Christmas 2013

This Christmas has been a whirlwind, as they usually are.  We were fortunate to have visits from several family members in a two week span, and sadly I wasn't great at remembering to bust out the camera.  Although, it's nice to experience everything rather than see it through a camera sometimes.

First off we had a visit from Uncle Matt, Aunt Angie, Barrett, and Caroline.  It is so fun to see how well the kids play together.  The kids had their first sleepovers and did really well considering how excited they all were.  This was the only picture I managed to get that turned out...



Next up we had a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Wood.  It was such a treat having them here, taking them out to eat a couple of times, and it made getting through the ice storm that much easier with some extra grown ups and new gifts to keep the kids entertained.  :)




 I had no idea that Grandma was THIS talented with Legos.  I mean…I knew she liked them, but this was seriously impressive.  It even had a pool!  And she had major patience with kids helping.  Puts my Lego Duplo castles to shame.  lol


The last day of my parents' visit Brad joined us for Christmas…Santa did really well. :)  The kids woke up at 4:49 a.m.  Apparently Gabriel woke up first and then went and got Lorelai.  We could hear them talking about how Santa ate the cookies and drank the Chocolate Milk they left out for him.  That a new note was taped to the fireplace in place of the one they had left the night before.  And then of course…all of the presents.  They were deciding which ones belonged to each of them.  So funny.  At about 5:15ish they came and got us and the opening began.  Seriously…who is going to get a 3 and 4 year old to go back to sleep?!  So, we just went with it.


Uncle Brad assembled the trampoline from Grandma Cherlyn and Grandpa Greg.  :)
 Here we have Princess Sofia...
 Obviously these are not in order.  Here is the tree with the unwrapped presents.
 This is a book that Gabriel and I are just over the moon about.  Santa did great with this one.

 Lorelai declared her ukelele (what she calls her guitar) her favorite gift.  I'm glad.  Santa hoped it would be a big hit.
 Gabriel was thrilled to bits with all of the Legos, and his new Lego Star Wars Xbox game from Santa. He talked about that thing for weeks before Christmas…so glad it ended up under the tree for him.  ;)
A few days after Christmas Granddad came for a visit.  Sadly Cathy was ill and wasn't able to make the trip.  By this time Mommy and Daddy were a bit worn out and sort of forgot about the camera all together.  OOPS!!!!

It was such a wonderful holiday filled with fun and family!  What more could we ask for?  We are looking forward to enjoying this week of calm before Brian begins his new job, and then we get to spend some more time with my parents!  :)  YAY!!!

Happy New Year!!!

It's Getting Christmas-y Up in Here!

We have had quite the spell of wintery weather here!  At the end of last week we were blasted with snow, some ice, more snow, and temps in the single digits.  Gabriel and I were thrilled to no end by the snowy blanket that covered our yard.  It was the biggest accumulation the kids have ever seen.  In some areas of our yard the drifts were around 6 inches!  Although in most spots we were somewhere around 3 inches or so.

 As per her usual warm weather self…Lorelai was very excited to don her snow suit, until she actually got out in the snow.  Finding it difficult to walk she wanted to go inside within 10 minutes.


 Because Brian had been out of town when the snow hit, but was on his way home that afternoon I needed to clear the driveway.  I really don't mind doing it, I enjoy it actually, but we didn't have a snow shovel so I had to use a garden shovel.  :/  I only did the 2 car part of our garage, and left the third covered in snow.
 The snow is finally melted away, but it's still pretty chilly out.  That means we need indoor activities and gingerbread houses were on deck today.
Paisley was discreetly attempting to lick drips of icing off of the table.  So, Gabriel tells her, "Never give up, Paisley.  Never give up."  :)

 I love watching their faces as they work.  They are so focused.  And Lorelai had a reason as to why certain candy went certain places.  Apparently a doorknob was needed for the people, and her snowman needed eyes….  :)

 Gabriel wants his to reflect his reality, so he always tries to design his the way he helps Daddy put the lights on the house:

Snow Days

Two weekends ago we had a round of ice and snow.  And while we didn't get much in the way of accumulation, that didn't stop these three from getting out and having a grand ol' time:

Well, Lorelai enjoyed herself for a while, until her snowballs kept falling apart on her face because they weren't "packed" enough.  She came in and declared that she is not a "snow baby."  lol

This year I've been really conscious of trying to let the kids have a few moments of fun with just Daddy.  They went trick-or-treating with only him this year, and I thought the first snow fall happening on a weekend should definitely be a daddy celebration.  Don't get me wrong…I love the snow…but I love watching them have fun together too.  :)  I helped with the getting the wet clothes off of the troops as they came back in.

