things have been slowing down...for now

Well the last time I blogged I am sure I exhausted some of you with our events. HA :-) Right now things have been nice, and slow. It is very nice to say. The kids had a 4 day weekend the 17-21st of Jan..so here is what we did.
We took the kids to see a play called the Alamo. (it is about the real Alamo) Austin loved it. It was a bit boring. But the kids were still excited...because as soon as it ended we drove the 30 min drive to Grapevine for our over night vacation. We stayed at the Great Wolf lodge. It is very expensive, hence the one night stay. We had a great time. We played in the giant indoor water park, then ran through the halls and up and down the stairs. Seriously, we did!! They have a game called Magi-Quest. Where you are a wizard in training and you have to find certain things in a certain order to earn wizard points and work towards your adventure of battling a dragon. Well you buy a wand, a game (that is good for 4 days) and they give you a book..that gives you clue to earn all your wizard stuff. Oh my..we had no clue what we got ourselves into. Friday night we spent a total of 4 hours running up and down the "Hidden staircase" hahah that we figured out was the emergency stairwell. I didn't realize a vacation and staying at a hotel would be sooo much physical work. It would tell you to "go up to where Pixie's dwell (the 6th floor) and then once you found that clue it would say climb up one more time or go down two. We literally ran up and down the stairs...all 8 floors. We also played for a few hours on Sat. By the time we left we were all dragging. My calves hurt for 2 days afterwards. :-) But we had a blast. I am sorry for no pictures, but believe it or not I FORGOT my camera. I was so tempted to drive home and get it. The rest of the time we just relaxed. Dan had to go to work..he only had 2 days off.
I do have to brag on Austin. He has had a rough few months at school with getting in trouble for misc. things...talking, not using time wisely, getting out of his seat, etc. Well he has had 3 full weeks of no red marks...only positive stickers. SO it is awesome. We praise him often and reward his good behavior with Super Mario brother trading cards. He loves them!! :-) So way to go Austin...keep up the hard work!
We started painting the house last weekend. Dan took a 3 day weekend off...we were going to go to Houston to watch my brother race, but he was still very sick from when he got back from his race in Germany. So we skipped it and painted..the main living area...the halls, formal dining room, and part of the living room (still need to finish it). We picked a nice color. It is called Cairo brown. A nice sand color. I told Austin we now have walls the color of the pyramids. :-D It looks nice with the white trim and doors. Next is the rest of the living room, laundry room and kitchen. The kitchen will be a different color. I will take some pictures and post them later.
Now last weekend when we decided to paint..I had a major issue develop with my lap top. I turned it on Saturday morning and the screen kept flickering....THEN all of the sudden it went black. I thought I lost power, but noticed all the other power lights were on. So I shut it down and start it back up. The screen came on and then BLACK! I stayed calm..went to the gym and waited for Dan to get back from playing basketball and asked him if he dropped my lap top. HAHA Had to find someone to blame. BUT he said nothing had happened to it. So I took it to my friend, Susan's house..she checked it out and we couldn't figure it out. I got all mys pictures and documents backed up on my external hard drive and felt a little better. I realized while sitting in the sun that you could see a dark shadow of what was actually on the screen. SO I get a flash light and begin to use it. haha It was NOT very easy or comfortable. So I turned on the desk top. It is almost 6 yrs old and hasn't been used very much over the past 2 1/2 yrs. Needless to say it had a lot of updates. It took about 3 hours to load and update. Then when I shut it off it took another hour to update again. I didn't remember it being so slow, but it took me 5 mins to load my email. haha. I then took my laptop in to get another opinion on what is wrong with it. welllllll they said it was the back light and since I couldn't get it to hook up to a S-video cable or external monitor then more then likely my video card was also going out. WONDERFUL.....how much?? $300-400 for the back light and you can double it for the video card. WOW!! The guy recommended me to buy a new one. soooo I looked for 4 days and debated and had panic attacks (ok not really but high stress) and finally Friday night made a decision. I got the new Toshiba. I am still getting use to it and Vista. It is different. Plus I have a newer version of Microsoft Office. So many new things. ooo and Dan said he wants to count the new laptop as my Valentine gift. HAHA I am surprised he didn't throw in Anniversary too. Since we usually do not exchange gifts for these Holidays..just cards! :-) So he better still get me a card!!

So now I am planning the Valentine parties for the kids classes. Lots of fun!
So that pretty much catches you up. Today is my cousin, Michele's birthday. And later this week is Grandma Kobiske (10th) and Ashley's(6th) (my brother's girlfriend) birthday. So Happy Birthday ladies!! Love u!

