Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful time over Thanksgiving. Jeff, Jami, Luke, Lane, Mimi and Big Dad drove 15 3/4 hours so we could all be together. It was a little loud with 4 boys, but what do you expect?

The adults always play a little poker and now the kids want to too. They played with one card to make it easy. Too cute. Look at my children.....totally different, one naked and one wrapped in a blanket.

Waiting to roast hot dogs and make smores!

Putting up the tent. The boys only camped out one night because it turned really cold!

Mimi taking a nap with her best buddy! Ha, just kidding. She is not really the snuggle with a dog kind of type but Camo kept insisting.

Nightly poker game!

A little Frisbee to entertain them!



A little playdo to entertain them some more!

Jax and Lane helping toast the bread for the dressing! I hope I am not in trouble for the underwear pic, but it was such a cute picture. Just imagine that he is wearing shorts, okay!
A boy and his dog! Priceless!

Special Thanks!!!

Thanks to Sherry, Papa Don and Grandma Ann for coming and taking care of the boys and Camo while we went to Nashville for a couple of days. We had a WONDERFUL time. Getting to go to the CMA's was a real treat! Bev took some pictures of us, and I have been putting off this post in hopes that she would have time to send them to me. I haven't gotten them yet, so you will have to settle for the Blackberry pic taken by the security guard.

I think everyone got there fill of smores that week!!!

No squirrel is safe in our yard. They started with bb guns, then bows and now they are setting traps. Anybody know how fast squirrels reproduce??? Fast I hope!

Happy Anniversary!

I put Carrie Underwood's new song on the post below this one. I cry every time I hear it. When you have kids all you want is for them to be happy. So many people have unhappy marriages or are divorced. I know that it is a huge blessing to my parents to know that their daughter is loved, cherished and in love with her husband.

Chris is an amazing husband and wonderful father. He totally loves me! About a month ago, we were shooting bows in the back yard. One of my arrows was REALLY stuck in the target and I couldn't get it out. Chris told me to put my butt into it. So I acted silly and threw my hip into it, while I was turned around backwards (really stupid) and knocked the target over at the same time I was pulling. It turned the arrow up and toward my eye. I came within about a half inch of poking my eye out. Seriously. It was a good lesson for the boys to see. But the whole point of this is, I was crying and holding an ice pack on my eye and I asked him if he would still love me if I only had one eye. He said, " I would still love you if you didn't have either eye." I thought that was so sweet, and he really meant it. He loves me chubby or not, made up or just out of bed, bitchy or sweet, and that is a wonderful feeling! A wonderfully secure feeling! I am thankful that my boys have him as an example.

Today is my parents anniversary. So what better day to publish this song that makes me think of them. Despite their differences and their ups and downs (that we all have) they are still married and still love each other, and that is a huge blessing to me and my brother. I know our marriages are a blessing to them as well. So Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad, we love you!

If this video doesn't work here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpFW4Yhy08k

What a turn of events.............................

My sugar got the buck of his dreams yesterday! He is one happy camper.

The whole circumstances are quite comical. We are still kind of shocked by it. So the deal is, he is in sales. When you are in sales, you spend some time wining and dining, or in his case, taking buyers on hunting trips. Usually, Chris has to go but doesn't get to hunt. That is no fun. Well............................Academy's Executive V.P. (for the first time ever) decided they were going to take a few of their best reps on a hunting trip. I am serious. It seems so backwards. Even funnier, the buyers went to socialize, but didn't hunt. So crazy!

So Academy paid big bucks and Chris got this big 14 point. I am so happy for him.

Friday

All you have to say is, "Wanna go to school" and Camo is ready to go get his buddies. He looks at all of the kids trying to find Jax and Brooks. It is so cute!

I took the boys to the Family Fun Night Festival at their school last night. It was so much fun. It just warmed my heart to see the boys with all of their new friends. They have settled in to their new school so well. I got to talk to Brooks' teacher a little. She said Brooks and Stran (his friend that he talks about all the time) are attached at the hip. She said she finally gave in and set them next to each other because they ended up migrating toward each other anyway during the day. She said it was okay because they are both good boys!

Now we are off to the Raingutter Regatta race for Cub Scouts. Jax and Chris built his boat and painted it and the race is today!

ENT follow up

So, I had sinus surgery last week, and today was my follow up. We all knew going into surgery that I had a huge polyp filling my left maxillary sinus. While he was in there Doc was going to remove some scar tissue from the other side, that was a result of Dr. Gwartney (ft.smith) pulling a huge polyp out during an office visit 3 years ago. Well, apparently when you just pull them out you don't get it out completely. So during surgery, as Doc went in to remove scar tissue he found that the previous polyp had grown back and was about to block my airway again. So, I had big polyps in both sides, but thankfully they are gone now.

