We ate at Cracker Barrel over the weekend. While in line waiting to be seated, Brady spied this giant package of Reese's peanut butter cups. He is not a fan of chocolate at all but he does like Reese's. He and the H's were teasing me that I was no fun and wouldn't buy them. Truth is I saw that it looked intriguing to him (and the H's) and had a mental note to go back and buy it later for Christmas. BUT when he went to pay, he secretly grabbed a package of them. He opened it up last night with the kids. I didn't think something that large would actually taste the same as the little ones. Amazingly they did! Yum.

* I like his sharpie writing on the package before he opened it up to share. Funny man.

Last Friday, Brady took Hailey to Family Fun Night at school. Its the yearly fundraiser. Hunter was invited to attend a birthday party for his friend and wanted to go to that a little bit more. So I took Hunter and Grayson and Brady took Hailey. She said she had a really good time and I was thrilled to see her finally win at the cakewalk. She so desperately wanted to win last year. All that was left were the tiny cakes but she won! She still hasn't tried it. She didn't see that the label also said it had raspberry in it too. She's not so game to try new things. Maybe her love of white chocolate will prevail. Wish she would have won any of the baskets she put her tickets into but apparently the same some person won a lot of them. They must have purchased a ton of tickets. Brady and I agreed. If you want to donate money to the school. Fine. Don't look like a jerk and have your kid win all the baskets. Not cool. Love my kids school but I guess that's what you get when you have coffee cup momma's in their exercise clothes and designer handbags walking in and out of the school with their kiddos :)

Hailey's hair is the same color as the horse 'Jody' she rides at lessons. Pretty!

Countdown to the last day of school paper chain!

Precious sleepy Grayson

Recently Hailey was looking for her favorite poncho. It was one that Rhonda knitted for all the girl grandchildren a couple years ago. It had purple multicolored thread and flowers on the bottom. That was Hailey's favorite part. I told her I put it up because it was too small. It really was - Hailey keeps getting taller and taller! She was super bummed. She likes to wear her poncho in class at school when it is chilly. So I called Rhonda and asked her if she could make Hailey a new one. It arrived last week and boy was Hailey thrilled. Not only was it RED, her favorite color, but it had blue on it plus those flowers she likes. She also whipped up a scarf and hat for Hunter. He has been wearing and lugging it around everywhere. I love the colors and textures she created for Hunters too. So fun. Hopefully Rhonda will be able to teach Hailey some more knitting techniques this summer. I know she would love to learn more. Thanks Rhonda!

Snapped this pic right after H1 got out of the shower and we blow dried her hair. She wasn't feeling so well. She brought home a tummy bug that did her in for a few days - and passed it along to the rest of us :)

My mother's birthday is the day after our wedding anniversary - February 13th. Even though it has been years since her passing, I still miss her. I will always miss her I suppose. Especially at times when I just wish she were here by my side and for all those times when I long for her to dote on my children and to just simply enjoy all life's moments with us. I remember how much she enjoyed being a grandmother. She was a tough woman and never acted like she was "too old" to do what she wanted. Had her body been more cooperative in the later years, I know she would still have been the same caring, trustworthy grandmother/mom. She always put other peoples needs first before her own. She would drop everything at a moments notice to help out and be there. I most love the fact that you never even had to ask - she just did it willingly. Even if she did have appointments scheduled, she would cancel them for us and the grandchildren.

Being pregnant this time around, I so wished she were alive. I wanted and needed her. I spent about 4 months not being able to do a darn thing pretty much due to so much throwing up and running a low grade fever that left me exhausted. Brady took very good care of all of us during that time but it would have been so nice to have had her come help. I felt very guilty that there were piles of laundry, dishes, grocery needs, etc. to be done that just sat for days or weeks till I could muster enough energy to do those tasks. (The house still is a wreck but it it better!) I especially missed her most of last year when my father was so critically ill. I would have loved for her to come pick up Hailey at school daily and take care of the H's so Brady could work uninterrupted. He loved doing it but it would have been so nice knowing they were at their own home with someone I didn't have to leave a note for of how to take care of and what needed to be done. She was a great mom/grandmother in that regard. I am very appreciative of all she was able to do for me growing up and the sweet memories that I have of her with Hailey. I hope that when the time comes when my children have children of their own that my body will allow me to be by their sides and relish in the joy of being a grandmother. I know I will rock that role!

So Happy Birthday dear Mother. I miss you terribly and someday we have a lot of catching up to do! Love you.

* Mother, Tessa and I on my 26th Birthday - Norman, OK

Hunter has a football shaped pencil holder on his desk. It was Brady's as a child. 

Friday after school Hailey and I were sharpening pencils and organizing her new work desk that Brady helped me to quickly refinish. Hailey proclaims to us that it wasn't fair that Hunter had that cute pencil holder. She has a pencil cup and apparently the idea of his seemed grander. So after this proclamation, her daddy and her set off to make one. Right then and there. They decided on a heart shaped one. Here is the finished product. Stained and all. It turned out pretty cute for an on the spot "Hey I want something too!"

So if I start saying "It's not fair", can all the things I want done happen too?

WAAAHHHH.... IT'S NOT FAIR!!! 

I am a sucker for sturdy old metal desks. Here is my awesome Resale Barn find mostly finished. We still need to touch up the desk top edges and top. Some naughty kid etched their name on it. It has been the perfect place for homework.

* The color is navy and isn't this color as shown. I stink at taking pictures and the flash made it seem brighter colored!

I don't put Hunter down for regular naps anymore. He has always been a good sleeper so missing nap time is never a problem usually. If we are out shopping and he gets sleepy, he will just go to sleep. I love this about him. I also like how sweet children look when they are sleeping. I have a hard time not kissing his little cheeks constantly when he is asleep too sometimes!

