8 is Great!

I can't believe the summer is gone and I didn't blog once! I'm a really bad blogger but I do want to catch up. We had so much fun over the summer. It seams like we never stopped. Since we celebrated 3 birthdays this summer, I want to dedicate a blog for each of the kids to let you know about their birthday and all the fun they had over the summer and how each of them are growing up.


Dalton's birthday came first. July 3rd he turned 8! We took a family trip with friends to Sesame Place. Dalton brought a special friend with him. We had a blast at Sesame Place. All the kids really enjoyed the rides and seeing all the characters. Dalton and his friend Kevin were able to ride the float during the Sesame Street Parade!

Dalton chose Chili's for his birthday dinner. Yum! We followed with a Hot Wheel Cupcake Cake.
Bubba and Sissy showing some sibling love! Dalton's favorite gift was his Nintendo DSI. We've had to put some major time limits on it!
Dalton and Elmo!
Dalton and his friend Kevin with Cookie Monster.
So what else did Dalton do this summer? He spent four weeks in Oklahoma and went for the first time to Kids Camp at Turner Falls. He was so excited about going to camp but I was so nervous. I kept telling him that he needed to remember to take a shower every day, etc.... because there would not be a momma there to tell him to always do those things! lol! Anyway he survived and had a really good time. We really missed him while he and Lyric were in Oklahoma. The house was really quiet without them. In August Dustin, I, and Samara traveled to Oklahoma to visit family and pick up Dalton and Lyric. I will hopefully post a separate blog about that trip. But I should note that Dalton went golfing with Dustin for the first time while in Oklahoma.

So we all returned home with about 1 month before school started back. During this time we did a lot of swimming which Dalton loves. He also spent lots of time with Dustin doing "man" things! Dustin let him stay up late with him one night to watch a UFC fight. I wasn't overly excited about that but I don't think Dalton lasted until the end anyway. He has really grown this summer and continues to mature out of the little kid stage. He is a great help and plays well with both of his sisters. He is a true saver and has saved over $70 from gifts and the tooth fairy this past year. Although he is a saver he is also very quick to offer to give his money for any need. This is the sweetest part of Dalton. He is always concerned about others. Dalton picked out a camouflage backpack and lunch bag to start 3rd grade. I don't know exactly why but maybe it is because they had an army theme at the kids camp he went to.

Dalton loves math and science and is already asking to go to space camp when he is old enough. He says he wants to be a pilot or astronaut when he grows up. Dalton also started learning to play the drums at church. He is still just a little bit small! Dalton had his eyes checked a few weeks ago and he no longer has to wear glasses to read. Woohoo! No more keeping up with glasses and fixing them with tape when he breaks them.

I'm so thankful for Dalton and his sweet nature. He is a blessing to our family. Looking forward to all the new things that come with being 8!

June...."Where Have You Gone?"

I thought I should probably post about June before July was officially here as I know my blogging time will become even shorter. Isn't this baby girl so cute? Even with the spaghetti face! I love, love, love her!!!!

She got her first hair cut this past month. She really didn't need it other than her bangs were hanging in front of her eyes, but the hairdresser trimmed up the rest in hopes it would help her hair to grow in fuller. It worked! Her hair has really grown in since then. She sat up so big and never made a sound.

We spent many of our free days in June at friends swimming and playing in the sun!

Dustin and I celebrated our 11th Anniversary. We spent the evening on a dinner cruise on the East River and Hudson River. It was very romantic and we had a great time. I'm blessed to have Dustin as my husband and this past year has really been one of the best. It has been a year of new beginnings and peace. I can't wait to see what is in store this next year.


Our yummy dessert that was awaiting us after spending time on the back of the boat.
I didn't get a picture but do you remember when I posted about the jog-a-thon the kids had at school. Well, Dalton came home with a first place trophy for the most laps jogged for the entire second grade. I think we may see track in his future! He really enjoyed it and we are so proud of him. Way to go Dalton! Lyric also received a third place ribbon for the most laps in Pre-K. I guess all that energy has paid off!

