Another week down in the books of history!

We have really had a great week! Sunday we went to church, ate lunch with friends and I took of to get kids from their dad. When we woke up Monday morning, we were iced in. Needless to say, the ice storm of December 2008 was a chilling reminder of the ice storm of 2007. It made me thankful to have electricity, heat & good food. Those ten days last year were miserable! Don't want to repeat that anytime soon. We were stuck in the house for 3 days. Obviously, I stayed home with the kids all 3 days. With them out of school and no family around I get to take a "mini-vacation" if you can call it that! I got to listen to "I'm bored" just about all day! Oh well, we actually enjoyed having that time. Wednesday was my first time out of the house since Sunday. I attempted to drive to church. Surprising to me was the roads & my driveway was completely clear of any ice remnants. I was soooo excited! That meant I could go to work and talk to big people!!! Thursday found us going (after work) to the oldest grandchild's first Christmas program. He did not want to participate in that. He cried and cried...poor guy! When they did get him up for his turn, all you could see was hands covering his face the whole time. Again, crying the entire time. He's so cute!! I got some great pics of the hands. Couldn't resist. We went out to eat at Steak 'n Shake after the program. I wish they wouldn't have closed where we live!! I really like their food. Friday - TODAY - we are going to attend Andrew's make up basketball game tonight. After the ice cancelling school, that also means all activities are cancelled. It's going to be fun! His dad & his Poppy are coming up to see him play. They will also be able to see him play tomorrow in a game. The team won 1st place last weekend at a tournament. He was so excited yesterday to call me and tell me that he got a 1st place trophy from that tournament! It's all about the trophies right now!! Saturday - as mentioned before....run-run-run with basketball games, finalizing Christmas plans, menus, cleaning & enjoying the hubby! I can't wait! It will be just the two of us for about two weeks. We actually need this down time! It's been stressful the past few weeks. Always seems to hit about the holiday time with us. Don't know what it is but, we always make it through! THANK GOD!! Hope all are having a wonderful and blessed Christmas season! Enjoy your family and God's love! Blessings, Tamara

Weekend Tales

Well, I designated Thursday of last week to be the night we got all of my fall decorations up into the attic & pull all of my Christmas decorations down to start the "official" decorating for Christmas. Between basketball practice, picking up pizza and a few other tiny things that popped up, we didn't get things decorated BUT we did get all of the fall decor up in the attic and the Christmas things down. They crowded our garage area for several days. (I guess they still are a little) Friday was spent doing running around in Tulsa and preparing for the second game of the basketball tournament. What fun it is to see those boys play. They lost again. Saturday was the 3rd game. This was a different story. They did lose but, WOW did they ever play!! They tended to learn that if they were going to accomplish a victory, they had to get a little more aggressive with that basketball. They did fabulous! Can't wait to see them grow even more.

After the game, we went to the High School for the choir's Annual Boar's Head Feast. That was so much fun! We got to enjoy the choirs performances, a great steak dinner, and a fun time with the "King, Queen and Court", with Jesters and guards and an executioner. They really put on a great show! In the rush of it all, I was the bad mom and forgot the camera to be able to take pictures. I pulled out my iPhone and took a few. They're not the best but, I guess it's the memory that counts huh?? Hannah was at the school all day long and on into the evening. They did two performances so, I didn't want to decorate without her. Wouldn't be fair. She was so excited about decorating! Soooo, I took this time to do a little cleaning and catch up on DVR shows. What a great invention!

I also spent some of my day looking for a crew to put lights on my home!! WOO HOO! I was so excited when my hubby told me that I could put lights up but, I had to find someone to do it & take care of it. He really has no business up on the roof himself so, I was very glad to hear that! I contacted a couple of places. I figured it was too late! Me & my last minute ways!! BUT, I found a company (actually wound up being a friend of mine) that would do it on Sunday....YES, the next day!! YES!!!! I was so excited. I have never had lights on my home growing up! This was just as exciting to me as it was to the kids! ha-ha

Sunday morning we woke up and went to my step-son's church. They had a sanctuary dedication and then fed us steaks from Joseph's afterwards. We came home so full! It was such a beautiful remodel! While we were there we got to play with the grandchildren, OF COURSE! Again, in the hustle and bustle of getting my house together, I ran off without the camera. I used my phone again to get a few cute pics of the grandbaby. Forgot to get pics of the other grandchild! My kids had her occupied so, there was no time to stop and pose. He's gonna so love this when he gets older! Just could not resist taking this cute picture. He is the best baby! This is his "I'm hungry" look! What an angel! We enjoyed him so much! As you can see by the picture above, he knows when the camera comes up to smile! What a smart one! He's been trained very well!

OK, so, I am going to attempt to take house pics tonight with the lights on. We'll see how it goes! Hope they turn out good! If not, you can at least see my yard ornaments that I got this year. Hope all have a blessed week!

The Snowball Effect

We are half way done with the week and still do not have any of my Christmas put up (there's another friend of mine that said the same on her blog!!)! It's not that I don't want to, it's that there are so many things going on that I can hardly find a night at home to do it! That's what happens to me when I go out of town for Thanksgiving. This Thanksgiving fell at such an awkward time with Monday being the 1st. It didn't give much of an opportunity after Thanksgiving to get things moving! Looks like I have to wait until Thursday to start. First I have to get all of my harvest things up in the attic.....YUCK!! Don't look forward to that!

Drew's first basketball game was last night. He sure enjoyed it. Unfortunately they lost 14-12 but, wow did those boys play a great game! I was actually impressed! I didn't think much would come of the points in this grade but, they sure held their own! It was such an exciting game! Forgot how much I like basketball! Especially at this age! Hannah thinks she wants to play basketball next year. We'll see. She doesn't strike me as the athletic type but, she may surprise me!

