the wileys

Reviving the Blog

2010-03-21T20:23:00.003-05:00

I am sure none of you are still even following this blog (if there was anyone following it in the first place :-)). Regardless.....I am going to try to revive the blog starting right now (i.e. tomorrow).

My son graduated--ok...well, it was just kindergarten!

2009-05-27T10:40:00.004-05:00

A little over a week ago, my oldest graduated Kindergarten. O.k. so, kindergarten graduation is probably not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but it was to me!!!! Funny though, a few weeks before graduation, I asked Josh what they were singing...he started singing, 'I am a promise. I am a possibility. I am a promise, with a capital P. I am a great big bundle of Potentiality...' OMG! I sang that at my kindergarten graduation, which was too many years ago that I don't even want to say the number!!! SIGH!

Anyway, Josh did great and looked cute too. So, onto the good part. Here are the pictures...

Updates coming soon!!!

2009-03-27T09:58:00.001-05:00

I doubt anyone keeps up with this close enough to care, but I am planning on updating the blog this weekend. Work is crazy and it is baseball season though, so, who knows!!!

My baby's 3!!!!!!!!

2008-10-22T09:58:00.005-05:00

I guess he isn't really a baby anymore. That makes me a little sad, but I am enjoying the little boy he is becoming. Caleb definitely received a good share of personality...he is a character. We went to the air show on Saturday. I didn't realize that many people went to those things. I think it will probably be something we try to do every year because the boys loved it. Well, Caleb loved all of it, Josh loved some of it. For some reason, Josh is very sensitive to loud noises. He did not like the simulated bombing runs...Caleb on the other hand was saying 'Do it again...' Sunday was the SPP picnic, which was fun. I have a great group of friends and it was nice to get to hang out for a little while. After that, we went back to the house and got ready for Caleb's birthday party. Here are some pictures from the pumpking patch, air show, and the birthday party...

1st Day of School

2008-08-18T19:45:00.004-05:00

Today was the first day of Kindergarten. Josh went to 4k last year, so it wasn't completely traumatic. Actually, neither one of us had a hard time. We walked him into the school. When we got in, most of the other kids were already there sitting on the wall outside the classroom. There was a minute where he got nervous (when he is nervous, he will fidget one of his feet), but when his teacher talked to him he completely relaxed. He is such a big kid!!! His teacher this year is Mrs. Hamby. I went to school with her daughter and she is so sweet! This year, Josh's class has 6 alumni kids...which is weird because I think that is all the ones in 5K. Caleb did good also. We walked him in and he immediately went in and started playing. I even had to go back in to give something to his teacher and he didn't even freak out! All in all, it was a good day. Of course, here are some pictures....

Outside the school

Josh and his teacher...Mrs. Hamby

Josh and his best friend Abby

All of us...

Caleb

Mostly pictures...

2008-07-18T22:15:00.003-05:00

Hey, here are a ton of pictures from the last few weeks...

Alcatraz...

Harbor Sea Lions at Pier 39

The Bay Bridge (crossing over...I prayed for no earthquakes...yes, i am weird...i know)

Caleb in the big boy bed. We took down his crib last weekend. Please excuse the non-matching bed linens...

Camping on Lake Chicot

The Take 'em Off party...My dad had hip replacement surgery and had to wear thigh-high compression socks. Being that it is the middle of summer in the south, they were very uncomfortable. Needless to say, we were all ready for him to take them off!

The big 30

2008-06-26T10:17:00.002-05:00

Well, today I turn the big 30! It really isn't a huge deal and it isn't like I am under a cloud of depression or anything although, it seems weird to think about saying 30 when asked how old I am. My co-workers have been great. Within an hour of me getting to work, I had two call and wish me Happy Birthday, a group call and sing Happy Birthday to me and several others send e-cards...funniest of all though goes to my 5 yr old...he got me a card that when i open it it sings 'Wild Thang'. Bill said that he saw it, opened it up and said, 'Daddy...we have to get this one.' I have a lot to post, but will have to do it later. This past month has been busy. We finished up t-ball season, I went to San Francisco and went sailing in San Francisco Bay, and we bought a camper...well, 1/2 a camper anyway, and my youngest moved out of his crib and into the bunk beds. I'll post pictures later...

