Boy or Girl?

What will it be a boy or a girl?  I know what you are all thinking....and no I am not pregnant.  My cousin, Adrienne & Doug are expecting their first baby.  Tomorrow, Nov. 1st they will find out the gender of their little bundle.  WE (everyone here in MO) are so excited to find out.  Our family is kinda funny when it comes to the gender of a baby.  Of course our ultimate prayer is that the baby is healthy with 10 fingers and 10 toes but the gender is exciting.  I am not sure if you remember this post, or this post?  Basically, my mom's dad (PAPPY) was a widow when my mom and uncle were having their children.  When you say that he wanted a grandson that was an understatement. However he got 5 beautiful (if I do say so myself) grandaughters... Adrienne, Rachel, Jennifer, Hilary (me), and Megan.  He loved us and took good care of us.  However he never let us forget that he wanted a grandson to take on the WOOD name.  Our Pappy passed away over 18 years ago but he was such a character that he lives on in our families daily.  Let me bring you up to speed.

In January 2006 my sister had Elliott "WOOD" the first great-grandchild.  A BOY!  In Sept 2006 I had great-grandchild #2 a BOY.  In December 2009, my cousin Jennifer had a BOY! In May 2010, Rachel had another BOY!  Kinda funny huh?  Well now it is time for Great-Grandbaby #5.  Everyone is making bets on if Adrienne & Doug are going to have a BOY? 

Some of our family thinks that it is because Pappy would have 5 grandaughters and 5 great-grandsons.  Another joke is that we would have a basketball team of great-grandsons.  Personally, I think the "curse" believe me it's not really a curse..I love my little man and all of my nephews but I think the streak will be over and this baby will be a GIRL.  Let me just tell you now that if it is a GIRL. I will be going nuts with all the PINK!  I never get to purchase items for girls so you better believe I will be spoiling this little baby like crazy. Anyways tomorrow is the big ultrasound for Adrienne & Doug.  I don't think I will be able to sleep tonight!  I'm too excited! Check back on my blog tomorrow because I will let you know.....Adrienne you better text me or FB me as soon as you find out because I will not be able to contain myself.  Zachary is pulling for a BOY! Kevin thinks BOY! My guess is GIRL! 

Here are the proud parents!  Adrienne & Doug

We are so happy for you guys!  Good luck tomorrow!!! 

Tonights the Night!

Our family has created a very fun family tradition.  For the past four years we have had a pumpkin carving championship between each of our individual families.  You can see last years pumpkins HERE.  Well, tonight is the night when carve our pumpkins.  Here are a few of the rules:

1.  All carving has to be done at Grammy & Pops house. Any prep work can be done (painting, gathering props, etc) prior to the event but the pumpkin has to arrive as a solid.

2.  You have to get your pumpkin finished before the end of the night.  We usually start at 5:00 ish and end around 10 pm.

3.  Everyone gets to vote...including our specials judges Kelli, Kelley, Jason, Jacinda, and their friends.  We usually try to have the judges vote prior to learning who's pumpkin is who. 

4. The pumpkin with the most votes wins. 

You might ask what the prize is...well it is a family photo frame trophy that you get to display in your house for an entire year and the TITLE of pumpkin champion.  Really it is just an excuse to get together and have some good. clean fun.

Well, come back on November 2nd to see our 2010 pumpkins and find out the winner!

Elliott the Soccer Star

A couple Saturday's ago Zachary & I had the pleasure of going to one of Elliott's Soccer games.  What a joy that was!  Elliott was a hoot! He cared more about us on the sidelines than he did about the sport.  Let's just say he is just like is mama...he loves being on the stage.  My heart smiled seeing him out on the field.

 Z, Jerrytt, and me being Elliotts cheerleaders

 They rotate Elliotts team in and out for each quarter.  Elliott loved sitting on the sidelines with Z. Gosh they are so funny to watch together.

 Z & I picked up Krispy Kremes on our way to the game.  E was thrilled

 Best Friends!  Look at this pair.  I love them more than they will ever know! 

It was such a fun morning cheering on my nephew Elliott.

Z's 4th Birthday Party

Well, it's almost been a month since Z's birthday but I am finally getting to post about it. Z wanted to have his party at Incredible Pizza this year. It was perfect because I did nothing! No cleaning, no cooking, nothing. We had the best time with Zachary's friends and their parents. Here's just a few pics from the night.

Here's Z's Diego Cake

Z with his four grandparents...Grams, Pops, Pawpa, Mawma and the birthday cheese boy

 Eating pizza with one of his best buds, Drew

 Most of the kiddos eating pizza

 Zachary with his Uncle Matt....to say he loves Uncle Matt is an understatement...HE ADORES Uncle Matt.

