Thanksgiving

First of all, we were thankful to be close enough to travel to Oklahoma this year for all the Turkey Day festivities!  We had planned to drive two cars to Tulsa so Todd could spend a Thanksgiving day with extended family for the first time in years, but he was sick.  The kids and I had already left by the time he decided that he just couldn’t make it, so I was a little bummed.  I felt bad leaving him two years in a row on Thanksgiving.  But, we made the best of it and enjoyed Thanksgiving day with the Foxx family in Tulsa.  The kids were so excited to see their cousins!

 

All the Foxx kids at Nana and Poppa’s!

Karlee, Callie, Taryn, Kymree, Kellen, Gannon, Jack and Garrett

Just the girls!

We left Tulsa and went on to Shawnee to spend time with my side of the family.  Another fun day with lots of kids!  I didn’t take a picture on this day, unless you count the pics Callie took with my phone!  I really, really have to get better at this!  

 Here we are all eating at Hamburger King.  A yummy hamburger place that has been there since my grandparents used to go on dates there!  Can you tell it was the Saturday after Thanksgiving, OU/OSU game day?  We were all decked out!  Can yo see the boys in the booth behind Grandma and Grandpa?  I just have to brag.  The waitress said she had never waited on a better table of kids.  Warms this mama's heart.  I hope I remember to do this for mama's I don't know.  It is always nice to feel like something your doing is working!  And yes, we left immediately so she didn't get a chance to see their true colors!  Not really, but it was tempting!

Since Todd works non-stop this time of year we stayed a couple of days in Shawnee then stopped back in Tulsa for a short visit.  So, lots of driving.  But, lots of good times with our families.  I can’t wait for the day that Todd can be there too! 

All the time in the car gave me lots, and lots of time to think about what I am thankful for.  My list doesn’t change too much from year to year, but I count that as a good thing!  That means all the things that are dearest to me have not changed much.  I am so thankful for my little family.  I have a great, hard-working husband and four great kids.  I am thankful for my extended family.  I am thankful for the comforts I have in this life right now.  A home, cars, food, cloths.  I know I have been blessed and have more of all these things than a person really needs.  I am thankful for old friends, I am thankful for new friends.  I really think I could go on and on.  When a person really stops and thinks about it, even on their worst days, they can find something be thankful about.  Sometimes it might be hard to think about that when things are not going our way.  But, if you will just let your mind go there, and think of something you are thankful for, I bet your mood will start to change.  I can usually come up with something earthly that I am thankful for on whatever day it is.  I am most thankful for Jesus that died for my sins.  That is something that will never change, no matter what on this earth I have or don’t have.  Whatever people are in my life or not in my life.  If that is not something to be thankful for, I don’t know what is!  So, go, be thankful for all that God has given you, especially His Son!  (Yes, I am totally preaching to myself!)

100

Well, from what I’ve seen, it is a blog tradition to type 100 things about yourself when you reach 100 blog posts.  So, since I always like to follow the crowd, ha, here I go!  These are in no particular order, I am just adding to the list as I think of something since I know if I sat down to type them all at once I would never think of anything to say!  It is probably supposed to be things that people don’t know about me, but since I’m pretty sure my readers are all family, you already know all these things!  And, I am sure that it is supposed to be 100 quick things.  Mine will not be.  I am a rambler.  Maybe that should be number one!  So, get some caffeine to keep yourself awake and read away!

1.  I love to blog.  I wish I had more time to blog!

2.  I don’t watch much TV.

3.  When I do watch TV, the volume must be on an even number.  I will even have it too loud or too low just to have an even number.  Don’t even think about watching with the volume 21, just don’t do it!

4.  As of July 6, 2010, Todd and I have been married 19 years.

5.  One show I do watch occasionally is Say Yes To The Dress.  I love wedding dresses.  But, even after nineteen years and many dresses seen since, I still love my wedding dress and would choose it over and over again.  I guess that is why it was “the” dress for me.

6.  In another life I would love to be a wedding planner or wedding dress designer, or even a wedding dress salesperson.  I love everything about weddings.

7.  My parents and Todd’s parents were all in school together at Oklahoma Christian at the same time.

8.  Oklahoma Christian is where Todd and I met.

9.  On our first date, we determined that our mom’s both made spaghetti a lot on Wednesday nights.  This was in between him tying and untying his shoes no less that 620 times.  I decided then and there that he was the one for me since I could feed him spaghetti and he could teach our kids to tie their shoes.  Just kidding.

10.  Todd and I dated about six months, then we were engaged, then we married ten months later.

11.  I have two brothers, Todd has two brothers.  I love having sister-in-laws.  No offense guys!

12.  Todd and I have moved sixteen times.  You read that right.  Moved sixteen.  Married nineteen.  Yes, it is as bad as it sounds.

13.  If you count Edmond and Yukon as part of OKC and Nixa as part of Springfield, we’ve only actually live four different places in all those moves.  I don’t know what this means, except that I wish some of those moves would have been to some fun, exotic places!

14.  I could totally live in downtown Chicago or NYC.

15.  I think I have been to eleven major league baseball games.  Have I mentioned I don’t care for baseball?  Or hot dogs?  I do like apple pie though.  Why don’t they sell apple pie at baseball games?