Monday night was a wonderful time with our Ladie's from church for our Annual Christmas Party. It was such good food and good fellowship! I enjoyed every moment I could! Last night was the ballgame, of course, and tonight is church. Another busy schedule!!! IMAGINE THAT! Like I stated earlier, I am hoping that Thursday we can get the decorations put out in the yard & in the house! Would be nice to sit back & enjoy that knowing the hectic schedule we have the rest of the week, weekend & weeks to come! Christmas just rolls on like a huge snowball!!

Hope all have a great time during these holidays!! Hope to see most of you!! Love ya!

WELCOME DECEMBER!!!!!

Bring on Christmas!!! It is officially December & we are winding down the end of our 2008 year. WOW have we come along way "baby"! Jeff and I and the kids just got back from Mississippi on Friday. We had a fabulous time with my family. We also took along my mother-in-law. I believe she enjoyed it. My mamaw wants to make sure she comes back again with us. They spoke a lot about how sweet she was! We came home a day or two early so we could get together with friends and watch the OU/OSU Bedlam game. That all came crumbling down. It's probably a good thing. While we were in Mississippi, a lot of people had the stomach flu/bug...whatever you want to call it. It hit me Saturday late afternoon! I couldn't fight it! I was really miserable. To the point where even Sunday, I still felt kind of blah. I hope the rest of my household doesn't get it. Anyway, I sat on the couch (in and out of sleep) watching the game all by myself! Jeff cooped up in the bedroom & watched the game, Hannah went to a friend's house to stay the night & the boys, well let's just say they entertained themselves for a long, long time with video games & bakugan battles!! Yeah! When I got home, I realized that I didn't take hardly any pics while I was there. Where was my head?? I have slowed down in my old age...ha-ha! Anyway, not much to show by way of pics but, I can put one up of my cute little nephew! He's a spit-fire! He's so cute though! Yesterday was our typical Sunday. Go to church, chill out at home for the afternoon & go back to church that evening. We spent another Sunday evening at McDonald's!!!!!!!! I sure enjoy watching the two sets of twins that go & play. They are so funny!! Well, Happy December! Get your shopping done early so you can fly through the month!

November

WOW! November is almost half over and I haven't put up a post in my blog since October!! That's terrible! Not much exciting happening in my life, I guess. We spent Halloween night at the church. Hannah decided to go with her friends to the football game so, Andrew and I went to the church for the fall festival. I sure enjoyed it there. No fighting crowds on the streets, no cars to run in front of, no scary doors to look at....just good, clean fun & friends to fellowship with. I wound up sitting the entire night....just about!! The only time I got up was to do a couple of cake walks, take a few pics and talk to a few friends I hadn't seen in a long long time. Other than that, a group of us sat at a table & talked! I LOVED IT!! Football is over for us! The 6th grade boys played their last game on October 4. They had an undefeated season & went straight into the play offs. The play offs were a single elimination. They lost on that Tuesday and were done for the season. It was so sad. The boys were all in a huddle at the endzone crying their eyes out. They worked so hard this season!! WAY TO GO 6th GRADE CARDINALS BLACK!! My dad is flying in today so, we will enjoy him being here for a week. The kids are ready to see their Papaw. He has been living in Florida since this summer. The kids were so bummed when he left! Time to spend quality time together & make up for the time lost. He'll be ready to leave by the end of the weeek!!! Trust me!! I have been redecorating my house. It was so outdated & needed a LOT of new things. I am so pleased with the results so far. My friend that's an interior designer has been assisting me with this!! She is so special to me! Hopefully it will be done before long. I don't think we have much more to do. It looks so good!! I'll have to take some pics & post it on here. I guess that's all I need to write right now. I will break for lunch & see what else my day holds for me!! God Bless!!

Carrie Underwood Concert

Jeff and I went to the Little Big Town/Carrie Underwood concert last night. It was great! I tried to get good pics but, my camera was just not focusing for some reason. I got great ones at Rascal Flatts concert but, nothing worth sharing on this one. I am bummed out! Maybe our friends that went got some so I can at least say I was there during this! Oh well! Don't sweat the small stuff right? Tonight is going to be an evening of staying home and making cookies & decorating them. The kids are so excited! I bought Fall/Halloween cookie cutters & we are just going to go CRAZY!! Yipee...not looking forward to the mess but, they'll be happy so I guess it doesn't matter! Hope everyone is fabulous!

Cheer Weekend & birthday

We enjoyed a busy weekend with cheering & celebrating Caleb's birthday. Friday I found myself getting Caleb & shopping for his birthday present. He wanted a new DS Lite and he got that along with guitar hero & another air soft gun. He and a buddy of his are into the air soft gun thing. Not my favorite past time but, he enjoys it & it doesn't hurt as bad as paintball.

Saturday found us running around. We started our day by my wonderful husband getting up and bringing us donuts home. How sweet!! He thought of us! Then we went to his company's picnic at "The Lodge". His company's owner owns the most gorgeous place near the Arkansas border. We enjoyed our time there (limited) and drove over to a weigh-in at a fishing tournament that Jeff paid for. He didn't get to fish but, obviously wanted to be there for the weigh-in and prizes!! Later that evening we had a football game to go to. This was also the coronation ceremony.

This is Hannah's boyfriend. They were "going

out" at the beginning of the year but, then he broke up with her. After a few weeks, he asked her out again. What a trip!! This Jr. High stuff is so funny! Brings back memories!

On Sunday we all got up and went to church and ate lunch at IHOP. That's where Caleb wanted to go for his birthday. We all went different directions from there: Jeff golfed, Hannah went to TU for the game (she got to cheer with the TU cheerleaders at halftime) & the boys and I went home until it was time for Caleb to go.

Whew! It's over. Last night (needless to say) I didn't do much of anything. It's always pizza night on Mondays so, I didn't even have to cook. I started a liquid cleanse today so, I put something in the crock pot for the rest of the household. I won't be able to participate....SAD!! Hope all is well with all my family and friends!

