Back Home Again In Indiana

October in Indiana

2009-11-03T10:03:00.000-08:00

We love fall in Indiana - the cold weather, changing leaves, and squirrel hunting??? Sam has been dying to kill something, so He and Adrian have been squirrel hunting a few times. He was so proud!

Pumpkin carving is always interesting. We never know how they will turn out. Sam always wants a scary face, Layne always wants a cute face, and Josie goes back and forth between the two. This year Josie carved her pumpkin all by herself from beginning to end! She did a really good job and they all turned out great!

Trick or Treating - this year Josie was an Indian girl and Sam was a whoopie cushion -again. They decided to wear their costumes from last year because nobody in Indiana got to see them, but Layne wanted to be something different. She was a flower this year. It was so nice to actually have kids trick or treating this year - last year we had 2 families come to our house - it was kind of sad!

Back home again...

2009-10-12T16:29:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody!!! Well, if you haven't heard by now, we've moved back to Indiana. Here is a pic of the kids that was taken on our last night in Texas.

It has been a busy month! The weekend after we got back, we had a surprise party for my mom's 50th Birthday. She was very surprised and we all had a really nice time.

We've also been getting into a routine for homeschooling. For science we've been studying spiders and insects. Here are pics of the kids creations - Sam's spider, Layne's Mommy and Baby ant, and Josie's Insect cycle - egg, larva(caterpillar), pupa, and adult (butterfly).

We also celebrated Adrian's birthday (sorry no pics) and Layne's 5th birthday. We had little party on her birthday and then had a Tea Party the following weekend with the family.

Sam has started Hockey lessons.

And finally we've been able to have some "real" family bike rides (on actual bike trails - bike trails are few and far between in Lubbock) While on one of our rides, a little dog followed us about 4 miles home. Josie of course wanted to keep him, but there was just no way!

The weather has been great!! We didn't realize how much we had missed the Indiana fall weather - cloudy with rain, then sunny with a cool breeze, and the beautiful changing leaves. We love it! Last weekend we went to the apple orchard/pumpkin patch. It was great!

And because of all the rain, we've had a lot of grass to mow. Sam has started to help - at this point he still thinks it's fun!

While we do miss a few things about Lubbock, It's good to be back home!

It's been awhile!

2009-08-26T19:09:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! Sorry I haven't been updating the blog as often as usual. We just really haven't had anything that exciting to take pictures of. But here are a few that I have been saving up.

On August 7th, Adrian and I celebrated our 10th Anniversary.

Here are a few pics of the kids at a local Rodeo. Sam was actually on the waiting list for Mutton Bustin (if you don't know what it is, don't ask!) He has been wanting to do it for years - we got close this time, but he still didn't get to ride, and he was absolutly heart broken! Maybe next time.

This is a video of Layne learning how to ride with no training wheels. (Josie and Sam taught her. Adrian and I were just happy we didn't have to run behind her - between my back, and his knees, we were kind of dreading it.) She's a fast learner!

First day of Homeschool!

We miss you!

2 Weeks Out West

2009-08-04T07:13:00.000-07:00

Hello again! We finally made it home last Friday. We went on our 2nd annual 2 week family vacation out West. This year we had a pop up camper and visited a few new places. We had a little tire trouble and lots of road construction along the way, but we still had a very fun, exciting, and relaxing time! I'll let the pictures do the talking. Here are just a few that highlight the trip! (Reminder: just click on the picture to see it bigger!)

Great Sand Dunes Colorado

On top of the "High Dune" (650 ft)

Rocky Mountain National Park Colorado

Snowball Fight:

Junior Rangers:

Grand Teton National Park Wyoming

Little Bighorn National Monument
Junior Rangers:

Rooney Ranch in Montana

Yellowstone National Park Wyoming

Sam Lost his first tooth while watching the Grizzly Bear:

Sam Lost his 2nd tooth at Old Faithful:

Arches National Park Utah

2 Delicate Arches:

Junior Rangers:

If you would like to see all 161 pics, just cut and paste the following into your web browser:

http://photos1.walmart.com/shareethumbnailshare/AlbumID=1015581003/albumcount=1/p=38531249355688990/l=295451003/g=4279227/cobrandOid=1011/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB/pns/share/p=38531249355688990/l=295451003/g=4279227/cobrandOid=1011/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Enjoy and thanks for checking in on us - we miss all of you!

Summer Time!

2009-07-12T13:12:00.000-07:00

Well, we've had a fun summer so far. We haven't had too much going on. This past week it got over 100 everyday. (A few days up to 107!) So, we've done a lot of swimming.

Here is a video of the kids racing:

Sam decided he wanted to grow is hair out this summer. Thankfully he changed his mind after just a few weeks. He got tired of his bangs itching his eyes.
Here are the before and after shots:

We love icecream, so here is a picture of Sam at Baskin Robbins - or should I say, Jack Sparrow:

On July 4th we got up and headed out to our friends ranch to do some fishin'. We had lots of fun - it was a beautiful day - and I had caught the biggest fish of the day, until Sam reeled in a 21 inch catfish. He was so proud!

Adrian has a little garden in the back yard. All the plants must really like the heat! Knee high by the 4th of July?

We headed to downtown Lubbock for the big fireworks show. Here is a picture of the kids while we were waiting for the fireworks to start.

While we were there a girl from the local newspaper asked if she could take our picture. This was in the spotted section of the Avalanch Journal.

Layne crashed before the fireworks even started.

With all the riding lessons going on, Sam wanted to get in on the action. Here is a couple pictures of him with Skid. He did a good job riding and now thinks he is a real cowboy!

FYI - we are leaving this Friday for our 2nd annual 2 week trip - so it will be a couple weeks before I can update the blog again. We are heading to Colorado for a few days, Wyoming for a few days, Montana for a few days, Yellowstone for a few days, then Utah for a few days. So, when I do post I will have LOTS of pics!

Animal Lover!

2009-06-16T09:47:00.000-07:00

We haven't been doing much but swimming, so I apologize for not updating the blog more often, there just hasn't been much to post. With that being said, Josie has been very busy. Last week she had horse riding camp. She was riding every day from 8-12. The horse she has been riding is Pilot - he is HUGE! She is doing a great job and we plan on continuing lessons. Josie LOVES horses - especially Pilot!

Video of Josie trotting...

Josie cleaning out Pilots hooves...

Josie giving Pilot a bath...

Josie's last day of camp during her demonstration...

Video of Josie talking about Pilot...

Next month we are going on our 2nd annual 2 week trip out West. We are going to head up to Montana and stop by a ranch owned by a family friend, and because of this, we decided I should probably take a riding lesson too. So, here is a picture of me on Pilot.

Last weekend Josie rescued a baby bird that fell out of our tree. The bird couldn't fly yet, so it was just on the ground, in the back yard, waiting for dogs to eat it.

Oh, and Sam watched the Karate Kid last week and now he is Samuel-son. He walks around the house practicing wax on/wax off, sand the floor, paint the fence, paint the house, and "The Swan"!

Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads!!

School's Out!!!

2009-06-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

The last week of school, Josie and Sam had their class awards. They had a very good school year and we are very proud of them!

Josie with Mrs. Shofner...

Sam with Ms. Payne...

Adrian and Layne being "VIOLENT" at the Awards (read the sign behind them!)...

On the last day of school we took the kids to the donut shop to celebrate. (We then walked to school to try to burn off some of the sugar rush!)

Sam eating his Cinnamon Roll (it was bigger than his head!)

Josie and Layne eating their donuts with sprinkles!

On Memorial Day we had a "Cool Pool Party"! The Duby Family and the Wood Family came over for some of the fun!

Trey and Baby Ashlyn...

Sam and Caleb shooting Bean guns...

Layne, Josie, and Sierra sun bathing with Lucy...

Josie started her horse riding lessons last week. She is doing a great job and loves it!

Josie with Pilot...

Sam watching Josie ride...

Layne watching Josie ride...

Sam with Fiddle...

Josie brushing Pilot...

Video of Josie riding Pilot...

Josie, Sam, and Layne, and Adrian and I, were surprised when we got a "big" package in the mail a week or so ago. Papaw and Mamaw sent the kids a water slide for the pool. They love it and play "Wipeout" on it!

Video of the Water Slide...

Scout LOVES the pool!!! We can't keep her out!

Sam has decided to let his hair grow out. It is driving me crazy, so the other day, when we were walking out the door to go to the library, I told him he needed to wear a hat. This is what he came out wearing (not that much different than what his hair looks like!)

Gymfest!

2009-05-19T14:01:00.000-07:00

As all of you know, Josie, Sam, and Layne are all in Gymnastics. They love it and are very good! This past weekend they had Gymfest - a program put on to show off all the kids have learned throughout the year.

