Any Given Sunday

Sundays around here have changed a little bit recently. Until about a month ago, Bartlesville had two large wards, but they recently split us into three. Surprisingly, our ward is still full even though we lost quite a few people. I am still first counselor in the Primary, and today Sam got called to second counselor in the Elder's Quorom Presidency. It's a great calling, but he is going to miss the boys he has been working with in the Priest quorom. He really enjoyed being with the youth. There was a small buzz about a new seminary teacher, the one calling I would NEVER want to do, but Sam was kind of hoping that was his new spot. Thank goodness (in my opinion) it wasn't! :-) We were ready early this morning, for once, and decided to get a few pictures of the kids while they were in their Sunday best!

What's on Your Ipod?

I know a lot of you out there run and workout with your ipods, so please please share what songs motivate you. I was running on Saturday, and realized the newest song on my playlist was probably from my senior year in High School - - 1999! And I am tired of hearing the same songs. So its about time to update, but the problem is I'm so out of the loop now. We don't have much as far as great radio stations go here, and I need some suggestions. I know there are a lot of good songs out there that are old too, so share anything you like.... I need some ideas!!

Five Months

Sydnee continues to be a wonderful baby! I can't believe she is 5 months already. She sleeps about 12 hours at night, and takes great naps during the day. She loves to play, but she is happy just laying on the floor watching the other kids play around her. Shaye and Jaxson are still nuts about her, and she enjoys their company - most of the time! She plays in her exersaucer, and she has started rice cereal. She eats it okay, but I get a lot of faces like you see below. She makes us all so happy!

Pumpkin Patch

Jaxson's preschool class had their day at the Pumpkin Patch today. Sydnee and I went with him. It was a really cute place, I hadn't been there before. They had a playground, a maze out of hay stacks, a hay ride, and of course the pumpkins. Jaxson warned me he was going to get a pumpkin "bigger than the car" and he got pretty close. I had to haul that big ol' thing back to the car!!

This is Jaxson's class. Yes, it is all boys. One is missing, there is usually 7 of them.

Now that we are home, he keeps telling me he wants to make pumpkin pie from his pumpkin. They made apple pie at school during their apple unit, and I guess he thinks I am going to turn that pumpkin into a pie! Um, who does that? Don't they have that stuff in jars now a days!? :-)

My Review

Finally, I am out of my cave and back into the real world starting today. Thank goodness there are no more books in the series. I have lost 3 pounds in the last week, and piles of junk have found their way ALL over my house. I couldn't think of anything else. But, I am done with book 4, finished with the Twilight series. Since I know some friends and family who check this blog haven't read the books yet, I will not share any exact details, but stop reading now if you don't want any outside opinions to influence yours!

Obviously I loved them, I read them all in 5 days. But I was absolutely crazy about books 1-3, mainly 1 and 3. Book 4 had a few things that I thought were silly, and a few things that really drove me nuts. In the first half, I started to get tired of Bella always being the martyr, and Jacob really started to bug! I think my main problem was that it didn't have enough about Edward! :)
I was totally taken into their world, I thought Stephenie Meyer did a great job writing the books in a way I could get totally absorbed in them. I loved the descriptions and the juvenlie, simple plots of the first 3 books. I'm glad I read them before the movie comes out, because as always, I'm sure the movie won't be half as good as the book. I usually don't read books more than once, its hard to hold my attention when I know what's going to happen, but I can see myself reading these again, or at least large parts of them.
So all in all, yes it is silly.... of course, its a vampire story, but its also very good! I have talked to a few people who didn't like them, but I am joining the masses of people who can say they loved these books!

I have gone CRAZY!

I'm sorry if I haven't answered your emails or phone calls for the last few days, it appears I have gone insane! Cousins and friends and neighbors have been telling how good the Twilight books are and that I should read them for over a year now. I continued to put it off because I know how bad I am when I read. I tend to always get so into a book that I can't focus on much else, and Sam hates it because I spend all my time locked in my room reading. Well, the movie is coming out in November, so I had read them now. I started book 1 on Friday, reading just a chapter to see what it was like. Then on Sunday, I finished it! It was SOO good! I never would have guessed. On Monday, at 12:00, after I got the baby down for a nap I started reading book 2! And that's when the insanity started. I didn't eat all day long, I didn't do anything around the house, I didn't watch a drop of tv. Somehow through the day I was able to pick the kids up from school, and feed the baby. I finished book 2 at 3AM! I am so tired today, I about killed over in my Turbo Kick class this morning. I have full intentions of taking a nap today, but I am sitting here now looking at book 3 trying to talk myself out of opening it. I knew this was going to happen, but not to this degree. Just like teachers always tell the kids "reading can take you to a new world," I feel like I am living the story. When I close the book I can't think about anything else except finding out more. It sounds rediculous even as I write it, but I feel like it actually is happening to me. I am going to be so disappointed when I am done with book 4 and have to say good bye to my new friends. But it will be a relief also to return to the real world! Well, off to nap. I won't open the next book. I won't open the next book. Keep saying it!!

Miles for Mammograms

With a little encouragement from Sam, I decided to run in the Miles for Mammograms 5K this Saturday. I was a little hesitant since I haven't been running much since I had Sydnee, but it went pretty well. I surprised myself and ran it in 28:22. There were lots of friends running also, and it was a really fun event for a great cause.

Happy Baby

Sydnee has been so much fun lately as she learns to laugh and giggle! Shaye really had her going tonight. I just loved this! Sorry the video is a little dark, but I think you can see it fine.

Rock Climbing with Colie

Nicole came to visit us this past weekend. The kids just LOVE it when we have visitors, especially their Aunt Colie! We stopped by Sun and Ski Sports when we were in Tulsa to do a little shopping and Nicole found the rock wall unattended. So she hooked up the kids and helped them do some climbing. I was surprised the store employees never ran us off! I guess they could tell Nicole knew what she was doing.
Shaye did a really good job. She enjoyed it and was quite a natural.
Jaxson on the other hand was scared after just a few feet up the wall. But he had fun nonetheless.

I wish Sam or I knew how to do this because they really enjoyed it. Sam said this is not a sport he wants to encourage. (he's scared they'll grow up and become climbers and get hurt!)

Season Opener

Since Shaye's first scheduled game got cancelled due to rain last weekend, this Saturday was the first time they played. Shaye did a great job! We were really proud of her. She really went after the ball and took it to the goal several times. We are excited to watch her improve this year. We started the game out hot and sweaty like this:
And a bit after half time, we ended up like this:

It was quite an adventure, but it was fun. And Shaye actually thought it was "cool" to play in the rain! Luckily I was able to keep Sydnee dry under the big umbrella.