 Making a Wish

 We had a race...Z did not technically win..but the birthday boy got to take a victory lap

 Here's Julie with Diego...not sure if that is Drew or Rhett but these masks are why Zachary wanted a Diego party to begin with.

 WE can't believe he's already FOUR!  Happy Birthday Z!

 I have a ton of pictures that my sweet friend Lori took of Z opening his presents. This one is my favorite. It's a little blurry but it is of Z opening a stuffed "bubba" aka Bulldog that my parents gave him that went with a vet clinic.  He loved it and so did all the other kids.

 Our sweet friend Kaylee also was born on Sept 28th (one year later) so Z wanted to give his birthday buddy a little present at his party.

I love hosting parties because it is a great excuse to get together with our family and closest friends.  We are so blessed to be surrounded by great families with great children. My only regret is that I did not get a group picture of everyone.  :(

Old friends with children

I grew up with a handful of TRUE friends.  These friends were also my sisters friends.  We were in the same youth group at church and we all did everything together.  It didn't matter what it was we were always together.  These friends were there for me whenever I needed. I could always count on them, trust them, and worship with them.  The guys were kinda like big brothers to me.  The girls were like sisters to me.  Even though it has been since the 1990's that we all became friends we still have that youth group bond.  Because of these friends, I grew up in a "safe" environment free from drugs or alcohol.  We were all good kids.  Of course there was the occasional prank of T.P.'ing our parents houses or scaring our youth minister but we really were good kids and the best of friends. 

Currently we are all over the USA (and Germany...PJ's this is you).  Recently we had a little get together at the McCarty's house because Tom & Beth were home.  It's funny because instead of going out to eat or playing pool downtown we are all chasing our children around.  Unfortunately, my sister and her kids couldn't make it because of work. Another funny is that I have no pictures of the parents. Just the kids. 

Here's Charley (Mel & Wasson's) with Aiden (Tom & Beths)

Here's Zachary and Aiden. Z had some issues sharing the baby toys. 

 Kiersten & Sydney (Tom's wonderful sister...isn't she beautiful!)

 Three kiddos at play with all of Barb's toys.

 It was great to get together with old friends. Unfortunately it doesn't happen like it used too but I will enjoy all the moments as they happen. 

Hunting with my Love

About six months ago my wonderful husband & I were having a conversation about our hobbies.  My hobbies consist of blogging, scrapbooking, and hanging out with my girlfriends. His hobbies consist of hunting, fishing, skeet shooting, and fantasy football.  I love my hobbies but right now have put a lot of them on hold...except blogging because I have very little time for ME. I have time but when I get to that time I always feel like I should be taking care of our 4 year old or that I need to be cleaning our house, etc.  I'm not complaining at all. I know that one of these days I will be an empty nester and I will have plenty of time to go on scrapbooking weekends and stuff like that. So for this season in my life I am okay with not really doing any hobbies. This is what we were discussing. Then he pops the question....why don't you like to hunt? I told him I had never been but if I was going to have a night free with a babysitter hunting was not what I would be wanting to do.  He got it but I could tell that he really wanted me to go with him....just once. So that is what  I did. I told him I would go. Well I kept my word.  On Saturday Sept 16th I went hunting with Kevin.  It was seriously the hottest day of the year.  My in-laws kept Z so I had nothing to worry about. 

Here is a picture from our truck.  The tree stand was about a mile & a half away from the truck.  If you can see the trees beyond the cornfield we were way back there in the back.

Here is Kevin getting is bow ready

Here I am getting ready to hike a mile & half to our "huntin' spot". For all of you non-hunters out there I must explain....my husband is Mr. Safety.  He purchased me a harness to wear so that I would not fall out of the double treestand.  Let me just say this harness was the HOTTEST thing!

Here I am modeling the pack with the tree stand chair covers.

Kevin went first. He would keep looking back at me to make sure I was ok. To be honest in my head I was not the happiest girl. All I could think about is how we could have been out at a nice restaurant and a movie but instead we were hiking to hunt.  I kept smiling knowing that I was about to be awarded "WIFE OF THE YEAR" for doing this.  That's what kept me going....and well the smile on Kevin's face helped too.

