Here We Come Branson!

From October 12 through the 17th we were rebels and took Meredith out of school that Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and spent time in Branson with Michael's parents, Tom & Patty along with his sister Becky and her husband Patrick along with their kids (our nephews) Will and Zach. We did have a great time. We figured Meredith could catch up on her kindergarten studies and we could also avoid the large crowds on vacation as well. Our trip consisted of visiting a Children's Science Museum in Springfield, hanging out at Branson Landing, going to Celebration City and seeing a show on the Branson Belle. All of the kids seem to have a great time too. Here are some pictures from the trip.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

On this day, the girls' cousins, Carlee & Cydnee, and Aunt Carrie along with Papa O. made the drive over for Meredith's soccer game. They came over a little early to play before the big game which was fun. Here are a few pics of the afternoon.

Saturday, October 6th

Let me tell ya, the girls had a big day on 10-6. First of all, Meredith played her buddies Katie and Grayson from church in a soccer game in the morning. Meredith's team, the Gators, started out strong but seemed to get tired and outplayed by the other team, the Sharks. Since we don't keep score I can't tell you that but they all did seem to have a great time. I was surprised because instead of Meredith and Katie playing aggressively against each other they were playing nice and I think were afraid to take it from each other. It was pretty cute. At one of the kickoffs we saw Katie putting her fists up at Meredith like she was really gonna get her. Another highlight of the game was that Grayson scored his first goal of the season and was pretty pumped about that. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

The next thing the girls and I did was head to the Neumeier (sp?) pumpkin patch where the girls each picked a pumpkin and had their faces painted. This has become a little tradition of ours during the Fall and the girls just love it. It's a small pumpkin patch but it really suits their fancy.

Sept. 30th Weekend - Football Games

Well, it's been a little while since I've posted anything so here it goes. The last weekend in September we took a road trip to Broken Arrow to take the girls to their first college football game (TU). We thought taking the girls to a TU game would be a good way to go for the first one because it's not near as big or as loud as a Razorback game since Meredith is not very fond of loud atmospheres. We also took Muffin on her first big road trip there as well (to my mom & dad's house, not to the game). So we leave on Saturday around lunchtime (after Meredith's soccer game) and get to my parents house about 2 p.m. or so. All is going well until I feel Alli's head around 4 p.m. or so and noticed she had a fever. So, my little Alli got to stay with my parents while we took Meredith to the game. We really did feel bad leaving her but she's probably not to the age yet where she really understands the whole thing and she just would have wanted to climb the bleachers which would have led to her getting hurt or throwing a tantrum so instead she got ice cream with Grandma & Papa. Anyway, we all had fun at the game and it was perfect weather and we left at halftime because we were all tired. TU ended up winning so all was good. I do remember a day when I would have died before leaving at halftime but those days are over. I do not have a picture because I intentionally left my camera in the car because I didn't want to lug it to the game. Believe it or not, I did not forget it.

So, instead of a picture of Meredith at the game I have a picture of Will at his first Razorback game that Patrick took him to. Patrick lugged in his camera so alas we have a picture! Let me tell ya, my nephew Will has a special talent and that is sleeping wherever and whenever he is tired. He slept through the whole first half of the game! Can you believe it? Any of you that have been to a Razorback game know that this is incredible with the loud band, crowd, pig sooies, etc. One of my favorite stories of Will sleeping is that of his time in Wal-Mart. When Becky was shopping Will fell asleep and I believe she had to prop him up with either paper towels, napkins, or toilet paper or something from the paper family. You get my drift. I think I could only dream of Alli falling asleep while we are shopping or at a game or basically anywhere besides the car or her bed (with me beside her, of course).

Back to Alli. She was still running a fever on Sunday and then proceeded to vomit (tmi?) Sunday night and her fever went back down on Monday. I guess at least she is scheduling her illnesses around Mother's Day Out days. That's a positive.

New Addition to the Family!