Happy Birthday Jesus from Austin

Happy Birthday Jesus from Caitlin

Away in a Manger

...continued...

I had to take a break from the other days blog....this one will be equally long. I did add a slide show of our Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. Trust me...it is better that way. I had soo many great pictures to share..so I just put them all together.
I just finished watching the Inauguration of the new President. I know this is a very historical event and moment in our life...I enjoyed his speech and felt it was delievered well. I think we are in need of a positive change and I pray that this is the change that will make the difference. God Bless America!!!

Christmas was very nice this year. It was quiet..no trips to the emergency vet to have tha cats leg fixed (last year Austin broke the cats leg on Christmas eve and it required surgery) Mike and Carolynn (Dan's parents) were here and we went to Christmas Eve service at our Church. The kids sang Away in a Manger in the beginning. it was very cute. They brought out parts of the Navitity scene. I have added 3 videos One of the kids singing at Church and 2 others of the kids singing Happy Birthday to Jesus. Every year we do this and have a little cake. I added a tricky candle this year. :-) I am learning how to do the videos on my camera and adding them here..so sorry for the angle changes and blurriness.
The kids got some great toys and a Wii video game. We all enjoy it. We even had lots of playing time with grandma and grandpa Kobiske too. Grandma is VERY competitive and hated losing to Caitlin (who is also very competitive hehehe)in bowling.
Caitlin singing on the Wii.....we have a future Rock Star!!

The day after Christmas was an exciting one. Carolynn and I decided to run to the mall to exchange something and we took Caitlin with us. As we were driving away from out house Caitlin said, "Mommy the neighbors doggie house is on fire" I didn't quite hear her right..so I asked her what she said and she repeated it exactly. by this time I was drivign away from our street and look in my rearview mirror and saw flames shooting over my new neighbors roof. I turned the car around and parked in front of their house (they live behind us) and left Carolynn and Caitlin in the car. I didn't think they were home cause they usually have a car in the driveway. So I rang their doorbell about 10 times and took off running to my house to call 911. I told Carolynn if someone happens to answer the door tell them!! It was a time of just reacting and doign what needed to be done. I called 911 and then ran around to free their dogs from the backyard and they were already in the house. They were home!! So I then ran into my backyard and was hoping my hose would be long enough to help a little. I threw it over our fences and turned it on and another neighbor fed more hose over the fence to me. I made it all the way around their house and still had hose to spare. I was thanking God for that. At that time we had 3 hoses going on the fire. It was a shed that caught on fire from an ember from their smoker which was 20 feet away in the opposite direction of the 40mph winds. We were lucky that the roof didn't catch fire or any surrounding areas. I kept the hose going on the fire until the firetrucks arrived. I threw my hose back over my fence and the whole event still had not sunk in. I walked around to the front where Carolynn was standing with Caitlin and I gave Caitlin a hug and told ehr how proud I was of her for saying something and that she was a true hero. She was very embarrassed and shy about it. That will be a day that I will not forget anytime soon. I went over later that night and exchanged phone numbers with them. I told them that next time they decide to have a bonfire to just invite us. We would bring the marshmellows :-D They are truly nice neighbors...this weekend they brought over a thank you card and a gift card for Chick-fila as thanks. Also for the little hero they gave her a wooden cut out that says, GIRLS RULE. hahah She was once again acting shy. I am just truly thankful she saw it when she did...a few minutes later and we could have been trying to put out a house or even our own with the winds.
We eventually made it to the mall, but I could still smell the smoke in my hair from the fire.

On Sunday we met Carolynn's brother, Gene and his family for lunch. It is always wonderful getting to see them and visit. Their son, Nick and his wife, Tessa adopted a beautiful little girl this past summer. Olive really enjoyed Austin. After, we left I got a call from my good friend, Katy. I know her and her husband, Danny, from cub scouts(he is a cub scout leader), but we have hit it off outside of scouts too. What she told me left me with my jaw dropped wide open. She was at the Hospital with her husband who had just had a heart attack. All I could think was he is only 36!! It was crazy. I knew she couldn't be doing good...she has bipolar disorder and had just gotten out of the hospital herself to have her meds adjusted..so I was extremely concerned for her. She seemed to be holding it together very well until I asked her if she wanted me to come sit with her...she started to cry and said YES!! Of course, I was on my way. He was very lucky he caught it early. They put a stint in and all was as well as to be expected. Of course the 1st thing he said when he came out of surgery was he "needed to do payroll." haha Then he damned french fries as well. hahaha He is a Chick-fila owner. :-D He came home on New Year's eve..so a very good way for the family to start the new year..All back together at home. Another reason to be Thankful to God.

