entryway and the coat rack just falls completely over. (Yes, I am sure that it has to many coats hanging on it) He says "I didn't see that one coming" in his little manly voice, doesn't even look at the darn thing and goes and sits on the coach to watch Sponge Bob. I guess he really didn't care that he had a near death experience.

Chad drops Sam off at school everyday and Chad tells me this is the way it always goes.

Chad: "Have a great day at school at school Sam"

Sam: "No dad, you have a great day at work!"

Then he hops out of the car and goes on his merry way!

Great News!

2008-11-17T15:33:00.002-06:00

I just figured out how to access my blog from work WOOHOO (you know school filters and all) so now I should be able to post more often! Don't tell anyone (and hopefully my boss won't read this :) and maybe you will be able to hear from me more often! Now I won't even be able to use my excuse of being to busy in the evenings. I hope you all get to hear from me again soon!

Sam's Party!

2008-11-03T18:06:00.003-06:00

Since Sam goes to a private preschool he got to have a Halloween Party at school this year. It was so cute to see him in his element with all of his friends at school. It made me realize how old he is getting.Here he is with his buddies from church Kobe and Caden.They sang a Spooky song! Not really sure what it was about!Here Sam is being the best teachers helper!

And of course he was loaded up with a ton of goodies from the day! We have so much candy at our house it is insane!

We are leaving town tomorrow and will not be back until Sunday evening. Our entire family is going to Branson for some fun! Yes, there will be 18 of us total 9 adults and 8 children (all under the age of 6!) So I am sure that there will be several posts from the family dedicated to the trip! Hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

Halloween 2008

2008-11-01T22:13:00.006-05:00

We had a blast this year on Halloween. Max decided to be Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars Clone Wars, Sam was Indiana Jones, and Ben was the cutest little lion you have ever seen! It does make me a little sad that the kiddos get old enough to chose their own costumes! I prefer to chose them, but hey, at least they didn't take a lot of effort this year!

This is Anakin ready to fight.

Indiana was always ready to pose for a picture!

Let's just say this lion was not as cooperative for pictures. He did love his mane though and got really mad at me if I tried to take it off of him. Everyone thought he was so cute (yes, my mother made the costume!)

Which would you bet on lightsaber or whip?

Luke got to enjoy Halloween with us this year and he was a cute little dragon, but don't tell him that! He says he is a dinosour!

Here is our best effort at a group shot!

More Halloween Fun!

2008-11-01T21:54:00.005-05:00

I don't know why, but blogger cut me short on my other Halloween post. I wanted to post some pictures from KidFest at our church! We did a little trick or treating with the kiddos and then we headed to our church carnival, needless to say, we got there when it started and we stayed until it closed! We had so much fun. Here is Sam on the big slide I bet the kids did this about 50 times.
Max even helped Ben up once and gave him a shove down. Ben loved every minute of it!

As some of you know Ben is oppsessed with Basketball, so when he noticed a goal just his size this is what he wanted to do all evening.

I was trying to get a picture of Carter, the lion, and Ben together (jungle animals you know), but as you can see Ben was not cooperating so well!

There was a hay ride outside (Uncle Bert was the driver) and Aunt Sally took all of the kiddos for a spin.

I know this picture is horrible, but I feel like I haven't posted many of Max. Mostly because I can hardly stay up with him! This was at the carnival, it is a big swing that is hooked up to the seiling. They but the kids in this sling like thing and push them around (way high by the way) and of course my boys love every minute of it!

Needless to say that a great time was had by all, and thanks to my mom we are now the proud parents to three goldfish. Yes, my mother sets up a carnival booth and gives away fish to children who can thow a ping pong ball into a jar containing the fish. Mimi thought all three of the boys needed their own fish. Thanks a lot Mimi!

The end of soccer season!

2008-10-29T16:59:00.004-05:00

Soccer season ended last weekend and I am finally posting some pics of my boys playing. The first picture says it all. This is how Ben feels after he has been forced to stay at the soccer fields for about 4 hours. Sometimes I feel the same.
You will probably notice that I am much better at taking action shots during Sam's games than during Max's. Sam's games move as a much slower pace than Max's games.

Here is Sam and Luke cheering on the team. For those of you who do not know, we found out this weekend that Jolyn is expecting again and it is a little girl. She is due in late March.

Here is Sam's team. Everyteam got medals, but these little guys were especially excited about them!

Here is Max's team. These guys crack me up. They think they are so big and do things like chest bump after each goal. They don't keep score at this age, but I don't believe we would have lost one game even if they did keep score!

Max and his good buddy Mark!

Sorry about this shot, I am so slow on the trigger that I missed the ball!

I enjoy being a little league mom, but by the time these seasons are over I can't say that I am that upset! Spring season will be here before we know it!

He is growing up on me!

2008-10-27T17:19:00.002-05:00

I really can't believe how big he has gotten! Katie took Max's 6 year old pictures last time she was in Woodward and of course they turned out awesome! Not only is she great at the picture taking part, but she gets me kids to do things I never thought they would do! Seeing these pictures makes me a little teary eyed! It seems like yesterday he was running around the house in nothing but a diaper! Now he is in kindergarten and acts all grown up. I love him more and more all of the time (of course the little male in him makes we want to wring his neck sometime, but he can't help that, it's in his DNA :)

Thanks Katie, they turned out great!

