Catch-Up and Mustard

Did you know I like mustard better than catch-up? Well, it should be obvious as I have not done a good job on the catch-up part in a long time. Here we go...

August came and went. The first weekend, we spent a relaxing time with my husband's dad and step-mom at their timeshere near Lake Palestine. I think we all enjoyed ourselves greatly. It was fun just to relax with them for a while.

Our daughter's birthday party was on the 16th and so that filled up a lot of time. She got Rock Band from my sister and brother and their spouses. She loves playing it, as do the rest of us. She also got Taylor Swift cds which she can play in her very own sterio in her room. She LOVES it!

Our puppy, Bear, had his first Vet visit onthe 24th. Also on the 24th was the first day of school! We have a 5th grader and 4th grader this year... where has the time gone?

September also came and went. I drove up to Mom's property in Arkansas on Labor Day weekend. It was the first time I had driven there myself... I took Kaitlyn and Bear. My sister and Josh rode with us and I even pulled a trailer... weekend of firsts for me! We had a good time.

With the start of school, also comes the start of Cub Scouts. We are hot and heavy into that again already. Our son will migrate to Boy Scouts in February.

The 26th of September was full of fun. Our daughter went to one of my neice's birthday parties, the rest of us went to Cub Scout Safe Shoot. Then my husband and some split to go hunting and I went to a Poker Run to raise money for the Breast Cancer 3-Day.

My brother, Jeromy had a birthday on the 27th and is now officially sliding down toward 30.

The 30th brought School Teacher Conferences and errands galour.

October has managed to come and go as well. The first weekend there, we attended a family wedding down in Travis Peak. That is a beautiful area down there. The wedding was nice... the weather for it, not so much. We... the four in my family, the 5 of my sister-in-law's family and another nephew, and my mom-in-law all stayed in a little cabin thing... like for a Christain Camp. It was so much fun all of us stuck in there together. Another close family group was in another cabin next to us. Great times, the kids thought it was really cool!

On the 10th, the four of us went up to Lake Murray in Oklahoma, to their ATV park. We had recently bought another ATV for my son, they had outgrown the little tiny one. It was a LOT of fun. All four of us had our own ATV and the kids are finally big enough to ride through, over, on more stuff.

My husband and I both had birthdays in there as well.

We went on a Cub Scout Camp Out on the 23-25. Lots of fun as usual, one of the best camp outs ever as far as weather goes. It was beautiful. We tried a new camp area at Worth Ranch and liked it. We went on a cool hike to a different area than we had in the past. We also hike up 99 steps to the highest area in the park for some gazing around the place. Lovely!

Halloween was fun. I was sore from a training walk, but we had fun. There were about 30 people total in our Trick or Treating group. It was kind of sad though. The traditions of old are not the traditions of now. There are barely any trick or treaters. There are barely any porch lights on... times have changed.

Welcome November. The first would have been Dad's 65th birthday. It was a bit depressing. They say time heals everything, and yes, time does help, but I am still not completely healed. I still cry on a fairly regular basis. I still miss my Daddy so much.

Which reminds me for some reason of a quote I recently saw: "When God leads you to the edge of the cliff, trust Him fully and let go. Only 1 of 2 things will happen; either He will catch you when you fall, or He'll teach you how to fly!"

This weekend is the Breast Cancer 3-Day. We meet tonight for dinner with the team and sleep/rest. It will be a couple of VERY early mornings (if you know me, you know that even 10am is "early" to me) and LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of walking.

I'll update again in a few days... talk to you then...

July Fly By

Well, our son turned 10 in the middle of June, but due to his and our family’s schedules, his party was set for July 12. I would like to say that the party went off without a hitch, however, that is not necessarily the case. Within the week before the party, we noticed a weak spot in the metal lining of our pool. It is an above ground pool that is partially sunk in our angled back year. Now, this spot was so weak in fact, that it had actually cracked the metal. Rust was a be contributor. We were planning on getting through the party and then mending that part of the pool. Well, it is the day of the party and I was observing the children in the pool. I was looking at my daughter when I noticed that the water around her was sinking… I started wondering how in the world they were causing that effect. Upon closer review, I notice that the pool has blown out the side and is now flooding, literally, the bottom potion of our yard. It was frustrating but funny, too.

We decided not to try to mend this break, but rather replace the pool. My husband and I pulled out the old pool, he dug more around it and we and his family put in the new pool that Thursday. It was fabulous. Our backyard is getting back in shape now and the new pool is really cool looking.

One of our neice’s had a bowling party for her birthday on the 19th. She got lots of cool stuff and the kids really enjoyed bowling with their cousins. Me, my husband, his brother, sister and their spouses played a couple of games too. It was a good time!

