Goodbye Miss Mary

Yesterday, I took Landon and Sierra to our very last storytime at the library here in Stillwater. Landon and I started going just before Spring Break and we've been every Monday since.

Storytime has been so good for Landon! The routine is the same every week. As the kids walk in, they find their nametag on the wall and put it on the "who's here today" board. Miss Mary always starts with the song The More We Get Together. Next, there are always exactly four stories, each followed by a song or fingerplay. After the kids stretch and wiggle, Miss Mary turns on the filmstrip (which, the kids LOVE). When the lights come back on, it's craft time. Landon does best when he knows what's coming and the storytime routine was just perfect for him!

The first time we went to storytime, Landon had a hard time going in because he thought I was going to leave him like at school. After a time or two, though, he was walking happily in by himself and finding his name. It took about five weeks before he would participate in the songs. He usually likes to sit on my lap rather than on the floor with the other kids, but sometimes he will when there are just a few.

I wish I had a picture of Miss Mary to show you, but I forgot to take my camera with me yesterday. I will tell you, though, that she is the perfect children's librarian. Miss Mary has the most soft and gentle voice and when she reads, you can help but be drawn into the story. She's very patient with wiggly kids, but insists that they behave. Miss Mary says things like "that's wonderful" when the kids show her their artwork, and she means it. I've always thought she reminded me a little of Mrs. Doubtfire.


I think the thing that made the biggest difference at storytime for Landon is that Miss Mary always has a smile and is genuinely happy to see each child who comes in the door. Landon was so used to people expecting him to have problems with behavior. When he went to school, you could see it in the teacher's eyes that they really wished he wasn't there. Miss Mary always has a smile for Landon and when she says "I'm so happy you came to storytime today", she really means it. It makes such a difference in a child's behavior when they know that people are happy to see them.

So, goodbye Miss Mary. We will miss you!

Taking a packing break...

We've been packing like crazy today. Okay, Daniel has. I took the kids to the library this morning and then went to lunch with some friends this afternoon. But I worked really hard yesterday and have packed several boxes since I got home. Anyway, the kids and Daniel are outside for now, so I thought I would take advantage of the quiet and take a quick break.
I have several pictures that I've been wanting to share, but none that really warrant their own post, so I'm just going to lump them all together here.

A couple of week ago while we were in McAlester, Cheyenne asked Daniel to take them to look for arrowheads. The arrowhead hunting only lasted a little while before they found something better-crawdads! They came back with several of them in a bottle. They had a great time watching the crawdads. One even escaped a couple of times when no one was looking. Thank goodness we found him!

This little snail was a lot of fun to watch too.

The kids, including my BIG kid, also had fun trying out Grandpa's new toy that weekend. They loved it!

That was the weekend that Sierra left to go on vacation with Grandma Debbie. After Sierra and Grandma left, I took the big girls to the cemetery with me to see Pawpaw's (my dad's) headstone. It was still decorated from memorial day and it looked really pretty. I felt so much better with the stone there than the temporary marker. The girls picked out the hanging plant and the wooden cross to take with us. Sierra and Landon went with us to see it when we visited for Father's Day.

Landon has been asking and asking to drive the "lizard truck" every time we go to Grandma Debbie's, but we kept forgetting to put it on the charger for him. We finally remembered Father's Day weekend and he got to drive it a couple of times. He was pretty happy about that.

Well, it's back to packing. We're supposed to leave sometime tomorrow and right now it looks like a train wreck in here. I'm thinking that shoveling it all into the garbage might be the fastest way to get the job done! Hope everyone else is having a restful Monday.

Goodbye Friends...

Last night, two friends and I let our husbands put the kids to bed while we met up for some yummy desserts at Chili's. I've known these two ladies since before any of us had kids. Now, between the three of us, there are 10 kids (and one on the way)! We had a good time chatting, laughing, and saying goodbye. I'm sure going to miss my dessert nights with these two!

My friend, Jackie, gave me a sweet plaque for our new house (when we finally get one). The quote reads "You can't stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf." I hadn't heard that quote before and I really love it. I can't wait to put it up in place where I can read it every day. Isn't great when a friend knows exactly the right thing to do for you?

Tomorrow afternoon, I get to say goodbye to a few more friends. My friends from Ponca City are driving an hour each way just to come hang out with me for a little while. I'm so excited to get to see them. When I was teaching in Ponca City, I used to spend time every day with these ladies. More than any of my other friends, they got to know who I really am. They are the kind of friends who are able to pick up right where we left off even though it's been a long time since we've been together. Those are the best kind of friends! I can't wait to laugh until we cry into our chips and queso tomorrow!

