Archive for the 'Family stuff' Category
Mar
31
Josh’s basketball team had an awesome season. They won all of their regular season games. The first tournament game was against a team we’d never played before. It was a traveling team and it was hard and tough. We were tide and had to go into overtime. We won 20-19 and that meant we had to turn around and play again. The kids were really tired, but they played hard again. We lost the game, but it wasn’t because the kids didn’t try.
Way to go Josh and the rest of the Wizards team members. Coach John did an excellent job and we’re happy with the skills the kids picked up along the way. He taught them so much and Josh learned a lot.
Picture courtesy of Jordan Shoes.
Mar
30
We went to the Cav’s game last night. Chris worked the game and we watched it from the stands. It was a fun time for us. The Cav’s won 48-46 in overtime.
Chris was the equipment assistant to the Cav’s team last night. He helped set up the locker room and then clean up after it was over. In exchange he got into the game for free and had the best seats. He stood next to the Cav’s team and cheered them on. He was just a little ways down from the table that was knocked over during a play.
It was a very exciting game and one that made you sit on the edge of your seat. With seconds left on the clock the Cav’s scored and took the game into overtime. We won the game after we scored and got the 2 extra points.
Josh and Kevin convinced me to do a game with Josh. So we went on the field shortly after the 3rd quarter started. We had to ride a trike around 4 cones. I started and then Josh went after I was finished. Needless to say I didn’t do very good with it. I was worried about falling over on the corners so I went slow. I guess the announcer kept calling me ma’am and kept telling me I had to hurry. LOL! I had a player and the coach that were in my way so I had to go around them and the cones.
Josh did really well after he got past the first turn. He got off track and almost ran into the wall. It was a lot of fun and we’re glad we did it. For the time we spent on the field, they gave us McDonald’s shirts and two gift cards for free meals. Worth the time and embarrassment.
Here’s a picture for you to enjoy.
Way to go Cav’s players. We look forward to the game on Friday. Good luck!
Mar
22
Our boys are once again keeping us busy. This seems to happen on a regular basis during the school year. In the summer they don’t do sports so it’s a nice time to relax.
Josh is in the middle of basketball right now. His team is currently undefeated and they are doing great! They have learned so much and their coach continues to teach them new things. They are coming together nicely as a team and have grown into a wonderful team.
The coach is always showing kids new things and encouraging them when they do something wrong or it doesn’t work. Here is a picture of just that. The coach is showing Josh how to do something that he did wrong in the game. Josh learned how to do it and was successful the next time he did it. Way to go Josh!
Chris is in swimming now and having a really good time. He wants to be on the swim team in the follow when he goes to high school. His instructor is showing him how to do things properly and he feels very good about it.
Here is a picture of Chris jumping into the pool.
We enjoy watching our boys in the sports they do. We love to encourage them and help them grow and improve.
Way to go boys!! Keep up the hard work. We’re proud of you.
I have tried to do the coupon thing and checking ad prices from other stores, but the problem I run into is time. It takes a lot of time to go through and print coupons for everything I’m going to purchase. It also takes a lot of time to put the items that are priced differently into another cart and then deal with it at the check out lane. In Casper Walmart requires you to show them the item in each ad before they give you the lower price.
While I know this is the way to go, it’s very difficult. I decided to try something a little different two weeks ago. It worked really well and I figure I saved approximately $35. I was so happy with it, that I decided to try it again. This time I figure I saved $44.
So here is my little secret. I’m hoping to continue this streak and make it even bigger each time.
My secret is a little one, but when you save between $35 and $44 at the store, it’s huge.
My secret was the meals I planned. I looked at the items we had left over and planned my meals around that food. Out of the 13 meals I planned, six meals we completely had the stuff needed and four of the meals only needed one or two things.
I was so proud of myself over this. It’s something I had heard of people doing, but never thought to try and do myself. I really got the idea from Jenn’s blog. You can check it out here. I’m wondering how it will go in two weeks when we go again. I already have one meal that will be complete with nothing needed and one meal that will only require cubed steaks. We’re off to a great start so we’ll see if I can work on more. I’m wondering if at some point my food bill will go up a little so I can stock pile on things so I can do this again. I guess the coming weeks will tell.