It was great having something like that in the middle of the day on July 19th. Why you might wonder, well, Dad passed away on July 19th, five years ago. And my oh my a lot can happen and change in 5 years. I miss my dad on a daily basis. Everyone says that will get better, but it has not yet. There are days, of course, when it is harder than others. I can be having a great day, then hear a song or see something that reminds me of him. I can still hear his voice at times. Words can not truly express what it feels like, even now, for him to be gone. I wish so badly that my children were able to be around him longer, they were his pride and joy, as were us kids. I still grin when I see the word Goodwrench printed somewhere, that is the CB handle he called my husband. I still look in the driver seat when I see a truck like his. I still yearn to sit on an old wooden swing in the evenings and just talk to those I love. How I wish I could talk to him face to face again today. What would our lives be like now…

Well, the 23rd and 24th marked an important meeting at work. It was a Board of Directors meeting, but not just any BOD meeting, no… this one was in our newly constructed BOD Conference Room. It is magnificent and a huge undertaking for our company. They did a beautiful job.

This past weekend was the Lackey Reunion in Haskell, Texas. It was a great time. It is always so nice to see folks that you do not get to see more often. I wish more of my branch, Lewis Lackey, were able to come this year. I miss seeing them on a more regular basis. Our branch is doing the invitations and entertainment at next year’s reunion, so maybe the couple of ideas we have had in recent years will get to play out in some way next year. Keep you fingers crossed that we come up with something that everyone will enjoy.

I am looking forward to our weekend. The current plans are to spend the weekend with my father in law and his wife at their timeshare near Lake Palestine, around Rusk, Texas. Hope the weather turns out and our plans go as expected!

Long Time Gone

Welcome summer! I've been away from my blog for quite a while and I apologize. Here is my update...

May was, as it is each year, the month of birthdays. We started with my cousin's party on the 2nd, he turned 2 and had a fabulous party at Leapin' Lizards. What fun! We left that party to attend a birthday party for our youngest niece, who also turned 2. Our nephew's party was on the 3rd where he celebrated his 7th birthday. On the 17th, our youngest nephew celebrated his 2nd birthday as well. Then, on the 31st, our oldest nephew also celebrated his birthday when he turned 8. In and amoungst all the birthday parties, were many more birthdays including my mother-in-law, two sisters-in-law and my sister, plus many others.

It was quite a busy month as I also had to miss 4 days of work due to illness. I was fortunate enough to have a migraine, severe strep throat and a raging sinus infection all at one time! Whoo Hoo! Glad that time has passed.

With June came the end of the school year. It also meant the start-up of summer activities. The first week in June was Cub Scout Twilight Camp which my son attended and had a blast after we got their den switched. Note to file: a cheerful giver recieves much! During that same week, my husband's mother, brother and family, and sister and family all went to Florida on vacation. They had a great time and all made it back safely!

Brandon and I got a Suburban. We used to have one which we were forced to sell a few years back for the money. That one was great, but our new one is far more than that. We love it and decided we should take it on our vacation this year.

The next week we had Family Bible School with our Church. That is always a great time. This year's theme was "How we Worship" and I think benefitted youth a lot. We discussed preaching, praying, singing, giving, and partaking in the Lord's Supper. We had a great turn out and everyone enjoyed it a lot!

Then, vacation week, and what a week it was. We left Texas and stopped at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, which was neat. We stopped in Kansas to eat lunch and visit the visitor information center. We ate dinner in Nebraska and spent the night in the truck in the WalMart parking lot in Scottsbluff. The following morning, we went to see Scottsbluff National Monument. It was beautiful. We hiked up to the top and took lots of pictures. We left there and headed to Custer State Park in South Dakota.

We drove through Wind Cave National Park to get there. Custer State Park was BEAUTIFUL! We went to see Mount Ruchmore which has a facinating history, it was magnificent. We drove the Peter Norbeck scenic byway and the Needles Highway. We saw Crazy Horse. We visited the Wind Cave and the Jewel Cave National monument. Each of the National Parks we visited, the kids earned their Junior Ranger badges, they had lots of fun.

When we left the Black Hills area, we went west into Wyoming and visited Devils Tower National Monument. Then, drove south into Colorado to see Pikes Peak again. We drove through New Mexico on the way home, making a total of 8 states we visited on our trip. Everywhere we went, we hiked it seems, got in lots of miles. It was such a memorable trip, but probably the most memoriable, or at least the funniest, was when one evening at dinner, we are all sitting at the picnic table eating our dinner and my daughter, who was across the table from me, points behind me and shouts "Deer!". Well, I turned around and probably 6 feet from me, was a little white-tailed deer. It was very cool!

Here we are already in July...

We had a great July 4th. We went out on the boat early with my brother-in-law and his family. Everyone enjoyed the morning and then we got off the lake for lunch, a movie and dinner. We watch "Up". Then, we went back out on the lake with a friend and his wife to play a bit more then watch fireworks over the lake. Nice and relaxing, good time.

