young fam

Haircut!

2012-01-27T09:03:00.001-06:00

Jeremy gave Coop a hair cut, no lie he was not excited about this. But his hair was out of control....he's got a ton of hair and while it's cute longer, it was past time. So after we got him out of the bathroom where he was hiding he sat fairly still.

It always makes him look so different....

And just cause she said cheese

That is her bed head, she's got crazy thin hair.

Food TV

2012-01-24T10:49:00.001-06:00

I watch a lot of Food Network, because I love to cook. There is not one show that makes me want to go to the store and immediately make what I saw.....until Pioneer Woman started back. So Sunday for Breakfast I recreated this:

French Toast with Blackberry compound butter and syrup. You should make it, it's amazing! It didn't hurt I got to use my new sugar shaker....

Yes that was another Christmas Gift!

Couldn't last.....

2012-01-18T23:26:00.001-06:00

My jeans that is. Obviously I'm not wearing regular jeans and since I really have no reason to get out all that much (except for bball games) I only had 2 pairs of maternity jeans. I bought one pair this time around at Target, while they are cute, they just aren't as comfy as the pair I wore when I was pregnant with Maddie. Probably because I wore them all the time, they are nice and stretchy. So a couple of weeks ago when I came home from Edmond I was crushed when my husband pointed out there was indeed a hole in my jeans, around the fly. So since I don't have any maternity store options around and I couldn't bear to pay $50 + shipping for a new pair; I did what any girl would do. Called my
Mom, begged her to go out to the mall, buy me a pair of jeans, and mail them me. (I'm sure you know there wasn't a lot of actual begging involved.) She sent them Friday and Tuesday morning I got this:

With a lovely new pair of jeans inside:

So thanks Mom for saving the day once again, she's the best! So next week when we are back on the basketball marathon again I can wear jeans and not my yoga/workout pants that barely stretch around my waist!

Kitchen Gadget Obsession

2012-01-17T22:56:00.001-06:00

So I might have a kitchen gadget obsession, but only with ones that I'll use. My Christmas list looked about like this:
Non stick skillet
Sugar shaker
Whip creamer (like they use at Starbucks)
Calzone mold
Tortilla press

So I had a few other items too, but mostly stuff for my kitchen. I like the idea of making homemade pizza crust and tortillas, just like I love homemade ice cream. You can control what is in it. I saw a video about home made tortillas, which made me want a press. You could roll these out, but a press is way more fun! Mexican food around here is good, but sometimes you just need a good fresh tortilla. So I set out today and made homemade tortillas for our tacos tonight! I used Pioneer Woman's flour tortilla recipe. It's a little time consuming because you have to let the dough rest, but you can mix it, forget about it, roll it into smaller balls and then let sit till you're ready to cook them.
My first attempt was a success, Cooper even ate a few, which is huge!

Roll into smaller balls

Put the ball toward the middle back and press

Cook on some sort of flat top, I just love this flat iron skillet (It's useful for cookie cakes too!)

Wrap in foil to keep warm!

The foil does keep them pretty warm, when I went back for a third taco, my tortilla was still pipping hot!
They are a little smaller and I was worried the press made them thin, but they were perfect. I wouldn't suggest using them for enchiladas, but for tacos they were great, they'd be great with some butter, or dipped in cheese!

Really, it's been 10 years?!?

2012-01-12T11:15:00.000-06:00

10 years ago I had just returned from some of the best times and travels of my life. I was lucky enough to go on the Vienna Studies 2001 program, I remember when at OC that was a big deal to go on that. After our year for whatever reason that kinda fell off. Which, hello college students, a semester abroad, traveling, learning about other cultures, making life-long friends, you're really missing out. I will say I think our group was so lucky, we had amazing sponsors in Mickey and Jane Banister, and our group gelled so well together it was almost unreal. We all enjoyed being together. (Which I know you won't find in every group!) I may have not really cared about my 10 year high school reunion, but a 10 year Vienna Reunion, I jumped at the chance to help out with and attend that one. It was so great to see a number of our group, we held out over homecoming so Mickey and Jane would be back from their 3rd tour of Vienna, sounds like a lot has changed since we went. Although I have books of photos and boxes of memories, here are a few of the best!

Our group on Halloween, I don't know why this is the only group pic I have...

My trusted Dad's back pack that I traveled all over with,

and my best traveling partner April!

My mom surprised me about half way through when we met her family in

Germany for the first time!

Mandy, Jenn, and I, we ate a lot of good Gelato....

oh what I wouldn't give for some of that now!

Our group and new additions that could make it out to Royal Bavaria in Moore

to eat Saturday!

The pic above is how we signed this book on a retreat we went on.

I don't know if people even still go out there, but we agonized for ever how we

were going to leave "our mark". So this is what we came up with, it's a subway map,

with the lines representing countries we'd visited so far, and we put our

first or last name into famous landmarks. I drew this out in the book,

so I digitalized the picture that I had and made magnets for everyone

as a keep sake. I'm just glad they turned out good and people didn't think it was stupid, haha!

Marathon Christmas

2012-01-03T10:24:00.000-06:00

So here is my massive Christmas post.....full of the few pictures I took.....

The kids and I came to Edmond a week before Christmas so Cooper could see his

"Best Friends" Lydia and Levi!

Christmas morning at my parents, somehow Santa found these two there

The "BIG" Piano, it plays a lot of different instruments.

Cooper's favorite thing to do is step on each different instrument and say what it is.

Don't try to take this shopping cart away from this girl, it gets ugly fast.

Cooper got his very own real Starbucks apron, yes I have created a monster, he loves loves

Starbucks, his favorite color is "Green, like Starbucks!"

More Christmas at Mama Jo's after church.

(We missed the other celebration because we were in Texas, and I didn't take any pictures there cause I'm a bad mom....)

This is probably Maddie's favorite gift, her itty bitty baby, she loves this baby,

which we hope will be great when in 10 short weeks she gets a real baby sibling!

See, we're trying to take a perfect family Christmas picture, she'd rather be carrying around her baby.

Oh, we celebrated Grandma's birthday too, I got the best picture of my parents

and their Grand kids, it's amazingly good for 3 little ones! (This isn't it, but it's not bad, yes my daughter

is partially naked, that dress requires special cleaning, and we all know she's a messy eater.)

"Christmas" or the day after Christmas morning in Newkirk

Thomas the Train and Friends are still his favorite gifts. Although, he does love is golf set; his wish for 2012 was to go the golf course more. Newkirk "Country Club" is luckily free, although

the greens are sand greens.

Stocking Fun!

Maddie loved opening all the presents, I think she opened all of mine and Jeremy's too.

She did get a kitchen, but was more interested in trying to putt with the golf club at the time.

I'm happy to report that she does play with her kitchen that took us 4 HOURS to put together.

Taking pictures and trying to video is hard work....

So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the

Young Family....this is as good as it got on Christmas afternoon.

Now it's back to school, back to work, back to basketball, then that Baby will be here before we know it!

(10 weeks, not that I'm counting!)

Did you know.....

2011-12-29T11:48:00.000-06:00

That I live super close to this lady.....like 45 minutes, if her kids went to public school I'd go to the basketball games when we played in her little small town just to see her....stalker much? Maybe.

Anyways, my mom has wanted her cookbook for a long time, so I figured what better birthday present then to buy her a signed copy when she came to the local bookstore in Ponca City. Yes, Brace Books in Ponca City is the closest bookstore to her home on the range. The problem was this, her signing was Dec. 10th, which was the last day of the Enid Tourney for Jeremy. So earlier in the week I stopped by to see what the deal was. I found out I could purchase books and she would sign them and I could pick them up, PERFECT! So that's what I did.

Well, I have a cookbook, and I really wanted it signed, so when the basketball game was a 6, I decided I'd go to the bookstore at 9:30, and if the number they were handing out was low enough I'd go ahead and drag my children to the signing. This bookstore gives out numbers, which is great, I was number 25, so I figured 30 minutes, should be pretty fast, that's not that far in line. They were nice enough to give me my books back, so I could get them all signed at one time. What I didn't count on is all the people in front of me, or what seemed like the first 15 having a stack of books, they should limit that you know. So an hour later and it's almost our turn to get in line, Maddie is screaming, Cooper finally found the train track in the store, but we got to meet her....

She was impressed because Maddie took her pacifier out for the picture, I couldn't drag Cooper away from the few tracks and trains the store had for him to be in the picture. In my 5 second conversation with her I found out, her mother in law went to school at Newkirk High School, and that she and Marlboro Man didn't find out the sex of any of their 4 kids. (Which if you didn't know we do not know what we are having, wouldn't have been able to tell if we wanted to, but will name a boy Kellen Lee and a girl Kellyn Lee)

I purchased her Children's book for the kids, she made it out to Cooper, Maddie, & K....Cooper LOVES this books, reads it all the time from memory, sleeps with it, the works, so you should pick it up!

Why am I just blogging about this now, well I didn't want my mom to know that I met her, so her book will be a total surprise. Unfortunately she found out I met her because when she and my Dad surprised me to start on the kids new room, she saw the book, saw it was signed, and I'm a horrible liar.

She said she would come back to Brace, after her new cookbook comes out, so I'll let everyone know, might as well drive here, you won't wait in a massive line to get your book signed!

STOP!

2011-12-28T14:31:00.002-06:00

Don't throw your Christmas Cards away! I guess this was the year of good ideas for Christmas Cards. What do you do with other people's cards? How do you display them? We used to have this cute little mailbox tree we put them on but it was short lived. So my first inspiration for the Christmas Cards came from this fellow blogger...

I should've taken a picture before I just took it down, I loved seeing all the cards while I cooked in the kitchen.