Whirlwind Weekend & Week To Come

WOW! Another several days have blown by and I can barely remember what has been done! I have been redecorating the house. It is severely in need of updating. It has been so enjoyable to see new things in my home. It sure makes you develop a sense of pride for your home. We had quite a busy weekend. Friday & Saturday was youth convention and Hannah and a friend went on Friday night. They went out afterwards & didn't get home until about 1AM after having fun at Incredible Pizza. They were so tired, they were not even interested in getting up the next morning for another day! They slept in & enjoyed a somewhat lazy day at home. Hannah was invited to be a part of the Miss Route 66 pageant on Saturday evening. She was interviewed on stage about the Miss Oklahoma 2008 pageant that she was a part of and then she got to sing. She wanted to sing "Open the Eyes of my Heart". She was soooo nervous but, she did fabulous! This was her first time to sing in public (besides at church). She had a lady approach her afterwards with tears in her eyes saying how that touched her heart & it was her favorite song. That meant a lot to all of us! GOOD JOB HANNAH!!!

On Sunday we did the church thing while Jeff golfed & enjoyed a LOUD evening at McDonald's in the Play Place area with several friends & their children from church. That was a LOT of fun....a little LOUD but a LOT of fun!!

Once the week started, it was work & our usual night running around. I don't think I get a night at home until Thursday this week & then Friday & Saturday are more running around!!! Does it ever end??? It doesn't seem like it for me!

I hope all are doing well! Drop me a line sometime.

It's been a while!

WOW!! It has been forever since I have put anything on my blog. I need to get back in this habit. Was doing so well & then schedules collapsed in on me!

Still cheering on the weekends with Hannah (when she's here). We were at Stillwater last week!! What a time! OSU Football traffic and construction...can't beat that! We also went to the fair last Friday. We had so much fun. My kids love to go and eat all the food they want. They want to ride the rides so bad but, it really makes me so nervous! I don't trust those rides that go up and down all the time! I know that's probably an overprotective mother coming out in me but, I don't care!! I would rather them ride something at a stationary huge park than something that is torn down every few days!!

We got the opportunity to take the kids to see Taylor Swift and Rascal Flatts at the new BOK Center. They had so much fun! We had FABULOUS seats!! That BOK center is so nice! Not a great picture but, it gives you an idea. I've got better ones to upload from my camera.

It was so nice to have Jeff back home. Feels like he is gone ALL the time!! I am getting really tired of all the traveling. He's here for a while, as far as I know, so I am content for now.

Hope all is well. Have a great week & weekend!! GO OU!!!!!!

Lazy Weekend

At least for me!! I really didn't do much of anything this weekend except take Hannah to a football game to cheer and go to church all day Sunday. That was it for me! Jeff, on the other hand, was kept very busy with rebuilding the structure under our home at the North corner. He bit off a little more than he wanted!! It took him FOREVER!!! I think he thought it would be a lot quicker & easier than what it was. Sunday, after church, we went to eat with our "usual" group. We all made plans to go to Shogun's to celebrate 3 of the guys' birthdays. There are 3 in our group that have birthdays at the end of September. Soooo, we already made plans and will have a dinner date with several friends & NO KIDS on the 20th. I am so excited & ready for good food from Shogun's. I'll have to make sure and get plenty of pics to post & share with you all! Really having a struggle today with the idea of being away from my kids & working. I go through this every few years. I go through a lot of guilt and wonder why I am working away from the kids. It's something that I deal with a lot more than I let on. We'll see what happens in the future! Who knows?? Well, enough of that! I'll get teary eyed if I keep on!!! Hope all is well with everyone! Till later!

Cold Weather

Ever realize how ungrateful we are? We tend to complain about everything....it's too hot outside...it's too cold outside! I recently realized after the gloomy, rainy day yesterday that there is always something wrong with the weather outside. It just seems hard to find that happy contented medium. Oh well! What kind of a world would it be if everyone walked around content?? To me maybe a little boring!

The rain has gotten me down & tired! I still honestly haven't rested up from our short vacation. It was a whirlwind and so enjoyable! Tonight I have nothing going on -- WOO HOO!! I can actually sit and do nothing (maybe!!).

We all went to church last night & enjoyed seeing my church family. Hannah and Andrew had their classes and youth service & we all went home, did homework & grabbed a bowl of cereal. Really a pretty easy day if I do say so myself. Hannah had cheer practice right after school until 4:30 so, it wasn't too much after she got home that we turned around to go to church. Kind of a rush!! Andrew and I had an hour to kill so, we sat in the parking lot of the church and learned the rest of his memorization for Kidz Xplosion! That's their new Wednesday night kids church program! It's really cool!!

This weekend is an OU game and I won 4 hugely discounted tickets to it. We have decided not to go. Jeff is going to try to get under the house and fix our support beams before my bedroom falls in. I am really worried about him doing that by himself. Maybe I can talk someone into coming out & helping....we'll see! Hannah has a game to cheer at on Saturday night (in Collinsville) so, I am sure we will be at a game pretty late. Fun stuff!

I guess that's really as much of my boring life as I can put on paper right now. Hope all is well with everyone! Have a great day!!

TIME FOR VACATION AFTER VACATION!!

We made it back all in one piece! Our trip to Branson was so much fun!! Not relaxing but fun!! The kids enjoyed every minute of it. The adults got rather tired. After spending all day Saturday at Silver Dollar City, I think that's what did us in, we decided to chill out on Sunday. Really??? Is anything chilling out when you have kids that want to spend their day at the water park, add an afternoon at the Dixie Stampede, come back to the water park & then decide to go eat dinner at 9PM?? We did do some crazy things and I feel that I am paying for them today. As I sit at work.....I am really struggling to keep my mind on things! It would be so nice to be in bed. I know my kids were exhausted this morning and fussing about going to school. Such is life! As mentioned before, we had such a great time though! I loved being around friends that I could chat with while the kids went and played. Our kids seemed to get along really well together. I was very proud of all of them!