More to come....

June Part 2

June was also a time of accidents. Lyric "Miss Grace herself" had several bad falls. She fell down our driveway which is on a slope and skinned up her entire body and got a nasty bump on her head. About the time the bruise on her head was almost gone she ran into a tv stand at school and had a worse bump in the exact same place as the first. Picture above is from the second bump. About another week went by and she fell down our friends driveway and currently has large scabs on her knees that seem to constantly bleed no matter what we do because she won't leave them alone. I can not tell you how many times we have told her to slow down, watch where she is going, etc.
Samara must have been jealous of all the attention on Lyric and this past weekend she took a horrible fall down the stairs at our friends' house. Once again God had is hand of protection on her. We could barely find a scratch or bruise. She cried for about 10 minutes and then acted as if nothing had ever happened.
One weekend we spent the day at a nearby beach, Orchard beach. It was a great day of family time. Samara was scared of the sand and would cry when we put her down or tried to get her to come off of the towels. Finally near the end of the day we were able to get her to play in the water and then she didn't want to leave. The kids played in the sand, found seashells and other live things. It was such a fun relaxing time!


Dustin dug out this extremely deep hole and this is a picture of Lyric standing up in the hole.
Lyric graduated Pre-K last week. She looked absolutely beautiful in her fluffy pink dress and yellow graduation hat! They had a Hawaiian theme and it was so cute. Lyric received an award for reading the 3rd most books for the year and for being an energetic teacher! She loves to play school and is always the teacher. She tells me that she wants to be a ballet teacher when she gets big!



There was a Greek festival in our neighborhood last week and we took the kids one evening. We ate gyros, corn on the cob, chicken on a stick, and loukoumades. It was so good. They also had carnival games and rides. Samara rode her first ride and I was so nervous as she normally starts screaming any time we put her on the car rides in stores. But this night she had her best buddy Marcus by her side and they did so well! She sat up so big and held on where she was supposed to and eventually she even started waving. My baby girl is definitely growing up!
This is her writing with a pen in Daddy's classroom one morning before school started. She loved going to school and seeing her Iris and all her little friends. I'm sure she will miss them this summer.


So school is now officially out and I am so glad. I love not having to get the kids to bed extra early or having to get them up early every morning. I'm so blessed that I can leave for work every morning knowing they are well taken care of by their dad in their own home. In just a few day we will be in July and so much will be going on. Hope I can share with you more often but I'm not making any promises.

What We've Been Up To....

This month has been busy as usual. Three kids tend to keep it that way. Everyone is getting ready for summer and school will be out in just a month. It feels strange to have the kids in school for the month of June. There are end of the year field trips which have really kept Dustin busy. I think he has gone on more field trips in the past few weeks than I went on a lifetime! He loves it though. The only negative is that most of them have been to Pennsylvania and they don't usually return until 9:00 p.m. We have been missing our daddy in the evenings and daddy is getting tired really fast.Speaking of field trips, Lyric's class took a field trip to ChuckECheese last week. I took off work to go with them. She had a blast! Dalton and Lyric are both continuing to do so well in school. Dalton took the state tests last week and Lyric was tested for Kindergarten. We don't have any results yet but I know both of them did well.

Last weekend our youth group came to the Bronx to help us all work on Pastor David and Cindy's yard. The girls stayed the nights at our house and both Lyric and Samara loved it! They were totally spoiled! Dalton was also excited that he got to spend Friday night with the guys at Pastor Rob's. He's only 7 but loves getting to hang out with the big guys. We got lots of work done on Pastor's yard but we were totally exhausted when Sunday rolled around.

Two weeks ago Deidre and I were treated by her mom to a day at the spa to celebrate our 30th birthdays! We spent the day at the Spa Castle with a group of ladies from our church. It was completely amazing. I have never been to a place like this and I highly recommend it. There were many different hot tubs, pools, saunas, and any type of massage, manicure, pedicure, or scrub you could imagine. I was so blessed to enjoy a day of total relaxation! Dustin and the kids enjoyed a day at home with a trip to the park.