Well, then I was throwing out my cards and on Facebook saw this post. So I quickly took the few cards from the trash out and put them in this bag so we could pray for a family a day in 2012. Who doesn't need some prayers going up for them! What a fabulous idea! It's so much better then just tossing the cards too! Those things cost money people and although I'm a horrible with coupons, I hate wasting money!

So thank you Allison and Jenae for great ideas for Christmas Cards this year!

Makes a difference

2011-12-24T10:04:00.001-06:00

When Santa knows your name and that you love Thomas the Train....

Amazing what happens when Santa is Granddad's best friend!

They boys sent this to Coach for Christmas....

They think they are so cool....(if you're wondering this is only about half the team)

Annual Christmas Card......

2011-12-19T22:16:00.003-06:00

This is the second year in a row we've sent out basketball cards....next year maybe I'll be in the mood to lobby for something different......and if you're wondering that's part of downtown Newkirk in the background....such a cute little downtown! (Yes, I am aware of how huge I am, lovely isn't it?)

Somedays

2011-12-15T20:48:00.001-06:00

This is the only answer....

Today is one of those days.....

The North gene....

2011-12-14T22:31:00.001-06:00

I say it's the North gene that comes out when the hubs comes home and says we are having a team dinner and one mom is going to bring water with flavors and all the boys are supposed to bring a finger food. Teenage boys are not the best at informing their parents of things. So I quickly offer to take care of dessert items, thinking that way they can focus on other things. BUT when you have a kid ask if they can bring popcorn I start freaking out and think they aren't going to have enough food. So this is what I ended up with....

Sugar Cookies, Cheesecake bites, cake pops, and brownies for dessert...these were great cause I could pre-make everything but the brownies cause I like those fresh! Then my OCD North gene kicks in and I run to the store to get stuff to make this....

Sliders....

And French bread pizza I cut into strips. So of course there was enough food for us to save some and feed them after they play Friday, but it's a rule in my family, better more then not enough! Overall my babies were happy cause they got to eat then run all over the gym to their hearts content and I was happy because I was able to socialize with a few of the moms I've become friends with; (which I didn't think I'd ever do, being friends with players parents, it's tricky) without watching a game while we are all stressing out! So I guess my lesson here is I should just trust a little more that things can work out without me doing everything!

3rd Games a Charm!

2011-12-08T23:08:00.001-06:00

Jeremy got his first win tonight! It was a good win and I'm so proud of him and the boys. These kids have come a long ways! Their highest scorer ended up having surgery on Wednesday and what we hoped would be 2 weeks ended up being 3 months. But we believe that God is good and it'll be a shorter recovery time. So in the mean time it's going to make these boys stronger and we hope tonight is the beginning of a wonderful season! (It'll be wonderful no matter what!) so here's to the coach, we are so proud of him!
Post Game Radio Interview

Two proud kiddos!

(isn't Maddie's little cheerleading uniform the cutest thing you've ever seen?)

Santa Visit

2011-12-05T05:22:00.000-06:00

Saturday we took the kids to Wichita, KS to see Santa, go to the Mall, hang out in Wichita. Maybe we didn't go to the right places, but I gotta say I wasn't overly impressed with Wichita. We visited both malls, Towne East is definitely the better of the two, got Maddie some pretty sweet Jordans, and let the kids see Santa. Although we had to bribe Cooper with he could ride a motorized toy (someone is making a fortune off those stupid machines) if he smiled for his picture with Santa. This is what we best we got.....

with this being a close second.....

Apparently we forgot to bribe Maddie. I'm sure next year's picture will be great with 3 of them, but we'll have to find a different Santa, this one couldn't handle Cooper and the escapee. My parents and Aunt Sue saw Santa in Macy's in NYC, their picture somehow turned out much better. I'm sure it was my uncle Chuck who was making faces off to the side for them since he didn't want to be in the picture with Santa.

It started....

2011-12-01T13:40:00.001-06:00

Basketball has officially started, the season didn't quite start like we hoped. Jeremy's best player hurt his knee in practice the day before the first game. The boys didn't have a lot of time to adjust. We are hopeful it's just a sprain and he will be back next week, but we will find out soon. So pray its just a sprain.
Also, Cooper has taken up golf, Wii golf that is, this is what I see often in the living room now...

Maddie is his little cheerleader, it's pretty cute! But his Dad taught him how to aim, now he just aims to get the ball in the water. Go figure....

Thanksgiving Weekend

2011-11-28T09:50:00.000-06:00

We had a great Thanksgiving break....Jeremy got to play cards with his friends, I squeezed in 2 photoshoots and a trip to the doctor, and we saw our first movie all before Thursday. I guess you can call that a break?
Thursday we ate lunch with Jeremy's family in Texas and came back to Mama Jo's for Thanksgiving #2 and our annual gingerbread house decorating contest. (Which is the only thing I took pictures of) When my mom got them out all the little kids, being Cooper (3) Jackson (2) and Maddie (1) all sat at the table and were ready to start. Which is really what we needed a picture of, I was too busy holding my sweet neice Charlie. Maddie was so funny, my dad helped her decorate, as in he did the icing and she put everything else on. She was very serious about it, we all got a good laugh.

Friday we enjoyed some shopping and really all the places weren't too crowded. We didn't brave any crowds early morning hours, thought about it, but I was so tired it didn't happen. Jeremy and I even made a trip to the new outlet mall, it wasn't crazy busy. Then we finished the time in Edmond off by seeing Breaking Dawn at the Warren, in the Balcony, where they have the best cheese fries! After a Gelato treat, it was the perfect day.

To cap off the weekend I made 8 lbs of pasta, 5 lbs of meatballs, 5 lbs. of meat sauce, 2 salads, and 4 loaves of garlic bread for the Season Kickoff Spaghetti dinner for the basketball team last night. Because I'm crazy, and this will most likely be the only time I actually host the team I decided I'd do ice cream cake rolls for dessert. 17 showed out of 25, and really there wasn't a ton of left overs, these boys can put it away, and if they all showed, I don't think I'd have any. So if you don't hear from me til after March, it's because JV starts today, Varsity starts tomorrow and basically we have 4 games a week hopefully all the way up to March 10th.....then there is the whole baby thing happening. Time is going to fly by!

Reunited......and it feels so good!

2011-11-22T10:45:00.000-06:00

You could say there are good and bad things about moving around. It's great meeting people where ever you go, but it is always sad and hard to say goodbye. It is no secret that I love all the people at Kiowa Church of Christ. They made my first transition as a head coach's wife so easy and fun, when the job wasn't always fun. We all miss them dearly. But, it's great because occassionally we will get to see them again. We saw a few at Homecoming and since OC had a game in Alva, "Nana" who's actual grand daughter plays for OC was going to go to her game. She brought a couple of girls along for the ride and they made a pit stop at our house yesterday afternoon. My kids were so excited to see them, and so sad when they left. I got to enjoy some adult conversation with Nana (Nana was Cooper and Maddie's "grandma" for all purposes at Kiowa) and the kids got some lovin' and playing with Lily and Callie. Everyone had a good time!
If I could steal Callie from her parents I would; my kids do everything she tells them to do, I don't know how she does it, maybe I need lessons for her.

And I made this for them while they were here. Go make this now....you won't regret it, it's rich and amazing and everything a pumpkin pie should be!

(Pic from Tasty Kitchen website, I didn't serve mine with ice cream, but it would be good with some, or whip cream!)

Halloween

2011-11-21T08:12:00.000-06:00

Yes I know, I'm like a month late, but just to document the event, we did dress the kids up for Halloween. My mom came for the day, ate lunch with us, hung out, and went trick-or-treating with us. Our plan was to take Cooper to one of Jeremy's fellow teacher's house, but he was so into it, they had to go to more houses. So months ago, he decided he wanted to be an owl for Halloween, a brown owl. So I looked online and he picked out this little costume that didn't look too hard to make. With the help of my parents we pulled off a brown owl for Cooper and a pink owl for Maddie. (I really wanted Maddie to be this pink pig that I found, the costume was so incredibly cute, her father did not think that was a good idea.) The pics aren't great, but they were a little wound up that day. I thought about trying to take some more pics, but who am I kidding, working, cleaning, cooking, 3rd baby, yeah I'm pretty much spent!

Busy bees

2011-11-09T14:57:00.001-06:00

I know it's been a while since a blog, but things have been crazy busy since we returned from our vacation. For those that don't know, I'm a "work at home mom" meaning I do have a "part time" job I do from home. My brokerage has a ton of work so I've been squeezing in more work then I used to. Good job security! Last weekend we did make a trip to Edmond where we watched Jeremy's first scrimmage at Mt. Saint Mary's, went to my mom's clinic, I went to a friend's surgery Friday AM (she is doing awesome now if you're wondering), ran errands, had a engagement shoot, enjoyed dinner with some friends, prepped for my cousins
Baby shower, ran the kids to the
First half of the OC girls ball game to see our friends from Kiowa, hosted shower #1, attended a fun wedding for a long time friend, went to Church, hosted shower #2 for sis in laws brother, ran to shower #3 during shower #2, took the kids to visit said friend who had surgery, then finally drove home. Yes, I told Jeremy I didn't want to be that busy for a long time! The only pics I have to show for it are these beauties....

Push Up Cake Pops....how cute
Are they? And if I ever can figure out how to steal a frame off this IPhone video I'll post a picture of the kids from Halloween!

Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-29T11:50:00.000-05:00

My family was kind enough to wait for Jeremy and I to return Monday evening for dinner and pumpkin carving. Jeremy was supposed to be back at school on Tuesday, but I had an ultrasound on Tuesday so he was able to take a day and go to that!
Here is the yearly pumpkin carving for the North Family...

Vacation

2011-10-26T08:33:00.000-05:00

Trip: Going to a different city/country, having a packed full itinerary, seeing sights, walking, a lot of walking, tours, soaking up the local culture.

Vacation: Laying around, reading books, sleeping, and eating.