Hailey told me this summer that she needed to find her style. She isn't quite sure what that means other than the fact that she finally has expressed that she doesn't like some of the clothes she has been wearing. She has been so happy go lucky in this department. So I took her shopping to get an idea. I already knew sparkly stuff and bling makes her happy. REALLY HAPPY. I did learn that she does not like the color black at all. She likes bright happy colors. All dark colors bother her.  After picking out a few new shirts, she was pretty much done and got super bored. She said she thought she had enough to wear. She is big into shoes though and had more fun shopping for those. Her new Sketchers blingy shoes delight her to no end. I would have liked them too as a child only because there is a unicorn on them. She has grown so much since school was out in May and I am so glad I bought larger sizes on some things. She wears a size 8 now. Crazy! She loves wearing new clothes and we are still on the search for "her style"!

Enjoy this picture of our sleepy 60's girl!!!

Apparently those glasses and headband that she got from a birthday party ARE exactly her style. She loves them. I pretty much think she was born in the wrong era. She would have made the perfect 60's child. She makes me laugh.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxveL5bKiv8 500x500]

That is the sound of Hailey's rock tumbler. The one she got for Christmas last year. We had a little Christmas in July and finally opened it. I was going to put it in the Atrium but thankfully the plug will only work one direction in the outlets in there. I decided to put it out on the front porch bench. We failed to take some before pictures. We are in the second phase right now. It takes some time to do the whole process. In the meantime, it is a noisy little thing. Every time I walk out front, I keep wondering when the ice cream maker will be done. It sounds just like one - only this one goes for days and days. The rocks we have washed once are colorful and smoother now. Can't wait to see the end results. Hailey is excited to turn them into some jewelry. The tumbler kit came with some hardware and some glue. Pictures for sure to come!

Six months seems to fly by super fast. Hailey went in last week for another teeth cleaning. She likes going just like I do and is a great patient. She mainly likes the reward at the end. A new toothbrush, some floss and a few stickers! I personally like the feeling right after they get all cleaned. She got a clean bill and Hunter got some more observation time. He isn't quite sure about the whole thing yet. Hopefully at his next appointment he will actually open up his mouth. Baby Annabell tagged along. She has resurfaced from the crib lately :). The dentist showed me where her 12 year molars are forming. She will lose a couple more teeth but won't after that for a few more years and then those molars will surface. To get her through these years and to protect those back teeth, she had sealants put on all four of her existing molars. The hygienist for the sealants was great and efficient. Hailey tolerated this procedure but would have rather had her teeth cleaned.

Since they were good and it was still early and cool in the day, we went to the rocket park and the free museum next door. We had a good time playing in the park, looking at old pieces in the museum and playing in the play area. We could have omitted the naughty, smart mouthed little girl who was there though. She wound up getting herself a time out on her bed for saying mean things to Hailey. Hailey stood up for herself but at the time I wouldn't have minded had Hailey said something mean back. That little girl was a mess. We played some more at the park and then were off to get lunch and play more at home. I am loving these relaxed, summer days.

Here are some horrible cell phone pictures!

I also got to explain these fun green stamps that Hailey was interested in viewing.

BUT I did not explain this so call birthing chair to her - That is a hunk of uncomfortable wood people!

For Papa!

Wish we had this in Hunter's room. It was so cool and old. Loved it!

Saturday morning shortly after Hunter woke up he told me he wanted to play with his trains. So after breakfast we got out one of the mighty train boxes. Lucky for Hunter he easily talked Brady into helping him make a track. Like making bracelets, I have no building skills either. I can make a circle train track but HOW BORING when his dad can make fun curves and make the track go under furniture! The living room has been quite the disaster between his trains and Hailey's little toy animals this weekend. It has kept them busy and quite frankly I didn't mind. I didn't mind because I happened to be flipping channels for Hailey and found something for myself instead! Somehow I missed out on seeing Pirates of the Caribbean. They just so happened to have all three movies on in a row. Do you know what that means? I spent over 6 hours watching tv! Yeah me. I got all wrapped up in them. In the middle of the second movie, Hailey asked if she could put on Hunter's Halloween costume and see if it fit. It did sort of... She proceeded to have fun playing pirates with Hunter. She even made a helmet and a pirate patch out of a piece of plastic and paper until I dug out some pirate loot. I appeased her briefly by going on a quick treasure hunt during a commercial.

So during all this television watching, a toy went under the couch. Brady lifted up the smaller couch from the front and I got it. Hunter decided he needed to check again but this time Brady lifted it up from the side. Then ALL of us heard this odd clanking, jingling sound. Now I normally vacuum under the couches and remove all the lost toys. I also lift up the couch cushions and get misc. crumbs. Well Brady found all sorts of things that had fallen way below and we didn't know it. Hunter was liking all the treasures Brady pulled out. We found a Lakeshore magazine, pen, little pet shop toys in a plastic bag, a cedar clothes hanger, some dried up raisins, 2 goldfish, a scratched up Dora watch, a small flashlight, a jingly Christmas necklace, a pacifier, a baby spoon, Hailey's lip gloss and a domino to name just a few. I guess tilting your couch backwards just isn't good enough. You need to pretty much jiggle it in all directions. I had no idea that much stuff had fallen below. It would have been a glorious find if I had found a wad of cash. I know it never would have been mine but some poor soul that lost it out of their pockets!

So today they are back at playing with the trains and small toys. I love to hear Hunter talk to his trains and watch his kissable lips squish up together as he says "They are chooching!" He has his own terminology for his train obsession. Chooching means they are moving. If he says "Ding Dings" that means the semaphores are coming down. Too cute. I keep thinking this phase will end soon but it hasn't and probably won't for a long time because he and his daddy still love to go sit by the train tracks and wait for a train to come. I love my little boy and Hailey girl. They have become pretty mellow and I love being able to take them most places now and not have to worry too much about disciplining them. Well I should note that Hunter came out this way. Hailey has been trained :) She will forever be LOUD, unique and silly around those who know her well.

