Life is good...

Playing with kids, weather is great (a little windy, but no ice), and my husband spoils me rotten.

Need I say more?

Okay, I was wrong

I told you "more to come" of interesting and exciting things today. Not so much. I am keeping Hudson today so that has been fun!

He is so funny. First, he's a climber (as seen in the photo). He stands on his bike instead of riding it. Not so great on concrete floors. Although you see I snapped the picture before I grabbed him :) No casualties. Second, he is a HAM!!! If you tell him to say "CHEESE" he immediately puts a smile on his face and poses. Brett calls him Hambone!

We were sitting on the couch watching Tom & Jerry when I looked over and he was out!! I took this picture of him sleeping. Ahhh...isn't he sweet??

















Melt ice....MELT!!!!!
KB

Cabin Fever!!!!

TWO POSTS IN ONE DAY...I must be bored!

Okay, so....another day inside, and YES...I'm getting a little cabin fever. This morning before my husband went to work, I "guilted" him into going outside with me (and the two dogs):) to ride the sled down the driveway. Okay, I know...how old are we?? The poor dogs have been staring at me for DAYS! I had to do something with them. SO...we head outside, bundled up, with our sled, and Pudge keeps chasing us trying to get on the sled! haha How funny is that? I'm sure our neighbors thought we were crazy - but we were just bored. Hope you like the pics!!!

I'm sure more to come tomorrow...more cabin fever!!

Weather in Oklahoma

It's hard to believe last week (Thursday), it was 80 degrees - and yesterday and today, an ICE STORM! We couldn't get the white, beautiful snow...NO, it is ICE. Our poor plants are drooping, dogs don't want to venture outside, and the birds keep flying by the window wondering when we're going to thaw their water and give them fresh food. Pudge and Kiara just stand at the door when you open it - then they turn around and run the other way. They are definitely "indoor" dogs :) Except Kiara is a "momma's girl" - wherever I go, she goes (see photo:).

Here are a few pics we took this morning. Pretty, but a pain! I'm too active to be stuck here in the house. Yesterday I exercised for at least 3 hours! haha Brett bought me a new Exercise Bike so I've been riding while I read, listen to music, and watch tv.

Hope everyone is staying warm & dry! Enjoy it now - in a day or two it may be 70 degrees again! Ahhhh...golf weather :)

Being Thankful

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
`Melody Beattie`

Lazy Saturday....

Ever find yourself just sitting around doing nothing? I mean, you might be reading a book, watching tv, or listening to music - but nothing that requires any effort. That is our day today. It is bitter cold outside, the house is warm, and it is just the two of us. No plans, no errands, nothing.

Kind of nice for a change. Although, I worry if that was today - does that mean tomorrow we'll make up for it??? Probably not :).

Organization

My post today may be boring for some...well, most. But this is something we're really concentrating on with our children. In today's hectic world, it seems extremely important to be organized. Now, some who know me might say I'm a little "over-the-top". I sometimes plan days, even months in advance. But it drives me crazy when people use the excuse of being "laid back" or "not worrying about things" as why they are so scattered in life. Personally, I call it lazy. In today's corporate world being organized is a top priority. If you're not on top of your game and able to multi-task, you pretty much fall behind and someone passes you by.

We have started teaching our nine year old daughter to wake-up with an alarm clock, make her bed fist thing, then brush her teeth - before she does anything else. At first, she would do this about 50% of the time. Now, it has become habit. She is so proud of herself and will even remind us each morning that she has already accomplished these tasks. As she gets older, we will incorporate more responsibility so eventually these will become habit and she will become very independent. We are slowly doing the same with our six year old son. With age comes responsibility - but also with age comes privileges.

I found the article below online and thought it was interesting. Would love to hear feedback from those that read our blog. Sometimes I think I'm TOO organized (or obsessed):), but on the other side of things, I find that some people are dependent on others to take care of them due to their lack of organization.

