Meet Sophie

My cousin Jill and her husband Kevin had their first baby yesterday. We are so excited for them, but sad that we can't be there to meet her. Jill and Kevin live in Pennsylvania so we have to wait until Christmas time to meet cute little Sophie. I was so glad to get these pictures today in my email. She was born yesterday, October 28th at 6:50pm. She weighed 9lbs 4oz.

What a sweet little bundle.
And just look at all that hair. Jill, I'm sending you some bows and clips and headbands....they are on their way. Look for our package. We miss you guys.

Cyclo-cross - Race #1

Cyclo-cross: (sometimes cyclocross, CX, cyclo-X or 'cross) is a form of bicycle racing. Races take place typically in the autumn and winter (the international or "World Cup" season is September-January), and consists of many laps of a short (2.5–3.5 km or 1.5–2 mile) course featuring pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills and obstacles requiring the rider to quickly dismount, carry the bike whilst navigating the obstruction and remount in one motion.[1][2] Races for senior categories are generally between 30 minutes and an hour long, with the distance varying depending on the ground conditions.

My husband LOVES LOVES LOVES bicycles! And he rides his any chance he gets...In fact he's ridden over 2500 miles this year (his goal is 3,000 for the year...and I'm sure he'll do it). Anyway, this last weekend he rode in the 1st Cyclo-cross race of the season. Honestly, it looked like the hardest thing ever...there is NO WAY I could have done that. There were a few girls that entered the race, but not too many. The course consisted of hurdles (I call them hurdles...I don't really know what they called them), hills (steep ones), grass, dirt, mud, and gravel. Lou finished mid pack...8th place out of about 16-20 people.

Getting ready...
Getting his gear on...
Starting line.....
These are the "hurdles"...

Out on the course...Doesn't look so bad.
Coming across the finish line....
All done...and muddy.
After all that...He's not done. He is doing about 4 or 5 more (it's a series of races). The next one is this next weekend...And...It's supposed to rain which means even more mud. I thought they'd just cancel it, but NO they like it better that way.

I'm proud of you honey. Love you.

Meet Goldie!

A couple weeks ago, Jackson came to Lou and I and told us about his problem...He wanted a dog that only followed him around and that he could take care of. Lou and I thought it was cute, but both saw the problem in getting another dog...It wasn't going to happen. I tried to explain to Jackson that Simon and Benji would follow him around and stay with him if he took care of them. They follow me around most of the time and I explained to Jackson all I do to take care of our dogs...Take the outside, feed them, give them baths, pet them, etc. So for a few days Jackson was letting the dogs in and out, but he was still thinking about his own pet. He asked Lou for a cat next, and we knew that wasn't a great idea either...So Jackson settled on a fish. We talked about it and a week or so later we did so research on goldfish. Lou and I bought and set up the tank a few nights ago and this morning Jackson and Lou came home with Goldie. He's just loving his new home and Jackson has been sitting right by the tank most of the day. He even played a little music for Goldie and I think he liked it quite well. Jackson fed him today with dad's help. He's finally got his very own pet. Goldie, we are so happy to welcome you to the Standifer Family.

Bounce-U

Yesterday we found Bounce-U. You see, Jackson's pre-school class went to Pump-It-Up last year and ever since then he keeps asking us if we can go. It's a big place with blow-up bounce houses and stuff in it that kids can play on. The mostly reserve it for parties, but a couple days week they have "Open-Bounce." The days and times that you can go do NOT work for our schedule so we never get to go. I belong to a group called Central Valley Mom's and they had advertised the Grand Opening for Bounce-U (some time ago) in Fresno...way out on Brawly. I went on their website and found that they have Open Bounce on Saturday mornings from 8-9:30. I decided this Saturday to take Jackson and so we go up early and headed to Bounce-U. Dad came along too and boy was it great! When we got there we discovered that we were the only ones who showed up for Open Bounce and so Jackson got the whole place to himself. Not only that, but they have an employee (teenager) who jumps around and play with the kids. So Jackson got a personal playmate too. His name was Brandon and he was awesome with Jackson. He played basketball with him, dodgeball with him, raced him through the obsticle course. They played air hocky, and bounced A LOT...for an hour and a half.

Since we were the only ones there, we met the owner and talked with him for a while. He said sometimes they cancel Open Bounce if no one shows up...we assured him that next time we'll bring some friends along.

The ages say 2 - 65 years...So Lou and I even got in on the fun. They have a boxing ring with these huge boxing gloves...Jackson couldn't even lift them they were so heavy. I hate the picture Lou took of me in this head gear thing, but he made me keep it.






This giant slide was so fun. They went on this a bunch too.

Anyway, we had a fun time. Kelly...if you're reading we want you and the boys to come next time. Jackson asked that day if we could take Micah, Jacob & Ben along. It doesn't cost very much and it's a lot of fun.

The BIG Fresno Fair

We went to the Fresno Fair this year with our friends, the Tuttles. We had such a great time! Jackson and Jack got to ride all the rides together...It's so much better with your buddy.
Here they are on the airplanes. And down below...they went fishing with Lou and Skip.

Here they are on the Baja Buggies...or something like that. This was a fun one...They were cracking up.
Antonio didn't get to ride anything. He was a good sport though.

Here's Jackson coming down the big Fun Slide! He did this one twice. They rode ponies too. Pretty fun!
Thank you Tuttles for going to the fair with us. We sure do have fun with you guys!

CHS Homecoming

I don't really want to think about homecoming right now, but this float turned out so awesome it really does need it's own blog post.