16.  I love to sew.  I love to embroider.  I’m so excited I have a daughter to sew for.  At least until she tells me to stop, which will probably be pretty soon.

17.  Everyone told me that girls are easier to potty train than boys.  Guess what, they are NOT!

18.  I wish all the time I was ten years younger so I could have more kids.  I really would like more kids.

19.  I am a terrible decorator.  This worked out well when we were renting most places we lived.  I had the excuse that we would be moving on soon.  When we buy a house, that excuse doesn’t really fly.

20.  I wish I had the nerve to have a whimsical, colorful fun home.  Right now my whimsicalness sits at two chairs.

21.  I have four of the sweetest kids I know.  Ok, I’m a little biased.  But, I love them!

22.  Kellen started Kindergarten in Tulsa and was in school until November of that year, then we moved.  We’ve homeschooled ever since.

23.  At this point, I can’t imagine not homeschooling.  I don’t know what the future holds, but I’ve gotten very spoiled having so much time with my kids.

24.  You don’t have to read very many of my posts to guess what my grades in English were.    But, I continue to write them anyway. 

25.  I can’t stand to scrapbook.  My perfectionism gets me too freaked out about the whole process.  So, I blog.  I am printing my blog so I can put it up for my kids to have someday.  They may not care, but it makes me feel better.  At least they’ll have a little notebook to put next to their spouses 65 professionally done scrapbooks of their lives.

26.  I have a tendency to be sarcastic.

27.  My parents will be married 49 years this year.  Todd’s parents have been married 48 years.  For these marriages I am so thankful.

28.  At our rehearsal dinner, Clay said he knew Todd and I would stay married because we are the two most stubborn people he knows.  He was right.  Sometimes it takes pure stubbornness to make it work.  Or maybe the stubbornness makes the work.  I don’t know.  But, we’re still here.

29.  This may be a list of 29 things.  I don’t think I can think of 100 things to write about myself!  I will need at least one more, I can’t end on an odd number.

30.  Todd and I have only had one pet.  Well, we had some fish when we were first married, but then we moved, and well, they didn’t make it.  Abby was our one and only.  The sweetest little daschund .  She was not supposed to be a miniature, but she never got over 9 pounds.  We had her sixteen years.  She moved and moved with us and never seemed to be bothered by it.  She was bothered when we had babies.  She was bothered when we tried to get a second dog for her to play with.  Needless to say that friendship didn’t last long and we found a good home for the new dog.  But, moving didn’t bother her. 

31.  I would have loved to have named Callie Abby but everyone thought it would be too weird.

32.  I am a nervous wreck about having a daughter.  I have no idea what I am doing!

33.  I love pink.

34.  Lucky for Todd we had a girl.  This last moved I changed the color of our bedroom from pink and white blue and white.

35.  Todd always said he wanted three boys and a girl.  That’s what he got. :)

36.  The boys were born in Oklahoma City.  Callie was born in Iowa.

37.  All of our kids names had to have double letters, to go with our last name that has double letters.  Daddy’s idea.

38.  If you look in the right baby name books, all of our kids names are Irish.

39.  Even if we had more kids we could only have about four more since by the time you take out all the baby names that don’t have double letters and are not Irish, you are only left with four.

40.  I love to buy shoes.  It’s not fun to buy shoes for myself anymore since I have to start with comfortable and work my way down.  So, I buy shoes for Callie.  :)

41.  If I won the lottery the first thing I would do would be hire someone to clean my house, regularly.  I am so over cleaning.

42.  I love to fly.  In airplanes that is.

43.  I love to travel.  The second thing I would do if I won the lottery is buy a bunch of airline tickets to all kinds of places.

44.  I spent six weeks in Europe in between my junior and senior years of college.  Loved it!  I was part of a mission group with Let’s Start Talking.  We spent five weeks working with a church in the Netherlands and a week traveling.  One of the best times of my life.  I would love to take my kids there.

45.  Sam’s will not allow employees to take more than a week of vacation at a time.  So, even though Todd has four weeks vacation, it doesn’t do us much good when it comes to traveling great distances.  Unless I go by myself, which I have been known to do!

46.  Tulips are my favorite flower.  I would love to visit the Netherlands when the tulips are in full bloom, except that I am scared it would be too commercialized and then I would be disappointed. 

47.  I am not a fan of Disney.  So, a trip to Disneyworld if about last on my list.  That probably makes me un-American.  Oh well. 

48.  The commercialization of things drives me nuts.  Why does EVERYTHING have to have a sponsor?  I know, because someone has to pay for all the “stuff” that people enjoy, but it is all just too much these days.

49.  I have a terrible memory and that makes me sad.  I wish I could remember every little detail of my kids lives, but I can’t.  Bits and pieces jump out to me every once in a while, but that is about it.

50.  I will not ever win the lottery because I don’t buy lottery tickets.  But, it’s a nice thing to think about sometimes!

51.  I think my second dream job would be to design children’s wear.  I don’t know if anyone would buy it, but it would be fun.

52.  In sixth grade, we had to make a poster titled something like “About Me”.  In the part where we were supposed to draw a picture about what we wanted to be when we grew up I drew me feeding a baby in a high chair.  Being a mama is all I ever wanted to do.  So, I guess my actual dream job is coming true!  Of course now I realize being a mama is way more than one job!

