The Church Bulletin

Soccer Times Three

2009-11-04T23:06:00.004-06:00

We hit a new milestone this fall, in that we now have yet another child playing soccer!
I wish you all could see how proud Owen is to finally have his own team, and not just be watching his sisters doing something!

He is loving it and is doing a really good job!

Brian is his coach, and he knew two other kids on his team. Unfortunately rain has cancelled a good number of their games this fall, but they'll all get the chance to play together in the spring as well.

Peyton (#3) is in her second year of playing soccer. Even though her uniforms are the same color as Owen's, she's actually on a different team of kids who are a year older.

She loves running around out there and is learning how to get after the ball better.

She, too, knew someone else on her team, so that was nice.

This is Kellen's 4th year of soccer, and it is so much more fun to watch this level! (Though there is definitely much entertainment in watching the younger kids attempt to play, as well!) The kids at this age are actually working together, passing the ball, dribbling it in close-range, etc.

We've seen huge improvements in Kellen this year, and she is consistenly the high scorer for her team.

And despite how athletic Kellen is, fashion is important to her as well---she was thrilled that her uniforms were turquoise---her favorite color! ;-)

UCHS--20 Years Later

2009-11-03T23:32:00.002-06:00

So this year was Brian's 20th high school reunion, but we just made it over to Union City for the Friday night football game. We had to come home Saturday morning for the opening weekend of soccer season.
The kids were all dressed in purple or gold, and had fun with Brian's friends' kids. For some reason, I only took these two pictures, and didn't even get one of Brian with his two best friends, David and Wright, much less all the other people from "back in the day"! They all seemed to have lots of fun, though!

Their attempt at a pyramid!
Bottom Row: Dawson, Hallie, Audrey & Kellen
Top Row: Ruby, Peyton & Owen

Another cute pic of the kids, though we don't know who the two in the cheerleading outfits are!

Go Red Wolves!

2009-11-02T23:18:00.002-06:00

This year we finally bought season tickets to the Arkansas State football games! It seems that each year we've been here, we've bit by bit become more enthusiastic fans of ASU. Now, I'm sure it will never match the caliber of University of Alabama, or our love for that university, but this is Brian's 7th year here at ASU, so it's about time we got more involved.
We've had a lot of fun going to the games so far, and the kids have really enjoyed them, too. Of course, they pay a little more attention to the cheers, their friends, what snack to buy and the half-time show, rather than the football game, but that's okay. We're in a section with many of our friends, so that makes it a lot more fun, too.
Go Red Wolves!

Giving Swim Team a Try

2009-11-01T22:36:00.002-06:00

Kellen

Peyton

After having done gymnastics for years, the girls had gone as far as they could go without jumping up to the next level, meaning 6+ hours of practice per week, traveling to competitions, etc. No thanks. Not at this age.

So, they had the idea of trying out the local swim team. Swimming is not something Brian or I ever did as a competitive sport, but we certainly liked the idea. It's great exercise, great discipline, and something they could do together at the same time, which means easier transportation for the parents! And, even if they only do it for a while, it is like intense "swim lessons", and they'll be the stronger for it!

They've both excelled quickly, and have already learned the basics of all the strokes, as well as the starting dives off the side of the pool and the blocks. We've yet to enter them in a meet, but will probably do so at some point this winter. In the meantime, it's been fun to watch them in a new endeavour!

First Day of School

2009-10-31T23:12:00.009-05:00

Okay, it was nine weeks ago for Kellen and Peyton, and seven weeks ago for Owen and Dawson, but I can't not chronicle this classic picture-taking opportunity!!!

Pretend this pic is down at the bottom of this post where it's supposed to be---Owen's first day of pre-school was 2 weeks later, but blogger is not letting me put it in the right place!

Peyton on her first day of Kindergarten

Kellen on her first day of 2nd grade

Sisters!

Molly, Bella, Kellen & Clara in the gym before school started.

Kellen & Caroline are in the same class this year.

Best buddies since they were tots---Kate and Kellen!

Some of Peyton's classmates gathering before school, waiting for the doors to open. These are 7 of the 11 kids in her class.

Assigned to a table with Lola and Susannah

I let the boys have popsicles after we got home from dropping their sisters off because they were so sad the girls were gone!

Fast-forward 2 weeks to the boys first day of pre-school

The love of a brother....

Big boy Dawson

Peyton wanted her pic with the boys, too. Kellen had already left for school.

What a Week!

2009-10-09T23:03:00.003-05:00

Well, I've been trying to catch up on the blog chronologically, but I've just got to jump ahead to the present right now, and blog about this week. Whew, I'm glad it's over!
Last weekend Dawson had a bit of a runny nose, just like many other kids, and we thought nothing of it. Monday night, though, he was real restless as he slept, and finally called out for us around 4:00 a.m. We could tell right away he was having problems breathing. Inhaler at 4:30 did nothing, so we just monitored him closely until 7:30 when we could take him to our pediatrician.
This has happened two other times since the spring, and both times the doctor was able to get it under control, either through breathing treatments or an inhaler. Tuesday morning, however, the doctor tried several different things, to no avail, and sent us directly to be admitted to the hospital. Shocker! I could not believe it! I hadn't even showered yet, and here I was being told we'd be there until Thursday!
Thankfully, Dawson was a great patient, and despite being tethered to a hospital bed by an IV, an oxygen tube, and a pulse ox monitor, he kept a pleasant demeanor for most of the two days we were there! Poor guy even had to endure FIVE ATTEMPTS at placing his IV, but after that, he charmed every employee who came in, with a mischievious grin and a friendly "Hi!"
He enjoyed his deliveries of balloons, snacks and stuffed animals. He received goodie bags of toys and books and food. Friends visited us in the hospital, friends pulled through and kept life going for the other 3 kids, and friends delivered dinner to our home. And we know that friends said many prayers as well! THANK YOU!!!
I took several pictures of Dawson throughout our time there, but I don't know how to get them off my phone onto this blog. I texted them to some people, though, and he is pretty darn cute!
There's much more I could say about our time there, but ulitmately, he had a nasty viral infection that settled in his lungs and caused much inflammation. He has steadily improved, though, and we were actually released late Wednesday night instead of Thursday.
On more story, though, about our discharge. The doctor told us at 7:00 p.m. that we could go home. He said it would take about 45 min. for discharge, so I called Brian to have him and the kids come help us carry everything out of the hospital room. Well, over an hour later we hadn't seen any progress in releasing us, so I called our nurse in to the room. I asked if it would be all right for Brian to take the kids home because it was past bedtime and Dawson was getting really tired and fussy. I said I'd stay and sign the paperwork, and she said "Sure!" Sweet! So about 8:30, Brian and the kids head home. Forty-five minutes later the nurse finally comes back, and asks if she can give Dawson his final dose of medicine. She stopped short, though, and looked around the room for Dawson. "He went home with my husband, remember?" I said. "The patient???" she screamed. "Yes, that's what we asked you!" "I thought you meant your other kids!" she replied. I'm thinking, why would we ask your permission to take home our other kids, who had just arrived in order to take Dawson home???
"OH S--T!" was her response! The woman was freaking out right in front of my eyes! Then she starts talking to herself, saying "okay, okay, well, I did his final assessment, it's going to be allright, yes, it'll be okay", etc. She was probably thinking "I'm gonna get fired!" Finally she left to go get my paperwork. Forty five minutes later she came back in, much calmer, and let me sign the papers. I apologized for the miscommunication, and she was so nice and said she was glad Dawson had gotten to go home to sleep, since discharge had taken 3 hours! ;-)

So, Thursday morning we're all wiped out and exhausted from Dawson's ordeal. The three older kids head off to school and Brian to work. 11:00 comes, and I get a phone call from Peyton's Kindergarten teacher that she had been injured on the way to their field trip to the ASU Petting Zoo! Someone needs to come look at a laceration between her nose and lip. She was riding in a parent's van, and was swinging an unlatched seatbelt from the empty seat next to her. It flew up in her face and cut her! Brian could get there quicker, so he heads over. Yes, she needs to go to the doctor, he decides, so he takes her to an urgent care place nearby. I soon follow with Dawson and her insurance card. And here I go again, making 15 million phone calls trying to get the other kids picked up from school and off to playdates, and notifying the schools. Then the doctor there decides they can't do anything since it crosses down into her lip, and she was afraid they couldn't get it lined up properly with just glue and steri-strips. Of course by then, the ENT's office was closed for lunch! So, we take Peyton out to lunch and wait until they re-open at 1:00. Once we arrived, they were in no hurry to get her seen, which did not please this mama! Did they not understand that her face was split open (slight exaggeration) and was much more serious than all the minor earaches sitting out in the lobby???
Finally the doctor saw her, and he was so good! He explained that either he could inject two numbing shots INTO the laceration and then stitch it up, which usually won't work with children, or we could take her over to the hospital, put her under general anesthesia and stitch her up that way. Peyton heard this discussion, and we talked about it a little more. I reminded her of her Kindergarten shots, which she had not cried about at all, or said they could give her medicine to go to sleep. She said "Gimme the shots!" Wow!
So, the doctor begins, and let me tell you, our little Peyton did not flinch, did not utter a word, did not shed a tear! She held perfectly still while he gave her two shots inside the cut, and then sewed three stitches! He and the nurse were thoroughly shocked and said they had never seen anything like that! Peyton has always been such a tough cookie!
So, here she is, the morning after, with a big fat lip and three stitches! Still cute, though! Swelling is going down, and stitches come out next Thursday. Of course, school pictures are this Tuesday---won't that be a great Kindergarten memory? ;-)
So, we are DONE, let me repeat, D-O-N-E, with doctors and hospitals for the week! Thankfully, we had an uneventful day today, and are looking forward to a fun weekend! Thanks again to all who helped! We love you!

Our Best Days of the Summer....

2009-10-04T22:29:00.003-05:00

...are spent swimming with our friends! For four years now, we've joined the same pool with a group of other families, and that's how we spend most of our summer days! The kids have their friends to play with and the mamas have their friends to talk to! We pack a lunch or occasionally order a pizza, and come home just in time for afternoon naps. Can't think of a better way to spend the summer days!
Peyton, Colby, Kellen & Kate are quite the foursome. They're usually off in the deep end somewhere!

Dawson was really into his goggles this summer, but they were usually around his neck or on the top of his head---rarely over his eyes!

Playtime! Owen's squirting the foam water gun. That's Carson in the tube, and Peyton, Kellen, Cade and Kate in the background.

Brian got to come out with us a few times. Pooltime with Daddy is always fun---lots of flying bodies as he throws them into the water, "surfing" on his back as he's underwater, and diving off his shoulders.

Owen cheesing it up. I'm not sure why he's got his goggles squishing his ears!

Track & Field Mini-Meets

2009-10-03T22:11:00.006-05:00

You know how when you get behind on something, it just seems too overwhelming to get it started again? Well, that's where I was with this blog! This is the longest I've gone without a new post since I started it over a year ago. You all may not care, but this is my substitute for scrapbooking for awhile during these busy years of raising little ones. So, I have missed blogging new pictures, and I think I'm going to be a roll for awhile, so stay tuned!

I'll pick back up here with the mini-track-and-field meets that we do every summer at ASU. They are a highlight of the summer for the kids, and also something that Brian loves to support, given his throwing background as an athlete and collegiate coach.

LONG JUMP

DISCUS

HURDLES

50 METER DASH

We even let Dawson compete in one event. It was kind of an impromptu decision....hence, the running in Crocs! He loved it, though, and the rest of the summer meets he competed in the long jump and 50 meter or 100 meter dash.

Team Church brought home lots of medals each week, many of them gold. Sure was a fun way to spend our Thursday nights!

Where'd It Go?

2009-08-22T10:22:00.002-05:00

While I was out in Washington, Owen lost his first tooth! We're not even sure why, and were actually a little worried about it. 1) He JUST turned 4, so seems a little young, and 2) it was a TOP tooth! Usually you lose a bottom tooth first. Anyway, we called his dentist's office a couple times, and the gal said that if Dr. Oliver was concerned he would call us back. He never did, so I hope everything's okay! Guess we'll find out in Nov. at his regular appointment.

So over the phone, I told Owen about the Tooth Fairy. He didn't get it. After going round and round trying to explain it, I just said "Kellen will tell you about it--ask her." He kept asking questions though, and honed in on the money part. He finally said "Can I get some money?" and I said "Yes, that's what I'm trying to tell you!" "Cool" was his response. Conversation over. He was satisfied! ;-)

10th Girls' Get-Together!

2009-08-19T22:25:00.007-05:00

July 2009 marked the 10th time that three of my best friends from college and I got together for a few days to catch up and have fun! We all used to live in Spokane, WA, but now Summer is in Boise, ID, Joy is in Lynden, WA, and I've ventured far off to Arkansas! Only Becca still lives in Spokane.

Joy's aunt has a cabin on Lake Whatcom in Bellingham, WA, a couple hours north of Seattle. Her cabin was adorable, and her dock system provided a great little swimming area and beach. We were there during the area's heat wave, and since no one has air conditioning up there, we swam in the lake quite a few times, just to cool off!

Joy's parents let us use their wave runner. Here are Becca and Joy about to go out for a ride. You can see our A-frame cabin in the background.

Summer, Becca and Joy. Lots of deck-time playing cards!

We always have delicious food on our trips! Here is Joy grilling some kabobs.

The four of us. There's a lot of years of friendships represented here. We've been in each others' weddings, been through good times and bad, and now have a dozen kids between us! I'm already looking forward to next year!

The Carolinas

2009-08-19T21:32:00.006-05:00

This July we got to take a family vacation to North Carolina. Brian's sister, Dena, lives there with her husband, Stan, and their daughter, Hailey. Hailey spends part of the summer with the grandparents in Tennessee, so we drove Hailey back home after her visit.
We also headed further on to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This was a definite highlight of the trip. The kids had never seen the ocean until we went to California last spring, and now in a matter of four months, they've seen both the Pacific and the Atlantic! The whole week was a blast, and the kids did great with all the driving. Good times!

Went to The Giant Crab for seafood one night. The kids tried calamari, scallops and clams, in addition to shrimp and fish, which they've had before. And, in a moment of temporary insanity, I let them try crab, which they loved, so I spent a good portion of the night cracking crab legs to get out tiny bits of meat for my children to eat!!! Crazy!

Peyton with the ocean view from our condo in the background. 9th floor.

Our kids with their cousin, Hailey, on the beach one night.

There was a splash park associated with our condo, so we spent part of each day there, as well as the beach. Here is Peyton with Aunt Dena.

Hailey, Kellen & Owen in a train coming down the water slide.

Hailey, Peyton & Dawson on the lazy river.

This is how Team Church naps at the beach! ;-)

Hailey spent lots of time helping Dawson dig in the sand. She's a great cousin!

Playing in the sand was probably Dawson's favorite thing to do. Notice the fat lip? Face, meet concrete. Concrete, meet face. While hands were in pockets. Not pretty.

Wave jumping!

Family pic on our condo balcony

Stan, Dena and Hailey

The Cousins!

Kellen took this pic of B and I while we were eating on the patio at Margaritaville.

Hailey and Kellen with their balloon parrots that could attach to their shirts. The balloon man came around on stilts and was a hit with the kids.

Owee turns 4!!!

