Thanksgiving

We had originally planned to go to MO for Thanksgiving........but my Grandma got pnemonia and was in the hospital (she's doing better now - thank you to all who had her in your prayers!) So we had to change our plans.......the boys were really excited about going on a road trip and we hated to tell them that we were staying home. Our family really needed a getaway for a few days.......to rest and regroup as a family!! We wanted something fun for all of us, so we started talking about Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine! We had heard great things from friends that had gone and it sounded fun.......so Jeremy called and found a reasonable rate for one night!!! Not the "traditional" Thanksgiving....but we had a wonderful time!!!!!

Damon always makes a penny for Papa whenever we go somewhere special!!!! :)

They had tons of fun playing the MagiQuest game all over the Great Wolf!!!! They said I could come along "as long as you don't slow us down"!!! LOL!!!!

Dylan "taking a break" to keep in touch with his sweet girlfriend!!!!

Kota going across the floating logs!!

So nice to see brothers having a great time together!!!!

For a family that LOVES waterparks.........we give Great Wolf two thumbs up for an indoor waterpark that we could go and have a great getaway on Thanksgiving!!!!!!!

Brothers!!

I just love the ages of my boys right now!! They are soooo different and sooo fun in each their own way!!
I am not one to whine and complain.....
BUT......they are sooo short tempered with each other! :( They know each other sooo well that the "buttons" to be pushed are being pushed EVERY day!! They still do great things for each other to help each other out - but when it comes to words we are not nice at all!
I think I am going insane some days.....
I keep reminding myself that YES they will love each other someday!! :)

I want to teach kindness and not rudeness!! I need to think of some sort of punishment to put in place for our home that will be effective and show God's love. I want to beleive that this behavior is only because they are "brothers" and that they do show love to others outside of each other.

Let me know your ideas for three great boys who are not being good "brothers"!

Florida!

I know it was over a month ago - but i was going through our pictures again! Just thought it would make a good blog post since I haven't done that in awhile! LOL!!

We all had fun "writing" in the sand!


We really enjoyed the USS Alabama! They got to explore every inch of the battleship and the submarine too! This was where they got their first veiw of ocean waters!




Crab hunting every night was a big highlight! So much family fun to be had as we walk miles and miles on the beach! Wed night we caught 76 crabs!!!

Our sunset walks along the beach were amazing!

Dylan was so good at the skimboard! Damon was really getting it too! The rest of us.......well, we enjoyed watching!!

Dakota getting buried by all his many friends!!

Kota was so good at the surf ride in the waterpark! I think he even surprised himself!

We built some amazing sand creations all week!

A little healthy competition between brothers!!

I love this picture! They are so precious to me. I had an 8 x 10 made of it and every time i look at it I am overcome with thankfulness that God would bless me with 3 wonderful boys!

The love of my life!! So thankful I have him to lead me through this adventure of life!

The Wild West Fam!!!!!

These are precious times with Dylan! He is growing into such a wonderful young man!

Damon would wake up before everyone else and go enjoy the veiw on our balcony! He is so sweet and oftentimes he makes me slow down and take time to enjoy the simple things in life.

Some great soccer games with newly made friends from TX!

Just love this! =)

We did fireworks on the beach on our last night in Destin! An amazing trip that we will never forget! Our family was drawn even closer as we enjoyed every second of our Florida Adventure!!!

Random Thoughts

Enjoying a wonderful Spring afternoon!!




Damon's favorite thing to do!! "Mom, I can't go ride because I'll be gone for an hour and think it's only been 10 minutes! And we're leaving in 30 minutes so I'll be really late!!!" LOL!!!!




Dakota loves playing games on my ipod. If i can't find it - I know who to find!!!

Dylan's first drive home from the DPS!! He is all smiles...

......but Dad looks a little worried!!!!! LOL!!!!

Summer's Coming!

We only have a few weeks left of school.......this is the time of year that I am so very thankful that I do not work in the summer!! We have some fantastic memories from the time that I get to stay home. As my boys get older it makes these times even more precious to me. I thank the Lord that He has provided a way for me to be home with them!

These next 2-3 weeks are going to be so extremely busy........but yes, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!!!! Calmer, slower days are coming!!!!

State inspection!

