The One With Work and Wheels

September 27 - 29, 2019

We are finally leaving September in the dust.  It was unseasonably HOT - temps and heat indices in the 90's clear through this week!  We are looking forward to turning the calendar to October, and the cooler weather that is promised with it!  (I know we will be complaining about the cold soon enough, but for now, we are just done with the heat!  It was a long summer... TOO LONG!)  We are looking forward to the host of birthdays we celebrate in October, cooler football games, and all the comforts of fall.  Crisp air, warm sweaters, leaves changing color, wrapping up in a blanket, and fall scented candles... 

Friday Night Lights in Stillwater consisted of our Homecoming festivities and a 48-10 win against Deer Creek.  It was a nice night, but a very boring game.  And this night was not at all what we had been dreaming about for years, but we made the most of it!  Emma and the rest of Lara's Horinek clan made an appearance.  AND!  Halftime Selfies are BACK!

Emma and her little brother Finn

Lara and Mom - HALFTIME!

Emma and her "little" brother Jake

The weekend brought on a few more first for the girls.  Lara started her first non-babysitting job!  She joined her sister working at the Missy's Bakery, Deli, and Donuts shop just off I-35 in Guthrie as a working girl!  She worked most of a shift on Saturday but then had to get back to Stillwater before the OSU football game started since she had previously agreed to babysit some kiddos.  I posted this photo:

Lara works again this Friday, and Emma works on Saturday!

On Sunday, the Stillwater crew took in brunch at Granny's kitchen while Emma went shopping for a longboard.  She had spent the night in Perkins with Nana and Grandpa, and she had some cash burning a hole in her pocket - new wheels on her mind.  Later Sunday afternoon, Lara was babysitting again, and Emma brought her new toy over for the boys to try it out.  She is pretty good at it!  Maybe we will see her zooming across the Oklahoma State University Campus on it very soon!  (I wish I had a picture!)

It's hard to believe we are on the cusp of October.  This month will have senior pictures, ACT tests, and lots and lots of football, homework, and jobs.  So grateful for this season in our lives, but I know the end is coming very soon!

The One That Started on Thursday

September 19-22, 2019

This is one of those weird weekends that starts on a Thursday night!  Thankfully, they are few and far between, because it seems to mess up our family flow!  Luckily it did not mess up the Pioneer's flow!  They went to Moore to play the Southmoore Sabercats, and they DOMINATED them with a 66-0 final score.  It was 42-0 at halftime!  It was kind of boring to watch, but a lot of non-starters got to play, so that was fun.  And of course, the hardest working girls in football made quite the showing!

Seems the halftime selfie tradition has taken a bit of a hiatus.  On away games, Lara has responsibilities inside the locker room, so while her counterparts get to come up in the stands and see their families and friends, Lara is still working.  So, we have a new tradition; END OF GAME SELFIES!

Lara had been feeling under the weather for most of the week, so for the first time in her football career, she asked to ride home with mom and dad.  Of course, we obliged!  And, we took her on her maiden journey to Waffle House!

Super late, but super worth it.  The rest of the weekend happened without much fanfare.  I know Emma spent one night in Perkins.  And she worked.  Lara did homework, hung out with friends, the usual.  We ended Sunday with church, dinner, family meeting as usual.  Oh, and Lara and Erika went out late Sunday night to get Erika a shirt for school pictures - THE NEXT DAY!

Next week is homecoming.  A little bittersweet, but we will make the most of it!  We also have to start working on Lara's Senior Board for Senior night this week...

The One With Traditions and Celebrations

September 13-15, 2019

So, this one was a blur of busy-ness!  And the pictures tell most of the story.  See below for the home opener against Norman North in Stillwater (which the Pioneers won), and then Lara and I dyed a pair of white pants black.  And we celebrated Emma getting accept to OSU!  Now we have TWO official Cowboys in the house!  We are so excited for them to be students at OSU next year!

But first, more Class of 2020 memories to share...

