Ho!Ho! Ho!

The Holidays have descended upon us in a blur. Thanksgiving passed by very quickly. We had a very cold visit to the farm. Keegan and Coley both had bouts with a stomach bug-Coley was sick all day on his birthday. Serena and I did get to spend a fun day Christmas shopping with Gigi. The weather was pretty cold and nasty-usually it is still warm enough to be outside and playing at Thanksgiving - not this year- so we had 4 kids trapped indoors. It was not pretty! We did get to stay in the new trailer, and that was great. It is still in the driveway waiting to go back at Christmas. We did have some unexpected guests in it when we picked it up(mice), but they seem to have moved on-thank goodness!
It was so cold at Thanksgiving that they had 8 " of snow at home- unusual for our part of the country.




Coley played Mr. Mom for 3 days while I went to a testing conference in Austin. I think they had a great time without me.


Sickness has hit us this week. I spent 2 days out with a terrible stomach bug, and Serena was back at the dr. office yesterday with bronchitis. She is a whirling dirvish at the moment since she is on steroids.





Serena's first Christmas program was Thursday night. She was very excited about wearing her new dress, but once she came out and saw all of the strange faces she wanted no part of it. She has been singing all of the songs around the house for weeks, but it was just too overwhelming for her. She looked pitiful. She loves her family, and really wants strangers to just leave her alone. When she favors someone with attention, they are really lucky-she is pretty picky.



She looked cute, but she wanted no part of the crowd.


I think we are all back to being healthy now, and we look forward to our last week of school before the holidays. It will be busy and full of all sorts of holiday fun.
Ready for Christmas- Keegan is quite the poser.

What is your child worth?

It has been awhile since I settled in to write a post. Every time I think of it I am either too tired, or one of the kids is going wild.

I was posed a question today that really threw me. It came from a person that meant no harm, and they were innoce ntly inquiring about adoption. It is a question that I know other parents of internationally adopted children have encountered. "How much did she cost?" I paused for a moment and went into my whole spiel on the state of international adoption in several countries and the range of cost. I did say that I did not like the way that question sounded. Now, I am not mentioning this out of anger or anything like that- it just threw me because someone that meant no harm posed such a question. If the kids had been with me, I would have had lots of explaining to do.

The kids are priceless..... they are doing well. Serena loves her school. She is learning letters ( she actually already knew them all), and the sounds. She counts to 13 and recognizes the numbers. Keegan is reading up a storm and has made 100's on all of his spelling tests. We have made a kinder reading class for the kids that are already reading, and they are thriving. I am afraid Serena will be ready to read when she hits prek. They are both too smart for their own good and a constant source of entertainment.

Our football team is in the playoffs, so the season is not over yet. Basketball and powerlifting are next.

Halloween-He liked his serious look better.

On the climbing wall at school

Blogger keeps eating my other pictures, so more later.

Parties, Pneumonia, and Pandas

What a week it has been. Serena's 3rd birthday was last Monday, but we just had her party today. We were postponing it since Coley's dad had knee replacement the week before.

You know what they say about the best laid plans.......

