UGH...bring on 2009!

So my boys didn't pull it out last night. I am proud of the way they played though considering Hunter really wasn't on fire last night and Bryant hurt his knee and Robinson is sporting a separated shoulder he got in the second half.

It's been a crazy whirlwind kind of year. We started out 2008 with G coming down with RSV and pneumonia. We proceeded to my busting my eardrum and then falling down the stairs and breaking my arm. We moved on to G busting her eardrum and getting to the possibly needs tubes threshold.

But here it is...the end of 2008, and everything has come together. All is as it should be on a normal day. Catch ya on the flip side!

Ready for bowling!

Ok, so tonight's the night. My Oklahoma State Cowboys are taking on the Oregon Ducks in the Holiday Bowl. I'm praying for a win! Come on 'boys! Don't let me down!

GO POKES!

No boys?

B & I didn't have the boys last night. M & W stayed the night with my brother, aka Uncle Bubba. So I went to pick up little Miss G yesterday and she was as happy as a clam. She was running all over the living room jabbering away with a happy smile on her face. When we got back to our place yesterday, B just about had dinner ready, so we ate dinner, and then G & I played ball in the kitchen. We started out by rolling the ball back and forth but that only lasted a little bit. She had more fun with my rolling the ball across the kitchen and her chasing it. She would giggle and squeal and bring the ball back to me with this huge smile on her face. I had so much fun. It was nice to be able to spend that one on one time with just one child. Both Miss G & I were both smiling on our way to bed.

I might hit the bottle

So, G has eight teeth in, and she is currently cutting a molar or two. The doctor stated at her last checkup that we needed to start weening her off the bottle; we decided to start over Christmas since I would be home an extended period of time. G will take anything out of a sippy cup-except milk, which you have to fight her over. So this morning, I got her a sippy cup of milk, put her in the truck along with the boys and started my trek into Tulsa. She wanted NO part of that sippy cup. She tossed it in the floor; I gave it back to her-once. She threw it in the floor this time and proceeded to cry and throw a fit and cry "Mama! Mama!" She took off one shoe and sock and threw it in the floor and then the other followed. She cried all the way from our place to Owasso where she finally fell asleep.

This girl is by far the most stubborn of all the kids. I tell you that this breaking G from the bottle might drive me to the bottle before it's over.

W is like the ocean...

In the movie Kindergarten Cop, the teacher that plays opposite Arnold's character tells him, "Kindergarten is like the ocean; you don't want to turn your back on it." The same can be said for W. People look at me like I'm kidding when I tell them W is my wild child unless they really know him. Today is my case in point:

I just received a phone call from my mother which started with "Guess what your youngest son just did...." A phone call predicated by that remark never bodes well. Apparently, my mother had just filled her canister with a new can of coffee and had went into the living room; she had only been sitting a few moments when she heard a scraping noise. She got up to investigate and found that W had taken the scoop out of the coffee and was scooping the coffee out of the canister and was flinging it all over the kitchen. Yep! That's my boy! Just makes you proud, doesn't it.

Nothing like waiting until the last minute

B & I are being so horrible this year. We have basically bought Christmas for M (who keeps changing his mind about what he wants by the way), but we still have to buy for G & W and some family members. UGH! It's hard to shop with the kids in tow you know. My poor coat only covers up so much!

I guess I am going to either take half a day off tomorrow (or maybe they will spring us early?) and B & I are going to have to go shopping tomorrow, which means I will be up late wrapping on the 23rd & 24th. Drat! And to top it off, Mother Nature has decided to deliver our first single degree temps since 2006 and some freezing rain to ice the situation. Yippee!

Anyone want to go shopping for me?

Christmas pic of the kids!

Parenting isn't for wussies!

So, we have had some crappy weather here (read ice & snow), so I stayed home Wednesday since it took me over two hours to make it in Tuesday in just the ice. Not a lot of time had progressed since I had called my boss and I had crawled back in my bed with the kids. W & G were in bed with me and they were playing. W growled at G and G reared her head back...right into my nose. I saw stars floating around in front of my eyes for a brief moment before I noticed fluid. Good grief! The gal had bloodied my nose. Just great!

