Okay really quickly...

So I'm still finishing my Christmas shopping, I've been baking cookies all evening and I just finished addressing my Christmas cards, but I thought I would pop in and say hello.  Just for a second anyway.  We've had a very busy weekend and I'm sure it's not going to get better before Thursday.  One of our really good friends from high school got married tonight, so we spent a good chunk of our weekend hanging out and catching up with our peeps.  I've been toting my new "baby" around with me everywhere and for those of you who want to know, this is what I've looked like for the past two or three weeks.

I've taken, and I'm not making this up, about six to seven hundred pictures since I got the new camera.  I really like it and I'm trying to learn as much about it as I can.  Here are a couple of my favorite shots I've taken so far.

This is my nephew Kohen.  He turned one last weekend and he's pretty stinkin cute!  We celebrated his party Freeman style at Buffalo Wild Wings.  It rocked.

This picture is from the wedding we went to tonight.  The cake was beautiful and very yummy! We had a really good time catching up with old friends and seeing our sweet Jason get married.  Anyway, I'd sure love to post all 732 pictures for you guys to admire, but let's face it, we've all got much more important tasks at hand.  I'm sure most of you are already done with all your Christmas activities but I'm the kind of crazy who likes to wait until the absolute very last second and then go "I'm going to be way more prepared next year."  Ha!  Yeah right!  Anyway, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and I'll check in again soon!

I can't wait!!!!

Ok so Santa came a little early for me this year.  In my defense though, I've been really good and I've wanted this for a long, long time.  Does that count??  I think it does, so I finally got a new camera!!  Woo hoo!  It is a Canon Rebel XSI.  I'm really excited and can't wait to get some more pictures of the kids.  I'm not a pro or anything, I'd just like to get some clearer pictures instead of the blurriness I'd been getting in the past.  I thought I'd share a few of my first pics with you guys.  

I'm no Lauren Clark or anything but they are heck of a lot better than what I was getting out of my last camera.  I hope to learn more about what all this Rebel can do and get better.  I'm sure I'll fit all the learning into my schedule somewhere!!  Here are a few more of Emma.  (I promise she isn't my favorite child.  I don't have a favorite.  But she will pose and make cute faces for me.  The boys don't really care to do that anymore.  Plus they are usually dirty and need to comb their crazy hair or something.)

And here we are after the bath.  Checking out some ribbon I'm going to use to make hair bows for her.

And now we are going to brush our hair.

We take hair brushing very seriously at our house.  See...

Wow.  It was clearly bedtime.  ")

Happy 12th Year Lukey!

*Before I even start this post, please do not pay any attention to the unmade bed in the background of these two pictures.  My OCD tells me not to post them!  Are you crazy?  But then I really like the sweetness of Luke and Emma so I'm going to have to over ride my OCD.  Sorry Mom.  And Trin.  ")

I know I've been going on and on and on about my Lukey getting older but I just can't seem to wrap my mind around the fact that he's been a part of my life for over 12 years now.  It's scary to think how fast time can pass.  I hate it, but I should quit griping about it, accept it and move on.  Right?  Right.  So anyway, Luke's birthday actually fell on Thanksgiving this year.  He doesn't really like it when it is like that because all his friends are usually busy, but we made sure to celebrate a little early the Friday before.  We took about six extra boys (yeah, what the heck am I thinking?) bowling and out for pizza.  They seemed to have a good time and I know Luke was happy to get to spend some time with all of them.  We also celebrated the night before his birthday with the family.  If I were a good mom I would have had some pictures of those two nights to show you all, but I'm not.  Not when I seem to hide my camera from myself.  Something tells me I won't be doing that too much anymore (I'll fill ya in on those details a little later.)  For now I guess I better keep up my birthday posting theme here and throw out a few memories or silly facts about Luke that I love.  So here we go....

1.  Luke was four days overdue and I was in hard labor for twelve excruciating hours.  It was the day before Thanksgiving that year and all of our friends from school showed up and waited forever for Luke.  It was a very special day for me in more ways than one.  When he finally decided to make his debut, he weighed 8 lbs and 10 ounces.  He had a glimmer of red hair and funny feet like his dad!  I fell in love with another boy that day.  

2. Luke's middle name is Brody.  It was a name of a character in a popular movie at that time (I'll see if you guys can figure that one out on your own).  Ron's friends called him Brody Baby.

3. His first room was decorated with Paddington everything.  We still have every Paddington from his nursery and one huge Paddington we got at Sears when they marked it down.  The thing is seriously about 3 feet tall!

4. Luke loved Blues Clues and had several "Handy Dandy Notebooks" and "Thinking Chairs".  I can still sing every song from that show!

5. When he was about 2 or 3 he was having a hard time pronouncing his "L's" so I would try to get him to say la-la...and then whatever L word he was trying to say.  So I would say la-la-Luke for example.  One day he was messing around with a hanger and I told him to put it down.  He proceeded to tell me it wasn't a hanger it was a hammer.  I said no it is a hanger now put it away.  He said "No mom.  It's a la-la-hammer!"  I think that was the day he figured out if he made me laugh he didn't seem to get in as much trouble as he would otherwise.

6. Luke also had several funny sayings that we still say around our house to this day.  Some of which include:

"I judge you." Luke's first attempt at I love you.

"Kyle's on the down." This is what Luke told our friends when he was explaining the bunk bed situation.

"Ass cream."  Ice cream.

"I'm gonna wear my toes."  This was Luke going somewhere barefoot.

