Stay Cool

In the name of staying cool, but still getting outside we got around to one of my pinned kid activities.  My sister-in-law had reminded me of this one during our visit so I finally did it.

I want to point out that I begged Lorelai to let me take those pants off, but she was NOT going to take them off for anything.  They have Elmo all over them.
 Gabriel was a big fan of this activity.
 Lorelai was more interested in the squeeze bottle itself.
 He learned quickly that if you aimed the warm water at the objects you could melt them out faster.  Bright boy!
 Lorelai learned that she could make puddles to jump in if she squirted it on the ground.  HA!

Dog Days of Summer

Today we were up at 114 degrees.  Yes, 114 degrees.  Ugh.  I wish I could just sit around in the air conditioning...but those cute kids of mine keep asking to go play outside.  What gives?!

So, we had some popsicles and played in the kiddie pool.  Good times.  Seriously...with the misters Brian installed on the porch it's actually not too insanely bad.




Peek-A-Boo!


Off to the Wood's

Last weekend our family drove down to the Dallas area for a LONG overdue visit with the Wood family.  It had been an entire year!!!  One of the advantages of moving was supposed to be that the cousins could see each other more frequently.  Ummm...yeah.  We need to be better about that.

Everyone had a great time, despite the shortness of the visit.  Barrett enjoyed showing Gabriel all of his Superhero toys and seemed especially pleased that Gabriel came with a bunch of Spiderman clothing.  He was kind enough to share his Spiderman mask with Gabriel.

 Cousin hugs are some of the best hugs!  They were great little pals together.
After Barrett removed the Spiderman mask for Gabriel he exclaimed, "Look!  It's Peter Parker."  Gabriel replied, "I not Peter Parker!  I'm Gabriel."
 Caroline has grown so much!  She is a sweet little thing and tried her best to keep up with the other 3.

Lorelai was busy being shy.  It's a common thing for her these days.  She warmed up to the boys, but she seemed afraid that Caroline may snatch her treasured Ladybug Girl Doll away from her at any moment.

We did try to get a picture of the kids together.  This is the best one I could get.

Shockingly Lorelai did let Caroline hold her doll for a minute or so.  I was so proud of her.  That's not easy for her to do.  Being her safety toy we don't force her to share that particular doll.  Other toys of course.  Just not that specific one.

However...it was short lived.  She seemed to go by the philosophy of, "If I can't see you, you can't see me."


See her hiding LBG?  lol

Poor Caroline.  She tried so hard to make friends.  Lorelai just kept giving her the shifty eyes.


But, in the end they were able to get along.  :)  And I know it will only get easier for them as they get older.  They're both still so little.

On Sunday we had a nice lunch at Rainforest Cafe.  Well, the girls weren't big fans.  They never cried, but were certainly freaked out by it.  So, I always had my hands full and didn't get a chance to take pictures there.

Hope we can get together again soon-ish!  Gabriel is currently typing an "e-mail" to Barrett on his iPad.  I think he misses his cousin.  ;)

Lorelai - 1st Haircut!

Yesterday I decided I couldn't take the long scraggly hair on my daughter's head anymore.  If she would let me put it in a ponytail or pigtails regularly (she screams her head off if I try) I would have left well enough alone.  But, she won't even let me put a bow in it...not a headband.  Nuthin'.  And it was getting that stringy look, no matter how you brushed it it just looked limp and sad.  Like she had just rolled out of bed.

Now, she's had her bangs trimmed by me before.  So they wouldn't be in her eyes, but this was her first serious haircut.

She LOVED it.  She was all smiles and giggles the entire time.  I told her she got a lollipop at the end, and she's seen Gabriel get haircuts so I think both of those things helped.

I felt a bob was in order.  The front sides just aren't keeping up with the rest of her hair so I wanted to give it a chance to even out a bit as it grows.  The "stylist" did cut a little bit shorter than I had wanted, but it still turned out really cute.

 My mom mentioned that I had a similar haircut when I was little, and she shared it with me.  Yeah, Lorelai and I couldn't look anymore like twins unless you dyed my hair.


Isn't that crazy?!  She's like my little carbon copy.  And since I think she looks like my mom I guess people must be right all of these years when they say I look like my mom as well.  I wonder if my mom had this haircut so we could compare her as well.  :)

To complete the look they gave her a bow...
 and some princess sparkles.  :)

She looks like such a big girl now!  She's almost 2 for cryin' out loud.  How did that happen?!

