Field Trip to the Zoo

So....stay at home, hands on mom that I am....*cough*....I was one of the volunteers for Cam's 6th grade field trip to the zoo! I had a group of 6 boys from his class. I couldn't take siblings...so Major went to the zoo with Dad that day! So we all drove together and Major got Papa ALL to himself! He sure did like that!!! I had a great time with the 6 boys...I really thought it was going to be tough, but I had a good group of boys. In the picture below, two of them are missing...they were over by the scorpion exhibit mezmorized! The boys spent THE MOST amount of time with this little baby gorilla! They loved him!!

They also loved the orangatang exhibit....I wonder why they like monkeys and such so much....hmmm....maybe because 6th grade boys ARE MONKEYS!!!

We had a great time....I was an "awesome mom" that day...per Cam...and Major was spoiled by Papa!! GOOD TIMES!!!

Liberty Lions Football

Cam took Industrial Tech in his last "hexter" at school. One of the projects they did was choosing and designing a shirt of their choice. He chose to honor his Uncle Danny by doing a shirt with the Liberty Lions on it!! So here it is!!! Ketchup and all!!! :-) I did get the ketchup out...but somehow...it keeps coming back everytime he wears it. Hmmm.....

SkateDaze

About a week or so ago, Neihardt Elementary had a Back to School Skate at our local skating rink, SkateDaze. It was fairly cheap to get in for the kids, and Jeff and I got in for free. Cam and Jake skated the whole two hours...and Major and MaKenna played in the playdazium...which is like a McDonalds playplace on massive amounts of steroids. Tons of fun!!! I played with the two little people, and Jeff just kinda walked around. We had a great time!! I think everyone did!!!! Cam is in the orange.

MaKenna and Major lovin' the ball pit!

About a week later, Anderson Middle School had a back to school skate at SkateDaze as well. We let Cam go. We dropped him off and picked him up two hours later. We talked about how we wouldn't let just any of our children be dropped off somewhere, but that we trusted him....he is a very trustworthy young man. Anyway...I got there a little before 7...pick up time. He didn't come out. I gave him 15 minutes....still...nothing. I tried to go in and look for him...they wouldn't let me without paying, so my past helped me out...and I snuck in. Don't ask. Anyway...I looked EVERYWHERE for him...even freaked out some boy in the boys restroom...no Cam. I finally deducted that he must be in lazer tag and I would wait for the next group to get out. If he wasn't in that group...I would then start to panic. Sure enough, 30 minutes after pick up time, he came out of Lazer Tag in that group. He knew the minute he saw me he was in hot water. He explained to me what happened...and in his defense, it was a harmless mistake. HOWEVER, we did discuss how that can be prevented next time, and he wouldn't get a freebie escape if it happened again. After all the grief I gave my parents thanks to skating rinks...I get a little nervous.

Better luck next time Cam.....

Major's turn on Sparky!

So over the course of the summer, Papa took each of the kids to see the horse...one at a time...my kids and my sister's kids. Then he would take them out to lunch. He even took Mike, Rhonda and Jeff. It was Major and my turn a couple weeks ago. We let him be last since we could do him after school started. He LOVES Sparky...so it was quite the treat!! He is so comfortable on a horse...he is so comfortable with horses in general. They don't scare him at all...the size....the smell...the sounds...nothing scares him when it comes to horses. So here he is with Papa. Here he is completely on his own!!!

Papa had to get in on some of the action...after all...it IS his horse!! :-)

Of course I had to too....to bad my thighs and butt look so enormous on it.....

Major decided to try out leading Sparky. Sparky did pretty well with him leading!

Here is Major all on his own again!!!

How ya doin' ma'am????

HELLO!!!!!!

What's that in your nose????

So...how's life treatin' ya?

There's my precious little cowboy!!!!

Happy Birthday to my mom who would be 64

Mom's birthday was today. Mom would have been 64 if she were still with us. She died all too young. To celebrate her birthday we had a little party for her on Sunday after MaKenna's party. I will post pictures of MaKenna's party later...but right now I thought I would do mom's pictures. I didn't get pictures from Sunday for mom, but what I did was go out and buy 12 balloons. They were pink, and I got one for each grandchild...each of her daughters, their husbands and dad. We had all the kids right on the balloons...except Major who just put his hand print on it...then we went out front, sang happy birthday (even though it wasn't her actual birthday that day) and released the balloons. Some of the balloons didn't float well because I purchased them the day before like a dingbat....but it was fun watching some of them float up to heaven.

