Mini vacation part 2-Lambert's

(I apologize now for the really bad quality of the pictures in this post. I forgot to bring in my camera, so these are from my phone)

Once we were all finished with the swim meet, we loaded up and headed out to Springfield. It didn't take as long as I expected, which was good. The kids and I passed the time mostly by sleeping in the van and we were there before we knew it.

We found a really great hotel (we had our own bedroom-nice!) and got checked in and unloaded. We hung out in the room for a while watching Disney Channel (we don't have cable-so that's a treat for us) in one room and grown-up TV in the other room (yes, TWO TV's! We thought we were in heaven-ha!), then got ready for dinner. We were going to Lambert's Home of Throwed Rolls.

We called ahead to see if we could get reservations, but sadly they don't allow that. The wait was TWO HOURS when we left our hotel. Wow! But we went anyway because that had been our plan when we decided on Springfield. By the time we got there, the wait was down to 1 1/2 hours-and it took the whole time. It was kind of neat though to see all those people waiting. I wish I had taken pictures outside. People pretty much expect to wait that long, so they come prepared. The people who were parked in front of use had a travel trailer and passed the time by cleaning it out-sweeping, etc. Our kids drew pictures, drank soda, and climbed all over the van.
Finally, it was our turn! We soon found out that it was worth the wait. The kids we so happy to find out that hot chocolate was a choice for their drink and they each had one (even though it was almost 100 outside). I think the appeal was more the whipped cream than the hot chocolate, but they enjoyed it.

Oh, and did I mention that it was HOT? (I love Dakota's face-she has burned herself before, so she was prepared.) Oh, the think on Chey's head? It was the ribbon off a box of pictures that I had in the van. She decided she would look "cute" with a bow in her hair. She tied it herself. It was vacation, who was I to argue with her choice of accessories. It did, however, "accidentally" find it's way into the garbage the next morning when I was cleaning and packing up to leave the hotel.

And this is Landon with his hot chocolate mustache. It's hard to see in the crummy picture, but he loved it so much I couldn't not post it.

Daniel and I ordered chicken fried steak. It can out in a HUGE skillet! We could have all six shared one order!

Then, came the fun part-the THROWED ROLLS! The roll guy comes out of the kitchen and yells "Hot Rolls!".
(Look closely, he's in the middle in the back)

Then all the people in the restaurant go crazy yelling and waving at him to throw one their way.

He's really good! All the kids got to catch at least one and I lost count of how many Daniel caught for us.

We only lost one or two to the floor, but that's part of the fun.

At the end of the meal, they brought around some sorghum molasses for the rolls. It was so good! We left Lambert's happy, stuffed and carrying our very own can of sorghum molasses! It was a great time!

Our mini vacation part 1-swim meet

Things around our family have been constantly changing for the last several years, especially the last five years since Sierra and then Landon have come along. We have moved three times, I have changed schools three times, and I have changed grade levels twice. Things have just been kind of "up in the air" for most of that time.
This has been the first summer in a really long time that everything in our lives has pretty much stayed the same. It's been nice. We've been able to get out and do a lot more things this summer-partly because all the kids are older and easier to manage by myself and partly because we haven't had to spend our whole time packing, moving, and unpacking. We've done quite a bit of organizing and simplifying, the kids have learned to be responsible for a few chores that really help me out (putting away folded laundry, vacuuming, and clearing the table are the best ones), and it's just been pretty relaxing for the most part.
It's also been nice to not be worried about finding a job. I know which school, what grade, and which room I will be in when school starts next week. I've even been able to go up during the evenings and work on my classroom sometimes. I feel like I'm more prepared than I ever have been for school before.
This is also the first summer in a long time (since Landon was born) that we have been able to take a "vacation" with our family. Just the six of us. So, a couple of weekends ago, we headed off to Springfield, MO for a quick overnighter and had a great time. It was so nice just to get away with the kids and have no real agenda or schedule other than to just have some fun and spend time together.
Our first stop was Dakota's summer state swim meet. She swam the 50m butterfly, the 50m backstroke, the 50m freestyle, and the 100m freestyle. She did well in all of them, but my favorite was the 50m butterfly. She had only swam it in one meet before state and I was really inpressed with how well she did. In her heat, she came in first (!) for her age group. That got her fifth place overall in the butterfly for her age! She has been swimming for less than a year, so I think that's pretty great. This is the video of her butterfly. Look for the white swim cap.