Well it's two days later and I don't have a black eye to go along with the bloody nose (surprise!) but I do have one very sore nose and it really hurts if I touch it or sneeze or anything. OUCH!

Through the magnifying glass

So, here's an update on what's going on in our neck of the woods. We saw our first dusting of snow on Friday of last week. Of course, it's Oklahoma and the snow only stayed on the ground for part of the day. We are expected to have snow tonight though. YUCK! YUCK! YUCK!

The Christmas tree is up and the house is decorated...well as much as it can be. I bought Gera's stocking this year, and it's hanging up on the mantle, but I can't seem to locate the boys' stockings-imagine that. Time's ticking. Gera is doing surprisingly well with the tree, but I can't seem to keep the boys from playing with their Star Wars toys (and other numerous toys that I am not sure about) in the tree.

Aunt B was looking through a Toys'RUs Ad yesterday and showed W & J (nephew) a train table. W is fascinated with trains, so now he is harrassing us with the TRU ad wanting a train. We have M's train up on the bar counter and we can't keep him from messing with that. The kid is driving me batty with trains!!!

When it comes to G, it's a case of monkey see, monkey do. She has learned to climb and you really have to watch her. Now remember, she just turned one less than a month ago and she is climbing...up onto my dining table-TWICE in the last two days! GRR! Thanks W & J!

M is doing great in school and has started basketball practice. He has his first game on Saturday at 8 (OF THE AM--Woe is me!).

I have pictures of the kids in front of the tree and picture of G's stocking, but apparently I grabbed the wrong SD card. I'll post those soon.

Now...back to work...because that's all it seems I can do lately. God bless!

Gearing up for Thanksgiving

So, the Bates are gearing up for Thanksgiving as is anyone else. My parents and my brother and his family are coming up to our neck of the woods to celebrate this weekend. We are doing Thanksgiving dinner with them.

B's family always has Thanksgiving lunch, and like any Bates event, it's a packed house. I know for sure there will most likely be 30+ there. That's just the ones I know will be there. If other come, we could hit the 40+ range. While from a numbers standpoint that just seems crazy, it's actually kind of nice to get to visit with everyone. It seems as the kids have gotten older, we don't get to see as much of the extended family as we like. It also reminds me a lot of the Thanksgivings and Christmases we used to have when I was a kid. I can remember some of my dad's brothers and sisters coming in to our house and we would have people sleeping in the attic, on a mattress in the kitchen floor, on couches, on floors, etc. Both of my parents come from large families, so I guess I'm kind of acclimated to the craziness.

Anyway, I hope you and yours have a happy and safe holiday. Just remember to stay out of my & B's way when we hit the roads on Friday for those early bird sales because that Star Wars toy belongs to one of our boys. :)

Pleasant surprises

I received an email yesterday from M's kindergarten teacher. She had asked for M to come over and read to her kindergarten class. We agreed, but we put a caveat on it that it would be up for his 1st grade teacher to decide when he was ready. (We've had a few issues with M not completely his work as he should as such and we wanted to make it an incentive.) Mrs. S reported that M did a wonderful job. My mommy heart was just so full of pride! Well, wouldn't yours have been too?

G's 1 yo checkup

Memaw took G into the doctor for me on Monday as I was still working on October numbers for work and really couldn't afford to take off, but I couldn't afford to not get G in either because it's time for flu shots. She is now 22.4 lbs. and 30.25 inches. She is passing her milestones with flying colors and is now stringing two word sentences together. She can say "Stop That," or "Get Up," among other things. She also said M for the first time Monday night. She's been walking for about 3 weeks now so she is really getting into everything. She's starting to cut her molars now, so we are going to work on weaning her off the bottle over the Christmas holiday since I will be home for five days straight. Wish us luck!

Watch out for foreign objects!

It's been a while since I have had a chance to write on the antics on one of the kids. Honestly, with my rupturing my eardrum and falling down a flight of stairs and breaking my arm, it's kind of been my year this year....until yesterday.

I'm sitting at my desk working on my October numbers (Yes, still!), when I notice a B'ville number pop up on my cell phone that looks vaguely like the number for M's school, so I answer my phone.

