Thursday, February 17, 2011

Noah Registers for Kindergarten


Today was Kindergarten registration at the boys school. So I took Noah to work with me this morning so I could register him for Kindergarten! I can't believe my baby is old enough to go to school next year!! Here is him getting his picture made before he went to meet with a Kindergarten teacher to do their evaluations.
Before I took him to register I stopped by Joshua's class b/c I needed to get a photo for an article I was doing. And one of the boys in his class asked me if I would take their picture b/c they are best friends...ha And then another boy said, "I'm his best friend too." So I had to take their picture before I could leave his class..

Noah had to get in the picture too.
This is the picture I took of my boys and edited for the article...it was about a math event.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Snow, snow, and more snow



I don't ever remember getting so much snow in one winter as we have this year. On Wednesday, February 9th, it snowed all day and we ended up getting 8 inches at our house. We pretty much relaxed all day. Today Joshua, Noah, Maranda...my 16 year old neighbor, and I went sledding down a steep road by our house. It was a lot of fun....Noah went farther then anybody the first time he went down...it was hilarious...he kept going and going and going.... Jessie choose to stay in the house and play xbox with Andy, neither one of them were up for putting on layers of clothes and having to come in wet and take it all off...ha


Globetrotters

We took the boys to go see the Globetrotters at Verizon with Andy's parents, Uncle Tony and nephew Bayliss on Tuesday night, February 8th. We all really enjoyed it and it was pretty funny. Noah was really tired and didn't want to sit still for the performance so that was the only difficult part of the evening. We had seats really close to the court. I didn't get any pictures of all of us but here are a few of the Globetrotters...



Cliff Lee and Travis Wood Banquet

I took Jessie and Joshua to go see Cliff Lee and Travis Wood February 3rd. They had a banquet to help raise money for the Bryant Baseball Association. The BBA served us dinner and then Lee and Wood's agent spoke. It was pretty neat...the boys each got a signed autographed baseball. It would have been nice to hear Lee and Wood speak though....
Travis Wood from Bryant
Cliff Lee from Benton

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Recap of 2010

I haven't been a very good blogger so I am going to do a recap of 2010 and try to catch up....ha
I'm going to start with December of 09 since I never blogged about it.

DECEMBER 2009

We were home Christmas morning and Santa brought Jessie an Xbox, Joshua some Razorback things, and Noah some Cars toys. Then we got ready to head to Cabot to go eat lunch with Andy's family. That Christmas we had a TON of ran and there was a lot of flooding. I remember trying to drive to Cabot and having to go on a long detour b/c the highway was flooded. We had a nice visit with Andy's family. His Aunt Rhonda and cousins Calvin and Joel came to visit for Christmas and they were a lot of fun. Here are some pics of that day....
Christmas Eve
Andy reading the story of Jesus' birth



JANUARY 2010

We had friends over for New Years eve and played rock band and some board games...it was a lot of fun...

For Joshua's 6th birthday we went to Andy's parents house to celebrate...and apparently I didn't take any pictures :( Joshua's birthday party was for him and his uncles and aunt....there are 4 birthdays in a row...the 25th - 28th of January...crazy!

Jessie and Joshua also played basketball for the first time with Upward and there both really liked it and were pretty good at it.

FEBRUARY 2010

The boys signed up for baseball and we celebrated Grandpa's 89th birthday. Andy also surprised me and took me to Graceland during Valentine's weekend. And our precious nephew was born on Valentine's day!
MARCH 2010

We took the boys to Pinnacle Mountain. I don't remember that it was that rough of a climb when I was younger but OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! I thought I was going to die!! I would stop so "other people could pass" or so I could "take in the beautiful view" when really I thought my heart was going to pop out of my chest and start flopping back down the mountain. My 3 year old pretty much climbed up and down the mountain himself!! Of course going down isn't near as difficult as going up. I said at the end I was never doing it again but I'm sure I will...ha Andy had to stop by Sonic on the way home so I could recover... The boys were able to pet an alligator before we climbed the mountain, so that was a neat experience.




APRIL 2010

The first weekend in April we took the boys to Petit Jean to see the waterfall and to have a picnic lunch. It was a lot of fun. It wasn't near as bad as climbing Pinnacle..ha. Andy and I took turns going with Jessie under the waterfall. The other 2 boys were too little to climb to it. Andy and I tried to find the spot he proposed to me at but we couldn't find it....makes me think the whole thing never happened...haha Here are a few pics..


