July thru October...Whew!!

(Warning: long post!)

Since my little guy turned 5, it has been quite a crazy schedule around the Plemons' house. I'll do my best to get myself caught up with a bunch of pictures and a few words...

After Cannon's birthday, we had a Super-hero party at our church. The kids had a great time dressing up in costume and playing in the playscape.
Once July was over, it was time to start getting ready for the 1st day of school. But before we could do that, we needed to squeeze in a family vacation to Sea World (Note to self...never go to Sea World the week before school starts.....in one word - PACKED!). Inspite of the crowd, we still had a great time as a family. How many of you can say, "I went to Sea World for a whole day and all I did was see Shamu, ride one ride and eat lunch." ?


We discovered we have a PingPong champion in our family...who knew Cameryn would be so good!!!?


Then it was off to school. Summer is over and the pools are closed. (The public pools were closed to the Plemons' family a little earlier than the kids wanted. Right after Cannon's birthday in July, the boys got really sick after swimming in a nearby neighborhood pool. It wasn't worth the risk to get back in the water after the kind of summer public pools were having.)

Cal started 3rd grade and Cameryn started 1st grade.



Cannon started pre-school and absolutely loves it!! We accidently got started in a Mother's Day Out program (thinking it was pre-k) but quickly switched over to YCW. Cannon loves Miss Carrie and Miss Amy!

(Pics of Cannon with his new teachers to come.)
One week after school started, we were off and running with Upwards Football. One thing I love about Upwards is that they still teach skill while incorporating Christian morals and scripture. I also love the fact that we only practice one hour per week vs. the 2hrs 3-4 nights a week some of the boys around here are doing! Darrell is Cal's coach along with our friend Hector Hinojosa.


So September has been football every Sat. and school throughout the week. Darrell had to go out of town for two of the 4 weeks we had, but fortunately he hasn't had to travel too much.
When Oct. came, I was preparing to go on a Come before Winter Women's Renewal. Darrell blessed me incredibly by taking a week of vacation so that he could be home with the kids and take care of my day to day routine. It was a great week of studying the Bible like I have never studied, and also being refreshed physically, mentally and spiritually. It was a reminder of how important it is to take care of myself along with taking care of everyone else.

One week after I got home, Cameryn had a field trip on the same day that we were heading out to go camping with the Single-Parent Family group from church. Needless to say Darrell and I "divided and conquered".
Cameryn and I went with her 1st grade class to the Mainstay Farms in Cleburne. If you haven't been you need to go! We were so impressed how they presented the message of Jesus in with their presentation of their farms. This was the second year the 1st gr. teachers had picked Mainstay Farms, so I know they knew about the presentation. It warmed my heart to know my kids are at a public school that doesn't frown on such activities.

Cameryn and I joined the boys soon after school was out. We camped at a state park in Mineral Wells, and it was absolutely a beautiful weekend. The weather was great (a little chilly in the night); the kids did great; Darrell makes camping great; it was just a great time!

So that brings you up to date on the Plemons family. We still have the end of football season in two weeks, and Cameryn is in full swing with rehearsals for the children's Christmas musical at church. I promise I won't wait 3 mos to update next time...I don't have time to sit this long!
(If you are still with me here, then either you have nothing else to do, or you really care about what my family is up to.)
We are still praising even through our busy schedule!

Toddlers...no more!

No more toddlers in our house.....(cheer!! tear...cheer!!! tear....) I can't decide if I'm excited or sad about that. Cannon turned 5 last week and we can't believe that the time has flown by so quickly. Can-man is still our source of sunshine with his big, cheesey grin and his crazy dance moves that he busts out when we least expect it.

We had a birthday party planned for the little guy until our family was struck with the "recreational water yuk" (I don't want to jump to conclusions and say that it is "crypto" that has been going around, but it sure does sound dramatic in a "poor-pitiful-me" story). Cal and Cannon have both been down since Fri. night. We went swimming in a neighborhood pool on Tues and it took until Fri for it to hit. They are trying to eat a little more substance today...time will tell if it stays with them or not.