"Mrs. Bates? This is the nurse at M's school."
"Yes?"
"Either you or your husband is going to need to come pick M up from school. M has rocks in his ear."

That's all I heard. I didn't hear anything else after that because at that moment all I was seeing is red.

"Ok, let me see if I can reach his dad," and I hang up.

I forgot B was at a funeral yesterday afternoon. I call his cell-no answer. I call the office-no answer. I call his cell again-no answer. I call the main office number and ask if there is any notes on where he might be-at a funeral. Of course, I knew that!

I look at the clock. It's 3:30ish. I think to myself, "I'll give him 15 minutes. The funeral might not be over yet." After 15 minutes are up, I go ahead and leave work, call the school to let them know I have been unsuccessful in getting in touch with B and I am on my way. I'm on my way to the vehicle when B calls.

"What's going on?" I relay the story to him and he asks me to call the school and let them know he'll be there as soon as possible. He's bringing him into Tulsa to take him to the minor emergency.

I call Memaw and relay the story to her and she agrees to watch G & W while we take Genius into the ER. So B & I take M into the minor emergency because from what I could see while we were at Memaw's house, he did indeed have rocks in his ear. The nurse practitioner confirmed it.

The took him back into an exam room, put drops in his ear, made him lie still for 5 minutes and then one syringe or water later, the rocks were out. The boy felt absolutely no pain. He even had a little bit of fun. We made him do his homework while we were waiting and his math homework involved a domino game. I also thumb wrestled with him while he was having to lie still for the medicine to settle in his ear.

The boy walked out with 4 Star Wars stickers and the syringe they used to irrigate his ear. They asked if we wanted to take the rocks home as a souvenir; we declined. When we were walking out, M was just hopping along thinking that what had just occurred was no big issue. We informed him otherwise and the consequences are still up for consideration.

Boys!!!

G's birthday pictures

So here they are...G's birthday pictures. She had a great time opening all her gifts....although she's really not getting to play with many of them as W is taking them all over. She didn't et into her cake until Uncle Bubba shoved her hand into the cake and then it was ok. The puppy in the pictures is my nephews' new puppy and W was fascinated with it. The older gentlemen in the pictures is my paternal uncle. Unc is kind of like my godfather; I love him to pieces. Enjoy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY G!

Happy 1st birthday to my baby girl, G!

From October

It's hard to believe that almost two years ago (on my birthday) I had this funny feeling that I needed to take a pregnancy test. One positive (and a few confirmations) and 1 year 9 months later, here she is...one year old! How crazy is that!

Our Halloween fiasco

Here it is as promised!

M played youth football, and the high school has a "youth football" night for the younger kids. The date was originally slated for 10/16 I believe (which was during fall break). The younger kids get to run through the tunnel or some other thing with the varsity football players. They then have each squad on the field and they announce them. That is a pretty big thing to a bunch of little boys.

So, someone in their infinite wisdom moved the next home game-which fell on Halloween. Now, most little kids are more worried about going trick or treating on Halloween. The National Honor Society (I think) decided to do a trunk or treat for the kids coming to the game. B asked if any of the players from the team wanted to attend; we got no responses, so we were going to proceed with our normal plans. Later in the week, we did get an email from a couple of kids that wanted to do the game. B, being the head coach, said that if even one boy wanted to go, we were going.

So Halloween came and some of the boys wanted to go; we made our first stop at Grandpa & Step Grandma's. We left there and went straight to the high school to meet up with the boys. We stood there from 6:30 until around 7:10 (the picture of G in her stroller was while we were waiting). There wasn't a trunk or treat event at all really. There was a school bus way away from the entrance where we think they were handing out candy. We stood around and waited and when the time got close, I paid my $6! to get in, and I went into the stands and waited with G & W, who were getting very antsy by now. B and M came up with a bag of candy and said they weren't going to do it because not enough kids showed up. I felt so sorry for those little boys. They were so excited to get to go onto the field with the big guys. So we finally got out of there around 7:45-8 because we ran into some people we knew.

