Tuesday, December 15, 2009

pictures to go with last post...

As promised here's the latest photos.....

This is Meara in her Christmas dress just being cute little Meara!


Kings and Angel from nativity play at church program last week.


photo shoot for Christmas card photo
nope...
nope...
no....
almost there......

decorating the tree, it was Emma's turn to put the angel on top!






Dagan and Ty braved the freezing cold to decorate the outside of the house.
We did family photos last weekend so hopefully we will have some of those up here soon to show everyone. Fingers crossed we got some good ones. We had so much fun doing them I can't imagine they aren't great.
We are now all done with Christmas programs, piano playing, singing and picture taking at least until all the Christmases and birthday we have coming up.....
Watch this space for more of our crazy lives!!!

Monday, December 7, 2009

Missed a whole month!

Ok so apparently I missed the entire month of November. Let see what's been happening since I posted last when we were all sick! Hmmmm we were home for a full 9 days stuck in the house so I'll blame the non-posting on that!!!

Lets see.......since then, I started a job, Ty started a job, I went to CO for a girly weekend away, Ty went to Arkansas to help a friend work for a couple days, Ty went hunting, I went to mom's early to help out because my grandma is in the hospital, Ty drove down to TX by himself with the 4 kids in Thanksgiving traffic and OK construction.......phew! That's about it! That's the short version at least.

I started working at the High School library and its been fun so far. It is a different dynamic at the school as a staff member than as a parent, so its been interesting (in a good way). Ty started working as the Parts Manager at the local Chevy dealership. He's been getting them in order and organized (*gasp*) over there and I think he's been enjoying it too. So different than anything he's done before but I think he likes it. About a week after I started working I went for 4 days to Colorado for a scrapbooking weekend with friends and it was SO much fun. I had a great time, relaxed, laughed, got a lot of work done (amazingly enough) and spent some much needed quality time with one of my very bestest girl friends! You can take a look at what I got done here: http://www.scrapbook.com/myplace/index.php?mod=galleries&u=388043&a=222815&page=1

Hopefully that works. I know there is a probably a really good way to do that and make it look better but I don't know how so you get the whole address.

After I got back from CO on Sunday, Ty left for Arkansas on Tuesday early in the morning to help Eric out at his office there. While he was there I got a call from my mom saying that grandma had a stroke and was in the hospital. We were all supposed to go down there for Thanksgiving but instead of driving down with Ty I flew down a few days early to help mom with the driving back and forth to the hospital and to spend some time with my grandma. She is not doing very good at all. She had a massive stroke and has deep brain injuries from it. There is little to no recognition at all and when I looked in her eyes she just looked so scared and confused. I hated seeing her like that. Doing things like that are most definitely not my strong suit, I'm not good at it, I break down and hospitals make me nervous but I did it and survived. Two almost three weeks later there has been no change at all. She is not in pain so that is good but inside she must be miserable, not being able to speak or talk with her family has got to be killing her inside. I know it is out of my control, someone much bigger has it taken care of and when its time, He will bring her home to be with Him and my grandpa. In the mean time however I pray we all have patience and that she is as comfortable as possible! I was always really close to my grandma and grandpa both so its really hard to watch them deteriorate like this. She taught me how to sew, how to crochet (although I never could get the hang of that), she started teaching my girls how to crochet too and honestly they are better than I am! She was in the middle of making Dagan's and Meara's quilts to match Emma and Austyn's. She was the one that taught me how to love my husband and what a good marriage was all about. She taught me how to pray and that it was perfectly ok to just have a conversation with God, as if he was sitting next to you chatting. She taught me how to respect my elders and speak with respect, to appreciate what I had and to respect my parents. Even when I was angry at them as a child she would never let me speak disrespectfully about them, or anyone else for that matter. She was strict and opinionated and I adore her as much today as I did then.

ok on that very sad note, I have to go before I start crying! I will try to get pictures up here soon of us decorating the house and the tree for Christmas.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Sick....blak....yuck...hack...cough.....yuck!!!

