Absent minded...or just absent

I honestly don't even know where to begin.  This month is completely done...OVER with! So I figured the easiest thing to do is to post a few pictures and describe what has happened over the past several weeks.  We had a wonderful Christmas with all our family and friends.  Flew by, of course.  We have our pad on our house finished.  But it hasn't stopped raining enough to let us start on the next process.  It has just been a nasty couple of weeks outside.  Cold and nasty!

 

Leven had a great deer season this year.  Our freezer (well actually my parent's freezer at the moment) is stocked full!



 

 

 Taydem bought Leven a backscratcher for Christmas.  She was so excited to give us all the presents she picked out for us.  I love that she's a giver!

 The cup Trever is holding is the gift Taydem bought him, hehe!

Santa was good to all three kiddos.  Whew...It's always hard this time of year, but it's worth it come Christmas morning. Taydem got her tablet she's been wanting now for a couple of years along with new American Girl Doll stuff, clothes, toys, etc.  She's very "artsy" and I hope she stays this way.  We are very blessed!  

 Momma got some some tennis shoes from Santa!

 Headed to Mexia! We had a good visit.  We visited with Grans first and then with Louie and Gwen.  That night we went to the Falcon and got to see some friends! Good times.

 

 

 Taydem and I had a movie date! We saw "Into the Woods!" And we LOVED it!

 There's about 5 of us from my company that are moving into a new office down the street.  We are considered the "environmental" department and they got us our our office! My desk arrived today and I went to let them in.  I stayed for just a second and snapped a pic of some of my desk! Ready to move in soon.

 Two precious sisters.  Tenlee adores Taydem.  And at any second of the day, Taydem can make Tenlee laugh.  It's the best! They are the best.  So thankful for our kids!

Disney Dream

This may be the longest I have been away from the blogging world! I can't even begin to tell you how busy I have been.

 

Taydem had the trip of a lifetime at Disney World.  Aunt Terri really did it for Taydem over her Thanksgiving Break.  I am just so thankful she gave Taydem this amazing gift.  A memory with her Grans and a memory with her Aunt Terri that she will cherish forever. 

She is still talking about it today.

December is here! This afternoon we are closing on our construction loan people! This time is finally here.  Dad started yesterday on clearing our lot.  I'm beyond happy! My heart is just full of joy! I'm buying presents left and right and can hardly keep up with my days.  Tenlee is now waving bye bye, saying bye bye, saying momma, dada and clapping! Trever is finishing up finals this week! He is pushing for that 4.0! We will see what he ends up with.  Whatever he gets....he has busted his butt this first semester at Texas Tech! So happy for him.

 

Leven killed a good one in Lampasses this past weekend. 

 

 

Time Traveling

I can't even begin to explain my past week.  I have driven so many miles here lately for work.  I'm almost finished with my safety meetings.  These past meetings have been at 6 pm so it's been putting me home late at night.  So today, I'm dragging.  I'm trying to finish up getting everything ready for Taydem's Disney trip! They fly out on Sunday! Saturday morning we drive to Georgetown for a wedding, then drive to Mexia to spend the night with Grans, then Sunday morning we drive the Disney World ladies to the airport.  Not done yet.....then Monday I have to drive to Conway Arkansas for another safety meeting.  This is my longest travel! Leven is going with me, thank goodness.  And so thankful my parents are watching Tenlee for us while we are away this weekend and then again in Arkansas.  So HELPFUL!!! My meeting is actually Tuesday morning at 6 am and then I have one more Tuesday night at 6 pm in Talco.  Whew! Then I have one more in December then I'm done for the year until next year.  I'm sure Leven is just as excited as I am!

 

My nephew Truitt killed his first deer!

 

Leven killed another thing of skin cancer.  Ugh! He's so sick of this crap! I am too. It always scares me to death and he grips about having to pay for getting rid of it! One day he will start using sunscreen. OR he will just start staying out of the sun.