In the meantime, I probably should get back to packing and cleaning. I've got two of the kids' bedrooms done! Only one more to go. Once we get through that last kids' room, I think the packing will go much faster. My kids just have way to much stuff!

Have a great Sunday!

The view outside my house this morning.

These pictures do not do justice to how beautiful this rainbow really was. What a wonderful way to start the morning!

Wednesday's Walk, June 23-band geek

I have a confession to make. When I was in high school, I was what they called a "band geek." I played clarinet in the school band from 6th grade through 12th grade and was in the color guard (flag corps) from 10th grade through 12th grade. I even have pictures to prove it (I stole these from a friend who posted them on her facebook wall.)

Here I am in the 10th grade during marching band season. I am the third from the right in the color guard.

This is my junior year of high school. That's me second from the right on the front row.

I never was really that good at the clarinet (mostly from lack of practice) but my friends were in band, so that's what I did, too. So, when Dakota said that she wanted to be in band at the middle school, I was pretty excited for her. I was looking forward to passing on all my knowledge (ha!) of the clarinet on to her.

At the end of the school year last year, the directors from the middle school band visited each elementary school and had the fifth graders try out different instruments. Then, the directors and the child decided which instrument the child was best suited to play for beginning band in sixth grade. Guess what they decided would best fit Dakota! The trombone! They wanted her to play the trombone!

I wasn't so sure how this was going to work out. For one thing, Dakota is not very big. I think she's finally made it up to 80 pounds and she's going into 7th grade. Her trombone is almost as big as she is. For another, I know nothing about playing the trombone. I never could get those kinds of mouthpieces to work right. But, she was pretty excited about it, so I didn't try to change her mind.

Turns out that the band directors made the right decision. Dakota has done really well with her trombone this year. She was first chair trombone in the beginning band at her school from November through the end of school! I was so proud of her!

Here are some pictures from her spring concert. She did a great job!

Great job Dakota!

I'm a little late posting my Wednesday's Walk for this week, but you can still go over to Jenilee's blog and check out everyone else's memories for this week right here.

An Award!

I'm so excited! Peggy over at Look At It As An Adventure has just given me an award! Go over and visit her sometime. She always has great stories about her children and grandchildren. (Scroll down to her post called "I Promise" about her grandson and his new glasses. It is so sweet and he is absolutely adorable).

Thanks Peggy!

When you receive this award you are to-

1. Copy and paste the award to your blog

2. List who it is from

3.List 10 things that make you happy:)

4. Pass it on to another blogger and let them know about it!

10 ThingsThat Make Me Happy!
1. Listening to my kids play when they don't know I'm there.
2. Having a child fall asleep in my lap.
3. Giving someone a gift that makes them cry (in a good way).
4. Finally being able to stay at home with my kids.
5. Clean sheets.
6. Crawling into my own bed after being away from home.
7. Staying up late at night to finish a good book after everyone has gone to bed.
8. Movie night-eating popcorn on the couch in our pjs.
9. Pink tulips
10. Hearing my grandpa pray.

I'm passing this award on to April at Desires of the Heart. April has the cutest little boy already and is expecting a sweet little girl soon. Go over and check out the sweet projects she's been working on for her little girls' room. They are so cute!

Tomorrow...

Have you ever noticed the different styles people have for dealing with big projects that have to be completed within a certain amount of time?

Some people don't even have to think about what they need to do, they just jump right in with both feet.
Like my friend who teaches kindergarten and has already begun getting her classroom ready for the first day of school (in August). She's already painted her classroom, moved bulletin boards, and rearranged the furniture. She doesn't need a list of things to do, she just sees something that needs to be done and she does it. These are the people who finish everything early and then immediately move on to the next project. They never seem to stop.
Other people break the task down into more manageable pieces and do a little at a time until the job is finished. These are the list people.

They need to see the light at the end of the tunnel and work toward it. This is the group I would love to be a part of and I do try really hard. I make awesome lists and plan out what needs to be done so that I can work ahead a little at a time. It just isn't me though.
I am in the third group. We are the last-minute people, what some people would call procrastinators. We are well aware of what is coming and what needs to be done, but it's hard for us to be motivated to work with deadlines that are distant. We work best under the pressure of a looming deadline. Nothing like the ticking of the clock to get us motivated to get things done.

