Highlights of the week!

With everything going on in the world right now, this past week I have been thinking about a lot of things.....Mostly things I am so grateful for:
Monday: I was so happy it was a "Maddie" day. (As the kids call it) She is such a sweet little thing! The family (and myself) have really enjoyed being able to watch her. Eventhough it reminds me of what life with a baby is like and how your day never goes as you plan and how it takes twice as long to go anywhere. Even with that we have loved it!
Tuesday: I have been going to Yoga every Tuesday and have loved it. I was one of those people that used to make fun and thought yoga was SO WIERD. But it is awesome!!! My good friend Heather goes with me...thanks for challenging me and being my yoga partner!
Wednesday: We had a youth activity at a nearby place where all the girls dressed up in black and jeans and we took pictures of them. What an awesome group of girls. I was reminded how thankful I am that Jordan has such a strong support group of church friends. We had a blast taking the girls pictures. It was fun to see their different personalities!
Thursday: After a long awaited few weeks, we finally decided on what we wanted and......MY NEW DISHWASHER WAS DELIVERED!!!I LOVE IT!!!! I only have to run it once and my dishes actually came out clean!!!! An added bonus is that it is super quiet! As you can see it already has the trademark of kids in the house....(with their fingerprints all over it!)
Jordan also played a great game of volleyball Thursday night, and My uncle Ron and cousin Austin came to see her play! Thanks so much guys!!!
Friday: This was a great day for just getting a few things done around the house....a couple toilets cleaned and laundry done! A fun day to play outside and relax.
Saturday: Saturday started bright and early with Chase's soccer game! What can I say.....he is awesome! Cody played later in the day....just when it got super hot!!! He did great, he tied his record of 6 goals in one game.
Now the "not so great part of the day!" For the past 17 years since I have been able to drive, I have never gotten a ticket.....well, my streak ended!!! AHHHHH!!! I got a speeding ticket....what makes me so mad, is I know the police always patrol the road....not that I am making excuses but, I was in Ricks car (which tends to drive a little faster than my minivan), and talking with Jordan not really paying attention. I kind of thought he was pulling the guy RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME over, but nope!!! It was me!!! BUMMER!!!
That night was the first annual Oktoberfest in downtown McKinney....mom came with us to enjoy the great German atmosphere! We all had a good time...it was packed with people. We had some bratwurst and were reminded how much we miss Germany!

For Rick the highlight of the week was that the COWBOYS LOST!
As for me, this week I am grateful for extended family. I love that we live close to family and that they take time out of their schedules to spend time with us!!

BRAIN TEASER!

BRAIN TEASER!!!!!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too
Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Rick sent this to me and I thought it was pretty interesting....I could actually read it!

So it only took us 7 months to get the roof put on since the crazy hail storm we had in February. It looks fabulous and I am so happy to have that checked off the list. We have fixed the hail damage on one car and only have one car left to fix. Cody was excited to help the roofers "clean up" he was busy picking up nails and shingles that were in the bushes. Rick let him climb up the ladder on the side of the big truck to throw the garbage in....Cody loved that. He even had his metal detecter out just in case any nails were lost in the grass! Great job bud!
If any of you need your roof done, our roofers were great!

There is a BABY in the house!

I have some friends who asked if we could watch their baby for the month of September, just a few days a week. Her name is Madeline - "Maddie", and our whole family has fallen in love! She is almost 2 months old and she is the cutest little thing! This has turned into a "family" affair! I get to play with her and love on her during the day, but as soon as the kids walk in the door from school they take over. Each wanting their turn with the baby. They are happy to play with her, tickle her cute little toes, and even feed her. (they haven't offered to change the diapers yet.)
Rick was working from home a couple of days last week and he even had to get his baby fix! He is a natural...if she would be fussy, he would pick her up and she was quiet. He asked if I wanted him to get the baby swing out of the attic for her....I told him, "no, she is fine." But the next thing I knew, he had gotten it out of the attic and had all the pieces layed out on the floor. (Like I said - we ALL love having her)
It is so cute to see the kids with the baby. They all want to help and cuddle with her. I had to snap a picture of all three kids feeding her...one holding her, one holding the bottle, and one holding her hand. Do you think she gets enough attention at my house????
Paige is the one that is totally hooked. She is so sad when Maddie has to go home. I have to remind Paige she will be back. Friday the baby was asleep when Paige got home from school. She was just itching to hold the baby! She could hardly stand it! Finally Maddie woke up, but it wasn't long before Maddies mom came to pick her up...Paige was sure to let me know that she didn't get enough time with the baby!
It has been so fun for our family to have a little one in the house. We have loved having Maddie in our home! This has been a great way for us to have our baby fix!!!

Happy Birthday Katie!

Today would have been my little sister Katie's 29th birthday. I can't believe it! Oh we would have had a good time teasing her that she was almost 30. I'm sure if she were still here, she wouldn't look a bit different. I'm quite certain she would be just as cute as always and a cute tiny little body! She passed away 9 years ago, and not a day goes by that I don't think of her. Especially on her birthday!I love looking at these pictures of her! It shows exactly the kind of person she was. Fun, happy, and full of life. She was the cutest BYU cheerleader! I remember when she made the squad. It was so awesome because she didn't really take a lot of dance or gymnastic classes.....she was just a natural! I am sure that her being so cute helped too!











I must confess, I stole this "wedding" picture off my sisters blog. I love this picture. When we were little, people called us "stair steps". You can see why. I love Katies face in this picture. It's kind of one of those, I have been smiling all day, please don't make me do it anymore smiles! We were always dressed alike. Call me crazy, I actually kind of liked that!This picture was the last family photo we took together. I can't believe it has been so long. I was actually pregnant with Paige when this picture was taken. I am thankful for days like today when I can really think about her and how much I love her. Mom and I had the opportunity to go to the temple today. It was awesome! I love going because I am reminded of so much. I was reminded what life is all about. Mom and I took time to think about Katie and thought about what our reunion will be like with her. I know she knew we were thinking about her. Today was one of those days when I felt just a little closer to her. I can't wait for the day I will see her again! Happy Birthday Kate! We miss you so much and love you!

