Basketball Games

We got up bright and early for our first basketball game of the day that started at 8:15. There is something about having to set the alarm on a Saturday morning that I really hate. We had a little break between games and then headed back at 12:20 for another game. Grant's team ended up winning the first game by 15 points and then losing the last game by 12 points.

Here he is getting the game started.

Grant likes to impress his teammates (or anyone else watching) by doing his spinning trick. It's amazing how long he can keep the ball going.

Check out his perfect form.

Free Throw Time - He missed his first shot and Jeff thought the flash distracted him. He ended up making his second shot but we didn't get a picture of that!

No Surgery

We've been gearing up for Jeff's shoulder surgery for several weeks now and found out this afternoon that it is not going to take place as planned. When I called to confirm what time we needed to check in tomorrow morning at the surgery center I found out that Jeff hadn't quit taking his Plavix (blood thinner) 10 days ago so they won't do the surgery. I was of course upset with Jeff for not following the directions he was given by the doctor and informed him he could call angry nurse Diana back to figure out what the next step was. Come to find out they had never told him he had to means I need to apologize to Jeff, huh???

So now I have very detailed lesson plans ready for me to follow on Thursday and Friday instead of a sub. The good news is I won't have to miss Kansas Day tomorrow and I have an excuse for wearing jeans and my favorite KU shirt to work.

Sick Day

Today Grant and I are home from school having a "sick day". Last night before bed he started complaining that his stomach hurt and by 10:30 the vommitting began and lasted throughout the night. I've spent the morning doing laundry. I had to wash sheets, blankets, towels, etc . . . and he has just slept. He's not running a fever but he is just complaining that he doesn't feel good.















Grant thinks the best part about being sick is getting to eat in bed. I made him chicken noodle soup for lunch and he has drank several glasses of Sprite so hopefully he is on the mend.

Sprio is such a loyal companion. I think he likes having us home.

It's starting to sleet outside now and the forecast is calling for snow. We are going to keep our fingers crossed that we will have a "snow day" tomorrow.

Aches and Pains

Yikes . . . what a weekend. I think a little flu bug has arrived at the Bumgardner house. Yesterday morning we were all feeling fine and got up and went to Grant's basketball game and then for a yummy taco lunch. We ran home and loaded up the car to head down to Winfield to see my mom and dad and my Nana who is here visiting from KC. I started feeling bad while we were packing but I figured it would just pass. We only made it about a mile from home when I had to have Jeff turn the car around. We weren't home 15 minutes and then Jeff started having stomach problems too. I kind of thought it might have been caused from lunch but Grant and my sister ate the same thing we did and they were both fine. Jeff and I started to feel better last night but then early this afternoon all of the aches and pains sat in again for me and to top it off my sinus are really hurting too. I am feeling miserable. I'm hoping this will pass because we have a big week. Jeff is scheduled for shoulder surgery on Thursday.

Happy Birthday Kristen

I would like to wish my friend Kristen a happy 32nd birthday. Kristen and I met at the beginning of my sophomore year in high school when we became tennis partners after she moved to Winfield from Ireland and we have remained friends throughout the years. It's hard to believe that it's been 14 years!

Kristen lives outside of Fort Worth with her husband Roy and their two adorable daughters Maddie and Grace. We try to get our families together a few times during the year to see each other. We kind of have a tradition of going down to their house every summer to visit and they usually make it up here during the fall for Arkalalah. (I'm sure I didn't spell that right.)

Kristen and I have always had so much fun together and managed to get ourselves into a little trouble over the years. I can't help but laugh when I think about us wrecking her mom's car by the fairgrounds when we were chasing after Barclay Wilt & Tony Russell, or the night that Rachel and her got into a fight in her front yard or when we got a little intoxicated and thrown out of a bowling alley in Springfield, Mo. The memories of our fun times go on and on just like I hope our friendship will.

All The Luck

This is Jeff's grandma. She may just be one of the luckiest people I have ever met. She absolutely loves to go to Las Vegas. Well, a few months ago (back in the fall) she was there staying at Caesar's Palace and she won $10,000 playing a slot machine. This past Thursday morning she went back to Vegas and decided to try her luck on the same machine and would you believe she won big again. Another $10,000 jackpot. Jeff called me at work to tell me the big news. I was in shock. To win two times on the same machine like that has got to beat all Vegas odds.