Watch out Doogie!

2008-10-16T19:31:00.002-05:00

There is a new child genious in town. Chad has always said that Ben is our smartest child. I just didn't realize how smart! I mean reading the paper at 17 months that is pretty impressive!

Seriously, it has to be the sports section and he will look at it for quite some time! He looks through all of the pages and points to all of the balls (soccer, football, basketball!)

My mom is awesome!

2008-10-08T21:19:00.003-05:00

Of course most of you all all ready know that my mom is awesome, but I wanted to show off a little of her most recent, most time consuming project. Our church decided that our nursery needed a little face lift, and of course who do they ask, my mom. Not only because she is very talented, but also because she has a very giving heart and can't say no to anyone. She has been working on painting some biblical scenes on the walls inside the classrooms and on the walls in the hallways. I know that I posted a lot of pictures, but I didn't do all of them and I just couldn't choose a couple. The first one is probably my favorite.
She painted a Noah's Ark inside the toddler area and then she added animals on the walls all around it. It really looks awesome.

This is the picture that she painted inside the 1 year old's classroom (do you call it a classroom at this age?) Isn't it good?
Inside the 2, 3, and 4 year old classrooms she painted biblical characters depicted as children. I love it, and so do the kiddos. I only posted four out of the 9 she had done so far (two more to come). Can you guess who they are?

Thanks for doing this mom, everyone has really enjoyed it! I only wish that you had passed some of your talent onto me! I love you!

What we have been up to lately!

2008-10-05T16:59:00.004-05:00

It irks even me. The lack of blogging on my part that is. I know there are people around who are busier than me, but I just can't find time to sit down at my computer. Since there has been such a shortage of posts on my part lately, I thought I would just post some pics of what we have been up to.

Chad decided that he and I needed some bikes. I really can't remember the last time I rode a bike. Quite possibly elementary school, who knows. Anyway, Chad thought it would be cheap exercise so we also purchased this handy little baby carrier. Ben loves it and gets really angry when we walk through the garage and don't stop and take a spin around the neighborhood.

This is a picture that Max took of me on my new bike, lovely I know.
Side note: A person has to actually ride the bike to get exercise. It does not do much just sitting in the garage!

Max lost another tooth. Of course Uncle Bert helped this one come out. I am not sure what happened but it involved a door at church and some horsing around. Max was excited he got more money from the tooth fairy!

As many of you know, from reading Annie's blog, we had a little birthday party in Yukon for Max, Lily, and Cooper. This was after we had played four soccer games in Woodward that AM, drove to my grandmother's birthday party (she is 80 and going strong!) and then to the park for the kiddos. It was really great seeing family, even if it was a crazy weekend. I was also so excited to see my friend Paula, who I haven't seen in four years, but have been friends with for over 20! Her girls came to play with the kids and we loved catching up with her, her mother and sister. Next time we won't wait so long to get together!

Woodward's Homecoming was last weekend as well so we hit the parade Friday afternoon. The boys of course loved it and Sam is finally getting over his fear of loud noises!

Ben preferred to sit and wait and let the bigger kids just bring him candy!

The boys have been asking to decorate pumpkins, but my heart just hasn't been into it. I came across these pumpkin tattoos at WalMart and they were perfect. Fast, clean, and easy to do. The boys were satisfied and so was I.

These are just a few of the things we have been doing. I realized that I do not have any soccer pictures from this season do I will try to take some next weekend. Sam is doing really well, except he gets a bad attitude if he doesn't think things are going well. It makes me laugh, but I try to explain that there is more to the game than scoring all of the goals!

I will also have to admit that TV is taking up a little more of my time than usual. I am addicted to Dancing with the Stars. I also try to get in several other shows, thank goodness for DVR! I promise to make an effort to be a better blogger (notice the effort part and not the promise to do it for sure!)

Emily does not know everything!

2008-10-01T21:48:00.002-05:00

This is what I have to tell Max quite often. He is always saying Emily told me this or Emily said that. Well, tonight on the way home from church Max says. "Mom, God promised that he would not ever send a hurricane again and make a flood, but he did. He lied." I said "WHAT!" and he repeated himself. I continued to ask him who told him this and he said Emily. I am not even sure that Emily tells Max everything she gets credit for, but this one was interesting. Needless to say, we had to have a long discussion about the difference in "THE FLOOD" and a hurricane and exactly what God's promise was. For some reason, Emily holds better influence with Max than I do, but I think he finally got it.

I know that I have been a horrible blogger lately and I have lots of things that I would like to post I just never find the time. So tomorrow my plan is one massive post and catch up on all of the things we have been up to. Of course Gray's Anatomy is on, so I hope I get it done!

5 Thing Tag!

2008-09-24T20:53:00.003-05:00

Kara tagged me a couple of days ago. I have literally been so busy that I have not been able to do my regular blog lurking to see that I was tagged. I should also be doing some catchup on housework right now, but seriously like I am going to choose that over posting a blog!