Next vacation??? I think Jeff and I need to take our own vacation next! Actually, the next adventure in vacations will be Thanksgiving!! We are all going to Mamaw's house in Mississippi. What fun! Major long road trip! That's always exciting!

I best get back to work for the moment. Maybe I will get inspired later today and give more info on our trip. Hope all is well!

Back Home

Well, we got Jeff home safe and sound last night! He is so worn out! Not as bad as I thought he would be though. Maybe it just doesn't seem that way because we are in a hurry to get things in the laundry, packed & in the car this afternoon. He went ahead & went to work...silly thing! I would've stayed home. He said he had a million emails he needed to respond to soooo, he's there until noon! We went to the birthday party after picking Jeff up from the airport. It was at a large park here in Tulsa. It was so fun....short & sweet. That was nice. It was a little hot but, the kids didn't seem to mind it. It was tolerable for the adults, too. Jacob is so handsome! Addie & Will are sure growing up, too! Jacob and the other kids were so busy that I didn't get very many pictures at all! They were more interested in playing that taking pictures (imagine that!!). We got home and the rush began.....laundry, packing, catching up...Jeff was telling me stories all night about his trip. He did mention that I would not have eaten the entire time if I was over there. He said the food was super hot. I wouldn't have liked it. I asked him if he ate anything strange. He simply replied, "Probably." He was doing the "don't ask" mentality when he was eating. He said there was no telling what all he ate. He was scared to find out. They seem to eat a lot of fish & seafood and rice. I always thought they ate noodles more than rice. My bad! I saw a few pics last night of a beautiful sunset but, honestly didn't have time to sit & look at them. I will have to do that today. When we return from our trip, I'll upload pictures for you all to see. We are geared up and excited!! We leave for Branson today. The kids are pumped! They can't wait. I sure enjoy going because it seems to be so laid back for us. We are going to Silver Dollar City, Dixie Stampede and who knows what else. I finished my first Twilight book and am anxious to start the 2nd one. I bought it yesterday with hopes to start it last night...yeah right! I guess maybe after vacation I will be able to read it & get to the 3rd pretty fast! I hope all are well in my life! Blog at ya later!

COMING HOME!!!

Jeff has been on an airplane since 7:00 PM last night. He won't get back home until 6:35PM tonight. What a long trip!! I am so excited he is almost back! I have missed being by myself at home. Well, I guess we wouldn't have had much time anyway. With all of the running I have done with the kids and all. Anyway, back to Jeff. He called me at about 10AM yesterday to tell me he had just finished supper. They are 12 hours ahead of us over there so, it was night time. He had Thai Barbecue. He said it was very interesting. He was calling me to say he was hitting golf balls. WHAT???? Yeah, that's what I thought....golf balls in Thailand at 10:00 at night???? What in the world? There just HAPPENED to be a driving range across the street from the restaurant where they ate and the guys decided to go hit a few. What fun huh?? I can't wait to hear the stories tonight & see the pictures. Hopefully he got some so I can post on the blog. ANYWAY..... I will go pick him up and head over to Jacob's birthday party. We all are rushing tonight. Andrew and I stayed home yesterday. He woke up with a really bad asthma attack and I didn't feel right sending him off without me watching over him for a while. By the time he felt better it was 2:30. Hannah was almost home & his school would be dismissing in 30 mins. There was no need. The kids and I went to church last night. What a time of refreshing! Pastor David spoke on changing our negative speaking to positive. It seems to be so easy to say negative things at times but, we sure need to focus on the uplifting positive words! Especially in the world at this day & age. Andrew is in a program called Kidz Xplosion. He does a lot of memory work. Last night he completed his first memorization test. He earned his book so he can start the real stuff now!! This is a new program for our church so all of the kids from 1st - 5th are starting on square one. It's going to be a blast!! When we all got home it was pretty late and time for bed. I found myself not going to sleep very easily(because I relaxed so much all day!!). So I started reading my book. I finished at about 2AM. I am not as tired today as I thought I would be. I forgot to catch everyone up on Tuesday night. We had "Meet the Cardinals" night at the football field. What a fun night! All cheerleaders and football players were introduced from 1st grade - 12th. They are so cute when they are small. There were quite a few hams during the event!! Hannah did so good! She is so pretty! Here is just a picture of a little bit of the event. The kids enjoyed it so much and the weather was perfect! I couldn't drag my two off of the field when we were done. It was after 8:00 and I was searching through the sea of people to find my two. They didn't want to go!! Bed called me!! OR WAS IT MY BOOK??? That's all for now. I hope to have some pics by the weekend from Thailand!! Maybe some birthday pics, too! We'll see....OH THE PRESSURE!!!!!