When we arrived at the stand I climbed up it first with the safety harness engaged.  As soon as I got up there I noticed TWO deer. I couldn't believe it. The plan was if I saw a deer I had to poke Kevin. Mind you no noise, movement, etc.  What was I supposed to do if he was still on the ground?  I looked at him and put up two fingets and pointed at them. He gave me this look like I was totally joking.  Then he saw them.  Because it was about 4 in the afternoon and we were sweating like pigs we did not expect to see anything for at least 2 hours.  We watched them for about 2 minutes until one of them started snorting.  Scared me to pieces.  Quickly Kevin climbed up the stand and we were getting things situated when I looked up and saw a 6 point buck.  I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT!  Kevin has been numerous times in the woods and never saw anything.  I had brought a book to read and I never got it out. It was so exciting!  Kevin took a shot at the buck with his arrow. I was FOR SURE that he got it. Again in the thoughts in my mind were spinning....
GREAT! He got a buck, we can get out of here, we can be home by 6 pm, get cleaned up and go out to dinner. 
That is what I was thinking.  So we climbed back down the treestand. Mind you we had only been up there a maximum of 6 minutes and it was about 4:20 p.m.  I was elated. Kevin was pumped because he thought he had his first buck. 

We walked over to the arrow and it was in a pile of dirt. No blood, nothing.  I MEAN NOTHING was on this arrow.  He missed the BUCK.  Both of us were so disappointed.  He was bummed because he was thinking...
I got a buck, I got a buck, I can make deer jerky, I can't wait to show my dad & my friends.
Again I was bummed because I was thinking...
Oh man, we can't go out to dinner, we will be here the rest of the night, etc.

Knowing that he missed the buck completely was a relieft too because I knew that he did not harm an innocent animal. We decided to hop back in the stand. We saw nothing else the rest of the night. I was totally into it. 

Here's Kevin climbing down the stand

Here I am when we decided we had had enough.  It was dark and we knew our chances of getting something was over. **Note I was just holding Kevin's bow as a prop. I do not have my hunters saftey permit. I just wanted to look cool.

Kev's bummed but so thrilled that I went with him. He told me I was his good luck charm. 

WIFE OF THE YEAR getting ready to walk back to the truck. I must say it did feel good walking back without a huge deer to drag home.


I will say this....we honestly had a wonderful time together. I can honestly say that we have never had a date night like this. Thanks to Ruey & Freddy for allowing Kevin to hunt on their land.

Colorado Mini-Trip Day 4

On our last day at the Broadmoor I woke up early. Not really "early" but my family was still sleeping. I thought bonus. I jumped up, threw on work-out clothes, grabbed my ipod, and left the room.  Note to all those who are concerned...my sweet husband woke up so I told him I was leaving and he said, "take your time and bring back coffee." Ha!  Anyways, I cranked up my worship songs and went on a walk around the grounds of the Broadmoor hotel.  I saw many little piece of heaven during my peace & quiet.  Geez, it was beautiful! I felt refreshed, revived, and rejuvenated and it was all because I was breathing fresh Colorado air, looking at the most beautiful setting, and listening to the best praise & worship on my ipod.  It is a moment that I will be forever grateful for.  Her are just a few sights around our resort.  Unfortunately my pictures do not do this resort justice so if you want to see more just check out their website.

http://www.broadmoor.com/colorado-springs-resort.php

Here is a picture from our bedroom

While on my walk I looped around the walking trail which was about 1 mile around the grounds of the entire resort.Here are the pics.

 Outside around the pond

 This is a view from the end of the infinity outdoor pool.  There were several guest who enjoyed the outdoor pool but we only swam in the indoor one.

The pirate ship playground...Z loved this.

I loved these brozed statues of these 4 children. It reminded me of when my sister & I were little. We would visit family in Ohio.  The highlight of our time with Becky & Peter would be a 4 man musical parade for our parents. 

 View of the mountians

 View as you enter the resort

 Beautiful flower beds.

 Valet Parking

So that was my my walk. I returned back at our room with coffee and packed up.  We headed to Denver for a morning of shopping before we headed back to their airport.  Kevin, Zachary, & I had a great mini-vacaction!

 This is our last picture from our trip....our flight kept getting delayed so we went into a restaurant to eat.  Z plopped himself in front of the window to watch the planes.  He sat there for over two hours while we watched the Arkansas VS Alabama game.  He was so tired and so good.

Another funny about our trip was we flew out to Colorado with our "Aunt" Renee.  On our return trip home we flew back with our "Uncle" Mike.  This was a huge surprise for all of us.  Zachary thought it was PERFECT!

We had a WONDERFUL trip! So thankful that we made it home safely. 

Colorado Mini-trip Day 2 3/4 and 3

So after a wonderful. long day at the zoo we hopped in our rental car to check out Garden of the Gods.  What a beautiful place!  Zachary was bummed he couldn't climb on them but we enjoyed the scenery.

