I took Bison, our almost 10-year-old pug, to the vet today. He's overweight, as always, we need to brush his teeth more and cut his nails, as always. The new development today was that he had a fatty tumor on his side that had to be tested. Thankfully, it was just that, a benign fatty tumor, that causes no problems and needs no treatment. His heartworm test also came back negative. Good deal. Prevention works.
So we head home. Bison is riding in the floor of the passenger's side. I drive into the garage, as always, hop out and toss my keys in the seat, as always, and as I'm walking around the front of the car, I hear this all-too familiar "CLICK." I freeze, then look at Bison. He had hopped up into the seat and put his paws up on the door and, you guessed it, locked the door.
You've got to be kidding me. "I'm sorry, I can't come pick up my kids from preschool. My dog locked my keys in my car." Who's going to believe that?!
Try as I may, I could not get Bison to UNlock the door. He was, however, successful at locking the door a second time. Amazing.
I called John, who is riding in a car full of the church office staff, as today is staff lunch day. They were finishing up lunch and graciously agreed to drive down to Flint to rescue Bison and enable me to drive back into town to get my kids, which I will do in about 20 minutes. The looks on their faces as I raised that garage door was priceless. Big grins, big waves. I was mortified. And poor Bison couldn't figure out why I was just now letting him out of the car!
Oh, Bison ...
Monday, October 17, 2011
Saturday, October 08, 2011
Well, this is embarrassing ...
My lack of presence in the blogger world is not because of how busy we've been, or because of any injury or illness, or because of technology issues. There is no good reason.
And y'all are just gonna have to love me anyway.
Please?
The summer was great. We didn't do just a ton of things. No camps or sports or even very many friend play dates. I really felt like a mother hen gathering all of her chicks under my wings and just spending time together. I think it's what we needed. It's what I needed, apparently! We did do lots of fun things together, so I'll try to highlight those.
Mamaw and Mom came down over Memorial Day weekend! We shopped and cooked and played. What could be better? But no pictures. :(
But HERE are some pictures from our family photo shoot on Memorial Day!
Those are my favorites!
Glenwood hired a new preacher! We are so excited to have Wes Crawford on staff. We are getting to know his family, and they are just precious. God had worked through this long process, and now, finally, we are seeing what He had been up to!
Here's Kate in here "little black dress":
So it's a onesie, but it was perfect for all occasions.
John's sister Laurie, and daughter Brenna, came for a visit In June! We enjoyed eating at Daniel Boone's (a cultural experience) and also Orange Leaf (better than TCBY).
Flat Stanley also made it into the picture. Johnathan did this project over the summer ... And the 2nd grade teachers haven't mentioned it yet. Guess Flat Stanley fell right off the priority list!
Johnathan turned 7! For his birthday, he took his friend Silas to LegoLand in Dallas. They boys had a great time, of course. We also learned our lesson (during the 2-hour line to get in) that it's best to arrive before the doors open!
Clearly Vocal finished up recording our one song over the summer! "Pulse," one of our originals, will be available on iTunes soon! Stay tuned for more info on that. And baby Camdyn was born to Andy and Stefanie. Kate and Camdyn get to spend a lot of time together at rehearsal!
Kalleigh and John went on a Daddy/Daughter date at Chick-Fil-A close to Father's Day. CFA came up with the whole idea. They had to make reservations and everything! There were roses on each table and a take-home goodie bag. What a great idea!
I'll just be posting random pictures of cuteness (RPC), too. :)
I had heard that the Moby wraps were the best in the world. I also knew they were quite pricy. Then I saw a lady wearing what I thought was one, except the material had a cute print. I asked her if it was a Moby, and she told me no; that it was $1/yd fabric from Wal-Mart and that she had looked up on the Moby website how to wrap it up! Brilliant! So I did the same thing. I also found that there are LOTS of ways to tie up a baby! Wait. That came out wrong.
This was a fun game. You freeze like this until somebody laughs. Good times. :)
Our big family trip was going to Colorado to meet Kreg and Keleigh's newest addition, Baby Tucker. Our trip overlapped Mom and Craig's trip out there, so it was fun to see them, too! We hit Estes Park for a day:
The cousins had so much fun together!
We conquered the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and met up with some friends from when we lived in COS! It was so good to see Amanda and Kisti and their children. Looks like everyone was busy since we left!
We also got to see Tiffany, Todd and River for a few minutes! We put the Curtis babies together as proof that we did actually see them! River, Tucker and wiggly Kate.