 

 We celebrated my sister's birthday this past Friday night and it was just nice to get out of the apartment and enjoy some time with friends.  I love this picture of us!

 

 One day I'm going to make the Thanksgiving lunch with Taydem at her school.  One day.  My mom is always the best for going and eating with her and Tucker.  She works right there in Tatum and she usually is working on the Thanksgiving Day lunch so it works out.  Taydem called her last night and asked if she would come eat with her.  I KNOW it made her day.  Parents come eat with their kids all the time up at the school, but Leven and I never eat with Taydem.  My parents never came and ate with us.  We work and my parents always worked! It's just how it is.  Taydem always asks me to and I always tell her "Momma has to work!" She will understand one day. 

 

 Austyn is working it in this picture.  Molly went and ate with her today for Thanksgiving! Loving her boots!

Hard loss

Last night was tough.  We came so close to beating Robinson really in three games.  That's how close we were evenly matched.  But in the end, Robinson came out on top beating the Lady Dawgs in 4 games.  We fought so hard.  To be such a young team, they did not want to give in.  The scores proved it. 

 

23-25

26-24

23-25

15-25

 

Each game was neck and neck until the very end.  It's almost like you wish you would have just gotten your butts kicked instead of being so close like that.  So close, knowing that it could have easily gone your way.  I'm super proud of Leven and how hard he has worked with these girls and this Carthage program.  Right now club season is already starting up and we have a 7th grade team playing and an 8th grade team playing.  And guess who will be coaching those 8th graders once again? ME!! I'm so excited to get my hands on this group.  These girls are fired up and ready.  There's about 4 or 5 that have older sisters right now in high school and they are READY! It's gonna be a fun season.  I think I'm going to be able to do so much with this group, because they are so much more advanced than an other team I've ever coached. I'm excited, can you tell?  But these girls are so ready to continue playing volleyball.  They aren't ready for it to stop and that's what you want! I'm excited for Leven and for the future of Carthage volleyball. 

 

 

Trever is supposed to come in this weekend to umpire a Pine Tree baseball tournament with his friend Bradley.  They are each getting paid some really good money, so it was a no brainer for him to drive down here and do this.  But the weather is supposed to be nasty and COLD! We are waiting to see if the rain holds off so the tournament doesn't get called off. 

 

Taydem and Terri and Ann are getting closer and closer for their DISNEYWORLD VACATION! I can hardly stand it for Taydem.  I am more excited than she is I think. She will have the time of her little 7 year old life! 

 

Tenlee is the cutest thing on this planet:

 

 

 

 

The Curse..........is Broken

Area CHAMPS!

The 1st round curse is finally broken.  After all these years of being married and not making it past the 1st round of playoffs----Leven can finally call himself an Area Champ once again! He and his team played like winners last night.  I was so proud of them.  I was so nervous riding to the game and walking into the gym.  It was so quiet.  We hardly had any fans there (little depressed about that one)! Yes, it was a Thursday night and yes, it was a long ways away, but still.  Come on people....SUCK IT UP! Those girls didn't care though.  They had one thing on their mind.  Leven told me this morning what his pre-game speech was.  Loved it! He's such a good coach.  I would've busted my butt too if I was on that team.  The last thing he told them was they have a little girls name on their headband that's fighting for her life.  Now let's go out there and fight for her! They have been wearing those headbands now for 11 games straight! And this morning Izzy got some really good news back from her tests.  The chemo is shrinking the cancer in her lymph nodes! So it's working! God is Good! Not only did we win, we swept them in 3 games.  It was a great night.  I'm so glad my parents and my sister came with me! Leven's dad and Gwen also came! And his friends Sonni and Kent! And his friend Steven Hogan and his wife Ellen and their daughter Kate! And Leven's #1 fan was of course there.....Brad! Leven was all smiles folks! Our next game is Tuesday in Palestine at 7:00! We will be playing Robinson.  We need as much supporters theres as possible.

