"The Best Day of My Life"...according to Jackson

It was mid-morning when I got a phone call from Jody at work today. "Jeeeeeeennnnnnn....did you bid on that huge Transformers basket at that silent auction we were at on Saturday?"

Of course I did. :)

Third Year of Dance Begins!

Year #1

Year #2

Year # 3

Savannah Grace's 3rd year of dance started a few weeks ago. Her friends, Eleanor and Olivia are in her class this year. Yay! She takes tap and ballet and she is on the competition team. Savannah Grace loves dance! Looking back at these pictures, she has really grown up this year!
I hope she doesn't grow up too fast.

Texoma Mudcats...Fall Baseball 2009

Tonite was Jackson's first fall baseball game. He's one of the youngest on the team, but we are hoping that being on an "older" team, he will be pushed to the next level of the game. Jackson played great tonite! Go MudCats!

Construction Update

The house addition is coming right along. The framing and roof is complete and windows should go in this week! Our yard is a child's dream...lots of mud!

Trauma Surgery in the Living Room

It has been a full day! We started with Jackson's flag football game...in which he made 3 touchdowns. Then we headed to Collinsville, so that Savannah Grace could perform her competition dance at their annual town festival. Then, we headed to Academy to buy Jody some new football shoes...the last ones caused huge blisters. Then we went to Jody's flag football game, in which he threw some beautiful "hail Marys" and some were caught! Then we headed to a friend's birthday party for the evening at the park. Then, we finished up the evening with some trauma surgery...in our very own living room. Well, not really. But here is what happened...

While I was getting Savannah Grace dressed for her dance performance, I was taking out her earrings and noticed that the left earring didn't have a back on it. The ear lobe felt kind of hard and it was difficult to get the earring out. It ran through my mind that the earring back was IN the ear lobe...even though you couldn't see it. She didn't complain too much and so we went about our day. I had Jody look at it and he even had Dr. Mike look at it while we were at Academy. They seemed to come to the initial conclusion that the earring back was not in the ear, the ear was just infected. Well, tonite I decided to try to put some earrings back in her ears and the earring would not go...in fact, the earring obviously hit something hard and metal in her ear. Therefore, the earring back WAS in her ear!!! Oh my goodness. I have no idea how an earring back can get into an ear lobe! You seriously could not see it, but you could kind of feel it. At this point, about 9:30pm, Jody felt that we needed to get it out immediately. So, he ran up to his office and brought home all kinds of gear to do at home "surgery"....including stickers and suckers straight from the doctors office. The trauma surgery ended up being fairly mild...he was able to to get the earring back out with some little scissor looking tools. He didn't even have to cut. Thank you, God.

Savannah Grace was such a trooper through all of this. Bless her little heart...and her little ear.

Vegas, Baby!

A weekend or so ago, Jody and I went to Vegas for a few days. Jody had a conference and I had a vacation. :) MaMaw came and stayed with the kids...thanks MaMaw!!

It was a great trip! My absolute favorite thing was being able to sleep until I woke up...order room service...watch Lifetime TV, and read Facebook to my hearts desire. I think I posted on Facebook that weekend more than I will for the rest of the year! We did our share of the Vegas thing...3 shows, nice restaraunts, shopping...and of course...my favorite...penny Wheel of Fortune slots.

In the end, it was simply nice to get away with my sweet husband. And apparently, what happens in Vegas...stays in Vegas....but only because I forgot to take any pictures. :)

Cowboys Stadium....Inaugural Season 2009

Grandfather, Jody and Jackson in their seats!

Jackson and Lucas....so glad Lucas and his dad have tickets now!

Jody, Jackson and Granfather in front of the stadium

Grandfather and his beautiful food

Jackson relaxing in his Cowboys recliner

Jackson at the Rangers game

Jackson and Ethan climbing trees during the tailgating festivities

BlueStarTailgating.com

According to the original Tailgating Crew....which includes Jody, Jackson, Grandfather, Uncle Bert, Todd Williams and Ethan Williams, Jeff Edelen and Aaron Edelen...the home opener of the Dallas Cowboys in their brand new stadium was all it was hyped up to be. My guys had a blast!

Here is how the day unfolded....

Night Before....grocery shopping, food prepping, and packing the truck for the tailgating

Up at 6:00am...dressed in Rangers Jerseys.

Left the house at 6:45am...wanted to get the perfect tailgating spot!

6:50...picked up Todd and Ethan around the corner

7:30....picked up Lucas and Rudy Lira down the road in Melissa...Jody's truck now has 3 men and 3 boys in it...along with tons of tailgating gear.

8:45ish...met the Texarkana crew outside of parking lot so that they could drive in together and get side by side parking.

9:00...got the perfect tailgating spot...lots of grass, trees and shade!

9:45...I call to check in on the boys and they are already eating homeade breafast burritos that they cooked on the grill.