Josie on the vault...

Video of Josie doing her floor routine...

Josie getting her medal...

Great Job Josie!

Sam doing his back hand spring...

Video of Sam doing his floor routine...

Video of Sam on the Bars...

Sam getting his medal...

Great Job Sam!

Layne on the Beam...

Video of Layne's Floor routine...

Layne getting her medal...

Great Job Layne!
We especially want to thank Grandpa and Gran for sponsoring Josie, Sam, and Layne for Gymfest!!!! They had a GREAT time and did a very good job - we are so proud of our 3 little monkeys!!!

Last week Home Depot came to Sam's class and did a construction project. Here is Sam's Bird House.

Field Day!

2009-05-12T06:30:00.000-07:00

Last week Josie and Sam had their Buddy Field Day. They were paired with a "buddy" from their class and together they were allowed to choose from a variety of activities. Josie's buddy was Blakelee and Sam's buddy was Patrick.

Hockey...

Flag Wrestling...

Golf...

Basketball...

Tug of War...

(Patrick wasn't much help)

Knee Hockey...

Blindfolded Bat Game?...

More Wrestling...

(Sam needs a brother!)

Short and Sweet

2009-05-07T06:15:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday Layne and I headed out to do a little shopping. This was the outfit that she decided to wear. She and everyone else out and about thought she looked FABULOUS!

About a month ago Layne was looking at a picture of herself and said, "Is my hair really that long? I need a hair cut! Can you call and make me an appointment?" So, I called to make an appointment and last Friday she got her haircut. FYI, I don't ever tell the stylist how to cut her hair. Layne knows exactly what she wants, and this is how she told our hair stylist to cut her hair. It is SO CUTE and Layne LOVES it!!!

On Saturday we went to the Arts Festival. (Josie's teacher had submitted a short story Josie had written, about a lost puppy, so we really went to see it displayed and to see if she had won a ribbon. Apparently the stories that didn't win ribbons, were not displayed - she didn't win any ribbons and her story wasn't displayed. Needless to say, she was NOT happy!) But Sam got his picture taken with the Silver Surfer.

On Sunday Adrian let the kids paint the rest of the chicken coop. That maybe was not the best idea. I think they got more paint on themselves than on the coop!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mommys!!!

Happy 9th Birthday Josie!!!

2009-04-30T12:37:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Josie's 9th Birthday. She had a Pink Monkey Pool Party and invited a few girls from school. She did miss having a big family party, but she still had a lot of fun! Josie playing "Give the Monkey a Banana" - she was giving the Banana to the wrong Monkey! All the girls and Jason (The Baboon). He was given a Banana by Savannah. Having fun at the party... Here is a video clip of the Birthday Song...

Last Thursday, Sam had his 1st grade musical. It was about a garden. He was one of the farmers! Sam the Farmer with Patrick the Weed! Sam had the opening line. Here is a video clip...

Last Saturday we went to "Ranch Day's" at the Ranching Heritage Center. There was a lot of "work" for the kids to do around the ranch. It was a beautiful day and we all had fun! Sam and Josie building a house. (Really just getting muddy and smashing the mud into the bricks!) Josie, Sam, and Layne making ropes. My little cowpokes riding horses. The kids working hard to make cornmeal. Sam and Adrian shooting with a bow and arrow. They "worked" really hard and got paid for all they did, then got to go spend their hard earned cash at the general store!

Funny, Crazy Kids!

2009-04-21T11:50:00.000-07:00

With Josie's birthday coming up, Layne and I have been doing some shopping. Layne Absolutely loves shopping - even if it's not for her. As long as she gets to "look" at stuff for her and occasionally try on a few things, she's happy! She loves shoes, especially "Mommy" shoes! Here we are at DSW last Thursday. Layne just loved these shoes and had to try them on. On Friday we went shopping at the mall (looking for some gear to buy - an oldie, but goodie - right Amanda?) Anyway, as we were leaving we passed one of those stores that carries prom/bridesmaid/flower girl dresses - we just HAD to go in. I thought since we were there, I might as well let her try some on - she was in Heaven (When Layne gets to Heaven, I know Jesus will have prepared a special place just for her, filled with beautiful dresses, shoes, jewelry, hairbows, makeup, and perfume!)

All weekend we hung out around the house working and playing. This is a picture of Sam riding his scooter out front - I just wonder what all of our neighbors think of him - he's so funny! 20 minutes later, Sam (aka Peter Pan)and Adrian started building part of the chicken coop. The chicks loved being out side and they really loved the kids throwing them bread crumbs! Here are pictures of the dogs meeting the chickens for the first time - I think we have a couple "bird dogs"! Saturday night the kids made homemade donuts - Adrian and I helped a little. They were YUMMY! Apparently the sun is a lot stronger here in Texas, I found that out Saturday night. Here is are some pictures I took on Sunday of Sam's back. (He got burnt on Saturday, when he had stripped down from being Captain Hook - Peter Pan - and a few other people) Poor guy, I felt so bad for him. He did wake up this morning still a little pink, but he said it was feeling MUCH BETTER!!! We all learned a good lesson! OUCH! Sam covered in vinegar soaked gauze. (Layne kept walking by sniffing him, telling him he smelled like an Easter egg!)

Easter - Eggs, Eggs, and more Eggs!

2009-04-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

Well, our Easter weekend started off BIG! Our church, Experience Life Now, had its 2nd annual Egg Drop. This year we dropped 50,000 eggs from a helicopter onto a football field. Over 10,000 people came - It was a big success, but a little crazy! (A few hundred people "misplaced" their kids for about 20-30 minutes.) With all the chaos going on - and because some kids were hoarding 50 eggs for themselves - Josie, Sam, and Layne didn't get one egg. They didn't seem to mind too much though - I think they were just happy that they didn't get lost - it was a pretty traumatic scene! Thankfully all kids were accounted for and families reunited!
This is what 40,000 Easter eggs look like - the kids are in this picture walking across the middle of the field.

Adrian helped set up and I help at one of the bounce houses.

The Egg helicopter - (The helicopter actually dropped 10,000 eggs).

On Saturday night we colored Easter Eggs!

On Sunday morning before heading to church, we had our own little egg hunt and did Easter baskets!

Adrian made stilts for Sam.

Happy Easter!!!

After church just the 5 of us had an Easter lunch, then we headed over to the Duby's house for another egg hunt (The egg hunt participants were: Josie, Sam, Layne, Sierra Duby, Savannah Duby, Thomas Haverdink, Allison Haverdink, and Sarah Haverdink). They all had a great time, and I know Josie, Sam, and Layne were just happy to get eggs this time!

After the egg hunt Layne and Sarah took time to read together.

Today when I was dropping the kids off at school, the Chick-fil-a cow was there. The cow hugged Sam as he walked by!

I just thought I would share this picture with all of you - here is Layne sleeping. We told her to go get ready for bed - this is what I found when I went in to check on her (She was a very sleepy girl!) - fully dressed, not in PJ's, but a skirt and favorite shirt, jewelry, hair bows, and shoes - this is not what she had on during the day, this is what she changed into, to wear to bed. She just always has to look pretty!

April in Texas!

2009-04-07T11:33:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to tell y'all sorry I didn't post anything last week. The previous week turned out to be very uneventful. But we made up for it, and had a very exciting week last week!
So, last Wednesday, the kids and I came home to a big (or little) surprise - Adrian had brought home 4 baby chicks! (I was hoping it was an April Fools joke, but they are still here.) Adrian plans to build a coop out back and we will start getting eggs in 5-6 months (that is, assuming they are all girls - if any turn out to be boys - well, then we will be eating Fried Chicken!) We keep reminding the kids that the chicks are not pets - we will not be naming them, and they will live outside - but Sam insisted on having a name for them, so he named them all Susan (#1,#2,#3,#4).

It gets VERY WINDY here in Texas, and on Thursday morning, we woke up to find a third of one of our trees down in the front yard. Adrian was excited though. His exact words were, "Well, it's free firewood!"

On Friday we packed up for a weekend of camping. We headed about an hour and 45 minutes away to Caprock Canyons. Unfortunately, it was really windy there, so we were back home in time for lunch on Saturday. We did manage to get a few pics and a little hike in. (FYI - you can click on any of these pics and you will be able to see a "bigger" pic - it's just makes it a little easier to see the kids faces!)

My attempt at a family photo op. - I didn't quite beat the timer on the camera - I tried really hard though!
Here is a zoomed in version of the previous pic - they were all cheering me on and yelling for me to HURRY!!!!

We did get one family pic - but like I said, it was really windy!

The kids always have to race on our hikes.

This is Sam climbing - he is the black figure in the middle of the big rock - or mountain - as the kids were calling it. (They have been in flat west Texas for too long!)