We left the field and made a stop a Meme and Papa's so they could see the kids; by the time we got done there it was almost 8:30 and it was really too late to go trick or treating. I took the kids to Mickey D's to make up for it, but sheesh! I felt so bad for M. Talk about basically ruining your whole night.

I emailed the president of the school board, the AD, and the teacher sponsoring the trunk or treat. I got a nice sympathetic email from the school board president and the teacher...the teacher's email came with a "Would you like to help next year?" D'OH! I never heard back from the AD....

So we didn't get to trick or treat this year...BUMMER! I've been making up for the lack of chocolate at home with the candy dish here at work which I've been hitting badly because of the stress...

Halloween pics!

And now I can breathe...quickly

You know, when I decided what path I wanted to pursue when I went into college, I knew I was going into business. I didn't really want to do the whole accounting thing as my mother was an accounting clerk and I knew the whole Hippocratic oath for accountants in regard to closing the books e.g. "You come in and work late; you do whatever it takes, unless you are dead. Then you had darn well better find a replacement first." Life got in the way, and I was in a hurry to graduate. I weighed my options when I transferred schools.

1. What degree could I pursue that would almost always mean I could find a job and that didn't require me to work with anything bloody (since I faint when giving blood)?
2. What degree could I choose that would get me out the quickest?
3. What degree could I chose that wouldn't lose me a whole lot of credits?
4. What degree could I chose that accentuated my strengths?

I ended up pursuing the degree that I set out not to pursue...accounting.

I'm still down a co-worker and I am still splitting all my movements from various facilities several different ways and I'm splitting them even more this month than I did last month. For those that aren't connecting the dots, more moves = more work. So quadruple the moves and double the desk, and I'm one busy chickadee right now. There was NO way I was going to get all the moves into the system and be able to meet the closing deadline, so I closed with estimates. So, while I am finally closed, I am not done. I can breathe a small sigh of relief and then delve into reversing the estimates and working through the numbers and booking them into the system one pipeline at a time. I refuse to touch those until Monday though. I'm worn out. You should see my eyes right now. They are bloodshot. I am actually wearing makeup today (a rare thing for me) because the bags under my eyes are horrific.

I'm getting ready to go through the Halloween pictures and get those uploaded. The kids were SO cute...especially Miss G. I'll have to update you on the whole Halloween debacle though. It was not fun and rather disappointing. So there's your hook...tune in next time for...why the kids didn't really get a Halloween.

Shameless bragging

Ok...It's my blog and I want to, so here it is...my shameless bragging on my little ones. I emailed M's teacher yesterday to tell her that M was being pulled out of school early. B & M went to the health department to get flu shots. They were giving them to state employees and county employees free of charge yesterday. So B got the shot and M got the nasal mist. Harumph! No shot for M...lucky dog! So I get an email back from M's teacher telling me that he will be ready and that he has mastered all his list A words. There are two lists for 1st grade of which they must master the words on that list by sight. Both lists contain 100 words. He mastered list A; now they will start to work on list B. After he masters those words, he will go on to the second grade word list. Way to go, M!

As I was getting ready this morning, I stumbled upon this very rare sight in M's room this morning. I grabbed the first camera available (my cell-which takes horrible pictures) and captured this sight. It just made my heart melt.



M is reading The Lion King to G & W.

W had his 3 yo checkup today. He is now 39" tall and 30.2 lbs--tall and lean as his doctor put it (which he likes). He is above the curve on his skills. I'm not sure if I need to work with him on his colors or not. There were four blocks across the page in this order-yellow, green, blue, red. I pointed to the yellow block and asked him what color it was? Green! was his answer. I pointed to the green block and he responded blue. I pointed to blue...red. I pointed to red...yellow. I think the little turkey knows his colors and is just pulling my leg. We didn't think he knew his ABCs for the longest time and he just wouldn't say them for us. Then one night I heard him singing oh so softly from the backseat "A, B, C." The little turkey knew his ABCs. ARGH!!!! He received two vaccinations-his DTaP and his influenza and he didn't flinch on the DTaP and flinched slightly on the influenza. He didn't cry at all. If it had been M, there would have been hysterics. Just think back to the old black and white no sound movies where you can see the girl wailing and fainting (overly dramatic). That would be my M.