Serena woke up coughing or actually barking on Monday, but I doctored her and sent her off to school with cupcakes and goody bags. I picked her up early and took her to the doctor. Of course, by the time I got her to the office she was running fever, so he sent us home with 4 different prescriptions and a bronchitis diagnosis. We still had soccer practice that night, then we went to eat Chinese since it was her birhtday. She was still feeling bad. We split they day home with her on Tuesday since she was still running fever. When she woke up still running fever on Wednesday, Coley had to stay with her because I had a meeting scheduled. He also took her back to the doctor and she got two shots. She never runs fever this long. Usually once you get antibiotics in her she is good to go. She was better on Thursday, and I took her to school. Of course, I felt awful when I picked her up and they talked about how bad she felt. Friday morning she was running 102 again, so Coley was going to stay with her that morning and take her back to the doctor because I had another meeting. I never made it. I called the doctor's office before I left work, and he said to bring her now. They were packing up the office to move over the weekend, but they were still seeing patients. I told Coley I would meet him there. They did a flu screen, and when that was negative, they sent us for a chest xray and blood work. Turns out her bronchitis had gone into pneumonia, and we were sent to the hospital. We had never seen her so sick. She was in 24 hours and got IV fluids, antibiotics, steroids, and breathing treatments. She was so much better when she woke up on Sat. morning, and we were relieved. Thankfully my parents had come in for her birthday party, which was supposed to be yesterday. Keeg stayed with them, and Coley and I both stayed at the hospital. Not an experience I want to repeat anytime soon. We brought her home with oral antibiotics and breathing treatments, but she is about back in true form. She is going to school tomorrow, and we go back to the dr. office on Tuesday. Of course, Keeg did wake up coughing this morning. I have him started on breathing treatments so we don't have a repeat of his sister.

We went ahead and had the grandparents over for lunch and birthday today. I made the world's easiest spaghetti so it was not that big of a deal. Serena was a little tired, but she did ok. She did have a melt down after everyone left, but a short nap restored her disposition. I hope this week is calmer than last. She is going to school tomorrow, carrying the breathing machine in her new princess backpack. I am sure she will be thrilled!

Opening presents on Monday night.

Keegan is actually reading the TIP book with mom. I can't believe how fast he is growing up.

Me trying to get Serena to quit acting weird and blow out her candles. She refused, and I decided nobody really wanted the walking germ to blow all over the cake any ways!

Trying on her dress up clothes that everyone contributed to this birthday.

The "princess" is apparently picking her nose in this one. She has on the Barbie dress that Gigi bought her. She was feeling well enough that she was a whirling dervish once she got over her tantrum this afternoon.

First Soccer Game

Both kids wearing their Coach's kid tshirts.

The kids in their gear.



We have survived 2 whole weeks of school, and it seems like we have been back forever. I have been so busy that the days are just flying by. Serena is settling into preschool. She no longer crys when I drop her off. She sings all of these little songs that she has learned, and Friday she got a "red lollipop" because she was the only one in her room that knew all of her shapes. She will be 3 in a week, and she is quite prissy. Keegan loves Kindergarten and his teacher. I think the only trouble he has had was when he was in the enrichment class that I was teaching.




This morning I woke up when I heard Coley give a very loud "What the.......". Our top closet clothes rod had falled sometime during the night and even knocked the closet doors out, and neither one of us heard a thing. I knew I was wiped out last night, but I did not realize it was that bad!






The Mess!














Keegan's first soccer game was today. After watching them at practice, I was a little concerned about what they would look like at a game. They were really good. Keegan is a natural. He scored 2 goals. He played aggressively, and he was a real go getter. I was proud of him, and he had a good time. After eating Chinese and a trip to WalMart, Coley and I came home to do major closet overhaul.





Fixing to score his first goal.







He had a great time!

First Day of Kindergarten

Today was the first official day of school, and my feet are killing me! Keeg had a good first day of Kindergarten-his teacher actually had his daddy in class many years ago. She is an institution around here, and a favorite of everyone. I think he will have a good year. Of course he said the best part of the day was playing outside. I think the music teacher had to snap her fingers at him because he was talking, but if that is the worst thing that happens, I will be happy. Not being able to drop Serena off until 7:30 slowed us down a bit, but Keeg and I slid into the cafeteria about 7:50. It was a bit of a mad house this morning. It takes a couple of weeks to get the parents and kids broken in. Keeg was such a big boy and went off with his teacher while I went up on the stage to do announcements. We got a lot of new kids in this morning, and I was busy getting everyone settled. I wish I could wear my crocs or my tennis shoes with all of my clothes. Serena cried when I left her at daycare, but Keeg ran something in 2 minutes later, and he said she had stopped. She also had a fit this morning about her shoes- it was a typical Monday to start off the school year. I did not get many pics today even though I carried the camera in my purse all day.

