My Sooners lost

a great game. Congrats to Florida on a well played game. I'm Sooner born and Sooner bred and when I die I'll be Sooner dead! Go OU!

Boomer Sooner and a bit more

 Tonight the Sooners play for Florida for the BCS Championship. We're having a few people over to watch. I've rented the children some movies so they'll stay entertained. I'm surrounded by Fla. fans out here but I wear my OU gear with pride! 

 The husband and I went to our meeting for Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. The weather knocked out the power so we only watched about 20 minutes of our first dvd. We have homework too. I thought two hours of homework with my children was enough but I now have to squeeze in financial homework too. We are really excited about taking this class. I'll keep you posted as we go through this process. 

Hope everyone has a great night and remember... I'm Sooner born and Sooner bred and when I die I'll be Sooner dead! GO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU! 

Two more days...

before my parents return home. We've had so much fun with them. The weather has not cooperated so we've not been to the skate park and all the kids want to get in the hot tub at night but it's been in the 30's at night. Other than that we have done everything we wanted to do.
My father and I always have projects planned months before he gets here. One was to get all of the baby clothes out of boxes, washed and donated. After carrying them all in the house and sorting them we reboxed them and delivered them. We donated about 600 items of clothes. Yes, I counted each peice! Then we went through old toys that the children no longer played with and donated them. It was a pretty good size tote full. Since we moved here in late June and I'd been in Oklahoma all of August I hadn't packed away all the boxes. I carried them to the attic stairs, father handed them to son who was in attic, he sorted them and stacked them neatly. My garage looks clean and that makes the husband much happier.
My mother tends to lay low while we do all this work. She spoils the children rotten and lets them do EVERYthing they want! (Bricks are now laying on my pool cover, want to guess who'll have to fish them out?) With my mother and her grandkids there are NO rules! My neighbor does video from her home so my mother brought tons of old movies to her. My neighbor will be blackmailing me soon as she watches each movie and turns them into dvd's. There was about 4000 hours of video total. I'm sure the next time I'm home we will be having a home movie night. I feel bad for our husbands and will be finding a way for them to do anything but sit through all that.
The oldest daughter raced a brat in our neighborhood on her scooter. Daughter won the race and the other little girl went home whining that she needed a bigger scooter. That night my daughter said this, "how much do you want to bet that Brat has a new scooter by tomorrow night?" 24 hours later and Brat has a new, faster scooter! I'm serious! Then a neighbor calls me and tells me that not only did Brat get a new and faster scooter 3 days after Christmas but she also convinced her parents she needed a cell phone!!! Can someone explain why a 9 yr old needs a cell phone??? Back to the scooter (hehe) my father and I are in the process of converting the daughter's into a bigger scooter with the same frame. I promise the daughter will be racing and winning in the near future. I'm from the country and my husband is the computer guru. This means I know how to put a motor and battery together and the husband can wire it to make it all run smoothly. This should be fun! :)
I hear my father making coffee so I'm going to share a cup. Have a wonderful weekend and Happy New Year to all!