53.  In sixth grade I rode a bus to another school to be in a gifted and talented class.  We were a mixture of kids from all over town that got to be in the most wonderful class with the most wonderful teacher.  I know, how did this happen?  What can I say, I can take tests!

54.  I pretty much didn’t like school except for sixth grade.  I was so very shy that any thing other than sitting at my desk doing schoolwork was torture.  I even volunteered to wash dishes in the school cafeteria so that I wouldn’t have to go to recess.  Should I even admit that?  I guess it doesn’t hurt for people to know I have been weird all my life!

55.  I can’t draw to save my life.  I wish I could.  I wish I was an artist and super-creative.  But, I’m not, I’ve learned to deal.  I’m glad my kids are creative in spite of me!

56.  I was deathly afraid of the dark growing up.  I have outgrown it, a little.

57.  Easter is my favorite holiday.  Three reasons:  Jesus, new clothes and the beginning of spring!

58.  Fall is my next favorite.  The temperatures are just right and even though I would not care if I ever watched another football game on TV, the thought of a high school game with a marching band just makes me happy.

59.  Next would be summer.  I love the freedom.  Don’t love the heat.

60.  I really could live someplace that didn’t have a winter.  I despise being cold and despise snow.  My Iowa friends can attest to this, since I complained the entire time I lived there.  Sorry about that!

61.  I also love to buy socks.  I can’t stand to wear socks, but love to buy them.

62.  I once took a sack with 102 pairs of socks to Goodwill.  In my defense, there were a lot of little baby socks.  My boys never really wore them since they were spring babies, but apparently I couldn’t resist buying them!

63.  I was born in October.  During the OU/Texas football game.  I think that was an omen.

64.  We have four OU football season tickets that we never use.  Don’t worry, we sell them, but it would be more fun to use them!

65.  My parents live in the same house that I grew up in.

66.  Todd’s parents live in the same house he grew up in.

67.  Our kids don’t know where they live.

68.  In the third grade I got chicken pox and glasses all in the same week.  Not a good week.

69.  I have a college degree in Physical Education.  I never wanted to be a teacher, I wanted to work in fitness or physical therapy.

70.  My first job was at Presbyterian Hospital in the Oklahoma City Center For Athletes.  I know what you are thinking, right up my alley.  It was a semi-fun job that only lasted nine months because we moved.

71.  My next job was for an eye doctor.  I decided then that I wanted to work in the optometric field.  That lasted seven months.  Then we moved.  Can you see a pattern here. 

72.  I have a terrible time making decisions.  Big decisions, little decisions, it doesn’t really matter.

73.  We were married six years before we had Kellen.  We wanted to be “ready” before we had kids.  Of course we soon found out you are never ready.

74.  We would have loved to have our kids close together, but God did not have that planned for us.  I think I will trust His judgment.

75.  I really, really try to trust God and His plan for my life.  It is not easy.  I’m a tad controlling.  I would have never laid my life out like this.

76.  I have a pretty good life, so luckily someone else is making the plans!

77.  I don’t remember when Clay was born, I was only 22 months old.

78.  I remember every detail about the day Ryan was born.  I was seven.  While I was initially a little sad he was not a sister, I got over it very quickly.

79.  I am now very glad he was not a sister.  There are some advantages to being the only girl.

80.  Ryan had long curly hair as a toddler, so I curled it and fixed it for him.  The next best thing to having a sister.

81.  People always thought Clay and I were twins.  He was tall, I was short, and we were dressed alike a lot.

82.  I sort of bossed them around a lot.  Sorry about that.

83.  Clay and Ryan both work in public education.  I do not.

84.  Clay and Ryan both live in Oklahoma.  I do not.

85.  Todd still says we will end up in Oklahoma City some day, for good.  I’m beginning to think that is not in the plans.

86.  If we could, we would move back to the first little house we bought in the Village.  We LOVED that house, still do.  Of course, we have added two more kids since then, so it might not really work out.  But, that was the best house.

87.  The second house we owned was in Iowa.  We loved the space.  I loved the laundry chute and laundry room. 

88.  The house in Iowa was supposed to be a work in progress while we lived there.  But, we didn’t live there long enough.  So, it became a major stress to get it done and sell it. 

89.  Todd never saw the finished product.  I wish he could have.  It turned out really cute.

90.  Thank the Lord we sold it in three weeks.  I couldn’t take that house anymore!

91.  The third house we have owned is the house we are in now.  It is new.  Or was new.  We’ve used it now.

92.  It is sooo boring.  Maybe if we built it ourselves, it would not be boring.  But since we just bought it this way, boring.  It is boring because I’m afraid to touch anything.  Something about having an old house makes me think I can fix that, make it look better.  Here, it’s hard to change anything since it is new.  I don’t know if I ever want a new house again.  But, I’ve learned to never say never.

93.  I know I am blessed to have this home, don’t get me wrong.  I am thankful for it every day.  Just bored with it. 

94.  Or maybe I’m bored because I’m not pregnant or packing.  Or pregnant and packing.

95.  I wish I knew the Bible better.  You’d think by going to church my whole life and taking Bible classes in college I would know it better.  But I am finally realizing that you have to actually study it, not just sit and listen about it.