We were back from vacation nearly a week, when our son left for Junior Church Camp in Cisco. I have missed him lots this week and am constantly thinking of him. I hope he has learned lots of cool stuff and made some friends. Our daughter has stayed with her Granny all week while our son was at Church Camp. That was their arrangement. They come home tonight.

On Sunday the 5th, with our house free of children, we decided that "today was the day". And so it was, we drove to Trenton, Texas to see a GSD breeder. There, we looked at all the puppies and the mammas and daddys. We had a favorite and bought him that day. We are now the pround household of a 10 week old male German Shepherd named "BEAR". His is beautiful and a typical puppy. We are working on the chewing, and nipping and of course, house training. Our hope is that he becomes and inside dog able to interact with his people all the time. We sure loved and still miss Zeus, our first GSD who was white, was 10 when he passed last year. We gave him the best we could when he was here. This new puppy, who will be black and tan or black and red, has given my husband and I quite a bit of enjoyment since his arrival in our lives. Our daughter has met him and told me a bit ago on the phone that she can't wait to see him again. Our son, since he has been at camp, has not seen or heard of Bear. It will be quite a surprise to him. I can't wait!



This weekend is our son's 10th birthday party. His birthday is June 16th, but due to his VERY BUSY summer schedule to this point, we postponed it to this weekend. The weekend after that is another neice's birthday party. Then, we have our daughter's party in August and one more nieces's party in September.

We stay so busy but would not change it for the world!

Another Week Bites the Dust

Another week gone...

Here is a picture of the new cousin I mentioned in the last post... so sweet.

Today we built a small deck area for the pool entrance in the back yard. Here is a picture of our son finishing his pizza on it just before it was complete. Yes, his JEANS are wet, he had been swimming... with a little help... we was pushed in.

This will assist with getting in and out of the pool some... we have a few more projects planned for the back yard... other than the shed we'd like to have back there, that is. We have to build a frame for the hot tub and get it in place. Then, we will add some decking around it as well. We also want to expand the patio some to be able to move the grill to one end and have room for a patio set of some kind. It is only money and time, right?

Yesterday was spent with the 60 Mile Mamas and a fundraising event. Check out our website at 60MileMamas.com.

Next weekend is PARTY weekend... that is lots of parties. We have a birthday party for a cousin turning 2 in the late morning on Saturday, followed immediately by a niece's birthday party Saturday afternoon... followed by a nephew's birthday party on Sunday afternoon. We alreay know what we are getting the nephew... got two more presents to to figure out and all to buy. Whoo-Hoo!!

Funny note - Earlier when we were outside, it sprinked on me a bit, but I did not know if it was percipitation or if one of the many active birds outside had gotten me, yuck. I looked down to see that it was indeed just a tiny raindrop and was a bit thrilled I must say. I did however, think of the idea of bird-poo and thought to myself, "oooh, dat's nassy" which is what my nephew, Josh, would say if he thought it was nasty. Ha!

Many Moons Monday

Many moons ago I last blogged… has is really been three weeks? I apologize, here is an update.

Our oldest niece turned the big 1-0! She had a cotton candy machine at her party and we got to see just how messy those things can be. It was windy and the machine was outside, good thing… my sister-in-law who was working the cotton candy machine was covered up to her shoulder in cotton candy. She had a good attitude about it and just went with the flow! Note to self, cotton candy machines have the potential to cotton candy you!

In our Floor Warden Meeting here at work, we finally showed the last installment of the Building Emergency Videos we completed in 2007. Those were stressful but fun to make. Some of the outtakes were the best part of the whole thing. All in all, we covered these emergencies: fire, medical, elevator, bomb threat, civil disorder, picketing, severe weather and power outage. Now comes the hard part… coming up with new interesting way of presenting the same ol’ stuff.

We took a trip to the cabin in Arkansas Easter weekend. We were delayed a couple of hours due to a blow-out on a trailer tire… without a spare! Though none of us were thrilled that we had a two hour detour… we were thankful later… when we passed through DeQueen, there were lots of lights which we thought was a road block / check point of some kind. Come to find out, there had been tornadic activity in the area a few hours before that. Might it be that the blow-out was a blessing in disguise, yes, I think so. Makes you think that everything really does happen for a reason. Please remember those affected by severe weather lately in Arkansas and across the country/world. Homes have been destroyed and lives have been changed forever.

The weather was realatively nice to us. I can say that now as we all did get out safe and sound. We thought for a while we would have to rent an arc to get back over to the highway.

Easter brought a special surprise this year… my kids know who the Easter bunny is and I am not talking about the big white mammal that hops through town leaving baskets full of eggs laying around for boys and girls… no, we have been discovered! It is sad and funny all at the same time. Their lives have just flown by so far, literally, flown. I miss the one year old and newborn… I missed the two and three year old… I miss the four and five year old… but I treasure every minute with them.

