Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Baseball Fever

So Baseball season has officially started!! My boys are super pumped to be out there again. Since moving, I think they have felt a little out of the loop so to speak. Although we have stayed pretty busy, it has been a different busy. The boys were used to getting home from school and spending the rest of the afternoon until dark playing out side and enjoying the neighborhood kids (for the most part.hehe).
But here we live in a cul-de-sac of all girls and no park to play at. Now don't think that I pity them or anything because their life isn't bad at all, but I know they miss the pick-up games, hide and go seek, and such.
So with baseball season being here it will give them something to look forward to and a little physical activity that doesn't involve my couch or coffee table as the arena..hehe
Rusty is helping coach Jake's team and the other coach seems extremely nice so that is a plus. Jarred on the other hand had his first practice last night. Needless to say I was NOT impressed.
When Rusty went to the coaches meeting a couple of weeks ago, we had Jarred signed up for Tee-Ball. Well Rusty got to talking to some of the Dads/Coaches and they all acted like we should probably move him up. So we Did. Now I'm not so sure.
I think as far as playing he will be okay, but this little team he is on seems very "Cliquish." Which is fine, believe me I am not looking for a new best friend, but the fact that we are the new kid in town and my son happens to be the only Kindergartner on the team, well we already have 2 strikes against us. So again, last night my irritation level was on the rise....Sigh
But it will all work out, it always does.
So now between the two kids we are having practice about 3 or 4 times a week until the games start and then 3 or 4 games a week plus some practices squeezed in here and there. Can't wait for Hailey to get in on the mix...Good Times..LOL
It is a lot of work but it is worth it to see the kids having fun. If anybody knows us at all then they know we like our sports around here, so all the practices and games aren't really that hard to handle, for now. Ask me in about 2 months..LOL

Monday, March 17, 2008

Our 10th

Rusty and I officially celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary on Friday, March 14th. I know what you are thinking, that I just made this big post about Hawaii and it being our anniversary and such and you are right, we did celebrate that trip in honor of our 10th, but Friday was the actual DATE that we got married....we just jumped the gun a little on the celebration..hehe



So I was flipping through my wedding album yesterday (we had some company over and they were checking out my pictures) and so I decided to scan a few and share a few memories of that special day.



Rusty and I met in high school as Seniors, we actually met as Juniors but we were both dating other people. I instantly thought he was a cutie, but I'm not quite sure what his REAL impression of me was. Of course, now he would feed me full of all kinds of nice things, but you never really know, right..LOL



Anyhoo, we finally started dating in January of 1995 and have been together ever since. At first our relationship was quite feisty, we both are strong willed people and it was lot like fire and ice. Just ask our friends and family, I bet they never thought we would make it more than a couple of months. However, thank the good Lord that we both grew up and starting acting like reasonable, responsible adults and the rest, as they say, is history. Now I'm not leading you on to believe that we live in some fairy tale romance with butterflies and flowers all the time, but we both know each others place in our life and we both have a main desire to serve the Lord and so the rest mostly takes care of itself.



So in honor of our wonderful day here are a few pics...







Here we are saying our cherished vows..Rusty's Step-Dad married us which has been so special for us.


Walking down the aisle for the first time as Husband and Wife! He was really happy ..I promise!


One of the many, many pictures taken...I have never smiled (fake and real) so much in my life..LOL


Us cutting the cake.. A friend of ours made it for us as our wedding gift and as you can see she used fresh flowers which I was a little nervous about, but I thought it turned out GORGEOUS!


A picture of our Wedding Party..



Here we are loaded up and ready to take off for our Honeymoon...It took quite awhile for us to break through the saran wrap barrier that covered his truck, not to mention the shaving cream, shoe polish, and all sorts of fun obstacles. As you might have guessed Rusty had a little payback coming his way..hehe

It was an amazing Day and I often look back and wish I could go back to that time where everything was new and fresh, but I then look at my children and the trials that we have been through and I am thankful for where we are at today and that the Lord is still with us each day and our marriage is as strong as ever.

Happy Anniversary Honey..I Love You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Jarred's 6th Birthday!

