The Cornelius Crew

Say HEY!

2009-09-20T19:47:00.004-05:00

This is a video that we took on the way to church one morning!

It makes my heart Warm to see this!

Way to go Daxtyn!

2009-09-20T16:19:00.005-05:00

Go EAGLES!

I saw an awesome weekend full of football! I couldve done without the Tech/Texas game but I got to watch 2 other games that made me SO happy! Daxtyn(#8) is playing his second year of flag football and is LOVING it! He plays primarily on defense and running back from time to time. And I may be a little biased here, but he's pretty great! Both games he has intercepted passes which led to his team making a touchdown! GO DAX!

He was also chosen as the Defensive player of the game yesterday. I am always so proud of his hard work and focus. So whether or not Tech came out on top this weekend, I got to see 2 games that were way more important in my book!

Southern Summer Cooking

2009-09-16T12:34:00.001-05:00

We've had a plethora of veggies this summer and I feel like I have to share these pictures with you. They are just TOO pretty.

Oh and these pictures of Dacie were also too pretty not to share! That girl LOVES tomatoes!

However, I must admit that by now I'm sort of losing interest in my garden. I've got too much to do and can't take care of it like I should. I've pulled up all the zucchini plants- I'm tired of squash bugs! I'm ignoring the Crowder peas- Too many wasps on them. But I never get tired of seeing those bright red, juicy tomatoes in my Cherry colander. It's a beautiful sight!( sorry, no pic!)

I also decided to grab a few green tomatoes. And serve up a beautiful platter of Fried Green Tomatoes! Idgie would be proud!

Isn't the contrast of color beautiful? Crisp green on the outside and juicy red on the inside!

These were so Yummy!If you've never had Fried green tomatoes, I'd love to fry some up for you!

"Oh, what I wouldn't give for a plate of fried green tomatoes like we used to have at the cafe. Ooh!" -

Ninny Threadgoode

"I found out what the secret to life is: friends. Best friends."

Ninny Threadgoode

FIGHT!!

2009-09-14T21:03:00.008-05:00

It was our Fight day! We fought for several hours, as a matter of fact!

This was a day that we had planned on sharing with friends but as life would have it,

We decided to just spend Labor Day Weekend together as a family.

Round 1: Snowball Fight in September!

A little Brotherly Love...

ROUND 2: COLORED SPRAY GUN FIGHT

For this activity we all put a white T-shirt on over our swim suits and the idea was to see which team won based on who had the most color on the t- shirt.

Of course, some people cheated and poured the entire bottle on us! And others cheated by pulling out the water hose! But it was a fight just the same.

As you can tell, we all got colored pretty well!

Dacie liked the "Pinkalicious" on her shirt. And that was about all she liked. I don't think she could figure out why her family was running around throwing things at each other and screaming! By the time she finally got into it, the rest of us were out of snowballs, but she didn't seem to mind!

ROUND 3: SNOW CONES- We all saved one of our snowballs and had a snowcone to wrap up the day. We had originally planned to have a water balloon fight too, but after Kent being gone for 2 weeks and getting into the routine of school, we all decided that we'd rather curl up together and watch National Treasure 2.

What a great weekend! I love leaving "margins" in our life!

A long time comin'

2009-08-31T21:00:00.000-05:00

There are a few things that every boy dreams of: Being a super hero, digging up a buried treasure, digging a hole to China, and bunkbeds! We finally broke down and got the boys their bunkbeds. They have been sleeping in a single twin bed together for their whole entire lives! Not because we only had one bed( they each had their own bed), but because that's the way they wanted it! And I think its neat so I'm not going to stop them. But I was concerned about the loud "thunk" that we would hear almost every night coming from their bedroom. Poor Dayton would fall out of bed quite often and the just get back up in bed and not remember a thing!(Hopefully because he was in such a deep sleep, not because he hit his head! Ha!) So we decided that maybe these bunk beds would be the answer to the problem! And if they want to sleep together they can, and if not, they have their own space to retreat to!

When I asked them what they wanted their room decorate in, they both said Tech. So I threw in a little Rock N Roll, because that is a big interest for Dayton right now, but I thought with the help of my wonderful friend, Aunt B (Beverly Perry) it all turned out great!

I'm pretty proud of how their pillows turned out that I made for them!

And what makes this even more special, is that alot of the things in their room are Darrell's things. Carrying on the tradition! Get your guns up and make him proud!

Go Red Raiders!

First day of School!

2009-08-30T15:46:00.007-05:00

First Day of school-2009

Our "first day of school" routine starts the night before. I left off the pictures from that part of this event. We start back to regular bedtime the night before school starts and go through all the normal things of getting out the backpacks(school supplies were packed WEEKS ago), taking showers, laying out our clothes...etc.... Then for our traditional book we read "The Kissing Hand", "My School is A Zoo" and a devotional teaching about how God made us all to grow and change. You'll notice the lack of me in any of these pictures and that is NO accident. Example as to why: When I was making Dayton's lunch for school on Sunday afternoon I noticed that some of the packages looked like he might not be able to open them, so I called him over to me and was trying very hard to compose myself- But all of the sudden I became a blubbering idiot, unable to hold back my tears! So through the lots of tears I tried to explain to Dayton that if he need help opening any of his things all he had to do was raise his hand and someone would come and help him. And through my sobbing, I looked down at him to see this confused little boy, who could see that his mom was sad and didn't know whether to laugh at me or to cry with me, so he just gave me this very puzzled look, nodded yes and then walked away! So needless to say, there will be no pictures of me in this post because it took me all week to stop crying! And every time we prayed on Sunday, the boys would add "Dear God, Please help Mama not to cry so much!"

Strawberry Pancakes and Whip Cream for breakfast! Yum!

Traditional First Day of School Pose outside of our purple bush! Go Eagles!

Little Did she know, her world was about to change. She spent all week saying "Boys Back?", "Dayton", "Dax", and "I want My Boys". This didn't help me hold back my tears at all!

