Where has the time gone.

Wow, I couldn't believe it has been so long I last posted. Things have been a little crazy around. There is so much I can't share right now, but let's just say that the news we just got will relieve some of the stress we have been facing around here.

Anyway, we have had some exciting things happen. Connor won an Ipod Nano at school yesterday. He was soooooo excited. They have been selling things as a fundraiser and all the kids who sold at least 15 items got to enter in a drawing for an Ipod pillow. One of the pillows had a certificate in it for an Ipod. The principal drew the names, the secretary put the certificate in the pillows and the other secretary had the kids pick the pillows. They all looked at once for the certificate. Connor was so excited when he opended his pillow that he didn't realize the certificate was in his hand. I think he was looking for the actual Ipod. Anyway, they ordered the Ipod yesterday and it will come engraved with his name on it. How cool is that?

Brittni, Ari and even Hunter were noticably jealious about the Ipod, but all were excited. Brittni even reminded me that Connor is about the same age that she was when she won a bike at school.

Courtney had a A1C check today and his blood sugar averages were down a little. They were still high compared to "normal" people, but I like to remind everyone that Courtney is definetly not normal. We are going to work on being more agressive with the insulin he takes when he eats and see how he does. There is always talk about putting him on the latest, greatest, medication, but as always the case with Courtney--if there is to be a side effect he will have it. So, for now, we will stick to what we know works. An old, very effective, insulin.

Thanks for the concern about my absence. Hopefully things will slow down a little around here and I will be able to post more often. I went to a stamp club on Friday with my Mom and I would love to post the pictures of what we made sometime.

Cindi

I spent the day with my Mom. We were out of school and she was off work. She has recently gotten into the stampin and scrappin stuff with me. So, today we made some post it note holders, book marks, and a couple of cards. It was a lot of fun. Here a couple of the cards I made as well as the clips I am making for my kids. I also worked on some valentine treat bag tags, but didn't get them finished.

I used the stampin up punch to make the small flowers in the left corner. The top flower is from some my mom brought. I used a gemstone brad for the center of the big flower. In the picture it looks green, but it is really light blue. I love the paisley paper.
This is a small 4 x 4 card. I made one for something my mom needed and made a spare just to have.
This book mark matches the cards I made, you can't see it real well, but I used glitter for the snowman. CUTE!
This card is big, 5 1/4 x 5 1/4. I think this is my new favorite color scheme.

Thank you cards

I ordered this cute card kit from this site: http://simplystamping.blogspot.com/

This is a couple of the cards I made from the kit.

The first card is for a man at our church who gave our family a 1 year membership to the local YMCA.



The second card is for a family in our church who gave me free gas from a local gas station for working with the children's ministries.




The third card is a card for my Sunday school class for the awesome day they gave me last Sunday. They knew I needed them, and they were there. Ten fold!

Pics from the weekend

Hunter shooting in his first archery shoot


Hunter and Connor shooting last target


Connor shooting the target


Ari and Hunter cheering Connor on


Connor and his car


Connor setting his car on the track

A Cowboy's Wife Contest

A Cowboy’s Wife is having a contest on her food blog! You can win a Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer and she’ll ship anywhere so everyone is eligible!

The Prize:



The winner will receive a brand new
Hamilton Beach 4.5-qt. Eclectrics Stand Mixer, Pineapple Yellow!!

About the mixer:

From Hamilton Beach’s “Eclectrics” line, this all-metal stand mixer comes with a host of accessories - a Flat Beater for cakes and cookies, a Dough Hook for bread and a Wire Whisk for whipped cream or pudding. The 4.5-qt. stainless steel bowl comes with a Pouring Shield that helps prevent splattering while in operation. The pouring shield has a built-in chute for adding ingredients. Powered by 400 watts, the stand mixer has a two-way mixing action to ensure all ingredients are incorporated into the mix. The quick-release, tilt-up head assists when removing the bowl. 9 x 14 x 14-in. When you’re ready for a kitchen re-do, don’t call in the carpenters! Instead, “counterscape” your kitchen with Hamilton Beach’s retro-designed, affordably priced electrics in happy, sun-saturated colors. Their “Eclectrics” line includes updates to those classic appliances from the 1950s. All of their “Eclectrics” are available in six colors: Apple Green, Moroccan Red, Pineapple Yellow, Intrigue Blue, Sugar White and Licorice Black.

Weekend Activites

This is going to be a busy weekend for us. Today, Connor is racing his RA Racer in a tournament. For those of you who don't know what an RA Racer is, it is a car they sand down, add weight too, add wheels too and paint. It must fall within certain guidelines and you race it against other people from the Southern Baptist Convention in our area. You get two loses before you are out. Brittni is competing with the WHS academic team in the regional competition today. We are not going because there is no cheering, clapping or distracting allowed. Can you see Hunter being quiet for 4 hours?! I will post pics from Connor's car races tonight.

Tomorrow Ari, Courtney and Connor are shooting in their first archery shoot of the year. This is Connor's first time to compete and he is STOKED! He has been practicing all week. If Courtney takes pics, I will post some tomorrow. Have a great weekend. Don't forget to stop and relax some when you have the chance.

3900 Saturday Mornings

Another to put life into perspective, Cindi



3900 Saturday Mornings

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it:

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was s telling whom-ever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say

"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's "dance recital" he continued. "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."