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago.

1. I was in my senior year at OSU
2. This would be about the time we won the intramural flag football league at OSU (on Lewis Field by the way)
3. Living with Annie and Tiffany in the trailer house in Stillwater.
4. Dating Chad
5. Worrying about getting into graduate school (Oh how things change)

5 Things on my to do list
1. Clean the house
2. Fold the laundry on my bed before Chad comes in here and complains about it
3. Finish painting my house (inside and out)
4. Get ready for Oct. 1st (this is a federal funding deadline for us, which makes Sept. unbearable at my job)
5,. Take a shower.

5 bad habits
1. Pushing snooze a gazillion times in the morning.
2. Not finishing a project (i.e. painting the house)
3. A lot of people would consider my the way I keep my house a bad habit.
4. To much blog lurking
5. Eating to many sweets

5 places I have lived
1. Woodward
2. Yukon
3. Stillwater
4. I lived in Hinton (I think that was it, mom can correct me) for a couple of months sometime before the age of 2
5. Nope, that is it,

5 Things I am listening to right now
1. The dryer
2. Chad reading the paper and eating soup in the kitchen
3. Ben fussing in his bed because he doesn't want to go to sleep
4. crickets (I hate crickets)
5. That's it, we don't even have the TV on (strange)

5 words I hate
1. stupid
2. Dutchy (I hate when people say this about the way a child speaks)
3. tootie (it just grates on my nerves that Max says this all of the time.)
4. I really can't think of anymore off of the top of my head

5 jobs I have had
1. Speech Pathologist
2. Secretary at OARC
3. Mailroom at OSU
4. Mowing lawns
5. Radio board operator

5 things I have eaten today
1. banana bread
2. Lean Cuisine Lasagna
3. meatloaf
4. mashed potatoes
5. green beans (we ate at church tonight)

5 websites I visit daily
1. Stock exchange bank
2. MSN weather
3,4,5,6, etc all the blogs I check regularly

Now I tag Leslie, Mandy G., Sam, Tara, and Billie. Some of you need to blog more often! TARA (I will excuse you a little bit because of the whole hurricane thing!)

Are you ready for some football?

2008-09-20T15:49:00.002-05:00

So, last Monday night I put the big boys to bed and I go looking for the little one. This is what I find when I go into the family room. Chad said that he just came and plopped himself right down to watch the football game. It was pretty cute, he just laid there and watched the game until a commercial came on and then he would get mad. Chad says that you gotta train 'em early!

Another one bites the dust!

2008-09-17T22:10:00.003-05:00

Actually it was the bread. Max has had a loose tooth for quite some time now. He won't let anyone touch it, he really acts like he may lose his life if he looses that tooth. Anyway, we were at church this evening eating dinner and Max took a bite of bread and his tooth fell out, yes bread, that is how loose it was. Scary thing is, he has now lost five teeth, but only has two new ones. If he doesn't hurry up and grow some of those teeth back in it may be difficult for him to eat. This is the picture I got out of him!

Happy Birthday Max!

2008-09-14T20:13:00.003-05:00

Yes, Max's actual birthday was yesterday we were just so busy I did not have time to post! I really can't believe that my baby is six years old now. He has truly been the biggest blessing. He definitely keeps us on our toes, but I wouldn't have it any other way. He is turning into the sweetest boy and is the best big brother (okay, he does like to torment sometimes, but Chad says that is in the big brother job description!) I will have to warn you that I posted a a lot of pictures, but when I started looking at them I became very nostalgic and I couldn't pick just a couple.

Max had a rough start so he wasn't the prettiest new born, but we thought he was precious.

My baby is 1!

Here Max is 2 years old and all ready a big brother!

Max is 3 and such a blondie!

My baby turns 4 and Aunt Katie starts taking pics yeah!

When Max turned 5 the Chandler smile started!

Happy birthday Max, we love you so much!

Sam's pennant

2008-09-09T22:35:00.002-05:00

I thought I would post a picture of Sam's homework (that is what he called it.) His teacher sent these pennants home from school with directions to decorate it with things about Sam (pics, favorites, ect) Obviously, he had a lot of help with this assignment (actually I printed the pics, but my mom basically but it together). What kind of makes me laugh about it is the fact that Sam insisted that Ricco be put on the pennant. For those of you who do not know about Ricco he is Sam's imaginary horse. Usually Sam tells me that he is black and if 58 years old, but he picked a white horse picture to put on the pennant, go figure. Ricco also tends to take the blame for things that Sam does. The other day I was doing something to Sam (I can't remember exactly, putting his shoes on I think) and he was being whiney and fussy. I told him to knock it off and quit being a baby. His exact words to me were "Mom, Ricco is pinching me and it hurts!"