“And just watchin [them] it breaks [my] heart, cause [I] already know…
It won’t be like this for long. One day soon [those little kids are] gonna be
All grown up and gone. Yeah, this phase is gonna fly by,
So, [I’m] tryin’ to hold on, cause it won’t be like this for long.”

A few words from last Wednesday… “Don’t Tread on Me.”

A few more words, it was great visiting with my brother. He came by to pick up the trailer which he will be housing until Mom gets to park it in her backyard. He was over about 30 minutes or so I think. We recalled come “good old times” about various things and had a few chuckles. I warned him about checking out, for himself, the “real deal” about his escrow refund. Those can be great, if your mortgage company is doing stuff correctly… or you can get screwed and owe a bunch of it back if they are not. Everyone’s schedules are so busy now, so tied up… ours is going in all directions all the time. It is too bad that my family doesn’t have a “Family Night” like my husband’s family does. We should try that…

This past Friday, one of my hubby’s cousins, had a baby. She came by c-section as she was large and not positioned ideally. Mommy and baby are doing great. Congrats to their little family unit.

Saturday was full of running. My sister and I met with some of the ladies of the 60 Mile Mamas, the team we are on for the Breast Cancer 3-Day. The weather was not much to walk in, so we had breakfast and talked fundraising. They seem to be a great group of ladies and we are excited to be part of their team. They have planned training walks and events. We have a lot a way to go on fundraising but this helps us keep hope. They were full of information and very helpful with raised our spirits about the whole experience.

It is back to the grind stone today…

Another Week Bites the Dust

Well, we are not quite to the end of March and already we are seeing our weekends from now through the middle of July being filled with fun and excitement.... and while all that fun and excitement is fun and exciting... it leaves less and less time for rest and relaxation! But, who's to complain... at least we won't be bored!

Mom is recovering from her surgery and I actually just cracked up at a text she sent... those of you that got the same text, know what I am talking about.

We are already looking forward to a trip to Arkansas, two weeks from this weekend. Can't wait to get away... to go play... to have some down time. We will do Easter there and head back just in time for Easter here. Fun Fun Fun.

Then, it is count down to summer.

We are already whipping our pool into shape. We got a new filter... three times the size of the old one! One afternoon, evening and night running and the pool is already fairly clear and blue instead of the green and junky look it was just over a day ago.

That is it for now... talk to you soon.

Scalpel... Forceps...

So, my sister's minor surgery went well last Friday. Hopefully, she will be back to the walk training soon. She seems to have done quite well and the surgery was much needed!

Mom had surgery today to remove her gall bladder. You may be wondering what that actually does for you... well I looked it up. In its simplest form, the gallbladder is a small non-vital organ that assists the digestive system and concentrates bile which is produced in the liver. Sounds gross, but the important part is non-vital! The surgery went well and she is to recover over the next three weeks. Get well soon, Mom.

In two weeks, it is Easter! We are going to Arkansas again, I can't wait.

Bed time!

Great Weekend...

I had a great weekend. Spent some time running errands on Saturday morning. Then, spent time with family in the afternoon playing Apples to Apples and Snorta. They are both kid games, but great fun! My sister and nephew stayed for dinner and my sister and I completed our schedule for training for the 3-DAY.

Saturday night, I received my first donation for the 3-DAY. Thank you Greg!!! It gave me some hope that maybe the fundraising will go ok.

Sunday, after church, we ate with family and then my husband surprised us by taking us shopping. The kids both needed a fresh look for church and "fancy" stuff... we handled that and I got some new stuff for work. Whoo Hoo!

Then, my sister and I started our training for the 3-DAY. We walked 2.5 miles at a pace of 3 miles per hour. I then walked an additional 0.5 miles to make a total of 3.0 miles. I am excited about the journey to 3-DAY...

Bust-A-Move

My sister and I have officially registered for the Dallas / Fort Worth Breast Cancer 3-Day, benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure. It will be held the first full weekend in November.

Our team name is: Bust-A-Move! We have individual goals and a team goal for fundraising. You can see my personal 3-day webpage here:

http://www.the3day.org/goto/StephanieHoward

We have a long way to go to raise our team goal, but I am hopeful that we can get it accomplished. Please, go check out the website and consider a donation, it is a great cause!

In the meantime, between now and the 3-day... my sister and I have 34 weeks to get ready to walk a wopping 60 miles in 3 days. We turned the 24 week schedule into a 34 week schedule. It involves 1,000 miles of walking start to finish and 40 hours of cross training. We are both excited about starting.

Stay tuned for further details...

It's Destiny

Watch your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words.

Watch your words,
Your words become your actions.

Watch your actions,
Your actions become your habits.

Watch your habits,
Your habits become your character.

Watch your character,
Your character becomes your destiny.