Birthday Girl!

I can hardly believe that our baby, our BABY, is has celebrated her last single-digit birthday!

Yep, Katie is NINE!

We have successfully managed to spread her birthday out over the past several days, with today being IT.  I mean it, no birthday stuff tomorrow.  Seriously…I hope.  Today is cupcakes for her class at school, ending all the celebrating in style!

It really seems like yesterday that were blessed with her arrival-

My how fast time flies!

 

And it seems like we’ve been partying for DAYS!  Well, I guess we have!

Happy Birthday to our sweet girl!  Our little princess who we prayed for, and were blessed with nine years ago. 

To our spunky and spirited girl, who is growing too fast, we love you SO much!!

xoxo

Current River Challenge-Bulldogs vs. Clarkton

A Thanksgiving tradition for those that involved in high school basketball around here – of which we are up to our eyeballs in! – is the annual Current River Challenge!

The Challenge is not really a tournament, but rather just a shootout where teams come from all over southern Missouri to play teams that they normally don’t play in their own district and/or conferences.  Teams from the bigger schools and smaller schools all come out to play Friday and Saturday following Thanksgiving.  The games start at 9am on both days.  So for anybody wanting to get a good dose of high school boys basketball, Van Buren is the place to be right now!

Our boys played their first game of the Challenge last night.  Being the home team, we were the last game on the day’s schedule..same is true for tonight’s game.

It was worth the late night, too, because WE GOT THE WIN!!!!!!!

And of course, our extreme excitement was caught on camera…again.

Oh my word.  Our poor kids.  And in the digital age of things like Facebook and Twitter, there is nowhere to hide.  Wow.  We can’t help it, though!  Our boys did so GREAT!! They are 2-0 and play their hearts out.

 

Tyler never sat down last night, playing the entire game and finished with 11 points and I lost track of assists and rebounds.  Zachary had some good minutes as well, coming in to be a key reliever off the bench.

It was a great first night of the Current River Challenge for the Bulldogs!

xoxo

Give Thanks

Hey guys!!

Did you have a Happy Thanksgiving?  I hope no matter what or where you are in your life, you were able to find something {even if it’s little} to be thankful for. 

I know we sure did.

We had a much smaller turnout than usual at our house, with Jack’s parents being out of town working, and other family members having their take-turn-with-other-family year, but it was wonderful nonetheless.  We had a great day and into the late night eating, visiting, eating, watching football, eating, and visiting.

Some shots from the day-

We ended up with enough food for an army, but that’s always a good thing because that means I don’t have to cook for a couple more days because of all the leftovers!  Awesome.

Most everybody finished out the day like Tyler-

 

We always celebrate Katie’s birthday family-style on Thanksgiving, since most everybody is all together already.  She opened a couple of presents and LOVED both!

Sweet girl.  I can’t believe she’s almost NINE!

I also can’t believe that Thanksgiving is over and now it’s time to get ready for Christmas!  Holy cow!  Where has this year gone?! 

xoxo

Happy, Thankful, & Busy!

Morning!

A bit out of our normal routine today because the kids are out of school since tomorrow’s

THANKSGIVING!!! 

I LOVE Thanksgiving.  It’s seriously my favorite holiday.  I love that there is none of the pressure of gift-giving or shopping.  We can just come together as family and friends and enjoy each other’s company!  Love that.

The only pressure I have is getting our house company-ready!  Right now I have the only who is awake (so far), my Zach, washing windows.  Gosh, he loves me. 

A black and gold explosion is happening in my laundry room as I try to get all the boys’ uniforms washed up from Monday night’s game, and prepped for Friday night’s game.  Two boys times two sets of uniforms for each boy, plus warm-ups equal a LOT of the B&G!  Awesome!!

 

I updated the calendar for the next week or so-

Per usual, craziness!  Wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

I am thankful.

And happy.

Here’s to a busy day of preparations!

xoxo

Tradition Starts Now

I am hoping that last night’s basketball game by the Bulldogs (Lady Dawgs, too!) is a sign of what’s to come this season!

Yes it was exciting.

Yes I was filled with anxiety.

And yes, WE GOT THE WIN!!!!

 

And before I go into the photo collages from last night, can I just share this with you?  From my phone:

It was such a moment for us, as parents. 

From the time that they were little, they have played together.  They have played trucks, they have played guns and army, they have played countless games of basketball in the driveway…but to see them playing high school basketball together was almost too much for this Momma’s heart to handle.  I was so filled with pride for my boys that, yes, it somehow started to bubble up and water my eyes.   Not a sobbing boo-hoo, but just a “wow moment.” 

