Finally a winning season!!!

J has been playing soccer since the spring of kindergarten and has never been on a team with a winning record until now...her team finished the year 9-1...so this was an especially fun year for her. She just joined the Mustangs last season when her team broke up and has really enjoyed being on this team having made a ton of new friends that she loves hanging out with. Thanks to them all for treating her like she's been with them from the beginning ;)

Here are a few pictures from the season. Can't wait to do it all over again next fall!!!

PIG and 21

J and Joe play at least one game of PIG and 21 every day. J loves it, and Joe really enjoys it too I think. I usually don't go out there...there's a lot of smack talk and rubbing it in to the loser, which is usually Jaden, but it sure makes it that much sweeter for her when she finally does win because she has all the smack talk down too. Joe doesn't cut her any slack...if she wins, she really wins...no pretending to miss a shot for Joe. He told me the other day that he is just trying to build a competitive spirit in her, make her want to win...and he's definitely succeeding at that. It would probably work really well if the little girls she played against treated her the same way. Right now she still saves most of her aggression for her daddy!!!

These are some pictures from a game of 21 they were playing the other day...a game that Jaden won!!!

They kick back and throw a little fun into the competition sometimes too...no idea what sparked this little dance off, but glad I got a picture.

Joe trying to scare her on her last shot that was for the win...she's been here before though and knew it was coming.

And the final shot to seal a VICTORY!!!

Our Week

We've had a lot going on this week. Started off with an alignment and new tires for my car...needed to be done...hated paying for it. After we got that taken care of we had soccer practice and pictures for the girls. Their coach tried to get a scrimmage together with another team from the area but it fell through. The girls scrimmaged each other for a while and then thought it would be fun to play against the parents. I'm sure it was fun for them to see us all out there trying to run around with them. Even though I run several times a week, I found myself sore in several different areas the next day...plus they took my goal away because of some stupid rule they said we broke. All in all we had fun together and got a better idea of how much work these girls put in!!!



Monday after school Jaden had an orthodontist appointment. She was excited about it since she was finally going to get her bottom braces off and be free of them for a while...plus the dentist had told her a few weeks earlier that she had a tooth that was only being held in by her braces, so she knew she'd be getting a visit from the tooth fairy that night. She had been telling me for a while that her tooth that was going to fall out was cracked, but I didn't really believe that it could be...I mean the dentist didn't say anything about that and she never said it hurt. Guess that was because it didn't have any roots left because it was definitely cracked...



This is the piece we were left with when the braces came off. J said now she knows what the inside of a tooth looks like now. The poor ortho had to dig out the rest of the pieces...he gave J a prize for making her cry plus told her that the tooth fairy gives extra money for teeth with brackets on them. Guess he was right...she put it in her tooth fairy pillow from Great Grandma Conrad and ended up with an extra dollar!!!

She now is braces free but does have a retainer that she has to wear all night and during the day for at least one hour. Joe was excited since she can't talk for the hour she has it in during the day...it's just one piece and her top and bottom teeth both go in it so she has to keep her mouth shut to keep it in place. J has a hard time being quiet for that long though so now keeps a pen and paper handy to let us know what she's thinking.

Wednesday I went to have lunch with J and to take her to the book fair at school. I feel lucky that she enjoys reading...not so lucky when she finds tons of books she thinks she needs. We settled on three. I then had to head home and wait for the refrigerator repair man to make his way to our house...sometime between the hours of 1 and 5...don't you just love that four hour time frame they give you. He finally made it here about 4:30, tracked dirt and mud all over my floors and told me it would be $488 to fix the dang thing. Told him no thank you and paid him $65 for his 10 minutes of mud tracking. Wednesday was also the 14th so figured while I was shelling out money I might as well efile and pay my taxes...ugh...not a good day at all. By the way the IRS is way quicker about taking the money out of your checking account than they are about putting your refund in...not that I actually remember a time when we got a refund.

Luckily I found a good deal on a fridge at Sears on Thurs. and they could deliver on Fri. so I signed up. They even took my $65 service charge out of the price...definitely a better day. After that I had to hurry home...the little one had a soccer game that night. They played really well and I had a great time watching them and seeing how much better they are getting at passing and playing together. They won 5-0 and are still undefeated for the season!!! Here are a few pictures from the game...

J is really getting a lot better at controlling the ball, passing, shooting and knowing where she is supposed to be on the field...so proud at how much better she is getting this season.

Friday we got our new fridge, and they only gave me a two hour window that I had to wait at home for them. So very glad to have cold and frozen food again...guess I'll have to hit the grocery store this weekend and stock it back up...a little tired of all the eating out anyway!!!

Woke up to pouring rain last night...at least we weren't camping out for ESD this year...would have been even worse than usual, but Joe got his boss to work with him and make sure he would be off in time to pick J up from school this year so I was saved...YAY!!! All the rain from overnight made the fields too wet for soccer today, so we have a totally free weekend...another YAY!!!

Easter in OK

Jaden and I headed up to Oklahoma for an Easter celebration this year since she believes you need to be around as much family as possible on the holidays. Joey wasn't feeling good and so he stayed behind to rest up while we hit the road for a little fun. Two days with her sisters and grandparents plus some cousins thrown in equaled plenty of family fun time for the occasion!!!