RPC:
Later in July, the kids and I ran up to AR while mom had a little surgical procedure. I love this picture of Johnathan holding Nana's hand right out of surgery. He was reading her the story he wrote while we were waiting in the hospital. He's so sweet and thoughtful!
While in AR, we spent a day at the farm. Mamaw and Kate got some good snuggle time in! Mamaw also taught Johnathan a thing or two about playing Jacks!
RPC: Priorities :)
Johnathan is now in second grade, Kalleigh is in Pre-K and Jonas is in the 3-yr-olds class. Both Kalleigh and Jonas go to Little People's School MWF. Everybody is doing well!
Meanwhile, I use that time to run. Yes, I'm back at it again. It is just so effective for me. I'm already below where I was when I got pregnant with Kate. Not my littlest, mind you, but I'm on my way! Running is my "me time." time for processing, planning and praying. Alliteration intended.
The big kids are playing soccer this fall! They are both enjoying it. Yay!
Mom and Craig came down this past weekend to see the kids play. Craig was just 4 weeks out of open heart surgery, and looked GREAT! I was so impressed. They also brought down a bedroom set that they weren't using! So Kalleigh got a new bed. Not all of the pieces fit in the girls' room just yet with the crib and the changing table still in there, but we got the bed and the desk to fit! Kalleigh just loves it.
Mom and Craig got to hear Clearly Vocal perform on Saturday night, and then went with us to hang out at our favorite restaurant, Julian's, for John's 37th birthday! What a fun night!
RPC: Bath time!
Kalleigh's 5th birthday was Sunday. This was a "friends party" year for her, so we doubled up with her best buddy, Abby, and had a joint party at Jumpin' Jack's! They requested a ballerina cake, so Barbie was up to bat:
The girls had a blast!
And so did Jonas.
Obviously.
There is so much more, but this will have to do. Surely I won't go another third of a year without posting anything ... Surely.
And y'all are just gonna have to love me anyway.
Please?
The summer was great. We didn't do just a ton of things. No camps or sports or even very many friend play dates. I really felt like a mother hen gathering all of her chicks under my wings and just spending time together. I think it's what we needed. It's what I needed, apparently! We did do lots of fun things together, so I'll try to highlight those.
Mamaw and Mom came down over Memorial Day weekend! We shopped and cooked and played. What could be better? But no pictures. :(
But HERE are some pictures from our family photo shoot on Memorial Day!
Those are my favorites!
Glenwood hired a new preacher! We are so excited to have Wes Crawford on staff. We are getting to know his family, and they are just precious. God had worked through this long process, and now, finally, we are seeing what He had been up to!
Here's Kate in here "little black dress":
So it's a onesie, but it was perfect for all occasions.
John's sister Laurie, and daughter Brenna, came for a visit In June! We enjoyed eating at Daniel Boone's (a cultural experience) and also Orange Leaf (better than TCBY).
Flat Stanley also made it into the picture. Johnathan did this project over the summer ... And the 2nd grade teachers haven't mentioned it yet. Guess Flat Stanley fell right off the priority list!
Johnathan turned 7! For his birthday, he took his friend Silas to LegoLand in Dallas. They boys had a great time, of course. We also learned our lesson (during the 2-hour line to get in) that it's best to arrive before the doors open!
Clearly Vocal finished up recording our one song over the summer! "Pulse," one of our originals, will be available on iTunes soon! Stay tuned for more info on that. And baby Camdyn was born to Andy and Stefanie. Kate and Camdyn get to spend a lot of time together at rehearsal!
Kalleigh and John went on a Daddy/Daughter date at Chick-Fil-A close to Father's Day. CFA came up with the whole idea. They had to make reservations and everything! There were roses on each table and a take-home goodie bag. What a great idea!
I'll just be posting random pictures of cuteness (RPC), too. :)
I had heard that the Moby wraps were the best in the world. I also knew they were quite pricy. Then I saw a lady wearing what I thought was one, except the material had a cute print. I asked her if it was a Moby, and she told me no; that it was $1/yd fabric from Wal-Mart and that she had looked up on the Moby website how to wrap it up! Brilliant! So I did the same thing. I also found that there are LOTS of ways to tie up a baby! Wait. That came out wrong.
This was a fun game. You freeze like this until somebody laughs. Good times. :)
Our big family trip was going to Colorado to meet Kreg and Keleigh's newest addition, Baby Tucker. Our trip overlapped Mom and Craig's trip out there, so it was fun to see them, too! We hit Estes Park for a day:
The cousins had so much fun together!
