Just Between Friends

You may not hear much from me this week because I am working at the Just Between Friends sale. I got to bed at midnight last night and now I'm up at 6:15 just to get things ready enough for the full day ahead. It will be another REALLY late night, and another REALLY early morning tomorrow. I'm not used to this kind of work, not in addition to taking care of my normal stuff. It's so exhilirating though. Just know that we are so busy this week. I'll have some postings at the end of the week because we celebrated our 1 year anniversary in our house on Sunday and the homecoming parade is Thursday. Dawson got into some poison sumac on his campout this weekend, so he had to go to Urgent Care yesterday. It's really bad. He got an antibiotic (because at least one is infected) and oral steroids. Hopefully he will be feeling better today. Rick and I did the unthinkable and actually CAUGHT Dawson a tarantula ... actually Rick caught it and I screamed from the driveway. He was going to take it to one of his teachers that collects that kind of stuff, but I think he's just going to let it go today. Well, that's all I can get my brain to recall this morning. I'll post later in the week!

Fireproof

Wow .. we went to see Fireproof last night. Very powerful! Every non-married and married person should see this movie! In fact, Kyndal is going to see it today. It has something extremely powerful for anyone who sees it. Applying the principles of the movie would not only change marriages today but may prevent the destruction of marriages in the future.

Interruptions

Today's posting is not about something cute one of the kids did. It's one of those "deep" and "inspirational" posts. I follow a blog called GirlTalk that is the ramblings of four Christian women. Yesterday's post was about the frustrations of interruptions in your day. You know me, as I sat yesterday with WAY more things on my To Do List than humanly possible .. it really caught my attention. It said that on days like that we should pause and consider three things: 1. What would my husband want done most out of the list of things I have to do? 2. What needs do my kids have today (not wants, but needs?) 3. Remember that only God completes his To Do List everyday in the perfect timing. I am prideful to think that I can too. I guess what really caught me was looking at your husband's perspective FIRST! How often do we do for our kids, for ourselves, for others, and our husbands are left on the back burner. If your husband could really care less that the whole house is dusted, but it really means a lot to him that when he gets home the house is calm and relaxed, then work on those things to make that happen instead of neglecting those things to get the dusting done that nobody cares about anyway. Now, this is not to say that you should neglect the things you have to do for the day. For instance, at some point this weekend I have to tag my items for JBF. Something might have to give in order for that to happen. I'm simply out of time. But, I think Rick would want me to get that done. He's not selfish or insensitive. He knows I have things that are important to me, too. And sometimes that's what he wants most. Just a thought to consider.

Tonight we are going to see the movie Fireproof and going out to dinner with Matt and Steph. We are really looking forward to it!

Eli's Preschool

Last night was a crazy night! Brynne and I took Kyndal to meet Lisa to go to the Rascal Flatts concert. Then we raced to the 8th grade center for Kyndal's open house. Brynne slept the whole time we were in the car. So, she was a little cranky at the open house. When Kyndal's was over we went straight to Eli's open house. Rick and Eli met us there. WOW .. was Eli excited! It was so awesome to see him in that environment! He showed us everything and started playing in the kitchen. He had me sit down so he could make me a cake. Then he went to the books. I never knew he liked books so much! Him and Rick read almost the whole time we were there, while Brynne did every puzzle. Eli had one book memorized! Here's a picture of him with it.



The thing I couldn't get over, though, was how he interacted with everyone! He said, "Hi Trinity." And, "Mommy, say 'hi' to Hunter!" He said, "Mrs. Dunkerson, say 'hi' to mommy." He was engaging and affectionate and you can just tell that he LOVES preschool! He loved having us there in his class with him. He was very proud of his classroom! And Mrs. Dunkerson is wonderful. He really enjoys her and I think she really enjoys him too. She talked about all of his hugs and smiles. We are very proud of him! He sure has come a long way in two years! He is having speech now, two days a week for 30 minutes, and I can really tell how much better he is using his words and pronouncing them. I really couldn't be happier! And, apparently, neither can he!



