Our Italian Holiday!

This week I will start posting about our trip.

Life Lessons

When the boys were small and they did something like throw a fit, I could just tell them to stop. If they did something "wrong" I could them it was wrong and to stop. It seemed like when the boys were smaller things were so black and white. They could or couldn't do things. Things were right or wrong. I could tell them to yes or no and that was it. If I wanted to tell them my thoughts I could and I did because they didn't know any different. BUT now that I have a teenager...I guess I have to filter. Cody doesn't love to listen to me when he is happy let alone when he is upset. So trying to get an effective message through in the heat of the moment can be challenging. Learning to be patient or bringing up topics at the "right" time can be tricky. And sometimes choosing to just NOT say anything at all is the most challenging.

Today, Cody was in a minor car accident. Basically Cody went to turn left, a car cut him off to turn left as well, he swerved around back to the right, there were girls walking on the street, he over corrected, swerved again, and landed in the ditch. He was ok and the girls were ok.

For the most part the car doesn't look too bad, but I haven't gotten the report from the body shop yet. Cody was obviously pretty shaken up. I could hear it in his voice when he called to tell me about it. I stayed surprisingly calm. One thing that I know about my boys (and most kids) is that they can be a bit emotional and the more calm that I stay the more calm they will stay. When I got to the "scene" Cody gave me a big hug and his scare turned into anger about the car that cut him off. The thing that Cody does not know is that as an adult, and an adult with a bit of road rage, I know how aggressive a driver can be when they have been cut off. Cody blamed the car that cut him off and wanted that car to the one at "fault." The police officer told Cody that it was the 2nd car's responsibility to be far enough behind the other car to be able to correct in enough time not to crash into anything or anyone else. That upset Cody (but better the cop than me) and he continued to try to tell me how he was not at fault. I really had to choose my words carefully. I did not want to make matters worse. The only thing that I could stress to Cody is that no matter whose fault it was his car was the car in the ditch. It was really hard not to lecture him at this point especially as he continued to try to act like he was driving perfectly. I did just mention to him that I have been driving long enough to know how accidents like this happen. And in the end, his car was in the ditch. I did not say too much more about the situation. I just told him that this is not a good situation but it's not as bad as it could have been and car accidents happen (in my mind I wanted to say so hopefully you won't continue to think you are a hot shot and drive so aggressively). I reassured him that it would be ok and that he would make it through this event. After his accident he hit his car and put a dent in the back door. The only snide comment that I made was to ask if that made things better by hitting his car, he said it did for that second but not now. My response was that he would have that dent in the door to remind him of that. Maybe I should have said more in the moment, but I think this lesson/conversation is not over...

Weekend Happenings

I actually spent a FULL weekend at home. And of course it was full of fun activities. We had a lot of good family time this weekend. We started the weekend by meeting Dusty (see Friends post) for dinner and then going to see the Marshfield/Hillcrest football game. The boys go to Nixa and we don't know anyone on either team. Why did we go to that game? For Hillcrest's number 5 Dorial Green-Beckham. I guess this kid is like the number 1 college draft pick in the nation. So, the fellas - Josh and Dusty wanted to see him play. When we left the score was like 40-something to 0. And apparently, Dorial put up some great stats that game.

Saturday we had some down time at the house. That was nice. I was preparing for an evening of sports. Josh wanted to watch the Notre Dame game (ha that rhymed:)) and of course Cody and I were going to be watching the Cardinals win game 3 of the World Series.
We did get out for some bowling. This was the first game's ending scores. The 2nd game, Josh won by a landslide. He got 3 strikes the last 3 frames. But since this game was so close, I posted these scores :)

Josh's girls were in Springvegas this weekend as well. So Sunday after lunch we met them and they spent the afternoon with us. We went to the pumpkin patch. And as all great family outings go, it started a little rough. There may have been some bad attitudes, fit throwing, and yelling then there were the kids... But we survived and ended the outing with smiles and ice cream.

Although, I am getting used to our two families hanging out, it sure is different. Doubling the number of kids in a matter of minutes takes some adjustment every time we get them all together. The biggest adjustment is adding girls to environment. It is an adjustment for all of us. However, our little families are blending nicely and I enjoy the times when we can all get together.