We did take Mike and Carolynn to see the King Tut exhibit in Dallas. That was part of their Christmas present from us. Austin loves Eygptian stuff...so it was a double bonus. :-) Here are a few pictures

In front of the Dallas Museum

The kids with King Tut in the gift shop

My little King Tut girl with a Bear! :-) She really wanted to the bear, but they were outrageously priced!! I think Dan said it was $50

They did not allow us to take pictures inside the Museum...so that is it until we walked around the backside of the building and found this!! Very cool wall painting.


Afterwards we decided to walk over to the JFK memorial, since it was just about a half mile away. It was a beautiful day for a walk.
We took a family picture in a mirrored building....I know silly, but that is us!

Austin giving Dan big hugs...in front of the red castle in downtown.

The kids being cute in front of the water gardens in front of the memorial square

Caitlin in front of the water garden...trying to stay dry or maybe not! :-)

In front of the JFK Memorial Square...Austin didn't really want to go for the walk until he found out it was to see where a President had died...he has seen several mock's of how the shots came on the discovery channel...so he was then all excited. We have a history buff in our family!



we had a wondeful day and then stopped by Dan's store, since we were so close. Looks like any other Michaels..just busier! :-)
Mike and Carolynn left early the next morning and the kids were very sad. Our house seemed empty. Maybe it was the 4 lab tops they brought with them. hehe We had a running joke on the number of laptops in our house. At one point I think we had 4 of them set up on the dining table. It was a site! The kids miss them a lot...we only see them about 2 times a year now. :-(

We brought the New Year in at home with just ourselves. We let the kids stay up until 11pm and they brought in the New Year on the New York time slot. I think they were in for the long haul, but Dan had to get up early and go to work the next morning..so I wanted him rested. It makes me so nervous when he drives at early hours on regular days, but on New Years it is worse. I worry about the drunk drivers on the roads. I never want to imagine something happening to him. And with all that has happened in the past month it has reminded me that life is very precious. We as a family have had way too many loved ones pass too early and it just confirms the love we should show our loved ones on a daily occasion. We "are only given today...cause tomorrow is a present" This is so true.
Well shortly after the New year was my birthday. Yes 33 years of Cherie being on this Earth. I am thankful and truly blessed for each year. I have sooo many fond memories to also be thankful for. My day started by me sleeping in until 8:30am...kind of...the kids were up before then. Austin made me ceral in bed (even though he knew we were going to Ihop for breakfast). He is so sweet. He even wrote a note with it. Of course I took a picture. :-)

After a late breakfast, Dan suggested I go get my hair done, since I rarely do. last time I had a cut was the end of Sept. and a highlight/lowlight was in July or Aug. So I said OK..made an appointment with a new place. Before I left I recived flowers from my parents They were beautiful. They were the breast awareness boquet. My mom knows me and my love to help the Breast Cancer org. here is a picture

I went an dhad my hair done. I had 2 low lights put in and basically a darker blonde then what my natural color was...so I guess it was more like 3 low lights. haha he color turned out nice..even though it was hard to see some of the different colors. BUt the lady cut my hair short...she took 4 inches off of my hair. I gave her 3 instructions...I do NOT want it short, I do not want it heavily layered (only one long layer) and i do not like the swing cut..short in back and long in front. So she did 2 of the 3 things I asked her not to do. She cut it short and gave me shunky layers in the bottom of my hair and then when my side that flips out looked funny she tried cutting the normal side to match it. I was beyond upset AND it was my birthday!! I let her know exactly how I felt. She said she had to cut it that short cause the front was shorter then the back and she was evening it out. I told her the front was shorter because I taper it around my face...grrrrr I know it will grow, but for what I paid..I was NOT a happy camper! Here are some pictures...color not so bad..yes there is read in it

Me forcing a smile over the very short cut that just accents my double chin and fat face! :-) gotta love it

We went out to dinner (cause that is Dan's form of cooking for me) and then i came home and got comfy in front of my computer and TV and watched the Supercross race Live on tv. It was great and a wondeful way for me to end my birthday. :-)

A few days later OU played in the BCS bowl championship and lost, but being true sooner fans we left up our Christmas lights in support for the game. In fact they are still up..Dan needs to get up there and taken them down heheehe

We had our cub scout pine wood derby. It was jsut me and the kids ...Dan had to work. We made new cars for the kids. They were both very slow, but we made up for in flash and style. haha Austin wanted a bullet bill car for Mario Brothers. It is a black bullet! It took a lot of sanding, but turned out cool. Dan and I both worked on it and I painted it.