Kyndal had a really great time at the concert! Rick went to Tulsa and picked her up at about 11:30, so it was a late night for her. Other than that the concert was really great, the only other thing she really commented on was how hoochy all of the women dressed.

Where was Dawson in all of this? Laying on the couch watching t.v. He wasn't feeling very good last night .. just worn out I think. He was in bed early.

SYATP

Last night was See You at the Party, following yesterday's See You at the Pole. Embarrassing to say, we did not make it to the pole yesterday morning. Rick needed to be at work to welcome new customers and I just couldn't swing it with E and B (and Morgan and Makenna). The party at the football stadium was great, though, roughly 1,000 kids. It's great to see all of the local churches come together, wearing the same t-shirts, cheering on our kids to victory. We had a huge dodge ball game on the field that was entertaining! Tim Bach spoke and many kids responded for prayer. It was a beautiful night, so very awesome!

Today will be a whirlwind of activity! Three of the four are at school, Eli soon to follow. While he's at school I'll be placing JBF signs and running errands. I'm taking Kyndal to Tulsa at 5:15 to meet up with someone to go to the Rascal Flatts/Taylor Swift concert. She is so excited! She doesn't know it yet, but I'm going to let her off a week early from her "no-texting" grounding. She'll be texting by 3:15 p.m., which is 12 second after she gets off the bus. Then I'm off to Kyndal's open house at the 8th grade center and then off to Eli's open house at the pre-k wing. I'm supposed to go to a friend's jewelry party between 6 and 8 and somewhere in there we need dinner. Hhhhmmm .. I'll figure that one out later. My "planned" meal is not going to work .. not enough time. I think we'll have beef stroganoff instead. I can throw that in the crock pot.

Not Nice

At preschool yesterday Brynne was sleeping on her rest mat .. apparently like a log. A little girl on the other side of the bookshelf kicked it and all of the books fell on Brynne. She never flinched!

Kyndal broke up with her boyfriend last night. Just Monday he was the greatest thing in the world. She's still as fickle as ever about boys. This time, though, she was emotional. He is a really nice guy. Why don't girls ever want the nice guys??? Dawson was mad. He liked him. It took me back to when Tim would get all attached to our boyfriends and then we'd break up with him. He had to survive lots more breakups between Krissi and I. I kindof understand how he felt. You get all emotionally involved and then they're gone. I'm sure this won't be the last time this happens.

Felt balls

Goodness Gracious .. so much for "Humdrum"! It has been crazy! Things have kicked into high gear with my JBF job, on top of preparing my clothes to sell in the sale. I have marked, so far, 184 items to sell! It will take me all of my spare time in the next week to get the items hung on hangers and tagged. But it is so worth it when the check comes in! Kyndal cheers at two games this week, Dawson had Boy Scouts last night and is going on a campout this weekend. Tomorrow is SYATP (See You at the Pole) .. prayer at the flag poles at school first thing in the morning. Then tomorrow night we have our "See You at the Party" event at the high school, so it will be a late night again. On Thursday, I'm taking Kyndal into Tulsa to meet someone to go to the Taylor Swift/Rascal Flatts concert, then coming back to her open house at 5:40 and then Eli's open house at 7:30. I have a jewelry party to try to fit in there somewhere. SO FAR, Friday is calm. I hope it stays that way because that may be the only night I have to prep my clothes for JBF. On Saturday Rick and I are going to see the movie "Fireproof" with Matt and Steph and then out to dinner .. CAN'T WAIT! It's just a crazy week!

Yesterday Brynne had "homework". She had to decorate a family tree. I smeared glue all over it and gave her silk leaves and flowers and some fuzzy balls and some little, tiny felt balls to stick all over it. She did such a great job! But, about an hour later she came up crying and said, "I have a ball with glue in my nose!" Yes, she did it! She stuck one of those felt balls up into her nose. It was making her sneeze and I tried to get her to blow, but she just kept blowing out of her mouth. While I was gone last night Rick said she sneezed in the kitchen and said she blew it out. There was a pink ball on the floor and she swears that was it. But, there were a few still on the floor from doing her project, so I can't be sure. What is the fascination with sticking things up your nose? Comment back if you have had an experience with this. It should be funny!