2009-08-12T21:42:00.005-05:00

What could be a better 4-yr-old birthday present than a brand new big-boy bike??? Owen has been learning to ride without training wheels on his little 12 inch bike, but it's much harder to balance on those small bikes. So, here is the proud owner of a shiny red 16 inch bike!

Of course lots of practicing ensued. Daddy got a good workout!

Look at that face of concentration!

Not every try was a perfect run---good thing Daddy has quick reflexes!

We actually gave Owen his bike a few days before his birthday, because we were in North Carolina at Brian's sister's house on the actual day. Dena did an AWESOME job of making him feel special on his birthday! When we arrived, the house was decorated with signs and balloons, which Owen just loved!

Balancing his new "real" tool set on his head. A favorite gift from Aunt Dena and Uncle Stan. He also got a bigger, camping sleeping bag from Nanna and Papaw, and some Spidey jammies, a movie, pool toy and a game from us.

Dena decorated a bunch of orange and blue cupcakes, most of which had his name written on them.

Blowing out FOUR candles!

Our four kiddos being silly eating the cupcakes.

Dawson preferred the hands-free approach.

We're so proud of our new 4 year old. As many of you know, I still call him our "miracle baby", as I was 17 weeks pregnant with him when we were in our horrible car accident. We know it was only by the grace of God that he survived the accident, all the surgeries, my medications, the stress, the pain, etc. The Lord has truly blessed us with a precious boy. He is super sensitive and caring, but definitely "all-boy". We love you, Owee!

And she learns to ride!

2009-08-12T21:26:00.002-05:00

It took Peyton a long time to decide that she wanted to ride her bike, but once she did, it was only a matter of minutes before she was cruising!

Once she got going, it's been difficult to keep her off her bike ever since!

Here's what Dawson's usually riding when the other kids are riding their bikes.

Cutie!

Kellen decided to be silly and is riding Owen's tiny bike!

It's About Time!

2009-08-10T22:37:00.007-05:00

This absence from blogging hasn't been intentional, but I do think I'm about to get rolling again! We were home all summer until the middle of July, and then bam, bam, bam we had several things in a row going on! Also, to add to the mix, we closed on our new house at the end of June, so trying to get that in shape has kept us busy in between our adventures!
So, the middle of July found Brian and I in Las Vegas! Brian has a conference every summer in a different location, and this year I was able to go with him. Brian's parents graciously watched the kids for four days. The conference was in The Paris hotel, so above is a picture of the Eiffel Tower replica at the hotel.

This is the Stratosphere hotel. WAY up at the very top are three amusement park rides, almost 1000 feet above The Strip. I LOVE rides! Riding those rides was a major goal of mine on this trip!

Here's Brian next to one of the rides at the top of the Stratosphere. It's a short, straight roller coaster track that shoots you off over the edge of the building and you hope it stops at some point!

This ride shoots you up the tower at an incredible speed, and then you free-fall for a few seconds as you come back down. It was such a rush! The third ride up on the top of the building was closed due to high winds, so I got to do this one twice!

Here we are at the top of the Stratosphere.

Posing with The Paris' Eiffel Tower in the background.

We watched a lot of the fountain shows in front of the Bellagio. They're especially impressive at night.

Here's another view of the fountains during a show we watched from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

We took a tour to Hoover Dam one morning. Hoover Dam is right on the Nevada/Arizona border, and dams up the Colorado River. That's Nevada on the left, Arizona on the right. It was quite impressive learning about the major feat of building it in 1936, and getting to go down deep inside the dam and see the turbines, generators, etc. You definitely can't appreciate its magnitude unless you've been there! The dam also created Lake Mead, which is such a beautiful lake.

Right next to the dam, the Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge is almost complete. It will be a Hoover Dam by-pass when it is finished.

The white line on the banks of the river show the river's highest point in years past. The normal height is usually about halfway up the sides, so it is currently about 75 feet below it's normal flow, due to severe drought in the area.

Both Brian and I agree that the highlight of our extra-curricular activities was getting to see the Cirque du Soliel show, "O". It was an amazing combination of theatre, acrobatics, synchronized swimming, and symphony. Incredible. Amazing. Can't even think of how to describe it to someone who hasn't experienced a Cirque show. Highly recommended!

We saw several street performers along the strip. They were all painted in this amazing bronze paint that made them look like statues. They'd pose there, motionless, until someone came to get their picture taken with them and they'd do some sort of fluid, robotic move and change positions. They were very talented!

It was a fun break to get away with Brian, even though it was for a conference. As you can see, though, we managed to fit several fun things in between meetings! Next year it's in Orlando! ;-)

Surviving....

2009-07-06T12:52:00.002-05:00

Yes, we're alive. Just haven't been communicating with many people this past week! We've spent 4 nights in our new house, and are still surrounded by tons of boxes. I do have a functional kitchen and have cooked four meals here so far! Organizing the kitchen is my favorite job, so that's how I've spent most of my time. I have managed, though, to find some clothes here and there for the family to wear, though I do need to spend some more time on that task so they can be clothed the rest of the week, as well! Today has been busy with phone calls to AT&T and Suddenlink (still no home phone, and questions/problems with internet and cable), visits from the electrician, a fencing guy, and the sound system people. Time consuming, but at least we're getting some things accomplished! Anyway, just checking in to give everyone and update, and to extend an invitation to come by and visit!

Big Happenin's in the Church Family

2009-06-27T21:13:00.002-05:00

NO, I'M NOT PREGNANT!!!

But, we DID buy a house!!!
We closed last Wednesday and got the keys this afternoon. We've already moved some things over and have been trying to organize as we go. It is in Mardis Addition, in the woods behind Home Depot.

Here is a view from the front steps, looking back on the driveway. There is a very long driveway coming up the property, ending with this circle drive, and a driveway up to the garage. The house is on 1.5 acres, a lot of which is wooded. Very pretty and private!

Here is the main living area. There is a walk-out basement below, so the view these windows have is quite a bit above the ground in the backyard. There is also a large deck off of this room, with stairs down to the backyard.

I LOVE this kitchen! It has a 6 burner gas stove with a grill, an oven and a half, an instant hot water tap, a separate ice maker, a bar sink, an island with space for seating, lots of pantry space with pull out shelves, a built-in microwave and fridge. I could go on and on. If you know me and my passion for cooking, you know the kitchen was important!

Here is a view from the main living room, looking into the "sitting room" and up the stairs. What else could we call it besides a "sitting room"? I need suggestions. Palor--no! Keeping room--no! Den---no! There's another room in the basement that we're calling the family room, so that title is out, too. Anyway, up the stairs there are three bedrooms. The boys will share a large one with their own bathroom inside of it. The girls will each have their own smaller ones, adjoined by a 3 room jack-and-jill bath. They each have their own sink/vanity room, then they are connected by a shared toilet and bath.

Here is the office that is right inside the front doors. Has built-in bookshelves and cabinets, and french doors.

This is the dining room. A little formal for us, but we'll make it our own!

This is part of the master bathroom. His and hers vanities on each side of the corner tub. Also there is a walk-in closet, a separate shower, and a toilet room.

Here is the basement family room. In the far corner, there is a little "kitchenette" with a sink, microwave, fridge, cabinets and counter with room for two bar stools. Also downstairs there is a guest room, an unfinished bedroom, a full bath, and a storage room.

Anyway, we're looking forward to getting more and more moved in as the week goes on! We'd welcome visitors at any time, either just to stop by and see it, or to spend the night with us!

Don't ask me why...

2009-06-26T18:42:00.004-05:00

...but we went to the Memphis Zoo today! And yes, it was hot! We arrived right at 9:00 a.m. when it opened, and it was already 87 degrees! BUT, we had had this trip planned for a long time, and we had a great day!
We've gone to the zoo before with our good friends, Mike and Brooke, and they wanted to make a return trip with their little girls, Emery & Landry. Above, note the liveliness of the cheetah! Many of the animals were pretty sedentary due to the heat, or all together hidden. But, the kids (and us!) enjoyed it, nevertheless.

Emery and Mike looking at the tigers.

Kellen is always a huge help with the little ones. Here, she was helping to lift Dawson up so he could see over the fence.

"Quick! They're following us!" A little too young to be escaping into the bushes, don't you think? ;-)

I'll give you one guess which kid didn't want their picture taken!

We got to see a little baby! Their fur is orange when they're young, and gradually becomes black. The baby held on for dear life every time his mama swung across all the ropes!

Brooke had the difficult job of keeping Landry cool and out of the sun.

Posing on the animal chairs.

Our gorgeous Kellen enjoying her green apple shaved ice. It's become a family tradition to get snow cones at the booth by the elephants. It was very refreshing this morning!

Sometimes Dawson really wants me to take his picture, and enjoys posing for it. This was one of those times!

Isn't Emery adorable???

Kellen has always had a knack for making babies laugh! Here she is, bonding with Landry as we waited for the sea lion show to start.

The trainer and "Chloe", showing off her tricks. We all wanted to jump in the water WITH Chloe!

I don't think he wanted his picture taken...

Though she didn't get any pleasure from seeing the animals, I think Landry definitely had it made---she had this little fan pointed at her face all morning long!
We were out of there by noon and then enjoyed a yummy (but long, thanks to a poor server!) lunch at On the Border!

Our Daddy

2009-06-21T14:20:00.003-05:00

Happy Father's Day, B! You know that I believe you are the best Daddy in the "whole wide rainbow", as our kids say. You spend more quality time with our children than any other father I know of, and their adoration of you is evident to all. Enjoy your Omaha Steaks gift certificate!

In our new header pic, taken this morning on Father's Day, Brian's holding about 165 lbs! Kellen's on his shoulders, Owen and Dawson on each arm, and he's picked Pate up under her arms!

Kids' TriLemonade Triathlon!

2009-06-15T00:34:00.008-05:00

Kellen participated in a kids' triathlon (for ages 5-14) out at Craighead Forest Park this past weekend. It was a fundraiser for Alex's Lemonade Stand (for kids with cancer). It consisted of a swim, a bike, and then run. We woke up bright and early to find the rain pouring down, but the lightning tapered, and then the rain disappeared as well, so the rest of the morning went off without a hitch.

Here is her division of 7 & 8 year olds, getting ready to begin the swim portion of the race. Her age group swam 50 meters.

I couldn't get very close for pictures, and forgot my telephoto lens, but here is her group during the swim. They had several adults out there on kayaks for safety. Kellen is wearing a red swim cap and is in the middle of the pack here in this picture.

Here Kellen is sprinting out of the water (aqua swimsuit with red cap, leading the way).

After leaving the water, she ran to the transition area to switch her swim cap for a bike helmet, put on tennis shoes and her t-shirt with her racing bib, and grab her bike.

Here she is mounting her bike to begin the one mile bike race.

After the bike portion, she again entered the transition area, dropped off her bike and helmet, and took off for the 1/2 mile run. Kellen loves to run and those long legs of her help make her very fast!

Sprinting off for the final portion of the triathlon.

Here she is coming in on the home stretch. I'm sure she was tired, but she was still able to sprint through the finish line.

Crossing the finish line, just over 14 minutes later!

Walking back to us with her finisher's medal. She was giddy with excitement. I think she's caught the racing bug!

Every registrant received a t-shirt, and every finisher received a medal. However, not everyone got a.....

TROPHY!!! Kellen won 1st place for her age division! She's is 7 years old and won the 7 & 8 year old division. And even more impressive, she would've placed 2nd in the 9 & 10 year old division! We're quite proud of her, and she is so excited!!!

Belle's Ball

2009-06-14T23:38:00.004-05:00

Saturday the Foundation of Arts hosted their fundraiser, "Belle's Ball", featuring the cast of the upcoming Beauty and the Beast production.

So why is my first picture here of Kellen in her softball uniform? Because despite having had these tickets for weeks, Kellen asked to go to her softball game that night instead of Belle's Ball! Her team was in a tournament this weekend and they kept advancing, so an unexpected game Sat. night conflicted with the Ball. We were proud of her for keeping her commitment to the team, and she really had fun playing!

So, Owen was the lucky recipient of her extra ticket! He is going to the play with us in a couple weeks, and because of the influence of two older sisters, he enjoys a little princess stuff, too!

Belle and the other cast members were so friendly to all the kids. Peyton had a good little group of girlfriends that were also at the Ball. Here she is with Layla and Eva Grace.

There was a band, and they sure danced the night away! The kids loved it!

What cuties! Layla, Eva Grace and Peyton together again!

After awhile, even Owen got in on the action, and once the dancing bug hit him, he didn't want to stop!

Lots of twisting and jumping going on!
Peyton loved dancing with Belle! I'm afraid she dominated Belle's time most of the night!

We were fed dinner and there was a dessert bar as well, which my kids took full advantage of! I told them they could have whatever they wanted since it was a "special night". Apparently Owen just wanted to lick the icing off of about 5 cupcakes!

The five friends--Layla, Eva Grace, Peyton, Abby & Lucy. They all went to pre-school together, and really are a great group of girls!

Nashville Muddy Buddies!

2009-06-11T12:25:00.014-05:00

A couple weeks ago we headed over to Nashville to visit friends and compete in a race called the Muddy Buddy. We stayed with our friends David & Kara and their girls Audrey (8), Hallie (6) and Ruby Cat (2). David has been one of Brian's best friends since childhood, and they often team up to compete in moutain bike races and triathlons throughout the year. They live out in the country and the kids enjoyed the outside freedom as well as 8 new kittens which had recently been born! I, however, did not enjoy the abundance of ticks!!! One day we went to a playground for a change of pace.
Dawson could swing all day long!

Owen on the little zip line.

Audrey & Hallie Cox, and Kellen & Peyton all on the tire swing. These four sure have fun playing together!

David pushing Ruby Cat. She's just 3 months older than Dawson.

The kids found a turtle right out in the middle of the parking lot!

Race Day: our Mini Muddy Buddies waiting around for Daddy's race to finish so they could do their own race!

The sun was brutal, so while we were waiting for Brian and David to cross the Finish line, the kids found some shade under this trailer!

Brian started the running leg of the race while David biked. Each time they reached a station, they had to complete an obstacle, and then switch to running or biking, whichever they hadn't just done. They "leap frogged" through about 5 legs of the race, and upon completion of the running and biking portions, they had to finish by race-crawling through a series of mud pits, then exit and run across the finish line. It was thoroughly entertaining, to say the least!!!

The Buddies who got Muddy!

The kids thought it was hilarious how dirty Daddy had gotten!

Then it was time for the Mini Muddy Buddy! Owen's division was first. Here he is on the balance beam portion of the kids' obstacle course.

After their obstacle course, the kids also had to (got to!) go through the mud pits! Owen's age division required a parent to go through with him, so Brian got to get all muddy again! Isn't this the sweetest picture of these two? I love how they're looking at each other!

And isn't that adorable to see them holding hands to cross the Finish line???

Here's Peyton going up and over the camo wall. (pink tank top in the center)

Making her way through the mud! For weeks she had been saying she wanted to get everything muddy except for her face. She was pretty successful!

Kellen busted out ahead in her race and only got passed by one boy! (she's on the right in the aqua tank top)

She got the muddiest since she sloshed through the mud pit the quickest of the 3 children!

Proudly showing off their medals!

My Muddy Buddies!!!

The water at the wash-off station was very cold!!!

The fire department kept having to bring in more water to the hose station. Owen had some of the best facial expressions as he was being hosed off!