Josh, Brayden, Jill, and Elle carved their pumkins. This is Elle and Neo posing with the finished product. The others didn't really care to have another picture taken. I can always count on Elle for a picture :)

This Run's 4 Vaughn

This weekend I went to the big town of Dexter, MO to participate in an ALS 5k benefit run/walk. Shawn's (see Friends post) dad past away last year from ALS. I never got to meet him but I've become friends with his whole family (mom and brother). Although I did not meet Vaughn, he raised two great sons and this benefit run/walk will continue to help other families with ALS. My cousin's Grandfather on their moms side was recently diagnosed with ALS as well. I am happy to be able to help raise money and awareness to the disease that affects many lives.

Dexter is about 3 hours from where I live and has about 6000 people in it. We had 7 (8 including baby Kinley) of us from Springfield that went to support the Wright family. Shawn's brother and sister-in-law went and they are from Springfield as well. The organizers said that there were about 100 participants and I actually finished 3rd in the event. According to my iPhone/GPS the course was right at 3 miles. The 2 male organizers finished before me. This was my first 5k and I was able to run the whole thing. I finished route in 26 minutes, but I went a full 5k in about 28 mintues.

Words

When I was in school, I was not very good at spelling. I'm still not good at spelling. But in school, I didn't really care and I didn't like grammar either. Maybe I didn't like it because I wasn't good at it, maybe I wasn't good at it because Korean was my first language. I tried to blame the fact that I wasn't good at spelling on the fact that Korean was my first language, but I highly doubt that had anything to do with it. As I've gotten older, I've taken more of an interest in words. Maybe it is because I work at a University or maybe I just like words or maybe I care more. Anyway my interest in words are 2 fold. #1 I like pronouncing words correctly. The biggest one that I am known for at work is "verbiage". We use that word regularly, but most people pronounce it without the "i". The correct pronunciation includes the "i". However, my coworkers have called me out for "churching" up chosen words. They don't allow me to pronounce certain words differently just because it "sounds" better. Like envelope. I think it should be pronounced like "on"velope, the correct way is line "in"velope. But I like "on"velope better. For the sake of correctness, I will say "IN"velope.

#2 My 2nd interest about words is learning new words, using new words, and using words properly. Oddly enough (I know, I'm a nerd) my new favorite website seems to be dictionary.com. Here are some of my favorite words, try to use them today:

Kerfuffle - misunderstanding, or disagreement. A brouhaha
Brouhaha - see above :)
Kvetch - to habitually complain, a complaint, a habitual complainer
panache - grand or flamboyant manner, flair
verklempt - choked with emotion
Palpable (this one became a fave because it seemed to have been the buzz word a couple of years ago) - obvious, evident, capable of being touched, felt, or tangible.
Qi (thanks to words with friends) - chi
AND...
floccinaucinihilipilification - rare, yes this long huge word means RARE!

A Friend

I realized that in my last 3 posts, I have referred to "a friend". In an effort to avoid my friends and family thinking that I still have imaginary friends, I decided to name said friend. This is him. This is my friend Dusty Butler. Not only is he my friend he is my insurance agent. Cody prefers to refer to him as our insurance agent and not just my friend. Makes spending so much time with "our insurance" agent seem kind of creepy, but I don't care. I figured since I have referred to him recently, he deserves to be called by name from here on out. From this day forward he shall be know in this blog as Dusty.
I cannot have a blog post about friends without talking about my best friend Holly. Since I moved away from her, I don't get to have my weekly dinners with her, nor do I get to stop by whenever I want. For now we have to settle for lunch here and there and seeing each other whenever we can. Not only is she my best friend, her son Trevor is Brayden's best friend. They are a great family and I am lucky to have them in my life. We have enjoyed many sad and happy times together, and I cannot wait for more (happy times anyway).
AND this post needs to include my new besties Shawn and Morgan. Shawn and Morgan both work with me, so not only do I spend around 40 hours a week with them, I spend several hours outside of work with them, and take vacations with them. They are practically family. Morgan is definitely Aunt Mo to Brayden. Since Shawn and Morgan are about to have their first baby, I will be Aunt Kira to him or her. I will most definitely be spending lots of time with this baby so prepare for many post/pics. From this day forward that baby will be known in this blog as my little niece or nephew!