In the meantime, while I snapped pictures through the window…I was sitting beside this as well…
Not bad.  Not bad at all.

Baby it's Cold Outside

Last night brought us a massive cold front, followed up today by an ice "storm."  It's certainly not bad, but it's not ideal for this weekend.  Sunday will potentially bring snow.  It's a shame only because Matt and family were scheduled to come up for a visit.  We're hoping we can reschedule that…and apparently Barrett, my nephew, has a bit of a cold coming on so he needs his rest anyway.  Feel better, Barrett!!!

We knew this weather was headed our way, and the last few days have been in the 60s so we took some time to enjoy the weather before being holed up inside for several days.  I have some pictures of us at the park (it has been way too long since we've been there) and then some still shots of Lorelai riding her new bike for the first time.

















Hard at Work

As we all know now, with the recent tornados in the Midwest...tornado season is really all year long. Sure, it's more prevalent in April-June here, but we always have to be prepared. We've had warnings in December before! What most people don't know is that shelters are a common place to find dead things. Luckily, with ours being under the garage ours mostly consists of deceased crickets. Brian was going to take some time to vacuum everything out last weekend, but Gabriel decided this was a job better done by him.  He vacuumed the entire thing by himself.  When he finished, he came in to tell me about his job well done and proclaimed, "Now we can go down there and you can tell us spooky stories.  You said we could when there weren't anymore dead crickets."  Well, I guess it never hurts to have a little motivation to get a job done right.

Video Catch Up

It has been quite some time since I have posted any videos here.  Time to rectify that!

Up first we have the kids singing one of their recent song obsessions "Do Re Mi".  I'm so impressed with how quickly Lorelai picked up the words...she knows WAY more than just the Do Re Mi part, and this little video clip doesn't even show that she knows the song in it's entirety.




On our most recent visit to Matt and Angie's house I shared a picture of the guys boxing on the Xbox 360.  Here is the video I promised:

Michigan Wrap Up

I failed to mention in my last post that one of our days was spent in Ann Arbor.  My mother-in-law has a booth at the little farmer's market there for three weeks in the summer.  It was really neat to see where she spends part of her time, and Ann Arbor is just a fun youthful artsy town!  Wish we could have hung out there longer, but the kiddos had had enough.

One of our last stops was the Navarre-Anderson Trading Post.  The Navarre Family (my Father-in-Law's ancestors) were one of the first families to establish the area in the 1700's.  If you click on the link it will take you to some information on the historic buildings there.  It's so neat seeing how far back his family's history goes there, and I just love old colonial buildings in general.  The area was beautiful with lots of trees and the River Raisin running by.  Several families were having their professional portraits done there, but were avoiding using the old buildings.  I don't know why because I thought they were equally as stunning.

 On the left side of the main house you can see how the home was assembled and where it was riddled with bullets that they were able to determine were from local Native American tribes.


I know some of you have been saying you wish I was in the pictures.  Well, my mother-in-law did snap some of me with the kids with her iPhone and she sent a few to me.  :)  Thanks, Cherlyn!!!  It's rare that I'm in a shot with the kids, mostly because I always feel awkward and vain asking someone else to take my picture.  Which is ridiculous because my kids should have pictures of time spent with their mom.  So...here they are, with a few more shots of the kids, for your viewing pleasure.  :)


 The kid's Great Grandma Dorothy rescued this little baby field mouse from her cats, and now it's her pet.  HA!  We so enjoyed watching the two kids and one of the cats watching little "Hunka Munka" run around in her wheel.