So, if anyone out there is headed to Las Vegas let me know and I will have her draw you a map to the lucky machine at Caesar's.

Opposite Day

So this is how my friend Diane and I showed up dressed for work today.

My New Best Friend

I would like to introduce you to my new best friend. Her name is "Ruby". She is such a hard worker. Every day beginning at noon she races around our house and cleans up after us. All afternoon she works and works without taking any breaks. When she finally starts to run out of energy she makes her way back to her home to rest and recharge until the following day. I don't know what we do without her. She is really spoiling us.


Ta da . . . Meet Ruby!!!













Ok, it's actually just a Rumba. But in all seriousness, this is one of the greatest inventions ever. I got it for Christmas from Jeff and it really is making my life a little easier. I don't think Spiro felt the same way in the beginning. For the first few days he followed her around everytime she came to life and then would just lay and stare at her while she was charging. Luckily, he has gotten used to her now.


A good friend of mine (Julie) got one a few years ago when she got married and she always bragged about how well it did so I was super excited when I unwrapped mine. Jeff knows how much I worry about keeping the carpet clean so this was a great gift. I have to say I am really amazed at how much "stuff" she picks up. We have to be sure and dump out her little waste compartment every few days and keep her brushes clean. Luckily if we forget a little maintance light comes on to remind us. You can program a specific schedule for her, which we did, and set up little room guides but it doesn't really seem to be nessecary. We just kind of let her go on her own every day. She is even smart enough to sense where the stairs are and she stays clear of them. There have been a few times that when we got home she wasn't charging. She had managed to get herself stuck under a table or bed, but for the most part she is great!!! My only complaint is that she doesn't do nice straight lines. I'm a little crazy about things like that but I keep reminding myself that at least the carpet is clean and it is one less thing I am having to worry about.

In other exciting news . . . I have been using the Wii Fit every night. 2008 was the year of weight loss (55 lbs) and 2009 is going to be the year of getting in shape. For those of you who don't know all about the Wii Fit, you set it up for each person in your family and every day when you get on it weighs you and checks your BMI. Then it does a few balance tests and uses your real age along with the results of your balance tests to figure your "Wii Age". This is kind of scary because up until today mine has varied from 37-49, which I am not proud to admit. I guess my balance is way off, which I never would have guessed. But today for the first time I got my age down to 33 so I was pumped. I've been trying to do about 25 minutes of aerobics each day. So far my favorites are boxing, step aerobics and hula hooping, and let me tell you 10 minutes of shaking your hips like your using a hula hoop isn't as easy as it sounds. I've also been doing about 10 minutes of strength training such as squats, lunges, sit ups, etc . . . Hopefully all of this fun, I mean hard, work will pay off!!! I set a goal to lose 10 more pounds in the first 8 weeks. So far I think I'm down about 4 lbs since Christmas.

Back to the Real World

It has been tough getting back to the real world this week. I guess I must have really gotten spoiled over Christmas break because this week has been horrible. It probably didn't help that we had something going on every single night. Our week went a like this:

Monday evening Grant had a basketball game.

Tuesday morning Jeff left before 5 am to head to OK for a few days of office audits so I was on my own. After school we hurried home and ate and then headed right back out the door to basketball practice. I guess I should add that before practice we chased the dog all over the neighborhood because he got out without his collar on. If Grant hadn't been in tears I probably wouldn't have bothered chasing after him because I knew he would come back. By the time we finally got home from practice and got his homework done it was already time for bed.

Wednesday night I ran to the grocery store right after school, came home and started whipping up snacks for Bunco. Then my sister came over to babysit Grant and I went to a baseball meeting that lasted nearly 3 hours. And I would like to add that it was the most stressful evenings I have had in a long time.

Thursday morning I woke up feeling awful about everything that happened at the baseball meeting the night before. After suffering through a full day of not feeling very good at work I hurried home and got the house ready for Bunco. Thank goodness Jeff got home and was able to help me.