Last weekend we took a long weekend and had a true vacation. It was just what the doctor ordered, at least for me. I think Jeremy rather enjoyed himself too. We had an excellent time, got in early, enjoyed a magnificent lunch then retired to the beach (after changing in a luggage holding area since our room was not ready) for reading, sleeping, and relaxation. It was everything it was supposed to be. The best part, I didn't even need to spend the $10 bucks on a maternity suit, which I did wear one day, but amazingly my other one fit. (I do not know how that's possible, I am 19 weeks and huge!)

Where I read, and drank my share of Pina Coladas (*no worries, these are pregnancy approved drinks)

Our room, not going to lie, I miss that king size bed and jacuzzi tub, and room service

Right outside our room

If you're wondering here is what I read, I'd recommend all of them!

If you need me.....

2011-10-21T08:00:00.003-05:00

We will (Jeremy and I) be here, relaxing for just a few short days. But you gotta get what you can between kids, work, basketball season, oh and that new baby coming in March.....so hope you enjoy your Fall Break, and don't worry I'll probably eat enough for 20 people. Oh and what about our kids, they are enjoying some Grandparent time in Edmond! I think it'll be good for everyone!!

Keeping with the theme

2011-10-15T09:40:00.000-05:00

To go with my planner I also ordered a little something to help with chores for the kids (mainly Cooper). I saw a post about Fisher Kids on this amazing blog! So I ordered one, we start using it on Monday. We will see how it works out. Cooper seems excited about it!

This is the chart

The chore list

Paycheck Pad (they suggest using stickers for younger children, but Cooper is totally into coins)

Chore sticks, everyday he'll draw 2 chores. We choose pictures of

the chores for now. When he can read that will change.

Although I'm not crazy about the look of these bags, I love the idea.

This teaches children to learn how to spend their money. Cooper's favorite

color is green, so he's been putting his coins that he already has in that pouch.

I'm an organized nerd

2011-10-13T14:44:00.001-05:00

I buy a planner every year and I keep just about all of them. (I never look at them, but I've got them, somewhere!) I love that it's pretty much a record of my life. I write everything in it so I don't forget, all that good stuff! So I jumped on the Erin Condren bandwagon and purchased a life planner, I LOVE it!! Worth every penny! So here is an overview, you should totally get one!

Collage cover

Monthly tabs

Tons of room to write

The cutest little stickers

Pouch and folder (all you couponers out there!

So it's the ultimate planner....now I just need to pick up some different colored pens to organize everyone's schedule! (see told ya, organized nerd!)

Not all about Homecoming

2011-10-12T14:21:00.000-05:00

Well Homecoming weekend wasn't all about homecoming. My self proclaimed "first born" came into town to hang out with us, Colby Wedel. I should've taken pictures, she chased the kids around at the football game, then went to Cheer State with us at OSU. (Since she graduated from there that turned out to be very helpful) She then stayed with the kids while Jeremy and I worked the Alumni Dance Concession Stand to try to raise some more money for this basketball team. After we're done being a Coach and a Coach's wife, we could be President and First Lady of any Christian College, we raise money like crazy! Hahaha!

Sunday after church and lunch we took Cooper for a little surprise! We busted it to Tulsa to see Toy Story on Ice 3 at the Fair there. He loved it, again, don't look so happy in those pics Cooper!

Luckily this week hasn't been near that eventful. Just lots of work for me and playing for the kids. Next week the kids are going to be spending a long weekend with Grandma and Granddad while their Dad and I sneak away on a little pre-basketball season, pre-baby #3 trip to the beach! Tuesday when we get back we get to take a look at the little one! So exciting things coming up!

Newkirk Homecoming Parade

2011-10-04T17:53:00.000-05:00

Last week was homecoming. Which basically means a lot of football games, dress up days, skits, parade, and a little alumni dance/gathering we did some food for. I should've taken pictures of Jeremy everyday cause he dressed up, but apparently his best appearance was DJ Pauly D in some Sophomore Skit, a mom is supposed to send me the video. What I saw was some good stuff. But I just got pics of the important part......COOP RODE IN THE PARADE!!!

The "float" if you will was an advertisement for the upcoming Golf Tourney....so if you're into Golf, or your husband is, we'd love to have you!!

(Or we are taking "hole sponsors" for $100, so if you'd like to donate to Boy's Basketball, let me know!!)

Thomas the Train

2011-09-30T08:14:00.000-05:00

Last weekend while I was in Edmond, Thomas happened to make his yearly trek to OKC, this was Cooper's 3rd time to go and Maddie's first time. She waved to everyone as we rode the train and gave my mom, dad, and myself lots of hugs. She really loved it, Cooper kinda acted like he was too cool for it. (But I know secretly he loved every second, maybe I shouldn't have woken him from his nap.) It was great taking them Friday afternoon, no one was there!

Riding Thomas

Conductor Maddie

Playing with Tracts

He didn't want to leave these tracts, not sure how it's really

different from his thousands at home....

Cooper, Maddie and Thomas!

Happy Day

2011-09-21T08:31:00.001-05:00

After weeks and weeks of searching we are proud owners of these babies:

I know how exciting is having a washer and dryer? Well, go 1.5 months without one in your home, with 2 little kids and a husband that plays a lot of basketball and you'll feel my pain. We own a washer and dryer, but it's in our rent house. So because I am super cheap and we spent all our money on an upcoming vacation I searched for a nice looking cheap pair. Which I finally found, Monday. Jeremy talked one of his players that had a truck into driving to Perry, OK to get these. Money well spent and I'm almost caught up on all our laundry!!

I turned 29......

2011-09-15T06:02:00.000-05:00

or I mean I turned 30, and I'm still alive, much to my surprise the world didn't end and I did get out of bed on Monday morning. So all in all it was an okay event. (But next year I'll just go back to 29) I did get a little 2 day celebration so that was fun!

After Senior Breakfast (where I had an amazing breakfast burrito bar) two sweet girls came over to tackle the little ones. Jeremy drove me all the way to Kansas to see this

Yes, we had to go to Kansas cause Ponca City was not showing this movie, I think maybe they just started showing it Friday. It was so great, I loved the book, so I was dying to see the movie. After making a stop to get a few items for the kids Bible Class on Sunday we went to eat here

You have to ring the bell to be let in, it's dark, smells amazing, and I had the best sirloin of my life. I mean it. Salad bar, steak, baked potato, and homemade bread. It doesn't get any better then that, it was simply so wonderful. I was so stuffed I couldn't order dessert!

So we went back home to the kiddos who had a blast with their new found best friends and Sunday was pretty low key. Just went to church (where they sang me happy birthday, our church is like 40 people), hung out, napped, typical Sunday stuff. As we were going to evening worship I was starting to be a little surprised, cause I hadn't seen my parents yet. I thought for sure they'd come up, 1.5 hours, really isn't that bad. Well, they met us at church, with my grandparents and little bro. So it was exciting to see all of them! We ate dinner here...

We hadn't tried it, and I love Mexican food. Although it's no Alfredo's or Ted's, it's pretty good food. So all in all I had the best day with my family. I got everything I wanted....

Yes, if you have a KitchenAid mixer, you need the ice cream attachment. I did a little research cause I wanted an ice cream maker to make chocolate chip ice cream, it's so hard to find and it's my favorite home made ice cream. So I figured all I needed was a bowl. It's a little difficult cause you have to freeze the bowl, make sure to refrigerate the ingredients, but my vanilla ice cream came out wonderful. I just need to find some freezer storage bowls, so if you know of any hook me up! My grandma told me the secret to her chocolate chip ice cream, so that's up next.

Since my son might have played a little to much with my last small camera, I wanted another one. So this one was perfect. I already love it! There were a few starbucks cards and some green, so overall everything was perfect. Next week I'm treating myself to a Train/Maroon 5 concert with a friend and fellow blogger, so I'll declare that the offical end of my birthday. So thank you to my husband and to my family for a great 30th birthday, it was just right!
(What no pics of me....well we took a few with my iphone, but all our eyes look kinda scary....it was night!)

Red, White, Blue, and Pink

2011-09-07T08:14:00.001-05:00

We woke up to this in our yard....

It made Cooper very excited! Apparently it's something for the Newkirk Business Club, for $10 you can send them to friends or family. Who knows who sent them to us or how long they will stay.

change wouldn't be complete

2011-09-04T20:37:00.000-05:00

without this.......

So yes, we are expecting our 3rd sweet baby! We are so excited and so glad we held out for a house with 4 rooms! So I am almost 12 weeks, and yes, I went to the doctor for the first time at 11 weeks, 3 days, on purpose. (Poor 3rd child.) Maddie's baby book isn't even done, I'm sure when this one turns 1, I probably won't have even bought one yet.
So this baby is due March 19th, but the beauty of a scheduled c-section is we will have him or her a week early, which puts us at a week after the State Basketball Tourney, I know perfect timing. So here's hoping that I do not go into labor with this baby, it hasn't happened the other 2 times I wanted to, but they say 3rd times a charm!

The Artist Inside.....

2011-08-27T08:00:00.001-05:00

So last night I was invited to a Girl's Night Out here. So I decided (a little selfishly) I hadn't hung out with any friends in weeks so I would go. This worked out well because I got to eat dinner with my mom and dad, just me, my mom and dad. (If you're wondering my mom is out of the hospital and making improvements!)

Anyway, this place is great. I had so much fun. It's totally intimidating to see that white canvas in front of you, but really I thought everyone did a fantastic job. Ours were all so different! The guy gives you great instruction, secretly I've always wanted to take an art class. I tried once in college, it wasn't the best place to start. You can bring your own food and drinks, so you talk, paint, eat, drink, it's great fun. I did have to cut out a little early since I was driving back to Newkirk, but here's how my work turned out. Not perfect, but not totally an embarrasment! So book your next Girl's Night Out at Paint Your Own Art Out!

