Back in the saddle again..............................

There is just never a good time for a mom to be sick!! I have been very fortunate to have been in good health for quite some time until last weekend. That sinus infection that I previously spoke of really got me down. I pushed myself pretty hard despite feeling not so great and I paid the price early last week. I went to work Monday and the first thing I did was make a dr.'s appt for Monday afternoon. I did go to the doctor but then still trying to be supermom I took Addi to gymnastics which is an equal amount of work for me. So Tues morning I tried to go to work but never made it. I had to bite the bullet and call in sick. I took the kiddos to school and came home and crashed. I slept virtually all day and Wednesday was as much of a repeat as I could duplicate although I had the kids with me that day so it was significantly less restful. I did bow out of church Wed evening and by Thursday I was on the mend. I went back to work and resumed my full duties at home as well. Mark was a trooper and hung in there but there just isn't anyone who can really fill mom's shoes. As I was cleaning the kitchen Thursday evening, Garrett came in and asked whether I could take care of his problem or if he had to wait another day since dad couldn't help him. Bottom line, everyone survived and the house was almost back to normal until I took Saturday off to go to Dallas with some girlfriends from work. That trip had been planned since before the holidays and I wasn't missing it for anything. So I left in the wee hours of the am to meet the girls for a ladies day. We had an absolute blast shopping, eating, and just enjoying good old-fashioned girl talk. What fun to get away. Mark again was a trooper and stuck it out alone since his parents couldn't come down for the day (they frequently come down when I have to work the weekend or be gone). He even managed to get Garrett signed up for t-ball. As always seems to happen when Mom leaves someone has to get sick. Addi came down with some vomiting midday, maybe related to her immunizations the day before, we're not sure. She ran a little fever and they used every towel and piece of linen we own but they stuck it out and I only received 3 phone calls with questions the whole day!! It was quite late when I arrived home but the house was still standing (although in a state of disarray) and the whole gang was bedded down peacefully. In his apparent lapse of memory of me never letting the children have dairy products immediately after an upset stomach, Mark gave Addi a big cup of warm milk before bed which curdled on her belly until she threw it all up on Mark and I's bed about 5:00 am this morning. Since then she's been like a dream and has had a great day. Just in case it was an actual bug, I stayed home and kept the kids out of church today, so we've just been getting the house cleaned and getting ready for another week. The weather has been very pleasant especially after last week's cold blast and provided a needed relief of being cooped up inside, which brings me to the latest boy development around here.

Friday one week ago my husband purchased a little toy for he and the boys, a Honda 50 dirt bike!! That's right, a full-fledged, real-deal, dirt-throwing motorcycle, and the boys couldn't be more excited. According to my husband, the motorcycle expert, it was the deal of a lifetime. As I have resolved myself that my boys and destined to learn to ride, I have shifted my focus to one of safety and am proud to report that the deal included helmets, riding clothes, boots, etc. Having purchased similar items as gifts for my hubby in the past, these are pricey items so it was great they were included in the deal. Mark has spent every free second of the past week working on the bike and the weather finally permitted the inaugural ride, following Dad's Riding Clinic. The boys, according to Mark, are naturals and I've tacked on some pics for you to see for yourselves.

We are settling into the spring semester and our activity load is soon to increase again as spring sports kick off. Addi is loving mom & me gymnastics, Mark & Logan pulled out their first pine-wood derby trophy this past Friday evening (see pic), and Mark and I are already anticipating weekends at the lake. We are ready for spring! I'm sure we have several more days of winter but each one is gradually getting longer which is nice. Until next time.............

It sure is cold outside.........................

