1. The first picture is Caden outside playing.
2. The second picture is of our Kadiy and Mischief. They are best friends.
3. The third picture is of Russell being Takcled. He is in the green jersey right behind the guy in the black 58 Jersey.
4. The last picture is of Zeke. He is the only green jersey coming right at the camera.
We are busy getting ready today to go to Grandma's for the week. We have a lot to do with cleaning up the house and laundry and packing and school work, but the boys have been really helpful today ( by some miracle -- they have even kept the bickering between each other to a minimum ), and I think we will do ok. We are not really on a time table to get there, except that we need to arrive in time for the big dinner Grandma is fixing ( fried chicken and mashed potatoes ).
This has been a really busy weekend/week for us. We had football again on Saturday, and this time we had the reverse issue to last time. Last time the games were so late everyone was miserable from being up way past their bed time. This time they were so early I had to wake everyone up to go to the games. We did survive the day though, and I found out that Roy Rogers serves a pretty good biscuits and gravy. :D Russell and Zeke both played really good games this week, but despite their efforts both of their teams lost again. Zeke's coach is going to start using him on the offensive line in addition to the defensive line, and Russell -- well Russell just plays the whole game. He managed to force one fumble and recover 2 fumbles this week, and carried the ball more times than I can remember. Not sure how many yards he got but he never carried for a loss. He is good that way.
After the football games we rushed home so the boys could shower, before Claire and Bob and their gang came over. The boys had so much fun with Bob here. The older boys and Bob played football and the younger ones ran around inside while Claire and I visited. It sure is nice to have a little adult conversation. The kids all behaved and enjoyed themselves even if we couldn't use the pool this time. Anna actually let the puppy get within a foot of her without going into hysterics, and the kids all enjoyed Popsicles. Everyone played to exhaustion and then they had to go, but not before Claire left us with some of the best pumpkin muffins I have ever had -- Yum. I had to hide the last two so that they would last til breakfast the next morning.
The boys have been doing their school work really well and helping out around the house a lot, but they seemed to have lost the capacity to resolve differences between them. I would say we have been working on getting along, but I think it has reached the point of "enforcing civility". After a few days of "enforcement" they seem to be coming around -- we can only hope.
Tomorrow morning we leave for Grandma's house until next week. Russell's coach was devastated when I told him that Russell would be missing a game, but it can't be helped. I am especially excite for the trip since I get to have a birthday dinner with my brothers and their families ( it is my older brother Joel's birthday ), and I get to hear my father preach on Sunday. Also, I am going to Florida for a day to watch my friend Mari pin on Major, and have a night of quiet adult time with 4 of our girlfriends. While I am there I will get my new Florida ID and check on our house down there. We are driving Chris truck to Ohio since the Lincoln needs work. Anyway, it gives us the opportunity to take a few things to Grandma that wouldn't fit in the Lincoln, and bring back a few things from Grandma's. It will be nice to get away for a few days. Hopefully everything will go without a hitch.
I was feeling a little bit like memory lane was calling me tonight. I am "stealing" this blog idea from a friends blog. Claire went to high school with me and I found reading her entries very interesting. I was especially glad that I reminded her of high school in a good way -- whew. So, here goes.
1. Who was your best friend? I suppose I would say that of all the friends I had Lori Barnhart and Virginia Harper were my best friends. They were my friends then and have been ever since. We keep in touch somewhat regularly and see each other as often as time and distance apart will allow. Lori and her husband, who is in the Air Force, were actually stationed at the same base as I was for a couple of years. That was a fun time. Until the war started Lori and I got together almost daily and ran - pushing our babies in jog strollers. We even ran a couple races together.
2. Did you play any sports? I ran cross country and track.
3. What kind of car did you drive? I didn't even get my license until the end of January my senior year and then only drove my mothers car ( Toyota Tercel ) on occasion. I think the first time I drove alone after getting my license was to Jr/Sr Banquet. Boy was that an interesting night.
4. It's Friday night. Where were you? At home. Didn't have a date until I was out of high school. I was more than likely hanging out at home getting ready for the cross country/track meet in the morning.
5. Were you a party animal? Uhh -- NO
6. Were you considered a flirt. No again. All of my "guy friends" considered me their "buddy" I was not a flirt and not really a girlfriend candidate for any of them. At least not to my knowledge.
7. Were you in the band, orchestra, or choir? Not after 8th grade. I liked playing clarinet but was no where near in the league with Claire and the other high school players, so I gave it up for other classes.