Miss G is now finally walking around between objects. She is still using the couches and such to walk along, but she is full blown toddling now. She was walking through Meme's house on Sunday with her bottle in her mouth drinking her milk. Now, I just need to work to get her off the bottle. Luckily, not one of my children took pacifiers.

So there's my shameless bragging...I must return to reality and work on getting stuff ready for my 1:30 meeting.

My newest find

I know some moms might not like the concept behind this planner, but I ordered it just to give it a try and I LOVE it. Now, I am having to use pencil due to our ever changing crazy schedule but it's meeting my needs. It's the BusyBodyBook.

I ordered it online and it took just a little over a week for it to arrive, but it was well worth it. I must admit, I was a little concerned about the durability, but I was very surprised when I received it. There is a thicker plastic cover that covers the planner itself. I have myself, B, M, W, & G across the top and it makes it easy to see our week all at once. I also love the page that allows me to put my to do check list for the week. I am using the white space to keep track of my week at work so I can refer back to that information for my summary that is sent to management. This planner is my new best friend and like the contact page says, if it were lost, I would be lost without it!

Catching up...OSU...random thoughts...more football...

I'm sorry I haven't had much time to post lately. The work situation is really kicking my hiney right now. Catch up: I do accounting for an oil & gas company. The facility I support is outside of Houston. We sustained damage during Hurricane Ike. We are now on turnaround (scheduled maintenance). My coworker was let go. I'm having to split my numbers between hurricane/turnaround events and normal production. This equals double work. Add a missing coworker's work (which my boss has been really helping with or I would really be dying) and I'm going bonkers.

I have W's pictures up finally! (golf clap) The boy had a blast opening his Country Life toys! He LOVED them. G was very interested in them too! W had a great birthday weekend. He got chocolate chip pancakes from Memaw (mom made me pancakes too...awww!). The kids then got to go to the zoo; Memaw swears she is NEVER doing that by herself again.



and Anywho...how bout them 'Pokes!!! My 'Pokes gave those Burnt Orange Egyptian goobers south of the Red River a run for their money. Even though we didn't come home with the "W", I am extremely proud of those 'Boys!

Here's someone else that is proud of them too.




Saturday, M had another football game. We lost to BA 25-0. Here is a video of the boys warming up last week at home in our game against Skiatook.



We have playoffs this weekend, and the tournament is a one and done. Our boys do great on defense. We just can't seem to get the offense going, so I think we will only be playing on game. Oh, well!

Here are a few pictures we took of the kiddles this weekend. The "Dewey" boys are my nephews.


Ok, back to work...I have reconciliations that I must get finished.

Oh, before I forget, G is really walking between objects now. She's walked as many as 8-10 steps at a time before going back into crawling mode. Go G!

Where are my sunglasses?

I am dying today. I have yet another migraine and I am at work trudging through it...I usually do. I can't see taking off for a headache, but I do realize that I have a substantial reduction in productivity when I am suffering with one of these. However, I have no more vacation days left until my time starts back over in December because I was out with my arm...but that's another story.

So here I am...my headache is now down to a dull ache, but the damage is already done; I'm exhausted; I'm having trouble focusing on numbers (not good when you are an accountant; I'm able to type this as I can type without looking at the keyboard (thanks for making me take keyboarding Mom!) and I only really have to look at the words on the screen minimally.). I'm nauseated...did I mention I was exhausted from the headache? ;)

People that have never really had a migraine just truly do not understand the true meaning of a headache. It's quite debilitating. The one bright spot in my day is that I am leaving work early (even if it is to attend parent-teacher conferences).

Now where are my sunglasses? (and yes, I'm whining, but it's my blog and I'll whine if I want to!)

(I promise to get football pics from last weekend and birthday pics from W's party up soon!)

Happy Birthday W!

Happy Birthday to my little man, W! W is bringing his birthday in with style. Memaw made him chocolate chip pancakes this morning for breakfast, and then M, W, & G all got to go to the zoo today with Memaw. And then to top it off...






He said his first dirty word today. What a way to bring in the new year, eh? The word, of course, used in its proper context was the word for hiney. Oy vey! Well he at least waited until 3 to say it. M's was at 18 months and was the other word for feces. While M's word can be directly attributed to his father and I, W's CAN NOT. I've got my hunches as to who it is....