96.  I desperately want my kids to know the Bible.  So, we start our homeschool day with Bible and I am learning right along with them.  It’s the best part of our day.

97.  I love my kids.  I can’t even describe how much I love these four people in my life.

98.  I love my husband.  I am so thankful for him.  He has put up with a lot from me and is still here.

99.  I love God.  I am so thankful to Him for blessing me beyond what I deserve.

100.  I love you for actually reading to the end!  Ha!  Unless your like me and you read the end of the book first to see if you actually want to mess with reading the whole thing.  If that is the case, don’t bother going back to read the list.  It will be ten minutes of your life you’ll never get back!

A Sloooow Day

This must have been a slow day for the Springfield news!  We were taking our lunch break from schoolwork when the doorbell rang.  A couple of men asked if they could ask me some questions about having a sprinkler system in my house (which we do not have, btw).  After I answered him he asked if he could interview me, since I am ever so quick I just stood there, thinking, “I think you just did”.  Then I realized he meant for TV.  Ha!  I don’t know what I was thinking.  Why didn’t I just say, “no thanks”.  Instead, I said, “Can I go brush my hair first?”  We were not planning to leave the house except to go swim at a friends house, so I hadn’t done much in the hair and makeup dept. and I had on my uniform of a black tee and jeans.  Lovely.  

Anyway, I ran in, took my hair out of a ponytail an slapped on some mascara and “lips” as Callie calls it.  I came out and they had me sit on my porch.  Yes, I’m just hanging out on my porch, talking about sprinklers.  Very natural.  Then, they asked if they could get some shots of my kids running around in the yard. !Oooookkkkk.  That would also be very natural.  We do a lot of just running amuck in our yard!  After a minute I asked them if they would like me to get a football or something.  So, we have the boys throwing the football around and Callie being shy.  They got a nice shot of me forgetting that I can’t throw a football.  They don’t actually show me, but show the football randomly landing in the middle of the circle and Garrett trying to reach it.  Luckily they also cut out the part of Callie picking her nose! 

For the record, I don’t have strong feelings one way or the other if people get sprinklers in their homes.  I have always been paranoid about my kids not waking up if our house was on fire and the smoke detector didn’t wake them up.  I think I saw a show about that on 20/20 or something.  So, sprinklers would probably wake them or put the fires out before they needed to wake up. That would be a good thing!  I also mentioned to them that if the sprinklers were ugly I would not want them.  I guess they didn’t feel that was newsworthy!  Yes, I really said that.  Luckily, it was  not a piece about “Local SAHM rambles on about random stuff”, I could have helped them out with that too!

Click to see the Foxx Family on the News, ha

“We’ll Never See These People Again”

I don’t know about you, but every professional sporting event I have ever been too I have been scared to death I was going to fall on the stairs.  They make them soooo steep and narrow and a jillion people are trying to use them all at once.  But, I have never fallen, until this game.  I have no excuse.  I was not carrying a kid.  I was not even carrying the backpack.  I think in all my freedom I was be-bopping a little too fast down the stairs and just fell. 

We were on our way down the stairs after the game to take some pictures.  Todd was leading the way.  About the second stair from the bottom, I started falling.  I was doing everything in my power to stay up, but it wasn’t going to happen.  In the process I pushed Callie out of the way, so she fell.  Then, for some reason, I decided Gannon could save me, so I put my hand on his shoulder.  He is six.  I am not.  So, all my weight on his shoulder did not work, he went to the ground, squashing Garrett’s foot under him, with me on top of him.  Flat.  Finally, Todd turned around.  I can only imagine what he was thinking.  He just stood there in shock.

Gannon is crying, I am laughing, Todd is trying to unload since he was carrying the backpack and camera and sack of stuff from the gift shop.  I was laughing so hard I couldn’t get up.  Anyone that knows me knows that I laugh when things like this happen, whether it is to me or someone else.  I don’t know why, I just do.  I didn’t even look around.  I didn’t want to see the look on  peoples faces as I lay there laughing as two of my kids are crying and my husband is going into shock.  I managed to get up.  We all examined our scrapes, and went on with our picture.  By the time we got home the next day I found scrapes, bumps, and bruises that I don’t have any idea how I got.  I feel like I’ve been hit by a car! 

The really sad thing is that the Royals stadium is kind of like an oversized minor league field, so the steps  are not that steep and narrow.  Wrigley Field, the old Busch Stadium, I can see falling.  But here, I don’t know what happened.

As I lay there laughing, all  I could think about was my Grandma,  when things like this have happened to her, she always says, “Oh well, we’ll never see these people again!”  Thank goodness!

We managed to recover pretty well and get a family picture.  I’m hoping all those big smiles are not my family laughing on the inside at their clumsy mama!

Legos

The kids and I started August off with a road trip to Lego Camp.  More specifically MU Neuro-LEGO Robotics Camp.  I kept calling it Legos camp, then Kellen informed me that people were giving him a hard time about going to Lego Camp.  I think that probably sounded like a they were just going to go and build towers or something.  But, I was trying to keep it light, so they wouldn’t think I signed them up for something where they were going to have to use their brains during summer vacation!  Which is actually what I did! :) 

The camp was at the University of Missouri, about three hours away in Columbia, Missouri.