8. Were you a nerd? I don't think so. Of course we didn't have a lot of money growing up so I didn't always wear the "in style" clothes. I did take all the upper level classes. Hmm. What exactly is the definition of nerd? I don't think I was-- I think I would more likely classify myself as a jock.
9. Were you ever suspended or expelled? NO, I never had detention, and I like Claire don't think I was ever even late for class. I never could figure out how people couldn't make it to class on time. The only time I remember not being in class on time was the time I sprained my ankle real bad in gym class and couldn't walk to class. I had to have a friend pretty much carry me to class.
10. Can you sing the fight song? Fight Song?
11. Who was your favorite teacher. I would have to say as far as teaching goes, Mrs. Bragg. She made geometry fun, and easy. It was a lot of work but it was the best math class I ever took, and I actually got an A instead of struggling to get B's.
12. What was your school mascot? The Crusader. The school has made a lot of changes since we were there, and I am not sure they are all for the better. I don't even think they are the Crusaders anymore.
13.Did you go to the prom? We called it "Jr/Sr". It was a banquet that was put on for the seniors every year by the juniors. I got horribly sun burnt at a track meet all morning. Sat at a table with my friends Lori ( who was there with the guy I wanted to be there with ), and Virginia ( who was there with a guy who I had known since 6th grade and we weren't currently getting along ). I of course was there with my date -- a "friend" from church whom I really barely knew. It was a very awkward evening.
14. If you could go back, would you? NO
15. What do you remember most about graduation? Parking my car in a HUGE parking lot with about 100 cars in it 2 hours prior to graduation. Coming out of graduation to get in my car and go celebrate only to find I couldn't find my car now because there were hundreds of cars. I had no idea where I had parked and had to walk row by row to find the car. I also remember it being a very happy/sad day of saying congrats and goodbye to friends.
16. Where were you on senior skip day? We didn't have a skip day. We had a senior picnic after a half day of graduation practice. I was at the picnic.
17. Did you have a job your senior year? Yes, not a full time regular job, but I worked Saturdays washing dogs for a dog groomer, and babysat whenever I could.
18. Where did you go most often for lunch? The school cafeteria was the only option.
19. Have you gained weight since then? When I am not pregnant or have not just had a baby, my weight hangs about 10 pounds above high school weight.
20. What did you do after graduation? Went to college at Centre college for a year and then finished up the next 3 years at University of Kentucky doing AF ROTC. Then went into the AF.
21. What year did you graduate? 1991
22. Who was your senior prop date? A good looking freshman named Chuck. He went to my church at the time, and he was nice so I asked him to go with me.
23. Did you go to your 10 year reunion? Yes I did. I was interesting. Some people were surprisingly different and others were amazingly exactly the same. I am looking forward to the 20th reunion. Have you started working on that one yet Claire. LOL.
The pictures are of our football games this weekend. Unfortunately I didn't really get any of the good stuff since I was busy chasing Caden, but I was able to get a little. The first picture is of Russell (#56) running the ball, and the second picture is of Zeke (#41) on the ground being tackled.
So after a long week we anxiously looked forward to football games Saturday night. I was a little worried about how late the late games start since Russell would be finishing his game about a half an hour after his normal bedtime. This of course being worse for Caden and my ability to entertain him at the ball park. When we arrived to find out they were an hour and a half behind schedule I about lost it. No way was I going to be able to entertain Caden until 1030 at night. To make matters worse, it was already a chilly day and getting colder the closer we got to sunset. I left to get Caden, Russell, and me some dinner while Zeke warmed up with his team. After we ate we went to the field and watched the unfortunate demise of Zeke's team. They lost 33 to nothing to last years championship team. After the game Russell's team was already warming up so Zeke got stuck eating from the concession stand -- I don't think he minded. While we waited for Russell's game to start it really started getting cold. Caden was begging to go to the car because he was ready to go to bed before Russell's game even started. It was really turning out to not be very much fun. It was after 9pm when they broke for half time and the score was 30 something to nothing. Oh yeah, did I mention we were playing last years 2nd place team? Russell played one of the best games I have ever seen him play. It was exciting to watch. Unfortunately the inexperience of his team really showed. There were only about 4 players on the entire team who were effective in any way and they played their hearts out, but you can't win a football game with 4 players. It was obvious that we were playing against a group of boys who had been together for 6 years, and just as obvious that most of our team has only been playing football for 2 months. We ended up loosing 57 to nothing.
