Dance party 09

He’s a maniac, maniac on the floor

For the past few weeks, Jack has been involved in his first organized sport. Although neither his dad nor I ever played soccer, this was the sport Jack begged to play.

[yes, they are playing indoors on a basketball court…the weather has been poor lately and we (the parents)  are all just wanting to finish the season]

I wasn’t real sure how he would like it, but as the weeks have gone on, Jack has become more and more intense with regards to the sport.

His favorite position is goalie; although, I’m not real sure it doesn’t stress the poor kid out. The ball doesn’t make it his way very often; in fact, the ball stays mostly out of bounds during the four-five-and-six-year-old games. But when it does make it down his way, Jack ends up…well…you’ll see in the following video -

What he’s doing with his feet, or where he even got that from…I have no idea. If it wasn’t so cute and funny, it might just be embarrassing.

Tony Chestnut

Jack’s elementary school hosted their 8th annual poetry night yesterday evening. Although the following video is not really a poem, it is still too stinkin’ cute!

Torturing our children one holiday at a time

We kicked off our holiday weekend by attending Oklahoma’s oldest rodeo right here in small town America.

Jack, at the last minute, decided he wanted to Mutton Bust – of course, he insisted on having a cowboy outfit as well…and being the great parents we are, we gave the boy what he wanted. From Wikipedia: Mutton busting is an event held at rodeos similar to bull riding or bronc riding. In the event, a sheep will be caught and held still while a child is placed on top in a riding position. Once the child is seated atop the sheep, the people holding the sheep let go and the sheep then starts to run in an attempt to get the child off. Often small prizes or ribbons are given out to the child who can stay on the longest.

Sounds harmless enough…

or not. After watching child after child after child give it a go, only to get trampled and come away screaming, I’ve decided that this could be considered legalized child abuse. Maybe Jack won’t want to participate again next year…maybe.

Of course the torturing of our children did not end there…

Even though our 4th of July was rainy and damp, the festivities went on as planned.  This is the one day of the year when daddy gets full reign, and mommy just has to sit back and pray that at the end of the evening her family will still have all of their limbs intact. Despite a few minor mishaps, I am happy to report that we are all still standing.

A little song and dance

VBS (or VDS as Jack likes to call it – but that’s a whole other story for another time) ended last night with a slideshow which Jack was thrilled to see himself in, a little program put on by the kids,

a barbeque, and a blow-up-slide. Even though Jack had a wonderful time and is sad to see it over, I can’t help but rejoice because that was almost two hours, if not more, spent in the car a day. For someone who doesn’t really like driving, that is a lot of time in the car, people.

Monkey-see, monkey-do

Also known as – my kids have serious issues.

My niece celebrated her birthday this past weekend with her friends from school. She had it at a gym where the kids could just roam free and pretty much do as they pleased. There were trampolines, zip lines, “pits”, and best of all padded walls. Neeless to say, the kids loved it!

Story time

Thinking Outside the Box

The weather here has been absolutely crazy…of course, what else is new? After all, we are talking about Oklahoma here.

Last Monday the temps were in the 80s. The sun was shining and it felt like spring.

Then by Thursday, we received a ton of snow…well, a ton for us anyway. The boys were so excited. So when they got home from their Mother’s Day Out program, I dressed them in “snow” clothes and took them out to the backyard to play.

Everything was going great. Jack was making snow angels   and playing with his truck. And the boys even somewhat cooperated (of course never at the same time) for a few pics.

Beau is now into waving at the camera  and Jack, well, he’s just… Jack. At one moment he’ll cheese  for you and the next minute he’s…well…he’s gone. He’s gotten bored with the whole pic thing and has moved on to something else.  What can I say? He’s four… and a boy : )

Anyway, like I said, things were great and then…Beau decided to go for a swim…in the mud (excuse the blurry photo, I was debating on whether to take the pic or to scoop him up…the pic obviously won out but I think I was trying to do both) Needless to say that was the end of our outdoor play time and by the next day the snow had melted away.

Since then it has been chilly and overcast and the boys are still dying to be outside. So much so, that they have even taken to creating their own indoor playground.

Drama King

Apparently, Beau would rather keel over and die than lose his pacifier.

This is going to be harder than I thought.

Hilarious

By far the funniest Superbowl Commercial!