I know you all know that Lou's the Debate & Forensics Coach at Clovis High. Well, they had to build a float for homecoming. Lou only has about 12-15 kids in his program and not all of them could commit to helping with the float. What I'm trying to say is...we did most of this at our house. Every night for about a week we were painting and building and checking out You Tube trying to get this float just right.

We decided to do the Presidential Debates via You Tube and so we set out to build a You Tube set.
Here is one of the sings we painted.

Simon was helping a bunch...can't you tell. He really liked this sign that Lou made.

This is the day of homecoming. We're waiting to go into the parade and be judged.
Jackson was probably the most excited. He (we) got to ride in the truck with Lou.
My brother, Bobby is Lou's assistant coach and well...he had to ride on the back to make sure nothing fell over....He had been there a lot of the day, and he was not excited.
Overall, it was a lot of fun. It took a ton of work, but we had fun. Good job Mr. S!

Home

This is how I find them lately. Sometimes Jackson calls it the "Boys Club." They're just hangin' out.

Welcome Baby Fisher!

My best friend, Luna had her baby girl yesterday!

Annalise Marie Fisher was born on October 5, 2008 at 12:53pm (I think that's what the time said) She weighs 8 lbs 14oz and is 21 inches long.

I bet Kiah and Eli are so happy to have a new baby sister. Love you guys! Congratulations again. Can't wait to see her.

Who's been Sleeping In My Bed?

Simon likes to sleep under the covers...Jackson tries to put Simon in bed with him every night.

When Jackson is not at home Simon usually takes a snooze on Jackson's bed. We find Simon in Jackson's room quite a bit these days. They are buddies.

Chick-fil-A

Yes, I know I am a bit late posting this...

Last weekend, Lou had his first Debate/Forensics Tournament so me and Jackson got to spend the day together. We were not doing much, and Jackson was getting antsy. I remembered that Lou had given me some free coupons to Chick-fil-A. And since Chick-fil-A just opened in our town, I thought we'd try it. I had never been there, but everyone I know, who has tried it raves about it. Let's see how good Chick-fil-A really is.

I had somehow forgotten the fact that it had JUST opened and when we got there we realized it was their GRAND OPENING!

This picture really doesn't even begin to describe how crowded it was. IT WAS CROWDED! We did manage to find a table and we got our order so quickly. I was totally impressed by how nice everyone is that works there. Anyway, we had a great lunch...complete with complementary fudge nut brownies...It was the grand opening.

Jackson got to play in the play area...It wasn't as crowded as I thought it was going to be. We had a very pleasant experience.


P.S....Now for my confession:

Well, when I mentioned up top that I got some coupons from Lou...He gave me like 25 FREE Chicken Sandwich coupons. Of course my confession is not that I ate 25 Chicken sandwiches that day...Thank goodness. But it's not much better....

I work REALLY close to Chick-fil-A, and I really hate spending money on lunch...Yep, that's right I had a Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich 3 times this week.

Oh wait...it get's worse...When Jackson and I went to the Grand Opening, they gave us a coupon for a free breakfast item on the way out. Me + Jackson = 2. So yes, I ate Chick-fil-A breakfast this week too.

Oh my gosh I can't believe I just typed that.

You're probably thinking, Oh that's okay...you've got to be sick of it now that you've had it almost everyday last week.

Well, no I'm not. Today is Saturday and I went to work (I don't normally have to go on the weekend, but today I did) and since I still had like 21 Free chicken sandwich coupons left it was really hard for me to say no to Chick-fil-A...BUT...I did. I didn't do it.

Oh good grief...if ever I needed a gym membership....

Oh yeah, and if anyone wants a Free Chick-fil-A chiken sandwich (in Fresno) hit me up...I've got to get rid of these things.

A Year Ago Today...

Missing you and thinking of you today. This day last year was the worst day our family has ever had.

I'm on your myspace today letting your playlist play in the background of my work (quietly of course). Thinking of you...see you on the Brighter Side. I love you Cousin.

Let's Go Cougars, Let's Go!

Last night we went to watch some Clovis Cougar Football. Jackson had been asking to go and was very excited. Lou bought Jackson and me shirts to wear. We ate Chinese food and got dressed and went off to the game. It's kind of hard for Jackson to follow, but he enjoys the crowd and the music and of course this Giant Cougar that all the football players run out of. Just at the end of half time Jackson pretty much lost all interest and we ended up leaving. He cheered, he shook his pom-pom, he said all the things Lou said (Come on! Good play!).
And he had had enough. We didn't mind...Lou had to get up early for a Debate Tournament the next morning anyway.

I couldn't really get a clear picture of the mascot...Cougie, but it's supposed to look like a cougar.

Most of our family has heard this story...from last year, but I can't resist...Last year we took Jackson to his first Clovis High Football game and that mascot was dancing down with the cheerleaders. I had mentioned to Lou that that mascot outfit is very old because I remember it from when I went there (11 years ago). I had also said, it really doesn't even look like a cougar either. So Jackson is 4 and he is really loving all the music and cheerleaders and is laughing at this mascot dancing and doing funny stuff...He says, "Look at that Dog! Look at that Dog!" I say, "That's not a dog, that's a cougar." and Jackson says, "Oh, look at that cougar dressed up like a dog." We still laugh so hard at that even today.
Here's Jackson and Lou heading out. Yes...it was even breezy enough for Jackson to wear a sweatshirt on our way out. Yay for fall. We're so tired of the heat.