We stripped the kids down to their undies and sat them on towels because they were still pretty filthy, despite the hose-off station. We drove through a McDonald's for lunch, and you can see that Owen fell asleep on the way home with his hand in his McNugget box! (We had had to wake up at 5:30 a.m. that morning in order to drive and get there on time for Brian & David's race!)

Back at the Cox house, we showered everyone and got ready for the trip back to Jonesboro. Had to get a few pictures of the kitties, though. This is one we would've come home with, had we not been afraid that it wouldn't have made our cat, Sky, too happy! He was adorable!

A cute picture of Hallie holding another one.

We had planned to eat at Pei Wei in Memphis on the way home, but were a little early for dinner. So, we stopped off at the mall to ride the carousel, a little tradition we have whenever we're in Memphis. Much to our delight?/chagrin? they had erected another activity for the kids to do as well----bungee jumping! They had a deal for 3 or more family members to do it cheaper, so the 3 oldest kids had a blast!

Kellen learned to do back flips pretty quickly---I never got a good picture of her inverted, but here is one of her starting a back flip.

Peyton getting all harnessed up.

She was able to propel herself very high!

And wouldn't you know it, just as Owen was getting all strapped in, my camera battery went dead. Brian got some video of Owen's jumps, but I don't have any real pictures!

Anyway, it was a fun way to end an eventful weekend!

"Where are we???"

2009-06-05T15:15:00.002-05:00

At 6:40 this morning Brian looked out our living room windows and saw deer in our neighbor's front yard! We live in a neighborhood, people! We aren't supposed to see deer outside! He took these pictures through the window, so they're not super clear.

They trotted across the street to our front yard.

Those poor deer were probably not too happy to have gotten lost!

They soon disappeared, but then at 10:00 a.m. we saw them again, this time running straight up the middle of the road, and disappearing at the top of the hill! In our 6 years here in this house, we've never seen deer in our neighborhood. I hope they found their way home!

D's first time "on the cob"

2009-06-03T18:06:00.002-05:00

Brian grills the best corn on the cob in the world! He grills it with the husks pulled down so that it actually grills the kernels, not just steams them. Then bastes them with butter that has garlic, parsley and salt & pepper. I posted the recipe on our blog last summer. So tonight was our first grilled corn on the cob of the season, and Dawson's first time to ever eat it "on the cob". Corn in general is his very favorite veggie, so he thought this was about the greatest thing in the world! Towards the end, he got pretty silly, not holding on to the cob, and shaking his head back and forth like a dog on a bone!

Cheesin' it up with his half-eaten cob. He never did get into his baked potato or chicken very much!

One Tough Cookie!

2009-06-02T22:52:00.003-05:00

I have to brag on Peyton today. Off and on she has talked about her shots that she needed to get for Kindergarten, just occasionally asking questions about them. I could tell they were hanging over her head, so I knew I wanted to get them over with sooner rather than later. This morning I finally remembered to call and make an appt. They said, you can either come today at 3:00, or August 21st. Well, I didn't want her to miss the first week of Kindergarten because of not having her shots done yet, so I obviously chose today!
I didn't tell her about them and just put her down for her nap as usual. I woke her up at 2:45 and said, "We're going to your Kindergarten doctor appt. today!" She kind of giggled and asked a few questions, but remained very calm.
Of course once we're there, they do the hearing test (passed), the eye exam (20/20), the weight (83rd percentile), height (86th percentile), blood pressure, etc. Then Dr. Sneed comes in and listens to her chest, back, feels all around her (she was very impressed at her muscular build for such a young child, by the way! Made her Daddy proud!) Anyway, I was thinking "Get on with the shots, already!" I'm sure Pate was thinking the same thing.
Finally, Nurse Angie comes in and tells her she's getting 2 shots in each arm. Peyton turns toward me so that she's not looking, and before we knew it, Angie was putting the first syringe down! Pate never even flinched! The second one Angie had said would sting the worst as the medicine went in, and Peyton started calmly saying "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow" with a slight grin on her face. I couldn't believe it! We switched sides and while Peyton and I were laughing about how good she was doing, Angie gave her the other two shots! Not a tear was shed. Not even any whining (which is actually a pretty bad habit Peyton has!) Angie said it was VERY unusual! I've bragged on her all day. Even Kellen was impressed, and not in a jealous way. Kellen was tough with her shots, too, but did have some silent tears coming forth. We are all proud of our tough little Kindergartener!

Pre-School Party!

2009-06-01T21:28:00.007-05:00

Blogger was giving me troubles for a few days, so these pictures are a little late! Peyton & Owen go to the same pre-school, and they recently had their school-wide, end-of-the-year party. With alternating between visiting Peyton and Owen, I got lots of good pictures, so bear with me here! They each have such neat friendships at school, and I know we all look forward to seeing what next school year brings! (But in the meantime, we are going to enjoy our SUMMER!)
Peyton loves blowing bubbles (what kid doesn't?)

Maggie, Orma, Abby & Peyton

Owen racing trucks with his buddies

Owen & Holt--he talks about Holt a lot!

The girl can jump!

Meyer & Owen. These two became good buddies last year and seem to have a sweet friendship.

Deanne & Peyton. They met at Mother's Day Out when Pate was 18 months old, and have been together at pre-school for the last three years, as well!

Wow, I can't say enough about how much Owen loves his Mrs. Linda!!!

Deanne, Peyton, Brianna, Layla & Eva Grace

Owen wanted his picture taken with Mary Sloane, too! She had just been upset about something, so that's why she looks so sad. But what gorgeous blue eyes!

Deanne & Peyton on the big slide

After lunch the kids got to do lots of water activities. This slide that sprayed you as you went down was a huge hit!

Peyton's sweet class making a "silly" picture!

Mrs. Kelly was just wonderful for Peyton this year! Very friendly and nurturing, but didn't put up with any messing around! We are really hoping that she is Owen's teacher next year!

More of Owen's buddies---Noah, Cole & Harper.

Owen got chilled and wanted to lay on his towel, which quickly turned into wanting to be wrapped up in his towel!

Peyton was full of giggles every time she came off that water slide!

Owen liked the bike-riding area. He actually is making progress here at home with riding his bike without training wheels. He's much more interested in it than Peyton (she's chicken!), so he'll probably beat her, even though he's 17 months younger!

These three seem to be inseparable---Peyton, Layla & Eva Grace

The three amigos again---enjoying some popsicles after their water play.

Trenton & Lacey's wedding

2009-05-19T19:48:00.004-05:00

Trenton & Lacey were married this past weekend, and it was a beautiful wedding.

Here they are taking communion together.

Trenton & Lacey are in our community group, and we've loved getting to know them so much better this past year!

We barely saw the kids during the reception, but thankfully they run around in a pack, so we feel they're pretty safe!

Brothers! Dawson really likes to "pose" nowadays for pictures. Doesn't always produce the best smile, though!

Yum! Wedding cake!

Charlie, Kate, Kellen, Colby, Peyton & Cade

Happy Birthday, Macy

2009-05-17T07:21:00.005-05:00

Macy Maher, the daughter of our friends who moved to TX last year, turned 5 years old earlier this month. She really wanted to have a "Jonesboro party" when they came back for a visit, so Friday night we gathered at Slade & Mallery's to help her celebrate.
Here are Judah and Dawson playing in the sand/water table. We don't have a sandbox, so Dawson really enjoyed this!

Their backyard is a great set-up for letting the kids play. Lots of fun toys and room to run!

Tara feeding Molly, Ashley, and Pamela (showing her crazy face, depsite us begging her to smile normal!) ;-)

Dawson also loved pushing this baby doll stroller around the yard!

Friday had been spirit day at school, so Kellen and Colby were twins with their matching shirts.

A little parachute play!

The brothers on the swing.

Macy with the tower of cupcakes.

She also had a donut cake which was a big hit.

Dawson & Daddy, Chuck & Lindy

The inseparable three amigos---Kate, Colby & Kellen

Molly was supposed to be in bed, but I think she knew she was missing out on some good fun, so she woke up and let us know that she wanted to be back out at the party!

More Sleeping Kids

2009-05-13T22:42:00.002-05:00

So the boys didn't disappoint us again tonight! They're going to love these pictures when they're older!

Then we went and checked on the girls and they were pretty funny, too. First of all, Kellen normally sleeps up in her top bunk, but sometimes Peyton convinces her to come down and sleep with her. Secondly, Kellen often likes to pile up about 4 pillows and sleep in a semi-upright position. Does not look comfortable to me! And thirdly, Kellen's folded hands and the way she laid her hair out on her pillow made us laugh! You can't see much of Peyton, but she's basically curled up with her "mimi" (favorite blanket) and probably is sucking her thumb, unfortunately!

Daw Daw and Owee

2009-05-12T22:52:00.003-05:00

We often find the kids in entertaining positions when we check on them before Brian and I go to bed. Tonight was no different, and I just had to post another picture like I did a few months back.

Title Explanation: Peyton was only 17 months old when Owen was born, and "Owee" was the way she said his name. Then, Owen was 20 months old when Dawson was born, and all he could say was "Daw Daw". Hence, their nicknames, which have stuck all these years!

Welcome back, Mahers!

2009-05-10T20:45:00.003-05:00

Saturday night we had the priviledge of meeting little Molly Maher, and welcoming Mitch, Tara & Macy Maher back to Jonesboro! They had moved to Texas last June and we've missed them ever since!

Molly was born a little over 5 months ago, and this was our first chance to meet her. She is just perfect---like a little doll! We all sure enjoyed holding her!

We got together at the Gschwend's for an appetizer dinner and to hang out. All the kids, as usual, had a blast. Here is Kate, Colby, Kellen & Peyton.

Tara, Lindy & Kelly with little Molly.

Dawson played in the driveway most of the night with various balls and ride-on toys.

Kate, Colby, Kate, Macy & Peyton. Macy and Peyton are the same age and have been friends basically since they were born. They went to pre-school together and were in the same class together at church for years. Peyton has been looking forward to Macy's visit for months, and is SO excited for when they stay at our house next week!

My fast boy, Owen!

The whole gang of kiddos---12 between our four families! Lots of cuties here!

We've missed you, Mal!

2009-05-09T22:49:00.002-05:00

Thursday night we were blessed with a visit from Mallory and her hubby Chip! Mallory had been our beloved babysitter for a long time. She has always truly loved our kids, spoiled them rotten, and even included the girls in one of her most important days of her life---as flower girls in her wedding last June! Mallory and Chip now live in St. Louis, so it was a big treat to get to spend time with them.
Mallory and Chip met us out at the ballpark to watch Kellen's softball game. Here is Pate being silly with Mallory!

Dawson's quite the little flirt these days!

Kellen batting---she hit this one---she sure is a fast runner!

Chip, Mallory and the kids after the game. Thanks so much for visiting us, you guys! We all loved it!

A Little Rain Can't Ruin a Good Time!

2009-05-02T20:49:00.004-05:00

So Thursday afternoon we headed off to Branson for a few days. We were chancing it with the rain, and honestly, we didn't fare too well in that department! But, all in all, we had a great time together with our family, and fun with our friends that were there as well.
Friday morning we set out for Silver Dollar City and immediately stopped in the gift shop to buy 6 ponchos! We rode some rides with the Fowlers and Gschwends and handled the drizzle. While sitting at some picnic tables for lunch, though, it really started coming down! I only have a couple pictures from S.D.C. because I didn't want to get my camera wet! So after scarfing down our lunch, we made our way to an amplitheatre and watched a great steel pan drum band from Trinidad & Tobago.
They were pretty entertaining, and it was interesting learning about their country and their instruments.

The kids liked their music, too, and we were all thankful to be out of the rain! As soon as it was over, we went to another show (this month was WorldFest at S.D.C.), the Irish Feet of Fire. That was also a really great show! Kellen immediately recognized a couple of the performers as people who had visited her school earlier this spring to do a program on Ireland! She even went up and talked with them when it was over--she was really excited! The kids liked the costumes and the dancing was really entertaining. Dawson got antsy whenever the emcee was talking, but would start dancing wildly as soon as the music began! He was really entertaining the older gentleman we were sitting next to! I left my camera in the stroller out in the lobby, though, so no pics of that one.

We headed back to the hotel after the show for some swimming. Here is Owen, Carson and Peyton having fun.

Kellen, Peyton and Colby playing the indoor pool.

Dawson took a break from kicking his feet and splashing everyone to look at the camera. He's really wanting his picture taken a lot lately---it's cracking me up!

Daddy and the kiddos in the kiddie pool.

The rest of the night was spent having dinner at Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grill, and hitting the stores at the Tanger Outlet Mall. The kids racked up with some great purchases from Nike, Carter's, Osh Kosh and Gymboree.

Nothing like killing time in the hotel room playing Ninento DS! Dawson, Peyton, Colby, Kellen & Cade.
Since it was too rainy to go back to S.D.C. a second day, we headed to the IMAX theatre and watched their newest release, "Under the Sea". When Brian and I were dating and married before kids, we used to seek out IMAX theatres in every city we visited. We've seen lots of them, and this one was very good! The kids LOVED the movie and were so impressed with the big screen and amazing images. A section of it was even on the Great Barrier Reef, which Kellen has spent much of this year studying in her 1st grade's emphasis of Australia. Our next stop was a quick trip to another outlet mall just to visit the Crocs store. Great deals going on there, and we walked out with 5 pairs of Crocs for $21!!! A great, fun lunch at Fudrucker's finished out our time in Branson. So, we didn't get to do all we had planned at Silver Dollar City, but since we have season passes, we'll be back several more times this year. In the meantime, it was lots of fun just to get out of town, stay in a hotel, swim, shop, eat good food, and just have fun together as a family!

Easter

2009-04-29T14:03:00.006-05:00

So for some reason, with all the thousands of pictures I take, I didn't take any pictures on Easter Sunday! But, thankfully, we had had the kids pictures taken in their Easter outfits just a couple weeks before that, so I wanted to share them with you. Kellen is 7, Peyton is 5, Owen is 3 1/2, and Dawson was just about to turn 2.

Pink Panthers

2009-04-29T12:53:00.002-05:00

Kellen just finished up her third year of soccer this spring (which is actually 6 seasons, since it's fall and spring). Her team, the Pink Panthers, was quite good, and they all really improved on their ball handling skill this year. This was her first year for Daddy to not be her coach, but her friend Joanna's Dad coached for them and did a great job!

Go Kicks!

2009-04-19T22:56:00.002-05:00

Peyton's first year of soccer! They were together in the fall, and finish out their season this spring. Brian is her coach (he coached Kellen for two years, then stayed with the younger kids this year in order to coach Peyton).

Trying to figure out what to do with the ball!

The girl is fast!

She caught me snapping pics, and made this funny face for me. ;-)

Go Slammers!

2009-04-19T22:35:00.002-05:00

Kellen's 4th year of softball....wow! Well, really 2 years of T-ball, 1 year of coach pitch, and now her first year of machine pitch.

Here's a pic of her team right before they started their first tournament a couple weeks ago.

Kellen playing pitcher, even though they don't pitch at this age! It is a good place to get a lot of ball action, though, since a lot of the girls hit straight out to the mound.

Getting ready to catch another hit that came in low.

She is really loving softball. Of course, Kellen loves just about any sport. Every once in awhile she ranks her favorites in order, but it usually changes, depending on what season she's in! I wonder what her favs will be in 10 years!?!?

