D - 2010 Year-in-Review

Wow! This post has already taken me over an hour and I'm just now typing out my first words. Going back over my calendar and then looking through Mike's many, MANY pictures has taken me forever. I know I'm going to do a complete injustice to our wonderful year, but here are some highlights. Remember, this blog is for me, so prepare to hear more details than you'll find interesting!

Since I already covered Disney (thank goodness), we'll skip straight to Easter. Aren't they cute?







The spring once again found us spending a great deal of time on the soccer fields. They both had really memorable years. Katie's team lost pretty much all of their spring games but had a complete turnaround & won almost all of them in the fall (it helped being the 6 year olds in the 6&U division rather than being the young kids). Mike really enjoyed coaching both times but had to admit to having more fun in the winning season. Katie didn't want to play in the fall but is so glad she did. She scored a goal in every game, which meant we ate A LOT of ice cream on Saturdays. Now she is really looking forward to next spring!



Noah's team (this season calling themselves the Attacking Nachos) continued to dominate in the spring. He has played with them since 2006 and I'm not sure that they had ever lost a game...until this fall. Ugh. It wasn't pretty. They moved up to the 10&U division and there was a huge difference in the teams they were playing. Our kids are all only 9, so hopefully it will get better as they get older. I'm sure it was good for them to do some losing - but this much was just painful.



In addition to his Y soccer, he also did his second year of the British Challenger soccer camp. He really enjoys that, and his team (Brazil) won the "World Cup" for the 2nd year in a row. He also did ESC's Circle of Excellence in the fall as well as a session of indoor soccer in the winter. Did I mention that he likes soccer?

Katie finished up at Clyde Howell with an amazing year in Mrs. Potter's class. I just can't sing her praises enough. She goes so far above and beyond what you can expect from a teacher and has taken both of my babies and turned them into big kids who are full of confidence and independence. Thank you so much, Mrs. Potter!

Katie also finished up another season at Oklahoma Gold,

lost her first 2 teeth, and got a big-girl haircut. Mike said that hairdressers shouldn't be allowed to take someone's baby and make them grow up like that. I must admit to crying while the hair was falling to the floor, but Katie was all smiles the whole time. She felt so big. On the car ride home from her appointment, she sat up as straight as she could in the car and asked me if I thought the people in the other cars were thinking she was a teenager.

In July while my parents endured the blistering, humid heat of Edmond's VBS with our kids, I flew to Washington state to meet up with Mike while he was travelling for work. It was an amazing trip that I will have to do an entire post to even attempt to cover. It was just so beautiful there!

We broke with our July 4th traditions this year because Mike and the kids went to Ardmore for his family's cousins reunion. They all had a wonderful time fishing, playing volleyball and shooting off fireworks, and I thoroughly enjoyed the day to myself at home -so much so that I cancelled on joining my sister and her fam to go watch the Edmond fireworks because I just wanted to stay home and watch a movie in bed. That is an unheard-of luxury.

At the end of July we celebrated Noah's birthday at the OKC Yard Dawgz game. It was a really neat party. The kids got to line up on the field for the pregame festivities and be a part of the high-5 line as the team was introduced. They had a blast. Mike and I spent the entire evening counting to 8 to make sure we had everyone!

We had a 2nd party for him the next night with the Fergusons and Jan on our new pontoon boat that we purchased earlier in the summer.

Bummer! I just remembered the weekend we spent at Lake Murray in Ardmore with the boat, but I don't know where those pictures are. Oh, well. Despite getting rained out a day early, it was great.

Another bummer! I also can't find pics from the first day of school. Katie shocked us to death by not being scared at all to go to a new school in a new class with no one that she knew. I was ready for the tears, but nothing but smiles. She was just so excited to be at "Noah's school." Both kids have really great teachers this year, and I am so thankful.

In September we had the pleasure of driving to Estes Park, Colorado, for my friend Susan's wedding. I had never been to an outdoor wedding, and it was just beautiful. I'll have to do a separate post for this trip too, because we just had a wonderful time there.

Also in September, our little Katie-bug turned 6! This was her year to have a small party where she got to invite one or two friends to do something extra special. She decided to have her very first sleepover. I told the girls that I didn't have time to get ready for the party and gave them balloons, streamers, etc. and told them to decorate.

I also "didn't have time" to make the cake, so they baked the cupcakes and decorated them.

They also painted aprons since they were chefs now and watched a movie in the living room. Everyone had a great time, and we even got some sleep. Success!

In October, I ran in the Race for the Cure - my very first 5k. I'm really proud of this since I have never been a runner. I'm not sure I'll do another, but it was worth it to say I did it. Too bad I have no pics to prove it.....

This Halloween the kids were Harry & Hermione. They looked so cute! They were rock stars when we went trick-or-treating at Oklahoma Christian. The college students grew up with Harry Potter since the first book came out when they were in grade school, and they kept asking my kids to pose for pictures with them. Noah and Katie loved it! Don't be surprised if next year's pictures show them in the same costumes.

In November Mike got to go to school with Katie for Okie Dokie Daddy Day. It's a really fun daddy/child day where everyone dresses western and the kids sing songs, teach their dads the chicken dance and get to race an obstacle course while riding on their daddy-horse's back. Mike and Katie came in 2nd, but only because Mike's boots were so slick. :) Katie was so excited about the whole day, and Mike just ate up all of the adoring smiles he got from her.

This year for Thanksgiving we stayed home and I cooked the traditional meal. Mike was in charge of manning the turkey-fryer, and Noah helped out with the green bean and sweet potato casseroles.

I was really proud of myself for pulling this off. Everything tasted great, and we only ate about 30 minutes later than I had intended. Pretty good since I was more than a little panicky upon discovering that the turkey wasn't entirely thawed when I pulled it out of the fridge. It was a fun challenge, but I will be very grateful to have my mom and sisters around next year!

The first weekend in December found us travelling once again to Dallas for the annual Christmas parade. I think we all agreed that it was probably our last one for a while, but this has been a fun memory-making experience for us all. Brrrrrrr.....

Now, the rest of Christmas will just have to wait. This post has taken me ages already and those memories are just too fresh on my mind for me to make it short and sweet.

Our last highlight(s) of the year were our Father/Daughter, Mother/Son date night(s). Mike took Katie to the Petroleum Club for dinner, the Melting Pot for dessert and then on a carriage ride to top it off. I wish I got that kind of treatment! Katie told me that her favorite part of the night was the warm blankets on the carriage ride. Apparently you can put those on and feel warm just like that (SNAP)! Mike did a really great job of making her feel like a princess.

While not quite as grandiose, Noah and I went on our own date that same night. We had a great time watching the Thunder destroy the Nets and ate wayyyyyy to much junk food throughout the game. We left the game early since the Thunder was so far ahead that all of the starters were out of the game. We went home and finished watching OSU win their bowl game. Whoo Hoo! It is really special to get to bond with him one-on-one, and I am gladly becoming a bigger sports fan so that we can share that.

Whew! This has taken me about 4 hours, and Katie may die if I ask her not to interrupt me again. Mike told me to just put up the pictures with a brief caption, but I'm just not capable of that! It was a wonderful year for which I am extremely thankful to God for my blessed life.

PS - I promise to never take another year off from blogging!