Busy, Busy, Bees

2008-09-05T21:08:00.002-05:00

I know, I feel terrible because I am a horrible blogger. I just literally meet myself coming and going all of the time. We had a great Labor Day weekend (not that I have anything to prove it with because I forgot my camera!) we came home dirty and tired, but after we had been home a couple of hours Max said he was ready to go back! The rest of the week was a blur between work, school, soccer practice, church, homework (yep, in kindergarten) more soccer practice, looking at houses (yes, that is another post all together!) and finally getting home I am completely exhausted. I am really hoping the kids sleep in tomorrow. I am leaving you with pics of the big boys trying on their new shin guards and cleats on night before be. They have become quite the clowns. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

To punish or not

2008-08-28T23:09:00.002-05:00

to punish. That is the question. As you can see we now have a broken light fixture on our ceiling fan in the living room. This was a result of Max throwing a football across the room. Here's the dilemma. I was the recipient of said ball, and I told him to throw it to me, after I had tossed it to him. Can't really punish a kid for throwing ball in the house when you are throwing with him can you?

The sad part was, I never did get on to him, but he just kept apologizing "I'm sorry mom, I didn't mean to hit the light." It made me feel pretty guilty. Anyway, I hope everyone has a great Labor Day Weekend and hopefully when we get back from the lake I will have some fun pictures to post.

Old School Rocks

2008-08-25T17:06:00.002-05:00

In honor of the Olympics coming to an end (which is good for me because I have gotten nothing else accomplished in the last two weeks) I am posting this picture that Jeff sent from Beijing. He has been sending us some updates and pictures from Beijing and letting us know how things are going over there and what events he has gotten to see. For instance he bought a ticket to the Bird's Nest one evening from a scalper($140) so that he could watch some track events. He was very disappointed when both the men and women's teams dropped the baton that night! He has said that the night life is very entertaining and he sent this picture with the above title! Leave it to Jeff to get his picture made with Vince Vaughn, he did not expand on his meeting with the movie start, so I don't know if they chatted or just posed for a picture, but I thought that some of you might enjoy it!

Rainy Day Fun

2008-08-22T19:33:00.003-05:00

It was really rainy in Woodward the first part of this week and my boys took full advantage of it. Max and Sam even took the time to try and "teach" Ben how to play in the puddles!

So here it is. . .

2008-08-21T19:15:00.002-05:00

all of the junk that is in my purse. I was tagged by Leslie for this and you are supposed to empty out your bag, take a photo and list out the items, explaining things you think need an explanation. Then others post what they think when they see the items. Here we go...

1 wallet
2 checkbooks
2 pens
1 pack of Trident gum
expired diaper coupons
2 tubes of mascara
1 tube of old lip gloss
1 picture holder
1 empty bottle of Afrin
1 empty antibiotic container
1 nasty old sucker
keys (the key chain is about 11 years old and is the one I used at OSU!)
1 new eyeliner (just purchased)
1 walmart gift card (balance unknown)
2 paint color samples (not a color choice, just taken away from my children at Walmart when they were not supposed to be messing with them)
a couple of straw wrappers, receipts, gum wrappers, and a ticker stub to Space Chimps.

This is pretty pathetic I realize. I don't even like carrying a purse. Needless to say I did not put the trash, coupons, Afrin, sucker, lip gloss, or medicine container back in my purse. So this was actually a good excuse to clean things out. Now I want to tag Kara and Amy Burnett (come on Amy just do it, you haven't posted in a really long time and it would be funny!) Have fun.

I Can't take it anymore!

2008-08-19T20:37:00.003-05:00

Really, I can't. Sam started preschool this week, Ben went to his 15 month check-up and today Max started kindergarten! Seriously. where has the time gone. My babies are growing up on me. Max didn't act all that excited about going, that is just how he is. But when i picked him up today I asked him if he had a good day and he responded with "I really did mom, it wasn't even boring!" I really do not know what he was expecting.

Here is max right before we left the house. He wouldn't even let me take his picture because he was freezing!! It has been a little cold here in the mornings.

For some reason I can only get a "Chandler" smile out of Max these days.
Got to have the perfect spot for your new backpack!
Here is Max's "get out of here mom, I am fine" look. He was less than thrilled that I was still taking his picture!

A "Beary" special day!

2008-08-18T20:02:00.005-05:00

Today, was "Beary" special for Sam, his first day of preschool (which has a bear theme this month)! He was very excited to go, until it was time to go. He told me that he did not want to grow up and he was still a little boy. Needless to say we still went to school and he had a good time.

Here he is with his new Speed Racer backpack.

It was raining so hard when it was time to go that Sam decided he needed to take his spiderman umbrella with him!
This evening was "Meet your teacher night" at Max's school so as we were leaving I told Max and Sam to pretend like they like each other so I could take their picture. This is what I got.

Here is what I get when I try to take a pic of all three of them. Oh Well!

Pathetic blogger

2008-08-15T16:08:00.002-05:00

Yep, I know. I have been a horrible blogger lately. I don't really have that great of an excuse. I had to start back to school on Monday and even though it is now Friday I am still in a complete funk about it. I don't want to go back to work and nobody can make me be happy about it. Another reason that I do not have as much time is that I am completely addicted to the Olympics! I watch it every evening until it is over and then I sometimes watch some of the rerun from earlier! So needless to say I am exhausted all day but stay up late the next night watching again! I love the swimming, gymnastics, volleyball, basketball, diving, all of it (all I have heard about from Chad is that the "real" Olympics haven't even started yet, which is track for those of you who do not know Chad very well!).