"Sorry doesn't work for me."  His daycare taught the kids to use their words and if someone did something that made you mad and they apologized it was ok to tell them this.  We still throw this one around a lot in our house.

7. He's very funny and loves making people laugh.  I do too so I can relate.

8. He's sensitive and caring and doesn't want to hurt any one's feelings. 

9. He has to have the last word.  Always.  (I know my mom is reading this right now and cracking up because Luke and I are so much alike.)

10. He's growing his hair out again.  I don't like it.  Does anyone know when this will be out of style?  Or if it is out of style can you help me convince him?

11. He's been taking guitar lessons for about seven months now and he is really good.  He knows how to read the music and all that jazz which I think is pretty impressive.  Especially since I went to his lessons for a while and I couldn't follow along with that stuff at all.

12. He's the best big brother/son anyone could ask for.  The night we had the family over for his birthday I wanted to put together a quick slide show for him (this is quickly becoming another hobby of mine).  The only problem was I didn't have enough time to scan in a bunch of pictures.  So I sat down and made a quick slide show with the pictures I had on the computer already.  It wasn't very long but enough for a couple of songs.  I picked two of his favorite songs and we played it for him and everyone else that night.  I was feeling kind of bad because I didn't get everything in there I wanted to and after it was over this is the conversation we had.

Luke:  Thanks for the slide show mom.

Me:  Well I'm sorry it wasn't longer.  I wanted to do more but ran out of time.

Luke:  It's ok.  I'm just happy you made one.

Oh the kid kills me.  I love him so much.  I'm really very sad that he has to grow up.  I will never be able to express in words what that child means to me.  I love you Luke! 

More to come....

Ok so I haven't posted in a little bit but I wanted to show you all a couple of pics I took with my phone the other night. The kids were all laying on our big ottoman covering up with a blanket. The boys tried their hardest to keep Emma up there with them, but she didn't really want to hang around too long with those yahoos.

Anyway, I have been really busy lately and have a TON to blog about later (hopefully this weekend.) You will get to hear about a very special (sigh) birthday, all of our Thanksgiving dinners (we had four, yes four!), a really cool Christmas Concert I got to go to last week, my early Christmas present (does anyone remember what I asked Santa for??) and I may even throw in a post about my beloved Sooners! Why not? So stay tuned. Things should be hopping around here in the next few days!

Happy Birthday to...Me (Oh Darn It!)

Well I escaped it as long as I could, but my birthday finally caught up to me. I'm not too upset. It is a big one though. The big 3-0. Oh well. What can you do? I had a hard time when I turned 25 but turning 30 hasn't really phased me. I guess I've accepted the fact that I'm not a teenager anymore and as much as I'd like to go back to high school (at least for a day or two), that is not going to happen. So I thought I'd post some of my favorite memories over the past 30 years. Here we go, this should be fun!

1. My Strawberry Shortcake bike. It rocked!

2. Watching Saturday morning cartoons with my Dad.

3. Going to the library with my Mom. Oh and the day she read me The Boxcar Children in one day. I wouldn't let her stop!

4. The day my hair caught on fire! Mom came in from putting Matt down for a nap and asked if I smelled something burning. I said no, but my back got really hot a minute ago (as I'm standing in front of the open furnace)! She turned me around and sure enough my hair was singed on the ends! Good job, Mec.

5. The day Marla fell out of the tree and broke her arm. She says I told her to go out and hang on that limb, but I'm sticking to my story and saying that is totally untrue! ")

6. The day Matt hid from us in the dog house and I thought he was gone forever. I could of killed him when we found him.

7. The Easter when Aunt Dawn spent the night and got up in the middle of the night and put together our Easter baskets. When Mom and Dad woke up they couldn't figure out who had done it. They were really starting to believe in the Easter Bunny and me and Aunt Dawn were in my room cracking up!

8. The day Mom sang "Cherish" by Madonna to me, Matt and Andrew. We were upset because she wanted us to help her clean and we didn't want to. So she does this song and dance and we about peed our pants laughing so hard. To this day if I see that video all I can see is Mom dancing and Matt dying laughing!

9. The day Aunt Barb convinced me that I needed to put Band-Aids on my boobs or they wouldn't grow. Mom caught me putting them on and was hysterically laughing. I will NEVER live this one down!

10. Watching OU football with my Dad. And you all wondered where the fascination came from?

11. Going fishing with my Dad and digging for worms to use for bait.

12. The day my Mom turned 30! I remember it like it was yesterday. They shoe polished her car at her work and I tried frantically to bake her a cake before she got home from work.

13. My Christmas Break in 8th grade when I got chicken pox. It was awful and Amanda came over and made fun of me and all my blisters.

14. The day I met Ron. I didn't really have a crush on him yet, but I remember he wore this shirt with cut off sleeves or really short sleeves and I could see his armpit hair and his muscles. I remember thinking those boys from Madison are so manly!! That cracks me up!

15. The day I tricked Matt into eating a whole spoon full of miracle whip by telling him I had just baked a white cake and that was some of the batter. The look on his face was priceless!

16. Dressing Andrew up like a girl! I wish I had pictures of this.

17. The night I saw Ron at Video Giant. We had kind of been talking to each other, but I thought he liked someone else so I had kind of given up on him. When I saw him I looked like crap. He says I looked good, but I think he was just being nice. Anyway, he called me that night and we talked until two in the morning. That was the beginning my friends.

