Teamwork -- Let's Do This

A few weeks ago, Payton was in a select baseball tournament.  They've played in several tournaments and on Saturday, they always win one, lose one.  On Sunday, they usually lose their first game, which sends us home.  Or they'll win one and lose the next.  It's been so frustrating for them!

Saturday at the Abilene tournament, things happened the same.  They won the first game 20-0 in the first inning!!  We were home, so we took the field first.  Travis pitched 14 pitches and it was 3 up, 3 down.  We headed to the dugout for our at bat.  For an hour, our boys had batting practice!  The poor Sweetwater team looked like they hadn't played baseball before!

The 2nd game, we played Jim Ned.  They beat us 8-7.  We were ahead and our boys just forgot how to play in the last inning!!

So, Sunday morning, the team had batting practice at ABA.  They had music playing and the boys were in a really great mood.  At the end, John pulled the boys together and he showed them a picture.  It was a picture of a baseball team.  He told the boys that they were at the state tournament the year before and they lost.  John and a teammate made a deal in the parking lot after the game -- they were going to make it back to the tournament the following year and they were going to do it.  He said the two of them lead the team back to the state tournament where they won.  He pointed out the guys who went on to play baseball in college and some semi-pro.  He told them that their first game was a trap game.  They had scrimmaged Stamford about 2 weeks before and they killed them.  He told the boys that the first game was a trap.  They could go into this game and think they've already got it won and more than likely, they'll lose and head home.  Or, they could go in and play and do what they know they have to do and don't look at the scoreboard until the game is over and they had an excellent chance of making it to the championship game.

As we were walking out of ABA, Layne walked up to Payton and said, "Hey, me and you.  Let's do this."   It was one of those moments where the music would start playing in the movie.  Even I was getting really excited as we were driving to the ballfields.

The boys won the first game.  Payton pitched and amazing game!  It was a close one (I think we won by 2), but they pulled it out!!

We had a break before the championship game.  Eastland and Jim Ned were playing and we played the winner.  Eastland beat Jim Ned and it normally wouldn't look good for our boys because Jim Ned beat us, but they went out on that field with their game face on.

Layne was pitching and Payton was catching.  The two of them were completely controlling the game. It was so awesome!!  Dropped fly balls were at a minimum.  Some awesome fly balls were caught!  The umpire comes up and says that time has expired, so at the end of 3 outs, the game is over.  They had 2 outs.  Layne pitched 3 more pitches and the game was over!  Strike 3!  3rd out!!  And in the end, the Thunder won the game!!

Layne and Payton took off running towards each other jumping up and down and did a big chest bump!  They finally won a tournament!  And I thought back to that morning when Layne told Payton, "Hey, me and you.  Let's do this."  And, they did.

I'll have to fix the pictures later.  :)

Payton

I am a few weeks late with this post, but I've been wondering where in the world the last 11 years have gone?!? I know that time will go faster and faster, but I wish I could just freeze it!

But, I want to write these things down so that when you are older, we can laugh at it and talk about it and remember. :)

Things about you:

* You like pizza and chicken fries.

* No ketchup -- ever. No sauces, actually. Pasta without sauce.

* OU. You have liked OU forever. We are in the process of painting your room OU colors.

* Girls -- yep, they've came into the picture. You have one that you particularly like to text and text and text. It's funny because your conversations go like this:

"Hey!"

"WRUD?" (What are you doing? - for when we're old and we forget)

"Nothing. I'm bored."

"Me too"

* You love baseball! We were able to get you on a travel team this year and you are loving it. ABA Thunder #24. I really like to watch you play. It's amazing how focused you get when you pitch and how much you really study the game. You are still 11 years old, so you're joking in the dugout, etc. But, your focus and your love of the game -- I love it!

* You are a secret giver. I've noticed lately that you secretly give money to your brothers and I love that!

* You are not afraid to shop around for a good deal! Yesterday, you decided that you wanted a new tv. You had a certain amount of money and you didn't want to spend it all on a tv. So, you shopped around online and then you said, "What if we go to Goodwill?" I loved this! I love that you weren't set on a brand new tv if you could get something cheaper.

* You really want to help Evan be a better baseball player. Sometimes it comes across as bossy (and sometimes you are), but at the core of you, you just want him to be the best and you do have a lot to offer him.

* You love Jaxon so much! I'm not sure where or why your bond started, but you guys have always been so close! He loves you and you are so good with him!

* You do have this funny side to you and when it comes out, you are funny and goofy!! You can do some great accents. You're just funny!!

Payton, I just want you to know that I think you are amazing. You are serious and very well thought out and you need to know the plan and you love to be at home. But, there's this funny, fun-loving kid side to you and I love him, too! :)

Shopping for Desires!!

Shopping with the boys was so much fun!!! I wanted to blog about this before I forget!!

