Memorial Weekend

Wow what a busy weekend.  Thankfully there were 3 days to it or I do not think we would have got everything fit into it :-)  Thursday afternoon Kyle's cousin's daughter, Kassie came up.  Hope & I had the privilege of taking her senior pictures.  She was such a good sport & think we got some good ones. 

Friday after work we had our first bonfire of the year.  It was a lot of fun & it turned out to be a nice evening for a bonfire.  It was a year ago if you remember, that both my girls stripped down completely naked and played in the creek.  To avoid that this time I let them were their swimming suits and then took dry clothes for them to wear after they were done playing in the creek.  The creek was cold, but they did not seem to mind!!  I think the high on Friday was only in the lower 60's so by the time the sun went down it was right down chilly when you were not by the fire. Marilyn fixed an awesome supper to eat out by the fire & of course we had to roast marshmallows for the s'mores.  We were able to get some pictures of Kassie by the creek for her senior picture collection.  The sun was setting & the lighting was really neat. It was a fun night!!

Saturday morning Kyle & I got up early & headed to a rodeo Tonganoxie, KS.  It is not too farm from Kansas City.  It was a lot of driving in a short amount of time & I didn't think the girls would really want to spend that much time in a vehicle and so little time at the rodeo.  They do better on trips where we actually get to hang out at the rodeo for awhile.  They got to spend the night with Hope & Ben.  Kassie was there as well so they had a great time. 

Kyle & I got home at 5:30 Sunday morning & I went and got the girls about 9:00.  Kyle & I were exhausted, so we did not accomplish much on Sunday.  Hope & I took more pictures of Kassie.  Kyle took the girls into a BBQ in Chambers.  All in all it was a nice relaxing day.

I will post about Memorial Day in my next post. 

"I LOVE YOU THIS MUCH!!"  Aubree & Trey

While taking Kassie's senior pictures Jenae was very into helping find backgrounds for good photos.  Not only would she find the background she would pose how she thought Kassie should sit for the picture.

Aubree anxious to head to the bonfire.

Jenae running in the cold creek.

Jenae & Aubree playing in the creek.

Jenae & Aubree with Kassie

Hope & Kassie at the bonfire.

Trey really enjoys his meals when he gets to eat off of Grandpa's plate.

Marilyn & Trey at bonfire.



Ben, Hope & Trey




Well after dark, and my girls were still in the cold creek.



The cold water did not seem to bother the girls!

Chip & Marilyn with the grand kids at the bonfire.

Busy times

We have been keeping busy this past week.  So much to do so little time to do it.  I feel that is the story of my life :-)  I have been so busy that I have not even picked up my camera this past week.  Last weekend Kyle went to Garrent Nokes Jackpot in McCook.   The girls & I were home all weekend and were able to get a lot of things done around the house. 

The biggest project of the weekend was getting Aubree moved into Jenae's room, since in October they will be welcoming a baby sister into our family!  Kyle & I are still in a bit of shock that we will be parents of 3 little girls!!!  We had an ultrasound on Monday & the ultrasound tech is 99% sure we are having another little girl!!  Aubree's room will be the baby's room.  The girls have been sharing the room for a week now & it is going to be an adjustment for them.  I shared a room with my older sister until I was in the 6th grade & then she got her own room & my little sister & I shared a room until I graduated from high school.  I loved sharing a room and all the memories that I have with my sisters.  When you share a room you share you life with that person.  I think that is one reason I am so close to both of my sisters.  At times Aubree & Jenae do so good & seem to love the idea of sharing a room and then they have their moments that they seem to miss their own space.  They still have 5 months to adjust before Baby Whitaker arrives & I know it will all be fine. 

We are so excited for Miss Kassie to be coming up to stay for a few days.  Jenae & Aubree can hardly wait for her to arrive :-)  I think it is going to be a fun filled weekend.

I know I am really looking forward to a 3 day weekend :-)

Reading Award Program/PE Fun Day

We had a really big day yesterday.  It was the reading award program & the PE  fun day.  It was a fun day.  Reading is something that Jenae really enjoys, it is nice that Chambers makes such a big deal out of the kid's reading accomplishments! 

After the reading program we had lunch with Jenae then it was time for her PE fun day.  It was a really nice day and we had a fun.  Jenae had a nice little cheering crowd.  Marilyn, Hope & Trey spent the day with us cheering for Jenae. The weather was almost perfect.  It was in the mid 60's with a little breeze. 
I switched my day off to Monday so I would not miss the day.  Now I have to work the next 4 days in a row and I am not really looking forward to it.  I have so many projects at home I am wanting to get done & I am really going to miss my Wednesday at home to be able to cross things off my to do list!! 




