Christmas Train 2009

In 2004, we decided to drive over to Pryor to see The Christmas Train. I was eight months pregnant with Reid, it was cold, but we were hooked. The place is just magical. The next year, they closed for renovations and stayed closed for three years.

Last year, they reopened and we were there. It is officially a Crawley family tradition. This year, I bought the tickets as soon as they went on sale in November and we headed there on Sunday night.


Our first stop was Santa's Palace. Reid talked to Mrs. Claus and asked where the reindeer were - we got conficting answers. Mrs. C. said they were on the roof, but the Santa assistants said they were in a pasture nearby, because if they stay near the Christmas Train, children feed them candy and they get a tummy ache.

Jackson sat on Santa's lap and gave him his list - an Archius stuffed animal (Pokemon), Nerf Elite for Wii and a Nintendo DS. Reid would not sit on Santa's lap, but did walk up to the edge of the carpet and at least talked to him. Last year, she would barely go in the door. She asked about his reindeer and gave him her list - a real horse, a toy horse, a real unicorn, and a stuffed unicorn.

After visiting with the Claus', we had dinner and headed for our ride on the Christmas Train. The Train takes you on a 10 minute ride that tells the story of Christ - from the creation of the world to Christ's birth, to his death and resurrection. Jackson and Reid made friends with some kids that were in line with us and ended up sitting with us on the train.

We finished our train ride, walked through a couple of the shops (and, second year running - the decorations we liked in the store were not for sale!), hit the bakery for a cinnamon roll, and let the kids play on the playground for a while.

Good, fun, special family evening.

Christmas is Here

Well, the party is behind us and it was a smashing, tasty success. The Christmas decorations are all up and my shopping is all pretty much done, with the exception of one or two gifts. I can now sit back and enjoy the lights.

Thanksgiving Day we stayed home and enjoyed a quiet day (or as quiet as it can be with Reid around). Friday I did venture out to shop at 3:30 p.m. to Hobby Lobby. It was nuts! And, it was filled with amateurs. I have come to the conclusion that you should have to go through Hobby Lobby boot camp before being allowed in the store during a holiday season.

Damon's mom came up Saturday and we all headed to Winfield, with turkey in tow. Damon made Pioneer Woman's mashed potatoes and his infamous cranberry sauce. We spent the day with Grandma and helped her get out her Christmas decorations. It is still somewhat hard to walk into Cumbernauld without having my Dad there. He lived there just under a year, but for some reason that is where I miss his presence. Maybe it is because that is the last place he lived and where we spent the most time with him. Ever since Grandma moved into her apartment four years ago, my Dad would always meet us at Grandmas. We were hardly ever at the house once my mom passed away. I missed my Dad Saturday. I missed my Dad for my kids.

I am headed to Oklahoma City to see Beth Moore on Friday! Yeah! We have had these tickets for almost a year and I can't wait to hear her in person and to worship with Travis Cottrell. It is going to be a good weekend.

I took Reid out last night to get milk and she wanted to see "Cwistmas Lights" so we drove around a couple of neighborhoods. Coming home we drove by a house on our street that has Santa, with his sack, reflected on the garage door. I hear from the back seat, "Momma, that Santa is stealing stuff. That isn't nice."

I went to the doctor today to determine what I need to do about my knees. They have bothered me for about a year and a half and the grinding is getting worse. It is to the point, I question myself before I get down on the floor...will I be able to get back up? is it worth the trouble to get back up? I know my weight is contributing to some of it, but at 40, it seems a little early for total meltdown. I went to our PA and he is concerned; concerned enough to get me into the ortho doctor on Monday. That freaks me out a little. He said it could be arthritis, it could be the cartildge needs cleaned out, or it could be something that would require knee replacement. Uh, no thank you. All I know is, we won't do any surgery until after the February crop. I am not missing the crop.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Operation Christmas Decoration is done! Most of it anyway.

This weekend we focused on getting the Christmas decorations sorted, put up or sent out. We have a ton of Christmas crap and we don't use a fraction of it. My goal this year was to sort through it, as we put it up, and get rid of things we don't use. We had stuff we have never used, we had stuff that we took from my mom's collection that we have never used, and we had stuff that we have just outgrown that style. Goodwill here we come.

We have the "forest" in the den - a group of three narrow trees that are decorated with white lights. We put the "Heritage Tree" in the dining room. This tree has all of the sentimental ornaments we have collected over the years or ones that kids have made. Damon and I both have ornaments from our grandparents and those are on those as well. The sitting area/fireplace has the "Photo Tree," which has 5x7, 4x6 and 2x2 picture frames, with pictures from the last year. We also put on some red Christmas balls. This tree is still lacking a little, so we are going to try to find some 3 x 5 frames or wallet size frames to fill in.

Damon worked on getting our Snow Village houses out and used those in the dining room, mixed in our with the glassware. The only thing missing in the dining room is the table centerpiece. I will finish that up when I get the linens later this week. I decided to do the dining room table in white candles with candy canes, red ribbon and silver bells. The Polar Express is kind of our "family movie" and I love the symbolism of the silver bell.

The kids each have a tree in their room and we took them to Hobby Lobby to pick some additional ornaments for their trees. Jackson has a tree with blue lights and a golf theme. Reid went with red lights, soccer ball ornaments, and blue ball ornaments.