Here are a few pics of the H's from the weekend.

I drove the kids to Norman this week. They have a splash pad in one of the parks. I took Hailey to it when she was a wee thing but she doesn't remember. I wouldn't tell them what we were going to do but when Hailey asked for some hints I told her we were going to Norman, to a park and that there was a rainbow there. When we pulled up they spied the cool playground and then the splash pad. I asked them if there was anything they might want to try out. They said the playground but then said they really wished they could go to the water. I pulled out my pool bag and let them in on my secret. They changed and were off for some splish splashing! They had fun going from one area to the next. We took a break at one point and had a snack on the freshly mowed lawn under the big trees. It was so cool and shady. (I think it affected Miss Hailey though. Her nose was running a little bit by the end of the day). I would have loved to have been able to take a nap. They played for a bit on the playground and then were back at the splash pad. I am glad I took them. It is fun to change things up a bit!

They both spent most of their time walking back and forth on the water holes in a line in the picture below and standing underneath the buckets that fill up and dump.

Since we were already in Norman, we made our way over to the Sam Noble Dinosaur Museum. At the beginning of the summer, they received some free passes from their library summer reading packet. It has been over a year since Hailey has been and Hunter doesn't remember since he was a baby. He will remember now. They had a good time touching all the displays and looking at the exhibits. Feeling the fur pelts was cool and Hailey guessed them all correctly after given a hint. So proud. I now want a beaver pelt. I was shocked at how soft and deep their fur went. The sweet older lady said "Now do you understand why people wanted to trap these?" Very luxurious indeed! We popped in the discovery room at one point but opted to keep exploring. There were too many people in it at the time. Wise decision because when we were ready they had the whole room to themselves. Hailey spent most of her time in the dig area and loved it. She would have stayed there all day I am sure. After watching them play, I have a few good ideas of some great gifts for them for Christmas that they explored and played with in the room. Before leaving, we made our way through the Chocolate exhibit. It was cool but it was more for adults. I would have liked to read more of all the text. We rushed through and I briefly tried to explain the text. We then went to the gift shop. I was hoping they had some chocolate for sale that was like the sign but they had all this expensive wacky flavor combos that I knew they wouldn't enjoy. Plus since my day had been free I wasn't willing to blow it in the gift shop - even though I wanted several items! Hailey picked out a moonstone dolphin necklace and Hunter wanted a button. Awesome inexpensive treasures. Hailey has come to like dolphins lately too. I can't wait to take her to see one some day. I loaded them up in the truck and make a quick pass by our home. It needs some help and the bushes need some TLC. Makes me sad. They were so exhausted and hungry but sleep came first. They slept all the way home. It was a fun - mostly free day!

This is my favorite dinosaur. Its name is Archaeopteryx. It is the smallest dinosaur - about the size of a chicken. So cute. Hailey really liked it too. 

LOOK TWO BEAVERS!

Hunter's button is a picture of Humpty Dumpty and has the word Good above it. Get it? (GOOD EGG if ya don't). He's a keeper and so is H1.

Rhonda enjoys to knit and does it very well I might add. When she was here visiting, Hailey would sit on the couch by her and watch what she was doing. Hailey likes this kind of stuff and since I am no help, she gravitates to anyone with more skills than I. She and I have a list of things we want to learn to do well someday. So as a movie was playing, Rhonda quickly made this sweet little bassinet that uses a plastic container as its base. She had previously made a cute blanket for the tiny baby with ducks on it. Hailey seemed to watch her every move. I wonder what she was thinking as she saw her make it and then pull out the baby and tiny toy animals. When she was finished she quietly gave it to her. Hailey's eyes lit up and she seemed speech less. She glanced over at me with a big smile. She told Rhonda thanks and came over to show me. She took it to church the next day and has carried it around since then talking to it and playing with the tiny animals. She is in this liking tiny things stage. Here is the cute baby bassinet that doubles as a purse!

Hailey likes crafty type things. So when we were in Old Navy returning some items, she saw this bracelet kit at the checkout counter. She was itching to spend the money in her wallet and it was a reasonable price so I let her make the purchase.  She asked me to help her figure out how to do it and finally I gave in at the lake house one night. Only it was late and it hurt my brain to try to figure out the instructions. After messing with it for a bit, I gave up. I used to like doing cross stitch and making these french knots in pieces of fabric that had designs in them. I don't enjoy anything like that anymore. If it takes a long time or requires super detailed tiny work, I am out! I would rather buy the item.

So last week, Hailey approaches me and asks me if I could help her again. I told her I just couldn't do it and to go ask Brady. She did and he looked at me like "Are you serious?"  I told them both straight up that I couldn't understand it. So he and Hailey spent the next hour and a half reading the instructions and figuring out how to make it - which he succeeded in and the darn thing is super cute. It is too complicated for Hailey to do correctly unfortunately. Too many strands to move and keep track of for her right now. Brady made a second one in no time now that he knows how it works. She has enjoyed wearing them and tickled me yesterday when she asked me to keep it safe while we were at the splash pad in Norman. 

*We did see the same wheel in the gift shop at gymnastics Monday afternoon. The package said for ages 8+. Hmmm. I think it is for ages 8 plus people who have patience :)

About a month ago, Hunter started to get into robots. Then we re-watched all the Toy Story movies just a few times. Then Brady took the kids to browse the endless Toy Story toy aisle at Walmart.  Hunter wound up getting Buzz. The one that looks just like the one in the movie. After you get over the price of the sucker, it is definitely worth it. It really is fun to play with! Hailey chose 3 of the characters in smaller versions. I love that she claimed them like Andy did. Her initials are on her own toys now. So cute!

Yesterday we took them to see Toy Story 3. I thought it was very well done and is a must see!