If you need to save money on your grocery bill using coupons, store ads, and planning meals around food you already have are the three ways I suggest. You can work all three together or try them separately. Once you find something that works, stick to it.
May
2
There are some things in life that just aren’t fair. Choices we have to make, decisions that have to be made, and things we have to deal with in life. You get this whether you are a parent, a daughter, a sister, or a grand daughter.
My aunt called a family meeting to discuss the future of my grandmother tonight. I will tell you my heart sank to the floor when this happened. It brought back all the terrible feelings I had when the hospital called a family meeting just hours before my grandpa passed away. Of course, I knew this was not the situation with my grandma, but it still brought back those memories.
My grandma was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. I think that is one of the worst diseases to have and one of the worst diseases for a family to have to deal with. It’s so sad when you walk into a room and your grandmother, who has known you all your life, doesn’t know who you are. It’s hard to deal with it when she is so mean and doesn’t remember any of it. She doesn’t remember the harsh words she used or the way she treated you.
This is the case with my grandma. She is in her 70’s and she is going through this. My grandma used to knit and crochet all the time. We used to tease her because she could do it in her sleep. She’d be sitting in her chair watching her soap opera’s, knitting and the next thing you know, she’s sleeping and still knitting. LOL Grandma would make the most beautiful sweaters, blankets, and pot holders. Every time she would leave the house she always had a sack that contained her yard, her knitting needles or crochet hooks, and whatever it was she was working on at the time. It didn’t matter if she came over for a birthday party or a BBQ, she had her sack with her. Grandma doesn’t knit or crochet much anymore and when she does just about the only thing she does is dish rags.
During our family meeting tonight we discussed grandma’s fate. It was the hardest thing I’ve been involved in. Dealing with my husband’s great grandmother having Alzheimer’s 10 years ago wasn’t nearly as bad because I was not apart of her care. Dealing with my grandpa’s illness and my grandma having a brain tumor and dealing with her illness was hard because I was right in the middle of it. Giving up an hour a day three days a week and 4 hours on Monday nights was hard, but I did it.
We haven’t made any official decisions as of yet, but I know for sure the next three weeks are going to be a struggle for the entire family. Getting grandma to get out of bed and into her chair in the morning will be a challenge since she is over 250 pounds and is having issues with her right knee. The other problem will be getting her to bed at night. She is used to her routine and is not will to change it for anything.
It’s so sad to see this happen. I just pray that my grandpa, my dad, his sisters and brother, my mom, my sister, my cousin, and I will be up to the huge challenge that we face in the coming weeks. Putting my grandma in a nursing home is not something we want to do, but I’m not sure my dad and his family are ready to deal with all the care that we are look at doing. I pray that my family will be able to stand up to my grandma and make her do what she needs to do and I also pray that we are strong willed and will be able to do what needs to be done.
Grandma I love you and I hope you understand that we are doing this because we love you and we want to help you so you can live the rest of your days in your home, sitting in your chair, watching your soaps and crocheting your dish rags!
Mar
26
This is a picture of my oldest sons cat Missy. She is sitting on the chair chillin’ with Josh’s sunglasses. Isn’t she so cute? She doesn’t come downstairs very often, but on Saturday afternoon she did. She took over the recliner and fell asleep for a while. It was a good laugh for sure.
Mar
25
Jan
25
Each year on New Year’s Eve my Grandparents would have a party to celebrate the New Year and my Grandma’s birthday. We would all get together at my grandparents house and eat food and have fun. Here are a couple of pictures that were taken.
The picture below is of almost all my cousins and cousin-in-laws. We were missing 6 kids I think.
The picture below is of my cousins and we were missing a couple.
The holiday’s at Grandma’s are always full of adventure and excitment. My grandparents have 5 daughters, 22 grandkids, and 18 great-grandkids. Grandma’s house is quite small and so we are VERY crowded when we get together, but we always have so much fun!