GRR!

Baby steps and late nights

So, G took her first steps on Saturday. While these weren't the first set of steps, they were the second. She's 11 months today! EEK!



Last night was also a late night. M is home sick from school today. Basil got up with him both times he got sick last night. He's a Memaw's house today; I feel bad because I couldn't take off work with him as I have no more days left to take off since I had to take all my days after my accident, and B couldn't take off either. Oh, well, Memaw's a good stand-in. I'm sure B will be very tired tonight after getting up with him last night and the late football practice. Poor guy! When I called into school for him today, the secretary asked, "Stomach?" to which I replied, "Yes." Guess it's going around.

I called during lunch to check up on him and Memaw said he hadn't gotten sick anymore so that's good news.

Another Pigskin weekend

So we played football again today. Our game was at 9AM, which meant we had to be there at 8 which means we had to get up at 5 to be out the door at 6:30-ick! The good news is that we won - 7 to 0. YES!

Here is a picture of my football boy!



M is now staying over at Memaw's, and we came out to Meme's, where I worked on her computer. She got some virus/spyware on her computer. While we were out there, see what W picked for me (with Meme's help of course).



Now that boy can be a terror, but you just gotta love him.

I think this pretty much sums up my feelings for this week...

Anyone got any Calgon?

Runny yolks

So I work in the oil & gas biz and I support a facility on the gulf coast. We sustained damage during Hurricane Ike and were done for about two weeks, so I only was producing product for about two weeks. I'm having to split numbers between the production period and when we were down which involves a lot of number crunching. It's fun (note sarcasm here). Add to this issue here that my counterpart is no longer with the company, and I've got my workload cut out for me this month and even the next few months.

So I arrived at my mother's house yesterday to pick up W and G. My brother and sister-in-law were there as well to pick up my nephew, J, and my niece, A was there too. My mom comes up to me...
"I was going to ask how it went today, but I can see it in your face."
"Yeah...."
"You look fried!"
"Oh, I'm beyond fried. I'm telling you, the yolks are broken and the yolk is running out."
"That good?"
"Yep."
"So when are they going to start looking for someone?"
"Supposedly pretty quickly, but you know how these things go. It takes forever, and then I'll know about it as the bring the new person onto the floor."

Don't get me wrong. I love my job. I really do. It just seems like when I encounter a challenge, I really get challenged. So bake me a cake of Hurricane Ike and make it a two layer with an upcoming turnaround (down for scheduled maintenance) and then ice it with co-worker has been axed, and it's not as tasty, know what I mean? Oh, well! I do feel bad for co-worker though. Co-worker just bought a new house and this is a really bad time to lose your job. Co-worker will end up on co-worker's feet though...I just know it and will be happier, too, I think.

On a lighter note, my new bed arrives tomorrow, so I am leaving at 3 to meet the delivery guy because B is in T town for training tomorrow. You can't beat cutting out at 3 on a Friday and something new to boot. :)

Finally...pics of the kittens

So we had to acquire a couple of cats since we moved out onto the 30 acres. We figured it would be better to get kittens so we wouldn't have a cat and dog tangle. Hermione seems to taken to the kittens, and for the most part, leaves them alone. So here are a few pics...

Hermione...the loving lab


Jenny...Jenny has a caramel colored nose


Luna...Luna has a white nose


I know these aren't the best quality as they were taken with my camera phone, but hey, it's all I had handy at the time.

Mommy guilt

So here I am closing the books (thankfully I won't be here late tonight...but that's going to make for a LONG Monday) and Miss G is having a rough day at Memaw's. She's cutting her sixth tooth, and she's just not a happy camper. Memaw called at 2:30 today to see how late I was going to be running. I could hear her whimpering in the background. I talked to her over the phone and she called down, but as soon as the phone was taken away, she started getting fussy again. :( Talk about making you feel guilty.

I thought I was done with school??!?!