Through My Eyes

2011-08-23T08:13:00.000-05:00

This summer Jeremy bought the Tim Tebow Book, Through My Eyes. He started reading it and suggested I might want to read it. I kind of blew it off....seriously why would I want to read that book?

Jeremy decided he would do Senior Leadership meetings once a week. The coach at Santa Fe does (or did) this, and with all the Senior drama we had last year, we both agreed it might be a good way to unite the Seniors, talk a little about leadership, help them realize what an impact they have, and we figured if I cooked, they couldn't complain. So when you see Senior Saturday Breakfast on Facebook they are here for breakfast. Jeremy decided after reading a few chapters of Tim Tebow's book, he'd use that.

So yesterday, I was bored so I decided I'd read the book. I heard some of it during their meeting, and it made me very intrigued. I would say if you are raising boys, I'd read this book. (What I'd really love is for his parents to write a book about how they instilled the values that he has.) I'm not saying I 100% agree with everything he may believe, but I also don't know his exact stand on things either. Needless to say I am very impressed about how he is not ashamed to really own his faith, and stick to what he believes in. He does and did a lot of wonderful things through his football career.

Although, he may be younger then most that write a "memoir" I think getting things out there, in his words was one of the smartest things he has done. If he is going to write it, you can't help but believe his side of the story. He also starts every chapter with a verse and may talk about others within the chapter. I think for someone to do this with such fame, is such a great example for younger kids. I fully intend on having Cooper read this book when he's older of course. But I think it is a great example of someone who worked hard for the things he really wanted and didn't let partying, girls, or the pressures of the outside world get to him. He embraced those challenges by having Bible Studies with his teammates, coaches, and making smart choices with his fame. You've got to admit in this day, that's very impressive for a young man.

So, what we hope, or really Jeremy hopes to accomplish with the boys by reading this book would be to ultimately make them better men. It's really not just about winning games, although it's fun to win, it's about influencing these boys to make good choices, become good men, and hopefully come to know God. Maybe it's a little indirect, but I think they will at least know, we truly care about them, and it has nothing to do with their basketball talent or ability! So if you've got any good breakfast ideas, pass them on, I'm not a huge breakfast eater, so hopefully I won't get redundant!

Hello Charlie......

2011-08-13T08:30:00.001-05:00

We made a super quick trip to Norman yesterday to meet Charlie Faye! I feel there is an appropriate amount of time to stay at the hospital with 2 young ones myself. Surprisingly the kids did awesome, and they were so sweet to Charlie. Cooper held her so good, he's been waiting for Charlie Faye to get out of the tummy for a while! So here are a few pics, and one I stole from Julie cause it's the best picture of Mama Jo and Papa!

We can't wait to see her in a few weeks!

Part 2....the Beach!

2011-08-11T14:00:00.000-05:00

The last week of July we went on our annual trek to the Beach with all the North Family! Most everyone was able to come, except a couple of uncles, Charlie, and David and Leslie stayed home cause they are having a baby today!!

We had a big change this year and went to Destin, FL instead of Padre, which was a little bittersweet, but overall it was a good and needed change. Everyone had a blast, and we've already booked our houses for next year! So here are a few pics, I wasn't very good about taking many pictures this year. I didn't get a family one, and I didn't even get one of Cooper and Maddie together (he refused).

Maddie loved everything about the beach, water, eating the sand, you know the simple things in life. She actually left her little hat on every time we were outside.

Cooper running to the ocean, apparently it's fun running in and out of the ocean if you're 3!

No North Family trip would be complete without Devos every night. On this night the little kids acted out Daniel in the Lion's Den. They were so cute!

The paparazzi!

Cooper was Daniel, here he is being thrown into the den by "bad men"

Model Maddie.....she's too funny!

I meant to take a picture of my water baby everyday, she had a ton of super cute bathing suits, but she'd never sit still.....

Cooper and Levi are the best of friends, running after the birds!

July Catch Up....pt.1

2011-08-09T13:30:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the temporary hiatus in blogging. To say July was a busy month would be an understatement. So here is part 1 of July, swimming lessons!

While we were in Edmond, my mom had arranged for both kids to take swimming lessons. Cooper took with Logan Rosebaum, who actually helped him learn to like the water. Maddie took with Megan Bachman who is an infant certified swimming teacher, she was amazing. Both lessons were worth every penny. Cooper took 4 lessons with Megan as well. So here are a few pics.

This is one of Cooper's happier moments in Swim Lessons, I had to miss a few lessons so he would behave well....

He may look thrilled to be jumping off the side, but he's not.

Maddie came in from the side of the pool, goes under water, turns over and.....

up she comes to float!

She loves positive reinforcement, aka, applause!

Rings and Rockets!

Cooper doing rings and rockets

Cooper doing his best float, he had a lot of trouble liking the water, but he made vast improvements with lessons then at the beach!

I would highly recommend either swim teacher. Megan does teach year round, so if you'd like her information, I'd be more then happy to pass it along. You won't regret it. Maddie can do everything she was taught with anyone in the pool, it's really amazing.

Big news....

2011-07-09T19:44:00.001-05:00

So we are in Newkirk, OK and we picked up a paper and saw this:

You can read the full article here:
http://newkirkherald.com/jeremy-young-hired-to-head-boys-basketball-program-p1075-120.htm

Big news in a small town!

Jokes on me....

2011-07-05T16:39:00.001-05:00

One time for work I had to go to the Kay County Courthouse. I'm sure my thoughts while driving through the town went something like this...."how do people survive in a town like this?" You may be asking yourself, where that courthouse is.....Newkirk, OK. I realized this as I drove by the Courthouse while desperately trying to find us something to live in. Like I said, jokes on me, but those were thoughts I had before living in Pittsburg, OK too.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

drumroll please.......

2011-06-29T20:00:00.001-05:00

We are coming to EDMOND.....for 3 weeks! It's that time of year, good old Cage Camps. Since Jeremy works them, why not all come and cramp my parents house? (They really love it.) So if you see us around, at Starbucks, Church, Target, the Mall, no, we didn't move back, just hanging out for a bit!

Not the big news you were looking for? Well, I guess there is more......we are moving out of Pittsburg! There is a lot I could say about this whole situation, but I've kept quiet, and I'll be pretty quiet about it all, so here is what you need to know. We have been looking for a new coaching job since, well it seems like Basketball started here. We started searching big time Feb/March. After countless resumes sent (cause there were a lot), a ton of good interviews for Jeremy, he got offered a job at Newkirk High School. Newkirk is by Ponca City, so he's moving up! It's a bigger school, that's growing, and we are both very excited about this. So what do you need to know about Newkirk......well this really

That's right, Ponca City has a Starbucks, it may be in a grocery store, but it's not 1.5 hours away!
Don't get me wrong, Pittsburg has had it's moments, and we love love love our friends at Kiowa Church of Christ. We will visit them, cause we will miss them, or they will miss our kids. I will say I'm thankful for this move to Pittsburg, cause it was the first one, and I feel like God put us here to meet those wonderful people we go to church with. They have been so loving to our kids, us, and so supportive of Jeremy during his job search and our whole situation here. Of, course they know everything, it's a small area, they hear things, they saw things. (DISCLAIMER: we have met other people, outside of church that we hang out with and become lifelong friends with, so there are some of those around here.)
So how do you move when you're on "vacation"? Well we're packing everything up and paying July Rent, cause our Landlords have been the best people ever to rent from, and we don't want to leave them high and dry (and we don't know exactly where we are moving to), while Jeremy works camps, I'll go look at houses, then hopefully some weekend in July Jeremy and I will come back to Pittsburg, load a truck and drive it the 4 hours to Newkirk, unload it, and we will settle in after returning from the beach. Which will drive me crazy thinking about all our stuff, sitting in a house, in boxes, but it is what it is. We are just so thankful God was faithful and Jeremy has a good job that he's excited about. So please pray for us as we move, that we will find another good church home, and be a blessing to those boys!

Tune in Wednesday....

2011-06-26T13:21:00.001-05:00

For more info!

Family Getaway....

2011-06-03T22:02:00.001-05:00

This past week Jeremy's little brother graduated High School. Since Jeremy is currently on Summer break, the Tuesday before Graduation on a Wednesday we decided we'd book a room and head to Great Wolf Lodge for the night. The kids didn't like it at all.....

Or it was the best day and a half they've ever had....you decide!

And we even made it just in time to Graduation!

Jorden with his 2 nieces and 1 of his 3 nephews....they aren't to sure about him.....(they really love him)

So I catered a wedding....

2011-05-28T20:09:00.001-05:00

Yeah, I did....for about 250 of my closest friends. (or mostly people I don't know) So here is what I made, there was also some fruit, a mashed potato bar, and bread that I did not make. (I just planned that and those were made by the Ole Corale Cafe, owned by the Bride's mom)

Roasted Asparagus, meatballs, and chicken chunks (I guess I didn't make those either)

Chicken and Steak Kabobs and Spinach & Artichoke Dip served with bagel crisp. Here is my grilling man, he grilled about 375 kabobs total....

This was my trusted clip board with all my list:

There was also some green punch that was awesome, but I don't have a picture of it. Oh and a green salad. So no we aren't opening a business, but if you twisted my arm I would cater for you!
***this catering would not be possible without my BFF Jenny who helped me a ton and Jeremy who grilled, and the ovens at Kiowa Church of Christ since the pans didn't fit in mine!

The Party.....

2011-05-20T22:59:00.000-05:00

Here is Maddie's Garden Dessert Party....I figure it was the perfect bit of over done for a first birthday. I will say with prom the same week this party would have never happened without my mom and Brennan Mitchell who helped put favors together, baked, rolled, dipped, and played with my kids! So without further wait....

the invite....