These boys were ready to go! There was no hesitation on their parts. I'm so proud of them for being such confident young men! Daxtyn was very ready for school to start. Mostly just ready to see his friends again. It makes it a little easier to let them go knowing that want to be there. But by Tuesday morning, he had already decided that he didn't want to go anymore! The new had worn off! But I've just been praying that Daxtyn will be a leader in his class and will let God's light shine through him as he interacts with others. He always tries his very best and does so with respect for others. I know he will be a blessing to those around him!

This little guy walked into his classroom with all the confidence in the world! I know that he will do great things. He has such a sweet spirit, is so tender-hearted and willing to succeed. We are so blessed to be his parents! I just pray that he continues to be himself and to stay true to the things that he loves, and to all the things that make him "Dayton". He has been blessed with so many talents and I just pray that God puts people around him to help him become a strong Christian one day!

As Kent, Dacie and I walked out of Dayton's classroom, I again lost it and cried all the way out to the car and Composed myself enough to discuss going to grab some coffee with Kent before I met some friends for a prayer breakfast for our kids. Then I started the car to drive aways from the school and with the most perfect, yet horrible timing the radio plays "And now the opening of the gates of Graceland... we welcome Elvis fans from All around the Country and All around the world..." and I look back in my rearview mirror and missed seeing the excitement that Dayton always had as we would hear that at 8:00am every morning! Dacie didn't seem to care about the opening of the gates... go figure! But my sweet husband, wonderful friends and lots of prayers helped me through the day!

Ahhh! The picture every Mama wants to see at the end of the first day! An excited, very happy boy! Both of them had a great first week of school! If you've read this blog post, please stop and say a prayer for these two kids as they continue on this exciting journey! And you could throw in a prayer for their parents too!

"Teach me your ways, O Lord,that I may live according to your truth!

Grant me purity of heart,so that I may honor you".

Ps. 86:11

Savoring Summer

2009-08-22T22:31:00.011-05:00

"There's no other love like the love for a brother.

There's no other love like the love from a brother."

Is it possible that summer has come to an end? This is the question that everyone is asking themselves right now and I am no different. We have gone and done SO much this summer. Every year, on the first day of summer, we sit down together and make out our summer stash. This is usually done on some incredibly cute scrapbook paper

and each paper lists an activity we would like to do this summer.

And we did our very best to accomplish all of these activities this summer.

Here's our summer in pictures.

Some are big moments like going to the Great Wolf Lodge and catching a Rangers game

or birthday parties

others are not as big like having snow cones with our buddies

or selling lemonade.

But I think in the long run, these "small" moments probably mean the most.

A night at the museum: No light in the whole place! It was an awesome experience!

Savoring some watermelon with my little girl (while dodging watermelon seeds from all the boys!)

Hiking to the top of Palo Duro Canyon with Grandpa

Dacie bonding with Dustin in the Mountains

Daxtyn Fishing in Colorado with "D" ( I realize it is incredibly strange for someone in our family to be nicknamed "D", but that's how it is!)

Just Hangin' Out

Family Reunions:

Putt Putting- I Putt Putted enough for my entire life while on our vacation in Colorado, but it's always interesting and I ALWAYS get irritated and give up by the 14th hole. I stink at putt-putt!

Dayton's first camp out with his Best Buddies in the Playhouse- ALL alone- During a terrible storm!

Going to an Elvis "tribute Artist" concert!(that deserves a post all its own!)

"Children will not remember you for the material things you provided but for the feeling that you cherished them."

Camp Blue Haven

2009-08-18T23:08:00.006-05:00

It has been a busy summer for us, which would explain why I have posted very little. But this past weekend we headed out on another "whirlwind adventure" to a family camp in New Mexico @ Camp Blue Haven. I always love getting to have this time to get to know our friends better and to be able to hang out as families. But I tend to leave there, almost every year, feeling that I ignored my kids. I hardly see them. And it's "family" camp. But that is part of the beauty of family camp for the kids because they are able to run around in nature with out the confines of sidewalks or busy streets.

They can just run and be kids, no worries... well, except for the occassional bear!

But there were plenty of adventures this weekend- most involved the creek, lizzards, snakes and legendary ghosts stories that have been told since who knows when. A couple of the guys brought their guitars along with them and were kind enough to spend some time with Dayton and just give him a little lesson on his guitar. After that moment, he carried his guitar with him most of the time. Thanks Casey, Adam and Jimmy! And notice that sweet little Emma Kate is also helping teach! She's very knowledgable!

But I do love the time that we adults ( are we the adults?!) get to spend together. We were able to get to know new friends and learn more about others as well. I learned more about some than I needed to know, but we had lots of fun!

(As you can tell by Liz's face!) Too much Info!

My favorite part of the weekend is always the singing around the campfire. Sometimes the songs are geared toward the kids and then some help us really focus on our relationship with God and his power. It is always a great time of worship! We love Blue Haven! Why can't we stay longer!

Things I Can and Can Not Do

2009-08-13T16:24:00.004-05:00

As I was looking through my pictures today I found a few things that I had made this summer that were worth sharing-- well, maybe not really, but I'm going to anyway! I also discovered the pictures of somethings that I'd like to do or have tried to accomplish but failed miserably!

1. Happy Birthday Dallas! Check out his Wii Birthday cake!

I thought it turned out pretty stinkin' cute!

2. I'd love to make myself a cute cherry mosaic cross.(Not quite as pointy as the one shown below though) Wish I knew some one who could teach me;) ...Nicole! 3. This is what I made my mom, mother-in-law and sister for Mother's Day gifts this year. They were all different. But this was one of my favorites! 4. Fly Fishing! I don't know how, but I've decided that I'd like to learn. Kent doesn't know this yet and he Never reads the blog, so I've not committed to this yet, but after watching the fish laugh at me while we were in Colorado, I vowed to learn... We shall see! 5. Crochet- This is one craft that is NOT for me. Kent's sweet aunt Gloria tried to teach us at the family reunion. Margaret and I decided that their should only be one crocheter in our part of the family and left that to Shelly, Kent's sister. After an hour, I threw my knotted string of yarn up in the air and quit. I've got enough crafty things to do, why add one more! That's my excuse for quitting!