My new doc was so shocked and amazed that Dr. Gwartney hadn't sent my previous polyp to pathology, that I had to call and double check. The nurse confirmed that he hadn't. My new doc said you ALWAYS send them off. He kept on about that being common procedure and that he would never pull one out in the office. Well, I just looked at him like huh, okay, whatever. I am not the dr.????? Call him and talk to him about it???? He did give me the whole spill about it might not be a polyp, it could be a tumor, and if it is a tumor, chances are it is only a tumor, and that 9 out of 10 times nasal tumors are not cancer. I wasn't really worried about it, but was glad to hear that both polyps came back benign. Praise God!

So I am glad it is over and so very thankful that the surgery was no big deal at all. I wasn't the slightest bit sick or nauseous. I usually get really sick, but I was good to go after I woke up.

Oh, I forgot to tell you that my surgery was last Monday. The kids were out of school, so they had to go. The boys were both back with me when they started my IV. I didn't even think about it. I was just going to let them watch. It wasn't a big deal for me. While they were putting it in, Brooks had to look away. He used every bit of strength he had to not cry. I about lost it, as he bit his lip to fight back the tears. He really is so sensitive. I don't like to see my boys cry, but it was kind of sweet. He didn't want them to hurt his mama!

Spartan Race

Here are the only pictures that I got from Chris' race. Because...........we missed it. We left in plenty of time, but my GPS wouldn't find the address. Then we tried to find it on our own. We were on the right road (that goes for many, many miles, through several different towns), so just look at mailboxes from there right??? Uh, no, numbers completely change when you cross into another county???? We (Sherry and I) were completely confused. So when we finally found it, we had to park over a mile from the finish line. I. was. so. ticked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know Chris had to be disappointed, even though he said he wasn't. He originally told us that we didn't need to come at all, because it was out in the middle of nowhere, and the whole race was back in the woods. We wanted to be there when he finished though, but dang it, we weren't. About 10 minutes too late. He did great though. He finished 232 out of 740 people. Here are the guys who talked him in to being on their team. They are all Academy buyers.

Brooks Birthday....finally!

I am so far behind. Sorry. Here are a few pictures from his birthday, September 20th. Of coarse, he was happy to get a gun just like Jax had gotten the month before. It sort of seems cruel to make him wait a month, but we did, even though he whined about it many times. He really needed a lesson on patience anyway! He wanted me to make him a cake. He wanted it to be camo. When I apologized for the way it looked he said, "It doesn't have to be perfect Mom, I don't care, I know it will be good." And bless his little heart, he meant it.

Ok, I know that frequently the pics of my kids are them in their underwear. I apologize, but they are always in their underwear, I mean, ALWAYS!!!

All moved in and so happy!

Our new driveway that we have waited so patiently for.........Plenty of things for the boys to do in the yard.....yes, their daddy told them they could get it mounted???
Third night after we put the feeder up, 35 yards from back deck

We are in and settled. Everything is pretty much organized and put up, even the garage. Big thanks to Sherry, she has been a huge help. I'd also like to thank the school system for keeping my kids out of the way! I even had a chance to do a little decorating yesterday, which I hate.

I just can't tell you how happy we all are! It has been a long road getting here, but all worth it! I actually got to shoot my bow off the back deck tonight! Sweet!!

I don't care who you are

it is really cool when you get this in the mail!

Medical week

I don't like going to the dr. I avoid it. I am stubborn about it. I put it off until I feel it truly necessary.

So, I have been having hip pain (for days after running) and back pain (worse than normal) for about year. Well, the back hasn't been really bad until about 6 months ago. With moving this summer and all the trips we went on, I decided to give all the running a rest to see if it helped the pain. I only ran a few times all summer. I didn't have a lot of time for it anyway. The rest helped tremendously. The hip pain was completely gone. THEN school started and Chris and I decided to get with it again. You know he is training for that crazy race and all. The pain started coming back. I go so ticked that I took ibuprofen (and I don't like meds) and ran anyway! Big mistake. Last week I was in so much pain. I could hardly walk my hip hurt so bad.

I knew it, it was time. Time to go get it checked out. I had also been thinking I had another polyp in my sinuses so I needed to get that checked out too. I went to the dr. and she sent me for a ct scan of my sinuses and physical therapy for the back and hip. The results of yesterday's scan show possible polyp and thickening of the sinuses - go see ENT. After 1 1/2 hours at the physical therapist today, he thinks I have a bulging disk and he knows that my hip was out. He worked and worked trying to get it back in place. He finally had to get another lady to help him. Seriously, my right leg was quite a bit shorter than the other. Definite cause of a lot of my pain. I have several stretches to do and go back next week. I really feel so much better already. I am sure hoping that after a month of physical therapy and strengthening and stretching on my own that I can go back to feeling normal. I really can't wait to get back to exercising!! I really do love it as crazy as it seems.

Camo is 4 months old

I cannot believe how much we all love this dog! Now weighing in at 29 lbs. He started off 2 months ago at 5.5 pounds. EVERY single day he looks bigger. I am not really sure where it will stop. Wasn't he tiny! Thank goodness he is an excellent traveler!!!!!!