This is the zoomed in pic of Sam Climbing.

Here is Sam and a cactus that he liked.

The ride home!

When we got home we all took a long nap, then headed out back. We are in the process of opening the pool up, so while Adrian and I were cleaning it, Adrian told the kids they could swim - so they did! It was mid 70's outside, but the water temp was only like 64! They only swam for about 10 minutes, but that still counts right? So I guess our pool is now officially OPEN!

This is Sam playing the Wii (Links Crossbow). It's not an underwater game, but this is how he decided he wanted to play it on Sunday. (He's so funny, and I know Sam wearing a mask, to play a video game, doesn't surprise any of you!)

Baby Jacen has started eating cereal, and Layne is loving it! She loves to help feed him (really take care of him period)! The conversation I had with her yesterday, went as follows: Me: "So, who do you like feeding more? Baby Jacen or Baby Alive?" (Baby Alive is a baby doll that you feed and she talks and she goes potty in the toilet.) Layne (with a smile and look of concentration on her face): "I don't know who I like feeding more. I like to feed them both. Baby Alive doesn't make noises and grunt at me when I feed her, so I like to feed her better. But Baby Jacen is a real baby, and Baby Alive is just a baby doll, so I like to feed Jacen better."

Happy Easter!

More of Spring Break 2009!

2009-03-24T11:38:00.000-07:00

We didn't have a very eventful week, but we did stay very busy!

Here is the kids dressed up as (self proclaimed) Google Masters???

We went to a few parks...

Here the kids are feeding bread to the ducks at the park.

I think we are officially rednecks - or hillbillies (which ever you prefer) - I had to take the kids to Walmart with me to grocery shop, and out front of the entrance was this nascar (I don't know who drives this car)- the kids just had to go see what was going on - and I just had to get a picture!

We had a picnic.

On Saturday we ran a couple errands, and needed to run into Bed, Bath, and Beyond. The kids decided to get a massage. It was so funny! They loved these things (and so did I - Birthday/Christmas Idea!!!)

We also played in the sprinklers!

Josie and Sam went back to school yesterday, so today Layne and I had friends over. We got together with my friend, Emilie, and her daughter, McKinley.

Spring Break 2009

2009-03-17T13:17:00.000-07:00

The kids are on Spring Break this week, so we decided to go camping on Saturday and Sunday to break in our new camper. We went to Abilene State Park. The Duby family met up with us while we were there. It was a little cold on Saturday night, but by Sunday it warmed up into the upper 70's, so it was nice and the kids had fun.

The kids climbing on some lookout tower.

Eating Smores inside the camper!
Adrian dumping our "Black Water" - the joys of owning a camper with a toilet!

On Monday, before we headed back home, we stopped by the Zoo.
The kids looking at the Black Bears eating crackers.

The Lions!
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Home Show

2009-03-10T07:01:00.000-07:00

Last week and weekend were very busy for us. Actually the past month has been really busy for Adrian. He and Jason decided to have a booth in the Home Show. They have been working so hard building a booth and cabinets at the shop - just to tear it down and build it back up at the Home Show. It was the first time they had done the Home Show, and it was a big success! They did a GREAT job!!! Here are some pics of the IRONWOOD booth at the Home Show.

I went out a couple times with the kids.

This is Sam at a different booth at the home show. This chair moves and makes sounds to whatever your watching or video game your playing. It costs $13,000 - Sam is saving up to buy one of his own!

Here are a couple more pics of Nana's visit. This is all of us playing an exciting round of the Price is Right on the Wii!

This is a picture Josie took at the airport.

Sam has mastered making tooting sounds in his armpit. He has been practicing for months, and could never get it. But now he's got it down - and it's ALL he does! He actually started a club - The Musical Arm Toot Club - I guess he is the President and his friend Patrick is VP - I think they are the only members. They sneak behind the tree at recess everyday to practice.

This is a picture of the girls last week before gymnastics. They were vegging out in front of the TV eating Doritos.

These next pictures are of Scout. She is getting SO BIG and she loves to play fetch with her tennis ball. She has no idea how big she is, and doesn't care about personal space. Wherever the ball is, she is!

Welcome Nana!

2009-02-24T13:18:00.000-08:00

This week my mom, aka "Nana", is visiting. We've eaten at a few restaurants and been shopping of course - it's all Layne wants to do! On Sunday we ran into the mall. These are pics of the kids with my mom at the mall and the kids making a wish as they threw pennies into the fountain.

Nana also brought a prize for each of the kids. Layne's prize was a Fairy Cookie Kit. On Monday they made the cookies - after and before each step, Layne would wave her fairy wand over the dough/cookies!

And because Nana is here, Adrian and I got to go on a date!

A lot of you have been asking about Layne. For those of you with a week stomach, close your eyes as you scroll down. This is a pic of it bandaged up after we made a visit to CVS.

This is a pic of her fingers the day after it happened. (We had not pulled the dead skin off her ring finger yet, and notice the blisters towards the tips of the fingers.) The skin was peeled off almost down to the muscle.

The next picture was taken this morning. It looks great! Thank you Jesus! It is healing so quickly and she has been able to use them to do anything she would normally do.

For those of you that don't already know, Layne does not like our cat, Bertie. She will pet her every now and then, but is scared of her and HATES for Bertie to be in her room. The other night I went in to check on Layne before I went to bed, and guess where I found Bertie - curled right up next to Layne! She would have been UPSET if she had waken up to find Bertie in her bed. When I let her see the picture, all she could do was smile - kind of a nervous, shocked smile!

Happy Birthday Vicki!!!!

2009-02-17T07:32:00.000-08:00

Today is my friend Vicki's Birthday. For her birthday I am giving her a picture of me on the blog. She is always in need of her "Emily Fix", so I thought I would hook her up! Enjoy! Have a happy, happy day! I love ya!

Last Thursday was Crazy Hair Day at the kids school. Sam managed to get 4 Mohawks on his head (he had another one going down the back) and Josie just went with bed head.

At one of Adrian's job sites, the customer wanted him to tear down a nice swing set that they didn't really use anymore, so Adrian brought it to our house. The kids have already found many ways to try and hurt themselves on it.

We finally broke down and bought a pop up camper. We popped it up on Saturday and and the kids LOVE IT!

For Valentine's day, we had a romantic dinner. When I say "we", I mean the 5 of us. (Now that we have kids, a romantic dinner includes all of us.) By the way, Sam asked me like 5 times if I would be his Valentine - I of course said "yes" every time! And Adrian had 3 Valentine's (nothing has changed since he's been married!). For dinner we all got dressed up fancy - cologne, make up, jewelry and all. We had spaghetti with heart shaped meatballs and heart shaped garlic bread with wine/champagne glasses. We ate by candle light and listened to Celine Dion. It was very nice!

The girls love their new socks Mamaw and Papaw sent them - and Sam loved his belt, but he was too busy doing his puzzle to get in the picture!

Today, as I started to update the blog, (I try to walk on the treadmill when I'm on the computer), Layne got her fingers sucked up into the treadmill. It was pretty traumatic. Both her middle and ring finger on her right hand have the skin scraped off with oozing puss and blisters on the finger tips - it actually looks like a 3rd degree burn all down both fingers. Adrian immediately came home and turned our dining room into an ER. If she had broken the fingers, we would have taken her to the ER, but thankfully she can bend them a little, so Adrian did at home, what they would have done at the hospital. But after he bandaged her all up, it obviously still hurt her, and she looked at him and said, "I told you, you guys couldn't do anything to help me!"

Saturday at the Ranch!

2009-02-10T08:11:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we went out to a friends ranch. It was a beautiful day and so nice to get out, away from the city. We met the Duby family and the adults got in some target practice while the kids played and got really dirty. I know you all would love pics of me shooting, so sorry I didn't get any - I didn't have enough arms and don't like asking people to take pics of me. Just be thankful for the ones I did get.

This is a picture of Sam with a piece of a dead alligator gar. Don't ask - I was just glad it wasn't a piece of a snake!

This is a picture of Sam last week right before walking out the door to school. He insisted on wearing his REAL leather cowboy vest!
Those of you that really know Josie, know how much she loves her TV time. Everyday after school it is the 1st thing she does. Now she has a friend to join her.
Once we got home on Saturday Sam crashed. Then on Sunday Josie crashed. I think they have the flu. They were both home from school yesterday, and today Sam went back, but Josie is still home. I'm just praying Layne and I don't get it!
Have a Happy Valentine's Day!

A Big week for Josie!

2009-02-04T10:22:00.000-08:00

Last Friday Josie was invited to a special lunch in honor of the kids that won the "Run for the Team Contest". (This is the same contest when she drew the poster a few months ago and was recognized at the football game.) They had the lunch at the bank headquarters. So she got to skip school (at least the lunch part of school). She was so excited and nervous! They presented her with a framed certificate, a photo album full of pics from the football game, and a form for her to fill out to receive her $100 savings bond. After the lunch, we went to claim the bond, and Josie got to sign her own name(in cursive) on the form. We are so proud of her!

