Preston Football! Go Pumas!

I found some great pictures of Evan playing football that I took from FaceBook. Pretty cool! I am a proud mama! xo

OSU Football!

Miss Blake attended her first OSU football game yesterday. She had a blast! As a member of the competitive cheer team, they sell programs before the game. I had to giggle when she sent me the picture of her t-shirt with the comment, "I am not quite sure the message we are trying to get across..." Te he he. Stillwater on game day bleeds orange. It is quite a site! Pokes won their first game of the season!

We are ready for some FOOTBALL!!

Evan's eighth grade football season has begun and we are excited!!! He is playing varsity defensive tackle and varsity offensive guard. He has really impressed us this year! He is a big guy but not the biggest one. They won their first game against Lincoln and we can't wait for Tuesday afternoons to see the next game. I get so excited at the games, I forget to take pictures. He is number 67, just like his dear old dad!

Pictures of the day . . .

I have asked my girl to send me a picture everyday. She is not very good at it. Yes, I am crazy, I admit. Here are some fun ones! ;o)

T-shirt Quilt

I gathered Miss Blake's Cheer Central T-Shirts and had them made into a quilt. She loves it! I am so proud of it, too. Lots of memories of our Cheer Central family!

Evan at the Lake

While I was away in Stillwater, the boys enjoyed a day at the lake with good buddies Griffin and Colton. The jumped off cliffs into the lake, enjoyed good grub, and Evan stayed to camp overnight. They had a good time!

Recruitment (Rush)

We left Miss Blake in Stillwater two weeks before school started because she wanted to participate in the Fall Sorority Recruitment. The week included over 800 girls trying to find a good "fit" for a sorority home. After day two, each girl has to narrow their choice of 11 houses to 8, and the houses are narrowing their choices as well. They say it is rare to have 8 to choose from after day three, Miss Blake had 8. She visited all eight and had to narrow down to 5. The houses were narrowing their choices as well. They say it is rare to have 5 to choose from after day three, Miss Blake had 5. After day four, down to 3. She had 3. After day five, she makes her choice as do the houses.
I flew down after the week to participate in Bid day. There is a list for parents stating which house each participant was selected. Zeta Tau Alpha selected Miss Blake. It was her first choice. I waited at the house while the girls ran to their selected house. Fraternity boys lined the street. It was quite a production! Wow! I really felt good leaving, knowing she had one more family unit to take care of her.
As a member of the sorority, she has strict GPA guidelines, study rooms available, three meals a day all week, and lots of opportunities to fully enjoy the OSU experience. It's gonna be a good life!

Off to School!

We loaded up the slug bug and drove to Oklahoma over the weekend. Evan and I decorated her car for the trip. Twelve hours to Grandma's house in Wynnewood went by fast. That little car is a rocket! We drove through 105+ degree heat and a couple of thunderstorms but enjoyed every minute of it.
Miss Blake started sorority rush on Sunday and we left shortly after dropping her off in Stillwater. My heart was ripped from my chest and it took me a few hundred miles to be able to breathe again. Crazy how you can have so much pride and joy and excitement for your child, but so much pain for yourself letting them go. :`/

Water World!!

Evan finally got to go to Water World this summer. Gosh, it was tough to find free time in his sister's schedule to take him down there. She dropped the four boys off and went to say goodbye to her Cheer Central friends. Mom's instructions to Evan, "Stay together, have fun, and wear sunscreen". Guess which one he forgot? hmmmmm.

Good Bye Hooters!

Miss Blake's last day at work was last week. They greeted her with a goodbye cookie and many well wishes for her new journey. She enjoyed this job so much and really did make and save a lot of money. I can't praise their management team enough. They took very good care of our girl and had very high expectations of their employees. She really learned a lot about hard work, dedication, patron interaction, and ignorant judgement of others. She handled it all with such grace and humor. We couldn't be more proud.

Collegiate All American!!!

Miss Blake attended an NCA cheerleading camp with her team over the weekend. Her team won first in their division and earned a gold level paid bid the the Daytona National Championship in April! Individually, she earned the prestigious title of Collegiate All American!

Just the three of us!

Evan is enjoying his new role as a single child! With Blake being so busy and out of town, he gets Mom and Dad all to himself. I do worry I may suffocate him with love when she leaves for school. ;o)
We enjoyed an afternoon in Estes Park fishing at the lake yesterday. I am a lucky girl!

Golf Tournament at Ptarmigan

Miss Blake was the Hooters girl representative on Hole 13 at the annual Ptarmigan golf tournament before she left for Oklahoma. She was thrilled to spend the day in the sun visiting with the golfers. By the end of the day, she was bored out of her mind. The second picture makes me giggle, yet I still think she's gorgeous! xo

Harry Potter!

Yes, our family is insane for Harry Potter. We have read every book, listened to every book on tape while we travel, and seen every movie several times. So, we had to take part in the premier showing of The Deathly Hallows Part 2 along with 2400 other Fort Collins residents! We purchased tickets 2 weeks ago and Thursday evening we began to stand in line at 6 p.m. for the 12:11 a.m. showing supplied with caffeine and mosquito repellent. Evan, Clay and I did this in Fort Collins and Miss Blake did this in Stillwater, OK. She sent a picture of the moon in the clouds while she waited in line.

OSU Cheer Practice

Week two of cheer practice ended yesterday. Miss Blake spent the week in Stillwater again with teammates from all over. She says she is having a great time. Today, she is spending the day with Grandma and Granddad in Wynnewood. We can't wait to pick her up tonight.
Next week, her team will go to Dallas for a cheerleading camp where they will perform their routine in hopes of receiving a paid bid to Daytona Beach NCA Nationals in April. The following week, she will leave for school for the semester.
I ask her to send me pictures of her daily activities to help me cope with her absence. Sometimes she cooperates, sometimes she does not. We're learning to find our way. xo

The boys!

JD, Layne, and Jake went with Clay and Blake to go get the wings for our graduation party. Blake asked her coworkers to come over for a photo shoot with her cousins. The boys were hesitant, but I think they were thrilled! ;o)