Monday, December 31, 2007

New Year's Resolutions

Ok, so we do it every year; make some sort of resolution or promise to ourselves, but do we ever stick to them? Last year, my resolutions were to lose weight, get in better shape, and keep my house clean. WELL, I actually didn't do so bad. I did lose 59 lbs. I did get in better shape, just from losing the weight. And, my house while it isn't spotless all the time is less cluttered.

This year my resolutions are a continuation from last year. I am going to lose that last 60lbs. I am going to get in better shape, but this time from actually working out more. And, I am going to keep my house cleaned up, mostly from purging old junk and things I don't actually use.

What is your resolutions this year? No matter what they are, I hope you have a wonderful, exciting, invigorating New Year. Here's to looking great in 2008! Cindi

Friday, December 28, 2007

A few things I have worked on this weekend.

These are a few of the things I have been working on. I like to give the school secretaries a goody every month, so I am working on January's while I am home from school for break.



An altered clipboard and a bookmark made from a giant paperclip.

These are a gift for Meredith. I hope to see her again tomorrow, if not I will drop it in the mail for her. She is in pharmacy school in Kingsville, TX. I hope these remind her how proud we are of her.


Small clipboard.

I originally wasn't sure how to make this work. I didn't think I could paint on the clipboard like the wood ones call for. I improvised and modge podged the paper to the back of the clip board. It worked. I think this will be for the secretary at my school. She uses small notebooks to note tardies and absences. This should fit her notebook fine.




Post-it Note Holders

I think these are adorable. I am taking one to each of the secretaries at the church as well as the part time secretary at my school.

What do you think?

Two Drivers

Well, its official. The Albrightson household now has two teenage drivers. Ari got her permit yesterday. She hasn't been able to drive "legally" because the weather has been iffy. The roads are clearing off and she and her Daddy have plans to go hunting this weekend. She is the official chauffer for her and Daddy's hunting trip.

Brittni had some trouble learning to drive, she doesn't like to take advice from people. Especially not her parents. Ari, on the other hand, has been driving in the fields for years and asks all sorts of questions about why did you do that? why did you do this?

We are still winding down from the holidays. I plan on taking my tree down right after New Years and getting my house back in order. We go back to school on the 7th and I want everything back in its pre-holiday place before then.

Our daughter, Meredith, was here for a visit Wednesday night and Thursday. She has gone on to Brandi and Jesse's wedding and hopefully will be stoping back through tomorrow on her way home to Dallas.

Enjoy your weekend. I hope to post some of the things I have been working on in the next couple of days. I would love to have more time to stamps and craft, but I just don't with 4 kids at home.

Have a great weekend, cindi

Monday, December 24, 2007

Dirty Santa




Since I was the first to steal in our game of dirty santa, I wanted to post the picture of me trying to decide what to take. I really wanted these cute chip board shapes that Mary had, but I decided on the purple scrapbooking tote that Christa had because Mom can put my name on it. We had lots of fun and I can't wait to do something with "the cousins" again soon.

I wanted to post a pic of this really cute gift I received from cousin Tamara for being the Host of our dirty santa, but I am having trouble getting a good picture. She made me a chipboard folding frame spelling out the word NOEL. It is adorable, I can add pictures to the back side of the letters. Since there are 4 panels, I can use for each child. I think I can even turn it around and leave the picture side out all year long. Then at Christmas, I can turn it around and the NOEL side showing. CUTE, CUTE, CUTE. Thanks Tam

Merry CHRISTmas

Courtney and I participated in an adopt a senior program through our sunday school class. Yesterday was the day to deliver the goody baskets. Courtney and I chose to deliver a basket to a sweet eldery couple who is suffering from some serious health troubles. He has cancer and is very weak, she hurt her back caring for him.

We stopped after church yesterday with 5 frozen meals and a goody basket full of things like lotion, hankies, houseshoes, calendars, candles, coffee mugs, hot tea, blankets, note cards, stamps, etc. They were shocked. They were thrilled. They were touched. WE WERE TOUCHED. I was not ready for Christmas, I was tooooo busy to remember what Christmas was all about. After delivering that basket, I was ready for Christmas. They reminded me what the season is all about. The birth of our Lord, Jesus. We have to slow down and remember it is not about the Christmas plays, the presents, the food, the anything. It is about CHRIST and what he has done for us.

I am so thankful to have been the ones to deliver to this sweet couple. Courtney and I have decided to continue to take meals in on our own. We plan on taking 5 meals every two weeks. I know Christmas is tomorrow, but see what you can do to help someone else. What a great feeling and a real reminder of the truth behind this season.

