Just a Quick Update

I've had a hard time getting myself to get back onto blogging. Since Dad passed away suddenly 2 weeks ago on Father's Day, I haven't been much in the mood to do anything, especially blog. But I thought I better give a quick update so you know that I am still here. Our family is going through many changes right now with Dad's passing. Change sucks. No matter how you put it. It simply sucks. My family has been spending a lot of time together, and I think it's been really good for us. We are surrounded by each other and I think that's important right now. We are an extremely tight family and are depending on each other to get through this. I never imagined that Dad would die so suddenly. We feel like "orphans" with both Dad and Mom being gone.

We survived our trip to DisneyWorld. We had a good time. The kids were really good for the most part. They liked flying. Blake finally got warmed up to all of the big rides (after chickening out on 2 of them). Brooke was game for anything. But heat and Brooke aren't best friends. She is very hot-blooded so by about Wednesday she was ready to come home. I took lots of pictures. It's sad because the whole excitement of our vacation doesn't seem much too important right now. In fact I don't know if I could tell you what we did on each day. I do have a lot of pictures to post once I get motivated.

Brooke and Blake survived their first Steer Show yesterday. Jeff and Grandpa John went into the show ring with them since it was their first show. No crying or dropping of the lead rope so I call it a pretty successful day! There were lots of animals and people and I thought the kids did really well. 4H Fair is the week after July 4th so we still have lots of work to do - including a 4H Family Poster that I haven't started on and some Aerospace project that Blake has to make to present to the judge. I'm not good at those types of things. Guess I'll throw together something this week!

This is our last week of our regular softball season. Tournament is the same week of the 4H Fair. That will be fun, huh?? Not. Blake hit the game winning hit and had an RBI that won the game last week. I wasn't there due to Brooke's dance recital, but I heard all about it! Several times! He's pretty upset with me for not being there, but I can't be both places at once - as much as I wish I could!

One of my dear friends sent me a card after Dad died with the most meaningful quote I think I've ever heard. It just sums Dad up in a nutshell. I wish everyone had the opportunity to know my Dad. He was truly the most wonderful and generous person I have ever known. There will never be anyone that can fill his shoes... and no one that would ever try for that matter because they all know it couldn't be done. I thought I'd share it with you.

"He didn't teach me to live. He lived and let me watch him do it."

I promise to post some pictures in the next couple days. Until then...

Here we come, Mickey!

Well, we are down to the wire! We leave tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. for Magic Kingdom. I hope I'll be ready by then. I cannot tell you how excited Brooke is. She keeps randomly coming up to me and will jump up and down and hug me telling me how excited she is to go. I know we will have a lot of fun, it's just a little stressful getting everything ready. Mom always told me "They sell it there" so if I forget something, I'll have to pick it up there. There is just one wrench in the plan..... I have this infected tooth that is in a major flare up right now. I won't even tell you how much medicine I took last night between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. because I should really be dead from all of it. I didn't sleep too well because it hurt so bad. The pain medicine that I took just took the edge off, it didn't kill the pain altogether so I just laid in bed not even able to lift my arms or open my eyes because I was so doped up! I called the emergency number to the oral surgeon at 6:30 this morning. I'm sure he loved that! He is in Chicago at a conference until 4:00 today. He said that I could come in to his office at 7:30 tomorrow morning and he will pull it. He said it should be fine by the time we take off for Disney. He also told me that all of this medicine is just being eaten by the infection and that it's not doing me any good. He said I won't have relief until it's out of there. He was soooo nice about it. He said that he will be back at 4 today so if I'm still in a lot of pain I can call him back. So Brooke offered to help do chores and wash the steers in the morning with Jeff and my sister Carrie (who lives 1 hr. 15 mins. away!) is coming to take me to the oral surgeon. It shouldn't take too long and I've never had any problems having a tooth pulled so hopefully it will go smoothly..... because at 12:30 we are on a plane to Orlando!

One of the good things about going on vacation is that you get to replenish your sock and underwear supply. We have to pick up a couple things today in town to help that situation. I only buy undies about every 3 years so I was excited to get some new ones! I probably won't like them because they aren't my usual kind. There's nothing worse than wearing uncomfy undies either! Oh well I guess. Wish me luck tomorrow with my tooth! And with flying! And with flying with 2 kids who have never flown before!!

