It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!!!

We could not believe it last week when we looked out the window and saw honest to goodness, real live snow falling here. We had been wearing our short sleeves all weekend long and then all of a sudden it decided to turn COLD...and it hasn't gone back to my nice mild temperatures that I am so fond of. Jaden was in heaven with this little bit of snow that we got...she had been a little jealous of some pictures of her cousins playing in the snow from the weekend. We bundled up and rushed right out to take advantage because it wouldn't be there when we got home!!!



Taking pictures while dodging snow balls is hard work.

Making snow angels is a much nicer past time...except for the changing out of the soaking wet clothes before school part!!!

Doesn't she make a pretty angle.

Thursday Sandie and Hope flew down to visit and shop and shop and hey, did I mention shop? Luckily for me they did come to do some shopping, and I am pleased to announce that I am pretty much done (except for a couple of small things) with my shopping. :)

Then we moved on to more important things...like a house that still had pumpkins in the front yard. It takes us a while to catch on that it's time to move on to the next holiday I guess. Jaden finally convinced her daddy to head up to the attic and haul down all the Christmas decorations, and she tackled her favorite job of the season...decorating the tree!!! This year she even had a little helper. They were so cute doing their job together. :)

I didn't actually hit the outside of the house until today when I got rid of the pumpkins and put the outside x-mas decorations up. We are now officially ready...except for the no presents under the tree part. As soon as I recover from all the shopping and decorating maybe I'll come up with some energy to start the wrapping!!!

Happy Late Thanksgiving

There is so much in this wonderful life that I have that I am thankful for that it would take a while to list it all. God has truly blessed me. I am most thankful for my family though. For Joe and Jaden, my parents, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews. I am also thankful for the second family I got when I married Joey. They have taken me in like I was one of their own. This year for Thanksgiving we drove up to Oklahoma to spend the day with them. I am also thankful that they are close enough for a one day visit since I usually have to work the Wed. before and the Fri. after Thanksgiving. It was a great day filled with tons of great food, football, family and fun...the four F's!!! Jaden made this little guy her friend from the start, his name is Snickers!!!



The kids all had a great time together. This year we had Thanksgiving at one of the cousins homes and they had tons for the kids to do. We saw them when it was time to eat and out the windows. Thankfully it was a beautiful day, and they took full advantage of it!!! There was a trampoline, tree house, basketball goal, bikes, scooters and plenty of trails for J to perfect her driving skills...they had a 4 wheeler and an ATV which she took full advantage of.

Mykah looks a little scared...if any of J's driving ability comes from her mamma I'd be scared too!!! Thankfully there were no accidents to report. Jaden was a little sad when we had to leave, she is already plotting to take a change of clothes next year and stay even if I have to come home and work.

Joey was excited to get this gift from his parents.

I thought it was so cute...even if it did have OU stuff all over it. You can plug it in and it lights up and everything. A little of his excitement wore off when J and I got this...

These are so adorable...thanks so much Sandra and Joe. We had a great time with all of you!!!

A whirlwind

Since we got back from Oklahoma almost two weeks ago we have been going like crazy. Jaden had a soccer scrimmage Tues. and a game Thurs. night. Friday night her school had their annual fund raiser...MavFest - so after I picked her up from ESD we came home, changed and headed back up to the school. Jaden's favorite part of MavFest was the rock wall they had this year. She made it all the way to the top!!! She decided the line for the mechanical bull was too long. I was one of the volunteer parents. Luckily for me J and a few of her friends decided to help me out. I couldn't have done it without them!!!



After we got home from MavFest we hung out with the neighbors and waited for some family to roll into town. Mom, Rebecca and her kids showed up Friday night and Angie and her gang came by Saturday. The kids had a good time hanging out together.

There were dog piles and silly string and a trip to Going Bonkers throughout the day Saturday. There was also some shopping and of course another soccer game. No pictures from Bonkers...if you want good pictures there you have to crawl through with the kids. I was more in the sit at a table and talk with Mom and Rebecca mode.

