Officially BASEBALL Season!!

Friday, January 28th was the first official day of High School Baseball.

B was looking forward to practice but, it was raining, of coursed!

Saturday they actually got to go out to the new field and remove the tarps. It was too wet to practice on the field so the teams went in to the gym and field house to throw and pitch.

He is excited to be back in the game, but he's not actually doing much right now.

Last week at practice he was going for a ball and ran into the chain link fence and sprained his ring finger on his LEFT HAND. He is taking it easy right now and getting it wrapped every morning by the trainer. The trainer seems pretty confident it is getting better. I hope so. You just never know if you should take them to the Dr. or not! The cold weather isn't helping much. His finger is stiff and sore when he is outside.

But hey, it's BASEBALL SEASON!

We signed up for outdoor soccer on Saturday, so it won't be long till SOCCER SEASON!

Have a great day!
Hugs, K

Basketball 2010

Tucker is once again a Buccaneer this basketball season.

He played his 4th game yesterday and did an awesome job.

Their team is undefeated!

Patiently waiting his turn to play

Sorry for bad pics, but you know how the lighting is in those gyms and you are so far away from the kids that the pics are either dark or blurry.

I hope you are having a nice Sunday. It is cold and cloudy here.
The boys are playing their games and watching movies, Brent just got home from work and I watched Julie and Julia for the first time and loved it. It was very inspiring. Kinda went along with my goals this year to step out there and get some stuff accomplished.

Hugs, K

The Stockyards

Two Mondays ago on MLK day the boys were out of school and Brent and I were off work, so we decided to do something different with the boys. I have been told that downtown Fort Worth and also The Stockyards in Fort Worth were very interesting and family friendly.

We decided to visit the stockyards and see The Fort Worth Herd.

Everyday at 11:30 and 4:00 REAL Cowboys herd the longhorns down East 28th street from their barn to the holding pens and back. The Stockyards are very historical and hold an important position in the history of Texas and the beginning of the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Many of the barns have been turned into shopping and restaurants.

The architecture of the buildings, windows and doors (especially the barn doors)

was very interesting.

The old railroad tracks still run thru the middle and there is also an old train that you can ride.

Warning: there are lots of pictures to follow!

This is the beginning of the afternoon drive back to the barns where the Longhorn sleep.

It's amazing to see them so close. They are very calm and sloooooow.

Pretty much just ignored the crowds, guess they are use to the people.

Up close and personal!

Boys were taking pics to post on their Facebook pages.

Jail time...

A sweet girl offered to take a picture of us cow rustlers

This is the maze that Brandan and Tuck decided to conquer.

They found their way to the end in minutes, but were told they had to go back in and find all the letters MAZE and punch them out before they could leave. That took a lot longer!

Brando is an expert at mazes from his corn maze days in Lubbock!

One of the look out points in the maze and also a place to punch a letter.

Great Job!

It was actually during the Fort Worth Rodeo and Stock show while we were there.

This is where the rodeo is held. Beautiful building.

They boys found a buddy

What cutie pies!

One of the cool old buildings.

I want to go back here and eat sometime!

Hey, maybe the next time one of you come to visit we can go!! :)

This is where a lot of the stores and restaurants are. Use to be an old mule and pig barn

A couple of the day's attractions

Look at those HORNS!

The boys had a great time! It was a nice family day :)

Hugs, K

My Word for 2010

ASPIRE

is my word of the year for 2010!

(the above book is fabulous, i have read it several times over the last few years and it inspires me everytime)

I want to aspire to be and do all the things I have been dreaming and wanting to do for the last two years. These are small goals, but this year I am going to get them done.

Last year my word was Bliss and I believe having that one word to focus on really did help me to relax and settle into our new life here. There are still challenges almost daily compared to what we had, but I believe I am in a better place and doing more of what I am meant to do than what I felt I had to do to survive all our challenges.

I don't post the challenges and all that stuff because

I feel like I'm being negative and dwelling on it.

My motto from the last two and a half years is now...

"do what I can when I can and the rest will work itself out"

Back to my word for this year...

some of my goals are personal, some financial, some creative, and some professional...

But, most importantly I hope to set an example for my boys that in order to be successful and to achieve our dreams we must first set goals and that it is okay if we don't achieve them, but that we set new ones and try, try again. I don't think I have set a very good example in this goal setting area in the past. I am always fearful of not completing something or NOT being good enough to complete something, so I just don't try in the first place.

Of course any goal must always have something creative attached to it, so...

The newest Somerset Life magazine has a really cute little post it note board that is made from foam core board that I am going to make from a very heavy piece of chipboard that I recycled and kept from my days at Bennetts. I am going to have each of the boys (the biggest boy included) write a long and short term goal on a post it note and place it in their square.

Once the goal is reached they will write another and another.

I will let you know how this works out.

Ideas like this don't always take hold with boys, but we shall see.

