Coughs, sniffs, and snot!

I have been blessed to have two kids with great health over the summer. We had our occasional ear infection or runny nose, but nothing to worry about. About two weeks ago, Brock started his coughing and cronic runny nose. It has not passed, so we are taking him in tomorrow morning to see what the deal is. The Dr. had told me last year after his bout with RSV and hospitalization, his little lungs and immune system would take a good year to rebuilt strenght and immunity again. I sure hope he is not in for a long winter season, but time will tell. He is a trooper and loves to have his temp taken, shots, and anything medical. Is that not crazy? He is so excited to go to the doctor and pretends to get breathing treatments (he learned about those in the hosp) with Dennom's cpap sleep apnea machine. It is funny and he feels So much better he says after his 4 second treatment. He is my funny boy. Emma is a little trooper and has been my well little girl. She is cutting several teeth this week and likes to suck on her binki alot this past few days. The kids had a great day with Nana while I worked from lunch to night time. I left them at 12pm having a picnic in our family room with Nana and they were loving it! It is a wierd schedule, but I love it because I am only gone one long day, Nana gets her time with them, and I get to be home the rest of the week until Monday, which i work about 5 hours during naptime and early evening. I am blessed to have a job that allows me to have a flexible schedule along with a Nana that is willing to watch those grandkiddos! Overall, today was a great day and I just pray that Brock's caugh is just some Oklahoma allergies and nothing more!

Turning over a new leaf- na na na na hey hey hey goodbye- Little Ceasers, MCD's, and Sonic

I must blog this day in regards to my cooking today. As most of you know, I am not the cooker that my mother is. I sometimes want to be but 99% of the time, my talent is setting the table. That is as far as it goes. BUT I am trying to turn over a new leaf. I can't say it is a new life pattern because it has only been 3 days, but three days is three days in my book. I go to MOPS and the speaker last Thursday was about nutrition. OK- i left feeling like not the best mother in the nutrition area. SHe talked about using homemade recipes- which for me homemade was if I got the box open! For reals. So Today I have to brag that for breakfast Brock, Emma, and I made french toast, and I made handmade chicken strips, sweet potatoes (ok- still canned but it was healthy) and we actually had milk in the fridge for supper:) Now I am not always bad feeding the kids- but it really feels good to know they have gotten several days of good meals that I prepared. SO- that is my story for the day. I hope to continue and would love some accountability for those who are good at this cooking at home thing. I hope in a month I can still brag about our new leaf. THE day ended with Brock coming down with a virus with lots of little sores on his tongue (very painful), so hopefully he recovers quickly and Emma girl does not get the gift that keeps on giving. I had it over the weekend and my mouth felt like it was on fire, so I pray it passes fast for him!

Last statement of the day- I thank God for the people he has put in my life. They seem to always say the right things, text at the right times, come over and help with the kids (thank you MOM) just when I need it. I think God is watching me and can tell when I need a pick me up. SO here is my shout out of praise for all those GOD workers working in my life:)

Trian, trains, and more trains.

I love that they love each other! THis is them sitting on the stairs of the train.

More train and rodeo pics

Practicing in our front yard.
Emma and Nana in the train car.
Papa and Emma practicing getting on the horse.

Pics from Stick Horse Rodeo

Emma doing the flag salute.
My mutton bustin sheep riding boy.
Brock pretended to be bucked off his stick horse.

Roosters were not lonely long.

Just so you know, my kids did not keep up with the wonderful 7am sleeping in. That is ok- but they just adore that 6:00 am hour. THey are both so happy at that hour and I fake it well. Just kidding. I have been reassured by other mothers that this will correct itself as they get older. I am keeping those mothers numbers close at hand and you know how you are... so I hope that is true:) Until then, I know exactly when the sun rises just in case anyone needs to know.

Friday Field Trips

For those of you who know me well, you know i am slightly routine and need prediction in my life. Being a stay at home mom more days than a working mom has created the need for structure in my life:) that easily could not be there. SO i am announcing our new "Friday Field Trips". THis week we had our 3rd week of our field trips. Last year Brock went to school on Tues, Thur, Fri, but this year I changed him to Mon and Wed, so we could have Fridays for the three of us. It has been fun and he is SOO exctied about our new thing! The first field trip I took them for breakfast and then started giving clues to where we were going. I am not sure who is having more fun with our outings, me or the kids:) We went to the county fair. Can I just say it was a real mommy heart warming day. THey can both walk together and look at things. THat is just so cool. I will not lye- it was tiring chasing them both around going in different directions the whole morning, but totally priceless and worth every sweat drop! They have a mock farm set up for the kids to see animals, play in deer corn, dig for potatoes, and gather eggs. We were there for 3 hours. Brock did not quite understand the judging area that had the largest pumpkins ect. He went up the the prize winning pumpkin and before I realized it he sat on it. Opps. Thank goodness he did not break it and I had a quick lesson in the fact that these are really special big pumpkins.



2nd friday field trip: Public Library. OH boy. Let me tell you sometimes I wonder if I think plans all the way through. It is fun to watch Brock as he is maturing. He loved sitting down at the computers, reading his own books, putting puzzles together, and playing with the sets of toys at the library. BUt the part I forgot is that Emma loved a different part of the field trip. She somehow thought all the books were for pulling out and throwing on the floor.....row by row by row by row. Again, I need to add every sweat drop I shed, and it was about 3x as much as it was at the fair:), was worth it, but we only stayed an hour on this field trip. Brock and Emma got their own library cards and I was proud we had not late fee from the last card I had (that is a miracle). Brock and Emma got to pick out a bag full of books and one movie that we watched for our Friday Night Movie Night. Fun times.