A Night of Disney

2009-04-19T21:22:00.005-05:00

Peyton & Owen's pre-school put on a show a couple weeks ago entitled "A Night of Disney". Each class sang a few songs from various Disney movies.

Here are our performers! Doesn't Owen look huge in this pic? I mean, I know they're only 17 months apart, but from this pic, it looks like Owen may surpass Peyton in size pretty soon!

Joanna, Emma and Kellen were all great buds when they were in the 4 year old class a couple years ago. Now they're all big first graders, but have younger siblings at First Pres. They had lots of fun watching the program together!

Here's Owen (3rd from left), singing his heart out! He was so determined to make sure that we heard him! (and we did!)

Peyton singing with her class.

Layla & Peyton

Dawson, Peyton, Kellen & Owen up on the stage when the whole event was over. It was a fun night. Nanna & Papaw came in to town for the performance, and there was a catered spaghetti dinner afterwards. This is our third year of pre-school programs, and they are always priceless! And, assuming Dawson attends through Kindergarten, it looks like we've got 4 more years of these to enjoy!

Dawson Turns Two!!!

2009-04-12T22:38:00.003-05:00

Thursday, April 9th was Dawson's 2nd birthday! We had a little party at our church and he really had a lot of fun!
We rented the Butterball Express, and it was kept busy the whole hour making laps around the church!

Even Charlie (5th grade!) can have fun at a 2 year old's birthday party!

Kellen & Dawson riding together.

Anna Joy, Susannah & Peyton in the caboose. Aren't they cute?

Owen was giving me the thumbs up, so Dawson tried to do it, too!

Carson & Emery LOVED the train! Neither of them wanted to get out when it was time for the train to leave. We also enjoyed watching Emery hugging and pulling Carson in close to her while they were riding!

Kate, Kellen & Bella---great 1st grade buddies! They're all in the same class together and are quite adorable!

Dawson loves "mou", his name for Mickey Mouse. Between watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and just returning from Disneyland a couple weeks ago, it seemed fitting to have a Mickey Mouse theme. My good friend, Kelly Fowler, once again shared her equipment and expertise to help me make this (my second cake---Owen's fire truck one last summer was my first).

We bought this police car Crazy Coupe at the Twinkle Twinkle consignment sale last month, and gave it to Dawson for his birthday. He loves riding on these cars at Peyton & Owen's pre-school, so we knew it would be perfect. He does love it! He either says "ride" or "car" when he wants to play in it!

Dawson, you have been the perfect completion to our family! Your grin, your silliness, your energy--all endearing qualities. We love to watch you start dancing as soon as you hear music. We love your sense of humor that has really emerged lately. We love seeing you hug your siblings and do everything to try to be like them. You are definitely in a "trying" stage, testing your boundaries to see what Daddy and I will do. But we know you will soon learn your limits and become a bit more compliant! Your sweet and funny personality is really starting to form and we love it! Happy Birthday, Daw Daw! We love you so much!!!

Finally--California Update!

2009-04-06T09:59:00.005-05:00

So sorry for the delay. This is for all of you bugging me for CA pics! ;-) Had to dig myself out of piles of laundry, then made a list of all the pics I wanted to post (couldn't put all 325 on here!), then lost the list! Brian found it this morning, so here we go! The slideshow is posted below. I'm sure this will be a long post, but it's as much for my own memory and journaling sake as it is for your insight into our trip! ;-)
To back up a bit, we have some good friends who live in CA. They have visited us several times since we've lived in J'boro, but we've never made it out there. Several months ago, we were able to snag some plane tickets for $175 a piece! And to make things even better, the trip was 2 weeks before Dawson turned 2, so he still flew free. Plus, Disneyland was running an "everyone gets in for kids' price" promotion. So, fast forward to March, and here's a synopsis of our Spring Break.
Fri, 3/20: Flew out of Memphis, via Houston, to Ontario, CA. The kids love flying, so they were great. Peyton was the only one who still had a slight fever at this point, but demeanor was great, and that was the last of the kids' sickness. Thanks for your prayers! We got our rental van and drove to our friends' house in Simi Valley. It was late, so we crashed pretty quickly.
Sat., 3/21: Our friends' youngest daughter, Molly (7), had a softball game that morning. We played at the playground and watched her game. Then Cathy took the kids home for lunch and sent Brian and I out to eat at the famous In-n-Out Burger! Delish, and only $10.90 for both of us! After lunch, headed out to the beach for the rest of the day. We all had so much fun there! Our kids had never seen the beach or ocean (last time B & I went to Destin, I was prego with Kellen) It was a cool day so we didn't bring swimsuits, but we might as well have, because as the afternoon went on, they got more and more wet! Dawson didn't appreciate being plopped down in the cold water, so he opted to spend his time happily playing in the sand! A highlight of the day was watching a small group of dolphins swim up the coast, right in front of us! They were so close to the beach. It was awesome, and is one of the things the kids have talked most about!
Sun., 3/22: Cathy insisted that Brian and I take a day off by ourselves, so we headed out to Santa Monica. Ate at a great, fresh Mexican place, toured the shops at 3rd Street Promenade, and walked out on the Santa Monica Pier. The pier has been in lots of movies, so it was fun to see it. It was so incredibly windy that day--we were thankful for our sunglasses just to ward off the sand blowing in our faces! When we returned to Keith & Cathy's house we were treated to a performance that night of karaoke and various "talents" that the kids had been working on. They also went for a hike on the trails right by the house, played on the trampoline and overall just had a fun, relaxing day! Thanks for all your hospitality, Elliotts! The food and the company were great! We love you!
Mon., 3/23: Our day to head to Disneyland! And lo and behold, Brian wakes up with the stomach bug! Barely made the hour drive to Anaheim, and I begged for early check-in to our hotel. He made it up to the bed, and the kids and I headed off to do the parks! Kellen was our life-saver that day, as she had to push the double stroller all day! Since the parks are too big for me to walk around with my cane, I use my Roll-A-Bout (a non-motorized scooter), so I couldn't push the stroller, too. We chose to go to California Adventure that day (the other park besides Disneyland) and had an awesome time! Rode rides, watched a show at Playhouse Disney Live!, met Minnie Mouse, and watched the parade at the end of the day. It was a lot of work, but better than being in a small hotel room with a sick Daddy! One cute story: for two months, Owen has been saving various coins that he would find, and putting them in a little wallet. He kept saying he was saving it so he could ride rides at Disneyland. I think he had a total of about 86 cents by the time we left. Anyway, on our way to the park, he suddenly looks up at me with this horrified look and says "I forgot my wallet in Jonesboro!" I quickly assured him that Daddy & I would pay for his rides at Disneyland!
Tues., 3/24: Brian was feeling better this morning, but we did get our character breakfast buffet moved to Wed. since he didn't have a big appetite yet. Did the "Disneyland" park this day. I was very impressed at how many rides all of us could do together. I just wasn't sure how tall Dawson would have to be to "make it". And even for a lot of the more adventuresome rides, the cut-off was 40 inches, which Owen just barely made. We learned very quickly that Kellen & Owen are our adventurous ones, and Peyton is NOT! There were plenty of rides she liked, but not the roller coasters or really rough ones. While obviously I would prefer to be completely healed, the "Guest Assistance Pass" I received because of my disability was wonderful! We would walk up to a ride, see the sign that said 60 min. wait (or 75, or 90!), and we'd go up to the exit and get on the next ride! Was definitely wonderful not having to keep Dawson corralled in all those lines since you weren't allowed to take your stroller to wait in line. Soon after lunch, Peyton & Owen were begging for naps, and since Brian was still recovering, too, he took the younger three back to the hotel and they slept for about 3 hours! Kellen and I, meanwhile, had a blast riding all the rides we could! We also shopped for her souvenirs. Each child had $20 they could spend however they wanted to. Kellen bought 4 smaller things, and when Peyton and Owen spent their money the next day, they each picked out two items. Besides the autograph books that Brian and I bought for them, these were their only souvenirs. When Brian and the kids came back to meet us for dinner, we rode more rides and stayed through the nightly fireworks show that began at 9:30 p.m.
Wed., 3/25: Back to Disneyland for our buffet breakfast with Minnie & Friends. (We generally ate our hotel's continental breakfast each day, packed a lunch, and ate out somewhere for dinner.) It was delicious (good thing, since it was NOT cheap!), and the kids got many autographs and pictures for their autograph books. They come right around to the tables and hug the kids and spend time with them. Dawson wasn't a huge fan of this part, but he definitely got more comfortable as time went on. Then we hit the rides again and mid-afternoon I took Owen and Dawson back for naps (our hotel was right across the street from the park entrance, so easy to walk to and free parking at our hotel). Brian and the girls went back to California Adventure to do some of the bigger rides. They also saw the Playhouse Disney Live! show again, as well as a High School Musical 3 performance. We had planned to keep this a short day, so they came back to the hotel at dinner time and we loaded up in the rental van to go eat dinner in Anaheim. We had reservations for Buca di Beppo's, but then saw Red Robin! It's our family's favorite and we couldn't resist. It was a yummy dinner, plus it cost less and we got more food than our dinner the night before in Disneyland! After dinner we had time to hit the hotel pool and hot tub, which was a lot of fun.
Thurs., 3/26: Our last full day in California. Our friends, the Elliotts, who we had been visiting, came and joined us at Disneyland that day (it wasn't their spring break). So we had a blast with them, as we got to share our favorites, and they showed us some of their favs that we hadn't hit yet. Kellen decided she loved the Indiana Jones rides and all the "Mountains" (Splash, Thunder & Space). Peyton said Dumbo was her favorite and there's no telling how many times Owen rode the Matterhorn Bobsleds! After walking straight onto all the rides all day using my pass, Cathy commented that she never wants to go back to Disneyland without me! In the slide show below, be sure to look at the picture of the silhouettes we had made. I had read on a website that they were the best souvenir to get at Disney. For $9, you got two copies of your child's silhouette. These are free-hand-cut by an artist (ours had been at Disneyland doing this for 35 years!) She glanced up at the child's face 3 or 4 times throughout her cutting, and in less than 60 seconds, we had an amazing image of our child. They are gorgeous, and I can't rave enough about them. Love them!!! Anyway, we stayed at the park about 13 hours that day (minus Brian taking the boys back to the hotel for their nap) and got to see the fireworks one more time. The show is very elaborate. It's narrated, set to music, and since it's set behind the castle, they have colored lights on the castle that change with the music. Unfortunately, Molly was feeling sick right before they started, so the Elliotts had to head home for the day.
Fri., 3/27: Heading home. Our flight didn't leave until 11:30a.m., so we weren't rushed driving to the airport, returning the van, etc. Had a mechanical delay in Ontario, then weather delay in Houston, so we finally got home to J'boro at midnight!
Sat., 3/28: SLEEP IN! Brian, the boys and I all got up around 10 a.m.! Peyton a little before 11, and Kellen got up at 11:30 a.m. Needless-to-say, we were worn out, but had such great memories. It was a wonderful trip!

2009-04-06T09:58:00.001-05:00

Update

2009-03-19T22:48:00.002-05:00

Thanks for all the phone calls & e-mails to check in on the sick kiddos! Basically, we still need your prayers! Owen has improved from the flu diagnosis rather quickly, but Pate's fever is still hanging on, and she has complained today of a sore throat (and it IS red & swollen). So I had the doctor call in an antibiotic to cover that base as well! Hopefully she will perk up quickly now that she has that, too. I also have a sore throat and have lost my voice tonight. Others have the sniffles, but nothing worse than that, thankfully.
We're leaving in 12 hrs., and we're pretty well prepared, so I guess now we just need a good night's rest and a healthy family in the morning! We'll try to send greetings from sunny California in a few days!

Flu Meds = $$$!

2009-03-18T00:13:00.002-05:00

Brian picked up the 4 Tamiflu meds on the way home from teaching at ASU tonight. Set us back a whopping $200! It was only slightly comforting to see "Your insurance saved you $89.99" on each label. And, what's even better, (note sarcasm), we have 2 bottles of meds per kid, and they're supposed to be kept refrigerated! Fun, fun, when you leave Jonesboro at 10:00 a.m. Friday and don't get to your destination for 14 more hours! Sheesh! I hope this isn't an indication of how this trip is going to go!

Ugh....the flu!

2009-03-17T19:41:00.004-05:00

I am so sorry to report that Peyton and Owen have the flu! (The real flu, not the stomach flu!) As the doctor put it, at least it's influenza B, which is treatable, but still! Ugh! So, they're on Tamiflu, and Kellen & Dawson are on preventative doses of Tamiflu. Their doc said Brian and I need to call our doctors for that preventative Tramiflu, too. In my 7+ years of parenting, not one child has ever had the flu! Some years we've gotten the flu shot, and some years we haven't. I've never been too concerned about it. We didn't get the shot this year, but it wouldn't have done any good anyway. They said the shot's only good for 3-4 months, so it would've worn off for a March flu, anyway.
And the kicker is, we fly out to California on Friday! Please pray we get well quickly!

What I found during naptime today....

2009-03-16T14:41:00.000-05:00

Isn't he adorable???

Our VIP

2009-03-05T22:26:00.003-06:00

Kellen came home from school today with a surprise---she has been awarded Student of the Month for the second time this year! She received this award at the beginning of the school year, but I never imagined they would award the same child again. There are 24 children in her class and only 1 award is given out per month! Brian and I know she's pretty incredible, but it's fun when others acknowledge it, too! We are so proud of who you are, Kellen!

March: In Like a Lion

2009-03-01T14:56:00.004-06:00

After 70 degree "short-sleeve weather" just days ago, we got 3 inches of snow last night! But by the time we went to church and ate lunch, I could tell it was fading fast! I threw everyone in their snow clothes (Brian has been officiating at the Track & Field Conference Championships for two days), and we ventured out!

Our cat, Skykomish, wandered up to greet us. Not quite sure what he thinks of the snow!

Dawson insisted on mowing the snow.

Owen and his "popsicle".

The girls made multiple sets of snow angels all over the yard!

It finally was naptime (past naptime, actually), but Dawson did not want to come inside! While I was stripping everyone of their outerwear, Dawson frantically pulled on Peyton's hat and was desperately trying to figure out how to put on her boots. He really went into rare form when he saw me grab the camera--he wasn't too thrilled at my amusement! After snapping the pic, de-hatting and de-booting him, I laid him in bed and I swear he was asleep in 60 seconds. He was worn out!!!

Tough Dog

2009-02-28T14:58:00.002-06:00

So this afternoon we came home to the beginning of what supposedly will be around 3 inches of snow. As usual, rain (or snow!) or shine, one of our dogs, Jacob, was just lying down on the deck, oblivious to the weather around him! He does this all the time. Our deck is raised, and the dogs have shelter under the deck, plus there are wide eaves all around the back of the house that they can go lay under for protection from the weather. Champ and Jesse are usually smart enough to do this. Or maybe they're just wimps. Yeah, that's it, we'll just say Jacob's our tough dog! Despite his toughness, though, he was happy to comply with my invitation to come inside right after I took his picture! ;-)

Murder Mystery Solved!