Also, since I can't live with out a daily organizer and I love Heidi Swapp I am doing the House of 3 Simply Amazing organization/daily/month/goals planner this year. I am very excited about it. I even emailed Heidi about her idea and she emailed me back!!! I need something to get me on track with myASPIRE goals for this year and this system seems perfect.

The last time we were at my in-laws she sent home lots of goodies with me because you know they have this where you will find lots of fun creative acrylic, chipboard and other products for creating with. Anyway, one of the things she sent with me was an old vintage book turned into a notebook with a binder mechanism (they are hot right now, due to the original idea coming from her who is also a part of House of 3). I was going to use that book for my organizer cover, but it is too narrow for the pages. So, I went to the thrift store, found a wider book and took the binder mechanism from an old notebook I wasn't using and made another book. I will use the one she gave me for something else! I will post pictures of my book once I get finished with it.

Okay, well, I know this is a long post, but it feels good to get it all down in print. That is part of what blogs are about right? Good therapy for the writer, even if there aren't many people reading it, and maybe it will touch or help someone who is reading it??

Hugs, K

(ps. i am actually posting this on Sunday, January 31st)

Happy Twenty Ten!

For some reason I can't get the typing above the picture, so the pic is a little out of place with my intro of posts. It has been a crazy, busy, but fun time since Thanksgiving. Today school was CANCELLED due to a little ice and an Arctic Blast as the weather guys are calling it. I can understand a delay in school due to the hills, overpasses, curvy roads and distance in traveling around here, but a cancellation is a little over the top. I am going to use the day to get myself caught up on Facebook, blogging, and organizing myself for the New Year. I am going to post a bunch of pictures of what we have been up to the last 6 weeks (since Thanksgiving).

The pics below start with our little New Year's Party at the house!

We got home from Lubbock, unloaded, started laundry, I ran to grocery store for snack, decorated, fixed food and...PARTY TIME!

Tuck and best buddy lookin' for some food

The boys and I at midnight

Keyto and Tuck at Mom's house in Lubbock

The boys and Mom cleaning up the kitchen

My NEW 2nd cousin! Grandson of my Aunt Ann!

He is another namesake in the family...

named after my Great Grandmother's maiden name of Allen.

He follows in a great line of men/boys with the same name...

My Dad - J. Allen

My oldest son - Brandan Allen

My cousin and father of this sweet baby - Charles Allen
Congrats to all my Aunt and all the family!

Okay, well enjoy the following posts and pics. I will be back to post my word for the year 2010 and what my word for 2009 did for me and how it helped me focus. I may also post a list of what I have learned over the last 2 1/2 years since we moved! Won't that be exciting??

Hugs, K

The BIG Day!

Waiting to go downstairs and see if Santa was here...

B was first one up. He maybe 15, but he's still a kid, thank goodness!!

The boys received lots of wonderful gifts and had a great day.

B has taken a liking to flannel shirts...but then again who wouldn't, they are so comfy!

Tuck is happy with no shirt at all...

Dudley looking for wadded up wrapping paper to play with.

We had a wonderful and blessed Christmas.

It was a little different this year spending it without any family other than the five of us.

Mom was here the first year and Brent's parents were here last year.

Christmas Eve was cold and snowy. We went to Denny's for dinner (there are only like 3 choices of sit down restaurants here in our little town). With the blowing snow we didn't want to travel to far from home just for dinner. Back at home we opened our one present and got ready for Santa. Christmas day was spend playing games, cooking (we had steak and it was great) and putting up Christmas decorations. I know, we put them up way to early you are thinking. But the thing is, I had to work on Saturday and we were leaving on Sunday for Lubbock, then home on New Year's Even and then left again on Friday to get home on Sunday and go back to school on Monday! We all wanted to get it done so we didn't have to do it when we got back. Besides, we had the decorations up the week before Thanksgiving.

Okay, only one more post with our trip to Lubbock and New Year's Eve then I'll be all caught up and ready to get the New Year going!

C ya in a minute, K

Tuck's Party

I am so very grateful that with all of my boys, I have been able to be their room mothers and attend their parties. Even when I was working at Bennett's and had a great boss I was able to take off to be at the parties. The kids had a great time. We ate pizza and cupcakes, made a tree ornament and they exchanged folders. The last day of school before Christmas is always such a relief because it means a lot of the hustle and bustle will slow down.

Hugs, K

Christmas Crafts & Gifts

Keyto cutting out cookies

Gifts for teachers

Cupcakes for Tucker' class party

Teacher gifts

Tucker cutting out cookies

See, I have been very busy!

Hugs, K

Littlest Elf

The 2nd grade did a musical right before Christmas called The Littlest Reindeer.

It was adorable. The kids did a great job and so did the Music Teacher and all the 2nd grade teachers. It takes a lot of work from everyone to put one of these together and run smooth.

Tuck and the little girl in the pink did a square dance together.
(he never ever wants a speaking part, so this is his 2nd musical to square dance)

What a cutie pie!

Hugs,

K