What's Wrong With One of These Pictures?

Here we have Luke and his friend Carson, posing as Diego and Spiderman. Very cool. And then there's Kami, our darling 50's girl. But what is Ellie? She is not dressed up as a sick kid. She IS sick with the chicken pox and is missing out on all the fun. Bad timing, huh? Kami (who had the chicken pox last week) has pledged to bring back some goods for Elle (who was planning on being a black cat.) The same thing happened to Kim and I growing up. I had the chicken pox and I passed them on to her just in time for Halloween! I guess that's just growing up!

Sadness at Safari Sanctuary

Ellie's birthday party was at Safari Sanctuary. (Here is another link)It was a FABULOUS party... probably the best party we've had. On the news last night was a report that some SICKO is poisoning the wolves with arsenic or some other deadly substance. They have now lost 5 of their wolves. One I remember seeing when we were there died yesterday. His name was Raven. I can't imagine how demented someone would have to be to do this. Here is a link to their website: www.safarisanctuary.com and a link to their blog: http://blog.myspace.com/ladysafari

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Ok, I know this is officially a Christmas song, but I just love this time of year. The fall season is so amazingly beautiful (the colors of the leaves shock me every autumn), there is a chill in the air, and you can just cuddle up and be cozy. For some weird reason, I actually enjoy the short daylight of the fall and winter and love dark fall evenings.

We have only made two trips to the pumpkin patch; it seems like we usually go 3 or 4 times, but with my kids getting a bit older, it seems we are also busier with activities. Carmichael's is THE place to go. They have dozens of animals that the kids absolutely love to feed. And a maze made of bales of hay. And a hayride, ponyrides, and mounds of bright orange pumpkins. See Ellie's project for other cool sights at the pumpkin patch.

Yet Another Jesus Question

Though the funniest Jesus question had to be Luke's, I have to document this one. As we were riding home from school, Ellie asked, "Mom, does God like it when we study?" I said, "sure He does." Of course God likes it when kids do their homework, right? Anything I can do to enforce that I will. But my "sure He does" wasn't good enough. She kept questioning... "I mean in the Bible, does it say studying is good?" I said again, "yes, I'm sure it's a good thing." "But does Jesus WANT us to study?" she demanded? I said, "well, I know He likes it when you study the Bible." I guess I had missed her point... because it was at this time she became exasperated and said, "MOM, does Jesus want us to STUDY stuff for school?" I knew at this point I'd better come up with a good answer. I thought a second... "well, in the Bible it says that Jesus increased in stature and wisdom. Anything that Jesus did would be good for us to do! And He did grow taller and smarter." I held my breath hoping this answer would satisfy her. Without missing a beat, she said, "So if I can do anything Jesus did, then I can get lost from my parents like Jesus did that one time."

Memory Lane

This evening (before we caught the mole, see below), we went around town for Kami to take pictures for her school project on Tulsa. We drove by the river and stopped at this spot. The trees in the background were so beautiful, and the weather was crisp, and it was fun to tell the kids about the history of this place...... this is the exact spot where Tom proposed! So, 10 1/2 years later, here I was with our three beautiful children. God, we thank you for your blessings upon us!!!

Animal Kingdom

This afternoon, Kami spotted a katydid on the screen door. We were all delighted with this leafy looking creature (that Ellie named Leif and that she said must certainly be "a cousin of the grasshopper and cricket"), so we captured it and put it in a jar for observation. But this was not to be the high point of our day. Around 5:30 PM, Ellie ran in the door and screamed, "Mom, there's a MOLE in our yard!" So, I dashed outside, expecting him to have scampered back into his hole, but there he was, big teeth, long claws, almost invisible eyes, just digging away. My first impulse was to crush him, as these little critters create all kinds of dirt sculptures in our yard and eat our flowers! But I managed to scrape him into Luke's plastic wheelbarrow and then into this box. (you can see the bloody nose we gave him.) Papa took him away for us. He said that he'd let him go someplace. I wish this pretty gross critter (that Ellie named Dirty), was THE neigborhood mole, but I have a feeling he's got a huge extended family under our house! EEK!

More Mudslinging

Here are some more pics of our trip to the pumpkin patch! Finally, with some finagling, I was able to post these pics. Isn't this the cutest family of all time? They are just as nice as they are cute. And I don't think they got a drop of mud on themselves. My family, however, was covered. Ellie took a spill, and didn't capture a picture of this, but Kami's pants had mud smeared on them up to the thighs! She was a bit disgusted. We had to strip off our shoes and pants on the ride home, so we didn't mess up Tom's loaner truck. But, it was an adventure I'm glad we didn't miss. Goodbye Ashley, Alex, Andrew and Aunt Anne! Come back again yall!