18. The day I got married. It was such a crazy whirlwind of a day. I'm glad I don't have to do that again.

19. The day I had Luke. After twelve excruciating hours of labor and tons of friends packed in the waiting room of the hospital, he finally decides to show up. The day before Thanksgiving I might add. I looked at Ron right after Luke was born when they were cleaning him up and asked if he was beautiful. Ron's response? "Not yet."

20. The day I had Kyle. The only snow storm of that year and he decides to come three weeks early. When he came out I was expecting him to look just like his brother and he didn't. I remember thinking "Ron's not going to think that is his kid." Then I thought wait a minute he looks just like Ron. Oh the thoughts that run through your epidural ridden brain during child birth.

21. The day Rhonda smacked me at Luke's baseball game. I was sitting there and she just smacked me! She said you had a mosquito on you. I said "Rhonda!" We were both about to die laughing. It still cracks me up thinking about it.

22. One day when I was pregnant (like way pregnant) with Luke we all decided to go camping on Jason's land. So it was me and all the guys (of course) and we were chopping down trees for firewood. Finally Jason said don't chop down anymore trees we have enough. So what does JD do? He has to take one last swing at this little tree he was working on. The tree just slowly starts to fall and it is headed right towards Jason. Now this tree was maybe 5 inches in diameter and it is falling right at Jason. Instead of just stepping about 5 inches to the left or right he decides to turn his back and out run the tree. Bad idea. It fell right down on him and I can't remember a time when we had all laughed that hard!

23. The day at Sonic when a grasshopper jumped in the car when Ron was ordering! He screamed and tried to get it out of the car. I'm sure people across from us thought we were the biggest idiots, but it was sooo funny!

24. The night Amanda and I thought we would be rebels and steal a construction light. It took forever to get off and we could not stop laughing. I think I still have that thing somewhere.

25. The night Ron put one of my knee-high pantie hose over Emma's face. Please don't think we are horrible parents, but I cannot even begin to tell you how funny she looked. I was laughing so hard, I couldn't catch my breath!

26. The day I told Ron I was pregnant with Emma. He had really been wanting another one and I didn't tell him I was taking a test. I just took it and went in and showed it to him. He was so happy.

27. The day at Pizza Hut when Kyle made all of us laugh so hard we looked like retards.

28. The funny things Luke used to say that we still reference to this day. Examples: "I'm on the down" and "Sorry doesn't work for me."

29. The OU/Nebraska game in 2000. It was the best game EVER! Oh man. I love thinking about that day. You knew I would get at least one more OU reference in here somewhere, right?

30. The day I bit a hangnail off of, wait for it, Ron's thumb! Yeah. I'll tell you the story sometime.

So there you go. Crazy huh? There are a lot more where that came from. If you guys follow this blog long enough, I'm sure you will hear many more. ")

Happy 30th Birthday Ronny Wayney Chaney Freeman!

So's today is my hubby's birthday. He is the big 3-0. It's amazing how fast time can go by. I met him fifteen years ago. I've shared 15 birthdays with him, 15 Christmas's, 14 years of being a couple, 12 years of marriage, 4 different homes/apartments, 3 children and a partridge in a pear tree. In honor of Ron I thought I would share some of the things I love most about him. So here goes:

1. I love the fact that he loves me no matter how crazy I am.
2. I love the fact that he doesn't tell anyone how crazy I am.
3. I love how nothing really bothers him. He's always calm, cool and collected.
4. I love how smart he is. We are a little competitive when it comes to this, but I do think he is a little smarter than me. Emphasis on the little.
5. I love that he always knows what is "cool" in the world today. He always listens to cool music and he knows who the people are on MTV. I don't have a clue anymore who they are.
6. I love that he quotes movies and other things. If you have spent anytime around us or our really close friends, you probably find this a little annoying. I love it though!
7. I love it that he is really funny. We can always find humor in everyday activities and I love that he will always bust out some line and having me rolling on the floor.
8. I love his freckles.
9. I love his thumbs.
10. I love the fact that he loves me even though I'm not the skinny little thing I used to be. He still always makes me feel beautiful.
11. I love it that he gave me Luke, who strives to be as funny as his dad everyday.
12. I love it that he gave me Kyle, who strives to be as good of an athlete as his dad.
13. I love it that he finally gave me a little girl, who is as dramatic and crazy as her mother and he loves her just as much (if not more).
14. I love it that he is the eternal optimist.
15. I love it that he loves to be a coach and a leader to other children. I love when the other parents come up to me and say how much they appreciate him and how he treated their child.
16. I love it that you all are still reading this! ")
17. I love it that he loves my family. I mean seriously, he really loves you guys and I think you all love him back. Espicially when you all call to talk to him and not me. (You know who you are)
18. I love that it isn't a surprise to him that we've made it this far. He said he has never ever had a doubt.
19. I love it that he is just as crazy about OU as I am. I don't know what I would have done if he were an OSU fan or worse, a Texas fan. I shudder to think.
20. Finally, I just love him for being him.

Happy Birthday Ron! If you haven't figured it out, I kind of like you! I love you and I can't wait to celebrate the next 30 years of your life!

Happy Halloween!!