Oh and that authentic box... well it really does transform into a spaceship! It is hanging out above his dresser mirror for safe keeping :)

So school is out and we are all enjoying the freedom of summer break. We have been staying up LATE and sleeping IN even longer. We have been spending more time together as a family here at home and going more places. I am loving it.  Each day we seem to find something fun and sometimes not so fun things to do - like chores.

Family outing to Pops where I guzzled an Orange Cream...

- The sprinkler is in full swing as I am trying to get some grass to grow. I might just need to buy some sod at the rate it has been raining lately though. The H's have enjoyed their sprinkler sessions.

- The John Deer gator is still a huge hit and entertains them for long periods of time. They love to be in the backyard riding it, playing on the swing set, sandbox and make-shift fort/house area.

- I have been tending to my garden and yard work and have begun yet another purging of too many things phase. I love those drop off boxes where you can leave all your stuffs for other people to enjoy.

- We are enjoying having more play dates now that more time allows.

- Hunter talks Brady into taking him to the office and to go look for trains more often now. They now use the scanner to hear when one is coming. It is quite common for them to go sit by the train track with a beverage and some popcorn chicken from Sonic and then explore until the train comes. At night, it is cool to see the man turn on his light inside so we can see him. I think they like to see people frantically waving at them too!

- I have been cooking more. Summer isn't exactly the season to heat up your oven but I seem to like to cook more in the summer.

- We started going to the library on Tuesdays to checkout books. Hunter loves getting his own stash of books to read. I signed them up for the summer reading program. I can tell Hailey has improved her reading skills and has learned many more words. 

- Brady and I both have iPads now and I have become super nerdy. I take it to church and have the scriptures on it for classes. I love to take it to bed and play with it before I nod off. Hailey begs to use it too. I bought her a few fun and educational apps with my gift card. This type of technology is so handy and amazing to me still. It is funny to me to see my children correctly know how to swipe their fingers on the iphone or iPad to play an app or the fact they know terms like app and download, etc. Hunter is especially taking after his father. He has some serious knowledge already about real tools and enjoys taking apart things like Brady. The other day they took apart a laptop for fun and the screen has now become Hunter's iPad. He carries it around so proudly. I drew him an apple on the back to make it more official.

- Music camp starts next week and Hailey is really looking forward to going each day. This will be her first camp of any sort. 

- Private swim lessons started today for Miss H. I hope she obtains more skills than I have at swimming. She worked on learning to relax in the water and float today. I thought she did well.

- Hailey is losing teeth fast it seems. She came to us this afternoon with a paper towel and told us she was going to pull out her 5th wiggly tooth. She did and didn't even flinch. I never would have done that. Yuck. She likes them out but LOVES the Tooth Fairy to come more!

- We pulled out the ice cream maker and made homemade ice cream and I introduced them to Magic Shell. Hailey is in love with the stuff. Hunter opted for none.

- Hunter is still happy go lucky and fun to be around. He seems to have gained a few inches in the past few months height wise. He hasn't wanted to eat much in the last two weeks and that was disturbing me a little. He normally eats all meals and snacks a bunch believe it or not with his small frame. His appetite is returning back to normal.

- I am trying to get skinny again and rock a pair of jeans like I used too :) My food allergies have become worse.

- A brand new white Toyota Tundra appeared in our driveway 2 weeks ago. I am happy we all have a safe new ride now.  Thanks Smokey and sorry your employee didn't like it. We do!

- Hunter is into Toy Story and is fascinated with robots lately. Buzz Lightyear is his favorite character right now.  I spied some $9 character pajamas and had to get them for him because he needed pj's and they were just too darn cute. He insists on wearing them each night.  Can't wait to take them to the latest movie! Daddy took him to the store and browsed the gigantic selection of Toy Story toys. He now owns a Buzz Lightyear. I might just start calling Brady a Sugar Daddy! Hailey got in on the mix and wanted 3 of the smaller character toys.

- Rented movies from redbox for the 2nd time ever. I was pretty tickled with myself. Should do that more.

- I painted a wood nick knack shelf for Hailey and had Brady stick it on the wall for me. She had all these cute little "treasures" piling up on her dresser driving me nuts. Now they have a home and it is now a fun place for her to put all her important little things. I would have liked this as a child.

- The no toys in the living room rule gets broken more often now that school is out and I am mostly okay with that :) They have had some pretty good play sessions. For a couple of days the kitchen chairs were transformed into a train complete with stuffed animal passengers.

- Somewhere in all this mix - I turned 38.

HAPPY SUMMER EVERYONE!

 

So this week I found out that there is a trend at school. There are these cute shaped rubber band like bracelets that are a hot item right now. Hailey was given 2 by her teacher's assistant. Apparently they are for trading too. I went and got Hailey some of her very own to wear to school today so you know she can be hip/cool too! Funny.

* I think it was more of the fact that her favorite friend asked for one back yesterday and told Hailey that she would tell her mommy and her own mother. We were both at school volunteering at their circus day party. I didn't find this out until after school. Hailey not wanting any kind of fuss gave it back. Funny thing is that her friend's mother also didn't know about the trend or where to get them. Hailey never asked me to buy her any. I just surprised her with four packs before school today. She was a happy girl. She was even more pleased that she traded three already! (Too bad school is out on Friday. She would have loved to trade more.)

When I was in the store this morning picking up Hailey's new shape bracelets, I saw a package of treats I knew I would enjoy. The kids saw them in the car so I offered up my goods. Hailey really has a thing for sprinkles. She just about gagged in the car. I knew she would. She thought they would be delicious chocolate pieces. Hunter's reaction was better. He did eat his but didn't want any more. These cute little treats are licorice. I love licorice. The black kind. I blame my mother. She loved it too. 

A couple weeks ago, Hailey said they planted some seeds in class. I loved doing that as a child and she seemed pretty excited too. Yesterday, Hailey showed me her plant journal in the car. 

PAGE ONE:

PAGE TWO:

Ummm. Why did her teacher send home this journal? It isn't finished.

"Hailey. What is this? Where is your plant?"