We conquered the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and met up with some friends from when we lived in COS! It was so good to see Amanda and Kisti and their children. Looks like everyone was busy since we left!
We also got to see Tiffany, Todd and River for a few minutes! We put the Curtis babies together as proof that we did actually see them! River, Tucker and wiggly Kate.
RPC:
Later in July, the kids and I ran up to AR while mom had a little surgical procedure. I love this picture of Johnathan holding Nana's hand right out of surgery. He was reading her the story he wrote while we were waiting in the hospital. He's so sweet and thoughtful!
While in AR, we spent a day at the farm. Mamaw and Kate got some good snuggle time in! Mamaw also taught Johnathan a thing or two about playing Jacks!
RPC: Priorities :)
Johnathan is now in second grade, Kalleigh is in Pre-K and Jonas is in the 3-yr-olds class. Both Kalleigh and Jonas go to Little People's School MWF. Everybody is doing well!
Meanwhile, I use that time to run. Yes, I'm back at it again. It is just so effective for me. I'm already below where I was when I got pregnant with Kate. Not my littlest, mind you, but I'm on my way! Running is my "me time." time for processing, planning and praying. Alliteration intended.
The big kids are playing soccer this fall! They are both enjoying it. Yay!
Mom and Craig came down this past weekend to see the kids play. Craig was just 4 weeks out of open heart surgery, and looked GREAT! I was so impressed. They also brought down a bedroom set that they weren't using! So Kalleigh got a new bed. Not all of the pieces fit in the girls' room just yet with the crib and the changing table still in there, but we got the bed and the desk to fit! Kalleigh just loves it.
Mom and Craig got to hear Clearly Vocal perform on Saturday night, and then went with us to hang out at our favorite restaurant, Julian's, for John's 37th birthday! What a fun night!
RPC: Bath time!
Kalleigh's 5th birthday was Sunday. This was a "friends party" year for her, so we doubled up with her best buddy, Abby, and had a joint party at Jumpin' Jack's! They requested a ballerina cake, so Barbie was up to bat:
The girls had a blast!
And so did Jonas.
Obviously.
There is so much more, but this will have to do. Surely I won't go another third of a year without posting anything ... Surely.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Another Pictures/Captions Post Eliminating the Need for a Real Title
May has been a good month in many ways. It hasn't been nearly as hectic as April was, but probably more so than June will be. Kalleigh and Jonas are done with Little People's School for the year and Johnathan has six more days of first grade. It's had its ups and downs. Some days are like this:
Others like this:
And when we're lucky, they're like this:
We've grown food:
And made food:
We've driven places some:
And stayed home some:
We've read:
And slept:
And kissed:
And hugged:
And sung:
(That's Andy. CV is recording!)
And swung:
And best of all, we still love each other!
Others like this:
And when we're lucky, they're like this:
We've grown food:
And made food:
We've driven places some:
And stayed home some:
We've read:
And slept:
And kissed:
And hugged:
And sung:
(That's Andy. CV is recording!)
And swung:
And best of all, we still love each other!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
The past five weeks ...
... have been absolutely insane, but SO fun! I'll need to refer back to the calendar to remember it all. Sorry for the delay in posting.
Way back at the end of March, the kids and I took John to the DFW airport on a Friday so that he could represent Clearly Vocal at the VoCAL Nation A Cappella Festival in NYC. While we were in Dallas for the day, the kids and I decided to go to the Dallas Arboretum. Oh, it was beautiful! All of the tulips were out, my favorite. Kate was just four weeks, but she did great!
That night, my brother Kreg, his wife Keleigh, and their son Westin came all the way from Colorado Springs for a visit over a weekend. My mom and her husband Craig drove down from Searcy as well. It was nice to have some help! The cousins had so much fun playing together. So wish we could see each other more often!
Westin meets cousin Kate. That face!
Nana and Pops and the grands.
Silly Uncle Kreg!
Sweet Kalleigh.
While playing on the Brookshire's playground, Keleigh and I were watching the kids play on the monkey bars. I was saying that I was getting so much more confident in Johnathan's climbing abilities and that I just didn't get as worried about him falling as I used to when he was younger. At that moment, Johnathan came running over to us, screaming, with blood dripping from his mouth. He had bitten his tongue--badly! Thankfully, he was missing his two front teeth already, so he didn't bite all the way through. He bit a nice chunk out, though. Sheesh. I felt so bad for him!
