Just a thought...

I was thinking today as I was sitting on the couch listening to Reese read me a book (and reading quite well I might add:) that I think Greg and I are pretty much done parenting...
And these are the reasons why:
1.  We kept each of our kids alive for the first year of their lives.  For awhile there I was doubting us:)
2.  They are both potty trained.
3.  They both know how to read.
4. They both have surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ and been baptized. *most important!
5.  They wipe their own bottoms:)
6.  They can tie their own shoes and get dresses all by themselves.
7.  They know and appreciate the Beatles and Johnny Cash music.
8.  They will eat pretty much any food if we pay them a quarter to try it...ha!  Hey at least it's cheap for us:)
9.  We taught them that good BBQ beats a happy meal every time.
10.  They'd just assume watch Food Network or Baseball instead of cartoons.
11.  They can each take a shower by their self.  

Seems to me they can move out anytime and be self sufficient ....don't ya think?

Ok, ok I know we are not done but gee after thinking about it our little kiddos have accomplished alot in not too many years:)  Way to go kids!
Now we move onto teaching "responsibly (without me reminding them:) and dependence on God" phase....this should be interesting:)
Let the games begin!! ha!

Braces

 I have avoided for the past 11 months posting anything on here about my braces.
One- because I hate everything about them.:)
Two- because I don't really want to remember I ever had to get them:/

But now that I am 13 DAYS from getting them off I thought I would share the good news!!!  YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!

As of right now I have 6 rubber bands all kris-crossed crazy like throughout my mouth and I am about to go insane.  Yet, I will be patient it is almost over!!! Thank you Lord!

For those of you that don't know, I had to get braces last May to avoid a future surgery on my jaw.  I fought it for 2 years and finally was backed in a corner.  Either humble myself and get braces and spend $4,000 or let nature take it course and pay $15,000 or more to have my jaw broken, wired and then get braces.  I think I picked the right choice don't you?:)

Well anyways I have been really thinking long and hard about if I should take a picture of myself right now so you can see the before and after pictures but I'm debating....should I subject myself to such pain?  The pain of having evidence that I really did look like this??? ha!  hummmm...I don't know it's a tough decision:)

I wanted to show my parents how funny it looks with all these crazy rubber bands in my mouth so I guess I will:)  This is for you Mom and Dad...you better feel loved:)

I get my braces off April 11th and that is the day I leave for KC to spend the week with my Daddy (and Mommy;)  so they will not get to see me all "wired" shut:)

ok well here it goes....please don't judge! :)  We all have awkward years...this was "one" of mind;)

I can't believe I am doing this....ughh!

yep thats right thats as far as I can open my mouth...no joke:/
IT WILL ALL BE WORTH IT....IT WILL ALL BE WORTH IT!!
Pretty hilarious huh?  Go ahead laugh it up....I can take it:)

Friday Lunches

Every Friday I go have lunch with the kids at school.  Normally I bring the kids Chick Fil A or something but this week Abby wanted to buy!  This is very weird for her....very.  I packed her lunch EVERYDAY for the past 2 1/2 years and this year out of nowhere she is a lover of school lunches...yuck!:)
Anyways I let her buy a few days a week and this past Friday she insisted upon having nachos. She loved it of course:)
We had a great time together and I will cherish every lunch I get with them because before I know it they will be in Middle School and I bet they won't want me to come;)  ya think?
P.S. not sure why there isn't a picture of us with Reese at lunch but we did eat with him too!

Dropped the Ball!

Reese had his first baseball game last Thursday night and I only got this picture!

Can you believe that? Where was I? ha!

It was actually a very competitive upbeat game.  This year Reese is playing for the Rangers (yay!) on a 7+ select/coaches pitch team and the competition is intense!  He has another game Wednesday night and I promise to get my act together!!  Oh the pressure:)

Stay tuned:)

Hammock

Last summer in Honduras we got Reese a hammock for the backyard.  We have been meaning to hang it up for him for quite some time but the weather really didn't permit until about 2 months ago.   For the first 2 months the hammock was a blast for the kids.  They loved to swing each other and try to flip each other completely around while "secured" in the netting.  Well you can imagine how long that was fun until there was an injury:/
Abby was the first victim and man did she get hurt!  Reese was swinging her like normal and before either of them could do anything Abby face planted into the ground!  Her face broke the fall...ouch!  She began screaming and I could tell that she was REALLY hurt!  Sweet girl busted her forehead, right ear, right shoulder and her arm.  When I asked Reese what happened he walked me through the whole incident and finished it up with, "Mom, I don't think Abby was quite secure enough!"  She needed a seatbelt!
Well I tell you all this to explain the picture Abby drew.  At school every now and again the kids make up safety tips to share with the kids in class.  This is the safety tip Abby thought everyone should know:)

ALWAYS BE SECURE IN A HAMMOCK!
Abby Stamps
Notice Abby on the ground, Reese is standing nearby and in the far left hand corner you can see my leg/foot running to her aid.
Too funny!  