After everyone went home on Sunday Jaden and I had a fun day of cleaning, laundry and grocery buying, well not fun but guess someone had to do it.

Monday Jaden had a well check at her doctors office. Her doctor discovered what she thought might be scoliosis. Joey is taking J to get an x-ray of her spine on Friday, and we will hopefully get some news back about that next week sometime...thanks for all the prayers everyone is saying for a good outcome!!!

Tuesday...what else, another soccer game. All this rain has made for a busy end of the soccer season:)

Today I went to Jaden's awards assembly at her school. I can't believe it is already the end of the second 6 weeks. Here is a picture of her on stage getting either her honor roll ribbon or perfect attendance...not sure which one, but they were both not very good pictures. My camera is not a fan of the lighting in the cafeteria.

Here's a picture of Jaden looking around to make sure I showed up!!!

No rest coming our way anytime soon either. Soccer games to finish up the season on Sat. and Sun. this weekend along with a basketball clinic on Sat. If you don't hear from me this weekend, now you'll know why!!!

A Day in OK

We went to Oklahoma over the weekend to celebrate our October b-days and Halloween with MeMaw and Poppy Joe. Our soccer game was cancelled on Sat. so we got an early start and made a day of it, although we'll be making up for all the missed soccer games this weekend and next...5 games crammed into these two weekends (4 of them make-up games). We had a great time on our trip and were glad we had the chance to go. Here are a few photos of our adventures in Oklahoma!!!



Jaden getting her b-day loot from MeMaw and Poppy Joe.

A little thank you hug for Poppy Joe.

George was there too...can't forget about George who thinks this is his chair and that he can sit in it like any regular person would.

George wondering who this girl is who's invading his space.

Logan and Rikki stopped by for a visit too. Logan thought J's new hat from MeMaw was pretty cool.

Jaden in her vampire outfit ready to do some trick-or-treating.

We hit Granny Mildred up for some candy!!!

Jaden, Rikki and I hit the haunted house...it was inside an old funeral home and was pretty creepy. I don't think J is a fan of haunted houses anymore!!!

Jaden modeling her new outfit from MeMaw and Poppy Joe...they know just what a little girl likes!!!

The weekend

I'm still trying to figure out where all my time is going. I don't know where it all is...just know I don't have it anymore. We should have pretty much the same schedule as last year, but for some reason this year seems much more rushed and hurried and stressful than last year. We seem to be eating out all the time and just running from one place to the next...well not actually running...that's another thing I am finding a hard time fitting into my schedule. I think I only made it onto the treadmill twice last week, although I can't actually even remember if that's correct or not. This weekend there was no break for us either. We bought a new HDTV on Thurs. night and spent Fri. night moving furniture and such and trying to figure out how it would look best in our living room. What we had wasn't working, so Joe and I headed out to look for something else. We didn't find anything, so I went back out Sat. morning to check a few other places...nothing really jumped out at me.



Then it was time for soccer. They let us play on the soggy fields since they have run out of dates for makeup games. Jaden had a big asthma attack toward the end of the first half. Since the parents are required to sit on the other side of the field this year, I had to run through all the mud to get over to help. Luckily her inhaler worked quickly. She even went back into the game in the second half, although her coach put her in as a defender to give her a bit of a break!!!



Here are a few pictures from the game.

She plays with her tongue out a lot!!!

She was pretty disgusting after the game. Feel sorry for those football parents who have to deal with the muddy clothes a lot more. Joey told her she would have to ride in the back of his truck. She didn't think this was a very good idea!!! Luckily he had a towel in there, so after taking off her shoes, she was allowed to get in.

After the game we grabbed some food on the run and then headed out to meet some friends at the pumpkin patch. We went on the train ride, hit the bounce houses and face painting and just had a good time hanging out with everyone!!!