Time for my Monthly Post...

2008-06-06T22:17:00.005-05:00

This month has been crazy...the kids got out of school, we took a trip to Houston, my dad had his hip replaced...Here are some recent pics from all of the above.

Field Day

2008-05-08T22:22:00.006-05:00

Wow...it has been awhile. Well, this week was field day at Josh's school. He had a great time. They had 4 inflatables, a fire truck that sprayed water in the air for the kids to play in and a helicopter from the Army National Guard that they got to see fly in and then got to look inside. Bill was able to go and got some cute pictures and videos of Josh that, of course, I'll share with you. The kids are ready for summer, Josh especially. He is ready for school to be out! Baseball has started. Because of the tornadoes, we are not going to be able to play at our park. All our games are being held about 20 minutes from here at a park in a not-so-nice area of town. The park is run down and the bathrooms are disgusting. But, they were nice enough to let us play there so, I won't complain too much. I am sure that it is hard to work out the schedules between the two leagues. Josh's team is interesting. The coach is not real good at teaching the rules. And, most of the parent's are not much help either because they don't know much about baseball. Bill would love to help, but with his work schedule he misses too many of the games. So, I think I may coach next year....I played softball forever (@21 years to be exact)...t-ball can't be too different, right? I may not can teach them to hit a fastball when they get older, but I can definitely handle where the bases are and how to catch a grounder. The only thing is my work schedule. I'll have to see how my schedule falls next year... I got a new cube at work this week. A window cube!?! Apparently, that is a big deal with most folks. I, on the other hand, don't really care. I haven't had one until now, though, so ask me in a few months and I may have a different opinion. O.k. enough of this...here is the good stuff...
Josh is the third from the right, on the very back row...

This Weekend

2008-04-14T14:48:00.003-05:00

This weekend was busy. We started on Friday by having someone come stretch out the carpet in our master. It had gotten several rolls in it and since we already had the room cleaned out ... we thought it would be a good opportunity to do it. Then Saturday, they delivered our furniture and we cleaned a ton! We had this one spot in our bathroom (the tiles that are directly behind me when i am fixing my hair) that had gotten really gunked up with hairspray. Not that I use a lot...just that we hadn't scrubbed in awhile. My new best friend is OxyClean. That stuff worked like a charm!!! Sunday we had church and a baby shower. I made a frame that I think turned out well...much cuter than the canvas I had tried a few weekends before. I may just have to stick with frames!

Here are some pictures...

Random stuff...

2008-04-11T23:24:00.003-05:00

I am sure most of you know already, but a week ago yesterday, we had severe weather in our area. It didn't hit our neighborhood, but came close. It actually did hit the ballpark where Josh is going to play this year. At least, we hope they are still going to get to play. There was a lot of damage and we aren't sure where we are going to be able to have their games. It also hit a neighborhood where we know several families. They are all ok, but most of the trees are down in that area. It is crazy!!!!

Then, this Wednesday, I get a call from Bill. He proceeds to tell me that Josh had been taken to the principal's office. Apparently a little boy in his class had learned a four letter word (that starts with F) from his daddy and proceeded to say it at lunch. Now, I don't want to make it sound like Bill and I never say anything inappropriate, but definitely don't very often...and, I know that we dont' ever say the word in question. Anyway, after hearing the word, Josh repeated it... The challenge for Bill and I was that he didn't really know what he was saying. When I was talking about it to him, he kept saying 'I don't even know what it means'...'Can you tell me what it means?' ARGHHHH! I thought this would at least wait until 1st grade!!!!!

We are getting new bedroom furniture this weekend too...which means that our house looks like it exploded. It is a complete mess. We are also trying to have a garage sale next weekend so there are some boxes that are full or stuff to sell and then others that are full of everything that used to be in our room. I'll be glad when we get it all out of the kitchen!

I only have three pictures to post. Two are of the storm damage and the other is our new furniture!

Fun Times

2008-03-28T21:26:00.005-05:00

This has been a great week! The kids had their Easter parties at school last week. My grandma was able to come visit for Easter and stay about a week. Easter Sunday was great...well, except the Razorback game...but, we won't talk about that! Then, I took off this Tuesday and my sister, grandma and I took the boys to a little park by the house. It was so windy we were able to fly kites, thanks to Aunt Kim! This weekend Bill and Josh are camping so I am hoping to be able to finish a few projects...I am not going to say what though cause I don't want to have to show anyone if it turns out terrible! Here are some pics of the boys from the last few days...