We had a busy weekend with visits from Jeff and the Rotan family. Of course I did not get any pics of them either. My mind was still on vacation!

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Serena was a little put out about the entire shoe situation this morning.

Keeg made dad slip his orange shirt on over his coaching clothes so they would match for the picture. He had spilled something on his shirt.

Crayolas + Dryer = Bad News

I have been lazy, and I have not taken many pictures lately. Last week was my last week of summer and doing nothing. It was so hot that the kids and I just hung out around the house on most days with a trip to the Sonic on most afternoons! The football team started workouts last night, and they look like they are melted when they finish.

Saturday I was doing laundry, and when I went to take the load out of the dryer I noticed spots on some of the clothes. At first I blamed Coley for leaving something in his pocket, but when I pulled everything out I realized Serena had left crayolas in her pocket. I will learn one of these days to check the pockets before I throw everything in the washer. I headed to the internet to look for solution to this problem. I scrubbed the tub of the dryer with toothpaste and got it clean. After a trip to WalMart I had the proper detergents to wash the clothes in, and managed to restore almost everything to normal. It was a colorful experience.

Serena has spent 3 days at her new daycare, and she is less than pleased. I hope there is less screaming tomorrow. I feel so bad leaving her. Keegan is having a great time-he is so happy to have kids to play with again.

Off we go to mow the yard. Nothing like a family yard experience.

Kids kicked back and relaxing.

The dryer after the crayola art experiment.Notice the part I had already cleaned.

Down on the Farm

Coley spent the last 3 1/2 days at Coaching School bonding with the boys, and the kids and I went to see my parents at "the farm". Their two cousins were there, and they had a great time. Texas does not usually look this green in late July, but we have had lots of rain lately. The kids ran around outside, took rides on the four wheeler, played in the dirt/mud, chased bugs, and really had a good time with each other. Mom and dad have had Sean and Sam for about a week and a half while my brother has been doing coaching stuff (time for Texas coaches to go back to work), and their mom is busy doing her "Army stuff". Shay has done a great job with them during the last year. They are happy and love their daddy. Keegan really missed the boys once we got home. Serena keeps asking where they are. They all sort of take care of her. Her and Sean became really good friends during this trip. It was a nice trip-me, 2 kids, 2 dogs, and the minivan. Then when we got there, there was 4 kids, and 3 dogs. Dad kept asking how me being there was such a help since I added kids and dogs to the population!
I forget how quite it is out in the country until I get home and it sounds so loud since we live near a main highway. I have to take the puppy outside often, and it seems very loud!

It had rained enough before we got there that there were a few mud puddles. Serena managed to find one. She had sat down in the mud and wanted her shorts off. She made a huge mess.

Sean pushing Serena on the swing while Sam poses, and Keeg digs in the dirt.

Trying to get all 4 of them to pose together proved to be impossible.


Betty is keeping Cleo young-she actually seems to like playing with her.

New Family Additions

We have already put more miles on the van since we got home last week. Last weekend we went on the search for a new 5th wheel. After more than 15,000 miles on the Puma, we have a better idea of what we want and need-plus we are just really spoiled! We looked at so many I lost count and they all started to run together. We went to see mom and dad in Cross Plains, and we went to Fun Time RV in Cleburne. This place is huge-they have just about anything you could want. We had a fun day with mom and dad tagging along. We even managed a free lunch at the dealers. They do this every Saturday. We found what we thought was the best they had to offer, and had one other in mind at another dealer. We came home yesterday and brought the new puppy with us. Betty Cocker is our new addition to the family. Right now she is playing with Cleo- or tormenting Cleo- I am not too sure what is going on. She will keep Cleo young I guess. Cleo has to get her teeth cleaned tomorrow-I can't believe I am having a dog's teeth cleaned, but apparently hers are in bad shape and it is necessary.