(Note: In case you live outside of Texas, and haven't heard about crypto, I'll spare you the details. But I will tell you that it is caused by what little ones deposit in their swim diaper, then get in the water, then others get the "benefit" of the contamination! ....and the benefits aren't all that great!)

So we are hoping to reschedule the party fairly soon. I don't want to run too far into Aug...just too far away from the actual birthday.

Here are a few pics from the morning Cannon turned 5...he was very excited to wake up to gifts from the family and donuts for breakfast.

His favorite out-to eat food is orange chicken, so we went to a Chinese buffet and Cannon ate orange chicken to his heart's delight. I saw some baby squid on the buffet and brought a couple to our table. I knew the kids would get a kick out of it and I never intended for them to be consumed....but Daddy (Darrell) had to up the fun and down one of those puppies! GROSS!!!! The kids totally freaked out and couldn't believe it. Cannon said he wanted to try one and kept holding it up to his mouth but just couldn't get it past his lips. It made for a good laugh at the table and it caused all the tables around us to watch with anticipation...they couldn't imagine this little guy really eatting the squid. I wish I had pictures of all that fun!

Happy Birthday, Cannon! You are a joy and delight to have in our home and I am thankful that you were the final piece to our family puzzle. You have completed us in ways that we couldn't have imagined. Our celebration of your life will continue with more pictures to come.

Camp...Six Flags...Father's Day....whew!

I haven't even posted the end-of-school events, but I will do those at another time when there is a bit of a lull in our "fun"!















Cal went to KidsQuest Summer Camp at ACU last week and couldn't have had more fun! We were loading up in the car at the end of the week, and he said, "Mom, there's another session in two weeks. Can I come back?" He had barely finished and was ready for more! His best buddy, Mitchell has gone for the last two years, and we finally decided to join him. (The boys were also glad to have Riley Fisher in their group!)














Not only did we get time with one Watts, but we were able to spend time with "baby Kate" too. She's not so much the baby anymore, but we can't help but still call her that.

As soon as we got back from camp, we had another fun time waiting for us. We went to Six Flags with Darrell's three sisters and their families (minus a few). The kids had a great time! I was thinking Cannon would only be tall enough to hang out in Looney Toons, but he was tall enough to ride on most rides!! He was so pumped and ready to get on any roller coaster that would take him! Cameryn & Cannon had fun getting their picture taken with Wonder Woman and Batman. Cal was the brave one to get on the Batman ride with his Aunt GiGi...Mark, Christina and I were the "chickens". (Was it bad parenting to send my son on a ride that I wasn't willing to get on....?) Thanks Aunt J for the fun day at Six Flags!

Last but not least, we had a great day celebrating our dad's! Darrell got to do just what he wanted...a bike ride from our house to my parent's (in Springtown!), watch the US Open, and eat a great homemade meal with homemade ice cream (which all the grandkids helped make). Between Darrell, my dad, my brother (Ken), my bro-in-law (Mark), and Papa Roy, we have some great examples of godly men who are raising their families to love the Lord and love their families. I'm so proud these dad's are influencing my children! I love all of you! Happy Father's Day, guys!

Tomorrow He's 8!!

Well, not only was this a great Mother's Day weekend, but it was a great weekend to celebrate our first born! Cal will be 8 on Tues. so we started the festivities on Fri. night. Cal decided a few weeks back that he didn't want a "big themed" party, but instead wanted to go out with just his friends. So, we invited some friends (we missed those who couldn't make it!) and headed out to Putt-Putt. After go-carts, mini coasters, teacups, a round of mini golf, pizza & nachos, we headed in to the arcade....who knew that throwing some money into a machine could bring such sheer delight to these kids!? After the tickets spewed out and piled up at their feet, they went to choose their treasures at the prize counter...decisions! decisions!

From all signs, the kids had a great time!

(click on pics to make bigger)

After Cameryn's soccer game on Sat., we then met all the family at our house for the "family party". Cal has become a Texas Tech fan over the years, so we had an all black and red cake. From past experience, neither of these two icing colors are very easy to eat without making a mess, but the kids didn't seem to mind...even the adults got in on some of the icing fun!

I'm so thankful that Cal was the one to make me a "Mom"...he was a great start to a great thing!

I love you, Calvin James Plemons!