Life Lately

Life lately has been busy, fun, crazy and hectic.  Let's take a little peak, shall we?  On dance night, Karsyn looked like such a big girl while Addi was in class.

On GoJu night, I got to watch Evan spar.  He did fantastic!

Addi and Karsyn have been doing great in gymnastics class.  I wasn't sure about their class at first, but I think we've made the right pick.

Payton made a special little friend in the waiting area.  She's pretty crazy about this guy.

Karsyn got to check out a firetruck at school this week.  She thought it was awesome!

Payton and a few friends made a very impressive castle with a maze inside of it during their gifted and talented class. 

Speaking of G.T., this week, I started serving on the Gifted and Talented Advisory Board for our school district.  I was really nervous before the first meeting, because I felt way out of my league.  But, I actually really enjoyed it and felt as though I contributed a few things. The meeting was the kind where we used the rule of order.  My name went into the minutes for seconding the motion to adjourn the meeting. ha ha ha!  We are looking forward to the month ahead and have lots of fun things planned.  

The Weekend What

Even though Karsyn and I start our weekend on Friday, the big kiddos have to go to school.  This Friday was homecoming for our local high school, which meant that Addi and Payton had spirit day.  I thought that they looked quite adorable in their school colors.

Karsyn and I spent our day doing laundry and things around the house until it was time for after school pick ups.  Then, we headed out to our normal Friday night hang out place - our speech therapist's clinic.  After Addi's session, we came home and watched Curious George: A Halloween Boo Fest on Nexflix and ate pizza. The girls laughed like crazy during the movie.  Evan played Candy Crush instead.  On Saturday morning, Addi had her very first basketball game.  My #3 was way too cute!  She made a couple of really good passes. There's my little point guard!

Here she is setting up for a free throw.

Our team won by a pretty big margin!  Woo-hoo!  They are doing their after game congratulations.

And then, their coach bought them all a treat.

Addi had a lot of family come out to her game.  Her BFF cousin is her #1 fan!

Karsyn was pretty proud of her big sister too!

After the game, we celebrated the big win by going out to lunch with Uncle Billy, Aunt Kary, Natalie, Emily, and Stephen.  We ended up at Burger King. =)  Payton and Emily are always happy when they get in some cousin time.

 Basketball, burgers, cousin, and crowns - it doesn't get much better!

We came home and rested a short while before it was party time.  Addi's friend Wesley is now a big 7 year old.  Evan, Payton, Addi, and Karsyn just love Wesley.  He is such a sweetheart.  All of the little guys loved having Evan at the party.  I think they liked having a big guy to bop with their balloons.

The balloon bopping was fun, but the highlight of the evening was the hay rides.  First, all of the boys (and a few moms) took off.

Then, it was the girls' turn. Karsyn is good friends with Wesley's sister, Anna.  Payton thinks Anna is a cutie pie.

Addi was so excited to go on a hay ride.

Cake time!!!

After we had cake, the kiddos and I called it a night.  I was worried about it getting too dark on the way home.  The party was about half an hour away and out in the country.  Before we left, I took a picture of Addi , the birthday boy, and their other best buddy Nathan.  They've all been in the same class for the last 3 years.  Their mommies and I hope that they are best friends until they graduate and beyond.

Sunday morning, our little family went to church.  That afternoon, we ripped the carpet out of Evan's floor.  New paint and flooring are coming soon!  That evening, we watched the eclipse. Evan thought it was awesome.

It would have been kind of nice if Evan, Payton, and Jason (the littlest ladies tried to stay up, but they were just too sleepy) would have let me known that our neighbors were outside and stopped me from singing "Total Eclipse of The Heart." Despite my embarrassment, the moon was really an amazing sight to see.  

This sure was one great fall weekend!  Hope yours was great too!

Oh What A Night!

Our little family has a lot of after school activities.  The majority of the time, our schedule works together like a fine oiled machine.  But every once in a while, a monkey wrench gets thrown into our plans and we're left scrambling to figure out a new plan.  Such was the case one evening this week, when we found out that Jason had to work late.  Ugh!  After a few text messages, phone calls, and meet ups, we came up with the perfect plan to get three kids to three different places at three overlapping times.  So right here, I need to say thank you to my parents and my Uncle Terry and Aunt Jennifer.  It's a blessing to have family that not only live close by, but that are willing to help. Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Also, when talking with Aunt Ashley last night, we got a good giggle out of the whole situation.  You know you live in the Bible Belt when you have to figure out how to get one kiddo from the basketball church to the GoJu church. One of which, is the church that not only I, but my Aunt Jenn works at, even though we don't work together. However, neither is our home church nor to we attend the same church.  =)  Anyway, Addi did great at her first basketball practice last night.  She passed like a pro.