Back to the trailer saga. We took Serena to the ENT today (no news there--just see how the fall goes), then we drove 2 hours the other direction to go back and look at another trailer. Until we looked at it again I was all ready to get it. Seeing it I realized it just did not have enough inside storage, and I would not be happy with it for the long run. Now we are trying to figure out the logistics of getting the one we want. I am worn out! I am also trying to finish the new Harry Potter book without reading ahead to the ending. I don't know how long I will hold out!

Last Friday was our two year Gotcha Day Anniversary. It is hard to believe because it seems like our family has always been like it is.We ate Chinese food at lunch to celebrate together.

Serena was not too happy to have her picture taken.

Hopefully our new "second home".

Keegan and BettyLiu Cocker - Our newest family addition. Coley says he is still ambivalent about her.

I was outside 5 minutes with the puppy, and I came back in to find the kids dressed up. This was all their daddy's doings.

Final Thoughts on the Trip

4,600 + miles, 7 campgrounds, too many viewings of Tom and Jerry to Count, and many priceless memories to carry with us.
I think we have all recovered from the trip. I finally woke Keegan up at 11:30 this morning, so he may still be catching up! The laundry is done-of course, it seems to magically pile up again right away. We have had so many people look at us like we were crazy for taking our kids that far in a car. I guess Coley and I did not even think twice about it for several reasons-
1. We did 2 long trips last summer
2. Coley spent many, many summers, etc... on the road with his family going to rodeos, and they did not even have dvd players for the car!
3. My parents never hesitated to throw all 3 of us in the car and take off driving.
4. Maybe we are a little crazy- we all love to go and do!

I know people who have left their kids to take 2 week trips to Italy, Hawaii, Europe, etc...., but the way we get to experience things through the eyes of the kids is priceless. Hearing Keeg say "awesome" when he saw some amazing site was a thrill. Of course Serena won't remember much, but she is a trooper,and why should we stay home just because she is so young? We had a fabulous time, and now we are starting to think about our next adventure.
Coley officially goes back to work on Tuesday. We take Serena to the ENT on Monday, and we have to pick up the newest Dobbs addition sometime this weekend- Betty, the Cocker Spaniel, has been staying with her grandparents at the farm. She is out of Shay's last litter of puppies. Coley says I am insane, but I am sure he will come around. Keeg is very excited. I just hope Cleo is nice to the puppy. I go back to work on Aug. 13. In the meantime we have coaching school, a trip to the farm, and a few more weeks of being lazy!
Oh, Keegan did bring one thing home with him that we weren't planning on. He scraped his knew up pretty good in the parking lot of the Rocky Mountain National Park Visitors Center a couple of weeks ago. We kept it covered and doctored, but of course he managed to fall on the same knee a couple of more times. It started to look funky, and we took him into the doctor on Tuesday. He has a staph infection, which the doctor is pretty sure is impetigo. Lovely-the meds seem to be working thank goodness since it had started to spread to other areas. Kids-if it is not one thing, it is something else.

Pictures from The Black Hills

The pics are out of order a bit, but here they are.





Serena feeling the wind blow out of wind cave. This is the only natural opening, and the first explorers of this cave lowered themselves down this small hole. It was discovered when 2 guys were hunting and felt the wind coming out of this hole.

Can you tell how willing Serena is to be carried?

The decent. It was a tad disconcerting. It was not a big massive opening like Carlsbad.

Crazy Horse from the road. We were too cheap to pay the expensive fee to get closer.

Not too often you find a campsite like this. It was a little tough to get in and out of with the trees.

Self portrait Coley and Keeg did when they took a short "nature walk" in the Badlands. I waited in the car because Serena was asleep.

Badlands view. Pretty in their own desolate sort of way.

Badlands buffalo. We stopped and watched him, and he walked right up to the truck. We took off after this shot because he did not look too thrilled with us being there.

Needles highway- can you tell where the road goes?