Finally, something I signed them up for this summer was a huge success!  They all loved it and learned sooo much that we would have had a hard time doing at home, or at least knowing where to start from at home. 

When we were in Iowa Kellen was set to be on a Lego Mindstorms team, where they build robots and take them to competitions, but we had to back out since we were trying to move in the middle of all of this.  I was really disappointed as I knew this was something he would enjoy and would be good for him!  So, I started researching here and found this three-day camp.  

Our hotel was right next to the campus and the football field.  The boys got a kick out of seeing the college guys practicing.  We almost wrecked with one trying to get this picture.  Kellen asked me the other day how I ever got a driver’s license!  I told him you only have to drive good one time!  (No, I was not driving and taking photos, Kellen was taking the pictures!)

  
Garrett on the first day.  Just walking into this computer lab with all the computers and rolly chairs was worth the trip for the boys!


Kellen and Gannon were partners on the first day.  The second and third days they moved the lower grades to another room so they could all learn at their own levels.

Garrett and his partner receiving some instruction.

Kellen and Gannon trying out their robot on the first day.

Gannon and his partner Lexie.  This was their “free-for-all” robot at the end of the third day.  It won all the challenges!  She was the sweetest girl.  God was really looking out for Gannon at this camp.  He is shy and takes a little time to warm up to new things, but he got to be with his brother the first day then with Lexie the second and third days.  It would have been very easy for her to take over the robot and do all the fun computer stuff, but she didn’t.  She made sure he had a part and took turns with him without him having to be demanding (which wouldn’t have happened!).  Such a blessing!

Gannon and Lexie getting their robot ready for a challenge.  The challenge was to try to push the other teams robots over the black like before their robot got pushed out.

Garrett and Kellen trying out their remote control robots.

On the last day the big kids had to give a presentation about their final robots and had a little power-point to go with it.  We haven’t had many opportunities to get up in front of strangers and speak, so this was a bonus!  Here is Garrett giving his presentation.

Kellen giving his presentation.  Love the hands in his pockets.  So much like his daddy!

The end of the camp.  Callie decided to get in on the action.  She was a trooper.  We made lots of trips back and forth and just killing time around town.  We did some back to school shopping, found some huge fabric stores, and just hung out.  I wish it hadn’t been so hot!  I had plans to take her to the park and places that two-year olds enjoy, but it was just way to hot for hanging out outside!  We would pick the boys up at three each day then mess around, eat dinner and swim at the hotel.  By bedtime the boys crashed!  They used a lot of brain power!

The guys with Beetle Bailey.  The creator of the Beetle Bailey  cartoon character was a graduate of the University of Missouri.  They were doing major road construction on the campus so it took us two days to find this little guy!  I was obsessed once I read about it, Beetle Bailey is one of Grandpa’s favorites!

     

Of course one of the fun things about visiting a new town is seeing what you can find to do and places you can eat.  We were so excited to see they had a Noodles!  We miss Noodles from Iowa!  I think we could have eaten every meal there!

All in all this was a huge success!  We are so excited to explore the Lego Robotics and see what else is out there that we can participate in.  Thanks daddy for letting us go and being ok with us traveling by ourselves.  I loved having this little break with just my kiddos.  The kids and I did a lot of traveling when we lived in Iowa and it was always so nice to just concentrate on kids.  I’ve missed that.  Even though I am home with them every day, life happens when we are home.  Things have to be done so I can’t always just concentrate on them like I would like to.  (They are probably glad about this! ha!)  So, having some time to just hang out, listen to our favorite songs, eat at our favorite places, have conversations without being interrupted by things…so much fun!  Life is going by way to fast to not have some of these times to just stop the usual routines and enjoy each other.  I am so blessed and times like this help me realize that.  It’s easy to have pity parties about small stuff when the days are flying by at the speed of light!  Here’s to a successful end of the summer, and successful beginning to the new school year.  Life is good!

Independence Day!

Well, I am hoping to get all of July blogged about before August 1.  There is a good chance I am not going to make it, just in case you are on pins and needles to hear about it!

July 4 we started out with company, but sadly they had to head home since they had things to do bright and early Monday morning.  Since we hadn’t really checked into what to do in this area for the fourth, we decided we would just stay home and see what we could see.  Best decision EVER!  Have I mentioned that we live kind of in the middle of no where?  Well, that is not exactly true.  There are cities and neighborhoods all around us, we just happen to be in a little patch of land with not a whole lot around us.  Have I mentioned that we have some new neighbors?  Yay!  Since the first of the year five houses have been completed and four more are almost done.  No one is right by us, which is nice.  (Or should I be paranoid?  Do all the trashcans and outdoor kids stuff scare people away?  I don’t care, I like a little space!)  Well, we could seriously have sat on our roof and had a 360 degree fireworks extravaganza.  The other nice thing about being out of city limits is that you can pop your own fireworks.   At least that was nice for those of  us that wanted to just watch our neighbors fireworks! The boys couldn’t understand why we wouldn’t do this!  Umm,  safety maybe?  Thirteen year old that thinks he knows how to do everything and fireworks was not a battle I wanted to face this year!  One of our new neighbors had a party and had fireworks galore.  We decided to elect him chairman of fireworks for our neighborhood from here on out!  It was a fabulous time.  Perfect weather, lots of fireworks, our family all together.  Loved it!