We had our State Inspection done this morning here at the preschool! I always get nervous when this time comes around. Yes, I am a perfectionist at heart and I hate having ANYTHING written wrong against our preschool. BUT I have learned throughout my years that she will ALWAYS find something. She is a precious lady and I love her dearly. I have known her for years and she always talks very openly about her family and whatever she may be interested in at the time. I have learned so much from her over the many yearly visits she brings my way...... We of course did very well on this visit. She always tells me what a great preschool facility we have and how the teachers are wonderful. (i already know this but it is great knowing that someone else sees it too!). So now we are good until next time (Mar-May sometime)!
If only she would tell me when.....then I could have some coffee, sodas or maybe even some donuts waiting for her..........it couldn't hurt!!! LOL!!!!

Our Preschool Graduation is just around the corner......we are getting very excited about the summer coming!!

Unchartered Waters

Yes, I know it's been awhile! I think I have been preoccupied with all the many changes coming our way! Where do I start????
*I now have a 15 yr old son that has a "girlfriend" - this is fine with Jeremy and I and I couldn't be more proud of Dylan. He has pretty high "standards" when it comes to his friends and for himself too.
*Driver's Ed??!! Are you serious?? He is really old enough for this?? I'm not saying he is not mature enough - it's just that he is and always will be my "baby" - and yes we have started DE classes!!
*I didn't think the day when we would be "truck shopping" would come so quickly. We have set a budget for him and we have been "looking" to see what this budget can get him.
*We are trying to find financing for the house we are in - we know God put us here and now we just need to get it finalized. Prayers are needed for this. It is such a huge burden for our family.
*I am now working another part-time job! It is such hard work - but I really enjoy it. The people that I work with are amazing and very encouraging - and I know God put me here because I am in need of some major encouragement as we go through these changes.
*We are adding a first and second grade to our preschool at church. It is a very exciting time - but again many changes to take place! Alot of work and juggling for me as we venture into this.
*Planning a trip to Florida with some friends - this will be a MUCH NEEDED break! the boys have never seen the ocean and its been many years since Jeremy and I have. I love vacations with my wonderful fam! We always have so much fun together!
OK......... I think you get the idea!! We are experiencing MANY changes - some exciting - some scary! I keep hanging on and just take it one day at a time!!!!!

A "Normal" Week?

Well, I started this week saying how excited I was to finally be having a "normal" week.......hahahahaha.......I haven't been to church in over 3 weeks so on Saturday night I said "yay, I finally will get to go to church!" Well not exactly......woke up with Kota not being able to move his head AT ALL!! He was in so much pain. He laid on the couch and DID NOT MOVE! If you know my Kota you will know that he never is still for more than a couple of minutes!! Not a bad thing, just who he is!! A dear friend brought us lots of good stuff including a "tens" machine - which Kota called the "defribulator"!!! Lol!! Did everything we could think of all day Sunday - but to no avail - he woke up Monday still in bad shape so I called Memaw and she got him in to the chiropractor - long story short - he was hurt alot more than just his neck! He was having muscle spasms starting at his hips up his back all the way to his neck!! He got "worked on" but his neck was too swolen for it to be worked on. What an ordeal that has been - he's finally doing better today - we think it probably started with him doing weight lifting at school!
Back track a little to Sun night and Jeremy and I are woken by Damon who has 103 fever and is shaking from head to toe uncontrollably! He stays with us all night which means we were worried sick about him and didn't sleep........took him to the Dr first thing on Mon morn...........he has strep and his white blood count is off the charts!! His poor body was fighting this so hard and this is why he was shaking.......he had no symptoms other than a headache on Sun night before bed. He ended up getting a shot (which he was not too happy about) and other meds.......he is now too feeling better. I am so releived to see them both feeling more like themselves. It always gets me "down" when any of my babies are hurt or sick - I guess that is the Mother's Love that God gives us.
So it's only Tues and wow what a week it has been already!!!!! Soooo I guess I'll hope for a "normal" week next week!!! Lol!!

K-3 Teaching!

Wow! How the time has flown - I have been substituting teaching in our 3 yr old class - and I have thoroughly enjoyed it! I have never taught 3 year olds - what an experience they have been. Every day one of them will say something (whatever pops into their head at the moment) that will just keep me laughing all day long!!! Our regular teacher has been out for the past 6 weeks taking care of her precious new addition: Mallory Gwen!! I sure have missed her - she is one of my dearest friends - and I was so used to talking with her on a "daily" basis!! Yes, I know she only lives down the block from me - but I wanted to give her plenty of time to herself, her family and the new baby!!! Anyway, this is my last week to be the "teacher" - just trying to think of ALL the ways I can "spoil" her class before she returns next week!! She will just LOVE me for it - I know!!!