So what would you like to learn to do?

Happy Birthday To Me!

2009-08-13T00:44:00.007-05:00

It pretty much started off like every other day. Drag myself out of bed, get up and start the whole picking up the house routine. Get out breakfast, put up the dishes, try to hold Dacie while doing all of these things... But it was no ordinary day, It was MY birthday! And I was determined that it was going to be fabulous and I was not disappointed! All though the day itself wasn't exactly "me" centered, I was totally ok with that. The kids, Dallas and I, got the house picked up and were off to town. (" town" ---as a kid I always thought it was strange when Aunt Jo would ask me if I wanted to go to town with her, we lived smack dab in the middle of Amarillo, we WERE in town-- but now I do actually live out of town, so I find myself saying that quite often, anyway...)

My first stop was probably the most important of the morning- Starbucks. As I pulled through the drive through I start hearing from the back seat," I want hot chocolate", "Me Too"... All I left there with was an Espresso Truffle. I had decided that everyday is kid day and I wanted to make sure that these 3 precious boys in my car saw that sometimes it is okay for a mom to do something just for herself! (Later, I think it will be just as important for Dacie to learn this lesson as well, but for different reasons)

We then went bunk bed shopping. We went to 2 stores and I reminded them that we couldn't jump on the beds or hang from the chandeliers. And they got the whole, be little gentlemen with quiet words speech too. And for the most part they did great. There was a spinning chair that must have just sucked them in, they couldn't resist that, but were tons of fun to be with otherwise! Then we went to the mall. I don't know what I was thinking either,me and 4 kids? but it was still really fun. Dax thought I was torturing him by making him try on pants. And eventually he caught on to the fact that when I asked him if he liked the pants and he said,"No", that meant he didn't have to try them on. I soon caught on to his game too and just stopped asking! Lunch was at Chik-Fil-A. But again, the company was fabulous and Kent also met us there so it was all good!

Later that evening, Kent surprised me by inviting a small group of friends for dinner.

The Birthday Girls! Hannah & I share a birthday so she helped me blow out the candles!

What a sweetie!

“Even though we've changed and we're all finding our own place in the world, we all know that when the tears fall or the smile spreads across our face, we'll come to each other because no matter where this crazy world takes us, nothing will ever change so much to the point where we're not all still friends.”

I had given subtle hints about a month ago as to what I wanted for my birthday, but had my doubts that he'd remember. But as always, he came through!

What a fun day. He even ordered an Elvis cake and got me exactly what I wanted for my birthday... a hammock and (DON'T laugh) Elvis' 1968 Comeback Special on DVD. I'm blessed with an amazing husband! So when we got home we all quickly changed into our pjs, Dayton brushed my hair for me and then we snuggled up on the couch, very excited, of course!(Some not as much as others- Kent) And watch my new DVDs!!

Three of the Best Birthday gifts! (Well, 5 if you count the kittens!)

A new Experience!

2009-08-13T00:25:00.003-05:00

Hair is vitally personal to children. They weep vigorously when it is cut for the first time;

no matter how it grows, bushy, straight or curly,

they feel they are being shorn of a part of their personality. ~Charles Chaplin

While I'm not sure how much I agree with that entire quote( because children only weep because they don't understand what's going on or that we can't actually cut their ears off with clippers), I will say it seemed to apply last weekend. I decided after watching my sister in law cut the boys hair a few weeks ago that I too could cut their hair and save a few bucks in the process. SO I bought a set of Clippers and since Dayton was the shaggiest of the two boys he was my first victim... I mean Client.

His first demand, as he climbed up into the chair was,"Don't cut off my sideburns!" I just laughed. He's going for pork chops and doesn't realize facial hair is necessary! Next he specifies that he wants it to look like Elvis' when I'm done. This time I roll my eyes, because I'm just hoping that when I'm finished he doesn't look like a mangy cat or Mr. Clean! (He was definitely afraid that his inner Elvis was going to be shorn!)

But we got the task completed and it didn't look too bad. In fact, Dax hopped up with out any hesitation. He said I hurt him and that Ms. Tana doesn't hurt him when she cuts his hair! But I did pretty good all in all! I did notice the next morning at church that I missed a nice long piece right in the front, but I'm sure I'm the only one who saw that.(If I'm not the only one, don't tell me!)

A Picture of Strenght

2009-07-29T21:56:00.001-05:00

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might

Coool Colorado?

2009-07-21T00:56:00.002-05:00

We've escaped to Colorado for some cool fresh mountain air. But I'm wondering where the cool part is?It's been in the 80's to low 90's ! Some days have been cooler but it's been plenty hot so far! The nights are just like at home perfectly cool and calm! Love the night!

A few highlights from today:

So far we've had 2 of our 12 people come down with a stomach bug ( there's been lots of disinfecting going on around here!)
No matter where we fished on the lake, I managed to come away with ZERO fish or bites
Daxtyn slept walked(?) three times last night and I had to steer him back into the bedroom all 3 times!
If I tell Dacie something is "Purplicious" she will play with it... Purple power bait entertained her for hours despite the terrible odor
Keneferin is NOT a medicine that starts with a "K" despite what my nephew Dustin wrote down during scattergories
these kids could play mini-golf 24/7
If Dakota says "Pride and Glory" one more time I'm going to scream!
If Daxtyn and Dayton asked me to going swimming a hundred times a day - we won't go swimming! We can swim at home, let's get out in nature people!!
If Kent calls and says "call me back, it's urgent" but then doesn't answer his phone for hours after leaving a message like that again It won't be pretty! He had me worried sick over a password for an account!
Watching the sunset behind the Rocky Mountains is beautiful!

