Put Me In Coach

It's Springtime and you know what that means for our family.....

BASEBALL!!!

So, if you call and we're not home, we're at the ballpark cheering on our boys!
Go D-Backs and Cubs!!!!







And little sister is having her own fun at school this year making new friends and just being the little social butterfly that she is!!!



It's crazy busy some days, but it's fun!
Happy Spring!

Where to Begin????

Y'all, I can't even believe it's been so long since I've posted anything. For a while, I contemplated just deleting the whole blog because I felt so bad about it! I have been a bad, bad blogger, but I'm gonna try and do better!! :)

Since I seriously have no idea how and where to begin catching up, I'll just take this opportunity to invite y'all to my very own pity party, where I will be serving myself a HUGE slice of "humble pie"....

I am convinced that I have the worse case of Poison Ivy known to man. Seriously. It's baaaaaddd. Long story short, B gets poison ivy, one week later, suspicious spots pop up on me....I ignore it until I feel like cutting off the right side of my body due to all of the itching, (oh the burning and itching!!! Will it ever end????) then I finally give in and go to the Dr., who kindly informs me that I do NOT have poison ivy, but shingles instead. WHAT???? So, I spend the next week FREAKING out over the fact that I have shingles. I google "shingles" no less than 215 times trying to figure out how I ended up with this....all the while, milking this thing dry...poor B!!! He has "NO IDEA how I feel", "I am soooo tired", "I can't beliieeeeevvveee this is happening to me", and "no! I am not cooking, are you crazy? I have shingles for goodness sakes!"...on and on and ON-until yesterday, when I had to go BACK to the Dr. (my REAL DR. this time, not just the random Dr.-who by the way, I am sure is a lovely person, but apparently needs to brush up on his studies a bit) who informs me that I have poison ivy.

Um, I'm sorry, what?

Yes, poison ivy, which now, by the way has spread ALL OVER MY UPPER BODY due to the misdiagnosis! So, she then proceeds to give me the BIGGEST SHOT EVER in my boo-tay, puts me on some serious steroids and sends me home....tail between my legs, face a little red (from humiliation, not the rash), and a little more humble.

So, B, um, sorry about all that whining, and Ali, thanks for bringing us dinner that night, and Mom, thanks for coming over that Sat. and Shan, Kalen, Stac, and Renae, thanks for reading all of those pitiful emails....uh, yeah, I think the Lord has used this to reveal some heart work that needs to be tended to... :)

Virus, Get Thee Behind Me!!

We've been sick. When I say we, I mean Jake, and now Trent.
Just when you get one well, another one bites the dust. I can't really complain...it's very mild, just annoying, :) fever and headache that goes away once the Motrin kicks in. I don't mind being at home, actually, I would say I am a homebody, but 3 days in, and looking at the prospect of 3 more days in...and that's if Ellie doesn't catch it, I feel myself wanting to throw a pity party....BUT then I read a post like this, and realize, yeah, I can do this any day.

Perspective, it's a good thing!

A Not So Broken Arm

Not too much going on around here these past two days. After our trip, it has been a week and a half of getting back into our groove. Catching up on laundry, puppy-sitting for my parents while they were away, a great dinner date with some old friends and enjoying the long weekend.

There have been a few high-lights, one of which was the dreaded phone call from the school nurse....It was last Thursday-I had just put Ellie down for her nap, was about to start ironing, when the phone rang. It was the school nurse. Uh-oh. She proceeded to tell me that Trent fell at Recess and that another little boy then fell on top of his arm, and that it was hurting him a lot and it was even a little swollen and I should come get him and have some x-rays taken. Okay...at that point I have to admit the adrenaline started pumping. I'm not the parent to handle broken bones...but here's the thing, B was out of town that afternoon, so apparently I was the parent. Of course, my mind starts to race...here is a little glimpse into the thought process that followed...

