Reindeer Games

Brooke is the reindeer. They thought they won but Steve,Dave and Cody's team were about one second faster. After you stuff the pantyhose with balloons then someone has to wear it and the team sings Jingle Bells. The best part for me was watching everyone come up with ways to accomplish this.
The winners!!
Vicki, Shayne, Jeff and Bethany

This was my favorite. Dad told Matt to put the balloon into the pantyhose and then blow it up. I was laughing so hard I almost cried. Thanks Nancy and Carla for showing us how to play this game. It was a blast!!

A Quilted Christmas

Our trip to Searcy was wonderful. No troubles on the rode (for some of us). And we had a great time all hanging out at Matt and Jenny's. Mom made quilts for all of us this year. All the great grandkids listen to her tell a story of how Mrs. Claus needed help making magic christmas quilts and she helped her out. They loved listening to the story and getting their quilts. So did the grown up!! They are all so beautiful.

We also had fun playing some reindeer games. More pictures later.

Merry Christmas to All!!!

Star's 1st Snow

This was Star's 1st experience with snow. She loved it. She just ran everywhere and would dig her nose down in the snow. She and Shayne played together some too. He liked tossing snow at her and she enjoyed trying to catch it.

Shayne has been spending lots of time outside sledding and snowboarding. He isn't as much of a daredevil as the boys up the street and I'm very thankful for it.

We have a busy week this week. I'm working everyday between both jobs. Thursday night is our preschool progam and Saturday morning (6am) we are leaving for Searcy and coming back on Sunday morning. I'm excited to be going because my whole family will be together. I don't think I've seen Kelly and her family since April 2006. Her girls will be so grown up. We are all meeting at Matt and Jenny's for a day all together. Pray for all of our travels. Lots of my family is heading that way.

We are geared up for the christmas season. I only have one present left to buy and a few to wrap. I'm feeling good about that. I'll be much more relaxed after we get home Sunday. At least I hope we will.

Merry Kissmas

Star visits Santa

okay, so at 1st I thought this was a fun idea. Then the more I thought about it I thought are we crazy to take our dog to see Santa?, well....apparently not because there were many people there with their dogs visiting Santa including a teacher from Shayne's school. We actually had to wait quite awhile in line. Star did ok but she didn't like it. Her ears were back the whole time. She liked Santa and smacked a big kiss on him but didn't like the "Kodak moment" So now we have a cute picture in a frame and helped out a dog shelter in the process. Are we crazy? Maybe so but it was fun and Shayne really thinks Star needs an ornament that says "Star's first Christmas". Oh, and she does have a stocking too.

A Good Thanksgiving

My sister Vicki and brother in law David have been in town with us for Thanksgiving. My sisters and I have enjoyed spending time shopping together and watching Dancing with the Stars. And football too. Andrea and Bethany came in too and am glad to say made it safely back to AR this afternoon. We enjoyed our Thanksgiving day. Friday we went to Hodaks for lunch. Rachel Ray said it was the best fried chicken she'd ever had so we had to check it out....it was very good but I wouldn't say the BEST I've had. But I would definately go back. After lunch we went downtown and checked out the windows at Macy's. They were pretty....but it was COLD!! So the rest of our weekend has been hanging out with my family, playing cards, more shopping and relaxing. Jeff did get our outside lights up and they look pretty!! Thanksgiving has been wonderful!!

no excitement

I actually don't mind that nothing exciting has been happening in our lives lately. Makes for lots less stress. Today was Grandparents Day for Shayne and both sets of Grandparents got to have breakfast with him and meet his teacher. I helped with the breakfast and then later in the day worked in the school's bookfair. Tonight Jeff and I went to Pattonville's football game. They were in the semi finals for state. Unfortunately, they lost. But we enjoyed watching our friend from church, Colin, play quarterback. We had lots of fun at the game and Shayne stayed with Grandma Faye and Grandpa Kerp. Tomorrow is pick up bag day for Scouting for Food so don't forget to put those bags out. I have to work at Bookmark so I won't be helping. I'll miss it though, I really enjoy it. Enough of our boring life...till next time.

A slow week

Not a lot of excitement has happened this past week. Just getting through the week one day at a time. We had Shayne's conference this week. Wasn't as good as I was hoping but we're encouraging him to get the 2nd trimester off on the right foot. Saturday was the 1st week of scouting for food. We only had 9 boys in our whole pack show up so they worked very hard to get bags out to our whole territory. It took almost 3 hours. They hustled and didn't hardly complain but were sure tired when we were done. Next week we pick up bags which isn't quite as hard because we don't have to go to every single house in a neighborhood. Don't forget to fill your bag (hopefully you got one) and put them outside next Saturday morning. Today is somewhat of a lazy day. I did scrub the living room carpet (I know, very exciting) and a little more cleaning. Jeff is at a meeting at church. Nothing else new that I can think of. Have a great week.