Those of us who are last-minute people drive the divers and the list makers crazy. While the people from the other two groups run around completing project after project and crossing things off their lists, the pressure people sit back and do "nothing". We take care of only what has to done right now and worry about the rest later. Then, at the last minute, they scramble to get everything done and usually finish with just seconds to spare.
Anyone else ever find that God seems to enjoy working under pressure as well? He knows what's coming and exactly what needs to be done. Matthew 6:8 says, "...for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." And yet, it seems that He always waits until the last possible second to give it to us.
I have been thinking about this for a while as we have been planning our big move. Daniel and I have been asking God to help us to find a job for Daniel and to find a place to live for months without anything happening. It's a little stressful to think of having no home of our own. We know that our family will not let us be without a place to go, but it is definitely not at the top of our list to have to move in with any of them, although it looks like we will be doing just that for a little while.
I was getting a little discouraged about this a week or so ago when nothing seemed to be happening and the plans we were trying to make for ourselves were just not working out. I turned on the radio in my van and heard someone speaking about the Lord's Prayer. I didn't really listen in to0 much until he came to the part that says, "...Give us this day our DAILY bread." Jesus asked for what he needed to get through today. He did not say give me enough for today and to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. So, why would I ask for more than that? The speaker then quoted Matthew 6:34 which says, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." As I was listening to that, I thought of this song that we used to sing in church as I was growing up.

All I really need to do is trust that God will provide what I need for today. I don't have to worry about what I'm going to eat tomorrow or where I'm going to live. God will reveal that plan to me when it's time.
Please don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that all we have to do is sit around trusting that God is going to drop everything into our laps while we do nothing to help ourselves. He very well could do that if He wanted to, of course, but that isn't usually the way He works.As it says in the movie Where the Red Fern Grows, we have to "meet God halfway."

So, while we've been waiting and praying, we've also been working. Daniel's been sending in job applications, we've been trying to save money, we've made some preparations so that we will be able to put a house on some family land, and we've even gone to look at some homes. And still, only 8 days before our move, we are jobless and houseless.
But, I believe that God has a plan for us. I believe that He already has a job for Daniel that will be just what our family needs. The way that we are going to find this job, though, is by getting out there and applying for jobs. We have to trust that God will take the applications that Daniel fills out and place them into the hands of the people who need to see them. We have to be patient as we wait, trusting that God will provide for us what we need today and that when the time is right, He will provide the job that we are seeking.
I also believe that God will provide us with a home of our own, when the time is right. I don't know when that will be or where. We have some options that we are looking into. So far, though, we haven't found "the one" that we are looking for. So, we continue to wait for that too. What we have found is the God has provided for us to have family who is willing to take us in for a little while. He has provided what we need for now. He will provide the things that we need tomorrow as well. My job is to worry about tomorrow, tomorrow and give Him praise for what he has done for me today.
So, to all of you who have been asking the questions about "where are you moving to" and "where is Daniel going to work", the answer is "I don't know." And I can give that answer with a smile on my face and peace in my heart because I trust the One who does know. He has always come through for me just in time and I know that He will continue to do so.

Thank you, Lord, for giving me what I need today. Help me to remember to enjoy the things you have given me today and to let tomorrow worry about itself.

Five Question Friday June 18

Friday again already??? How can that be? With all this cleaning and packing that's going on (you'd think we'd be getting close to finished by now, right? Wrong. Where did we get all this STUFF?) around here lately, all the days are running together. I've been having to use the library schedule to keep me on track-"What was yesterday? Oh, story time. That means that today is program day. Okay, we saw the story teller last time, so this week is the karate demonstration. That means it's Tuesday, the 15th"-yeah, kinda like that.
I am so tired today. Cheyenne ended up helping out another team who didn't have enough players last night and played 3 games! We were at the softball field for nearly FIVE HOURS yesterday evening. By the time we ate dinner and got gas, it was 11:00pm before she and I got home. My 6:45am alarm was not a welcome sound this morning!
Today I am doing laundry and packing our suitcases for our Father's Day trip to McAlester. This will be our last visit before we move! I am really looking forward to being able to visit family for a few hours and then going home to my own bed at night. No suitcases, no three-hour drives. Sounds good to me.

The best part of today is that it's Five Question Friday. Head over to Mama M.'s blog and link up!

1. What is your favorite thing about summertime?

I love being home with the kids in the summer! I love having the choice of going out for an adventure somewhere or staying home in our pj's all day. During school, we usually get home just in time to eat dinner, take baths, and go to bed. I hardly get to see them at all. But, in the summer I get to spend lots of time having fun with them.

2. What is your ideal retirement location (if money didn't matter)?

I don't really know. I don't really think much about the location. I haven't ever lived anywhere other than Oklahoma, so I'd probably prefer to stay here. I would like to be able to travel to other places just to visit though. We've talked about going places like Alaska, Hawaii, etc. It's always nice to come home though, so I think I'll stick around here.

