Mizzou Victory!!

Yesterday was our 1st game of the season as our Tigers took on the Fighting Illini in the Arch Rivalry Boarder War in St. Louis (hence the usage of 'Arch')....this being the 5th year. 

Our boys came out very strong and stayed strong the whole game giving us our 1st victory of the season with a score of 37-9! Our team had many coaching changes this year which included two new coordinators and a new coach to the staff all together, which had many people a little concerned for the fate of this years team, but I think the first game helped hush some of that!

Aimee, myself & Adriene in our bus to the game...tailgaiting rockstar style...

Aimee, Adriene, & Myself before kick-off, and Marching Mizzou in formation...

Next game is on Saturday, 9/12 at 6PM in The Zou where we will take on Bowling Green.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

I HOPE THAT YOU ALL HAD A WONDERFUL AND JOYOUS DAY CELEBRATING THE BIRTH OF CHRIST!!!

We had a wonderful Christmas, but it is always a bit strange to be spending it in a hotel with warm weather, but as long as we are with the ones we love, it's special no matter what the location happens to be! We have been having lots of fun and have been very busy here in San Antonio which is why you haven't heard from me, but I hope to be able to fill you in on our activities tomorrow at some point.
For now MUCH LOVE to all of our family and friends!!

We Made It - Day #1

As you can see I never had time to post yesterday as I was WAY to BUSY getting ready for our departure. We were able to squeeze in a little family Christmas dinner of Don's infamous Chicken Parmesan (YUM-O), gift opening (we opened the gifts that I knew we wouldn't have any use for in TX), and then we all had to head to bed early (believe it or not I was in bed by 10:30PM...which if you know me that's early for me). 

We had to get up very early this morning (I was up by 3am and the rest were up by 3:30) as we had to leave the house by 4am to be at the Columbia airport by 4:30. Originally we were supposed to fly out of COMO but some crummy weather was headed for town and since our airport doesn't have deicing capabilities we had to bus to St. Louis and fly out of there. Needless to say, by the time we arrived in San Antonio we were all pretty tired...we got here at 10:30 am and it felt like 4PM.

Don immediately had to get to work unloading luggage and bringing it to rooms, while Adriene & I got kids food from the food court as we were all starving. After that I had to head back to the airport to pick up my mom who got in at about 1:30...poor thing had delays in Memphis and was stuck sitting on the plane on the tarmac for 2hrs, but at least she made it here safely and we are excited that she was able to join us!!

After I got her we came back to the room for awhile and then she & I brought the kids to the food court for a snack (our hotel is connected to a mall...sweet) :). As we were finishing up the long day finally got the best of Ms. Bella as she crashed in my arms at the table (she just woke up FIVE hours later...she'll be up all night)...Bail and I were able to get too.

Now we are just hanging out and relaxing & resting in our room for the upcoming week!

Goodnight for now and I'll be back tomorrow!

M-I-Z....

Mizzou Elves!

Go check out Coach Pinkel, Chase Daniel, Chase Coffman, Jeremy Maclin and Truman the Tiger as ELVES...too funny!

One of Don's coworkers found it on the net!

Also, Congratulations to Chase Coffman our 2008 Mackey Award Winner — America's Best Tight End!!!

Watch Out San Antonio...

...Because the Tigers are coming to town! 

The Missouri Tigers have accepted an invitation to participate in the 16th installment of the Valero Alamo Bowl! The game will be held on December 29th (Don's Birthday) at 7PM on ESPN vs the Big Ten's Northwestern.

We are very excited to head to down to San Antonio and enjoy all of the festivities! We are also very grateful to just be able to go to a bowl game, and our family has an awesome time wherever we go!

Good Luck Tigers!!

M-I-Z....

A Boy's Dream Come True

Monday night we had five of our football players (Chase D, Chase C, Ziggy, Maples, & Giss) over for dinner as a thank you. These five young men so graciously helped us out with a Birthday Party on Faurot Field last spring that we, along with the Catons, had donated to our kid's school auction. They did such an amazing job with the kids, so I promised them I would make them all dinner (with trying to coordinate all the schedules this was the only time that we could do it). I made them appetizers & A LOT of lasagna and the Caton's brought bread, salad, & dessert. I must say these boys did not eat nearly as much as I thought they would so I ended up having a full pan (out of 3 1/2) left over.