Well I don't generally blog without pics but tonight it's all I've got in me. I am battling a sinus infection that came on Friday night and I am miserable. It hadn't really gotten me down until today but I think I contributed to my demise with yesterday's activities. Friday evening the boys spent the night with friends so it was just Mark, Addi, and I, so we went to Wal-Mart and enjoyed the ease of life with one child. Saturday morning Mark headed out to get the boys and they went to a friend's basketball game, followed by errands to Wal-Mart (for what we forgot the night before) and to Hobby Lobby for paint to work on Logan's derby car for cubscouts. The big pinewood derby is this coming Friday evening so it's full-speed ahead with the car maintainance. I stayed home and proceeded to clean house, try to knock down the laundry pile a few feet, and work on meals for the next week. Like many we are consumers of convenience where food is concerned and we are making a concentrated effort to eat at home more to save money and to be healthier. So far so good! It was the cleaning that did me in as I didn't just skim the surface, I scrubbed on my hands and knees (2 bathrooms, kitchen/dining), followed by baseboards, intense dusting, and general deep-cleaning. I put things away or at least moved them to a new temporary place of organization to make me feel better. And then, since I had made a huge pot of tortilla soup we invited friends over for dinner. It was a fun evening but I was beat. Today was church followed by an invite to some friends for lunch which was awesome because I didn't have to cook or clean up. The kids actually ate (I was so proud) and we had a nice afternoon. And then it hit. I had been pretending that the sinus pressure, agonizing sore throat, and pounding headache weren't really that bad but of they so are. So while Mark headed off to his evening responsibilities at the church, the kids and I are crashed out here at home for a quiet evening. The weekend has taken a toll on them as well as 2/3 are asleep as I write this. They have another day to recover since school is out tomorrow but I must head back to work. So it's daddy day and the kids are excited. We are settled into our winter routine and it looks like we're in for cont cold this week. We are looking forward to spring and the boys are debating what activities they might want to participate in. Mark and I are hoping for baseball. Hope everyone has a good week.

Christmas: Take 3........................................

Well I am finally making time for the conclusion to the Christmas trilogy for those who have been sitting on the edge of their chairs in anxious anticipation for the big finale!! As I said we left Friday, December 28, (Mark's birthday) and headed south to Duncan for a long weekend with my family. It started on a concerning note as my middle sister came down with a stomach bug that very morning so we were conerned about exposing the kids to that. It has happened more than once in the past with my family that we pass those type of bugs around and another person drops every few hours. We didn't think she was going to come until later in the weekend and we were going to delay our gift exchange but she perservered and when we arrived she and her husband were at my parent's house waiting on us. Auntie KK traveled with us and got off to a late start as we got about 10 min away from Piedmont and realized that we forgot to return several movies we had rented, so rather than face a 5 day late fee for 3 movies we went back and returned them. Then we decided to stop at Sonic for Mark's birthday dinner, YUMMY!! Finally we were southbound and left Piedmont in the dust.

As I said we arrived to find the whole family present and accounted for so we had our gift exchange. I think everyone was very happy as we basically provided each other with specifics regarding what we wanted. We do a name draw to each get one nice gift rather than feel like everyone has to buy for everyone. We all buy for the kids so they made out well as usual. The big finale was the big kids (myself, Mark, my sisters, and brother-in-law) gift to the parents which was an awesome collection ( if I do say so myself) of camping goodies and accessories to compliment the new 5th wheel camper. KK and I had spent a good hour wrapping each item individually and placed them all in a big basket as the pics will show. I think Mom and Dad were surprised but not as surprised as we were with what came next. We were all a little bummed about getting older and just getting money (which is great, but not as exciting in the moment) instead of having surprise gifts to open. So mom and dad came up with a dirty santa of their own. They had spent hours searching and selecting a variety of fun and silly gifts to play dirty santa with and that's what we did. I have to mention that dad took extra time and scribed a funny poem on each gift that added to the fun of the whole game. It was a really neat surprise and although I don't think we can top the first time, this might be a new tradition for us.

The rest of our time was spent just hanging out, eating, playing with the kids toys (mostly Mark and KK playing the boys Nintendo DS), watching football, and eating some more. We made a trip to Lawton one day and Mark and Granny Jan took the boys to see Alvin and the Chipmunks movie which they absolutely loved. My sisters and I took advantage of the time to do a little shopping and found a few after Christmas bargains. Papa Dave and Uncle Chris were kind enough to lay around and watch football while supervising Addi's nap. Later that day we wolfed down some pizza, piled in the van, and headed to Chickasha to see the lights. It was cold but not unbearable and we rounded out the evening with you guessed it, food! Ice cream to be specific at the Dairy Queen in Chickasha.

One of the adventures was discovering that we accidentally left the lights on overnight in the van, depleting the battery to the point we had to be boosted to get going again. That was a new experience for the kids and Addi was not happy about it. Needless to say we've been more careful about making sure the lights are off now.

We promised the boys we would go bowling on New Year's Eve so we all loaded up and made the 10 min trek to the bowling alley only to find out it was booked up. Now who would have thought that the local bowling alley in Duncan, OK, would be booked until 5:00 am on New Year's? Not me. So the kids were bummed but we ended up going and finding some party hats, etc, and let the kids stay up as late as they wanted.

