After Five Dress

We are heading to Oklahoma this weekend. We're heading out on Friday evening and driving to Oklahoma City. We'll go to the OU football game on Saturday evening then drive to Tulsa on Sunday sometime. I would love to drive to Tulsa and let my kids go to "the ultimate children's ministry" on Sunday, but I'm not sure that will happen, but even if we did drive up there, I think it would really overwhelm them and they wouldn't go.

Anyway, Aaron's friend is turning 40 and we're going to his surprise birthday party on Sunday night. The invitation said "After Five Dress". . . what the heck is that? In my head I'm thinking that's fancy, but not super fancy, but I don't have a clue.

HELP!!

Ever have "one of those days"?

This morning, we all got up on time. I cooked breakfast. Payton was dressed before I knew it. He even beat Aaron getting dressed! When he came in, he didn't have his Texas Rangers jersey on. When I asked him if he wanted to wear it, he just said, "No, today is just a NIKE day." He had on his new NIKE shoes, his new NIKE socks, his new NIKE shorts, and his NIKE under-armor (by the way, he insists that NIKE be spelled with all caps).

He fixed his own lunch, which I was a little sad about. He ate his breakfast and finished tying his shoes. Aaron had already backed the car out of the driveway and was waiting on Payton. As Payton started out the door, I said, "WAIT! Can't I get one picture?" He turned around, smiled and said, "CHEESE." Then, I said, "Hurry! Run!" As he took off running with his Colorado Rockies backpack swishing back and forth on his back, I thought, "No, stay home with me! Are you sure you have to go to 2nd grade?" And, for the first time, I cried about Payton going to school. I didn't cry with Kindergarten. I didn't cry with 1st grade. But for some reason today, it hit me that my "baby" is growing up. Wasn't he just Jaxon's age a few months ago?

I went to the church for my meetings and this seemed to carry over. I cried in staff meeting -- I HATE IT when I do that.

When I posted this originally, I did forget to add that Jaxon was beyond fussy today. All day. During our staff meeting, he had a friend to play with, but he was more fussy than usual. I do know that he was tired, too, but that kid was just "out of whack" today. We got home and I put him down for a nap and he was still a little fussy. But when Payton walked in the door, that smile flashed across his face just as big as he could smile!! His bubba was home!! Payton picked him up and Jaxon just laid his head down on Payton's shoulder. He just followed Payton around wherever he went! He really did miss him.

Next week, Evan starts going to Mommy's Day Out. What the heck will I be like then?

Memories of "home"

Last weekend I went home to see my parents and do some school supply shopping. On our way home, we stopped by my grandma's house. She hasn't seen Jaxon before and it's been a long time since she's seen the boys. When I got there, memories of the place started flooding my mind. I went outside at one point and the Lord told me to grab my camera and start taking pictures. At one point recently, my grandma was going to sell the place and it broke my heart. Gosh. . . there are so many memories there! I'll share just a few with you.

Here is where our trailer house once stood. Right to the left hand side of that barn. That barn used to be the garage where my dad and his buddies would "hang out" on Friday nights. You can still see the sidewalk if you look real close. When my parents sold the house (or whatever happened) and they moved it, the house actually fell apart. Crazy, huh?


Back there (where the tall grass is now) is where my grandpa would plant corn and black eyed peas. In the summer time, he would set a sign out in front of his house and people would stop and pick black eyed peas by the bushel. He would sit on the porch (picture following) and watch all these people out in his fields picking his peas. They would pick for a while and then go pay him. I remember people driving from all over the place to pick peas there! I remember running through the corn rows and playing hide and seek. My grandpa didn't like that one bit! When my grandpa died, someone came to the funeral home and put a handful of black eyed peas on his coffin. It was weird, but it was a very nice touch.

This is the barn that my dad built. There used to be a basketball goal up there and we would play basketball until all hours of the night. My dad put a light out there for us and the driveway was actually wider than it is now. My dad used to do all kinds of welding and mechanic work in this barn. It's huge. We used to get in trouble for getting his welding chalk and writing all over the cement floors. My dad painted my first car in this garage. Aaron kissed me for the first time on April 19th, 1995 in this garage. (hee hee)


This is a little side porch thing behind my grandma's house. On that little slab of cement, we wasted away our summers crushing cans. My grandparents would go on walks in the evenings and my grandpa would collect cans. We would check every day to see if he had enough cans for us to crush. He made these "can crushers" all by himself. We would fight over who got to crush which can and a few toes were crushed in the process.


Here's where my grandpa would sit and watch everyone in his "patch" as he called it. He also sat here most days and just seemed to enjoy being outside. This is also where he would sit during the annual Easter Egg hunt! Whoever found the most eggs got a penny. . . and it was a prized possession!!


Here's the cellar where we spent many a summer nights. My grandma also kept all of the things that she canned from the garden down there. All kinds of jelly and vegetables, etc. We always laughed at how if we ever had a really bad tornado and debris was all over the top of the door, we would be just fine down there!! We used to fit 11 people down there! Underground is just about the size of that white cement slab on top there. I just cut the end off in the picture. My grandpa had rigged the door with a clip on the door with a MASSIVE chain that would clip on to a hook in the cement stairs. Then, there was another door that closed off the cellar part from the stairs. That was in case the door was ever blown off we would still have a door between us and the outside. I do remember one night that the door did almost blow off. My grandpa was trying to get the outer door clipped to the stairs and we were all telling him to just get in the safe part with us. But, my grandpa was in the navy and now I realize how strong he really was then. He finally struggled enough and got that door latched down. He got in the inner part with us and that outside door still flapped as a tornado flew overhead. Yes, it was crazy.

