Still wore out...

Jaden still had her reading homework to do after I picked her up from ESD today, so after getting her a snack I left her to do it and went for a run. Here is what I found when I finished.

I don't blame her...wish I could have curled up with her and done the exact same thing!!!

Busy Weekend

Well the craziness started Fri. evening for us as this was the annual camp out to register for the after school program in our school district. There are a limited number of spots in the program, and you have to re-register every year. Our school is always the first to fill up...hence the camp out. They give instructions that you can't start lining up at the school where it is taking place...all elementary schools in the district register at the same school each year...until 8 pm the night before. This year they even had the cops there to make sure. Parents of course still showed up before the 8 pm guideline and lined up on the street until they were let onto the campus of the school. For the first time, the guys did the camping. I was extremely relieved...in case you don't know this about me, I am not into camping. I am the kind of girl who needs bathrooms and a bed. I did have strict instructions to show up at 7 am Sat. morning to relieve Joe though...he wasn't real excited to be the one stuck out there getting no sleep either, but he did it for me and I was extremely grateful!!!



Jaden got to hang out with our friends Tony and Samantha Fri. night and of course had a great time and got spoiled a little in the process. They came over to get her Fri. night and gave her three options for the evening...shop at Justice, play put-put golf, or go to build-a-bear. She says she did eny-meny-miny-mo to make her decision, but really she's a little shopper so we all knew they would end up at Justice. So to sum it up, Joe had a terrible night sleeping outside, I got my packet ready to turn in Sat. morning and got some other stuff done while I had some free time, and J had a great time...until Sat. morning that is when she had to get up a little after 6 am. She is definitely not a morning person and was certainly no ray of sunshine. We made it by our deadline though and she came back home w/Joe. Then it was up to me to stand in line for 3 hours with my fingers crossed hoping they still had a spot when I got up there. Luckily there were four 2nd and 3rd grade spots left, so we're good for another year!!! Joe got a little rest then we headed out for a soccer game. Our team played pretty well...Jaden not so much. She says it's because she was too tired to play...hopefully next weekend she can get in all of her beauty sleep before game time. Here are a couple of pictures from the game on Sat...only one more to go in case you're tired of looking at soccer pictures!!!

After that it's been on to our regular weekend activities...all the fun of laundry, bathroom cleaning, grocery shopping (my least fav. thing to do) and all the other errands and chores that need to be done. Man...I think I'm ready to head back to work and get a break from the weekend!!!

Jillion dollar smile

For several years I could only get a picture of Jaden actually smiling by accident. She would never willingly let anyone see her teeth, so I guess getting braces put on at age 8 was not only a necessary thing for the health of her teeth but also great because she'll flash me a smile anytime now. I was worried about how she might handle the pain and also if she would be able to take care of her teeth herself, but she has done great with both. This is probably only the first phase for us and she'll get another set when she is 12, but for now these are doing great and she should get the top set off sometime this summer!!! And now...as Joe would say "show me that smile I'm paying a jillion dollars for."

I don't know if you can tell from this picture...probably only if you have better eyesight than me, which is probably all of you...but she got to get some colors put on. She has purple and black right now to match her soccer colors...I'm sure she thought of that because we had a game right after our appointment on Mon. but purple is also her favorite color, so she may have gone with it anyway

My little...er make that big weed

It seems like I have a teenage boy on my hands right now. Jaden is constantly starving these days. She is eating more breakfast just to make it to morning snack at school and taking extra snacks to make it through the day. She has a snack again when we get home even though she's had one in her after school program and then dinner about an hour later. I think she would probably just stay at the bar and eat if we would let her...and leave the TV on Disney channel. I am thinking we are in the middle of a growth spurt, so thought I'd measure her now and then again later on to see if I was right...or if she really has just turned into a teenage boy...I'll let you know for sure when I find out.



Here's where we are now...better watch out Mammaw, if she keeps eating like she is now she may catch you pretty soon!!!



We're heading into a free weekend around here...no soccer or anything we have to do anyway, although I'm sure J is making plans for us already. She is pretty excited about not being so busy and getting to invite a friend over...plus I'm pretty sure she's added the Hannah Montana movie to the agenda. Guess we'll just play it by ear and see what happens.

Holidays are for family

After going to church that was way more crowded than normal and having a one girl Easter egg hunt...how much fun could that be...our Easter was basically just another day. So as Jaden and I were watching a movie today she looked at me and said "Holidays are for family, and that's where we should be." She's pretty smart for an 8-year-old. Our hearts were there anyway, and after hearing that Cody was back in the hospital again that is where our thoughts and prayers were too. So, even if we do have to skip a day of school or a soccer game, I'm pretty sure we will be with family next time...because that's what holidays are for!!!

Here are a few pictures from our Easter. Thanks to Becca for posting pictures and details on her blog of all the fun you guys had...I probably won't let J look at that for a while!!! Hopefully we'll see you guys soon. Give Cody some big hugs from us when you all see him. Love you all and Happy Easter.