On Monday night Josie lost her 5th tooth! (The bottom right - She lost that top one over 9 months ago - we're still waiting for it to come in!)
Adrian loves gardening! He has discovered a new way to garden though. Basically you use storage bins, fill them with potting soil and plant the seeds in there. The beauty of gardening this way, you can have an indoor garden and have produce all year long. This is a picture of Adrian with his first tomato off his indoor, storage bin tomato plant - he was so excited! As you can see behind him, the plant in huge!

A Crazy Week!

2009-01-27T07:13:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday we finally bought a new mattress. The new mattress actually went in Josie's room, and the queen mattress went into Layne's room. Layne was SO excited to finally get to sleep in her own room again. (Josie was a little nervous though - the girls have slept in the same room for almost 6 months now, so it was their 1st time to sleep alone in their rooms since we've been in Texas.)
Those of you that know me, know about my addiction to Starbucks (Iced grande, nonfat, with whip, caramel latte). Every now and then we will make a Decaf version of this for the kids. Every day last week Layne was begging me for one, so I finally gave in.
Last Wednesday Sam had to spend some of the Christmas money burning a hole in his pocket, so he decided on the game Battleship. I think he has played it every day. He is so competitive (I don't know where he gets it from), but it's pretty funny to watch him play!

As you all know, Layne loves shopping. So last Thursday I took her to Target to get her fix. (Her purse now goes with us every where we go.) She too had Christmas money burning a hole in her pocket, so she decided on pink finger nail polish, eyeshadow, perfume, and sparkling pink lip gloss.
This is a picture of her last night after doing her own makeup. She said, "I know it looks a little crazy, but I tried my best." We all assured her that it looked pretty!
On Friday Sam got to have one of his friends from school come over for a few hours. This is storm trooper Patrick, and I'm not sure who Sam is supposed to be. They had a lot of fun, and I now know why God only gave me one boy - I couldn't handle two! Patrick was only there for 2 minutes, when I walked into Sam's room to check on them. That's when I heard Patrick say, "I have a idea, I know what we can do." He turned around, looked at me with an evil little smile, then shut the door! I called Adrian and told him to get home ASAP! They were good and had fun, but the girls did not know what to do with themselves - they have never experienced their Sammy not wanting to play with them.
For Christmas my mom got me a new Bernina Sewing Machine! I love my machine, and it came with free classes. So on Saturday, I took my last 2 classes. At my mom's request here is a picture of me as I was leaving for class. I even went above and beyond and got a picture with my teacher, Ms. Kay!
And because I got a new sewing machine, Josie got my old one. She's my little clone. All she wants to do is sew.
This is a picture of her 1st sewing project. It's a bear. (or pig, or mouse?)
On Saturday we decided Layne was big enough to move up into a big girl booster seat, and Sam was finally tall enough to move out of his little boy booster seat. So this is a picture of her in Sam's old booster seat and Sam in no booster seat. They both felt so grown up!
On Sunday it was SO WARM here. It was like 80 - we were all in shorts and t-shirts, except Sam - no shirt. This is Sam trying to do pull-ups.
We even turned on the sprinklers for the kids to play in.
And this is Adrian and Layne outside on Sunday. This will be one of my all time favorite pics!
Occasionally Adrian will take the kids to school. This week he took them because Layne had slept in and didn't want to get up to take the kids to school. But here is a picture of Lucy and Scout saying goodbye.
I know I was just telling you how warm it was here, but today it is like 18 outside and it has been snowing! We are all so excited. Adrian even called me from work to tell me how much he loves the snow. I just told him that he moved to the wrong state then.
As I'm sitting here updating the blog, Layne just came around the corner and said, "Well, it looks like I'm ready to go shopping." I have no plans of going shopping today, but she's ready!

January in Texas

2009-01-21T13:40:00.001-08:00

On Saturday we took the kids, and dogs, on a walk/bike ride to a close park. We all had a good time. The kids played on the playground and threw Sam's new boomerang around, while Adrian worked with Scout. (We are training her to be a good dog! - She's actually doing a great job.)

This was the longest bike ride where Layne had to peddle herself. She was so excited, and thought she was so big, but she didn't quite make it all the way back on the bike.
On Sunday we couldn't find the dogs, then noticed them both in Lucy's little crate - I don't know how they both fit in there, but they love it and we have found them in there together several times since.
On Monday the kids didn't have school. It was in the 70's, so we had a picnic lunch.

Just another week

2009-01-13T10:49:00.000-08:00

We've had a pretty uneventful week this past week. Last Tuesday, Sam got to shoot his BB gun for the first time. He has been out to shoot with it every day since.
And this is one of Layne's favorite new outfits. I actually think black might be her color!
On Friday night Josie had her friend Blakelee over to spend the night. They had a great time doing make-up and crafts!

Finally!

2009-01-07T07:44:00.000-08:00

We hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year! I have so much catching up to do so here it goes:
For Christmas the kids are allowed to ask Santa for one thing. When we went to visit Santa, he asked the kids what they wanted for Christmas. Josie told him Littlest Pet Shop Friends, he then asked her if she wanted anything else, since she is only allowed to ask for one thing, she said, no just Littlest Pet Shop Friends. Then Sam was asked what he wanted. He told Santa a Captain Hook Suit (which is very hard for Santa's elves to make so far after Halloween!) When he was asked what else he wanted, he too said nothing else. When he asked Layne what she wanted, I had to turn away to pay for the pictures we had taken with Santa. So as we walked away I asked Layne what she asked Santa for and Josie exploded. Apparently Layne asked for Baby Ariel, but then when he asked if she wanted anything else, she kept going. I guess she told him like four things - that shouldn't surprise any of you that know Layne! So we told her if she asked Santa for more than one thing, then Santa would choose what her brought her. So on Christmas morning, sure enough, Santa only brought one gift for Layne, Baby Ariel, and Josie got her LPS Friends, and Sam got his Captain Hook Suit. I guess they were good children last year! (As soon as Layne got over Baby Ariel, the first thing she said was, where is everything else I asked Santa for?)

It was a great, relaxing Christmas for us. I told Adrian this was the 1st Christmas in my 30 years that I have ever not had anywhere else to be on Christmas day. I didn't really know what to do with myself. Throughout the day the kids opened gifts from their "cyber grandparents", as Adrian called them. Grandpa and Gran, Nana and Poppy, and Mamaw and Papaw all sent gifts for the kids to open. The kids didn't know that anything had been sent, so on Christmas day we called all the grandparents on the web cam to wish them a Merry Christmas, and while the kids were talking to them, Adrian brought in the gifts they had sent, so they were able to watch the kids open presents on Christmas day live! I know it wasn't the same as being there in person, but it was great to see and talk to them and the kids REALLY loved it!

Sam throughout Christmas day was a variety of characters. Every 5-10 minutes he was someone new, and we kept calling him by the wrong name. So we got to spend Christmas day not only with Sam, but also with Captain Hook, Indiana Jones, a cowboy, Tony Hawk, a Star Wars Clone trooper, and Speed Racer just to name a few.

On Christmas Day it got up to 70 here in Lubbock so the kids got to go outside and play in t-shirts - that was a Christmas day 1st! And Josie had gotten a new smore maker, so we made smores on Christmas.

On Friday, the day after Christmas, we loaded up the car (all 5 of us and the 2 dogs) and headed back to Indiana. With stops and everything it took about 18 hours. We (Adrian) drove straight through, and we got to my Dad's in Worthington, Indiana on Saturday afternoon around 2:30. My brother, Dan, and my sister-in-law, Bes joined us. We had a nice dinner and a gift exchange and we all spent the night and had a huge breakfast! The kids love going there because they have horses and weapons. The following picture is a picture of Sam holding a sword that will one day be passed down to him.
On Sunday we headed to the Greenwood area. Our first stop was at Adrian's parents. It was so nice to see everybody and meet our new niece/cousin, Lucianna. She was so happy to meet us, she just could not stop crying tears of joy!

We had a great lunch and a gift exchange with all the kids. We ended the visit with the annual battle. (Every year, the last gift opened, everyone - Kids and Adults get some sort of weapon, and it's on! - And yes it usually ends with many wounds and tears.)