Who knows what tomorrow will hold? Hopefully at least one nibble at the other end of my fishing rod! I don't care what nibbles it either, just as long as something does I'll be happy!

Cousin time!

2009-07-15T22:32:00.009-05:00

Off to Oklahoma we headed, in a car with no AC in the front seat, after being in Wheeler for the Fourth of July. Kent's sister and her family live there and we just don't get to go down there enough. We always have a great time together and this time was no different! We were only there for 2 days but the kids made the most of their time there. Dacie warmed up to Shelly really quickly ( for Dacie) and they made a peach cobbler for dinner that was Sooo good!

It was very sweet to seem them get to spend this time together.

Dayton started off by jumping off the barn onto the trampoline, which made me a little nervous, but Cade was there to kind of guide him down on to the trampoline and keep him from flying off! Then after dinner, they were off to swim in the pond.

This is a red dirt, creepy crawly sort of pond. The type that I don't ever plan on getting in.

Just a little too close to nature for me!

But the kids, Dacie included, jumped right in. Cade even got bit on the back side by something, but that didn't stop them from swimming all the way across and back. Every picture I tried to take of them playing together, it just ended up being of one of the boys giving someone else a "wedgie". Again, one more reason to stay out of the water!

The next day they tried Crawdad fishing. I was very excited about this.

I've always heard of it but had never gotten to do it before.

It was a little hard for me to experience it too much but the boys really got down in those holes and dug out the little suckers! I think I'm going to stick with fish instead! But one "lucky" crawdad, nicknamed "Larry" got to ride around on Cooper's shirt for the rest of the day wearing "safety donuts" (the rubberbands used when castrating cattle!) around his pinchers! It was really funny! Probably not so much for Larry though!

They also rode four wheelers, shot some guns, rode Biscuit the Horse,

Dacie was her typical shy self with Jeff, who was so sweet with her, but she refused to be sweet this time.

Typical two!

played around in the jeep,

which Dacie thought was fantastic even if it wasn't moving, as you can tell from her Sassy little expression on her face in this picture!),slept out in the boys cabin that is out in the woods quite a way out behind there house. These are some of the great times that all the boys will remember together. I'm so glad that we had the opportunity to be able to hang out with them!

Before we left, we went to Medicine Park, Ok. I had never heard of it before, but I thought it was a really neat little village with a few quaint little shops, some great restaurants and the big draw for us was the swimming hole. It was a very clean spring fed pond I guess. And if i had brought my swimming suit, I would've been in with the boys in a minute! But instead I ended up being target practice and they spent the last bit of the time we were there seeing how wet they could get me by throwing big rocks in the water and splashing me! It was incredibly hot so this felt great! We could've stayed there all day but Dacie had started running a fever the day before so we did keep her out too long.

I'm so glad that we had this chance to be together! We just love these guys!!

Happy 4th!

2009-07-15T00:11:00.006-05:00

We celebrated July 4th with a BANG! this year... literally! One of my best friends, Nicole, invited us to spend the weekend with her family at their Ranch near Wheeler.

It's a beautiful place full of room to roam! So roam, we did! I love getting out in nature with my kids and getting to see their reactions to new experiences and surrounding. We spent lots of time on the four-wheelers and decided to let Daxtyn and Dayton out on their own with the 4-wheelers.

This was a good decision except for the time Dayton "forgot" how to stop and went flying off deep into the bushes. Now I'm sure he wasn't ACTUALLY flying, being as how Kent had it set so the speed couldn't get too high, but through a mother's eyes it looked a little TOO out of control for my liking!

We also spent quite a bit of time hanging out at the ponds and fishing for primarily bass but also catfish and sunfish.

I love to fish so I could've stayed at the ponds all day, but decided I should be social! But Dayton seems to have also gotten Kent and I's love of fishing and kept telling us, "This is the last cast", "No really just one more cast", " This is the last one, Promise"! The boys also went swimming and diving in the ponds and seem to have the time of their lives!

Dacie and Isaiah were little troopers and went along with where ever we took them. They particularly loved hanging out at the Wheeler city pool and july 4th festival,

which by the way I felt like we stuck out like sore thumbs at, but it was a great place to hang out at while the AC was being fixed back at the cabin! Isaiah was even a tough guy when Dacie decided to leave her teeth impressions in his arm!

she hugged him until he couldn't stand it then she bit him! Crazy girl! But as you can tell from the picture Isaiah forgave her!

We ended the Fourth with a great fireworks show brought to us by the Koetting Family.

What a blessing to have such great friends! (Love you!)

The next morning we were up and off the Oklahoma for a few days with the Cousins! We are making the most of our time with Kent off work!!

Life's a bowl of cherries!

2009-07-08T11:44:00.008-05:00

Dacie is 2! We decided to have a Cutie Pie party! Cherry pie, that is! We had cherries in everything and around us everywhere! I'm not sure, but mostly this theme was picked because of my love of Cherries. And I knew she wouldn't know or care.

So we started off with a shrimp boil- Totally a man's job in my book! So Kent and the the guys did a great job with this! I'm not a fan of shrimp so I had to have my sister peel them for me. I couldn't stand to look at those legs! Blah! But I tried a few then decided to be a vegetarian for the night! But he rest of the menu consisted of Fruit Salsa (which was fabulous by the way), Cherry tomatoes, a big bowl of Cherries, Cherry Coke, Cherry Punch, Cherry Cheesecake, Cherry Baby Cupcakes.... you get the idea, lots of cherries!

We had Mary Engelbreit on the tables and paper lanterns made into cherries. I also had the game "Hi-Ho Cherry-O" sitting on the tables, but the West Texas wind decided that we didn't need to play! We topped the night off with a good game of family baseball. I know it has nothing to do with cherries, but being the only girl, she'd better get used to playing some baseball!

by the end of the night, Dacie had her brothers and several of her cousins invovled in playing kitchen and having a Tea Party with her new gifts.

she may be the only girl, but she sure knows how to wrap these boys around her finger!