Jenae getting her reading award.  She read 266 books during the year.

 





Jenae reading her certificate.  She was pleased to know she read that many books. 
We track them during the school year and she had told me earlier that she thought she had
probably only read 50 or 75 books this year. 

 


Jenae doing the gunny sack race. 



Jenae smiling while doing the long jump.  She had such a good attitude the whole day. 
She seemed to really be enjoying every minute of it. 

Aubree playing on the playground.  She really did not think watching her big sister
was near as much fun as playing with the kids.



Aubree was all smiles as long as she was getting to play.

Aubree & Trey enjoying an ice cream treat!  Trey was standing beside Aubree
and I said "hey Trey go sit by Aubree so I can take you picture"  He thought I said to
"go sit on Aubree"  It made for a cute picture!



2011 Forre Branding

We got up early Saturday morning and headed to my parents house to help them brand.  It was so cold that it took some of the fun out of the day.  I did not help with the actual branding, but I helped watch kids and helped my Mom in the kitchen.  The kids had fun playing even though it was a cold day.  They spent much of the day in the house. 

Working the calves.

Jenae bundled up to watch some of the branding,.

Jacque roped the calf.  Brian & Dusty ready to wrestle it.

Branding the calf

The kids had fun watching the branding out the upstairs window.  They had lined up some dolls to watch as well.

Moving one bunch of cattle to pasture.

Moving another bunch of cattle to pasture.

The kids have been playing nonstop since we got to my parents house.  Erin took Aubree & Kellen home with her to spend he night.  It sounds like they had a fun time playing at Brooke's house.  Danielle spent the night at Dad & Mom's house with Cooper & Tyson.  Jacque and Lacey also spent the night.  It was full house!!  My parents will be ready for some peace and quiet when we leave :-)

Mother's Day

Wow this week flew by!  Mother's day was almost a week ago and here I am just now blogging about it.  We had a really nice, semi relaxing yet productive day.  Sunday morning we got up and went to church.  Since Jenae had been sick during the AWANA Awards program they presented her award during church.  It was really nice that they gave her a moment in the spot light for all of her work she did to complete her 4th book.  Chip & Marilyn came into church so they could see Jenae get her award.

Kyle wanted to take his parents out to eat for Mother's day, but the cafe did  not open until 11:30 and we were out of Church around 10:00.  Kyle & Jenae went to Sunday school and Chip, Marilyn, Aubree & I went to the park to play.  It was a really nice morning to be at the park.  Aubree & Chip had a lot of fun playing.  Marilyn & I sat back and watched from the park bench. 

We met back up with Kyle & Jenae and had a really nice Mother's Day dinner at the cafe in Chambers.  We were all stuffed when we walked out of there. 

We went home and all 4 of us took a nap.  It was awesome!!!   After being well rested we made our way outside and did a bunch of yard work.  It was a nice day and Kyle was a really good sport about helping me with some of my projects that I wanted to get done in the yard. 

It has been a crazy week weather wise.  Monday it was 98 degrees, Tuesday it was in the mid 80's, Wednesdays in the 70's with T-storms, Yesterday was cool and damp.  I think it only made it into the 50's and today is right down cold!!!  It is only in the 40's with clouds and wind!! 

I had to work on Wednesday and I took Yesterday off.  Hope came over with a pickup full of plants and she helped me get them in the ground.  She has such an eye for landscaping, I am really happy with the out come.  I counted them after she left and we planted over 40 plants!  It was a big job :-)  They are all perennials, hopefully if they establish I will not have do it again.  Although now that Hope has those areas looking so nice, now I have other areas I want to work on!!  However enough is enough for 1 year!!  Now it is on to my next project, getting the girls bedroom painted!! 

Aubree on the slide at the park in Chambers.



Aubree & Grandpa Chip







Chip & Aubree riding the bumble bee.



Jenae & Aubree planting flowers. 









2011 Whitaker Branding

We branded on Saturday.  It was a beautiful day in Chambers Nebraska.  They had a little trouble getting the cattle moved home, but other than that the day was smooth sailing.  I was hoping to be outside and be a part of the branding, but Marilyn & I spent most of the day in the house getting the meal prepared.  My plan was to get all of my food prepared Friday evening and early Saturday morning, but I was a little under the weather.  I have been trying to fight of a head cold & think some form of what Jenae ended up with.  I ended running a fever on Friday night.  I woke up Saturday morning with no fever, but I was really light headed and I did not feel like I had much stamina for the day.  Needless to say it took me most of the day what I was hoping to get done in a couple of hours in the morning. 