She didn't make any baskets, but she had great form and touched the rim every time.  She'll get it.

She was this close!!!!

Karsyn happily ate a fruit bar and played with Littlest Pet Shop animals during practice.  Meanwhile, Payton and Sarah were having a good time at the homecoming parade with Aunt Jenn and Uncle Terry before dance class started.

 While they were busy having all kinds of fun, Nana and Papa dropped Evan off at GoJu.  I got to watch the last part of his class after Addi's practice.  He LOVES GoJu and that makes me so happy.

After GoJu, we had to book it to the dance studio to pick up Payton and Sarah.  They told us all about the parade and what they are learning on the way home.  It's a busy season we are in, but it sure is a blessed one.

Midweek Randoms

This week, a couple of little ballerinas high jacked our dry erase calendar.  Payton and I have tried our best to keep our little family organized, but these little ladies have other ideas.

The same ballerinas looked extra sweet walking into dance together.  I kind of love this picture.

This week, Evan and I have been trying to come up with the perfect color to paint his room.  He wanted black (no way, no how, no sir), so we compromised with grey.  Now we just have to chose the perfect shade.  That's where this gets really difficult.  Making paint selections with someone who is color blind isn't easy.  Just this morning, I had to convince him that his blue shirt was not purple.  Hopefully, we'll make a choice by this weekend so that we can get to work.

Speaking of Evan, his school had "See You at The Pole" this week.  I'm proud of my little man for standing in prayer with his friends.  (I wish I had a better picture.  I snapped this one very quickly.)

This week, Jason, Karsyn and I went to Tulsa one afternoon.  We had seafood for lunch.  We ordered Karsyn chicken and french fries and she didn't eat one bite of it.  As it turns out, our littlest lady loves shrimp linguine.

Before we left the restaruant, Karsyn got to pet a lobster.

 This week, Jason taught Evan how to change break pads.  Evan was a good student.  I hope that all 4 of our kiddos inherit Jason's handiness. 

 After two months of waiting, we finally got the authorization from insurance for Payton's braces.  Yay!  Big sister has a few years of orthodontic work in front of her.   Right now, she's really excited about it.

Here's hoping that your week is going well too!

Tater Tot Casserole

Tater Tot Casserole has always been a comfort food of mine.  Payton and I made one this weekend and it gave the phrase comfort food a whole new meaning.  You see, my Grandma Shirley loved making this casserole.  There's just something about teaching my girls to make my grandma's old recipes that does my heart good.  It helps me pass on something of her to them, it brings sweet memories of my grandma to me, and it also helps create new memories with my girls - and Evan when he's in the kitchen.  

So, here's what you need:

1 pound of ground beef

half of an onion - chopped

1 bag of frozen tater tots

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup 

around a cup or so of shredded cheese

Preheat oven according to the directions of the tater tots.  Next, brown the hamburger meat and onions.  Drain the fat.  Then, mix it with both cans of soup and place into a casserole dish.  Cover the mixture with shredded cheese.  Then, add the frozen tater tots on top.  Bake in the oven for the length of time given on the tater tot package.  It's done with the tater tots have are brown and crispy.

Payton and I wanted to make extra for Grandpa James, so we added an extra can of cream of chicken soup to ours.  If you try it out, make sure to let me know what you think.

A Not So Manic Monday

We always love when we have an extra day off of school.  On Monday, our school district took a professional day.  Aunt Jenn invited the whole crew of cousins over to her house for volley ball and Rice Krispy Treats - just a few of our favorite things.  After we got there, Natalie, Addi, Silas, and Karsyn played barbies for a little while.  Then, most of us headed out to the back yard to play.  Evan was all over that. =)

Emily and Karsyn came outside, but they were just spectators.  Well, for a little while anyway.

Addi, Stephen, and Silas stayed inside for a little video gaming.  I could not get Addi or Silas to look at the camera at the same time. =)

 Emily got her braces off earlier that day.  I loved her brace face, but she looks quite beautiful without them.

 After a little while, Karsyn decided that she wanted to play volley ball too.  She made quite the serve!

Emily joined in on the fun too!  We had a big team of girls.

Aunt Jenn and I played on the same team as the boys.   It was a lot of fun.  After playing, we enjoyed our special treats.  It was such a great afternoon!