Don't you love my husband's sense of humor! Poor little Jack. That's what too much candy will do to ya though. Let this be a reminder to all you out there who are going to gorge on your children's Halloween candy for the next month. Have a Happy Halloween and I'll post pictures soon of all the kiddos in their costumes! ")

My Little Emmers

**Update**
I also forgot to put on here my cousin, Jenny, is having a little girl too! I'm so excited that Emma will have some girl cousins to play with. Jenny and I are only a year a part, so we were pretty close growing up. I think I'm going to be an honorary aunt to this one also!!! Right Jen?? ")

Well not too much has been going on lately. Just school, football and Emma. The trifecta. I was sick for a good 3 1/2 weeks since I last checked in. It wasn't much fun, but I'm feeling better now and getting back into the swing of things. Anyway, yesterday we went over to Ron's parents for Papa Freeman's birthday lunch and the whole fam was there. I didn't realize how many kiddos we have now in the family until yesterday. It was a busy house to say the least. Our Tulsa family was up yesterday which is Papa Freeman's side of the family. One of the people that made the trip is Andrea. She is Ron's cousin Greg's wife. She is very, very creative and crafty and makes children's clothes and sells them on-line. I have her link on my page (Sassy Peanut). Well Andrea is so sweet and she made Emma a Halloween shirt with a matching bow! It is so stinkin' cute! (Thanks by the way Andrea). So I put the shirt on Emma and I attempted to put the bow in her hair. She doesn't really like these things and the bow didn't last very long before it was ripped out. When we got home, I got Emma in her seat and while she was stuck (and preoccupied) I put the bow back in her hair. I snapped a few pics, but none were as funny as this one:
She looks completely and totally terrified! Her little eyes look like they are about to pop out! Oh this girl kills me. I'm going to keep putting that bow in her hair. The girl has to get used to these things. ")

In other news, we found out last week that I will have, hold your breath....a niece in a few months! Ron's brother Bryan and his wife, Crystal, are going to have a little girl and I can't wait! We really need to up the girl count on both sides of the family.

The boys in my life are doing good. Ron still loves his job. Kyle hasn't skipped anymore school (that I know of) and Luke is doing really good at Central. I have a funny story about him to tell as well. It isn't very long, but I think worth telling. The other day at Central they were having a Mother's Lunch for all the students. So Luke asked me if I would come and since I just love school cafeteria food (not), I jumped at the offer. I got to the school about ten minutes early and was standing in the cafeteria waiting on Luke with all the other moms. I looked down at my phone for a second and this is what I hear: "Hi Mom". When I look up he's gone. Yeah he walked in, saw me, said hello and walked off to get his food. I was like uhhh hello? Didn't you ask me to come here today? All the other kids were happy to see their moms and showed them where to go and all that stuff. Not my kid. He was like oh there's my mom, now where's my food? My children love me so much. Can't you tell???

New jobs, new classes, strep for everyone and one crazy eight year old.

So last we talked Ron was about to embark on his new jobby job. His first day was last Monday and he LOVES it. I mean seriously loves it. It's disgusting. He's almost giddy every night when he comes home. I'm happy for him. He is totally in his element now and I think that's pretty awesome.

We've had a busy couple of weeks though since Ron's first day. Let me get you up to speed. The week before the new job, all the kids were sick with strep (again) and I was about to pull my hair out (again). So we got the kiddos better and I had been telling Ron that I was a little worried about our morning routine changing. The way it had been before Ron took Emma to school and came to work and Luke put himself on the bus and I would take Kyle to school and come to work. Well that was all about to change with this new job because Ron had to leave earlier in the morning. So I would be taking Emma to school, which meant Luke AND Kyle would have to put themselves on the bus. I wasn't really worried about Luke, but I had a bad feeling about leaving Kyle with this responsibility at 8 years old. Now when I say I was worried about him, let me explain the psyche that is Mecca. I was worried that someone would try to kidnap Kyle or beat him up or come in the house and rob us and Kyle would have been the only one there. I'm crazy like that. I worry about the extreme worst, most horrible things that could ever happen to my kids. That's how I roll, I can't help it. Anyway, so Monday came and Ron left (45 minutes early, I might add) for the new job, Luke put himself on the bus and I left the house at 8:10 am to take Emma to school. Now Kyle is supposed to go to the bus stop at 8:20 am, so as I'm leaving I say "Leave in ten minutes. Turn everything off. Shut the door behind you and don't talk to anyone on your way to the bus stop." He nods his head in complete understanding. Right? Right. I get to work and everything is fine. I have 15 e-mails from Ron showing me his cool new office and yadda yadda yadda. So lunch rolls around and I go to meet Ron. As we're eating I tell him I think I'm going to drive by the house before I go back to work to make sure Kyle shut the door behind him. (Now at this point some motherly instinct or something was really trying to tell me something that I was choosing to down play or ignore.) I left Ron, drove by the house, door was shut, so off to work I go. About 3:37 pm I get a call from Luke and this is how our conversation went down-

Luke: Mom did you know Kyle walked home because his throat was hurting?

Me: What? (immediately I'm thinking, I know he didn't do what I think he did)

Luke: Yeah Mom. He said he walked home. He said he walked home from school instead of riding the bus. (so the story is already changing and there is no way Kyle made it home in 7 minutes on foot)

Me: Put your brother on the phone now.

Kyle: Hello.

Me: Kyle, I'm only going to ask you this once and don't you even try lying to me because I can find out the truth. Did you go to school today?

Kyle: (long pause) No.

Yep, just like that. The kid just didn't go to school! I think my blood pressure was at stroke level and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I mean who at the age of 8 thinks it's ok to just not go to school? Apparently, my child. Oh and the school did not call me or anything. I'm still not really sure how I feel about that.

