Snow Fun!

The boys love to go sledding when we actually get snow!

Kenneth got to go with us this time.

Our snowboarding boy

The boys built a snowman with our neighbor, Jimmy.


The boys were so excited to have a white Christmas! The best part was that it snowed while Kenneth was home. Usually it snows during the week and I have to take the boys sledding by myself because it usually melts before the weekend. It looks like the snow will stay around for a while this time. The boys had a blast sledding! We were the only ones sledding and it actually didn't feel too terribly cold because the wind wasn't very strong. Jacob had fun snowboarding. Kenneth tried out our snowboard also. I asked Jacob if he wanted to snowboard on a mountain sometime and he said yes. He would probably love to go skiing with his Dad. I'm not much of a skier myself. The bunny slope is about all I can handle. I prefer to stay inside by a fire with some hot cocoa and a good book. The boys also had a snowball fight and built a snowman with our neighbor. Unfortunately the snowman lost his head shortly after being built.

The Teenager/Musician, the Scout and the Gymnast

Joshua - our Scout
Jacob - our Gymnast
Caleb - our Teenager/Musician


I got this idea from a friend of mine who did this in her Christmas letter. She is more talented than I am and made hers rhyme. I gave up on that idea quickly.

T is for Texting in all his spare time
E is for Eating all of the time
E is for Electronics - he likes Macs the best
N is for Never enough time with friends
A is for Always Annoyed with his brothers
G is for Guitar player - acoustic and Guitar Hero
E is for Excited about web design
R is for Rhythm-maker (drummer)

Caleb is my teenager. He is very social and would spend all of his time with friends if he could. He is our musician. He plays percussion in the band, takes guitar lessons and likes to play on the drum set also (and of course he enjoys Guitar Hero - and is really good at it).


S is for Studious (he's got all A's)
C is for Chess - which he loves to play
O's for Obsessed with video games
U's for Unbelievably good at math
T is for Ten years old

Joshua is our Scout. He is a Webelos this year and really enjoys it. We even attempted to camp out in our backyard with our neighbor's tent. He is in the gifted program at school and is proud of his all A's (this is his first year to get grades).

G is for Giving his mom gray hair
Y is for Yelling all the time (no volume control)
M is for Mischievous Monkey
N is for Non-stop energy
A is for Athlete
S is for Soccer player/Skateboarder/Snowboarder wannabe
T is for Tumbling & Twisting (even the splits)

Jacob is our gymnast. He must get it from his Dad. He is really good! I love to watch him do handstands, cartwheels, splits, etc... He goes non-stop all day and then crashes at night. He is a daredevil and scares me sometimes. We went sledding and he likes to snowboard down the hills.
He thinks he would like to snowboard on a real mountain. He must get that from his Dad also.

Pumpkin Patch

October was insane! Which was very sad because I love fall - especially October. I love the cooler weather, the leaves changing and the pumpkin patch. Kenneth was out of town a couple of times during the month and he was really busy at work one week. So, I felt like a single mom quite a bit. Add in some sick kids during part of the month and busy schedules with lots of activities and that's a recipe for chaos and stress. We did manage to make it to the pumpkin patch. Caleb didn't go with us because he was sick over fall break. The rest of Tulsa and Bixby seemed to be there though. It was extremely crowded! We had a good time though and brought some pumpkins home. I was going to put some pictures of the boys' painted pumpkins and costumes but they are still on my camera. I might get them on here by Christmas.

We love going to the pumpkin patch! Caleb didn't get to go with us because he was sick.

Jacob loves having his picture taken. He kept posing for me. He's such a ham!

Joshua didn't want to go through the maze so I managed to get a picture of him by himself.

Blogging Again - Finally!

Ok, I'm finally getting around to blogging. It's been forever! I'm working at our church's preschool this year and it's really thrown me for a loop. It seems like the days when I am home are filled with chores, errands, etc... A lot has happened since I last blogged so I will probably write a couple of blogs today. Joshua turned 10 in September. I still can't believe he is 10 now. My boys are all growing up so fast! We had a bowling party. The boys had a lot of fun. We used the special lanes that glow in the dark and have video screens. That made it something special and out of the ordinary. Joshua won the first round so he was excited about that.
We've also been busy with soccer and gymnastics (Jacob), Scouts (Joshua) and band/guitar lessons (Caleb). The fall has been so busy that it's passed by in a blur. Soccer is over now so I'm hoping that the rest of November will be less crazy. I can't believe that Thanksgiving is a little over a week away. Joshua and Jacob will start Upward basketball in December so we will get busy again. December always seems to be super crazy!

We had a fun bowling party for Joshua's 10th birthday!

Sitting on a bowling ball doesn't seem like it would be very comfortable.

Who's that silly kid with the bow on his head?

Back to School

Jacob has Ms. Forbis again - we are happy about that. Can't believe my baby is in second grade.

Joshua got Mrs. Roueche. She's very nice and has been teaching for a long time.

My tall son (taller than me now) is an 8th grader now. Unbelievable!

Jacob was excited to see his friends, Jackson and Eli. He is definitely Mr. Social!




