The One with All The Sports

September 22 - 25, 2017
Friday Night means FOOTBALL in the Fall, and this weekend was no different.  The only thing different was a trip down the road to Deer Creek instead of playing in our beloved Pioneer Stadium  The kids like to call it "going hunting" Since the Deer Creek "mascot" is the Antlers.  It was a GORGEOUS night for some football.  Perfect temperature, no wind, beautiful Oklahoma sunset!  And, even after some pretty bad and overly home-cooked officiating, we left 4-0!  Way to go, Pioneers!  Lara and her student trainer crew worked tirelessly - even when the players, cheerleaders, and band were celebrating the win.  They were already cleaning, loading, and making sure everything was ready to head back to Stillwater!  The buses finally rolled in to the high school a few minutes past midnight.

Saturday morning, Lara and her hard working friends were back at the high school by 8:00am to clean and get ready for the week!  No rest for the weary!

We didn't see Emma this weekend, so it's all about Lara this time...

Saturday, she went with us to Edmond to watch Little Brother (who is still measuring everyday to see if he is taller than her - he's not) squeak out a win from a terribly obnoxious team.  And again - terrible officiating.  They even switched out the refs at half time!  Lunch at PDQ, then to Nana and Grandpa's new house in Perkins to watch OSU football.  MORE bad officiating, and a LOSS, and that put a cap on our Saturday.

Sunday morning was spent doing chores and laundry until it was time for Jake to go to baseball practice.  While he was in Coyle for that, Lara and I went BACK to Nana and Grandpa's new house in Perkins to spend a few minutes with my Aunt Brona as she was shuttling her grand kids from Kansas to Oklahoma to see their dad.  After that practice and visit, we all went to church,  After church - a fun sports baseball party for Jake's friend.  Lara and I had fun wrangling Finn and his little buddies, and we played a long game of catch.  We watched the bigger boys play flag football, wiffle ball, and dodge ball - as well as eat more snacks that I ever thought possible!  In the middle of the party, Lara was called for a babysitting gig.  Cha-ching! What a crazy evening.

So after a late-ish night on Sunday, it was a good thing there was no school on Monday!  Teacher professional day.  Lara stayed home with her dad and brothers and enjoyed a nice day off.  Laying on the couch, watching, Netflix - and being lucky enough that since Deer Creek JV forfeited the JV game (the JV crew is now 5-0!), there was no football practice!  Easy day!

Back to the grind - and it is HOMECOMING week!  Good Times!

December to Remember

My poor ole blog has been feeling a ton of neglect!  I have not had a spare moment since the middle of November to document the events and thoughts that the Dream Weavers have encountered!  This will definitely be a season we will remember.  I honestly think we are in a point in our lives where we are the busiest we can possibly be.  This has caused stress, illness, frustrations, and so much immeasurable JOY!  We will never have this season again.  The kids will all continue to get older and more self-sufficient.  Times like this are fleeting.  And we know it.  But while we are in the trenches, it is EXHAUSTING!

So, since the last post, we have had QUITE a few event, changes, and exciting things going on.  For Thanksgiving, we had the usual!  Family and friends gather at a local restaurant with a HUGE pot luck meal, and then a fun game of Dirty Santa for those who want to participate.  My husband pointed out this year that the thing he misses the most about this tradition is that there are no left overs!  I hadn't thought about that.  I guess next year we should cook a small turkey for ourselves as well! It's always a good time, and I am glad we have that fun tradition.

Thanksgiving 2013

Emma is between Volleyball seasons, so she is honing her babysitting skills by practicing on her brother for short periods of time.  We are so thankful for her sweet spirit with her brother.  But, she lacks longevity.  He bores her pretty quickly.  LOL  Lara is on cloud nine as she has just found out that one of her dance numbers for the Spring recital is a Lady Gaga song.  She is also a wonderful babysitter for Finn!  She lasts a little longer, and has a great way of engaging him and keeping him busy.  Maybe soon they can start their own babysitting business!

Lara, Emma and boys from our neighborhood in the Cleon Snow!

Jake has just started basketball practice for his season.  This boy LOVES basketball!  He got his uniform at the second practice, and insisted on wearing it to bed...

Jake loves basketball

And then there is Finn.  This boy literally keep us hopping.  He is at the adorable (-ly frustrating) stage where his personality really starts to shine, and his fuse is very short.  I know he gets frustrated because we can't understand him and he has SO MUCH to say!  But, he is just so cute, and fun.  He absolutely LOVES to sing.  And he is an independent player, so it's fun to just observe him from across the room - playing alone and singing.  He loves book, building things with Legos, music, and his Little People.  But, he still suffers with those pesky preemie lungs.  He got RSV.  AGAIN!  UGH!  But, we are so lucky that we caught it early and avoided hospitalization.  He was cleared to go back to school after missing a week today!  I hope seeing his friends and teachers will snap the boredom streak he has been in.  Between him being sick, and the snow storm we had last week, there was a solid 4 days that he didn't leave the house.  He was BORED!  I am happy to say that being in the house all those days really built his vocabulary!  He has gained about 50 more words in the past week.  He lost 2 pounds of weight, though.  Always a give and take with this kid!

