Monday, April 23, 2012

The Gymnast





Jacob has now finished his first season of competitive power tumbling.  He loved it and he did great!  He ended up with a ton of medals - mostly first and second place.  He went to four meets.  Two were in Emporia, KS (one of which was the OK/KS state meet), one in Neosho, MO and one here in Tulsa.  Trampoline is still his favorite event and his strongest event.  He continued to improve over the season in all 3 events - trampoline, tumbling and double mini.  Even though the meets are over now they continue to practice year round.  He practices 6 hours a week and may increase to 9 hours a week starting in August.  The year round practicing is actually really good for him.  It is a great release for his endless energy.  I can't believe he is 10 years old now!  In a little over a year he will officially be a middle schooler and will also move up into the youth group at church.  That is crazy!

 
 
 
 
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Exciting Times for Caleb

It has been a busy and exciting couple of months for Caleb. He participated in an indoor competitive percussion group. That was a lot of fun to watch and they did great! In April he has taken the ACT, gone to prom with a friend from church and turned 16. This past weekend he got his license and we had a big party for him. We also got him a used, Honda Pilot which he is enjoying driving. This morning he drove to school for the first time. It is a strange thing to have him driving on his own now. Can't believe he is this old!

Friday, March 16, 2012

Upward Basketball

Joshua finished his last season of Upward Basketball. It is very bittersweet! He has played since he was in kindergarten. He really enjoyed it and it is such a great program! He had some of his best games ever this season. Kenneth and I joked that the key was one of us not being at the game. When Kenneth was off skiing Joshua made 4 baskets in his game. The game that I missed he made 3 baskets. I have been a part of Upward for the last 8 years. I am sad that it is over!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Catching Up

Our middle schooler


Homecoming Dance with lifelong friend (Michelle)
Jacob's first meet - Emporia, KS

Jacob with teammate and friend (Trenton)



Well, you might think that I fell off the face of the earth since I haven't blogged in almost a year. Life is just super busy and crazy! I had about decided to completely give up on blogging but I recently had the urge to blog again. I can't write about everything that has happened in the last year so I will just try to update everyone on what is going on these days (if anyone will even read this).

Jacob joined a competitive gymnastics team in August. It is power tumbling so he does tumbling, trampoline and a thing called double mini. He is loving it! He practices a little over 5 hours each week. It is a great outlet for his endless energy! He just went to his first meet this past weekend. He enjoyed it and did well. He got two first place medals and one second place medal. It is definitely a little easier for the boys. They don't have as many to compete against as the girls do. He is in fourth grade this year. Can't believe he only has one more year of grade school after this year. I am definitely not ready for him to be in middle school. We have entered the world of orthodontics. He had braces on four of his top teeth for a while. He just got them off and now has a retainer. He stays very busy with school, gymnastics, kid's leadership team (church) and hanging out with friends/neighbors.

Joshua is now a middle schooler. I was nervous about how he would make the transition because he doesn't really like change (he's a lot like his mother). He has done extremely well though. He has a harder time getting up in the mornings (he is almost a teenager now) and doesn't like all of the math homework but other than that he seems to like school pretty well. He is in pre-algebra which is two years ahead. He has always been freaky good at math. He likes science a lot too. They just finished building rollercoasters in his science class. He just might be our future engineer. We were very proud of him when he recently received a student of the month award. He is playing Upward basketball. It is good exercise for him and he enjoys it. I haven't gotten any pictures of him playing yet. Need to do that soon. He loves being a part of the youth group at church now. He still loves legos and video games. He also enjoys reading. He would like to learn how to play the drums. We will be checking into lessons once basketball is over.

Caleb is super busy with band again. He got to play marimba in marching band this year and enjoyed that. His band went all the way to nationals and got 6th place. That was very exciting! He is now participating in a competitive indoor percussion ensemble. They will have their first competition the end of this month. The other big news is that he is driving. He got his permit in October and will turn 16 in April. It's kind of scary but he is a good driver. He went to his first Homecoming Dance in October with a friend from church. He had a blast! He is looking forward to going to prom in April with another friend from church. We are trying to figure out his school schedule for next year. He has applied for Tulsa Tech to do a web design program there. He is very excited about that. We just have to figure out how to get in all the classes he will need to graduate. April will be a very big month for him. He will turn 16, go to his first prom and take the ACT for the first time. Time sure is flying! I know that in the blink of an eye he will be graduating and going off to college. Not ready for that!


I stay very busy just keeping up with the boys and their schedules! I often feel like a taxicab. I am still working at our church preschool as an assistant teacher. I mostly work with the one and two year olds. I love my job! Love my boss; love my coworkers; love the kids; love making some extra money! It is a true blessing in my life! I still try to scrapbook when I can but it is hard to find the time. Kenneth and I help out with the children's ministry twice a month at church. It's so nice to be around little ones since our boys are getting so big.

Kenneth is still working at occidental petroleum. Two upper-level people have retired since he has been there so he has taken on a lot of extra responsibilities. He also is traveling more than he used to. We are thankful that he has a good job with a good company but it gets pretty stressful at times. We are very thankful that he is out of public accounting and no longer has a 3 month busy season with tons of overtime. He is planning a skiing trip with some of his guy friends. He is very excited about that! He loves to ski and it has been a long time since he last went skiing. If Jacob find out he is going he will probably beg to go along. He really wants to go snowboarding!

Well, I think that is a pretty good update on our lives. Hopefully it won't be another year before I do this again.
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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

My Boys

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Thursday, January 20, 2011

Snow Day



My boys were very excited to have a snow day today! I didn't really share in their excitement. Caleb immediately wanted to go to a friend's house and Joshua and Jacob wanted to go sledding. Sledding is fun but it is also a lot of work. First, I had to get up in the attic and find the sleds (and go back a second time to search for Jacob's snowboard). Then, I had to get a box out of the garage to find their thermal underwear. Then the bundling process began. It seems to take forever to get all of us bundled up. We were finally ready to go. Jacob had a ball on his snowboard. He crashed several times after trying some jumps. He thinks he is ready to conquer a mountain now. I actually think he would love to go to a ski resort and learn how to really snowboard. He has good form and isn't afraid (he must get that from his Dad). Joshua got a little more daring this year. He doesn't want to try snowboarding but he was using his sled on some bumpy spots and was laying on his back some to go faster. Caleb missed out on sledding with us but I don't think he really cares. He would much rather spend time with friends.



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Tuesday, December 28, 2010

A Tradition Lives On

Every year I take pictures of the boys with Santa hats on. We started this when Caleb was three and he is now fourteen. He still puts up with me doing this even though he doesn't love it. Joshua and Jacob still enjoy it. In fact, this year they asked when we were going to do it. Usually we take the pictures in early December. This year we didn't get them taken until Christmas Eve. I think that is the latest we have ever done it. We had a good Christmas. We got to spend time with family and now the boys are getting to spend time with friends. Caleb is staying with his friend, Kyle, for a few days. Joshua got to spend the day with his best friend, Jackson, yesterday. And today and tomorrow the boys get to spend time with their mutual friend, our neighbor Jimmy. I hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating the birth of our Savior. Best wishes for a happy New Year!




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