Austin got to help with the opening prayer. It was very sweet.

The boys (wolf pack) watching the cars go down the track

Caitlin's was a pink car with purple stripes. And of course it had sparkles!!
Caitlin and her buddy from school Evan...his older brothers are scouts too. They are too funny!


Later that day, my girlfriend, Katie that I talked about above, took me to dinner and a movie for my birthday a week late. We had a great dinner and night out at the movies. We saw Bride Wars and loved it. But during dinner we got a bad message that one of our cub scout leaders (yes another one) had a massive coronary heart attack. Ray is only 49 and luckily his neighbor is a firemen and gave him CPR quickly. He was rushed to the hospital and had surgery to have a stint put in. They then put him in hypothermia state (lower his body temp to 93 degrees) for 24 hours to preserve the brain and reduce the chances of neurological effects. After the 24 hrs it took 24 hrs to warm him back up and I am happy to say after many days of prayers he is doing much better. He is still in the hospital and very week, but it looks like his neurological function is great. He can write, talk and remembers everyone. His daughter has been in Austin's class for the last 2 yrs. So I have helped with keeping the school and teacher informed. We truly have a wonderful scout family. Everyone has pitched in making meals for the family and people have been keeping the 3 kids while mom has been at the hospital. It has been a true test for them, but one that I know we are all very grateful to have turned out positive. It just remindds me again of my above statement. Life and our loved ones are truly precious. Just in case I haven't said it enough. I love each and everyone of you...my friends and family!

I think I get an F in blogging!!

Well I know it has been over a month since my last blog and in most cases it would NOT be such a BIG deal. BUT we have had field trips, Sunday school programs, Christmas, New Years, my birthday, and misc. kids school stuff that I know you all want updates on and several down times that have kept me busy. So 1st off I am sorry for it taking so long. And since it has been so long we better go get a snack or two and a drink and settle in your comfy spot....cause this will be long!


Lets see....where to start. Well after the last blog (Dec 3rd) we had bad news come from one of Austin's classmates at school. Her mom emailed me that her husband was taken to the hospital with chest pains...he had by-pass surgery and all seemed ok....I helped with keeping the teacher informed and being a friend to the family....well 4 days passed (Dec. 8th) and he passed away from complications. He was only 53. I knew getting an email at 2am could not be good. Very sad. This family has been through so much in the last 6 months. The mom lost her father during the summer and shortly after was diagnosed with an early stage of breast cancer and received treatment...now this and all at Christmas time. My heart has been breaking for this family. Their kids are the same age as both of mine. I cannot imagine them not having a daddy to grow up with. Ronda (the mom) has a very strong faith and has been amazingly strong through all of this. She taught me a few things while I was on the phone with her a few days after the death of her husband and I want to share it. So many of us (especially mom's) like to be the strong I can do it all myself types and that I don't want to bother or inconvenience someone else. (I find myself in this mind frame often) As one of her friends was offering her help with kids, meals, laundry...she kept telling her "NO I don't need any help doing this...I am sure you have better things to do" Her friend then told her this bit of advice she gave me..."DO NOT STEAL OTHER PEOPLES BLESSINGS" She said she was dumb found by this and her friend explained. "that other people are hurting for you and with you ....many have special blessings from God that they can give in return to help and by not allowing them to do it you are in sense stealing their blessings from God" She said she never thought of it that way and said it is hard to allow people to help, but she said she could NOT steal God's blessings from people, so she was learning to let go and let God. I went to the memorial service they had for him and met Austin's teacher and the school Secretary there. We sat together. It was a very powerful and uplifting service. I truly want people to laugh and smile when it is my time to go.





The kids both had field trips during this week. Caitlin went to the Casa Manana theater and saw Rudolph the Red nose reindeer. They loved it and all the snow aka bubbles that came down at the end of the program. Caitlin and her class.

Caitlin getting off the bus.

Caitlin and her friend Evan....they are best buddies.

And Love being silly together.

Caitlin and Mommy...kind of...since she is too busy looking at the set..worried she might miss the beginning.

Our close up!

