Meet Bella

We had decided way back in January that we were ready to get a puppy.  We knew we were going to have to wait until at least after may, because we were going to make a trip to Iowa to go to Awesome guy's cousin's wedding and visit family.  There would be no place for a dog to go for 4 days so we waited.  Well may came and went and we still hadn't decided what kind of dog or anything.  Well we went to Michelle's house for the 4th of July and she had puppies for sell and we were thinking about getting one of her puppies.  Well Awesome guy decided to keep looking because he really wanted a big lazy dog.  He really like Blood hounds or Coonhound dogs. He looked and there was a breeder in Missouri for Bloodhounds and a breeder in Oklahoma for Coonhound.  So Awesome guy being the way awesome guy is decided to research to two and found out which would be the best breed for our family.  According to the research they both have ear problems because of how large their ears, you have to make sure they stay clean and that bloodhounds have more problems with their skin because it is really loose and they get dirt in the rolls.  Well we choose a coonhound puppy.  We got ahold of the breed and made a deposit and we decided that we would go get her in tulsa on the 16th of August. We let Big Boy pick out from the photos which on he wanted.  He picked a girl,  whose original name was Amy.  Awesome guy decided he liked the name Bella and Big boy liked it too.. I of course loved it because I'm obsessed with Twilight.  So I didn't my to-cents in, but we stuck with Bella!!!:)  So finally on the 16th, we drove down to Tulsa to meet up with the breeder and pick up our new puppy. 

We stayed in Tulsa for an hour or so big boy and bella could stretch and get to know each other before our 2 and a half hour drive home. She did so good on the way home she literally slept the whole way home,  we took her to the vet when we got home and he said she was very healthy!!  We have had her for a couple of weeks now and she is pretty much house broke and is doing great.  We are loving every minute of having her. She is going to be huge though but that's okay!

Swimming

So I had posted before how Big boy was afraid of water (not like baths, but like swimming).  Well he took swimming lessons last year, but he failed it, and all the instructor wrote was will not get over his fear of water.  To be honest it was very frustrating how scared he was of the water.  Well we worked with him little by little, and by the end of the summer,  he would get in with no problems and even go underwater but he had to be able to touch the bottom with his hand.  This year we decided not to put him into swimming lesson this year because he was still not willing to do what they would want him to do.  We took him swimming several time where it was just for fun, no pressure.  Over time he would get more comfortable, and he would swim underwater, as long as he could touch the bottom with his hand.  The pool where we live starts out from nothing and gets bigger.  So he mostly stayed in the little, little water.  Well we made him go into the water to 3 feet deep.  We knew that we were going to be making a trip to mumus with the family so we wanted him to go to 3 deep so he knew what it would be like in mumu's pool and he could touch so I knew he would be good. We go to mumu's and at first he just hangs out by the ladder and wouldn't do anything else besides go underwater by the ladder.  Well Saturday when the other kids showed up and they were going to go swimming big boy freaked out because mumu had added more water to the pool which made it deeper.  So we wigged out for a little while, then he got in and played for a while and then finally he let me put the floaties on him and he actually trusted them.  THEN he started swimming with them on and we would jump into the pool and by the end of the day he was swimming to the deep end with his floaties on!!!! I'm so proud of him.. I think next year we will probably put him into the swimming lessons again.  He such be ready by then. 

My own new adventures...

I was going back to school to become a teacher for either 1st grade or kindergarten.  I went through 3 semester's of school.  The longer I did it, the less I wanted to pursue this career.  I have always loved photography, even when I was little.  I took a photography class in high school and LOVED IT!!  Well recently I decided to change my major so I enroll in the Art Institution of Pittsburgh to get a Bachelor's degree in Photography.  My sister let me come on a photo shoot with her and second shoot it. The only problem I'm struggling with is the posing but I know what I am doing so I know I can do it. So I have a couple people lined up to start photographing and I'm really excited about it.  My Goal is to open my own photography studio and be able to quit my job and have my own business. 

