Happy Halloween 2008

Happy Halloween 2008! And what a happy day it was! We had a lot of fun, and the whole day was full of it! We started the day out with a costume birthday for Charis' little friend Savannah. Then in afternoon the kids and I made a candy haunted castle. We also made my Grandma some soup. She just had her last "bad" chemo treatment a few days before, so we made her our favorite chicken and bean soup, renamed it Witches Brew Stew for halloween, and delivered it to her and Grandpa. Then the kids dressed up and we trick-or-treated around the neighborhood. Selah was a Barbie, complete with the prissy attitude and all ;) Bryson was a Brave Night, and Charis a little mouse. At the end of the night we passed out candy on our porch.

Flashback Friday

Flashback to 1 year ago today. Halloween. I talked my parents into coming over to carve pumpkins and see the kids all dressed up. They almost didn't come... my Mom thought she was feeling bad because she had just got her flu shot. This was 3 weeks before she died. We didn't yet know that she had cancer, nor did we have any idea how bad it was.
She wanted to pass out the candy to all the neighbors and let Alan and I take the kids trick-or-treating.
I'm so glad they came over that night. These last pictures of the kids with my Mom are treasures to me!!!

"There's a First Ti-ye-ime For Everything"

That's one of those country songs that can get stuck in my head for hours! Well, I had to show a pic of my first time to paint a plate with puppy pawprints. Several people have asked me if I do puppies. So, after many requests, what the heck! And here it is!

Alan is already going crazy with it... he's seeing visions of Christmas "Santa Paws," dog dishes, etc.

I think I like the kids better. That dog peed on my kitchen floor.

Broken Arm #2

That stinkin' trampoline!!! Charis in the spring, and now Selah. I was hosting a plate party in WAY-south Tulsa, and Alan was on a business trip in Houston.
I was right in the middle of getting a kid's handprints when I heard my cell phone ring. I didn't answer. About 10 minutes later it rings again. I excused myself and answered the phone. The babysitter on the other end proceeded to tell me "Selah fell off the trampoline and hurt her wrist." I said "Okay... is it hurt very bad?" She said, "Umm, yeah. Here's my Dad" and passed her phone to him. He then told me to get here asap, and that he was taking her right away to the ER.

Uuuuugghhh. That was one of the worst things I've ever felt. Especially being Selah. She doesn't like to be hurt around other people, plus knowing she probably broke her arm. My heart was hurting because she was hurt, but also because I knew she was probably even more upset because I wasn't there to take care of her.

Needless to say, the babysitter and her Dad were great. They handled it so well. By the time I got to the ER the Dad was holding her on his lap back in her room, and she had a splint and ice on her arm.

Both bones in the arm were broken and angled up at a 45 degree. James hung out with me and Selah until we left, and Lydia took Bryson and Charis home. They reset the bones (which I had to leave for that part. Anyone else, I would have stayed.
but when it's my child... I knew I couldn't take it). James, however, stayed to watch (and listen).

She is doing great now. She got treats from Aunt Lynette, her friends Emma and Sarah stopped by to see her, Aunt Janice sent stickers and a card, and the babysitter and her Dad came by the next day to check on her and give her a candybar. He also offered to help us haul the trampoline to the junkyard :)

Selah said "one good thing about breaking your arm is that you get lots of attention from people!" I said "Yep... people love you!! But don't even think about breaking your other arm!!!"
And we laughed.

the picture is of us washing her hair in the kitchen sink. Bryson was rubbing her legs so it was like a beautyshop/message all in one. Yeah, she just might get use to this!

Flashback Friday

Pumpkin Patch
October, 2004
4 years ago

Fall Photo Shoot

Leslie Everett snapped some pictures of the kids this past Saturday. We got some really good ones... tough to choose. Here is the info to check out the pics:


leportraits.com

click on "enter site"

select "proofing"

enter our last name

click on the photo thumbnail of the kids

...enjoy!

Which one is your fav???