She gets annoyed and says "IT'S NOT GROWING!!!"

"Oh yeah" I reply. I forgot she sprayed it and killed it. She did tell me that her teacher told the class that some plants might not grow as she spayed it with what she thought was water but wasn't. Sad. At least she got to see that plants really do need air, soil, light and WATER! Lesson learned.

STEP ONE: BOIL SOME WATER (preferably in pots bigger than I own). ADD the HOT WATER TO THE KITCHEN SINK WHICH IS FILLED WITH HALF COLD WATER...

STEP TWO: ADD H2 (smallest child should be added first), LATHER and RINSE...

STEP THREE: DRAIN SINK AND ADD MORE BOILED WATER...

STEP FOUR: ADD H1 (very carefully wash that bigger child), LATHER and RINSE...

TA- DA!!! YOU SHOULD HAVE CLEAN CHILDREN.

THIS METHOD ALSO WORKS FOR WASHING DISHES AND MOPPING THE FLOOR. HOWEVER PLEASE USE COMET CLEANER IN BETWEEN EACH USE. OTHERWISE THAT IS JUST PLAIN YUCK.

These pictures don't do it justice of the sight I found this morning on the deck. Wild cat spray marks on snow are so colorful on the melting snow. Yuck. Yuck and double yuck! I used to be an indoor male cat owner. I loved my cat dearly and we were buds for a long time BUT when he began his marking spree, things changed a little. I never ever wish to have an indoor cat AGAIN. But then there is this side of me that can't stand any wild thing to go hungry or be too cold. It is mating season right now and all the toms are visiting my house marking territory, etc. The famous female cat hasn't even showed up to hang around in a couple of months too. They must be waiting for her or all the leftover scraps I throw out the back door. I guess I need to stop. That visual was just gross. 

Five years ago my mother passed away. I have purposely blocked this day out in my head over the last year. Her birthday and memories have become more vivid in my mind. However I do not wish to forget.  I still miss her terribly. She would do anything for anyone if they were in need. She loved being a grandmother too. One day she will get that opportunity again.

HAPPY FIVE YEARS IN HEAVEN MOTHER!

This week is Red Ribbon Week at Hailey's school. Everyday they were invited to do something fun to support drug awareness. Yesterday everyone was supposed to wear red and I even pinned a red ribbon on her that I had left over from when I taught school. I just had too! Today's theme was "We'd rather do our hair than do drugs!" also known as CRAZY HAIR DAY! I asked her what she wanted to do for it yesterday and she said she wanted to put spiders in her hair. She got a glow in the dark spider from gymnastics. I thought I had a lot of black ring spiders in my Halloween stash but I must have let the children play with them last year and they wound up getting thrown away. Too bad. So after school I had to make a trip to the store. I also picked up some green hairspray. She wanted the white spider to be the mom so we placed it right in the front. The only spiders I found were colored ones but they are fun too. So we had a little bit of fun making her hair all crazy. Brady wound up spraying her hair. It came out all crazy out of the can at first but then it started to do great. I took these pictures as she was sitting in the bathroom waiting for her hair to dry. Her hair wound up being bright green by the time she left for school. I even had to walk her to her class line for fun. I usually drop her off. It was raining so her raincoat hood was on her head. When we walked up the children were admiring a cute up-do of a girl nearby and the bright colors in the boys hair. After a minute, I removed Hailey's raincoat hood. Then one little boy said, "Look at Hailey!" They all rushed over. Hailey didn't say a word. Just smiled. I took a few pictures with my phone camera and kissed her goodbye. She's going to have a good day at school!

 

Here is a short clip of her in the bathroom waiting on the spray to dry. The first joke she learned was when she was three and it is the famous one of "Why did the chicken cross the road?" Her answer then was "To pick some apples". She has recently discovered that the real one is... "To get to the other SLIDE!" We had to capture that on film. I wonder when she will learn that isn't it either? I just love her crazy self. This day suites her very well.

[video:www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTXwBGM3Ios 500x500]

For fun!

Here is another short clip of her singing. She didn't know I was recording her. It is dark as the lights we dim. She was playing with play dough at the lakehouse. I was waking up.  She sings songs she knows but mainly she makes up stuff and adds crazy noises to them all the time. This video is pretty tame. She is singing something about taking someone to dinner to show them how much she loves them. I need to capture the other versions so you will understand. It is usually high pitched, off key and makes no sense but she is one dang happy girl doing it!

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S63zaRG47TE 500x500]

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After School Hair Washing Pics!

I haven't blogged much lately because not much has happened. Haven't been anywhere exciting and no one has visited. Same ole stuff around here lately. The weather has turned cooler and it has been rainy/drizzly for a long time now. I don't mind that at all as I love this weather - except I would like it to dry out some so I can use the blower and try to clean up the 8 thousand acorns that have dropped. So far the leaves are not that annoying yet. I think they look pretty when they blanket the yard for awhile. The acorns just make a mess though. The squirrels are doing their best but I have noticed quite a few dead ones on our street. The outside cat has taken care of a few lately too. She keeps leaving me squirrel and mole presents!

The children are doing well. Hailey is doing fine in school and brings home things almost daily. She has picked up on a lot in the past month. Next week she will start back in gymnastics at Oklahoma Gold. She is excited to get to go again. Hunter has been talking my ear off this week and complaining about everything. He is starting to not want to take his nap but I know he still needs one. He is packing on a little weight and his clothes are fitting better. He still is tall and lean but I have noticed he has grown!

I haven't done much besides taking care of the kiddos and regular mommy duties. Brady did order me some new toner for my printer. Thanks! Now I can print out a nice copy of the directories I need to get started on for church! I have also been working on continuing to weed out all the unnecessary junk we own. We cleared out a small section in the garage. Hooray! I have also been enjoying my time with Hunter for about 30 minutes in the parent pickup line at Hailey's school. We chat about everything, he plays around and I read articles on my phone. I am grateful for technology!

