Remember Me?

Wow, I can't believe it has been so long since my last post! I keep telling myself that I need to be better about keeping up but there just never seem to be enough hours in the day. I have FINALLY began student teaching!! And actually have 8 weeks out of the way...8 more to go and I will graduate. Boy, this has been a loooong time coming. :) But, student teaching is definitely taking its toll on me. Not so much the work involved, but juggling the rest of my life with it...the kids, the house, basketball and everything else...it has been something. I don't like having to leave Reegan every day. I just keep telling myself it is 16 weeks and then I'll be able to spend next year with her before she starts kindergarten.

Ok, enough about me and school! Everyone else is doing good...Randy and I finished coaching the 6th grade girls a couple of weeks ago and are now coaching Rylee and Reeva's IBA basketball team. This is pretty much their first experience and they are sooo little out there! They played in a tourney last weekend and did ok. Their team placed 2nd. They are on the fourth grade team since there is a third grade team so they don't get to play a lot but they did improve with each game. They are working hard at practice and seem to be having a pretty good time.

Well, I hope any of you that read this (Cj, Lacy, Jamie) and have been wondering where I've been are doing ok. I miss seeing you girls this semester and hope your student teaching is going good. Libb said you are going to be at the CPR recertification next week so I guess I will see you then!

Hopefully, my next entry will be fairly soon...but, seriously, who knows.....

Good Bye Betta

Sadly, we had to say good bye to our betta fish yesterday. Poor Betta hadn't been looking very well for the last several days - the kids were checking on him and trying to feed him but the poor little guy didn't make it. We've had him for nearly three years and the pet shop guy said that was a pretty long time for a betta fish so we were glad to hear that it wasn't anything we did. I had to get him for a correspondence science class I took and keep him alive for the semester....I never thought I'd keep him alive that long, but we ended up having to go buy a tank at the end of the semester when I had to send all his stuff back to the lab. He got pretty used to us where he would be excited when we fed him and would even eat his food off of my finger. It was pretty neat.

So, we really weren't sure what to do with Betta. The kids discussed what would be the best scenerio...what would Betta wand? They thought about putting him in the creek beside our house so he could 'swim' to fish heaven, but finally decided that we should bury him. Reegan was very concerned about all of this. As soon as Randy walked in the door yesterday she said, "Dad, will you get Betta out of his tank so we can bury him up because he died and we need to bury him up." So Randy fished Betta from his tank and the kids found a place out back they thought was suitable. Never thought I would post pictures of a funeral service but here is Reece digging a little hole for Betta and then the kids saying a little prayer for Betta. It was very sweet.

Painting Pumpkins

We finally were able to get our pumkins from Bill and Darlene painted. The kids had fun looking up different ideas on-line and then using those ideas and some of their own creations. Rylee had to do the eyeball one and also the big one with the rosey cheeks. Reeva did the big one with the unicorn on it and then the 'GOD' one that she decorated. They worked on the bat with wings together. Reece, of course, had to do Batman and Spiderman and then the green eye one that is supposed to be the little monster guy from Monsters, Inc. Reegan did the snake hair girl from Monsters, Inc. I helped her with that one then she did her little baby pumpkin all by herself. The kids thought it was so funny that she painted the stem and all.

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon out at Dad and Mom's place. Dad grilled steaks, corn on the cob and asparagas over his fire pit. They were sooo good! We also tried to figure out how to set things up for Nikki's wedding. Hopefully, the weather will be nice so we aren't all freezing! It is beautiful out there. Only two weeks to go...hopefully, I'll be able to post updates and photos as we get closer!

Almost time for class...have a great day!

Fall Flowers

Erica and Cora surprised us yesterday with these fall flowers...I wish I would have taken the picture yesterday since the flowers are starting to wilt...but it was absolutely gorgeous! They made five out of different pumpkins and gourds. They are so nice to see when we walk in the door. :)

I took the kids to pick pumpkins at our neighbors this evening. Our neighbor grows a patch of pumpkins every year and likes to grow some of the bigger varieties. The kids had a blast picking them out and packed the back of the suburban. Reegan was so cute...she ran around the patch trying to find the one....she would stop and say, "this one!" as she hugged it then she would look over and see another one and say, "nevermind!" and take off again. She finally picked a couple out and then picked the best ever little "baby" pumkin (as she called it) that she could carry herself. The pumpkins were way to big for me to get out of the suburban myself...Randy is going to have to do it so I will post photos later. I think the kids want to paint "big faces" on them. I think I'm going to have to get more paint!

Playing Catch-up

Thought I would try to play a little catch up on things around here...not a lot has been going on but we've been keeping busy with school and work and life in general. After school on Friday my sisters and I took the kids to get pumpkins and they had fun painting them. Here is a quick picture of them showing off their pumpkins...Cavan was gone and Rorri (as you can tell) was not all that cracked up about the picture - at least she's in this one! With this many kids, it is on a V E R Y rare occasion that we get all of them looking and smiling and looking like the perfect little angels that they all are. lol :)



Saturday would have been my brother, Carl's, 26th birthday and also the day that Liberty and Shaun's little Lilli passed away 4 years ago. I still miss both Carl and Lilli every single day. I can't even imagine Carl being 26 and watching Reegan get so big is a constant reminder that her cousin Lilli should be right along side her and the rest of her cousins. Mom and Dad took us girls and our guys out and it was nice to be together. We found sitters for all of the kids and went to dinner and a movie. We watched Fireproof and really liked it - the guys were definitely hesitant that we were even going to see it but I think they all liked it a lot more than they thought they would.

Well, right now, I am getting ready to watch Brothers & Sisters and work on some homework so I'd better run. Have a great week!

Reece's Pirate

Reece s PIRATE

I haven't posted anything for a little while and while erasing some of my old text messages I came across this picture that Randy had sent me one day. Reece had drawn a pirate in the dirt...maybe we are a little biased, but we were pretty impressed. :) Anyway, thought I would share it.

I'm the Prettiest!

Ok, so my friend Jamie pointed out that I have been slacking a bit on the blogging...Labor Day weekend was a busy one for us. We definitely enjoyed our three day weekend! Randy and I played in a softball tourney...not one of our brightest ideas since neither one of us has played for at least two years. :) LOTS of stretching going on...muscles don't recover quite as quickly as they used to! But it was a lot of fun. The kids had fun playing at the park. We went to the annual pancake breakfast on Saturday morning, visited the fundraising foodstands and, of course, went to the parade on Monday. A very looong weekend but a very fun one!

The rest of the week has went quickly. Reece lost another tooth so he can't wait to write another letter to the tooth fairy. Today was my Thursday with Reegan. We ate lunch with Randy at my parents' restaurant. After lunch, my dad came over and sat with us a little bit and we were talking with Reegan. Randy always likes to tease her with questions like, "Do I know you?" and "Who's number one?" She just laughs. So, he is asking her "Who's number one?" and she says, "Mommy!"- of course, we both want to be her number 1, so he asks, "Who's the smartest?" She says, "Mommy!" So, he says "Who's the funniest?" and she says "Daddy!" (I guess I don't do funny:) So, then he says "Who's the prettiest?" This will be the deciding factor - is mommy the big winner or is it going to be a tie? She looks at me and then she looks at him and says, "I am!" Oh, silly girl, you sure can make me laugh. :)

I thought I'd spare you the photo of Randy and I in our ball gear and instead share one of Miss Reegan during one of her tee ball games this summer. Enjoy!

Ok, I can't resist...I'd better share a couple of all of the kids from ball this summer. Have a great day! :)