On Sunday evening we headed about 5 minutes away to my mom's house. Dan and Bes joined us again, where we had a lovely dinner and we opened our stockings - my moms favorite part of Christmas! We then headed to Indy to stay with Dan and Bes at their new house, which Adrian helped start remodeling (throughout the week they were able to tear down a couple walls in the basement, tear up carpet in one room, build "smart" closet space in one closet, pick out and hang a new door, and Dan bought some "real" tools so he can continue remodeling by himself with all that he learned.) Thanks so much to them for letting us stay there with our funny, energetic kids and dogs (They said they didn't mind, but I bet the first thing they did was take a long, quiet nap.)

On Monday evening we all went back to my Moms for dinner. My Grandma, Aunts, Uncles, cousins and great cousins were there. We just hung out played the Wii, watch movies, and played a new game Farkle (where I totally smoked everyone!)

Josie and Bethanie

Tuesday was Sam's 7th Birthday.
I can't believe he is 7. He started the day with Breakfast in bed. Later we let him decide where he wanted to eat lunch - McDonald's, then we headed to the Marott, where we had Sam's Pirate Party (Thanks so much to my Aunt Sarah and cousin Britt for letting us have it there - it was perfect!)
We just loved how these invitations turns out. They were even sealed with wax and stamped with an "S".
We had cake and ice cream (this was the first cake that I have ever bought for my kids birthday) We then let the kids swim and search for gold "treasure". Thank you so much to all of you that came and brought gifts - we really appreciate it! ).

Sam got a real BB Gun!
This year Sam could read his own Birthday cards.

After the party we took Sam out for his Birthday dinner. We ended up at Cheeseburger in Paradise (he really wanted Hard Rock Cafe, but it was too busy).
On Wednesday I met my mom at the Cheesecake Factory for lunch (YUMMY!), then we went to the Mall to make a few returns. While I was doing that, my sweet friend Vicki kept the kids for me and the kids were able to play with their BFF's Sam and Katie. They had a GREAT time!

Wednesday evening, my Mom and step dad, Mark, came to Dan and Bes' for a couple hours to celebrate New Years. We had Pizza and Ice cream (I had Cheescake - white chocolate raspberry truffle - to be exact, which, by the way, was the last thing I ate in 2008, and the first thing I ate in 2009). Dan and Bes wanted to make it extra special, so they blew up balloons and got out noise makers - Maracas (which mysteriously made their way to Texas?) Layne had fallen asleep around 11 (Dan, Bes, Adrian, and I were all jealous of her), so we woke her up about 5 til 12. We watched the ball drop, threw balloons around, made some noise, kisses all around, then were in bed by 12:05!

On Thursday we packed up. Actually, Adrian did most of the packing. This is a picture of him trying to organize all the gift we had received and figure out how we were going to get them and all of us back to Texas together.
While he did that we were able to run down to Franklin so Josie could say a quick hello to her BFF, Kyleigh. Josie was SO HAPPY to see her. Kyleigh is such a Great friend to Josie, we all miss her so much!
We headed back on Thursday afternoon and rolled into Lubbock about 10:30 Friday morning. We unloaded the car, made lunch, then all took a little nap. When we woke up we all played with some of our new toys. We ordered pizza (a Friday night tradition at our house), but we made it extra special to Celebrate Sam's birthday again, since he hadn't opened birthday presents from us yet, then had ice cream sundaes!

Sam in his new Star Wars tent.
Go Longhorns!

Saturday and Sunday we spent recouping, and on Monday it was back to school and work. Even for me. On Monday I started keeping a little baby boy, Jacen. He is 3 months old and so sweet. I will keep him 4 days a week, for a few hours a day, during the school year. So now Layne and I can get our baby fix almost every day!
He was only here a few minutes and Layne just had to hold him and a few seconds later she said, "I just love him!" And after I changed his diaper, Layne just had to help get him dressed.

So, that's basically everything that has happened the last couple of weeks, at least that I can remember. Thanks for hanging in there and reading all of it. I'm sure next weeks post will be much shorter and less interesting.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-23T08:36:00.000-08:00

At school, Sam's class sent letters to Santa. Last Thursday Sam got a letter in the mail from Santa. He was so excited, but Layne was devastated that she didn't get one.
On Saturday I did my baking. So now we have a ton of goodies and nobody really to give them to. We sent some to Jason and Brenda and some to John (Jason's Dad), but Adrian and the Kids don't seem to mind too much, I guess I don't mind either - more for us! While I was baking the kids decorated a gingerbread house.

Later that afternoon Josie dressed Layne up as Barbie Mariposa.
All of you that know Josie, know that she loves crafts. On Sunday she got a hold of a bottle of Silver Glitter. I assumed it was to make something crafty, but I was wrong. Apparently she thought it would be pretty to sprinkle it all over the place. It was ALL OVER the floor in her and Layne's room, on her desk, on Layne's vanity, dresser and Kitchen, and on the counter in the bathroom. It was pretty, but I was not very happy about it! The pictures don't really do the HUGE MESS justice. The entire floor was sparkling.

Yesterday the kids turned on Christmas music and dressed up to act out the manger scene. Sam was Joseph, Josie was Mary, and Layne was a sheep.
Everyone keeps asking what Lucy thinks of Scout. She didn't like her for a few hours, but they have become very close. They love to chase each other around the pool and chew on each others ears. Despite the first picture below of them, they do like one another. The last picture just gives y'all a good idea of how big she's going to get - look at those paws!

We are planning on heading back to Indiana next weekend and are praying for good weather. I probably won't update the blog until we get back. We look forward to seeing everybody and hope all of you have a Very Merry Christmas and a Safe and Happy New Year!

Scout!

2008-12-17T08:25:00.000-08:00

Well, every year Adrian gets a special gift for each of the kids for Christmas. The gift is just from him, and I don't even get to know what he got for them until they open it Christmas morning. This year Daddy got them a gift they had to share, but they got it early!

Her name is Scout, and of coarse, she is a yellow lab. She has been a very good puppy (so far, I'm still crossing my fingers!) She is very lazy, and as you can see the kids are taking very good care of her!
Yesterday the kids had a Special Christmas Lunch at school, so Adrian, Layne, and I went to have lunch with them. And yesterday afternoon, Sam had his class birthday party.

Layne thought she was SO Big! She was talking to all the kids and helping Sams teacher. Ms. Payne even gave Layne a piece of paper and a pencil and let her sit at a desk next to Sam. (I told Ms. Payne not to encourage her!)

Let It Snow!

2008-12-09T13:31:00.000-08:00

Click On the Christmas Greetings Link to the Right to see our Texas Christmas Video. Merry Christmas!
It is snowing today! They say everything is bigger in Texas. I guess not everything is bigger. I don't know if you can see the miniature snowflakes flying around above Laynes head, but I promise you, they are there.
Last Thursday Sam had a field trip to Breedlove (its dehydrating food center that sends food locally and all over the world to end hunger in disaster and famine areas.) This is a picture of Sam in the back seat of the bus. All you can see is the top of his mohawk.
Last Friday Sam was on the local news representing his school for the local food drive. If you scroll down to the previous posting and you can watch the live footage. (In this picture he is just to the left of the reporter man.)
This weekend we just hung out around the house. Sam and Layne played Star Wars while Adrian and I dehydrated our own food (potatoes, carrots, and onions).

Sam is the student of the month for December. So now when you walk into the school his picture is posted. We are so proud of our famous little man!

Sam's 15 Seconds of Fame!

2008-12-06T11:53:00.000-08:00

We thought y'all might like to see Sam on TV! Lubbock is having a food drive and all the area schools participated. Sam, because he is in student council, was asked to attend the live news broadcast to represent his school (with other student council members). You can just click on the video clip to the right to watch or copy and paste the video link below into your search engine. It's about 6 minutes long. He's the short cool kid with the Mohawk and bomber jacket! He is standing just to the right of the lady reporter (for the first 40 seconds),then you can see him again from 3:34 to 4:22 on the bottom left of the screen, then one more time during the last minute, when they are interviewing his school, Whiteside. Enjoy!

http://www.kcbd.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=3207815&at1=News&h1=U%20Can%20Share%20Food%20Drive:%206pm%2012.5

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-03T07:59:00.000-08:00

Last week the kids got out of school on Wednesday for Thanksgiving break, so we went Christmas shopping for Adrian. He's been wanting some tools and a screen for our fireplace, so we decided to give him an early Christmas present on Wednesday night.

We had a great Thanksgiving!! We had Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, noodles, rolls, stuffing, green beans, corn, cranberry sauce, cookies, and pumpkin pie!! YUMMY! It was so good! The kids stayed in their PJ's all morning watching the Parade while Adrian and I cooked/baked, then I told the kids to get dressed so we could eat - Sam put on his tux with a tie and the girls both put on dresses and did their hair and makeup. After we stuffed ourselves we took naps, watched movies, read the paper, played on the wii, and played a few rounds of hungry hungry hippo. We then got out all the leftovers and stuffed ourselves again then played a few rounds of Uno attack.
The kids were very intrigued by the uncooked turkey!

