A Fun Day

Today the kiddos and I went to a Wild West Fest at the historic Kleffner Ranch....and then we grabbed A&W cheeseburgers and rootbeer and had a picnic on Little Prickly Pear Creek up the road from the ranch.  They were thrilled to spend time with Grandpa and Grandma and Aunt Katy and their cousins.  It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun!

Baseball 2012

As I mentioned in my last post, Kellan and Jacksen had a great baseball season!  Kellan had a some great coaches and it is amazing how much his game improved in just 6 short weeks.  At the beginning of the season he usually ended up hitting the ball off the tee, but by the end of the season he was almost always able to hit the machine pitch.  I am so proud of my boys!

Jacksen on the pitcher's mound



Kellan bugging his daddy during Jacksen's game

Megan discovered "spits" while watching her brothers' games

We have about a month off from sports until fall soccer and flag football begin....I wonder what we will do with all of that time on our hands?!



My Sweethearts

 Megan

 Kellan

Jacksen

Off To Camp

So, a couple weeks after school was out for the summer Megan discovered a flyer in the mail advertising a summer camp sponsored by the Living Hope Fellowship Church.  She was immediately intrigued and asked if she could attend that camp rather than going to the horseback riding camp she usually attends for a week each summer.  Her daddy and I visited about it and decided that would be a great opportunity for our little almost 10-year-old.

Today was the big day.  After work, her aunties and I drove her to Holter Lake to spend the week roughing it with a bunch of other boys and girls.  Upon our arrival, I immediately felt like it was a warm, inviting place to leave my little girl...well, except that it was raining.  We got her registered and she was assigned to a cabin, which is really a small wall tent.  We made her bed, which is actually a cot/bunkbed and gave her a hug goodbye.  I was trying my best to not cry when she leaned over to me and said "Mom, I'm going to give you something I've been wanting to give you for a long time."  I assumed she was going to give me a hug or a kiss, but I was wrong.  She totally bitch-slapped me....HARD! 

Well, as you can imagine, all activity in the cabin/tent stopped.  The counselors and other girls completely stopped talking and stared.  I was so embarassed that it took me a moment to ask why she did that.  She gave me a little giggle and said "I don't know."  After thinking about, I think she was just really nervous and didn't know what to do.  Her aunties thought it was the most hilarious thing they had ever seen and laughed about it all the way home.  I'm still a little horrified and speechless.  As we were driving, I asked if they thought she would be okay for four days up there.  They both advised that after her seeing her deck her mother, it would be highly unlikely that anybody will give her a hard time at camp.  Good point.  It'll be interesting to hear about her week when I pick her up Friday evening!

My Three Kiddos

I meant to blog more over the last couple of weeks....but we've been too busy with swimming lessons, baseball, library nights and recreating with family!

Anywho, here's an update on my three beautiful children:

I'll start with Jacksen, who generally has to go last because he's the youngest.  Mr. Jacksen spent the last year going to daycare in the mornings and preschool in the afternoons.  He LOVED preschool....but I think he loved being the oldest at the daycare more!  He graduated from preschool with flying colors at the end of May, attended Kindergarten orientation at good 'ol Jim Darcy Elementary School and will officially be a student of our most favorite kindergarten teach at the end of next month....crazy!  He can hardly wait!  In the meantime, he is thoroughly enjoying improving his already stellar swimming skills and talking our ears off.  That's right....he has found his voice and asserts himself constantly!  This kiddo has an amazing vocabulary- all of that bedtime reading has paid off!

On to our middlest kid, Kellan.  Kellan is still excelling at all sports and has discovered video games...particularly Madden NFL '12.  He is still funny as ever!  The thing that amazes me the most about Kellan is the fact that he is such a natural-born leader....despite being pretty much the smallest kid in his class and on every sports team.  I loved that he is comfotable with who he is and has such an amazing sense of security.  He ended his school year with a PERFECT report card....academics come as naturally to him as athletics.  He is just so awesome!

And Megan....our miracle girl.  Megan is getting taller and more beautiful (if that's even possible!) everyday!  She is such a confident, mature almost 10-year-old....I always think of her as kind of an old soul.  She loves to read and has decided she wants to be a school librarian when she grows up.  My little girl has lots of friends - mostly boys!  She got her braces off this past spring and her teeth
are just gorgeous!  She has a special friend (She is MUCH too young for a boyfriend!), Logan, who she is a little smitten with and they like to hang out sometimes.  Miss Megan is also an excellent student and truly loves school!

So, that's what the kids have been up to.  And me?  Not sure what to say.  I guess I'm still working on figuring out who I am and what I want for the rest of my life.  I think I'm a little lost right now.  I just know that I am so grateful for my friends and family...and these amazing kids that I've been blessed with...they are truly a gift from above! 

I'm working on a photo collage from the past year....should be posted SOON! 

A Poem by Kellan

Roses are sweet
so is my mom
I just want to kiss her
She is the bomb!

Yep, he made this one up all by himself....what a little charmer! It's a really good thing he's full of charm 'cause he would get in a lot more trouble if he wasn't! More on that later....

I'm not a loser anymore!!!!

So, have you ever noticed some people seem to win more than others? It's like they lead these crazy charmed lives....my twin sister is one of them and it's always kinda pissed me off a little bit. In one year, she won two ipods and a flat screen TV in drawings at work! Our employer (YES, we happen to work for the same company!) used to do weekly drawings for tickets to local sporting events. For quite a while I made it a game to enter every single ticket drawing....just to prove to myself that I'm one of the unlucky losers in this world. Well, I can't say I was surprised that it took me over a year to win anything....and I didn't really win 'cause there were more tickets than there were entries....figures.

You can imagine how surprised I was when, a few days ago, I got an email from Julie with Leelou Blogs advising me that I am the winner of her giveaway for a gift card to Harpari Swimwear! I was so excited that I called my sisters right away to tell them what an awesome winner I am....besides being such a winner, I am also a huge dork! Anyway, I've been visiting the Harpari website everyday trying to decide which swimsuit I should choose....tough decision 'cause they are all so cute! I'm leaning toward this one right now:


I have the fake tan, but I need the body to go with this....good thing I'm gonna start training to run Bloomsday next year!

I can guarantee that my sisters will read this post and think to themselves "That Christy is a real winner!"