Helmet and Heels 2014

My friend Lori invited me to go with her and some other ladies to this fundraiser Tuesday night for the ASU football team. It was SO MUCH FUN. I laughed so much! I think next year Armor Seed is going to have to buy a table! One of the football players sat with us. Lori and her family are really big fans (and sponsors) of the ASU football program so she knows most of the coaches, players and just about anyone that has anything to do with the football program at all! The player that sat with us was actually a student teacher at Valley View this past year, so he knew Lori from being in Trey’s kindergarten class! He was a nice and sweet guy! He told us all about his girlfriend who he just bought a ring for! His name is Tyler Greve-#58 if you need someone to cheer for!

Several coaches came up and did different presentations about their area of expertise. . .really funny. They tried to teach us terms and plays that would impress our husbands and told us that our husbands really don’t know as much about football as they let us believe! I was really impressed with all the coaches and guys that MC’d the event. It was very engaging and humorous and to keep the attention of 300+ women while talking about football isn’t easy!!

There was some crowd participation and of course Lori got picked to help with one demonstration. And it was to “assist” the players in removing their uniforms! Lol!! She got one of the quarterbacks! Of course they only took off their gloves helmet, shoes, shirt and pads- but that was enough for it to be hysterical! Especially the shirt! Who knew those shirts were on so tight! Some of the other ladies were having a very, very difficult time getting them off and it was so funny! They had a live auction and had some good stuff but it all went quickly above my price range! There was a fashion show and they had lots of vendors there with everything you can think of that might have Red Wolves on it; clothes, jewelry, accessories, artwork. . .but we got there late and didn’t really get to shop. We will do better next year!

Last week of July!

Jarrod and I have both been really busy with work. We had our summer meeting at work last week- where we bring everyone in for 2 days. It’s good, but exhausting!! We took everyone to Memphis to the redbirds game and rented a suite and had dinner catered. It was really nice! It was only my 2nd Redbirds game, ever! I think we are going to have to do better about taking Stratton- he would love it! The only real baseball game he has been to was last summer in St. Louis and he still talks about it sometimes! We should really take advantage of having a place to go watch baseball so close to us! Anyway we had a good time, but we left about 5pm and didn’t get back till 11ish. Everyone in my house was asleep (of course when I got home) and I had to leave early Friday morning to get back to the office to set up for the rest of the meeting that day- I kinda missed not seeing the kiddos!

This is the picture Jarrod sent me of Arden at dinner. Apparently they had cake or something??

The kids are doing fine. Arden is still loving her new school. We are so pleased with the change, and they continue to tell me how smart and mature she is for her age! Stratton is glad to be swimming again and getting to participate in all the water activities at school again!

Arden happy and having breakfast at Montessori- her teacher sent me this after we’d had a little bit of a rough morning so I would know she was fine!

Getting ready for school- they can be a mess in the mornings!

Oh and I almost forgot we tried Build a Bear last Friday for Arden! It wasn’t as successful as I’d hoped. I thought she’d love it. Nope. The stuffing machine scared her. The bath blowers scared her. She picked a puppy of course and wanted him to have a bowl- a pink one, but that was it! She made Stratton do all the work while she sat in her stroller and watched!

This past weekend we spent Saturday and most of Sunday in Hickory Ridge. Jarrod had to work so the kids and I got up and around and got to mom and dad’s about 10am. Stratton was excited about swimming in their new pool. We swam for awhile, had lunch and took naps then swam some more. Jarrod came up after he got off and we had dinner. Then Sunday after church we had lunch and the whole family came over to mom’s and we celebrated Stratton’s birthday again! After lunch we swam some more! This time Aunt Brandye swam with us. It is really nice to have that pool! **Jarrod- DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER** I’m thinking that we might need to get one next year! The kids love it so much! I know it’s a lot of work though.

One last thing. . . Last Monday (after grocery shopping with the kids mind you!) I cleaned and cut and peeled all the fruit-apples, strawberries, grapes and blueberries- and put them into serving size containers so the kids could have easy access to them (without asking me to cut or clean them) and to make it easy to make school lunches! I was so proud of myself! I am going to try and do better about this but it’s hard. It took me over and hour and I had to wait till the kids were gone to bed of course! But it’s been so nice to have this week. We’ve almost cleaned the drawer completely out! I will need to re-stock in a few days! Even though this is the last week I have to fix lunches for Arden! They start back with providing lunch on the 4th! Whew! It’s hard to come up with finger foods that aren’t messy, and that she will eat!

The cast comes off!

It’s only been a little over 3 weeks, but that was long enough! He was such a trooper about getting it cut off, too! I thought he might be a little scared of the saw, but he just smiled and laughed the whole time! He did start to cry a little when she wanted to wash his arm off after the cast came off. I think he was just scared it was going to hurt. I bet his arm felt funny. He kept saying it was sore. I ended up letting him go to work with me the rest of the day since he was complaining of it being so sore. But he never really complained about it much more.