The next weekend we took the boys to Caddo River to go camping and canoeing for the first time. We had a lot of fun! Andy and I use to go camping and canoeing a lot when we were dating. But then when the kids came along it made it to hard to go. I don't have any pictures of that weekend. I kayaked while Andy had the boys in the canoe. Noah was scared at first but Andy stood up in the water to show Noah that it was at his ankles and he calmed down. The ironic part of the trip is that we camped next to a couple and their daughter that just moved to Tyler and my sister, Jennifer, and her family had just moved to Tyler too. So I shared their contact info with each other and they ended up having some play dates together.

For Noah's 4th birthday party we went to see Disney on Ice with Andy's parents, sister and our nephew Bayliss. Noah LOVED it especially when the Toy Story characters come out. Afterwards we went to Outback to eat and have some cake. Here are a few pictures of that day.


MAY 2010

Joshua graduated from Kindergarten. He had an awesome Kindergarten teacher and really enjoyed school.
Joshua was asked to play on a the Wally Hall tournament team during Memorial Day weekend...which is practically the kids they want for All-Stars in his age group for baseball. We let him be in the tournament but after we saw how the coaches where we opted to not let him tryout for All-Stars. And every kid that was on the tournament team and tried out for All-Stars ended up making it. Here is my 2 cents on that. We got a call about Joshua being on this team before he even played one baseball game. It was based on his tryout. So pretty much the 6 year old All-Star team is picked before any games are played. How do you know if someone had a bad tryout or that they won't get better over the season. And where we live once you are on the team as a 6 year old they rarely change the players from year to year. They do not base it on how you did that current year like they say they do. I don't know where parents who coach these kids think it is only about their kids and putting them in the "better" positions. I want my child to have fun and learn how to play ball...which means that he could play outfield or infield at any point and time b/c the coaches practice everyone at every position and help develop these boys to be an all around player. I will toot Andy's horn and say he is a great coach. He wants the kids to learn and enjoy playing whatever sport he is coaching. And it has never been about putting our kids in the best position. He wants ever player to make a basket in basketball or let them run the ball, if they are eligible, in football. In fact Andy was hesitant to let Jessie play defense and offense in football one year b/c he didn't want to seem like he was favoring his child but the other 2 coaches over ruled him b/c Jessie was a good player. He would also play the older kids both ways since it was their last year even if some of the younger kids where just as good or better players. He wants to win but he wants the boys to enjoy what they are doing and he wants to be fair to them. I really wish people would get their perspectives right...no telling how many kids give up or get discouraged b/c of coaching. Or parents get frustrated because it is obvious that their kids aren't giving a fair shake and they are playing favorites. I am tired of the politics in kids sports...it's time for it to STOP! Okay I'm off my soap box now...ha... BTW I don't think all coaches are like that....ha

During the regular baseball season Joshua played 1st base for the most part and one game he got 5 outs at first and even made a double play. He definitely caught on to the game of baseball a lot faster then Jessie did. He instinctively knew what to do with the ball.

For Mother's day Andy cooked for me, his mom, and my mom. It was delicious and I was really glad to not have to worry about cooking...ha

JUNE 2010

Jessie participated in the Bryant Football Camp at the High School. He got the Quarterback and the Defensive player of the week award.
Showing Grandpa the shirt he got...
Showing him the certificates. Grandpa was so proud of him.
Jessie played with a Utrip baseball team when his regular baseball season was over. It got started by a friend who wanted to keep playing baseball but also be able to choose who played on the team. He wanted a team of good parents...preferable drama free...and talented kids who had good attitudes. One or the other wouldn't work it had to be both. We enjoyed playing those few weeks with them even though we didn't win much. They did lead off pick off for that age group and our boys had never played that before....so it was definitely an adjustment. He played first base. Here are a few pics of Jessie playing...

Andy's grandma Martin and cousin Reed from Ohio came to visit Andy's parents. So we went to see them and go swimming. I can't remember if we celebrated Father's Day then too or not.
All the grandsons
Noah and his cousin Reed
Andy and his grandma
JULY 2010

Andy and his dad took the boys to Wisconsin for the Oshkosh Air Show and to go to see the Milwaukee Brewers play. Every year Andy and his dad take the boys to a baseball game. They camped out at the air show and got to participate in different actives like getting to see how an engine works by putting parts together, make a wooden propeller, make a wooden airplane, make a wing rib, and put rivets in a wing. They got to the baseball game early and was selected to go out on the field and watch the Brewers batting practice. They said it was their favorite trip yet.