Dessert Table

Dress yourself....wings, headbands, butterfly nets....

oh and of course, see how cute my model is!

the backyard set up.....luckily some clouds pushed away right in time

Maddie's cake

the fam....

the birthday girl (no she isn't walking, she has help!)

opening presents, can you see how excited she is about her own lap top?

Alright mom, dad, give me that cake!

(she was grunting and reaching for it, we couldn't even light the candle....oh that was the wind's fault)

Now this is a party!

Hi....I know you're all watching me!

you might say she enjoyed her cake.....how do you people do it leaving your kids clothes on?

party favors....made by Brennan, she did a great job of putting my vision together!

Well, that wraps it up. If you're wondering yes I did make all the desserts, cake pops, cup cakes, mini key lime pies, mini chocolate ice box pies, sugar cookies, m&m cookie sandwiches, frozen grapes in almond bark, and pretzels rolled in almond bark with sprinkles! (Like I said my Mom and Brennan did help!)

One Year Pics.....

2011-05-16T16:18:00.001-05:00

Here are a few collages of Maddie's one year pics, there were entirely too many good ones to narrow them down......she is a little diva!

Happy Birthday!!!!

2011-05-14T19:03:00.001-05:00

Yesterday....

After 364 days of being in an infant seat we thought on her birthday we'd switch her up!

She's a big girl now!! Don't worry massive birthday party post coming soon! It was pretty much amazing if I do say so myself!

Prom Pit crew

2011-05-14T18:19:00.001-05:00

Well tonight was prom. Jeremy is the Junior Class sponsor so he was in charge. So I volunteered to help out. I conned my mom into coming down and helping as well. So she made plans to be here all week. Cousin Brennan decided to come a long. She was such huge help with the kids.

We made trees out of cardboard. Cooper even helped paint.

He loved painting.
My kids were perfectly behaved angels while we set up this morning. I started cooking for prom on Saturday....now I'm done. Here is what I made....

Pigs in a blanket (cheese smokies and puff pastry)

Sweedish meatballs (they didn't look this dark in person and they were amazing!)

Copy Cat recipe of Chili's Southwest Egg Rolls (the little company store fried these for me!)

Ham and Cheese and Turkey and Cheese on Butter Rolls

Chili's made chips and Salsa

Now for the good stuff....

Cookie Sandwiches, always a big hit!

Mini white and Chocolate cupcakes

Chocolate Fruit cups (so the wrappers were not supposed to be on these, but they kept breaking)

Mini Chocolate Cream pies, these were Delish!

I also had water, lemonade, and a cranberry grape/ginger ale punch.

Well, that's all.....I'd hate to follow this prom! So days of prep, 5 hours of setting up, 3 hours of fun, and 22 minutes of clean up. That 22 minutes is shorter then the time it took me to drive to prom. Crazy!

Easter 2011

2011-05-08T18:25:00.000-05:00

Easter was so 2 weeks ago and all, but things have been a little crazy. Really I blog a lot from my phone, so I'm just now getting to posting some pics from Easter. I'm sure my Mom will love to see them....Mom, do you read this? She's actually coming tomorrow for a week to help with Prom and Maddie's Birthday party. (And anything else I can possibly rope her into this week!) So here is Easter in pics.....really some of these were just way to cute not to share, Maddie loved Easter!

Cutest thing ever

2011-05-03T12:41:00.001-05:00

Well since I missed the half I'm going to maintain my Training with a couple of miles a day, hopefully that'll help me increase my speed. As we were going today I looked down and saw this....

Cutest.thing.ever.

More half convos

2011-05-01T15:48:00.001-05:00

M: Well it's 6:40 about that time to get out of the car and go for it or go home.
J: I don't care.
M: your call, I am fine to sit this one out...
J: let's go home
M: yeah, we'll catch the next one

This is what happens after you watch it pour for an hour. Major props to all that ran, but I'm happy with Starbucks and Church!
Now, I'll improve my time and really be ready for next April or maybe I'll run in Tulsa in November.

Half Marathon

2011-04-27T17:15:00.001-05:00

Jeremy and I were talking about the upcoming half marathon on Sunday....
J: "my goal is to finish in under 2 hours"
M: "my goal is to finish, still standing"
J: "that's setting the bar high"
M: "how many women are going to be out that had a baby via c-section just shy of 1 year ago?"
J: "eighteen"

Maybe I should've added on the part about that 11 month old still nursing and not sleeping through the night. Maybe that 18 would be 0?

But, in reality I'm ready for this, my real goal is to finish in 3 hours or under, time will tell!

(wo)man's best friend

2011-04-25T23:00:00.001-05:00

Maddie loves watching our dog, but this is going a little far....

And this is trouble, she's not even walking yet.

Yes, I've got my hands full.
(I promise the next post you'll be able to see her face!)

Book Reviews.....

2011-04-22T10:35:00.000-05:00

I've never done a book review, but I've recently read a few, so I thought I'd share them with my thousands of readers. (Yes, I'm aware I do not have thousands of readers!) If you'd like to see more book reviews head on over to her blog....she reads a lot more then I do!

Live Wire, By Harlan Coben

I started reading Harlan Coben when I used to travel with the Wedel Family to the beach. Valari read them and would pass them on to me. I was hooked from the first book. I have read every book he has out, and I love them. They are page turners, and relatively clean mystery books. The majority of his books revolve around Myron Bolitar, a sport agent and his friend and partner Winn. If you're looking for a page turner mystery, start with his first book and keep reading! In this book you learn more about Myron's family, it was so great! His first Myron book if you're wondering is Deal Breaker, and there are 10 books.

Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen

One of my friends down here in Pittsburg started reading this book and she said it was good. Well, Amazon Kindle had it on sale for about $5 so I downloaded it and started reading it. Jeremy and I plan to see the movie cause I love Reese Witherspoon, so I like to read the books before we go. The book is a fictional story, based on the history of the American Circus. I will say it is pretty graphic, but it is interesting. I don't know that I'd recommend reading the book, and I'll let you know about the movie. I'm guessing that they toned the movie down based on it's PG13 Rating. I would assume this does paint a pretty accurate picture about Traveling Circus people's lives and what went on. But I've never really researched it out, so I'm not an expert.

Couples Who Pray, by Squire Rushnell and Louise DuArt

The last time I was in Edmond my parents gave me this book and David and Leslie. Well, I finished it this week and now I'm convinced that it's the best idea I knew to do that I haven't practiced. It's mostly stories of couples, some famous Couples who pray together everyday. The challenge is to pray together for 5 minutes a day for 40 days. We will be starting this very soon, cause believe me if there ever was a time we needed to pray as a couple, it's now. The stories are very uplifting, and I promise if you read it, you'll jump on board too. If you and your husband (or wife) already do pray together everyday, I'm sure you would agree with me. If you don't, you should start! You can also go to this website and it offers help to get you started, for a small fee. So pick this book up for sure, or just start praying with your other half, every day for 40 days, for 5 minutes. I hope to have some more reflections to share after we start this practice.

All this to say if you're going to read one of these books I've read recently, read the last one, it's the most beneficial for you and your spouse! The others are a little more on the fun side.

Run Cooper Run...

2011-04-05T22:01:00.001-05:00

Cooper has gotten into running the last bit of every run. I figured if he's going to sit in that stroller for 4 days a week for an hour or so, a little run would do him good. Only about 3 weeks until the longer runs subside. I'm sure the kids will be upset. (Probably not!)

I'll still run a couple of miles a day and maybe a little longer on the weekends to stay in shape. (or get in shape?!?)

Riding

2011-03-26T20:16:00.001-06:00

Or being pushed for 7 miles is so tiring.....and not just for them!

Cooper looks so big here. Maddie is getting big too....it's a good thing there is a new baby coming! Not from me....David and Leslie are having a girl! Can't wait to meet the little sweet thing in August!

I got tagged.....

2011-03-24T20:16:00.000-06:00

Well I got tagged.....unless Brooke knows another Michelle Y., which I guess is possible, so I thought oh why not, I'll answer the questions. I'm answering these first things that come to mind....

Four Places I go:
1. Kiowa Church of Christ
2. Pittsburg Post Office (where we pick our mail up cause they don't deliver it in these parts)
3. McAlester's Wal-Mart, to buy groceries and anything else I need on Thursday morning, where they have been out of Chocolate Chips for 3 weeks
4. A tie between Edmond or Pittsburg's Basketball Gym

Four Favorite Smells:
1. Coffee
2. Outside after the rain (while drinking coffee....)
3. Maddie....she's still got that sweet baby smell, most of the time
4. A pot roast cooking

Four Favorite TV Shows:
1. Top Chef....(All Stars is on right now...Richard is my favorite, always has been....he's in the finals!!!)
2. Amazing Race ( I beg Jeremy repeatedly to let me send in a video for us to get on this show, he always says no)
3. Vampire Diaries....I know, I'm 12
4. Project Runway....even though it isn't on right now

Four Favorite Movies:
1. Mission Impossible, the first one
2. Legally Blonde
3. Sweet Home Alabama
4. Twillight

Four Recommendations:
1. Thank God for your kids....seriously thank Him now. There is a family here in Kiowa we have become close to, they have a daughter and daughter-in-law both pregnant with boys due in April. Their sweet daughter gave birth to her baby today, and he is not going to make it, this really just breaks my heart. They've known for a while this was a strong possibility, but you always hope for the best. I'm sure the next few weeks will not be easy on them, but I also know God always works things out for the best. You might say a little prayer for them now. (Their other grandson is expected to be just fine.)
2. Enjoy life, just the simple things
3. Play with your kids, even though we live in the middle of no where I seem to get so busy, I don't realize how much especially Cooper loves it when I stop everything I'm doing, just to do whatever his little 3 year old heart desires!
4. Try to learn something you'd like to be good at (for me I'm working on sewing)

Four Favorite Things to do:
1. Run....even if I go oh so painfully slow, I love it, being outside, running with the kids...you know, I can go forever, but again, I'm super slow
2. Cook
3. Bake (yes those are 2 different things)
4. Travel

Four Things I dislike:
1. I'm disliking parents being more interested in being friends with their kids, people kids today need parents, not friends, be friends with them when they get older
2. People texting during movies, it's so distracting, espeically when I get to enjoy like 1 movie every 6 months
3. Laundry, I hate doing it, mostly folding it and putting it away
4. the scale.....