I did manage to slip away from the kitchen long enough to take the kids down to be a part of it for a little bit and of course snap some pictures.

On Friday Kyle & Chip wanted to move one bunch of cattle home.  I was still at work and Marilyn was at school which meant that they had a couple extra cowgirls to help them.  Jenae is actually pretty good help, Aubree on the other hand made for a little slow going for Chip.  He was leading Beauty & Aubree while riding his horse.  Once they got to the pasture where they had to round up the cattle Chip tied Beauty up and had Aubree stand by a big tree.  Once they were rounded up and heading to the road he went back to get her.  He said she told him "I want to just walk and lead my horse"  It sounds like she only made it a short while walking and she was tired.  He reached down and picked her up and put her on the horse with him and he just lead Beauty.  She had a lot of fun getting to help :-)

Jenae the morning of the branding.  She was so cute when she got dressed she wanted to wear clothes just like Daddy wears.  She started with a T-shirt, followed by a long sleeved buttoned up shirt, topped with a hooded sweatshirt.  I talked her into wearing a vest for the early morning cattle drive.  She was a little hesitant thinking Kyle would laugh at her vest, I assured her that he would do no such thing :-)

Kyle & Jenae riding off to help move the cattle home for the branding.

The guys working & Chip Branding the calves.

The future help!

Aubree felt she needed to hold Trey's hand to keep him safe.  She is such a little worrier. 
Trey did not seem as concerned for his safety as Aubree was.

Aubree & Buster Taking it all in. 

Influenza Round 2

We have had a long week at the Whitaker household.  Sunday afternoon Jenae started running a fever.  I did not think much of it because she I found her playing outside several times on Saturday with out a jacket on and it was not a real warm day on Saturday.  She had a bit of a cold on Saturday and I just figured it had settled in her ears or sinus.  She ran a fever all day on Monday & by Tuesday I had Kyle take her to the doctor hoping to get an antibiotic in her so she could get well before her AWANA program on Wednesday evening.    I had a meeting in Grand Island and on my way there I got a phone call from the doctor telling me Jenae had Influenza.  I was totally shocked as I did not realize Influenza was still making its way around.  My girls both had Influenza B when it went through the Chambers School & I never dreamt we would be getting hit again with it again, but I was wrong.  This time it was Influenza A.  I know what you are all wondering, didn't your kids get the flu shot??? My answer to that is NO!  Now before you get all judgemental on me for not wanting my kids to get the flu shot there is something you must know about to understand my thinking.  My little girl Aubree was 6 months old when she got the Rotavirus vaccine.  It was the vaccine that caused her to get Intussusception.  Intussusception is when your small intestine slides into your large.  I had to stand by and watch my 6 month old baby get strapped to a board and put on a life flight helicopter to Children's Hospital where she underwent unthinkable test and emergency surgery to remove part of her small intestine.  All because I had made the decision to have her have the Rotavirus vaccine.  So you see I take the side effects and warnings very serious now and I know there are side effects that go with the flu shot.  Are they common?  No, but it can happen.  One of the side effects from the flu shot is Guillain Barre.  I have 3 people in my life that have had Gillian Barre Syndrome.  It was a miserable week for Jenae, but today she is as good and new and will make a full recovery from the flu.  To me the risks of the side effects out weight the risks of what Influenza does to a healthy little girl.  All that being said, I am not a mother that opposes the vaccines that are required to get into school, but any voluntary one I say NO THANK YOU  to!!!

At this point no one else in our family has come down with Influenza.  They put Jenae & Aubree both on Tamiflu.  The meds were really hard on Jenae but Aubree seems to be getting along ok and knock on wood she has yet to come down with it. 

Before Jenae got sick we had a good weekend.  Jenae had a friend come for a sleep over.  It is the first time Jenae has got to have someone that was not related to her spend the night.  She and Emma had a lot of fun.  Emma is such a sweet little girl, we enjoyed having her stay.

Friday night we went to a kids fair in Bartlett.  It was a nice family outing.

Bree getting her face paited at the kids fair.

Jenae getting her face painted at the kids fair.

Aubree picking a duck.  She really wanted to keep the duck and did not understand why
she had to give it back and get a ticket in return.

Jenae doing the ring toss.

Aubree enjoying a root beer & pizza!

Jenae in "jail"at the kids fair.  They had a "Sheriff" walking around the fair and kids could
tell him other kids to put in "jail".

The girl's sleepover. 

Emma, Aubree & Jenae having a "picnic" lunch on Saturday.