God Bless You All,
Cindi

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Diet Disaster

Ok, its offical! I can't diet during the holidays. I signed up to be a diet buddy on another blog, and I tried, really tried to stay with it, but I can't. I really wanted to wait until Monday to go off my diet, but I didn't make it. I went off yesterday and thought I could pick up today and then stick with it until Monday, but NO! I have eaten stuff today that I haven't eaten since March. I have decied to let it go! No worries, no feeling guilty, no DIET! I am bound and determined to start back up in January and make it to my goal. I am only 56 pounds from my goal right now. If I can eat carefully over Christmas I can stay with in 60 pounds.


Here's to lookin great in 2008!!!

Friday, December 21, 2007

Catching Up

Wow, sorry for the delay in posting. It seems things are getting busier and busier. My cousin's just left after a fun night of Dirty Santa. I have to say, they are very nice. There was only a little stealing and no fighting. We will have to work on that for next year. It was a lot of fun! I won, acutally I stole, a scrapbook tote. I thought I would see if my mom would embrodery my name on it!

One of the gifts was a key chain that beeps when you whistle. It started to drive us crazy, so Brittni hid it from Paul. She later gave it back. I think it is a great gift. I lose my keys all the time. I even heard someone say they should put it on their cell phone.

We are off for Christmas break until January 7th. I am so excited to be off. I want to sleep, sleep, and sleep. I am having everyone over for Christmas and then the next day one of my college kids, Meredith, is coming "home". She is traveling through on her way to the wedding of two of my other kiddos, Brandi and Jesse. Jesse was the sweet child who brought us fire wood two times in one week. He also is the one who comes to tutor my girls in AP Calculus and Geometry. I hope we get to go to the wedding too, but we are waiting to see what the weather does and if Courtney can get off work.

The kids are excited for Christmas. I am hoping to get some wrapping done this weekend so I have Monday to buy any last minute items I might have forgotten.

By the way, if you haven't checked on Ashley lately, she is home for Christmas--her very first Christmas at home. Check out her blog ashleyadamsjournal.blogspot.com for more details.

I hope you all have a blessed Christmas. Cindi

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Movie Update

We watched, Wild Hogs. I highly recommend it. We laughed, and laughed. There wasn't a whole lot of bad language and the boys watched it with us. I love, love Tim Allen, John Travolta, and Martin Lawrence. One of the funniest though, was the other guy whose name has escaped me. He was on ER for a while, in Fargo and Jurassic Park. He did a great job playing the "geek". Brittni says my laugh makes the whole room laugh, well he gave me a lot to laugh at! Try it if you want to smile!


***Edit***Thanks to another one of my fabulous college kids, the other actors name is William H. Macy! Thanks, Amy.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Ice Storm, 2007

Well, we got ice, but not near as bad as the ice storm of 2002. We do have about 1/2- 3/4" of ice, but the wind isn't blowing at all. So, for now we have power. We are out of school today, but I hope to be back tomorrow barring more ice. They say we have a chance of more tonight, but the system could move past us and we would get only what is on the ground now.

The kids are enjoying their day off and to be honest so am I. Courtney had to go to work this morning. It took him 20 minutes to get out of the neighborhood. There was a guy stuck trying to go up the hill by Kaiser Sign, so they had to get him up the hill before Courtney could try. With his big work truck it was no problem, but it took him 15 more minutes to get to work instead of about 6. He keep all his guys home today and told them to go on "Call Out Status Only", so they can do paper work and such from the house. If they get a call, they will call him first. I think he wants to keep everyone off the roads today. I hope he will be home soon and we can watch some movies with the kids.

Some of our college kids came over last night to help the girls with homework. They both needed advanced math help and it was over my head. I was glad to hear one of the college students say, if you don't use it, you lose it. It made me feel a little better about being an educated woman who couldn't remember how to do Calculus. After homework we played Dance Dance Revolution. Jesse and Hunter were so cool when they did it, they kept their hands in their pockets. On the other hand, when Brandi and I did it, we had to use our hands as balance to keep from falling over. Connor looked like a scene from American Bandstand, because he was shaking his booty they whole time. Kelsey, Zeb and Ari like to dance at a faster pace than the rest of us. It is fun to watch them, but I sweat just watching them. It was a fun night.

Well, enjoy your Monday. I am off to wrap some Christmas presents.

Cindi

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Preparing

Ok, so living in Oklahoma we are used to changes in the weather. But we NEVER like the change that is supposed to be coming our way. We are awaiting arrival of an ice storm. Now we have lived through little mini ice storms. You know the one with slick roads and cold temeratures. We have also lived through the big ICE STORM of 2002. We had no power for 8 days.