First, I took Jaxon to Target. He has had his eye on this Batman castle thing for a long time! But, it was $50 and Jaxon never has that kind of money. But, last Wednesday he did!! We arrived at Target, I told Jaxon that he could buy whatever he wanted. He said, "WHATEVER I WANT?!?!" It was too cute! Jaxon was skipping through the aisles and he knew right where he was going. When we got to the toy section, he walked down the Lego aisle and I expected him to pick out at least a Lego set or two. But he didn't. He went right to the Batman Castle and said, "I want that." There was also a ninja castle right below the Batman one. Both of the castles were on sale, so Jaxon had enough money! He tried to buy a few other things, but we had a budget lesson and he decided on the castles. :) I let him carry his $100 bill from electronics to the cash register. He was skipping and dancing and swinging his money around. I got a few funny looks from women passing by.

We got to the register and because both things were on sale, Jaxon's total was $100.10. I did not have ANY cash in my wallet, so I had to put the other 10 cents on my debit card. But, Jaxon was super excited!!

We took Payton & Evan shopping after school. Payton wanted to go to Academy. He has had his eye on this Nokoma baseball glove for over a year. The price? $189.00. He wanted it last year and we told him that we weren't going to buy it for him. But, that's the one and only thing he wanted to buy. He was done! :)

Evan was super excited about shopping! Of course, he was stuck in the Lego aisle!! He bought one of every Lego Batman he could buy! There is 1 more Joker castle thing that I think I'm going to buy for him because Target didn't have it. He bought some Beyblades and we were done! When he was putting things in the cart, I kind of lost track of his money, so when we got to the registers, he had gone over $20 so I made him put one Lego set back. I'm not sure that was the right decision (after all, we were going after desires), but that's what we did and he was fine with that.

Payton has bought a new bat and that's about it. Payton has been interesting to watch. He was pretty humble last week. I think he was shocked. Aaron asked him if he felt loved and normally he would have just been so annoyed that we even asked. That night, he said, "Yes," and left it at that. I think he was shocked.

That was one of the funnest days of my life.

Going After Desires

This journey that we have been on has been interesting. Learning to be ourselves, learning what we believe about God and why, being honest, being 100% me.

I really hoped that we could go through this process without our kids having to feel it or go through it. That has not been my reality lately.

Evan hasn't been sleeping through the night for quite some time. At first, he was afraid there was going to be another tornado. Then, he had dreams about them and was waking up several times a night. Last week, I decided that maybe it would help him if I slept in his room for a week or two to help him feel safe. I also thought he just needed to learn how to go back to sleep on his own. So, I've been sleeping in his floor for a week and a half.

But, he has been struggling. He feels like we are spending all our time and money on Payton and his baseball endeavors. There is some truth to this. Payton is playing select, which means we are traveling once a month, there's uniforms to buy, there's extra "accessories" (sweatshirts, etc). For Evan, it just feels like a lot.

The other night, I sat Evan down and asked him what was wrong, He feels like Payton has Aaron, Jaxon has me, and he's just left out. My heart sank. He also told me that he feels like we care about his needs, but we don't care about the things he just really wants. That has been true.

Evan has been drooling over this Lego set for what seems like forever. However, Evan feels like he cannot save his money (I know this feeling) and it's something he can never obtain.

Then, there's Payton's birthday today. We had decided that we were going to give Payton $200 for his birthday and let him figure out how and what to do with it. We were sitting in the kitchen the other day and asked Payton how much money he would want. He just kept saying, "Why? You'll never give it to me." Finally, we got him to tell us that he wants $600.

Aaron and I hadn't told him how much our plan was, but between us, we decided to bump it up to $300.

Then, it hit me. What if we gave Payton the whole $600? I mean, we have it in savings. Our kids have learned to work for money and if you want things, you have to work, but I feel like we've been "nickel and diming" our kids and not just giving to them because they're our children and we really want to partner with those desires. . . kind of like God. I know God would take care of my needs, but my desires. . . not so sure. And, if I'm supposed to be a picture of God to my children, I'm just repeating that cycle.

So, I had this crazy idea to give Payton the $600. I mean, he was brave enough to throw a number out there! Then, there's Evan. What if he got to go buy that Lego set he's been wanting forever?!? Just because.

Then, Jaxon has wanted this Batman play thing forever. Same thing as Evan -- it's $55 and Jaxon gets $3 every 2 weeks for his allowance. . . not going to happen.

So, this morning, we gave Payton $600 for his birthday. We gave Evan $300 for whatever he wants. Jaxon got $100 to spend on whatever he wants.

Evan woke up first and found his money. He came out of his room and said, "Please tell me these are not fake." Then, he said, "I'm going to go give one of these to Payton."

Payton didn't have much of a reaction on the outside (we knew that would probably happen). The main thing he did say was "I can't believe you actually did it." Payton had homework to do from the night before, but he did it without complaining.

Then, the boys wanted to go wake Jaxon up. I heard them in there saying, "Jaxon, you need to wake up. You have $100 on your bed that you can use to spend on whatever you want!" Jaxon came out of his room waving that $100 bill around with a half sleepy face but a gigantic smile!