Organization in sociology
In sociology "organization" is understood as planned, coordinated and purposeful action of human beings to construct or compile a common tangible or intangible product. This action is usually framed by formal membership and form (institutional rules). Sociology distinguishes the term organization into planned formal and unplanned informal (i.e. spontaneously formed) organizations. Sociology analyzes organizations in the first line from an institutional perspective. In this sense, organization is a permanent arrangement of elements. These elements and their actions are determined by rules so that a certain task can be fulfilled through a system of coordinated division of labor.

An organization is defined by the elements that are part of it (who belongs to the organization and who does not?), its communication (which elements communicate and how do they communicate?), its autonomy (Max Weber termed autonomy in this context: Autocephaly)(which changes are executed autonomously by the organization or its elements?) and its rules of action compared to outside events (what causes an organization to act as a collective actor?).

By coordinated and planned cooperation of the elements, the organization is able to solve tasks that lie beyond the abilities of the single elements. The price paid by the elements is the limitation of the degrees of freedom of the elements. Advantages of organizations are enhancement (more of the same), addition (combination of different features), and extension. Disadvantages can be inertness (through co-ordination) and loss of interaction.

Organization in management and organizational studies
Main article: Organizational studies
Management is interested in organization mainly from an instrumental point of view. For a company organization is a means to an end to achieve its goals.

Thoughts?

Update

Not much "exciting" going on in our lives right now. I keep sitting down at the computer trying to think of something interesting to write...and nothing. So I'll just write about a few things that have happened in our lives this week.

We have the kids this week - and are having a great time! This morning, I took Pierce to see a preview of the Dinosaur Exhibit that opens tonight at the Ford Center. He thought it was really cool and can't wait to go see ALL the dinosaurs tomorrow night.

Brett was off work Monday for MLK Day so we took the kids bowling. That was a lot of fun and both kids are really good! I think bowling on the Wii has helped but they are both highly competitive (like their parents :).

Last night we all watched the Inaugural Ball and American Idol. We had a lot of fun - Pierce BOO'ING the bad contestants. haha I will say, I am a little disappointed in American Idol this year. It used to be more of a "Family" show...we had to monitor what they could and could not watch. Too bad they've moved away from the family audience.

The kids asked a lot of questions about our newly elected President and his family. It was a lot of fun to watch it with them and be able to talk to them about it. Brett is really good about explaining things to the kids. We think it's really important for them to see the "good" in our President - even if he wasn't who we voted for. He IS our President now and hopefully everyone will rally around and support him. I'm sure we won't agree with everything he does but when have we agreed with everything a President has done? Toughest job in the world!

Hope everyone is having a great week and enjoying this beautiful weather. I don't know about you but I would really like for it to snow. Then warm up quickly so we can play golf :)

KB

God understands our prayers even when we can't find the words to say them.

New family member

For those of you who know us well, you know we love animals. We have Pudge (Bulldog), Kiara (Shih tzu), who turned 1 year old today!!! Goldie and Spot (Fire belly toads), Zorm (Betta fish), and our newest member.................................
DIVA the Dove!! Sierra got a new Dove and she is awesome! She is so sweet and tame. Who would have thought a bird would be a good pet? She let's you hold her, sits on your shoulder, and doesn't make noise.

Stay tuned, who knows what we will have next??

SO STINK'N CUTE!!

I know everyone thinks their children and grandchildren are the cutest...well, I'm sorry, but Hudson is the cutest baby I've ever seen! And to top it off, he is so darn funny!! No,the glasses aren't real - but I couldn't get him to take them off all day.

Sorry, just bragging on our grandson again.

A look back at 2008...

January 1, 2009. WOW, I can't believe it's already 2009. Last year (2008) was an interesting year for us. Below are a few things (month-by-month) that happened in our family. Again, this is just a glimpse of 2008. Hope you enjoy!

January: I was winding down my 18 year career at the newspaper. It was a hard time for me, leaving good friends and a history behind. Sierra revealed that she was told there was no Santa. She was sad, but relieved that she told us. Celebrated our 2 year anniversary in our house.