From Josh's Easter Party...

Dyeing eggs

Easter morning

Hunting eggs on Easter

Flying kites

SNOW DAY

2008-03-10T21:36:00.007-05:00

Finally! A SNOW DAY!!! I know...you would think I am a kid. Well, when it comes to snow, I might as well be. As I have written about, I felt really bad Tuesday when I had to send the kids to school without getting to play in the snow. Being March, I was afraid that we lost our chance on snow. So, I was excited when I heard there was a chance of snow for Friday. So, Thursday night, I went and got stuff for breakfast, stuff to play in the snow, etc. Thursday night we were watching t.v. and saw that Josh's school was cancelled Friday, which made me more excited cause I knew we wouldn't have to wake up early and check the news. I was like a kid at Christmas...I think at one point I even hummed the tune of 'Snow' (the song on Bing Crosby's White Christmas...you know...the one that goes...'I'll soon be there with snow; I'll wash my hair with snow...Go to sleep and dream of snow.'--I swear, I am not crazy!) I even woke up during the night to check for snow. 3 am--no snow 7:30 am--no snow 10:00 am--no snow and then finally 11:00 it started snowing (just as Bill had to leave for work), but the good news was it didn't stop until around dinnertime. We played in the snow several times on Friday and there was still enough left on Saturday morning that we got to go back outside with daddy and play in it some more. It really was a great weekend! Of course, I took plenty of pictures and will share some of them with you.

This weekend we also started a little project. I found the most fabulous thing at Target the other day...it was this wall decal thingy that basically rubs onto the wall and looks like stenciling. The thought is to put it on the wall in the hallway and put pictures of the family all around it in black frames. It says (in gold lettering), "We do not remember days, we remember moments," and in black lettering, it has a big Moments in a scripty font. I thought I had screwed it up because on the picture it has the black lettering 'Moments' under the gold lettering quote. Thanks to my crafty friend Julie...she said that it works just as well the other way. So, this is where we got this weekend...

I'll have to try to do the rest this week.
We also had our church volleyball tournament. It was a lot of fun. My team won!!!!! I never thought I would be this sore after just five games of volleyball...but, I am!!! Sad, but true!
I guess that is all for now. I think I have posted enough pictures here to last for awhile!

Rascal Flatts, Sunshine, Snow and more Snow

2008-03-06T21:51:00.010-06:00

So much to say!!! This past Saturday my good friend Laura invited me to the Rascal Flatts concert in Little Rock. The show was great! I must admit, I really don't have anything to compare it to...before this one, my most recent concert was in high school. The thing I think I learned the most is how old I am getting. I know...I know...it shouldn't be a big surprise. I am telling you though...it hit 10:30 and I was TIRED! We really did have a good time, I am really glad she asked me to go with her!

O.k. besides that...it also was really pretty this weekend. Bill and I took some photos of the kiddos enjoying the weather Sunday...

And, then on Tuesday, it snowed...

We also watched the Razorbacks...lose...again, but Caleb was cute!

Well, this post is ridiculously long...so I'll end it for now. It is supposed to snow again tonight in the area. I hope it does!!! Josh's school has already announced they are closed tomorrow so hopefully we will have a fun day playing in the snow!

My Dad...the Poet?

2008-02-25T09:42:00.003-06:00

I always knew my dad liked to write when he was younger, but I didn't know that he was good! Yesterday, I was going through some old pictures trying to find ones of me as a baby. (Being the 2nd child, this was more difficult than it sounds.) And, there in the picture box was an old bulletin from my Grandma Holland's church. The date on it was August 6, 1967 and inside there was a poem written by my dad. Here is what it says...

My Buddies, My God, and Me

(Written while on a boat near Vietnam)

There I was on open deck

Cold chills running up and down my neck

The PT boats were coming fast;

This sea fight might be out last.

My 50 calibre machine gun at the ready,

I looked at my hands, not too steady;

I was scared, I must confess;

I prayed, "O God, get us out of this mess."