2009-02-23T14:18:00.003-06:00

I guess with all our birthdays and parties and such, I neglected to post about our Valentine's Day event. Our friends Robby & Kelly Fowler organized a murder mystery night! Brian and I had never done one before, so we didn't know what to expect, but it was lots of fun! We were notified of our "character" about a week before the event, then showed up and received little books that revealed more information about us and our fellow participants. Through dialogue with one another and listening to others' conversations, you eventually try to figure out "who dunnit". By the end of the evening, Lindy and Slade both correctly decided that it was Brian who committed the murder!
Chuck, a structural engineer; Slade, a professional football player, Brian, a major in the Air Force, and Robby, an archeologist.

Lindy, a famous jewelry designer; Kelly, a rich, spoiled woman, me, an Army nurse, and Mallery, a rich widow.

Owen's rendition of a classic song

2009-02-20T07:15:00.003-06:00

"Take Me Out to the Ballgame" is on one of our kids' CDs we listen to in the Suburban. So, last night at dinner, out of the blue, Owen busts out with his version:
"Take me out to the ballgame
Take me out to the crowd
There might be some crackers and Apple Jacks..."
At this point Brian and I burst out laughing, and the song stops. Wish we hadn't, so that we could hear some more interesting lyrics!

Forever Changed

2009-02-18T14:03:00.002-06:00

Four years ago today, our lives were forever changed. For those of you who don't know the background story, Kellen, Peyton and I were in a horrific car accident, and I was 17 weeks pregnant with Owen. Brian was at work, and the girls and I were headed to Kennett, MO, to meet up half-way with Brian's parents so that they could take Kellen home with them for the weekend. It was 9 days after Kellen's 3rd birthday, and just a day after Peyton's 1st birthday. I was going 60 mph on a two lane highway when an oncoming flatbed semi truck made a left hand turn in front of us. I saw him coming, swerved to the right in hopes of skidding along side of him, but still impacted at the front driver's side corner of our Suburban.
Kellen and Peyton were screaming, of course, but thanks to God's protection, ended up being okay. They were terrified, though, being taken out of their car seats on backboards and with c-collars. Kellen complained of a sore back for a few days, but ultimately they came out unscathed.
Since I had been braking in hopes of avoiding the crash, my right foot took the brunt of the impact. I could tell right away something was drastically wrong, as my foot was hanging in an unnatural direction and I could actually see the end of my tibia. That's a memory that is forever burned into my mind. To make a long story short, I had other minor injuries, but the most pressing was that my foot was 90% amputated. An incomplete amputation, they called it. After jaws of life, an ambulance trip to the Kennett hospital, and then a life flight helicopter ride to Cape Girardeau, I went through surgery to reattach my foot, and then stayed there for five more days. Obviously my pregnancy was of huge concern during this time. The day of the accident, they actually were not able to find fetal heart tones, and then a day or two later I experienced some bleeding. But, Owen truly is our miracle baby, and we feel so blessed to have him in our lives!
The next four or five months are a blur, as I had more surgeries, we had various family living with us, people bringing meals, me trying to learn to use a wheelchair, then a walker, then a cane, and delivering a new baby in the midst of that! I truly have made huge progress in the last four years!
However, it has also "forever changed" our family. I grieve the fact that I can no longer be the type of Mom that I envisioned. I have always been athletic and active, and vowed not to be one of those Moms that sat on the side while the Dad did all the playing outside, coaching sports teams, rough-housing, etc. Even with two young daughters, we were forever going on walks after dinner, camping and hiking, traveling, etc. I hate that now my children only know a Mom that has to sit down all the time, can't go out and play with them, and often can't even go get them a drink of water or some other mundane task, due to being in pain. It's not fair to them.
Through all this, though, I have prayed that God would instill a sense of compassion in my children; an innate feeling of selflessness and caring; a heart for the disabled or people in need. They have been troopers, and at the same time, Brian and I have sacrificed a lot in order to try to maintain some "normalcy" in their lives despite my limitations. My sacrifices relate to my pain levels, and his sacrifices are all the extra work he has to do and the time he devotes to us!
Sometimes I still pray for God to reveal His reasons for all this, but even if we never know, I have faith that He will use this for good. Regardless of what happens, February 18th will be a date that our family will always remember!

"my whole hand"

2009-02-17T22:16:00.002-06:00

Today is Peyton's 5th birthday. Earlier she told me she was glad she was five, because now when people ask her how old she is "I can hold up my whole hand!" Here she is this morning. She had a donut for breakfast and opened her presents before going to pre-school.

I brought up a cookie cake and balloon to her school during snack time. She was thrilled!

Here is her beloved pre-school class. She's been with many of these kids for three years now--that's a long time for a 5 year old! The boys at the back table are Carson, Wyatt, Logan and Daniel. The front table of girls are Peyton, Layla, Brianna, Eva Grace, Sohpie, Jenna & Susannah.

Cheesing it up with her birthday balloon!

We sure love you, Pate. You add such life to our family, and keep Daddy and I laughing. We often say "She's too cute for her own good!" We are proud of the great young lady you're becoming!

Birthday Girls!

2009-02-16T21:50:00.006-06:00

Kellen & Peyton still wanted to have a joint birthday party this year, so that was nice for us! They chose to have it at Pump It Up, an inflatable/jumping playplace. They had some mutual friends from church, as well as buddies from each of their school classes attend. All the kids really seemed to have a great time, and they sure were exhausted tonight! Hard to believe our little girls are 7 & 5 years old now!
Layla & Peyton

Kate & Bella

Molly, Bella, Kate, Peyton & Kellen in the main jumping inflatable.

You have to be 2 yrs. old to jump, so Dawson and a few other rugrats just ran around the floor and played in this Cozy Coupe. Brian had to chase him off the jumping things quite a bit, but overall Dawson was happy and not too distressed that he couldn't participate!

Kellen & Clara

Peyton and Deanne

Kate, Kellen & Halee

Hope and Deanne

Joanna & Molly

Big, crazy group shot!

Kellen & Peyton with their ice cream cake. Just like last year, Kellen chose mint chocolate chip for her half, and Peyton chose cotton candy explosion for her flavor! I had also bought cheese ball puffs as a "salty" snack to put out on the tables during this time. Kellen has been begging me for about 3 years to buy this GIANT TUB of these things at Sam's Club but I've never had a reason to get such a huge quantity. Anyway, this was a good occasion to "give in" to her wishes, and seriously folks, these 25 kids ate almost the entire tub! It was pretty hilarious!

The birthday girls sitting in their giant chair. This is where they opened their presents.

He ain't heavy, he's my brother!

2009-02-13T07:08:00.003-06:00

So every night we go into the kids' rooms to check on them and do one last "cover-up" before we head to bed. The other night, we walked into the boys' room to find this situation!
The flash startled Dawson a little bit, but only enough to move his legs, not wake up and actually get off of Owen! And yes, we do zip up Dawson's p.j.'s---he did this himself, sometime after being put to bed!

Landry Blair Roberts

2009-02-11T20:24:00.003-06:00

Landry Blair Roberts made her grand entrance into this world at 5:38 p.m. She weighed 8 lbs., 12 oz. and was 21 inches long. Here are some pictures of her taken when she was just minutes old!

Getting checked out by the nurse.

Adorable little baby feet with her "Baby Roberts" bracelet.

Beautiful mama and baby!

So fun to hold a little one again!

Our First Baby is 7!

2009-02-11T10:15:00.003-06:00

I know every parent feels the same, but Brian and I really can't believe it was 7 years ago that we brought this sweet girl into the world. We were reminiscing while we were eating her birthday dinner, telling her all about the day. February 9, 2002 was the first day of the 2002 Winter Olympics, so as I "labored" all day (thank you, epidural!) we had a blast visiting with friends and watching the Olympics. She was finally born at 5:21 p.m., weighing 7 lbs., 11 oz. Above, here's a picture of her (52 lbs., now!) posing with all her presents, wearing a "Birthday Girl" t-shirt.

Here is an art studio and a puzzle, based off her American Girl, Felicity.

Opening a case for her DS. She also got a couple other DS games, and some clothes for her American Girl dolls.

She requested powdered donuts for her birthday breakfast! Easy enough! She had many people call her and wish her a Happy Birthday, her teacher let her be in charge of a lot of stuff at school, and Kelly Fowler bought her a sundae at Sonic on the way home from school! Lots of people together made it a very special day for her! We love you K-girl!

I just want to remember this....

2009-02-02T12:51:00.002-06:00

Peyton and Owen are such great friends! They have been playing together for the last 5 hours and haven't fought, complained, or bothered me a bit! I love how they can be so imaginative together and make up all sorts of stories as they're playing "house". This morning, they were "Brian & Kelly" and Pate's baby doll was "Kellen Bailey". ;-) Or, if they're playing brother & sister (okay, maybe that's not very imaginative since they ARE brother and sister!), they usually say their parents died. Does anyone else hear their kids saying their parents died? I'm not sure what to think about that! Anyway, I'm thankful they get along and like playing with each other. Peyton and Owen are only 17 months apart, so I think that helps them get along. It also helps that Kellen is at school during the week, because when she's home, she and Peyton are usually off playing. I just needed to blog this so I can remember these days and remind them in the future!!!

Ice Storm '09!

2009-01-30T13:55:00.004-06:00

Thanks to all of you far-off family and friends who have been e-mailing and calling us to make sure we were okay. This ice storm sure has been all over the national news. We knew it was going to be bad when on Monday, the National Weather Service held a press conference in Paducah, KY, to update everyone on the impending storm!
It basically was a rain storm coming through, but as it hit the trees and ground, it instantly froze. The kids ended up being out of school from Tuesday through Friday (makes 6 1/2 days we've missed so far this year!) Tuesday started off just being a fun vacation day, having friends over to play, going out to our weekly Tuesday night dinner with a few other families for free kids' meal night, etc. THEN, power started going off all over the city! 8:00 p.m. Tuesday night, it hit our house. Thankfully, our house was still warm, so we put everyone to bed, and wondered what to do next. At 9:30, it suddenly came back on! So, we were able to kick up the heat again, watch TV, etc., as we headed off to bed. But the power only lasted a few hours and it went off for good just before midnight Tuesday night.
The next morning, Brian kept a fire blazing in the fireplace and several families came over to hang with us. I got out my camp stoves and cooked up some homemade chicken noodle soup that I had made up the day before. Had hot chocolate, too, and cooked hot dogs over the fireplace. Eventually everyone went home to put their kids down for naps, and we did the same. Bundled them up and got every available blanket out! Later that afternoon, Mike & Brooke came back over again and told us they saw some electricity on on one of the main streets in town. So we hooked up with some other families and went out to eat, mainly to sit in some warmth! By this point, it was getting pretty chilly in our house, even with the fire blazing non-stop! After dinner, Mike & Brooke arrived home to find that they had power, so we packed up the fam and went to their place for the night (Wed.). Thank you Mike and Brooke! The next day, the Fowlers came back and joined us at the Roberts' house, and it was a fun day of hanging out with friends in the heat! Mid-afternoon, Kelly and I came back to our houses to gather up clothes for the next day, and we were thrilled to find the power had just come back to our street about 20 minutes earlier! I turned up the heat and started the dishwasher. It was 37 degrees in our house!!! Knowing it would take several hours to warm up the house, we went back to the Roberts, then everyone went up to Brian's gymnastics room at ASU to play, and then out to dinner with the Roberts, Fowlers & Gschwends. We would periodcially call our house to make sure the answering machine was still on, and were dismayed when it didn't pick up for several phone calls! Our power had apparently gone back off, but thankfully was going strong by the time we got home from dinner last night! It was so nice to get everyone ready for bed in the light, and know they would be plenty warm all night long!
It was a fun adventure, especially for the kids, and we had a great time hanging out with our friends, but it is nice to be attempting to return to normalcy again now! It's 38 degrees here today, so all the ice is melting. Huge chunks are falling off of trees, power lines and buildings, and frankly it is very un-safe out there right now! It is super-loud as all the ice rains down on our roof! We lost many trees or parts of trees in our yard, but so far as we can tell, our fence, roof and deck are still okay. That is much better than many people around here! We have heard many reports of people who have trees IN their homes, windows broken out, fences gone, gutters ripped off, etc. Even some injuries and deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning from generators and grills. There are FEMA trucks in town and insurance adjusters are arriving from a dozen states to help assess the damage. Some of our friends still won't have power for several more days, and for some of the out-lying areas it will be 6 weeks!!! The "record" I've heard for consecutive power poles being snapped in half is 82! Those people will be out of electricity for a long time!
Anyway, thanks for all your prayers, and we are doing well. Everyone is napping in their own beds as I write this, and Brian's out with his chain saw and some other guys, helping clean things up!

25 Random Things

2009-01-27T09:03:00.006-06:00

So I guess I'm a trend-follower, because everyone I know keeps sending me these "25 Random Things" lists, and now I've done one! It started as a Facebook thing, but lots of people are posting their lists on the blog, so here goes! Even if you aren't on FB, I challenge you to put it on your blog, if you have one. It seemed hard about half-way through, but was fun to finish it! And I didn't realize FB would only let me tag 25 people, so please don't be offended if you sent me your list and I wasn't able to tag you back!

1. I am a night owl; hence, I am writing this at 1:50 a.m.!
2. I resent people who think night owls are lazy b/c then we want to sleep in---I'm just as productive from 10 p.m.-2 a.m. as you may be from 5 a.m.-9 a.m.!
3. Next to becoming a Christian, Brian is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.
4. I love organizing, but go in spurts of having various areas of my house organized!
5. I also love "to-do" lists and the satisfaction of crossing off even the tiniest of tasks (including something I've already done, but forgot to put on my list)!
6. I prefer something other than breakfast food for breakfast; have been known to have a can of chicken noodle soup, a BLT, or some Kraft mac & cheese for breakfast!
7. I don't iron. Seriously, I don't. I used the iron my Mom sent me off to college with, to wax my skis! Currently don't own a non-ski-wax iron!
8. I am an odd combination of a city-girl and an outdoors girl; need to live close to people, shopping & restaurants, but would go hiking & camping most every weekend, if I could.
9. Once went two weeks without taking a shower, as my friend and I biked and camped down the Pacific Coast; swam in the ocean lots though!
10. I brush my teeth lots of times per day, but have way more dental problems than Brian who just brushes twice a day. :-(
11. Could probably alternate between Mexican & Chinese food every other day and be happy.
12. I often dream that I'm jumping, playing sports, chasing my kids or other things I can no longer do, due to my disability.
12. I sometimes forget not everyone lives on the semester schedule, and love that my husband essentially has 5-6 months a year off of work! What do most people get---2 weeks?
13. I thrive on being around people and love to have a (moderately) busy schedule.
14. My grandparents were born in Ireland and we McMonigle's are proud of our Irish heritage (and before you ask, no I don't like corned beef & cabbage!)
15. I want to insist my children do not live at home during college---I so cherish my "away from home" college experience!
16. Speaking of college, Brian and I dream of traveling around to all our kids' collegiate athletic events....you know, Kellen's regattas, Peyton's volleyball games, Owen's track & field meets, Dawson's football games....;-)
17. Nerdy, I know, but I get a HUGE kick out of finding good things at bargain prices.
18. I really want to do one of those zip-line canopy tours; I read an article about it in USAToday, my throat got tight, and I told Brian "I want to do this so badly, I think I'm going to cry!"
19. As evidenced by #18, I love speed! Jet skiing, downhill skiing, motorcycles, roller coasters, four wheelers, etc. The faster, the better! I'm not a speedy driver, though--just love speed in adventure situations!
20. Fall is my absolute favorite time of year---football season, cooler weather, fun holidays and excitement for the upcoming winter holiday, leaves, fires, etc.
21. I wish I could fast-forward time and see what my kids will be like in 15-20 years, but then bring them right back to the ages they are now.
22. I love to sing, and wish I could do it well!
23. I love most every part of our life here in Jonesboro, but just wish we could transplant the city to the Great Northwest!
24. One of my favorite things is dozing off in the recliner with a kid or two nestled in my arms!
25. There isn't anyone on earth who I have more fun with than my amazing husband!