What's my password again?

2009-07-01T22:44:00.004-05:00

This shows how long it has been since I posted- After many failed attempts I actually had to have them send me my password. I thought I knew it. Apparently not though! So I'm going to be a better blogger now. Really this time! I actually have a computer now that doesnt take, literally 3 minutes to change screens! So excited!

No Pictures this time Jami- Sorry. Still switching things over to the external hard drive but hopefully tomorrow.

I just wanted you to know I'm still in the blogging game. Not very well, but I'm still here.

Here's a couple of the funnies that I heard my kids say today:

As we were hiking up to the top of one of the canyon walls in Palo Duro canyon today one of my boys( not sure exactly who as I was focusing on getting me and Dacie to our destination at the top) said, " They should really put in an elevator, so you don't have to walk all the way to the top like this!" and the other boy eagerly agreed!
On the way out to the Canyon today, my Dad was listening to someone named Bill Swan?, Yeah, I dont know who that is either but he was doing a terrible job of singing Elvis songs at half the speed they should've been sung at. As you can imagine, this didn't go over well with my boys. So tonight on the way home from church Dayton says " I need some REAL Elvis music before today is over!" So we turned it up and sang our hearts out all the way home!

Stay tuned for:

Dayton's 6th Elvis Birthday Party

Dallas Vacation

Dacie's Very Cherry Birthday Party

Handcuffed!

2009-06-04T22:16:00.002-05:00

I'm definitely the mother of boys. They are both incredibly honery despite the innocent appearance that they can portray at times. This was never more evident to me than it was last week. The story starts with Dayton screaming. This isn't abnormal AT ALL. He screams any time Daxtyn touches him or looks at him the wrong way SO when I heard this wailing coming from the backyard, I looked at Kent, rolled my eyes and proceeded to shut my bedroom door so that I didn't have to hear all the drama. The peace and quiet was nice considering what was coming... Five or ten minutes later Dayton comes bounding through the bedroom door, hopping and then falling on the floor, still crying. Daxtyn was close behind him...laughing. This is never a good combination. Quickly we see that Dayton's ankle has been tightly handcuffed to his waist on the belt loop of his pants! This is when I started feeling like a terrible Mama! I had ignored his cries of help! Poor Guy! Daxtyn still is cracking up about the whole experience, he was the only one though! SO off he went to his room while Kent and I thought of a consequence. (What was the first thing that came to your mind? )We decided that he also needed to experience the discomfort that Dayton did, althought not quite to the extent that poor Dayton had to! SO Kent went back up stairs and with out a word dug through Daxtyn's pants drawer until he found a pair of pants that had a belt loop and had Daxtyn put them on. The look on Daxtyn's face must have been priceless when he realized that he, for a brief moment, was going to see how uncomfortable Dayton must have been. His eyes got big and he insisted that he really didn't think it was funny and that he was really sorry.( of course he was!) So after a bit, Kent gave him a talk about power and how to use it responsibly. And they are now currently working on learning some bible verses to help him remember how to be kind. I'm not sure if we got our point across, since the next day he asked me to handcuff his foot to his waist again! I also gave Dayton the "Boy who cried wolf " talk. Daxtyn's still pestering and Dayton's still crying wolf! Oh well! We tried.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-13T23:50:00.001-05:00

My Babies! Not necessarily the hairy one in front, but besides Dayton, the dog was the only one who willing sat there for the picture!

I was blessed to get to spend the day not only with my family, including my parents and Dena and her family, but also to get to spend it with my Aunt Jo and Papa ( Jo and Lawerence Baird). Jo and I have spent lots of time together through out my life. From babysitting me starting @ age 3 to present(ha), teaching me bible classes throughout middle school and high school, to being the first house we stop at on the way home from the hospital when my children were all born...It only seem fitting that they join us on this special day.

I decided to make aprons for mother's day gifts this year. It was a very simple pattern, but I'm not much of a seamstress so this was a bit of a challenge for me. One that would've been much more easily over come had I just been able to call my mom. But it was for her, so I couldn't do that! So after calling 3 friends, I finally got all my questions answered. It made me realize what my mom means when she talks about wanting to call her mother, wishing she could. I know I take my mom for granted. She is selfless, completely selfless. She goes beyond what you would ever expect a mom to do, but also know where to let us be ourselves. I don't know what I'd do without her. Not just for sewing, but for everything. When we found out that Kent might lose his job last week, I spent the next day at their house. It was the only place I wanted to be. They talked me through it. Sometimes not by talking, but just by being with them and it all seemed better. God has given me some of the greatest parents out there!

So for Mother's day, the best gift I got was being surrounded by wonderful friends and family and 3 of the most influential women in my life! I am Blessed!

Cowboy Up Mama! It's gonna be a rough Ride!

2009-05-12T22:56:00.005-05:00

It's May. It's almost summer, which means my kids are all home together, family vacations and just hanging out. But it means it's the end of another school year. I look back and it feels like it just started. I should be glad it's almost summer but that means my baby boy is done with pre-school. The days of he and I snuggling on a lazy morning over Curious George are coming to an end. The days of play dates with his best buddies are coming to an end. The days of he and Dacie just getting to play together all day are coming to an end. This will be a problem since the only word she says is "Dayton" right now. (Not literally, but it's her 'default' word) I hate endings! I know, I know. It's also a new beginning, but I like it just the way it is right now. It's great. He is a SWEET, SWEET boy. He has such a tender heart and a great sense of humor... doesn't take himself too seriously, but always tries his best. Who is going to get excited with me when we hear the man on the radio @ 8 am say " And now the open of the Gates of Graceland" and then give me this sad look as we both long to be there. (I know it's crazy, but it's what we do) And I wonder, did I make good use of my time with him while I had him, or did I spend to much time worrying about the house being picked up and dragging him to the gym. I hope I did enough. I can always find something to regret not having done. This is not a good quality. But Dayton is such a precious spirit. Some teacher is going to be very blessed to get to hang out with him next year. But I'm going to miss him.