So, as parents, we spend the first 18 years of our life scrambling to get out of school so that we can either (1) enter the workforce or (2) go to college. If you chose option 2, you then spent those undergraduate years waiting somewhat impatiently for that light at the end of the tunnel where you get that piece of paper called a degree. You either decide you are done with school or, like me, decide to get that Masters degree, which may or may not be of future benefit to you. Finally you are finished and you can actually say, "Yes! No more homework! No more tests!" Then you have children.

M is in the first grade. The child started bringing home homework when he was in Pre-K. The amount has progressed to where he now has reading, math, and spelling Monday - Thursday. And since he is young, that means that B & I now have homework as well. Yes, that's right...as a parent you now have homework AGAIN. It seeps back into your life. You can't escape it. UGH!!!

M must read to us every night, and we have to log his performance into a log sheet that goes back to his teacher the next day. We must guide him through his math homework (notice I said guide as he must answer the questions and we provide assistance and guidance to help him arrive at the correct answer). We then quiz him on his spelling words by having him use them in a sentence, spell them out loud, and have him write them for us on command. By the time we finish homework, eat dinner, take baths, etc., it's now time for bed.

You know, I don't remember having this much homework when I was his age. If I did, I feel for my parents. It's exhausting. Don't get me wrong, I love it that M is reading well above grade level and that he is so smart and intelligent but I am longing for the days where he can do his homework on his own and I can be there to answer questions. However, I'm beginning to believe that day may never truly come until he has went off to college.

On other fronts, my sister-in-law got back to me about the time of my nephews' games. It was just as I feared. We do have a conflict so I have now pushed his party back to a Sunday. So, I fixed the invitations to reflect the new time and sent out the ones that could be sent out via email. I just need to print the ones that I will need to mail and get those ready to go out tomorrow. I can cross that task off my to do list for this month. Now I need to go around and look at John Deere cakes to see where we will buy the cake, because this mom is NOT domestic and doesn't do homemade cakes (although I did bake coookies the other night, but it was with cookie dough I bought through a fundraiser at work). The hardest part will be getting the house clean before the party. UGH! I'm getting tired just thinking about it....

I'm looking for volunteers???

They say it's your birthday...and other random thoughts

Well, it's October 1st which means that the countdown to W's 3rd birthday has begun. We finally settled on a theme!!! Since moving out on to the 30 acres, W has really become fascinated with tractors, trailers, and trains. Ok, the trains probably threw some of you for a loop. W has always been fascinated with construction equipment, so it is no surprise extension that construction equipment also extends to tractors. He is also fascinated with trailers because of the towing of the tractors, ATVs, etc....and this also includes livestock trailers now. His like of trains has really come about because we pass by the power plant on the way in and there is a constant barrage of trains entering the power plant with coal and leaving with...you know, I don't know what they are shipping out. Anyway, this birthday party will not be Superman or Spider-man or Star Wars or Iron-man or whatever is the rage of the moment. We are going with a John Deere theme!

I bought W this toy at Walmart that had a Ford truck like dad's, a trailer like Pepaw's, and a tractor on it since he has been doing so well at potty training. He has to make sure he takes them every morning to Memaw's now. After commenting to B about his excitement over the tractor and such and the shrieking and wailing that occurs if they fall in the floorboard on the way home, we decided we definitely needed to go with farm life or tractors or something similar for his birthday. We landed on John Deere. So...for the relatives...if you are looking for something to get W that he'll love just hit Atwood's and hit the toy aisle there and you won't go wrong.

So I have the invitation ready to go out because I like to get those out on the first, but I'm waiting on my sister-in-law to get back to me on when her two boy's football games are those two days. I may just have to send the invites out and hope they can come. That will completely suck as W just loves those two boys.

Off the birthday subject....

We have the batch of new college recruits starting here at work. My company brings these kids in at the beginning of June and moves them through the company where they go to classes about the different divisions within the company and then they place them into their new positions at the end of September. Well, while my immediate group didn't get one this year directly, we did get a new one into the overall group. I tend to be a step-in-and-help kind of girl, and they were trying to set him up on instant messenger yesterday and it wasn't working. I got him set up, but I had to ask him his birth date for the Yahoo form. He disclosed he was born in 1985. OUCH! Geez, that made me feel OLD! I AM NOT OLD! I'm just inside the dirty thirties, but 1985 hit me hard yesterday. I thought, sheesh, in three more years, these kids are going to be born at the same time I was entering middle school. They won't know the true 80s. I've already ran into this with my younger counterpart here who hasn't seen some of the 80s movies, but good gravy!!! Let me reiterate...I AM NOT OLD!!!!