SPARKLE!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I stayed up again too late last night! I just can not make myself put down the book I am reading. Twilight is so great! It really reels you in and doesn't let you go. I am so enjoying escaping into another world when I read. I LOVE EDWARD!!! Enough of my "Book Boyfriend". Jeff has been texting me a lot this morning. It is almost 2am and he signed off with a good night close to 1AM (his time). He says it's really very different over in Thailand. He had his first 'bout with the Thai food all day. He mentioned that it was pretty spicy!! I couldn't do it. I would have to be the "Difficult American" who would ask for MILD!! Picky, Picky, Picky. He is doing well. I told him I was not dealing very well with him being gone and he assured me everything was good where he was. He's not the type to tell me if he's not feeling well. After work yesterday, I picked up Sharon and brought her home so she could get Jeff's truck. Her car is going into the shop for some repairs. We got home and had pizza....Monday night!!! Can't beat Mazzio's $6.99 large pizza. The kids always look forward to that. The whole day I was so excited to have a night at home with no running to do and to just relax, do laundry & read. NOT THE CASE!! Hannah and I had a major melt down! She is struggling so bad in math. She hates it! I really think it's not necessarily a matter of I don't know how but, she hates it so much she doesn't even WANT to know how. I sat with her at the table because she had told me earlier in the day she didn't understand her homework....even though they had gone over it in class. By the time I tried to explain it to her and her telling me, "I can't" over and over and over I had had enough. A belt in one hand and her dad on the phone in the other I was about to lose my mind!! She really pushed me over my edge. I had to have her dad intervene on her behalf. After she spoke with him, she calmed down and went and did her homework. Only stopping to ask me a question about her homework about 2 times the rest of the night. The rest of the evening was pretty peaceful! Hannah went outside & practiced some cheers after dinner & homework. Andrew decided he is going to get "FIT". He went outside & ran up and down the driveway bouncing a basketball. He also informed me that he was going to exercise everyday and that I needed to go to the store and buy some fruit for him to have good healthy snacks! (Along with more pop!!! ha-ha) He cracks me up! They are really pushing the health aspect at school. I am thankful for that. Tonight is "Meet the Cardinals" night at the football field. We will be doing our normal running aorund like a chicken with its head cut off. Tomorrow I will have more to say about that! I have been sitting here all day wishing I could be home reading my book! SPARKLE, SPARKLE!! You have got to seriously read these books! Those of you that have...."and so the Lion fell in love with the Lamb!" Till tomorrow.....or another day after that!!

Lonely Week Ahead

Well, we got Jeff on a plane Sunday morning headed for Thailand. He text messaged me at 11:55 Sunday morning and said he was leaving Dallas headed directly for Thailand. I got a text from him today at 11:19 stating that he just was getting off the plane. That was almost 24 hours!!! Can you image! He's lucky because they flew them First/Business class and they had the seats that lay down flat into a bed. He said he did get some rest but, not much. If you can imagine sleeping next to a stranger or in a large area with strangers has got to be AWKWARD!! He made it though, Thank The Lord! He said it would be midnight (Tuesday in Bangkok) before they got out of the airport and then they had another 2 hour drive to the hotel. What a long trip! He will turn around in less than 2 days and come back! WHEW!! He is going to be tired and possibly a little cranky! I guess I have to be really sweet for a few days huh?? I'll try! Poor Jeff, when he gets back on Thursday night, we are going from the airport straight to Jacob's birthday party & then home to repack because we leave on vacation Friday. I don't know if he'll survive!!

Other than that, the big excitement last week was cheerleading practice Thursday, taking Andrew to his dad's on Friday, Jeff having a fishing tournament Saturday, Hannah cheered at a football game on Saturday and everyone was just too pooped to party!!! Jeff had an extremely rough Saturday. Here he stays out in the sun all day long fishing and then has to come home to mow the lawn, pack for his trip and no telling what else he did. He never stops! We were both a little snippy by the night ended but, all in all it was because we were both out in the heat all day & rushed & stressed about everything coming up.

Hannah and I went to church Sunday morning and to lunch with friends from church. She was invited to a friend's home for the afternoon so, that left me alone. I thought I would be able to sit and read my new book Twilight but, I remembered Jeff had asked me to water the dogs & get them set because he forgot to do it before he left. I went & took care of that Sunday afternoon & realized it was time to get Andrew from his dad. Needless to say we were RUSHED!! After church Hannah had an 8-7-6 get together at one of the other youth's home. They swam and she got home around 9pm. Andrew and I went home and had a bowl of cereal and chatted a while. I got to read my book for a LONG time!!

I have started a new book series that is just hugely popular right now. The first book is called Twilight as I mentioned before. It is quite a page turner and I can't seem to stop thinking about it. I just want to go home & read until I'm done! Those are the best. It's worth reading if you get a chance.

Tomorrow starts my rush week! I'll have to document that this week & let you know how the week went! I think we'll all be ready for vacation!! Hugs & Kisses to all!!

Sad day!

My mother and Jerry left today. It was really sad to see them go. I enjoyed them being here so much. I sure wish they could have stayed longer! Maybe they will come back. We had such a great time. Didn't feel rushed to do things and get everything done. We just sat and enjoyed each other's company. Mom had made my favorite meal last night and when we all got home we sat down and ate together. Mom and Jerry taught me a new ice cream recipe soooo, I now have an ice cream maker and will be making ice cream as much as possible. I know my family loves ice cream and what I am doing is so easy.....you just mix together 6 cans of Sunkist and 1 can of Eagle Brand Milk. Put it in your ice cream freezer and BAM you have orange sherbet ice cream. It is so wonderful that I think this weekend we will try doing that with grape soda. I did upload pics last night at home onto my computer but, of course forgot to put them on my USB so I could put them on my blog at work. I hope to remember to do that tomorrow so all can see my mom & her friends. Would love to hear from some of you sometime!! Have a great one!

Crazy Kids!

Here it is Monday again!! Can you believe how fast the weekends go anymore. Then I realized it's the middle of August and that means the holidays are just around the corner. I was at Cracker Barrel this weekend looking at their home decor and seeing the Thanksgiving and Christmas decor out. WHOA!!! School just started.....let us breathe! Time does tick away faster the older we get. It makes you appreciate your time more, also.

The kids got their teeth cleaned the day before school and Hannah is going to have to have braces....YIPPEEE!! She is so excited! Yeah right. She'll realize once she gets them it's not that much fun. She grinds her teeth so badly that they want to get braces on as quick as possible to correct that. Andrew's teeth were great. He grinds a little but not as severe as sister! No one had cavities YEAH!!!!!!!