Kellen's First Basketball Experience

2009-01-23T15:12:00.003-06:00

Kellen just started playing Upward Basketball this year. She did Upward Cheerleading last year, where they cheer for the basketball games. Even though she did it with her two best friends, I don't think it was enough action for her, so soon after the season was over, she began declaring she was going to play basketball next year, instead!

Upward is a national Christian sports organization, and it's a really great program. They promote sportsmanship and teamwork, and also have devotions at practice and during half-time. They are awarded an iron-on star to put on their t-shirts for various categories each game (best effort, best offense, best defense, etc.) and also one for memorizing the scripture verse each week. Here's a picture of her team, along with her coach, a friend of ours, Scott Willhite.

Great D, Kellen! (She's #5, second from right)

Blocking out her friend Betsy, while her teammate Lexi takes a shot. Kellen knew two other players on her team before the season began (Payton Willhite & Anna Joy Allen), and this past week, happened to know 4 girls on the other team, too!

Kellen keeping the ball away from the other girl, and getting ready to shoot a basket.

Kellen's fans! Brian's parents came over from Tennessee to watch her first game.

Thanks, Danna!

2009-01-18T15:37:00.002-06:00

Long overdue, I know, but we wanted to thank you for the awesome dresses you made for us! They are so soft and cuddly and people always want to hug us when we wear them! You are awesome! We love them!
~Kellen & Peyton

A Tennessee Christmas

2009-01-16T10:09:00.006-06:00

Well, really it was 4 days after Christmas, but we did go to Brian's parents' home in Tennessee to celebrate Christmas, and see his sister, brother-in-law and neice who were visiting from North Carolina.
Dena & Brian serenading us--better keep your day jobs!

And the chaos begins---Peyton starting to unwrap some more gifts!

Owen opening his Twistcar from Dena & Stan.

Outfits for their American Girl dolls.

By the way, Dawson did not ask permission to eat this lollipop!

Hailey is our kids' only cousin on Brian's side of the family. On mine, however, they have 15!

Dawson found a comfy seat!

Peyton loves to put on make-up!

Owen & Papaw going for a ride on the tractor.

Hailey & Kellen spent lots of time speeding around the fields on Brian's old 3 wheeler (it was his 10th birthday present!)

The kids stayed at Nanna & Papaw's for 2 extra nights while Brian and I went back home. Here we are, meeting back up at the McDonald's in Kennett, MO. The kids had one final playtime before saying good-bye.

Birthday Update

2009-01-14T09:37:00.003-06:00

For some reason, I have been having trouble prioritizing our blog, lately! I still have Christmas pictures to post from our trip to the grandparents in Tennessee, and Kellen has her first Upward Basketball game this weekend, so I see I better get some stuff posted!
So, I'm going to write about my birthday first, because it's quick and easy and something I can do this morning without posting a bunch of pictures! ;-)
I had a great birthday yesterday, thanks to Brian, our kids, and my girlfriends! I hadn't even thought about "the number" until I got an e-mail from a friend that said "Happy 35th Birthday." Wow, 35! Half-way to 40. But we'll think more about that later.
My celebration actually began Sunday night when our church offered free childcare for date nights, so that was Brian and my's night out for my birthday. Tuesday morning I came out to the living room to find a card from Brian and one from Kellen, and a gift certificate to Gearhead, a local outdoors/sports store that we like. And as I raised the garage door to go take the kids to school I noticed Brian had put a Gonzaga license plate on the front of my Suburban! (We had gotten him an Alabama one as a "truck-warming" present a few weeks ago, so he figured I needed one, too!) Kellen told me she was going to get me a lump of coal, but then later came into my room with a crumpled up $10 bill that she had gotten out of her piggy bank! Isn't that sweet? I gave it back to her, but let her know how thoughtful that was of her! Owen, for some reason, said he was getting me a sleeping bag (huh?), and Pate's is the best of all: supposedly she is getting me a new car! Can't wait for that one! ;-)
Anyway, three of my bestest girlfriends, Kelly, Lindy & Brooke, took me out for lunch, and after school and after Brian got home, I got to take a "birthday nap"! Also, Owen proudly told his teachers that it was my birthday, so they sang happy birthday to me when I picked him up from school. Also got several phone calls from family, and countless e-mails as well.
As an adult, your birthday still has elements of "normalcy" as well, since I still had to take kids to and from school, go to the grocery store, pay bills, and pick up the house yesterday, but that's okay! There were still plenty of special things about the day! Thank you all so much! It was a fun day.

Visitors from St. Louis

2009-01-01T22:30:00.006-06:00

The day after Christmas, my brother Mike, and his kids Megan & Connor came down from St. Louis for a visit. Tracy had a big design project to work on, so unfortunately wasn't able to join them. I missed her!
We hadn't seen them since May, so Mike's idea of initiating my kids was a wild wrestling match the first night they arrived----the kids loved it, by the way!

It wasn't long before they were all tackling him to the ground and bombarding him with pillows!

Owen's like a monkey---he could hang here effortlessly for hours!

Throwing Peyton onto a pile of pillows. (BTW, I know the new TV looks silly with that entertainment center. We've got a new console on order---I promise!)

Taking a break with Megan and Connor.

Slumber party that night!

The next morning it about to rain so we headed to the gymnastics room in Brian's building at ASU. In this pic, Dawson was following big brother around, trying to do whatever Owen did!

Mike "coaching" his kids on the balance beams.

Dawson discovered this game all on his own!

Kellen being hoisted up in the harness---she loves swinging up there!

We built a fort with the gym mats and here's Mike emerging from the lair.

"FUNdue" that night for dessert!

And saying good-bye Sunday morning before they had to leave! The kids (and us) were so sad. Thanks for visiting us, you guys!!!

Christmas Catch-up!

2009-01-01T01:24:00.004-06:00

Goodness, it's been a long time since I've blogged! Thankfully I've been reading on other friends' blogs that they're a little behind as well! Our holiday season has flown by, but we've sure had a lot of fun! I'll let the pictures below tell most of the story...
Christmas Eve: getting ready to set out cookies and milk for santa, and a carrot for Rudolph!

The boys were the first to wake up, so we let them play with some unwrapped things before we woke the girls up.

Peyton with some new duds on, plus her new doll, Ruthy, on the left, who is Kit's (from last Christmas) friend in the American Girl stories.

A family game of Operation.

The aftermath!!!

Decorating Baby Jesus' birthday cake. There must have been at least a 1/2 inch of sprinkles on that thing! They get "sprinkle freedom" only once a year!

We Wish You a Tacky Christmas!

2008-12-21T14:56:00.002-06:00

Our Community Group had a "tacky Christmas" party recently. Some of the outfits were pretty funny! Here is Trenton, Kevin, Mark, George & Brian.

Lacey, Kathy, Lisa, Jen & Lorie

Lorie claims she really did like that sweatshirt at one time!

Brian and I loaded on the Christmas paraphernalia, but then also topped it off with some good ole wrapping paper!

Snow, er, I mean, Ice Day!

2008-12-16T14:59:00.005-06:00

We got some sleet yesterday, so they cancelled school for today, and also for tomorrow already! Don't they realize parents have things to do the week before Christmas? Safety, schmafety!
Anyway, we made the best of it by tubing down our icy hill. Much better conditions than snow, if you like speed like our kids do! We had two of our dogs out there, too, and they loved the freedom!

Kellen

Peyton

Owen

Dawson

Jacob & Champ

St. Jude Marathon

2008-12-07T15:02:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we went to Memphis to cheer on some of our friends who were running in the St. Jude Marathon. One our good friends, Mike, was running in it for the second year, so we went with his wife Brooke and their daughter, Emery, to watch him again.
Here we are on Beale Street waiting for him to come by. It was a chilly morning!!!

Here he is the first time we saw him!

Waving to us as he passed us by during Mile 14.

We had a little bit to wait before going to the finish line, so we let the kids play on these balls in front of the Fed Ex Forum, and had some snacks.

The finish line was in the Redbird's Stadium, AutoZone Park. Here he is crossing the line! We were so proud of him!

Mike, Emery & Brooke after the race.

1st Grade Gingerbread Houses

2008-12-06T15:54:00.003-06:00

I helped Kellen's class with their gingerbread house project on Friday afternoon.

There was a little licking going on with all the building!

Kellen and one of her best friends, Bella!

The beginning of Sohpie's masterpiece!

Clara & her Mom working on her house.

The finished project, complete with a car (w/ driver!) in the driveway, bushes, and a person making a snow angel in the front yard!

Couldn't resist....

2008-12-04T12:20:00.004-06:00

I just had to post one more picture of the boys sleeping in the bed together! Checked on them last night and in this massive queen-sized bed, they were snuggled in right next to one another! Don't they look like two peas in a pod?
Also, thanks to my friend Amy for the Christmas shirts in the above header pic! We love them!

Big Boy Bed

2008-12-03T09:12:00.002-06:00

So this week Dawson "graduated" from his crib, to a real big boy bed. Owen has a queen size bed (was our guest bed that Brian built for that room), and so now the boys are sharing it. It really has been a smooth transition, and Owen has done a GREAT job in facilitating the move!

I took several pictures last night as I checked on them a few times before I went to bed. Here, notice Owen's hand on Dawson's forehead!

Later on when I checked on them, Dawson was literally LAYING on Owen's legs! Owen slept through it all, though, so it apparently didn't bother him! Aren't they cute?

Playing Catch-Up

2008-12-01T13:18:00.009-06:00

I know, I know, I'm way behind on our blog! Don't worry, Barrett, I'll have a Christmas pic and blog background up soon! ;-) Seems like I've barely been able to keep my head above water, and unfortunately things much more significant than this blog have been neglected, too! I've got a huge pile of mail to sort through and over 100 unopened e-mails! The trial consumed one week, and then we had company for the second week. Throw some sickness in there, and now I'm ready to get caught up on life! Warning: this may be a bit lengthy!
My Mom flew in from Idaho for our trial because she had to testify, but then she was also a huge help on the other days with babysitting! Brian and I were able to drop the kids off at school on their various days, but then we were at the trial all day and into the evening, often only seeing our kids for a short time before bedtime. It was a very draining week, just having to re-live all the details of the accident, plus re-hashing the nitty gritty of how our life is currently. ANYWAY, it is all over and we are very pleased with the jury's verdict and are just relieved that it's over. It's not like we're going to be buying yachts and traveling the world because most of the money is already "spoken for" (allotted for future surgeries, housecleaning, childcare, past medical bills, etc.) but it is a huge mental relief to know that those items, which are a part of our life now through no fault of our own, will be taken care of financially. But I digress, I wanted to tell you about this picture above of Dawson and my Mom! I had baked a cake and was letting the kids lick the beaters, bowl, etc. Well, Dawson came in the kitchen and it was about all we could do to get him to taste the batter! However, once he did, there was no taking it away from him! There wasn't a speck of batter left on that spatula, but he would not let Mom remove it! We were laughing hysterically!

Last Tuesday Owen came walking out of school in this Indian costume and a papier-mache turkey with his face on it----adorable!

Thanksgiving Day was spent at our good friends (& neighbors) house, the Fowlers. We've done this before with them, and it's a great way to split all the cooking work, and spend the day with friends! Kelly had made cupcakes for the kids to decorate. Here are Colby and Kellen working on their masterpieces.

It was a beautiful day, so here are all three Fowler kids and our three oldest jumping on their trampoline.

Cade, Colby & Kellen also had fun playing in the blue sand!

My niece, Shawna, came in from Nashville to spend Wed.-Sat. with us. Here she is chatting with Gram!

After the big meal, Jamele, Cade and Robby enjoyed some football, while Kelly went through the Black Friday sales ads!

Here are all the kids, minus Dawson, enjoying their dessert!

On Shawna's last day with us, we celebrated her birthday a little early! She will be 28 on Dec. 4th. We were going to fix a nice dinner, but by this point, Brian, my Mom and Dawson had all gotten the stomach flu, so we settled for Thanksgiving leftovers. I did, however, make a Boston Cream Pie. I had asked Shawna's sister, Erica, a few weeks back about her favorite dessert, so we made it for her, put up a Happy Birthday sign on the mantle, and the kids all made a bunch of cards. Happy Birthday, Shawna!

Peyton, Shawna, Kellen & Owen hanging out on her last night with us.

My Mom had brought a CD of the Chicken Dance to teach the kids. Here is Shawna, Peyton, Dawson and Kellen doing the Chicken Dance! Mom was in there, too, but I didn't get any pics of her----Brian did get some video, though, which is great!

Right before it was time for Shawna to leave, and the rest of us to take my Mom to the Little Rock airport, we took one more group pic. Mom, Dawson, Peyton, Shawna, Kellen & Owen. We love you and miss you both!!!

Last Home Game

2008-11-22T19:21:00.003-06:00

Thanks to my Mom still being in town, (and to Mike & Chuck for the free tickets!), Brian and I got to enjoy an ASU Red Wolves game this afternoon by ourselves!!! We've been to several games this season, each time with 4 kids in tow, so we (Brian, actually) are constantly taking someone to the bathroom, getting snacks or preventing Dawson from falling down the bleachers. We actually got to WATCH the game today! It was pretty chilly so we were all bundled up. (Which, incidentally, is how I grew up going to football games in Boise, so it brought back great memories of how watching football should be!) We sat with friends, drank hot chocolate and bought some of those good hot powdered donuts from the concession stand. We left towards the end of the 4th quarter to come home and relieve Mom. ASU beat Florida Atlantic 28-14.

Trial is over!!!

2008-11-20T21:07:00.002-06:00

We're so glad this chapter in our lives is over! This morning the lawyers gave their closing arguments and sent the case to the jury to decide. They deliberated for 3 1/2 hours. There must have been a lot of discrepancy, and they had to work at it until it was unanimous with all 12 jurors. The judge read the verdict and we were very pleased. Could've been better, but definitely could've been a lot worse, too. It's just a gamble with a jury! We had an earlier opportunity to settle, but we were willing to take that gamble and are very at peace with how it all played out. It is so easy to second-guess decisions, think of a million other things you wish you would've said, etc., but we can rest in the knowledge that God directed each step of this journey, and He provides us with exactly what we need. So, ultimately we are relieved to now have a verdict that will allow us to get out of the debt we have incurred since the accident, to continue to pay for our childcare help and housecleaning, and to cover future surgeries and medical expenses. While this is mentally a relief, our daily life of dealing with this permanent disability has not changed, and no amount of a verdict would make this particular situation better. However, we know the Lord has great plans for our family and are certainly thankful for all our blessings! Thanks to all of you who have prayed for us, and a special thanks to all who helped with our children this week. We sure missed them, so we are looking forward to a great weekend together!

Trial: Wednesday

2008-11-19T20:37:00.002-06:00

Had a long day today, and all went well. Brian and I, among others, testified today. Tomorrow morning we should wrap up with closing statements and then send it to the jury for a verdict. Thanks to everyone for help with our children this week, and thanks for all the prayers!