February: Last day at the paper - celebrated with co-workers. Spent an awesome Valentine's Day with my husband (limo, The Mantle, priceless...). Spent time with our Life Group (which we hosted at our house). Celebrated my mom's birthday.

March: Easter with Kids, Spring Break (first one ever home with kids). Went to Arizona with Brett on his annual President's Club trip. Stayed at a golf resort in Tucson and had a blast!











April: Went to Long Beach, CA with Brett for a medical conference. Beautiful scenery and great time together. Megan got married April 19th.












May: Had a wonderful Mother's Day with family. Brandon got engaged. Some of our dearest friends brought home their baby girl Shiloh from Guatemala. Spent Memorial Day with family honoring our loved ones that have passed. HUDSON'S BIRTHDAY!! Hudson turned 1 years old on May 29th. Celebrated with a Backyardigan's party in Megan's backyard.

















June: Celebrated my ?? birthday :) As always, my husband makes it a special day for me. Pierce learned to ride a bike and swim all in the month of June! Celebrated Father's Day with the special men in our lives. Community Pool opened, opened our pool and spent hours, upon hours outside swimming!






























July: Started playing golf with Brett. My new favorite sport and we are playing every chance we get! Sierra went to the lake with a friend over 4th of July so we just had Pierce. Had a fun 4th with neighbors and shot fireworks in our neighborhood (oops). Four years of wedding bliss. We celebrated our four year wedding anniversary (will take annual anniversary trip in September). Celebrated Brett's dads birthday










August: Celebrated Brett's birthday. Took a trip to Great Wolf Lodge with the kids. It was a quick trip, but we didn't waste a minute! Watched the Summer Olympics and watched Micheal Phelps make history. Sierra started 3rd grade, Pierce started kindergarten. Celebrated Megan's 22nd birthday!!! Sierra started playing softball.

























































September: Spent 7 days at the Adventura Spa & Resort in Mexico. Attended a friend's wedding, and also celebrated our 4 year anniversary. Was a beautiful place with about 35 people attending the wedding. We had a great time! Worked in the yard a lot. Still swimming... OU FOOTBALL




















October: Hudson is growing like a weed and as cute as ever! Lots of birthdays in October...Brandon turned 25, My grandmother turned 91, Brett's mom had a birthday (age ?) and Sierra turned 9 years old. Kids enjoyed playing outside (weather still really warm). We are still working in the yard and trying to prepare for fall. Fall break spent a lot of time with the kids (park, picnic, etc). Hudson found his shadow :) Halloween - took the kids to the Pumpkin Patch (Megan & Hudson included).


















































































































November: Our first black president was elected. Our beautiful grandson is STILL growing!! Spending more time inside...but enjoying our firepit outside on chilly nights. Thanksgiving and Pierce's birthday - both on the same day! Pierce turned 6 years old Thanksgiving day. We celebrated with a party, and also spent the night at the Retreat Center with Brett's family.



























December: And finally...December. Shopping...lots of shopping. Took Sierra, Pierce, Megan & Hudson to the Festival of Lights in Chickasha. Took a horse and buggy ride and enjoyed the lights. The entire family came down with a stomach virus...not fun! Pierce pulled his two front teeth. Sierra lost her 10th tooth. Brandon graduated from college (YAY!), Megan got a promotion at work and we had a wonderful Christmas with family.


























































































































Well, as I said it is just a glimpse. I'm sure there are monumental things I am leaving out, but seemed like the year flew by! Maybe it was the fact that I wasn't working - and felt busier than ever. Or maybe it is just that with each passing day, each experience seems better than the last so you tend to forget the old. That is the beauty of computers (blogs). If you really want a glimpse of our life...go back to January 1, 2008 and start reading. I am going to try and do better job in 2009 capturing our lives on our blog. Not only to keep everyone up-to-date...but so when I am sitting here at my computer on January 1, 2010 I won't have a brain-freeze and forget what we did over the year :)

I am truly looking forward to 2009. I feel closer to God, my husband and my entire family...and just know it is going to be a good year.

Here's wishing you and your family a blessed and prosperous 2009!