Hailey has off from school today and tomorrow for Fall Break. The upcoming weeks hopefully will be blog worthy.

Until then - enjoy my dead animal pics!

I wasn't going to post about this but I need to tell my hubby THANK-YOU for replacing the kitchen faucet, the kid's bathroom faucet and for fixing the lovely leak from parts underneath the dishwasher leaving a moldy, stinky mess in the storage cabinet next to it. I am happy to say that the darn things don't leak anymore and delighted about the new faucet in the kids bathroom. Water actually pours into the basin like it was meant to do.  When you would turn on the water before, it would hit the edge and water would back up onto the counter.

He also tackled the leaky faucets outdoors. It was kind of frustrating because even though we measured before we purchased parts, they are ALL different sizes. Apparently they don't make the size we need in a few anymore so they have to stick out farther than we would like. I am not exactly caring though - at least they are not leaking all the time anymore!

The bathroom tub, bar sink and roof/skylight are all that is left to fix. They are more intensive and he is not looking forward to those. I am happy he has the skills to fix what he has done so far though. I am sure paying someone to do it would have been pricey.

* I still have to deep clean the carpet by the back door. Since it has been raining for two weeks straight, rainwater made its way into the house through a faulty seal. I have a heavy rug there and didn't know until I moved it to remove crumbs.

* I also was pleasantly surprised that the kitchen utensil drawer was fixed too when I was putting up utensils this afternoon. Brady fixed that too. So happy I don't have to worry about that heavy thing falling on my foot or the kids anymore.

SO MR. FIX-IT-MAN... Thank-you for the fixes. I love them and appreciated your time spent doing it!!!

My Simple New, Not Leaking Kitchen Faucet!

The kid's new, handy functional faucet! This is actually the second one we picked. The first was awesome but was too large and had to be returned.

Today was a lovely, cool day to open up the first day of Fall (better known as Autumn)! It is my favorite time of the year. I opened up the windows to let in the coolness right after I woke up. I was reminded of what I found last week when I opened up the windows for the first time all summer. Seems like a few June bugs have perished! I am excited about more days like this when I can enjoy the cool breeze and keep the AC off. I don't enjoy cold weather though - the kind where your bones get frozen. I could skip over winter except for the fact winter clothes are fun to wear, snow is pretty and I love sitting in front of a blazing fire in my house being super lazy. So welcome Autumn. I am ready for you!

Enjoy my lovely June Bug pics! Want to clean this up?

Hailey's Halloween costume arrived in the mail today. Can you guess what she wants to be? Tessa- you can't guess because you know already!

When we were browsing a catalog that came in the mail a few weeks ago, she decided originally that she wanted to be this:  The Tin Man!

I was fine with that but was dreading the face paint she wanted to have to complete the look.

Then we looked online and she saw this: A Sleestak!

She loved this Sleestak costume from the Land of the Lost. She loves watching that show.

Then we came across what came in the mail today. It is a favorite character of hers. I am happy with her final choice. Not sure if they can wear costumes to school or not for fun but I know those will be kinda odd at school but then again I don't really care that much. These characters do make her happy. She passed up all the girly costumes but did think this one "nice" witch costume was pretty cool. The dress had lights in it. I liked it too.

Hunter is going to be a pirate. My mother in law gave me some dress up clothes last year and it fits him just fine. So we are all set. I love getting ready before the mad rush reaches stores.

SO CAN YOU GUESS WHAT SHE WANTS TO BE?

Today while Hailey was in school, Hunter decided he was going to take off his clothes and put on his sisters pajamas from last night - twice. The second time he went to her room and got her white church shoes out to put on. He also was making an odd rattling noise. I noticed he filled his underwear with the plastic counting bears Hailey was playing with - silly boy!

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnv2Cqu_EOA 500x500]

Hailey had Monday and Tuesday of this week off from school so we went and did a few of the things she wanted to do on those days. First stop was Mitch Park. She hasn't had too many opportunities to ride her bike long distances and be free. This park has the perfect riding space for children. We did the whole course. She only wound up walking her bike 3-4 times near the back where it gets hilly. I was very proud of her and she did great. We stopped halfway for a drink and a snack. That is also where her little brother decided he needed to use the restroom and just did it by the side of the pathway before I had any say so in the matter. Glad no one was coming! We also saw a cute little bunny as we headed back out.

BEFORE... (Notice her bent left arm. Her being double jointed grosses me out sometimes!)

AFTER...

After the park, I took them both for haircuts. I would do this myself but I know I have no talent in this area and they would be messed up for months. Then we headed for lunch and off to Hafer Park. She had a great day on Monday!

Tuesday we played around a lot at home and then headed out for her music class. She has been going to Kindermusik since she was 3 1/2. She is now in the Young Child part of the program and will be finished with it next year. She loves going and it has been good for her in a lot of ways. At home or around people she knows, she is herself. Here and at school she is quiet and shy. So opposite but I am glad she has her good manners on! She really wanted to go swimming but I couldn't find a place that was open to take her. It is so crazy that all the public places are closed already during the week. She hasn't had too many opportunities to swim this summer. We even tossed around the idea of taking her to a hotel - which we will do sometime soon just for fun. 

So instead of taking her swimming, I let her get Bendaroos. She has wanted them for a long time. We also picked up Paperoni. Bendaroos are great. Not so sure about the Paperoni yet!

I have finally completed documenting our Yellowstone trip. Took me long enough.

And... I saw these yesterday and had to go check them out today. I have a serious love of pumpkins. I don't really like yard art. Sometimes it can be too tacky. But after seeing these gigantic pumpkins I might like them close to my door - UNTIL I checked out the price. Who pays $159 to $214 for those? I went in to see if they had any smaller ones. They did but all were way over priced. Just crazy but I bet I see them in a few Edmond yards! O-well. They would just wind up junking up the garage more...