The Local Bed and Breakfast!

This weekend with Hurricane IKE heading in the path of DFW my friends and I decided to evacuate to.......LEWISVILLE!!! Yes, I realize that Lewisville is only 30 minutes away, and if we were to have any serious effects of the hurricane - being in Lewisville would not have made any difference. Nonetheless....we needed a girls "sleepover." A HUGE thanks to my mom and dad for offering their home, aka "bed and breakfast" to us for the night. It was truely a vacation! The night started with a yummy dinner! Thanks dad for standing over the hot BBQ! Then off to the pool for some night swimming! I had a super fun surprise for the girls. When we went out to the pool, my dad had set up his big pull down screen against the side of the house and his projector. We got to watch the Celine Dion Las Vegas concert from the pool and hot tub. AWESOME!!!! We loved singing her songs and some of the girls showed off their syncronized swimming skills!








We also got a little crazy on the diving board! We had a fun time trying new tricks....thinking we were 17 again and actually flexible. NOT!!! Some had awesome face plants, backflops, and bellyflops......you know who you are!!!We had so much fun....we were probably out in the pool for almost 2 hours! When we dried off and went back inside it was all about the banana splits and dancing!!! My new most favorite movie is MAMMA MIA!!! So yes, once again to prove we still got it going on, we danced the night away to the MAMMA MIA CD! We had our microphones (brushes), and pink feather boa! What more do you need! Let me just say - in the dancing department.....we still got it going on!!!!! Even mom got a bit of the action! Tiare, I have to give props to you.....here you are pregnant and whipping out the running man! You were shaking it girl! By this time it was after midnight already! We figured the night was still young and it was time to get REALLY crazy! We went back outside, the pool looked so inviting and it was a full moon! Crazy things happen when it is a full moon outside.....as for what happens next...let's just say, WHAT HAPPENS IN LEWISVILLE, STAYS IN LEWISVILLE!!! RIGHT GIRLS!!!
Next - in line was the movie of the evening....what better movie than "GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN!" Erin, you were awesome! Thanks for being my dance partner! We totally could have been on Dance TV!!! I think we watched this movie way to many times when we were younger. (If you can't tell, we are doing our "senior picture" pose!I think it was a little after 3AM when we said our goodnights and "retired to our rooms."
Girls, thanks so much for having a "sleepover" with me!!! That was just what I needed! I love that I have friends I can be myself around, do crazy things with, and have so much fun with!!! It is fun to act like a teenager every once in awhile! Mom and Dad, you are the absolute best!!! You run an awesome, "bed and breakfast!" It was honestly better than going to a hotel! Thanks so much for opening up your home to my friends and for letting us be crazy all night long!

School Has Started and So Has EVERYTHING Else!

In our family once school starts, that means everything else starts also! The kids have been busy diving right back into their extracurricular activities! Last weekend was Cody and Chase's first soccer games. This will be Cody's third season playing with the Buckaroo's and he is doing awesome! He has turned out to be quite the little soccer player. He isn't shy at all about getting right into the middle of things!Chase has played with his team, the Tornado's since he started playing soccer. There are about 4 of the boys that have been with the team since the beginning. Chase is so fun to watch! He is such a smart player. He knows his position and reads the ball really well! Soccer is definately his sport!Chase is the one jumping in the air!!!Paige finished her most recent painting. She wanted me to be sure and say: "McCall THIS IS FOR YOU!!!!" During the summer my cousin was here and she had just bought a little yorkie. Paige fell in love with little Ellie. My cousin, McCall sent Paige a picture of Ellie, so Paige decided to do a painting of it. Now Paige can look at Ellie everyday!
Jordan had her first volleyball game last Thursday and she did great!!! Her team beat the other team in two games! Jordan is so fun to watch...like Chase she is one of those people that is a "smart" player. She knows where she needs to be on the court. She did awesome on her serving, and even though she isn't the tallest girl in the bunch, she even tried spiking a few balls!

What kind of DISHWASHER do you have???

okay, so now I am really getting serious about a new dishwasher! I am one of those people that clean their dishes really good before putting them into the dishwasher, but it's pretty bad when they come out of the dishwasher dirtier than when they went in...ahhhh! Today a load was finished - I opened the dishwasher and the dish soap was still all over the dishes! Is that suppose to happen????

So I need your help. What kind of dishwasher do you have??? Do you like it? Why or why not? There are so many dishwashers out there - I would love opinions on which are the good ones and which are the bad ones!
My top priority is that the dishwasher clean really good. Second, I would love for it to be quiet. And of course cost will be a consideration!

Thanks for your help!

Happy Birthday DAD!!!

Today my dad turns 63!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!




I am so lucky to live close to my parents! Yesterday we got to spend the day with them and celebrate dad's birthday! Dad lucked out and got two cakes!!! Or maybe it was all of us who lucked out, because we got to eat two cakes! We had a great day! Mom and Dad put together food for our "annual" Labor Day BBQ! For those of you who have been fortunate enough to be at our house on Labor Day or Memorial Day know what I am talking about. YUM YUM!!!! We played games and of course did lots of swimming! Who needs to go to Sea World - we have Shamu in the backyard! Dad, I love you so much! My whole life you have been someone that has always stood right beside me - no matter what!! Your are an amazing example of what a father, husband, grandfather, and friend should be. Thank you!!! I love you dad! Have a great day!