And there you have it!  Our Michigan trip.  It was such a great time and we REALLY look forward to going back again, with Brian!!!  :)

Leaf Jumping

Childhood just isn't complete with a giant ol' leaf pile to jump in.  I have such fond memories of that as a kid...my dad raking up the leaves, Matt and I jumping in and rolling around.  The smell, the excitement...a favorite childhood activity.  And frankly...in most of the south...you just can't make leaf piles like that.  So, I'm mostly going to let these pictures speak for themselves...one of my favorite mornings spent in Michigan...










 Oh, and we picked some carrots too....

Lake Erie

On our third day we headed to Lake Erie in the afternoon.  It was amazing to see how beach like it was, and if you stared straight out without looking left or right you could have sworn you were looking out at an ocean.
 The kids were in love from the moment we got there, and didn't believe us that we were at a lake.
They were in awe of the waves...
 And even wanted to take a step into the water....
 Notice what's happening, despite a temperature in the 50's at the lake?

 Yep...we have a kid without pants, but in a winter coat and hat.  HA!!!!
 Oh, this kiddo...
 You gotta love him!

 Lorelai ran up and down the beach by herself (we were the only ones there) and may have done some wave jumping and dancing.



 They both spent time collecting seashells and then tossing them back into the water.  Although I believe a few made it back to the farm. :)
Grandma was smart and brought a beach towel.

 I so enjoyed the look of pure joy on their faces....


Erie Orchards and Cider Mills

On our second day in Michigan we headed up to Erie Orchards and Cider Mill, and oh how I wished I had my "Little Apple Orchard" quilt with me to take some pictures.  Erie Orchards is a sweet place with a main building that has a bit of a general store feel, full of homemade donuts (YUM!!!!), fudge, caramel apples, apple cider, you name your favorite fall dessert item...they had it.  FRESH!  Oh my goodness.  I could have taken every bit home with us.

So, we did a little shopping and then headed out with our apple picking bags into the orchard.

They had many varieties available, most of which I had never heard of, so a bit of tasting was in order before deciding on which ones to take with us.
Lorelai says the apple orchard was her favorite part of the trip.


 I was shocked that even Gabriel tasted them.  He usually hates apple skins.
 Cherlyn let the kids and I ride around in the back of the truck which was a lot of fun.

 They also had a pumpkin patch out there.  Most of the fields had been picked over pretty well for the fancy set up at the pumpkin barn, but it was fun to look at them out in their "natural" habitat.




 Some of those pumpkins were HUGE!!!


 While the leaves weren't turning in full force yet, there were still a few gorgeous trees, and this one was by far the best of all.  Little leaves were flittering down from it and the kids had a good time attempting to catch them.
 This tree just made my heart so happy, and the fun the kids were having with it.  Oh, I miss this!  We have a decent fall here, but since we don't have any mature trees in our neighborhood we don't really get to experience this each and every day of fall.

 Lorelai and Gabriel collected leaves for Grandma and me.


 I love how the light is filtering through the leaves in this one...
 Of course they had the typical pumpkin patch activities as well...

 The kids picked out 4 little pumpkins to take back and decorate.




 If you're ever in that area I highly recommend it.  We were able to watch them use the cider press and taste their homemade cider.  Delicious!  And in the summer they have blueberry picking.  Doesn't that sound fun?

Michigan - Fall 2013

There is so much to catch up on.  Even things from September that I still haven't blogged about (and earlier...oops!)  But, I need to blog about our recent trip because I'm just so excited about all of the pictures!  The kids and I joined my Mother-in-Law, Cherlyn, up at her cottage in Michigan.  This is where she grows her lovely lavender and where my Father-in-Law's parents live.  Brian had what was supposed to be a week long trip over his birthday week in Denver (it ended up being altered at the last minute and he ended up here in Oklahoma alone on his birthday.  :(  )  So, we thought this would be a good opportunity to see some fall foliage and enjoy cooler temps.

We flew to Houston, picked Grandma up and we were lucky enough that Grandpa was able to hang out with us at the airport!  What a treat!!!  And then Grandma helped us out on the plane trip to Detroit. We got in late, did some grocery shopping, and basically went to bed.  The next day was rainy, but it cleared up in the afternoon for a bit for us to do a bit of exploring around the farm.