Andy and I celebrated our 7th anniversary this month and my nephew, Bayliss, turned 7 two days later.

AUGUST 2010

I turned 30 this month. It was such a hectic month with Andy and I trying to get things done at work before school started that we didn't get to celebrate. But the overtime check was really nice...ha. School started this month and Jessie entered 4th grade and Joshua 1st. The boys got awesome teachers this year. We signed the boys up for football. It will be Joshua's first year to play. Andy is assistant coaching Jessie's team this year.

SEPTEMBER 2010

Andy turned 32 this month. We got him an Xbox game he had been wanting and a subscriptions to Netflix which he uses ALL the time. We fixed him one of his favorite meals. September was full of football practices and between both boys. Sunday was the only day we didn't have football.

OCTOBER 2010

October we finished up our football season. Both boys teams came in 1st place. Joshua who is my most aggressive child was really passive when he played football. I was rather shocked that he was like that. I hope that when Andy coaches him next year he can put that aggressiveness to good use..ha He played tight end on offense and a few times he played defensive end. Jessie played quarterback and safety. He had 1255 rushing yards, 93 carries, 20 touchdowns/extra points, 47 tackles and 5 fumble recoveries. Andy makes a video every year for the football players and this year he made football cards on the video that had all their stats but he only did it on Jessie's team which is how I know what Jessie's stats are. He ran out of time to do the same for Joshua's team. :(
For Halloween we went to Cabot and trick - or - treated in our brother - in - laws neighborhood. It was also Nana's birthday on the 30th and all the siblings cooked food for their momma. It was really good!!

NOVEMBER 2010

Andy's parents took Joshua and Noah to the circus. It was pretty neat and they really enjoyed it!


Joshua, Noah, and some other people they tried to get to fit on the elephant.

We went and ate with the boys for their Thanksgiving meal at school.
Jessie turned 10 this month and we had a birthday party at my mom's house for him. And we taught him how to play Cansata the week of Thanksgiving and he is pretty good. He actually was the quickest to catch on to the game out of all the people I ever taught!

My sister's family came down for Thanksgiving and we all stayed at mom's and cooked a Thanksgiving meal together. The cousins had a lot of fun playing together. Mom had Jennifer and I go through some of our things in her attic and we found all our baby and barbie dolls. Ainsley was having a good ole time playing with them. I didn't have my camera to take pics that week.

DECEMBER 2010

Our office had a Christmas lunch and everyone brought food. Oh my goodness it was so good!!!!! Our office should totally celebrate a Christmas meal more often...ha Then we took a Christmas photo...
My mom came down on the 23rd so we could have our Christmas together and we cooked a yummy meal and played games. She bought the boys a Kinect for Christmas and it is really cool! She left Christmas Eve and took Jessie to his dad's. Christmas morning the younger 2 boys got left a note from Santa and 2 small pillow pets because they hadn't been very good. If it was up to momma they would have gotten coal. But they were on the naught list! Santa also left them an Elf on the Shelf that will keep a special eye on them next year. I think they thought the could behave however they wanted and would still get what they wanted from Santa. They were disappointed but have calmed down since then. (Don't let their cute face fool you...they were little stinkers) We got ready and left to go to Andy's parents house for Christmas lunch. We had a lot of fun and ended up staying the night because Andy and I stayed up late playing Euchre and Dominoes with his parents.

After Christmas we went to stay with mom for a few days, while Andy had work to do in Cabot. We went to see our cousins play basketball and stopped by to see grandpa. He wanted to see Jessie's football video and we told him we would bring it. But he was on pain medicine and we couldn't wake him up. In fact I never did see him awake after that day, in fact the time before I went to see him he was asleep and we couldn't wake him up then either.

January 2011

So I'm going to get myself caught up here and go ahead and cover January.

We went back to school after our Christmas break but because of snow we got out a couple days and one day early. We ended up having a neighborhood snowball fight and made a snow woman together. We aren't the best group for making snowmen.

I started a free aerobics class at work that is 3 days a week and I actually like it. I do not like working out but it is fun to do with a group of people.

Noah ended up getting a stomach virus that lasted a week and the day he felt better Joshua got a 101 temperature. And during that same week they told me that my grandpa was giving days to live so I drive to Cabot to be at his bedside. They moved him to the hospice room right after I got there at 9 AM and was prepared to be there all night until I needed to be home for Jessie's TOTS performance the next day. When Grandma was in that room it was 5 days that we took rotations to be by her side because it is required when they move them to the hospice room but we would have done it whether it was required or not. My mom was going to take the night rotation with me and we left to go get her things that she need from the house right before 5 and right when we left the nurses went to change his bedding. We got a call half way home to turn around and he was gone when we got there. Apparently he was gone right after they changed his bed.