So that was Sunday because we knew we couldn't get together today, the 29th for her actual birthday....but I did go "visit" mom. My best bud Deana went to Milford with me to "visit" too. That was so nice of her to take time out of her day to do that...and she even drove! Thanks Deana! It was a quick trip though, because Wednesdays the kids get out of school early...so we had to be quick. It takes an hour to get to Milford and an hour to get back...so we were in speedy mode! Of course...what mom is ever in any different mode??? :-)

Here is a sweet picture of miss Lydi Lou on the drive!! I took one of the boys too...but it was all blurry. :-( The boys really enjoyed Blue Mound Cemetary. Here they are playing hopscotch on someone's family of footstones....sorry whoever belongs to those....but the boys had fun.

I took that white bear out and hung it on the fence behind mom. It says, "I love you mom" on it. I usually put it out on Mother's Day...but thought it would be nice to have there for awhile on her birthday too!

Here is Major "talkin'" with Nana.

Here are Major and Nehemiah having a really deep conversation!

It was a great day. I was a little sad....but, time heals all wounds. I know I will always miss mom though. After Major had to go pee pee on a tree...we decided to go to the gas station as Nehemiah would not do that. So we headed to the bathroom at the gas station, then I showed Deana where my mom grew up....then we went to the Milford park. The boys had a great time, then Lydi Lou got to eat too! We weren't there TOO long before we left to go to my cousin's farm to see the cows. The boys wanted to see cows. Well...they got their precious cows! We visited just a little bit before we had to head back to Omaha.

It was a quick trip, but I am glad I had someone to share it with. Thanks Deana, Nehemiah, and Lydia! Major and I appreciate all you do!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!

Broken foot...dog bite....oh my!!!

Okay...so a few days before that awesome game....I was riding my bike with Cam. While riding by a house about a block or two away, their german shephard, whom we KINDA know....ran up to us and was barking out of control. He then tried to jump on Cam, but I got in front of him, and he jump up and got me in the leg with his jaws of life. It didn't hurt right away...I kept riding. When I got to the corner though, it really hurt. I stopped...looked down my pants leg and saw something pretty knarly. We finished our ride...I know....I am a trooper...and went home. Jeff went and talked to the owners who were very non chalant about it. They said the dog was up to date, but Jeff didn't want to take the chances. So off to urgent care I went. Since I had to go to Urgent Care, the Humane Society had to be called. I hated that because I am a HUGE animal lover and I knew the dog (Josie) wasn't being vicious...she just liked tires...and I was sitting on them. Anyway...long story short, Josie was up to date on shots, came out healthy, I never got an infection and all was well. It looked pretty knarly for a couple weeks though!

3 days later....I am in a hurry to get to church. I walked the kids to school and I was walking back to the house so I could get to a meeting at church on time. I was walking quickly...but I was pushing the jogging stroller...so what is the harm in walking quickly...with heeled sandals? I took a step off of the curb and landed my foot wrong. I completely rolled over the foot and I immediately heard snap, crackle and pop all the way up my leg. My knee even hurt. With tears I practically crawled home and put on my ankle brace. I HAD to get to church...I figured I just twisted it like I have done to the other ankle a few times. I didn't get off of my foot until 9:30 that night because I also had to go to Tribe which is our Junior High Ministry at church, that evening. It was a VERY full day!

The next day I was in such terrible pain, I finally called the doctor. I got a hairline fracture on the top of my foot...along with pulled ligaments, muscles...you name it....it was pulled. :-( So...I know have a brace, wrap, etc on my foot. So much for my running. I have started riding my bike again though...but running it out for awhile. :-( Hope I don't gain all that weight back that I worked so hard to get off.

Nebraska versus Western Kentucky, Pre-Season Game

A few Saturdays ago, my dad called and asked if anyone would like to go to the Nebraska game with him. Since I had missed the Millard South game the night before that everyone else got to go too...naturally, I wanted to go. But...since I had a broken foot (next post), I thought it best I don't. Jake said he would go.

We went and ran some errands. When we got home it was time for him to start getting ready...suddenly he didn't want to go. Well...I guess I would HAVE to go then! :-) So, I got dressed...wrapped my foot as best as I could....loaded up on the Ibuprofen and headed out to Lincoln with my dad!! I hobbled several miles that night but it was well worth it! I just LOVE football!!! Here is a great picture of Nebraska beating the pants off of Western Kentucky! Another favorite of mine at football games...the band....