I say all that to say that these are his pictures from his last Cowboy Day at KU. He lives for this day every year. We always get new cowboy clothes & this year he insisted that Dacie also get some boots and jeans since she was going to be there too. ( He didn't want to go without her!) This year he was busy "shooting" his buddies in an Old West style shoot out! And to think that the first time he went he had his "Buh"(blanket) in one hand and "Moo Moo" his cow in the other. How did this happen?

This was from our "Pastries and Parents" breakfast. He loves getting to have us there with him. Can't tell from his expression though, can you?!

I am Blessed. But I'm still going to miss him. But somehow I figured out how to make it when Daxtyn went to school and I suppose I'll do the same with Dayton. But Having no little boys around during the day, running through in costumes, flinging light sabers and singing silly songs to me will definitely take some adjusting!

They strike AGAIN!

2009-04-06T19:49:00.007-05:00

Well, it's official! They've all done it now! I knew the time would come, and quite frankly, a little part of me hoped it would so I could add it to my collection. Dacie drew on the boys door today with a red sharpie marker! She's just following in the footsteps of her boys!

Child #1: Daxtyn- Almost 3 years old When this happened, we had been to see the Passion of the Christ with Jason and Kasey Love. We left all of our kids with my parents and when we returned, I remember very clearly that it was cold outside and as I was walking in the house, taking off my coat, I remember hearing my parents say, " OOOh Daxtyn! Your mom and dad are home..." I was not prepared for what I saw next... That child didn't just do art work on one spot on the wall... no no! He drew all the way around the room, about 3 feet up on every wall and shelf, every PILLOW... he left his mark that day! No pun intended! Even the day we moved out, I found spots that I had never seen before! But my parents insist he was only there for a couple of minutes! Child #2: Dayton -18 months This particular graffiti incident happened right around New Year's Eve 2004, not even one month since my brother had died. I was forcing myself to go to a WT basketball game with the whole family, even though I wanted nothing more than to curl up and go to sleep for a long time. So right before we were going to leave, we find this! I was running incredibly low on compassion that night, not mean, just not sweet! Daxtyn kept saying "Don't be mean to him! He didn't mean to!" ( Keep in mind Dax was only 3 when this happened) All because I kept telling Dayton," No NO! We don't draw on the wall, we draw on paper!" Dayton chose to color coordinate his artwork and went with a large tip red sharpie to go with the yellow and red in our kitchen! And was really very eye catching! I thought I would NEVER get this off! We tried EVERYTHING! But finally the Magic Eraser and some bleach took it off! Thank heavens the wall was white!

Every one of our kids look as if we have beat them to a pulp in these pictures! However, no child was harmed in the destruction of our homes. All I had to do with each of them was to look at them and they burst into tears! Wailing and moaning for what seems like forever! They KNEW what they had done was wrong! But each of them has also had to clean it all up~! (as best they could)

CHild # 3: Dacie 21 months

Today's incident could have been much worse. Dacie was upstairs playing with Dayton. I was in the middle of cooking dinner, so I wasn't planning on running up to check on them anytime soon. Then I hear Dayton slowly coming down the stairs, then very calmly says, "Mama, Dacie is drawing on the door". I exclaim, " Well, Take it AWAY from her!" And he again very matter-of- factly says, "I think it's a sharpie too" At this point, I pick up the pace and make it up the stairs in record time! He was right, red sharpie, but thankfully it was fine tipped! Trust me, it makes a HUGE difference... trust me! She knew she was in trouble when she saw me, but unlike her brothers, I had to pry the darn marker out of her fingers! SO, I'm not sure if she was sad because she had been caught or because I took the marker away!

Here she is attempting to get the marker off! Which, by the way, it came right off with the magic eraser! I could do a commercial for these babies!

Later, Daxtyn asked Dacie if she drew on the door and she burst into tears!

I hope that means she won't do it again... Let me live in my little unrealistic world... I like it here!

What Dayton thinks!

2009-04-06T13:43:00.004-05:00

From the Dayton's lips:

1. What is something Mama always says?

Clean up your room.

2. What makes mama happy?

When I hug you

3. What makes mama sad?

When I do bad things... like when I choked Daxtyn one time!

4. How does your mama make you laugh?

When she does a really good joke... like the "Elvis Parsley" joke.

5. What was your mama like as a child?

Your hair was curly up, that's the only thing I mostly know.

6. How old is your mama?

16!! ( if only!)

7. How tall is your mama?

twelveteen

8. What is her favorite thing to do?

Snuggle.

9. What does your mama do when you're not around?

Run, play the Wii

10. If your mama becomes famous, what will it be for?

Going to church every day and letting friends come over, but mostly only Daxtyn's friends

11. What is your mama really good at?

When we are sick, you help us feel really good.

12. What is your mom not very good at?

You're good at everything, there's nothing you can do wrong!

13. What does your mom do for her job?

Be a nurse

14. What's your mom's favorite food?

hamburger

15. What makes you proud of your mom?

When you let us sleep downstairs, when we aren't suppossed to!

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

Sandy the Squirrel- from sponge bob

17. What do you and your mom do together?

Brush with art

18. How are you and your mom the same?

We are both funny!

And we both love Elvis!

19.How are you and your mom different?

I have short hair and you have long hair!

20. How do you know your mom loves you?

Because you're always sweet to me!

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?

Elvis' house

Mud War!