I must say that the nurses at Cabot Manor were great to him. There were many of them that said they try not to get attached to the patients there but they couldn't help but get attached to my grandpa. He was a character! His nurse even came in on her day off to see him in case he was gone before she came back to work. Just seeing them crying and upset broke my heart. But my family was glad we got to see how much they cared about him. His funeral was different in the sense that all his children spoke and shared a story about Grandpa. I really enjoyed hearing it! And some of the grandchildren wrote memories that the pastor read for us. It was really special! But I don't want to have to experience a funeral for a long, long, long, long time! This is the 3rd death in my family in 3 years; my uncle Bill, grandma, and grandpa. So I am not up for giving up any more family members!!

Grandpa passed on the 26th, and Joshua's 7th birthday and his cousin Jade's 16th birthday is on the 27th, and Joshua's cousin Sydney's 10th birthday is on the 28th. I am not happy grandpa passed away but I am so thankful he didn't pass on either of their birthdays! Since grandma passed on Christmas Eve...Christmas Eve doesn't seem the same now. It doesn't bring the excitement it used to and I didn't want these kids to have that feeling about their birthday!

Speaking of birthdays....sweet Joshua got shafted this year on his. He had basketball practice on his birthday and Noah was sick and Grandpa passed away so we had the visitation and funeral that weekend and he didn't get to have a party. And I got sick this weekend with a high fever, body aches, and congestion so we still haven't had his party.

But on Wednesday the 26th, he, unknowingly to Andy or I, made a party invitation to his "birthday party" that was to take place on Thursday at 3:20 when school got out for Playtime Pizza....haha Joshua and his friend delivered it to his friends mom who works at the school. I got an email from her asking about it and I was like...um...no party...we haven't made any plans. So then we tell him not to go planning a party that there is a lot going on so he goes back the next day and says it is for that weekend. The first time it was hilarious and gave me a very much needed laugh. The second time was enough for me to not ever give him a party....ha Hopefully we will get him his birthday party at Playtime Pizza.
As Grandpa always said, "Keep punching, you'll come out somewhere!"

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Jessie turns 10 today!

Happy Birthday to my oldest son Jessie!!
I just want you to know that it has been a joy to have you as my son! You were such a good child that Andy and I thought we where the best parents EVER! Until your brothers came along and then we realized we had a AWESOME son and our parenting wasn't what we thought it was...ha
God has really blessed you with so much....it almost doesn't seem fair. Most things come easily too you and you are one of the best at whatever you do....much to my happiness and frustration because we both know how athletic I am and how easy everything comes to me...lol You are smart, athletic, good looking young man who has a big heart for others. You have not let your circumstances be an excuse to not do your best and try hard but I think it has helped you grow stronger. You are an example to other kids in your situation of what it means to not let life determine your decisions and attitude but it is a choice on how you handle it.
I want you to know that my proudest moment as your mom is not when you made all those amazing touchdowns, or the report cards with 100's and high A's...it is when you excepted Christ as your Savior. I hope that you will always rely on God for your needs and decisions you make in life. And that you will use the gifts and talents He has given you for His honor and glory!

I love you Jessie!

Mom

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Happy 7th Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary Andy!

I can't believe we have been married 7 years...though some times it feels a lot longer...haha. I want you to know I love you very much and I am so glad I married someone that makes me laugh daily! You spoil me all the time by the little things you do for me. Whether is it surprising me with breakfast on my desk at work....cleaning the house....getting up before everyone else on a Saturday morning to make us breakfast or make sure I get to sleep in...running to the store for something we forgot we needed...ha...cooking dinner after a long day at work...or offering to take the kids somewhere so I can have a quiet moment at home....the list goes on...and I thank you for all that you do for me and our family. You must be doing something right because our boys think you are the BEST EVER and I think your one of the funniest, smartest, and most thoughtful man around...!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

The Dreaded Post

I have been putting this post off for months but I want to document this because I am already forgetting some of the details.

We had a family get together to celebrate my Grandpa's 89th birthday at the end of February.
It was the first time we all were together as a family since my grandma's funeral a couple days after Christmas. It was hard having a family gathering and she not be there. She LOVED her family and was so proud of all of us. She had a way of making you feel so special. I have dreaded blogging about her passing and my miscarriage but it definitely needs to be documented.

