They won the TROPHY!

When Peanut was younger like 3 or 4 and she'd win a game or finish something first she would always say I win/won the trophy! Well, she played her first season of basketball this fall and they actually won a trophy (okay, every team gets a trophy). She was very excited and likes showing it off. She's proud of her first real trophy. Basketball was great, she really progressed through the quick season. She made several baskets and is a great dribbler. Basketball was always my favorite sport growing up & I'm really enjoying watching her play. I'm thinking of soccer for the spring, just to let her try another sport and see how she likes it. Just b/c b-ball was my fave doesn't mean it's going to be hers nor do I want to force it on her. But I have to say, I really like watching her play! Although, I have been playing soccer now for a whole year (spring, summer & fall seasons) and I love it. I was kind of disappointed I never gave it a shot as a kid. Although, now that I think about it I don't think they had a lot of soccer for girls when I was real young. I just want Peanut to try some sports and hopefully she'll find one that she likes and wants to stick with for a while. Go Purple Fireballs!

Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus

Last weekend Peanut was presented with tickets to the hottest concert tour this year, the Best of Both Worlds tour. Meme & Papa (Tim's parents) bought three tickets and wanted to surprise Peanut with them. So we went to OKC for the weekend and Meme gave Peanut the envelope as Tim & Papa drove us to the arena. She was very surprised & it took her a minute to let it soak in. Once it did she said "Just a moment." as she held out one finger and then said "Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!" It was pretty funny. She had a really good time & Meme and I had just as good a time watching her. Hannah/Miley rocked!

Fun Photos

What a weekend!

We had a really nice weekend. We made great time on the drive to my Mom's, 7 hours exactly. The way back was another story, more like 8.5 hours, but even so ... it was a good trip. On Thursday we went to the movies and saw Enchanted. It was very cute. And we went to the small movie theater near my Mom's & it was only $2.50 per person! Isn't that amazing? The three of us got in for the price of one at any other theater. Then we did some work on my Grandma's scrapbook. Friday I had dinner & a drink with one of my best friends. We don't see each other often but after the quick run down of what is going on we pick up right where we left off. It's always great to get together with her. Then Saturday we had a family thing at my cousins house. It was our Thanksgiving dinner. Everything was delicious. It was great to see everyone & Peanut had lots of fun with the cousins. We showed Grandma the progress on the book ... and then we told her to give it back so we can work on it some more. Maybe we'll have it done for Christmas. We worked on it some more Saturday evening. It's coming together quite nicely. It was cold in OK ... the one thing I don't miss! That left us both with sore throats and runny noses. Aside from that the trip couldn't have been better. Now back to our everyday life.

Turkey Cookie

It's Tuesday, so Peanut & went to Chick-fil-A for their Family Night. She decorated this cute little turkey cookie.
We are getting ready for a trip to visit my Mom and family & friends in that area. I've got tons of laundry to get to and our packing to be done. Yuck! What's really bad is I have to break out the sweaters & stuff as a cold front is coming to town when we get there.
I'm pretty excited to get to see everyone, but there will have to be good planning to get everything accomplished. The number one priority will be for my Mom & I to finish Grandma's scrapbook we "gave her" for her birthday. What's funny is, I think the only part of the book to be finished are the pages about our family. We got all the other aunts, uncles & cousins pages taken care of & ran out of time & ideas for ours. So, several months later hopefully we'll be ready to take care of business. We both really love to scrap so that will be fun ... but it is time consuming. Then of course, there's the visiting. We'll have lots of visiting to do. It'd be fun to squeeze in some shopping & maybe that new Disney movie, Enchanted (Peanut has told me several times it release date; 11/21).
Okay, well, I just thought I'd take a minute & give today's scoop ... now we've got to tackle that laundry! We?!? HA! I'm sooo funny.

Halloween

So, I'm a little slow (by now you know this!) but here we are in our Halloween costumes. Hannah Montana and Jentar the Fortune Teller. I made my costume like a madwoman the night before Halloween ... for some reason my best ideas come at crunch time. I made a quick trip to Hobby Lobby for some fabric & paint, used a box I got from work and several hours later I was pretty pleased with the result. Hope everyone had a fun Halloween.