Another bad mommy moment...Jarred's 6th B-day was over two weeks ago and I am just NOW getting around to blogging about...


Anyhoo, my little guy is now officially 6 yrs. old!!! I can not tell you how long I have heard this count down from my little man...I think since like maybe Dec. No Joke!


Unfortunately I was sick on his actual B-Day day so we had to have just a small party of just our own family. That is a big change on how we normally throw party bashes around our house. We normally do a big themed party with pinatas and goodie bags and all the hoopla, but since we don't live around family any more we toned it down a bit. We were going to combine parties with Tisha's little boy because the 2 boys birthdays are only 3 days apart and we would be inviting the same people anyway. Then I got sick and so did she so it got even more scaled back. But all was not a complete loss...Jarred's "big" cousin, Scott had came down for his special day and we ordered pizza, had cake and ice cream, and then went to a nickel arcade. I was feeling better so I decided to join the family and we had a great time. Tisha's Hubby showed up at the arcade with Christian and Ruby and hung out with us too. So that was great that Jarred still got to spend sometime with a few of his friends.


All in all I think Jarred had a pretty good time. After all he still got tons of presents from family and friends and let me just tell the Nerf Wars have not stopped yet.


Here are a few shots of Jarred on his big Day...




The Birthday Boy and his Transformer Cake



Here is a close up of the Cake...I found these letter candles at Party City and it worked out perfect because Jarred has 6 letters in his name..


This was his big gift from Rusty and me. Everyone meet "Boomer." The newest edition to our family. This little hamster has brought all 3 kids tons of joy.


This is a look of determination..He WILL get that gift open!!



This was just the beginning of his Nerf Gun stash..



Of course every war isn't complete without the classic bow and arrow attack..hehe


He has had his eye on this baby since right after Christmas.. He was super pumped!


Here they are....The 3 little ones that help make my world go round..however, just a little faster than I would like at times..LOL

So there you have it my second son is now 6 yrs. old and all I gotta say is..

Where Did the Time Go?!?!..Sigh

Happy Birthday Jarred!!!
We Love You!!!

Thursday, March 6, 2008

What a Deal

Over the weekend when we were on the mad dash to find Indian paraphernalia we went to a couple of thrift stores to assist in our findings. I did find a couple of things that worked but I also found a couple more things that I couldn't resist...


How cute are these dresses?!?!

This one looks like Hailey should bust out in her toddler version of "Tomorrow, Tommorow I love you, tomorrow, your only a day away...." Don't ya think, especially with her red hair..hehe


I thought this one was just way to cute to resist as well....



Here is a look at the back cuz I think it totally adds to the overall look....

Can you believe that I only paid 4.99 each for these dresses?...I thought that was an amazing deal! I looked and looked for flaws, rips, stains, missing buttons, but nope it was all good and not to mention they can be washed and dried in the washer...I have already tested that theory, of course. So now I am just waiting on the sunshine to hang around long enough so we can get some use out of these babies. Hailey is such a clothes horse that I know she agrees with me. She keeps saying, "Awe, momma these are so 'tute'!"..LOL

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Night of the Notables

So last night Jake had a school function. He had this project to research a famous person and gather all the info he wanted on this such person. He then had to prepare a speech and even dress as the person for this big event that took place last night, thus.."The Night of the Notables."

Most of the research and the speech writing was done at school so really our only project at home was to find and bring to life the physical part of his character, aka the costume....

Jake picked the famous Sitting Bull. So last Sat. we as a family scoured the county-side looking for a Indian costume and the accessories that go along with any great Sitting Bull costume. Much to our disappointment, but not surprise we really couldn't find a great Indian outfit in March..huh that's weird..LOL

We did however find the accessories, but no costume so, my hubby and I came up with the "brilliant" idea of me making it. Now this is quite funny in itself because I have never made clothing for my children nor anyone else for that matter..Actually I take that back I think once my sister-in-law talked my into making a dress about 10 yrs ago, but she basically did EVERYTHING and I was just along for the ride.