12:00ish....Ranger Game!

3:00ish....Head back out to the parking lot for Cowboys tailgating! Change into Cowboys clothing! Let the Party Begin!

7:15....Kickoff!

1:30am....Jody and Jackson get home!

The Cowboys lost the game to the Giants in the last 4 seconds...but who cares! My guys were there! Mission accomplished!

A New Picture

I updated my blog look tonight, while my boys were at the Cowboys game and my girls were asleep. This is the picture that I took off my blog. This was Lilly Claire's first trip to the beach and it was to Sanibel Island...one of our favorite places! Jody is sure we are going to retire there.

Lilly Claire's Cartwheel

My girls are cartwheel crazy these days, and Lilly Claire...at 17 months old... learned to "cartwheel" this week. I love it!

We Have a Slab!

The house addition is coming along!

Labor Day Stitches

Katie and Nicklas came to visit us for labor day weekend this year. The kiddos had a great time playing in the backyard, throwing balls, watching cartoons and just hangin' out. However, we did have a little drama! Nicklas rolled off the pull-out bed and somehow got caught up in the metal parts and ended up having to get stitches on his knee! Poor little guy!

The Quarterback

After football dinner with the Verlanders and the Youngs.

We were the Green Team. Go Parkside Papa's!

Savannah Grace and Lilly Claire playing during the game

When I was growing up, my dad always played church softball. These games were fun childhood memories...playing on the playgrounds, snowcones, the summer night air. BUT...not far behind these great memories are the ones where my dad always gets hurt. (Sorry dad, but it's true!!) I just have these vivid memories of my dad's hand all twisted up from going thru the chain link fence while trying to catch a ball or a bloody leg from sliding too hard.

Well, all that to say, that Jody began playing in a flag football league and their first game was Saturday. In the days leading up to the game, all I could picture in my mind was Jody laying on the field with his leg all broke and stuff. It also brought back the memory of me running onto the football field during our college days when Jody was hurt. (I still can't believe I did that....but we did get engaged the next day. :))

Well, Saturday came and went and Jody did survive flag football...however, the huge blisters are really hurting from those lovely Dallas Cowboy game day football shoes he bought at the stadium. Just writing about those makes me giggle. They are so big and so white.

During this game, I never once felt the need to run out on the field and lovingly rub his head to make the pain go away....but it was probably because I was too busy chasing little hoodlums around that were shaking noisemakers that said, "go daddy go!"

Sisters

The Baby Sister (2009).............The Big Sister(2007)

Lilly Claire is finally big enough to wear the "bitty baby" ballet costume....and she loves it! My girls are such sweet sisters. They love to play dolls and push strollers, play Barbies, pet shop, and kitchen. They also love to turn cartwheels...Lilly Claire has her own version and it's pretty good! Savannah Grace is like a little mommy to Lilly Claire, using a precious little voice to her when she's crying. I love these girls so much...and my stinky boy, too!

Entertainment....was that on the mommy job description?

Since school started, we have found ourselves buisier than ever with all of the extra-curricular activities back in full swing. This year, Lilly Claire is obviously mobile and "independent" and slightly harder to control in wide open settings...such as baseball practice or football practice or gymnastics class...the list goes on and on. Anyway, all that to say that I am having to be creative to try and keep the girls entertained so that they don't go running off every 5 seconds. I have been bringing doll strollers, lego boxes and blankets, and little shopping carts to practices. It ends up being a lot to carry and not much interest from the girls!

The New Cowboys Stadium

I love this picture of Savannah Grace!

This is on the Plaza of the new stadium

In the parking lot

Lilly Claire's 1st Cowboys game!

My little Cowboy

Jody and Jackson's feet next to the brick I bought Jody and Grandfather for Father's Day!

The kiddos laying next to the brick

Last weekend, our family went to the Cowboys pre-season game in the brand new stadium. It was a beauty! It's going to be a fun season for my boys! This is their 3rd year as Season Ticket holders and I think it will probably be the best yet!

New Concrete...worth missing school for!

The new driveway being poured

Picnic in the garage while watching the concrete truck

The new basketball goal

Last week, the construction crew decided they were going to pour our new driveway. Well, I had to rush and pick up Jackson from school so that all three kids could put their hands in the wet concrete! When I went to sign him out, I couldn't think of a short sentence to write on the check-out page, so I just left it blank. What was I going to write..."They are pouring concrete for our new driveway and I want Jackson to put his hands in it."

We made an afternoon out of the event, the kids having a picnic in the garage and then of course, the hands in the concrete event. I love stuff like this!

This past weekend, we put up our new basketball goal. For some reason, putting a basketball goal in concrete was like a milestone of our life. It kind of said, "we're here to stay" and "we have a child old enough to play on a real basketball goal". It was good thing.