We had to pull the mirrors in on the truck to go through this one.



Keeg petting the baby alligator at Reptile Gardens.

Future jet pilot?




Coley could not resist this picture. There are rednecks in South Dakota!

Wall Drug


Jackalopes are a big thing at Wall Drug-guess middle of nowhere South Dakota has something in common with Odessa Texas.

The End of The Trail

Ok, now we are back home with decent internet. I have been scolded for the lack of posts and pictures. Needless to say the Black Hills are really mountains, and that along with trees wrecks havoc with cell service and wifi! We really had a good time. I will give a quick rundown of what we did the rest of the week and add pics.
Thursday- We took the kids to Reptile Gardens outside of Rapid City. It sounded pretty cheesy, but we were pleasantly surprised-who would have thought someone would have a large reptile collection in the middle of nowhere. Keegan loved the snakes, alligators and crocodiles. It was really well run. Then, after lunch, we went out to the South Dakota Air and Space museum at Ellsworth Air Force Base. Ellsworth is the other base where B'1 bombers are based (just like Abilene). They had a neat collection of planes and an exhibit on the minuteman missle. We did not get to see a missle silo, but it was odd thinking that they had been there across the plains. We also visited the Rapid City WalMart. It may be the busiest Walmart I have ever been in. It was wild. Of course it is the only one for many miles. South Dakota is a little sparse in places. The Sonic has been open for 2 months, and they have people directing traffic because they are so busy. It is pretty funny. If you don't ask for extra ice, they don't give you much at all. Coley says it is a cultural difference.
On Friday we drove out to the Badlands. They are definitely bad. It was hot! We also went through Wall on the way and stopped at the famous Wall Drugstore. We had buffalo burgers and bought donuts. They were yummy and we ate our way through the Badlands. Wall drug was famous because it offered free ice water to the people traveling through on the highway. It opened back in the 30's. It is a giant tourist trap now, but pretty neat.
Saturday we drove through Custer State Park on this road called the Needles highway. The road wound through many rock formations, and there was one tunnel that was just over 8 feet wide. It was pretty. We also drove the wildlife loop-Custer is supposed to have a large herd of Bison, but all we saw were pronghorn and deer. We went down to Wind Cave and took a cave tour. Out mistake here was that Serena was hungry and tired, but off we went. You have to take guided tours. It is not like Carlsbad. The path is narrow and I had to duck down in spots. We went down between 300-400 steps. It was cool. Serena was not so thrilled. Coley and I took turns fighting her. She wanted to walk by herself but it just was not safe. She wanted out! It was really interesting, but I decided I was not meant to be a spelunker.

We had a great trip. Keegan horrified the people camping next to us from Minnesota one night. They were talking about putting out the fire, and one of their little boys asked how they would do that. Keegan, being the redneck that he is, said you pee on it. The other little boy thought that would be cool, and said really? His mom said that is not appropriate. I was not there, but Coley said he had to work not to laugh.

We left Hill City, South Dakota at 6:45 Sunday morning, and pulled into our driveway at 2:30 a.m. on Monday morning. We weren't planning on driving all the way in, but when we got to Dumas and realized we were only 5 hours from home, we thought why stop now when we could be home. The kids were wonderful in the car all day (it was scary!), and they went to sleep. I felt jetlagged all day yesterday, but we are home! Serena has pulled all of her toys out to check them all out. The dogs are happy to see us, and the trailer is unloaded. Now I just have to go out and clean it so we can put it up until the next trip.We might see about trading it in for something more durable. It has about 15,000 miles on it, and it does not seem to wear well at long distances. I will do a seperate post with just pics from the last few days.

Trains and Presidents

Keeg was very excited to ride the train

Mount Rushmore- It looks different from different angles.

I need to turn this one. For now, just turn you head-you can tell the kids are getting tired of pictures.

This is just like a pic that Coley and Quail took in this spot years ago.

Notice Serena on her leash-we got plenty of odd looks.