Gannon, Kellen, Callie, Garrett, and Daddy enjoying the shows.

This girl was the LOVING the fireworks!  She clapped and cheered the whole time!

This is just a good picture of her curls.  :)

Yay!!

Garrett and Callie deciding to stand and watch.  It was better this way since we could turn around in all directions to view the shows!  

Just to show how close we were to our neighbors show.  Perfect!  Just like having your own but we didn’t spend any money on fireworks or ER visits!  (They didn’t go to the ER thank goodness, but it just takes on crazy firework you know!)

Be afraid. Be very afraid!

Callie has taken to picking on Gannon when she gets the chance.  I don’t know why.  All of my younger kids have done this.  Gannon would bite Garrett for no reason.  He never did it to Kellen, just Garrett.  Callie will pinch Gannon, not Garrett or Kellen, just Gannon.  I think they just know that that is the child closest to their age so maybe, just maybe they can take them.  Who knows!

Well, the other day Callie decided to stand on Gannon.  He was laying on the floor drawing, she walked over and just stood there on his back.  I was at the sink with wet hands so while I finished what I was doing, I was giving her the evil eye.  (She, of course, was just giving me the I’ll do whatever I want smile that she has mastered!).  After a few seconds, she jumped off Gannon, ran to Kellen for him to hold her and said “I’m scared of those eyes!”.

You better be scared sister!

During a not so scary moment!  Callie ready for summer with her pink flower pants, pigtails, and Sonic!  The best time of the year!

Behind. Behind. More Behind.

Are you wondering what I am going to write about?  Well, if you know me at all you know it is not what the title could be about.  Well, maybe it could be about that.  Besides getting more and more behind in just living, I am getting more of a behind in the process!  But, I don’t think we want to hear about that.

I haven’t posted much lately, as I am behind in everything.  I have moments like this every so often, where there are just more things that need to be done than can get done.  I know some of this is because I tend to make things harder than they have to be.  But, hey, at least I made it to Easter before I failed my New Year’s resolution! ( New Year's Post here :) )
So, hopefully, I’m back on track and will be catching you up on our lives from the last few weeks.  Spring has spring and we are excited!  Spring and summer in a new area, so there will be lots of exploring and adventure!  I’ll try to keep up with blogging about it, I know all three of you that read are sitting on the edge of your seats!

Spring Break!

Woo-hoo it’s spring break!  Ok, technically we can take a break anytime we want to, but I just needed any excuse to share this picture.  Is this not the cutest swimsuit and model you’ve ever seen!

Happy Spring!

Hee Hee

Last weekend we had company over for Kellen’s birthday.  Before they arrived I called the kids to the kitchen and reminded them of their manners.  I went on and on (and probably on some more) about being hospitable.  Kellen and Garrett were like yeah, yeah, we’ve heard this before.  When I was done, I asked if they understood.  They said yes. Then Gannon asked “what does spitable mean?”  I told him hospitable was all one word.  He said “oh, I thought it was something about spit”.

This past Sunday was a beautiful day!  Spring is definitely around the corner.  I decided to get fancy and pull out a new shirt since I’ve worn basically the same thing to church all winter.  Gannon walked in and I said “What do you think?  Is this shirt too crazy for mama?”  He said “No, I like it.  But, I see what you mean about things looking different on the hanger.  On the hanger it looks all flat.  On, it looks…(pause)…bumpy.”  Thanks Gannon, that was the look I was going for.

Just That Kind of Kid

Yesterday was Kellen’s birthday.  Thirteen.  Yes, a teenager.

We have noticed a change in Kellen, the last six weeks especially.  Not bad changes, just changes that means he’s growing up.  He’s getting more muscular, probably in part to working out at the Y, but part his age.  He’s kind of got the Peter Brady thing going on with his voice.  He’s spending a little more time alone.  I don’t think he’ll ever be in total hibernation like some teenagers, he has too many things he wants to share with the rest of us!  But, he is being a loner a little more.  Only five more years and he can take off on his own, never to be heard from again!

Luckily, there are things that are not changing, not yet anyway.  He is still the kind, thoughtful person he has always been.  That’s what I mean when I say he is that kind of kid.  I don’t take any credit for this, this was all God’s handiwork.  Why God chose to give me a child like this, I don’t know, but I am forever grateful.  I tell him all the time that he is going to make a great husband some day, if I don’t use him all up before then!  Just a couple of weeks ago we were out somewhere and I was trying to fill something out, holding Callie, juggling things. Kellen came up and said “Come on Callie let’s go over here”.  I didn’t ask him, I wasn’t freaking out over my predicament, he just noticed I was struggling and helped.

Kellen is to the point in his schooling where there are some things that I can plan out for the week and he is on his own to get them done.  He is an early riser and he’ll start on his schoolwork before everyone else is even up so he can get it done.  He knows that he wants to move on to better things, so he knows how to schedule his day and get his stuff done on his own.