We did talk to the boys about how this might not be an all the time occurrance. There will be things that we can't afford and we're going to tell them that if they really desire something, ask God for it and give Him a chance to come through.

And in the middle of all of that, one of my desires was met last night. Backpacks for Kids is coming to a close and as of last night, I was in the hole about $900. Friday is coming and I don't have enough food to make full sacks for the kids, but I owe the food bank and so I can't order any more food.

I was talking to someone last night and they said, "I have $917 that needs to be spent (given). Would that help?" I almost fainted!! I don't feel like I've been stressing about this money, but I have been frustrated and not sure where it was going to come from. Especially since I just gave my kids $1000, which I could have used for backpacks. But, they were far more important and my desire still was met. :)

I know my fear has been that I will raise kids who are spoiled brats. But, I believe that while right now, those desires are very carnal and their rooms will have more toys in them that eventually, they will not want to pick up. But, I want my kids to know that I'll partner with their desires no matter what they are. I think God is that way. ;)

Right now, we are partnering with Payton's desire to play baseball. That kid really wants to play in the major leagues. He loves the game. So, we are doing what we can to partner with that -- playing on a select team, pitching lessons, cleats, etc.

Evan loves Legos. I hate picking up Legos and I hate stepping on them in the middle of the night, but if Legos is Evan's passion right now, I'll partner with that. And at the end of the day, he feels loved and it opens up our relationship because he now knows that when he talks to me, I listen.

Jaxon loves superheroes. He's like my little buddy. I'm excited to take him shopping. Can you imagine being a 4 year old with $100 and going to Target and being told that you can buy whatever you want?!?! This is going to be fun!! :)

Another part of this is that I had to tell Aaron my idea. That's been scary in the past. What if he didn't like it? What if he thought it was stupid? I had to take a risk. I had to be myself and I had to give exactly what I was thinking. It felt great! I think that even if Aaron hadn't agreed to it, I still would have felt great. I was 100% honest with how I was feeling and what I was thinking. That in itself is a success! :)

And, as I'm typing this, I feel like this is one of the best days of my life. Is this how God feels when He meets one of our desires -- even carnal ones? Does God get excited knowing that He's about to do something big for us? I would like to think so.

Lists. . . Lists . . . Lists

Beginning of the year. . . . Organization and goals. . . . workout programs and equipment. . . yep, that's on all of our minds. But on my mind lately is getting this new house to feeling like mine. So, I like lists and I need to make a list of everything I want to do in this house to make it mine, so here we go:

Kitchen:

* Purchase Microwave -- DONE

* Purchase Dishwasher & Install -- DONE

* Get outlet fixed in kitchen -- DONE

* Paint the walls and cabinets -- Walls DONE/ Cabinets . . . later. :)

* Replace gold hardware with silver

* Replace countertops?

* I would love to retile the backsplash and get a new sink

* Install new faucet -- DONE

Dining Room:

* Install blind

* Change out light with this -- Done!! Not the particular light, but a better one and I almost did it by myself!

Living room:

* Install hardwood floors -- DONE

* PAINT -- DONE

* Paint built in cabinets -- In Progress

* Install blinds -- DONE

* Hang curtains -- Still shopping

Master bedroom:

* PAINT! -- DONE!

* THIS New comforter -- Different comforter, but DONE!

* Curtains maybe?

Master Bathroom:

* Take down wallpaper

* PAINT!

* Paint vanity & change hardware

* Install new light

Payton's Room:

* Paint -- OU colors

* New bedding

* Order Sam Bradford OU Fathead

Evan's Room:

* Paint -- Steelers colors complete with another football field

* This New bed from Ashley's

* Order Troy Polamalu Fathead

Jaxon's Room:

* Paint -- Super Mario Room

* This New Bed from IKEA -- GOT IT!

* Find Mario Wall Stickers

Boys Bathrooms (x 2):

* Remove wallpaper x 2 -- Done with 1

* Paint x 2 -- Done with 1

Laundry Room:

* Finish Painting Walls -- DONE

* Finish Painting Trim -- DONE

* Paint Cabinets

* Install new ironing board drawer

Pantry:

* Paint

* Get bins -- DONE

* ORGANIZE! -- DONE

So, if you have the need to get me a housewarming present, money or a gift card to Lowe's would be awesome. ;) Just kidding . . . unless you want. ;)

It worked!!

OH MY GOODNESS!! I haven't been able to log in to my blog for a few weeks and I have some updating to do!! But it's 1 am and I need to get some sleep! I was just laying in bed and thought about Pam blogging for 11 days straight and I had to come and see what that was all about! :)

Funny Jaxon-isms

This morning, I was getting Jaxon dressed for church. I buttoned his shirt and here's how the conversation went:

J: Yay! Now I am ready to get married!

M: Huh? Get married?

J: Yeah. I'm going to get married.

M: To who? Gracie? (we were just talking about her)

J: No . . . um. . . . . What's her name? . . . . . oh yeah. Georgia.

M: Georgia, huh? How do you know?

J: Carson told me. He told me Georgia is going to marry me.