THis week was our 3rd field trip. It was a busy day and we moved it to Saturday (shhh... don't tell the kids. they didn't know). We took a train ride from Enid to Drummond. We rode in the Wanda Lee. IT was an old dancing and dining car. Emma did not move the entire trip. She was not too sure of the bumpy roads. She did lots of pointing and "ohh" when looking out the window. Brock loved looking out the end of the car at the trees and of course looking for deer along the way. We had a blast and our cousing Sarah got to go with us along with Nana. Daddy was at a volleyball tournament, so I was thankful for the adult helpers! WE hurried home for naps and get all dressed up in our cowboy gear for the 2nd half of our busy day. Uncle Bubba (aka: my brother Jason and Aunt Amelia) host a yearly stick horse rodeo with their church for area kids. Brock has participated since he was 1 and loves going. It was Emmas first year to get to participate. They had a blast. Brock was covered in red dirt from head to toe and actually was brave enough to ride a sheep this year. He was so precious. Little Miss Emma even participated herself in the bronc riding, the barrel racing, and of course the hotdog eating. She loves her food. Here are a few pictures of our exciting times!

OUR FAMILY

Princess Emma

My girly girl is now 16 months old. She is becoming a little girl. She loves to wear her bracelet with her name on it and carries a purse around the house. It is so neat to see her understanding so many words. She can say mama, daddy, and once I heard her say "ball", "bubba" and "thank you." She loves to babble- not sure where she gets that from:) haha

Brock is King of the Zoo!

Brock started his 2nd year at Lighthouse Preschool. He loves doing art everyday! Even when he is at home if given a choice, he wants to do "art". He will glue, past, cut, tear, etc... anything that will create a project. It is fun to see him creat things out of nothing. Only problem is that we run out of room quickly to display all the the "fine art" projects he creates.

Pair of shoes?

It is the strangest thing happening in our house. We have a shoe monster that is eating all of Emma's shoes. TOday I was trying to get ready for my MOPS (mother of preschool) meeting. WE are late as usual, and all I need to find to leave the house is a pair of shoes. Not even the cutest shoes she owns, but any that match. I found 5 shoes that all did not have a match. How does that happen?? Finally, I found a match under the couch, but this is the question. Where in the world are the other shoes? Emma is in a new phase of throwing things in our trash cans. I sure hope the matches to all the other 4 single shoes are not in the Enid Landfill:) Sweet precious Emma.

Tents, pizza, and fun days!

Tuesday and WEdnesday were busy days for our family! Tuesday is our stay at home in our pajama days. They are great. I usually make it my laudry day and try not to go to bed until it is ALL done. However, the weather was SOO beautiful we played outside most of the day. WE went to the park and watched the digger tear up the road while we ate a picnic lunch. I love having a 1 and 3 rd old. They are so interested in all the little things in the world. We spent almost 45 minutes just waving at the "digger man" and answering questions about why they were digging up the road. What more in life could you ask for? On top of that, BRock wanted, as he asks every day, to make a tent. So we did. Emma and Brock spent several hours just playing in their tent and laughing together.

So, today was not a pajama day whatsoever. We started out the day letting Brock pick out an apple from the store so he could take it to school. They made homemade applesauce. He said it was "yummie". We got to have a special lunch at the mall and topped it off by getting Brock new cowboy boots for his upcoming rodeo on Saturday. He strutted his stuff all around the store- so proud that he got new boots. Poor kid- tired to get him a new cowboy hat but no children's hats fit his blessed head and did not find an adult hat that fit right. I guess he will be a cowboy with out a hat:) ohwell... Emma had a great day as well. She loves going to pick up Brock from school. She loves pulling off all of the posters off the wall as we walk into the school adn thinks his classroom is for her to play in. Bless her little redheaded soul:) Today is my day I go to work all afternoon and late into the evening. Daddy has started a Wednesday night CICI's pizza tradition. I am proud of him braving this with out the Mommy, but he does a great job and the kids love going to eat pizza and Brock says "play games!!!". Tonight they got to have pappa with them, which makes it even better. Well, tomorrow we have another busy day ahead, so i better get some sleep. Oh by the way--- miracle has occured the past 2 mornings. All 4 of us have slept past 7, yes you read correctly, past 7. A first in our life as a family. I sure hope this is a new long long long long pattern they are both getting into. YEA no more 5-6 am mornings:)

Emma is now over one.

Well, I have now decided it is time to get serious about my exercise program- or that is the lack of exercise program. I am taking a class from 9-10 at night to allow myself to get slim and trim. OK- to fit into my clothes again. SO that has been fun to start. Dennom is staying busy in VOlleyball this season. Brock and Emma are keeping us busy-- but they are just so much fun. The things Brock says every day just make my laugh! His little mind is so amazing. TOday he said- mom, look what I did. I am a genious. Is that not to funny. He is just growing up too fast. Emma is getting such a precious personality. She loves to laugh randomly, pull brothers hair, and eat fruit of ANY kind. WEll, it is late adn i better go to bed before the rooster crows:)

1st blog ever

WEll. I am not sure what I pushed, but apparently I have a blog now. I thought I was creating an account to respond to other peoples blogs, but HOW fun. I guess we have our own now. This will be good for me.