 We hear a lot about the cottage but have never been.  One of the most talked about things is a golf cart named "Mr. Green Jeans."  Of course we had to take him out for a spin in the woods we hear so much about.  And we brought along some baskets for picking some of those last fruits and veggies in the garden.
 The cottage is made up of 3 buildings.  The main house which is from the 1920's, a 4 car garage, and a barn that is getting close to being refurbished.  The barn will have a lavender drying room and a workshop amongst other things, and the second story will be a bunkhouse.
We took a drive around in the woods which was fun.  Lorelai was a bit nervous, but after the first day she was just fine.


 Raccoons, wild turkey, and deer all live in the woods behind the house.  So we went to the Navarre fields surrounding the house to pick up some food for them.  They were in the process of harvesting the fields while were there and sometimes some overspill occurs.  Lucky us, lucky animals!  :)


 This picture is by far one of my favorite ones of Gabriel that I've ever taken...
 We went over to look for corn spillage but didn't have any luck.  We did get to investigate the corn though.  Fascinating roots!
 In the evening it became pretty rainy again so we headed inside.  Lorelai had fun spreading out on the kitchen table working on art projects in the mornings and evenings.

We did so many wonderful things while we were there, and I took so many pictures that I'll have to share this trip in bite size chunks.  :)


Cousin Get Together

We spent some time visiting with Matt, Angie, and kids in their new home.  And we realized it was high time...we hadn't gotten together since Disney World last October!!!  Their new home is just lovely and we're very jealous of their pool.  ;)  We were able to attend Barrett's first t-ball game, and both Matt and Brian got to assist in the coaching (as they were short two coaches).  Then there is the still to come video of the grownups playing boxing on the Xbox 360.  Hilarious!  We had such a great time and can't wait until we can get together again!













A Princess Birthday

I am so late in posting this and I have a whole other post that I need to do as well of our visit with my brother and family in their new home, but we really need to take time to share about Lorelai's 3rd birthday!

My oh my what a big girl she's growing into, and yet when I look at her I still see her as a little chubby legged toddler.  But, that baby fat is slowly slipping away and certainly her talkative and expressive nature reminds me of what a big girl I have on my hands now.  (Despite her denial of that fact and wanting to remain a baby herself.)


I'm so very proud of the little girl she's growing into.  She is joyful, spirited, comedic, dramatic, engaging, and just plain ol' super.  She loves to dress up pretty and then maybe color her entire body with markers.  She enjoys and appreciates the arts, enjoys reading, and is over the moon for anything Disney Princess.  She still adores pink and purple, her latest food of choice is mac & cheese, but she also shares her Grandma Wood's love of bacon, and this girl will scarf down anything sugary.  She enjoys a challenge and doesn't shy away for difficult tasks.  A go getter if you will.

 Just like Mary Poppins...she is "positively perfect" if I do say so myself.  (Well, except the screaming...we could really do without the screaming, Lorelai.)

Gabriel also got to participate in the present opening for the last year.  I think five is a really good year for him to understand that people each get a day just for them.  We asked everyone to keep his gifts small this year so we really appreciate that.  He was perfectly content and very excited for Lorelai.  He helped Brian and I assemble the BIG gift for Lorelai.  :)


 The big gift...
 It's so tall that she needs a step stool to reach the attic space.  lol  But, she LOVES it!

Purple and pink princess items were the theme for the day, so we did vanilla cupcakes with purple vanilla buttercream icing.  We then coated the icing in sugar crystals in either purple or pink.  Topped with a crown.  :)
She blew out candles on her own for the first time!  
It was such a great quiet family day.  That's how I like birthday's.  Celebrate it with the people who love you most.  And I sure do love this kiddo!!!!

Park Outing

We decided to try out a new park in the area this morning since it was so lovely outside.  It's mid-August and we are in highs of the low 80's, and we've had rain coming through every few days so it was nice and cloud covered as well.