On Saturday we put out the Christmas decorations. My little elf (aka peter pan or Sam) helped hang up some of the decorations.

Last night at gymnastics the kids had an evaluation - Josie and Sam were evaluated on a few different things, while Layne was just evaluated on one - but they all got blue ribbons, and after class Sam's teacher/coach talked to me about moving Sam up into the next level class. It's an invitation only class to prepare the kids to be on their competition team. It would start in January - Sam really wants to do it, but it's 30 minutes longer, on a different night, and cost $25 more - so we haven't made a decision yet. But we are so proud of all three of them!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-25T17:17:00.000-08:00

Not much has been going on this past week. It has been getting down in the low 30's at night, so we stocked up on firewood this weekend. This is a picture of Layne watching cartoons. She was cold and needed to warm up!
On Sunday Adrian tore out another wall. This wall was actually a wall of windows in between the Living room and sunroom (where we keep Lucy, when we don't want her running around the house). I guess she hasn't figured out that she could just jump through the hole.
We are staying here in Lubbock for Thanksgiving. I'm going to be making my first Turkey, Pumpkin Pie, and Stuffing (aka grandma's dressing). I'm crossing my fingers. I guess if it doesn't turn out I'll be THANKFUL that it's just the five of us eating it! Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!!

Nothing Much Going On

2008-11-18T07:01:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody! Hope all are doing well. Josie was awarded Student of the month at her school. When you walk in the school entrance you can see her picture posted. We are so proud of her. She is such a good girl - and growing up so fast! This is a picture of her last night doing her homework. She was reading a horse book to the cat. (Bertie was lovin it!)
On Sunday we went for our first family bike ride in Lubbock. We just biked a couple of blocks to a nearby playground and let the kids play. We sure do miss our bike rides. We used to ride about 6 miles a couple times a week on the park trail that backed up to our neighborhood. The kids were so happy and thankful that we went.

When we got back from our ride apparently Sam threw his frisbee on top of the house. The girls came running inside screaming that Sam was on the roof. I immediately assumed that he climbed up there himself, but no, Adrian had given him a boost (I think mostly because Adrian didn't want to have to climb on the roof himself). After getting the frisbee, he just had to enjoy the view. His comment was, "This is the life!"

I forgot to mention a couple of weeks ago that we painted Layne's room. She loves it! She chose the colors and we painted her ceiling fan together. All she needs now is a bed. She doesn't seem to mind too much sleeping in Josie's room. I think all the kids like having her room empty. They are always in there singing and dancing.

This is Layne's favorite new hairstyle. Three piggy tails!

November in Texas

2008-11-11T12:26:00.000-08:00

Last week we were all sick with head cold stuff. We all finally started feeling better by the weekend, so on Sunday we headed about an hour and a half north to Palo Duro Canyon (the 2nd largest canyon in US) and went hiking. It was nice to get out of the house and the weather was perfect! Actually, on the way there we got a little turned around - lost, as the kids prefer to call it - and they were starving, so we pulled over and ate our picnic lunch on the side of the road and let the kids stretch their legs a little. As you can see, most of Texas, is big and flat with not much around.

As we drove into the entrance, we were greeted by "real" Texas Longhorns. (Sam's favorite!)

This is a picture Layne took of a tiny cactus in the shape of a heart.

Layne's new thing is sleeping totally covered up from head to toe. Last week, when I went in to check on her while she was taking her nap, this is what I found, when I pulled the covers back a little.

FYI, Sam was elected/nominated in his class for student council. His first meeting is Thursday. He is so excited! I guess on Friday he will have to report back to his class about what took place at the meeting. Josie's class had to give speeches before they elected who would be in student council. She told me she really want to be in Student council, but she just couldn't give a speech in front of everyone in her class. She then went on to tell me that Jayden (the boy that likes her) gave a speech. He stood in front of the class, said, "I ROCK", then proceed to throw himself on the floor and play air guitar. (Sam said, "I would vote for him!") Josie however, voted for the girl that gave the best speech.

Happy Veterans Day!!! Thank you to all that have served to protect our freedom!

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-04T09:37:00.000-08:00

We hope y'all had a great Halloween! This year Josie decided to be an Indian Girl (Native American to be politically correct), Sam wanted to be a Whoopee Cushion, and Layne decided to be a Monkey Princess. (They actually got to wear their costumes to Gymnastics last Tuesday. One of the funniest things I have ever seen was a Giant Whoopee Cushion Jumping on a trampoline. - Sorry no pics of that. - I guess all the boys in his class kept asking if they could sit on him.)

Lubbock does Halloween a little differently than we are used to. Apparently the majority of people here go to church festivals or museum and mall trick or treating. The kids got all dressed up and were ready to go by 6:15 pm, but if you do trick or treating "the Indiana way" (door to door), we were told we should wait until it is really dark out (there are no trick or treating times here). So, we waited until sundown then headed out. We were told numerous times to only go to the houses with the front porch lights on (which ended up being like every 3rd house). We went down both sides of the street for 2 blocks. The whole time we were out, we only saw 2 other families. The kids didn't seem to mind too much though, they had fun guessing whether or not the next house would have a light on. And they did end up getting lots of candy. I guess all our neighbors didn't expect many kids, so Josie, Sam, and Layne would get handfuls of candy at each house, which they loved! I had bought 5 of the giant bags of candy, and we only got 5 trick or treaters. Adrian said now we can go into the pinata business.

On Saturday morning we had a friendly game of basketball. (A couple times it ended up being tackle basketball!)

Sunday Sierra and Savannah celebrated their 9th birthday with a spy party. The kids had fun with all the games and activities. These are pictures of them during their "Spy Training". Josie's code name was "Pony Girl", Sam was "Ranger", and Layne was "Baby Doll".

Last week I finally took Layne shopping so she could spend her "credit card" (Gift Card)at Toys R Us. She got herself ready, and I just had to take a picture. I think I might be in trouble!

Pumpkins!

2008-10-28T12:16:00.000-07:00

Well, with Halloween soon approaching, there are all kinds of activities going on. Last Wednesday, Layne had her 1st field trip. Her class went to a pumpkin patch at a local church. She got to go with all her friends and pick out her own pumpkin - she thinks she's so big - she had a great time.

This is Layne's new BFF, Logan.
After the field trip, Layne went back to PDO, and I went and had lunch with Sam at school. (Every Wednesday I have lunch with either Josie or Sam - last week was Sam's turn.) Anyway, after lunch the kids get a quick recess. I just had to get a picture of this. This is Sam playing "football" with all his buddies. Tackle football I might add, and yes, it is imaginary. (Sam's wearing the black shirt, in front of the tree.)
On Saturday we headed about 45 minutes out of town to the big pumpkin patch. (Everyone in Lubbock has been raving about this pumpkin patch. We are used to AppleWorks, which is awesome, so this pumpkin patch didn't quite measure up. We actually drove right past it, Adrian and I looked at eachother and said, "That can't be it!" - after driving for 10 more minutes, we turned around. Sure enough, that was it!) The kids didn't mind though. They had fun at the "petting zoo" (all the animals were fenced in) feeding the animals.

And they also enjoyed all the photo ops. Adrian and I just had to get our picture with the pumpkin bug.

Josie is very crafty and likes to have a good time. So, a couple of weeks ago, she made all of us mailboxes, taped these mailboxes to our bedroom doors, and inside the mailbox was an envelope with an invitation to a costume party at our house. Well, the costume party was Saturday night - and let me tell you, it was a Blast! (Adrian and I were just praying that nobody would knock on the front door.)

FYI, on Sunday afternoon we drained the swimming pool. The kids are really bummed.
Last night we carved pumpkins! Josie always goes for the simple pumpkin face, Sam always wants a scary face, and Layne always wants a sweet baby face. I think their pumpkins have looked the same for 3 years now.

Another Busy Week!

2008-10-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

Hello again! Usually right after we drop Josie and Sam off at school, the first thing Layne does is veg out in front of the TV. It doesn't last long, but this is a picture of her last Wednesday morning. It has been getting down into the mid 40's at night (which seems like freezing here), so she always needs her "comfy" blankie (FYI - It's supposed to get down to 30 tomorrow morning). Sam is not to happy about the cold weather. He still insists on wearing shorts and tshirts to school and doesn't care if he's cold. He even went swimming this weekend - the pool temp was 68.

On Thursday Josie had a musical. Every year the 3rd grade has this program. The theme was "A Better You, A Better Me". She was very nervous about her speaking part, but did great! Adrian and I were not to happy by the time it started though. We were conned into a PTO Meeting. Apparently they scheduled the PTO meeting during the program - probably so more people would show, but they went through 4 pages of budget, and every flier that has come home over the past 2 months. But right before the meeting started it opened with the pledge of allegiance and the pledge to the Texas Flag. Texans are VERY PROUD. If I have the chance again, I will record it for you and put it on the blog. Adrian and I were cracking up! Speaking of Texans, I am an official Texan - I got my drivers license on Saturday!