They are telling us to prepare for that type of ice storm. I don't want that kind of ice storm. Now, I would like a few days off from school, but not like this. I can see myself getting lots of Christams wrapping done, but I can also hear my children...I want to play Toontown, I want to play Playstation, Can we watch a movie?, Let's have family night? Well, while all of those sound grand, without electricity there won't be any of it. It gets dark here at about 5:45, so without electricity we will be bored out of our minds, and sitting in the dark by then. I don't know about you, but spending 1 hour without electricity doesn't sound much fun, and surely 8 days will be a killer.

So, we are preparing. I have done all the laundry. I went to the store and bought water, although we never worried about losing water last time. I have batteries. I bought some new books,and a few board games. I bought craft stuff for me and the girls to do. There is new colors and construction paper for the boys. We have firewood, courtesy of our adopted kids--check out the post below this one. We have food, toilet paper and paper towels. Now all we need is for the weatherman to be wrong, which in Oklahoma is really not that hard to hope for. So, here we sit waiting!

If you don't hear from me for a few days you will know, we have no power. We can do this, we just don't want to!

Friday, November 30, 2007

A really bad day, that just got better

Original Post--
Today was one of those days. I had a horrible day at school. You know the day, nothing goes right, NOTHING. I love what I do, but on days like today, I would rather curl up in a ball at home than deal with the things I dealt with today. Working with special needs kids is usually a challenge, but always a blessing. Today, I had a hard time finding that blessing.

Actually, I didn't find it at school. I found it at home. As a family, we serve our church by being host parents to students from SWOSU. We have had lots of them in the 6 or 7 years we have been doing this. Our "kids" are all over the country now. We have them in Alaska, Texas, Missouri, Kansas, you get the idea. They are all blessings to us. What we do for our "kids" we do without regard for any "payback". They just need a "home" and that we can provide. These kids often do things for me that blesses me and I don't think they realize it. I have one sweet daughter, Meredith, who has the knack of calling "home" just when I need to hear her voice. She has been a memeber of our family for almost 3 years, but she has moved to Texas. She still calls just when I need her too. Tonight, three more of our kids, blessed me without even realizing what they were doing.

I needed a break tonight. After a tough day at school, I didn't want to deal with my own kids. They are great kids, but they are KIDS! Brittni and Ari have been at each others throats for the past couple of days. It has gotten so bad, that I made them go to their room and stay there until they could work out their differences. They didn't come out until the next day! They aren't here right now. They are with Brady and Stefanie. Brady took them to the Surf Shop to play RockBand. Then he took them to the Coffee Cup and now they are at Brady's house where Stefanie has joined them. They are not here fighting. As a matter of fact, they are having a GREAT time and not fighting at all. Just being teenagers with their older brother and sister!

While they were gone, the boys and I ran to Braum's to buy milk. When we came back there was a pick up backed up to our house. As usual, I panicked first and thought second. Once I realized, I knew the pick up, I knew exactly what was going on. Jesse, another one of our great adopted kids, was unloading firewood on the side of our house. Firewood, cut and stacked, and ready for winter. What an amazing thing that was. We needed fire wood, we don't have the time to cut it and who wants to pay for it? It was Jesse's way of "paying" us back for our weekly supper and Survivor nights.

These kids have no idea what they have done for me. Just when I needed a boost, they gave it. Sometimes I forget the good and only focus on the bad. I am working on that and these kids have helped me see that today.




--Edit--Ok, so when God puts someone in your path to bless you He is in control. I think he knew I needed an extra boost. A former host student just showed up. He just recently moved from far Eastern Oklahoma back to OKC. During the move everything in his Uhaul was stolen. Everything except his electronics which where moved the weekend before in his pickup. Now, Shawn hasn't had it easy and the last year has been paticularly tough. He brought a student to Weatherford with him from a summer job last year. We took James in as one of our adopted kids, but soon realized he needed more than just a family. We moved James to an older couple in our church who could do more for him. We did help him get his birth certificate and some other papers that allowed him to enroll at SWOSU. James took his own life in January 2007. Shawn took this especially hard and seemed to struggle everyday from then on. He moved away and apparently that didn't work. Shawn has fought back from a terrible ordeal and now is working at a private school in OKC and volunteering again at his church. Praise the Lord. Now back to Shawn's visit. Do you know what he brought us? FIREWOOD! Stacked very neatly right next to Jesse's wood on the side of our home. The girls didn't get home until 9:30. They ended up eating supper with Brady, Stefanie and Rachel, who joined them after coffee. Brittni had a school function, they took her and picked her up! Wow! What a great day Friday turned out to be.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Monday, November 26, 2007