I still need to get up pictures of our visit with Matt and his family.  Hopefully I'll get around to that this weekend.  But, I just had to share this cuteness.  :)

Staying Cool

Well, summer is most definitely here, along with the 100+ temperatures.  We spend a lot of time inside right now.  We do try to get outside after dinner so the kids can play, but days are LONG.  I'm ready for autumn already.

But, staying inside has it's perks.  It's great for taking naps under a recently completed quilt (this one has quickly become a family favorite):


I actually was just drifting into a blissful slumber in this picture, and then my husband took this picture. Woke me up, and then Gabriel came running out from his nap a few short minutes later.  : /  I rarely try to take a nap so I was a bit peeved at the time.  It is a sweet photo though...my little nap pal over there camouflaged on the couch.

During hot weather days I also go to get my hair done at the fabulous Lorelai Salon.

She's been working on her up-dos.  She's making fabulous progress.

This weekend an old high school pal of mine was in town visiting.  Such fun!  I wish more of my TX friends would come to visit.  I miss them.  I hope to find a time to meet up with Brooke in the Dallas area.  Yesterday Gabriel had a temperature of 103.  :(  Today he seems fine though.  No fever or any other signs of illness other than a stuffy nose.  We're taking it easy.

A Bit of This & That

Just playing some catch up.  Nothing terribly exciting happening around the house these days.  It's starting to get up into the 90s here.  Starting.  I love it.  Don't miss TX weather in the least!

So we had some fun in the pool.  (Pardon the unedited photos.)




Not only did we have Father's Day to celebrate, but Brian and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary.  We decided on sprucing up the family room a bit with a new coffee table and end table.  LOVE it.  Check out those neat casters!
 And last night I finished Gabriel's nap mat.  It has jars filled with snakes (he's very into snakes right now), bugs, turtles...all things boy.  :)  He loves it, and the blanket is in blue.  His favorite color.

Lorelai's 1st Day of School

Lorelai started school on Wednesday of this week.  While pretty excited at the idea originally, she wasn't having any of it that morning.  Playing on the nap mat I had finished the night before was a brief bit of enjoyment that morning.


But, once it was time to pack up to go she wasn't as happy.

That was the best picture I could get of her.  She then came to sit in my lap.  Gabriel was trying really hard to tell her how fun school was.

But, there was no convincing her.  So, we moved on to the car.  None of the kids were interested in chatting.  So it was a solemn drive to school.  We got there, and Gabriel said, "Lorelai, you go to school today."  Of course she responded, "No!"  Gabriel then proceeded to tell me she said no.  He told her again that she was going to school.  She replied "Mmm.  Mm."  This upset him further.  I said it was probably best just not to talk about it.

So we got inside.  Dropped of Gabriel first.  He did so well, trying to show Lorelai school wasn't scary.  Very proud of my big boy!!!  I dropped Lorelai off next.  She was a basket of tears the lasted for about 20 min.

The next day she still cried but did even better.  Here is what I have learned about Lorelai at school...she listens well.  She does NOT nap, but will lay on her nap mat resting quietly.  She eats every piece of food I pack for her.  And he does not like the other kids to touch her doll.  No hitting, but she will not hesitate to loudly yell, "My doll!" at them.  Well, at least she's not hitting.  Not that she's a hitter, but you know.  You don't want to have "that kid" in the class.

Mommy has been busy busy busy on her first two days off.  But, I did manage to meet Brian for lunch on Wednesday.  Tonight is the OKCMQG quilt show and as a show coordinator I have had a lot to do the last couple of days.

What a great and busy week we're having!

Touch A Truck 2012

We made sure to attend the 2012 Edmond Touch a Truck Event, as last year Gabriel seemed to enjoy it.  Things didn't start off too great.  Gabriel was being cranky and would only run up to the trucks and touch them with one finger.  And most of the time wouldn't go near them at all.

So I whipped out the snacks.  The power of food!  :)
 That's better!  :)  
The back of a UPS truck.



Lorelai was less than thrilled with all of the honking horns and sirens.  She kept crying, "It's loud!"  Poor thing.