M: Oh really? So, you're going to marry Georgia.

J: No! I'm not going to marry Georgia. Georgia's going to marry ME.

M: OK . . . so what do you think it means to get married?

J: I don't know.

Tonight the conversation continued:

M: So, who did you say you were going to marry?

J: I'M (emphasis) not marrying anybody. Georgia is going to marry me.

M: When do you think you're going to get married?

J: I'm 3 and Georgia's 2. So, when I turn 4, Georgia's going to turn 3. Then, when I'm 7, then Georgia will be 7 and when I'm 10, Georgia will be 10.

M: So, when do you think you're going to get married?

J: When Georgia knows all the numbers like I do.

M: You mean when Georgia can count like you?

J: Yeah. When she knows all the numbers like I do, then Georgia will marry me.

__________________________________________________________

The other night, Jaxon was playing with his Legos in the floor. He had 2 of them in his hand and he said, "Say this after me. 'With this ring, I thee wed.'". His lego then said (in a different voice, of course), "With this ring, I thee wed."

I found out that he had been watching a Calliou show where Calliou gets to be the ring bearer. :)

___________________________________________________________

Here's our conversation from tonight:

M: Jaxon, guess what we're going to do tomorrow?

J: What?

M: We're going to go to swimming lessons for you.

J: I don't want to go to swimming lessons.

M: Why not?

J: Because is he going to say (in this really hilarious voice), OK boys. Your first test will be diving from this high board. Now you'll be judged on style, form, and grace.

M: What? Where in the world did you hear that?

I can't get it to shorten, but the line is at 2:12. :)

And he said it JUST LIKE the instructor!!

Not In Kansas Anymore (Well, almost)

Sunday, May 1st about 6:30 am, Aaron and I woke up to our phones beeping. The wind outside was blowing and it was causing the electricity in the house to go on and off, which was making our phones beep. We were about to go back to sleep when the wind started blowing really hard. . . harder than I've heard in my life, I think.

All of a sudden, the roof started popping. There was a loud bang against Evan's window and what I thought was the sound of it shattering. It sounded like the basketball goal had hit his window. Aaron told me to get the kids and get in the bathroom. I told him to get Evan first. He grabbed Evan out of bed and stood him up and pushed him into the bathroom.

Poor Evan was so disoriented. He ran to the bathroom and jumped in the bath tub. When he got in the bath tub, he turned and looked at me like "Why am I in the bath tub?" I told him that he didn't have to stay in there because we weren't all going to fit! :)

We got Payton and Jaxon, a few blankets, & some couch cushions and we all sat in the bathroom floor listening to a horrible wind noise and hoping that our roof didn't blow away. There was a brief pause in the middle where we thought it was over, but then it started blowing again.

It was over within a matter of minutes, which seemed more like an eternity. When we walked out the back door, this is what we saw:

Our tree in the backyard lost probably half of it's limbs:

But the treehouse stood! I laughed and told Aaron, "OK, fine! The kids can play in the treehouse now!"

Our basketball goal was blown over. The night before, Aaron had parked his truck outside, but right before he went to bed, he decided to put his truck in the garage -- good thing! That basketball would have fell on his truck.

Our roof was missing some shingles

Our fences were blown down

This plastic chair was from the neighbor's front porch. It was really smashed into the fence!

This was our neighbor's car port. After the storm, he walked out his front door and thought, "I wonder why I didn't put my car under the carport last night?" Then he realized that his carport wasn't there anymore! It was about 50 yards from his house in a crumpled mess.

But as scary as that morning was, great things happened. The fire trucks came around within about 30 minutes making sure everyone was ok.

We were sitting on the couch and Payton said, "I'm really hungry. I wonder if the doughnut shop is open." Our electricity was off, so I was kind of wondering what we were going to do to eat. Our doorbell rang and it was our neighbors inviting us over to have eggs, bacon, & pancakes. They have a gas stove, so they were able to cook. They were so hospitable to our kids and to us! It was great talking about our own experiences and feelings. The guy from down the street came in and had some pictures of the damage from around town.

There was a trailer house that had been completely destroyed. Another house was sitting on a cinder blocks and it was shifted enough so that it fell off it's foundation. There were several huge trees that had been knocked over and uprooted.

The National Weather Service said that it was only down winds from a strong thunderstorm with winds around 100 miles per hour. I'm not sure they were right. What I heard that morning was something eery and very strong. I'm not convinced that it wasn't a tornado. But, we made it with minimal damage compared to others in town.

Thank you, Jesus, for your protection!

Hurricane Harbor?

A few weeks ago, Cornerstone had a fundraiser where they had to sell Cokes. Whoever sold at least 20 cases got their name put in a drawing for either 2 tickets to Hurricane Harbor or 2 tickets to Six Flags. We usually aren't the most fundraiser-happy people, but Evan wanted to win those tickets so bad! So, both boys decided to put their lists together and sell at least 20 cases.

Evan worked hard to sell 20 cases. It helped that Aaron bought like 12 cases for his office and Aaron's dad bought 5 more. We reached the 20 cases and turned the form in.