Ok. The boys have already been in school for 3.5 weeks so I am a little late getting this blog done. The beginning of school is always crazy and it takes awhile to get back into the routine of things. Caleb is in a new school this year and likes it pretty well. The food is better than at his last school and food is very important to a 13 year old boy. He likes his math teacher better this year which is a major relief. Joshua's teacher doesn't believe in giving homework very often (unless they don't finish their work at school). Joshua is really enjoying that. I am too since Jacob has more homework this year and is now doing book reports every month. This is a big challenge since he doesn't like to read very much. This last week was pretty crazy. Joshua and Jacob were already sick and missed some school. Jacob had bronchitis and missed 3 days of school. Joshua only missed one day of school but has been feeling bad again today. It's crazy that there is so much illness going around this early in the school year. Caleb hasn't gotten sick so far. Hopefully he won't! It's harder for him to miss school. He is at the lake this weekend with one of his good friends. It's getting to where we don't see him much on the weekends because he spends time with friends as much as he can. He's definitely a teenager now. I am working part-time this year at our church's preschool. I am enjoying it but it is tiring. I didn't get to work at all this last week with the boys being sick. Hopefully, this week everyone will be back to school and back to work for me.

Another year older

My kindergarten picture.
A picture of me with my brother, Chris, when I was in first grade.



Today I am another year older. I won't mention what my age is now even though most of you probably already know. I don't particularly like the number but really it's not the number that bothers me the most. The worse part is looking older and feeling older. If I could look young and more importantly feel young I wouldn't really care about my age. It doesn't help that some of my closest friends are a lot younger than me. It also doesn't help that my children are making me feel old. Partly because it is the end of the summer and they have worn me out and also because they are getting older too. I don't feel like I should be old enough to have a teenage son but I do. There are nice things about my children being older though. They are more independent now which is very nice. And it's wonderful that Caleb can watch his brothers and we don't have to pay for a babysitter. It has given us more freedom than we used to have and has allowed us to go out on dates more. I really do like this season in my life but I wish I could avoid the body changes that come with getting older. I know that's not possible so I guess I will just have to deal with it. I just need to focus on my many blessings instead of focusing on the things I don't like about being _ years old. I have a heavenly Father who loves me more than I can imagine. I have a wonderful extended family and wonderful friends. I have an amazing husband and three boys who keep me on my toes.

P.S. Please don't laugh at the old pictures of me. I know they look old (because they are) so you don't need to tell me how old they look.

A Wonderful Surprise!

Well, I thought I was going to be all alone for a few days. My wonderful husband had other plans. He had planned an early birthday surprise for me. I was truly surprised - especially since he did this a month before my actual birthday. He brought in two of my best friends from out of town for a girls' weekend. We had a blast! We scrapbooked, shopped, ate out, took pictures and laughed until we cried. It was definitely a weekend I will never forget. Now I'm trying to get rested up before we go on vacation (or our family trip as I call it). Thank you, Kenneth! You are the best!

Me and my wonderful husband.

Hanging out with my wonderful friends, Jennette and Holly.

Getting some scrapbooking done.

All dressed up for a fashion shoot.

A Fun day at Big Splash

We decided to go to Big Splash after Jacob's swimming lesson one day. I chose not to swim so I could get some pictures. It was great because it was late enough in the afternoon that it wasn't horribly crowded. The boys had a blast! It was really nice because they are old enough now that I don't have to swim with them (although I will most of the time just to stay cool). All three of the boys enjoy the big water slides. Jacob even went down the Silver Bullet last year. It is very high and straight down. He liked it even though it gives you a wedgie. He didn't get to go down it this day because it was closed for some reason. Hopefully Kenneth will get to go with us atleast once this summer. He will be working only half days on Fridays starting this week so we might be able to go on a Friday afternoon. Saturdays and Sundays are really crowded. Hopefully Friday afternoons aren't as bad.

The boys were very excited about our first visit to Big Splash this summer!

Floating down the Lazy River.

Attempting to climb the rock wall.

Jumping off the platform.

Swimming lessons for Jacob

Jacob was the only one who took swimming lessons this year. He loved it and did great! He passed level 2 and will go on to level 3 next year. His teacher was great. She challenged him and wouldn't let him get away with stuff but she was a lot of fun too. Jacob has been a busy bee this summer. His activities have included swimming lessons, indoor soccer and gymnastics. He enjoys all of those but says that gymnastics is his favorite. He will continue gymnastics in the fall. This is the first time he's played indoor soccer. I think he might like it more than outdoor. It's very fast paced and he's gotten to play goalie a couple of times.

Swim, Jacob, Swim!


Having fun with the boys in his class.

Learning to swim on his back.

Getting a ride from his teacher.

Time with family

We were so happy that my brother, Chris, and his family got to come stay with us for a few days! Chris was performing a wedding ceremony in Kansas and they came to our house on their way there. We don't get to see them enough so it was great to have some time together. The boys love spending time with their cousins - time which always includes some video gaming. They also spent time outside together and we went to see a movie together. The house was packed and we had to get creative with sleeping arrangements but it was well worth it. I just wish they lived closer so we could see them more often!

A little Guitar Hero World Tour fun.

Absorbed in the world of Nintendo DS.

Emerie wanted to get in on the action.

Andrea went out back to do some "reading".

Catching up

Ok. I know it's been about two months since I have blogged. Summer always throws me for a loop. I do much better on a schedule and I do much better when I have some time to myself. So, I'm going to pull a "Kenneth" and write several in one day. I will probably have to write several more on another day to catch up. We started off the summer with Jacob going to church camp for the first time. For those going into second grade they have a day camp. I went along with the group. I can handle going when I don't have to spend the night. Jacob enjoyed it a lot - especially the swimming. They got to swim in the pool and the lake. This year they have a new trampoline out in the lake and the kids really enjoyed it. Caleb went to camp for a whole week but I don't have any pictures of his time there. He thoroughly enjoyed it! Joshua chose not to go to camp this year. Falling out of the top bunk last year didn't help make him want to go back.

Doing flips off of the diving board at camp.

Having fun on the orbit!

Jumping into the lake.

Swimming in the lake.