The kids have sure enjoyed my Mamaw being here. Saturday we went to our friend's home, Linda, to have a cookout with several of my mom's friends. We had such a great time. I did take pictures but forgot to bring them to work to put them on my blog. I'll have to add them later. Sunday was church and as mentioned previously, we ate at Cracker Barrel. After getting home Hannah and I went to get her school supplies for her Jr. High classes. That went so smooth & truly I didn't spend as much as I thought I would WHEW!!! We hurried home to pick up Caleb and take him to Stroud to give him back to his dad. He has football practice going on this week & his school starts on Wednesday. When I got home Sean and Jacob had come over for Jeff to fix something on his car. Jacob is growing up so fast and SOOOO handsome! We got him to play the game Dance Dance Revolution on the Wii. IT WAS HILARIOUS!!! I'll post those pics later, too. I should've been better prepared with pics for my blog but, I can't do it all, I guess :-)

We are going to sit at home tonight and enjoy my mother's last evening here with all of us. We have nothing planned except meet the teacher night at the Jr. High. I put in a request for my mother to make my favorite meal tonight. I know it's terrible to ask your mom to cook while she's visiting but, there's nothing like mom's food!!!

I hope all are doing well. Haven't heard from anyone. I hope I am not boring you all with these blogs. I would love for some of you to get involved in doing this. It's actually a great stress releiver for me to sit & think about nothing but my family and our times together.

SURVIVAL

I have missed a couple of days of blogging due to a major oral surgery and company coming in. Thursday, as you may recall, was my day to get an absessed root taken care of. Well, it wound up being 2 teeth with absesses. I really went through it. The only thing that helped me was the "Catherine special". They call her their bartender in the dentist's office. They gave me sedation and it was WONDERFUL!!!!!! I highly recommend it to anyone! It was what they called liquid valium. They mix a liquid with cranberry juice and make you take it like a shot and chases it with more cranberry juice. It was not a pleasant one but, about 3 minutes later, it was the best thing in the world!! I was out for the rest of the day and still a little groggy on Friday. I woke up Friday in a lot of pain and sensitivity in my two teeth he worked on so, I stayed home and took more drugs. I am still having issues with the teeth being sensitive when they touch together. I know it was some major work done but, I am ready to eat normally. Maybe I have dropped a few pounds since this fiasco!! That would be nice. My mom and her boyfriend came in yesterday afternoon. I was so happy to see her! We have been enjoying our time together by sitting around talking and going to eat a Pauline's Buffet last night. The fish is wonderful! We have a cookout planned this afternoon at 4:00 for all of her friends. Can't wait to see everyone. Other than the cookout, we've kind of been lazy today. I ran into Owasso and about a couple of decorations for Halloween. Mom is in the kitchen making a cake for the kids (their favorite!!). Jeff and Jerry are out fishing and having a wonderful time. The boys are plaing star wars legos and Hannah is helping cook the cake. AND ME??? Doing whatever I can to sit down and ease the pain! Convenient huh??? :-) Hope all is well! Talk to everyone soon. Love ya!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

WE SURVIVED!!!!!! Yes, it's the first day of school for us and the morning jitters took effect a little bit. We first dropped off Hannah at the Middle School.

She was a little more excited than I expected. She has been talking all summer about how scared she was to go and the day came and she was ready! I told her I was going to take a picture of her and she gave me a little grief about that. The words, I think, "Oh, Mom, you're gonna embarass me!!" Oh well, I succeeded in embarassing her because I made her stand in front of the sign so I could get a picture. She's so silly!!

Then it was Drew's turn:

He didn't seem to mind me taking a picture. He even told me where he was going to stand. This was my EXCITED child! He has been a monster this past week. His energy levels have shot through the roof! It's time for him to get back into a routine & calm down!

Now I am settling down at work to get my day of to a good one. Trying to stay calm myself! I have a major root canal today at noon. They have found an absess (sp??) on the root of a tooth. They are concerned that the one next to it also has an absess. I am so nervous and tense. We'll get through it and sleep the rest of the day!

Enjoy and happy back to school everyone!!!!

Weekend Warrior

Hi to all! I hope your weekends and first week of school finds you all doing well! My weekend was a busy one. Running to and fro. Jeff had a fishing tournament on Saturday morning. After he left I slept in a while longer until I had to get up to go to church. This Saturday was our Ladie's Mug and a Muffin day. The second Saturday of every month the ladies get together and have breakfast and drink coffee or cappuccino! It is so much fun and relaxing to get away with other women and chat. I led worship at the end. We all learned about the changing of seasons in our lives. I left straight from the church to go meet my kids. Their dad was dropping them off to me. They had been at church camp with their dad. We met in Claremore and then went over to the Lake to see the end of the fishing tournament. Chris walked away with $40 in his pocket! WAY TO GO!! Saturday night we all sat around and watched a movie as a family. We watched Cloverfield. What a wierd movie. Andrew loved it because it was about an alien invading New York City. I thought it was strange!!! Sunday we got up and all went to church. We ate lunch with friends at Arris' Pizza. What a great pizza place. I will be going back!

Birthdays & School

Today is my mother-in-law's birthday. Jeff and I are going to have supper with her tonight. She has chosen to go to Ted's Escandito Cafe!!! It's a really popular mexican restaurant in Broken Arrow. We are going to have so much fun!! Happy Birthday Sharon! Well, I have done it again. My hair is now cut and colored completely different. Imagine that! It does seem that I change it a lot. I am trying to find a way that I will be content with it but, I haven't found that yet. Yesterday went by fairly quickly. I worked & went straight to my hairdresser's shop. After that, I arrived home and Jeff was in his office working on finances. We toodled around the house for a couple more hours and then turned in for the night. It amazes me at how boring we are sometimes. NOT TOO MUCH LONGER!!! The kids come home Saturday and start school on Thursday!! WHOO! It went too fast! I picked up Hannah's schedule today. I am happy with who she got in the way of teachers. She is nervous so, I guess I am going to have to deal with that for a few weeks until she calms down. She will be fine! I hope everyone is having a great week! Hope to see all of you soon!