Then all at once I knew no fear

Because I knew that God was near;

The enemy boats, they numbered three,

But there was my buddies, my God and me.

The order came for us to shoot;

We gave it all we had--and some to boot.

The battle raged for a little while,

Then ceased, and on my face broke a little smile

No enemy boats were on the sea--

Because there was my buddies, my God, and me.

I did finally find a picture of me...not near as interesting as the poem, but I'll post it anyway. Lots of people say that Caleb looks like Bill....some say he looks like me. See what you think after looking at the pictures below...

Caleb--obviously

Bill

Valentine's Day and other stuff

2008-02-20T20:56:00.002-06:00

I have no pictures to prove it, but my husband gave me the prettiest flowers for Valentine's Day. Since he works at night, he also took me to lunch. It was much easier to get a table for lunch on Valentine's Day than for dinner! After lunch, I took the rest of the day off to go to Josh's Valentine's party at school. I still can't believe he is in 'big' school. Let's see.......what else has happened...
Josh is playing t-ball again this year...with one major difference. This year he is playing in the league that actually keeps score and is competitive. They had try-outs Saturday...and I was definitely more nervous for him than he was for himself. He was smiling the whole time--And, he did AWESOME!!! We haven't found out which team he will be on yet, but we should soon because they start practice in March.
I am really struggling with my attitude at work lately. I think it is just the time of year maybe. Well, that is what I am hoping anyway. I am trying to be better at making my mind up to control my mood and not let myself get in a bad mood, but it seems that I am as good at that as I am at controlling my diet (which is not very good).
I guess that is all for now...I'll try to post some pictures later (cause I know that is the only real reason anyone would read this blog!!!).

One blog a month...not too shabby :-)

2008-02-11T21:23:00.001-06:00

Hmmmm...been a long time since I blogged last. So much is going on right now it is crazy. Bill took a new job in January. He is now working as a Dock Supervisor for Saia Motor Freight. It is quite a few more hours than his old job, but it is back in the Transportation industry and it is a supervisor position. Lets see....what else....Oh yeah, Josh is getting ready to start baseball again. We are actually playing in the competitive league this year so we have to do tryouts and all that jazz. Tryouts are this Saturday and I am already trying to prepare myself. When I was growing up, I loved competition and enjoyed any chance I got to prove that I was as good, if not better than the next person. I have a feeling that when it is my kid out there being judged against other kids I may not handle it as well. I just hope he has fun...I want him to enjoy playing sports as much as I did. This last weekend we were able to go to Fayetteville with my family and watch a Razorback basketball game. We were also able to take the kids by my mom's name. For those of you that don't know, the University of Arkansas has a tradition of imprinting the names of everyone in each of their graduating classes onto the sidewalks of the campus. Well, my mom is to the right of the new student union, just below the grate in the sidewalk! The kids got a kick out of it. Here are some pictures to catch everyone up...

Finally....the pictures

2008-01-04T08:34:00.000-06:00

This has been a crazy week. I have been sick since before Christmas. Well, I finally decided to go to the doctor Wednesday to see if I could get some medication. And, boy did I get my wish. Not only did I get a shot in the office, I was prescribed a steroid, an antibiotic and some cough syrup that has codeine in it. Let me tell you...that stuff is powerful. I took it the first night and then woke up after being asleep for about two hours and thought I heard my cats getting into something in the kitchen. So, I went to the bedroom door to listen to see if I could tell what they were getting into. I didn't hear anything so I turned to go back to bed. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw one of the cats by the window in our room, so I walked over and, of course, there was no cat! I worked from home yesterday and when I called to make sure that was o.k., I told my manager about the cat incident. I forgot to mention that we actually do have cats and that I didn't just imagine random cats in my bedroom. When I came in to work this morning, I found little cut out pictures of cats all over my cube. On my monitor, shelf, keyboard, pencil holder, in my desk drawer...EVERYWHERE. It was hilarious!!!
Well, as promised, here are some pictures from Christmas...

Caleb looks funny in this one...i think i must have snapped this at the end of the word 'cheese'...

This was after Caleb's Christmas program...both the boys were sick of me taking photos...

The boys in their Sunday best.

