Weekend Fun

Hadley had a soccer game today. Just sharing a couple of shots. I wish the header shot was crisper--it's some really cool action!








Yesterday, we took H & L fishing. Ty was working. Everyone caught a few fish--a few catfish and carp. The shadow picture is me and Lance as we walked around the lake... (my one and only appearance in these shots) Hope you enjoyed your weekend!

Good News Friday!

Good news today! Lance had a check-up with our specialist. His lung function is AWESOME!! Even better than it was in the summer time. FEV1 is 128%!! I don't remember it EVER being that good--it probably was when he was very little, but not since he's been old enough to do the test.

Whooo hoooo!! One number was lower, but the doc said that number isn't as important or as accurate for how he's doing. So. Great, huh? :) He had also gained a teensy bit of weight and grown just a hair. The only bad part of the visit was the annual labs & xray we had to do--you know how much Lance hates needles. Thankfully the tech was smooth and fast.

On a side note, I added a short playlist to my blog. Typically I hate music on websites, so I probably won't leave it long. I'll take it off sooner if you all hate it too. Let me know.

The Lost Colonyyyyyyy

Thought you'd like to see the latest school project. School projects weren't this much fun when I was in 8th grade!! The girls finished it at our house today. They had a ball doing it and are pleased with their work. I thought they did a great job! Other than a couple of technical things they needed help with, they did every bit of it. It was very creative--some people just did posters, papers, etc. The movie and song was so much better, imo. Make sure you have your volume turned up. And,ENJOY!

**Ok... Forgot the last names were mentioned. I tried to save a new project without their names, but for some reason it didn't work. I'll leave it up a day or two and then remove it. Just can't take any chances...

88 in 08

Happy Birthday, Mema! Today is another crazy day, so if I wanted to celebrate with Mema--it had to be at lunch. I took cake and ice cream over there for dessert. She really loved it--as did all the ladies. Joe doesn't say much, but it looked like he was enjoying the cake. :) She also liked the balloons--they made it seem more festive. Should've gotten a picture of them, too. Oh well. We enjoyed our visit as always. Mema's friend, Lena, left just before I arrived. Mema liked that, too. I think Mema's enjoying her special day. She ate every bite of lunch and dessert and smiled the whole time. It's so good to see her so happy!!!

Friday Night Lights

We're famous! We got stomped by the team they made a movie after... hehe. Last night's game was far from successful. Once it got started, it was obviously going to be a blowout. We were just happy to get on the scoreboard. I think our guys were outmatched in every way--size, speed, coaching. Everything! The other team is ranked in the top 5 or 10 teams in the state. I don't think we're even on the list. It was their homecoming. Apparently their side sold out, so we were surrounded by their fans on our side as well. Yuck! It was a long night--we got home around 3:00 a.m. Ty got home about thirty minutes after us. All I can say is thank goodness it's over!

David made it home from Sioux Falls on Thursday. He is scheduled to return in about a month. I think he was just happy to be home. He really hates to travel without us.

Hadley went to watch a friend swim in a swim meet today in Lubbock. (a guy friend) She wanted us to drive down there today, but I didn't think I could stay awake long enough to drive her there! You know me and the road---sleepy time even with a good night's rest. Last night was not long enough, that's for sure. Anyway, they offered to let her ride down with them. We've known them for so long, that it was all ok.

Lance is ok--coughing, but not anything major yet. School seems to agree with him. He's pretty tired at the end of the week, so I know it takes a lot out of him. He's happy today because we have internet service again. Ours went out yesterday. A technician came out today and fixed it, so we're up and running. Yay! It's crazy how much we depend on it. For so many things! We even stopped by the library on the way out of town yesterday to print our maps to the stadium. 'Course David reminded me if we'd just get him that GPS system, we wouldn't have had to do that! :)

Well, I hope you're having a good weekend. I'm off to get some stuff done.

Tuesday

Tuesday. It really doesn't feel like Tuesday. It is starting to feel like September. (finally) The days have that crisp, autumn feel to them. Love that!

I went to the eye doctor yesterday. Good news. I don't need bi-focals. Yet. I cringed when she said that word. Yet. She saw a very slight change there--not enough to do anything about. My prescription will stay the same. Phew. Staved off the aging eyes for a bit longer.

