Life With the Pikes

Summer Time!

2011-06-21T09:36:00.000-07:00

Well, the boys made it home from Florida on Saturday. Katy came home on Sunday, and then me and the kids went to Mississippi for about 24 hours. Katy is going to stay for about a week to go to Bible school. She is having a great time. We got to see my new nephew. He is absolutely precious. I just love him to pieces. We also found out last week that we are going to get another nephew in October. So excited.

Storm damage clean up is continuing. My brother tore his house down over the weekend. It was really sad to see it gone for good. They were working with bulldozers and heavy equipment, burning a huge pile, and cleaning up the property.

Summer is business as usual for us. Football workouts, meetings, and general easy schedule. Hope it continues this way until school starts back.

Overall, life is good right now. I hope your summer has been as good as ours!

Girls Week

2011-06-13T18:46:00.001-07:00

Well, the boys made it to Tampa yesterday. It took them a while, and they stopped for several adventures along the way.

First major stop was to tour Florida State stadium. Turns out and employee happened to be around and took them inside for a tour. The next major stop was Florida Gators stadium. They found an open gate and let themselves in. After wandering around for a while, the children found their way down onto the field. Somehow, they ended up in the coaches offices and met Will Muschamp. This was a pretty exciting thing for my football head husband.

Now onto a week of wrestling a vacation. They are having a great time and the boys are making memories and friends that will last a lifetime. I am slightly jealous that they were at the beach today and I was here in Alabama where it is about 100 degrees.

Oh well....life goes on.

Summer is Here!

2011-06-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

For those of you not in the South, it is H-O-T here. We have been in the upper 90's and low 100's all week. Summer arrived with it's mad on this year. It has really been to hot to do anything but sit inside or go to the pool.

Maggie and I have spent the last two afternoons at the pool. It has been great. Nice and cool in the water. Great time with friends.

Riley has started his summer tour of wrestling camps. The first one was here in Alabama. He finishes that one Sunday and leaves Sunday night to go to Georgia to the Alex Tucker wrestling camp. He leave the Sunday after that to go to Brandon Florida for a week long camp. I will not see my child for about 2 weeks straight. I guess that's what happens when they get to be teenagers.

Katy has been gone all week to the beach. She will be home tomorrow night. It has been a weird week since I have essentially only had one child. I don't know quite what to think about that.

However life returns to normal next week. Back to the grind of the daily work schedule.

The one thing new that I have to report is that I have started my couch to 5K program again. I am trying to do that and Zumba so I can get back to a more healthy weight. Sounds fun I know. I will keep you updated.

Until next time, stay cool and have a fun summer!

SE Regionals

2011-05-31T13:42:00.000-07:00

Well, we have finished our 4th year of heading to Atlanta for Southeast Regionals Wrestling Tournament. It is a two day tournament with some of the most talented wrestlers from around the southeast.

We arrived on Friday for weigh-ins, and wrestling started early Saturday morning. We had a LOOONG 12 hour day on Saturday. Riley ended up finishing in the 7th out of 19 in Greco-Roman Wrestling. It was a long day, and a little disappointing that he did not finish in the top 6, but overall a success.

Sunday started almost as early for Freestyle wrestling. Once again we had 19 wrestlers in our bracket and we finished 6th!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, we go got a medal that day. Riley's success was hard earned this weekend. Nothing came easy for him this time.

This has been the official start to our summer for 4 years now. We finish our wrestling for the year in the great city of Atlanta, and we make some wonderful new memories with old and new friends every year.

So, now we are onto summertime. Riley is spending some time in Mississippi, Katy is at the beach for a week, and the rest of us are up to a whole lot of nothing for a few days. We need the recovery time from a LONG school year.

Hope everyone else had a peaceful, restful, and fun Memorial Day weekend.

A New Perspective

2011-05-16T07:56:00.000-07:00

The tornadoes that have devastated the area almost three weeks ago now have given me the opportunity to see how life can change in an instant. I don't know how to convey all the feelings that I have. I went home to Mississippi this weekend, and I saw the county road I grew up on for the first time since the storms. It was really hard to see. The landscape that has been so familiar for 33 years is not totally devastated and changed forever.

My grandmother's house will be gone soon. The neighbors across the street have lost everything. The family on the other side also lost everything. It can be so hard to hear these stories.

However, the uplifting part of all of this recent tragedy has been seeing the outpouring of support from friends, family, and strangers. In nearly every yard on the road, there was a tractor trailer donated for use to store people's belongings that they were able to save. People finding places to stay while they try to rebuild their lives. Hearing stories of survival and my family being grateful that no one was home. Things could have been so much worse if these people would have been at home.

I know tragedies like this happen and people change for a short period of time. I am hoping that some of the things we are seeing in Mississippi and Alabama will continue for a lifetime. The things we are seeing are what makes the South such a great place to live. We love our neighbors, whether we know them or not. We see people in need and we turn out to help.

Just remember that no matter what you have done so far, there are people who are going to need help for a long time to come. We don't need to let these people be forgotten.