Weight loss buddy

I read several blogs during the course of my day. Angelosity is one of my favorites. She has great card ideas, and recently did 30 days of card sketches. She is now working on buddying up some of us "bloggers" to help keep us motivated to stick to our diets during the holidays. If you are interested, check out her blog. I am signed up and can't wait to meet my blog buddy.

cindi

Check out her post here:

http://angelosity.blogspot.com/2007/11/weight-loss-buddies-wanted.html

Friday, November 23, 2007

Thanksgiving Lunch 2007



Courtney, Cindi, Connor and Hunter, Thanksgiving 2007


Thanks for the pic, Tamara.

We had a great time at my Father in Laws home yesterday. My poor stepdad thought we were eating in Weatherford, so after he left his family restaurant, he drove to my house instead of El Reno. Needless to say, he was over an hour late for dinner. Sorry, Bob. We ate without him, but there was plenty of yummy food. We made some folder albums and some tags for gifts. It was lots of fun.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving


Thanksgiving @ Bopmyspace.com

Thanksgiving

Wow, It is hard to believe Thanksgiving is here. Seems like only a few days ago, we were starting school. We are celebrating in typical fashion with family, from both sides, at my father in laws home in El Reno. We are excited to have my cousins from my mom's side join us. They like to stamp so we are going to "play" a while before one of them has to leave for another dinner. And for anyone who is even wondering, my DIET is OFF for the rest of the week. There is no way I would give up this food!!!!!!

Things with the kids are going well. Brittni is excited to be enrolled at SWOSU for the spring. Ari is excited that she will get her permit soon. Connor is excited that Christmas is coming and Hunter is excited that we are going to grandpas for Thanksgiving. He loves to go upstairs and play darts, pool and basketball.

I hope all of you have a joyous, blessed day. I know our lives are filled with so many things that wear us down, but we all have lots to be thankful for. I encourage you to spend a few minutes thinking about those things and thank God for all He has done for you!

Be Thankful, Eat LOTS!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Just Checking In

Sorry, we have been so busy, I haven't had time to post. Brittni's senior pictures were Saturday and we can't wait to get them. I will post some when we do.

Courtney and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary on Sunday. Hard to believe it has been that long. I am preparing for my annual Christmas open house this weekend, so I will try to post after it is over.

Hope all is well,

Love to all,
Cindi

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Cross Country Banquet

The 2007 cross country banquet was last night. It was so much fun to go and see all the pics from this year. The assistant coach and his girlfriend made a 30 minute video overview of the year that was fantastic. Yes, we got a copy for the house.

The other exciting thing was Brittni was chosen to recieve a $250 Booster Club scholarship. YEAH!!! Every little bit helps! I will try to get pictures from the banquet, she drew an awesome picture of her coach and presented it to him and they gave her an embroideried suede quilt, AWESOME!

Ari's Deer




Ari finally shot a deer this season. She shot a 4 point, 130 lb buck on Sunday night with her dad's black powder. It is the biggest deer taken by anyone in the family this season. The body was 7 lbs heavier than her 6 point from last year.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Senior Night Picture




It's a little grainy because they were so far away, but here is a picture from Senior Night at Weatherford High School.

Senior Night

Tonight is Senior Night at the football game. Just another one of those final moments in Brittni's senior year. She will be introduced along with her loving parents at the 50 yard line before the Weatherford game. Then, at half time she will be introduced again. Nolan is coming out to watch. We are very excited, but sad too.

Everything else is pretty calm around here. Connor is having some trouble in school, but we are working on getting it under control. Hunter loves Kindergarten. Brittni and Ari are enjoying high school, but will be glad when it is over!

Brittni is checking into taking some classes at SWOSU next spring to get a head start on her college classes. The college will pay the tuition her senior year, I just wish she could take like 40 hours that way. Ha Ha

Have a great weekend, Cindi

Thursday, October 18, 2007

State Qualifying Meet

Well, our season is offically over. The girls team did not qualify for state. One of the girls from our team did qualify, but the team did not. Three of our boys also qualified. We are not sure if they will all get to go to the meet or not. This is the first time since the girls joined the team that they did not qualify. Brittni was sad because this is her senior year; however, she finished the best she has finished all year. She was 3rd on her team, shaving 55 seconds off of the last time she ran the course. Ari did well too. She placed 6th on her team with one of her best times too.

Brittni's First Deer




Brittni killed her first ever deer this weekend with the bow Courtney bought her over the summer. She was soo excited. Now, Ari is busy trying to get her one. She, of course, is after the Monster Buck!