This dump truck was huge!!!  He honked the horn and everything!
 The best  part of the day though was when he got to sit in the Garbage Truck!!!  He LOVES the garbage truck.  Loves.  If you'll remember, I think I mentioned it on here, that he made our garbage man brownies for Valentine's Day because he loves him.  So sweet!


Unfortunately, the trash man's lights were dimming, someone mentioned it to him, and he reached in and turned the engine on while Gabriel was in the truck.  Happiness came to an immediate stop, panic took over, and he scrambled out as fast as his little body could take him.

But, we went around and saw a few more things.  He ended up really enjoying himself.  And Lorelai was really happy when we were done.  All in all a good morning!  :)

VACATION (Oh, and I photographed a wedding)!!!

Last week Brian and I went to Disney World for a vacation.  (He was the best man in his BFFs wedding in Florida.  More on that in a bit.)  I won't lie.  It was hard being away from the kids.  Gabriel even told me he loved me for the first time the night before we left...I had to choke back tears.  But it was restful, fun, and much needed.  It was nice to have a chance to get to know Brian again as a husband, and not just as the father of my children and provider of the moo-la.  ;)  (I honestly have no idea how to spell "moo-la".)

So...we have no pictures from our trip.  I wanted to enjoy it fully.  Not be lugging my camera with me everywhere snapping pictures of everything.  Trust me...when we go back to Disney in October you'll get your fill of Disney pictures then.  We had some fabulous dinners, slept in, read books written for grown ups in the daylight hours.  It was insanity I tell you.  Of course my mom had it all under control back at the house with the kids...I know because I called her every day to enquire.  lol  I knew she would, but it set my mind at ease.

Of course I snapped these pictures before we left so I could look at my precious kiddos when I missed them:



 
She looks JUST LIKE my mom!!!!
As I mentioned, the reason for our visit was for Steve and Clara's wedding.  It was a sweet intimate affair.  Only immediate family and Brian and I were present.  Two days before we left Steve called to ask if I'd be the photographer for their ceremony/reception.  AAAHHHH!!!  I am NOT a professional photographer, and would never claim to be.  But, when a friend asks...you can't say no.  I'm quite pleased with the results overall though.  Luckily, I've been through the wedding photograph thing on my own special day so I had some ideas already.  Here are just a few (all right...I had trouble choosing, but trust me...there are a lot more than this) of the highlights from their special day.  I hope they like them!!!

They chose to have their wedding in a garden setting.  It was lovely, but CRAZY sunny and hot.  Poor Steve...Clara kept wiping his face off because he was so warm in his suit.









Originally the top of the fountain jutted right out of the top of Steve's head in this picture.  It looked odd.  So, I "magically" removed the top of the fountain.  Much better.  I considered removing the entire fountain, but since they did get married in front of it...it seemed wrong to remove the entire thing.
 After the ceremony they didn't really have an isle to walk down so they took a stroll together through the garden.  Upon their return they did this:
 it makes me chuckle!  :)  It was a great moment.

So natural and lovely.  I love when a bride doesn't do a big up-do.  I prefer when a bride wears her hair similarly to how she wears it in every day life...just kicked up a notch.
 You'll notice that the garden shots are a lot brighter and bolder.  This was for two reasons.  It's really hard to compete with that super bright sun, so it's best to just go with it.  Also, I wanted these quieter moments to have a more peaceful, romantic feel to them.
There was this awful black and gold plaque right above this bench with giant gold pine cones on it.  UGLY!  And through the magic of photo editing...POOF!  Be gone eye scorching plaque.

This was the entire group...wedding party and guests.  :)  (Well, the exception of me of course...someone had to take the picture.  :))

 See, I was there.  ;)  Steve's aunt was so sweet and made sure to steal my camera away to get me in some shots.

 I find that I'm a big fan of detail shots.  It sort of helps you to have a full picture of the day I think.  All of the little things add up to make the big day just right.
 These little penguins are so sweet.  They were the cake toppers.  Clara and Steve painted them and had them fired/glazed.  Clara then added the accessories.  Part of the reason they were chosen is because penguins mate for life.  Very sweet, and a nice personal touch.  That's a hard thing to do at a destination wedding.  On the back they say "Just Married" when put side by side.



 She got him.  It was great!