Doing Time At Cousins Camp

Guest Blogger: Debbie Stamps

The Cousins Camp crew headed to West Texas last week for a few days in Knox County where Abby, Charlie, Reese & Landry did some time in the county jail. (Charlie joked with us before we left that he'd probably have trouble getting a job when he grows up when he has to tell them he spent a night in jail!)  We started our drive with lots of stories, fun & music, enjoying the Cousins Camp CD Poppa put together for us.  Of course, it included "Jail House Rock."  He probably should have had to do a little extra time for adding "Funny Chicken" & leading unsanctioned bed time "Funny Chicken" dances!  ("Funny Chicken" was actually a favorite, coming in second to "Awesome God.")

Knox County is where I (MawMaw, Deb) was born & raised in Knox City & where Poppa (Jerry) spent several years of his growing up years in Benjamin & Knox City, where he & MawMaw met.  Abby, Charlie, Reese & Landry each received their pedigree sheets showing their family history in Knox County, which goes back 7 generations, including pictures of the ancestors.  We enjoyed learning stories about some of those family members. 

We stayed in Benjamin at the original county jail, built in 1887 & remodeled by Wyman Meinzer.  That was a great adventure in itself.  Sylinda, Wyman's wife, "booked" us & was the most gracious jailer we could ever have hoped for! The place is decorated with traps & skins of lots of kinds of animals, as well as some of Wyman's incredible photography.  (Some of you Fort Worth friends have seen some of those in our home & Jerry's office.)  The pictures & the experience in Benjamin was especially meaningful because Poppa lived & worked on the League Ranch there as a third & fourth grader when his dad worked there with Wyman's & Rick's dad, Pate.  Poppa has told us lots of memories & good lessons from that period when he spent days off from school working full days as a ranch hand.  Wyman & Sylinda also have 2 beautiful wolves.  They were really fun to watch & the cousins enjoyed petting them.

We visited the cemetery where Grandpa Reese (Charles) & other relatives are buried, including the cousins' great-great-great-great-grandfather.  They saw some of their heritage at the First Baptist Church in Knox City where their great-great-great grandfather, Charles James Reese, is listed on the cornerstone of the church's first building, having served on the building committee.  They made chalk rubbings of the corner stone.  They've slept under a picture of this great-great-great Grandpa Reese & his wife Ida at our house & were glad to find out that they were a lot nicer than they look in that picture!   We also saw homes & other places with family connections.  They did great on the scavenger hunt, finding all the decorated tractors & murals around town.  We played a while at the Knox City Greyhound/Houndette football field & track.  We visited a favorite place that belonged to my family near the Brazos River & had fun wading in the Brazos.

We took a long hike through the rugged Breaks out east of Benjamin.  The dirt & rock colors & formations are beautiful there & the cousins were thoroughly "wowed"!  As they ran to the top of one hill we heard, "Wow!  It's just like the movies!"  "I can see the whole valley from here!"  "I can see the whole WORLD from here!"  "Y'all are so lucky that you got to grow up around this!"  And lots of "Look at that!"  We hauled home our share of pretty & interesting rocks & a couple of cow bones.

We did a little leather tooling, making flash light holsters, played at the playground at the Benjamin school--complete with merry-go-round & see-saws, took a night time walk through Benjamin & enjoyed the bright "Super Moon" & "so many stars"!  One night we called coyotes--they didn't oblige us this time.  We played chase & were locked up when we got caught.

Once we heard, "I'm glad MawMaw & Poppa met each other in the principal's office!"  Maybe I should explain that one: At the beginning of Jerry's sophomore year, he'd spent 2-a-days, & the first week of school at Benjamin, then transferred to Knox City HS.  As I walked in the front door of the high school with my friend Mandy, he was looking pretty cute in the office!  I mentioned that to Mandy, who happened to know him from some rodeo events as "one of the Stamps boys from Benjamin" so she introduced us.  THAT'S really why I was in the office, regardless of what he says!

Stated highlights of our trip were "the wolves," "the breaks," "the traps" & "the skins" "the hiking."   I have to agree that with all of those--& then, coming home, as I looked in the rear view mirror at Poppa & the cousins working on aluminum foil sculptings & singing "Our God is an Awesome God," I picked that out as another of my "favorites."   Poppa, the cousins, hikes, stars & pretty rocks--yep, our God is an awesome God!  It just doesn't get better than this!

Happy Birthday to ME!