Running

Today, the girls run the state qualifying race for Cross Country. It is going to be a challenging race because it is in the afternoon, and we are expecting hard winds. The winds kill Brittni's asthma. She is also struggling with her inserts. She made a quick trip to the podiatrist on Tuesday because her pinky toes on both feet had pushed through her shoes. The doctor had to rebuild her orhtotics. Now she can't wear them until her legs get used to them again so she is running without them. It is the only choice we have right now. Please pray that she can run a hard 18 minutes and be okay. I am working to keep Ari hydrated. The last couple of meets, where there was lots of wind, Ari has dehydrated on the course. Once, she actually went down. We are hoping she will be okay today, but with the wind and late afternoon, we will be busy keeping her drinking---she HATES water!

There isn't much else going on around here. Courtney is working in Texas until Sunday. My mom had cataract surgery on Tuesday but the doctor was thrilled with her vision improvement and she is back to work today. She will go on the 30th and have the other eye done.

Have a great Thursday.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Update on Ashley

Ashley is out of rejection. If you haven't checked on her recently, please do so. Continue to pray, specifically that she and her mom will be reunited with the rest of the family by the holidays. God Bless you all! Cindi

ashleyadamsjournal.blogspot.com

Friday, October 12, 2007

Cathcing Up

I know it has been a while since I posted, but I can't seem to get ahead. I thought we would eventually get the routine for school down and then things would seem calmer, but that AINT the case. We are always on the run. I just can't imagine how much more crazy life would be if Brittni wasn't driving! Ari turned 15 1/2 yesterday. She is going to try and get her permit soon. All she has to do is pass a written test, but those of you who know her know that is a HARD thing to do.

Brittni is having trouble with her inserts again. They have pushed her pinky toe out the side of her shoes. She only has two weeks until state, so we are hoping they can get her straightened out. She hasn't been running, just swimming and I am afraid she isn't going to be ready on Thursday for qualifications.

On for some good news. A family member of mine got some good news after a cancer check. No new cancer cells, and no worries for 1 year. What a relief.

My mom turns 60 on Sunday, so if you think about it--send her an email wishing her a happy birthday.

Have a great weekend, I am going to stamp and play with some neat albums I saw.

Cindi

Meme Game

The meme game?!
The Meme game is what I think it's called. Check the bottom to see if you have been tagged. You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don't have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. At the end of your post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Got it? Good! If you don't have a blog, leave your answer as a response on mine. C'mon, it'll be fun!


R- Right, as in always right.
E- Enthusiastic, when it comes to cardmaking.
N- Nerdy, you have to admit it works.
E- Eternal Minded
E- Eager, I know I am grasping at straws, but how many E words can a person come up with?

I tag
Meredith, Cathy, and Mom. I know I am 2 short, but Christa and Tamara have already been tagged. Good luck, it is harder than you think!

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Praying for Ashley




I was introduced to this great little girl through some blogging friends. If you are interested in learning more about ashley, you can go to her mom's blog at http://www.ashleyadamsjournal.blogspot.com/ She is very, very sick little girl who needs our prayers.

Happy Birthday Connor!


Today is Connor's 9th Birthday! He is so excited. He is awake and already bouncing off the walls. He will have a father/son campout tonight with the kids from church and then a family birthday party tomorrow. He will have his friend birthday in a couple of weeks. I am off to start on the cupcakes. He is taking 3 cupcakes to the campout tonight so they can celebrate while he is there!! Fun Times!

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Cross Country Update


Brittni and Ari ran in OKC this afternoon. Brittni placed 19th and Ari placed 33rd. Brittni's first comment to me, was "I am proud Mom. My time is almost back to where it was last year!" Do you know what those words meant to me? We were not really sure Brittni would ever even run again. And now, she is almost back to before her injury. There were 68 runners, so everyone felt good about her placing. She was fourth on her team.

Ari was proud of her time, but a little disappointed. We warned her to stay hydrated because they were running in the afternoon, but she suffered a small bout with dehydration at the end of the race. It cost her some time, but she finished strong. She passed 13 runners at the end to place 33rd.

Their grandpa Nolan got to go to the meet, so they were happy to see him at the finish. He is always good to bring them candy and water. He took them out to his truck to recover after the race. We are lucky to have family available to watch the kids when Courtney and I can't.

Have a great week.

Cindi

Monday, September 24, 2007

Brittni's Senior Pictures

Ok, I know my daughter is a senior, but seeing her in that "senior drape" was almost more than I could handle. I went for my senior pictures by myself, but I insisted on going with Brittni to hers. It was fun to get her all made up and fix her hair, but it was really hard to see her proofs. I will send the link to you when I get the ok from Blunck's that they have been posted.