I hope they like these, and all of the other bazillion photos I have for them.  I was really honored to be the photographer, and just hope that I filled the shoes well.  :)

Best wishes to Steve and Clara!!!  We love you.

Oh...and those kiddos of mine...just as cute as can be.  I've enjoyed being home again.  Now...anyone want to come watch them again?  ;)  I kid.  I kid.  Brian is out of town this week and next on business.  At least I'm well rested???  HA!

Hello Warm Weather

I got to dump the sand out of the sand/water table.  YESSSS!!!!!!!!  Only a parent would understand the excitement of that.  It's warm enough most days for water play now, so we traded off.  Now I only have to worry about drowning.  : /  Well, at least I won't have sand in the house?  Don't worry.  I watch them like a hawk with that table open.

Sorry it's been so long since an update.  It's so hard to remember to take pictures of us doing the same ol' things day in and day out.

First up we have one from a week or so ago.  I hope she learns how to eat and put on her make up in a more ladylike manner when she gets older.
 Okay...now for the water table.  Gabriel is helping with his class garden at school and is very into planting flowers in the front flower beds at the house.  So of course when I found this cheapy watering can for him he wanted to make his own garden.

 This mostly consisted of making a giant mud puddle.  Lorelai enjoyed assisting.  Later Gabriel not only sunk both of his shoes into this giant mudhole (thanks to Paisley's incessant digging) but later tripped in it and scraped up his knee.
When not assisting Lorelai enjoyed posing for the camera.

She really enjoys the camera these days.  She thinks she's a princess.  She has taken to calling herself "princess" when she wakes up in the morning..."Me!  Princess!!!"  Apparently she's now aware of her cuteness.  Heaven help us!

 Gabriel ever the sensitive soul, didn't want Scout to feel left out of the fun.  Poor Scout.

 I swear Lorelai is just a little tornado of crazy!  lol  Bless her heart!!!  You can't help but love her adventurous little soul.
 And this guy...well, pirate face aside...he's just growing up into such a sweet lovable guy.  And I'm really enjoying his love of all things flora and fauna.
I hit the jackpot with these two.  Although even with the sweetest of little angels this Mommy needs a break.  Brian and I are headed on vacation for a friend's wedding in Florida.  My mom will be watching the kiddos and holding down the fort here.  Can't wait to pick her up at the airport this afternoon!  (And I won't lie...get to sleep in for a WEEK!!!!)  Don't get too excited for me though.  Brian will promptly go out of town for 2 whole weeks upon our return from Florida.  See...I need a vacation to prep myself.

I sure will miss these two precious little faces during that week though!  Now excuse me while I go remind myself not to buy ever Toy Story and Princess and/or Fairy thing I see for these kids while I'm away.

Easter 2012

We had a fun quiet Easter weekend.  Grandma Cherlyn and Grandpa Greg joined us on Friday after quite an ordeal with their incoming flight.  We were so glad to celebrate with them.  On Saturday I spent the day at the OKCMQG Sew Day...possibly one of the greatest inventions ever and I think we need one at least once a month!!!  ;)

On Easter the kids got to explore their baskets...the Easter Bunny is trying to cut back on the candy and mostly give books, some movies, a doll, and a video game.  (P.S. Have you seen the Disney Princess Animator's Collection Dolls?  Quite possibly some of the cutest dolls created.  Lorelai got Snow White.  I think I like it more than she does.  It's sad, but true.)

We went to church as a whole family...I won't lie...it made me so happy!  After church we came home and had an Easter Egg Hunt.  Gabriel was AMAZING!  Lorelai mostly enjoyed throwing the eggs.


 Doesn't Brian look handsome all dressed up?!
 After the Grandparents left we enjoyed some egg dying.  We used the Kool-Aid method again.  I wasn't as pleased with my color choices this year, but it was still fun and smelled really nice too boot.

Shockingly in this picture Lorelai is using a spoon.  She mostly used her hands.
Gabriel did a great job all on his own.  I just helped to dry the eggs a bit for him when he was done.  I can't believe how much he has changed since last Easter.  Such a big boy!