The kids and I always enjoy our time at the local parks, especially now that school is getting to be back in session here.  Edmond schools aren't quite back in school yet, so there were a few bigger kiddos there.  I am so proud of my son.  Phrases I overheard him using:  "Excuse me."  "May I please get through?" and my favorite "Can you please wait for my sister to be done?"  I won't lie...my mommy heart melted.  Not only is he sweet and respectful of others, but he stands up for his little sister AND was behaving more politely than every single big kid there.  And you know what...as he used his pleases and excuse me's the big kids began to say it too.  What an amazing kiddo he is!


This structure was REALLY tall.  I was impressed with both kids for climbing up the two stories of ladders to slide down the bigger tube slides.

 Lorelai braved some other intimidating areas of the playground.  Gabriel kept getting stuck with fear on this curved ladder, but Lorelai tackled it on the first try!  Way to go, Lorelai!  No fear.


New Around the House

This summer has been keeping us quite busy.  Not with too much out of the ordinary, but yet it seems to have flown by.  The early part was a bit of a roller coaster but things have settled down nicely and returned to "normal".  

One of the exciting things this summer is Brian's new truck!


When we moved to Oklahoma his company at the time gave them company trucks.  Well, Chesapeake sold off their midstream area (which is who Brian works for) and the "new" company, Access, kept the trucks for their employees.  A few weeks ago they announced that they were going to be taking away the trucks but would offer a sum of money towards new vehicles for the employees.  Brian was leaning towards a new Infiniti (he misses his old one which he sold to his Dad when we realized having 3 vehicles for 2 people was craziness) but ultimately it was decided something a bit more practical was in order.  He got a great deal on the truck, and of course we love our Nissan's.  We've never had a bad one.  It's a lovely graphite color.  Although, this truck is smaller and fits in the garage so now I have to scoot the van over.  Not a big downside, but I did love my large parking space.  :)

In other "new" things the kids and I are giving homeschooling another go.  We briefly tried last year with the Sonlight curriculum.  But, I think a combination of mommy feeling overwhelmed, the age of the kids, and a curriculum that I'm sad to say I was less than thrilled with left us abandoning the idea pretty quickly.  This year I sat down to evaluate a bit of what "went wrong" last year and I felt that the Sonlight curriculum, while full of lovely books, was just that...books.  Purely reading.  We do A LOT of reading around this house as it is, so forcing the kids to sit down and read a certain book at this age just didn't seem to make sense.  They weren't interested in every book so they did a lot of sitting around gathering dust.  

In the last few months I have gone 'round and 'round on this homeschool "issue."  I'm not a fan of the new "Common Core" national standards.  Not so much the standards themselves but all of the add-ons that come with it.  I feel strongly that our public schools are headed down the wrong path due to our government (state and national).  I know first hand that teachers and public school staff work hard.  But, I feel strongly that smaller "class" sizes would make a huge difference in our education, rather than testing over and over and over.  If more money was spent on more teachers to create a more appropriate teacher to student ratio I think we would begin to see many of our problems disappear.  Not all, but many.  With that in mind we're giving preschool another go at home, with a more hands on curriculum mostly from My Father's World with a bit of handwriting/letter recognition practice.


So, it would seem that homeschool would be the answer, right?  I'm a teacher...I'm fully capable of educating my children.  Well, maybe.  Something I am learning is that my kids don't always want to learn from me.  Especially Gabriel.  He thinks he does, but when we try he's not always receptive.  Sometimes a teacher that is an outsider is a plus for a kiddo.  And while I am NEVER worried about the issue of socialization for home-schooled kids I do worry about future issues such as participating in organized high school activities and electives...things that I can't necessarily create effectively at home.  Maybe it's a school newspaper, acting in a a school production, art, band, soccer, baseball, softball, football, cheerleading, golf, etc.  There is something to be said for the level at which a school can provide these things that I can't and never will be able to.  There are homeschool groups locally that provide these things (yes, there is a high school homeschool football team), but can they achieve things at the same level?  I don't think so.  There is something about seeing your teammates (I know this from band) in your classes, in the halls, that provides something internally that I just can't at home.  I don't know how to describe it, but I know I can't do it.  (Side note...Too bad private school costs an arm and a leg.)