Ellie, she's asleep, so I'll call mom to come watch her...oh no, mom is out of town, and oh yeah, I have the puppy, I need to crate her...okay, I'll wake Ellie up and take her with me...that should be fun.
Now Jake, oh shoot, he's off campus today, how am I going to get Jake? I can't wait until 2:30 for Jake to get back to campus before I take Trent to the Dr. -and speaking of Dr. do I just take him, or do I call???
I call the Dr. - "no we don't do x-rays, but if you want to make an appt. we can schedule you one for later this afternoon and if he does need x-rays, we will send you to the other office, etc."
O.K. Now what?
Call Kelli, "Uh, Kelli, this is one of those days..."
(Thankfully, she stepped in rescued Ellie, picked up Jake, and sent me to a place that took x-rays and got us in and out in less than 45 minutes-I know, a rare medical miracle.)

So back to Trent, when I arrived at the school, I was mentally prepared for the worst. What I ended up seeing was my precious middle son, flanked on each side by the nurse and his teacher, with a make-shift sling on his arm and a slight grin on his face. Hhhmmmm. He doesn't look like he is in that much pain. Well, maybe he is just being extra brave. I hugged him and got a good look at him and right then knew, uh, he is going to be just fine, but after the nurse cornered me and suggested that I might even want to let an Orthopedic Surgeon look at it, I thought maybe he is just being REALLY brave, and that even though he can move it in any direction without even flinching that it could still be broken...I'm not a Dr., what do I know? However, maybe I should become a Dr. because as my gut suspected, he was fine. No break, and by the time we got back to Kelli's to pick up the other two, he was jumping on the trampoline and riding the electric scooter. Oh well, maybe he just needed a little extra TLC-and that, he did get. The funny thing is, that by the time Kelli got back to school to pick up Jake the rumors were flying...Trent broke his arm!!! The bone was sticking out!!! Ha! I bet there were a lot of disappointed little Kindergarteners yesterday when he returned arm-in-tact. Oh, and those of you who know Trent, won't be shocked to read that he proceeded to wear the make-shift sling all weekend...not so much at home, but mainly any time we went anywhere in public or had company. Oh yes he did. He said it made him feel tough. Oh these little boys-how boring life would be without them.

Colorado Springs

Oh. My. Goodness. There are no words I can use that will do this trip justice, but I have to try. First of all, thank you again B. What a weekend! And thanks again Mom, Dad and Glenney's. The kids had so much fun...we appreciate y'all so much.

Okay, here's a quick recap...okay, so it turned out to be not-so-quick of a recap after all!
Friday morning...up before dawn to catch our flight-stinks getting up that early, but it paid off, because we were in Colorado by 10 am!
First of all, it was C-C-C-OLD! When we left DFW it was almost 70 degrees...at 8am!!! When we landed in Colorado it was about 40 degrees colder, with winds about 25 mph AND SNOWING!!!! Yippee! So, first things first, we found our rental car...which was halarious! It was ELECTRIC BLUE...really, it was purple, and this picture doesn't do it justice, but you get the idea!

So, we loaded the car, and headed downtown to find this place that we had heard would be really good for lunch...and it was! I'm still dreaming about that table side guacamole! After lunch we walked around and went through some of the shops downtown.

Next, it was on to the Garden of the Gods. Okay, so-not so hip on the "Gods" part of it...but since I know the Truth and the Creator of all things, it was a lovely and stunning sight to see! :) The rock formations are amazing!!



We had to make a snowball to show the kids!
It was finally time to check-in, so off we went to find the Broadmoor! It is a beautiful place. The room was fantastic, so big, with a mountain view! Next on the agenda, was a NAP! Ahhh, yessss. It was lovely. When we woke up, I opened the curtains and it was snowing HARD! The sky was gray, and it was coming down hard. You would have thought we were a couple of 8 year olds, who had never seen snow! We jumped up, threw on our clothes and headed out to enjoy it! At this point, I have to say, I think we both for a moment wished our kids were there to see it....but the moment passed! Hee Hee! :)