3. Do you live in the same town you grew up in?

Not yet. Ask me again in two weeks! We are moving back to the town we grew up in (okay, we probably won't live in town, but in the general area anyway). This is something that I always said I would NEVER do. Funny how God keeps track of the things that you say you'll never do and then asks you later to do them! It's going to be a big change for us to live that close to all of our family, but I know it's going to be for the best. I'm so ready to get there and get settled in.

4. What nervous habit did you have as a child that you kicked to the curb before becoming an adult?
I really can't think of any that I kicked to the curb. I still have pretty much the same nervous habits I have always had. I talk excessively when I'm nervous (although some people would say that's more than just when I'm nervous). When I'm nervous about talking to someone, I tend to cry when I talk. I cough and I fiddle with things (I'm a pen clicker). I still do all those things.Hmmmmmm...

5. What is the most embarrassing thing that happened to you while on the job?
Working with four and five year-olds makes for LOTS of embarrassing moments. The most embarrassing thing I can remember one of my students doing happened during the morning assembly at school. It was my second year of teaching and my first year in my school. One little boy in my class was giving me a hard time at the beginning of the year and liked to do whatever he could to push my buttons. During this particular assembly, the principal made a big deal of welcoming the Superintendent, who came and sat on the bleachers just behind my class. As time went by, I had to "talk" with little Johnnie several times and finally moved him to sit closer to me. This wasn't enough attention for him, so he waited a few minutes, made sure he caught my attention, then turned and stuck his tongue out at the Superintendent! It's really funny now, I was horrified. I escorted little Johnnie out and straight to office to wait while I went into the teacher's restroom and had a little freak out. I just knew I was going to be fired for not being able to control my class. Ha! That little boy is going to be a freshman in High School next year. Wonder if he is still sticking his tongue out at people?

Catching up...

I love to make lists! I make to-do lists for the things I need to do each day and the week, I make menus and shopping lists, I make packing lists when we go somewhere/ Sometimes, I spend so much time making my lists that I run out of time to actually DO the things on my list. But, it makes me feel more in control when I have a list. It makes me feel like I have accomplished something when I get to cross things off my list.
Usually, I have a scheduled list for each day. I plan what we're going to do, when we're going to do it, and how much time it should take. I try to stick with it as much as possible. When the girls were in school, I did pretty well with finishing my list by the end of the day. Lately, though, there have been so many things to get done that it has been impossible to finish. So, I end up taking the things that didn't get finished and moving them to the bottom of the next day's list. Right now, my list is so long that, even without adding one new thing, it would take me until sometime next week to finish it all. Ugh.

It's a little overwhelming to look at.
So, I have decided that today is a new day. I am deleting all that stuff from the past week or so that hasn't gotten done and I am starting my brand new list today. What a relief!
Now that I don't have a mile long list of load of laundry and bathroom scrubbing that never got done, I can feel less guilty about spending time here. I have so many ideas for posts that I want to get up before we move! So, in between cleaning out closets and taping up boxes, I'm going to be posting at least one or two posts each day. I'm so excited!

So, here is my catch-up post #1.

We are STILL in the midst of softball season around here. Today was supposed to be Cheyenne's last game. With all the rain we have had lately, though, she will be playing four games next week as well. She was supposed to have a game on Monday, but it was rained out. Tuesday was dry, but of course she didn't have a game scheduled for that day. Yesterday's game was, of course, rained out. She has a double-header tonight. Thankfully, the weatherman reported this morning that there is NO CHANCE OF RAIN! Hooray! I was beginning to worry that the season would still be going after we moved.

Cheyenne is still loving softball. She's gotten to play lots of different positions-catcher, pitcher, third base, first base, and outfield. She really enjoys playing catcher and pitcher the most. This is her first year to play "kid pitch", so she has some work to do on her pitching. She has pretty good aim, just not quite the speed to get it all the way to the plate every time. She has come a long way though!

These are pictures from her first game that I have been waiting to share. If I get a chance tonight, I'll add a few more.

Our not-so-exciting weekend...

This summer is flying by! I can't believe we're already to the middle of June! I've really been slacking on posting, although I have a mile long list of ideas. I really thought that having the girls home from school would free up some time for blogging, but it's been just the opposite. I usually write my posts at night after the kids go to bed. Lately, though, we've been so busy during the day that there's just not enough energy left to do any writing at night.

Dakota and Cheyenne got home yesterday afternoon from their vacation to OKC with Grandma Debbie. They had a great time visiting the science museum, Chuck E Cheese, White Water, and hanging out at the hotel. They each came home with a new Pokemon video game that has kept them pretty busy.