In other child news, I got a call yesterday from Luke's math teacher. At first I was very afraid, but then she asked me if it would be ok if they moved Luke to advanced Math. I was like ummm, yes?! I'm pretty proud of my little Lukey Pukey. I knew all that stuff I taught him would eventually come to the surface. (Yes I'm taking all the credit on this one) ;)

Remember at the beginning of this post when I told you all the kids had strep? Well guess who else decided to get it? Yeah and I don't like it. My throat has been on fire for a week and now I have no voice. I'm finally starting to feel a little better, but I could still use a few days of rest. So that is what has been happening at the Freeman house. Never a dull moment. Never.

Ronny's New Job.

So for those of you who haven't been within 100 feet of me or my husband or my kids in the last three weeks, let me get you up to speed. Ron got a new job at ConocoPhillips! We are so excited! He is going to be working at the Research Center here in Bartlesville with scientists doing all kinds of crazy experiments. Not really on the crazy part, but he will be doing experiments and research on capturing CO2 and other "greenhouse gases." Now I put that part in quotes because those are the actual words I heard Ron tell someone. I just looked at him and said, "you didn't tell me that part." Not that it matters, it just sounded more scientific or something.

Anyway, his last day at the pharmacy was yesterday and he starts with Phillips on Monday. I'm excited but kind of sad at the same time because we won't be working at the same place anymore. I don't if you all know this or not, but we had been working for the same company and actually worked at the same office. I'll miss having him right here if I need him for something, but I think it will be good for both of us to have our own "identity" at work again.

This new job is a huge blessing to our family. It is not only going to pay better, but the benefits are almost unbeatable. Ron will get more time off around holidays, which is such a blessing and we will be able to use the recreation center. So we can work out or play basketball, swim or bowl and the kids can too. The boys are so excited about that. The job will also be really laid back and the people Ron is going to work with are so nice. They've all been e-mailing him letting him know they can't wait for him to join their team. I'm just really happy for my husband. He is such a good supporter of our family and he works so hard. This job is validation of everything Ron has been working towards lately. For those of you who don't know, he is also going to school full-time this semester and should have is Bachelor's Degree by the summer.

So thank you Lord for the huge blessing you have given our family and if you all see Ron be sure to ask him how the new job is going. I know he will be more than happy to fill everyone in. Oh and be sure to ask about those greenhouse gases!

Summer Re-Cap

Here is a little recap of some of our summer pics. I'm so bad at getting these things on here when I first take them, sorry. Here is Emma at the Kiddie Park for the first time. She liked this ride, but hated the rest.
This is Emma after she had been "helping" Ron in the flower bed. Yeah she helped herself to a few handfuls of dirt. Nice.
Kyle and Luke decided to get all tatted up at SunFest this year. They thought they were pretty cool and the "tattoo" lasted a little over a week.


I would have posted another picture of Luke's tattoo but I guess you can only load so many pictures at a time. I like how both the boys were so serious, like it was actually hurting or something. They kill me.

Overall, we had a really nice summer. We didn't do much, but that is fine with me. A little down time is always nice especially after the spring we had. I'm really ready for Fall though. I love it! It's my favorite time of year. The colors, the first crisp evening, oh and the FOOTBALL! Yeah I know I'm a freak. I love football though. OU is my fave, actually my obsession, but I can watch any college football. It's a sickness that I will have to be medicated for someday I'm sure. You know I even watch football when Ron's not home. I knew it was bad when I caught myself watching a game one night and Ron walked in and I said "Oh my gosh, you have to see this hit you just missed!" I don't know who was more surprised by those words, me or him. But I've come to embrace my football craziness and consider it a bonding time with me and Ron. And every other person that wants to talk football with me. ")

So bring on the football, the leaves and all our November birthdays! It's going to be a fall to remember and all you Sooner fans get ready. Only 9 more days until kickoff!

The First Day of School

Well the first day of school was last week and I had to send my baby off to Middle School. I managed to stay composed and only broke down once the week before school started. I just can't believe how fast time can go by. One day you have this little 8 pound bundle of joy and the next you have this...
He didn't really want me to take too many pictures and neither did his brother, but I made them and they can just get over it. Kyle was a little bummed he had to go back to Kane while his brother got to go explore a new school, but I assured Kyle that one day he to would get to go and he would have to endure his mother having a few minor meltdowns. What can I say? These kids are growing way too fast.
Can you see the despise in their face. They hate my camera, they hate being that close to each other and really they didn't want to be up that early.

Sorry the pictures are a little dark and blurry. It was dark in my house and it was foggy outside that morning. Frankly, I just need a new camera. Maybe Santa will get me a new one for Christmas??? Santa are you reading???

Anyway, they went off to school and had a great day. All went well and things seem to progressing nicely. I don't really anticipate a year without any hiccups, but a mom can always dream can't she?

The Greatest Man That Ever Lived!

Ron and I have been married for 12 years now.  For the most part, the years have flown by and it is really funny to think about how we got here, at this crazy point in our lives.  We've come so far.  Thank you for the hilarious, fun, sweet and memorable past 12 years and here's to the next 100!  I love you, Ronny Wayney Chaney Freeman!

Here are some fun facts about Ron and I that some of you may not know:

1. Our first date was at the movies.  We watched PCU.  We held hands and Ron kissed me at the end of the night.  Just a peck on the lips.  

2. Our first "real" kiss was at the baseball fields one hot summer night after Ron had played a game.  

3. I almost broke up with him after our first date because I thought we were better friends than anything else.  My best friend swore she would kill me if I didn't give it at least one week.  Well it didn't even take a week for me to realize I would never break up with him.  Thanks Amanda!