Big Boy's new adventures

So... Seeings how I haven't posted in a very long time, there is a lot that has happened.  But I want to get back on track.  Big boy has done so much lately.  I'm so proud of him he is really coming out of his shell lately. 

Well as most of you know Awesome guy and I are HUGE fans of hockey!! So we watch every game that the Pittsburgh Penguins play and so Big boy has gotten really interested in it too.  Well we had always taken Big boy ice skating every year and he used to hate it when he was little but he has grown to enjoy it so Big Boy decided that he wanted to play hockey.  So we looked into it and in order to play hockey you have to know to ice skate!! Obviously!! So in January he started ice skating lessons,  there are 5 stages he has to pass before he is able to start the hockey training.  So far he has passed all of them we are currently on the last session and if next Tuesday he passes the class then he will be able to go into hockey training and then start playing actual games!!!  So wish us good luck!!

Big boy at his very first practice

At practice a couple of weeks ago...

Next adventure: Football

  Big boy has tried soccer-loves it wants to play more.

T-ball- liked it but we are waiting on an actual program in our community, right now they were just offering intro into t-ball,  in which they got to play a whole 6 games.

Hockey- working on it and is loving every minute of it. 

So... Starting in 1st grade, which is what grade Big boy is going to be in (tear)  they let you join football.  Now honestly I really never thought this would be something my son would be in.  He is a little guy and is a little scared of current things.  Well Awesome guy wants him to try everything at least once so that he really knows what he likes.  So football it is.. Well he hasn't started game yet,  they are just practicing.  Well the first week of practice it was way too hot for them to practice in full gear.  Well they started hitting about a week ago and amazing enough he still likes it.  I'm hoping that he will still like it after another team is hitting him.  But I'm one proud momma, he is always willing to try new sports.. He is my little MVP!!

Big Boy turns 6!!!!!

It is very hard to believe that on October 8th, my big boy turned 6 years old!!  The birthday like any birthday we celebrate for big boy is bittersweet.  It's sad because we have no intentions of having anymore children and I have my moments when I want a baby again. However I'm also excited about it because I can think of all the new and exciting activities and projects big boy will be able to do.

We took cupcakes to school for his friends to enjoy for his birthday.  I was on vacation during his birthday so we spent the day after school playing. The awesome guy, bigboy and I had a special birthday dinner at home.
That weekend we decided to let big boy have his first sleepover with all of his boy cousin's. Unfortunatly CDW was sick and wasn't able to spend the night but the rest were able to stay the night so they stayed up late watching movies. The next day we had his birthday party with the family at the rec center. Our rental house is just too small for our very large family!! Everyone seemed to have a great time. I still can't believe that he is 6!!

In Loving Memory.

The end of September was one of the hardest times in my life. I even now months later find myself searching for words, and still having to force back tears just trying to get it out...  But I felt that they needed to be honored, as these are two of the greatest women I have ever meant in my life and I am truely a better person to have them in my family and to be able to learn from both of them.

Well it all started when I recieved a call from my cousin "butthead fred", She was asking if we had heard anything and if my mom had heard anything, well my mom, awesomes guys mom and step-dad were all at my house for Big Boys grandparents day at the school and then he had a soccer game. Well I told her that mom was with me and she hadn't heard anything about anything, she said well Granny ( my mom's grandma) had fell at her house and they found her at least an hour later, and they were transporting her to a different hospital. My family all live in a pretty small town with a small hospital but they are pretty limited on what they can do. So they tranported her, and found out that she had, had a stroke and it wasn't looking good. That was on tuesday, and through out the week she didn't get better.  Well they ended up taking her off of everything and made her comfortable.

Thelma, "Granny", 96 of Columbus, Kan., passed away friday, Sept 25th, 2009 at the St. John's Medical Center in Joplin, Mo. Funeral services will be at 11a.m. Tuesday.