Anniversary

Hi to all my friends & family. This week is going by way too fast. I have company coming in next week at two different times. What a whirlwind! Tuesday after work, I was invited to play Bunco with some ladies from church. We had so much fun! I walked away winning the most Buncos & getting an envelope with $25.00 in it. What a great game! I am never that lucky! Yesterday was Jeff and I's anniversary. We spent lunch together and he took me to have sushi after work. We love going to eat sushi at Tsunami's downtown. They do have the best! Our evening last night was spent eating & setting up a computer for the kids. Other than that I must admit we are pretty boring. Especially when there are no kids at the house! We tend to get lost in our world of peace & quiet and just chill out. Hope everyone is doing well!

Manic Monday

We survived another Monday! With kids gone, it is sure a great moment for us to have some down time. Nothing interesting happened at home. Jeff got off work and went over to Chris' church to measure up their youth room for a new stage. I had gone to Target to get a few items and stopped in at Chick-fil-a for us to have a bite of supper. Jeff went straight to his office with supper and started drawing the stage. He finished a few hours later and I took a look at it. It looks like it's going to be a great addition to their youth room! It looks fabulous!! Other than Jeff drawing all night, I sat and folded laundry while catching up on a show. My mother and I talked on the phone for quite a while. When it was all said & done, we didn't accomplish very much. Sometimes it's nice to just chill out and forget about everything around you! Hannah called last night crying to come home. She misses me!! Makes me feel good. We seem to get closer and closer as she grows up. I really enjoy her a lot! Well, I am sure I will have some more interesting news tomorrow. For now, I'm signing off! Have a great day!!!

GREAT NEWS!

I am so excited today. After a weekend of fretting about my visit to the throat doctor, I am finally done and relieved by his words! He examined my vocal chords using a long steel rod that lit up at the end. He said it made my throat glow so he could see the vocal chords. He then pulled my tongue out really far, stuck that steel rod down my throat & asked me to say A and E. YEAH RIGHT!!! It was kind of humiliating. Here I was gagging, dry heaving & drooling all over myself while he was doing this procedure. WHAT A HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE! I guess it was worth it for the results. He discovered the the right vocal chord is about 25% weaker than it should be and he has told me I should be back to normal within a couple of months. YEE-HAW! I don't know how to express what a struggle this has been with my singing at church. I really beat myself down about it. I guess we live in an impatient world and I am truly a part of it! We all have that "I want it now" syndrome at times. Anyway, I am thrilled! Saturday was a bit of a busy day. Jeff got up early and went to men's breakfast at the church. When he returned and started mowing the yard, the kids and I went school shopping. Had to take advantage of that tax-free weekend. We got some fabulous buys. Luckily my kids were content with buying clothes only at Old Navy. So, on top of tax free we also got 20% off our entire purchase....WOO-HOO! It felt like I spent more on school supplies than clothes. After getting everything home, it was time to take the kids to their dad. They had such a great time at camp and were excited to tell him the stories. They will be gone all week & then school starts. Sunday was just a quiet day for Jeff and I. We went to Sunday School then church and took our weekly lunch out with friends from church. We ate at Compadre's and enjoyed the fellowship so much. After being home for a while (he in his corner, me in mine) we decided to sit down together and watch a movie. We watched 27 dresses. HOW CUTE! Worth watching! He didn't know I was going to make him watch a chick flick. He did enjoy it though. After that we went our separate ways & cleaned and organized things. That's the way it is when kids are gone. You can actually get things done. Today is just normal. Work (after my Dr's appt.) and then we'll be home. Have a great day!!

TOO BUSY!

Well, wouldn't you know that I would forget about blogging for several days! Just what I thought might happen. I sure didn't want to but, it happens way too often with me. I tend to get caught up in the busyness of my life and forget about the things I want to keep up on (i.e. blogging, housework). It has been a whirlwind around our home the past couple of weeks. Last week was a lot going on at work with day & evening meetings. In the process, I was trying to prepare my two oldest for youth trip/youth camp. They actually wound up packing their own bags and I must add that they did a FABULOUS job! I was impressed. I only had to double check what they had packed and purchase the few things they needed (snacks, disposable cameras & batteries for flashlights). All in all I was very proud of them! My babies are definitely getting more responsible and growing up a little! School starts in 2 weeks & we have plans to school shop tomorrow before they go back to their dad's for a week. Hannah called me this morning at 7:15 to let me know they were on the bus and headed back home. I am sure I will have a lot of stories to hear about when they get home tonight. The buses are supposed to arrive at the church at 10:30pm tonight. It's going to be a long day for those two. I hope to have some pictures to post of their activities and fun time at camp. My biggest fear this year was sending money with Hannah to manage for a week!!!!! How scary is that? Caleb seems to be pretty good with his money and I didn't worry about him. Hannah has never been on a trip that required as much money. She was sent with $250.00. We'll see if she comes back with any! I know she bought a few things at the Mall of America. She called to tell me about that. At that point she seemed to be doing pretty good with her money. We'll really get the true story when she returns tonight. I'll keep you posted!!! This week has been mostly quiet at home. We have really done nothing but go to church on Wednesday night. I have taken this quiet time to download a lot of scrapbooking things to my new computer. I am doing digital scrapbooking (for those who don't know) and there are thousands of freebies out on the internet to download so you can scrapbook. I kind of enjoy this better because you don't have to get all of your supplies out and clean up a mess when you are done. The options are endless!! I am gearing up for my mother to come visit. She will be here on the 15th of August. I am very excited about that! The kids are looking forward to seeing her. Well, I guess that's all the excitement I can put in words right now. I am sure there will be a lot to talk about in the next few days after I get the low-down from Hannah. Have a great day!

Weekly Reflections!

