Oklahoma

Jess's football team made the National Championship Game in Oklahoma on July 31st. We packed up the van, picked up Tanner, and headed to Tulsa. The girls did awesome on the 8 hour trip. No crying from either one and Ellie had no accidents!

We arrived in Tulsa about 8 pm and it was 100 degrees! We quickly checked into our hotel which was a very crappy hotel. Our air barely worked and one of our beds was leaning. But we were tired and the rest of the team had yet to arrive.

Although we were hoping for a great game, Jess unfortunately ended his semi pro career the same way he ended his high school career. They lost 52-10. We have met great friends through his days of playin g football and I am so glad he decided to do this but I must admit I am more than happy that this part of our life is over. it took so much time and we had NO time for any family time. He had practice 2-4 days a week and then the games pretty much took up most of the weekends.

I look forward to all the things we will be able to do next summer, including watching the team with him sitting next to me :)

Pictures to come

Shrine Bowl

My brother Louie was selected to play in the Shrine Bowl this year. This is a great honor as it is an all star game for high school senior football players. And becasue he is the "baby" of the family we went all out and made shirts, tailgated and all that goes with it.

I was disappointed that the coach would choose him to be on defense hoping he would intercept the ball and the other team did not pass theentire time louie was in. So he had 3 big hits for losses and then they NEVER ran to his side again. You would think the leading rusher in the state of Iowa in class A would get to play running back but whatever! Even though his team lost we are proud of him.

He is now off to college at Grand View and will play football this fall. I am excited to watch him in a new stage of his life but sad he will no longer be a Madrid Tiger. Words cannot describe how incredibly proud I am of him of him with every accomplishment he has received. And I am looking forward to all of the future accomplishments :)

Happy Late Birthday!

I didnt post then but I want to make sure I document their birthdays.

On July 17 (their actual birthday) we had a big carnival birthday party. We had games set up and had lots of prizes to be won. We rented a cotton candy machine (yummy!) and borrowed a popcorn popper. The kids loved having these treats. (ok mom and dad did too!) Well in true Iowa fashion it was HOT and HUMID! So after lunch we broke out the water toys and cooled off a little. Ellie had a blast and her and Jayce talked about it for days afterward

summer of swag!

I know I have shared about swagbucks before but I am goign to urge all of you to really look into it. It is awesome! I have earned $100 in amazon gift cards in less than 6 months! How did I do this you ask?
well I signed up free of charge to a wonderful website called swagbucks.com and use theri search engine to go to my everyday sites that I visit frequently and also for anything I want to search. So my facebook, gmail, farmville, aol, blogger, etc. addiction has earned me swagbucks with winning on random searches. They also randomly offer codes that you search for and you can grab those to make your swagbucks jump even higher! As your sb (swagbucks) add up you can shop in the swagstore to redeem for great prizes, $5 amazon gift cards is my prize of choice. I really wanted a Kindle but it is just not attainable in our budget but swagbucks has made me almost enough to get one!

On Monday they are kicking off the Summer of Swag! They are going to have a five code day of extravaganza! What a fun way to make your sb jump super fast! Also they are going to offer a new high end bill ever day next week. Every 7th person will win that big bill so your chancves of winning big are increased!

Once you have an account you will love it so much you will get others to sign up using your referral code and you can earn from their searches as well. And because they are so very kind and want more people to sign up for swagbucks they have offered a code to new members through June 11. Just give the code SUMMEROFSWAG (case sensitive) when you sign up and you will get an extra 20sb!

Just click on the link and get started today! So many of my friends who have signed up wish they would have done it a lot sooner. We spend time on the internet anyways we might as well be earning something while we do it!

http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/sampooh

All smiles

Hadley looks like this 99% of the time. She is such a happy happy girl. I wouldnt say baby because she is growing up so fast. She is very close to walking and if she would just drop her fear she would be good to go! She walks along anything in reach and can now go from one thing to the next. She loves her daddy. Her eyes just light up when he walks in the door. She still only says dada and hi! Although she can sign dog and eat.

Her eyes light up when she smiles and her giggle is infectious! She loves food and could drink water/juice all day long. She has learned to scream and she lets you know if she isnt happy. She is leary around strangers but loves her cousins and close family. She is so much fun and I look forward to all the fun times to come!

A says ah, b says buh

This is what our world revolves around. Ellie is obsessed with the alphbet and the sounds they make. She now knows all her uppercase letters and most of the lower (she sometimes gets caught up on few but other times remembers them) and she knows all the sounds each letter makes. You can give her a random letter and she can tell you what it sounds like and some words that start with that letter.

Our new task is to start on the sight word list. I plan on making go fish/memory card games with the sight words to make it fun. I have always said I want her to know how to read before going to kindergarten and I really see that happening. She loves books and is so smart that I think she will pick it up very quickly! It is amazing how fast she learns. I am hoping her love of books continues throughout her life. I love reading and find such joy in a good book.

Happy 3rd Birthday to Charlotte Jo

Last week May 18 was my niece Charlotte Jo's Birthday. She was born sleeping and we miss her dearly. We go out every year on her birthday to visit her grave and take pictures. I dont understand why God took her all too soon, but I sure wish she was here playing with Ellie and Jayce.

Happy 3rd birthday Charlotte! We love you and miss you!