Ok so the entire family is sick. Emma started all the fun over the weekend, her best friend was home from school sick on Friday so we blame them (hahaha only kidding Gina!) So it all started with coughs, dry, wretched sounding, horrible unproductive coughs, one by one each 'big' kid gets it, then the fevers start, nothing so high that its scary but high enough, then the mommy and daddy start getting it! There is little worse than an entire household full of sick whiny people. And then there is the poor sweet baby, she was so strong for almost the whole week, we were feeling like she was pretty lucky, on top of the fact she is likely the most healthy, has the best diet of anyone else and gets good sleep etc. But then yesterday the fever and poor but still a little cute sounding cough. Poor girl! Still though, even when we all know she didn't feel good she still smiles. Her little eyes are perfect windows to whats really going on inside, it is so clear that she doesn't feel well but she is still so smiley and sweet. I hate that she is sick but wow she is an amazing child to still be able to smile at you like that. I am really really proud of all the kids to be honest. I've never heard such terrible coughs, you'd swear they were trying to cough up their toenails from the inside out, but they have been so brave and helpful to each other, sharing the blankets and tissues, being a lot more tolerant of whats on tv and watching shows that one doesn't like just because another one does and hopes that will make them feel better. Emma has had the cough the worst of everyone but still very little complaints, she listens to what we tell her and does whatever she can, even laying down for a nap which she HATES, just to help in the healing process. Its been the worst for them at night when they lay down the cough gets worse. I could say, hands down, they have all had more medicine this last week than in their entire life times combined. Poor pitiful things. Thankfully we don't think it was swine flu but some kind of flu for sure. It was definitely a weird something for sure. All the symptoms started on Saturday, today is Friday so hopefully we are about finished with it all. The big kids coughs are slowly starting to ease up a little bit but it has been a painful process for sure. So far too the baby's symptoms seem to be not as bad or as rough sounding but we're watching it close. It was helpful that school was closed this week so they weren't missing anything but there are a million things I can think of that would be so much better way to spend a week out of school than staying locked up in a house with 5 and now 6 sick people. The silver lining....maybe we are getting it all out of the way now and we'll ALL be healthy for the rest of cold/flu season! Fingers crossed!!!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Happy 6th Birthday Sweet Boy


Six years ago today we were holding this sweet little guy! He was such a chubby little thing, with big chipmunk cheeks and full of grins! His two big sisters were SO proud of him.


On Dagan's first birthday he had WAY too much fun with his cake, it was everywhere, even up his nose!!!


Dagan always has a smile for everyone. Always full of energy and very silly and the first to try to make us laugh. Dagan is the most lovable little guy and is full of hugs and cuddles!

You are such crazy boy, flying around like an airplane or zooming your cars around the kitchen floor under my feet. You are full of life, high spirited and LOVE your race cars.
You were so excited, you could hardly contain yourself waiting for Cars to come to the cinema in town. We counted down the minutes til it started. This picture is of you right before the movie started. Your enthusiasm was just barely contained!!!

Such a handsome little guy. You are growing up way too fast! What happened to my cuddly baby boy?
I think you really wanted a baby brother when we had Meara but I've never seen a child more proud of anyone than you were at that moment! You are such a great big brother! I love watching you play with her, showing her your cars and letting her play with even your most prized race car and trains.
My sweet baby boy is 6 today and I have no idea where the time has gone. It still seems like you should be just barely toddling around and crawling up into my lap to 'read' a story and cuddle. I miss that little bity guy sometimes but you are growing up into such a sweet, loving and smart young man! Even though your energy can be overwhelming at times, it is what makes you YOU and I adore you sweet Dagan! I hope your birthday is full of fun today and the coming year is full of adventure and blessings.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Sad post this time

Ok so this post is a little different than my normal posts. The last several weeks have been pretty tough around here. Ty's dad, Mike, had been struggling more than normal and we all knew that he was really getting worse, quickly. Week before last was a bad week, thankfully on Thursday when Ty took the kids by to see him he did recognize them and talked to them a little but even they knew that Papa was not doing very good. Then, on Friday he didn't move at all. He was asleep, or something, all day, he didn't move at all and was completely non responsive. We lost him early Saturday morning. Even though we all knew this day was coming, it didn't help the grieving any. We waited a week to have the services so that Melissa and Avery (our niece and her mom) and other family and friends could make it here. I think each of us had good days and bad days. I do believe there is a good reason why when someone passes away, you have the services sooner rather than later, the waiting is tough. The memorial services were beautiful. By our best calculations there was somewhere around 130-150 people there. We picked out two great songs, The Best Days, by George Strait and Go Rest High by Vince Gill. A very good friend was kind enough to sing at the service too which was just beautiful. Mike was a huge lover of all things outdoors. He loved camping and fishing and boy scouts and he lovingly passed on that love to his boys. They decided the best place to put his ashes for the service was in an old Coleman lantern. A perfect touch I thought. One of Mike's wishes had always been to have some of his ashes poured into the family's flagpole at the cemetery. So, late Saturday afternoon, with the help of a friend, that is exactly what the boys did! Bob lifted them up to the top of the pole and using Mike's favorite coffee cup, Ty and Tad poured Mike's ashes down the pole. Poor Tad is deathly afraid of heights, so we were all impressed that he was even able to go up in the bucket, but he sucked it up and did it! (However there may be permanent impressions from Tad's fingers) Although it was a very sad occasion, lots of tears were shed and hugs given, I felt very lucky that I was even there and able to say that I had known Mike. He got a new heart 15 years ago this week, but if some other family in Iowa had not lost a member of their family or honored their son's wishes and allowed his heart to be donated, Mike's funeral would have been years ago. If that had happened, I would not have had a father-in-law at all, he would have been gone before I was part of the family. Mike was a tough old guy, he was opinionated, loud and sometimes harsh, but we loved him, a lot! He also had a BIG heart, he adored his family, doted over his grandchildren, had a special place in his heart for all his 'girls' and we put him in a special place in ours! You were loved Papa Mike and we will miss you terribly. I truly hope you have found the perfect fishing spot and are loving life now that you are healthy once more. Until we see you again, rest in peace!