Two weeks ago, Josie informed us that all the 3rd graders in the school district enter a poster into this contest. It is put on by a local bank. They choose one 3rd grader from each school. The winner of each school gets family tickets to a high school football game, a Jersey, $100 savings bond, honored before and during half time of the game, a luncheon in there honor at the bank, and honored on TV (maybe even more, but I can't remember). Anyway, she came home last Monday and said, "Mom remember that poster contest I was telling you about? ... I WON!!" So, yes, she won - of all the 3rd graders in her school. This is the rough draft of her winning poster. Last Friday we went to the football game where she was honored. She got to stand inside the big helmet before the team ran out, play the band's drums, the cheerleaders taught them all a cheer, then performed it with the cheerleaders, she got her picture with the mascot (A Mustang - horses are her favorite), and the best part of the night - they gave her $5 cash to get something at the concession stand - she chose a hot dog, and got to keep $2 change! Josie has become great friends with Eucarie (they take gymnastics together), and Eucarie won at her school, so they were so happy to be together. The Coin Toss Sam wanted to be on the field so bad!This is Eucarie's baby sister Kye. Layne LOVES her, so we let Layne be the babysitter, so Shica (Eucarie's mom) and I could take pictures of the girls. I will let you know when Josie is on TV by posting a link to the news channel, but it will be awhile. (There are 37 schools in the school district, and they are planning on featur)ing the kidss one at a time on Thursday evenings in alphabetical order.

Sunday the boys went shooting out at Trey's Ranch. Trey is Adrian's "Cowboy" friend. (I think Trey's family has like 15,000 acres.) Looks like they had a great time, and Sam came home with a cow skull. (He wants to hang it up in his room - not gonna happen!)

Last week Layne went for her 4 year old check up and her doctor noticed a murmur. So we were referred to a cardiologist. Her appointment was yesterday. While we were in the waiting room they brought out Miss Pink. They thought Layne would like her since she was dressed in all pink. Miss Pink's tail was even died pink. Layne thought it was So Cute! Layne was really nervous the whole time we were there - she didn't want to get any shots. She kept doing her nervous laugh - the nurse was cracking up. No need to worry though, she has what is called an innocent murmur - just a really loud heart.

We miss you all and hope you are doing well. Thanks for checking on us!

Never A Dull Moment!

2008-10-14T08:59:00.000-07:00

We didn't have a very exciting week this past week, but we did have fun! This is Layne (Hannah Montana), last Tuesday, in her new favorite outfit that she wears every other day (every day that it's not being washed - she has it on right now actually).

Here is Sam on Saturday morning practicing his skateboard tricks. He actually fell about 10 minutes before this picture and we thought he broke his arm - he didn't thankfully, but it did require more pads to be put on. I'm not sure how it was possible to be more padded, but he found a way!

And we of course had to get a picture of Bertie climbing up the tree and onto the roof of our house. (The kids think she is secretly a mountain lion!)

On Sunday night we decided to use some of Adrian's new campfire wood, and the kids insisted on Smores. So here they are roasting marshmallows in the living room. (Josie said it was the Best marshmallow she has Ever had!)

It has been raining the past couple of days, and those of you that know Layne, know that she is always dressed appropriately. This morning she insisted on wearing her rain jacket to drop off Sam and Josie at school (even though she would not even be getting out of the car!) Josie thought she looked silly because it messed up her hair, Sam loved her in the rain jacket though because he said it looked like she had a Mohawk. She really didn't care what anyone thought, she was ready!

So Much To Say!

2008-10-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

Last Monday Ron and Cheryl (aka - Papaw and Mamaw) came for a visit. We didn't tell the kids they were coming, so they were very happy and excited to see them - and Sophie (the little white ball of fluff).
Tuesday was Adrian's Birthday. We made his favorite breakfast, met him for lunch at Rudy's -his favorite BBQ, then took him out for dinner at Cagel's - a local ranch that he loves!

Josie Loved the horse shoe chair at Cagels!

We then came home for apple pie and presents. Sam got him a cross necklace, Josie got him a Captain America bobble head, and Layne got him campfire wood - I guess he got everything he wished for!

Thursday was Layne's 4th Birthday. We took her out for lunch at Souper Salad. It's this place in Lubbock with a huge Soup, Salad, Potato, Pizza, Bread , and an Ice Cream Sundae Bar with sprinkles! She wanted to have a Baby party - she loved it! I just can't believe my baby is 4! We had a nice party - smaller than we are used to, but it was good. (Thank you to all that came and sent gifts!!!!)

This is a video clip of the party. (Just click on the play button) Enjoy!

Ron, Cheryl, and Sophie headed back to Indiana on Friday morning, then on Friday night we drove 5 hours to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the international balloon fiesta. Brenda's parents live close, so they were kind enough to let us stay with them. We got up bright and early on Saturday morning and headed to the balloon fiesta. It was a beautiful morning with lots of people and balloons. The kids loved seeing all the different balloons - I think the Darth Vader was Sam's favorite - we got to see Darth, storm troopers, sand people, and Boba Fett - with his jet pack! Then we ran into Glen Plake, a legend in the skiing world. We of coarse had to get a picture because Adrian has always been a big fan and Sam loved his Mohawk- he loved Sam's hawk as well! After the balloon fiesta we headed up into the Sandia Mountains. We went for a hike/nature walk as the kids like to call it - we caught grass hoppers, inch worms, leaves, rocks, and sticks that can easily be used as walking sticks and weapons! It was a nice to get outside and do something besides swimming! We all had a great time. And just before heading down the mountain, the kids were sworn in as Junior Rangers. (I think they are now officially Junior Rangers at 5 National Parks.) On Sunday afternoon we headed back to Lubbock and I think we are all still catching up on rest from all the festivities of last week!

Just another week

2008-09-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

We didn't have a very exciting week this past week. Next week I will have plenty to share though - Adrian and Layne's birthdays! So these are pictures of the kids on Sunday. Josie and Layne were just relaxing next to the pool in the hammock - taking in the beautiful Texas weather. And Sam LOVES his new sword Adrian made for him. Sam had drawn a picture at school of the perfect sword he wanted, so Adrian secretly made it for him over at the shop, and Sam got to help Adrian paint it. He is so proud!

Taking It All In!

2008-09-23T12:13:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday night, while we were making dinner, the kids were swimming, and Sam spotted a lizard. He caught it, which was amazing because they are very fast, and we just had to take a picture of it!

As you all know, Layne really misses Josie and Sam while they are at school, so when she can't go shopping she finds different ways to keep herself busy - and of course, she is always dressed perfectly for the occasion. On Friday I was doing dishes and Layne wanted to listen to her CD (she got a mix CD last Christmas of all her favorite songs). So, when I finished doing the dishes, I went into the living room to check on her and this was what I found. She was sitting on the fireplace, looking longingly at herself in the mirror, while she sang the Hannah Montana/Billy Ray Cyrus song - Don't Go.

On Saturday afternoon we went to an Apple Orchard, about 20 minutes away, for the big Apple Butter Festival. The kids thought we were in the car FOREVER. (Everything in Lubbock is so close they are used to being in the car for like 5 minutes). Anyway, the festival is a really big deal, they have a concert, a petting zoo, inflatable slides, merchant booths, BBQ, hayrides, and even Johnny Appleseed. We even got to pick our own apples!

On Saturday Night we went to the County Fair. What more needs to be said?

Layne has learned a new trick - she has figured out how to look at her nose!

Another Fun week in Texas!

2008-09-16T06:42:00.000-07:00

On Thursday Layne woke up begging to go shopping - it's all she wants to do. So, I told her she needed to talk to her daddy. The conversation went as follows: "Daddy, can me and mommy go shopping?" "What do you need to go shopping for?" "I don't know, I just like to go shopping - I just want to look." "Well, I guess if you just need to look, then I guess you can go." So, we went browsing. She has a birthday coming up, so we went out to find things she might want put on a birthday list. Anytime we are around shoes she has to try ALL of them on - just to make sure they fit, or in most cases, don't fit. Anyway, she loved these shoes. - They were the kind of shoes that just make a girl feel good!