"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.

"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part. It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays." "I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear."

"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.

There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."

"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."

"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter.

Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast" "What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles.

The Law of the Garbage Truck

Someone sent this to me. It is true and worth the read. Cindi


Beware of Garbage Trucks
by David J. Pollay



How often do you let other people's nonsense change
your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss,
or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you're the
Terminator, for an instant you're probably set back on your
heels. However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly
she can get back her focus on what's important.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson.
I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab.
Here's what happened.

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station.
We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car
jumped out of a parking space right in front of us.
My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded,
and missed the other car's back end by just inches!

The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big
accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us.

My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy.
And I mean, he was friendly.
So, I said, "Why did you just do that?
This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!"

And this is when my taxi driver told me what I
now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck."

Many people are like garbage trucks.
They run around full of garbage, full of frustration,
full of anger, and full of disappointment.
As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it.
And if you let them, they'll dump it on you.
When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally.

You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on.
You'll be happy you did.

So this was it: The "Law of the Garbage Truck."
I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right
over me?
And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other
people:
at work, at home, on the streets?
It was that day I said, "I'm not going to do it anymore."

Well, now "I see Garbage Trucks."
I see the load they're carrying.
I see them coming to drop it off.
And like my Taxi Driver, I don't make it a personal thing;
I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

The bottom line is that successful people
do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day.
What about you?
What would happen in your life, starting today,
if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?

Here's my bet.
You'll be happier.

Brittni's Revelations

Brittni and I have had some serious talks this past couple of days. Do you want to know what they were about? The presidential candidates. My baby will be able to vote for our next president! That took me by surprise. I don't know why. I know she will 18 in a couple of months, but I never really thought about her voting. She is so eager to learn all she can about those running. It makes me realize that I am not as interested as I should be. These people will be running our country, so I guess I better get to paying attention!

Death in my Family

My Grandfather on my Dad's side of the family passed away at 1:30 a.m. today. I would appreciate your prayers as we go through this trying time.

Cindi

Beautiful

That is just how I would describe today. First, we went to Sunday school and church. We stopped at the store on the way home and then we did something we haven't done in a while. We ate lunch together at the dining room table. It was so nice to sit together, hold hands as Courtney prayed, and visit about the impending year. So many things will happen this year. Ari will get her driver's license, Brittni will graduate high school, Connor will turn 10, and Hunter will go to first grade. Wow! I am excited, but sad. Sad for all the things that Brittni won't be here for this time next year. She is moving out of the house in August, and I would bet money she won't come back. She is such an independent spirit that she will do fine on her own. But, how will I handle it? I honestly don't know.

Courtney and I are the kind of parents that do everything with our kids. We even take them to eat with us on our anniversaries. Now, we do go out some just the two of us, but for the most part we are a "family". We all shoot archery together, the girls go on hunting weekends with Courtney, and we have family nights periodically through the month. I am sad that Brittni won't be in on some of that next year. I know, I will survive, but it is sad for me to face.

Today as we drove to church Billy Ray Cyrus' song "Ready, Set, Don't Go" came on the radio. As we were singing along, tears came to my eyes. Brittni asked what was wrong. I told her, I love this song, but it hits a little to close to home for me. She laughed, but I think she knows just how I feel.

Anyway, back to today. Courtney has spent the afternoon with the boys. Connor is racing in a RA Racer derby next week, so they are busy readying his car. Santa brought the boys new bows for Christmas, so in between sanding, and melting lead for weights, they boys are shooting with their dad. Brittni had to work, so she has been gone for most of the afternoon, but before she left we sat down and watched a movie together. Ari has been stuck in her room reading a book that she has to test on tomorrow. As someone who works in education, I don't see the point in assigning a book to read over Christmas break, but some teachers don't agree. Right now, she is taking a break and driving her dad to Walmart for more lead.

I love days like today. Nothing special going on, but lots of activity in the house. The weather is about 70 and we are all wearing shorts. I even took the Christmas lights down barefooted. Like I said, it is a Beautiful day.

Some of our other children, 2007

Meredith

Brandi and Jesse, Recent Mr and Mrs.




Brady and Grace Ann



Rachel



Girls with Kelsey and Stephanie




Girls and Kelsey, Switchfoot Concert

Brittni Senior Composite 2008

This is the composite from Brittni's pics. We had a hard time deciding which pictures to choose. We are curently in the proccess of going through the rest of them and ordering for the family. Christa did such a good job. If you need a photographer, I know a great one!!!

Brittni 2007

Brittni and Cy, Prom 2007



First Bow Kill, 10-13-07


Deep Sea Fishing, Gulf 2007



First time at the Gulf


Playing Violin in Orchestra at SWOSU



Running OKC Marathon


Band 2007

Senior Night 2007



Running Weatherford Meet


At the Farm

Ari 2007

On the Beach



Bow fishing with Dad



Ari and one of her BFF



Band Fun


Ari and her snake



Practicing her archery skills


Ari and her Turkey 2007


Medaling Watonga 2007



Jumping with boys



Christmas Eve 2007

Connor 2007

swimming in the trough



school pic 2007



Playing



First day of school assembly



Birthday 2007




Christmas Eve, new sheets



as a Mummy



"surfing" Port Aransas, TX


Connor and the "Bear", Buda, TX Cabelas