A few more pictures

A view of the family room inside the cabin.
John was a little nervous at 1st but loved it.
Jeff and Cadillac the horse. He rode this one.

More Weekend Pictures

Shayne in the barn loft

Shayne was a pro at horseback riding. I was amazed at how quickly he took to it and he loved it. He really did an awesome job. Made his Momma proud. His horse, Buck, was a large horse but very gentle.
The fall colors were close to peak. They looked beautiful while we were there but don't seem to show up as well in pictures. There were hills of beauty all around us.

More pictures later.

A Country Weekend

We had such an awesome weekend. A little piece of heaven on earth. We were invited to go with Jeff's sister Carrie, her husband John and their daught Caitlin to Marthasville, MO to stay in an old log cabin. The original part of the cabin was built in 1835. It was so cozy and beautiful. We had 2 woodstoves inside keeping us warm and a fire pit outside. Saturday night we had a huge bonfire. Spent some time Saturday morning in Augusta and Washington, MO. I'll add more pictures and details later. It was worth every minute. Shayne really loved it said it was"GRRREAT!"

Halloween

This year Jeff decided to dress up. He was a fireman and I was his "Damsel in Distress" He borrowed our neighbor uniform and we had a lot of fun with it. We went to the Henley's Open House and enjoyed spending time with friends. Shayne was once again a Delta Force army guy. He and I went around our neighborhood and got lots of candy which we have already seperated so that each of us get our favorites. It was a fun year.

Shayne has lost 2 teeth in 2 days. Last night after the second tooth the tooth fairy ran our of quarters so before he went to be she just handed him a dollar and asked for the tooth. It was so much easier that way. He liked it to since he's knows the tooth fairy is Mom. Hopefully those teeth slow down. I forgot about the molars coming out. This tooth fairy may be broke soon!!

To get you caught up

Shayne went to a Halloween Party Friday night. He is a Delta Force army guy. Jeff and I went to the party also. We had a scavengar hunt which was so much fun. Shayne said it was the best party he had ever been to.

Sunday night was our Fall Festival at church. Jeff and Shayne carved our pumpkin this year and I was so happy that I didn't have to clean guts out of a pumpkin. I hate that job. We had a great time and actually won 2 great door prizes. Shayne won a huge bucket full of halloween snacks and decorations. There was a Mr Potato Head in there that you can dress like a ghost. We put it in the bay window and Star just barked and barked at it. She thought it was hers to play with.

Overall, it was a great weekend. Great weather. Looking forward to Trick or Treating Wednesday night. Happy Halloween.

The Zoo

Shayne and I had a day to ourselves today so we decided to hit the zoo. We spent about 2 hours there and then it started raining so we decided to leave. Got a few cute pictures. Shayne is wearing some camoflauge. Says he looks like a vietnam marine guy. The Gorillas were posing today and Shayne is next to a Red Panda in the picture above this one.

Shayne's home

I'm happy now. He looked very happy when he got off the bus. Looked like he'd had a great time. He said he liked fishing the best. Said that he had a hard time falling asleep at night but he eventually did. He's glad he went and so am I. He didn't shower the whole time he was gone...says he doesn't shower when he's camping. Came back with everything but a pair of sweat pants. Not too bad. He took a disposable camera too, anxious to see those pictures. He said he took pictures of planes that flew over. That is so Shayne. It'll probably be pictures of the sky. Hope he took pictures of things he did too. Anyway, we're glad he's home. He wants "real" pizza for dinner. (they apparently served school pizza for lunch today)

A Quiet House

Shayne left this morning for 5th grade camp. He won't be back until 2:00 on Friday afternoon. It was so strange putting him on the bus this morning and knowing I wouldn't be seeing him again until Friday. I'm freaking out a little but we'll make it through. It helps to know that he was very excited about going. They will do archery, Fishing, S'mores, orientering and a ropes course. Plus crafts and other things. I remember my experience at Pattonvilles camp, it was 6th grade then. I had a great time. I know he will too. But everyone keeping him and Jeff and I in your prayers would be nice. I'll let everyone know how his trip was. I'm counting down the days already till he gets home. Isnt' that terrible?

pictures to share

Nothing new or exciting has been happening so I thought I'd share some pictures of Shayne and Star.

