The One Where They Had To ACT Up

February 8-10, 2019

Man!  The weekend count is going down, down, down, and the pre-college activities are going UP, UP, UP!  But, I will get to more on that in a bit.  Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves!

As usual, we will start with Friday night - since that's were all good weekends tend to begin!  Lara has wanted to attend an OSU wrestling match all season, and we finally got the chance Friday night as the Cowboys wrestled the Air Force Falcons.  It was a fun match to go see, plus we finally got to introduce Lara to a "mentor" she doesn't know she needs and she has no idea how lucky she is to know - especially in bout 18 months...  Family had a good time.  Cowboys won.  It was a great Friday night.

Saturday morning started early for both my girls!  Emma was off to the Perry High School, while Lara went across town to the Stillwater High School - it was a National ACT testing date!  Unfortunate, it did not go smoothly - more so for one that the other, but we all learned a lot from this crazy morning!  Emma got to her testing site only to realize she had lost her Driver's License somewhere along the way.  Last time she had seen it was Tuesday of the previous week.  Lara got to the test without a calculator.  So, while she was able to take the test, the math section may not be a bright spot for her come results day!  Nevertheless, the day happened, and everyone lived to tell about it!

Lara leaving for the ACT with all the ice on our front walk

After the test, Lara went to lunch and shopping with her best friend Erika.  They were off to the antique mall in town to search for old vinyl records.  They love old rock music, and they love hearing it on vinyl.  They are old souls, and I LOVE IT!  Consequently, it has rubbed off on Little Brother, Finn.  He not only loves Queen (the band), he also much wear the same types of sweats that Lara does!

Finn sporting his HS Baseball hoodie

While the girls were out shopping, Finn was at a super cool glow in the dark paint our own dragon, dance till you can;t dance, black light birthday party!  I sent pictures back to Lara and Jake - they were envious.  But, they found their own form of entertainment to kill time...

Jake and Lara playing "The Game of Life" from the 1970's that Brian I an used to play...

Sunday morning was a little lazy, but we kicked it in to high gear for 11:30 church!  We got to see Emma there and hug on here and hear her stories.  I always like running in to her somewhat unexpectedly.  Then, it was off to Edmond for 3 games in the 3v3 league Jake is playing in.  Nana and Grandpa met us there for those games, then they brought Lara and Finn back to Stillwater to take care of Evie while Mom and Dad took Jake to another basketball practice.  Sunday night was spent getting ready for another week.

The days and weeks go so fast!  Here's to another one passing us by soon!  So glad I am taking the time to capture the memories.

And a parting shot of  Evie Puppy.  She has grown a TON!  Just look at those paws!

Everest Pearl (@evie.p_puppy)

The "Getting to Know You" One

February 1 - 3, 2019

SO last weekend, we got a puppy.  Everest Pearl.  We call her EVIE.  This week was spent getting to know her.  She is so sweet!  Docile, calm, loves to play - until she doesn't.  She chews - as puppies do - but she is easily redirected and stops when reminded.  She eats SO FAST and drinks a ton a water.  We know if she drinks a lot of water, we have to take her out immediately.  Sometimes that happens, other times... Well...  We took her to the vet and she weighs 11.4 pounds and they estimated her to be 10-12 weeks old.  We chose a "birth date" of November 11, 2018. We are all so in love!

Friday, Lara FINALLY got to start baseball stuff!  They had a super fun night with a retreat for team building which included dinner, a scavenger hunt, a lip sync battle, dodge ball and bouncing at the indoor trampoline park, and random other fun.  Saturday, there was a wiffle ball tournament, and Lara was on a team with a former MLB star and his wife - but they didn't win because there was another team with an MLB guy...  She work herself out and was SO SORE for days afterwards.  But she was so happy to be with her baseball family and to get some work in.  She still has a couple weeks of Wrestling duty, but baseball is coming!