First of all, I did want to mention that Meredith's soccer team is not and was not in trouble with the law. The pictured police officer in her picture below is their coach and was not there to arrest or write tickets. However, if the other team does play unfairly we can't promise them to be ticket or felony free. (just kidding, of course)

Okay, now it's on to the exciting news. We adopted a little Wired Terrier mix dog from the Poteau Humane Society (I almost typed human, that would have been interesting). Let me tell you that life is good right now (except Michael is out of town). I managed to get both of the girls to sleep in their beds by themselves (with Alli this is a miracle) with the help of lullabies blasting on both of their CD players in their room (I guess it's a good thing a bathroom is in between their rooms otherwise the mix would have been interesting) and the dog is asleep in her crate! I tell you what, our one year old little Muffin (named by the humane society) has been so good today (knock on wood). She had one accident today but the rest of the time she's gone outside and actually enjoys staying outside and hanging out some. Since I had a little bitty yorkie a few years ago this was quite a shock because our yorkie would much prefer to stay inside. She even went into her wire crate without even barking or crying. All it took was a little push and that was it. For some reason she is hesitant to go through doors without coaxing or just picking her up and moving her but I'm sure she'll get through that little phobia in no time. She was picked up by animal control in Poteau a few weeks back so I don't know her history but she is so sweet and just loves the girls (Michael is still questionable since he's not here). Anyway, unless there are some major changes in the dog I would highly recommend this as a way to get a new dog. You can find tons and tons of adoptable dogs on http://www.petfinder.com/ and this is how we found Muffin. By the way, you are getting a sneak peak of Muffin's new Halloween fashion wear with her little collar with ghosts and stars and I might add that it does glow in the dark as well.

Now if I can just get my little Alli through the diarrhea stomach virus she had tonight. I guess I'll just enjoy the moment and take things as they come.

By the way, Happy Birthday Patty!!!! The inlaws and the husband are all together in St. Louis for an AC conference.

Soccer & Teeth

Well, it's been an exciting week. Meredith had a soccer game last Tuesday night and Saturday morning and had fun at both games. You could tell the team was starting to come together a little more on Saturday since that was their second game. Meredith scored two goals in the first and three in the second I believe (but who's counting?). It was fun being back at the soccer fields watching games. Alli even enjoys going and cheering on her sister and her team, the "Gators". (I accidentally cheered for the crocodiles the first game and was promptly corrected.) I have included lots of pictures if you haven't noticed.

Last night a momentous even occurred at our household. I was in the office at the computer and Meredith comes out of her room with a concerned look on her face. I proceeded to ask her what was wrong and she said that she had a loose tooth from her ring pop. I then took a look at it and discovered that yes, it was indeed loose, but it was probably not as a result of the ring pop. I then exclaimed "You've got a loose tooth" and she then started crying (which was not the reaction I was expecting). I then, like any good mother would, suggested that she go show Daddy. Daddy then explained to her that the tooth fairy would come, etc. etc. and she then got excited and I piped in with "Let's call your grandparents" which she did which was pretty neat. I must say I was unexpectedly quite sad at this event (no tears though, just almost) and realize she is indeed growing up (I guess I was in denial). So, she headed to school this morning excited to tell everyone about her loose tooth and then when I picked her up from school today she just came over to me with a closed mouth smile and I knew what had happened. She then smiled big and opened up her hand and sure enough, there it was. She said she pulled it out in gym at the end of the day. So, to my pleasant surprise, that whole event just took two days and I figured I'd have to pull it out in the middle of the night because she would be scared. Kids are so unpredictable.

Now it's time to brag about my Alli. That girl only took about 2 days to be potty trained. I truly cannot believe it. I think it took Meredith 2 years (Just kidding, it just seemed like that). For those of you with second children I hope you have this experience. So, even though my little Alli is stubborn and strong willed she was a breeze to potty train. Hallelujah!!!!!!

Alli's off to Mother's Day Out

I apologize for the delay in posting but I've had a bit of a cold/allergies/whatever you want to call it so I've been a bit under the weather but I'm feeling much better now and I'm just down to a stuffy nose. Well, besides the cold it has been a nice couple of weeks. Last weekend I was able to go to my friend's baby shower in Tulsa. Adi is a friend of mine from college and this is her second baby so all of our college friends got together and ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then headed over to Ida's house to hang out afterwards. It's always so nice to see my sweet friends from home and wish I could see them more. I'm hoping one of them will e-mail me a pictures of the even so I can post it (because as usual I forgot my camera).

The day finally came! Alli started Mother's Day Out (her school) at our church on this past Wednesday and she will go on Wednesdays and Fridays until school's out. She was very excited about going so she could go to "school" like her big sister. She really enjoys her teachers and I even heard she and Meredith playing school in their rooms today taking turns "being" their teachers. I take that as a good sign.

Meredith has her first soccer game on Tuesday evening so that's something we're looking forward to this week. I'll try and remember to take the camera so I have some pictures of the game.