Billy Ray Cyrus has a new song called Ready, Set, Don't Go. It has become our family song. We are so proud of the young lady that Brittni has become, but we are not ready for her to be grown and gone.

Some of you know our dilema.

Cindi

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Connor

Connor turns 9 next weekend. So hard to believe how my kids have grown. I remember when he was born. The girls loved on him so much, and still do. He has grown a lot this summer. Time for new clothes.

I told the girls at school that if he grew into his new shoes, he would be 10 feet tall. His feet are huge!!!

We are planning a fun family get together next weekend, and he is having some freinds over for a sleepover on Friday night. Fun, Fun!

My 20 Year Class Reunion

This past weekend, we celebrated my 20 year class reunion in El Reno or as the locals now call it Hell Reno. Wow has it changed. We went to my former elementary school and everything was so small. I was sure it was much bigger back when. The real difference, everything was locked. All the playground equipment was even locked up. When I was little, we would all meet at the school and play on the equipment all weekend. No more of that. We had to get someone to let us in just to have a picnic. That was strange. The other strange thing was that a girl I graduated with is now the principal there. I still remember my principal, Mr. Eskew.

Anyway, we also had a dinner and dance at a new place called the Uptown/Downtown. It was an old building downtown that had been renovated. It was really neat. We had a DJ who brought Karoake. Now, that was fun. My favorite was Vernon signing "I like big butts" He did a great job. I didin't know he could talk so fast--it is mostly rap. Anyway, I posted some pics from it on my myspace page if you want to check them out. It was fun, but I am glad it is over.

There is a lot of time and money that goes into one of those crazy things. I know it is worth it, but there are times when I wonder.

Brittni

I have fallen really behind on this blog, so I am going to try and post several small ones to get you all caught up again.

Brittni is continuing to get stronger everyday. She ran her best time last week. 2 miles in 13:17. Her personal best is 13:00. Her best time to date this year was 16:47. She shaved 3 minutes off her time. Her doctor says she will have good races and bad races. There is nothing more they can do for her feet. She has decided to forgo her college scholarship in cross country and just finish her senior year. I know she has too, but it sure ads some pressure to send her to school. They think she can try to run again her sophomore year, but it will be a wait and see game. We will start applying for other college scholarships, and grants in January.

Other than her feet, she is good. Her senior year is harder than she thought and she is spending a lot of time doing homework. She has gotten a job. She works at our church. She cleans the nursery's after worship on Sunday afternoon, and evening. She also cleans them after CDO on Tuesdays and Fridays. And will work some on Saturdays. It doesn't pay a lot, but the hours are good and all she really needs is gas money.

We are doing her panel and yearbook pictures today, and then next month my cousin is coming in from Tennessee to do the rest of her pics. One more thing checked off the list for senior year.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Cross Country Meet 1

Well, today was the day. The girls first cross country meet. They both made VARSITY!!! Brittni placed 14th and Ari placed 15th. They weren't alot of runners because of the bad weather we had last week. To make varsity they had to place in the top 7 of their team. Brittni was 6th and Ari 7th. Brittni was so excited. Her time was not what it would have been last year, but she finished and she felt pretty good. Now that she knows she can do it, we will work on building her endurance and increasing her speed. I will try to post some pics when Courtney gets home with the camera. He and Ari are camping tonight and will be home tomorrow.

Have a great weekend and thanks for checking in on me and my family.

Cindi

Pay it Forward

Ok, I know most of you have heard of the concept of paying it forward, but I want to encourage you to actually do it. As a rule in our family we do this often. I have tried to raise my kids with that principal always on the front of their minds. We have taken meals to the eldery, adopted college students, taken new neighbors fresh baked bread, etc. We even once paid a small bill at Wal-mart for a man who didn't know how to activate his credit card and therefore couldn't buy his groceries. Now we wouldn't have been able to do it if it was a large bill, but it wasn't and it was obvious neccessities--toilet paper, soap, food, etc. Well, yesterday the opportunity to do something nice happened again and I jumped on it. I want to encourage you guys to do the same. Some of you know that I was given a gift by a widower from my church. He wanted to do something for me and family as a way of saying thanks for some of the volunteer work I do. He bought my family a years membership to the Y. Wow, what a gift huh? We have loved it.

Well yesterday I was picking up Chinese food and I noticed him eating alone in the back of the restaraunt. When I paid my ticket I asked the lady if I could pay his too. Now she only speaks very little English and it threw her. At the time he was eating some watermelon and she kept asking "you want watermelon?". I explained several times what I wanted. It finally clicked and she let me pay his bill. I told her to not tell him it was me, just to tell him it was paid.