Joe met up with us afterward...OU was playing after all and he couldn't miss that to hang out at a pumpkin patch...for dinner and drinks with everyone. Then we went looking for the TV stand/ mount again. Still no luck, but I did find one that we got on Sunday, so by about 7:00 Sunday night we finally had everything up and running and in its place and enough time to grill out some steaks...yeah eating at home...before the next wave of storms rolled in to make sure we would stay on the soggy side!!!

Happy B-day Jaden

Happy birthday to my sweet baby girl...who isn't such a baby anymore. My little girl is 9 today, and I am so proud of the person she is becoming. She is so kind and sweet and just a fun person to be around. Hopefully all of these qualities just continue to grow in her!!!

She had a party with her cousins last weekend in Amarillo and had a great time. Tony and Sam took her out last night for some shopping at Justice and dinner wherever she wanted...Chili's of course. Today I took her shopping...the cash and gift cards she has gotten so far were burning a hole in her little pocket. Hopefully she has had a great day today. I'm about to cook her a b-day dinner...to be followed up by cheesecake, her favorite!!!

A special thanks to Angie for taking some time out last Sunday to take some new pictures for me. They are all great!!!

My blessings...

Every night when I tuck Jaden into bed she says "Mommy could you cuddle me for 5 minutes?" If I am in the middle of doing something she asks if I will come back and cuddle her "even if I'm asleep." I know it will not always be like this, so I cuddle with her and hold her hand and rub her hair as she fall asleep...I'll take it for as long as it will last. She is the piece of me I never knew was missing until she was here.

I not only have this beautiful little girl, I am surrounded by love. Starting with my husband who I know will always be there to love and support me and continuing on to my amazing family and friends. God has truly blessed me with each and every one of you, and I know I am not good at showing it but I hope you all know how much I love each of you and count you all as blessings in my life!!!

Music to my ears

Jaden has never been the biggest fan of school. She likes to go and socialize and hang out with all her friends, but that's pretty much it. Usually when I ask her to tell me something good about the day she will list P.E., recess, sometimes even lunch, or ESD. If you ask her what the worst part is it would be work...she's not a big fan of work in school and especially of homework. Last year along with her other homework, she had to read 100 minutes a week. If you break it down over the course of the week, it really isn't that bad. To Jaden, however, it seemed like torture. Every couple of minutes it was "how much longer until my time is up?" She hated reading and looked at me like I was crazy anytime she saw me reading in my spare time...which wasn't often because if I have spare time, she thinks that should be Jaden time!!! This year she has to read 15 minutes 5 nights a week, so not quite as much as last year. We didn't get any reading done last night...not really sure why, it just didn't work out, so Jaden was reading tonight. She always tells me what time she started, so I can keep track and let her know when she can stop. Tonight when I told her that her 15 minutes were up she said "Can I keep reading, I LOVE these Judy Moody books." She got this book Thurs. from the library and is still reading it...she has decided to finish it tonight. Something has finally clicked, and she has found a book that she can't put down!!! Earlier this evening when I had her take a break so we could watch a movie together, she told me she was going to try saving her money so she could buy some of these books for herself. I am in a state of shock but so totally happy that my little girl has finally found a love of reading!!!

Please excuse the hair...it has been in a ponytail for soccer all day.

Yuck

My hands are raw from washing them every 5 seconds or putting on hand sanitizer every time I touch something, and I'm sure Jaden is tired of me constantly telling her to do the same...and all because the nasty flu is hovering all through our house. Someone said Friday, "I don't get the flu, so why should I get a flu shot." Saturday this someone came home from work with the flu, although of course said person didn't believe me when I told him that is what he had and so didn't go to the doctor until Wednesday afternoon to be told that he does indeed have the flu. Hopefully the flu shots Jaden and I got will hold up for us...or else you all better start praying for this someone who "doesn't need a flu shot because he never gets the flu!!!"

Oh yeah...someone turned 40!!!