Friday finally arrived and I did what I had been dreaming about all week long. I came home, put on my pajama pants and just laid on the couch and started catching up on all of the new shows I missed this week. Gosh I love DVR. I even turned down an invitation from my friend Ginger to go to a jewelry party.

Now it's Saturday afternoon and I'm back on the couch watching more recorded shows. We did get up early for a basketball game this moring and then Grant got invited to go over to a friends house to play. We have dinner planned with my grandparents and a few of my step aunts and uncles who are in town visiting from KC. Then we are going to a late movie with Jeff's family who is in town from Topeka visiting.

Hopefully next week won't be so busy and I'll do a better job updating my blog!

Sad News From Winfield

Right after I got home from school tonight I was talking on the phone and the tv was on. I saw that Pat Biddle, Jeremy's dad, was being interviewed but I didn't catch any of the story. Then a photo of Kiyon Koroma popped up. I decided to log on to the local news channel website to see what was going on and here is the story I read.

Very sad news . . . I have to admit I was shocked. I don't typically see people on the news that I know that have been killed. My heart goes out to his family!!!

A Party For No Reason

Grant has been asking for ages when we can have a party for no reason. So yesterday morning after we woke up we decided to do just that . . . have a party for no reason at all. We called up several of our friends and invitied them over. Everyone brought appetizers and their favorite drink. I made a big pitcher of margaritas and by the end of the evening, or should I say the early morning hours, Jeff was making very strong screwdrivers for those who remained.

Our basement looks a lot like a war zone this morning. All of the kids spent the evening having wars with the Nerf guns and playing Rockband on the wii. I think Grant would agree that it was a fun evening.

Here are a few pictures. Somehow Jeff became the photographer as well as the bartender for the evening.

The girls (Amanda, Ginger, Me & Amy)

Amanda, Mary, Ginger & me

Me and Amanda

Mary and Me

Andy flashing a peace sign???

Ginger, as usual, smiling extra big for the camera.

Our neighbors The Dyers (Amy & Aaron)

Our neighbors The Diethelms (Mary & Rudy)

Amanda had already left to get the little boys in bed so here is Andy with me and Mary.

Mike's wife Lori also left early to get their kids in bed so here's Mike with Mary and Ginger.















Our friends The Cronk's (Ginger & Dar)

Happy New Year

I would like to begin by wishing my dad a happy birthday. Today he is celebrating his 62nd birthday. It seems like just yesterday we were planning his big suprise 60th birthday party and here it is already two years later. Wow, how time flies!

Grant spent the night down in Winfield last night and this morning he and grandma got up and baked papa a birthday cake. We all got together for cake and gifts at my grandma's house this afternoon. I guess I didn't get the camera out soon enough because by the time I got into the kitchen to take a picture of the cake a few pieces were already missing.

There is kind of a funny story about his birthday gift. Yesterday I went out and did a little shopping and I found the perfect gift. He really likes John Grisham books so I got him the newest one called The Appeal. When I got home my sister called, and believe it or not, she had got him the very same thing. So this morning we got up and went to Wal-Mart to look for another gift and Jeff found a Black and Decker automatic wrench that he thought my dad would like. We bought it and wrapped it and then when my dad opened it up he said he already had one. He ended up giving it to Jeff. So now I have the new John Grisham book and Jeff has a new wrench and my dad still doesn't have a birthday gift from us. I guess I will try again tomorrow. Hopefully the third time will be a charm.

I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Years Eve. Ours ended up being very quiet. We had invites from our friends The Batchelder's & The Dyers to come to parties at their houses but Jeff ended up coming down with the stomach flu that has been going around. He tried to get me to go ahead and go but I hated to leave him here alone. I ended up laying on the couch and watching Brokeback Mountain (which I had never seen) and eating too much of the 7 layer Mexican dip I had made to take to one of the parties. Jeff tried to get up a few times and somehow it alway seemed to be during one of the intimate male scenes in the movie and he would just grumble and head back to bed.


Thank goodness this stomach flue seems to be short lived. He was feeling much better today. Now I just need to cross my fingers that Grant and I don't come down with it.