Whew! I know he’s glad to get it off and so I am!

It was such a pain to wrap it up before taking a bath every night!

Now he can go to swim day and water day at school!

And swimming at Pops and Gigi’s house! Yay!!

Branson with the Staggs (and Johnsons)

We had a little weekend birthday celebration for Stratton and Terry. We went up Friday night and came home Sunday, so it was a quick trip, but we had a lot of fun and made some memories!! Terry and Margie were so nice to take all of us on a trip together!

The ride to Branson was tough. Stratton got car sick. Good thing we are used to this and were prepared! But we did have to stop several times which made us get there later than we had anticipated. I think we finally all got to bed around 10pm.

Saturday we were up and at’em early. We had breakfast and then took the kids to ride some kiddie rides and go carts. Well, wouldn’t you know Arden fell on the pavement chasing the boys and scraped her face up. Poor thing she looked awful! She recovered quickly though!

Three sweet kids

After the fall

Go Carts!

Lovely day to be outside! The temps were in the 70’s! Crazy!

After lunch at Mel’s we headed back to the hotel for naps. Saturday evening we had dinner at Landry’s (SO. GOOD.) and then went to see the Haygoods!

Attempt at a family picture

Family Picture at the Haygoods!

Arden liked the Haygoods, but she passed out about halfway through!

Sunday was a gorgeous day. I mean just perfect weather. We had a little time that morning for the birthday boys to open gifts then we decided to go to Branson Landing for a little browsing and lunch before we all headed our separate ways home.

The waterfront at the Landing was so nice Arden and I had a nice time walking around together while the others shopped. Then we had lunch and headed back to Jonesboro.

We had such a good time, I only wish we could have stayed longer! The weather was so nice and the crowds weren’t too bad. The kids had fun playing together, even though the boys can get a little crazy!!

Stratton’s Birthday

Stratton’s birthday just fell at a difficult time this year. We ended up not having a big party. With Papa and grandma both in the hospital and it being a busy time of year, and it being so hot, it just didn’t make much sense. And then I got sick as well! So on his actual birthday we just had a small family get together and kept it simple. It was Saturday but Jarrod actually had to work but came home a little after lunch. We went ahead and gave him his big gift from us so he could play with it!

 

We got him a bike! It’s just a tad too big, but I’m sure he will grow into it soon!

Riding with a broke arm isn’t easy!

We played outside and Jarrod grilled supper

He got a jar of bb’s from Gigi and Pops! He was so excited!

Gigi made him a MONSTER cake!

Stratton Turns 5!

Can you believe this baby is now 5?!

When Stratton was born the thought of him being 5 seemed so far away. So I’m constantly amazed at the fact that we have a 5 year old. It just seems so BIG and so old! I mean it’s like he’s officially now a kid, not a baby, not a toddler- a kid. He will start school soon- real school, with homework and soon it will be school sports and activities. . .  and it just seems like from this point on things will be busier and changing all the time. I know it’s just part of it, and I’m fine with it and since I have always worked and he’s always gone to daycare or school of some sort all his life, so there will be less changes for him than some kids. But there is a difference in daycare and pre-k and kindergarten. It’s bigger and busier and there is a lot less hand holding. And maybe it’s a cultural thing, but I’m feeling like him turning 5 means a lot of letting go my part. And I’m not by any means a “helicopter mom “ so it’s not necessarily about the physical aspect of me not being there, but it’s the thought of him being on a big playground with 100 other kids and trying to find his place amongst them, and him being alone in making decisions and choosing between right and wrong- it’s frightening to me! . . . I realize my struggle with all this has just begun and I will likely battle it for the rest of my life with both my kids!

But age 5 looks good on him! He now looks like he’s 6 or 7 though. . . Stratton is at least 46.5 inches tall maybe a little taller since we last measured and weighs around 45 pounds. He is tall and lanky and boney and has less than .0001% fat on his body. He has the bluest eyes, and his hair was getting a tad darker, but over the summer it’s back to white blonde again. He has the sweetest smile and funniest expressions.

Stratton takes his time. I should have picked up on this during my 36 hour labor with him, right?? He is never in a hurry and I have yet to find a way to motivate him! (a trait he comes by honestly per his father). He is very shy in large groups and doesn’t like attention. He likes to stand back and observe the situation. But now, if he is comfortable with the people he is around he will talk their ears off! He is so hardheaded. At just 5 he will back talk us and he always has to have the last word. He thinks when we say “No” the matter is still open for negotiation. (a trait that he comes by honestly from his other parent who will remain nameless).  Maybe that’s why he and I have such a difficult time. This kid knows how to push my buttons! Everything is a battle with him. I am hoping this is just a phase and he is simply testing his limits! But right now we are constantly disciplining him. I do A LOT of praying on his behalf (and mine!) these days! He is 150% all boy. Dirt, mud, sand, worms, frogs, bugs. . . .the icky and grosser the better! He loves tractors, trucks, planes and guns, swords and any kind of weapon. He is a very loving brother. He can be rough, but most of the time he wants to love on Arden and hug and kiss on her and she is the one that doesn’t like it! I would say 90% of the time she bites, pinches or hits him it’s because he will get right up in her face and baby talk her! Ha! He is just trying to be sweet most of the time, but you’d think he would learn!! He is so rough and tough. His little scrawny legs are covered in bruises, seriously, you’d think we beat the poor kid! And from his track record you can see he is a tad accident prone. He spent his 5th birthday in a cast, and I think we will all remember that!