Sunday morning we all woke up in different levels of BLAH. I think Zeke and I got the worst of it but everyone now has head colds. We went to church but, although Caden went into the daycare willingly it only lasted about 15 minutes. He ended up spending most of the service out on the playground with Russell so that I could stay and listen. We had a great lunch at Applebees -- even if the service was awful, and then we all went home for Caden to nap. Caden took a three hour nap, and somewhere in there Zeke slept for a couple hours. I got to lay around in almost complete silence listening to the Bears win their game -- I had to listen to the radio station through the computer. I also got to watch Jeff Gordon finish second in the NASCAR race. We managed to get all the grocery shopping done, and most of the laundry ( I finished the laundry today ). So, the weekend didn't turn out too bad even if Saturday was a bust, and we all ended up sick LOL.
The week started off pretty good. Monday was somewhat uneventful, but on Tuesday we had an appointment in Virginia. Because we were going to be in Virginia anyway, we went a little further south in Virginia and visited with a friend we had not seen since Zeke was 3 months old. Heidi used to babysit for Russell and we used to spend a lot of time walking our dogs together. We also used to spend a lot of time doing laps around the mall while eating cookies and drinking coffee, when I was pregnant with Zeke. We have kept in touch over the years but I have never met her two daughters until Tues. We all had a really good time, ate some great pizza, and did a lot of catching up. It was a bit further south than I had originally thought -- thanks to Washington area traffic -- and I got home a lot later than anticipated.
Then, Wednesday happened. It seemed like your typical day. After Caden's nap we jumped in the car to go to the post office. Of course before going to the post office I needed gas since I had driven the car bone dry the night before. I drove across town to get gas, and on the way got a call from Chris (in Iraq). I proceeded to fuel the car talking to Chris ( I know you aren't supposed to use the phone and fuel at the same time -- bad me ). After I fueled up using the pay at the pump option, I got in the car and headed to the post office. The post office is almost exactly 4 miles across town. To my horror, when I arrived at the post office I discovered that I had left my wallet on the pump at the gas station. I turned around and drove about 80mph back to the gas station. It was only about 10 minutes since I left but the wallet was no longer on the pump. Russell went inside to see if anyone turned in a wallet and came out and said no. Thinking that there was no way I went in and asked again. Sure enough they said no wallet had been turned in. I was, to say the least, distraught. Imagine my surprise when I walked out the door as a State Highway Patrolman was getting out of his car. He asked me if I was ok and I said no and explained to him what had happened. He took me inside to check the video tapes to see if they could identify someone taking the wallet. Later, after all was said and done,he told me that the reason he was there was for a drive off. Apparently the guy who pulled up to my pump right after me saw my wallet, took it and ran without paying for his gas. Fortunately I was able to stop both cards before any charges were made. Unfortunately I no longer have an drivers license, and since mine was still a Florida one I cannot replace it without being in Florida. So, When I go to Florida for one day later this month that is now my #1 priority. It seems if you don't have a valid drivers license from another state to turn in when you get your WV one -- they make you take ALL the tests over again. I don't think so.
Over the past few days I have discovered just how difficult it is to survive in this world with no ID and no access to your own money. See, our bank is still an out of state bank, and with Chris gone to Iraq with his debit card I have no access to the money in our bank. I can't write a check because I have no ID. HAHAHAHAHA. It has been a real joy.
On a brighter note, homeschooling is moving right along. I was able to mow most of the lawn today, and I have managed to unpack 3 more boxes this week. We will be all unpacked in no time.LOL.
We were lucky enough to draw the only Sunday game all year. So, today at 1230 Zeke officially played his first game of tackle football. He did really good. Of course it is Pee Wee ball and there is still a HUGE learning curve for most of the boys out there. There are, as usuall, a few standouts but no one is a star at this age. We managed to pull off a win 20-19. WHEW. That was a close one. Of course we had THREE Touchdowns called back for "questionable" penalties. The coaches sure were hot. Oh well. We still won and it was a great start of the season.
The worst part of the game was the HEAT. Thank Goodness for Russell being there. At half time I had him take Caden to the car and turn it on and sit in the air for about 15 minutes. He was just getting way tooo hot and there was NO SHADE at the field. I was glad for the 30 minute break we got to run home, use the bathroom, cool off, grab drinks and get Russell back for his game. Caden took a short nap during that time. I only wish he could have take it during Russell's game.