Happy Birthday to JOSH!

I spent Saturday and Sunday helping Josh celebrate his birthday. Today is his actual birthday!! Saturday we went shopping. He bought himself a new birthday outfit. From head to toe he was decked out. I provided a watch as one of the new items and birthday gift. And of course, I bought myself a thing or two while we were at the mall to celebrate his birthday.

We had dinner at Fedora. A local fondue place in Springfield. It was Yummy. This was my first time to eat there and his first time at a fondue restaurant. I must say it was a bit different from the Melting Pot. I need to take him there so he can see the difference. Most of the fondue at Fedora is cheese and you don't really get to cook any of your meal, it's precooked. That's good and bad. Bad because the experience is not AS fun and good because you don't the steam facial. But all in all still a good meal.

Then we met up with some friends to watch some of their friends in their band. We enjoyed...the company. I'm pretty sure Josh will appreciate this picture. ACTION SHOT!

Sunday we celebrated by spending the day inside watching TV. Since it was a rainy day, it was perfect for that. How was watch TV celebrating Josh's birthday? Well, we spent most of the day watching football. 4 different football games to be exact!! YIKES!! That was more football than I've watched in a whole season!!! I actually fell asleep quickly after the 4th game started, and yes that was about 8:30!

Are You Ready for Some Football?

NO - you know why I don't love football season? Because people get SO obsessed with football. I, for one, never get obsessed with anything. However, seriously, I never hear guys talk so much until football season. All the guys at work talk about is football. So many posts on Facebook about football. I went to a baby shower and the WOMEN were talking about football. Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Friday (in prep for the weekend) it is football. Football, Football, Football.

AND - football tickets are so expensive. Who can afford to go to these games. For me, it would require a 3 hour drive, an overnight stay, and about $600!!! WHAT? Ridiculous. Cody can go to an NFL game, when he is an adult and he can pay for his own ticket and drag his wife to a game! Since I have 2 sons, I do have to indulge them in some football talk. I will here and there try to know a little about football and talk a little football for their sake, but that's enough for me.

I have friends that are so determined to turn me into a football fan. I keep saying that I will resist. One friend is determined to wear me down and prove me wrong. Josh tries the argument, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. That's not going to work either. I will dig in my heels and stand firm. I don't HAVE to be a football fan!

The Hang Up

You know how you have those dreams that seem SOOO real, you can't shake the dream for like the whole day. The other night I had a dream, not one that FELT so real, I REALLY thought it happened.

Basically, I thought Josh called me at 6 AM and when I answered he was singing to me (which I typically enjoy him singing to me) and I say something like, really singing? And he's like yeah, why you don't like singing. I respond by saying not when I'm trying to sleep and I hang up on him. Then he sends me a text and I just ignore it.
When I woke up, I decided to look at the text and there is one from Josh that says Good morning, I can't wait to hear about your night. I thought to myself, wow he seems very understanding about me hanging up on him. So, I text him and I'm like I'm so sorry for hanging up on you. I only vaguely remember our conversation but I should have just not answered the phone. He responds back, what? I didn't call you. I didn't believe him, I still had no idea that it could have been a dream, so I look at my call log on my phone, and no calls from Josh...

I actually believe that had happened and I even told one of my friends about the whole situation before I realized it was a dream!

Here Fishy Fishy

One of our nights in FL, Emmanuel and Jodi got Emmanuel's sister to watch the kids and we headed to a nice restaurant called the FISH House. As we are waiting for a table, there is one table right on the way to the restrooms. At one point, Jodi says, "I hope we don't get that table." Guess what?