Stratton maybe a mess sometimes and gives his momma a hard time, but he really is a sweet kid and (I’m told) he is really well behaved and so smart. There is so much about this little man that I love and I am so blessed to be his mommy. And even those these days are a bit tough, I’m not in a hurry to rush through them since I know once they are over and gone I’m sure I will miss them (as crazy as that seems some days!).

Stratton’s broken arm

A couple of weeks back Stratton fell off the monkey bars at Excel and broke his arm. I picked him up from school and he was screaming. I was fairly sure that he was just being dramatic since it had happened minutes before I got there to pick him up. I took him straight to see Brandye at her house. She suggested we go to a firstcare clinic and get it x-rayed, then she could log into the system and view his xray from her house and see what was going on. I am not going to go into major details about the initial visit to a firstcare clinic other than it was a less than desirable experience and THANK GOODNESS for my sister-in-law Brandye and the fact that she works for the best ortho docs in town. Talk about the VIP treatment. I’m not necessarily one that likes to have strings pulled for them, but when it’s your kid and they are in pain (and I mean he was in MAJOR pain) some special favors are worth it. Plus it’s really nice to have an aunt that can run back to her office and grab the right tools and come to your house to split your broke elbow instead of spending the night in the ER. So, after x-rays they thought he needed a pin put in his elbow but after they got him back into surgery it only needed to be re-set. He got a cast, then we went back a week later and it looked good so they reinforced the original cast. He will wear this till the 21st and hopefully be able to get it cut off at that appointment.

Friday Morning at Jonesboro Orthopedics and Sports Medicine clinic. We had the place to ourselves since they don’t see patients on Fridays. . . but the doc called in the radiologist just for us : ) Stratton was pretty good considering. He was starving and thirsty, but Brandye said not to let him eat just in case they needed to do surgery. Good thing we held him off! They sent the x-ray to the doc and Brandye who were in surgeries, the doc read them and said that he needed a pin and in less than 2 hours Stratton was back in the OR. Amazing.

Waiting to be taken back to surgery. He’s so calm and nonchalant.

He showed out a bit in pre-op. They told us that the “juice” they give them to help them relax would make him sleepy. Haha. We just laughed and told them nope. Not Stratton. Get ready for the show! It’s like it takes his normal personality and just revs it up to the max! He was telling stories and just talking to everyone and being so silly. He had the entire pre-op room laughing. Pretty sure at one time we had about 10 doctors and nurses around his bed. The doctors and anesthesiologist couldn’t even talk to us because Stratton was talking so much!

After surgery they brought him back up to a room and he went back to sleep for 2 hours! Not surprisingly since he only slept about 2 hours the night before. When he finally woke up he was cranky- of course and wanted a popsicle! They left his IV in just in case he was to get sick and they needed to give him meds, and he DID NOT like that AT ALL. He wasn’t all there either. He said “I’m so de-confused”. Poor guy!

We got home a little after 5pm. Margie and Terry had come to town to get Arden and take her home with them so we could all rest a little. My mom was in Jonesboro at the hospital with Papa, and daddy had come up when he found out Stratton was having surgery so they both came to the house to see him for awhile too. We ordered pizza and Stratton ate a little but not much. For most of the night he was in good spirits and enjoyed the company of all 4 grandparents! He slept well Friday night and didn’t have any more pain medicine. By Saturday morning he was playing and running around like normal.

Tuesday was swim day at Excel. I felt bad sending him since he would have to stay at school with the handful of kids who don’t like to swim or whose parent’s won’t let them swim. So I let Stratton come to work with me. He actually did really good. We had lunch with Aunt Brandye and Uncle Dillon at Sue’s. Brandye gave us some more CoWrap for his cast and Stratton got a cupcake!

He didn’t take a nap, however until we got in the car to go home that evening then he crashed! In like 2 minutes he was OUT.

Monday the 7th, at JOSM Waiting to see Aunt Brandye

Strong guy.

Strong girl, too!

New and Blue!

A few days later he was back at my office and I thought his blue cast needed some decorating! I think I did a pretty good job considering how wiggly he is!

What an experience! And it’s a tough time of the year to be in a cast! It’s hot and you can’t go swimming with a cast! Too bad he spent the 4th in a cast and his birthday! But it will be off soon! I’m not complaining! At least he didn’t have to wear it for 6 or 8 weeks!