Austin went and saw the nutcracker at the Bass Hall. He loved it! I did not get to go on this field trip. We had 3 parents volunteer to go and only one was allowed...so she had a drawing. I did not win. So I do not have a million pictures of that day. I did go up and take the bike our class bought for the angel tree and take pictures of them with it while they were all dressed up for their field trip. Here is a picture of them with the bike we all pitched in and bought.

and the class being very silly! hahaha

They all looked so nice. Austin loves wearing a suit any time he can. Of course, when he tried on his old one it was too small. (could be slow down growing for a little bit) So I went to Target and bought a new one. Here is a pictures of him from that day.

Our Sunday school was wrapping up for the year, so we had a Christmas party and were doing rehearsals for our Christmas program that all the kids put on. It was on the 14th of Dec. and was totally cute. Here is a few pictures. Austin was a wise men and Caitlin was a star :-).

Caitlin is a star. haha


The whole group during the program.

We did have a little issue with Austin at school the last week of school. He said and did something that most boys do and say, but with the way our world is now..it is not allowed in schools. So he got in a lot of trouble. I was crying in the principles office and all. What an emotional week. I was very disappointed in him, but feel we have explained to him a million times of what is not ok. Adding to my holiday stress. Luckily, I was done shopping for everyone before Thanksgiving..minus the few last minute items.
During and after all of this I was in the process of organizing the kids class parties for school. I planned and organized both of them. It was high stress...cause I knew I had to have everything for both parties with me when I went to school at 7:30am to help grade the PTA math stuff we do every Friday. Caitlin's party setup started at 9:30am and finished at 11pm. It went great...very organized and the kids had so much fun. I even heard a few say it was the best day ever and another parent had her child tell me what she thought of the party...It was the best day of her life! WOW that was way more then I expected. :-) Here are some pictures from the Kindergarten party.
Waiting for the party to start

Caitlin and Jessica standing in line for the snowball toss!

yes they eat out in the hall on the floor..we try to make the best of it! :-) Donuts and lots of other sweets. :-)

Me and Caitlin

Austin's party set up started at 11:15am and ended around 12:45pm. It was organized, but more dysfunctional then I would have liked. :-) They made hot chocolate mix in cones to give and keep one. Also played bingo and decorated a wooden sleigh (we painted them a few days earlier). here are some pictures.
They got a visit from Santa and they all sung a few songs. The kids loved it.

Austin and his sleigh driven by a snowman.

Austin and his friends that sit at his table. (Sydney, Madison, Ethan)

Austin and Mom


After the parties were over I went home dropped off all the party stuff and loaded the car with suitcases for me and the kids to head up to OKC for a few days to spend the weekend with my family for the Holiday's. This was the longest I have been able to stay up there. i usually have to get back for Sunday school, but not this year. I got there on Friday and didn't come back until Monday. I pulled into the driveway and Mike and Carolynn pulled in before we even got the suit cases out. They got to experience Dallas traffic and what Dan drives in everyday. Ok I am going to take a break here and begin another blog that starts with Christmas Eve tonight or tomorrow. :-) Then that will get you up to date. I hope!
here are the Christmas Eve and Christmas morning pictures....too many to list separate so I made a slide...it is long so watch it. :-)

Cub Scouting...

Well this is 'our' 2nd year in cub scouts. I use the would 'our', since it is truly a family affair. We go to most everything we can and help when we can. I have lead the last 2 den meetings for Austin's group. 11 2nd grade boys can be a challenge, but I think I faired well. The meeting in Nov was the week before Thanksgiving so I had them color, cut and assemble a turkey that held a sign that said "Give Thanks" On the feathers of the turkey, they had to write what they are thankful for. It was a good project and kept them busy and QUIET. (that is something that is hard to do at our meetings.)
I also did our last meeting on Dec. 1st. Our Den leader got called to work during that time..so I helped out. We covered basic info on taking care of cuts, protecting ourselves from germs and from the common cold. We talk about hand washing, too. I let Caitlin be my example of a good hand washer. So she got to pretend to wash her hands. She is awesome at it...very thorough!!! Then we made Christmas cards for Recovering American Soldiers in the Army hospital in Washington DC. I wanted to express to the boys the importance of thinking of others and doing good deeds to those you may not even know. They really got into this and so did several of the parents. I encouraged everyone, including the parents and siblings to help make cards. We had stickers, foam pieces and coloring sheets. We sent 23 handmade cards and 10 colored sheets. I then walked around giving each boy a kit-kat after the project was done. I told them that, "good things come to those who do good deeds for others". Needless to say they were very excited about the chocolate and I hope they learned a good lesson in the process.