We decided very last minute what we wanted to do to celebrate his birthday.  We decided we would have a few friends over to play outside and eat pizza, just hanging out kind of stuff.  He said “is this one of those kind of parties where people bring you gifts?”  I told him it didn’t have to be.  “I don’t really need anything, so I would rather people not bring stuff”.  On his own.  I didn’t have to rant and rave about how he didn’t need anything, he knows he doesn’t.  He wanted to invite some kids…and their siblings and parents.  Not for any particular reason, he just likes all ages of people and wanted everyone to have someone to play with.  I think this is a great quality that will serve him well forever. 

Kellen setting the table for his party :)

Now, lest anyone thinks I think he is perfect.  Or, in case he reads this and starts getting a big head…let’s just say God is not finished with him yet!  He is human,  he has struggles just like anyone else.  We work on them daily!  But, luckily, I think his great qualities outweigh the struggles, so I think we’ll keep him around :).

I am so thankful for Kellen.  We didn’t know what we were having when we were pregnant with him, but for some reason I knew it was a boy.  I am so blessed by him.  I am so blessed to be able to spend so much time with him and try in spite of myself to train and teach him.  He makes me look way better than I am!  What more could a parent ask for!

Happy Birthday Kellen!  Your daddy and I love you more than you know and we are so proud of you.  Your brothers and sister love and look up to you.  Thanks for loving God and trying your best to do His will. Thanks for being the best Kellen I know!

Our Typical Day

Ha!  I decided to take part in Kelly’s Korner Show Us Your Life/Your Typical Day.  I wish we had a typical day, oh how I wish.  But, it is not to be.  I have four kids and a husband that works retail, so luckily I am flexible!  And really, I don’t really know if I want a typical day.  I like unpredictable, spur-of-the moment days. A good thing with Todd’s unpredictable hours!  The problem with this is that there are things that do have to be done on a typical day: cooking, cleaning, laundry, schoolwork…the list could go on and on.  So, we have our set things, then try to just have fun in between. 

We go to church Sundays and Wednesdays.  We are so happy about our church here.  It is a growing church with 350 or so members and lots of kids!  And counting us, there are four home school families that I know of.  That is such a blessing for the kids.  It’s always nice to not be the only ones!  And, we have friends with similar schedules, even better!

Since moving to Nixa we have joined a home school co-op.  In all our years homeschooling we have not ever joined a co-op.  The funny thing is that before we moved to Iowa, we were talking to the leaders about joining this co-op.  Then we came back to this area and were still able to to join.  It has been such a blessing.  The kids loove it!  Well, I know Kellen and Garrett do.  Gannon does on most days and as long as Callie has Play-Doh time in her class, she is happy!  The boys participate in all types of classes from science to art to P.E..   We do this on Tuesday afternoons.

On Thursday afternoons the boys go to home school P.E. at the YMCA.  They love that too!  Some friends from church and co-op recently joined so I have been walking with their mom while the boys play.  So I enjoy getting in shape and chatting!

In between all of this we live our lives.  We have our schedule for chores, school etc.  If we stick to those, things go pretty good!  But, we have been known to drop everything and go play, redecorate a room, visit family, you name it!  This is one reason I so love homeschooling.  The flexibility was not on our list when we first started this journey.  But it so is now!  I can’t imagine living by someone else’s calendar.  I guess we live a little by Sam’s Club calendar if we want Daddy to join us, but he doesn’t always get to join us, and he’s fine with that.  I know this life is not for everyone.  I have many friends that would panic if they didn’t have more of a routine, but I panic if I don’t have some time to be flexible!

So, a typical day?  We don’t have those, even by my standards!  The only typical is that we are flexible and always together.  Sounds like the perfect day to me!

You can find other peoples "typical days" here:

http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/2010/03/show-us-your-life-what-is-your-typical.html

It's always fun to see what others are up to!

Teenagers

Remember when I said I couldn't look at the picture of Kellen and Madison from Christmas?  This is why.

They will be teenagers this year.  Kellen's birthday is this month, Madison's is in October.  I can't stand it.  They have always had a special friendship.  They used to just play and play and have always gotten along so well together.  We haven't gotten to spend as much time with Madison the last few years.  Life does that sometimes.  When you live in Iowa you can't just say, "hey come over for dinner."  Well, you can, but people in Oklahoma can't just run over.  Hopefully we'll get to spend more time will all of our family now that we are closer.

 

Kellen and Madison at her baby shower.

Going to a pumpkin patch with Grandma and Grandpa, 1998

Kellen and Madison at Great-Grandpa McDonald's house for Christmas 1998. 

   

Riding rides at the Oklahoma State Fair.  I think this was 1999, I don't see any little siblings there, and the siblings were born in 2000.

At the same fair, getting ready to watch Disney On Ice.

Halloween 2000 at the Oklahoma City Zoo.

Grandma and Grandpa's house, 2003

 

Summer 2007 when Clay and kids visited us in Iowa.

Self-portrait!

  

Have no idea the date, I am guessing 2007,  but this is at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

The Cousin Rockers!

Summer 2009, we were visiting Oklahoma.

Christmas 2009.  Can't we go back in time!?