We had a very busy day! I heard the heater come on last night, and it was a bit chilly when we got out and about. We rode the 1880’s train this morning. We were supposed to leave the station at 10 a.m., and be pulled by a steam engine from Hill City to Keystone. We left on time, but the first big hill right outside of the station has a 6% grade. We started up it, then stopped.Next thing we know, the engineer is backing the train down the hill to take another run at the hill. He could not get enough power to get up it. He did this twice, and it was not working. Each time he started to back up, it was rough and jerked the train. It was an interesting experience to say the least. We finally backed all the way back to the station and changed to the diesel engine. The conductor told us that this was only the 2nd time this had happened that he knew of. I guess they had some maintenance problems. That put us about 30 minutes behind schedule. It took about an hour each way with a quick 15 minute stop in between. Of course both kids had to go to the bathroom, so I got off the train with them and we ran to the bathroom and back. I think we may have been the last ones back on the train.
After a quick lunch at the trailer, we headed to Mt. Rushmore. It was pretty neat. It is amazing that they made such a detailed sculpture on such a massive scale. Of course we took the scenic trail along the base of the sculpture so we could view the faces from many different angles. This involved many steps up and down, but it did give some great views. Afterwards we rewarded ourselves with ice cream at the Mt Rushmore ice cream shop-everything is commercialized! Coley was here when he was about 15, and he said it has changed a lot. We also drove into Rapid City to look for a WalMart ( which we did not find), but we found a Sonic instead. We ate pizza from the campground store, and the kids ran and ran at the playground. They are fighting sleep at the moment. I tried to get a faster connection tonight at the office, but it did not work. Pictures will have to come when we can find a better connection. We are not sure what we are doing tomorrow. There is not telling what trouble we will get into!

South Dakota-Last Stop on the Western Trail

Greetings from South Dakota. It is very scenic here in the Black Hills. We got up bright and early this morning ( Have I said that the sun comes up around here about 5?). We were up about 7:30, and it was chilly! We headed up to Devil’s Tower about 9, and that is quite a popular spot in the morning. We did the 1.3 mile hike around the base, and it was really pretty. It was nice to walk and not sweat to death for once. Keegan made a friend of the little girl that was with the family walking behind us. By the time we got to the end he was walking hand in hand with her. Serena got jealous and wanted to hold his other hand! It was about a 2 hour drive to our new place near Hill City South Dakota. It is a really nice campground. There are lots of trees, and the sites are spaced out. The trees and location did cause a few problems when we were backing the trailer in, but it is all set now. The kids have space to play and more than enough pine cones to stack up. I thought of my grandfather tonight because we roasted hot dogs and had somemores. Serena loved the marshmallows and chocolate. Tomorrow we are going to ride the train that runs through the Black Hills. It is supposed to get down to 38 tonight and only be about 68 tomorrow-it might be a chilly ride. I can’t believe this is July weather- they said that we had an Alberta Clipper come through last night, and that has caused the cool off. I guess that is why we almost blew away last night at the other campground. They said the winds got up to 60-70 mph.
We must also go see Mount Rushmore tomorrow. We will be here through Saturday, so we are making a list of what to do over the next 4 days. I had no idea this area was so pretty. We get very low speed wifi since we are a long way off from the office, so pics may be few and far between. We do actually get cell service which is an improvement.
We have seen lots more people camping in tents than we ever have before. Something else we have discovered since becoming the RVers that we are(ha) is that most campgrounds also have “camping cabins” for rent. These are cheaper than hotels and would be a good option if you were traveling and trying to do it on a budget. I am tired and losing my train of thought, so more later.

Devil's Tower- really more impressive than I thought it would be.

Serena was too busy climbing the rocks to join us for this family self portrait.

Keegan and his women that he picked up on the trail. We ran into her at our next campground, and she was not sure who he was at first. He jumped out of the truck to follow her. Not sure what they were looking at.

Our first campfire.