OKC Cheerleaders

While we were at Walmart last weekend, a call came over the intercom.  "Attention Walmart customers, the Oklahoma City Thunder girls are at the front of the store signing autographs."  Diesel, Sawyer, and I decided to go get some autographs.  I was hoping to get a picture of my boys with the cheerleaders. 

We get up to the table, and all three girls sign autographs for the boys.  Then I ask if they could take a picture with my two boys.  I always have a camera with me.  They, of course, said that they would.  I handed Sawyer to the cheerleaders and tell Diesel to stand by them. 

If you know Diesel, you know that HE IS NOT SHY.  However, he wouldn't go near the girls.  He had a death grip on my leg.  After me asking him about three times to please go stand with them, I gave up and took a picture of Sawyer and the three girls. 

After I got the picture, we walked away to continue our shopping.  While we were walking away, I asked Diesel why he wouldn't take a picture with them.

He simply said, "Mommy, those girls aren't as pretty as you."

I'll accept that.

This one's for my Nana...

My Nana and I always had a special connection.  I've done a lot of thinking since she's passed away, and it made me realize how special that connection was/is.  I've only had that connection with a couple other people.  Although I'm only 27, I doubt there's going to be many more people I come across that I share that kind of connection with.  My Nana understood me.  I spent many nights and days talking to her.  Sometimes we didn't even need to talk.  We usually agreed on everything, but when we didn't, she was always the first to tell me.  She wasn't afraid to tell me if I was doing something she didn't approve of.  She didn't hold back on telling me how proud she was of me. 


My Nana passed away 18 months ago.  It's taken me this long to write about her.  To this day, I cannot look at her picture without crying.  I am crying right now as I type this. 


I look at her picture almost daily, so this tells you how much I cry over her. 


I cry because I miss her. 


I cry because I want my boys to see her.


She loved Diesel so much.  She commented daily on Diesel's Facebook pictures (yes, my Nana even had Facebook).  She never met Sawyer, but she knew I was pregnant without me telling her.  That was the connection we had. 

I can remember getting the phone call from my mom telling me that my Nana was going into the hospital.  She was sick.  I really thought it was a temporary thing.  She was one strong, old lady.  But, me being worried, I packed up my car and me, my husband, and my two-year-old drove 500 miles to see her in the hospital.  As soon as I saw her in the hospital bed, I began crying.  I knew it was bad.  She was sitting in a chair and told me to stop.  She said there was no need to cry.  "I'm not dying yet."  After she said that, she looked at me and asked, "Are you pregnant?"  David and I had just found out a couple weeks earlier that we were expecting #2.  We hadn't told anyone other than my sister, his brother, and my best friend.  We hadn't even had a doctor's appointment yet to confirm.  I looked at her and said, "No."  We sat and visited.  We talked about Diesel Dan.  Diesel wasn't allowed in the ICU, but we sneaked him in for a second.  Nana wanted to see him, but she didn't want to scare him with all the medical equipment attached to her.  David got yelled at by the nurse for it (which made David feel horrible).  That night we stayed with family.  I felt horrible.  I had lied to my sick grandmother about being pregnant. 


The next day we went back to the hospital.  I decided to tell her the truth.  I sat down in her hospital room and told her that I had lied.  I was pregnant.  She looked at me and said, "You didn't have to tell me.  I already knew."  Nobody had told her.   She just knew. 


We spent a few days visiting her, and then we had to go back home.  I had a room of second graders that needed a teacher.  I really thought my Nana was getting better. 


A few days after we got back to Oklahoma, my Nana got worse.  She passed away about a week later.  I can still remember the last time I talked to her.  I got to tell her that I loved her.  She told me that she loved me too.  I will never, ever forget that.  I am so thankful for those two sentences. 


David quit regretting taking Diesel into the ICU to see her. 

We drove back to Missouri.  We got there a couple days before the funeral.  It was so hard for me to stay in her house.  Even though my Papa was still there, and I wanted to be there for him, walking and sleeping in that house was one of the hardest things I've ever done.  I just kept walking around waiting for her to appear to me.  I guess I felt like if she could, she would talk to me.  She would tell me what heaven was like.  I can remember walking back and forth in the upstairs bedroom for hours.  Just waiting and wishing I would get to talk to her again. 

Although I was surrounded with my Nana's things, I didn't feel like I was close enough to her.  I wanted something more.  I walked into her bathroom, opened her drawers, and found one of her favorite necklaces.  It was still covered in dirt from her gardening.  She loved to garden.  I put on that necklace and didn't take it off for months. 