Boomer ... Sooner!

I went to my first OU vs. TX football game and it was awesome! Peanut spent the night with cousins on Tim's side of the family & had a good time. She loves getting to spend time with the older girls. We stayed at a hotel with Tim's parents. It was a very nice room w/a separate living and bedroom. The living room had a hide-a-bed couch that Tim & I slept on. We got rained on a little but Tim's Mom was prepared with ponchos to keep us dry. It wasn't too terribly hot, a little humid but it could have been worse. The clouds helped to keep it somewhat cool. And the best part of all .... OU 28 TX 21!! Go big RED!

We flew an OU flag on our car for the drive home ... that was pretty fun too.

Something Sweet!

My thoughtful husband surprised me with this camera. We have a big, fancy digital camera, but I wanted a small one that I could put in my pocket (or purse) and take with me anywhere. I had been talking about wanting a new small one for a couple months and we had recently talked about getting it. Then the other day he told me he ordered me something from Starbucks (I don't drink coffee) and so I had spent a couple days wondering what he ordered from there. Then the night before the package arrived he said "You're seed is coming tomorrow." Then he tried to cover up that he said "seed". The next day when I asked about the seed arriving he said, "Well, maybe bean is the right word." The box arrived and I started to look at the label & he told me to just open it up. I did and inside was my pretty, pink camera. I had no clue!

My little project

So, this weekend I finally did something I had been planning on for at least a month.
Well, first I had to clean up our back room which has just been a catch all of miscellaneous stuff we don't have a place for. Initially this was going to be a media room (xbox, movies, musical instruments etc.)+ work area for school work & crafts, but last week Tim moved his Xbox to the living room because we don't have surround sound in the back. I decided that this was fine with me because I had plans of my own for the back room. When I am done with it, it will be a great craft and office space with a small love seat or couple of chairs so we'll still have our extra tv room. The great thing is now I'll have a space where I can just turn the tv on TLC or HGTV and go to town organizing or crafting or just catching up on my programs. We have a big couch back there that we are going to get rid of (sell to Tim's couchless friend) which will free up a lot of space. Once that happens I'll be able to move forward with my love seat or chair purchase. So, this weekend I did a little more cleaning in the back room and have been brainstorming & browsing IKEA for the best desk/workspace for my awesome room. Unfortunately, my local IKEA did not have the stuff I wanted in stock (according to their website), so I thought with my semi-clean room I'd do a little project I'd been wanting to do since I got my laptop. The idea is not mine at all, found it online, but I am quite proud of the end result. It is a laptop sleeve made from an old sweater. The sweater was one I so loved even though I had shrunk it a bit from washing it so much. I had finally decided to get rid of the sweater b/c it was too short & kind of snug. Then when I got my laptop I was looking for sleeves or cases online and then thought I'd google how to make one & came across the sweater idea. So, I'm feeling pretty productive & crafty after this weekend. Now the trick will be to keep it up. I think once I get the room whipped into shape it'll be very easy to work on projects and hopefully when everything has a space we can keep it clean!

Sea World Slide Show!