After the players left my sister just happened to stop by. She asked if she could go upstairs and say goodnight to the kids and this is what she experienced (This was taken from an email she sent me...I asked her to write it down because it was so sweet)....

"I walked up stairs to say goodnight to the kids. I went into Nico's room and he was just sitting up in his bed playing with something in his hand and staring with a smirk on his face. I said hi and I asked about something he had in his room (art project I don't remember what it is) he told me how he and some other kids made it at school. I looked at him and said why are you all smiley. (he had this look in his eye, like he was in a daze and just smiling) I could tell there was something going on in that head of his. He looked at me and said, "Ange I had a good day!". I said that's good, what made your day good? "I had football players at my house tonight!". He was in aw when he said he it. He was so happy, I am glad I got to see that look on his face before he went to sleep. I told him that was so cool and then he told me what players were over."

For the most part being around our football team is generally something that our kids are just so used to that it's usually not that big of a deal. However, tonight was very special for all of them especially Nico...to be able to have these five guys in our house and eating dinner with them was pretty awesome in their eyes! I was so proud of my kids for handling the situation in a mature manner and not being overly obnoxious! I'm so very happy that my boy's dream came true!!!

Thanksgiving Break

The kids had a three days off this year for Thanksgiving break which is a 1st for us...they usually have only had two days off. Despite our Wednesday morning mayhem which led me to the photo contest, we had a great break!!

Wednesday afternoon we headed over to the Spicci's house so the kids could play with Sophie and so Aimee and I could sew. We got to their house about 2PM and ended up staying their until about 9:30-10PM. In addition to sewing and the kids crafting and playing, we also made our pie crusts for our pies for Thanksgiving, we had dinner (a smorgasbord of Buffalo Wild Wings & D. Rowe's), and I had to bring Nico back & forth to his basketball practice.

Thursday we went to the Spicci's for Thanksgiving but this will get it's own post.

Friday Don left for Kansas City for the game so the kids and I were on our own. We hung out at home for the morning and then I took the kids to see Madagascar 2 in the afternoon....it was cute and we all had fun! After the movie we met up with our friends the Anglens for pizza at Shakespeare's...the Anglens used to live here but moved to Indiana a few years ago. They also have four kids and their oldest Becca and Bailey have been the greatest of friends since Kindergarten. All of our kids love to play with each other so it's nice to be able to get together with them (Nico also loves it because their daughter, Sarah, is his "girlfriend" and has been for several years). After dinner we all went to the Mizzou women's volleyball game (which they  lost), and then Becca came over to spend the night with Bail. 

Saturday I got up at 5:30am to head to Kansas City for the MU/KU game at Arrowhead Stadium on the staff fan bus (which left at 7:30am) . It was fun despite the very cold/wet/snowy weather, the long day (13 1/2 hours to be precise), and the loss by 3 in the last seconds of the game. This coming Saturday our boys will play in the Big XII Championship game at Arrowhead against the Oklahoma Sooners for the Big XII Title...Go TIGERS!!!

Sunday Don and I had to go to the football banquet at the Holiday Inn Select and the kids hung out at the Spicci's (they got to go get a tree with them at the tree farm).

Big XII North Champions!!!

This weekend the Tigers took on the Iowa State Cyclones in Ames for a very chilly yet victorious game with a score of 52-20. This victory, along with KU's loss, allowed us to clinch the Big XII North Championship Title...for the second year in a row! GO TIGERS!! Our next game is in two weeks (we have a bye this week) vs the Kansas Jayhawks (our biggest rival) at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

Homecoming Game

Here are some photos of the game vs Colorado Buffaloes...we slaughtered them with a score of 58-0. I don't have any with Bail in them because she took off with her friend Becca for the whole game.

Little diva football fans...

Handsome little man (as you can tell this was before it got chilly...although I had to fight him when it did get cold to bundle up, he thinks he's pretty tough)...

Cute photo of Liv, Bella & Kade even though liv has her eyes closed....

Bella and Kade (you can't see him) were doing push-ups along with Truman

(it also helped keep them warm)....

Homecoming Festivities

The time has come to get caught up in my blogging with past events.