If you would like to add the soldiers to your Christmas card list..here is the address:
A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Ave., NW
Washington, D.C.
20307-5001

Then this past weekend we had a orienteering event with our whole pack. Orienteering is where there are flags placed in various spots and labeled on a map and the kids have to tell direction and find these flags within a certain amount of time. Our pack does this every year and it is a blast. Our team won last year and not bad for it being our 1st one. We ran the entire hour we has to find the flags.
This year we split into our teams/dens and they decided to add a sibling pack. So I decided to lead them. (since Caitlin was with them) Well we kicked butt. Our team worked hard found all but one flag and got back FIRST!!!!! We beat ALL the cub scout groups. The 2nd group that came in about 2-3 mins behind us and then the rest of them came in 20-30mins later. We were all dead tired and sweating when we got back, but we won! :-) And NO one found the flag we skipped..so that was good. Of course, did I mention it was only 31 degrees when we started...hehehe we are not use to those temps. We were layered up with clothes, but lost many layers throughout the day. After the flag hunt we had hot dogs and then had a rocket launch. We just watched, since our rocket was lost last year when Dan and his dad took Austin out to do his and they never found the rocket. :-) haha
Now we have a pack meeting this Friday where they get awards and I am making my siblings group a flag to display! :-) We rocked!!

So much to be thankful for...

I am thankful for many things. I am thankful for my health and my families health. I am thankful my husband and I are able to provide shelter and food for our children..when many are struggling too. I am thankful for my family and friends love and their important part in my life. I am thankful to live in this country. I hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving and are reminded everyday of all the things that are truly important in life!


We have been busy as usual, but with this time of year we get even busier..if that is possible. Dan is working many long days. Getting up early and working at his full steam speed. I swear he never slows down. I only ask him to PLEASE take his lunch and at least take those few minutes to eat to recharge. Of course, he will tell me, "I eat, but it only takes me 10 mins". ugghh!! He is now working 6 days a week and only off on Tues. So it is very hard on the kids. He gets very little time with them and very little down time in general. I think he needs a massage day for Christmas. :-)

Our Thanksgiving was a bit unusual this year. Dan had to work. It was the 1st time Michaels has ever been open for Thanksgiving. He had to leave the house by 4pm and work until 10pm. Lucky for him he wasn't too busy so he got out at a decent time. Of course, Wed night he didn't leave until Thursday morning around 1 am. He worked Friday and his store has been doing awesome ever since. He is suppose to be off for Christmas Eve, since he worked on Thanksgiving, BUT we will see if that actually happens!
Our Thanksgiving was just us and I cooked our own little feast. Caitlin was very sad not to have family around, but with all of our Family out of state it was very hard. We went around the table telling what we were thankful for and it was cute what they said. Austin said he was thankful for his cat Hook and food!! Caitlin said she was thankful for Jesus and mom, and dad. It was sooo sweet. Dan said he was thankful for us all being together even if it was for just part of the day and I was thankful for my above list. All my family!
On Friday, the kids and I ventured the hour drive over to Dan's work (it has been about 3-4 months since we have been over there) and shopped in his store a little and then went to one of the near by malls. OO was that a mistake. It was insane. I didn't do any of that black Friday shopping. It has never been too appealing to me. I went to Best Buy and bought Dan's gift at 8am with the sale price and waited in NO lines. Then I went to Sam's found a better one for the same price, so later I returned the item to Best Buy. I just think it is funny people will go wait in lines (some for a full day) for something they may not even get. I guess that is where my lack of patience comes into factor. I could NEVER stand in those lines. haha
The kids have been getting very excited for Christmas time. We got the Christmas stuff all down from the attic yesterday and Dan set the lights up. (on his only day off) We have been slowly converting over to using LED lights. Dan loves the house to GLOW...so we have a lot of lights. :-) I wrapped a bunch of our pictures on the walls to add to some house decor. The tree will go up sometime this week. The kids have theirs in their rooms and they can't wait for the ornaments to be brought in. They get to decorate their own tree. I have non-breakable ornaments for them and they get to make their own creation. They just think it is soo cool and Santa always brings a special gift to put under 'their' tree. :-) aka Nutcracker for Austin and Caitlin's starting snow globes (but she wants non-breakable/squishy ones ones right now.) hahaha
I am in full on Holiday mode for the kids school. I have planned the party for both of their classes and made outlines..sent out list on items needed to the rest of the class. I am spending a lot of time on the computer and that is partial why I haven't blogged. I am exhausted and try to get other things done. The kids are going to have great parties. :-) I have the crafts all planned and I think the kids will love it.
I also have Sunday school going on. Caitlin is in my class this year..so she loves having mommy as her teacher. We only have 2 more classes until we are done for this year and will start back in Jan. Of course, we are in full prep mode for the Christmas program the kids put on. I am thankful that we have an awesome team planning it this year and the work load for us as teachers is much less. :-)
It is hard to believe Christmas is just a few short weeks away. I am pretty much ready for it. I am done shopping for everyone, but my brother! He is a hard one for me.
Well I think that is about it for now. My mind is overload mode currently. :-) I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving and are preparing for the joy for the Christmas season. Reminder...it is not in receiving that you find joy, but to give of yourself, your time to others in need is when you will feel true JOY!