We got one last picture in the Texas bluebonnets.
The next couple of weeks, we spent getting ready to host the third annual East Texas A Cappella Celebration. It was on April 9th. We had four other groups sing in addition to Clearly Vocal representing choral music, contemporary Christian, gospel and barbershop. It was a great evening!
John always does such a good job making the programs. :)
I tried jogging some when Kate was 6 weeks. I made it a mile, then walked a mile. Then just gave it up for a while. What was I thinking?
Then began the craziest week of all. After the concert on Saturday my friend Chelsea and I began getting ready for Rodeo Roundup at Little People's School where Kalleigh and Jonas attend. I was in charge of the kitchen again this year, which means feeding about 300 people over two days. Oh, and my friend Stefanie and I were in charge of the Glenwood ladies retreat that was the following weekend. No bigs.
Monday was probably the most hectic day. I dropped the kids off at their respective schools, helped Chelsea decorate the gym for RRU, sent information letters out to all of the ladies telling them what to bring and how to get there, went to Sam's and bought the food for the 300 people and unloaded it into the kitchen, picked up K2 and J3 from preschool, got them plus K3 down for naps, assigned roommates for the ladies retreat and called the camp coordinator with my final numbers, got J2 from school, helped him with homework, loaded all four kids (that's Js 2&3 and Ks2&3, because John and I are J1&K1, of course!) into the van, picked up some Bueno and then went to Clearly Vocal rehearsal. Well, I left out feeding Kate every three hours, but that's a given. Whew!
So, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings were spent in boots and bandanas serving hot dogs and chili to the preschoolers of Little People's School and their parents. That's always fun! I had a good crew of parents helping me out, too!
Thursday was spent doing last minute ladies retreat stuff: buying & stuffing folders, making copies, and most importantly, preparing for the entertainment! I decided that I would do a presentation Saturday night before the bonfire on how to roast the perfect marshmallow ... as Beth Moore! It was too fun. Our Ladies Bible class had done her study on Daniel, so I spent one of the video sessions writing down all of her funny phrases. I incorporated them into some flowery instructions on roasting marshmallows that I had found online, and it was done. Oh, and I made a fill-in-the-blank handout. :)
The ladies retreat was Friday - Sunday. The theme was "Talk Amongst Yourselves," focusing on our speech. We brought in a group of five ladies from Abilene called The Coffee Group to be our speakers. I really appreciated all of the preparation they put into their lessons, and we had some GREAT discussion time in our small groups.
Saturday night for the Beth Moore marshmallow thing, I wore a blondish wig, a bright green jacket with a sparkly yellow scarf, khaki pants, and huge heels. It was so fun, and the ladies were in stitches! Wish I had a picture or a video!
Sunday morning, we had to do a sunrise service with breakfast following. Stefanie and I had to get back to Tyler to church because Ronnie White, our interim preacher, had asked Clearly Vocal to sing a special song after his sermon. I think many of the ladies, especially the elders' wives, enjoyed being back at Glenwood for services anyway.
Now we're caught up to this week-Yea! Monday, Kate had a check-up. She's up to eleven pounds! Such a cutie.
Tuesday was my first Tuesday home since January. I guess I was a little bored, so I made Kalleigh and me matching dresses. It was SO easy. I don't even have a sewing machine any more! I bought this bolt of dress fabric for $1/yd with the intention of cutting off the top and making a Moby wrap for Kate.
When Kalleigh saw it she asked, "Mommy! Are you making a dress for me?!?" She was just too excited, and I realized how easy it would be. So I did. And then I made one for me, too. And I still have enough fabric for the wrap.
Tonight, Clearly Vocal is singing for a local retirement center's Passion In the Park celebration. Then we're heading to a Mercy Me concert tomorrow night with friends while the three big kids spend the night with the Deans. And then it's Easter weekend and Kate will be eight weeks old!
Happy Easter!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Way back at the end of March, the kids and I took John to the DFW airport on a Friday so that he could represent Clearly Vocal at the VoCAL Nation A Cappella Festival in NYC. While we were in Dallas for the day, the kids and I decided to go to the Dallas Arboretum. Oh, it was beautiful! All of the tulips were out, my favorite. Kate was just four weeks, but she did great!
That night, my brother Kreg, his wife Keleigh, and their son Westin came all the way from Colorado Springs for a visit over a weekend. My mom and her husband Craig drove down from Searcy as well. It was nice to have some help! The cousins had so much fun playing together. So wish we could see each other more often!