Mizzou's homecoming game was on October 25th but homecoming events go on all week on campus. We don't generally partake in many of the festivities that the campus has to offer but we do go to house decs (decorations) (on Friday night) and the game (on Saturday). For those of you that are unfamiliar with house decs, they are put on by the sororities and fraternities. Each Frat and sorority pair up and create little skits/plays that coincide with the theme that is picked for the year. With that theme, they take the characters from the theme and base there

whole script around beating the team that we are playing that year. This year the theme was

Pixar/Disney movies and the team we played was the Colorado Buffaloes. The kids really enjoy watching the skits and mom really enjoys the people watching and socializing with friends. We went to house decs with are friends the Spiccis, but before attending we got together at our house for some of Tony's awesome chili (heck I even set the table like you find in a restaurant)...we had to warm up before heading out because it was a bit chilly outside!

Pictures:

#1 Aimee & I eating chili & having beverages

#2 Don & Tony eating chili & having beverages

#3 Nico & Tony on their chariot going to house decs (parking is horrendous so we just took the golf cart and gator)
#4,5 & 6 Me (nice double chin...yuck), Aimee, Bella, Bail, Liv, and Sophie on our chariot driven by Don
#7 Our family in front of the Cars backdrop.
#8 Bailey & Sophie in the Onion from Shrek
#9 My table setting

Funny/sassy Bella, OTMB, stories...we were leaving the house decs and the Frat closest to us had music playing. Bella was riding on Don's shoulders and he whispers to me listen to her. I couldn't hear her but apparently she was singing the song that was playing (a top hit...can't remember which one though). I asked her, "Bella what are you singing?" and she says, "I don't know and you don't need to know"! See what sassiness I'm dealing with!

Crazy Busy

First of all, as you can tell I have my laptop up running right now at the bare minimum level (it still needs A LOT of work...maybe next week we can finish it up, but at least I have it working).

Second, life has been crazy busy around here with lots going on the past coupe of weeks and a couple of guests. The first guest to arrive was our friend the "Kraut" (aka Andy) for his fall Mizzou trip (he got here late Tuesday evening). He likes to make two US trips a year, one in the spring to work camps with Don, and the second in the fall to work a home and away game (he sure loves Mizzou)! :) I always like to joke with him, "You spend all of that money to come to the states and of all places you pick here!"...he laughs and claims he loves it (and Mizzou football)! 

The second guest to arrive was my dad who flew in today. Poor guy came into a very busy day (heck who am I kidding it has been a crazy week). This morning started off with Miss Bella's class field trip to the pumpkin patch (the same one that I brought the kids to a couple weeks ago)...this trip was 8:30-11:30. After her trip we rushed to daddy's office to pick up grandpa (daddy was kind enough to pick him up at our airport for me), shoved sandwiches down our throats and then headed off to Miss Liv's class field trip to their Partner in Education's property from 11:45-2:24pm. They played games, painted pumpkins, listened to Halloween stories, recited Halloween poems to us, had snack, and went on a fun hayride. Both field trips were a lot of fun and we had a gorgeous day for them! After that we went back to the kids school to pick the rest of them up, get Liv's stuff from her class, then to our house, and then my dad brought my sister and a couple of the kids to get food/after school snacks.

Tonight we are having a Trunk-or-Treat at the complex that Don works at which should be lots of fun for the kids. My friend Adriene & I thought it would be a fun thing to do for the kids since all of the Support Staff wives & our spouses will be gone for Halloween. Which leads me to the reason why my dad is here. This weekend is our annual football wives trip and we are going to Baylor...I really look forward to it and it's always a good time! After the last two weeks that I've had I NEED this little break!!! I feel bad for my dad though because they are going to WEAR him out...oh well, someone else can have a turn to be run ragged other then me! :) Then after the Trunk-or-Treating tonight my dad & I have errands to run (run, run, run).

I have many fun pictures to post from the past week or so, so when my computer is up to par or I get access to Don's I will share them.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, BE SAFE, DON'T EAT TO MUCH CANDY AND GO TIGERS!!!

M-I-Z.....

October Employee of the Month

Don is not one to toot his own horn and doesn't care for recognition (heck he didn't even tell me about this, I had to hear about it from some of his co-workers), but I thought it was important for me to document this at least for our children (but really I wanted you all to know too...I've got too brag every once in a while). One day the kids can look back on this and know what kind of person their dad is/was and the kind of work ethic that he exhibits(ed).

Yesterday was the monthly athletic department staff meeting and this when they recognize the Employee of the Month...prior too everyone is informed via email!