So on Monday my mom, bigboy and me all went to my mumu's house, that is where all the family were gathering. We started going through photos looking for photos of granny for her board at the funeral. I ran acrossed several photos of her flipping people off it was so funny. The veiwing was monday evening, there was a lot of people there, it really meant a lot to us as a family. The funeral was on Tuesday it was a nice service, One of my cousins stood up and spoke about granny the speech was very touching and it made all of us cry. Followed by a grave cite prayer.  Granny meant a lot to a lot of people and she will be missed, however she lived a very full life and she got her wish she was able to live at home her whole life and never had to stay at a nursing home.

My Granny was an awesome women, she was full of life,and really enjoyed going to the casinos. She was really funny and always spoke her mind! I love her more than anything, I wish that I would have been able to spend more time with her, however I have a lot of great memories.


Well wednesday afternoon we came home, mom dropped big boy and I off where awesome guy was waiting on us. So we spend the evening at home as a family. We go to bed around 10, because we both had to work the next day and Big boy had to go back to school and around midnight I get a call on my phone from my BIL and he asked to talk to awesome guy. Awesome guy's grandma has passed away.

Imogene Lee

Funeral service for Imogene Lee, age 84, formerly of Frederick, Oklahoma, of Wichita, Kansas, will be at 11:00 a.m. Monday, October 5, 2009, at the Burkhardt Chapel with Rev. Eric Snyder, pastor of First United Methodist Church, officiating. Imogene died Wednesday evening, September 30, 2009, at her home in Wichita, Kansas. Burial will be at the Frederick Memorial Cemetery under the direction of Orr Gray Gish Funeral Home.

She was born November 8, 1924, in Frederick, Oklahoma to W. B. (Buck) and Mary Neal Veteto Dutton. She attended Henderson (#3) and Wilson (#2) schools and graduated in 1942. On March 16, 1944, she was united in marriage to J. R.  To this union was born two children: Dennis R. and Janet K. In 1952, they moved to Downey, California, where they lived until J. R.’s death in 1965.

Imogene continued living in Downy and was later married to Cecil H. Lee on March 31, 1971. In 1974, she and Cecil moved back to Frederick where they continued their life together until Cecil’s death in 1996. In May 2000, she married Basil J. Query. They continued to live in Frederick until July of 2002, at which time they moved to Wichita, Kansas.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husbands: J. R, and Cecil H.; and her son: Dennis R.

She is survived by her husband: Basil, of the home; a daughter: Janet K. Limon and husband Jerry, of San Antonio, Texas; a brother: Jim Dutton and wife Joyce, of Frederick, Oklahoma; a daughter in law: Karen Chaput and husband Gary, of Marion, Kansas; seven grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

Now understand that awesome guy and I are not "married" however we have been together 7years so I love his family just like mine. We might as well be married so.. Losing his grandma was just as hard as losing granny.  She was a great woman, and she was very loved by all of her family. She left our family with a lot of wonderful memories. She will truely be missed.

I wear something from grandma jean everyday, everytime I look at my ring I think of her.  I just recently started wearing both parts. It helps me know that everything we do grandma jean is with us to enjoy it.

For both my grandmas I know they are in a better place now and are watching over us, and the rest of the family.  We will see them again.

Soccer time

Between september and october, Bigboy played another season of Soccer. He really had a lot of fun. Some of the games were cooler than he is used too. He did really good, He even scored his first goal. We were really proud of him, you could really tell that he had learned so much from last season, the british soccer camp, and the other soccer program he did over the summer.

Big boy suited up to be a goalie, all bundled up!

At practice before a game, scored a goal, and was excited.

Running with the ball!

Kick!!

Big boy's first goal you can't really see it well but he did it.

Big boy had a lot of fun playing fall soccer, he is going to tackle some different sports in the future as well as more soccer. It is really starting to look like I have a little sports star!! Such a proud mama!!

I Got Lost.....

Somewhere between the middle of September and now being the 2nd day of January I got lost in the stressed out to the max, craziness of my life.  There were some very hard times and some good times in the course of that time so now hopefully I gonna get caught up by going over the last 3 and a half months, and then keep going with the new year. Everyone keep your fingers crossed that I can find the time to keep this updated. Wish me luck........