Christmas morning. Caleb was not yet fully awake!

Enjoying their some of their loot...

The pirate hat was not a Christmas gift, but Caleb insisted on wearing it while riding outside!

Just for Nana

2007-12-27T00:03:00.000-06:00

Well, this post is just for Nana Pam...

Of course, I have a ton of pictures and stories to tell about Christmas and all the events leading up to, but for tonight...here is a message from Caleb to his Nana...

just catching up

2007-12-04T09:57:00.000-06:00

I had no idea that it had been so long since I posted. The past month has been really busy!!! We had all sorts of things going on. Major events were the kid's harvest parties, Nana Pam and Grandaddy's visit, Thanksgiving, Josh's birthday and Grandma Jean's birthday...and, most recently, Sherwood's Christmas parade (Josh was Joseph). Of course, I have pictures of all these events, but not where I can post them just yet. I'll try to get some up in the next few days. Well, I am off to decorate the house for Christmas........

Halloween and other stuff

2007-11-05T20:07:00.000-06:00

Monday we finally carved our puntin (as caleb calls it). Surprisingly my kids didn't want to have anything to do with the pumpkin guts. I remember carving pumpkins with my dad and sister growing up and I loved the pumpkin guts. Not my kids!! All they wanted to do was cut the pumpking! On Tuesday, Josh's class went to the Pumpkin Patch. I didn't figure there would be anything left since it was the day before Halloween, but there were quite a few pumpkins left to pick from. So, Bill and I ride out to the patch with Josh and his class. We see all the perfectly round orange pumpkins...with each one we pass we try to convince Josh that it is the best one in the patch. What does he do?!? Finds the greenest pumpkin I have ever seen!!!! Oh well, we already had an orange one at home! Well, Wednesday was Halloween. We started the evening off by going to our church's Fall Fest. Josh and Caleb had a lot of fun playing all the games...and getting lots of candy! After the Fall Fest, we did a little trick or treating around our neighborhood. There were a hundred other things that I had thought about writing here...but I can't remember any of them now that I am actually typing this. Oh well, I'll just post pictures instead...

And, if that isn't enough to brighten your day...here is some laughter...

Crazy Weekend

2007-10-29T14:00:00.000-05:00

This weekend was crazy. Bill and I both took off Friday thinking that we would get to leave early for Ft. Smith. That didn't quite work out like we expected. Both of the boys had dr's appointments Friday morning. Caleb's was just his 2 year checkup...he is 34 inches tall and weighs 27 pounds, which puts him right smack in the 50th percentile (unlike Josh who remains in the 10th). Josh went to the dr. because for several weeks he has been complaining about his stomach hurting. We just thought he didn't want to eat...which would be why he is in the 10th percentile! Turns out that he has a minor little plumbing issue, which the dr. assured us was common in kids this age. It sucked for my mom though...cause while we went to Fayetteville, she got stuck with having to deal with the effects of the medicine!

On the other hand, Bill and I were off to Ft. Smith where we got to visit with my cousin Mandi, her kids and Marty and Gary. I don't get to see them very often, so it was nice to get to visit. Here are two pics of Grace and Kayleigh...

Saturday morning, we woke up and drove up to Fayetteville to the Razorback game. We had a good time. The seats were awesome. Here are a few pictures so you can see how close we were...

there's nothing more embarassing to me than me

2007-10-25T20:40:00.000-05:00

There is nothing in life that can embarass me more than my own stupidity...

And, apparently, today was the day for my own self to embarrass the hades out of me!!! I have always heard stories about people writing an e-mail about someone, and then because they have that person on their mind...they send the e-mail to them instead of the person they meant to send it to. Yeah, that happened to me today. Thank goodness I am able to laugh at myself...cause it was freakin' hilarious!!! I have not laughed that much in a long time...Good Times!!!

Caleb's Birthday

2007-10-21T21:35:00.000-05:00

My baby turned 2 today. Crazy to think about. I used to laugh when people would say that they grow up faster than you can believe...but now I know what they were talking about.