Flashback Friday

With these cool fall mornings and the fall wreath I just hung on the front door, I wanted to find a picture of one of our sweet fall memories. This picture was taken in 2003 at Branson, Missouri.
When I was growing up, almost every year my family went to Branson and stayed in the Golden Arrow cabins. We would spend several days at Silver Dollar City, and at night we hung out at the cabins.
Silver Dollar City is still a big tradition with Alan and I now as we have our own kids. Since Alan and I have been married, we have taken a couple trips to SDC and the Golden Arrow cabins with my parents and my brothers and their families. Also, we take day-trips to Silver Dollar City several times a year with Alan's family.
Now that it's fall, I hope we get to go again soon!

This a picture of my parents with Selah and my nephew Drew.

ps. my Mom was so pretty.

Flower Girl of My Flower Girl

This past weekend Selah was the flower girl in Jessica's wedding. Jessica was the flower girl in our wedding 10 years ago. She was 9 years old, so she was a flower [big]girl, but I had to have her in our wedding because she was like my little sister ever since she was 8 months old. She even called me "Sissy" for years.

Well, she of course fell in love with our kids and was our favorite babysitter until a couple years ago when she "grew up" and started college. She had dreamed of Selah being her flower girl in her wedding someday, and last Saturday that dream became a reality.

They both looked BEEEautiful!!

ps. I'm going to try to post a picture of Jessica when she was my flower girl.

Our American Girl

Selah has been wanting an American Girl Doll for some time now. She has several friends who have them, and after a play date with those friends, she comes home asking for one of her own. As usual, I talk to her about not getting everything we want, being content with what we have, the possibility of getting one "someday" for a birthday or for Christmas. They are expensive, and she has several dolls she likes very much. I decided that if (when) we get her one, I want her to appreciate it and I want her to have to wait awhile in order to glean the lessons learned from that as well.

So, in the meantime, we have been reading the American Girl books. And they are FABULOUS!! I love it because each book introduces a different girl with a special personality and heritage that is representational and true to the particular point in American history. So far we have read:

Samantha, 1904 ~ a bright Victorian beauty, an orphan raised by her wealthy grandmother.

Kirsten, 1854 ~ a pioneer girl of strength and spirit who settles on the frontier. Her and her family arrive in America after a long sea voyage from Sweden. We read about the sea and land journey her family experienced as they immigrated to the United States.

These stories are exciting and the history and lessons about the life of a little girl who might have lived 50-100-150 years ago are both entertaining and educational for Selah. Several times during the story her mouth will drop open and her eyes will get wide as she realizes the vast difference between life 150 years ago and life as we know it today.

The reason I had to blog about this was because even though it's pleasure reading of the American Girl story books, she is learning so much from it. The history, as well as realizing how blessed we are today in America. Tonight we finished one of the books, and as she laid in bed and we said our prayers, I was surprised at what I heard... it went something like this...
"And God, thank you that we have so many nice things like my room and cars and airplanes. Please help me keep all my stuff good and take care of it and share if there are people in America who just came here and need something. Thank you for everything that we have and help my Mommy keep it because I'm never getting married and since I'm going to live with Mommy and Daddy forever....."

And the prayer went on from there, but I thought it was pretty cool that she could discern the comforts of the life we have now compared to the hardships of the way of life "back then," and realize just how blessed she is to be an American Girl living in the 21st century.

Charis' 3rd Birthday Party

Sunday we celebrated Charis' 3rd Birthday! She gets more excited about her birthday parties than anyone I've ever met. She eats, breathes, and sleeps "birthday" for several weeks before it gets here. It's so cute! It was a sandcastle theme this year. It was such a great day! It was a day spent with family and our best friends from Joplin, Travis, Jodie, Luke, and Lilly. Grandpa Gene and Grandma Lou Lou made her a wooden sand-table, filled with sand that is purple! Her favorite color! All the kids had a blast playing in the sand. Gene built the table and Lou Anne painted the lid just for her!
Papa Tom gave Charis her own bag of cinnamon bears (which she thought was so cool!), Jodie got her the "office" for her doll house, Lydia and James picked her out an adorable dress, and Kalea got her Snow White dress up. She dressed up like Snow White before bed, and wanted to sleep in it.
I made her a sand castle cake for her party. My kids watched very intently and excitedly the whole time. Ahhh, I love the birthdays. Only I wish they didn't have to roll around so quickly, I can't believe my baby is 3 years old! Makes me kind-a sad! But with so much joy coming out of that girl, the saddness doesn't stick for long.