Since it is Friday I thought I would post this little flashback photo. This was taken in 1983. My mothers hair is so dark (sorry about the picture quality) you almost can't see it and check out how skinny my dad is! I also love the fact that they squeezed us all into this picture and the only part of Katie that you see is her head!

Flashin back (a little late)

2008-08-10T17:46:00.002-05:00

Sorry this flashback did not happen on Friday, but we have been really busy around here. My mom got the ball rolling and we repainted my living room, hallways, my bedroom, and the utility room, and we also have been working on repainting all of the woodwork in my house. If it wasn't for my mother none of this would have gotten done and I appreciate her so much!

This is a picture that I came across while going through some things in the living room. I was probably two in this picture, and my mother says that if you want to get in and out of Ollin Mills (sp?) really fast than take your dog. Kubla was the best dog ever and I remember him being very protective of me!

Problem anyone?

2008-08-05T10:02:00.002-05:00

Although Ben is not yet 15 months old he thinks that he has to do everything his big brothers do. I am not sure they are always the best examples!

A fun game of tag

2008-08-03T14:03:00.002-05:00

Yes, another game of tag. I came across this game of tag on a random blog and I thought it might be fun. The object of this tag is to ask your child(ren) the questions below and replace my answers with yours. My kids were not that creative with their answers. Sam's answers are first.
What does Mommy always say to you? I don't know.
What makes Mommy happy?No Movin (you really need to be around to understand these answers)
What makes Mommy sad? Movin
How does Mommy make you laugh? Doin this (he sticks his fingers in the sides of his cheeks and pulls them to make a funny face, and he is correct. I did laugh.)
How old is Mommy?40
How tall is Mommy?This (held his hand up a little above his head)
What doesn't Mommy like to do? Play outside
What is Mommy's job? At the school
What is Mommy's favorite food? Roast Beef (where did that come from?)
How do you know Mommy loves you? Let's me watch Ben 10 (probably not the best parenting choice)
Here are Max's answers:
What does Mommy always say to you? I love you.
What makes Mommy happy? Hugs
What makes Mommy sad? If you get killed. (Ya think!)
How does Mommy make you laugh? Shaking your hiney! (Just for those of you who don't know, I don't do this.)
How old is Mommy? 100
How tall is Mommy? 4
What is Mommy's job? Work at school.
What is Mommy's favorite food? lettuce (not so much)
How do you know Mommy loves you? She hugs me.
So I choose to tag Sally, Annie, and Katie. Mostly because they all need to blog more often and I know that eventually everyone else will get tagged.

How long is to long

2008-07-28T14:34:00.005-05:00

to finish a project? As some of you know I did (began) somewhat of a kitchen makeover beginning last march. I am still working on the cabinets and I don't have anything on the walls yet, but I did finally purchase hardware (thank you e-bay!) As of right this moment I have completely finished 13 out of 32 cabinet doors and 6 out of 11 drawers! My goal is to have it all finished by the time school starts (exactly 14 days from now EEEK). Anyway, here is a pic if the hardware I chose. I don't know why the pictures make them look a little gold, but they are brushed satin nickel.

Just to let you know I do actually finish some projects. My front door needed a makeover so I painted it. Here is a before picture. It actually looks better in this picture than it did in real life! Trust me it was in pretty bad shape.
Here is the color that I chose. Not Chad's favorite, but I think it looks better than it did before I painted it!

I also have a prayer request. My grandfather is having a heart valve replaced and bypass surgery tomorrow at 1:45 so please remember him in your prayers.

Poor Ben!

2008-07-24T19:49:00.002-05:00

Seriously, I know some of you are probably beginning to wonder if we are capable parents! Ben took a little tumble last night (along with his father, right on down the driveway). Needless to say, these were the results. Chad was a little freaked out and Dr. K checked Ben out and said that he was okay. He was completely fine today. This kid is going to have to be the toughest kid on the block, his parents aren't leaving him any other choice!
Ben was exhausted by the time he stopped crying and he fell asleep in my arms before we put him to bed!
Here he is this evening eating an Oreo cookie!

Flashback

2008-07-18T09:22:00.002-05:00

So here is a oldie to go into the weekend with. This was at Annie and Josh's rehearsal dinner in 2002. I am extrememly large because Max is on his way and Emily is about 6 weeks old! Picture quality is not that great sorry.
Here is a warning for some of you. I found some old highschool photos and I will be using those as flashbacks pretty soon!

I hope everyone has a great weekend. We are traveling to Owasso today to spend some time with the fam and have Ashley's baby shower. See ya when we get back!

Poor little guy!

2008-07-14T12:02:00.002-05:00

As a lot of you probably know from my mom's blog we had to make a little trip to the emergency room last night. Max got his tonsils taken out last Wednesday and then last night he got his face glued back together after crashing off of his sit on scooter (for lack of another word to describe it). Doctor's order said that he was supposed to remain inside and inactive for 7 days (yeah, right). He was going stir crazy, as was I so we went outside for awhile. Not the best idea.This picture was taken this morning right after he got out of bed. He had just fallen down and bloodied his lip. Needless to say, we see alot of blood around this place!