This was the chicken coop we had at one time. There was a cage there at one time. My job was to go collect the eggs every day. We also had a cow out there at one time. . . that was absolutely crazy!

These were my grandpa's grape vines. Gosh, those were some good grapes!! My grandma would go out every summer and pick grapes off of there to make grape jelly.

Here's a better picture of the cellar. See that other grape vine over there (to the left of that tree)? This is also the clothes line my grandma hung clothes on forever!! She hated to use her dryer and there were always clothes drying out there!! Most summer days you could find her outside by the clothesline.

This is the front of my grandma's house. During the winter, we would wait at that front door and watch for the bus in the mornings. My grandpa would be sitting at the kitchen table eating his sardines and grits and drinking his coffee. But, he drank his coffee a little weird. He poured it into the cup and then poured it from the cup into the saucer. He would drink his coffee from the saucer. This is where the green and gold carpet are still under your feet. This is where my grandpa took naps every afternoon. This is where some of the most amazing Thanksgiving dinners were made. This is where my grandma made most of my clothes when I was younger. This is where I would go when I had to do a report on World War II. My grandpa was in the navy and told many a story about his days in the war. He was the checker champion on his boat. If he had cashed in all that he "won", he would have been a millionaire. My grandma has WWII memoribillia stored in the back bedroom. Things I hope will be mine when she passes away. I always found them fascinating!

So, there's my little walk down memory lane. I'm still not sure why God told me to take pictures, but I'm glad I did. I have a few more pictures, but they need to be turned before I post them and I need to get some laundry done. . . blogging time is up!

Attn: Pam (& any others who missed Opening Ceremonies)

I found someone who has a link to somewhere to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. And since the e-mails I send to you never reach you or bounce back to me, try this:

* Go to this blog: http://mom2my6pack.blogspot.com/

* Go to her Sunday, August 10th post about the Olympics

* She has a link to the opening ceremonies

I'm not sure it will have the same effect to watch it on the computer screen, but it's all the rage from what I hear. . . well, from what I've heard from Brandi.

Anyway, just wanted to help a friend out!!

Playing in the Rain

Yesterday, the boys were outside playing football, when it started to sprinkle. They came in and put their bathing suits on in case it rained. It started pouring down and they were still "working out". Payton said it was because the pros practice in the rain. So, here are my very own football pros:

All the pros do push-ups in the rain, too.
I couldn't turn down a few shots of splashing feet!
I didn't realize Evan had such a vertical leap!

I'm not sure exactly what Evan is "practicing" here. . .
I guess every pro needs to know how to swim in the driveway!

Good thing we live on a cul-de-sac! Only then can you go out and swim in the road!

Cul-de-sacs are good for being able to ride your bike down the middle of the road, too!

By the way, I need to send a shout out to a Mr. J Wilson who had his birthday yesterday! I didn't forget . . . although I did forget to post it on my blog yesterday! I didn't forget your birthday!!!

August Thoughts. . .

I don't know what it is, but I love going shopping for school supplies! We haven't gone this year, but I can't wait.

When I started Kindergarten, my grandma took me school shopping. I could pick out whatever I wanted, although I really had no idea what was "cool". Then, she bought me some school clothes and some new shoes. . . of course, everything came from Wal-Mart but I didn't know any different. In the following years, we just got whatever my parents could afford, which was Wal-Mart, but when Wal-Mart didn't have anything cool.

When Payton started school, my mom called and wanted to buy Payton's school supplies. On one hand, I was very thankful, but on the other, I was a little disappointed. We couldn't go up there, so she picked everything out and mailed it to us. She mainly picked up the little things so it would be easier to mail. He was very excited to get a package in the mail, but when we went out to get the bigger things (kindergarten mat, etc), he kept seeing things he wanted.

First grade, same thing. My mom wants to buy his school supplies and mail them. I let Payton make that decision and he says that he wants her to do that. Again, I'm a little disappointed but we did have to go pick out a few more things. Can you really complain if someone else wants to buy your child's school supplies?

This year, my mom calls and wants to buy them again. I ask Payton if that's ok and he says, "Mom, I want to pick my own stuff out this year." YAY!! ;) I called my mom and told her and she laughed and said, "So, have I not done a good job the last few years or what?" So this year we're going to make the best of both worlds. We are going up there next weekend while Aaron is in California to buy school supplies with my mom. I really am excited about it. I don't think I've been there since Christmas. . . no, I've been back once I guess.

We did already buy backpacks on Ebay. A Colorado Rockies backpack for Payton and a San Antonio Spurs backpack for Evan. We're just waiting on the mail lady to bring them! It was a blast looking all over the internet for what they wanted.

I don't have a clue what Jaxon is going to do once Payton goes back to school. The two of them have really grown to love each other over the summer. Jaxon can be crying his head off, but if Payton walks in the room, all is well. I'm not sure what I am going to do either. On Tuesdays & Thursdays, Payton & Evan will be at school,so it will just be me and Jaxon. I am excited for Evan, though. He is going to love the social aspect of "school".

I am going to be at the church more, I think. Right now I'm working on my schedule. If you haven't listened to that podcast that Francesca recommended, it is a MUST LISTEN!

OK. . enough blabbering. Plus, Jaxon is sitting here whining & both of us can't type at the same time . . . it's naptime!