Gabriel's 3rd Birthday Celebration

We had the good fortune to celebrate Gabriel's birthday with his Grandma Wood in town for a visit.  :)  The day got off to a great start.  Gabriel woke up to a pile of presents to unwrap...which Brian had to run and wake me up for as he went straight to them and began opening.  lol

He is now the proud owner of a scooter like the older boys next door (well, this one is a tricycle version of a scooter). 
 For his birthday we headed out to the aquarium in Tulsa.  He just loves all animals.  Reminds me of me.
 Lorelai on the other hand was more content to hang back with Grandma Wood.  No horse shoe crabs for her, thank you very much.  lol
 I can't get over how big he is getting...
 There were some quiet moments at home attacking Grandma Wood with rubber snakes...
 And we hit up the park...

All in all it was a great birthday weekend for our little 3 year old.  :)

Happy Birthday to my BIG Boy!

On Friday last week Gabriel turned 3!  3!!!  It's funny...I can look back at pictures and think...that's when he started looking less like a baby.  But, now I look at pictures and think, oh my goodness he is beginning to look like a kid.  I mean, I know he's a kid, but he looks like a kid!!!  Like he goes to school (yup, he does) and uses the potty (yup, he does), and can carry a conversation (yup, he does..sort of).  He can undress, and almost completely dress himself, name colors, count....  Somewhere along the line I blinked and my baby boy became a BIG boy.  And he is VERY eager to tell you what a big boy he is these days.

I have a lot more pictures to share (my mom was in town to celebrate with us).  But, I just want to leave you with a few gems of my big boy.  :*)  I can't help but tear up a bit.  3 years ago I was holding a wee little babe in my arms and now I can barely pick this squirmy, pre-school aged, kiddo up:

 This kiddo is such an amazing little package.  The things listed in the picture above are just what he likes.  What does his mommy love about him?  His spectacular little voice that I'm so glad I get to hear now, his cuddles, his quiet way of taking everything in, his smarty pants little brain, his love of nature big and small...oh, I could go on and on.  But, more than anything I love that he is him.
Seriously...who couldn't love this?!:

Am I a lucky duck or what?!!!  I'm still thinking about taping bricks to their head to see if it will slow the aging process down (on good days at least).  ;)

It doesn't look like either one of my kids plans to stay a baby for long.  Little Miss 1 1/2 Years Old is doing her very best to keep up with her big brother.  Hold on little girl...you have plenty of time to grow up.

I hear there are great things to come though.  And if the future holds as many fabulous moments as the last 3 have...bring it on!  :)

Parental Challenges: Religion

There are so many things that are challenging for me as a parent, and some things that come easily to me.  One thing that is unexpectedly challenging for me is religious upbringing.

I grew up in a Catholic home.  I always looked at it as...I'm Catholic. I didn't give it much thought pre-college.  I mean I thought about religion...I just took for granted that I was Catholic...and didn't really think about other Christian denominations.

But, parenting religiously?  It's a hard thing to do.  Brian is not Catholic.  That didn't phase me before.

HA!  How little I knew back then.  Do you ever wish you could go back in time and tell yourself things?  This is one of those things.  It wouldn't have changed my marrying Brian, but I would have better prepared ourselves, myself, for the future responsibilities I was to face.

So, along come kids, and how fun it is to take a baby to church.  Really...I liked it.  Everyone doted on them and talked about how sweet and cute they were/are.  Then they hit the toddler years and you just feel overwhelmed.  They don't want to sit still...they get bored...oy!  But, I didn't feel like the nursery was a place for my kids at church.  If they're going to come, they're there for a reason, once baptized they are members of the church so they should be in church.  And I like the idea of family being together in church.

Truly...my kids are REALLY well behaved in church.  I'm very blessed, but even with one or both (yes, I have taken both!) with me things still feel off.  I am surrounded by families consisting of not just mom ands kids but dads.  I have never felt so...alone.  I took for granted that my family all went together all of those years.  And a heavy weight began to sit on my shoulders.  The realization that I have a VERY big responsibility before me.  Much bigger than past me ever could have realized.  You worry so much about their physical and mental health that you sometimes lose sight of their spiritual well being.

Now I would NEVER force Brian to go to church with me.  He does go on Easter and Christmas with us.  But, as our kids get older I want them to know that religion, faith, means something to their parents.  And what better way to model that then to pray at home, have conversations about God, and to go to church.