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Here are the rules:
*Link to the person who tagged you.
*Post the rules on your blog.
*Write 6 random things about yourself
*Tag 6-ish people at the end of your post
*Let each person know he/she has been tagged
*Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Okay, coming up with 6 random things about me may be difficult, but here it goes!

1. I am a volunteer freak..I can't say "NO"...or have a real hard time at it. if I do say "NO" I feel guilty afterwards...maybe that is also known as being a control freak. :-)

2. I have a soft spot for those who are ill, hurt, or terminally ill and will do all I can to help put a smile on their face....even those I have never met. This is a very rewarding thing for me.

3. I am a card person. I LOVE cards!! I love sending them and getting them. It takes me a long time to find the perfect card, but I find it! Even if I read 30 of them to find it. So if you get a card from me know it is truly from ME and not some generic meaning. I also have my own lil Hallmark in a drawer. Lots of cards ready to be sent out...ones I bought just cause they were so cute or sweet.

4. I have A.D.D. YES, I admit it and as an adult I am realizing it more so. I, of course, call it multi-tasking instead of ADD. I can do so many things at once and it seems in perfect harmony to me..to others it seems just crazy! Plus I function better and get more done this way! :-D

5. I have a weird thing about not buying the thing on the front of the shelf. You know they saw the newer stuff is always at the back. BUT I will also not buy something that looks like it has been opened or flipped through (book/magazine) Books have to all the pages just right..I can tell if they have been flipped through. hahaha I will pull many things off the shelf and look at the box that is not messed up. Dan just laughs at me and at times asks me, "are you sure you want THAT one?" I do it without completely being aware of it, but he never lets me forget. LOL I am sure this is some weird "~ism" in the pycho books! :-)

6. I drive everywhere. Short or long trips..it is rare for Dan to ever drive when we are together. hahaha I guess that is part of my control nature again...I get it from my dad...blame him..he is the same way! But I have driven to WI, AZ, MN and many other places and he may drive an hour..if that!! I just feel weird sitting in the passenger seat in any car, but the other reason is..I can NOT sleep in the car..never have in all the years we drove cross country for my brothers races. I would stay up most of the way with my dad and only slept when I passed out and couldn't fight it anymore. I guess I am stubborn too. :-)

Let's see who to tag. I do not know many bloggers on here that have not already been tagged. So if you read this tag yourself. hahaha Cindy, Danielle, Dad the Dude....ummm if you read this you are TAGGED! Man that was hard..I need more friends. :-)

Time to slow down and catch up!!

I have been very busy would be a simple way to put it. And I have not taken the time to blog....sooooooo Here we go!! You may want to grab a drink and get comfy!

**I did add pictures to Caitlin's 1st field trip below...so check them out!**

OK Lets see...we will go back to Sept.

Grandparents day!
My parents got early and drove 3 hours to come have some homemade muffins with the kids.

A 30 min total in a very crowded cafeteria. They were troopers and the kids loved it! Here are a few pictures. Now if you know my dad...he is very difficult to get a picture of. I ususally do the SUPRISE attack. Have camera ready and yell "DAD" and as he turns the flash goes off. So needless to say they are not the best of pictures. He was on his best behavior this day! Posed for LOTS of pictures and it didn't kill him. But I am sure it stung a bit. :-)

Caitlin with Grammie

The kids with Grammie and Bobo at school

Later we went back up to school and had lunch with Austin. We wanted to give Grammie and Bobo the full effect of spending a day with the kids. Everyone loved it. Especially the kids. They loved having special guests come to school.
Austin went back to class and we took Caitlin home. This is what she did with Bobo the rest of the afternoon.

This is a 1st for her. She has always been slightly shy around my dad. She was teaching him how to play Mario bros. He probably couldn't see the screen, but he sat there for an hour with her as she explained everything. My heart just smiled at this huge break in her defense. When they left that evening..she was hugging him and not wanting to let go. :-D
Of course we picked Austin up from school. He loved having my parents there for that. I was kind of invisible to them that day! :-) We went to dinner once Dan got home from work and they had to leave to drive back. But this is what I snapped at a red light.