So cut to Sat. evening and Rusty and I are in Jo-Ann's and wading through the pattern books looking for something resembling and Indian outfit. I found an actual costume, but it looked so complicated that I couldn't even understand the instructions on the back on how much material and what kind of material to get.....I was in BIG trouble.

But alas we found a pattern (Pajamas) that would work and figured we were good to go.

Sunday afternoon we spread the pattern and material all out and I pinned the pattern while my trusty assistant (Rusty ) cut it out. Thanks Honey!!

I then set to sewing this mess together. The top went together pretty quickly, until I got to the sleeves. It looked WAY to complicated for this novice seamstress so I vetoed the them and he was now going be a sleeveless Indian....hehe

Then came the pants...I started feeling over confident in my abilities and thought I could "fancy" this baby up a bit...I decided to put some fringe along the side. Well, after I finally figured out how to get the two legs sewn together, I put the fringe in ..no problem. I then was tackling the elastic and I was just about done when my eye drew back for a moment and I noticed a different texture on the pant leg. I looked closer and realized that had I had sewn one pant leg inside out. It was fleece material so obviously it looked a different shade not to mention the texture!!! NO NO NO!!

GGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had to rip out every thing on one pant leg, even the fringe, and start from the very beginning.....

DOUBLE GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is why I don't sew!!

Anyway, I finished it, but then I went back to the elastic I was so burnt out that after I sewed it in the hem thingy I just tied it in a knot and called it a day..LOL Not very pretty, but the shirt was long enough to cover, thank goodness!!

So, last night came and we got Jake all dressed up and ready for his big night. Here are few shots of the occasion......




Here is my Hunk of a man...I needed to braid the wig and Jake wouldn't hold still enough so Rusty volunteered for the job...What a guy!!



The kids decided to get in on the photo session with their beautiful Daddy..LOL



Sitting Bull in the flesh!!


Silly Kids!!


Me with my masterpiece..LOL


Jake was so nervous when we pulled up to the school. I do believe his words were.."I think I'm gonna hurl." I of course told him it was gonna be Okay, but what do I know I am just a silly mommy who never has been through anything like this..hehe I practically had to drag him out of the suburban, but as you can see once we got inside he was all smiles and the stress melted away.


Here he is giving his speech..He did a great job and all in all the night was a great success!!

Good Job, Jake..I mean Sitting Bull!!!!!

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Hawaii Pictures

Well I finally got around to downloading pictures from my new camera to my PC...Boy did that take awhile. I believe it was like 560 pics....crazy, huh? Anyhoo I thought I would put up a few shots from Hawaii. It was absolutely beautiful there!!


We went to the island of Kauai and the scenery was breath taking. We were quite the busy little bees there. We went on a helicopter ride (one of the best parts of the trip), kayaking combined with a hike to a amazing waterfall (tons of fun), a luau, and a dinner cruise (low point of the trip), not to mention sight seeing and snorkeling here and there. I haven't let my sweet sister-in-law personally approve any pics yet, however she did approve their appearance on my blog so they are at my mercy..hehe




This was our first morning in Hawaii....


Here the guys are waiting on us outside of Wal-Mart..yes I said Wal-Mart!! We were on a budget, Okay!!..LOL


A little stream that ended up being a waterfall as it rushed off the cliff


Here we are doing a little sight seeing...Checking out the old Lighthouse..





Here area couple of shots that we took in the helicopter...What a pretty island!!!!!


Our tour guide was so great..funny and witty..My kind of combination. As you can see we got the one with the doors off and it was QUITE CHILLY!!!


Here we are at a restaurant called Coconuts..It was pretty good, but kind of pricey. Sorry about the background craziness on this pic.


Rusty and I at the waterfall that we kayaked 2 1/2 miles and then hiked another mile to....


Rusty and I at the Luau...

A picture of our Hotel..It was right on the beach so that was really neat.


The convertible that we shared with James and Lisa....


Us on the nauseating dinner cruise..hehe


Here we are, the Fab Four, wind blown, sun burned, and sea salt plastered to our faces..Our last evening in Kauai...


There are tons and tons more pics, but this overall was our trip..it was so much fun and I am so glad we got to go!!