When Coach brought Zach into the game in the first half to shoot two free-throws (which he made), Jack and I just looked at each other and, I know, felt the exact same thing at that exact moment.  Wow.  Our boys.  Together.  On one court, in the same game.  I grabbed my phone and quickly typed the note above because I wanted to remember just exactly how I was feeling at that moment. 

Tyler, last night in the first game of his junior year, was as impressive as we ever thought he would be.  He has practiced to start Varsity Basketball his whole life.  And while he started quite a bit last year, this year he came in with a renewed focus.  He is co-captain for the team and he is so driven to work hard and do well.  He had 18 points last night and showed his determination.   

 

How did these kids get so big?!  They will always be my sweet babies no matter how big they get.  

Ever since my breast cancer diagnosis, I appreciate every moment I get to spend with my kids because I have been faced with the harsh reality that life is so short.  Every single second is a gift.  But this is not just for me, guys.  None of us are promised tomorrow, so things need to made right and enjoyed TODAY.  I am so thankful for each and every moment our family has together. 

I am praying for a long lifetime of “wow moments.”

Love you guys.

xoxo

A Model Weekend & An Inspirational Model

Hey! 

How was your weekend??

It was absolutely gorgeous here; you can bet Katie and I took full advantage!

Our Saturday and Sunday adventures outdoors were pretty much identical!  We took Katie’s bike and hit the park.  She rode about 3.5 miles (but who really knows because she was riding circles around me and having a ball!), and then ditched the bike to run a mile and a half.  Both days.  This girl has her Momma’s love of movement.  We had a really great time!

Sunday tweet-

 

TWO THINGS I’M EXCITED ABOUT:

1) Bulldog Basketball starts TONIGHT!! Of course it’s an away game (dang), but even the one-hour drive into the middle of nowhere isn’t enough to quell our excitement!  TRADITION STARTS NOW.

and

2) A clean pathology report!!

Benign!  Seriously, that is the prettiest word ever.  Thank You, Jesus!

This morning I went for my walk after I dropped the kids off at school, and while it was much chillier than my walks the two previous days (because we had gone mid-day), it felt really good to me because I was quite the hot-flash machine all morning.  I was ready for some chill!  I walked six miles this morning.  I’m picking up speed a little!  No running though, like I said before, I don’t want to mess anything up. 

I like my gloves with the fingers cut out so I can still use my phone and mess with my music while I’m walking, but my fingers can get pretty cold!  But I saw some gloves advertised the other day that have some type of special something-or-other on the fingers and thumb so you can still use a touch-screen with them.  Score!  It’s on my Christmas wish list!

Another thing on my wish list,

This book by Lauren Scruggs and her family-

If you haven’t heard of Lauren Scruggs, or even if you have, watch the piece below.  Her story will absolutely touch your heart.  I identified with her on so many levels.  I can’t wait to read her book.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

(source)

She is an absolute miracle, and her faith is an inspiration to so many.  What a beautiful reminder of thankfulness on this week of Thanksgiving.

Find something in YOUR life that you can be thankful for today.

xoxo

Black & Gold Twenty-Twelve

The annual scrimmage games for the boys and girls basketball teams, the Black and Gold Game, was held last night at the high school!

We look forward to it so much because it is the community’s first chance to get a look at the teams this year.  At the game, coaching staff, players, cheerleaders are introduced to the crowd.  If there are any rule changes for Missouri High School Basketball, those are announced also.  Then each team plays a scrimmage game against each other.  It kind of like being allowed to come in a watch an intense practice!  We’ve been looking forward to it all week, because for the first time, both our boys are playing high school basketball!  Same team (although split between jr. varsity and varsity), same schedule, DOUBLE the amount of anxiety and nerves for these parents!

It was such a great night!  For the first time, a local bank, Sterling Bank, sponsored a tailgate party after the games!  It was fantastic!  There was music, tents, grills going, lots of food, drinks, and TONS of people!  It was by-far the biggest B&G game turnout I’ve seen In a LONG time…and the vibe was so positive and so community-oriented.  It was fantastic!

The best thing about last night: The kids saw firsthand how supported they are by our community.  They felt the positive energy and the excitement for the upcoming season.  First game is Monday and WE ARE READY!

Back to the friendly confines-

 

Boys Basketball- (my boys!)