4. Ron prank called me before we had even met.  He looked me up in Bryan's yearbook and I guess he thought I looked like the kind of person that needed to be tormented on the phone.

5.  When we turn 30, we will have been together for half of our lives!  

6. We went to Tulsa for our Honeymoon.  It wasn't much, but it was seriously, one of the greatest times of my life.  I was in my own little world with the my husband and I loved every minute of it.

7. When we first started dating our nicknames for each other were Buff Daddy and Hot Momma!  Some how people in school found out about this and we were called that forever.  That is until we had Luke and then everyone just called us Mom and Dad.

8. Ron's favorite perfume for me to wear is Escape.  I wore it on our first date and he says that will always remind him of that night.

9. We've never broken up.  Not for a day, an hour or a minute!!

10. We had a marker fight at work the other day.  It was hilarious and one of those moments that made me think, "yeah, we'll be doing this kind of stuff forever!!"

I LOVE YOU, RON!!!  HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Someday...

OK so I know I haven't posted in awhile, but I'm going to start making it a priority. I don't know that too many people stop by my blog, but I would like to keep a better record of the ins and outs of "Freeman life", if you will.

So where do I start??

I've been very reflective the past few weeks. Reflecting on my life up to now, my husband, my marriage, my children, my parents, brothers, in-laws (my second family), and the events that have somewhat shaped me up to now. 2008 has been a crazy roller coaster ride of emotions for me and my family. I found out in February I had a hole in my heart, I lost an Aunt in March (which I think left a bigger hole), I had surgery in May, Emma turned "one", Luke graduated 5th grade, Kyle has shot up like a weed, Ron and I will be married 12 years this month and then we turn 30 in November. Good grief!

One of the major things I've been reflecting on lately is my family. For those of you who don't know, I have the best family in the world. I'm not just talking about my parents and brothers and Ron's family. I mean my Aunts and Uncles. My Grandma and my Cousins. They rock. In fact Ron even says they took him in and made him one them. Growing up I may not have had much, but I had them. We all had each other. I think that's why this year has been especially hard. We lost one and it hurts. It hurts so bad that I don't think I can go an hour or less without thinking about Her. I think about that day all the time. The day we, as a family, became broken. I have a picture on my cell phone of Emma playing in the living room and everything was how it should be. But then, in one minute, in one phone call, everything around you can shatter into a million pieces.

I want to know why.
Why now?
Why Her?

Someday is the answer I get. Someday you'll know. Someday it won't matter. Someday you'll see Her again. I know. But it still hurts. It hurts me for Her mother, Her children, Her grandchildren, Her sisters and brothers, and Her nieces and nephews.

I wish we could all live close, like when I was younger. I want to see them everyday. I want to play with Aunt Dawn, Jessica and Marla (the girls). I want to race Josh, Matt and Erick (the boys) in the back yard. I want to eat at the ironing board again. I want to go back, just for one day. To see Andrew and Robyn when they were about the same size. I want to take all of them and lock them away so nothing like this will ever happen again. I want them all to know that I think about them everyday. Not just some of them but ALL of them. I don't want any of them to ever doubt how much they mean to me and to this family. So for my family who reads this, I love you. More than you'll ever know, I love you. My memories with you are some of the greatest times in my life. So in memory of Aunt Darla, I want to tell everyone I miss you, I love you and I can't wait to see you again. Oh and thanks for being the best family in the world. You guys rock my socks off!

Happy Birthday Emma!

Emma turned "1" on May 23rd, so we had to throw her a party Freeman style. We ordered a fantabulous cake, made a boat load of food, and invited tons of friends and family. I must say as far as parties go, Emma had one of the best first birthdays I've ever seen. I will also say that I was so busy trying to entertain that I did not get many pictures. Here are a few I managed to get.
Here is Emma's 1st Birthday Cake! It came from a really cool bakery in Tulsa and was just perfect. It was also really yummy!
This is her very own small version of her cake. She did pretty good eating it. I eventually had to cut it open so she could dig into it. But she didn't freak out because her hands were all goopy which I thought was pretty good, considering both of the boys did that on their first birthdays. This was Emma before the party even started. I guess we wore her out in preparation for the big day!

Having all this fun at this Pink and Brown girly birthday party, reminded me of the day we found out we were having a girl. I had my appointment Jan. 2, 2007 to verify the sex of the baby. I think about this day quite a bit, because, honestly, it was one of the funnest days of my life. We took the boys with us to the appointment that day. As soon as we walked in the man who did the ultrasound said "I bet you want a girl." Boy was that an understatement. I wanted a girl, Ron wanted a girl, Luke and Kyle wanted a girl, my Mom and Kevin, my Dad, Ron's parents, all of our brothers, grandmothers, friends, family, EVERYONE wanted a girl. So of course the appointment started and the guy took forever measuring and doing all the important stuff, my heart was pounding and I couldn't stand it. Finally he said "Well I'm going to tell you what you want to hear." I couldn't believe it. I was crying, shaking and my heart was about to beat out of my chest. All I could say was "Are you sure?" After the appointment, we bought pink carnations to give to my Mom, Ron's Mom and Ron's Grandmother (of course I would have bought a pink carnation for every citizen of Bartlesville that day, but I figured they probably wouldn't be as excited as we were). I'd have to say my Mom's reaction was probably the best. I didn't remind her that day was the day of my ultrasound, just in case it was a girl. I wanted to surprise her. When we walked in she was just, you know, happy to see the boys and had no clue what we had for her. So Ron gave her the carnation and then the funniest thing happened. At first she was like what is this for? And then she just looked at me and started crying. But the funniest part was she said exactly what I said, "Are you sure?" Yeah Mom, I'm pretty sure!