A cute story

I teach preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays. While we were out on the playground Tuesday it was very hot and the boys were getting kind of rough. I got on to one of my boys and had him sit in time out next to me. Then I noticed that one of the other boys was crying and saying that the little boy in time out had hurt him. I looked at the little boy and said, "Look, he's crying because you hurt him". He looked at the boy, looked at me and said, "He's not crying, his sweat is leaking." I thought I would bust out laughing but held it in. Now I'm enjoying sharing that story with others. Hope you liked it!

Doggie Graduation

Star passed doggie class with flying colors. We had a lot of fun in the class and meeting new people. Shayne loved showing her off and dressed her up in one of his old shirts for the occasion tonight. Shayne has been sick today and stayed home from school. He's feeling much better now but not 100%. We just didn't have the heart to keep him home tonight. We'll miss our new doggie friends.

Nothing New

Nothing exciting happened much this past week. We have one more night of doggie class and Star will graduate. Should have a picture of that soon. I cropped all day Saturday and the boys hung out at home flying their new indoor r/c micro helicopters...Star loved that.

We are stressing somewhat with Shayne in school right now. He just doesn't want to do his work. I would appreciate any prayers or advice you could give us. We're working on it with incentives at home but so far that hasn't helped too much. He has good days and bad days. Just needs to have more good right now.

Scouts are in full swing now. I enjoy being a leader. It's my last year since they will move up to Boy Scouts next year. I think Shayne is looking forward to that because he wants to camp a lot. Only thing is he's spoiled with our pop up and sleeping on the ground in a tent is much different.

Nothing else is new in our boring little world. I'm actually feeling blessed by the boring part right now.

pictures

We spent time working in the yard today. Star thought she needed to help and tried to eat every weed that we pulled out. It was fun. Then later tonight she brought a cricket into the house with her. We couldn't figure out what she was looking for near the tv and then we found the cricket...it was still alive. Shayne was our hero and put it outside.

A little tired

Well, it wasn't too bad working 5 days a week. I am a little tired this weekend but hoping that I'll adjust soon and my energy will pick back up. Preschool was better this week. By Thursday only one little girl cried and it was only for 10 minutes...Yeah!! It makes things so much easier. I think I'm going to enjoy my class this year. I've got a couple boys who can't sit still or pay attention but I'm determined to get a good hold of that. They are actually very funny. One boy says his name is Sonic the hedgehog and the other is alway asking very grown up questions. He wanted to know if God did magic or if God sent out the army. Those are tough ?'s.

Shayne had a harder time at school this week. He just won't do his work. I'm very stressed out about it. We're trying to come up with ideas or incentives to get him working and some days are better than others. Pray for us. 5th grade is a tough adjustment for him.

Shayne, Star and I went to Creve Couer Park today while Jeff played in the Camp golf tournament. Shayne fished and Star did some swimming. The only thing Shayne caught was a very large log which was so tangled in his line I had to help him figure it out. We threw it back in afterwards and Shayne said he caught the biggest fish in the lake, a Logfish. It was a great day to be at the park.
Hope your happy now Ed....I'll try to post new blogs more often.

The past week

Seems like I don't have much to blog about but we have had a busy week. Shayne did good in school this week. He's been stuggling some to do his work in class. We're working on that.
Preschool is in full swing now. I have 8 kids in my class and 2 little girls are criers. So most of
the 2 days I have sat at the table with a kid on each knee. Thursday was a little better than Tuesday. Hopefully the tears won't last long. It makes it so difficult to teach. Then on Monday,Wednesday, Friday now I'm working at Bookmark in St Charles. This coming week will
be my 1st week of working 5 days a week. I'm enjoying the bookstore so far. It's hard not to have a pile of things to buy each day but so far I've controlled myself.

The weekend was busy between the Camp garage sale and volleyball tournament. Plus going
to the carnival near Jeff's parents house. The rain put a damper on the carnival but I wasn't sad
about leaving. We love to go though and it's at Jeff's old grade school so he usually sees some
old friends. That's what I love about the Camp stuff too. It was great seeing those special friends from camp!! Nancy sure has worked hard this weekend for camp. Thanks Nancy!!
You rock!!

A Day at the Fair

Shayne wants to fly an A10 Thunderbolt 2 when he grows us so he climbed up and check out things in the cockpit....Mom of course, is freaked out about this idea but he has an awesome passion for planes. We go to the Fair and Airshow every Labor Day weekend. We love it. Today was actually pretty nice weather...did get hot though. I tried very hard to get a great picture of the Blue Angels and as you can see I got it...with a pole right in the middle.