Wednesday's Walk-OSU

Ever since I can remember, there has been a kind of rivalry among my extended family-aunts, uncles, cousins-when it comes to colors. Some of us like red and some of us like orange. I'm referring to, of course, OU and OSU (Oklahoma University and Oklahoma State University). Around here, most people come down firmly on one side or the other, there isn't really any in between (unless one of the teams is playing Texas-then you are allowed to cheer for the other team).
I happen to bleed orange. Always have. Even before I understood what a college was or why you would go there, that's where I said I would go. Back then, it may have had something to do with wanting to irritate people and stir them up, who knows, but somewhere along the way it got stuck in my head that I needed to go to OSU. So, when the time came, that's what I did.
My experience at OSU was a little different than most. I was married when I came to OSU-we were married in July and I started my classes in August. I never lived in a dorm or a sorrority house. I lived off campus in a "house"-and I use that term loosely-with my husband. So, there were some experiences that I missed out on-I don't have all those "crazy room mate" stories to tell, no memories of people on my floor, didn't go to any parties. But I also missed out on making a lot of mistakes that so many kids make at college, which is a good thing. My focus was on my classes, my home, and my husband.
I started off at OSU planning to major in Psychology. Why psychology? I don't know. I think that I really didn't have any idea what I wanted to do but felt like I need to have an answer when people asked my what I was studying, so I decided that was a good one. I actually only took one psychology class at OSU. Anyway, when I was in my second year at OSU, I found out that I was pregnant with Dakota. It was then that I heard about the Early Childhood Education program. I immediately decided that was what I wanted to do. What could be better for someone who had kids than to be a teacher? So, for the rest of my time at OSU, that's what I studied.
I am so thankful for my the time I had when I was in college. Daniel worked very hard for us during that time (sometimes two jobs) so that after Dakota was born I didn't work again until after college. I still say that was the time when I was the best mom I've ever been. I would drop Dakota off for a few hours a day while I was at class, and then I was home with her the rest of the time. It was perfect. I got just enough of a break and some adult time each day and was free to enjoy my baby the rest of the time. Not that things weren't hard. But, looking back on it, it was all very much worth it.
I graduated in May of 2000 with a BS in Family Relations and Child Development. I earned my teaching certificate to teach Early Childhood-ages birth to age 8 (or PreK to 3rd grade in public schools). Here are some pictures for my graduation day.

Here I am! Yes, I was the nerd who wore the cords from every honor society I was in. But, hey, I worked hard to earn them and I was proud to wear them.

Daniel and I. We had already proven lots of people wrong by making it through those first 4 years (and by me actually graduating from OSU-married at 18 and with a baby at 20). 9 years later, we are still proving them wrong.

I did have a (very) few close friends at school. By our last year, we practically spent the entire day together every day. This is Brandon, Michelle, me, and Twila. Unfortunately, we haven't stayed in touch as much as I would like, but thanks for Facebook, it's getting better.

Here is the sea of graduates that day. I am out there somewhere!

And here I am with Dakota. Did I mention to you that she attened her first class at OSU when she was less than a week old? She was a smart girl from the beginning.

Not Me! Monday

If there is anything that you would like to confess to NOT doing this week, hop over the Mckmama's blog and link up with your own NOT ME Monday post.

It was NOT my family who waited for an hour and a half at a restaurant on our trip to Springfield, just to have someone throw rolls at us during dinner. It was NOT totally worth it. We did NOT all eat totally too much and then eat some more.

(Okay, this isn't my picture, I copied it from someone else. I forgot my camera that night so all the pictures are on my phone and I haven't figured out how to get them to my computer yet.)

It was NOT me who had to dig baby possums out of their dead mother's pouch so that they wouldn't die in the heat outside. If I had done that, though, I would have been very thankful for Daniels big, thick work gloves.

It was NOT my kids who ate 5 bags of popcorn (between the four of them) for dinner one night last week while I was working at school. I would never approve of such a thing. My kids always eat a perfectly balanced dinner. On that same night, I did NOT go straight from school to Wal-Mart for a grocery shopping trip and miss bedtime. Since the kids were going to be asleep when I got home, I did NOT stop at Sonic on the way and pick up burgers and ice cream for Daniel and I. We would NEVER eat something like that late at night and we would never eat that when the kids had eaten only popcorn for dinner. Really, who would do that?

I have NOT been working in my classroom already, even though I don't have to be there for another week. I am NOT totally in love with the Dollar Tree this year for carrying "teacher supplies." I do NOT go in there at least once a week to see what new things they have.