Times-they are a changin...

Well here he is. My boy. My first boy. My love. My heart. My soul. He is such a wonderful blessing. He's growing up and I want it to stop. He is graduating from 5th grade tomorrow and then he's off to middle school. The same middle school I went to. Do you know what happens at middle school? Puberty, new friends, mean kids, girlfriends, and a total disregard for what any adult tries to tell you. I am SO not ready for this. He will be leaving this one behind.

I'm sure Kyle isn't too upset though. He can rule the school now. And as if that isn't enough emotional turmoil, I have this happening too.

She will be "1" on Friday! I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. So let's just recap. One is graduating and moving onto Junior High, the beginning of oh so many wonderful events, that I just can't wait to go through (sigh). The second one will be in 3rd grade and all on his own at his elementary school. Those two have ALWAYS gone to the same school or sitter. And the third is turning one. She's walking everywhere, talking alot, and finally growing some hair! Oh and sleeping all night in her own bed (finally)!! My life seems to be in constant movement and change. I used to want my kids (the boys) to grow quickly so they would get out of all those "baby" phases, but not anymore. Now I want it all to slow down. I feel like it's all going to be over before I know it. I want to enjoy every second (well most of them)!

Holey Heart Surgery, Batman!!

As most of you all know, I had my heart surgery a couple of weeks ago in Dallas. Everything went extremely well and I'm so relieved to have it all taken care of and over with. My surgery went almost perfectly and I have a device in there that is about the size of a quarter. I feel fine though and don't feel the device at all. I want to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers, cards, phone calls, e-mails and other gifts that helped Ron and I out. God has truly, truly blessed us with a wonderful support system, which is no surprise to me. I've known since the day I found out Luke would be coming, that God would take care of us. I remember praying "God if we're going to go through this, please just let everyone be supportive" and of course they have. Even in highschool when we got married and had Luke, everyone (even the teachers) encouraged us and congratulated us and never made us feel weird or out of place. That's a pretty big deal to me and is something I think about quite often. I tell the boys all the time how lucky they are to not only have an awesome family that loves them to death, but their parent's friends love them and would do anything for them. So I just want all of you to know how much I love you and I appreciate you, even if I don't tell you enough.

A joke for the day.

I thought I would start posting some of the daily things that crack me up. Most of these things come from the mouths of my boys (Ron, Luke and Kyle). They are truly the funniest people I know and if you could only see us in public when they get going, it's quite a sight. I've almost died a couple times from uncontrollabley laughing with food in my mouth and I'm sure most people observing us think we are crazy. (Which we are so who cares what they think.) So I started thinking the other day that I should start writing some of these things down. Of course I forgot what was so funny that day that would make me think that, but I'm sure one night at around 4:36 am it will come flooding back to me. Anyway, to get this long line of what I'm sure will be endless posts started, I thought I would share a joke with everyone that Kyle told us the other day in the car on the way to Tulsa. It went something like this:

Kyle: How many football players does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Me: I don't know, how many?
Kyle: 100. 1 to hold the lightbulb and 99 to spin the house.
Me: (Unable to speak because I'm hysterically laughing)

Now I know that joke isn't all that funny, but trust me living with an 11 year old and an 8 year old, it was pretty good in comparison. So enjoy your joke of the day and be sure to share it with everyone you know:)

Ok, ok I know I said....

I know I said I would post some pics from Colorado and other stuff soon, and I do intend to do that (as soon as I find my camera cord) but I do have a few pics of Emma ready to go in my phone. So you all get to enjoy! Emma and I had a rough day at work (and school) the other day so we decided to go outside and chill for a bit. Ok so maybe my day was a little worse than Emma's but I'm sure she missed me a bunch, right?? Anyway, I got some cute shots of her checking everything out on the street. She's almost 11 months now and she is growing up way too fast! She's walking and talking and I can't stand how stinking cute she is when she does either one. I will try to get some video up soon of her walking and talking (again I need to find the cord to charge the camera) so you all can check her out. If you can't wait for my disappearing cords to show up and you want to come watch Emma firsthand, give me a call and I'll schedule you an appointment ;)

No Crack in the house!

So I know I haven't posted in awhile, but trust me when I say it has been a crazy past few weeks. To spare you guys from all the drama, I decided to start back fresh with some funny pictures of Emma. I shot these a few weeks ago and I know they aren't the best quality, but I had to act fast to capture the act. Emma was playing with something she wasn't supposed to and when I went to pick her up all I got was an eyeful of booty! I thought it was hysterical! I know I shouldn't put such things on here, but I figured everyone could use a laugh. I'll get some more pics up here soon from our recent trip to Colorado and a few more from here and there.

Ok One More Update....

