LATELY WITH THE LINKS: 12/7/08

Friday, December 12, 2008

SURPRISE Weekend!!

A few weeks ago, we got an invite in the mail for a SURPRISE Birthday Party for my little brother Chris. His b-day isn't until Dec. 27th--but he never gets a real birthday because it's so close to Christmas. So, Lacey wanted to do something really special. It was so much fun to talk to him on the phone, pretending that I wasn't going to see him until after the new year and how bummed I was that I couldn't come up to watch the big OU game. So, the kids and I packed up the car on Friday morning (Byron couldn't go--we missed him) and headed up to Oklahoma. That evening, the family and some friends gathered in the party room of the community where Mom lives and we waited. Lacey picked Chris up from work with the understanding that Chris had to close his eyes the whole way--and no peeking. I thought it was hilarious that he did--he's so honest. So, they opened the door and we all screamed "SURPRISE" and sang him Happy Birthday. It was so funny to watch the looks that came over Chris. Surprise, confusion, happiness, overcome (almost teary) all in like 20 seconds. Needless to say, we all had a great time with each other and it was fun to poke a little fun at Chris with the "Chris Test". More partyin' on Saturday with an inpromptu Putt-Putt with the cousins party for Riley's birthday. Happy Birthday Riley! And...It just happened to be the Big 12 Championship game too--so--we stayed and partied some more with the family. BOOMER SOONER!! So here's a few pics from our fun, family-and-friend-filled weekend. Enjoy!

Monday, December 8, 2008

Thankful for Grandma and Grandpa's House!

Ever since we returned home from California, we've had absolutely no time to sit down and blog about it. Today, Byron said to me, "Do you realize we still have the Halloween blog up?" So, I guess I'd better take the time before the next holiday is here and I'm really behind. So.......

We are thankful for Grandma and Grandpa's house. It is such a blessing to be able to visit California and have such a great family. I love Byron's family. My kids have such fun grandparents that love them and love to spend time with them. Needless to say, my kids LOVE spending time with them, too. They also love their Uncle Derek, Aunt Shannon, and cousins Corbin and Cooper. The kids got along so great after they got used to each other. Especially on Thanksgiving day, it was a delight to watch them play together. They also love Uncle Romney and Auntie Erin. What a fun couple they are and Erin so fun to be around. Love her so much.
When we go to California, usually our days are filled with Disneyland or Sea World and we're always on the go. But this time it was a little different. We had plans to do Disney and go to the SanDiego Zoo. But, Mother Nature had other plans for us. Rained out in California?? Yes. We did have one great day up in the foothills. While driving around Riverside on Sunday, Maggie pointed to the mountains, and with jubilation in her voice she asked, "Mommy, what's that?" She's probably never seen a mountain before. Then she said, "I want to go there". So, we went to this darling little town called Oak Glen, that mostly consisted of apple orchards and spent the day there. The leaves were beautiful colors and the air was crisp. We ate apple cider doughnuts and they were lovely. We even got to pick our own apples, put them into an apple press and we pressed our very own apple cider that we got to take home. It was delicious! What a great day we had and Maggie got to go to her mountain. Later that night we went out for some adult time with Byron's mom and dad, Derek, Shannon, Erin and Romney at the melting pot. Good food and great company. Great time!
The two days before Thanksgiving, it rained. So, we made the most of it. Bowling and movies were the highlights for the kids. Grandma even had some Christmas crafts for us to do. We made Santa Clauses and Candy Houses (a must for the holidays). On Thanksgiving Day we took our time making Thanksgiving dinner. It was, for me atleast, very low stress. The meal was delicious and, again, great company. Then, on Thanksgiving night, Erin and I ventured out to do some midnight shopping. Two stores, 4 1/2 hours. Doesn't sound like fun, but, when you're with Erin, anything's fun. We got a little goofy around 3:00 a.m. and decided to call it a night, or morning, which ever.
Really, for me, the best part of the vacation wasn't going different places or eating good food. My favorite part was spending time with my family without the running around until late hours trying to fit in another ride or show. It was playing games and great conversation with family. We really missed Alison, Kermit and the girls.
Next year, we hope we'll all be together and maybe, just maybe it will rain again.

Magdalene--Maggie Mae

Little Miss Sass is actually what we should call her. Lately, she's been "testing her limits" or should I say "her mom and dad's limits"--Just a little here and there. She's really decided that she has an opinion on every single thing and that it's her way or the highway. I guess we can just call her "Miss Independent". No more holding her hand while walking down the sidewalk, or helping her into her stroller. She'll do it "by self". "By self" is just one of the funny little things she says. "Or not" is big in her vocabulary, too. If you ask her if she wants a snack or not, if she doesn't, she'll say "Or not". She's just so funny. Conversations are never dull and always cute.

Brynna-Bel

My heaven's--getting older every second. She's no longer a little girl. She has turned into, simply, a girl. Not little, but not too big either. We are young enough to still love Barbie--but old enough to really care what Barbie is wearing. A good thing, right?
Bel is in the 1st grade now, and love's to read. She really loves school too. She loves her teachers and her friends. Can you say Social Butterfly? Talk-talk-talk-talk. She's never been considered shy. Everyone is her best-friend, you know, even if it's the first time you've ever talked to her. I love that quality about her. She is a friend to everyone. What a good and sweet girl she is.

Caden--C Dog

I just love my little Caden. He is THE sweetest and nicest kid around--and did I mention handsome. He's now in the 5th grade--the year when things get a bit more hectic. He has more work and he's expected to be organized enough to get it all in one day, do it over the next week and then turn it in. We're still workin' on that one. Organization is not a strong point for us. He changes classes too, which is new to him. I tell you what--he absolutley LOVES science. Almost every day he comes home telling me of the experiment that they did in science lab or goes on and on about protons and neutrons and electrons. I have a hard time following because he goes into every single little detail--and he remembers every-single-detail. What a smarty-pants. He's really discovering how funny his personality is lately, too. He now know's he's funny and that he's got the gift of gab. He takes after his dad.

Greyson--G Money

You'd think I was giving this kid steroids at the rate he's growing. He's only 15, but people ask if he's 17. He's very tall for his age. He might think he acts like he's 17--but we know better. Maturity-?-it's comin' along. We'll just say we're working on it. No, really-all kidding aside--he's a really good young man. He's at the age when typical teenage angst sets in. And..we have our fair share of it. But, all in all, I think he really tries to keep a cool head when he thinks we've asked him to take out the trash one too many times. He's just at an age when we can really count on his help. He is a great helper to me. He even folds laundry (don't tell his friends).
Greyson is doing really, really well in school so far this year. He's got and extra load-basically doing two years of school in only one. We thought he'd really have to bust it and be doing work constantly to keep up. But..he hardly has any homework and he's making all A's. He has a 100% in Geometry!? I asked him if he just has never missed any question ever on anything to get that average. He replied by saying, "No--I've missed stuff, but I got a 120% on a project". Whatever--wouldn't it be great to be that smart?

LATELY WITH THE LINKS