Well, I am off to the library to see if I can procure a CD for the boys to listen to tonight. (We let the boys' listen to books on CD after lights off...) They've went through all the books on CD in our house at least 3 times and I know they are growing bored with them. I might even pick one up for myself. It's sad when that's the only kind of reading you can fit in.

Friendly reminder

It's October 1st and it's now Breast Cancer Awareness month. Be sure to do your part and fund mammograms by clicking on http://www.thebreastcancersite.com and while you are at it click on the other sites as well-Literacy Site, Hunger Site, Animal Rescue, Hunger, Rainforest, and Child Health. Thanks in advance!

9/27/08 game

Well, we played Sapulpa White this weekend and we lost 0-18. We are doing really well at defense. We just can't seem to get the offense working like it needs to be. Luckily, we have a bye this week, so maybe we'll get a little more time working on offense before our next game against South Tulsa. Here is a pic of M from last week's game.

9 month check up...just slightly late

OK, so I really try to make sure that I get my kids' checkups on time, however, it never fails...they always seem to get sick right before they are due. So then you wait until they are well or the time is right and then it's a month or so later...but I digress.

So, Miss G had her 9 month checkup today. She's doing well and is right on track developmentally--actually she's ahead. She now weighs 21 lbs. and is 29.25 inches long. I never keep track of the head circumference...horrible of me, I know.

We are at that phase were she's no longer interested in baby food (thank heavens) but she's still not sure of the texture of other foods so she gags on them. Here goes 6 months of mashed potatoes and applesauce, etc for dinner. (insert grimace here)

She's walking along things with one hand and just isn't quite sure about letting go yet. She'll walk behind her walker so it's only a matter of time now.

I scheduled W's three year old appointment for next month. Goodness, they grow so fast!!! Before we know it, I'll be posting a few pics of Miss G's first birthday!

Those first words

It's not often that you actually get a chance to get a video of your child's first words. This is not G's first word, but it's definitely very recognizable and was used in the correct context before this video. Enjoy!

Recent pics of the kids

OK, so I'm putting up some recent pics of the kids.

This is a picture of W "driving the Duck" in Branson.


Here is M on his first day of school this year.


Here is M just last week or so.


Here is a pic of G from earlier this month. I just love this picture!!!

More football

So M had another game on Saturday. This time we lost 0-18. I was very pleased with the boys as they were only scored on by breakaways. They pretty much went toe to toe with the other squad. I'm trying to work on getting a pic or two up; I'm going to try this and hope it works...if not I'm going to have to hop on the computer elsewhere as we don't have internet up yet at the new place.

These pics are from last week's game.

It's time for some football

Well, M started playing Mighty Might football this year. He's really enjoying it. We just had our third game of the season.

Game one- v. Sand Springs Gold - 0 v. 18 (loss)
Game two- v. Collinsvile 28 - 0 (mercy rule-win)
Game three- v. Bixby Blue 6 - 14 (loss)

Two of these games have been in the rain-hooray for the kids, but YUCK for the parents! Thank heavens both of the rain games have been on turf!!!

I'll try to get a pic up as soon as I can!

Back in the saddle

Boy, it's been a VERY long time since I've updated this blog. I really just think this will be the best way everyone up with what's going on with us. Since the last blog post, W will be almost 3 and is a Master of Disaster. M is now in first grade and is playing Mighty Might (tackle football) through the YMCA. G is almost 10 months and now has 4 teeth through and is walking along the furniture.



We moved out onto the land that mom & dad bought-30 acres. I'm enjoying the peace and quiet of country life. If we could just get Marshal past the bugs and bees, I think he'd enjoy it too.



Here are some some pictures of the kids from around the time we went to Branson (end of June).

G checking out the camera


G on her way to Branson


M and W going to Ride the Ducks