Oklahoma

 This month Claire and I had the pleasure of traveling to Oklahoma to visit my younger brother and his wife and to see their new baby, Penelope and of course my two year old niece Norah.

It was Claire's first time flying.  She was very excited and nervous.  Luckily we were able to fly out with my dad (Poppy).  I love to fly but it has been many years since I have done it so I liked going with a frequent flyer.

When we got to Tulsa we couldn't believe how green it was!  Claire was impressed and decided she wanted to move there when she grows up and gets married.  Bryan and Rachel's house was built in the 40's.  I love the way the houses look.

My mom had flown out earlier in the week so we met her at the house and

 Claire held Penny for the first time. 

The oldest and youngest cousins.

Norah was very excited to see Claire and immediately started bossing 

her around and showing Claire her house. For me this was the ultimate

 vacation.  I left the three littlest ones at home - along with all responsibilities.  

Claire is big enoughto take care of herself and I am not required to help

 her make bathroom trips, wash hands, and buckle carseat buckles for 

her like I do with the others.   I literally did nothing all four days that we

 were there and it was like heaven.  I read a book and slept in slept in til

 8:30 every morning without the constant screaming of Jack and the "Mom, 

mom, mom!" from the little girls.  Besides being a little too cold for comfort

 it was paradise.

The first day we walked to a nearby park and Uncle Buddy put up his 

slack line. 

Norah went swimming in some puddles that formed from 

the rain the day before.

Worms are rare in AZ and we've never seen one this big.

Poor Penny was having some infant acne outbreaks while we were there. 

The next day we had a lovely slow morning at home.

Helping Buddy make his famous guacamole.

Then we went to visit Rachel's sister's Emily and her fiance Braden on his 

farm that he owns.  He built a tiny house on his property.

Emily showing us the newly added bathroom.

and the tornado shelter.

(at least SOMEBODY has the foresight to get a tornado shelter. 

- If I had to live in Oklahoma that is the first thing I would get, just saying).

The farm was really neat,  and is truly off the grid with solar panels and everything.

We went to church with Bryan and Rachel and hung out on Sunday

 and went for a walk along the river.

It was a beautiful day and again, the trees and green were amazing.

Claire is catching the cottonwood seeds that were floating all through the air.

There was a nice playground too.

Then Monday was Emily's wedding day.

It was an all day event with prepping and pictures.  Emily was so beautiful

 but I don't have any pictures because I know how much photographers

 hate other people taking pictures on their time.  There was a lot of down 

time between photos that we were required to be in so Bryan tried to 

entertainNorah by reading her a book.  It was so cute to see the other kids

 gather around him like a magnet

My mom and her youngest grandchild.

Buddy and his girls.

Claire getting excited for the cupcakes.

And wouldn't you know that Claire caught the bouquet at the
 end of the night.

We all left the next day.  Claire was bent on coming back to live there 

when she grows up.  A few days after we got back I was helping the girls

 get their pajamas on and I noticed a small brown thing under Claire's arm.  

Upon closer inspection we discovered it was a tick. There were a lot of

tears and some mild panicking (from Claire of course) while I read about

 the best way to get it out. I ended up tying a thread around it's neck and 

pulling it out - The lasso technique it's called.  It worked like a charm and

 afterward this little guy was walking around unharmed. 

 We taped him to the bathroom counter so we could look at him without 

him scurrying off.  We later burnt him on the curling iron.  Claire no longer

 wants to live in Oklahoma.(Thank you tick!)

It was a wonderful time away.   Next year it will Joy's turn to go.

AWANA Games

This weekend we had a blast at the AWANA Games.

Growing up I was in the Awana Games every year.  To me, they were the highlight of Awana and I have been so disappointed that the churches the girls have done AWANA with have not participated in the Games.... until now.

I was so excited that the church we attend Awana at up here participates and not only that, they are actually good!

The girls have had extra practices before and after Awana the past few weeks but nothing could prepare them for the awesomeness that is the Awana Games.

Joy's age group was first this morning
   
The first game was the Sparky Crawl.  (Back in my day we were not allowed to wear knee pads.)  I was so glad that Joy was not the last one to cross the line.  She was pretty quick actually!

Next she was in the Sparky Safari.... (not everyone is in every game, the coach picks which games each player will be in to be most advantageous for the team, there are very specific rules about how many games each player is required to play.)

Look at that speed and agility.

Then her shining moment.  The Sparky Bowl.

  She ran around the circle once and then had to throw her bean bag at the pin to knock it down.

I am not going to lie, I was extremely skeptical that she would do well in this game. Especially when the referee was helping her figure out where to stand! We all went crazy when she got it.  You would have thought she won the Gold metal in the real Olympics.

At the very end they announced that there was a tie for 1st place so we had to run the balloon pop one more time as the tie breaker.

  Notice how well Joy does her job of standing there.

They won 1st place!  Joy didn't even know it though until I told her.  She was very happy and had a lot of fun.


Immediately following the Sparks was the TNT groups.

Claire was chosen to be in the middle for the bean bag relay - which is quite an honor, especially for a 3rd grader

She had to do the girls and the team round.  There is nothing like the feel of that pin in your hand at the olympics.
Team:

Girls only.

I was so proud of the way she slid in there and snatched up second place.  I taught her everything I know.


Next she was in the Sprint Relay. She was in my personal favorite spot, last, which is the position to get the pin.

She snatched that bean bag up just in time.


And again she pulled it off!

Ultimately, there was a tie for 1st place AGAIN so they ran the team bean bag relay but this time we were way slower and came in second.

We all had a blast and I am one proud Awana Alumni parent.

9 months!

Jack is 9 months old today!  9, long, months old.

He has really come a long way this last month.  He started crawling confidently and can now get to where he wants to go.  This has helped immensely in the the crying-and-screaming-all-day department.