Today when well though...busy, but it was fun. We went to church this morning and this afternoon Bill and I ran around like crazy people getting ready for the party tonight. I say party...we just had the family and Gale over...not sure if that qualifies as a party. It sure was a lot of work though. In all the craziness, we forgot to get a picture of me, Bill and Caleb together. Oh well, we got the cute ones of him, which is all everyone else cares about! Here are some pictures from today. I made the cake myself, my first attempt at decorating (it is harder than it looks!!!). If you can't tell, the theme was Finding Nemo. Caleb loves that movie!!!!

Busy Season

2007-10-17T21:23:00.001-05:00

O.k. so, I wrote a really long post...then realized I was rambling through the whole thing!! So, instead of posting the whole boring thing, I'll just post some pictures!

Caleb's 1st Haircut...

Josh and the climbing wall (he didn't get any higher than he was in this picture!!)

The kids (all of them) loved the inflatable slide!

Caleb the cutie!

The Game

2007-10-08T20:38:00.000-05:00

Saturday was the AR Razorbacks first game in Little Rock this year. Of course, as is the Fields' tradition, my parents, sister, Bill and I attended the game. The fun thing this year is that Josh is starting to come with us. My parents let my sister and I begin attending games regularly when we were 4, so they are doing the same with Josh. We really had a good time. Last year, because one of us couldn't make it, we were able to take Josh...but it was not fun at all. We had all these people around us that were using language not fit for a 4 year old's ears. This year, I only heard maybe one curse word and that is it, which is really surprising given it was a night game. Normally, people have had plenty of opportunity to surpass their limit by the time a night game rolls around. The worst we had to contend with this year was the booing. People are so stupid...they say they are booing the coach and not the players, but I can tell you that it sure sounded like the boos were directed at the players. To boo players to me is terrible.......it is hard to remember sometimes because we get so wrapped up in the game and winning and losing.........but they are KIDS!!! O.k. I'm stepping up the soapbox now... Here are some pics from the game...

Before the game.

Josh took this one...after he did he said, "Uh Oh Aunt Kim, you got cutted off."

Pics from Vegas

2007-10-07T21:42:00.000-05:00

As promised, here are the pics from Vegas...

Our hotel...

This picture doesn't do it justice, but in the hotel the entire lobby was covered in these mosaic tile flowers.

Again, there is no way the picture can come close to reality, but the Bellagio fountains were really cool.

And, last but not least, me and the girls...

I don't know what is wrong with the photo upload on Blogger, but my originals don't have all the lines on them!!!

Leaving Las Vegas

2007-10-05T21:09:00.000-05:00

Well, yesterday we left Las Vegas. We left Tuesday morning and arrived at noon. We were able to get some shopping in and then we walked down to Caesers Palace to eat at one of Bobby Flay's restaurant Mesa Grill. It was wonderful!!! I had pork tenderloin with a blue corn tamale. It was some of the best food I have ever had. Expensive, but good--and on the company's dime! We were also able to see the Bellagio fountains, go to the M&M store and just walk around town. It was amazing. Our hotel was outstanding. We stayed at the Wynn. The bathroom was crazy and the bedroom had a wall of windows that looked out on the strip. I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow...

For now, it is off to bed...

2007-09-28T22:41:00.000-05:00

Well, looks like it was just a 24 hour bug...thanks goodness!!! I don't know if I could take anymore. Work was exceptionally good today...I am on-call this weekend though so hopefully it will be a slow weekend. Then, Tuesday, Vegas here I come. It is really such a shame that our vendor has decided to have their user group meeting in Las Vegas...yeah right. I am so stinking excited. And, I get to go with two of my best friends at work! How great is that!!! Hopefully I will get some pictures that are good enough to post.

Holy Cow

2007-09-27T10:58:00.001-05:00

First off......I can't believe I am actually doing this. I have succumbed to the peer pressure--thanks Laura! Any escape from my present activities is welcome though...almost everyone in my house (including the cats) is sick except for me of course. Which, lucky me, leaves me attempting to work from home and cleaning up after the sick ones. I would make a terrible nurse!!
Some new fun things have happened lately though. My mom, who swore she would never own a dog again, has allowed my dad to get a puppy. Bill, Josh and I went with him Sunday to get a cute little Cairn Terrier, who for lack of a better suggestion is being called Clancy. I forget how much fun puppies can be...especially when they are someone else's! Here are some pics of the new puppy...