David's in Sioux Falls, or should I say he's on the way. His first flight was delayed this morning, causing him to miss all of his connections. It also caused him to stay an extra day because he won't get there in time to do any work today. Bummer. He left the house around 3:45 a.m. and will arrive in S.F. around 6:30 tonight. That's one looooonnnng day. On the bright side, he did get to have breakfast with the plant manager, who just so happened to be on the same delayed flight out of here. That was pretty cool. I mean, you can't lay off someone you just ate breakfast with, can you??? He changed planes in Houston. All he saw was a lot of water--no real destruction. 'Course he never left the airport. He should be home on Thursday.

I didn't want to post without pictures, so I'm showing you my entries for a Bible verse challenge on a forum I visit. Most of the entries are pretty---there is some GORGEOUS scenery out there! I couldn't resist adding the one of Lance, though. It's really something. So, I entered it as well. It's not a contest--just a share. There's talk of putting them together in book form. If they do that, I'll probably buy one. Neat, huh?

Well, that's all. Not much else going. Have a great week!

Now can we get back to business as usual??

The party was a success! We didn't get to tailgate--just couldn't pull it off this week. It was crazy from start to finish! I don't think the kids minded. We had pizza at the house instead. They really got into the face painting and colored hairspray,too. It was so fun watching them paint each other. Being at the game was a little nerve-wracking. I kept counting them... one, two, three, four... ha! I felt just like a teacher on a field trip. They hung out in the student section, so David and I went over to check on them regularly. It wouldn't be cool to sit with them, ya know. After the game, we got home about 11:30 and had cake. Not smart planning on my part---the sugar gave them the extra boost they needed to be nice and loud ALL. NIGHT. LONG. We went to bed around 1:00. (For those of you not familiar with our house---the stairs to the basement/game room are right under our heads. Not only do kids make a lot of noise running up and down, they LOVE to slide on sleeping bags down the stairs. Ay yi yi. What were we thinking!) At 4:00, I finally told them it was time to lay down. I guess they did---at least they were a little quieter. Then, the 'ol alarm rang at 7:00 because one of the boys had a double header beginning at 8:00. Poor kid. I know he had to be wiped out!! We woke the rest of them at 10:00 so they could gather their things and eat breakfast. Lance said he had a blast and it was a great party. That's what really counts!! Yay. Check off another successful birthday party... :)





Note Lance's position in this one... He hates how much shorter he is than his friends. It especially bothers him in pictures. The kids' solution? To hold him up on an "arm" chair. Isn't that cool?? Totally the other kids' idea!

The aftermath...

The game was a success, too. At least we won. It started off a little shaky with the other team scoring 14 unanswered points in the first quarter. That woke our guys up and we ended up winning 40-27. Go team!




By the way. I changed my blog a bit--made the pictures larger. (You could always click on them for larger, but now they're larger within the post.) Is that better for you? Worse? I love the larger pictures, but I don't want to make it harder for you to view. Let me know!


**Edited to add: I just checked out the blog on our other, older computer. The monitor is 4 years old at least, and it's smaller. The size looked fine, but I noticed how much duller the pictures looked!! On my monitor, the colors are super rich and the focus is very sharp. Not so much on the other one. Weird. I'm hoping you all see what I see on our newer monitor. Makes me look like a better photog. Ha!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday dear Lance... Happy Birthday to you! Can you believe my baby is 12?? 12?? He had a great day today. We started off with a "special" breakfast, I took him Sonic for lunch, then fixed marinated shrimp for supper. He was in a great mood all day. It seems like he really enjoyed himself! Love that! :) For his party, his buddies will come over and prep for the Friday night football game between our HS and our fiercest rival. I bought face paint and colored hair spray just for the occasion. Then, either we'll eat here or go to the stadium for some tailgating--still to be determined. We'll watch the big game, then come on back home for a "sleep" over. Not that they'll do much sleeping. He's very excited. I think it'll be a fun, unique party. I threw the invitation together today, after we finally made the decision. (luckily I had extra football shots from the time I was working on Ty's ad.) After they printed, we hand-delivered. Now if I can just make it through 11 6th grade boys... ay yi yi!

Just popping in to say hello!

This is the THIRD project of this type this school year. Today is day EIGHT. Can you believe that?? I know I shouldn't complain. I'll miss these times, right? Ugh. It's just that these projects always turn into homework for me. Sometimes I think the teachers lose sight of that... Ok. Whine over.