Easter Saturday Soccer

Well, I decided to try and video a soccer game...not as easy at it might sound, especially with the small hand held video camera I have and strong winds. Anyway, it is a pretty long video so don't feel like you have to watch all of it, maybe someday I'll get all fancy and figure out how to edit and just put in the parts I want. I tried to be extremely quiet during the filming of this video because nothing ruins a good video like the sound of my voice!!! I'm sure J didn't mind that I wasn't yelling and drawing her attention away from the game. The main highlight is toward the beginning where Jaden scores a goal for our team. I didn't do a very good job of getting her and the goal in the video at the same time, but it was my first try after all people. This is the only goal for our team during this quarter, but of course I got great shots of the other team scoring three goals...hopefully it will work out better next time!!!

Well guess I'd better go figure out some Easter plans for us. It will be our first Easter here by ourselves and not spending it with family either in Oklahoma or the panhandle...so no one will be doing the cooking for me this year...unless I can talk Joe into it. Steaks could be the new Easter meal I'm thinking!!!

Spring cleaning - Jaden style

Since Jaden could rarely find a match to the shoe she was wanting to wear to school...mind you she isn't exactly good at really looking...I decided to have her go through her shoe closet and get rid of the shoes that don't fit her anymore. Here is a picture of all the shoes we are getting rid of.



Except before we get rid of them I have to cut the "feet" off of her tennis shoes. These are earned by running a certain amount of miles in PE at school and apparently it would be horrible if they were to make an exit with the shoes. J has told me she is going to keep them in her "secret" box our friend Sylvia brought back from Budapest for her. It has a secret compartment in which to keep stuff. Although I wouldn't exactly call it a secret around here because if you visit us one of the first things she will show you is the box and how to get to the secret compartment!!! I'm thinking the only real way she is going to keep her stuff in this box a secret is going to be keeping the box somewhere in her room...now that place could use some spring cleaning!!!

I wouldn't feel too bad for J or think that she may be going barefoot anytime soon. She still has a closet full of shoes to choose from. They are organized for now and you can find a match...check back in a week though, and I'm sure we'll be right back to where we started!!!

Birthday wishes and a prayer request

Just wanted to ask everyone to pray for my mother-in-law Sandra today as she will be having surgery this morning. Jaden was so cute last night praying for her MeMaw and making sure that the rest of us got our prayers in too. Hopefully her surgery will go great and she will be good as new in no time!!!

Also, a very happy birthday wish to my Mom and sister Angie. We love you guys and hope you have a great day!!!

Two very different days

Jaden had a soccer game on Saturday. It was a great day, warm but not too hot and a gentle breeze every now and then. I didn't mind at all being outside watching and cheering her on on Saturday. One of my pasty white arms even got some sun out of the deal...my poor other pasty white arm is still jealous today. She played hard and was all over the field on Saturday, it was a really fun game to watch!!!

Jaden had another soccer game Monday night...it was none of the things that Saturday was. It was COLD...I hate cold. On top of being cold, the wind was blowing 40 mph. There is nothing to block the wind at the soccer fields. I cannot imagine how hard it is to run with all that cold air filling your lungs. Plus every time the ball got kicked out of bounds...it really went out of bounds. There was no stopping it with the wind the way it was. Monday was a miserable day, but these little girls still got out there and did everything they could to get that ball where they needed it to go. They should get an award for all their effort...I should get an award for staying out there the whole time watching!!!

Let's all go to the zoo

We are extreme homebodies, but luckily for J we get family that visits us and helps get us out of the house to do stuff every now and then. Corkey, Sandie and Hope came to visit us this weekend and we decided to spend an afternoon at the zoo. It was a fun afternoon for all of us, so thanks for coming and letting me tell J that she just went to the zoo for at least a couple of weeks whenever she tells me that we never do anything!!!





We started off with some fake animals...just to get used to the idea...plus it looked like fun.

I think this was J's favorite part...Sandie was just hoping her bird didn't need a potty break.

Two little cuties taking a break.

Even big kids get tired of walking...poor Uncle Corkey.

Look...I even made it into a picture. I'm thinking J's going to have to stop growing sometime soon!!!

Awww...she made a new friend. Thanks for the visit guys, we had a great time seeing you and playing with Hope.

Made it

Whew, finally made it through the rough part of the week. Got through three days of soccer...games and practices after school plus the piles of homework and came out alive to move on to the downhill slide!!! I always feel better on Thursday knowing that I have two free evenings when I get home before we start up with soccer games again on Sat. Someone told me once that these kids sports will take over everything...guess I should have listened better. I do really enjoy watching her play and get better though, so I suppose overall it's worth it!!!

We're getting ready for round two of visitors. Sandie and Corkey and little Miss Hope will be heading our way later this afternoon. I can promise clean sheets since Mom washed them before she left Sunday...but that's about all. Guess I should have gone ahead and cleaned the bathrooms instead of starting this blog two weeks ago!!! It will be another busy and fun weekend for us, and hopefully I'll get some good pictures to share with you guys. Maybe we should try and keep the streak alive...so I'll be taking reservations for next weekend if any of you are interested.