Front doormat greetings compliments of a cat I am sure...

Mommy cat and her latest 4 babies...

Turtle eating bread I threw out for the birds... And my Wild Things!

Hailey has always enjoyed office supplies but hasn't cared too much for crayons until the last 6 months. She seems to enjoy using them now. I have also noticed that her drawings are getting very good. Her people are not blobs anymore. I don't have much of a drawing talent and I can honestly say her deer drawing would be better than any attempt I make. She was allowed to get a little souvenir in Yellowstone. She picked a little deer stuffed animal and named it Rose. This is her drawing of Rose. I also liked her drawings of a dream she had the other night of a penguin surfing! I hope she continues to develop her drawing skills.

Sportsman's Warehouse went out of business here a few months ago and I got this wooden thingy for Hailey. I thought it would be perfect to hang dress up clothes on, purses, etc. It was my 3 dollar purchase. I thought I could just spray paint it and be on my way. Well then I was reminded of my horrible spray painting ability. I tend to over spray and somehow I manage to get drips and make something so pretty look dreadful. I usually have Brady spray paint stuff for me. I picked out a light yellow color for it because her room walls are pink and a touch of yellow would be welcome. So after I realized the spray paint wasn't going to work, I went back for some cheap paint. The only yellow they had was a bright yellow canary color. It could stand to have another round of paint on it but it was a little loud for me already. We jeweled it up a bit and are searching for the perfect topper for it. I would have loved this when I was young. Girls like to put their stuff places!

Hunter has thoroughly enjoyed himself lately. He has been entertaining himself by filling up cups of water or any other container he can get his hands on, flicking his wet toothbrush on us, putting his hands underneath the faucet until is sprays everywhere, climbing up into the sink just to play, tormenting Hailey by squeezing full and almost empty juice boxes on her or the carpet and in general is fascinated by liquids and manipulating them. Hailey wasn't too crazy about him sitting next to her on the couch the other day so he dumped  his water on her and my couch. Grrr and double Grrr! Brady said he was probably trying to just sit on the couch and it spilled but Hailey was way too wet! He got sent straight to take a nap after he ran around the entire living room chasing Hailey with his juice box spraying away. Even though he has been told and gotten in trouble numerous times, I caught him again today. This better end soon.

Yesterday Hailey got her first trophy! She participated in their end of the year performance called the M&M Olympics at Oklahoma Gold Gymnastics. She has been looking forward to this day. She has been going to gymnastics since last fall and has been on the big girl side for the last 2 semesters. She did well even though she stared pretty hard at us and said she got a little "stage fright". She learned about that in ballet class. Brady and Grammy came to see her perform, which I know made her happy. Every class walked into the big gym Olympic style which was cute to see. She was wearing a t-shirt for the big event. She did her 3 routines and then it was trophy time where her name was called out and she got a trophy and 3 bags of M&M's. Her original trophy she received on the platform was red but it was changed to blue. Her teacher asked for a vote originally from all the girls and it was RED but they changed their minds and her teacher traded most of them out for BLUE. Hailey's favorite color since last year has been red. Last week she changed it to blue so this made her really happy. We are going to take a break for the summer and then resume with classes in the fall. Hailey has really enjoyed taking gymnastics. I am so proud of you Hailey!

* Here are a few pictures and videos I took. Brady has better ones and I will upload those later.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3qYJ8GPpws 600x600]

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4QINwQ5_Zw 600x600] 

She also made it onto the gallery page on the Oklahoma Gold website. The owner took a picture of her as we were snapping some after shots of her on the balance beam. Yeah Hailey!

One of the staple household kitchen appliances in my home growing up was a yellow Champion Juicer. My mother and father used it for making many different things but mostly I remember it being used for cutting up lots of carrots to be made into carrot salad, carrot cake and juice. It also does a great job of making soft serve ice cream from frozen bananas and strawberries. I also remember eating a lot of natural snow cones in the summer time. My mom would grind up lots of ice for us and we would put natural blackberry syrup on them. I think this is where my love of blackberries came from initially. It came in this concentrated bottle and you only needed a few drops. So yummy!

When I was in college, I spied this cream colored Champion in an antique store and I just had to get it. It was 49.99. That was a lot of money for me at the time but I knew it was a good deal and it looked brand new. I pulled it out on Sunday. I wanted to make some carrot cake and I had a fresh bag of carrots. The kids were fascinated by this appliance. I absolutely love it. It does a better job at cutting up things than my food processor. If you have never experienced one, you are missing out! Someday I would also like to own a new Bosch. That is another appliance that is fantastic. Food made from a Bosch appliance doesn't even compare in my mind to other ones. Quality in this case does matter!

The carrot cake was okay. I think next time I will tweak the recipe I used. I used one that was pineapple and raisin free. I would have loved to have added nuts but I was out of those. It needed to have more spices too. If anyone has a good pineapple free carrot cake recipe, I would love to have it!

big fat juicy ones

little tiny sqirmy ones

ooey googey worms

 

Yesterday afternoon my weather radio went off alerting me of possible weather headed my way and at the very same time Hailey came running to me telling me that the TV said to turn it to channel 7.  I turned the television to see the weather reports and sure enough - bad weather that eventually turned into a tornado. So I began going down my mental checklist and we headed for the back bathroom complete with pillows, mattress, flashlights, cell phone and the radio. Finding out that the tornado passed by only a mile to two miles from here scared me but I must say I was relieved. I do not enjoy storms of any nature.

One of the things on my checklist was to check to see if the flashlights I keep out in various places throughout the house were still there and working and get out the emergency candles because it was going to be dark soon.  Hunter has a knack for removing the one in the living room and walking off with it!  Another item was to go get my emergency bags I keep for us out and placed by the door. You never know if you need to leave or not. Brady thinks I am nuts sometimes! I immediately took them out and thought okay it is FEBRUARY - not typically the time of year we have to think about tornado weather. That kind of weather usually starts in late March/April. So these bags have been sitting for awhile now. Hunter isn't a baby anymore and it was so odd to find a bottle, formula and even smaller clothes for him. My car has a set of current clothes for them but this bag was more comprehensive. Anyway needless to say, I need to change them out. My 72 hour food kit is out of date too. So I will be doing a re-stocking soon for those items. 