Confused!

The WEIRDEST thing happened to me yesterday! I was looking for dental floss. Yes, that's weird, but it gets weirder! I was upstairs in Kyndal's bathroom looking and when I turned around there was Spike laying in the middle of Kyndal's bed!! Spike has been MIA for about three months. I just stood there and stared! No words would come out of my mouth .. I was confused! I was really trying to make sure it wasn't just Clifford and I was seeing things. But, no, it was Spike! I said, "Spike .. what are you doing?" I petted him, and he was as chubby and healthy as he's ever been .. not a scratch on him. I thought, "Oh my gosh, has he been trapped in this house somewhere?" But he was so healthy and calm that I discounted that. Then I remembered that Eli and I had left the laundry room door to our garage open for a while so he must have come in then! He went downstairs and was kind of frantically running around like he was scared. I know what you're thinking ... Yes, it really was Spike, not a stray! I have a picture to prove it!



He went to the doors meowing so I just let him out. He stood on the back porch for a while and Clifford walked out and licked his face. Then Spike was gone and I haven't seen him again. He is apparently being taken care of, quite well, by someone else. I guess we'll just love on him when he shows up every few months. It was the most surreal feeling, though, like I was seeing a ghost.

The Best

I think this may go down as being the best week of weather I've ever seen in Owasso! From today until next week it is supposed to be sunny, high of 81 - 83, nice south wind of about 10 miles per hour. WOW!!! I think we'll go to the zoo on Sunday!

My mom, sister and Rylee were down last night to see Kyndal cheer in Owasso's game against Union. Owasso beat 'em .. GO RAMS!! It was a really great game! Afterward Krissi did my hair for me. I think this may be the best color and cut I have ever had! I love it! She does such a great job, even from my kitchen! She's been working for a salon in Overland Park, Kansas, for the past year or more. Because of internal problems at the salon she decided to "go out on her own", renting a booth from another girl she knows. She already has a week full of new and old clients. I don't doubt for a second that she'll make tons of money and be very successful! Judge for yourself!



Kyndal got her cell phone back today from her 2-week grounding. She's not allowed to text for another two weeks, but at least she can touch her best friend now! She is also reporting a boyfriend! Dawson has actually had kindof a tough week at school, with some experiences with a bully and other acceptance issues. I hate that for him! Eli is having a great week! On Monday when we rounded the corner in the drop off line, he saw Mr. Clark and Mrs. Garrett (two of his teachers from last year) there to do monitoring of "their kids". Eli was SO excited to see them!! Brynne had another fabulous day at King's Kids yesterday. I just think everyday is going to be awesome for her!

Olympics -- Owasso style

Friday evening we just hung out at home. With two grounded teens, what else can you do? Dawson got into some "trouble" at school so I had to ground him from Braden's Friday night. To him, that's as bad as losing your cell phone for a month!

Saturday we all went to church to participate in the Xtreme Times Olympics. We paired up our youth family groups for 10 "athletic" events. Most of the teams had made t-shirts and/or flags, wore crazy clothes and most painted each other's faces with "war paint." We started at noon and ended at 5:00 p.m. Most of the events were outside. Hurricane Ike hit us at about 2:00, so all of the kids were soaked! As you can imagine, they insisted on keeping the events outside instead of moving them inside. It was fun, though! Rick and I judged events, Eli and Brynne just hung out at the youth building, and Kyndal and Dawson participated in the games (although not too thrilled about it.) Kyndal is too cool to play games (she thinks) and Dawson is too self-conscious to play games. Dawson said he was miserable, yet having a good time .. whatever that means! When we got home we dried off and chilled out. The kids all went upstairs for the majority of the evening and Rick and I watched the movie, "Dan in Real Life". That's a really great movie, if you haven't seen it.