I did NOT accidentally set the alarm off at school on Saturday. It was NOT completely my fault for not filling in the sign-in sheet correctly making the other person think I had already left. I did NOT have to call my principal and tell him it was me. I was NOT totally embarrassed! It did not remind me of the time about a year ago when I thought I had set off the alarm to the office. I did NOT have to call the principal then also, only to find out what I was hearing was the alarm from the weather radio and not an alarm! I was NOT really hoping that he didn't remember that.

I did NOT totally forget that I was substituting for Sierra's Sunday School teacher until Saturday evening. I did NOT stop by the church and pick up the materials only to set them aside once I got home and forget to look at them. I did NOT try to read and drive on the way to church Sunday morning so I would know what the lesson was. The kids were NOT totally bored with the lesson because I didn't prepare anything to make it fun. I did NOT feel really bad about it.

I am NOT posting this picture of some kid I don't know.

I took lots of pictures of my own kids with the giraffe's on our trip to the zoo, so I would NOT post this one just because this is the best picture of the giraffe's tongue I have. I do NOT still crack up when I look at it and remember that giraffe licking everyone that walked by hoping they had some food for him. We did NOT have a great time on that trip and I will NOT be doing a post about it later today (or maybe I will, you'll just have to stop back by and see.)

Getting to know me...for Lynnette's blog

Okay, I'm REALLY not good at this. When I go into an interview, the question I dread the most is "Tell me about yourself." But, I'll give it a try...

1. I am an only child. I always wanted to have a brother or sister when I was growing up, so I totally don't get some of the things my kids say and do to each other. I'm just praying that someday they will appreciate their siblings. Other people have assured me that this will happen.
2. My husband and I have been married for 13 years. In that time, we have lived in 8 different houses. That's an average of less than two years in each house...I have boxes that we have moved at least 3 times and never unpacked.

My goal is to stay in this house for at least 3 years and break the cycle...We'll see.

3. I am a reader. But, I have to be very careful to limit myself. Once I get started on a good book, I can't put it down. If I'm not reading it, I'm thinking about it. So, I don't read during the school year (for pleasure anyway). I read the first three Twilight books in about 24 hours each and the entire series in just over a week.

My oldest daughter inherited this reading gene from me (along with the gene for keeping everything neat and organized-or not).

4. This is my 9th year to teach. I change grades and school as much as I change houses. I taught one year of second grade, two years of first grade, two years of kindergarten, and three years of PreK so far. Last year was the first time I taught the same grade 3 years in a row. This will be only the second time ever that I will be teaching the same grade in the same school for two years in a row.

5. Even with all that change, some things do stay the same. The pants I am wearing today I have had for 8 years (although I have retired them from being seen in public now). They are super comfy and I love them.6. I have a love/hate relationship with storms. I am terrified of tornados and used to have nightmares regularly about them. But, I love to look at pictures of them. I think they are really kind of pretty (if you ignore the fact that they are very dangerous). I judge the severity of a coming storm by which weather guy is on at the moment. I know that if certain ones are there, I am in no immediate danger. However, if Gary England is on, you know things are going to be serious...My husband finds a lot of humor in my theory about this.

7. I am terrified of spiders, even little tiny ones.

8. I love my job as a teacher (most days), but my dream is to someday be a nurse. When my kids aren't so little and can handle me going back to school, I hope to have a chance to make it happen.

9. I have issues with my feet, always have. I don't like socks, but I wear them when I have to. If my socks get out of place, I have to immediately stop and and fix it, even to the point of pulling my car over when I'm driving. I can't stand it! I also can't stand to see someone else wearing their socks wrong, so I can't watch when my kids put on their own socks. A favorite game at my house is for someone to come by and tug on the toe of my sock. Makes me crazy! If not that, then someone will come over just to show me that their socks are on wrong.

10. I am a planner and a list maker, but not necessarily a "doer". I constantly have a list of things I need to do for the day. I even go so far as to "schedule" my day, hoping that it will motivate me to get things done. It doesn't work. I always get distracted or things take longer than I planned. I've always said that I would love to write curriculum for teachers because I can come up with some really great lesson plans. The part where I fall short is in the preparation. I purposely put writing this post at the top of my to do list for today so that I didn't have to feel guilty about it :)

Hooray, I did it! Now, you do your and link up with Lynnette so everyone can get to know you better too!

Cheyenne's story

A friend of mine from college and his wife just had a brand new baby boy on Sunday! I haven't gotten to see Baby E. yet, but I'm sure he's beautiful. He came a little early (at 34 weeks), so he's going to stay in the hospital for a few more days before he comes home.

Reminds me of another baby that was born at 34 weeks.