I absolutely love my weather radio though. It can run off batteries as well so when our power was out for 2 1/2 hours it came in handy. Brady came home shortly after the tornado passed through. We had a test run using our generator.  He hooked up our refrigerator, the television and a light. About 15 minutes later, the power came back on for good. Hailey and Brady had big plans to play Kung Fu Panda on the XBOX during the power outage! 

*Side note #1: Goldfish in the bathtub = Big Ole' Mess! We stayed in the back for awhile until I knew it was  save to venture back out. I took goldfish and drinks for them to pass the time. They were everywhere in the tub after I removed the blankets! I also think it is a good idea to pack an activity bag for the home and the car with items they haven't seen. I grabbed a few things from Hailey's room that kept them busy. 

*Side note #2: The wild animals had some good eats today from the food that came out of my out of date 72 hour kit. I am sure the night animals will enjoy the leftovers too! We also found out that we need to refill our 3 large gas cans with more fuel so that generator will be ready to run for a long time if needed. That is somthing we don't think about doing until mowing season! I also wish I had an endless supply of batteries of all sizes. No matter how many I buy, we seem to go through them like candy. I would say butter but candy goes faster here!

*Side note#3: If you had to leave your home quickly and knew you could not return, what would you grab? How handy are those items you want to take and how long would it take you to grab them along with your children and still think straight? I have often thought about these questions. Most of the stuff in my home is just plain sentimental and material stuff. I would however like to take a few items. I would like the DVD's of saved documents/pictures, important documents, my journals I haven't finished importing onto the computer, possibly my laptop and camera, jewlry and whatever else I could load up in the time I was given that is sentimental to my children, Brady and I. 

Friday we got on the road about 7:00 and headed for the lakehouse. About 20 minutes away from the lakehouse, we struck a large deer crossing the road. Brady was driving. We were in a two lane construction area where they are working on widening the road. If you moved over too much you would wind up dropping off the edge onto the dirt. I now know how to properly hit a deer if it is going to commit suicide on your vehicle. Brady hit those brakes hard but he still managed to keep the car going straight. I saw that dang deer come in from the left and bounce off the vehicle and flip and slide on the road in front of us. My immediate reaction was a horrible feeling as I watched that deer flying around the road in front of us. Then I let out a concerned mommy voice that scared Hunter when I asked if the children were okay. He was trembling. Brady pulled over a bit to check out the car and when Hunter saw Brady get out, he trembled even more. Hailey could have cared less even though she knew we stopped pretty hard. She didn't get the lovely picture view of us smashing a deer. She was more concerned about her ladybug she found a few minutes prior and wanted to go put it in a jar at the lakehouse. Then a young boy who was behind us pulled up and checked on us. He was hyper and wanted to know what to do in that situation. Guess he has never seen that happen before! The Yukon will need some damage repair to the turning signal and plastic grill. Smokey and Brady pulled the bumper away from tire so it wouldn't rub and zip tied all the loose parts together. But other than that, the Yukon did what it should have done and we are fortunate to be safe and drive it away. If we had been in my car, that deer would have wound up in the window and I know the outcome would have been totally different.

Brady and I briefly talked about the movie the Curious Life of Benjamin Button and went through our whole night and a series of events:

- If only we hadn't stopped in Edmond for gas and let Hailey go in with Brady to pick out snacks for us all.

- If only I didn't want to stop at Walmart and buy a pair of cheap $11 dollar white tennis shoes because I forgot to pack my Tretorns and was wearing black crocs (which are so comfortable but I think look funny on adults in public. Kids don't count. They always look cute in them.) 

- If only I didn't want to buy film at Walmart for the digital camcorder and batteries for the flashlight or heard my phone ringing to find out that Brady had bring in the children so Hailey could use the restroom.

- If only we hadn't stopped off at McDonalds for late night munchies and drinks.

THEN that deer probably wouldn't have been there at that particular time crossing the road and we would not have smashed into her with the car. 

OR if I would have been driving. Then we obviously would have been there later and the deer would have had plenty of time to cross the road as I drive like a turtle sometimes!

But then Hailey would not have found a lucky lady bug who probably flew into our car when the windows were down at McDonalds and she would not have had the chance to hand the lady the debit card and receive our items all on our own - which made her beam in delight!

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Here are a few pictures but you really can't tell much. The Yukon is a pretty tough vehicle apparently! I am thankful we were all okay and I know some angels were watching over us. 

* In the morning, Smokey did find a dead bird behind the grill and I think 2 butterflies that had been there for some time too. In the dark, we thought it was a chunk of deer. Funny!

 

My mother gave me these moving reindeer when I was first married. You know those ones that you put out in the yard. I have enjoyed them each Christmas holiday season but for some reason getting them out is fun and quick. Getting those dang deer put up after Christmas is another story. When we lived in Norman, I had them out back because I was afraid someone would steal them if I put them out front. I also couldn't enjoy them as much if they were out front because we didn't have a front window other than our bedroom one. After Christmas they would sit and sit and sit until I finally realized that it was spring and maybe I should get them back into their box. This year I moved them from the front yard but they have been sitting on the front porch for 2 weeks. This was around the same time Brady asked me if I was going to take the red bows off the trees. I did that pretty promptly! (Visitors are very rare here so I didn't mind so much and the UPS man and wildlife don't care.)  So last night I glanced out the front window and tackled the job right at that moment.  Those cute moving deer are now back in their box home and I am pretty proud of myself. See you again this Christmas and maybe I will hire someone to do that horrible job for me  - Just kidding!