A very Merry Christmas

My father in law was to arrive Tuesday evening and his flight was cancelled. Then a Wednesday flight was cancelled and he finally arrived late Christmas day. My mother in law arrived first from Berlin. She always brings lots of good stuff. This time she brought me salt and pepper grinders (the really nice ones you can only find in Berlin) and some striped socks. (I have a thing for crazy and unusual socks) The children received these little book type things with pencils, pens, ink cartridges and rulers in them. They had a Berlin bear attached. Apparently the husband always had these little books when he was a child. Then she unpacked the candy!!! She brought everyone their favorites. Huge Milka bars, kinder chocolate stars with 3 different kinds of kinder chocolates, Ritter Sport for the husband and even some chocolate with liquer in it. She also brought me a wisk that they do not sell here in the United States. It is going to help create wonderful gravy.
We had already been to our Christmas Eve church service and everyone was starving. While the husband and children were at the airport I made pasta primavera with tons of fresh veggies. My m-i-l loves coming to my home because I'm her daughter in law that loves to cook and everything is always fresh. We had a wonderful dinner. We let the children dig into their stockings. They were mainly filled with all their favorite candy.
My parents arrived about 2 on Christmas day. They had made sure there was a gift from each of them for the children to open immediately. My son received two x-box 360 wireless controllers and an Eskimo Jo long sleeve t-shirt. My daughters received a wii game from my dad and they already owned it. (this was my fault as I purchased it and had no idea they owned it) They both received their annual Eskimo Jo shirt. It's just not Christmas around here without a Jo's shirt. We snacked on a spinach/veggie dip, ranch dip, and shrimp dip with crackers, tortilla chips and vegetables until the father in law arrived.
The father in law was expecting to eat leftovers and was truly surprised to arrive to a full meal and knowledge that everyone had waited for his arrival to have Christmas dinner. Everything turned out perfect. We had turkey, dressing, ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, shoepeg corn casserole, broccoli and rice casserole, green beans with bacon, black eyed peas with bacon, hot rolls, pumpkin and pecan pies.
After dinner my mother pressured me into opening gifts. I wanted to wait until after our shopping spree on Friday. My sister sent each of the kids a crisp $100 bill. My mother gave the oldest daugher another $100 bill. She quickly informed us that "she was the richest kid on the block". My parents went in together and purchased my son a top of the line Diamondback trick bike. It was brought down from the attic with a big, red bow attached. His favorite color is green so naturally the bike is lime green. My youngest daughter has begged for an American Girl doll for months and one arrived that night. As a group they received wii fit and more wii remotes, guitar hero for x-box 360 with an extra guitar, and several new games.
I arranged for our parents to go in together for the husband's gift. He is the techy guy of our bunch and had asked for a Garmin navigation system with blue tooth and satellite radio. I'm left to purchase the special antenna needed for this gift. The husband was so shocked to see the gift I had convinced him he wouldn't be receiving! He was late to work on Friday because he was playing with it all in his car in the driveway.
Since we've moved over 1,000 miles from everyone we decided to give our parents digital picture frames. We loaded up my parent's frames with pictures prior to wrapping. We left the husband's parents blank since they are more than capable of loading their own photos once they are home.
Friday morning we all got up and headed out for a day of shopping. The oldest daughter found some great deals on clothing. (I promise this is what she wanted to spend her money on) She ended up with nine shirts, 4 pairs of jeans and a jacket for right at $100. We searched many stores for the scooter she wanted but could not find one in stock. Both my son and youngest daughter went to purchase custom built skate boards with their money.
Saturday we were more determined to find a scooter. First we set out to get me a new bike I'd been eyeing for a few months. My parents noticed me looking at it on Friday and took me back to purchase it on Saturday. Today I'm the proud owner of a new bicycle. I've never owned one with speeds and all that. I was always a tom boy with a dirt bike and trick bike. Thankfully the husband always had bikes like this and will be able to show me what I'm clueless about. The guy at the bike shop suggested we try Pep Boys for the scooter. Sure enough, we walked in and they had two! They even offered my father a senior citizen's discount so he bought the two year warranty. The oldest daugher was really going to be happy now. Next we headed to mall for a gift from my father to my husband. I had planned to pay for part of this gift but my father would have no part of it. The husband received 4 pairs of slacks, a new brown belt, a dress shirt and 4 new ties. The best part was he couldn't get mad at me because I hadn't paid for any of it! (husband hates receiving clothes!)
After a day of shopping I did not want to prepare dinner. We decided to order barbeque. My father and I went to pick it up. We had 2 whole, smoked chicken, 2 racks of ribs, 2lbs. pulled pork, coleslaw, beans and garlic bread. We also grabbed some fried pickles and corn nuggets. I was worried we wouldn't have enough food and now we have plenty of leftovers. We ended the night with the kids playing wii and most of the adults in the hot tub relaxing.
My in-laws caught a plane back home at 6 a.m. this morning. I wish they could have stayed longer! How many daughter in laws do you know that say that??? I love them and their visits never last long enough. My parents will be here through New Years. Today we plan to go to the second service at church and relax the rest of the day away while the kids ride skateboards and scooters.
I will not be relaxing. Everywhere I look I see trash or gifts in piles and I cannot stand it any longer. While everyone else is comfy and lounging I will be picking up my home so that the tornado look disappears. We had a wonderful Christmas and that funky guy named Santa (who has nothing to do with Christmas) was really good to us. It was a real blessing to have both of our parents here this year. I hope everyone else had a Merry Christmas too!

The fourth attempt...

I'm not sure if it's safari or blogger but one of them keeps freezing mid post. I'm busy baking and preparing for my family to arrive. My f-i-l's flight was cancelled today so it looks like he'll be arriving tomorrow at the same time as my m-i-l. This gives me an extra day to look organized. I'll try to get back tonight and post one more blog before Christmas. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday with the people they love. 

More on the Pampered Wife

I've been pretty torn as to how to proceed with who the pampered wife REALLY is. You see, I stopped where things turn from bad to worse. I'm not sure I'm ready to tell the rest of the story just yet. I'm not sure I know how to tell the story. It opens wounds I've since thought healed. I'm drawn here daily to tell my story, to have my say in my own little space in this big world yet am unsure how to go forth with the rest of the story. I do want to post it soon. Before the family arrives for Christmas. I want it to be told, over and done with. I'm ready to move on and it's part of my plan for 2009.