Our new morning routine

For the past several days, our morning routine has had quite a change! Last Sunday morning we started washing the kids' 4H steers. It's been quite an adventure. I really do like doing it, but getting up between 6 and 6:30 will be getting old soon! I've learned quite a few new words and ways of getting "steers to do what we want". If things don't go Jeff's way, it can get pretty ugly. This morning Brooke was out with us. I'm sure Blake was thinking of us through the back of his eyelids! Jeff was really good at showing her what to do. She is still pretty nervous, but she acted like she liked washing and blowing. Here are a few pics of her.

Just a Little Rambling....

Not much to post tonight. It was a pretty quiet day here today. We spent the majority of it at Dad's house trying to get it cleaned up a little bit. As I was cleaning, I was thinking to myself how fun it used to be to clean at Mom and Dad's when Mom was alive. It's just not the same anymore. She would have been bossing me around, telling me to move this & that, to NOT throw that away, and telling me what spots I missed. I sure miss her. It was kind of weird because yesterday when Brooke got her team/class pictures from Volleyball Camp, I thought I needed to take it out to show Mom. I guess I am just really missing her right now. Anyway, Dad's house is much cleaner for him and Bo-Bo.

Another thing, how am I ever going to get ready to go to Disney World on Monday? How CAN I get ready when I can't get out of the bathroom? Nerves I guess. And now Jeff is making me feel really guilty about going without him. He HATES Disney World. I don't know why he is having second thoughts. I guess I just don't need to worry about it. He had his chance to go when I first mentioned it last fall. He's the one that said he would be too busy. I think he will feel better once it dries up and he can start spraying his crops.

I had to go to the dentist today because I've had a tooth that has really been bothering me. Long story short, I have to make an appointment with the oral surgeon to have it "extracted". Isn't that a gut-wrenching term? I guess it has some infection in it so I have to be on an antibiotic. The kicker to the whole story is that he told me that I could have another big flare up on the plane. He said that the changes in air pressure can really affect teeth if you have a problem in there. Oh Lovely. Now how mad will I be if I get all the way to Orlando and have a stupid toothache? He said that I could call him if I had trouble and he would call me in a prescription for pain pills! What the hell? How am I supposed to get them? Will Mickey Mouse deliver them to my door? I'm going to tank up on Tylenol before I even get on that plane. Like I'm not nervous enough about flying (I hate it and my kids have never flown), but now this just makes it worse!

By the way, I read so many blogs and they are all full of these wonderful pictures of the bloggers and their children. Have you noticed how there hasn't been a pic of me on this site? Well that's because I don't have any. When my kids were younger I always said that if something happened to me, they wouldn't remember me because there aren't any pictures of me. Maybe I'll get a couple good shots of me and the kids in Disney World. Doubt it, but hopeful.

Well it's time to get the kids to bed. They are both exhausted, as am I! They had friends spend the night last night so we are pooped!

Growing Up Too Fast!

Yes, I have an almost 10 year old, 4th grade daughter! I feel so old! I cannot believe that she has grown up this fast. The other night Jeff asked me where the last 9 years had gone? I told him it has gone sooooo fast. This is a picture of the girls at Field Day. It just doesn't do them justice. They are so tall and are starting to look so mature. Brooke has gone to Volleyball Camp at the high school every morning this week. She really didn't want to go, but ended up having such a good time. I watched them at the end of camp today and they looked like they were having such a good time. Brooke is such a funny girl. She has a great personality and sense of humor, and I need to remind myself of that as she is sassing to me, which is happening more frequently! What are the teenage years going to be like? Now, Brooke on the other hand, is my "eater". She doesn't like too much sugar. She prefers water, meat, fruit, and vegetables. Oh, and she loves peanut butter & jelly sandwiches! Oh and pancakes, too!