This week, Mrs. Benningfield e-mailed me and said that Evan was one of the winners and she asked if he would like the Six Flags tickets or the Hurricane Harbor tickets. I told her that I would prefer the Six Flags tickets (no bathing suits=what we want!), but I would try to ask Evan without him knowing that he won.

That night, Evan told me that he wanted to win the Hurricane Harbor tickets. WHAT?!?! I was not in agreement with this decision. So, I went to my room and decided to flip a coin. Heads was Six Flags and Tails was Hurricane Harbor.

First flip -- Tails

Not what I wanted, so I decided to do the best 2 out of 3.

Next flip -- Tails

AHHHHHHHH!!

So, I emailed Mrs. Benningfield back and told her that Evan wanted Hurricane Harbor, but I wanted Six Flags. I told her about the flipping coin. Then, I told her to flip and coin and see what it landed on. :)

This morning, we had chapel and everyone wanted to know WHO WON?!?!? After I did the lesson, she brought Evan and one other girl to the front. They were the only 2 who sold 20 cases. So, she let them draw.

The girl got to go first -- ladies first, of course. Guess what Evan drew?

Alright! Alright! I'll go! :)

Conversations of some 3 year olds

Yesterday, Justus & Elizabeth came over to play. We were on our way to coffee and this conversation took place:

Jaxon: Oh no! We're gonna wreck! Just kidding! Oh no! We're gonna wreck!

Me: Jaxon do you want to wreck?

Jaxon: NO!! I was just kidding mom. We're not gonna wreck. I don't want to wreck. That would not be fun.

Justus: I have a rex. It's green.

Jaxon: What?! You have a green wreck? You don't have a green wreck!

Justus: Yes I do. A green rex dinosaur!

(Few minutes later)

Jaxon: Slug bug!

Me: That's not a slug bug! It's a mini-cooper!

Jaxon: A mini-cooper?

Justus: Where's Cooper? I want to see Cooper.

Jaxon: But we're going to see Carson. Slug bug!

Me: That's not a slug bug!

Jaxon: But it's green.

Justus: I have a green rex!

The Sweetest Thing

Let me just say that my Evan is the most thoughtful gift giver! He always puts a lot of thought into a gift and he wants it to be perfect ! For example, on Emma's birthday, he bought her a pair of Sketcher Twinkle Toe shoes. She had wanted them for a while and although I usually don't spend that much on birthday gifts, Emma is his special friend, so I thought it was fine. I took him to the store and he thoughtfully looked at all his options and talked about which ones he liked and which ones Emma would like. Then, really quickly he picked a pair and took off running to the baseball aisle with Payton.

He wrapped them when we got home and he was so proud of this present! Emma came over a few days later and he couldn't stand it! He asked if he could give it to her early. They went in his room and she opened the box. She was so excited about those shoes! She put them on and they went in Evan's closet so they could watch them "twinkle". Emma was so excited and Evan was so proud!

Fast forward to this week:

On Sunday night, I was tucking Evan in bed and he was upset because he didn't have a birthday present for Payton. I told him that we had all day the next day and we would figure something out. He said he could make a card for Payton and he was going to cut things out, etc.

The next morning, when Evan's alarm went off, he jumped out of bed and started sneaking around the living room and the kitchen. I realized he was making a card for Payton and trying to get it done before he got up. (Payton decided that since it was his birthday, he could sleep in for 5 extra minutes.)

Evan got finished with his card and I heard him in his room shaking his bank. Then, he needed some tape. Then, I saw that he was thumbing through his baseball cards.

Payton was in the kitchen fixing his breakfast when Evan went running in there, threw the card next to Payton, and did a funny fast walk back into the living room and plopped down on the couch.

Evan had made Payton a card that said, "Happy Birthday, Payton" on it. On the inside, Evan taped all of his money that he had (30-something cents, but it was everything). Then, Evan had put a baseball card in there for the Arizona Diamondbacks' catcher.

SIDENOTE: Payton's baseball team this year is called the Diamondbacks and Payton plays catcher.

Payton opened the card and says, "Hey! Thanks, Evan! Someday that's going to be me!"

It made me so proud and so happy! Evan came up with that all on his own and I was amazed at how much thought he put into it! And Payton's reaction was priceless! He was so excited and proud of what Evan had done. It made me smile!

I Like to Ride My Bicycle

At the end of February, Jaxon learned how to ride his bike!! We got it for his birthday back in November, but he really hadn't had much interest in it until the boys helped him learn how to pedal by himself. Here are some pics from the exciting event:

Spring Break . . . literally a break!

We drove on Friday to Oklahoma City to see Aaron's family for spring break. We got there about 8:30 pm. The kids had been strapped in the car for the last 5 hours, so they had a lot of energy that they needed to run off! Evan and Jaxon were outside playing chase when I hear crying and in comes Nathan, Aaron's cousin, holding Jaxon.