March 12th was my 33rd Birthday!  I'm still not sure what I think about 33...I wish I was 23 still but then I'd be pregnant with Abby and have to start all over with being a new Mom, no thank you:)  I liked 32 ok but 33 seems alot older for some reason...weird right?  

Anyways I had a great birthday.  We celebrated all week so that was super fun!  We actually celebrated so much that Abby said, "Mom, we've celebrated you're birthday enough!" Ha...there's never too much birthday my darling...never too much:)

I'm "kinda" into birthday's can you tell?

Thursday night before we left for KC the kids and Greg took me to Reata.  YUMMY!  It was insanely good...I ate toooooo much!  I'd like to say it was worth it but knowing how much I have to workout to burn off those calories it's just a beating!!!  I hate working out! (it may seem like I do but really I would rather be doing a million other things) Do not be deceived!! ha!

Anyways I also got to celebrate on Friday morning for breakfast (2 good friends of mine surprised me and took me out for coffee/breakfast--so sweet) and for lunch (Debbie and Jerry took me to lunch before we left)
 I am so blessed.

Check out the pics and I'll tell ya more:)

My sweet kiddos....they got me gifts with their own (hard earned:) money
They only get $4 dollar commissions a week...supposedly thats super cheap (according to Abby) because some kids at school get $20!
WHAT? I only get $20 blow money every 2 weeks....kids are so SPOILED these days;)
Sorry kids you got do ALOT more around the house to get 20 bucks!!! A LOT MORE!!

My BIG gift!  Greg wrapped this gift on Tuesday and made me suffer until Thursday night.... horrible, just horrible:)

oh YAY a new guitar case...I really needed a new one!  He also got me Apple TV.  It's very cool.  Thanks babe!

Dinner at Reata

close-up:)

Went on the roof of the Reata where they have outdoor eating/bar.  It was awesome!  This was Reese's attempt at taking our picture...:/  good try Bub

Abby's attempt;)

Sweet Lady's attempt sitting at nearby table feeling sorry for us:)  thank you lady.
It's bright but it will do!

Breakfast/coffee with great friends...coffee makes me happy. (decaf that is...I've given up caffeine)
Someday I will blog all about my love of coffee.  It's an event, a time to enjoy it's goodness and the people you partake of it with.

Kansas City again:)

The kids had spring break this week so we decided it would be a good time to finally bring the kids up to see Papa.  We headed out Friday night and drove all the way there.  Saturday was my Birthday so it was an awesome Birthday gift to see my Dad getting better so fast!!  He changed hospitals and it just happens to be the hospital I was born in...crazy right?  It was cool to show the kids where I was born and was kinda weird being there the exact day 21 years later;)  ha just kidding I'm really 28:)

Anyways after visiting my Dad we went over to the Lee's Summit St. Patty's Day parade with my sister and her son.  The kids had a blast gathering all the candy that was thrown to them and it was a beautiful day!

I love downtown Lee's Summit!  They have done such a great job renovating the city and it's so quaint.  It's reminds me of downtown Breckenridge...sure wish I went skiing this year:( 

We ended up only staying until Tuesday because there really wasn't a ton to do since Dad and Mom were at the hospital during the days.  My Dad's room was tiny and the kids were a bit rambunctious for a quite hospital room:)  Yikes!

I am not sure when I will return but plan to go help Dad when Mom goes back to work. 

Oh yeah, I have good news. 

 Dad went home today!  He called me and he was sitting in the living room in his new recliner!! Yay!  I know after 45 days in the hospital he is ready to be home...we are too! 

Love you Dad!  Glad you are better....really glad! 

first picture he let me take:)

me in front of the hospital I was born in on my Birthday!

waiting for the parade to begin

me and Christi

me and Greg in downtown LS

Chilling out with the kids watching the DIY network:)  

first time to see Papa!

My Daddy....I love him a lot.

Lucy NEEDS a Haircut!

What a mess!!!

She's not too thrilled:)

Poor Lucy needs a haircut so bad!  I had to put her hair in a ponytail because she can't see AT ALL with her hair in her face!  She's still so stinkin' cute though!  She goes to the groomer Tuesday...more pictures to come:)

Look Who's Better!!

Check this handsome man out!  Yay he's awake, up and around and doing great!  I am just in awe of the Lord's care and His miracle in sparing my Dad's life.  No one can believe the progress and that's exactly what we want!  We want ALL the glopr to go to the Lord and His power of death and LIFE!
I finally got Dad to take a picture with me:)  I don't blame him for not wanting any pictures until now:)
I still need to blog about my visit to KC over my Birthday but will have to do that later.  I just had to get on here and brag about the Lord and tell you the wonderful news!  BTW the heart pains ended up being a pulled muscle and his heart was in perfect working order...yay!