2009-04-04T21:19:00.006-05:00

Kent called me about 2:30 Friday afternoon and asked if I wanted to go down to the canyon for awhile. Very unenthusiastically I said "Sure". I was sitting on the couch making bows, wearing my new clothes that I had purchased from the day before's shopping trip... So the thought of getting all dirty was very far from my mind at the time. But knowing that it would be lots of fun I went ahead and changed into my "canyon" clothes. I had no real intentions of doing anything more than hiking. We got down into the canyon and it was beautiful! The wind had calmed down, the sun was shining... it was perfect. We stopped by and ate some burgers at the little store down in the canyon and were greeted by a flock of turkey, or a gaggle or whatever... a bunch of turkey came running past! Other than that, some other birds and a cotton tail, that was all the wildlife we saw, thank goodness! I'm always worried when hiking in the spring that we will run across a snake. After hiking for a while, we headed to the creek and this is where things got messy! And fun! "Bucket Of Love" Kent brought the bucket to gather clay for his forge, but it worked good as a baby carrier too! Dacie was not at all interested in getting her feet dirty. Last year we couldn't get her to stay out of the water or to stop eating the dirt. Now I do believe, she has turned into a little girl! She cried when she got mud on her shoes and tiptoed across the concrete when she saw dirt! But after about an hour, we had loving the feeling of mud between her toes just as much as the rest of us!

Dacie and Grandpa having a heart-to-heart!

These are my boys waiting to ambush me! And they did a good job, with the help of their Daddy! Grandpa was on

my team most of time we were also protecting Dacie, so we were at a serious disadvantage! But we held our own!

In the end, I think I did a pretty good job of getting them back!

I feel sure that I won the battle but judging by the pictures, Kent declared me the loser!

Boys cheat! That's all there is to it!

I'm goin' to Graceland, Graceland, Memphis Tennesse!

2009-03-31T19:47:00.010-05:00

And We're off! Spring break finally got here! We'd been counting down for 75 days! We made hotel arrangements, made itineraries (sort of), we even made T-shirts! We were pumped! Elvis, Jami and Jack! Here we come! So we shoe polished the outside of the car, hung records from the ceiling on the inside( oldies of course!), we made "Elvis cookies", had balloons in the car and even had party blowers... Although I did limit those to when we crossed into Tennessee. We usually limit the celebrating for when we cross back INTO Texas but ... "we're going to Graceland, Graceland!" ( Which by the way, I'm singing Paul Simon's song, "Graceland" while blogging... good song, if you don't know it you should get it!)

SO off we went loaded with our Elvis book to read all the way there, a playlist full of Elvis songs...Trouble, Jailhouse Rock, All shook Up, Walking In Memphis... There is even an Elvis Staion (18) on on XM radio, then we were also armed with " Fun In Acapulco" if the boys wanted to WATCH Elvis... which they did about half a dozen times!!

Dacie decided to throw a kink in the plans though and get a stomach bug the night before we were supposed to leave and continuing to throw up all the day of. So we ended up starting our trip with an IV and IV fluids and meds for me to give her for the next couple of days. She was pretty miserable the first leg of the trip but there is something to say for a sick kid... they sleep alot, which isn't necessarily a bad thing on a 14 hour trip!

Our first stop was at Fort Smith,Ak. Which we did not know but is just a few miles from where Elvis was sworn into the Army! So our Elvis mania started a little sooner than we had expected so we went and looked at the base. From what we saw, it wasn't much but never the less. Elvis WAS there! ( "Ive got the hup, two, three, four occupation GI blues..." Now I'm humming GI BLUES") Our next adventure had absolutely nothing to do with Elvis, surprised I know! We went to the Peabody Hotel to watch the ducks march in off the elevator, up into the marble fountain. It was very cute, hard to get a picture of but still neat! Those little ducks march fast! OH WAIT! It did have something to do with Elvis! Lansky's "Clothier to the King" is located inside the Hotel.. This is who made all of Elvis' suits and Dayton was able to meet Mr. Lansky. Which he thought was incredibly cool! I'm just glad everything in the store was men's sizes or we would've been out some money on some look a like Elvis shirts. This is also where we finally met up with Jami, Jack, Kelly and Abbott! We have 5 kids between all of us so people tend to steer clear of our area! You can see that the fun started as soon as they got together! These boys LOVE each other!

After seeing the ducks we ate some fabulous ribs at "rendezvous" then went on a carriage ride around Beale street and all along the Mississippi River. It was just perfect weather too. Just cold enough to really need to snuggle! And I love to snuggle! We then walked several blocks, across Union Avenue to get on a river boat. ( " But I'm walkin' in Memphis, I'm walkin' with my feet ten feet off of Beale, walkin' in Memphis.."- Marc Cohn) This too had something to do with Elvis, because the day that the boat we were riding was brought down to the river after being built, was on the day of Elvis' funeral... it always goes back to "The King"! Ha! Now the next day we headed to the Memphis Zoo. ("You aint nothin' but a hound dog...") Sorry that's the only song reference I can think of for this part! And unless I'm mistaken, I really don't think that there was anything at the zoo that had anything to do with Elvis! Sad Huh?

The boys did make friends with this seal, who loved to chase that little grabber around and he even gave Dayton a kiss on the cheek through the window. The boys LOVED it! Here's just a few shots from the Zoo day...

("I don't wanna be your tiger, cause tigers play too rough, I don't wanna be your lion, cause lions aint the kind you love enough...") This song is perfect for the ZOO!!

After seeing all the sites at the zoo, we left the little babies with Jami and then Kent and I took the boys to Sun Studios to see where Elvis made his first EVER recording. It was incredibly exciting and felt a little magical! ( If you're not an Elvis fan, I know you think I'm nuts right now and that's okay... Kent says I probably need to seek help!)