Evan had been chasing Jaxon when they both tripped. Jaxon was crying really hard and Evan was saying it was just an accident. When things settled down, we found out that Jaxon tripped and Evan's knee fell on his leg. But, they fell funny and Evan said he heard a pop. :(

Jaxon cried for a good 45 minutes. Usually, he cries until mom knows he's hurt, then he's good. But not this time.

The guys were all outside around the fire pit, so I took Jaxon outside to tell Aaron that something was wrong. Jon, Aaron's cousin by marriage, is in medical school, so he took a look at Jaxon. His diagnosis was that Jaxon broke the small bone in his leg. Not good. . . But, we decided to wait it out and see how he was doing in the morning.

When we got up, Jaxon still wouldn't put any weight on his leg. We tried to make him walk and he just cried. Jon looked at him again and the diagnosis was the same -- broken bone. We called the minor emergency clinic to see how much it would cost -- $100 for office visit and x-ray, plus whatever happened after that.

So, we took him there. I've never been to a minor emergency clinic like that one! We got there, filled out the paperwork, and were in the room within 10 minutes! Jaxon was crying because he knew we were at the doctor. So, Aaron told him that we would get him a Dr. Pepper when we left. The doctor came in and looked over Jaxon. Jaxon was crying because he was scared (and hurting). The doctor was touching his leg and he asked Jaxon where it hurt. Jaxon pointed to his shin. Then, the doctor started pushing on his hip and he asked Jaxon if it hurt there. Jaxon said yes. The doctor took his hands off and said that it was uncommon for little kids to break their bones, but it was more common for them to do something to their hips. Since Jaxon was saying that his hip was hurting, the doctor felt like it would be best for us to go straight to an orthopedic emergency room (great!). He didn't do any x-rays so that we didn't have to pay any fees there (sweet!) and sent us on our way.

Crazy thing is that Aaron and the boys were supposed to go to an OU baseball game and they had to leave by 11:30. It was now 11 am. We get to the orthopedic emergency room and waited for the verdict. Aaron's cousin came with the boys to pick him up at the emergency room and they went on to the game. Jon (med student) stayed with me, which was really nice.

The nurses did about 6 x-rays on his leg and his hip. I was just trying to keep Jaxon calm and praying that it wasn't his hip. Jaxon started crying for his Dr. Pepper and the nurse came and said she had one if I would let him have it . . bring it on! :)

(Insert picture of x-ray that I can hopefully get to upload soon!)

The doctor came in and said Jaxon's hip was fine (whew!) but his leg was broken, but it's the big bone, not the little one. It's called a green stick fracture. Kind of like if you take a green stick and try to snap it. The top part snaps and it splinters, but it doesn't break all the way through. The little bone down Jaxon's leg was bent, but not broken. The doctor said it would straighten itself out.

So, they brought Jaxon some Tylenol with codeine (the wonder drug). I gave him my phone and the doctor got started on the cast. Seriously, within minutes they had that thing casted! While they were casting it, he kept telling the doctor that he didn't love casts and he didn't love those picture things (x-rays). I just kept having to say, "Want another drink, Jaxon? Play the game Jaxon." :)

Isn't he the cutest thing? He really has taken it like a champ!

When we got there they tried to give him this hospital bracelet, but he wouldn't wear it. After the tylenol kicked in, he decided to be silly and put it on his head. :)

Waiting on one final x-ray before we go home.

Blurry, but he's enjoying that Dr. Pepper! Funny thing is that he upped the ante on us and requested Dr. Pepper and pizza when we left the second hospital. :)

One Instagram photo. I love that smile . . . even in a cast! :)

Here he is letting Nathan sign his cast.

Next is Avery.

Avery also taught him how to army crawl to get around. :)

We did make it to the Lego store for Evan. I think he was in Lego Heaven! :)

Here's the set he bought and put together that evening -- all by himself!

We also had to stop by Bass Pro Shop and the boys had fun playing a shooting game in the back of the store.

Overall, we had fun . . . minus the break! :)

A Spoon Full of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down . . .

I wish Marry Poppins was right on this one! A few weeks ago, I had to take Jaxon to the doctor because he was running a high fever. Come to find out, he had an ear infection and she thought he had the flu -- great. . . So, after getting his medicine (who knew Tamiflu was $86!!), we headed home. I just knew that medicine time would be a breeze with this kid. Boy, was I wrong.

It started with Tylenol for his fever -- the purple kind.

Then, there was amoxicillin for the ear infection.

Finally, there was Tamiflu for the flu symptoms.

I got them all lined up in neat little medicine cups and told Jaxon it was time to take his medicine. He started screaming how he didn't love medicine and how he didn't want to take it. He was flopping all over the place! So, night #1, I ended up holding him down and putting it in his mouth. I was thinking this was going to be the longest 10 days of my life! :)

The next night, things started out the same -- crying, flopping, screaming, etc. Then, Aaron took Jaxon outside to calm down. When they came back in, Jaxon was ready to take his medicine like a big boy. What?!?