This is Cheyenne.
Looking at her now, you would never know that she was a premie baby. She looks like any other 8 year-old little girl. She's healthy and happy and a pretty typical middle child.
But, she didn't start out that way. Cheyenne arrived in January of 2001 at a couple days shy of 35 weeks. Here is the not-so-short version of her story. (Don't say you weren't warned)

I went to bed Friday evening not feeling real great, but not feeling like I was in labor either. But at about 6 o'clock Saturday morning, it was confirmed that Cheyenne was on her way when my water broke. I woke everyone up, called Dakota's sitter to meet us at the hospital (I blame her for Cheyenne coming early because she said on Friday "if you have that baby tomorrow, call me and I'll watch Dakota for you-ha!), and got ready for the hospital. Since it was over a month early, we didn't have a suitcase packed or anything, so we just went without anything.
When we got there and were hooking me up to all the monitors, IV's, etc they were having a hard time keeping Cheyenne's heart on the monitor. I was pretty concerned and asked the nurse if that was a bad sign. She said " She's still small enough to have a lot of room to move around in there, so she just keeps changing position away from the monitor" (I laugh at that now). I was kind of reassured by that, and tried not to worry.
Anyway, I'll spare you all the details of labor, but in just over 6 hours from the time my water broke, Cheyenne arrived! I looked down and the first thing I said was "Oh, she's so tiny!" The doctor actually laughed at me! He said "This baby is HUGE!" And she was-8lbs 10 oz! (I had gestational diabetes, which contributed both to her being early and to her being big). I remember feeling like it took forever for her to cry. She finally did and she was breathing, but not well. The nurse brought her over for just a few seconds, and then she was off to the nursery.
I didn't get to see her again for about 5 hours. Everyone kept coming in and telling me how pretty she was and some of the things that were going on-I know they spared me some of the details, which was probably a good thing-but it wasn't the same. She was under the oxygen hood and was doing pretty well.
I can't remember how long she stayed in the nursery. I think until the next morning. She did finally get to come into my room, just like any other baby. She was connected to a pulse-ox monitor, but nothing else out of the ordinary. She stayed in my room that night and was doing well enough the next day that they moved us into a regular room.
On Monday evening, I was nursing her and her monitor started to alarm. The nurse came running in and snatched her up from me saying something about her coloring not being right, and ran her down to the nursery. I didn't know what to do or what to think. I was by myself because everyone else had gone to run various errands. Anyway, eventually, we were told that Cheyenne would be transferred to another hospital and would be in the NICU. The ambulance was already on it's way.
They got there and pulled the curtains in the nursery so we didn't really know what was going on. It took forever to get her ready to go because they had a terrible time getting an IV started. Finally, they brought her out for us to say goodbye. We were not allowed to ride in the ambulance with her. They told us that it would take some time for them to get to the hospital (it's an hour away) and get her set up, so we should go home and get some things together and take our time getting there (yeah right). We ran home, threw some things in the car, and took off. We didn't even think to grab the camera, so I don't have any pictures of her until we got home.
Being in the NICU was such a scary thing! The lights and monitors and wires and beeping and all the rows and rows of sick babies. It was heartbreaking. I will never forget the first few moments we were in there. The nurse walked us over to where they had Cheyenne and as we were walking, I noticed a mother a few beds down surrounded by several doctors/nurses. She was crying. One of the doctors said "What questions do you have?" She answered back "I just want to know if my baby is going to DIE!" That hit me really hard. I knew Cheyenne was very sick to be in the NICU. I knew that being a premie was not a good thing. But it had never really crossed my mind until that moment that she truly could die...that thought stayed with me the rest of the time we were in the NICU.
Those days in the NICU are kind of a blur. Daniel had just begun a new job and was taking classes at OSU that semester, so he had to go back home. He came up a time or two when we could, but his job was the graveyard shift, so it was really hard for him to find the time to go to work, go to class, drive an hour each way, and still SLEEP. My mom stayed a little, but mostly she went to her home and took care of Dakota. My dad was there the most. I remember trying to come up for every feeding, even though I had milk stored from the couple of days she wasn't allowed to eat. The nurses finally told me not to come up for the 3:00am feeding because I was going to need to be rested when she came home and they weren't there to help me. So I didn't go for the last couple of nights. I stayed a few nights at the Ronald McDonald House-what a wonderful place!
Poor Cheyenne had jaundice and had to be "under the lights" for a couple of days. Between that and keeping track of her blood sugar because of my diabetes, her little heels were stuck so many times I lost count. They were't able to keep an iv in her arm because she pulled it out, so she ended up with IV's in her head (a very scary sight if you are unprepared for it). In this picture, you can see where they gave her a "haircut" before they put the IV in and her little head is still kind of bruised.
Cheyenne was in the NICU for 7 days. (Nothing compared to what some people have to endure, but enough for me). We brought her home when she was ten days old. She had an apnea monitor that ensured us that she was breathing and her heart was beating. I was so nervous that I wouldn't hear it that I ended up sleeping on the couch for months while she slept in her car seat right next to me. Thankfully, I only remember it ever giving a true alarm once. All it took was to undress her a little and wake her up for everything to go back to normal She wore the monitor until she was 8 months old. If you look closely at this picture, you can see the leads from her monitor down by her left leg.Cheyenne has had no lasting effects, as far as we can tell, of being premature. The one exception is possibly her eyesight. She is extremely far-sighted. They say that's unusual for a child and it isn't common in our family. She's worn glasses since she was 4, but looking back, probably needed them long before that. Here she is the day she got her glasses.
I will always have so much respect and gratitude for all the doctors and (most of all) the nurses who work in the NICU. I'm sure that we wouldn't have Cheyenne here today if not for their hard work and wisdom in taking care of her. Thanks to them, we get to enjoy moments like these