Trial: Tuesday

2008-11-18T19:55:00.002-06:00

For as little as we got done yesterday (only jury selection), we got a lot done today! Went through 11 witnesses today, I think. So our lawyer told Brian and I to be ready to testify later tomorrow (after 4 other witnesses). I'm the last to testify, then the lawyers will give their closing statements and give it to the jury to go to deliberation. So, there's a chance this will all be over tomorrow night instead of Thursday! Please pray for Brian and I specifically tomorrow. A lot of this case rests on our testimonies, what we say and how we come across to the jury. Please pray for us to not be nervous, to think of all the appropriate things to say and that the "other side" isn't too harsh on us! ;-)

Trial: Monday

2008-11-17T22:48:00.002-06:00

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers today. All went well, though not as eventful as our lawyers had hoped! We were set to start at 1:00 this afternoon, which we did, and the plan was for jury selection, opening statements, and to call 3, possibly 4, witnesses. Well, all that got done today was jury selection!
So tomorrow morning the "real trial" will begin. I have to say, the whole legal proceedings are pretty fascinating for someone who has never been in a courtroom!
Short post tonight, as there's really not much to report. Thanks to all our friends who are getting our kids where they need to be at the right times! We love you and couldn't do this without you!

We're Ready!

2008-11-16T21:27:00.003-06:00

So tomorrow is the beginning of our long-awaited trial with the trucking company whose truck hit us on Feb. 18, 2005. As most of you know, I was badly injured, causing permanent disability, and the girls were in the Suburban and I was 17 weeks pregnant with Owen. We continue to be thankful daily for God's protection of them, but also struggle daily with the pain I constantly deal with.
Anyway, many of you have asked how you can pray. I guess I would boil it down to "resolution." We want this to be resolved this week. Whether that means they call our lawyer in the morning and offer a settlement, or we finish with the jury awarding a verdict. We just want this resolved!!!
Since it's in federal court, the judge has to drive up from Little Rock tomorrow morning so we won't begin until 1:00. The judge will meet with all of the lawyers, and then jury selection will begin around 1:30. After the jury has been picked, both sides will get to present their opening arguments. Then we will bring to the stand the EMT, the sherriff and an eye-witness to the wreck. (The trucking company has admitted legal liability, so we don't have to prove it was their fault. Therefore, the trial is just to determine the amount of the award needed in order to cover my past medical expenses, future surgeries, and the housecleaning and childcare that we now need.) There is a slight possibility my Mom will be called to the stand at the end of the day, or may go first thing Tuesday morning, as planned. (She flew in this afternoon and is staying through Thanksgiving!) The trial is expected to last through Thursday.
On a side note, I got to get my mind off things this weekend by going out of town with some girlfriends to scrapbook for two days! There were about 15 of us, and my friend's brother came and cooked us delicious meals! We also had Guitar Hero, karyoke, and watched movies projected up on the wall. Brian in the meantime, got to keep his mind off the trial by taking care of four kids all weekend! He is getting to enjoy himself tonight, though, with a guys night to watch the new James Bond movie!
I'll do my best to update this tomorrow night on how the first day of trial goes! We are ready, we're prepared, we're excited, and we're a little nervous. Pray for us!

You sure you want us to babysit???

2008-11-13T22:56:00.004-06:00

So here's our friend and neighbor, Colby Grace, over to play the other afternoon. This is what we let kids do when they're at our house! (Fowler are you reading this? I want a comment!!!)

Actually, Brian had to change out the light bulbs in out living room and our kids always love climbing the ladder when he brings it inside! Kellen was proud to touch the ceiling.

Pate made it a little more than half-way up.

Even Dawson got into it! Owen and Colby Grace's brother, Cade, chose not too!

Passport to Fun

2008-11-12T14:56:00.004-06:00

Last night was the "Passport to Fun" festival/fundraiser at Kellen's elementary school. Kellen's school studies a different continent at each grade level, so everything was themed "international". It started with an Italian dinner, which was surprisingly good with generous servings. Then the classrooms and gym were filled with various games. There was also a bake sale, a silent auction and an international taste-testing table, which was "interesting" to say the least!

Here are the girls getting ready to go play all the games! Notice the bags they were given to collect candy at the different games. Like we needed any more candy just barely more than a week after Halloween! We've been giving it away left and right trying to get rid of it, then came home with more bags last night!

Kellen and Bella after getting their faces painted like African warriors!

Kellen's friend Clara.

All our kids adore Bella's big sister, Caitlyn. Here she is holding Owen.

Molly and Kellen.

Owen even had a friend from his school come to this festival, because her big brothers go to Kellen's school, too. Owen and Emma go to pre-school together, and her Mom was Kellen's Kindergarten teacher.

Let the games begin! The kids circled the school several times visiting all the games in the various classrooms.

Kellen getting her face painted.

Owen having fun on the inflatable toys!

Heading back to school!

2008-11-10T08:25:00.002-06:00

Kellen went back to school this morning, so keep her in your prayers today! She's bummed that she can't play at recess or do P.E. for another week, but at least she's there! Friday was unexpectedly her teacher's last day for while because she's having her baby! So Kellen won't get to say good-bye to her, but we did go visit the school briefly on Thurs. and she got to see her one more time. They'll have a sub until their teacher returns in February.
We didn't give her any of the narcotic pain meds yesterday, but probably didn't give her enough ibuprofen because she kind of went downhill last night, though insisted her throat didn't hurt. Maybe she was just tired, I don't know.
I'm going to go up to the school at lunch and see how she's doing, if she needs to come home or if she needs more ibuprofen. I'm sure she'll do fine. She's just so excited to be back!!!

Still Truckin' Along

2008-11-06T21:52:00.002-06:00

Thanks for your continued phone calls, e-mails, gifts and visits. They have really encouraged Kellen and made her feel very special! I had told her yesterday that I'd try to get her out of the house for a bit today while the others were at pre-school. While looking at her school calendar I realized there was a speaker on Australia for the 1st graders, so we headed up there to listen and for a quick visit with her teacher and friends. She was elated!!! It was a good diversion from her previous two days of sitting in the house. After that, we had visitor after visitor until bedtime, and Kellen held up very well. She didn't have nearly the appetite today, so hopefully she got enough calories for healing and energy. We've got a calm day tomorrow, with some more visitors to look forward to after school. Thanks for your continued prayers.....she seems to be coming through with flying colors!

So far, so good!

2008-11-05T17:42:00.003-06:00

Prayers have been answered left and right. Kellen continues to do so well. I still feel like I'm "waiting for the other shoe to drop", but in the meantime, I'm praising God that He has allowed her to recover so well.
She slept all night long without any more pain medicine until 5:30 this morning when she said her throat was dry and sore. After some water and medicine, she went right back to sleep. By the afternoon, I finally made her take a nap when the other kids went down because she hadn't rested at all. She's been vertical, watching new movies that grandparents bought and friends have loaned us. And I've never colored and painted so much in my life! I think she's taking advantage of having me all to herself (which is perfectly acceptable!) This afternoon Brian took the kids across the street to climb on some boulders where the city is doing some work on the creek, and then I took them all for a spin around the block in the bed of his truck, just because Kellen is going stir-crazy already!
Her appetite has improved today, too. I told her this morning that she didn't have to wait for mealtimes to eat, but that I wanted her to eat or drink just whenever she felt like it. So today I think she has had applesauce, 2 fudgesicles, chicken noodle soup, 1/2 jelly sandwich, 2 pkgs. of ramen noodles, ice cream, yogurt, and canned peaches! About mid-morning, just out of the blue, she said "I like real food." I said "What do you mean?" and she said "You know, like chicken and steak and stuff." ;-) After only 24 hours, she's missing her normal diet!
Continuing thanks for all the phone calls, e-mails, visits, cards and presents. She feels so loved and special! Keep praying for complete, quick healing, and that she would just continue to improve and not have any setbacks.

Kellen Update: 10:30 p.m.

2008-11-04T22:27:00.003-06:00

God is good! He has really answered a lot of our prayers so far regarding Kellen's surgery today. Kellen has been amazing this afternoon and evening. She woke up from her nap and wanted to work on an activity book and have a milkshake. Soon afterwards her belly hurt and I gave her the anti-nausea medicine. She resumed coloring but did get sick a little while later (can't feel good on a raw throat!) We cuddled in the recliner for a bit, but by 2:30 she was her perky self again, saying her throat didn't hurt at all (mind you, we had only been home for 2 1/2 hrs. at this point). So then, from 2:30-8:30, she was up and about, doing craft projects and art, and talking with all of us. We totally expected her to be laying around just watching movies and sleeping! She's been asleep for 2 hours now and seems to be doing well. We've got meds ready, though, should she wake up and need some.

She was totally blown away by all the people who have flooded her with cards and gifts! I mentioned earlier we had a sign on our garage door with a gift bag and balloon. She also got two deliveries of gift baskets with stuffed animals, lollipops and balloons. Another classmate dropped off an activity book and glittery tattoos, and another friend brought a drawing pad with glitter glue and a paint-your-own-pottery set. Also, every child in her 1st grade class made her a card and sent it home with our friend. She was so excited to read all those cards! Anyway, thanks to all of you who have helped us make her feel special and loved.

Though this afternoon and evening ended up great, we also realize she probably has some rough spots ahead of her. So, keep her in your prayers, and I'll keep you posted via this blog.

Update on Kellen: Noon

2008-11-04T12:01:00.006-06:00

We're back home and Kellen's settled in on the couch. She is such a trooper! I expected a little nervousness as the day approached, but she continued on in her great attitude all the way through being wheeled away from us! Our pastor, Chuck, sat with us in the waiting room until it was time to go back, which was very nice. She thought her gown was so pretty---green & blue and kind of silky. Then she commented on how nice the place was (what kind of 6 yr. old notices that?) Next they had her drink the "silly juice" which kicked in about 10-15 min. later. Before she got too crazy, I prayed with her (Brian was delivering all the other kids to school, then joined us before Kellen was wheeled away) and then the medicine hit. She was hilarious! Very loopy, laughing and giggling, and saying the most random things. Pretty soon her tongue was thick and eyes drooping, and while she wasn't fully asleep yet, she definitely wasn't "all there".
At that point they wheeled her to surgery and Dr. Sales came and spoke with us about 45 minutes later. He said everything went great and her tonsils and her adenoids were both the size of golf balls! Can you imagine 4 golf balls in the back of your throat? About an hour later we were allowed to go see her. She was awake, but still not completely back to normal. In the first 10 minutes, she asked us 5 times "Did they take my tonsils out yet?" They gave her apple juice right away and monitored her for awhile longer. We got to bring her home around 11:30, complete with pain meds, antibiotic, and anti-nausea meds.
Now she's laying on the couch watching her new Kit Kittredge movie. She's had her medicine and some applesauce and mostly just wants water. She says her throat hurts and I can tell she's uncomfortable, which breaks my heart. But I can't say enough about how tough she is---she's always been our toughest kid! Thanks for everyone's phone calls and e-mails and a certain poster on our garage door and a care package--thanks Kate!!! We so appreciate your prayers and encouragement for Kellen. Please keep her in your prayers for pain relief. I'll try to update this one more time tonight.

Kellen's Surgery Tomorrow

2008-11-03T12:57:00.003-06:00

Kellen will be having her tonsils taken out tomorrow morning, so we're asking for your prayers! This is our first child to have surgery, and though we're well aware that it is a common procedure, it's still a little scary to have our baby "put under" and know she's going to be in pain for awhile.

She's actually been very excited about it from day one, because she thinks its going to be great to watch movies and drink milkshakes all the time! We certainly don't want to plant any fears in her mind, but we have told her that she will have a sore throat afterwards and will probably not feel like doing a whole lot for a few days. She's known all along that they'll give her some medicine to make her fall asleep, but yesterday she asked if they'd give her a different medicine to wake her up. We replied that they'd actually just stop giving her the "fall asleep" medicine and she'd gradually wake up. We explained that she'd probably wake up and fall back asleep and be kind of groggy. Then Brian said "Kind of like how you are when we try to wake you up every morning!" She's our sleepyhead in the morning (takes after her Mama!) and I dread those teenage years when it's bound to be even worse!

Anyway, please pray for Kellen tomorrow morning. We haven't yet heard the exact time of her surgery, but do know that they perform them youngest to oldest, so surely she'll be early. Pray for her doctor, that she doesn't have an adverse reaction to the medicine, that her pain is as minimal as possible, and that she has a speedy recovery. Thanks! I'll keep you posted on the blog.

Treats in the Street

2008-11-01T15:23:00.004-05:00

Our friends, Chuck and Lindy, started a Treats in the Street in their neighborhood this year. It was very successful and lots of fun! Everyone met up to trick-or-treat together, and neighbors were asked to set up decorated tables out at the street for kids to go get their candy. We then headed back to their driveway for chili & hot dogs, and s'mores around the firepit!
Here is our crew getting ready to go! We've got a leopard, a ballerina, a fireman, and his dalmation!

Would you like some black-eyed peas? ;-)

Most of the gang before we headed out. Notice the ewok heading back to the group! We also had a flower, a SWAT team member, Tigger, a football player, Dorothy, and a 50's Pink Lady, among others.

Kellen and one of her very best friends, Kate!

Da boys

Dawson the Dalmation

The gang of girls: Kellen, Colby, Kate & Peyton

Wonder of Wonders...

2008-10-28T09:52:00.009-05:00

Wonder of wonder #1: I filled up our Suburban for "only" $2.08/gallon this morning!

Wonder of wonder #2: We seem to have finally rounded the corner with Owen on the potty training front!

Wonder of wonder #3: Hold on to your seats, folks! This is the biggest one of all! Brian finally entered the modern world and got a cell phone! And you know he's just dying to chat for hours, so be sure to ask him for his number!

Good Ole Pumpkin Hollow

2008-10-24T21:55:00.006-05:00

Pumpkin Hollow has been a tradition for our kids ever since we moved here 5+ years ago. The last couple of years our trip has gotten rained out, and it was looking like this year's trip would as well. But, the sun emerged today and the mud wasn't too bad, so we had an awesome trip!

Kellen was out of school today for teacher in-service, and we let her invite a friend along as well. This was Bella's first trip to Pumpkin Hollow, and I think she had a lot of fun.

I took pics of each of the kids in front of this height meter, but the look on Dawson's face was the cutest, so he won the spot on the blog!

Bella Boo lives up to her name--belle meaning beautiful--isn't she gorgeous???

Kellen leaping off the haystack. All the kids spent tons of time climbing, sliding and jumping on these bales.

Me and my kiddos on the hayride. I'm slightly biased, but I think they're pretty darn cute!

Amanda, my helper when the kids aren't at pre-school, came with us today for the trip. She was a huge help in corraling all the kids, tromping through the pumpkin patch, and leading the caravan through the corn maze!

Owen feeding the pony.

Run away! Run away! "He licked my hand!!!"

Fast friends. They really seem to enjoy spending time together, and I'm not sure I've ever witnessed any friction. A couple of giggle-boxes, they are!

Bella just loves Dawson! She's disappointed if he's napping while she's over playing. She's bummed if I come to lunch at their school without him. She always says hi to him and wants to play with him and lug him around. He's got another built-in big sister!

Searching for the perfect pumpkin to take home! The boys are on either sides of the pic, and you can see in the middle that Kellen has found hers! Pate and Bella are in the far back.