Pictures from Austyn's Birthday

Here are just a few pics to share:


First time to have blueberries! I think she liked them???

Austyn's Birthday pictures to go with previous post....


We took the girls (and Dagan) to dinner and movie for Austyn's birthday, instead of doing a big party.

Early scrapbook lover........

Dagan's first lost tooth!!! He pulled it himself and was very proud of himself!

Friday, August 28, 2009

Birthday Angel

I can't believe Austyn turns 7 on Sunday. We brought cupcakes, lemonade and treat bags up to her class today and the entire walk from the car I kept looking down at the candles in the cupcakes and thinking that can't be right......Ty? She's 7, is that right? I must have asked him 3 times walking from the car. It just didn't look right. How could 7 years have passed since our sweet angel Austyn blessed our family. She has a friend over for a sleepover tonight, then we are taking her, and 3 friends, Emma and Dagan to dinner and movie tomorrow night. On Sunday we will have lunch and birthday cakes (and possibly a few presents) after church. By Sunday afternoon I'm sure she will feel very well celebrated! We are so very lucky to have been given such a precious gift as our sweet 7 year old Austyn!

Pictures of all our little parties to come.......

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

School, Friends and Finally some crafting!!!

Ok so I have pretty much stunk at updating much this summer....honestly I don't even have a good excuse either! Here's what we've been doing. We took a week right before school started and went to visit friends in Arkansas and then dropped down to Texas to visit the grandparents for a few days. It was a short visit but we had a good time. Right when we got back one of Ty's childhood best friends came to KS for a visit (they live in Canada so it was a great treat to see them again). We tried to remember and I think it had been about 9 years since we'd seen eachother or met eachothers kids! It was a wonderful afternoon, thunder/hail storm and all!!!
Almost all our kids (Macy wouldn't join in the group)
The whole crew!

Andy, Chad and Ty
Here are a few pictures from the lake with Grandad...
I love this picture of Dagan & my Dad!!!
Helping build the 'sandcastle'
Meara didn't get to play in the sand or the water much but she sure had a good time!
Water fight....this was taken just moments after Emma threw a whole bucket of water on Granddad!
We stayed at grandmas too and played and hung out by the pool but apparently I was too lazy to ever get up and get the camera because I got home with no pictures from there or Arkansas!!! Hate that!
As a reward for reading so much this summer (over 50 books each!) Auntie Carol took the kids to the Salt Mines in Hutchison. It was such a cool tour and the kids really had fun (and even learned stuff...shhhhhh!) Heres a couple pictures from that day too.
It is still a working mine so we had to wear hardhats and have emergency breathing thingys.

And then it was time for school to start! I've never seen kids as excited as they were to get back to school! Long may it last! When I picked them up from school the girls chattered non-stop about what they did, their teachers, their friends, lunch, recess.......you get the idea! Dagan says mom I was a good boy ALL day I used my NEW listening ears almost the whole time. Almost? I said, yes he said the rest of the time I used my OLD listening ears! Really, and where did you get the NEW listening ears.....at the EARS store. ROFL!!!! He was so funny, grinning from ear to ear!
And no that isn't a TV over their heads in the background, it is a picture hanging on the wall with a reflection on it.
And finally a couple new pictures of our new crawling Meara! She is growing WAY too fast, I can't believe she is already crawling!!!


And as if that wasn't enough......I finally got some scrapbooking done. Good news I got several layouts done for Aunt Donna's book, bad news it isn't catching me up on my stuff any but it is always fun to work with baby photos and Mya is such a cutie! You can check out the layouts (I think) here: http://www.scrapbook.com/myplace/index.php?mod=galleries Hopefully that works.....Ok I think that's it for now, I might have more pages added to that gallery if I can get myself organized and back to the table to craft this afternoon...we'll see!