A Soggy Day at the Pumpkin Patch

Can you believe we went out to Carmichael's today? In the rain and 50 degree weather? Well, the pics prove it. And if I can ever get the so called "new and improved" blogger to post all my pictures, you'll see the wet and muddy fun that we had. We went out there with our cousins Ashley, Alex, Andrew and Aunt Anne, and Nana and Papa, and Kim and Hallie and Lauren.
















Since the cousins are leaving tomorrow, we wanted to try to fit in a visit out there. We actually had a great time. Just have never been to the pumpkin patch under an umbrella! I will try to post more pics later, but here is what I managed to get posted. In the 2nd picture, the goat sure looks like he'd love a kiss from Kami!!! And the last picture is part of Ellie's school project, but blogger is only showing part of it. If you click on it, you'll see the whole thing.

Under Construction

Hey family and friends,
I updated my blog today with the new beta system. It has some nice new features that will allow me to edit easier, attach labels to my postings, and other fun stuff. BUT, as you can tell, not everything looks right. I have NO IDEA how to get rid of those weird tool icons on the sidebar. Anyway, I will try working on it the next few days to get it all looking good again.

By the way, check out my Verse of the Day, on the sidebar. Click on the little speaker icon and you can listen to a man with a really amazing voice read it. Funny thing is, the first verse was Jeremiah 29:11, which is Kami's favorite verse. It is also a verse we are studying in CBS... the restoration of Israel. Thank you for visiting our blog and for all your kind feedback.

A is for Awesome

All the way from Colorado, are Aunt Anne, Ashley, Andrew and soon to Arrive, Alex. We visited with them last night over pizza! Of course, it's hard to believe Ashley, our baby cousin, has a baby of her own! And she is Absolutely calm and put together!! It's Awesome to see her thriving in this role. And it's fun to see the love and Admiration of Aunt Anne for her grandson. Andrew is Adorable, and Amazingly, sat at the table with the big kids. Never caused a bit of a fuss... he was a bit Awestruck by all the kids running Around.

Grandma I's House

The red, brick walls of Granny's house hold the memories of my life. Having slumber parties and innumerable holiday celebrations, playing dominos, enjoying the porch swing, learning to quilt, kissing Grandpa Ernie, wrestling with Mack and Pete, eating beans and cornbread at the big, round table, baking mudpies in the backyard with Heather, goofing around with all my cousins, smelling the scent of breakfast, gathering for a lunch of coneys, watching The Young and the Restless, hugging, taking pictures, laughing and smiling.... and that's just the crust of the apple pie.

That house is full of life, love, and one amazing 95 year old lady. What makes my heart soar is that my children are now making memories of their own right there in that same tiny house. Granny's house couldn't be any bigger than 800 square feet, but what it holds is rare and irreplaceable. The memories have taken residence in my heart, and I hope the same will hold true for all the kids as they play on the porch swing, walk next door to Harvey's (Mr. Raney's), run wild in the backyard and play games in the house. Granny, I don't think you'll ever truly grasp the effect you've had, not only on my life, but on the lives of all your children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Another Jesus Question

Ellie:
Is this the tomb where they buried Jesus?

Two of the Most Precious People in My Life

Jesus Questions

Ellie: (playing with a toy phone and dialing her friends' numbers) Mom, what is Jesus' phone number? Is it 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10? Or maybe it goes all the way to 100.

Luke: Mom, does God like sports?

This last one makes me laugh, but also kind of makes me cringe. We are trying to get Luke to sleep without a pull-up, so we are not letting him go to sleep with a cup of water, which yes, he has done for a long time. He asks for water every night, and expresses his frustration to us at not having his cup, but we are trying to be strong and get him through this phase. We didn't know how serious the problem was until he told Nana a few days ago, "I pray to Jesus every night that He will give me a drink of water."

It's Fair Time

The Tulsa State Fair is in town! Kami and Ellie enjoyed the rides. This first pic is the first ride they went on together, but they soon graduated to more thrilling rides. Ellie even rode "Pharoah's Fury," the big boat in the 2nd picture. I would have loved to capture the look on her face as that boat came roaring down each time. It was not a look of fear - but pure excitement. She loved it. Kami and I rode "Round Up," which I loved when I was young. I have to admit that I was just praying this ride would be over, but Kami, of course, thought it was awesome. And then for the finale, Kami and I rode the Zingo together. She had a blast on it. She said, "I wasn't scared at all!" When Uncle Scott asked her to go on the tall ride that flies straight down to the earth in some-thing like 2.3 seconds (don't know the name of it) she politely declined. Thank goodness she's not that brave yet!!!! Thanks Papa for bringing your camera (as always) to capture these pics.