Oil Change, take two

For the three of you that read my blog, you know that I can't stand to take my car in for oil changes, etc.  We did not have a great experience the last time I took it in Iowa.  I try my best to schedule oil changes, etc. when Todd is able to do it.  But, before Christmas, I knew the oil needed changed before we traveled for the holidays  and that Todd would have no time to do that.  He barely has a day off and I knew he would not want to spend it at the car place.  So, off we went.

Well, this was a little better than our time in Iowa.  It is not close to anything we can walk to, so we had to stay put.  But, they had a decent waiting area complete with a separate child's area with a slide.  So, the kids had a good time.  Those places are never clean enough for me, but I just tried not to look.  A few germs are good for kids, right?

I'm telling you all this because I've wanted to post this video clip since we were there.  We were cracking up!  The thing with plastic toys inside with heating is the static electricity.  It didn't take long before the kids figured this out and had a great time seeing how much static they could get and shock each other.  It, of course, did not phase Callie.  She thought it was the funniest thing ever!  Of course her ever accommodating brothers let her run into them over and over again.  If you turn your sound up really loud, you can hear the shock when she gets close to them. 

Callie's Shock

Callie's Shock 2

Little Boys

I only have a few more months of having a five-year-old little boy. There is nothing cuter than a five-year-old boy. They are smart, usually well-behaved, and always funny. Gannon just says the funniest things. I wish I would stop and write all of them down, but I don't. What makes it even funnier with Gannon is that he is usually pretty quiet. So it is even funnier because he catches you off-guard! My other boys are funny. But, they are older, so it is planned. So, funny in a different way. In May Gannon will be six, then the little boy will start disappearing. (sniff, sniff). I love my big boys, but I will so miss having a little boy around.

So handsome!

A couple of weeks ago he got to spend the weekend with his grandparents, by himself. He has been waiting on this for years! When we moved to Iowa he wasn't really old enough. Kellen and Garrett have both been able to go to Grandma and Grandpa's by themselves, but it has never worked out for Gannon. The way the brothers talked it was like going to Disney World! Well Gannon finally got his chance.

We met in Claremore at the Will Rogers Museum. A nice stop where we could stretch our legs and visit with Grandma and Grandpa before Gannon was off. He of course kept asking if it was time to go, he was ready to be done with us!

He had a great time. He looooves to be "on his own". He is a little more of a loner, he doesn't always have to be in a pack so to speak, so not having two brothers (and a sister) bossing him around was heaven on earth! Grandma asked him before he got there what he liked for breakfast and he did not hesitate telling her he liked Cocoa Puffs, cereal mama won't buy! So, he ate Cocoa Puffs every morning, got to get on her computer whenever he wanted to, eat out. He was loving it.

On Saturday he went with Grandpa to run errands then went to the OU Women's Basketball game with Grandma and Aunt Dwan. His favorite part was the ice cream Aunt Dwan bought him. (Can you tell the boy loves to eat!)

On Sunday he went to church with Grandma and Grandpa then got to go to cousin Mason's birthday party. Mason turned six January 13. It was a skating party and he has never skated before, but I think he did ok. He had a good time, so that is all that mattered!

Mason and Gannon are great buddies!

Here they are hugging the wall skating!

On Monday Grandma brought him home and she spent the night with us. They stopped at the Vinita McDonald's. He got ice cream telling Grandma "it was probably his last chance". She said she felt like she was bringing him back to prison! ha! FYI: We have ice cream occasionally, but not every day like he would like!

Gannon had the best time. He can't wait until his turn to go back. He said on the way home that they saw a hat that said "Spoiled by Grandma". Gannon told me Grandma said "maybe we should get that for you". Then he told me, "I don't know why, I am not spoiled. I get to do whatever I want!" Obviously he doesn't know there is more than one meaning to spoiled!

I wish I could remember the funny things he says and does. Here a few things...

In a conversation in the car after having spent time with our cousins during the holidays:

Garrett: "Did you know that Mallori likes Michael Jackson?"

Mama: "Really."

Gannon: "Is he still disguised as a girl?"

Of course Kellen informed everyone he was dead and all that entailed. Thanks Kellen.

Gannon's Christmas list included a laptop and deodorant. I think this is directly related to being the third of three boys (one of those almost a teenager)!

Gannon told me recently, in all seriousness, that he wasn't going to work. He was going to have a bunch of kids and make them do everything. You don't think that is what he thinks we do around here do you?!

Last week Callie pinched Gannon, something she does on a regular basis. This was right on the cheek, left a big place. He was crying, she was crying. I told her she needed to say she was sorry. Of course, she didn't want to. Just sat there and cried and looked so pitiful that finally Gannon gave her a hug and told her he was sorry. He didn't do anything! He felt so bad for her he couldn't take it anymore. She came around about thirty minutes later and said she was going to say sorry, marched in his room, said she was sorry and hugged him and went on about her business. (She has to have things on her terms. Don't know where she got that!) This is not a funny story, but so sweet. Gannon really is the sweetest, he just doesn't always like people to know it! He is so good to Callie it warms my heart. :)

So, a few more months of innocence. I know it will not magically disappear on May 19, but I know that it will gradually be gone. I always say "this is my favorite age", then my kids will get bigger and that will be my favorite. I guess I like all ages of my kids! But, there is just a sweet innocence that little boys have...sniff, sniff.