I went into labor with Sawyer on November 7, 2010.  I wore her necklace to the hospital.  When they asked me to get into the hospital gown, I took everything off except for my necklace.  I wanted my Nana to be close.

You see, my Nana was there when I had Diesel on November 12, 2007.  She drove from Missouri to Oklahoma to see her first great grandchild being born.  She was one of the first people to hold him.  It was such a special, beautiful time. 

I wanted her to be there when Sawyer was born, too.  I thought wearing her necklace would help me feel like she was there. 

Well Sawyer was born, and the first thing he reached out for was the necklace. 

After Sawyer was born, I stopped wearing the necklace all the time.  It was hard to wear jewelry with a breastfeeding baby.  Everything was tugged on and in the way.  So, I put the necklace with all my other necklaces.  I would still wear it whenever I felt like I needed her close.  I would wear it at least a couple times a week. 

Sometime in February 2011, I went to put on the necklace.  I was worried about something and needed her close.  I went to get the necklace, but it was gone. 

I was heartbroken.  

I knew what had happened.  Diesel knew how important my necklace was.  I called it my "Nana necklace".  I'm sure Diesel wanted to look at it and touch it.  I'm sure he took it off my necklace hook.  

I searched everywhere.

I dumped out every drawer.  I looked through every toy box.  I took apart furniture.  I checked the cars.  I checked the trash.  I searched for six long months.  Not a day passed without me thinking about it.  Not one day.  It was constantly on the back of my mind. I begged my Nana to tell me where it was.  I would pray every day.   Even my husband was constantly keeping an eye out for it.  He knew how much it bothered me that it was missing.   

My Nana's birthday was August 13th.

On August 14th (Sunday), 2011, we were getting ready to go to church.  My husband pulled a pair of shoes out of his closet.  A pair that he hadn't worn in a while. 

My Nana's necklace was inside the shoes. 

Do you know what I think?  I think my Nana was allowed a birthday wish in heaven.  She wished for me to find her necklace. 

The dirt from my Nana's garden is still on the necklace.  I will never wash it off.

I will wear it whenever I need her. 

Time has passed, and the wounds are still there.  I know my Nana is watching over me.  I can't wait to see her again. 

Teaching my 3-year-old to Read

While we were on vacation in Missouri, I quickly realized that my 3-year-old was capable to using a computer appropriately (his GiGi let him play on hers).  So, I decided to introduce some "introduction to reading" websites to him.  The mouse on the laptop was a little difficult, so I bought a wireless mouse.  He loves it.  Hopefully it will help him learn to recognize his letters and letter sounds. 

www.starfall.com

www.more2.starfall.com

Pre-Kindergarten Teacher

At the end of the school year last year, one of my sweet second graders handed me a card.  It was a thank-you card with a $40 gift certificate to Kohls and a $10 gift certificate to Sonic.  When I opened it, she said, "The Sonic card is from me.  The Kohls one is from my mom.  I'm not supposed to tell you this, but my mom said you're too skinny and your clothes are too baggy.  She said that you need to buy yourself some new clothes." 

Well, I finally spent the Kohls gift card today.  I bought myself a pair of capris, two house rugs, and this:

Why did I buy this (even though it's a little baggy)?  Because I'm a PRE-KINDERGARTEN TEACHER!  I, as a 27-year-old, can get away with wearing things like this to work!  So, if you're ever wondering what to get me for Christmas or my birthday or something just because you love me (or my blog) so much, I need some new work shirts! 

By the way, a few weeks after school was out I received an email from the mom who purchased the Kohls and Sonic gift card.  She said that her daughter slipped and told her about telling me I was too skinny.  She said in the email that she was terribly embarrassed.  I replied and told her not to be embarrassed.  I don't know anyone who would ever complain that someone said they were too skinny (especially 7 months after having a baby)!  Thanks to her daughter, though, I packed up all my maternity clothes. 

Diesel's first (two) goal(s)!

This summer we decided to put Diesel in soccer.  Even though he's only three, he has a lot of energy, and with me staying at home during the summer with the kids, we had to find a way for him to use that energy.  Plus, David and I firmly believe in sports and extra-curricular activities.  Well, his soccer team consists of twelve 3, 4, and 5-year-olds.  The games are 30 minutes long.  They had one practice before the season (just to introduce the kids to each other).   Diesel's cousin, Jaxton, is on the team, and there's also sweet little girl named Megan (she goes to Diesel's daycare) on the team.  David and I (mostly me, I admit) were so excited about him playing a sport that we even went and had shirts made.  We made a Diesel's Mom, Diesel's Dad, Diesel's Brother, Diesel's Grammie, and Diesel's Papa shirt. 