However, he started whining again when Aaron sat him down in front of the medicine. So, Aaron started "the timer". He started counting down from 10 and Jaxon had to drink all of one medicine cup before he got to zero. HALLELUJAH, IT WORKED!!

Jaxon was a champ with all 3 cups! We thought we had found the perfect solution until the next day . . . it all started again. Here's how my attempts at the timer worked:

Take 1: (Insert video that won't upload here). Jaxon didn't beat the timer.

Take 2: (Insert another video). Jaxon drinks some of the amoxicillin and almost throws up.

Take 3: (Insert another video). Jaxon is crying and fussing about how he can't take his medicine because he doesn't love it.

Take 4: (No video). I end up holding him down and putting it in his mouth.

The next morning, it was the same thing. But that evening, something clicked for him. He finally decided that he would take the medicine because it would make him bigger than Payton. Then, he got to where he just wanted to lay on the couch and let me drip it into his mouth. This past week when he had to take more medicine for his leg (more on that next), he wanted me to drip it in his mouth again.

So, maybe I should try the sugar next time!

#26-#36

Loving Brandi Wilson is the easiest thing to do. I mean, what is there NOT to love? So, to continue my top #100 things I love about Brandi, here are #26 through #36.

#26: She has some of the neatest children on the planet. Each one has their special-ness, but I love how Brandi encourages them to just be them. :)

#27: I love that she loves Cadburry eggs. I think they're disgusting. :)

#28: I love how she doesn't sleep in the same place every night. Like one night she sleeps with her head at the end of the bed and the next night, she'll sleep with her head at the head of the bed. She even switches which side of the bed she can sleep on. Not me! :) And how she doesn't know which way she's going to sleep until she goes to bed. Who does that?! :)

#29: I love it that she loves a good bag. :)

#30: I love that she uses reusable shopping bags, but she has a lot of different ones from different stores. That girl likes variety! :)

#31: I love that she wants to put smiley faces on her "new-to-her" van. :) OF COURSE SHE DOES! :)

#32: I love that she loves cards -- ones I've made, ones I've just given her, ones in the mail, vintage ones. She just loves cards! :)

#33: I love that I think she really could be friends with anyone. But, I feel really special to be a good friend to her! :)

#34: I love how she writes. I'm convinced that she'll write a book someday. Her sense of humor and the matter-of-factness of her writing is just amazing. :)

#35: I love that she owns a pair of Sketcher Twinkle Toe shoes. :)

#36: She's such an inspiration. She gave me some Wonder Woman cups for my birthday and I feel like I should give them back to her. She's a Wonder Woman to me. :)

I love you, Brandi!!!

So I had this idea. . .

So, over the last week, we were snowed/iced in and I was doing a little research . . . well, just aimlessly surfing the internet. Well, that isn't entirely true. I had "Liked" this Krazy Coupon Lady on Facebook and so I was checking out her stuff.

I've always been curious how coupons were worth it. I mean, if it takes me an hour to cut out some coupons from Sunday's paper and I save a couple (and I do mean only a couple) of dollars, is it worth all the time and energy?

I have done couponing and just been excited to see how much money I saved, but extreme couponers are extremely good at the game of couponing.

So, The Krazy Coupon Lady does this for a living. I'm sure she gets paid by advertisers on her website and TLC just did a pilot show with her in it called "Extreme Couponing". There was a lady on there who bought 125 jars of spaghetti sauce for pennies!! Anyway, it works like this:

* The Krazy Lady researches deals and coupons and she puts them on her website like this from today:

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FEB082011

Target: Cheap & Free Clorox Wipes!

Posted by the krazycouponlady // Target // Comments (15)

There is a new $1.00/1 Clorox coupon on their Facebook Page. Just “like” them and then click on the Products & Offers tab to print your coupon. Stack this coupon with the $0.75/1 Target coupon to make Clorox Wipes only $0.79. Here’s how…

Clorox Disinfecting Wipes 35 ct. $2.54
$0.75/1 – Clorox Disinfecting Wipes, Excludes 9ct Wipes, Target Coupon – (target.com)
$1.00/1 – Clorox Disinfecting Product, Any – (facebook.com)
Final Price: $0.79

Also you can get the Clorox Wipes To Go for Free! Here’s how…

Clorox Disinfecting Wipes To Go $0.97
$1.00/1 – Clorox Disinfecting Product, Any – (facebook.com)
Final Price: Free

Note: Coupon print out at the top of the page, followed by an (ink-wasting) ad. To save on paper & ink, insert just 1/3rd sheet of paper into your printer. Print limit 2, expiration date 30 days from print out.

Thanks, Totally Target

She tells you different scenarios and gives you where to find the coupon, etc. So, it got me thinking . . . what if:

* I get people to give me their coupons. People get the Sunday paper and just throw those things away. I have for a long time!

* I paid attention to the Krazy Coupon Lady's website and when I saw something that was a stock up deal, I took advantage of it. She does most of the work. I just need to kind of know my stores' (or even just 1 store) prices because prices will be different all over the US.