She did it again!

2008-07-13T14:15:00.002-05:00

How many times has that been my title? Katie took Sam's 4-year old pictures last time she was in town and of course they turned out great. I may be a little biased but the subject in theses pics sure is pretty darn cute! Thanks Katie, we love them and I am all ready having a hard time trying to decide which ones I want to order!

I just think this last one is too funny! He is cracking up and he laughs like this so often that I just love it!

Party Pics

2008-07-10T13:52:00.002-05:00

So as I have mentioned before, we celebrated Sam's 4th birthday party last Sat. at Boiling Springs Pool. Sam was very blessed to get to have so many friends and family celebrate with us, and a special thanks to everyone who joined us from out of town! Everyone had a blast and the pool water felt great. Here are some pictures from the evening.

As always Sam is cheesing it up for the camera!

Here he is with his new Lightening McQueen bicycle.
Lots and Lots to open (and no where to put it when we got home!)

Yes, my husband thinks he is still 18 and needs to do tricks off of the board. Needless to say I got to hear about how sore he was for couple of days.
I do believe that Uncle Bert had something to do with Ben and these bowls.
Max is building up to his father's "tricks".
Sam cracked me up on the diving board. I didn't know if he was going to jump. He stood like this for awhile, then he turned around to leave, we thought, and instead he just took a big running start and sprinted off of the board, it was to funny!

Happy Birthday Sam!

2008-07-07T19:59:00.002-05:00

Sam is really starting to act like a four year old. Some of the things he does just cracks us up. For instance, he was jumping from the couch to the bouncy horse today (not a good idea) needless to say he fell and hurt himself. I was telling him how he shouldn't do that and he responded with "I did it all the time when I was three and did not get hurt!" Too funny.
Anyway, here are some pictures of my baby. I really can't believe it has been four years since he was born. Time really does fly by!

This was Sam looking through the window when Ben was born. He was not so enthused and I believe he told my mother he did not want to take him home. He has since changed his mind and loves him to death. A little to Ben's dismay most of the time:)
Sally and I took the kids to McDonald's today to eat. It was upon Sam's request. He wanted to play at McDonald's and since we had his party on Saturday night I thought he should get a little special treat today also! Hopefully I will be posting birthday pics soon!Happy Birthday Sam, you are a joy, and always entertaining. You have blessed us in so many ways. We love you!

T-ball trials

2008-07-06T16:00:00.002-05:00

T-ball is over for the year so I am a little behind on this post. Max really has not decided how he feels about the game. I do know that he made me feel very frustrated!! Everyone knows that Max is capable of running pretty well and he enjoys it (yes, exactly like his father, and nothing like his mother!) But when it came to running the bases you would have thought that he had never run before in his life. We (his parents) are still hoping the competitive bug will bite Max and since Kids Inc. t-ball is anything but competitive (no outs, everyone bats, don't keep score) maybe next year will be better! Half of the time he would have his glove over his face (he swore to me that he could still see) or be talking to his buddies in the field. Here are a few pics of his last game.

He is at least attempting some things during warm-ups.

Not looking so thrilled about playing second base, but at least his glove is not covering his eyes.
He does enjoy batting.
This was probably his favorite part of the game. Telling everyone how well they did!
We actually can wait until next year!

Great Wolf Lodge Part 2

2008-07-04T11:12:00.006-05:00

These are just pics that show some of the water park. The kids loved this fort. They could run around and play in the water. There were also two smaller slides attached to it. This is just part of the kiddie section.
Here is a part of the outdoor park. There really is so much more, it is a little expensive, but in my opinion it is well worth it.

These pictures are from inside our room. We paid a little extra for a KidCabin Suite and it was pretty cute. They had a little room that was set up like a cabin with bunk beds and murals on the walls. The kids loved it of course and fought over who was going to sleep on the top bunk.

The hotel also had a magic quest game you could play. Of course you had to pay for the magic wands and they had things all over the place that you could activate with your magic wands. The kids absolutely loved it and I will have to admit it was pretty cool and Sally and I got into it also. The game sent you different places in the motel with clues to find different "things".

Swimming makes you build up an appetite and we had to take a couple of breaks to eat!

Just a couple of more pics of playing the the water!

Great Wolf Lodge part1

2008-07-02T14:18:00.006-05:00

Warning: PICTURE OVERLOAD! Since there is so much to tell about our little trip I am making it in parts. More posts that way anyway! We just returned for Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, TX and we had a great time. Chad, Max, Sam, Bert, Sally, Emily, and I all loaded up and headed south on Sunday and we returned last night about 10:00 PM. I have to apologize for thw pictures they are not that great and I did not take that many. It is hard to take pictures at a water park (indoor and outdoor areas) where you literally get soaked everywhere you go! Plus I was in the water most of the time. Sally took a waterproof camera so hopefully she will have better pictures. Here are some fun ones of just playing around.