with Cheyenne today.

And, what fun would our lives be without that smile?

If you would like to participate in Wednesday's walk or would like to what others have remembered today, go to Lynnette's blog and check it out.

To the rescue!!!

I'm not much of an animal person. I used to be. We used to have a dalmatian that lived with us in our one bedroom "house" when we were first married and he even slept in our bed. When I was little, I wanted to be a veteranarian. Since I've had kids, though, all I see when I see a puppy or a kitten is all the work that I will have to do once the new wears off. Don't get me wrong, I still think they're cute.

I love going to the zoo and seeing the animals there, but I'm glad that they stay there and don't have to come home with me.

Plus, I live with a hunter.

I used to hate that, but I've gotten used to it. I've even learned to eat the deer that he brings home (notice I said eat, not necessarily like) and it has saved us tons of money on groceries by having it in the freezer. And, although I could never kill anything myself, it doesn't really bother me anymore when he does-as long as I don't have to watch.

We live in the country and often get "critters" that come up around our yard. We have tons of bunnies, some raccoons, once in a while we see a deer. The other day I saw our dog wrestling with an armadillo and a couple of weeks ago, the kids and I rescued a little mole from the him as well. Surprisingly, I can't remember ever seeing a skunk out here... I love seeing all the little creatures and showing them to the kids. There is one animal, though, that I just can't stand to see in our yard-a possum. Possums are just creepy. We had several last year that would come up and eat the dog's food on the porch and they were just disgusting. I leave it to my husband to "deal with" the possums.

But, as much as possums disgust me, I just couldn't resist these little guys.

The mother was lying out in our driveway this morning when the kids and I left to make a run into town. The dog was lying next to her so I was watching him to make sure he was out of my way and I noticed a couple of them crawling around her. I called Daniel and he said he would get them when he came home for lunch.

When the kids and I got home, it was still about an hour before Daniel's lunch break. It was really hot out and I just couldn't stand the thought of them being out there roasting in the heat or starving to death without their mother. So I grabbed a laundry basket and some gloves and went out to rescue them. I only expected a couple, but all together, there were FIVE little baby possums! They were pretty lethargic and I didn't think they were going to make it at first. Against my better judgement, I brought them in so the kids could see them. Once they were inside where it was cool, they perked up and started crawling all around. As ugly as possums are, these little babies were CUTE!

(Sorry the video is so bad. I should have turned the light on.)

I wasn't sure what to do with them, so I called a friend from church. We once had found a baby raccoon and she had taken it a raised it, so I thought I would check with her first. She said that possums were too much like rats (I agree) and she didn't really need them.
So, instead, I called the Vet clinic at OSU. It's a teaching hospital, so I thought they might take them for their students. Sure enough, they said I could bring them in. So the kids and I loaded back up in the van and drove them over.

When we got there, I had to sign some papers saying I would "donate" them to the school while they were getting the babies all set up in the back. The secretary looked at them and said "You know, they are almost cute when they're this little. Too bad they'll be possums when they grow up." I thought that was funny coming from the vet's office. I thought they loved all animals there. (ha!)

The tech came out and said that they looked good and they were going to get them fed. She said they were likely 10-14 days old (their eyes were just starting to open). She gave me her card so that we can call and check up on them in a few days.

So, I've done my good deed for the day. Plus, my husband got a good laugh at the thought of me saving possums, of all things, so I guess it was worth it. Hopefully, it will be "critter" free around our house for a while. With my luck, we'll end up with baby skunks next!!!