Sea World

Peanut and I recently went on the most awesome trip to Sea World. My work has a Bat Cave that we give tours of & the past couple of years we have taken a group of Sea World employees and given them a tour. This year to say Thank You they said we could have a group of up to 25 people come to SW and have a behind the scenes tour of the animals and then spend the day at the park for FREE! My department at work (we are the ones who give the tours of the cave) consist of 7 people, plus spouses and kids comes out pretty close to 25. So a couple of Saturdays ago was our day. Tim went to the football game instead (his parents have season tix). Plus, I think we both knew that a day at SW was not really his thing. No big deal, I'd rather him do something he'd enjoy and not have to worry if he was doing okay at the park all day long. We got up early and met w/my friend Sarah & her husband and rode with them to the park. We got to pet Beluga whales, sting rays (most freaky of all), sharks and a Killer whale. It was so awesome, the animals were such hams. They seemed to be loving every minute of attention they could get. We saw dolphin and beluga moms with their babies that were only 3 months old. The behind the scenes was a little trying on all the kids, it was a lot of walking and listening and not getting to do the fun stuff (the rides!!). Once our tour was over, they released us into the park to do the rides, shows & water park. Our first stop was The Journey to Atlantis. I was so nervous taking Peanut on her first big ride, she had not done anything like it but she was so excited. We loaded up. The height didn't seem to phase her, but the instant that we started to head down the big drop ... I saw complete horror on her face and thought, oh no! I'm such a horrible mother, this is going to be awful. The horrified look went away and I was trying to determine what was next. She screamed at the top of her lungs the whole way down. Then she laughed and laughed and said "That was awesome! Let's do it again!" WHEW! I laughed so hard I was crying. What fun! She had a blast. We rode a few other rides and she screamed at every dip, drop and turn but all the while was smiling and laughing. Every ride ended with "That was awesome!" or "Let's do it again." We ate lunch, did the water park and had some snacks. We didn't catch any shows (but we did get some sneak peaks at the acrobat guys backstage & of course got to see most of the stars up close). We got to the park at 10:30am and left at 6:30pm. She wanted to do more, but had enough fun that she was okay with leaving. We definitely need to make SW a two day trip next time. There were lots of rides we didn't do, shows we could have seen and then they have a kid play area that we passed as we were leaving. What a great way to end our summer! I'll post some pics soon.

August 2007

Busy, Busy, Busy

We have had a very busy past couple of weeks ... hence my blogging hiatus. Since my last post:

Peanut started 2nd Grade on 8/27. They went back to school two weeks later than usual and they will not get out of school until the first week of June! That will be awful. It was nice to have the extra two weeks this year, but who wants to go back to school after Memorial Day weekend? Peanut is loving her teacher & class. Now we are in week three and she still seems to be excited about going each day.

I've been super busy at work. My boss just returned from a two week vacation and while she was gone there were lots of her daily responsibilities that I had to take on. We also had a big event over Labor Day weekend that I had to help get prepared for. So, I haven't had much free-time at work. I know, that's awful right? Don't worry though, things are slowing down just a bit for me now.

We went to visit the in-laws over Labor Day weekend. They had a family reunion at their home on Sunday. Saturday we had family pictures made and then we went to the OU vs. N. TX game. That was fun ... hot & a blow out, but still fun. I can't help to feel bad for teams like N. TX though, when they are just getting stomped out there. But it was fun to see our team lookin good. It was a very busy, but fun weekend.

I signed up for month two (Sept.) of my Boot Camp. It's really been great, except the getting up part. Once I am in the car I am fine, it's just making myself get out of bed at 5:30, that I have a hard time with. I'm trying to work on it, but that's still the hardest part. I love the workouts and love when the dark begins to fade into morning light just as we are finishing up. That is such a good feeling.

Somewhere in between Peanut & I went to Lowe's and built an "Herb Planter". That was fun & she now has a Lowe's apron to rival her Home Depot one. I love this activity & highly recommend checking out both Lowe's & Home Depot for their upcoming kids workshops. Such fun!

I'll post some pics later to wrap up our summer fun. Sorry for such a long post! Hope everyone is having a good week!

Marriage Meme

Okay, MerryWeather tagged me with this Marriage Meme and I've finally done it. Enjoy:

1. Tim and I met when he began working at MetLife and I started in a new dept. We had orientation and then many weeks of training together. We got along very well and became work buddies. We'd eat lunch together along with a couple other people and take breaks together. About 6 months or so later we started dating. It's really amazing that we worked together all day and still wanted to see each other outside of work.
2. About a year and half later we decided we wanted to get married. He was considering joining the Air Force and said he wouldn't want to be without me. We were married about 4 months later May 17th 2003.
3. I was 21 when we got married and he is 6 years older than me (must be something to this!).
4. Tim did join the Air Force and went away to Basic Training at the end of July 03. After that he went to Biloxi, MS for training and then on to Wichita Falls, TX which was great b/c then he was able to come home on the weekends. He was in training for about 8 months. I went to visit once in Biloxi. Peanut & I went to Wichita Falls and snuck him off base before he was able to come home.
5. We've lived in three states since we've been married. Oklahoma, then Idaho and now Texas.
6. We're both competitive, stubborn (mostly him ;)), funny (mostly me)and witty.
7. I am more quiet & reserved and he is more outspoken & loud. I think we are opposites in lots of ways, but it helps to balance each other out.
8. He hates surprises and making big deals out of birthdays & stuff and I love it, maybe even more since he doesn't like it. ; ) I like to be cheesy & cute and he lets me even though I know he hates it. That's love!