Russell's team played an awesome game and ended up loosing 6-0. The cool thing was hearing Russell's name called over the announcements over and over again. I tried not to let my head swell too much. LOL. Russell carried the ball about 10 times tonight and never for a loss. I think his longest carry was about 8 yards. Of course he is always the one to carry right up the middle, and they have a very inexperienced line who still doesn't quite know how to make a hole for him. He was also key to many plays as he was all over his tackling game tonight. He did recover a fumble with 30 seconds left in the game -- giving his team just one more chance to score. It was at least a chance -- unfortunately it didn't pan out. The team really got turned on when the coach finally figured out ( like most of his coaches have in the past ) that defensively Russell should be ON THE LINE. Once they put Russell on the line there was so much pressure on the other QB that they didn't get anywhere the rest of the night. Russell caused 2 fumbles and recovered a 3rd, and instead of waiting for the runner to get to the back field -- giving them yardage, and hoping to run him down -- Russell was stopping them on their side of the line of scrimmage every time ( with help -- of course ). It was a great game. I never have really cared if the boys won or lost their games -- I have always just enjoyed watching them play a good game. Unfortunately I only got the 1st quarter on tape so I missed most of the good stuff. Oh well, maybe Caden will sleep next time. NOT.
I can't wait to download some of my football clips and put them on the Blog. Maybe in the next couple of days.
Pravda left us today. It was sad. The boys all said goodbye to her before I took her to the vet. Only Russell really understood what was happening until I was finally able to talk to Zeke about it later. I did ok right up until the vet asked if I wanted to be there with her when they put her down. Seems like a silly thing to get that upset over a dog, but this is the third dog I have had to put down, and the third time I cried. I cried for about 5 minutes and it is all right now. I know it was the right thing for her. She just wasn't herself anymore and although she couldn't say it I am sure she was miserable.
Yesterday we took the day off from school. I decided it would be a nice mid week break since the boys were doing so good, and I was so tired from all the school, football, and lawn mowing lately. I had to take the puppy to the vet for shots again and left the boys at home with a list of chores to do. They did a very good job finishing up their list and only called me 4 times -- LOL. As independent as they are, they still get nervous staying at the house for an hour by themselves. I just started letting Russell stay home with Zeke and the occasional time with Caden sleeping in the past 6 months. It has worked well for those quick trips to the grocery or the post office. It is so much easier than loading everyone up for a 30 minute trip.
Russell called and talked to his best friend from Florida yesterday. It was interesting. Zeke was really upset about the move since this was his first time moving away from friends, and even Russell got a little moody about leaving his friends towards the end. I kept telling them that all their friends were military kids and everyone would eventually move on. I told them that it was just important to keep in touch wherever you move on to. So, when he talked to his friend David yesterday, he found out that he is the only one of Russell's friends left. Everyone else moved away this summer. Wow, that was sudden. I knew a few where thinking about it and that a couple others might be moving in the next year but that was fast. Russell seems a little more settled in the move now that he knows others have moved on too.
The other thing they talked about on the phone was schoolwork. David, I think has to work a little harder in school than Russell. They have been in school 2 weeks, and he was already complaining to Russell that 6th grade was just too hard. That was kind of interesting because we are using the same curriculum at home as they use at school, and Russell is just flying through it. He doesn't think it is hard at all. He is really good at math and loves science. I wanted to start him in algebra this year, but there were a few things in the Abeka math book that I thought were good for him to learn first, so we are doing that right now. He has been zipping through all of it at about 2 pages a day. He is ready to move on to something new since the first almost 30 pages of the book are ALL review. He has finally made it to a new topic and is happy, but the new topic only last lasts 1 chapter and then we have 3 more chapters of review stuff. I think we will make it most of the way if not all the way through the Abeka 6th grade book by Christmas. The other thing he is really enjoying this year is science. He loves science, but last year I had to supplement his science every day by reading other books or going on line, because it wasn't detailed enough. The 6th grade book however is a lot more detailed and he is really enjoying reading and learning from it. The best thing this year is that Spelling seems to have finally clicked. I am not saying he is ready for any National Spelling Bee Championship, but all of a sudden his spelling seems almost effortless. YEAH!! Zeke on the other hand really struggles worse than Russell ever did with Spelling, and his Penmanship needs A LOT of work. His math is getting much better than it has been in the past. I think in part because I am able to sit and make him work through it to get the right answers. Before it seemed that his teacher was really not concerned with weather he finished his work or not, and I frequently reviewed his papers to find numerous missed and uncorrected errors. He had no idea he was doing it wrong because no one was telling him it was wrong and making him correct it. Hopefully this will be a big turn around year for him and really set the stage for better years to come.
We went to the mall and played a few arcade games on our day off and Caden rode all the little kiddie stationary rides. Then we had Chinese food in the food court. I ate too much. After that we went to the toy store and Zeke spent his five dollars that he got from his grandmother for his birthday. Still no sign of a card from his father, and no phone call on his birthday from him either. HMMMM.
On that note. The newest update in the Ex -soap is -- His live in girlfriend dumped him after 3 months. 'Nough said.
