Husker

Caleb's hamster Chief passed away this month. He was 2.5 years old which is pretty old for a hamster! Caleb took it pretty hard because Chief was his buddy and had helped him get through a lot of school anxiety issues.Playing with Chief always seemed to calm him down.

A couple weeks after Chief passed away Caleb asked for a new hamster. He had done such a good job taking care of Chief that we agreed that he could get a new hamster. We went to the pet store expecting to get one that was similar to Chief but the ones that were that breed were pretty skittish and didn't seem very friendly. Caleb held a bunch of them and he settled on one that was much larger and all black. He decided to name him Husker for the Husker blackshirts.

We took Husker home and soon discovered that not only was he a lot bigger he was more active. We ended up having to purchase a bigger cage and some tubes so that he had something to do.

Jr Titans Football

After a pretty rocky start at football, we had quit the Screaming Eagles and joined the Jr Titans which was the school sponsored team. It was well organized and the really refreshing thing was that the coaches were great! All football coaches yell and are a little tough on the kids but these coaches coached to all the kids not just their first string players. They really looked at their strengths to decide what positions they would play and they encouraged them to do their very best. Bryce and Caleb were so much happier on this team! They would start off playing Jr Varsity but if they worked hard they told them that they could work their way up to playing on varsity sometimes too. 

It was fun to watch the boys at practice and it was also fun to see the boys practicing at home and encouraging each other to work hard. 

They decided that they would train by pushing the girls on the 4 wheeler up and down the drive way. 

Looking good as Jr Titans!

They played great at their first game won. 

Palate Expander

Abby had to get her palate expander put in this fall. She wasn't very excited about it and we weren't very excited about paying for 2 kids in braces at the same time but she has teeth coming in that have no where to go. When Caleb had it done I was unprepared for how uncomfortable that it was going to be. I was more prepared this time. Abby got to get out of school to have it put in and I let her have the rest of the day off. We went to Paint Yourself Silly to have a little fun and hopefully help her forget about the pain in the mouth. Just like Caleb she had a hard time adjusting. There was a lot of slurping and learning how to deal with your saliva again. I don't think Abby had the food motivation that Caleb had to figure it out. We were at 2 weeks and she was still eating mostly soup and Jello. The poor girl lost about 10lbs that she didn't have to spare. Eventually she did figure it out.

It looks terribly uncomfortable!

Girl Scout Camp Out

This year I had decided to step away and no longer lead Abby's girl scout troop. I felt bad doing this but some of the parents are impossible to work with and I it was getting to the point where I didn't enjoy it anymore and it was hard to find enough to time to put into it. I do still want to be a part of things though so I had volunteered with 3 other moms to attend the campout.

We went to the Girl Scout camp in Grand Island. I was just and overnight but we had a good time.

We roasted marshmallows and sang songs.

We were in 2 tents. Andrea and I were in charge of one and the other leaders were in charge of the other. The tents were on stilts and fairly nice.

The next morning we had breakfast and then did some games, crafts and archery. It was a short trip but fun.

Happy Anniversary

I can't believe that it has been 14 years since we said I Do. Things aren't always smooth sailing and with 4 kiddos it is hard to make time for us but I am glad to have you by my side on this crazy ride that is our life!