I went to live with my father shortly after turning 18. All of that side of the family lived on quite a bit of property. My aunt and uncle were next door and my grandparents had acres in front of us. My father was losing his business after years of success. I had finally taken the plunge and moved in with him. We both had high hopes and expectations. His were for me to finish school and go to college. Mine were for me to finally have my father and to receive some guidance from my parents. I did finish high school and enrolled in college. Living with a parent you haven't lived with in over 12 years is difficult. It's almost as if you are complete strangers. My father and I butted heads daily sometimes hourly. Nothing I did was good enough and I now realize his stress was more than he could handle. We survived but damaged our relationship. I would go out partying after work and not come home. He expected a phone call and I thought I was old enough to do as I pleased. He'd come to the house I was staying at and drag me home only for me to rebel more. Six months before my 19th birthday I found out I was pregnant. My father told me I had to live on my own and if I was going to do grown up things I was going to have responsibility of a grown up! I quickly found an apartment in town. My mom came to town and we began cleaning up the apartment I had rented. We swept roaches out of the kitchen cabinets with brooms. I'd never even seen a cock roach before! My father and his girlfriend donated a sofa, entertainment center, matching end tables and a coffee table, a few mirrors to hang on the wall. A friend of mine who had raised children while single took me each Saturday to garage sales to complete the rest of my home. My grandparents had bought me a waterbed. I continued to work up until the day my son was born. Each week I'd buy something new for my home. A crib, pack n play, high chair, diaper bag, decorations for a baby room, infant seat for my car. My grandmother bought me all matching china and we made the decorations that hung in my kitchen. Before long I had a home, a real home. I never told who my baby's father was. It was something I did not want to tell and avoided the question at all costs. It turned brutally cold, my blood pressure went up and before I knew it I was in labor. My two best friends were by my side. My sister, mother, father, and grandparents were all there. My grandfather kept sending the message in for me to hurry up his car was going to get dirty when it snowed. This was super funny to me. You've read the love I have for this man. I'm in pain wishing with everything I've got to have this baby and he is worried his car is going to get dirty. Finally 22 hours later we had a healthy baby boy. I gave him a biblical name that most do not know and of course named him after my grandfather. My grandfather would not let me go back to work after my boy was born. He was firm when he said I belonged at home with my child. My grandparents agreed to pay my bills until my boy was a little older. I spent everyday with my grandparents. I helped my grandmother make lunch and my father would join us on most days. I also made sure my stubborn grandfather made it to all his dr. appointments. They were there for me and I tried my best to be there for them. Life went on and I was happy, content but wanted to work and support myself. My grandfather finally agreed to let me get a part time job if I'd let them keep the baby while I worked. This worked out really well. They were the most influential people in my life and they were bonding with my son. A friend of mine (his parents went to school with my parents) came over to see us one night and he called me out on the paternity of my son. He knew not because I'd told but because my son looked like this man and we'd all grown up together. I made the phone call I had never planned to make and suddenly he was coming to meet his son, my baby. We met, we talked, we both were dating other people and our lives were great the way they were. I was happy, he was happy and knew I was a great mother. We went our separate ways. I never asked for child support. I didn't want it or need. Independent I was! Over the next several months he would call and check in. Months went by this way and suddenly he was calling me wanting to try a relationship. This is something we had never done. Eventually he moved into my home and things seemed to be going well. Within a very short time I was pregnant with my birth control baby! I continued to work, we moved out of the town I grew up in, and soon my sweet baby girl was born. Throughout my pregnancy I kept finding out these little nuggets of information about this man I had come to love.The kind of things no woman wants to know about the man she loves. Drug addict(I'm not talking marijuana here), compulsive liar, thief, you name it. Due to my own broken home growing up I stayed and we had another child together. Most of our relationship (if you can call it that) was him on the run and me supporting children and being mommy. I was determined to get the straight, clean man back that I once knew. It had taken me several years to realize that he was spiraling further and further away. I moved to my family's homestead and broke away. I got a job, put my children into daycare and we had peace in our home. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. Putting up a wall and walking away while loving someone is difficult. But I was determined to make it on my own and rise above the situation. I did just that! To be continued...

The Bible and Your Birthday

The husband's aunt sent me this. http://WWW.birthverse.Com/mybirthverse.cfm

Here is mine:

Isaiah 12:4 NIV
In that day you will say: “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.

You are a child of God, His treasured possession. He created you in His own image. He chose the day for you to be born. He has a plan and a purpose for your life. Cherish your birthverse.

Just thought I'd share.