I'll skip the tagging 4 people, but maybe you'll just decide to answer anyway!

Sticking to my guns....

2011-03-23T15:27:00.001-06:00

Cooper has been kind of potty training for a while, some days he's interested more then others. Well last week I decided enough is enough and it was time. Bribes don't really work well for him. He can tell you all the trains he gets, that he gets to go to Grandma's for a week by himself, you name it. So I resorted to this:

Those are all the toys he's lost because he hasn't made it to the potty. We were doing really good, but now it's like he doesn't care that they are up there. Now I just don't know what to do....time to give it up or should I stick to my guns?

Sewing progress

2011-03-22T19:52:00.001-06:00

It's my goal to be a better seamstress. I'm not perfect, but I've successfully made a few items here and there. This is my first completely finished quilt:

I've got a friend who had some hand dyed burp clothes. We had a baby shower at church for some of our friend's daughter in law, who is actually moving to Kiowa! Which is always exciting to have more babies at church. I thought some
Dyed burp clothes might be nice, they weren't as blue as the look, but they turned out alright!

I had to sew a lot on these cause our lovely Wal-Mart doesn't carry the tri-fold cloth diapers. That and apparently chocolate chips, they've been out of those for 2 weeks. More projects to come!

Donkeys and Elephants

2011-03-15T09:10:00.000-06:00

So last week I had to train in Edmond for a few days. So after the Class A and B state tourney was over, the kids and I hung out for a few days. I worked, they played with my mom. As much as she was worn out, I know she loved every minute!

We went to Miss Jane's to feed her donkeys one day. Cooper has been talking about how cute Miss Jane's donkeys are for weeks, but he has actually never seen them until last week.

As you can see he was also see he was the first person to try to ride the donkey.....it needs a little work!

Then my parents took the kids to see the Elephants, with the rest of everyone I know about, at the Oklahoma City Zoo. Cooper is still talking about how they blew trumpets, and how the elephants danced, on and on about the elephant exhibit at our house these days. He sure loves those animals!

(apparently he has a complex with people dressed up, I hate to admit I had that same problem)

And what's going to the zoo without conning your older cousin to take a pic on the lion statues? Overall it was a nice little trip, as Cooper would say we got to spend 8 days with grandma, sure those were some of the best of his life!

The Birthday Party.....

2011-02-27T16:23:00.001-06:00

We had the birthday party, we had a lot of people, and I'm just glad my parents showed up at 10:45.....they handed me Starbucks and I handed over both of my children and their clothes. Then I changed out of my PJ's and into something more appropriate before guest arrived at 11:30! I was hoping for better weather, but we made the most of it and it was crowded, but I think everyone had a great time. We didn't play shoot Zurg or there's a snake in my boot (throwing plastic snakes into boots). Maybe too many games for that age, but the last thing I wanted was people to be bored. So here you have the party, thanks to my Dad for snapping some pics! Also, thanks to my mom for all her help, running to Wal Marts to secure Woody and Buzz apple juice, helping me cut out the banner, finding the characters for the cake....and bringing things I forgot....they also brought a bunch of balloons!

{the invite}

3.....{insert tears}

2011-02-25T08:07:00.000-06:00

Well I can not believe 3 years ago we welcomed this little bundle of joy into our lives. He's such a fun, loving, encouranging, and too smart for his own good boy. He's changed so much, even from this summer. I really am so blessed I get to spend most everyday with him, and although some days I could go without seeing him. It melts my heart when he likes to "hold me" or "watch tv with me". Oh the things he says make me laugh everyday, and he knows how to try me, but I wouldn't give him back, he's the best! He'll always be my baby boy!

Tomorrow we are having a over the top big party bash......his friends from church are coming, all of them, so if I make it til Sunday I'll post all about it! Here goes nothing!

moving on......

2011-02-14T09:27:00.000-06:00

Jeremy is moving on from coaching Seniors to an age that's a little more receptive.....

I took the kids up to "open gym" yesterday after they woke up from their naps. I've got a lot of pictures of Cooper shooting, but this was Maddie's first time. We figure start them young and they'll love the game.

Seriously though, Jeremy's season has come to an end. We knew that this year no matter what would be different then last year. We didn't know it would be so much bad different. I've contemplated blogging about all this several times, but it's always hard to know how much to say. Looking back I think that I should've kept a journal of everything. I bet it could've been a book, and I'm not kidding. So this is what I will say....and in honor of Valentine's Day my husband could use some bragging....he is taking me out to dinner for the first time ever on Valentine's Day (he has always cooked dinner on this fine holiday!)

So here it goes.......I am lucky to be married to such an even tempered man. I've seen my husband "take blame" for everything just so he could try to get these silly boys to move on and just play basketball. I've seen him keep his head up when 4 seniors and 1 junior quit basketball "because it's not fun" anymore. (or they aren't working hard, going to practice to get better, therefore they're not winning= not fun anymore) I've seen my husband accept apologies, only for the person to turn around and do the same thing, where it turns into a public embarrassment. Most importantly I've seen my husband turn to God in all this, read his Bible more, and pray more then probably ever in his life, when I'm sure a lot of men would've turned to a lot worse. All this to say, my husband is a good man, he put up with a lot, and I'm not saying he's perfect, but he just had higher expectations and was disappointed when those things didn't happen. I think after living here, we both have learned a lot, had a lot of fun, met some wonderful people (cause there are a few around here), but we grew a lot. He grew as a coach, I grew as a coach's wife (cause it's not easy people), we grew closer together, and most importantly we grew closer to God. So, we are ready for next year, we both know that it's all in God hands and he's got a purpose for us here, we'll find it and we'll make it nothin' but net. In the mean time we'll take our aggression out by vigorously training for another half marathon!

going bananas.....

2011-02-09T09:36:00.000-06:00

Maddie loves to eat a half banana for breakfast, she's bananas for bananas.....

the rest of us are going bananas from being stuck inside because of the snow.

We did go out a little bit last week, so no better way to start the 2nd round of snow days

(hopefully just day) then to blog about last week's snow days.

Coop is all ready to go outside. His cowboy boots came in handy, he didn't want to

wear them, but they would be a lot better then his little converse shows or "bevo" crocs.

Maddie loved the snow.....until she put her hand in it and tried to eat it.

She went in for a morning nap after this happened.

Coop tried to eat the snowman's nose.....he said it wasn't good. Then he

wanted to go inside.....so 2 hours later Dad had finally shaped a snowman out of

very powdery snow. It warmed up a little and we got them back out to take a picture.

This was the best one out of many, then Cooper lost interest.

Obviously he had a lot of interest in taking a picture to start with.

That's the end of the first snow adventure, we'll see what this next round holds.

It's no secret...

2011-02-04T16:42:00.001-06:00

How I feel about Starbucks. The highlight of my day was getting this in the mail...

My very own gold card!! The lowlight of my day was remembering I didn't have a Starbucks to go to an use it at. What the card should say is "Thank You for spending an enormous amount of money at Starbucks....you now know where all your excess money has been spent."
I should get a platinum card just because I was able to earn my gold card without living remotely close to a Starbucks. I can't decide if that is dedication or just really pathetic! The lesson for everyone is.....if you don't have your Starbucks Gift Cards registered, you should. I could have earned my gold card years ago....why register? Because after you've spent an average of $75 bucks, they'll reward you with a free drink! It's better then not getting one at all!

Disney Live!

2011-01-31T09:42:00.001-06:00

My mom mentioned to me Friday that Mickey Mouse was going to be in OKC on Saturday. Well, Cooper LOVES Mickey Mouse, it's supposedly what he wants for his upcoming 3rd (insert tear) birthday to be. After I researched it I found that the Disney Live Magic show would be in Tulsa on Sunday. Tulsa is better for us....Jeremy has no games on Sunday and it is closer, by about 40 minutes. So after I decided we would go after church; my parents then decided that they would also meet us there.

{Let's be honest here....I did not go to Tulsa for Mickey Mouse, not that I don't enjoy doing things for my kids....but there is a Starbucks there, and the cherry on top is there is an Anthropologie there. So best day ever for me!!}

When we pulled up to Anthropologie, Cooper still unaware of the day's events, said "Oh there's grandma....and she brought grandpa!" They had beat us there and already bought tickets to the show (a plus of bringing your parents along.) So after some shopping at Anthropologie, (they should pay me for this post) where Cooper proclaimed how much he liked this shirt and that shirt...and this jacket and that jacket.....he'll make such a good husband one day, we took off to the show!

{best of many attempts at a family photo}

Where he got to see Mickey Mouse, and where he got this fabulous spinning light up toy....might be annoying but it's worth the extravagant price if it entertains both of my children. Maddie was actually pretty into the show. She was watching and clapping....it was pretty funny. But she does love anything sparkly! When it was over Cooper said, "Let's watch it again!" He may have also tried to drag my Dad backstage during intermission to see Mickey Mouse. So there is Cooper's best day ever.

Well, Dad needed a best day ever too, cause let's be honest, this coaching thing is tough....I know you think you know it's tough, but unless you've been here, you have no idea! So he got to pick dinner. P.F. Chang's. Which, I'll admit, as much as I don't like Chinese, it is really good. However, Cooper proclaimed the only thing he wanted was Cheesecake. After eating a good helping of noodles, he got his cheesecake. He ate everything with chopsticks! So again, Dad's best day, and maybe a little more of Cooper's best day too!

