15 Years!

 We often wish we could clone ourselves....

 

 And sometimes it feels like we will explode...

 

 But, through the years we have learned to bend and be flexible...

 

To make 15 years just right!

Celebrating 15 years, and we still have a sense of humor! 

A Teenager!!!

  We officially have a TEENAGER in the house!!

Don't ask me how THAT happened!  :)

Tanner still enjoys playing in whatever the sport of the season is.

Wrestling--going for the pin 

Football--recovering a fumble

 

 Baseball--Pitching

 

 Football--Playing cornerback on defense

 

 You are growing up right before our eyes.  I am not sure I can believe how fast it has gone!  Now you have a cell phone, facebook, and you are starting to be gone more than you are at home.  Sigh....Can you slow down this growing up stuff a little bit?!  :)

Happy 13th Birthday Tanner!!  We love you!

Happy Birthday Makenna!!

Makenna is officially "Double Digits" today.  We have been the parents of a little girl for a full decade, and each day has been an adventure with her.

She has the best smile, and is fun to be around.  She loves any activity that she can be part of.  Softball, volleyball, dance, riding horses, playing football in the yard, swimming....the list goes on. 

  

  She has grown up so much in these 10 years.  It brings a tear to my eye to look at these pictures from what seemed not that long ago!

 

 

 Happy Birthday to our very own "Little Red Haired Girl" (ala Charlie Brown).

We love you more and more every day!!

Mylee is FOUR!!

How can my baby be 4 years old today??  That just isn't possible!

Mylee, you are the sunshine in our house.  You make everyone smile, and keep us all on our toes.  You LOVE playing with the big girls (and no one better tell you that you can't!).  You and Jentree are still the best of friends--you call her "Wenwee." :) Your favorite TV show is "Good Luck Charlie."  Your favorite food is pizza--you will eat 3 pieces!  You love chips, and like it even better when you are eating some of mine!  "Just one, mama?"  :)

You are such an independent little girl, and I know you will be all grown up in just a flash.  I can't believe how much you have grown up this last year.  I want so badly to keep you little, but I want to see who you will grow up to be as well.  It's a hard battle for your mama!

 

 You travel along to all of your brothers' and sisters' games, and you don't fuss at all.  You just don't know what life would be like without going to some ball game.  Therefore, you want to join in also as evidenced by our fun nights at the ball field.  You grab a bat and want to hit too!  Can't wait to see what you will enjoy in a couple of years!

You are so sweet--Love You Lots!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

4th of July Mud Volleyball

 All ready to head to the park for the 4th of July fun.

 

 Tanner, Calder and Makenna all played on a Mud Volleyball team for the first time this year.  They were PUMPED!  Their team was called "The Mud Thrillers."

 

 Bumping the ball over the net.  It's harder than it looks they tell me!

 

Ready for the ball.

 Diving for the ball.  Not sure which McGivney was going for it!

  

The "after" shot.

  

Getting hosed off.  Unfortunately the truck ran out of water, so they were not quite so hosed off.  Good thing we live close by!

  

They had a great time, and are already planning for next year.  Hopefully our shower is unclogged by then!  Ha!

Going to the Drive In!

We had a weekend with no ball games (GASP!), so we decided at the last minute to take the kids to the Kanopolis Drive In.  They were showing a double feature of Cars 2 and The Green Lantern, so we thought it would be a fun time.  We packed a cooler, grabbed some snacks and headed out.

It was PACKED!!!  We actually found a really nice grassy spot at the back of the lot.  The photo makes the screen look small, but it was actually very close. 

We got our blankets all out and set up for the show.  Fun fact--you don't use the little speakers on the pole for sound any more.  You tune your car radio to a specific station, and that is how the sound is broadcast out.  

 

It was a super fun time, and the kids loved it.  It was a VERY late night though, and the kids sacked out half way through The Green Lantern!   We will definitely go back again!

Harvest 2011

 Harvest 2011 has come and gone, but it was a memorable one.  Mom got a flat tire going to the field, so Stub saved the day and we traveled out so he could fix it for her.

 

 Dad in the combine.

 We only had the girls with us that evening, so they stopped for a few pictures.  I love the pictures I get in the field.

 Dumping the wheat from the grain cart into the semi.

 

Another year finished.

Softballs + Hail = ???

  What do you get when you put hail + softballs together?  A BIG mess!!

We had quite the storm last night, and with it came the absolute LONGEST hail storm ever, along with the LARGEST hail I have ever seen.  In all in probably lasted somewhere between 5-10 minutes straight of massive baseball and softball sized hail.  

Those white things you see is the actual hail falling in our front yard.

Then, the tornado sirens went off--3 separate times...sigh.  So, we made the best of it, and had a "Tornado Party" according to the kids.  Best line of the night--Makenna telling Mitzi, "This is the BEST tornado EVER!"  :)  Gotta love looking at the bright side!

 

 This was one of the pieces of hail from our yard.  It sounded like bombs going off.

It continued to rain all night long, and we had a total of 3 storms come through.  The rest of the night had wimpy quarter sized hail--HA!

This morning, we were able to see the aftermath.  We had lots of tree limbs down, both of our vehicles have busted windshields along with bad hail damage.  Our roof leaked all night, and we have 3 windows blown out. 

The bright side is--we are all very safe and sound, and it could have been MUCH worse.  Can't ask for more than that!

Night of the Stars 2011

 Night of the Stars was this evening at the middle school.  The kids (and staff) always have a great time.  This year the theme was 50's, so there were poodle skirts, T-birds, and AMS Ladies (ala Pink Ladies).  Tanner was super excited to get to go, and I was there as AMS Staff.  

Tanner all ready to go!

I got to be Tanner's escort down the red carpet.  Thanks Renae for taking our picture!!!

 

 There is always some kind of staff entertainment for the kids.  Our principal dressed up as Elvis, and did a skit, then the rest of us did a dance to "We Go Together" from Grease.

Mark and I doing our "solo" dance.  

AMS Staff

My friend Renae has video of the dance on YouTube.  You can see it at the following link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW3wOX45lLw&feature=youtu.be


Tanner said it was a fun night, and he wasn't even embarrassed by his mom!!  :)

Mother's Day 2011

 I received many very nice cards from the kids for Mother's Day this year.  I love all of the homemade pictures, the little flowers growing in cups, and the gifts they made at school.  They were all sooo proud to give them to me!

 

 I can honestly say, that this card was a first for me. 

Hmmmmmmmm......... ???????