Saturday, we finally got her new bed put together!  It had been here a week, but we needed a CLEAN room and some space to get it assembled.  She wanted a new bed frame (much needed), so we all got together and chose a day bed with trundle so we could have some extra sleeping spaces.  That way, when Emma comes home, we have enough beds for everyone and no one has to share and/or sleep on a couch.  new sheets, but the same beloved bedspread!  And here we are:

Pretty slow weekend, and we didn't hear form Emma much, but these are the ones where memories are made!  And, another pic of EVIE P (who you can follow on Instagram @evie.p_puppy) because she is SO DANG CUTE!

The One Where We Climbed a Mountain

January 25-27, 2019

Now, THIS was a memorable weekend!  Not only did we celebrate Jake's 12th birthday - which he somehow figures out a way to spread out over a week and a half and gets to pick dinner like 2-3 times and everything we buy during those days is "his present" - but we also did something a little life changing!  (which is why this post is basically a week late!) But let's not get ahead of ourselves here.  We'll take it chronologically...

Friday Night
January 25 is officially Jake's birthday.  Although, I think we started "celebrating" last Monday...  But for his actual birthday, we got together at Fuzzy's Taco Shop on the strip with the WHOLE FAMILY, then went to our house to open presents.  We were very happy everyone could make it!

Emma, Nana, Lara, Jake, Finn, Mom, Dad, Grandpa

Lara and Emma after presents were opened

Saturday Morning:
(Emma had some things going on in her world, including a JackPot, so she wasn't around for all our craziness.)  Lara was on "Help Mom" duty as we had a big weekend with lots of people going in different directions.  First up, get Finn to basketball and cheer his team to victory!

Not sure the Eagles won, but this was fun! Thanks for the ride, Lara!

After (and I mean RIGHT after) Finn's game finished, Lara drove us to Tulsa *quickly* so we could catch Jake's 2nd game of the day in a tournament there.  This was her second time to drive to Tulsa, and she did very well!  I was impressed.  She spent the rest of the day watching Jake's games, helping us get checked in to our hotel, and generally being a great big sister and wonderful daughter.

Saturday Night:
In the evening, we went to watch more basketball in this large tournament.  A friend had a 4th grade girls' team that was playing near by, so we went to check them out.  Mom in the stands, Dad coaching, big sis on the team, and her little brother (7) and baby sister (20 months) in the stands.  Lara (of course) thoroughly enjoyed playing with the littles!  Once Finn warmed up to the other little boy, they had a great time!  Meanwhile, we convinced Baby Girl that Lara was Ariel from The Little Mermaid.  Little Girls' eyes got so big!  And she reached out to touch her to see if she was real.  PRICELESS!  And oh so cute!!

Ariel?  Or LARA???!!!?!

Also on Saturday:
This picture was circling Facebook.  Our neighbors, The "Other" Weavers, were helping a friend find a home for this little pup she had rescued with her 2 bothers...

Rescue Pup posted on FACEBOOK

Sunday:
Jake's basketball team fought hard to make it to the championship game, but fell one game short.  We had a late lunch in Tulsa, then headed back to Stillwater - with the dream of meeting up with the rescue pup we had seen on Facebook.  Plans had been made, but you never know...
We got home right at 5:00pm.  By 6:00pm, we were dog owners.  Complete with a bed, toys, a dish, and some food.  WHOA!  That was FAST!

Our Puppy's Name - we call her "Evie"

Follow Evie on Instagram: @evie.p_puppy

The name Everest came about by just bouncing names around in the car while we were driving through Tulsa Saturday night.  She is a vanilla white, so we were naming white things, and snow came in to play, then mountains...  Metaphorically, this is a mountain we have climbed!  We have had dogs in the past, with much turmoil and heartbreak.  The kids have been BEGGING since we got into our own home.  We were waiting for the right time, the right circumstances, and the right dog.  Serendipity finally came our way!

So the rest of Sunday was spent getting to know our newest family member.  She is SO SOFT!  And Fluffy.  We assume about 12 weeks old.  That's literally all we know about her.  Everyone slept VERY well on Sunday night, but amazingly got up without too much fuss on Monday.  I guess knowing puppy kisses await makes it easier...  Welcome Home, Everest Pearl!

OH!  And, BTW...  The keys are still lost...