He has Caitlin's scout hat on and acting all the part of a 5 yr old. He was completely obnoxious and getting the kids wound up. I guess it shouldn't surprise me. He turned 53 this past month (Oct. 28th) but he is very much a big kid at heart still! And I am glad for that!

OK now my Race for the Cure in Dallas Oct 18th.
Yes I did 2 of them in 2 weeks. A total of 6.5 miles in 2 weeks. Not bad for my out of shape body! I did manage about the same time at both races..so that was good!
This one Dan and the kids got to go too. They didn't complain too much about getting up at 4:45am and heading to Dallas before there was any sign of the sun. Here are a few pictures:



Caitlin would NOT take a picture with Ronald McDonald....she was excited to see him, but didn't want to go near him. She has always had a fear for "humans" with mask or painted faces. BUT she is ok with the stuffed animals dressed ones. Who knows!!


Teacher Birthday's...
yes both Teachers had birthdays 10 days apart. So I planned and gathered money and we did an awesome group gift for both teachers from their classes.

Austin is giving his teacher 'bunny ears'



Red Ribbon week
Which is a week spent to promoting drug awareness to kids and reminding them to JUST SAY NO!! Well Dan and I had a lot of ties with this at the kids school. We hung red crepe paper zig zag down all the halls in the school and placed red bows on every pillar on the outside of the school and a few on our school sign. It was perfect and more like I remember Red Ribbon week being at school when I was a kid. We also created the posters for our kids class. THe kids colored the things I brought in and Dan and I made the posters at home. THey turned out AWESOME!! Here is a picture of both of them.

Kindergarten

2nd grade
We did not win the poster competition. Dan was sad! :-( He truely did a lot of work on these. The tree was all him. I just had the plan and he created it. I lvoe when we work on projects together...even if there is a bit of arguing about the fact that you should measure and calculate before drawing lines :-D. I pulled out the calculator and told him the exact spaces we needed and we had to erase all his lines he already drew. haha

TWILIGHT

OK I am now a Twilight person..hahah I have had a girlfriend trying to talk me into reading these books for a few months. They are 2 inches thick and all I kept thinking is I have NO time to read that. And wasn't sure I would even enjoy reading something about Vampires. Well I was wrong!
I picked up the book the Sunday before Halloween and didn't put it down. Things were slowing down a bit for me...so I figured I could spend a little time reading here and there. Well I didn't anticipate the addiciting nature of these books (there are 4 or them in the series and an unfinished book online...so 4 1/2 books). I finished the 1st book Monday evening and bought the 2nd book, New Moon . I finsihed that one on Wed evening. I bought the 3rd book (Eclipse) and finished it right as everyone was trick or treating. I made a book run Halloween night for the 4th book, Breaking Dawn (purple hair and all..ooo you will see. The last book is the thickest. It is about 3 inches. I was completely absorbed into this series. I was getting sick..so it was good I did very little and just laid around all day. It is a very easy read and a page turner. I finished the last book on Sunday. So I read the entire series in a week! My house showed it. I am still trying to catch up! :-)
Now my girlfriend, Katy who got me addicited, has also talked me into going to the midnight showing when Twilight comes out in thearters on Nov 21st. I have never been to a midnight show..so this will be a new thing for me. Not sure what the hype is about on seeing a movie before anyone else..but I have to do it at least ONCE! :-)

HALLOWEEN
We love Halloween..it is soo much fun to dress up. Caitlin was a Devil Queen (I got it for $4.50..so I can not complain) and Austin was Commander Cody a Storn trooper from Star Wars. I was a diva witch again! I had purple hair. It was fun!





Caitlin thought I needed a little pet, since I was a witch!

And Austin thought I needed protecting from Michael Phelps (one of our teen age neighbors)

neighborhood kids in front of our house!

Now we have Thanksgiving and Christmas a head of us. It will be an even busier time for me. I will be planning 2 class parties, 2 class field trips, Sunday school, and a sunday school program. I am sure there is more I am missing right now. Dan has to work on Thanksgiving this year for a few hours..so no quick trip to OKC to spend with my family, but we will make the most of it here. I think my mom is coming down, since my brother, Ashley, and dad will be gone.
May your Holiday season be filled with all the things that are important to you. Christ, your family, friends and health.

I will try hard to update more often!! ;-)