 

Some scenes from the night-

 

 

And my favorite pics from the night-

 

I tweeted last night:

I savored every second of last night.  Every shot, every foul, every pass.  I just love watching my boys do their thing, no matter what it is.  And after the last couple of weeks dealing with breast cancer recurrences of a friend and an acquaintance, I just had a beautiful moment with God…thanking Him that I am here to see this.  I am thankful for every moment, and praying for a lifetime.

Cherish every second today, friends!

 

GO BULLDOGS!!

xoxo

Sleeping Post Mastectomy & SAVE RESEARCH!

Yo.

I’m not quite sure what I’m going to write about today, but I KNOW that I am so thankful it’s FRIDAY!

(sunset last night…twas beautiful)

I really had no idea what day it was when I woke up this morning.  The hubby shut the alarm off sometime in the middle of the night so when it didn’t go off at 6, I just kept on snoozing.  He woke me up around 6:20 and told me what time it was.

I woke up in a state of confusion.  Do you ever do that?  I mean, really, I laid there going, “Do I need to get up now, or can I go back to sleep?  What day IS it??”

I asked Jack and he said, “It’s Friday.”  To which I groaned (because I had to get up), and got out of bed to make the coffee.

I have to say, it is so much easier the further I get from surgery, to get out of bed.  You really don’t realize how much you use your arms to do stuff like that.  I was doing the roll-to-the-edge thing for a while so I’m so happy that now I am better able to get up without help…or rolling.

And notice I said “bed” in the previous paragraph.  I am also thankful to be back in my own bed…and to be able to [kind of] sleep on my side!  For the first two and a half weeks, I slept here-

This chaise lounge in our bedroom was perfect for me post-op.  It reclines back some so I stayed quite bundled and propped up with pillows in my little nest that I made.

In fact, here’s proof- Thanks, hubby. 

Lovely.  And all nice and blurry like a nighttime camera phone photo should be.  Recovery at it’s finest right there, folks.

Speaking of recovery…

 

I want to share one more thing with you today before I go…

A twitter friend, and fellow #BCSM-er (breast cancer social media), shared this link this morning to on her blog.  Go read it, and then go here.

I did.

Have a great start to your weekend, guys!

xoxo

Dentist Day {And A PSA}

Hey guys!

So today was Dentist Day at our house.  The kids and I had all four of Dr. Gary’s morning appointments for cleanings and checkups.  Jack get his own day because he’s special.   No really, they just couldn’t fit all five of us in today so since he had to be on a jobsite all day, the kids and I took the appointments. 

I really enjoyed spending the day with my “babies,” even if we were in and out of the dentist chair and passing off errands to each other to get things done.  Days like today I’m glad I have another driver in the house.

Katie just loved that I took her picture while she was getting her flouride treatment.  Haha, not really but she couldn’t do anything about it.

Isn’t she cute?!

By the way, as I lay in the chair getting my teeth cleaned, something that I had read somewhere on some piece of my information from my plastic surgeon came to my mind.  Did it say somewhere about having dental work done?  Antibiotics??  Is teeth cleaning considered dental work?  Hmmm.  So when Dr. Gary came in to do his exam, I mentioned it to him.

“Am I supposed to have antibiotics when I have my teeth cleaned?  A cavity filled?  What’s the rule?”

He told me that yes, for any type of dental procedure when they may break the gum line, or if there is any bleeding of the gums, then I should probably be on antibiotics.  Oh great.  Well he told me check with my doctor, so I emailed Marissa right away and before she had a chance to get back to me, he was coming to tell me that he had called in some antibiotics at Walgreens just down the street and I should go ahead and go get them.

So later when I left his office, I had clean teeth, the start of a cavity, and now 4 antibiotic pills on board.

And there is also enough in there for me to take 4 the day of my cavity filling next month as well.  [And by the time I had went and got my Rx and got back to the dentist office and checked my email, Marissa had emailed me back saying “yes” on the antibiotics.]  Well welcome to this new world.

PSA- So kids, if you have had surgery, breast expanders, and/or all that jazz, be sure and call your doctor and ask if you need antibiotics beforehand! 

And so I don’t leave my boys out – and no I didn’t go back with them at the dentist and take their pictures…But here are the Van Buren Athletes picture for 2012-2013-

Can you pick out my boys?  Hint: Tyler’s in white and Zachary’s in gold.

First game is next week and the Black And Gold Game – team scrimmages for all the local adoring fans that also addresses rule changes and introduces coaching staff, players, and cheerleaders – is tomorrow night!  Complete with tailgate party!

Boys’ Basketball -

 

I am one tired girl tonight, and I have another tired girl laying on my shoulder.  So we are taking our tired hineys to bed.

xoxo