Friday Night:

Trainer Lunch

Lara: Home Opener

Football Program

Hardest Working Girls in Football

Emma and her friend took a selfie with Finn

Halftime Selfie

Final Score

Saturday/Sunday:

Emma's acceptance card

Welcome to the Cowboy Family

So exciting!

Then Lara and I dyed some pants

BLACK

On to the next week!

The One With a Family Adventure

September 6 - 8, 2019

Now, this was a weekend filled with all kinds of activity and family time!  Fall is HERE!  We get to do fall things!  Football!  Family time!  Part-Time jobs!  Now, if the dang WEATHER would just realize it is not supposed to be this HOT after Labor Day!  MAN!  We had a lot of outdoor things planned for the weekend, and we were HOT and SWEATY!

In true Fall style, Friday Night started with Football under the lights!  Stillwater traveled to Edmond to play Memorial in their brand new (still under construction) stadium.  As tradition would have it, Dad and I took custom Stillwater Cookies to the girls before they left!  This was a rough evening in so many ways.  The visitor side of the stadium was not completed in any stretch.  Including, no restrooms on that side and no concessions.  Add to that, it was so HOT and sticky and gross.  Plus, the game was pretty ugly for the first half.  We got a couple of guys injured, and we went into the locker room tied at 7.  Luckily, the third quarter brought all kinds of relief - the sun had gone down so it was cooler, everyone had gotten into a rhythm, and our runningback scored 3 TDs.  Oh, but the stadium ran out of bottled water to sell.  It. was. So. HOT!  We pulled out the "W" with a final of 42-7 and headed back to Stillwater!

From Senior Football Pics on Thursday night.

2019 Cookies!

The Girls!

MY girls!  SENIORS!

Tradition

Hardest Working Girls in Football!

Final Score

Didn't get the halftime selfie, so this is our end of the night selfie

Saturday, Emma started her first job that wasn't for family!  She is working at a donut shop in Guthrie right off I-35.  They are also a bakery and deli with a full menu for lunch.  They had her come in and "get her feet wet" on a game day!  Guthrie is right between Norman and Stillwater, so all of the OU and OSU game day traffic traveling up and down the interstate stop by!  Both teams had home games later in the day, so there was a ton of traffic up and down the road.  She loved it.  Kept very busy, learned a lot of new things and she did just about every job during the course of the day, met new friends, and left with cash in hand.  She was thrilled!  Then she was off to Newkirk for a wedding.  She cleans up pretty nice!

Emma and her Dog Skye

So pretty!

Sunday.  Fun Day!  Family ADVENTURE Day!  Dad kept it a secret for weeks!  Put it on the calendar, told nobody anything.  This week, he did tell them all what kind of clothes to wear and that we were leaving our house at 10:30am on Sunday.  Emma got to our house about 10:00am, we loaded up, and Dad took us on a crazy route with twists and turns before we ended up at Frontier City.  It was HOT, and crowded, and Finn doesn't like rides.  We all rode the few rides we really wanted to, then Emma, Jake, Finn, and Dad went to the water park while Lara and I sought refuge in a cooler part of the park.  We bailed out around 3:30 - it was just too hot!  We went to Sonic for happy hour drinks, then went to Downtown OKC for a yummy dinner at S&B Burger Joint.  Lara and I split an order of Peanut Butter Bacon (sweet potato) fries.  YUM!  We all got back home dirty, worn out, and with full tummies.  It was a GREAT day!

Loaded UP in the Family Truckster and OFF WE GO!

Emma and Mom - Diamond Back

Mom and Lara - Steel Lasso

Emma and Jake - Steel Lasso

Lara, Jake, and Mom, Tumbleweed

Emma and Finn - Tin Lizzies

It was a good weekend.  And what we needed to kick off the upcoming season on CrAzY!  A LOT of things happen in the next few weeks.  It's a great time to stay tuned to the 2020 Project and see what the Crazy Redheads are up to!