So, the nice thing about this table is that it is right by the fish tank and I can watch the pretty little fishes. I look over ater a few minutes at the table and see this fish laying on the rocks. I may have freaked out a little bit... we mentioned it to the waiter, and he's like oh no it's sleeping (I may have believed him for a second or two). Apparently the fish died earlier in the day and they just left it there. AND I may have continued to obsess about this dead fish for several more minutes. ok, ok I know you all are shocked that I was a bit dramatic about it. But seriously, it was disturbing. Finally, Jodi thought of the brilliant idea to put a menu up against the tank to block the fish. Thankfully, I was able to move on...

Then to top it off we just happened to get the fortunate pleasure of sitting under the leaky a/c something or other. So, Josh and I had some serious water dripping on us. Luckily, we had a large booth and we just moved down. Believe it or not and despite the above unfortunate events we had a really nice dinner. Good food and good company. It was a great opportunity for me to get to know Josh's family a little better.

And look at them being willing to pose next to the dead fish for a photo op!

Labor Day - FL

For the Labor Day weekend, I am with Josh in Pensacola, FL visiting his sister and her family. Jodi is Josh's sister and her husband Emmanuel have 2 adorable sons Ian and Dominic. The trip started out not awesome when the air conditioning in my car went out on the way to Tulsa. So I drove for about an hour in 100 degrees. I was a gross sweaty mess when I got to Tulsa. But the drive to FL was pretty uneventful. We took the puppies and they were great travelers.

We stopped at the Louisiana boarder to use the restroom, let the puppies out, and of course take pictures. We missed the Alabama rest stop... :( And I figured we would take enough pictures of Florida.This is Dominic the baby. He is about 9 months old. He is soooooo sweet. He almost let me rock him to sleep. He loved the puppies.

This is Ian. He really loves having his Uncle Josh here to play with. And Ian REALLY LOVES Neo. Neo has been really patient with the boys.

We did actually make it to the beach even though it rained most of our first day here. It was super windy so we did not get into the water nor did we stay on the beach long. We shopped on the Boardwalk for awhile, had lunch, then went back to Emmanuel and Jodi's. We all just took it easy the rest of day. It was the perfect rainy day for naps and movies.

We shall try the beach again...

Kindness...

We ended our day Saturday with a Drillers game. It worked out for us because the Drillers played the Springfield Cardinals. The Drillers beat the Cardinals, I used to go for the Drillers but I was conflicted this game, my loyalties get stronger and stronger for the Cardinals.



Jill and Elle had never been to a baseball game, so it was interesting to watch them. Even though I am a girl, boys sure are a lot different than girls... Brayden got a ball from one of the Cardinals players and he gave it to Elle. Elle had a good time getting player's signatures.

Tuesday, Brayden was honored at school during the monthly Character Parade. The character word for May was kindness. This was the 2nd time this year that he had been honored at school for one of the character words of the month. At the beginning of the year he was honored for responsibility. I don't think that he really appreciated that one, he asked me if responsibility was that important, lol.

Tulsa Time Part 2 – Blue Dome

After we met the girls and we all had a chance to get to know each other, then we all headed down town to Blue Dome Art Festival. My sister-in-law was the administrator of the event and their ship the Sea Wolf was part of the festival. The benefit of being the sister of the Captain is that you get on the ship for free and get to say that you are the Captain’s sister. The downfall of being the “annoying little sister” of the Captain is that you get pointed out and hauled off to the brig for public humiliation. I got “arrested” and got to sing and dance my way out of the jail. I sang I’m a Little Tea Pot. I’m sure it was a great experience for the kids and Josh and that they enjoyed seeing me. I know the experience gave my brother great joy!!

We also met up with my high school youth Minister Mark and his wife Sandy. We had dinner with them after we walked around Blue Dome. It was great catching up with them as well.

The kids had a fun time at the Art Festival. They had their face painted (except Cody, we asked Cody if he wanted you, but he declined). It was funny the 2 dark headed boys running around with the blonde girls and everyone thinking or calling them brothers & sisters.

Somehow, Brayden got poison Ivy on his face and really started getting irritated that day. It was awful. I felt so bad for him, but he worked through the day like a champ.