Here is the email that went out:

Congratulations to Don Barnes, our October Employee of the Month. Don was recognized for his people skills and his ability to lead people. His integrity, the ability to create good relationships and the ability to lead by example goes over and beyond. Not only does he show a genuine liking for people, but he always has a pleasant personality and the willingness to help out. The ability he has to multi-task is indescribable. I’ve also never seen him without a pleasant work attitude. His out-going, tactful, courteous, and professional nature makes it easy calling “Barnesy” the BEST Director of Athletics Equipment. Sometimes his persistent, cheerful, positive demeanor is all we need to keep things in order and to keep the work day moving smoothly.

Way to go babe, we are VERY PROUD of you and love you very much!!

Weekend Recap

Friday: Don had left Thursday evening for the 15 hour bus ride to Texas so it was just the kids and I on Friday eve. We decided (mostly me) that it would be fun to have a low key evening in our pj's. So we settled on breakfast for dinner which included: pancakes, hash browns and bacon, a movie (Nim's Island) and the Catons joining us for the fun. I love these kind of nights!

Saturday: We slept in a little, got up, got ready, and headed to Arbys for a lunch on the go. We then headed to watch Lauren, our favorite lifeguard's, swim meet. She has been so supportive of our family and always willing to help us out, so it was fun to be able to support her for once! She did pretty well even though she had to swim against Mizzou which has a BIG swim team.

After the swim meet we went to Mass and then headed home to watch the football game with the Catons (yeah we spend a lot of time together during this time of year). The Tigers did not do well which lead to a disappointing loss to the Longhorns with a score of 56-31. We are now 5-2 and our ranking in has dropped to #15 (I'm surprised we are still in the top 25). This week is homecoming here at Mizzou so hopefully this will rejuvenate our boys enough to bring out a victory against Colorado on Saturday. Kick-off is at 5:30pm and airing on FSN.

Sunday: I brought Bailey to youth group which I found out when I cam to pick her up was cancelled (I asked why she didn't call me she told me that she was having fun just catting with her friend that was stuck there too) and the others stayed home while Don slept (he didn't get home from work until 8am and only got 3 hours of sleep....poor guy). We came home and I got everybody ready for family photos. At 3PM we headed over to Stephen's Park for our photo shoot with my friend Nancy until 4PM. We then came home, Don went to work and the rest of the evening was low key.

Not too exciting but I loved it as these next two weeks are going to be BUSY!!

On Cloud Nine!!!!

**Update** FYI he's even hotter in person...I know it's hard to believe that someone that good looking can get even better! And I've pretty much told everyone that even glances at me (hee hee)...giddy like a school girl!!

-----

Every Tuesday and Thursday Don and I like to go workout/walk together, and today was no different. I got to his office and before we took off he says that we have to drop off a bag of gear in the indoor facility (we walk campus so we leave from his office)...I'm not thinking anything of it. We get over there and a camera crew comes walking out...still not thinking anything of it because when you have a decent team and a Heisman candidate they are around a lot. I go to open the first set of the double doors and beyond them I see Chase (our QB), Chad (our AD of Media Relations), a man I don't recognize and OMG...my heart starts skipping a beat! It is none other then my boyfriend (this is what we affectionately refer to him as, in my home)...Kirk Herbstreit. This man is BEAUTIFUL and I love to watch College Game Day not only because of college football but because of him!

My wonderful husband new he was coming for sometime and set me up so I could meet him. We walk in say hello and Don says, "Kirk I'd like you to meet my wife she's a big fan" (great now he thinks I'm a stalker...ok maybe I am but he doesn't need to know)! :) Then he says, "can I get a picture". I look at him, wait...what?...Me...with them? OMG! We get together Don pulls out his iPhone snaps and says "good". Form here we stand around chatting for a bit (boy I hope the drool and gazing wasn't too noticeable), then walk them out, and Don and I take off for our walk. The whole time I'm on cloud nine and BTW who cares that my laptop is broke, I just met the hottie!

Let me just remind you that I was coming to work out, so yeah no shower yet...uggh, I look like crap, and I've got my sunglasses on my head so I look extra retarded. Oh and Don said the photo looked good on his phone but not so much...of course it turned out blurry, but who cares I was touching the hottie and you can see enough! :)

Kirk, Me and Chase...

PS I'm posting from Don's office...we still don't have word on my Apple yet!