Finn with RSV

And during ALL the hustle and bustle, this Momma took a new job.  I know, RIGHT?!?!  And it was totally unexpected.  A friend read the job description, emailed it to me, and encouraged me to apply.  So, on somewhat of a whim, I did.  And I got called for the interview. And then I got offered the job!  WOW!  Not what I thought I would be doing this last 4 weeks!  I had to quit a job I love, work the last 2 weeks there, start a new job that is WAY outside my usual work zone, and juggle all the changes this caused at home as well.  My new position is a 30 hour a week job, and I go in at 7:30 am and get off at 2:00pm.  This changes some of the roles and responsibilities at home.  But it is SO SO SO worth it!  More time with my kids, a challenging job, and a change for the better.  I started last week as the Media Marketing Specialist for University Dining Services at Oklahoma State University.   I am in charge of the website, the social media platforms, the digital menu screens located around the dining facilities, and other special projects.  It is a brand new position, so we are all learning as we go.  I got exactly one day of training last week before the snow storm named Cleon made a mess things.  So, while it has not been a smooth transition, I know I will love this job once I get a little more comfortable with it!

SANTA 2013  Emma, Finn, Jake and Lara

And Christmas is staring us in the face!  We have exactly ONE gift purchased.  It has been a little busy around here.  But, we still have time.  And Santa Britt has a list, and a trip planned.  We WILL have Christmas!  The kids are excited about the season, and we are enjoying the festivities at their schools.  What a magical time of the year.  And this year, I know we will remember this December for a long time to come!  SO many changes - for the better!  Merry Christmas from our family, to yours!

Merry Christmas from the Weaver's 2013

Monday Night Date Night

Britt and I are going through the Family ID workshop with some other couples from our LifeGroup, and part of our homework this week was to go on a date night.  And to make sure it happened for everyone, our leaders had us do a “babysitting exchange” before we left group Sunday night.  That way, everyone got a chance to go out, everyone got free babysitting, AND it was already on the calendar! NO EXCUSES!  NO BACKING OUT!  So, last night, we packed up our 4 kids and took them to another family’s home while we went out on our date for a “Private Drive In” experience.

I am pretty proud of my creative date night idea, which really turned out to be a lot of fun!  We don’t have money to spend on a date night like a dinner and a movie right now, but we also knew just going to our house to watch a rented movie would mean we would get engrossed in our phones or laptops or tablets, get up 100 times to do this or that, and generally be distracted by our surroundings.  So, I came up with a fun little (cheap) idea for a date night – a “Private Drive In.”  I rented a movie from Red Box, grabbed my laptop, told my husband to pick a to go dinner for us to eat, and we set out for our adventure. While trying to decide the perfect spot to watch our movie as it was super-hot outside (103 hot!), we decided we needed a place with some built in shade.   After a Sonic stop, we decided the best place to have our drive in move was on a middle level of a parking garage on campus.  That way it would be shaded enough to see the screen, and hopefully a little cooler!  We found a good spot where the sun wasn’t going to obstruct our view on the highest covered level of the structure, parked, put the movie in, and dove in to our food. About 1/3 of the way through our movie, the REAL entertainment for the night began…

We had finished eating, the story was well under way (we were watching Joyful Noise), and we were having a very nice time.  When, we heard some very loud rumbling from behind us.  Earlier in the evening, we had seen 2 pick-ups loaded with “stuff” in the back head up to the top level of the garage.  I had wondered what they were up to – even thought it might be a cookout.  But, we were about to find out just who and what they were doing.  As the rumbling got louder, we were both turning our heads trying to see what it was and where it was coming from.  When they came into view coming down the ramp from the top level of the garage…  6 – 8 of them…  College Students…  On various wheeled apparatuses… Dressed in full costumes from Mario Brothers!  It was truly a sight to behold!  Mario and Luigi were in rolling office chairs.  Toad riding the back of a grocery cart.  Princess Peach – in a full length pink tutu - on a small red Radio Flyer tricycle.  Donkey Kong (in a full gorilla costume with a neck tie.  In this 103 degree heat!) in a yellow garden cart with big wheels.  And Yoshi perched atop a Little Tykes Cozy Coupe car!  They even had a red box with a question mark painted on it that they were aiming for!  The first time we were simply shocked and amused.  We watched them push their carts back up the parking garage ramp, and ready themselves to do it again.  The second time, we really laughed with them – this was hilarious!  Somewhere around the 3^rd, 4^th or 5^th trip down, we got out our phones to film it and a camera to take pictures.  We were trying to remain a bit inconspicuous, although they probably didn’t care one way or the other if we documented it!  One girl’s sole job was to capture it all on film!  So, here is what we got:

We retold the story when we went back to our friends’ house to pick up our children.  The wife said, “This kind of thing would only happen to you guys!”  So true!  If you are scouring youtube and come across more footage, please be sure to share it with us.  We had a blast living vicariously through them, and it made for a date night we will never forget!  And, we will probably try the private drive in thing again.  It worked out really well – once Mario and his friends quit rumbling down the ramp! And aside from the noise pigeons who call the garage home…

Later in the week we take on all the other kids from the group in our home so the other couples can get a date night in.  We think we’ll have about 13 kids in our house.  Should be LOUD!

Edited to add: I made a follow up post - WITH VIDEO PROOF!