As you see in the pics we also had a birthday party for Mark complete with a gift wrapped in birthday and not Christmas paper, an important component of a birthday so close to the holidays. Uncle Chris's bd was celebrated as well as it was the first family get-together since his big day. Any excuse to have more cake!

Well we are so blessed and have had an amazing Christmas. It was good to see everyone and the schedule really worked out well. It's always such work to make it all happen but so worth it. We came home late New Year's Day and went right back to work on wed and school on thursday. The following weekend was spent packing away all our Christmas decor and returning our home to normal, whatever that it. I took advantage of the cleaning to rearrange the furniture which is one of my favorite things to do. My next project is to clean out and paint the kids playroom upstairs. I'll let you know how it goes. Until later..........

Christmas: take 2........................

The saga continued the next day as we loaded up and headed for Sallisaw where we would stay through Christmas Day. Mark's brother drove in from Detroit the same day and the whole family was together at Mark's home for the first time in a few years so that was fun. Much of Mark's extended family lives in Sallisaw so we were able to see and visit with aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. We spent the days leading up to Christmas doing all the great traditional activities including baking cookies (which the kids delivered to the neighbors), looking at Christmas lights, and of course some last-minute shopping. The days were relaxing and peaceful, just as the holidays should be. We celebrated with Mark's mom's side of the family on Christmas Eve which includes a gift exchange between the kids only as the family has grown so large now. Then it was setting out our cookies and milk for Santa, whom we had emailed to let him know we'd be in Sallisaw at Papa Don and Jiji's house instead of our own home. And finally off to bed so Santa could come. Santa did not let us down as the pictures will tell. The boys received their Nintendo DS games and Addi got some precious babies and her first vanity with pretend makeup, thank you Santa! Lunch on Christmas Day was the long-standing tradition of the Stites potluck luncheon at the extension building (or whatever they call it) in Sallisaw. Mark's dad is the youngest of 10 children so you might imagine how large that extended family is. It's almost sad the the peak years for that family may have passed as the extended families have all grown so large themselves and spread out that many gathered in smaller groups out of town. But those of us that were there did it up right with lots of good old-fashioned home-cooked fattening dishes to tickle your taste buds. The food is the highlight secondary only to the visitation at that gathering. I am now after 12 yrs of knowing Mark and his family starting to be able to put people together and remember who most of them are.

We had a fun Christmas Day and as usual we stayed longer than we meant to, it's just so hard to leave a good time behind especially when we were headed home to a cold house and a busy work schedule the next 3 days before we would leave again to travel south to my parents for our family Christmas. We got home about 10:30 Christmas evening, unpacked enough to function and hit the hay in our own beds, awww, it felt so good. But the alarm went off all too early as we headed off to work the next day. I worked long back-to-back 12 hr days wed and thur and spent friday doing laundry and repacking before we left town again. Coming up, Christmas: take 3!

Christmas: take 1.............................

Well it all began around December 20th, I believe, as that was the 1st Thursday school was out. The kids and I loaded up and make the trek downtown via Buffalo Wild Wings to take lunch and goodies to Mark's office crew. Last year was the 1st yr I had even been to the office luncheon and I of course had Garrett and Addi with me which was the highlight of the party (Logan was at school as school was still in session). So this year, nothing would do but I had to come back with my famous chocolate chip cookies and bring all the kiddos, and so we did. I made fresh cookies, dolled up the younguns and we were off. The dirty santa was dirty but the sweet ladies of Mark's group had chipped in and got each of our kiddos a little something, motorcycles for the boys and a tea set for Addi. It took all of about 10 minutes before the boys were serving each other tea and Addi was driving the motorcyle around. The kids were a hit in small doses and very soon we were done and heading home to get ready for our own family Christmas that evening.

We had decided to have Christmas at home prior to leaving for our holiday travel so I cooked up a big meal and auntie KK came over to share in the fun. Some of the highlights included: Addi Grace determined to wear her Snow White costume for the gift opening, a noticeable theme of Pirates of the Carribean, Transformers, and anything baby doll related, the whole process completed in what seemed like less than 10 minutes even though we tried to get the kids to take turns opening so we could treasure each reaction. After some family time the boys were off to a sleepover birthday party for a friend so we were left to clean up the rubble. Boy was it fun!

In the interest of organization I am going to create multiple posts to update you on our last few weeks as I still am not good at getting the pics exactly where I want them. This way you can actually see which pics go with which story. The ones with this story are from Mark's office and our Christmas at home. Enjoy!