We have set an official moving out date-our lease runs out on this date, so that kind of helped us decide. Ha! Our last official day in this house is June 30. To answer the top two questions about the move-1)NO, we haven't found a new place yet. 2)NO, Daniel has not found a full-time job yet. We have no doubt that both of these needs are going to be taken care of, we just aren't sure of the timing. Because we are 100% sure that this is the plan God has for us, we are doing our very best not to worry about it (I'm planning a whole other post on this later). Does that mean that we are sitting around doing nothing and hoping that a house and a job will fall into our laps? Absolutely not. But it does mean that we are not losing and sleep over the fact that we haven't found it yet. Anyway, I'll save that rant for the other post...

Last week, I finally marked our moving date on the calendar. Next to each date, I wrote the number of days left before moving day. We are now at 17. YES 17! We have to get all of this stuff packed up, cleaned up, and loaded up in only 17 days. That gives me just over 1 day per room. Granted, the kids' bathroom (that they never use) and the dining room probably won't take more than an hour or so each. But the other rooms? Well, they are going to take a little longer than that. So, we have devised a plan to get it all done in an orderly fashion. If you know us, you can stop laughing now, it can be done! (just forget about the other 7 times we have moved, this time is different). We have decided to start at one end of the house and pack a room at a time. Brilliant, I know.

Sierra and I started on Landon's room on Friday. We took everything out of his toy box and his tubs. We sorted and threw away for about an hour. I put the lid on his toy box and put his tubs of toys in the top of the closet where he can't reach them (is that mean?) Yesteday, I took the giant box of "baby" toys that we sorted out of there, plus some ride on toys he has outgrown and dropped them off at Goodwill along with two big bags of clothes that we no longer need. This morning, I finished packing the rest of his toys that wouldn't fit into his toy box, took everything off his wall, went through the clothes in his closet and dresser again, and finished getting the things from under his bed. All that's really left in there is his bed and dresser and the clothes in his closet. It should be really easy on moving day to take those things out, vacuum, and call it good. (I would show you a picture, but he's napping in there right now.)

Next, we're going to do Dakota's room. This promises to be a bigger challenge because she does not like to get rid of ANYTHING! I spent about 15 minutes in there this morning packing up some stuffed animals and only managed to convince her to get rid of 2. She can tell you exactly where, when, and why she got all the rest of them. She's much better at getting rid of clothes she doesn't want, so I think we'll start with that when I go back in there this afternoon.

While I was working on that, Daniel was busy clearing out a corner in the den to pile all of the boxes into. Our goal is to have everything packed and moved into the room by the 29th so we can spend as little time as possible on the 30th putting it into the truck and finishing the cleaning.
Here's what we've done so far.
That yellow tub on the top is Landon's toys. The gray tubs on the floor are clothes that are waiting for Sierra to grow into them. At one time, I had clothes all the way from newborn to girls 16. I am very thankful for hand-me-downs that other people gave us. My girls had some really cute clothes! It was overwhelming for a while though. I didn't have anywhere to store them and I didn't really have time to go through them. Daniel and I spent a lot of time during Christmas Break this year sorting them and I used lots of my Christmas money to purchase tubs, so it's a lot better now. It also has helped that Sierra is the last girl in the family. Once she outgrows the clothes, I pass them on to Goodwill and out of my house! Right now, I only have sizes 5-16.

Our weekend hasn't been very exciting, but it has been very productive. I hope we can keep up this pace for the next couple of weeks. It sure would make moving day a lot less stressful.

Hope everyone else has had a good weekend as well.

Seven Quick Takes-June 11

I'm linking up again this week with Jennifer over at Conversion Diary for 7 Quick Takes Friday. Here are a few of the things we have been up to this week.

1)This week has been "library week" for us. We have been there three times this week for three different programs. Monday was Landon's story time while the two big girls browsed through the books. Tuesday we went to hear the storyteller for the Summer Reading Program (he was really good). On Thursday, I took the two youngest ones to watch Finding Nemo at the library. It's nice to have some fun, free entertainment this summer.

2)Last Saturday, Daniel, Landon, and I went to look at houses. Our plan right now is to move a mobile home in on his uncle's land, which is just down from his parents' house. We found a couple that we liked, but haven't finalized anything. We have to be out of this house in 19 days and so far we don't have anything to move into. I'm trying really hard not to worry about this because I know that God has already worked it out, but it's hard for me. Looks like we might be invading some of our family's guest rooms for a little while. :)

3)Saturday evening, we went to watch Emily and Danny's dance recital. There were only two little boys in Danny's tap class and they were sooooooo cute dancing up there in their suits next to the little girls in their blue tutus. Emily had three numbers-tap, hip-hop, and ballet. She did a great job. No matter how cute, my girls still will NOT be taking dance next year. I just can't do the costumes and make-up and three days of rehearsals for the recital. I'm glad they enjoy it though.