Back to School - 2019

FOUR kids, SEVEN schools.  And me - 4th semester Grad School.  Between us, we had EIGHT First Days Of School.  Spanned over a 3 week period.  It was INSANE - and here we are well into September and I don't think we have it all figured out just yet.  So many new routines, new class structures, new BUILDINGS!  I would have never dreamed the LAST first day of school for my Twisters would be so incredibly new, different, and hard to manage.  I plan to break it down kid by kid, but first, let's look at the calendar:

8/12 Monday      Emma    Redland Community College concurrent classes start
8/14 Wednesday Emma   Meridian Tech Year 2 Metal Fab starts
8/16 Friday         Emma    Mulhall-Orlando High School Starts (Senior Year)
8/19 Monday      Lara       First day Stillwater Public Schools (Senior Year)
                            Jake       (7th grade)
8/20 Tuesday       Lara       First day of OSU Concurrent classes at the high school (on MWF, She doesn't have "school" until 1pm)
                            Mom       Grad School classes start
8/28 Wednesday  FINN!     FINALLY gets into his brand new school for 2nd grade! (after 2 false starts and delayed meet the teacher and lots of traffic, transportation, and logistical hurdles)

Dream Weaver Prints

EMMA

Emma.  Class of 2020.  This girl is all over the place.  Redland Community College for online concurrent courses, Meridian Technology in Stillwater for Metal Fabrication Year 2, and her last few high school credits at Mulhall-Orlando High School.  She is wild and fierce and takes no crap from anyone.  She loves big and draws a deep line in the sand.  She is still driving the old 1996 Ford F-150 truck to get her to and from.  And as of right now, she wants to go to Oklahoma State University and major in Mechanical Engineering.  Here's to a senior year that flies by because we know you are ready for the next step!


LARA

Lara.  Class of 2020.  This girl is loved by so many.  We call her "Momma Lara" and she cares so deeply for her family, her friends, her babysitting clients, and her "boys!" She is taking concurrent classes at the high school through Oklahoma State University and has ONE credit each term at the high school.  The rest of her time she is tooling around in her silver 2006 VW Jetta and working athletics!  She is a manager/trainer for Varsity Football, Wrestling, and Baseball again this year.  She is planning on going to Oklahoma State and majoring in Sports Management and joining a sorority. 

JAKE

Jake.  Class of 2025 - 7th Grade at Stillwater Middle School.  My gentle giant.  He stands 6'0", and depending on shoes and time of day, he is taller than me!  He spikes his hair up for added effect, too.  Still just 12 - doesn't turn 13 till January.  He is a shoe ADDICT (I think we're at 16 pairs - mostly Nike basketball shoes with crazy names) and ready for school basketball to start.  He is still working out and playing travel ball out of Oklahoma City with the AET 2025 team. He is in 2 pre-AP class and his electives are PE, Art, and Musical Theater.  We can't wait to see him in the school musical this Spring.  He is a Renaissance Man!

FINN

Finn.  Class of 2030 - 2nd grade at the BRAND NEW and finally open Westwood Elementary School.  We had a few false starts and didn't find out his teacher until the evening before school started.  But we're off and running now!  He has THE BEST second grade teacher on the PLANET!  Mrs. Fox had 2 of his older siblings (the other one's teacher is no longer teaching), and we are THRILLED she has Finn as well.  He loves video games - Roblox, Minecraft, Fortnite, and dozens of others.  He plays on his iPod (old iPhone) and our desktop computer.  He also loves Netflix and YouTube.  He sings non-stop and LOVES to tell a good story!  He can read at a 4th-grade level and is also advanced in math.  We're so excited for his second grade year!   

We are off and running.  So many classes and teachers to keep track of!  And it will go by very quickly.  We are looking forward to all the milestones this year.  And a bit somber about the first of the LASTS that are already happening for the girls.  This school year will fly by - just as they all do!

(I am still doing the weekly 2020 Project blogs counting down to the girl's graduate as well.  You can see those posts by clicking here!)

Here's to a FANTASTIC 2019-20 school year, Little Dream Weavers!