The family that bowls together...

well, if nothing else, they at least share a good laugh together.

I promise (I think) this will be the last post of our trip to New York. (Try not to get too excited!)

We really did not do too much sightseeing while we were up there over the holidays. Which is probably a good thing too, or else I would still have another 10 posts yet to do before I was caught up...which conjointly means you would have had yet another 10 posts to read about our trip that happened two weeks ago. : )

At the beginning of the week the snow was at least eight inches deep and us Southern-born-and-bred people, well, we just don't drive in that stuff. It's dangerous. For everyone.

Anyway, Christmas was Thursday and we left on Sunday - so really, that left us very little time to "do" much. We managed to squeeze in a trip to West Point...which coincidentally was closed, except for the visitor's center.





We drove through Sleepy Hollow...you know, the home of the Headless Horseman. It was really very beautiful.



And we went bowling.



Now, you must know something about my family: we are all extremely competitive people. Even growing-up, we, as a family-unit, pretty much avoided any and all family activities centered around our competing against one another: no board games, no putt-putt golf, no bowling, etc, etc, etc.

So this trip to the bowling alley was really a first for us. We have my hubby to thank for that. I'm forever baffled by the things he introduces to my family. We show him the world. He shows us things like fishing and bowling. (lol) - (I love that man!)



Anyway, the boys played on one lane. And us girls...



well, we played on the bumper-lane with Jack. We're good about making sacrifices like that.

Dad sat nearby and refereed (just in case things got too out of hand).



And all was fine until we found out Aunt Kim was some kind of professional bowler (or at least the spawn of one).



We quickly kicked her off our lane and sent her to play with the boys.



She wouldn't talk to us the rest of the afternoon.



Who needed her for entertainment, anyway?...We had Jack!!

Happy Halloween?!

Jack told me he had made a "special song" just for me. Apparently, Jack is a little confused about what holiday it is.

You'd think the tree behind him would give it away...not so much

Party pooper

Jack, even though his birthday is not until Monday, got to celebrate his turning four at Mother's Day Out today.

Privileges, like being the line leader, are awarded to you on your special day. There is also singing and blowing out of candles (or rather a candle - and it took him a couple of times but eventually he did get it blown out).

And there is even cake (provided by me of course)...

which Jack ultimately chose not to eat because he would get messy (what can I say? - he is his mother's son);

however, Beau could have cared less if it made him messy (he, without a doubt, is his father's son).

And by the way, have I mentioned I believe in prearranged marriages? When Beau turns 30, this is who he is allowed to marry.Dayona is a sassy little thing who will surely keep Beau in line (plus, I really like her parents).

Little Drummer Boy

Jack obviously winding down for bed...

And yes, he will kill me for this later. (lol)

Let the festivities begin (a weekend recap)

This weekend was a whirlwind of activities. From entertaining and overeating to decorating and shopping, it seems like I packed as much as humanly possible into the past few days. Needless to say I am exhausted. I am about to down my second Pepsi of the day (yes, I realize it is only 9:30 in the morning - but I just don't do coffee) and start the holiday cooking and cleaning...wahoo!(rolling eyes)

I am almost done decorating the house for Christmas. I realize it is slightly early but the boys were at school until 2:45 Thursday, and I may never get another chance like that again.

Plus, on top of that, I am done Christmas shopping for the boys (spoiled brats)!!! I HATE, and I do mean HATE, shopping after Thanksgiving - the crowds, the lines, the disheveled shoppers - it seriously puts me in a bah-humbug mood. Saturday night we had our second Thanksgiving dinner over at Josh's aunt and uncle's house (our first was last weekend at Church - needless to say, it is past time to put away the scales).

And Sunday my crazy brother and his wife came over for a little visit. They are in from New York and staying with her family, so it was so nice to see them, if only for a few hours.While they were here, they presented Jack with some early birthday presents. If you have boys and they are over the age of 3, Geo Trax are the best! It keeps Jack entertained for hours. He absolutely loved his new airplanes toys to go along with the rest of his set. And Beau, well, he simply liked opening Jack's gifts.

Okay, the last little bit was supposed to read "Can't wait to see you all in December"; not "Can't wait to see you al" - I don't know who "al" is, but I am too lazy and busy to go back and fix it. You get the gist though.