I was still in front of the restaraunt when he went to pay. The smile (and a small look of confusion) were priceless. He had not seen me in the restaraunt so he really had no idea who had done it. I couldn't help but feel happy inside. My boys thought it was great. Now, if they will only keep the secret. :0)

Now, I know that spending extra money isn't always going to be an option, but there are things that won't cost you more than you already spend. Take a few cookies from your batch and give them to a neighbor. Freeze a single serve portion of your leftovers and take to a widow or widower. Hold the door for someone. Clean out your closet and take the things you don't want, or can't wear to a shelter for women and children. Adopt a grandparent from your church who has no one close--Have them over for dinner, Invite the for tea, Pick them up and take them to the park or play their favorite card game with them. Anything to make someone else's day brighter.

I hope each of you can find a way to do something for 1 person. Then see how you feel. Keep me posted. I would love to see your ideas and maybe use them out here too!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Well

The past few days have been very trying out this way. Most of you that we had torrential rains over the weekend, bascially we had a hurricane in Weatherford! We sustained some flood damage, and of course, we aren't insured. We were some of the lucky ones. Courtney woke me during the night and we caught the flooding at the beginning. I put down every blanket and every towel we had. We moved the boys to their room, becuase they were having a slumber party with the girls, and we moved everything that could get wet away. Yes we are frustrated, yes we have furniture ruined, yes the carpet is wet and smelly, but we are luckier than some we have talked too.

A friend from church was woke up by the Weatherford Fire Department. He said he knew he was in trouble when went to roll off the bed and his knees were under water. When they opened the door for the fire department the water rose to mid thigh. They were allowed back home the other day and they found that the sewer had backed up into their house. Their house is covered in raw sewage. No more complaints from me.

Our carpets are drying, the furniture is drying and the pool which was filled with mud is partially drained. We will be able to repair the damage to everything. We are just tired.

We have been declared a disaster county, but are waiting to hear if FEMA will help us. Compared to what others are going through, it doesn't matter. We will be fine.

Other than that the only other thing going on out here is school. We have begun a routine and it seems to be working. At least for now. The girls have school from 6:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. M, T, and W. Then only from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thurs, and F. Lucky for me, Brittni can drive them. YEAH!!!

We will run our first cross country meet on Saturday. I will let you know how it goes. Thanks for checking on our family. Have a great weekend. Cindi

Saturday, August 18, 2007

First First/Last First

Confused you with the title didn't I? Yesterday was quite a day for us. School started!

For Brittni, it was her last first day of public school. For Hunter, it was his first first day of public school. Brittni is a Senior, Hunter is in Kindergarten. What a milestone for our family. It's funny, when Brittni was in Kindergarten she wanted me to take her school, and even stay a while. Hunter on the other hand didn't even care if Mom took him to school. He told me it would be fine if Dad drove him since I had to get to my school. When Courtney got him there, he walked straight to his room and told Courtney "This is my room, bye Dad!" How's that for independence? Courtney did manage to grab a few photos before leaving Hunter for his first full day of school.

Brittni drove herself (She got her license in July). I did get pics of her before she left for school, but I resisted the urge to follow her to school and take pics of her walking in the building. She probably would have killed me anyway! Brittni drove Ari to her first day of 10th grade and I was lucky enough to take Connor with me. He is in the third grade this year and I work at his school.

It really does seem like only yesterday that Brittni was in Kindergarten and now we are doing all the things to prepare her for graduation. There are senior pictures, announcements, ACT test, college applications, and dorm roommate decisions. Hunter on the other hand is busy planning his back to school party, picking out new crayons, folders and backpacks.

I know this year will be full of "lasts" for us, but also a lot of "firsts". I can't wait, and then I want to wait! Those of you with kids out of high school know what I mean. There are days I want to tell Brittni--Don't let the door hit you on the way out, and then there are days, I want to tell her--it is okay to live at home until your 30.

Well, I guess I should go for now. Some of my college kids come home today and they will be joining us for meals since the cafeteria doesn't open until Monday. I need to clean up a little. We took the kids to the Hydro Free Fair tonight, and for those of you who don't know it is raining here and has been all day. We are soaked and the house smells of wet clothes, shoes and kids.

Have a great rest of your weekend. I will post the pics from school as soon as Courtney uploads them for me. Cindi

Monday, August 13, 2007

Well, this is it. The last week before school starts. Really, we start this week, but we only go Friday, so technically we still have this week to enjoy ourselves. Atleast the kids do, I have bloodborne pathogen training tomorrow, and then I am back to work on Wednesday.