* Then, I can operate a food pantry based solely on couponing! Yes, it might take a little while to stock up on stuff, but I think if I got serious about it (or found someone who was), we could be stocked up in a few months / a year.

* Then, I'm able to give the food away for free or close to free. I think it would even be cheaper than shopping at the food bank!

* Then today, I was thinking, what if this gets to be so awesome and it's working and I can take people in poverty (who are wanting to transition out) and teach them how to coupon. Or even let them come in and pay a little something for the food. Or what if they just paid me what I paid for the item? Then, if they brought a coupon in for the item, I take that amount off.

Make sense? My mind is really going full speed with this thing just wondering if it could work.

Anyway, if you would like to give me those coupons that you would normally throw away, I would love to take them to practice with. I'm going to start trying to play the coupon game with every intention of starting a food pantry this way.

Wish I Was a Foodie . . .

Last night, I watched the movie, Julie & Julia. It was a cute little movie and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. But, it made me realize something about myself.

I AM A PICKY EATER!!

So, Aaron's been telling me this over the past few weeks. We went to Bonterra one night and I tried something new -- some kind of Ravioli with Rockefeller Sauce. I took one bite and knew it wasn't for me. The texture was fine and it looked delicious, but it left an after taste in my mouth that I didn't like. Now, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Bonterra and it's food. That night, I just decided to try something new and it wasn't my thing.

Then, there's other restaurants. I usually don't venture away from something that I know I'll like -- like steak. And, I always order the same thing when I find something that I do like. For example, when I go to

Chili's: Chicken Enchilada Soup & Caesar Salad. Sometimes a turkey sandwich and sometimes Quesadilla Explosion Salad. But, I think that's it.

Or how about Sharon Allen's: Medallions with loaded sweet potato & caesar salad.

Olive Garden: Pasta e Fagoli Soup & Salad

Rosa's: Nacho Salad or sometimes the Taco Plate

Chick-Fil-A: Chicken Sandwich, Fries (sometimes fruit), DP, Polynesian Sauce & Honey Mustard

Anyway, you get the point. But, after watching that movie, it made me wish I was more of a "foodie". I really don't enjoy eating. I don't savor every bite. I either like it or I don't. And sometimes, I decide whether I like it or not based on how it looks.

Here's a list of foods that I don't like . . . just for fun:

* Mushrooms -- they make me sick

* Cottage Cheese -- can't do the texture

* Fish -- just don't like it

* Any type of seafood -- although I did try calamari & octopus while I was in Cambodia

* Sushi

* Weird mixtures of things like in soups or casseroles

* Fried Chicken -- don't like pulling the meat off the bone

* Peppers

* I'm sure there's more . . . I'll try to keep thinking.

Anyway, I wish I enjoyed food more. Or was a little more adventurous with food. I wish I could go to Bonterra and let Joel feed me. Just can't do it. Or maybe I could let Joel because he might push me to try something new, but he might take it easy on me. . . probably wouldn't just walk in and say "Let the chef feed me." Nope, probably not.

On another trip to Bonterra, I ordered the salmon. I know, I'm not a fish person, but it was the only thing on there that I thought MIGHT be ok. I was pleasantly surprised. It had pesto drizzled over the top and it was really good! But, as I got to the end of it, I had had enough and started to get grossed out. But, I would probably order Joel's salmon again.

We were with a party and someone said, "This isn't really your kind of food, is it, Rachel?" My reply, "Nope." They asked what "my type of food" would be. I'm not sure. I like Chinese food (well, certain things) and I like Mexican food (again, certain things), but I don't have anything that is my absolute favorite. Then, we started talking about how we grew up. I grew up mainly on microwave food. My mom didn't like vegetables, so we didn't have them in the house. I was in high school before I ever tried broccoli, which I really liked!

Back to the movie -- I loved how Julie was determined to cook every recipe in that cookbook! She didn't look at the ingredients and decide she didn't like it before she cooked it. . . unlike me.

I'm realizing that my kids are a lot like me . . . or maybe I've become like them. Yeah, that's it!! They take one look at something and decide if they like it or not. Evan's more adventurous with his food. He will most of the time at least try a new food. He does like broccoli and cottage cheese, which are 2 things that Payton and Jaxon won't touch. I think Payton & Jaxon are the pickiest eaters on the planet. Jaxon just wants to eat waffles and chicken nuggets. Payton is just picky and he has been since he was a tiny baby. He never moved past stage 1 baby foods because he didn't like the texture. And, he would only eat sweet potatoes and apple sauce -- stage 1 foods only. Jaxon was kind of the same way, although he did move to stage 2 and stage 3 baby foods.

I want my kids to eat healthier. I want to cook healthier foods. So, I guess that all depends on me. . . oh great. Think Julie could come cook at our house for a little while? If that were the case, I would have to get much better with my facial expressions when something is put in front of me. Guess I'll have to change my eating habits and get over some of my little quirks.

Thank you Juile & Julia for proving that my husband is right -- I am a picky eater. (Sure hoping he doesn't read my blog anymore!)