On Thursday it rained all day. It had been raining off and on on Tuesday and Wednesday, but Thursday it was nonstop. So much, that it was the most rain Lubbock had ever gotten in a 24 hour period in history. It surpassed the 100 year flood, causing major flooding, so schools and everything else was canceled on Friday. (By Friday afternoon everything was dried up.) But Josie and Sam got to stay home - we were all happy about that! But the following is a picture of the kids by 9 in the morning. Since they had to stay home I made them clean their rooms. I had gone into Josie's room to check on the progress and Layne had on old play clothes, a scarf tying her hair back, and was on the floor cleaning - Josie was sitting on her bed and just looked at me and said, "She's Cinderella." Josie has a way of knowing how to get what she wants - she's our negotiator - she has been since she could talk. So anyway, 5 minutes later Sam came around the corner into the kitchen and said, "It's good to be in a tux again!" Apparently cleaning had been put on hold, Sam had turned into prince charming, Layne (Cinderella) got dressed in her beautiful pink ball gown, that the animals helped make, and Josie was now the wicked step-mother.

On Saturday we (Adrian) started remodeling the house. He tore out part of the wall between the entryway and the kitchen. During the whole process Layne asked Adrian, "Daddy, why are you breaking the house?" It looks really good - I can't wait to paint!

The Texas Life

2008-09-09T07:32:00.000-07:00

Well, we had a busy weekend. On Saturday we got up and went to "downtown" Lubbock for the Cowboy Symposium. Cowboys from all over the US come and they have chuck wagons, the cowboys cook for you, they have trick roping competitions, cowboy poetry, music, stories, etc. and Indians too! It all kicks off with the parade of horses - which was a big hit, of course.

Texas Tech's - Masked Rider!
Rodeo Queen

Our neighbor, across the street from us, is one of the cowboys with a chuck wagon - the kids think it's pretty cool that a real cowboy lives next to us.

The Kids are hot next to the Chuck Wagon!

The Indians had a big pow-wow, and Sam and Josie went out in the middle and danced with them. (Sam was a little nervous because Jason keeps teasing him that he better watch out because the Indians will scalp him - but he danced with Josie in the pow-wow anyway!)

On Sunday we had a Colts party (at the Duby's). Long Story - We would have had it at our house, but Brenda's parents were in town, Jason's uncle was in town visiting his dad, John, and we invited Chaz, (an employee and his wife), and John's freezer had broke on Saturday, so all his meat went to Jason's. (If you know John , that's a lot of meat so it needed to be eaten!) So, since Jason and Brenda have more than a card table, and they had a grill and the meat - they offered to have the Colts party at their house - we gladly accepted! Too bad the Colts Lost!

Today Adrian is flying back to Indiana to get his truck, tools, and a second load of all our stuff (Just in case you didn't know, not all of our stuff made it in the moving truck a month ago.) So hopefully he will be back tomorrow and we can continue to get settled!

3 Little Monkeys

2008-09-04T07:42:00.000-07:00

Last Friday Josie did a wonderful job on her spelling test and her teacher didn't have to wait for her to finish writing any of her words! We stayed around the house for our holiday weekend. We unpacked more boxes, stripped wall paper, and swam of course!

On Tuesday Josie and Sam started gymnastics. Layne had previously decided that she wanted to do ballet - not gymnastics - which was fine with me, because ballet would only cost $15 for 10 lessons, while gymnastics is $55 a month (per kid), not to mention, last winter Layne took gymnastics at the community center in Franklin ($30 for 8 Lessons) and she sat in the corner of the room and looked at everyone like they were stupid. But, on Tuesday as we were walking out the door, she had a melt down and changed her mind - she now wanted to go gymnastics (wonderful!). Ballet doesn't start until the end of September, so I let her put on leotard and told her I would see if there was room for her in the 4 year old class, and if there was, she'd better participate! Sure enough they had room and I explained to them the situation, and they were kind enough to let her try it out for the night and told me to let them know if I wanted to enroll her. She did great! And so did Josie and Sam!

Josie is in a class with 2nd and 3rd grade girls, Sam is in a class with K and 1st grade boys, and Layne is in a class with 3 and 4 year old girls. And the best part is, all three classes are an hour long, on the same day, at the same time. They loved it and wanted to go back on Wednesday! After class, Sam's teacher introduced himself and confirmed with me that Sam had never taken gymnastics before - he was surprised by that and told me what a great job Sam did. He explained that Sam had a lot of natural ability and upper body strength and said that Sam doesn't seem to be afraid of anything. I told him "No, he's pretty much fearless and he wants to be a stunt man when he grows up - which was why I enrolled him in gymnastics - so he could how learn to use his body properly." I tried to get better pictures of all the kids - most of Sam's pictures turned out to be a big blur (like Dash in the Incredibles)- he was just non-stop! And while I was watching the kids, I met another mom. Her name is Robin. Her family of 6 just moved to Lubbock from Ohio and she is stay at home mom too. So, that was nice to have someone to talk to who is going through a similar "adventure".

On Wednesday Layne started PDO. She was SO EXCITED! She had a great time and when I asked her if she made any new friends she said "Mom, there is a cowboy that likes me - he's a little one." I said "Really, did he have a cowboy hat on?" She said, "No, not a cowboy hat or boots, but he had a cowboy jacket on and he likes me!" I asked, "What's his name?" She said, "I don't know, but he's a Real Cowboy!" So, I guess overall, PDO was a success.

School Update

2008-08-29T06:14:00.000-07:00

We made it through our first week of school. Josie and Sam did fine and Layne was bored out of her mind all she wanted to do was go shopping. Josie thought the first few days were good - she made some new friends and likes all her teachers. But she HATES the restrooms because the stalls are really short and the doors don't lock, and apparently in Texas you learn cursive in 2nd grade (you learn cursive in 3rd Grade in Indiana) - she was dreading learning cursive anyway, but on the first day of school she was told all her Friday spelling tests would be graded in cursive - so she had to learn cursive in 3 days - she has her spelling test today and is really nervous! She has done really well learning cursive so quickly - but you all know she is a perfectionist and doesn't hurry doing anything, so it takes her a little longer than most to write out the spelling words - spelling isn't the problem (she never misspelled one word last year) - she just wants to make sure she has all the cursive written correctly. So I'm praying that her teacher will be patient with her and wait for her to write the whole word before moving on to the next word she has 20 words total. And Sam has made some new friends also, and has already been invited to a Transformer birthday party. His favorite part of school is that he has his own locker (not to be confused with a cubby - it's a real locker). He also loves that he has P.E. everyday and loves eating lunch and school. Some of the kids told him that they liked his Mohawk and I asked him if he has seen anyone else with a Mohawk and he said "No, I think it's new here." So he's breaking the mold in Lubbock! And yesterday I was getting his backpack ready for the day when a little lizard ran out and across my leg and hid in a corner of the kitchen - Sam set up a booby trap immediately! He got out a Ziploc baggie, surrounded the corner where the lizard was hiding and said, "Now when he comes out he will run straight into the baggie. Mom, all you have to do is zip up the bag and save it for me for when I get home!" Thankfully we have not seen the lizard, so I didn't have to zip it up in a baggie. (Josie wasn't too happy that we hadn't found it and was afraid to go to sleep.) So, overall it was a good week.

The first few days Layne and I walked Josie and Sam all the way up to the building, but we have promoted to pulling up to the curb and letting them jump out of the car and walk to the building alone. The first time they did this was so funny - they held hands and waved to Layne and I the whole way.

We finally got a fridge on Tuesday night, so on Wednesday Layne and I went grocery shopping - Layne was thrilled. She wore her favorite shoes and took her baby and she got to push her own shopping cart (she only ran over and into my feet 7 times - I think our next day out together will be to get a pedicure!) We still need to get a bed for Layne, so right now she is sleeping in the top of Josie's bed. (Layne talked Josie into sleeping up top with her one night - I don't think Josie will be doing that again! Layne will start PDO next Wednesday from 8:30 - 2:45 - she (and I) are really excited. Her teachers names are Miss Jennifer and Miss Cammy - but doesn't like their names so she won't say them.

Our pool has been a lifesaver - it's all the kids want to do - they have become quite the little fishies!

Sam's "one-knee ball"

Adrian's handstand

2008-08-25T07:37:00.000-07:00

First Day of School

2008-08-25T07:09:00.000-07:00

Well, we started school today in Lubbock, Texas. Josie and Sam were excited and anxious and Layne was upset that she didn't get to go. We only live 2 blocks from the school, so riding the bus isn't an option, so we dropped the kids off at 7:45 - the only letter that we have gotten from the school was regarding the school start time and in bold print it strongly encouraged everyone to arrive to school on time so they would not miss the Pledge of allegiance, the pledge to the Texas Flag, and the moment of silence - so we made sure they weren't late! And as far as everything else, we are still unpacking and getting settled. We all like Lubbock and our pool is getting plenty of use - it's about 10ft. deep with a diving board - Sam was doing flips on day 2 and Layne has already learned to swim without her floaties. I'll do better about taking pictures and making this blog more interesting - but this is all new for me. We will let you know how school went later on.