Westin meets cousin Kate. That face!
Nana and Pops and the grands.
Silly Uncle Kreg!
Sweet Kalleigh.
While playing on the Brookshire's playground, Keleigh and I were watching the kids play on the monkey bars. I was saying that I was getting so much more confident in Johnathan's climbing abilities and that I just didn't get as worried about him falling as I used to when he was younger. At that moment, Johnathan came running over to us, screaming, with blood dripping from his mouth. He had bitten his tongue--badly! Thankfully, he was missing his two front teeth already, so he didn't bite all the way through. He bit a nice chunk out, though. Sheesh. I felt so bad for him!
We got one last picture in the Texas bluebonnets.
The next couple of weeks, we spent getting ready to host the third annual East Texas A Cappella Celebration. It was on April 9th. We had four other groups sing in addition to Clearly Vocal representing choral music, contemporary Christian, gospel and barbershop. It was a great evening!
John always does such a good job making the programs. :)
I tried jogging some when Kate was 6 weeks. I made it a mile, then walked a mile. Then just gave it up for a while. What was I thinking?
Then began the craziest week of all. After the concert on Saturday my friend Chelsea and I began getting ready for Rodeo Roundup at Little People's School where Kalleigh and Jonas attend. I was in charge of the kitchen again this year, which means feeding about 300 people over two days. Oh, and my friend Stefanie and I were in charge of the Glenwood ladies retreat that was the following weekend. No bigs.
Monday was probably the most hectic day. I dropped the kids off at their respective schools, helped Chelsea decorate the gym for RRU, sent information letters out to all of the ladies telling them what to bring and how to get there, went to Sam's and bought the food for the 300 people and unloaded it into the kitchen, picked up K2 and J3 from preschool, got them plus K3 down for naps, assigned roommates for the ladies retreat and called the camp coordinator with my final numbers, got J2 from school, helped him with homework, loaded all four kids (that's Js 2&3 and Ks2&3, because John and I are J1&K1, of course!) into the van, picked up some Bueno and then went to Clearly Vocal rehearsal. Well, I left out feeding Kate every three hours, but that's a given. Whew!
So, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings were spent in boots and bandanas serving hot dogs and chili to the preschoolers of Little People's School and their parents. That's always fun! I had a good crew of parents helping me out, too!
Thursday was spent doing last minute ladies retreat stuff: buying & stuffing folders, making copies, and most importantly, preparing for the entertainment! I decided that I would do a presentation Saturday night before the bonfire on how to roast the perfect marshmallow ... as Beth Moore! It was too fun. Our Ladies Bible class had done her study on Daniel, so I spent one of the video sessions writing down all of her funny phrases. I incorporated them into some flowery instructions on roasting marshmallows that I had found online, and it was done. Oh, and I made a fill-in-the-blank handout. :)
The ladies retreat was Friday - Sunday. The theme was "Talk Amongst Yourselves," focusing on our speech. We brought in a group of five ladies from Abilene called The Coffee Group to be our speakers. I really appreciated all of the preparation they put into their lessons, and we had some GREAT discussion time in our small groups.
Saturday night for the Beth Moore marshmallow thing, I wore a blondish wig, a bright green jacket with a sparkly yellow scarf, khaki pants, and huge heels. It was so fun, and the ladies were in stitches! Wish I had a picture or a video!
Sunday morning, we had to do a sunrise service with breakfast following. Stefanie and I had to get back to Tyler to church because Ronnie White, our interim preacher, had asked Clearly Vocal to sing a special song after his sermon. I think many of the ladies, especially the elders' wives, enjoyed being back at Glenwood for services anyway.
Now we're caught up to this week-Yea! Monday, Kate had a check-up. She's up to eleven pounds! Such a cutie.
Tuesday was my first Tuesday home since January. I guess I was a little bored, so I made Kalleigh and me matching dresses. It was SO easy. I don't even have a sewing machine any more! I bought this bolt of dress fabric for $1/yd with the intention of cutting off the top and making a Moby wrap for Kate.
When Kalleigh saw it she asked, "Mommy! Are you making a dress for me?!?" She was just too excited, and I realized how easy it would be. So I did. And then I made one for me, too. And I still have enough fabric for the wrap.
Tonight, Clearly Vocal is singing for a local retirement center's Passion In the Park celebration. Then we're heading to a Mercy Me concert tomorrow night with friends while the three big kids spend the night with the Deans. And then it's Easter weekend and Kate will be eight weeks old!
Happy Easter!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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