Maddie got some rice, so I guess even though there is no picture, it was her best day ever too, and she did love the Magic Show.

So if you're still reading this massive post, thanks, if not, maybe you at least saw some pictures and got a hint of our best day ever! (Not like it's the first best day ever, and I'm sure it's not the last best day ever!)

I know, my blogging has been lacking, but I finally finished this website, and some picture editing, among many other distractions!

Not for the weak....

2011-01-29T20:59:00.001-06:00

I'm not talking about my husband's coaching job; although at this point it time the title applies. I'm talking about this salsa:

At Christmas my Aunt Mary Ann made Pioneer Woman's restaurant style salsa .
I could drink this stuff. Today I made it with one can if hot rotel and I threw in the seeds from both jalapeños. Like I said....not for the weak, but this is GOOD STUFF!

Maddie's first swing

2011-01-29T12:55:00.001-06:00

Yesterday it was beautiful outside. Cooper and Maddie really enjoyed being in the sun for a while. Maddie loves to swing....can't you just see it in her face?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

And I'm done

2011-01-21T13:51:00.001-06:00

So since 11 am today I've been picking the house up so we would have a clean house when we came home from the basketball game. The game was supposed to be at 5:50, but got moved to 3, because of the weather yesterday. Right during nap time; I wouldn't drag my kids, but they are playing Kiowa.. you know the town 3 miles from us. Well I went to get Coopers shoes and walked into this:

Yep, I've got that same look on my face....if you aren't laughing that is.

Fashionable

2011-01-11T13:24:00.001-06:00

We are all about fashion....diapers and Uggs

If anyone can explain why my son takes his clothes off that would be great. Whenever I tell him to put clothes on he says "where are we going?"

Christmas Morning

2011-01-08T12:22:00.000-06:00

Well here are a few pics of Christmas morning at the Young house. When I downloaded them I really thought I took more pictures then I did, guess it makes it easier to choose which ones to post!

Well there is a taste of what Santa brought, our kids are very blessed. It looks like everyone else had a good Christmas, and now that it's over we can move on to other things....like more basketball. That's a LONG LONG season, but we're hanging in there.

Teeth

2011-01-06T13:37:00.001-06:00

Look really close and they are coming!

Two on bottom....one on top. I have no idea why my camera took these upside down.

Sorry

2010-12-30T21:29:00.001-06:00

This has kept me from blogging....

A more detailed Christmas blog coming soon...mostly there was a lot of trains. As if I needed to point that out!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T12:07:00.000-06:00

Young/Wedel/Lauxman Christmas Party

2010-12-23T11:32:00.000-06:00

Jeremy and I actually have 8 kids....I know you're shocked. But every year since we've been married we've had a Christmas Party with the 3 Wedel girls, and 3 Lauxman girls.....all together. This was our 5th year, so "grand-dad" splurged and got us a special treat. We went to look at lights in Yukon, OKC, and down around Chesapeake....this was our view:

We enjoyed all our lights from the comfort of a very nice limo! The girls were excited and it allowed everyone to just hang out and talk. It was so much fun!

I'm sure our Limo Driver thought this was an odd mix....we range from 29-7 months. But I think he had fun! I can't believe how big all these girls are getting or maybe it is how old I am getting. But I'm thankful for them all, and we are so blessed to have them now love on our kids!

Christmas at Mama Jo's

2010-12-21T17:12:00.000-06:00

This year we had Christmas at Mama Jo's a week early. We thought it would be fun for the 6 great-grands to be all together, and not going to lie, it was fun! There are 2 more great-grands on the way....it's not me.....it's not Jeni, and they are married, and it isn't twins....talk amongst yourselves!

Here are a few photos, I didn't take near as many as I should've. I can't wait until Christmas cause Cooper is way into it this year! So fun!

Maddie and Isaac are the same size....Maddie was born in May, Isaac in August....

She is talking to him....it was funny.....okay it was more like shreiking at him.

And here are the 6 great-grands....this is as good as it gets with these 6!

more to come!

(yes....Cooper and Maddie are getting a first cousin on the North side....I'm going to be an Aunt...I'm pumped!)

beginning to look like Christmas

2010-12-13T11:08:00.001-06:00

Our self proclaimed first child came to spend the weekend with us. Which was great! I told her she better not be too helpful or she may have to move in with us! We visited a tree farm in a nearby town to get our tree. I didn't get the family picture I hoped for at the tree farm. It got too windy for Maddie to be outside, but since Colby was around we did manage to get some decent pics for a Christmas card. (Which I was avoiding, but Jeremy wanted to send one out, I'm sure I'll be glad we did it later!) So we decortated the tree, took Colby to Pete's Place in Krebs, got ready for the basketball Christmas Party, went to church, did a little running, and really enjoyed just hanging out with Colby. So thanks for coming to see us and here are a few pictures of the weekend!

Trains....and more Trains

2010-12-07T14:58:00.000-06:00

A fellow blogger pointed out to me that Cooper was in the paper today! Sure enough here he is playing with the trains at the Train Show my parents took him to on Saturday. He LOVES trains, Lives for trains! I'm surprised they actually got him to leave. I'm sure if I had taken him we'd have a pretty big fight to get him out of there. Although, "if you want Santa to come" is working pretty well at our house right now!

*Photo from newsok.com

6 months

2010-11-30T15:32:00.001-06:00

Our sweet little girl is 6 months....another thing we did while in Edmond was take her to the doctor. She weighs a whole 12.6 pounds and is 26.5 inches long. She had 5 shots, but she took it like a woman and did amazing! She has started this super cheese smile face (see below)....it's so funny. Oh and she is eating cereal and some veggies now, trust me it's the best thing that has ever happened to her. Although sadly to say, she is not foregoing her nursing every 3 hours.....

At 6 months Miss Maddie sits up very strong, crawls, puts anything and everything into her mouth, pulls up on everything, still loves to watch Cooper play. Likes to play in Cooper's room with his cars and trains. She loves for him to push her around in his car, and she smiles, squeals, and talks...a lot. Overall with the exception of not sleeping through the night she is a very good napper. She's a happy little girl!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T15:31:00.000-06:00

We spent a few days in Edmond before Thanksgiving. We did some shopping, I had several photo sessions, and Jeremy took a test. Wednesday we headed back after my last photo shoot and I started cooking. We decided to invite Jeremy's parents and siblings to our house for Thanksgiving. It worked out nice because Jeremy had basketball practice Friday and Saturday....and well right now. I ran into a fellow blogger in Edmond and she requested pictures of my first time cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Since there were only 6, 7 if you count Cooper, we had a lot of stuff, but not everything....so here is our Thanksgiving in pictures!

Overall, except the turkey taking about 4.5 hours to cook instead of the 3.5-4 I planned on everything went smoothly. I did almost pull my oven out of the wall: I set my turkey on the open door when I was putting it in....that would not have been a funny story. Cooper even helped me make the dressing, just like I used to help mama jo tear the bread. (He's still talking about how he helped make it.) There was dessert too....chocolate and pumpkin pie. Of course, to top it all off I sent some Christmas Cookies and Chocolate Chip cookies home for everyone. I think everyone had a good time, and I was able to pull it all together since my mother-in-law didn't go to the gym and came here to entertain my kids! We had leftover turkey with sweet potatoes and zucchini casserole last night....no squash it was all gone at the store. So we got the full Thanksgiving experience and then some....and luckily we didn't have to resort to some restaurant because I burned everything!

Game time

2010-11-16T19:19:00.001-06:00

This is what we look like before going to a game....

After isn't always that pretty!

thoughts on cloth....

2010-11-16T09:13:00.000-06:00

Before Maddie was born I did a lot of research on switching to cloth diapers. I visited The Green Bambino, talked to friends that have used them, read about different brands online. After doing the math I told Jeremy I was going to use cloth diapers with Maddie. Well, we started using them with her in September. She ~~was~~ is so small I had to find one she wasn't unhappy in. The tri-fold diapers are just so bulky for her, and really the ones I have been using with her are pretty bulky on her as well. (yes, honey they make your non-existent butt look big). So we use flips at our house, and they work pretty well, I just wish they made a petite size! I will openly admit that I probably would not have made this decision if we still lived in the city, but since we don't, and rarely make trips out of our house, they do save a lot of money and really aren't bad to change. Although I've noticed a sharp decline in her father changing diapers since we switched. In his defense, he does still change Cooper's diaper.....who refuses to potty in the potty.

But, I do feel like she has more redness in them. I change her regularly and put anointment on her, so I'm wondering if it is the detergent I use. I just wash them in All Free and Clear, which I wash everything in and nothing else seems to bother her....any thoughts on this?

A little piece of heaven...

2010-11-13T15:19:00.001-06:00

Both kids asleep....workout done....and I found this at the store....it's a good day!

Good thing I did my workout!

On this day....

2010-11-10T16:03:00.001-06:00

She started crawling forward. Not the mad I can get anywhere I want to fast crawl....more like I think I can crawl...

She is saying "so what mom quit taking my picture".

It begins....

2010-11-02T15:11:00.001-06:00

Today is the first varsity basketball game....long awaited day at our house! Last night I fed all the boys....this is what you make for 13 boys...

And of course dessert....

6 pounds of pasta and I've got probably 3 left.
Jeremy brought this shirt home that the girls made....it's so cute!

So hopefully here is a start of a good season! Go Panthers!

Halloween

2010-11-01T13:27:00.002-06:00

Well Halloween has come and gone. We had a ton of trick-or-treaters! They bring them around on trailers, seriously, not kidding....and some boys tried to come in our house and play with toys. Their mothers were mortified.