Yesterday was church and when we got home Kyndal, Brynne and I went grocery shopping. Rick and Eli mowed the yard. Dawson went to Braden's (finally!)

It was a good weekend.

Hives!!

Eli woke up yesterday morning with a couple of "rash" spots on his face. With his sensitive skin I didn't really think anything of it. At 2:45 yesterday afternoon the school called and said he had a rash all down his back and stomach. When I got there he was covered. I had to make a doctor's appointment to show that he was not contagious before I could bring him back to school. It looked really bad! The doctor said it was just a viral form of hives caused by who-knows-what. He's itchy, but not contagious. It looked really bad this morning, but with some Benadryl it seems to have calmed down a bit.

Kyndal cheered at two games this week. It was fun to watch her. She is still grounded from her phone, so that's a bummer for her, but she's taking it well so no real problems. Progress reports come out for both Kyndal and Dawson today and according to Parent Portal they have all A's and B's. That's a great start! Their low grades are typical for them ... Math for Dawson and Reading for Kyndal.

Brynne had another successful week at King's Kids Preschool! She was given the first "award" of the year for being a good helper during clean up time. They learned about friends this week and made a friendship mix for snack yesterday. The friend she always talks about playing with is "Taylor" .. and she was quick to correct me that "Taylor" is a "him". Their favorite thing to play with is the cars. I know that shocks you all!

We were going to go to the zoo last night for member night, but it was pouring all day yesterday so we skipped it. I was bummed, though, because we could have ridden the train and carousel for free and they had behind-the-scenes talks with the bears, elephants and giraffes. The kids would have really enjoyed it. It was a "rain or shine" event, so we just plain missed it this year. Oh well!

Tomorrow Rick, Kyndal, Dawson and I are participating in our youth group's Xtreme Times Olympics all day. It should be entertaining!

Nothing New

You know, the fact that I have NOTHING to blog about is EXCITING! Do you know what that means? It means the busyness and crazyness of summer and the beginning of school is over! It means that I have achieved what I love so much .. the HUMDRUM of life! Everyday is pretty much the same (or at least every week) for now! On Mondays and Wednesdays we have the twins. On Monday nights Dawson has scouts. On Mondays and/or Tuesday nights Kyndal has games to cheer at. On Tuesdays and Thursdays Brynne has school. On Wednesday nights we have church. On Thursday nights .. pretty much nothing. And then even the last several weekends have been pretty uneventful! Now, all of that is soon to change with birthdays coming up and Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc. (my FAVORITE season of the year). But for now, in my opinion, no news is good news! It's the calm before the storm! Eveybody take a cleansing deep breath with me .. aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Car Game

I seriously wish I would have been recording Eli when Rick got home from work yesterday! He was told that if he was a "big boy" going to school on Thursday and Friday that Rick would buy him the racecar game he wanted for his xbox. As soon as Rick got home he started kindof jumping up and down and running in place (so excited!) saying, "Did you get my game, did you get my game?" Rick handed it to him and he just hugged him and me and said, "Thank you, daddy! Thank you for getting my game, daddy! Thank you for my game, mommy!" He was ecstatic! Then he looked at Rick and said, "That's what I've been working for." It was so sweet! And, for him to acknowledge, at age 4, that he had worked for something and been rewarded, was a big deal to me! It was awesome!

Whew!!!

This week has been a busy one! I'm working part-time for JBF now, so I've been so busy with that during the day! I've had a hard time keeping my housework up, which has driven me crazy! Just that and keeping the girls one day this week and church on Wednesday and cheerleading practices after school and sports physicals and eye appointments and dentist appointments and two different preschools and detentions and attitudes and groundings from cell phones, etc., etc., etc., I'M WIPED OUT!! Whew!! Kyndal and Dawson went for their annual trip to the Concordia fair. We're home just taking a deep breath this weekend after a crazy week. I'm looking forward to finishing a book and watching my dvr'd shows. I really hope to not leave the house until church on Sunday.