So proud....

2008-10-22T16:45:00.004-05:00

Well, here's our big 1st grader! Isn't she beautiful? This is her school picture this year and I just love her smile!
Her school just had an awards ceremony for the first nine weeks of class. Kellen won an Academic Excellence award and Student of the Month award. Here she is with her beloved teacher, Mrs. Craft. We're proud of you, Kellen!

Pre-School Fall Festival

2008-10-19T20:05:00.003-05:00

Peyton's & Owen's pre-school had a fall festival tonight. Might as well get multiple uses out of those costumes, right? What do you think of our firefighter and his dalmation???
Here is our beautiful ballerina!
And a leopard!
We brought Kellen's friend, Betsy, with us. They both went to Kindergarten there last year, so they have good memories of past festivals, plus loved seeing former teachers and friends.
Owen and his good buddy, Meyer. Meyer is a big topic of conversation around our house. Owen colors pictures for him, tells me what they played at school, etc. Meyer is even the incentive we've found most useful for potty training Owen! We told him he could have Meyer over for a playdate when he's potty trained!

Dorothy, er, I mean, Deann, and Peyton have been good friends since they were together in their 2 yr. old class. She's a sweet, sweet, girl!
Betsy and Kellen. They first met during their 4 yr. old year of pre-school, and play so easily together. They seem to have loved each other since day one, and take good care of each other. We loved getting to bring Betsy along with us tonight!
One of the many "stations" they had tonight was a little train ride out in the parking lot. It was a hit!
The big blow-up slide had to be the other top attraction. I couldn't even count how many times I saw one of my children flying down this thing!
Of course these kinds of events have to be parent-manned, so Brian and I's favorite parts of the night (NOT) were working the tattoo table and soccer goal game! Feeding 7 of us for $9 was a deal, though! And thankfullly, there was a $25 cap on the wrist-bands, since we had 5 kiddos with us! Ahhh, the things we do for our kids!

Working on our marriage...

2008-10-13T14:35:00.002-05:00

Well, here's a picture of my wedding ring. Brian and picked it out together and bought it at Bernard Lewis in Paducah, KY. It's a Gelin & Abaci tension set ring with 95 pounds of pressure holding the stone in place, instead of prongs. It is so unique and we fell in love with it right away. It is definitely one of my most treasured worldly belongings!
Brian and I went to a marriage conference this weekend, so it got me to thinking about all things wedding and marriage related. I have found myself just staring at my ring again the last couple of days, like how you stare at it that first month or so after getting engaged! It brings back so many wonderful memories and is such a great symbol of our life together.
The conference was good, and though Brian and I are already blessed with a great marriage (see posts on Sept. 3rd and 4th!), it was a good reminder to purposely work on our marriage and not to just drift along in life together. One of the best pieces of advice I've ever received was from my sister-in-law, Arlene, as Brian and I were about to be married. She told us to never allow ourselves to just become roommates. That really hit home to me--that we are to live our lives together, and not just side-by-side.
I'll leave you with a quote from this weekend that I thought was really good: "Most marital failures are not caused by a blow-out; they're caused by a slow leak."

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo. How 'bout you, you, you?

2008-10-10T14:34:00.004-05:00

Does anyone else know that song?

Disclaimer: For those of you who know Danna, please lower your expectations for this post. She's the funny one and has already done the "witty petting zoo blog piece"!

SOOO....here we go....Peyton's pre-school class visited the ASU Farm's petting zoo on Thursday and it was quite an adventure! The kids loaded up in parents' vehicles and we had the pleasure of taking Peyton's good buddy, Layla.
It was a very entertaining ride!
Loaded up on the trailer, all excited for the hayride.
Peyton's teacher is in the middle, (Mrs. Kelly), with various children lined up looking at the animals we passed on the hayride. Susannah, Emily, Xander, Brianna, Wyatt, Logan.

Pate petting a calf.
Being handed a bunny, which promptly hopped out of her lap. Mind you, this was immediately after she dumped a duckling out of her lap!
Mrs. Kelly's class, minus Daniel (sick) and Eva Grace (Disney World!!!). L to R, Brianna, Susannah, Xander, Layla, Peyton, Jenna, Carson, Logan, Sophie and Wyatt.
Peyton and Layla atop a hay bale.

Our Group ROCKS!!!

2008-10-04T15:37:00.003-05:00

So who would've thought that just wearing wigs out to dinner would bond a group so closely??? Well, we tried it, and it sure did!
This weekend was our Community Group's (small group from church) retreat, and man, was it memorable! We started out with an amazing dinner at "TACO" (as Lorie puts it), and sure got some looks and laughs while we were there. After dinner we walked next door and crashed Tropical Smoothie so we could visit Lindley and Susan. The rest of the evening was devoted to a "Rock Band" marathon! Enjoy the following slideshow of the festivities! You sure learn a lot about your friends when hanging out like this! All sorts of different sides of peoples' personalities come out, and a million inside jokes are formed. It sure set the stage for good talks and sharing and praying together this morning. You guys "ROCK"! ;-)

Enjoy the Show!

2008-10-04T15:37:00.001-05:00

Yeah for popsicles!

2008-10-03T16:37:00.003-05:00

Well, Kellen is going to get her tonsils out. In hindsight, I wish we had been encouraged to do this a year and a half ago when we first visited the Ear, Nose & Throat doctor. So, I'm writing this blog to 1) get advice, stories, etc., from anyone who has been through a child getting their tonsils out and 2) to educate people of the potential side effects of chronically enlarged tonsils.

From February through April 2007, Kellen had about 8 ear and throat infections. That was probably more than she had had in her whole previous 5 years of life! Our doctor sent us to see an ENT for an exam and to have her hearing checked by an audiologist. Well, her hearing was within normal limits, but he was still talking about the possibility of ear tubes and a tonsilectomy to stop the infections. After several rounds of meds, her infections stopped, so we were just thankful at that point to have avoided our little girl having surgery!

Unfortunately, her tonsils continued to be enlarged, (though no ear or throat infections in the last year and a half!), which causes her to sleep with her mouth open. At our most recent trip to our dentist, he told us that Kellen needs her tonsils out and also has to begin orthodontia work!!! Can you believe it? Age 6??? He explained that when you sleep with your mouth closed, your tongue presses on the roof of your mouth every time you swallow, and spreads out your bite. Well, since Kellen sleeps with her mouth open, her bite is very narrow. For example, she has lost 3 top teeth and the front two have come in and taken up all the room. So there is no room for that 3rd tooth to drop down!

So, we visited a different ENT yesterday who concurred that even the best orthodontia work won't truly fix her teeth until her tonsils are taken out. So, surgery is scheduled for November 4th (the doctor is taking vacation during the holidays, otherwise we would've done it right after Christmas!) It will be the first surgery for any of our kids. She will be put completely asleep! She will have to miss about 5 days of school and can't do any running or activity for 14 days. We scheduled it then because it's after soccer season but before basketball season, and hopefully she'll be in tip-top shape before my Mom arrives from Idaho on the 16th for our trial. Believe it or not, Kellen is SUPER-EXCITED to have them taken out and is just focused on the fact that she'll get to eat popsicles, ice cream, milkshakes, etc.! Then come January or so, she has to go in for an "ortho work-up" to take molds and for our dentist to come up with "The Plan" (in other words, how much money can I get from the Churches for my kids' college funds?) Ugh.

Any words of wisdom? Personal experiences? Warnings? Advice? "Comment" me, people!

How Many of Me? How Many of You?

2008-10-02T19:19:00.002-05:00

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
85
people with my name in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Saw this on my friend Sarah's blog back in good ole Boise, Idaho. Thought it was interesting to check it out, and was pretty surprised there were this many of me. Checked my maiden name, though, and there are only 2 Kelly McMonigle's out there! Now you all go look up your name, and put it on my Comment page!

Jailbreak!

2008-09-29T08:20:00.005-05:00

The fam took a roadtrip to middle Tennessee this weekend to cheer Brian and David on in the Jailbreak Triathalon. They competed as a team so their times were combined. The race consisted of a 3.5 mile canoe, an 8 mile mountain bike, and a 2.5 mile trail run through the woods. They finished in a little over 2 hours and came in 12th overall. They were 26th last year, so 12th is great! It is a large race, often with around 300 competitors. They get the inmates from the nearby jail to help haul the canoes out of the water and load them on the trailers as the racers come in, so that's where the name "Jailbreak" came from.
Here they are, coming in to the canoe finish line. This is their least favorite part of the race. It takes about 45 minutes, there's no current, and they have very little canoeing experience!
Here is Brian emerging from the woods at the end of the mountain bike portion. They cross this road into a roped off area where they throw their bike down, take off their helmet and camelback, and change into running shoes.
Brian approaching the finish line 2 hours, 5 minutes and 46 seconds after starting the triathalon! Notice the blood on his knee (there's a nasty gash on the side of his left leg you can't see, too, and an abrasion on the side of his right arm!) The mountian bike portion is pretty technical with lots of large rocks and roots, and he took 3 spills while biking. I overheard a man near us comment as Brian crossed the finish line "If you ain't bloody, you ain't ridin'!
Brian and David at the end! They've been great friends for almost 25 years. They began their friendship pushing each other to excel in high school football. Here they are, so many years later, and the competitiveness still runs strong!

The kids had lots of fun hanging around the race course. They played in the Duck River for a long time waiting for Brian and David to come in on their canoe. Here is Peyton "listening to the ocean" in the shells she found in the water!
Owen and Dawson snacking and waiting patiently to see Daddy come out of the woods!

David & Kara have three girls, Audrey, 8, Hallie, 6, and Ruby, 20 months. Ruby stayed with a friend for the day because Kara was racing, too. David's Mom came to the race, as well as some of Kara's family, so pictured above is Kara's neice, Maddie, Peyton, Audrey, Kellen, and Hallie.

In all, it was a great weekend! The kids were great on the 4 hr. trip each way. We've finally hit a milestone where Kellen is a good enough reader that she can entertain the others in the back by reading books to them. We stayed at David and Kara's brand new home they built, which is gorgeous, and loved just hanging out with their family. On the way home, we stopped at Red Robin in Memphis to eat and catch the kick-off of the Alabama/Georgia game. Got to watch a good ways into the 2nd quarter and Alabama was winning 31-0 when we had to get back on the road to come home. It was probably the most anticipated game of the day, and Alabama came through with a win! Roll Tide!!!

Team Hoyt

2008-09-23T21:17:00.006-05:00

Brian and I just got back from listening to Dick Hoyt speak at the ASU Convocation Center. Wow, I am still soaking it all in. First of all, it was sponsored by a Christian hospital here in town, so they had a praise and worship team from a local church singing before the event started, while people were milling around the booths that were set up. Then, once the program got going, they led us in a time of worship that was incredible! They were a large worship team and their music was so powerful and inspiring! I loved it! I haven't experienced that amazing of a worship session in a long time, and who would've thought it wouldn't even be in a church?

For those of you who are not familiar with Team Hoyt, they are a father-son team who have completed almost 1000 athletic events, mostly marathons and triathalons, along with a 3775 mile run and bike trek across the United States. Rick, the son, was born with cerebral palsey in 1962. They have competed for the last 25+ years by Dick pushing Rick while he runs, Rick sitting on a special seat over the front tire of Dick's bike, and by Dick pulling Rick behind him in a raft while he swims. And believe it or not, Dick was not a runner when Rick had this idea to start competing! (He also had not been on a bike since he was 6 yrs. old and didn't know how to swim!)

I had a lump in my throat most of the night, and tears often overflowed. The whole love story between this father and son is just amazing. It also made me dearly miss working out and competing. I even asked Brian if he wanted to start pushing me during his races! I grew up playing lots of sports as most kids do, but really began considering myself an athlete the last 15 years before our car accident. I loved working out and being a part of teams all through jr. high, sr. high and college. I loved working out after college when I was coaching. I continued working out even until the day before each of our daughters were born. It was just a part of my life. I felt healthy. I felt good about myself. I craved the endorphins that your body produces when working out. Not being able to exercise is truly one of the things I have grieved most over these last 3 1/2 years. I think my personal life experience made this presentation especially impactful for me. It was a night that I will remember for a long time. Thanks to Dick and Rick Hoyt for sharing their story.

My Soccer Girls!

2008-09-22T13:50:00.003-05:00

Soccer season is upon us once again! I call them "my" soccer girls, because the sport of soccer has always been near and dear to my heart. I grew up playing, as did all my brothers. My Dad reffed and two of my brothers still play on adult leagues. One brother played in college and professionally afterward, and one of my nephews just finished up his collegiate soccer career, as well. Several other nephews and a neice play and ref, too. It's in the McMonigle blood! Brian, on the other hand, grew up in Tennessee where football reigns. His tiny town didn't even have soccer, and he called it a "rich white kids sport!" (all in fun, of course!) Anyway, my family gave him quite a bit of flak about that when we first met, and he was teased a bit when he began coaching soccer a couple years ago! Therefore, they are "my" soccer girls!

Kellen played for the last two years, but this is her first year on an all-girl team, playing on the medium-sized fields, 4 vs. 4. She's really been enjoying it again, and is a little more aggressive getting in there without any boys on the field. She's scored 10 goals so far this season! One of her good buddies for the last 2 yrs. is on the team (her dad is the coach) and she knows another girl from her class as well. Another bonus this year (in her eyes): her uniform is pink!This is Peyton's first year to be old enough to play. She is so excited to have a team of her own and not just going to watch big sister play! Her age group is still co-ed and they play on the micro fields, 3 vs. 3. One of her classmates is on her team, as well as another family friend. Plus, a lot of her other friends are on different teams so we'll see lots of familiar faces on the fields this season! Brian is coaching her team this year. He coached Kellen the last two years and decided to stick with the younger kids, so he didn't move up with Kellen. His debut for the first game of the season Saturday was anti-climactic, though, because he came down with laryngitis and another Dad had to take over on the field! The game was pretty entertaining since none of the kids really knew what they were doing, but they sure had fun!

Fair, Food & Fun

2008-09-21T13:29:00.004-05:00

I'm a little behind on posts, but thankfully it's not because of more sick kids! Just busy, or lazy, I guess; take your pick!

Thursday we had the pleasure of taking the family to the fair. It was arm band night, and Kellen, Peyton and Owen sure got our money's worth! They rode rides for three hours straight, with only a brief stop to inhale some cotton candy! We met up with three other families, so the kiddos had plenty of friends to ride with.

Kellen was tall enough for all the "big people" rides this year, and Peyton could do a couple of them. Owen just barely passed the height requirement to do the BIG swings, and I'm so thankful, because that ended up being his favorite ride!

(Owen on far left, Peyton in the very front, Kellen on the right in a white tank top)

Kellen fell in love with "Moby Dick", and probably rode that one the most. She's 7th from the left in this pic below. Hard to see, I know. I had some more that were close-up, but I liked this pic b/c it shows that this was no kiddie ride!Our friend Mike was buying a ticket to take his daughter Emery on the big Ferris Wheel, so he took several of the other families' children with him, too, since they had to ride with an adult. By the time they loaded up, there were SEVEN children in the basket with him!

The next day, the kids got to go back to do the petting zoo and the exhibit buildings. I didn't get any pics of those, though, because other people took them for me! In all, it was a great (expensive!) night, but is a fun tradition that they remember every year!