4)On Sunday, Grandma Debbie came to pick up Sierra for their vacation. They went with my uncle, aunt, and two cousins to Branson for a few days. She came home on Wednesday. I think she grew two inches while she was gone! This morning while she was coloring at the kitchen table, she said "my vacation was the best vacation ever!" so I guess she had fun.

5)When Grandma Debbie dropped off Sierra on Wednesday, she took the big girls for their vacation (Landon had his turn last month). They went to Oklahoma City for all kinds of activities. So far, they have gone to the science museum, Chuck E Cheese, and swam in the hotel pool a couple of times. This morning, they are headed to White Water. They should be nice and worn out by the time they get home tomorrow.

6)The past two days, I have only had two kids at home. It's been pretty peaceful. Landon and Sierra generally play pretty well together and entertain themselves when the other two are not here. We're all missing Dakota and Cheyenne this morning, though. It will be nice to be all under one roof again tomorrow.

7)My son continues to amaze me with things he can get into. This morning, he opened a dresser drawer in my room and found a tube of BB's that I didn't even know I had. Of course, they ended up all over the bedroom floor. He has spent most of the last hour picking them up. He decided that we should "work together" so he brought me the tube. His job is to pick up the BBs and bring them to me so I can put them in the tube. Every time he tries to hand some to me, half of them end up on the floor, so he has to pick them up again. I can't convince him that it would be easier to take the tube with him and just drop them in as he picks them up. He says, "but we have to use TEAMWORK!" So I guess we'll be at this for another hour more.

What have you been doing this week? Head over to Conversion Diary and link up.

Five Question Friday-June 11

Is it really Friday already? This week just flew by! It's been a blur of kids coming and going on vacation with grandma, cleaning, packing, and going to the library (we went 3 times this week). I'm ready for the weekend! Tomorrow will be the first Saturday that Daniel has been off AND we've been at home in a couple of months. I'm ready for it. There are so many things we need to be doing and just not enough time to get it done. I'm hoping to see a great big pile of packed boxes by the end of the weekend. Wish me luck!

Friday means it's time for Five Question Friday with Mama M. Head over there and check out everyone's answers-maybe even a few vlogs. It's tons of fun!

1. What do you think makes a good friend, or friendship?

Hmmmmmmm. This is something that's been on my mind a lot lately. I think I have the good friend part down, it's the friendship part the eludes me. I could write a whole post on this, but I won't. For now, I'll just say that a friend is someone who is there for you, whether physically or just in spirit, when you need them. Friendship is when this goes both ways, which is rare, in my experience.

2. What is the last thing you bought & later regretted?
Probably that dinner at Texas Roadhouse the other night. It sounded great at the time-we only had two kids at home instead of four, I didn't have to cook or clean up-but now I'd kind of like to have that $50 back. It was really yummy and the kids had a good time, but I'm not sure it was worth it.

3. Have you ever had a prank played on you?

I have a fear of clowns. Don't ask me why (okay, it may have something to do with this movie and this movie). When I was 10 or so, I inherited a clown doll that used to sit on the bed at my Great Grandfather's house. My dad used to like to put it in different places to scare me. I hated that thing!

4. What is your favorite theme park?
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Disney World! I love the magic of the characters and the shows. I've been there three times-once as a child, once as a teenager, and once as a parent with my kids. It was fun every time I went, but nothing is as great as watching your child's eyes light up as they "meet" their favorite characters for the first time. When we took the kids, Dakota was five and Cheyenne was two. Everything was magical to them. I can't wait to go back and experience it with Sierra and Landon too!

5. Have you ever seen someone else give birth?
I haven't, although I would like to. Maybe someday I will.

Seven Quick Takes

Our life has been a little less than exciting this week. Mostly, we have been cleaning and doing laundry trying to get ready to pack up and move in a few weeks. Here are seven of the less boring moments of our week.

1)Monday morning we headed out on our first adventure to the duck pond. We spent about an hour feeding the ducks and fish and walking around the OSU campus. It was a pretty good way to start the week. I posted pictures of our adventure here.