Eli has started this "crying" business when I leave him at school. Rick told him if he could be a "big boy" yesterday and today that he could get the xbox racing game that he wants. He did it!! Rick just got home so he'll get his game in a minute! Brynne wore a shirt the second day of school that said, "Preschool Rocks" in pink rhinestones. That pretty much sums up how her week went.

"E" is for "Elephant" and "EEEKKKK" ... I overslept!!

Today was "E" day for the girls. We made shapes Elephants and they used bisquits to make elephant heads. We sprinkled on sugar and cinnamon for a nice afternoon snack!

"E" also stands for "EEEEEKKKK!!!!!" This morning I woke up and saw a "light on" in the living room. I thought, "Why is that light on?" Then I realized it was light coming in through the living room windows. My next thought was, "It's not light outside at 6:15 a.m., when I get up and get the kids up!!" Then it hit me .. Oh no!! I've overslept!!! K and D get up at 6:15 to get ready for school and catch the bus at 7:15. It was currently 7:28 a.m. Ooops! They were 30 minutes late for school.

In the last month I have received a "brace face" and "four eyes" into my family. Dawson went to the eye doctor yesterday and it was determined that he is far-sighted and needs reading glasses. He really does see blurry up close .. he wasn't kidding all these months!! He picked out a nice pair of wire-rimmed glasses and a bonus pair of black ones. He looks cool. We pick them up sometime tonight. There will be pictures. The eye doctor told him he should get straight A's now. I'm looking forward to that!!

Brynne's First Day of Preschool

There were tears, then sniffles, then weeping, then sobbing ... then Brynne told me to buck up and quit embarrassing her so she could go to school!!! Actually, I didn't cry! How could I be upset when she was so happy??? She was adorable and so grown up and so excited! She walked right into her class, let me take her picture by her cubby, and walked to a table to do puzzles. She didn't even know (or care) that I left. I know she'll do great. The weird part is being here in the house with just Eli. We haven't done this since he was 19 months old. It's strange! And he's in his room playing his xbox like it's any other day. It's just peaceful!



We actually have a busy day ahead! I'm going to try to do some laundry and then pre-prepare dinner so it ready this evening when everybody gets home. Dawson has an eye appointment in Tulsa at 5:00 so by the time we get back we'll all be hungry and I don't want to have to make dinner then. I'm hoping to go scrapbook for about an hour or so between taking Eli to school and picking up Brynne. We'll see how that works out!

Labor Day Weekend

Well, this weekend was mostly filled with LABOR!! Rick worked endless hours in the yard, even with a fever on Saturday! I do think he sweated it out, though! He got a new riding lawnmower (way overdue) and that cut his yardwork to at least half!!! He burned limbs, cut logs, moved rocks, mowed, trimmed, etc.! I mostly did laundry! Kyndal and Dawson had a fun weekend at the lake with their dad.

On Sunday we went to church and attended our all-church picnic afterwards. They had pony rides and inflatables for the kids. It was really hot, but our two just played and played and played! They loved the ponies! The rest of the day involved more yard work and laundry. Brynne and Eli played in their little pool in the backyard and I just sat on my porch swing and read a book and enjoyed them! As I watched and listened to the pool party next door, I felt such immense blessings in my life to be enjoying my children and home. I was so thankful to be on this side of the fence .. for so many reasons.




Yesterday we didn't do a whole lot. Well, Rick did, you know, more yard work. I pretty much hung out in the house with the kids and planned our vacation for next summer. We are planning to go with the Thomasons on a camping trip through the Black Hills of South Dakota and to Yellowstone. We think the trip will be worthy of movie rights by the time we are done. But we are SO EXCITED! I have had so much fun planning! I imagine it will be one of "those" vacations the kids talk about way into adulthood. With me and Stephanie on a week-long trip in campers, how could it not be??? Dawson just cannot wait to do something so cool with Lauren!

Brynne starts preschool today! I just heard her door open so I'd better go see her! It's 7:20 a.m. right now. There will be pictures of the first day, you can be sure!