Where does that leave us?  Why am I continuing to provide homeschool preschool?  In part because I think it will be fun for us.  But, also because most of my concerns about homeschool seem to creep in in the middle school years.  There really isn't anything about elementary school that I can't make happen at my home.  And that I do know.  So, if anything...if we feel this is the right path for us I am thinking maybe I could homeschool for elementary and then my kids join mainstream in the middle school years.  I dunno.  It's still just thoughts rattling around in my head at this time.  But, Kindergarten is swiftly approaching for Gabriel so I feel a sense of urgency to figure it all out soon.  We'll be taking a tour of our local elementary school for Gabriel so he can see what it's like.  He may find he thinks it looks neat.  

And of course there's always Mommy's sanity to consider.  ;)

So, what are your thoughts...what are your feelings on the state of public schools?  Have you ever considered homeschooling?  I would love to hear them!

A Visit to Denver

For Fourth of July weekend we took a trip to Denver to visit Brian's Dad.  The flight was nice and short, similar to a trip to Houston for us so that was nice.  Every time we go through an airport/flight experience I thank God that my children are so well behaved.

The visit was short, but we got in a lot of fun experiences.  The kids enjoyed their "sleep over" room that Cathy decorated just for them (Lorelai even took a nap once!).  For the 4th of July there was a pancake breakfast, a fire truck, a neighborhood parade (which had quite a few minor accidents with the bike riders...oops) in which Gabriel and Granddad fed the passing doggies some treats, and we had some swim time in the afternoon:




On Friday Cathy had to work, so the rest of us hit up the Denver Zoo.  It's a nice, big, zoo with well thought out habitats for the animals.  The snake exhibit, much like the snake exhibit at the Philly Zoo, was large and fabulous.  It's a shame the OKC Zoo doesn't step theirs up several hundred notches.  Gabriel very much enjoyed it.
On Saturday we were off to Tiny Town, which is sort of an old fashioned attraction, quaint, but cute.  It's full of little tiny houses, a playground, and a few small trains you can buy tickets to ride.  It is located in the foothills of the mountains, and Gabriel was impressed by their size.
In the afternoon Granddad had a painting project for the kids.  I don't think it went as planned, but the kids had a lot of fun, and Granddad held in there like a champ.



 Granddad wanted nice little handprints.  Gabriel had something else in mind...

 Cleanup is fun too...
 Lorelai spent a lot of time just playing in the water, singing and talking to herself.



On Sunday it was time to head home.  Thanks for having us, Granddad and Cathy!

A bit of this and that

I feel as though we've mostly been playing catch up around the house ever since visiting my parents.  We came back to two weeks of very scary weather, and yes even had to go in the tornado shelter once. I'm so glad we can afford to have one of those.  It's not my favorite place to hang out, but it certainly gives me piece of mind when we need it.

Since then I have been immersed in charity projects for the tornado victims in my quilt guild.  I'm so happy to be part of helping others, but it has been quite overwhelming as I am kind of the point person on the projects.  At one point I had over 120 quilts in my guest room!!!

But, we've still managed to squeeze in a bit of fun in the last month...

 We discovered this exceptionally large toad in our yard.  Gabriel was thrilled and was talking so sweetly to it.  Although...it did pee on him.  While at first disgusted, when I explained that it was a defense mechanism he went back to fascinated.  Oh, my little Jeff Corwin...

We went out to take pictures of the raffle quilts with a friend of mine, and there was a pond full of massive koi.  Once again...he was fascinated.  Lorelai a bit intrigued.  This isn't a great picture, but I love her boots.  They're so her!

We have also been doing some art.  Gabriel is trying to decide which picture we should mail to my cousins Brad and Johanna as a thank you for their lovely gifts at my parents house.  This was a fun one...various paint colors and using the flat eraser ends of pencils to make images with "pointillism."

Mostly they had fun seeing what all they could do with the paint and erasers.  I actually did the project I set out for us to do...
But, I guess it's really all about having fun together and letting the creative juices flow. :)