My Redneck Boy

Tonight as I was doing chores, I looked out and saw Blake absolutely stuck in a big ole' mudhole full of mud and manure. I immediately yelled at him to get his shirt off because he had on one of his new ones that I got just last week. I could just imagine how hard it would be to get the manure out of that one! I know he took advantage of the opportunity to have his shirt off. He is always asking me if he can take off his shirt, it might be 60 degrees and he's wanting to run around without a shirt. He thought it was pretty cool to be riding that four wheeler "skins"! If he only knew how redneck he really did look! He is so darn skinny. You can see every rib and every bit of his backbone once you get up close! He is out there ripping around right now. He is such a funny kid!
You've never met anyone that likes sugar more than he does. We got a box of 100 freezer pops yesterday (yes, he had to call Aunt Cathi on her phone to tell her that) and I bet he has only 50 left. I keep finding the plastic wrappers all over the house. There were even 2 floating in a mud puddle outside tonight. Yesterday he went with me to get groceries, it was just the two of us. He was really good, but he wanted to buy absolutely every type of junk food there is. He bought a box of John Deere fruit snacks and asked if he could buy another box to give to our friend Joel because he is a salesman at John Deere. Some of his other favorites include apple pie, ice cream, pop, pop, pop, pop, ice cream, apple pie, fruit snacks, fruit loops (now he really likes the new yogurt covered fruit loops), strawberries, freezer pops, and McDonalds cheeseburgers. I know I repeated some of those, but those are seriously about all he will eat! I did make a strawberry pie that he is pretty excited about digging into later tonight. Lately he's been wanting to lay by me at night and "snuggle" as he calls it. He wants me to rub his back and he's out like a light! He has such a sweet side....... in addition to his ornery streak!

Ballet Recitals

This weekend Brooke and Rachel both have their annual Dance Recitals. Rachel has been dancing since she was almost 5 and Brooke started then, too, but she did take a couple years off and now has been dancing again for 3 years. Rachel dances in Monmouth and Brooke in Aledo. I happened upon this picture and just had to share it. It's of their first recital when they were 5! How cute were they??!! They are a tad bit bigger now, but it's sure fun to see what they were like 4 1/2 years ago!!

Me Again!

Gosh, I've really been bad at updating. Not that anyone reads my blog anyway, but I guess I feel better if I post something. I don't have any pictures to put up right now, but hopefully I will get to that later today! I'm trying to get some things accomplished now that we are out of school. YES, we are OUT of SCHOOL!!! Friday was our last day. Our weekend was spent watching the UHS Girls Softball team play for the State Championship. They got 2nd place. Wow, what an accomplishment! We only have 1 week until our Disney Trip and there are many things I want to get done before then. I have been wanting to get Blake's closet cleaned out. I was afraid of what was lurking behind all of the blankets and clothes piled in there! Didn't find any critters, but I did find 27 pair of size 6 jeans! Holy cow! He wore a size 6 for two years so I have every style of little boys jeans that are made. I didn't realize how many of them had the knees torn out of them until I started looking at them. Blake is forever playing on his knees - playing racecars, tractors, playing with the dogs, or just running and sliding on the carpet. You know that stuff is really hard on the knees of jeans. I am giving several pair to my nephew Max. He will have a while to grow into them, but at least he'll have some good jeans when he gets close to wearing that size. I am an addict of buying clothes and my kids' closets are proof of that. In fact I am an addict of several things:
1. Flip flops - how many pair can Brooke & I own?
2. Khaki pants - I'm afraid to count how many I have!
3. Longaberger baskets/pottery - cathi, how much do I owe you! (it's not pretty)
4. white tshirts - solid white - never have too many - what if you stain one?
5. clothes for Blake
6. clothes for Brooke
7. Nike Shox tennis shoes - love 'em
8. clothes for me (poor Jeff, all I buy him is new underwear and that's not too often)

There, I admitted it. Isn't that the first step?

I cannot believe I am now the Mom of a 4th grader and 2nd grader. The thought of Brooke being old enough to be in 4th grade scares me. I feel really old. When I was in my 20s, I thought people who had 4th graders were old. That's really come back to bite me in the butt. Although last week, Blake did tell me that he wanted to be "pulled back" in first grade because he liked it so much. I thought that was cute!

I better get back to work. Lots of things still left on my list of things to do.