The kids loved these muffins (that is what Sam called them). You are really supposed to hold onto the ropes above your head, but the kiddos managed better like this! The big boys about killed themselves on these (yes Bert and Chad). They decided to just try and run as fast as they could across and see how far they got. I really wish I would have gotten a picture of that. We are lucky they are still walking.

Flashin back

2008-06-27T17:49:00.003-05:00

Last week I used Flash Back Friday to post old pics of my dad, so I guess this week is my mom's turn. I am not good with words so I can't even begin to describe how great of a woman my mom is. She does so much for me and I know that I don't tell her how much I appreciate her! Hope you enjoy the pics. Wasn't she cute, such a square headed child.
I don't think that she is showing her teeth in this picture because she is wearing braces. My mom and I looked a lot alike in junior high pics.
Yes, the high school football player married the high school cheerleader (they just were not in highschool at the same time, I will let you guess which one is older!)
The seventies clothes (and glasses) in this pic were just to funny. Here is a pic of my mom with her first grandchild. She is an awesome Mimi and her grandchildren adore her. I wonder how many she will have when everyone is done popping them out. I know that I won't be adding to the lot any!

Love you Mom

Ben's shiner

2008-06-23T16:42:00.002-05:00

When we were out of town last weekend Ben got a black eye (these pictures actually look better than it did in person.) Everyone keeps asking "What did he do to his eye?" and I have to say "I really don't know." He was playing with the other kiddos and ends up with this!

Happy Fathers Day (just a little late)

2008-06-20T11:43:00.002-05:00

Since I missed posting about Father's Day I thought I would do this post in honor of Fathers Day and flashback friday! My dad is awesome and I came across these old pictures of him and they made me laugh, I hope you enjoy them also!

For some reason my dad always rubs the grandkids heads, just something he has always done.
Here is my dad reading the Christmas story to us from the bible on Christmas Day. It is a family tradition.

This picture has always cracked me up. Of course I am sure that he is a pretty cocky young high school football player.
Look at all the hair these guys have!!
I love this picture, for those of you who do not know, my dad is the one in the middle (of the plaid shirted boys!)

First Steps

2008-06-18T14:59:00.002-05:00

This video is kind of old. Ben is now walking everwhere and is getting a lot better at it, but since I never posted these "toddling steps" I thought now would be as good a time as ever. My baby is seriously growing up to fast.

Summer Lovin"

2008-06-16T14:51:00.006-05:00

Okay, I know the title to this post should really be "Lovin Summer", I just really liked the other one better. Here are some pics of the kiddos while we were enjoying Kim's pool! Max and Emily are really swimming well, these days and they love the fact that they can jump in the deep end and don't have to wear life jackets. Sam on the other hand, really likes his life jacket!

Sorry about he crooked picture, I was supposed to be taking a picture of Max's "trick" jumps but as you can see I am a little slow on the trigger!

Sorry no pics of Ben, he was taking a nap, but I will post some of him soon, he loves the water!

Random Thoughts

2008-06-13T10:41:00.003-05:00

Okay, I know I have been a terrible blogger lately and since I haven't posted in awhile I thought I would post some "random thoughts."

Thought #1- I am getting really aggravated with myself. I keep losing and misplacing things. Such as my camera (hence the shortages of posts!) I can't find some of my kids clothes or the Sunday school lesson book that I got on Sunday for the 6th grade class I was supposed to teach! I am way to young for this to be happening all of the time and it is driving my crazy! Plus my mom rags on my about it all of the time.

Thought #2- Summer is flying by way to fast. I am loving being out of school and getting to be with my boys more. I can't believe it is all ready June 13th!

Thought #3- I love being the mom of three boys! I can honestly say there is never a dull moment around here, and even though I want to pull my hair out sometimes (okay, a lot of the time). I wouldn't change anything. I am really trying to slow down and appreciate them while they are little!

Thought #4- "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalms 19:14" This is the bible verse for this week in a bible study I am doing called "Conversation Peace" just thought you might want to ponder it.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. We are going to Norman tomorrow for my nephew Luke's 2nd birthday party!! Hopefully I will have something to post when we get back. (I finally got that new video camera, now I just need to download the software!)

My baby's one year pics

2008-06-07T13:10:00.002-05:00

God bless Katie. I am totally serious. She is the best sister, who happens to be a great photographer, ever!! I love how Ben's one year pictures turned out and it is going to be so hard to chose which ones to order. Here are just a few of them.

WARNING!!

2008-06-02T10:52:00.004-05:00

This is a warning to mother's who have small boys. Don't spend to much money on pants, they just tear them up. Max has put a whole in every single pair of pants that he owned this winter. This is just an example of a few of them, there are several more pair that did not make the picture! He actually has one pair of khakis that I only allowed him to wear to church and then I made him take them off immediately when we came home. Why are the holes just in the right knee? I have no idea, but it makes me pretty angry! Sometimes it takes just 1 or 2 times to wear the pants and they look like this. So much for hand me downs.

Memorial Weekend

2008-05-27T14:13:00.001-05:00

We had a wonderful time camping this past weekend. The weather was nice (only two rainy nights while we were sleeping) and the kids had a great time playing with each other. Instead of posting a million pics I decided the slideshow would be better. Notice, the "Red Neck Slip-n-slide" it was a favorite! I hope everyone else had a great time as well. As soon as we catch up on sleep and recover from our sunburns we will be ready to hit the road again.