Tulsa Time

The boys and I headed to Tulsa on Saturday to spend a couple of days with some friends and family. Saturday was a pretty full day with TONS of pictures (I got a new camera!!! So picture taking resumes). So each event from Saturday will have its own blog posting. Today, I will start with the beginning and end of our trip. The main purpose of my trip was to meet Josh’s daughters Jill and Elle. Jill is 9 and Elle is 7. Saturday we had lunch with 2 of my childhood friends Ericka and Stefanie. I met Stefanie’s husband Greg for the first time. I have known these girls since 4th grade and they lived in my neighborhood so I saw them almost every day til 8th grade. I really enjoyed visiting with them again, and we had a good time.

Josh’s daughters are super adorable and a lot of fun. We had a really good time, and I had really enjoyed having girls around. It took the boys a little bit to get used to having girls around, but they all got along really great. The girls are so loving and sweet and that I think I would literally have to be the Wicked Witch for them not to like me. But apparently I got the seal of approval from them. Sunday, after lunch and a trip to Cherry Berry, we played family Twister, and then I headed home through the storm.

Before we played Twister, my friend Morganne called me to see if I was on the road yet because the terrible tornado that hit Joplin, luckily I had not left yet. We decide to hang out a little bit before heading home to make sure that I was not driving into the storm. Once I got through Tulsa, Matt informed me that 44 was closed by Joplin. So between Matt and mom, they directed me another way to get home. They had 44 blocked off about Afton and I missed my 60 turn off so I was able to get back on 44 at mile marker 18. There were dozens of police on the highway. At one point I saw 15 emergency cars in a caravan headed to Joplin and then later 6 ambulances in a row headed that way. I had SEVERAL people checking on me on my drive home and it was SO super nice to have such caring thoughtful people in my life! Our campus is off to give blood for the people in Joplin today.

Bray Bray

Brayden had his first baseball game this week. They only played 3 innings. He pitched 2 of those innings and played 3rd base the last inning. Of course he did a great job the whole game!!! He did hit a boy one time, but the 3rd inning that same boy got hit by the next pitcher!!

At 3rd base he stopped the ball and had a good throw to first, but first base dropped the ball and the kid made it on base, but it was still a good play.

Aunt Mo and Uncle Shawn came to watch him play!!!

Then on Wednesday I went to have lunch with Brayden at school. I had a VERY proud mom moment. When I got to the school, his teacher pulled me aside to tell me how much she loves Brayden. All year she has told me that his a really good and that she is happy to have him in her class, and every conference she has told me what a great kid he is in class. But that day she was so sincere about what a great kid he is. She went on about how caring he is and what a great example he is in the classroom. She said that he has so much integrity and is just a natural leader. She was like he is a fine young man and you are doing a great job raising him. I started to cry! That made me feel so awesome that she had such great things to say about him. I was so proud of him, I hugged him like 100 time during lunch.

Florida

Last weekend I took mom to Orlando. The last time she and I went on a trip together was about 6 years ago, she went with me to LA for work. But this trip was purely for pleasure. The resort we stayed at was beautiful and the weather was fabulous. We got into FL on Friday and mom realized that she left her ipad on the plane! We realized it before we left the airport but when we went to the ticket counter, the flight attendants could not find it!!! It WAS found. They called us on Sunday to say that they had it. So the trip was not ruined or hindered by that ONE negative occurance!!! Friday evening we went to Downtown Disney and ate some really good crab legs. I have not had crab legs in a long time and they were delicious.
On Saturday, we spent the day at Universal Studios. And the weather was great. It did rain in the afternoon but by that point, we were ready to leave. We had a late lunch/early at Hard Rock Cafe.While at Universal, we did this ride that was like a pretend casting call/movie shoot. Mom got to be one of the "actors" in the movie. They really wanted a little old lady but they asked for a grandma, so I volunteered her. In the little clip she gets hit by lightening while gardening.
Us outside of the Mummy ride.

Sunday we got up and headed to Daytona beach (by way of the airport to pick up the ipad).

When we first got there it was cool but the sun came out and ended up being a great day!!!! Mom got sunburned and I got a little red.

On our way home we stopped by the Space Center. They were preparing for the last shuttle launch that happened on Monday. Monday morning we went back home to a cold 60 degrees!!