An end to the Dynamo season

Well folks, we made it to our last game of the season.  Of course I would forget my camera for the big event, so we attempted to take pictures with our NEW cell phones that we had not learned to operate.  So, the pictures are shady to say the least.  And to top that I attempted the "taking a picture of a picture" for his Individual/team pictures...because I am THAT awesome.  A Special thanks to Coach G for teaching us so much along the way.  Way to go Cade and Team Dynamo!

Soccer...we did it!

Yahoooooo...Cade did it!  Today he went after and kicked the ball during his soccer game  Way to go Cade, we are so proud.  Keep up the good work sweetheart!  Our last soccer game is next week, what a great way to close out the season.

Baylor vs OU game

If you know us at all, you are aware of our love for Baylor University.  I just can't say enough about the university, professors, and life lessons taught there.  The best part...all is centered around the Love of our Lord!  Even though education is expensive there, what we have gained from Baylor Nation is priceless.  Love you Baylor U!

Now along with Baylor Nation comes the love for our Bear Football team.  I think we have pretty much been to every home game since we graduated 10 years ago.  Charles still bleeds green/gold for his boys, and we remember the days when the stadium was not so full during games.  We are proud that Art Briles has helped turn around our FB program in many ways.  We have had an amazing season and are now proudly at a 8-0 record with our win over OU last night.  Baylor was ranked #6 and OU #10, so the game was a sell out with over 50,500 packed into Floyd Casey stadium.  They announced during the game that last night was the 4th largest attendance in the stadium history, which opened in 1950.  Amazing.  With only one game left in Floyd Casey Stadium, we are sad to be leaving it.  However, our new stadium on campus close to I-35 is already looking like a dream come true.

Way to go Bears for the amazing 42-12 win last night over OU!  My two favorite parts of the game was the Baylor line taking off their yellow jerseys after our first TD and the fact that Baylor fans were dressed in Black for the "Black out".  Another treat to almost every game is seeing Charles' holder, Jarod.  I love his enthusiasm and friendship!  Rip 'em up, Tear 'em up, Sic 'em BU!

Kickin' old habits round here!

Well, gotta admit I was not exactly excited about tackling the pacifier good bye for Caelin and the thumb sucking by Cade.  HOWEVER...we are doing pretty well.  A part of me feels this is the last of my "baby stage", but I know it is what is best for them.  Here's how the plans have gone down...

Caelin is one month strong without a pacifier!  She kicked her habit in ONE DAY on October 7th!  She was the easiest I have ever heard of.  Basically Gamee told her during one nap time that all her pacifiers were missing.  They went on a hunt, looked under bed, and then decided she should just take a nap without it...AND SHE DID!  We did the same thing that night.  Now the first 3 nights she cried for an average of 20-30 minutes and we had to wait out the torture, but after that, we were in business.  In the last few days, she has found a few paci's at the bottom of her toy bin, but she was not interested in them after a minute or so.  Yahoo, done deal!

Now, our thumb sucking for Cade, well, we are working on it.  3 nights ago, we read the book Thumb Love, and started our battle with the thumb.  I must say, it appears to be a MUCH bigger battle.  Perhaps we waited too long, but we will still win.  Eventually.  The book is helpful and has funny things Cade laughed at.  The girl in the book, Lulu, creates a "12 step program" and works to stop sucking her thumb. We have been reading the book each night and talking about all the negative things that go with thumb sucking.  So far, Cade will listen, but mostly makes up excuses as to why he cannot stop right now.  The method we are trying is to wear our really cool glow-in-the-dark skeleton gloves to bed.  The gloves cannot be taken off by himself, so he can keep them on all night.  He whines a little, but we remind him that every morning he wakes up with the gloves on, he earns a letter towards a reward.  So, we are doing all we can to kick this habit.  The tough times are now during the day time or watching TV.  Since it is not the coolest thing to wear skeleton gloves all day, we just have to remind him throughout the day.  That is when we get the struggle of crying and whining and the "STOP telling me those unkind words!"  Guess we will just hang in there.  Pray for us as we tackle this habit for Cade!

Cade-isms

I have to record these down before I forget!  I just love some of the things that come out of my 4yr olds mouth!

- We had told Cade on way to Soccer game that one of his friends wouldn't be there.  So, upon arriving, he announced to the coach that "Jack won't be here as he is having some private issues".
- While being asked to do something (imagine that), Cade replied, "Mom, you are just being complicated!"
- When I was getting frustrated at our washing machine, Cade calmly told me, "Just stay calm and count to 3...here, I will do it for you..."
- While talking to Gamee about his school theme of the week (Nocturnal Animals), Cade told Gamee, "I am also Nocturnal because I play in my closet at night."  Yep, Cade is correct.
- Our refrigerator has letter magnets that sign the letter/sounds.  So Cade was singing along...but added on as well, "Every letter makes a sound a 'P' says 'puh'...and corn on the cob!"  Obviously, we are still working on letter sounds.
- One day Grampee raised the garage door and went in side to grab his shoes.  A few seconds letter he hears Cade calling him from the garage.  Cade had thought it was a good idea to grab the garage door and ride it all the way up.  One problem, we forgot to consider how we would get down.  Of course Grampee saved the day and got him down.  When I asked Cade if he was gonna ever do that again he replied, "I don't think so, it was not as much fun as I thought."
- Caelin was looking at some of Cade's books in the car.  Cade told her, "You can borrow them Caelin, but you need to return them in 2 days."  Guess he has been to the library a time or two!
- When Cade's friend Abby was sick from school, Cade decided to do a robot dance for her to get better.  We just HAD to send the video to Abby!
- One afternoon while we were getting ready to leave, Cade held up both hands (one to Mommy and one to Gamee) and said, "excuse me ladies, you two have to step aside so I can see Grampee!"

Go Dynamo

This morning we were amazed at the chilly, but beautiful fall weather as Cade had another soccer game.  Cade was definitely more focused at his game, but we still have to remind him to a) look at the ball, and b) no talking while on the field.  I will say though, he has amazing team spirit and sportsmanship!  He was on the side lines yelling for his teammates and loved giving them bumps/high 5's when it was his turn to go out.  Good job Cade!

Happy Halloween!

Tonight was great for everyone.  Low key, not rushed and great family fun.  We enjoyed pizza as we got dressed and Daddy was the star with the face painting.  Once we were dressed, we headed out to do a little trick or treating.  Our spooky skeleton Cade was done after about a few blocks, and preferred to head home to hand out some candy.  Not our Princess Caelin!  Caelin was dedicated to EVERY house and would jump up and down yelling, "candy"!  After a few more houses, Cade and I headed home while Caelin went to a few more houses.  Both kids enjoyed handing out candy to others and got a good laugh at some of the other costumes.  Once we were out of candy, we had baths and read spooky Halloween books in bed with a flashlight.  It was a fun evening by all.  Thank you Lord for nights like tonight when we get to enjoy our neighbors, weather, sharing and each other!