School's been going well for everyone. Hadley made the vball team again this year. Not surprising. They actually have final cuts next week, but we're confident she's there to stay. She has her first scrimmage today. Tyler plays in Lubbock tomorrow night. Hadley plays vball here on Saturday, then soccer in Lubbock on Sunday. Maybe this is why I'm tired already?? Ha. :)

We had open house at our middle school on Tuesday. The school has us run through our kid's schedule to be able to meet all the teachers. I did Lance's schedule. David did Hadley's. While I was sitting in social studies waiting for the bell to ring, I glanced over at the door. Guess who walked in?? Chris! Cousin Chris! His daughter, Christianne, is in the same class. I didn't realize she was attending that school, but Chris said they are living in our district now because of his job. Very cool. I made sure to tell Lance that he can't be crushing on Christianne, since we try really hard not to inbreed... ha!

Well, I must get busy. Blogging doesn't count as work. Too bad, I know! Have a great weekend!

A few from the last week

First day of school pictures, a la David. I had to work at the bookstore the first three days of school--bummer! So, David got the honors of taking everyone to school the first morning. Everyone seems happy with their classes and friends. Yay! Hopefully it will keep up throughout the year.




Introducing the Varsity players for 2008!




Belushi or Flintstone? It's an ongoing debate around here. :)




Spotted.



Pep rally! The first pep rally picture is the Sandie Football Ladies. See the girl circled? That's Ty's lady. Her name is Callie. She wears her t-shirt with his name and number on the back and gets the "honor" of decorating his locker and filling it with goodies every week.



Season Passes.


Ty didn't get to play much. He was disappointed in that. But, when he was out there, he did his job and we were proud. While on the sidelines, he kept pumped up and cheered for his teammates on the field.

We win the battle for Bell Street!

This last one is just something funny I caught while shooting pics of Ty. I wasn't focused in this area and I had to do major cropping to show you, but I thought it was funny... Poor #55! Squish!

Rooster and Annie... Thanks for your comments. Glad you check out the 'ol blog! :)

I know. I've been a bad blogger. (Not as bad as my brother, but still.) I really need to get those first day of school pictures up, along with a bunch of other stuff. Instead, I'm sharing these ipod people. Look familiar? I took pictures last summer with the intention of making these. Never got around to it. Enter the first week of this school year. Hadley needed a picture of herself with her ipod---I know! A school project already! So, I grabbed that old photo and made her silhouette. Didn't seem right to do only hers when I had the boys' pictures also. So here ya go.

We're on our way to Tyler's first varsity football game. It's been raining. It's super cloudy now. And we've got on our cool new parent shirts. :) I doubt I'll get to take any pictures, but if I do, I'll share. Have a great Labor Day weekend!

So, what do you think?? This will probably be the half-page ad for the football programs that will be sold at home games. (minus the smears, of course!) In color, it's so vibrant. I really wish it could be in color---we ARE paying color prices to get it published. But, it will be black and white. He went to the school and got his jersey so we could take a few pictures today. I think they turned out ok. He was happy as long as he didn't have to smile!! Next up, we get to design a yearbook ad telling him how much we love him. Do you think he's worth it??? Just kidding. He is. I think. ;)

Yesterday was fun dentist appt. day for the kids. Tyler's all good, Hadley has two cavities (her first) right where her braces have "bumpers"---one on either side, matching teeth. I think it's no coincidence they are there. Pretty irritating that the braces are causing problems! And, the big, bad news was for Lance. He had to get 7 baby teeth pulled because the permanent ones were coming in and the dentist didn't feel they would turn loose on their own. Poor guy!! When they handed him his baggy of teeth, he said,"I think I lost the fight!" Funny kid. On a happier note, he cleaned up from the tooth fairy. Ha!

Well, that's it for tonight. Have a great rest of the week!

They're baaaaaaaack

This is the dark pile, minus a load already in the washer... Ay yi yi! It sounds like they had a wonderful time. Hadley even said she thinks she likes 4th session better than 2nd. Good news for us for next year so they can go at the same time again! It's amazing the difference in the house. It stayed relatively clean, was pretty quiet--not much happening. Add these two to the mix and watch the chaos appear! Lance never did get lonely for them--he stayed busy enough with friends and other stuff. I really thought he'd miss them desperately, but no.

I'm sure there's more I should update, but I've got laundry to do. Ha!

So Dad and Lance have tails... thanks to Nana.


Overdue. It was so awesome to see Grandma's progress. What a strong lady she is! I always knew that, but it was great to watch her in action. She's been out of the hospital almost a week. I hear she's doing great at Danny's... Sure wish her secretary there would take some dictation... :)