Well, the first two games were pretty stressful on Mom and Dad.  David and I are very competitive people.  It's hard for us to watch Diesel goof off during the games.  We immediately expected Diesel to be a star and score all the goals.  Heck, that's why we had shirts made.  We wanted everyone to know that the star was our son!  After the first game, my throat hurt from all the screaming.  I wasn't necessarily screaming bad things, I just wanted my boy to focus and get in the game.  Diesel was more interested in chasing his cousin, Jaxton, around the court.  There were even a few times we had to run out there and pick him up from rolling around on the court.  You see, in a three-year-old league, parents are allowed to run next to or behind their kid to encourage them.  We also began bribing.  If he scored a goal, he would get ice cream from Braums.  We told him this before every game.  Even though he never scored a goal, we still took him. 

On June 21st, at 6pm, Diesel had his 3rd soccer game.  His 3rd soccer game ever.   We expected the same outcome as the other games.  The one difference was going to be that his cousin was on vacation.  We knew there was going to be one less distraction for Diesel.  We, once again, bribed him with ice cream. 

The game began.  It was 100* and no airconditioning.  A lot of the kids refused to play, so we pushed Diesel to play as much as possible.  After about 5 minutes of playing, we could tell he was already tired.  In order to keep him playing, I told him I would stand out on the court while he ran around.  I think he feels more confident if he knows his parents are near.  Diesel got the ball, and I began to cheer him on.  He kicked and kicked and ran and ran.  He ran to the goal and kicked it in!  GOAL!  As soon as he did it, he turned around and ran to me with his hands in the air.  I picked him up and swung him around.  As we turned around, I noticed Dad had jumped up and ran onto the court in excitement.  At that same moment, we saw that Grammie and Papa had just walked in the gym.  All 4 of us we standing and screaming for Diesel.  He had the biggest smile on his face.

Well, he earned ice cream and there was still half a game left.  What to do?  Sprinkles.  "Diesel, if you score another goal, we'll get you lots of sprinkles on your ice cream."  What did he do?  That little boy went out there and scored another GOAL! 

Now he had ice cream with sprinkles.  What should I bribe him with?  There's only 5 minutes left in the game, and his team needed another player.  "Diesel, if you get another goal, I will take you to the lego store tomorrow."  He looked at me and said, "I'm too tired.  I'll go to the lego store another time."  I accepted it and sat down with him.  I was so proud. 

When your mom is a teacher...

I consider Diesel lucky.  Every day we have craft time.  I should probably focus more on him writing his name, but I enjoy craft time more.  We've had a big box in our house for almost a week now.  Diesel plays in it all the time, so I haven't had the heart to throw it away.  I decided to make the box look more like a toy instead of a piece of trash. 

Well, we had Christmas, zebra, and camo wrapping paper.  We decided to make it a hunting lodge.  His favorite part is the window. 

I don't know why he's gluing beads on the top of it though...

Jesus and I Made It

Every year our family does a garden. 

Usually David does all the vegetables, and I grow the herbs and decorative flowers. 

However, this year I decided to plant 3 gourd and squash seeds in my garden.  I wanted something fun to grow on my fence.  And I, like many other gardeners, love the satisfaction of getting to pick and eat something that I personally grew. 

Every day Diesel, Sawyer, and I go outside and water the gardens (we have lots considering the small yard we have).  Diesel loves looking for all the squash and different gourds that have started growing. 

Finally a couple days ago, one of the squash/gourds were big enough to pick.  It probably would've grown a lot bigger, but I knew Diesel was wanting to pick it very badly to show his daddy.  So, I let him pick it.  It's a pretty special squash/gourd.  The reason why I keep slashing squash and gourd together is because it's both.  You see, the squash and gourd plant cross-pollinated.  So, it's both.  Here's a picture:

As usual, before an important phone call, I quiz him on the things he's supposed to say.  He wanted to call his daddy and tell him, so I began asking Diesel the necessary questions.

Mom: "What is that?"

Diesel: "It's a squash."

Mom: "Squash and gourd.  What colors are in it?"

Diesel: "Yellow and green."

Mom: "Where did it come from?"

Diesel:  "The garden."

Mom: "Who grew it?"

Diesel: "Jesus.  Me and Jesus.  We did it together."

I think he's understanding his Sunday school lessons.