Time for a Change

2009-10-05T07:03:00.000-07:00

I know springtime is normally what inspires people to change, but this year for me it is fall. I have finally realized how much my diet and exercise habits need a wake up call. I am going to start posting a daily food diary for the next couple of weeks and see how I do.

Breakfast:
1 waffle with a small amount of cream cheese
handful of grapes
1 diet pepsi

Snack
yogurt

Lunch
Lean Cuisine
water

Dinner
Southwestern Chicken Pasta
Salad
Water

Now for the football update:

SCCHS 3-3, 1-3 (region)
PCHS 1-5, 0-4 (region)
Pell City Gold 135 pound 2-3

MSU Bulldogs 2-3, 1-1 SEC
Alabama Crimson Tide 5-0, 2-0 SEC

That's it for now!

August 2009 Update!

2009-09-06T07:43:00.000-07:00

Well, football is going full speed ahead at the Pike house. High school, youth league, and college football are are going strong. It has been a crazy month around here with everybody trying to get in the swing of a new school year and get back on football time. Crazy schedules all around.

St. Clair County 2 -0, (1-0 in region)
Pell City High School 0-2, (0-1 in region)
Pell City Gold (Riley) 0-1

Alabama 1-0
Mississippi State 1-0

Things could be better but they could be worse.

Katy also finally started to school, and then she had to miss the whole second week because she was running a fever all week. She is in the penguin class, so Lulu made us a penguin dress for the first day of school.

Hopefully we will all feel better this month.

Football is back!

2009-08-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

Katy, Pammie, and Maggie at the beach......

Hello to all!

Hopefully now that school is about to start and we can get back in a regular routine, I can start posting regularly. We have had a fabulous summer at our house.

Riley went to so many camps plus two week long trips to Mississippi, I was wondering if he was ever going to be back home. He start 6th grade on Monday!!!!! I cannot believe he is getting so big.

Katy did not have as many trips, but she had several play dates with Carter. She is starting 4 year old kindergarten in about 3 weeks. Next year is big school for her.......

Maggie is just being Maggie. She is talking more and more every day. She is growing like crazy and causing all the problems a 20 month old should. She is a joy every day.

We actually took a family vacation this year. We spent a week in Panama City, and it was just the break I needed. The school year is so stressful around our house that summer time is great for us.

Chris, Riley, and myself have all started football again. YEAH!!!!!!!!!!! Now that practice has started, I am ready to start playing games. School starts Monday, so routines will be back in full swing.....

A Red Letter Weekend

2009-03-08T14:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I have to say this is one of the best weekends I have had in a long time. Riley and Chris went to Florida to a wrestling tournament with the Worthingtons.

Riley placed 2nd!!!! Congrats Riley!! It was the SE Regional Folkstyle Championships.
I got to spend the day on Saturday with my friend Amy and her son Carson at Cottontails in Birmingham. Then on Saturday night, I got to see the culmination of about a month's worth of work come together. A friend of mine was in a beauty pageant, and I had been helping her. I helped pick out her dress, her hair, and her makeup. I taught her how to walk and what to do.

SHE WON!!!!

Then the weather here in Alabama has been beautiful. Last weekend I was posting snow pics, this weekend it is like Spring has arrived. I just hope this warmer weather sticks around.

Snow Much Fun!

2009-03-01T14:53:00.000-08:00

Okay...March in Alabama and we have snow. Who would have thought? This was Maggie's first time playing in the snow, even though it did snow 2 times last year (she just does not remember). Katy and Riley love playing in the snow of course, and we even got our neighbor Kendall out to play. Let's not forget Lily, the dog, and her first snow.

You can see from the pics that we had lots of fun. Snow angels, wet clothes, and sleepy babies were the result of our time in the snow. Unfortunately, in Alabama snow does not last long, so it was gone pretty quickly.

January/February Update

2009-02-24T15:20:00.000-08:00

Well, January has come and gone. I was very very BUSY during the month of January. I don't think I have worked that much in a long time. It seemed like there were endless tournaments both basketball and wrestling. On top of all that we had Riley's wrestling that still had to be dealt with.

I love wrestling and basketball but I was glad both of them were over when they were done. My, Chris, and Riley all went to Huntsville for the State wrestling tournament the first weekend in February. It was a fun time. My team ended up finishing third in the state in 1-4A. Chris had 2 state placers.

Then once that was done we moved on the Riley's wrestling full time. We spend Valentine's Day at a wrestling tournament. I know that does not sound too romantic, but it was a good day. Riley placed first in that tournament.

The next weekend was the Youth state Tournament. It was a big one this year. Riley's third year as a wrestler and we were planning on him placing. He has worked so hard this year at improving his skills and his endurance.

So tournament day comes around, Riley has made weight and the wrestling commences. We found out his first match was a forfeit. So his toughest match was his first. He ended up losing in the last few seconds on points. So, Riley fought back through the other side of the bracket and finished 3rd. We were so proud of him. He had a wonderful year over all. And, not only did he finish 3rd, he helped his team finish 1st in their age group. Plus, his whole team finished 1st overall.