Well I had the T.E.E. done, which was a blast! Yeah I love having tubes stuck down my throat. Anyway, I have heard the results from the nurse but not the doctor. According to the nurse, (she said this is what the doctor told her to tell me) I have a small hole or a PFO and my valve is opening and closing but is "floppy" not tight. So basically I will have to see an invasive cardiologist at some point but I'm still waiting to here from a doctor to tell me all the lovely details. I guess the hole isn't huge but it is big enough that they want to repair it. So there you go, I'm falling apart and I haven't even turned 30 yet. Whatever, maybe I'm just getting all my problems out of the way now and I'm going to live to be 110!!! Ron better watch out! It's a good thing Ron is nice to me or I would be telling everyone he broke my heart-LITERALLY. Which just happens to be a pet peeve of his-when people use the word literally in the wrong text. For example "My jaw LITERALLY fell in my lap." Ron's next response would be "Really? What'd you do to fix that?" You know something real smart alec. Ok I've totally derailed on this post but you all get the point. I think I'm rambling now to keep from thinking about the hole in my heart. On a happier note, all the kids are feeling better and life seems to be getting back to normal as far as they go. I'll try to get some new pics up soon. These last few posts have been quite boring if I say so myself. Sorry about that.

I hope they don't have to take me out back and shoot me!

Okay I'm sure you all are tired of hearing me go on and on about the health of my family, but guess what I'm getting ready to do it again so you all are just going to have to deal with me. I'm not usually one who worries about myself or my overall well-being, but I've had a few things happen in the last week that are a little scary. Last Friday I was sitting at my desk when I couldn't see part of my computer screen. Of course I thought my contact was messed up but when I closed one eye and opened the other I still couldn't see in this one area. It was really weird so I left my office to go tell Ron and the others at work and I could only see half of their faces when I was talking to them. So at this point I'm thinking "how am I going to work today if I can't see my computer screen?" Luckily my eye doctor is located across the hall from my office, so I toodled on over thinking he was going to tell me something was wrong with my contacts or my eyes. Boy was I in for a surprise. First he got this serious look on his face (what I could see of it since I'm pretty much blind without my contacts) and he said "I think you need to go have an MRI." I think my jaw fell in my lap. I didn't understand and he said he thought I may have had a stroke or something wrong with my brain. Now I hear about people having problems with their brains all the time, in fact I think half of our employees have problems with their brains, but when someone is telling you that about yourself, it hits you pretty hard. So they scheduled me for an MRI and I had that done, which was a crazy procedure but I didn't freak out or anything thank goodness. Anyway, I got the results Saturday and they looked fine, but I still had to go see a neurologist yesterday. He was really nice and seems to think I've been having migraines with complications (whatever that means), but he also wants to make sure I don't have anything else serious. So I had to get blood work done which took about half my blood. I don't think I've ever had to fill up so many tubes for blood work. I also have to go to the hospital on Monday and have a procedure done called a T.E.E. Basically they are going to stick a tube with a camera down my throat and take an ultra-sound image of the back side of my heart to make sure I don't have any holes that could be causing me to have blood clots. Oh and did I mention all three of my children are sick with the flu. Yeah, it's been a great week. So anyway, hopefully I don't have anything wrong with my heart and I'm just having migraines. Just keep me in your thoughts and I'll keep everyone posted on the outcome. Oh and for all you girls that take birth control, that is the reason they think I could have had a stroke. I never realized how serious those pills can be, but they can be really dangerous especially if you smoke. (Just a little tidbit of info I've learned over the past week.)

Update!

Well I thought I would update everyone on all our adventures last week. Emma had her surgery on Wednesday and it went very well. She is recovering quickly and seems to be feeling much better. So far the only thing she doesn't like is the wax she has to put in her ears when she has a bath. She's just going to have to get over that though. Ron had his vasectomy on Friday and he is still pretty sore. For some reason his was a little more rough than others (according to the doctor) and he has no medicine to help with the pain and swelling. So with all that going on and the fact that somewhere along the line I've done something terrible in my life that I'm getting paid back for-I got violently sick Saturday morning. I mean of all times to get so sick that I pretty much had to live in the bathroom, Ron can't even pick up the baby. So here we are, two usually normal people reduced to nothing by a simple procedure and a stupid stomach virus. We pretty much couldn't function at all and I just thank God the kids all survived the weekend. I must have been a real pain in my parent's ass at some point because I'm pretty sure that karma is getting me back for something. Just ask my mom.

Please say a little prayer for Emma Grace

As some of you know Emma has had a terrible time with ear infections for several months now. So she is getting tubes in her ears tomorrow morning. Please keep us in your prayers that Emma will have a safe surgery and speedy recovery. Hopefully she won't have any more ear infections either. That's wishful thinking I'm sure, but oh well! Ron also has a, umm, "procedure" on Friday, so keep him in your prayers as well. (Especially for a speedy recovery!!)

Happy Birthday to Kyle!

Well today is Kyle's birthday and he is officially eight years old. I'm not sure when this child starting growing up, but its happening whether I like it or not. For those of you who don't know Kyle very well, he is my middle child. He is forever reminding me of his father and my brother, Matt. Kyle is sensitive, smart, quiet and has the best fashion sense of any 8 year old I've ever met. He's also pretty good at football, so take a good look at that face, you might be seeing alot of it in the future. He's a good big brother to Emma and a little bit of a pest to his big brother. I told him the other day he was the easiest baby I had, the fastest labor and the smallest weight. He was also three weeks early so I didn't have to wait endlessly for him to arrive. Of course Kyle likes to challenge me and his dad, but he is also such a loving, sweet boy when he wants to be. I think my kids are so special, mostly because I think God likes to challenge me, so I always tell Ron our children must be destined for greatness! Anyway, I just wanted to post in honor of my favorite 8 year old and wish him the best Birthday ever!!