Art Caddy

I love finding fun and different kid stuff to do with Peanut. The one thing that drives me crazy is how expensive some stuff can be, especially where we live. So, I usually try to find the best deal when we do go out & about. I love a good deal! Last week, I was on the internet just browsing and somewhere read that Home Depot does a kids workshop on the first Saturday of every month where kids get to do a project and take it home. The best part is it's FREE! For the full scoop check out homedepotclinics.com. The kids also get an orange apron (theirs to keep) and when they finish the project they get a pin. Today's workshop was open from 9:00am to 12:00pm, I think they're probably all at the same time, and the kids built an Art Caddy. I think Peanut really had fun building it, she got to use a hammer and had the experience of building something herself (with just a little help from me). I don't think we have ever done anything quite like that. We do lots of crafty stuff, but this was different. It took us about 30 minutes to build it, get some free popcorn our Home Depot pops on the weekends and head to the car. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking to entertain a kid or kids with a fun project. Ages were 5-12 (I don't know how strict they are with this).

Boot Camp

Okay, I must be crazy because I have signed up for Be a Jane Boot Camp. Here's what I know: It's M, W, F through the end of August. Here is the scary part, it's at 6:00am!! It's an hour of cardio & strength training. One of my friends at work signed up for it & mentioned it to me and at first I said no way, I cannot get up that early (I'm really bad about hitting snooze, I just never seem to get enough sleep). So, I told Dianne she was on her own. Then the rest of the day & last night I was thinking about it a little more, and thought I should give it a try. So, I did it. I signed up and we start tomorrow. Once I get going with it I'm sure I'll enjoy it. It's just the getting going that I usually talk myself out of. I'm sure it'll be rough, but I know in a week or so I won't be dying anymore and then I will feel great about doing it.

Finally Friday!

I love Friday! At work Friday is kind of an easy, relaxing day. My boss & another of the bosses only work M-Th, so that's a bonus too. I love my boss, she is really great & always understanding ... but it's still nice when the boss is away. Peanut has a birthday party this evening. They are calling it an almost sleep-over from 5-9. I thought this was a great idea for her age group b/c I'm sure there are some kids who might not make it through the night away from home. Tim & I are going to squeeze in a quick date. We have this awesome locally owned movie theater (a couple locations in Austin) called The Alamo Drafthouse. The great thing about it is in front of each row of seats is a long bar-like table. They serve real food & beer. So you can do dinner & a movie pretty easily. It makes finding something to do pretty easy when you don't have enough time to go out to eat & then do something afterwards.

I hope everyone has a good day & great weekend!

Slow

Okay, so I am a bit slow at things. But I think I am finally ready to commit to this blog thing. I've tested out some colors and updated my profile. And it is good enough for now. So, here goes:

This weekend was too quick as usual. Tim went to Chicago to meet up with an old friend and go to a baseball game, so it was just me and Peanut till Sunday afternoon. We didn't do too much, it rained and we tryed to stay dry & cool. Saturday we went to the Girl Scouts store so she could spend her Cookie Credits she earned. The big thing we did was try to clean & unpack her room. We still had 3 boxes from the move (in May, I know!) that needed unpacking and sorting through. We really made some progress. We have one big box full of get rid of toys! Unfortunately, we still have some organizing to do. But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Then Sunday evening we all went to the pool & swam for a bit. And before I knew it was 7:30am & my alarm would be ringing in just a few minutes. I absolutely hate it when I wake up before the alarm.

Okay .... yay!! I did it.

The princess of Jen's house!

Jen Spot

Hey this is a spot for Jen to tell her stories, to share the love and memories of her family!