Now, we are getting ready for a tournament in Jacksonville, Florida. Chris and Riley will be going to that one with a friend of ours who also wrestles. So I will update on that one later.

The girls are doing good. Nothing much new in their lives. Katy is having a great year at school. Maggie is getting more teeth and trying to talk even more. I will post pics later. I got a new camera and I am still figuring out how to use it.

More from the Pike's later.....

Sorry so long....

2009-01-30T06:39:00.001-08:00

I promise in the next couple of weeks I am going to update this thing. I have been so busy since Christmas I have barely had time to think, much less blog. I promise an update in the next couple of weeks. Christmas, wrestling, Maggie, Katy, all the good stuff......

Update!

2008-12-23T14:33:00.000-08:00

Many updates since the last time I posted. We have been a very busy bunch around here.
SEC Championship (Roll Tide)
First we had an SEC Championship party at our house. Even though things did not turn out quite the way we hoped, we had a really good time. Everybody except Katy watched the game.....Katy was playing on the computer for the whole time. I think Maggie even enjoyed the game. (By the way, we feel like Tebow got jipped in the Heisman race).

Happy Birthday to Katy and Maggie
On Saturday the 13th, we had two birthday parties. Katy's was at Chick Fil A in Trussville. We had a great time. Carter (Katy's boyfriend) was there.....He is so cute. The rest was mainly family. Katy got lots of My Little Pony toys. She LOVES My Little Ponies. We own alot of them allready. Her cupcake cake was so cute....She said it was "perftect"!

Maggie's party was a family only affair a little while later at Pammy and Grandada's house. She did not feel well at all.....Turns out she was pretty sick. The Monday after that she had a febrile seizure on the way to the doctors office. Her fever was 103.7 ;therefore, we spent about 3 hours in the Children's ER. She did enjoy her birthday cake though. It was a Pammy special.

Pre-school Christmas Party
Then, on Thursday the 18th we attended Katy's Christmas party at school. Mrs. Laura is a wonderful teacher...Katy loves school and Mrs. Laura. She is going to miss both over the holidays. Katy had a great time eating pizza with all of her friends. Maggie had a great time eating and playing with Lauren and Avery (the little sisters)!

Wrestling
Finally, on Saturday the 20th, we had Riley's first wrestling tournament of the year. He did not do as well as we had hoped, but we are going to work and improve before the next one. I hope to post some wrestling video and/or pics soon!

Christmas Program

2008-12-07T18:20:00.000-08:00

Tonight was Katy's Christmas Program at church. Much thanks to Kari Brooker and Kim Deshazo for leading the 3 year old choir. I don't know that I would have the patience. It was a very cute program. The songs they did were adorable. All of the kids did a great job. I have posted some videos at the end....Hope you can enjoy them!

Katy in here brand new KatyDuds by Lulu orginal Christmas outfit.

Some of Katy's best girlfriends from choir.

Videos from the Program...Sorry they are not any closer....they are from my digital camera!

Gingerbread House

2008-12-04T09:13:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, Katy and her Aunt Paige made a gingerbread house. This year Maggie just got to watch. They had lots of fun...Although it was hard to keep Katy from eating the candy. The graham crackers were glued together and then onto the plate.

That is when the fun began...Aunt Paige would spread out the icing and Katy would add the candy.

"No Katy...you cannot have any of the candy!"

Maggie was really anxious to get in there and make a mess.

The finished product......Man did they have fun...

Can't wait til Santa sees this!

Sick Sick Sick

2008-12-02T09:50:00.000-08:00

It seemed like we were going to make it through Thanksgiving with no major issues....Boy was I wrong. Saturday morning Riley woke up with a fever of 102. So I took him and Maggie to the doctor in Mississippi. Maggie just had a runny nose. Got both of them some medicine. Then on Sunday, Maggie could not eat without being sick. We did make it back to Alabama Sunday night though.

Monday morning Maggie woke up with a fever....Took her to the doctor and found out she has an ear infection. While waiting in line at Wal-Mart for more medicine I started to feel bad. I had a fever of almost 101. Went to the doctor and found out I had a virus.

Then to finish off the start of the week....Katy was sick in the middle of the night.

The good thing is my sister in law is staying the week with us for the week. So, I have lots of help.

One of several good things over Thanksgiving was we got new pictures made. Here is one of them.

Oh.....I forgot to mention...the baby is walking everywhere. That also started over the holidays. Not even a year old and she is going nuts......Time to babyproof the house...Christmas should be fun!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T14:28:00.000-08:00

Well, we made it to Mississippi. After a not so long 3 hours in the car, me, Riley, Maggie, and Lily made it. Chris and Katy came behind us. Riley is going hunting....alot! We are going to eat.....alot! We are going to visit.....alot! So I hope everyone has as good a Thanksgiving as we are planning!