Yesterday the weather was beautiful! We took the kids for a walk in the park following dinner. It was a wonderful evening and the kids had so much fun. Dustin taught Dalton a new trick on his scooter and I just knew Dalton was going to fall and hit his head (he didn't). However Lyric ended up with a scraped knee and Samara smashed her finger in the stroller. So when we got home it was bath time and then we had to doctor all the booboos.


Samara is growing like a weed and repeating everything we say. Her favorite thing to say last night was "That's gross!" Thanks to Lyric we heard that no less than 50 times. So that sums up our last few weeks. The last month of school ahead and much to look forward too!

Before I was a Mom...

Before I was a Mom,
I had never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not
my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on,
Pooped on,
Chewed on,
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know that feeling of
having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel
to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment,
or the satisfaction of being a mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much
before I was a mom.

I had a wonderful mother's day! I am so blessed to have a wonderful mother and wonderful children! I can't imagine my life without them! The kids got me all kinds of goodies from their school. Dustin gave me flowers and chocolate! I am so spoilt! Dalton gave me this card he made at school. It melted my heart. He is so sweet!

Jog-A-Thon

The kids school had a jog-a-thon last Friday. It is their fundraiser. I was glad I was able to attend. They had a great time and did a great job.


Lyric jogged 25 laps around the gym.








Lyric after she was done.








Dalton jogged 14 laps around the track. I was pretty impressed. It was a beautiful day and I'm so glad I got to spend it with them.

Girls Trip!

The girls and I took a surprise trip a little over a week ago. My mom's family took a girls trip to Branson and we decided to join them. We kept it a secret for 3 months! Mom found out only a couple of days before the trip. We flew into OKC on a Friday morning to meet up with everyone and then we traveled to Branson all together. Road tripping with 16 women can be an experience! We had such a great time and it was well worth it to have moments such as this.

And This...

And this....

God is doing some amazing things in my sister's life. I'm so glad he gave us this weekend to enjoy each other and start a new reconciliation. I'm excited about what is in store!

We did so much in the little amount of time we were there. We saw the Sight & Sound musical of Noah. It was great and the kids loved all the animals. We also went to Silver Dollar City!
Riding the train.Samara had so much fun playing in the kids water area. She was totally soaked. The expressions on her face everytime she would get sprayed with water was priceless.




We also stayed up late, ate lots of food, and spent time together. I got to see my grandma, my aunt Deanna from Colorado and several of my mom's cousins. Lyric was so excited to see Jessie! Jessie babysat for us when we lived in Mustang. Dalton and Lyric both love their Jessie.

We also took an old time photograph as a group. It was lots of fun to dress up. Both Lyric and Samara were prancing and twirling around in their dresses with the big hoops! Samara especially loved it when she found out she could hide under our dresses.


Look at that Lyric posing! She is a character. Kuper had had enough and crashed while waiting for the picture.

On Sunday we traveled back to OKC. The girls and I stayed with Tanner, Amanda, and Ava. Wish we had more time to visit with them. Ava and Samara played so well together. My dad and Cindy even came by to visit as they were in OKC celebrating their 3rd Anniversary! Monday morning we were able to visit Dustin's Aunt Tammy. She took us to the airport for our flight home. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family that always helps us. Love them so much!

One last sweet visit was waiting for us at the airport. Winnie was traveling back from China and she met us at our gate as she was leaving the airport. Shame on her for making me almost cry! I miss her so much and can't even explain what her and Keith mean to Dustin and I.

So that was our whirlwind of a trip. I'm so proud of Samara and Lyric. They were totally out of their routines, we traveled so much by plane and car, and we stayed up late every night but they were so well behaved! I love my girls! Can't wait until our next girls trip!

If you are wondering about the boys...well according to Dalton they were so glad us girls were gone because they got to stay up late, sleep in, eat whatever they wanted, and watch movies. I'm sure they also played video games and other "guy" things! They didn't seem to miss us too much!