2008-05-23T12:10:00.002-05:00

This is what Max looked like when he got home from school on Thursday, which was his last day of school. They had a field day and could het their faces painted and he wanted to be a pirate! On Tuesday Max's school had water day so I went and played in the water with the kiddos. It was so fun to see Max interacting with his buddies (and he is turning out to be pretty darn ornery!)
For those of you who know the story about Max's "Chinese" friend that is him in the orange shirt.
Max's favorite thing to do on recess is the monkey bars, and I have to say that he can shoot right across those things pretty darn fast.
Well, I hope everyone has a fun and safe memorial weekend, we are headed to Canton Lake. I hope we have good weather for the weekend. Hopefully, I will have great pics to post when I get home!!

Carnival Fun!

2008-05-22T11:07:00.002-05:00

I know that my mother all ready posted pics of the carnival, but I finally found my camera so I wanted to post some also (it was in my car the entire time). The kids had a blast and Max was upset that we did not go everynight!
Sam and max actually do get along sometime, I had to post a picture to prove it!
Sam love the dragon roller coaster ride.
Max got a little more brave than I would have liked. He wanted to ride all of the "big kid" rides and I did not want to spin (and Emily was to chicken). So he went on the "Gravatron" with this little boy and wanted to do it about 10 more times!! I remember the days when those things didn't make me sick.
These were the faces that Max and Emily gave us when we told them it was time to go home. It was almost 10:00, and they had school the next day!! Plus, we were wet because it had been raining and the carnival was about to close anyway! They were so sad.

I've been tagged!

2008-05-21T21:00:00.002-05:00

Well, Sam tagged me so I thought I would play along. I am not very good at these but I will give it a shot. Here's how to play this paticular game of Tag: Post these rules on your blog and complete. List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, and 3 random or surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving them a comment on their blog. And by all means, HAVE FUN!!
Joys
1. Max
2. Sam
3. Ben
(I know I kind of stole the kid thing from Sam, but it is oh so true!!)

Fears
1. Losing a loved one.
2. Making the right choices on those tough "life" decisions.
3. My kids growing up so fast that I look back and say "I wish we would have . . ."

Goals
1. To get my shopping for camping done tomorrow
2. Get my house painted this summer (and to finish the kitchen)
3. Get my pictures organized this summer
(All short term, but hey this is what I really need to do!)

Obessions/Collections
1. Checking the blogs of my family and friends (so much wasted time.)
2. Balancing my checkbook (it has to be correct and I do it about everyday!) Pathetic I know.
3. ??? I really can't think of another one (I wish it was house cleaning, but that is way down on my priority list!!)

Facts about myself
1. I love being the mother of three boys!!
2. I love to read, but don't have nearly enough time for it!
3. I'm so competitive that I have realized that neither myself nor my children may live through little league!!

Alrighty...hope that was fun for all to read. Now I will TAG: Mom, Annie, Katie, and Sally!

The Big Bash!

2008-05-18T14:04:00.003-05:00

We had Ben's birthday party Saturday evening and a great time was had by all!! Of course, Ben received way to many gifts and LOVED his cake! Thanks everyone for coming to celebrate with us.

Just getting a little taste of that cake!
Really loving that cake!!
Getting cleaned up after enjoying his first birthday cake!!
As a side note, all of these pics are from my mom's camera because I can't find mine. Nice huh? I have a ton more things I would like to post, and I know I used it Saturday morning but now it has disappeared. Of I don't post for awhile it is because I can't find my camera (it is beginning to cause me some anxiety).

My baby is officially 1

2008-05-17T09:15:00.002-05:00

yes. it's true, one year ago (yesterday) Ben came into the world. It really has flown by so fast. He is such a blessing and was such a good baby. He is beginning to display his independence and a little "attitude" but what can you expect with two big brothers that never leave you alone! He is finally beginning to take a step or two (yes, I just watched him) and will probably be in school before I know it. We are having his party tonight, so stay tuned for celebration pics!!

Lost treasure!!

2008-05-12T21:24:00.002-05:00

I came across my old digital camera that broke like two summers ago, and I thought to myself "I wonder what is on here?" and viola, pictures that I don't even remember taking. Some of these were just to darn cute not to post and again (I seem like a broken record) it makes me realize how fast my kids are growing up!!

Playing in the rain!!

Playing in the yard (and yes Sam is naked!)
Ready to go bed!!
Future Woodward Boomer Football players in training!!

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-10T22:41:00.001-05:00

I haven't been very good about posting lately so I thought I would post some random pics of the boys! I hope everyone has a great mother's day!!

Just couldn't wait!!

2008-05-08T16:16:00.004-05:00

Okay, so I know that a lot of you are going to see this invite before you actually receive yours in the mail, but I just couldn't help myself. I love the pictures and it turned out pretty darn cute. He was being such a pill when Katie tried to take the pictures I can't believe she got any good ones!! Thanks Katie!
(Yes, we fixed the typo before we had it printed!!)