 

http://etsn.fm/carthage-advances-to-third-round-of-volleyball-playoffs-with-sweep-of-gatesville/

 

Bi-District Champs

The Carthage Lady Dawgs won their first round of playoffs last night! The game was super easy.  Two of the games the opponent didn't get passed 6 points...easy! Now this next round will be much harder.  Since I've been married to Leven he hasn't gotten past this 1st round of play offs.  He ALWAYS wins district and has pretty much always won that first round of play offs.  But the second round is a tough one and he just never wins.  He has come close....very close...like nail bitin' close....but is always short.  Tonight he is driving to Waco to scout the two teams that he will be playing next.  It will be either Fairfield or Gatesville.  And both of these teams he has a really good chance of beating.  We have played tougher teams this year.  Our girls must stay focused and be ready to play.  If Gatesville wins (which Leven predicts) then we will play them in Corsicana on Thursday at 8:00.  Talk about a LATE game.  I'm still trying to figure out the arrangements for the girls.  No way can they come to the game.  We probably won't be home until after midnight.  And I don't want to drive alone so my parents will probably make the drive with me.  But it all depends on who wins tonight.  It would be awesome if it's an upset and Fairfield wins! Fingers crossed!

 

The sickness is finally going away from the house.  Taydem is much better and Tenlee is getting there.  Let's just say Tenlee hates when I wipe her nose.  She gets that LEFT hand swinging at me.  But I can't stand a nasty nose. 

 

We got our house plans back last week! And right now I'm working with the bank on finishing up the construction loan.  We are almost there.  I seriously worked it out perfect.  When Leven is done with volleyball we will be ready to rock n roll! I am so excited about this house.  I am going to try my best to stay way under on our loan.  That's my goal.  How cheap can I build this but make it still look beautiful! I say "cheap", but I mean- I'm going to try my best to get the best prices, the best bids, etc. 

 

Here's a few new pictures of what I'm liking for the house:

 

I love this for the exterior of our house.  The dark trim, the color of the roof, we won't have much stone so this is perfect and I like the color brick. 

But we have a really big front porch with 4 columns.

 I love this kitchen.  We are going with the light cabinets, but our island will be a grey/blue color instead.  The brick is beautiful.

 This will be somewhat like our built in for our media/2nd living room.  Except on top I will leave a space to put Leven's volleyball trophies going all the way across. 

 

 

 

 

Sickness and wins

Whew, this week has NOT been a good week at the Barker household.  Taydem woke up early early Monday morning with fever.  So I kept her home from school.  Which means I had to stay home from work.  My parents have been in Tennessee for 2 weeks so I couldn't call on Mom this time for help.  Just when I thought she was getting better, she woke up me up about 11:30 on Monday night with 102.5 temperture and a major headache.  So I set my alarm clock every few hours to check on her and since the girls are sharing a room we put Tenlee in bed with us.  Ugh...no sleep for us! Tenlee tossed and kicked like a fish all night! So I took Taydem to the doctor on Tuesday and found out she had strep.  No good.  So I knew she had to stay home again on Wednesday! She felt so bad on Tuesday. 

Well Tuesday when I picked Tenlee up from the daycare they told me she had been more fussy that day than usual and her eye had started to mat up and her nose started to run.  No good.  So I figured since I was already staying home with Taydem on Wednesday, I might as well take Tenlee on to the doctor.  Double ear infection! Are you kidding me.  When the doctor said that, Taydem looked over at me and said, "Great, hearing aids for Tenlee too!" Well, let's hope not Taydem. 

And while all of this has been going on with us girls, Leven is winning volleyball games and stuff! Kidding.  Leven can't help it that he can't help.  He did stay home with Taydem on Tuesday morning for 3 hours so I could go into work for a little bit and then met me in town and handed her off to me so I could take her to the doctor.  He had a game that night, his last district game, and they won! They ended their district run with a perfect 9-0!  They have their first playoff game this coming Monday night against Center and Carthage!