Besides a busy week and weekend of soccer we had other stuff going on this weekend as well. Joey turned the big 4-0...not that he was looking forward to the occasion. Once it was here though I don't think it was as bad as he was imagining. Jaden got him to smile with a ton of stuff she made for him, including this card that said "I'm Daddy's angle."

She was right, she is definitely his little angle!!! Joey's mom Etta also came down to celebrate the momentous occasion. Jaden was happy to see her nanny!!!

Plus she had someone new to con into playing every game in her game closet with her. Luckily Nanny Etta didn't mind and played whatever she brought out, even if she had no idea what it was. Jaden had a ton of fun teaching her how to play Jenga...and I think they got the record...at least at our house, I tend to knock it over pretty early on. Nanny was worried J wasn't going to make it on this one, but she did.

Nanny made it crash just a couple of minutes later though!!!

Finally, some games

After weeks of rain, we finally got to play some games...2 of them actually. We had a game Thurs. night and another this morning. J played hard Thurs. night but we were a little outmatched and got shutout 3-0.



She hustled and fought hard all through the game though.

Saturday's game was the first game of the day. She had a good first half and scored a goal for our team...we won this game 4-1, but J was pretty much out of juice by the second half. Our team played good though, and it was nice to get a win!!!

J's been practice on bringing the ball down using her body...I try to talk her into using her head too, but she tells me that it hurts!!!

We spent a good portion of the second half being defensive...all of our team was pooped, but still we were able to hold on till the end of the game and only allow one goal, it was a lot of bend but don't break type of second half.

We still have a long season plus make-up games to go...hopefully most will be as fun as today!!!

Stuff I don't know

Jaden's school had their boosterthon funrun yesterday in the gym instead of outside because of all the rain we have been getting...hopefully we're in for a few sunny days before it comes back around to us on Monday. They were all supposed to get shirts to wear, but apparently they were running behind in getting them to the kids so they didn't get them until the morning of the run. Wednesday afternoon when Jaden came home we had this conversation about it.

Jaden - It's ok. I'm just going to wear a noodle strap shirt to school and then put my shirt on over it when I get it.

Me - I have no idea what a "noodle strap" shirt is.

Jaden - You know the ones with the little skinny straps that I'm not supposed to wear to school.

Me - Oh, you mean a spaghetti strap shirt.

Jaden (rolling her eyes) - Everyone at school calls them "noodle strap shirts" Mom.

So this post is really just a public service announcement to all you moms out there who don't know what noodle strap shirts are to save you from the eye rolls or the "what century are you from" looks. Although this could just be some weird thing J and her friends made up and it's not sweeping the country yet!!!

Stylin

Let me just start out by saying I hated wearing glasses. I got them in 5th grade because I could not see at all, otherwise I would have figured out a way to get by without them. Even after I got them I only wore them when I had to. I would sit in the back of the classroom and sneak them out of my purse and put them on long enough to see what was on the board and hope nobody looked in my direction, then back in the purse they went. About a year later my mom got me contacts thankfully, and I could actually tell who was talking to me from the other side of the hallway at school.



Apparently today's generation doesn't feel quite the same way as I did. My nephew Aaron was excited to get his a few years ago, and he looks great in them. Maybe it's the new styles they have today that make them not look so bad...I personally had the huge Sally Jesse Rafeal type for my first pair, although mine were blue instead of red. Jaden doesn't need glasses yet, and hopefully never will, but that didn't stop her from having to get a pair of fake glasses...she paid for these with her own money since I saw no need for them at all. She calls them "style specs." Not sure if this is their actual name or something she made up with her friends. She has no problem wearing them...to school, to shop, on trips, wherever the mood strikes her. I tell her I don't think she would find them nearly as cool if she HAD to wear them all the time though!!!

Please disregard the mess...for Jaden this is considered clean.

Just had to throw this picture in to let MeMaw know that the Reef's are still hanging in there over a year later, one more growth spurt though and I think we're done!!!