Fallen Tigers

On Saturday Mizzou played Oklahoma State on Farout field with a 7PM kick-off (also on ESPN 2). For what ever the reason our boys just couldn't get it together and we ended up losing 28-23...which makes us 5-1 and knocked us down in ranking from #3 to #11. Such a bummer but hopefully our boys can get their drive back this week and bring back a victory against the Texas Longhorns at Texas...kick-off is at 7PM on ABC (national coverage).

The positive/fun part of Saturday was it was a "mom's" game. The kids stayed home with a sitter while mom, Ang, and friends tailgated. We had a great time, the food was really good, but before the fun started I realized when I got to our tailgate that I had forgotten the BBQ at home so had to run all the way back home to get it...fortunately I was going against traffic and I only live 5 minutes from the complex.

ESPN Magazine

This week's ESPN The Magazine features a cover story on Missouri's Chases, Daniel and Patton. Make sure you head on out to get yourself a copy...from what I heard it's a good story.

PS. Don't their uniforms look AWESOME!! :-)


Make sure you check out our game this Saturday (if you're not already going to this sold-out game) vs. Oklahoma State University on ESPN 2 ...kickoff is at 7PM!

M-I-Z....

Recap of Our Weekend

Friday:
Don left at 6am for Nebraska so mom had to do the morning routine and get the kids to school. After school Liv went to play at her friend Em's house and the rest of us came home to do some cleaning. Then that evening the rest of us went to our friend's, the Alnutt's house. Kate had a few of us football widows over for pizza, wine (for the moms of course), and adult conversation while the kids played together.

Saturday:
All morning was cleaning day! Nico tackled the toy room and I tackled the laundry room (neither project is near completion but at least we started). Bail had several little household projects to take care of, and Liv & Bella helped where ever needed. Then that evening, Bail went to babysit for the Spicci's and Nico spent the night at his friend Carson's house. While the girls and I hosted our little watch party, to watch MIZZOU cream Nebraska!

Sunday:
Bail had youth group in the morning and then we all went to our church's Oktoberfest. We had a fun time and we managed to win 3 cakes on the cake walk (I won one & Nico won 2 - he was loving that game & played it most of the day). I picked out a little packaged set for my cake of choice...it included a muffin tin, two boxes of corn muffin mix and cute fall napkins all bundled up cute...great idea! Nico picked out brownines and a red velvet cake. I'm loving going to this event now that the kids are getting older...they can just go on there own and play with their friends. Bella, myself, Tracy, Rob, Aimee, Adriene and her little ones sat in the shade, had sodas & snacks and listened to the bands...it was a pleasant day. Don had to work from 2-5 so he only stayed with a short time...he was also VERY tired as he had gotten home at 6:30am & only had 3 hours of sleep.

That evening we, along with the Caton's, were invited to the Spicci's house for an AWESOME Italian dinner made mostly by Tony, and of course we supplied the dessert! :) Again, we had a great time, with great food, great conversation, and great friends!!!

Tiger Ranking for Week 6

First I have to say, AWESOME job Tigers on the 52-17 victory of the Nebraska Corn Huskers making us 5-0...the 30 year streak has been broken!! Can I get an M-I-Z...?!?

Second, the Tigers are now ranked #3 in the AP Poll and #2 in the USA Today poll!! Can I get another M-I-Z...?!?

We stayed home (I know many of my friends gasp with shock that I didn't go), but the game was too late to make the road trip with 4 kids. So instead we had the Catons & Jana over to watch the game, and we had a good time...somehow the wins make these get togethers so much better! :)

Another Prayer Request

Please keep one of our coaches wives, Sharryn, in your prayers. Doctors found cancerous tumors in her father's stomach in June, and they have now have been told that he only has "weeks" to live.

Many thanks & blessings to you all!!

Tiger Ranking for Week 5

The polls came out yesterday and our Tigers are currently ranked #4 in the AP poll and #3 in the USA Today poll. It was nice having a BYE weekend...watching all of those upset games on Saturday made us grateful to not be apart of that! Hopefully our team got just enough rest this past week to be able to pull off a victory in Nebraska this weekend...we haven't won in Lincoln in 30 years...break that string boys!

Make sure you tune on Saturday...the game will be a national cable telecast on ESPN with kickoff at 8 p.m.

M-I-Z...