Here's the whole pirate bunch!

Me hearty - my Aidan be 4!

I truly can't believe that my youngest is now 4 years old. Time cannot be halted when it comes to the growth of a little one. It is amazing and sometimes bittersweet.

Aidan is such a special part to our family.

He is:

* laughter we can't help but burst into daily from his funny antics and sayings

* the biggest smile we have in our family

* sleepless nights as he still won't stay in his own bed

* fun filled days, even if one of us is feeling down. You can't stay that way around him.

* his brother's best friend (declared by Luke himself!)

* our cats biggest adversary

* his grandma's favorite date for cookies and milk

* a sometimes short temper, usually followed by a long heart-felt hug

We had a pirate party for his 4th birthday, with only his "college" friends invited. So - no 4 year old, or anyone younger than 21 I guess. There were 3 college students and 2 college grads, plus Mom, Dad, and Luke of course. That forced Dail and I to develop a much more challenging treasure hunt - which I think became wildy successful. We divided them into teams, and they were running all over our yard and house to find the clues. Finally, Aidan, Ronnie, and Luke found the "loot". He also had a pirate cake, which as the first picture shows, he decided to devour prior to my even getting up in the morning. I walked into the kitchen only to find my unfrosted cake with 1/4 of it eaten!!!!! I quickly brainstormed and decided to fill the "hole" with pirates gold. So, that's my secret I've just told everyone! The day was quite a success, all in all, and his college friends had the best time. What a story this will make as he gets older! When he's 18, I wonder how old his party guests will be???

The *almost* whole group...20 years later

Here is the group shot at the park today!

Archer City 20th reunion

 

Dail's 20th high school reunion was this weekend - he had a small class of only 36 people, and nearly all of them came back for the festivities. Football game....social at the Royal Theatre...picnic in the park today. It was lots of fun! I myself, being shy with a sociology degree, enjoyed people watching - as well as meeting the people Dail grew up with, some of whom were with him from kindergarten through 12th grade!

13 years or 13 colonies?

Today is Dail's and my 13th anniversary! It's amazing to think of everything we've been through and done together in that amount of time...starting with being graduate students at Emporia State...to working together at Penn State...to moving to Texas and making MSU our university home...to adding two beautiful boys to our family...to this day. The happiness, the sadness, the laughter, the tears, the SLEEPLESS nights (oh yes and they still continue)....its been an awesome time. Thank you honey!

While I was at work at the CCC today, a woman brought a bouquet of 13 roses to me. Now isn't that the sweetest thing? But when I opened the card, it read "Happy Constitution Day". My Dail certainly does have his own strange sense of humor. Then when I texted him to thank him, he told me there were 13 flowers...one for each colony, not one for each year! Ha ha he's a goof, but that's why I love him!

Family Day

Today was Family Day at MSU - which is always a fun event for the whole family (he he thus the name!) Usually the face painting, bounce house, etc are all at MSU followed by a football game at the stadium later. This year, the entire event was held at the stadium - which was so convenient! We can just walk there! They had a band, mechanical bull riding, face painting, inflatable huge slide, and more. They boys had a blast - and then we went straight to the football game, which MSU won! Good day all around!

Aidan's dentist

If you have been a long time blog reader of mine, then you might remember about a year ago when I was so upset about Aidan having horrible teeth and eyes. In the same day, we learned he needed glasses AND the pediatric dentist we saw said he needed a root canal and 8 crowns!! Well, I'm glad to say that one year later, we have been working with a much more grounded, conservative dentist in Lawton, OK. Aidan has had 2 visits to him, and now today he had his first dental procedure. He was supposed to have 2 fillings and a cap, but it ended up being just 3 fillings. He was given oral sedation - and also as you know if you read my blogs, Aidan isn't very fond of sleeping. So while all the other children around us are conking out from their meds, Aidan is still very much wide awake when they come to get him. Shortly thereafter, we heard loud screams and Dail and I were sure it was Aidan. We sat in the waiting room with knots in our stomachs for quite a while. The screaming subsided, and about a hour later, the assistant emerged to bring us back to get our little guy. She carried our groggy boy out to us. She told us he did great- that he was only awake during the preparation, but he fell asleep for the actual procedure. I told her we heard screaming, and she assured us it wasn't him. Now we are at home, he's supposed to be sedentary the whole day, which is only possible if we let him watch TV 24/7. And, he's starving - poor guy - but is only supposed to have yogurt, milk, pudding, etc. He wants good solid food. Meanwhile, the tingly feeling has begun in his lips...he told me (in his slurred words) - "Mommy, they made something wrong with my mouth. It can't talk." :) He is drooling and rubbing his face on anything he can to get rid of that itchy feeling. But, as is always the case, he's no worse for wear. What a trooper!

Limo ride

Lately my life has been comprised of doing two jobs - both of which are fulfilling, but also take a great deal of time away from my family and friends lately. I barely talk to my parents once a week on the phone, my friends don't hear from me unless they are in the same office as me (and poor Ronnie and Danielle really only get to talk to me about work), and Luke and Aidan each declared last week that they wanted Mommy to quit her 2nd job! Sigh - enter GUILT into the room!

But - there was a small perk to all of this last Saturday night. The potential sorority women were having their "pref night" when they dress up in after 5 gowns and are taken, usually by limo, to houses where the sororities have one last chance to really win them over. All the ladies had left the Clark Student Center, and I was standing outside with Danielle talking to one of the limo drivers as they waited for their next round. I asked him if I ran home and brought my kids back up, would he give them a ride around campus. He said he'd do one better - he'd take me to my house in the limo, let us pick up the kids, and drive them back to MSU in the stretch Excursion limousine! So, Danielle and I loaded up into the limo and led him to our home. I tried calling Dail on the way there, and he never answered, so I was sure they might not even be home! Thankfully, when we pulled up, he was sweeping out the garage and the boys were in the house playing. I ran in, told them I had a big surprise for them, and to get their shoes on and hurry outside. They ran out and saw the limo and their jaws dropped. I grabbed Aidan's carseat, and in we went. I also asked the limo driver if mine was the first carseat in his limo - and he confirmed that he thought it was! :) So, they got to ride back to MSU - all the while commenting on the lights on the ceiling that kept changing color, how many seats it had (it held 20+ people!) and what kind of people usually rode in limos. My only regret is that I didn't get a picture of this grand event! But, I hope it will still be a memory that will last with my boys for a while. I know it made my heart smile. :)