They're Off!!!

The kids just left for Cousins Camp 2011 this morning!  They are gonna be gone until Saturday evening and are heading to Benjamin, Texas.  The kids were so excited they wanted to go to bed early last night so the time would pass faster:)
It's always sad for them to leave but the timing couldn't have been more perfect....I need to sleep after all my exciting travels to KC:)

Reese's Kindergarten Performance

walking in 

move your head kid! :)

One very happy boy.

Tuesday night all the kindergarten classes came together to perform a Night of Colors.  Reese’s group was the color red so he was insistent about getting a new red t-shirt for the big night.  I told him he could just wear one of his 1 million Rangers t-shirts but he wasn’t excited about that idea.  He said it had to have NO design on it and just had to be plain and red.  I decided it wasn’t something to put a fuss up about so we headed to the store and found one on clearance…scoreJ

Reese cracks me up and even sometimes infuriates me about his clothes.  To keep it a short story he is PICKY….super picky about his clothes.  Either they are too itchy, too small, the tag itches his neck, the collar bugs him or it’s TOO ITCHY…did I say that? J

 Greg and I have tried many different tactics to try and break him of this behavior.(the flipping out behavior) We have told him it’s ok to have preference but he can’t just flip out to get his way.  And some have half worked but probably the most successful and less painful one is the “pick your own clothes out then” strategy!  The only condition is that I get to “veto” 2 articles of clothing. 

Ex.  If he comes out with basketball shorts, a button-up dress shirt, red baseball knee high socks and his brown loafers I get to veto 2 of those items to hopefully make his outfit presentableJ (and yes this was one of his outfit choices just last week-yikes!!)

I have also resorted to taking him shopping with me when I need to get him new clothes.  He can’t get whatever he wants I just give him 2 options and he gets to pick one….seems to work ok but we are still a work in progressJ 

If any of you have any brilliant ideas that have worked with your picky dresser (ha this sounds so funny to me because normally you have a picky eaterJ) Please share your ideas….I am open to them!!!!

Ok lets come back to the point of this blog.  Reese and his performance!

It went awesome; he was so alive and energetic on stage and enjoyed all the attention….he was a hit!!  I love watching our kids perform; they are just so cute and proud waving at us from the stage!  I will never forget these moments…they are precious.  Few and far between and priceless….I love it!

My Dad

We are in Kansas City for a few days (kids too) to visit Dad. Got to see him today and he looks amazing! I can hardly believe he was as bad as he was before! He looks like himself!! Yay!
It's also my Birthday today so what a great gift ya know? Very happy.
Oh he also got his trachea out!! Praise the Lord for such fast progress!!

Although....tonight Mom got a call from Dad after we left the hospital.

Dad is having chest pains. He's scared. Mom's scared. We're ALL scared!!!!
Mom and Greg are heading to the hospital now...I have to stay with the sleeping kids.

PLEASE pray that this is nothing and that Dad doesn't catch any infection in this rehab Center. He wants mom to take him back to St. Luke's (where he was before) because he feels so much safer there! Poor Dad! Will this ever end?

I was planning on getting some blogging done but it just never seems like it's the right time.
Will life ever return to normal?

Oh Lord place your hands upon my Dad now and protect his heart! Heal him completely!!

Yellow Song

I have been meaning to post this video FOREVER.  It was over Thanksgiving break and it's a song Reese just performed at his Kindergarten performance this past Tuesday (I will post that later:/ )
We head to KC tomorrow to see my Dad and I "plan" to catch up on some blogging along the way...we'll see how that goes:)
Enjoy the video
...btw I do plan on blogging about Abby soon too:)

Another one....

...bites the dust!

This morning Reese looks like he got in a fight and lost!

He's been asking lately if I'm the tooth fairy.  I said, "Do you think I'm the tooth fairy?" He said yes....I said you're probably right.  I know I'm no fun:) 

When the tooth fairy only brought him "only" a dollar (he thinks the tooth fairy should bring you books since thats what his friends got at school but this tooth fairy didn't want to go to the store late at night) I think he figured out it was me...he thinks I'm cheap apparently:)  I told him he should be grateful because a tooth isn't worth much to the tooth fairy and I also threw in the whole "back when I was a kid" kids only got a quarter for a tooth and he felt sorry for me. Ha!  

The Wide Mouth Frog

Tonight Reese told me this joke....he's such a nut!  Enjoy!!

He's Got the Look!

Check this handsome boy out?  This morning before school I pulled one of his front teeth out! He laughed when he saw the blood...phew!  (last time I pulled a tooth out it didn't go so well:/  He's got a few more hanging on by a thread which means he's looking pretty "interesting" lately....let's hope they all fall out soon!:)