Here is Jaden in her new Easter attire from MeMaw and Poppy Joe...she was very excited to see all the peace signs...her favorite!!!




Did a little egg coloring to prepare for the festivities.

Had two egg hunts...one in the early morning by herself...always a good way to make sure you get lots of eggs...

and one after our fabulous lunch with a little competition for the loot. She still ended up making out pretty good for the day!!!

Even Prince got into the spirit of the day.

Later J tortured her poor sisters until they "did something" with her. They were really good sports though and played soccer, jumped rope and also threw in a little Simon says and Yahtzee.

Couldn't ask for much more...heading back that way for Logan's graduation in about a month, I'm sure there will be more pictures to follow. Can't believe that day is already so close!!!

Spring Break

Well I have really been slacking on the blogging these days but am hoping to get back into the swing of things. Jaden finished up her basketball season, had a great time and made some really good new friends. I was sad to see it end as I really enjoyed watching all the progress she has made in her game. She challenges her daddy to games of PIG in the yard everyday though, so I still get to see a little bball!!!

We are fully into soccer now, although we are having some of the same problems as last year with the fields being too wet to practice and play on again this spring...have I mentioned that I really like indoor sports where you don't have to worry about what the weather decides to do. We are supposed to have a game tomorrow night, but judging from the pouring rain I am hearing outside that's not going to happen. Jaden's team has gotten in five games so far this season and they are undefeated!!! I don't have too many pictures yet...all her games have been too windy for me to hold my camera still enough to get many good shots, so I'll just post this one for now. Her last game was the weekend before spring break started.





We left immediately from the last game and headed for the panhandle for a little spring break fun with the family. Sadie and Samantha waited for a time when we could come down to have their birthday parties. The kids had a blast.

Here's all five of the grandgirls playing together...poor Devin got kicked to the curb...happens when there are too many girls around I guess. I had to head back home Tues. morning, no week of spring break for me, but I totally enjoyed my few days and the time I had with my family. And now a big thank you to my sisters for helping me out with Jaden the rest of the week. Rebecca kept her for me on Tues. and took the kids ice skating and on a picnic, then Angie loaded her up and brought her back home to us and stayed the rest of the week. She had great plans to take the kiddos to the Fort Worth Zoo on Thurs...and after three hours in the car they finally made it there, stayed for two hours and took another three hour trip home. Gotta love DFW traffic. It was a great thought...guess the rest of the metroplex just had the same one. Friday she stuck to what she knows best and loaded them up for some shopping. Samantha wasn't that excited I don't think, but Jaden had been saving for Angie's visit and was ready to go...came home broke but very happy!!! Sandie, Corkey and Hope joined us for the weekend and we braved the cold and wet to take the kids to Going Bonkers where they had a little fun. Sandie and Corkey were even nice enough to climb through all the mess and mazes and get some pictures of the kids!!!

After all that we came back to the house for games and movies. I even finally saw Twilight thanks to Sami. The girls all played lots of Apples to Apples, and Jaden got Corkey to play a couple of games of Jenga...one of her favorites. Just wanted to thank everyone for a great week for Jaden and I...we'll have to do it again soon!!!

What's been going on

The days and weeks seem to be flying by this year so far...can't believe Feb. is already halfway over. We have just been up to our usual stuff. It's a little busier right now since besides the usual...work, school, homework, keeping up with the house...I am taking J to practice for two sports instead of just one. We started practicing soccer a few weeks ago along with the basketball that is going on right now. This weekend everything will kick into high gear I guess since J will have basketball and soccer games on Sat...at least I just have to watch and not play!!!



We got a break from everything last week as a huge snow storm came through Thurs. No school or work Thurs. or Fri. and no soccer or basketball practice. I know J really enjoys both sports, but I think she also just had fun playing for a few days and not thinking about anything else but being a kid. Joey had a good idea to invite a friend over to enjoy the snow, so except for going out to take some pictures and helping with a few snowmen, we got to enjoy our days off in relative warmth inside while J had a great time out in the tundra!!!

They had a great time out there...and a great time inside afterward warming up with some hot chocolate and movies.

Basketball season is wrapping up, and I thought I'd post a few pictures of J playing her "favorite sport." Her team has had a great season so far...two games to go...and it has been exciting for me seeing how much she is growing as a player and finding all kinds of confidence in herself and her abilities. I will certainly be sad to see an end to this season...I love watching her play and LOVE the fact that it is indoors. :)

Student of the Week

So Jaden was named student of the week this week...she was very proud and excited. We were also very proud of her. Her excitement did fade a little when she realized that she had to fill out The Jaden Times to give everyone in the school a glimpse into what she's all about. When she finally got around to doing it though, it went really quickly...and I think she may have even had a little fun...although you'd never hear that from her. And so, drum roll please...here is my little student of the week and The Jaden Times!!!

My favorite thing that she wrote about were her heroes....I think she did a pretty good job describing her grandparents!!!

Sorry Mammaw and Pawpaw, I apparently cut your floating heads off when I took the picture. I was just concentrating on getting the words.

I also cut off the nickname she'd choose for herself...it was J, although she has her bball teammates call her Nike J...hopefully Nike won't find out about this!!!

And I have no idea how I ended up with this picture going the wrong way, but I am not technically inclined and so this is the way you get to look at it...it's supposed to be a cartoon image of her doing what she loves!!!