He is the first baby for which we've had to buy outlet covers.  We have never had to baby proof our house before. Hopefully we won't have to get cupboard locks and all that stuff.

Because of all the stress and work and busyness of moving,  and all the time I had to leave him with baby sitters all day while I worked on the house, my milk supply is practically non-existent.  I also think it doesn't help that I pretty much can barely stand this kid and so I have none of those lovey hormone feelings that are normal and helpful when breastfeeding.

This boy is HUNGRY and has been eating regular table food for a good month or two already so it's not a huge deal but of course we had to buy formula.  I am both sad about this and happy.  I know I could work at building my milk supply up again but I'll just be honest - I don't want to.  Mostly because I simply don't have the time. A few months of formula won't kill him and I am enjoying the freedom of actually taking medicine when I am sick for the first time in 9 years.

He is starting to be a happy guy and takes really nice long naps - I'm talking 6 hour naps.  He actually wakes up and plays in his cribs happily and then goes back to sleep.  He seems happiest when he is in his crib alone.

It is like that scene on Back to the Future when Marty goes back to 1955 and meets his jail-bird uncle as a baby.  Standing over the play pen the mother says "He cries whenever we take him out, so we just leave him in there all the time."

 

He of course loves all the attention from his sisters.  He and Claire have a special connection. 

 

 They are cut from the same cloth, both in looks and personality. (yay, I was hoping to have two children that are so completely different from me that I can't understand them at all)  He has every one of her traits so we believe that he will be severely pigeon-toed as a toddler like she was.  

(Yes, this is really Claire - her feet corrected themselves by the time she was two)

But like I said, this little guy has made progress this month. 

 He can even put food in his own mouth now! #winning. 

He eats SO MUCH, I don't know how he is staying so petite.  

That's how Claire was though so.....

His two top teeth are coming in so he constantly has his hands in his mouth.

 Oh little Jack.   We love you in spite of yourself and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.  A glimmer of hope on the horizon.   3 more months.....til the long awaited first year mark.

Autumn Apples

 It's that time of year again!  

 

 The time when we make caramel apples and try to get a good picture of everybody eating them - which, if you are new to my blog, is impossible.

 This was Jack's first taste of caramel apples. 

  

He loved them!

   

But only having two bottom teeth put him at a disadvantage.

 What nice sisters he has to share with him. 

That's it!  This is the last time a new member is added to the Autumn Apples picture tradition.

Compassion Walk

This past weekend Josh was away with the youth group and it just so happened to fall on the same weekend that my mom had asked us to come over to do the Compassion Walk with their church.

So while Josh was away we spent the night at my parents' and the next morning headed to Freestone park for the walk. 

It was really neat and the girls loved it! 

Before the walk there was live music, a bounce house and booths.

The walk was only a mile and a half with 6 interactive stations.  At each station you watched a video that went along with it.  The videos followed a boy in India, his name was Sandeep and he talked about the lack of food and how sometimes he had to look through piles of trash to find food.  There were visuals of what the average American child eats a day and what children in poverty eat.  It was slightly ironic that we were slamming down free donuts and popcorn while learning about people in poverty.

  

The second station talked about home size across the world,

  Next was the water station. 

 

 The girls had to haul water up the hill.

 

At the next station Sandeep talked about finding money on the street and had to choose if he should give it to his parents so they would not be kicked out of their house, food, or medicine for his mother (who was sick from drinking the water) 

  

Everyone got a coin and had to choose where to spend it.   Claire went back and forth on this one but ultimately they all decided to buy food. 

Then last two stations were about Sandeep becoming a Compassion sponsored child when he was 6 and how he was given hope. 

 

 We were told there was a special surprise and the end and it was that Sandeep was there!  He talked to everyone who wanted to ask him questions. ( he is in college now)

Afterward the girls bounced 

 

and got their faces painted

 

 and of course Claire made a friend.

Jack was sick and not feeling good but he liked being outside and managed a few happy moments throughout the morning.

He still looks miserable though.

This was the biggest Compassion walk there has ever been, with the most money raised.  Claire got the most out of it but the younger two still had a great time. It was definitely worth while!

Halloween

This year is STAR WARS year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Dun dun dun dun ....DUN, dun dun dun DUN!

  Dun dun dun dun DUN! Dun dun dun dun....  and so on.

A few months ago was Claire's (and therefore the younger girls') first viewing of Star Wars.  Of course we did it the right way letting her watch 4,5, and 6 a few times before showing her 1, 2, and 3.  and finally 7.

Of course Claire wanted to be Luke for Halloween

 

 and Joy fell right in line wanting to be Leia. 

 

 We convinced Paige to be R2D2 

 

which she was actually very excited about 

 and Jack makes a perfect Ewok

 

 - especially since that meant I could reuse Claire's bear costume from her first Halloween.

 

The girls then decided that Josh and I needed to dress up.  Josh had a Darth Vader mask so that was obvious and if he is Darth Vader then it was a given that I had to be Padme.  The only problem is that I don't dress up.  Ever.   Unless it would break my children's hearts so I have to.

I like Padme though, we have some things in common.  I can be both feminine and tough,  I am independent, I was good with a gun the one time I went shooting, and if I ever had twins I would die too - but for different reasons.  

We had tremendous luck finding everything we needed at Goodwill.  Man, how do people live without Goodwill?!  It took a few months of searching for just the right items but that is part of the fun and it is SO exciting when you find the perfect thing.   Each costume was under $10 except - Jack's, his was free.

It is so hot this year that Josh didn't end up wearing a Darth Vader costume - especially since he had to run around all day being in charge of the church festival so I made him this shirt instead.

We had a fantastic time at the church festival and the girls can't wait to go trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood.

Happy Halloween!  May the force be with you!