Finally got what I think is a pretty good picture of the Blue Angels. They put on a very exciting show. They are worth seeing if you get a chance.

We had an awesome day. Shayne's buddy Adrian went with us too. And we always go with Grandpa Rog and Uncle Jason.

Looking forward to relaxing the rest of our Labor Day weekend. Hope everyone is enjoying theirs too.

Off to a good start

So far school has been fine. Shayne loves his teacher Mrs. Foster. He comes home with funny stories about her or the class everyday. 5th grade will be tough filled with lots of homework. If Shayne and I can get through each day without fighting about it then it's a good day.

Our biggest excitement every week lately has been taking Star to doggie training. It's funny to watch all the dogs. Star has made a friend with one dog that sits next to us and sometimes they get in trouble for distracting the rest of the class.

I go back to preschool tuesday to start getting my room ready.
Guess its a good thing that we've had uneventful things. Reading Angie's blog makes me happy for a slow paced life right now.

Shayne's a lego maniac

Shayne has spent a lot of time lately building things with his legos. He amazes me with things he makes. Sometimes he follows directions and sometimes he makes things up. This spaceship was partially done with directions and partially on his own. I love watching him use his imagination and work hard building "masterpieces" Good job Shayne.

a few more pictures

I am slowly figuring out how to do this blog stuff. Forgot to mention that Shayne and I went to Lion King Musical at the Fox Theatre. We both loved it and Shayne was very impressed with both the production and the theatre itself. Shayne and Jeff also went with Uncle Dave, Matt, Emma and Brandon to the airshow at Scott Air Force Base. That is right up Shayne's alley. He wants to be a fighter pilot when he grows up...yikes!!

Where has the summer gone

We've sure had a busy and fun summer. Started out with working at Camp Ne-O-Tez for PreCamp and then taking a short trip to Santa Claus,IN. We loved both. Jeff visited inspirtation point this year for the 1st time at camp. In Indiana we went to Holiday World. Shayne and I rode an awesome roller coaster and lots of other rides. They also had a water park. It is an awesome place and pretty inexpensive if you ever get a change to go there. They have 3 really good wooden roller coasters. Once we were done with our trip then we picked up Star and have enjoyed watching her grow. We've done a few short camping trips and Shayne has spent lots of time playing with friends. Shayne and Jeff were in the 4th of July parade with scouts and a few days later we had a 75th bday party for my mom. That was fun and almost all our family was able to be there (missed you Betit's) Seems like July and August flew by and now school is back in session. Hope all of you are enjoying your summer too. Hopefully the extreme heat stays away!!

Another picture

He sure looks handsome and grown up to me. Makes me sad. I want him to stay little.

1st day of 5th grade

Can't believe Shayne started 5th grade today. He just got home and said he had a good day and that he likes his teacher. It was a HOT bus ride and all the kids got a bottle of water to drink on the bus. Our thermometer which is directly in the sun read 113 today. It's been miserable.
Jeff fixed Shayne belguim waffles for breakfast and we all walked him to the bus. While he was eating breakfast he was starting to get excited about being a 5th grader this year. Unfortunately he had homework on the 1st day...welcome to 5th grade buddy!! Better get him started.

Camping

We went camping this week in the horrible heat. Actually Thursday wasn't so bad. We did a 4 mile float trip and then spent the rest of the day swimming in the Meramec River. It was refreshing and didn't feel terribly hot while we were at the river. Shayne had a lot of fun. Floating was his favorite thing. We camped at Onondage Cave State Park and it wasn't too bad. It's a great campground. Star loved the water and spent lots of time swimming and sleeping. She was great.
Only 5 days till Shayne starts school. He is not so happy about it. Preschool called this week and still needs a teacher so I'm going back. Guess that's where God wants me. I do love the kids. So I'll be going back to school also, but not till after Labor Day.

THE BIG 40

I turned 40 today. So far, it doesn't feel any different that 39. I do feel very blessed though. I have a wonderful family, great husband and awesome son and many special friends. I truly feel conent with what I have- of course, having more is always ok, but I have all I need. Jeff gave me a gift card today for Kohl's. I'm excited to spend it...maybe even get something trendy that doesn't make me look 40!!
So far, I'm enjoying my day except for the fact that I dropped a can of soda and it exploded all over my kitchen giving extra work today...oh well...go figure!!
Happy 40th today too to my good friend Shelley Ginn. Hope your day is wonderful too!! Love ya!!