We stopped by the fire-pit to warm up...see?? Cozy!
That night we went to dinner at the Golden Bee. It was like an old Irish Pub. The fish and chips were great and at 8pm, they passed out song books and a man came out and we all sang along as he played the piano. :) The waitresses at random times, for no apparent reason, would throw these sticky bees at you throughout your meal...check out B's, bees!
Saturday the weather was clear, cold and beautiful! We worked out, and then decided to take the Cog Railway up to the top of Pike's Peak. It was breathtaking...literally!!! The views were spectacular, and we were even able to see some horned sheep, which they said was rare for this time of year. The temperature at the top was -15 degrees, with the windchill it was -60 degrees, yes, that is right...-60! Needless to say, we didn't stay at the top long. Which was great, because as I said, it literally took my breath away. It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest the entire time we were at the top!
(one of the views from the top)
It took forever for us to warm up after that trip, so we hung out in our room watching a movie- so relaxing!!! Saturday night we dressed up for dinner and went out for steak, which was delicious! Before we headed out for dinner, check out the view from our room....
I know, beautiful!
So, that's about it in a nutshell-of course it was all this and so much more! A wonderful weekend away, but today, it's back to reality, which really isn't all that bad either! :)

Leaving On A Jet Plane

THIS...



is where I'll be in less than 24 hours thanks to my hubby! (The Broadmoor, in Colorado) Of course it won't look like this in January...instead we'll be surrounded by snow-capped mountains, a warm fireplace, enjoying lots and lots of yummy coffee, uninterrupted conversation and snuggles!
I love you, B. Thanks for planning such a special time for us! And a big thank you to MeMe and Poppy and The Glenney's for keeping the kids for us! I can't wait!!
I'm off to pack!!!

Christmas Holidays

We are well into our Christmas holidays, and with Christmas Day only 2 days away, I thought I'd stop for a moment and record some of the memories we have already made before the big day arrives!!

B and I started off our holidays with something that we have now officially declared a tradition...

Every year we have watched this movie, and every year before we start it, I worry that it won't be as funny the 10th time around, but thus far, Sparky has yet to disappoint!! Each year it's a different scene that gets me, this year it was Cousin Eddie and his too tight, white v-neck sweater with his black dickie-turtleneck underneath!

The next thing on our agenda was taking the kids on the "Polar Express" train ride! What a fun night! It was just the five of us. The kids were so excited, and looked so cute in their Christmas pajamas, if I may say so myself! This has been the year of the "big question"....is Santa real??? We haven't said yes or no, we just turn it around and ask them what do they think, and so far, I think they all still believe, but Jake is a little skeptical. I really think deep down he knows it's B and I, but he still plays along. I was worried that when Santa made his big appearance on the train it might freak Ellie out a little, but boy was I wrong! She didn't even flinch! She loved him! It was a fun family night!!

Looking out the window at the North Pole...
Getting some Hot Chocolate, yum!!
Three little cuties...
The big man himself!!

Ellie getting a jingle bell from Santa!

The next week was full of class parties and last minute gift shopping! After that, we spent Sunday at Maw Maw's for Christmas with my Dad's side of the family. We used to do this on Christmas Eve, but since all of us are married now, with kiddos of our own and in-laws to visit, we have moved it to the Sunday before Christmas. Christmas Eve at Maw Maw and Senka's is a big part of my Christmas memories from childhood. One of my favorite memories is when we all crammed in and spent the night over there, and my brother Donnie and I decided to sneak in to try and see what Santa brought, not realizing that my aunt Janet and uncle Benny were asleep in the den and we almost got busted! :)

Yesterday we delivered some goodies to our sweet neighbors and friends, and today after a couple more deliveries, we are now home for good. The weather is cold and rainy, so it makes for a good day to stay in and slow down! My goal is to try and soak it up this year...every moment. Not to let the craziness get to me, and to keep my heart focused on Christ. It seems that I have this goal each year, but in the hustle of moving three children from celebration to celebration and all of the unwrapping and gift giving, I can get caught up, or even worse, grumpy, and before I know it, the day has come and gone and the moment has passed. Oh I pray it is different this year! :) So, I'm off to do just that, slow down and enjoy my kiddos!!

From our family to yours...Merry Christmas!!!