My mom came into town on Wednesday, we tried the kids Halloween costumes, while Maddie loved her costume, Cooper, who picked his costume out and was so excited about being a shark was scared to death and as soon as he saw himself in the mirror he stripped down and wouldn't put it back on. So needless to say we have no pictures of Cooper in a costume...he did put on his Lightning McQueen Costume and Jeremy took him to a few houses....but of course I got no pics and he wouldn't put it on when I took a few pics of Maddie. Oh well, we tried!

Cooper and I carved a Lightning McQueen pumpkin, it wasn't great, because my flimsy knife broke while I was carving it, but you can still tell what it is. He was very into taking the top off and cleaning it out.
Last night we had a weenie roast out by a little barn, it was a great time of worship and fellowship. Cooper conned everyone out to let him sit on the tractor, he might get to actually ride on one soon, and he would be in heaven. Then the girls taught him how to jump hay bales....he got the hang of it by the end, almost, probably would've helped if he hadn't done this after the sun went down. All to say, we had a great Halloween! Here are some pics!

Babysitters

2010-10-31T13:22:00.001-06:00

Best Friends.....

2010-10-30T16:35:00.000-05:00

Cooper thought Maddie wanted to drive....so I let him push her around....don't worry he was going slow and I followed very closely the whole time, but obviously, she is loving it!

New look!

2010-10-28T19:02:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since I changed the blog up....so I did.

I'm sure I'm the last to know about these....

Lullabyes set to rock sings....I downloaded some Aerosmith, Eagles, Pink Floyd, Smashing Pumpkins.... You should look into it! And cause she's sooo cute!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-27T21:07:00.001-05:00

We went down and shopped in Allen, TX for a few days. We needed a little break and I felt like some time away before basketball season was in full swing would be good for us all. We had a great time! Did a lot of shopping, saw Jenny and Ross in Forney, and ate.....we ate a lot! I found a little pumpkin patch to stop at on our way, it was a nice little place where the kids can feed longhorns, sheep, goats, pick out a small pumpkin, roll in the hay. You know, get that awesome picture of your 2 kids together at the pumpkin patch....oh right I dreamed about that last one. None the less we still enjoyed some time there before we hit the road and shopped! Now we are back to reality and pretty much will see Jeremy in March! Wish me luck!

The shred....

2010-10-20T13:53:00.001-05:00

I started Jillian Michaels 30 day shred as soon as I was cleared by my doc back in June. Being honest here, I wanted to work out, but I wasn't very faithful to the shred until August. New baby, summer legaue, 2 year old, then the month long Starbucks enhanced vacation at my parents didn't help much either. I think I did it a total of 3 maybe 4 times at their house. Well in August I started the shred up and faithfully did it 6 days a week. Fast forward to October and I'm doing it 5 days a week and since it is cooler I have been adding in some walks with the kids in the evening. I do it at 11:00 am, after nursing and before lunch every day. Cooper knows when I do it, he says "oh mom, it's time for workout". I will say it had been frustrating because I wasn't seeing the numbers go down on the scale, just this past week finally they have gone down. But I think of my workout differently now....it is 20 minutes I take a day to focus on myself. Now it has become just a part of my day, I rotate the levels in 10 day rotations cause I would get bored if I did level 3 everyday. I like that Cooper sees me do it because I believe that it is good for him to see his mom doing something active most days. So although I may not be seeing that 6 pack soon, it still makes me feel better and it shows my kids that I do take care of myself. I'm sure if I dieted I might see that 6 pack sooner....but well mostly I just don't want to diet! As moms I think we should show our kids that we do things for ourselves, it's not ALL about them {mostly about them, but not all} I would recommend the shred....20 minutes or so well spent! And maybe your 6 pack will come faster then mine!
And here is Cooper singing this is the way we wash our face to Maddie....she really was loving it!

5 Months

2010-10-14T18:16:00.000-05:00

Someone needs to stop the clock....time is ticking way to fast around here! Here is Maddie at 5 months...

If you move your face from behind the camera and tell her she's pretty you get this face:

I think I have seen that face before....oh Cooper at about 5 months....

and if you saw my FB status...I did make cupcakes to celebrate, not for her, for me, not that I need cupcakes, but oh well!

No tolerance

2010-10-13T10:03:00.001-05:00

I'm finding an extreme lack of tolerance lately. I just was upset because Cooper spilled chocolate milk on our "wedding quilt". I then went to make some coffee and saw this on the counter

This reminded maybe I should stop and take a little breath and realize it's not all his fault.
I could chalk this up to desperately needing a good nights rest! The lack of tolerance, not the spilled milk.
( note: I did not make his chocolate milk this morning and it looks like it is coming out of the quilt just fine)

Milestones

2010-10-11T09:54:00.002-05:00

I guess leaving the bumbo seat at my moms has forced her to sit on her own....

See no hands...she's mad...but she can do it all by herself

Miss Maddie is....

2010-10-09T08:50:00.002-05:00

mad cause she can't get anywhere.... she is making progress

playing with her feet

giving us sweet smiles

and LOVING her pearls!

Thomas

2010-10-08T10:43:00.000-05:00

Cooper still loves Thomas. So since we happened to be in Edmond this past weekend for a wedding on Sunday after we ate lunch my parents took him to see Thomas. We went last year and he loved it, I'm sure this year I can hear him say "Look, there's Thomas, do you hear him?" It was perfect because they wore him out for the entire trip home! Which is what I was hoping for! Little does Cooper know that he's going to get Thomas in a big way at Christmas....I've been building up a stash of different Take N Play trains. You can buy them really cheap at Kohls, Marshalls, and TJ Max, if you're in the market for some. So needless to say while they were at Thomas, Maddie ate and we ran some last minute errands....a/k/a went to Kohl's to spend the Kohl's cash since it expired that Sunday! Here are a few pics of their adventure!

Circus

2010-10-05T12:03:00.000-05:00

This will be the first post in some catch up post....

We took the kids a few weeks ago to the circus, and Cooper loved seeing all the animals. Especially the Elephant. He rode a minature horse, which I have a picture of somewhere. He could've rode the elephant, we took him over there and he got real nervous and said, "no, no." This circus was the Shrine Circus in McAlester, it wasn't huge, but it was long. It started at 7:30, and the intermission was at 8:45, so we left. Not to mention it was extremely hot in the expo center. We had to stop to get drinks on the way home and Cooper ate ice cream with his hands. Surprisingly most of it made it in his mouth. Overall, I think so far it was one of the best nights of Cooper's life, he got to see an elephant. He still talks about it. Here are a few pics from my phone, as you can tell the kids are really interested in taking a picture with mom and dad!

Blessed Beyond.....

2010-09-21T08:24:00.000-05:00

One of the hardest things about moving to the middle of no where was leaving MRCC....my church home of 28 years, full of my family and friends that I loved so much.

One Sunday when Cooper and I were in Edmond, Jeremy visited Kiowa Church of Christ. He already knew several people from there due to working Cage Camp. The next Sunday we all went, and I loved everything about this church. I love that we have class, worship, potluck, then a devo {which we never make it to because someone needs to eat and someone else desparately needs a nap}We quickly decided this would be our new church home, it is about 4 miles from our house, which is great cause we are always late. For a smaller church they take such good care of the kids. They work really hard to provide good classes for them. It took a while for Cooper to warm up to them, but now he loves them all! They even have started a nursery class for Maddie. It was great for us because they use the same cirriculum that MRCC uses so it was an easy transitition for Cooper.

They have wanted to have a shower for Maddie, since before she was born, but due to my crazy hectic schedule of doctor visits and being gone it never worked out, then we had it schedulded, but decided to change VBS to that week, so Sunday we finally had Maddie's shower. They sure did shower her with love, and Cooper wasn't left behind either. Special thanks to my mom for hanging out with us this weekend and I'm so glad she got to meet all our new church friends! Maddie was the first person to have a shower in the new fellowship hall.....and the first baby shower for them in a long long time.

4 months

2010-09-20T17:07:00.000-05:00

Maddie is 4 months....and since I haven't started her Baby Book yet, here are her stats.....I'm a little late in posting!

Height: 24 inches
Weight: 10.5 lbs....*someone get this girl some food!

She does everything a normal 4 month old would do, everything goes in her mouth, she rolls over, smiles, laughs, pushes up on her arms, watches her big brother like a hawk, loves bath time, lives to eat (even though she may not look like it), takes great naps, likes for you to tell her she's pretty {this may not be a good sign}, likes to be talked to, she can sit with little support....oh and she can move across the room, by pushing her whole body across the rug, blanket, whatever she may be laying on. We love her so much!

*DISCLAIMER: please know Maddie is never deprived of food and since she is growing taller we will not worry about her weight for now...and she is gaining weight...she eats every 3 hours....and pretty much every 3 hours at night too....

It's as close as it gets

2010-09-14T09:08:00.001-05:00

I said goodbye to my trusted coffee/espresso machine I've had for 7 years and said hello to this beauty:

With a shot of vanilla and a drizzle of caramel on top it's almost as good as having a starbucks! I can get the Starbucks latte primers delivered in the mail too. We are a match made in coffee heaven. Now I just need to find some white chocolate!
Oh and check out this happy 4 month old

4 months...my how time flies when you're not sleeping!

300th!

2010-09-13T12:53:00.000-05:00

This is my 300th post....sorry it isn't more exciting...but what is exciting is I got to spend a few days with this girl....

April and Zane came to OKC for a part of their furlough! I told her it doesn't seem like it has been 2 years since they left, she answered, I know, but you do have another kid. Is that the mark of a long time? I guess so. It was great to have some time with her to talk, shop, eat, and a movie. We got a lot in.

However, I may have to send my little girl to live with April...they became best friends real fast. Maddie loves her....even though she may not be smiling in this pic!

It was just like we were back in school living at my parents for the summer, although April brought her husband and I brought my 2 kids....my how things can change!

art of shooting

2010-09-07T10:11:00.002-05:00