2)On the way home from the duck pond, one of the kids asked why we didn't go to the library (Monday is story time. Landon and I have been going every week for a couple of months). I explained that it was Memorial Day and the library was closed. A discussion began about Memorial Day as we drove home. On our way, we came upon a cemetery and the kids asked about all the flags. I decided to take a detour and drive through the cemetery so they could get a better look. I greatly underestimated how many people would be there. It was kind of tricky to navigate the narrow roads with all the cars. At one point, we tried to pass by a car that was parked half on and half off the road. Forgetting that it had rained the night before, I tried to go around. We didn't make it. Since we were on a hill, I decided that I could back down and go a different way. I asked Dakota and Cheyenne to look out their windows and let me know if I was on the road or grass. They both kept saying "You're on the road." I kept going only to feel my wheels start to spin again. They had both been looking straight out the back window rather than their sides! We were stuck! People were starting to notice us there and I didn't want to cause a scene, so the kids and I got out and started walking around like that was our plan all along. Ha! We spent 30 minutes or so looking around and talking. Finally, the other people cleared out and I decided to try it again. I had to work at it for a little while, but I finally got us out! I felt really bad about the muddy tire tracks I left, but I was so happy not to have to call my husband for help!

These things only happen to me!

3)Once we finally got our van out of the mud, I had to take the long way out of the cemetery to avoid anymore cars parked on the road. As we were driving, we found the "Angel's Garden", a place reserved for angel babies. I was blessed to be able to visit baby A. I worked with her mom when I taught at the girls' school. We weren't able to make the trip to visit my dad for Memorial Day. Visiting baby A. at least gave me some time to stop and reflect. It was a nice surprise.

4)Cheyenne had a double-header last night. I think her team slept through the first game. Lucky for them the other team wasn't on top of their game either, so they only lost 2-1. We had about 1 1/2 hours between games, so we grabbed some dinner at McDonald's before heading back to the ballpark. When we got there, some of girls from the team and some other kids were playing an impromptu game on an empty field. Cheyenne joined them and they played for about 30 minutes. I really thought they would wear themselves out before their game started, but it was just the opposite. They were all fired up when they came back to play! They ended up winning the second game 7-0! Go Thunder!

5)The first time Cheyenne got up to bat during the second game, she took a pitch to the shin. It was hard enough that I heard it hit her from where I was sitting. I was so proud of her though! She trotted off to first base like it was nothing and she actually ended up scoring later on. During the next inning I overheard her telling one of her teammates "it even left a mark." Of course, it was a different story when we got home. She told Daniel "Look, daddy. I got hit with the ball," complete with pouty face, dramatic sniff, and having to sit down because it hurt so bad. Ha! She knows where to go for sympathy.

6)I have a mystery in my house. I am trying to figure out where all the kids' clothes go between when I wash them and have the kids put them away and when they go to get dressed. I have spent this whole week doing load after load of laundry. Yet, when I went to my kids' closets to get clothes for our trip to McAlester this weekend, no one had anything to wear. Then I noticed that all of the laundry bags are full again. Surely, my angels would not be putting clean clothes back into the dirty laundry rather than putting it away, would they? We will soon find out.

7)Today is one of those days when I'm not so sure I like living in the country. This morning, Landon and Sierra were squealing about finding a daddy longlegs. We don't usually see those around here, so I went to investigate. What I found was not a daddy longlegs, but a fiddleback! I kind of freaked out. We captured it in a jar and I looked it up online to be sure. Then we looked up daddy longlegs to make sure the kids could see the difference.
Later, I sent Cheyenne out to get something from the van and she came back yelling about a snake under the van. I went out and looked, but didn't find anything. Hopefully that is our last critter sighting of the day.

Five Question Friday June 4

Woohoo! It's Friday! This week has passed in a blur. It's the first week of summer vacation and we have basically done nothing all week except Monday. It's been kind of nice just relaxing at home and my house is certainly much cleaner than usual, but I'm ready to get out and do something. Looks like I'll get my chance this weekend. We are off to look at houses this weekend and visit family in McAlester. Then, on Sunday, Sierra is off for a vacation adventure with Grandma Debbie. That should break up the boredom a little bit.

Friday means it's time for Five Question Friday with Mama M. Head over there to link up your answers and to read what everyone else has to say. It's fun!

Here are this week's questions:

1. If you could go back to college would you change your major? Or, if you were to go to college right now...what major would you choose?

There is NO WAY I would choose my major again. I love, love, love working with early childhood kiddos, but the rest of the stuff that comes with teaching public school was not worth it to me. I spent so much of my time and energy on other people's children that I had little left for my own kids.
If I had it to do over, I would choose to become an RN. I would love to work in labor and delivery or in the NICU.
But for now, I'm going to stick with being a stay at home mom. My family is much happier with me here.