The boys got to have there picture taken with a Mic he used during the 50's for recording vocals on!! Elvis, along with Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and probably others, who's names escape me at the moment, got there start in this teeny tiny little studio! While we were going on the tour they played a clip from Elvis' first debut on TV and it was so funny to sit and watch Dayton. He was so excited during the playing of the video, he tried to sit still but every part of him wanted to get up and dance! And people even clapped when it was over. Just something about being there! Daxtyn, Dayton and Kent all bellied up to the bar and enjoyed a Moon pie and an RC cola- okay well actually no one wanted an RC cola but they did have an moon pie there in Sun Studios! Finally the day we were ready for had Arrived! GRACELAND! The kids all wore their "I Love Elvis" shirts. Dayton wore his under his "Jail house Rock" costume, so he was Elvis through and through! When we arrived, we rode a bus through the gates of Graceland and then on a tour of the grounds. We all wore headsets that played songs and told the story of Elvis. I wondered how the boys would do at the house. But was very impressed at their attention spans and focus on what we were doing and seeing. Daxtyn seemed to listen to it all and really paid alot of attention. Dayton soaked it in. He took as long as I did to get through most parts. He particularly loved the record room that had all of Elvis' outfits in it. He now has a long list of things for my mom to start making him! Here are Jami and I outside of the Lisa Marie (obviously)! I think this was one of Daxtyn's favorite parts of Graceland. Elvis travelled in style... 24 karat gold sinks really impressed the boys! ("If you're lookin for trouble, you came to the right place, if you're lookin' for trouble, just look right in my face...") Trouble- E.P. He's actually very sweet, but he LOVES this song! ("But all my trials Lord, will soon be over... Glory, Glory Hallelujah " ) An American Trilogy- E.P. At the end of the tour, you leave the house through the racquetball room and the record room. Where you are told about how Elvis spent his last moments playing on the piano "How Great Thou Art" and then you can see all of his Gold records and watch several of his performances. It's really an amazing end to the tour. We, Dayton and I, stayed in there for quite awhile just sitting in front of the screens watching him perform. (while the rest were running off energy outside!) Then as we exited to the outside, I thought I should prepare Dayton that he should "be quiet in the Meditation Garden because this is where Elvis was buried and some people may be sad", not actually realizing what was about to happen. We looked at Elvis' twin baby brother's grave, his parents, and then before we had gotten to Elvis' I realized that my sweet, tender little Dayton was crying. I was fine up until this point, then had to fight back every tear I had... NOT because of Elvis, but because of Dayton. How many 5 year olds do you think have actually stood there and cried for Elvis? And these weren't just little tears, he was sobbing. SO sad! We read the headstone and then put our headphones back on to listen. But even after that I could tell he wasn't ready to go, so we sat for a few minutes looking at the grave until he was ready! The next few pictures show him after we had left trying to be happy, but you can still see how emotional he was about it all! ("You saw me crying in the chapel.. where humble people go to pray... I pray the Lord that I'll grow stronger... as I live from day to day" - Crying in the Chapel by Elvis) Lovin' the Elvis Moves! ("Let's Rock... Everybody Lets Rock... dancin' to Jailhouse Rock") What else but a Peanut Butter and banana sandwich for this kid! He ate these for a week after we got back! ("I'm in love, I'm all shook Up! My tongue gets tied when I try to speak, my insides shake like a leaf on a tree..") All shook up BY E.P. Jami and I had tons of fun making fun of all the Elvis merchandise! There were some incredibly classy purses there! Jack's sporting the Elvis shades- Thank ya, Thank Ya very much! "Never know how much I love you... Never know how much I Care.. when you put your arms around me.... I get a fever that's so hard to bear.."- Fever By E.P. (Jami, you knew I'd sneak in a clip from this song...it's so good I'm going to use it on here twice!) "You give me fever, when you kiss me... fever when you hold me tight.." I just realized that Dacie didn't really get featured much on this post... mostly because she was a stinker most of the time and was busy pushing Jack or telling us No when she saw the camera.. But a few things are for sure, the girl loves Elvis and Ice Cream! And her Mama and Daddy! Headin' home on St. Patricks Day called for green hairspray for everyone! Even Kent and I wore green hair all the way home! It was a great trip. I mean GREAT!! Not to get all fantabulously mushy, but I love this girl! There is something about being together! Life long friends are precious. I loved the late night talking and giggling like we were little kids again! Why do you have to be so stinkin' far away?? Makes me miss ya'll even more! Now you've got me crying again! Love you Jami!

Home Sweet Home

Texas is neither southern. Or western. Texas is Texas.

We were so glad to be home after 14 hours in the car, but the next day I was listening to Elvis radio and heard them say "Your mind says to go to work, but your soul says to go to Graceland" And the only way I could get Dacie to go to sleep that day was by listening to "All shook Up" so I was beginning to think we may have to go back! One day we will again! Now we are planning our next trip together. Get to planning Jami!

Woo Woo

2009-02-19T17:32:00.004-06:00

We ended last week with Dacie getting her IV out! Yeah! But the picture above is her making her angry face when I asked her about her hand. She was NOT playing! and now, when we read a book that has a picture of the Dr. office in it she cries and refuses to read that page! Isn't that sad!What a week! After all the Iv's and such, our family is finally back to normal... well, as normal as we get, anyway. Dacie and Dayton got well just in time to make it to the firestation field trip this past week. We went to a different firestation, which didn't have the pole for the firemen to slide down. I was afraid that the boys would be disappointed, because that's a pretty unique feature for a firestation to have around here. But they didn't seem to notice a bit!

There's just something magical and amazing to little boys about a firestation. And the fireman who gave the tour was great at talking on their level and really making it fun. Even though we've gone the past four years, I treasure getting to go and be a part of these experiences with the kids. Dayton wore the fire coat that Nana made for Daxtyn 4 or five years ago. At the time it was SOOO big on Daxtyn, and I remember thinking that he would NEVER fit in to it ... :( it's too small now... enjoy the little moments! Daxtyn always signed firestation and would say "woo woo" whenever we would see a firetruck, so in our family they will always be "woo woos"

This group of boys are just precious... and they make Dayton beg to go to school. But no matter how sweet those little faces are, that many boys together does ooze trouble, don't you think?

But I think that many girls together would be just plain scary.. I haven't had that experience yet with my little girl, but girls are alot more emotion... I'll admit it. Somethings you just have to admit!

The fireman did his best Darth Vador impression while wearing his mask, which of course all the boys loved! It turned out to be a great trip! And afterward, I got my hair done, and had a very needed lunch with my best, good friend! What could be better after two weeks of sick kids!