But, with Brian's discomfort with the Catholic Church I have really struggled lately with "is this where my family belongs".  I don't by any means agree with all of the Catholic man-made teachings.  I do understand that with any ancient organization it will take a looong time to create change though.  So, do I abandon the Catholic Church for something different.  And when I look at other churches online or through talking to others they just don't sound right for me.  I belong in the Catholic church...this came to me through a lot of prayer, talks with my mom, and a lot of research.

This didn't solve my family dilemma though.  More often than not both kids are clamoring to go to church with me, and while I adore having them with me it also makes it a lot harder to get anything out of going.  I spend my time making sure people aren't dropping things under pews, falling off of kneelers, and very little time being "present."  Usually I take turns each week...one week Gabriel goes, the next Lorelai goes, and on days I lector I go by myself.

Last week, while getting in the car, Brian was helping to put Gabriel in his car seat while I got Lorelai set up.  And Gabriel asked Brian why he wasn't coming to church.  WOW!  We thought we had a while before he was able to make that observation.  And Brian was clearly at a loss for words.  I made up some lame excuse about how he had to take care of the dogs.  But, that didn't satisfy Gabriel.  The entire mass he wanted to know why the 3 of us came and Brian didn't.  How do you explain to your 3 year old that Catholic beliefs leave his dad feeling left out?  An outsider in a situation where all should feel welcome?

Mostly I want my kids to know that God is of the upmost importance in his parents' lives.  And Brian, being the awesome dad that he is, has offered to come to church with us, to help me teach that important lesson to our children (especially our incredibly inquisitive son).  He has also read a book about Catholicism so he can understand it better and help teach our kids about it more effectively, and someday, when they can understand better, what his disagreements are with the church.  But, what matters now is that we provide a unified front that God is important to us...and we'll confront the "Catholic" issues as they arise.

You can already tell that church is important to Gabriel.  He has asked me at least once every day in the last week if we can go to church.  He adores the hymns.  I'm so glad that he sees this as something he can share with his mommy.  And I am so thankful that now he'll be able to share it with his Daddy as well.  I never thought I'd stress as much about this way back when we were planning our wedding as I have the last few months.

God has truly blessed me with a husband who is willing to see beyond differences and help me in raising children of faith in the best way that I/we know how.

Bubbles

Cake pan + a squirt of dish soap + water + a straw = 30 minutes of fun!


 Speaking of bubbles - Lorelai had quite the little bubble butt yesterday.  We are getting Gabriel psyched up to try potty training and she has become equally as excited.  Gabriel even loaned her a pair of his undies.  So she got her own.

After opening the package she proceeded to take them one at a time, run to the living room yelling, "Uh-dees!!!" laying on the ground with her legs up in the air so I could put them on.  She ended up with 5 pairs of undies on over her diaper.


Sunday Around Town

We spent some time on Sunday hanging out as a family and getting to know OKC a little bit better.

First off we saw parts of The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.  There were MANY gorgeous paintings, sculptures, cowboy and Indian relics, military relics...really great stuff that unfortunately with two toddlers you don't get to spend much time viewing. 
They did have a really neat old Western "Territory" town that you could wander through.  Unfortunately is was dark so it was like nighttime out which made the kids a bit scared.  Gabriel started to get upset when I locked myself in the Marshal's jail cell.  Below is a schoolhouse.  They had the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year readers on display for you to look through.  I really wanted to spend more time looking through them.  I was amazed at what complex words the 4th graders were expected to be able to read...I wonder what age 4th years actually were back then.  I may have to research.  
 They also had  Children's Cowboy Corral with little interactive areas.  We had fun on the saddles.

 They also had a neat little camp area with cows moo-ing in the background.  You could pretend to cook beans and coffee over the "campfire".  The kids had a ball in that section. My pictures didn't turn out well though.  I forgot to alter my settings.

There were a lot of great HUGE statues on the grounds, inside and out.

 More than anything though I think our kids enjoyed the lakes, fountains and waterfalls on the museum grounds.

 Of course I'm always happy to see a great Lincoln statue.
 While there we were debating about where to have lunch...and ended up at the zoo.  :)  After a lot of begging from Mr. Gabriel.


The kids made it until 2 p.m.  And then you could see they weren't going to last much longer.  They were asleep as we left the parking lot!  :)  A great Sunday spent as a family.