2. What do you love most about your home?

This is a hard one for me right now. There are so many things about this house that I don't like. It's hard to choose something that I do. I think the one thing that I really do like about this house is it's location. We live about 1/4 mile from the nearest neighbor. Our house is surrounded by so many trees that you can't really see it from the road and wouldn't notice it unless you were specifically trying to find it. When you go outside at night, the stars are so pretty! We get visits from all kinds of creatures and in the evenings the wild rabbits scatter through the yard when the headlights of the van hit them. I can let my kids out to play in the yard and not feel like I have to watch them constantly for fear of someone trying to take them.
Ask me again in a month or so after we move. Hopefully there will be lots of things I love about my new house.

3. What types of books do you like to read (if you like to read at all)?

I love to read! I'll pretty much read anything as long as it isn't too scary or explicit. Right now, I'm hooked on Nicholas Sparks. It started when I read A Walk To Remember a while back and I've just kept picking up one after the other of his books every time I go to the library. I am currently reading At First Sight. I also love to reread books that I read as a child. I just returned Where the Red Fern Grows and the kids and I read The Mouse and the Motorcycle a month or so ago.
I don't really care for the "classics" so much.

4. What is the grossest thing you've ever eaten?

Hmmm...I don't eat things that are "gross". No bugs, etc. The closest I've come is eating alligator tail at a restaurant with my husband once. It was battered and fried, so it wasn't that bad. The grossest thing I've ever SEEN someone eat is when my husband ate frog legs on vacation. That and when he ate crawfish. Ewwwwwww!

5. If you HAD to be a character on a TV show, whom would you be?

I don't watch much TV, so I don't really know any current characters. I read in someone else's answers that they would be the mom from Seventh Heaven. I think I will copy her answer. Or maybe the mom from The Cosby Show. Any of those shows where your problems are solved in 30 minutes and then it's happily ever after.

See how much fun that is? Now go on over and link up!

Wednesday's walk-annual OSU pictures

During the summer, I try to find as many activities for the kids and I to do outside the house as possible. Staying at home is boring for me as much as it is for them and we all get along better when we have somewhere to go. Some of our favorite things to do are playing at the park, attending the summer reading activities at the library, visiting the zoo, swimming at the YMCA, and playing at the splash park.
Another place we like to visit once in a while is Theta Pond at OSU. We always take some bread with us to feed to the ducks and geese, then spend an hour or so walking around enjoying the campus. I enjoy telling the kids about the places where I spent so many hours during my college years and seeing how things have change in the 10 years (yes, TEN years, I can't believe it) since I graduated. I also feel like spending time on campus is a way to help them develop the desire to go to college. I love when I hear one of the say, "When I go to OSU, I'm going to..." I know that when the time comes they may choose to attend another university, and I'm okay with that. I just like that they are already setting that goal for themselves.
I love these pictures of the kids at OSU. You can really see how much they have grown over the last three years:

2008

2009

2010
I have to throw this one is as well. Can you tell which two did NOT want to sit by each other? I rearranged them for the above picture and got a little better smile out of them both, although you can definitely tell they are not genuine. Ha!
This pose was Landon's idea. It turned out much better, don't ya think?

I love this one! The ducks and geese weren't very interested in our bread, so we decided to feed it to the fish instead. The kids wanted to stick their fingers in the water and let the fish nibble on them. I didn't really want to fish anyone out of the pond, so I told them they could just look. They put themselves in order from youngest to oldest without thinking about it.
Here are some more pictures to show how much they've grown. These were taken on the steps of the Student Union.
2008-ages 10, 7, 4, and 2(almost 3)
2009-ages 11, 8, 5, and 3(almost 4)
2010-ages 12, 9, 6, and 4 (almost 5)

I remember how nervous it made me that first year when Landon and Sierra were up here and I was on the ground taking pictures. I had visions of one of them either falling through the railing to the ground or tumbling down the steps. This year, I was worried about them climbing over the railing. I must have said "keep your feet on the ground" ten times before they came down the stairs. Ha!

Our last stop of the day is always the fountain in front of the library. The kids like to put their hands in the cool water. I remember sitting on the edge of the fountain reading or studying on nicer days while I waited for my next class to start. I also remember spending many hours inside the library doing research for papers or checking my e-mail on the computers.

This is my favorite picture ever of the kids at the fountain.

Here they are this year.
If I know Dakota, she was wishing she had a book so she could sit there and read while listening to the water. She's a lot like me that way. I can't believe that it's only 6 short years until she'll be preparing to go off to college for real.

It's kind of sad to think that this might be the last year we get to take these pictures at OSU. Three hours is a long time to drive just to feed some ducks!

If you want to read what others are remembering today, head over to Jenilee's blog.