So here it goes... On December 8th grandma suffered a stroke and was admitted to the hospital. That same day I had gone to the doctor for a checkup a week earlier then scheduled because I had been having some spotting...which isn't a good sign when pregnant and I had miscarried 6 months earlier. I was 6 or 7 weeks pregnant. The ultrasound showed no heartbeat but a fetus. I wasn't to concerned since I could have been off a week or so on how far along I was. So they scheduled me to come back in a week.

Grandma and me

The next day we where giving encouraging news that Grandma was doing better and would have some therapy and be able to go home in more or less 6 weeks....I hope I remember all this right.... But later that week she had turned for the worse. I remember my sister calling me crying that Friday and I thought she was calling to tell me that Grandma had passed away. But they were just calling the family in to discuss options with the doctor. We all took shifts at her bedside and had family member/s with her around the clock. I didn't think she would make it through the weekend. Because of her age and frailty with the stroke it didn't look very good. Her heart had been working on 30% the last year and if I remember right was working on even less then that after her stroke. So with either condition it was bad but with both against her it was worse. She was so frail and weak sometimes telling us about her past and other times not remembering where she was and wanting to get out of bed b/c she needed to fix dinner....which she was way to weak to get out of bed even if she wanted too. She made it through the weekend and the hospital made arrangements for her to move to a nursing home. The hospital said there was nothing else they could do for her so the choices were to take her home and have hospice come in or go to the nursing home that grandpa had gone to a couple months before due to falling at home and getting hurt.

Our family loves to play games and Grandma always seemed to win...especially in Dominos. One time within the last 2 years she stayed up till 2 am to watch Jennifer and me play our cousins in a game of Canasta. She was so content to just watch us play just so she could be around us. The last game I played with her was Farkle the day after Thanksgiving.

On Tuesday I went back to the doctor for a 2nd ultrasound. At that ultrasound it showed no change in the fetus and still no heartbeat. At that time we were giving 3 options. To schedule a D&C, take a pill that would make me miscarry, or wait. We choose to wait. At that appointment I was not as hopeful and even busted into tears afterwards. But we choose to put it in God's hands and wait it out.

Grandma made quilts for all of her kids and grandkids...this is mom's quilt
My quilt
This is Jennifer's quilt.

It seemed that Grandma was doing good in the nursing home and they even had her in a wheelchair. I didn't get to see her in the nursing home during the week since she was 50 miles away and I thought she was doing well enough that I could wait and see her that weekend. My mom sent me a text Saturday morning that said, "Grandma won't wake up." My Aunt Mary had gone in to see her that morning and Grandma didn't respond to her and wouldn't wake up. Her body went into a coma and was functioning just enough to keep her alive. The nursing home was great to give us a room all to ourselves so we could be with her but we had to have a family member with her all the time. We were now responsible to take care of her but they where still great about checking on us and taking care of Grandma's physical needs. I didn't want to leave her bedside I was worried that when I came back she wouldn't be there. I ended up staying all weekend taking shifts and left to go back home Monday. She never woke up or really responded to anything we did. They didn't give her an IV because it would put to much strain on her heart.

The next day I had another ultrasound scheduled that showed the same thing as the other 2 ultrasounds. I had started bleeding more that day and had some cramping. I went back to Cabot that night to give Jessie to his dad for his Christmas holiday and I went to visit Grandma. I didn't end up staying long because my cramps where getting really bad. As soon as I got home I jumped in the shower hoping it would help me feel better and by that time I was bleeding heavily. I ended up miscarrying less then 10 minutes after getting out of the shower, it was December 22nd.

Two days later, on Christmas Eve, we had received a lot of rain and the roads where flooded. I was suppose to get Jessie back for our Christmas holiday and was worried I wouldn't be able to make the drive to get him. Traffic was backed up and not moving due to the highways flooding. By mid afternoon the water started receding enough so traffic was moving and I was able to head to Cabot. On my way there my mom called and told me that Grandma had passed. Even though I knew it was going to happen it was still hard to accept. I still have a hard time accepting it and it has been over 4 months. She was the BEST grandma and I am so privileged to have known her! She was passionate about God and her family! She made the best chocolate pie. And she loved her in laws and grand in laws like they where her own! She is GREATLY missed but I know is having the BEST time in Heaven!


Grandma's Graduation Picture
The last picture I took of grandma, with my sons Joshua and Noah, and my cousin Deagan.
This was at our Thanksgiving family gathering.