He was so easy to potty train!
It is so cute how he leans on the door when he needs to go out.

The other day Chris asked me to take a picture because

he was sitting in his lap like a human.

He is a little defective. He has one ear that always flips back.

I am so happy we got Camo for the boys. Don't get me wrong, it isn't easy, but not too bad. I have never had an inside dog, so it is taking a little getting used to. I cannot keep my floor clean because he tracks stuff in. He wants me to play with him early in the morning when I am trying to drink my coffee. He has horrible gas. He eats nerf bullets. He eats tampons, unused of course. Lastly, he humps my leg!! (Not really funny anymore!!) That is about all the negative stuff.

With that being said, he is so smart. He has learned so much already. He is really pretty calm for a puppy. He goes in his crate at night and doesn't make a peep until about 7 AM. An added bonus is he is protective of our home.

He is pretty awesome!!

So like it or not, we are a family of 5 now!

Dove Hunting & Guitar Lessons

A couple of weeks ago Rick called us and invited us to go dove hunting with him and some friends. He knew Jax had just gotten his guitar and he wanted to teach him a few chords??? Being that it was a 3 day weekend, and we had nothing else to do, we said yes. Oh, and Jax was so excited about his first lesson, that he would not hear of us staying home.

So, here is a picture of Jax trying really hard to get what he was telling him. I took some really cute video on Chris' iphone, but blogger won't accept the format that it uses. But just to let you know, he was totally soaking it all in. I know he doesn't even get how cool it is that Miranda Lamberts' dad is teaching him to play a guitar, but someday he will!

Now about the dove hunt.......it was really slow. I mean really slow! There were only a couple of birds shot all day, but we had a great time anyway! Camo did great. He set for hours out in the field with us and loved it. It took me forever to get him clean again though!

To add a little excitement to the day, one guy got really bored and called in a coyote and shot it. The boys thought that was cool. Okay, I did too!

Rain Day

After the downpour today, you would have thought it was Christmas for Jax, Brooks AND Camo! Seriously, they were all very, very happy today after school!

Spartan Race??????

Chris and I have been going to the gym a lot! Yes, we have a very nice gym here in the trailorhood! I totally and completely, hate the treadmill, but it is so hot and Chris runs a lot faster than me. As much as I hate running in one place, I will admit that it is kind of nice being side by side the whole time with a fan on me! The boys used to go with us, before school started, and they would run and do weights, and that was hilarious to watch.

Chris has been very faithful to his workouts because he got suckered into being on the Academy team for this race: http://www.spartanrace.com/


It is October 3rd and it is a 5k run with 12 outrageous obstacles. Watch the video, it is going to be so interesting!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

Today is "Big Dad's" Birthday! We didn't get to celebrate with him, but I did talk to him twice today! Here are a couple of pictures from Destin. Mom and Dad met up with us and hung out a couple of days while we were there! We love you Big Dad!!!!!!!!!!

GOOD WEEK

The boys had a great first week of school. Chris and I were sad that our baby went to kindergarten, but he likes it, so that made it easier on us. What did we do all week? We worked out together a few days, had a couple of lunch dates and just enjoyed the quiet time together. Chris had meetings one day, so I had a half day all to myself. That has been a long time coming!

Chris took Matt, one of the buyers, on a hunt this past May. Matt got an axis deer and Chris shot this scimitar oryx, but hit it about 4 inches too high. They couldn't find it. A few days after he got home, it was spotted alive. This past Friday the owner called and told Chris to come back this weekend and get him. So he hunted and hunted, no shot. Just when he thought he was going to come home empty handed, he saw it. He shot him good this time! He saw where his last shot went in and out, and had healed up. So, they are supposed to make great steaks? We will see, he's headed to the processor tomorrow.

First day at new school

The boys had a great first day of school. I really thought Brooks would not like being stuck in a classroom all day, but he loved it. He cannot wait to go back tomorrow. They both like their teachers and so do we. I am thrilled.

I really thought Chris and I would have a tough day today, but actually we did ok. I went to Sam's and lunch with some sweet girls. He went golfing with some Academy guys. It was a really nice day.

Jax got his guitar today. He cannot quit smiling. He went to his bedroom by himself and tried to play it. So cute!!

Jax is 8

Our sweet boy is 8. I cannot believe it. I think he had a great day. His birthday requests were a big t-bone steak, a cookie cake and all of us to snuggle up in our bed and watch a movie. We did all of those and had a happy day.

So Chris and I got him a gun, and of coarse he was thrilled. Nana and Grandpa got him a scope for it. The only other thing he wanted was a guitar. He has been begging for a guitar and lessons. It is really funny because that is something that we have never really suggested. He came up with it all on his own. So, clueless as we are about guitars, we called a couple of people with knowledge in that department, and they all told us the same one to get. So he bought one on ebay with all the rest of his birthday money. It is a new one signed by Kevin Fowler for just a little bit less than a new one would cost. Weird I know, but true. Now he is just waiting on it to be delivered.