A Cowboy and A Cowgirl

More Wildness

A Wild Birthday

Today was Ellie's 6th Birthday party. We had it at Safari Sanctuary in Broken Arrow. The only thing I regret is not getting more pictures! Ellie and her friends had a blast looking at all the animals there. They had lions, tigers, a liger, panthers, bobcats and other big cats along with alligators, parrots, lemurs, wolves, peacocks, geese, zebras, and many more animals. Ellie's favorite was the 4 month old lemur. All the kids got in a circle and held hands and the lemur ran around the circle on their arms and heads.

The coolest thing about Safari Sanctuary (I did not know this) is that it's a rescue. Most of the animals have been removed from situations of neglect or abuse. One of the tigers and one of the lions actually used to belong to Mike Tyson. These people at Safari Sanctuary really love these animals and take care of them. They like to tell the animals' stories. It couldn't have been a more perfect birthday for Ellie told me on the way home, "I'd like to get a job working at Safari Sanctuary."

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Yesterday, I arrived at your soccer practice to pick you up, but I was a little early. I was able to watch a little bit of you in action, and I mean action. Take in mind this is the tail end of practice, and you must have been exhausted, but when your teammate stole the ball from you, you were determined, with a will of steel, to get it back. So, with a look of intense competition on your face, you went after the ball. It didn't matter that your teammate was bigger than you. You got right under her shoulder and fought her for it. That's when a mom turned to me and said, "she's really a wolf in sheep's clothing.....she's such a sweet little thing, but put her on the soccer field and watch out!"

Happy Birthday Little One

Ellie, I've always called you my Little One, but since you turned six today, I don't know if I'll be able to call you that anymore. For your birthday celebration today, you wanted to go to Woodward Park. So, we did. We met Nana and Papa there and you opened your presents right there in the carpet of grass. Of course, you seemed thrilled about each and every present (you especially liked the guinea pig leash and harness). We spent a while enjoying the weather and jumping on rocks and exploring the trails. It couldn't have been a more pleasant night. I wanted to bottle the night up and keep it forever. I told Daddy on the way home, "it won't be long before they won't want to go to the park with us anymore. And it felt so right having Nana and Papa there with us. Let's keep this memory." As we were leaving, Ellie, you got a big bonus. Laddie, the "friendly puppy who doesn't bite and is looking for a buddy" was hanging out with his owners. You got to pet him for a long time. You laughed and smiled at the dog, talking with his owners about dog-things. You are the most precious six year old I know. And I'm going to keep calling you Little One.

Friendz - How Many of Us Have Them?

Friends... ones we can depend on!!! Let's be friends. Does
anyone remember this Whodini song from the '80s? I love
to see my kids with their special friends. We can always
depend on Hadley to knock on the door with a big smile on
her face: "Can Luke play?" It's hard to say no to that grin.
We can always count on Reiley to be as sweet as gumdrops,
literally humming a tune throughout her time with us. We
count on sweet Ellie to be friends with everyone she sees.
Today in the cafeteria at school, I watched as she called out
the names of everyone she knew as they passed by. It didn't
matter their age or gender. "Hey Sierra! Kala - hi! There's
Finn. FINN! (running to give him a hug.) Mom, Blaire will
come in through that door. Hi Blaire!" And we can always
count on Luke to want to be in the middle of it all.
We thank God for friends.

Dental Worries

Well, even though the dentist has installed these very cool TV monitors, Luke still wasn't very fond of Dr. Gerkin. In fact, he would not show the doctor even one of his tiny teeth. When the Dr. asked Luke to open his mouth wide like an alligator, he kept that jaw clamped down tight. When Dr. Gerkin asked me to open wide, I felt like doing the same thing Luke did. Dental visits are never fun. At least I didn't have any cavities!

Meet Maggie

The Princess Has Arrived!

At 7:26 PM, on September 12th, Maggie Rae was born! She is truly a beautiful baby, with a head full of thick, dark hair! She weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces. Kim's labor was induced beginning at 9AM, so it turned out to be a bit of a long day for her, but the results were well worth it! Hallie and Lauren COULD HARDLY WAIT to meet Maggie! They were so excited and when they finally looked into her eyes, they were thrilled. Maggie seemed to recognize Hallie's voice. When Hallie spoke, Maggie would slowly turn her head and look around to see if she could find her big sister. And Kami, Ellie and Luke had a lot of fun waiting in the hospital for their new cousin. They got out of bed this morning singing "our new baby cousin comes today!" Welcome to the world, Maggie Rae! We are so glad you are here.

Ellie the next Mia Hamm???

After years of watching her big sister Kam play soccer, Ellie is finally getting her chance to play! She is on a team with her friends Savannah and Lydia, plus some other fun girls. They are the "Firecrackers" and the name couldn't suit them better. They played their first game with a lot of bang. Well, until about midway through the second half of the game. Ellie left her coaches (one of whom is Tom) and walked all the way around to the other side of the field. She stated flatly, "I am tired and sweaty and I need a ring pop." That is one of the things that Papa likes to do... buy the kids a ring pop treat and she was aware that she had not gotten hers yet. Well, after she finished playing the game, she got her ring pop.

Her Last Day as the Baby

Lauren and Luke spent some time together today. Kim went to get a manicure and pedicure for the big day tomorrow! We are all looking forward to meeting Maggie Rae. So, I took the opportunity to snap some pictures of my sweet niece. Little does she know that tomorrow, Maggie will be the baby of the family! I think she'll be fine with it though, because she loves to take care of her own baby dolls. She likes to take care of them and push them around in the stroller. (Luke wouldn't like it if I were sharing his secret, but sometimes, he comes up to Lauren and asks," Do you want to play babies?") They have fun taking turns being the baby. It is pretty hilarious. I know that Lauren will be a great big sister!!!

Luke's First Day of School

Luke has started going to preschool in a church just a couple of minutes away from our house. He goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and his friends Carson and Bonnie are in his class. He is proud to wear his Spiderman backpack to school!