 

Throwing it Back

This is my throwback Thursday.

 

This is a picture of my Aunt Melinda and myself when I was just a little child.  I'm thinking I was probably about 2 here.  This picture makes me smile more than you know.  My Aunt died of lung cancer when I was 21 and she (I believe) was the young age of 44.  This really hits home to me now because at the time I felt like 44 was so far away from 21.  Well, HELLO, my husband is 42! We loved her so much.  She lived next door to me my whole life and she was the "fun" Aunt! 

I can still remember the night she died as if it were yesterday.  Darin and I were going to school at Sam Houston and we all knew she had cancer and was told she only had a few months to live.  Then it got down to weeks.  Her final days we were off at school while everyone else was back at home telling her their goodbyes.  Darin had a huge final that he had to take one night and then we were going to haul butt home to see her.  I'll never forget it.  We took all these country back roads thinking it would be the quickest and he ended up getting pulled over.  We had driven in silence up until the cop started talking to us anyways so the emotion was already built up.  So when he asked us why we were speeding and Darin told him, the cop kind of laughed and said that we could've come up with a better excuse than that.  I thought Darin was going to jump out of that car and beat that cop up right there!! We really told the truth, but the cop had no idea.  He thought we were just some trouble kids I'm sure driving late at night speeding to get somewhere.  Darin started crying to the cop (whoa, Darin never cries and still doesn't to this day!) but the "tough" cop didn't want to hear it.  He told Darin to call the judge and take it up with him.  So we left and drove in silence again, until we reached the hospital. 

We got there around midnight.  My cousin Whitney, my other Aunt Gwyn and one of my great Aunts were in the room with my Aunt Melinda. My Aunt Gwyn said that Melinda was waiting for us.  We walked over to her and we both just started talking to her.  Of course she couldn't talk back.  But we knew that she knew we were there.  It was such a special moment for us.  It gives me chills right now telling you about it.  Watching her struggle for her breath that night and knowing that she was getting close to leaving us, hurt so bad.  I'll never forget the pain I felt for her.  We kissed her, loved on her and said our goodbyes and we left.  Darin and I got about 3 miles down the road and my Aunt Gwyn called me, Melinda had passed.  She waited.  She waited for Darin and I.  Again, we rode in silence.  I'm not sure if Darin remembers that night the way that I remember it, but it's a night that I will always remember that I shared with him. 

I miss her and certain things remind me of her all the time. 

 She has 3 grandsons and 1 more on the way.  I know she's proud.

Cooler weather and Fall Fun

This weekened was so nice and relaxing...for once...nothing planned.  When we have nothing planned it drives Taydem crazy, which then drives me crazy.  Since the day she was born all she knows is GO GO GO.  I didn't get out of my pjs until about 3:00 pm on Saturday.  Then it was time to run the girls up to the high school to the fall festival.  Julia was spending the night so she tagged along.  Taydem is just going to be a UT cheerleader for Halloween (saving money, she wore this costume for the M&M program back in May.  It's been pretty easy telling her we have to save money for "the house".  I think she's tired of the apartment as well!).  And I bought Tenlee a Cabbage Patch wig (just because I think it's so dang cute) and she also has a Lady Bug costume. They had fun at the festival and won tons of money.   

 Oh isn't Brittyn the prettiest BATWOMAN you have EVER SEEN??

 And we can't forget about Baylee...the prettiest pumpkin!

Speaking of the house....we are getting pretty tired of the apartment.  I feel like we are starting to be more and more like hoarders.  We keep bringing more stuff in but not taking stuff out! I can't even imagine after Christmas! Eeek! I may go crazy. So my parents are in Tennesse right now and when they get back we are starting on clearing the lot and getting the ball rolling. 

 It's time....finally!