 On our first night in town we found a Whole Foods!  Boy, do I wish we had one in our neck of the woods.  We stocked up on breakfast items, fresh fruit, and snacks for our hotel room.  While we were there on our first night, Zachary found what he called "MONSTER MILK". Neither Kevin or I saw them but Zachary talked about them from that first visit until we returned to the grocery store for trip #2.  We were out of fruit and healthy snacks so after Garden of the Gods we went back to Whole Foods. The 20 minute ride Z chattered in the back seat about "MONSTER MILK". Again we had no idea what he was talking about.  So when he lead us to the "orange yogart in a neat container" we HAD to get "MONSTER MILK".  Funny thing about it was when I opened up the yogart it "spit" a ton of yogurt in my face, eye, neck, etc. I was covered in the yucky smelling substance.  Z thought it was hilarious.  When Z finally got to eat it he didn't like it.  So the hype was all about the packaging.  Which I might add was pretty cool because all you had to do was twist of the lid (remember do not aim at your face) and eat. No spoon required.  So without further ado here is Z with his must have purchase from Whole Foods.

 We also hit a Dicks.Sporting.Goods. We were just browsing and enjoying not being in a rush about anything. Z spotted the punching bag so we let him burn off a little bit of extra energy.

 After Dick's, we went to a local brewery that was playing college football all over the place.  I was impressed with their kids meal selection.  Isn't it terrible but that is what I look for when selecting a place to eat?  We wanted to eat at places that we did not have in our area.  We chose Rock Bottom.  Good choice on our part. I had a steak, salad, and veggies. Zachary chose the Make-Your-Own Pizza. It was awesome!  The waiter brought out sauce, cheese, pepperoni, and dough. Z made the pizza his way and then the waiter returned to pick up his creation.  Within 15 minutes Z's pizza came back and HE LOVED IT!  Snaps to this place for keeping Zachary busy so that Kevin and I could have a "normal" conversation.

 Here is Z with his pizza before it was baked. He was so proud.

 So I am finally on to day 3....Kevin had class until 11:30 so Z and I just enjoyed the luxury of our hotel bedroom until Kevin returned.  Then we went on a Cog Railway Tour to Pikes Peak.  I don't think I have mentioned that the conference that we were at was 99% adults. Its funny because you never know if people are going to bring their kids or not.  This time everyone left their kids at home.  So Zachary was the ONLY kid at the conference "family" activities.  You might think this was a bad thing but it wasn't. Everyone (resort staff, concierge, other conference attendees, etc) LOVED Zachary, knew Zachary, and treated Zachary like he was a king.  He was SO well behaved that people were stopping us commenting how awesome Zachary is. I think he was so good because Kevin told him if he wasn't good he would be sent home like all the other kids.  Terrible I know!  But it worked.  Z was amazing because he didn't want to get sent home.

Here is Z & Kevin on the Cog Railway headed up 14, 000 feet to Pikes Peak

 At the top....I love this pic because I was so NERVOUS that Z was going to fall off the mountain. As soon as he got off the train he ran to pick up the snow.

 Zachary & Me throwing snowballs at Kevin

 The tourist photo opportunity at the top

 This was what we rode in the entire way up and back

 I had to include this photo too. Zachary was playing in the snow and his hands got super cold. He started crying because he needed gloves because his hands were freezing. 

 Another family pic at the top of the mountian

 Coming back down. Z got a bear that was drinking his chocolate milk.  Again look there are no other children on the train. 

 After Pike's Peak we met up with our dear friends Jennifer & Neil at the resort.  Zachary just hopped on Neil's back and was ready to play. I felt bad because Neil & Jennifer left their three kiddos at home and were enjoying the joys of an adult vacation.  However Neil did not mind one bit because he was missing his kids and he loved picking on Zachary.

While Zachary & Neil played in the lobby...Jennifer and I were deciding on where we should go for dinner. It really did not matter where we went because we just wanted to hang out with each other and catch up.   Kevin & Neil were in residency together. We love spending time with eachother's families and one another.  Jennifer & I picked the eating establishment because Neil & Kevin love German food.  So we went to a German restaurant.  It was yummy! After we were seated a German "band" came over to sing to us.  Little did I know they would hang out at our table forever. HA!

Please remember I am using a TERRIBLE camera.  The German place was poorly lit and the camera (with a flash) was a terrible so this is what I got. Mind you this was after editing the exposures.  O'well.  I guess this is what you get when you leave your battery at home. :)

Here's an adult only picture taken by Zachary.

Hil, Kevin, Neil, & Jennifer

 It was 2 days before Z's birthday and the waiters suprised him with dessert.  Z was thrilled so thrilled that he wanted to take a picture of his cake with Ms. Jennifer's phone.
 Our final group picture. Again it is terrible but at least we have something, right?