What a week! When I was asked yesterday about how my week went I immediately responded with "Oh the usual, work & come home and that's it. But when I was reminded by my dear husband that was not all I did, I started naming things and realized my week was full of stuff that kept us going! I previously blogged of my adventure on Tuesday evening and how I paid dearly for that the next day at work. Wednesday was uneventful (therefore no blog). Thursday we went over to some friends for dinner. We had such an enjoyable time getting to know the Turner's a little more. Their girls are so funny!! They had me giggling the whole night. We had a wonderful, relaxing dinner & just enjoyed sitting and talking to another couple from church. Friday was the day the kids came home from camp. I got off work at noon and made time for a little nap before getting them at 4:30. There were lots of stories to share about camp. Hannah's cast broke. (That is coming off soon!!) Andrew lost his asthma medication and also cut open his foot under his big toe jumping off of the dock. What fun! They entertained me for a little while with stories & then we all settled down pretty early for a great night's rest. Saturday morning I got up and went to our Ladie's monthly breakfast. It's called A Mug & A Muffin. Several ladies get together on the 2nd Saturday of every month and bring our favorite mugs and have coffee, cappuccino, tea and all kinds of great breakfast items. We enjoy the fellowship and always learn something informative or interesting. I was asked to lead the worship time at the end. The rest of our Saturday was spent playing catch up on laundry and housework! YIPPEEEEE!! Sunday rolled around and it was a jam packed day! We got up early & went to church. I was on praise team that morning so, we went extra early. After church we had an informative meeting about the upcoming Youth Trip/Youth Camp that Caleb & Hannah are going on at the end of this month. With that taking up our lunch time, we headed home to meet Grandma Sharon, Crystal and KK. They came to visit us and did we have a ball!! KK is quite the show horse! She played in the sprinkler outside and ran all over the place. I got really tickled at her. From what I've seen of her, I think all she does is eat and run. She's so cute and angelic. The blonde curly hair is to die for!! That evening we went to church again. After service was a get together for all of the campers that had just come back from Kid's Camp. They fed us root beer floats & ice cream sundaes. My kids took part in that but, Jeff and I wound up chatting with people & we missed out. We all did go to IHOP after church was all done. We had a nice quiet and enjoyable family meal. Once we got home, it was bedtime for everyone. AND HERE WE ARE....it's Monday! I started my voice therapy this morning. I will be working hard on getting my voice back to the strength that it was before my surgery. I feel very encouraged about it! I have been feeling down and low about it these past few weeks but, after dwelling on how God has brought me already and looking at the therapy that is to come, I am truly encouraged and can't wait to see results!!! Hope all is well with everyone! Till tomorrow.....OR WHEN SOMETHING EXCITING HAPPENS!!!

Worn Out

Today has really dragged on for me. I woke up and realized that today was going to be dreary. It had rained all night (I guess). It has pretty much rained all day. I actually like the rain, I just don't like to get out of bed, put the effort in to get dressed and then get out to work & get soaked. That is a miserable feeling. Yesterday was a short day at work for me. I only worked until 3pm and then met up with some friends from church to take the LONG 2 hour van ride to Oklahoma City to sing at the District Camp Meeting our churches have every year. I enjoy singing so much! It's what God created me to do. I can't really describe how alive I feel when I am singing and feeling the words to a song. It's truly miraculous! After praise team was done we listened to the missionary preach. He had some really great stories to tell of his experiences overseas. After that was all done it was about 10:30pm. Our pastor wanted to take us out to eat so, we all had a WONDERFUL meal at the Cheesecake Factory in OKC. What a place!! Their cheesecake is the best!! When it was all said and done, my head hit the pillow about 2:30 this morning. Jeff stayed home to fix his truck. He's had a few problems recently with his truck and thought it would be best to stay and get that taken care of. Something always going on isn't it?? I got a chance to see Chris, Andrea and the grandbabies at camp meeting. Their kids are so great! Jeff and I love them dearly. My kids must be having a great time at camp. I haven't heard from them except the first night when Andrew called me to say he made it there. I hope they get something out of camp more than just fun! I know camp is to have fun but, I do pray that their spiritual mind is enlightened while they are there listening in the services. God has been so good to my family. I am truly grateful for all! Keep on movin' down the right path!!!

Camp Time

Well, yesterday was a long day. I got up at 4:30 AM, yes in the morning, to get my kids to the church and see them off to camp. They were so excited they couldn't sleep the night before. My day seemed to drag on and on after that. It was very hard to keep my eyes open during work hours. Once I was done with work, it was straight home for me. I had all intentions of going to bed as soon as I got home but, I got a second wind and started cleaning and even made supper for Jeff and I. I know he was wondering what got into me!! It was a very quiet and peaceful evening last night. Jeff had brought home some work and I got to go through some magazines & catch up on a show of mine. Nevertheless, we did both turn in about 9:00 that night. I was almost asleep when my Andrew called me to say good night. They had just gotten out of evening service and getting ready to go back to their dorms to go to bed (yeah right!!). He was so excited to be there. He didn't say much of anything to me because he was ready to play with his buddies & buy candy at the concession stand. I so remember those camp days. What fun!! Now it's my children's turn to experience the church camp. They like to be a part of every opportunity that our church offers. What a great church we attend! You can't beat having a church family to rely on and do things with. It's such an inspiration and uplifting experience! Well, I guess that's about as exciting as my day went yesterday. Maybe I will have more to report by tomorrow??? Probably not!! See ya later!

Up and Running!!

Well, I got this idea from a friend from church. She has been blogging for a couple of months and it's so neat to read her blog. I thought this would be a great way to keep in touch with family & friends. Hopefully I can stick with it....we'll see. I always tend to start something and be all excited about it and then a few weeks later stop doing it. Hope others will join in with this blogging. It is a neat way to see what everyone is up to in their daily busy lives.