The girls are ready to go, but the boys are starting to show the typical school anxiety. Connor wants certain people in his class, and Hunter wants to know is teacher NOW! They will both find out the answer to their questions on Wednesday morning, but that doesn't seem to be enough to pacify them.

Some of our college students are back and we are seeing more signs of SWOSU coming back to life after summer. Rachel came over to spend the afternoon yesterday. She runs cross country like Brittni and Ari and she wears orthotics, so she was a big help to Brittni. Actually Brittni ran 1 1/2 miles last night!!!!! Today, she ran with her team. She wasn't able to stay up with them, but she ran the same distance they did. Ari stayed back with Brittni so she wasn't alone, WOW what great kids I have. Tonight, Brittni wanted to run some more so Ari jumped on her bike and rode beside her. Brittni ran 1 1/2 miles tonight too. Their first meet is a week from Saturday and Brittni has resigned herself to running JV for the first few races, but she hopes to be back on varsity within a couple of weeks. Stephanie is also back, and Kelsey will be here Saturday. We have several other kids who stayed over the summer and we have seen from time to time, but I am ready to get back in the swing of having them over every Thursday for Survivor and Supper. Now that Meredith is in Kingsville, we will have to call her on our webcam so she can be in on the fun even from down there.

Well, I have rambled on long enough. I hope you all have a great week. I am ready to go back to school, but I am sure there are 100's of things I didn't get done around here that I should have.

Cindi

Monday, August 6, 2007

Things

Well, a new week has begun and summer is almost over. I have had a very busy weekend. We had a visit from one of our adopted college students, Meredith. She is like one of my own. Over the years we have hosted about 35 students as their adoptive parents. We get lucky and have a few that become so close that they are like our own kids. Meredith is one of those. She is leaving and moving to Kinsville, TX. TOO FAR away, but for a great opportunity. So we were very excited to see her before she left. Courtney sometimes has to work down there and he is already trying to find a way to go down there so he can check in on Meredith and take her out to dinner.

On Saturday another one of our "Like Family" adopted kids got married. Blake has been with out family for 5 or 6 years. He married a sweet girl from Yukon and they will be living here in Weatherford, so really I guess we gained another adopted student. We also got to visit with some friends that we haven't seen in several years. Mark and Debbie were once on staff at our church and have since moved to Lake Charles, LA. They are some of our dearest friends, and it was so much fun to visit with them. They came up to go to Blake's wedding. We also got to see the old youth minister from our home church who did Blake's wedding.

Brittni ran with her orthotics yesterday. She is still in a lot of pain, but is determined to make varsity her senior year and run for a scholarship. She is going to join the team for warm up today, but still ride her bike the 4 miles they are running. She is just not ready to run yet. I will keep you posted on how it goes.

Cathy and her family made it safely back to Florida. I am glad she is home, but I miss her already. It is only 350 days until she will be back again! haha

Have a great Monday, Cindi

Thursday, August 2, 2007


Brittni

Well, believe it or not, I am back for another blog.

Most of you know that Brittni and Ari run cross country. Brittni was even hoping to go to school on a cross country scholarship; however, things changed after she ran with some kids from SWOSU in the OKC Memorial Marathon.

She started having pain when she ran, sometimes so bad she couldn't finish her run. We thought maybe she had a stress fracture or had just worn herself out by running the marathon and really thought it would resolve itself. It didn't. She has been seeing a poiatrist and he recently made molds of her feet to fit her with orthotics. She was diagnosed with collapsing arches. Basically she is now flat footed. Not like a pancake, but they definetly look very different. She got her orthotics in today. Cross country season opens in 2 weeks. They told her it could take up to 3 weeks to get used to the orthotics. She is in a panic. She is at the Y right now trying to do the elliptical machine with the orthotics in to get used to them.

So, here is what I am asking of you. Pray for Brittni. She needs to have patience to let her feet get used to the orthotics. She needs these orthotics to work--the doctor told her that they SHOULD, but it is possible that she won't be able to run again. She needs to do well this season. She is really wanting to run on scholarship and this season is the determining factor.

Thanks for letting me vent. Brittni is a very determined might I say hardheaded young lady--I can't imagine where she gets --and this is driving her crazy.

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Cathy's Visit




Cathy and her kids just left after being here one last time before heading back to Lawton. They are leaving for Florida on Friday morning. I thought you would enjoy these pictures.
We have a favorite saying--I smile because you are my sister, I laugh because you can do nothing about it. I think it fits these pictures perfectly.
Have a great Tuesday, Cindi