Party prep is still in full swing. I wanted to get decorating done this past weekend, so on party weekend I could focus on cooking and cleaning. Cooking won't take too long. I am contributing the chocolate fountain, onion dip and chips, and sausage balls. Cleaning, on the other hand, will take a while. My theory is it is necessary to invite people over at least once a year, just so the ceiling fans get cleaned, both bathrooms have a full roll of toilet paper at the same time, the floor is vacuumed, and everything is in its place.

I also need to figure out what to do with the goodie bags. We are going to do a treat exchange, with everyone taking home a goodie bag of treats at the end of the party. I bought white handle bags at HL and now I need to figure out something very Martha to do with them. My contribution to the treat exchange is Cowboy Christmas Cookie Mix Jars, courtesy of an idea from www.bakerella.com.

I do have to give a big shout out to my wonderful husband, who has worked his tail off for this party, just as much as I have. He has painted (a lot), trimmed, touched-up, hauled stuff down from the attic, lifted trees, and helped me sort through decorations. This weekend, I know he will be there to help me cook and clean. I wouldn't be able to do a fraction of the stuff I do without his love, support and hard labor!

Planning a Party

Exactly a year ago, when we decided to change churches, it was a difficult, tear-filled decision. We were leaving behind a church family that we loved. But, we also knew, clearly, that God's direction was for us to leave. So, in my head (you know, Man plans, God laughs), I said, "I am not going to get involved. I am not going to open myself up to get hurt again. I need time to heal."

A year later, I still don't know why exactly God did what He did at our old church or why He allowed it to fall apart. But, what I do know...we are involved, we have made new friends, we have found our groove in this church family, and I have gotten involved as ladies ministry coordinator for our Sunday School class. And, I also know I AM HOSTING A HOLIDAY KICK OFF TEA FOR OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL LADIES IN TWO WEEKS! That is 14 days people. 14 very short days. And, the to do list keeps getting longer instead of getting shorter and, the menu, well let's just say that is growing as well.

I did absolutely nothing in the decorating department, this weekend, except go to Hobby Lobby and get two new trees for our forest (two of them half-lite last year and gave up the ghost when we plugged them in yesterday), made a final decision on my dining room centerpiece, and bought supplies for that. And, my commentary to all of that is - I think Hobby Lobby should institute a policy that if you are a Hobby Lobby novice, you are not allowed to be in HL without a trained guide during the holiday season (November 1- December 23). If you have ever looked at www.peopleofwalmart.com...stayed tuned...I am going to create www.peopleofhobbylobby.com and it isn't going to be pretty.

The main push this weekend was to complete my contribution to the Cookie/Treat Exchange part of the event. I went with www.Bakerella.com's cowboy cookie mix jars and, as of tonight, there are 31 of them almost completed. I will take a picture of them tomorrow and get it posted. They look neat and will go over well. The checkout lady at Wal-Mart wanted one, after I had to explain myself and my reasons for buying 15 bags of M&M's, four extra large bags of chocolate chips, flour, sugar, brown sugar, etc.

This week starts the effort to put away Halloween/fall decorations, start sorting Christmas decorations, and prep for Operation Christmas Decoration next weekend. My kids have already asked when their trees are going up.

The downside of this, according to Jackson, is "we aren't going to forget to celebrate Thanksgiving are we?" The upside is we are going to have all of Christmas decorating done and most of the Christmas shopping completed by Thanksgiving. Rock on..I can then sit back, with my feet up, drink eggnog and enjoy the lights during the month of December.

It is going to be a lot of fun and I am really looking forward to it. We are going to have good food, fun and fellowship. A year ago, I didn't really see that I would ever find that again. God is good.

Halloween

Carving pumpkins Saturday morning - we try this every couple of years and my kids still don't really like it. Too sticky they say. Reid just drew on hers with a sharpie. Jackson cleaned his out and we carved it, but it wasn't his favorite part of the day.

Reid chose a butterfly costume this year.

Jackson dressed as Captain Cody from Stars Wars the Clone Wars.

Reid displaying our pumpkin carving final products.

We went Trick-or-Treating Saturday night at Circle Mountain, a neighborhood south of Bartlesville. The kids brought home a stash, even though they were tired and whining before we got through half of the neighborhood. They spent most of the evening fighting over who was going to get to ring the doorbells. We stopped at another friend's house on the way home, hit Sonic for their 50 cent Halloween corn dogs and were home by 9.

53 Pages

Okay, so I didn't quite top my record of 70 pages in one crop, but in my defense let me just say, this crop wasn't as long as the last one I went to.

I put together a crop for our Sunday School class ladies and we had 4-5 ladies at a time, people kind of floated in and out as their schedule allowed. I worked Friday night from 6-11 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. until 6. Everyone said they had a good time and most of them got done what they set out to get completed. We are going to do it again in January, but change it to a one-day crop and open it up to anyone that wants to come.

My goal was to crop all of our Atlanta vacation pictures and I did it. I put together 12x12 pages for our family Places We Go album and worked on smaller pages for the kids' albums. I also taught them how to do the box bag and they were super-thrilled with that project. One lady left the crop, went to Hobby Lobby, bought paper, went home and put together 25 of them for her son's school fall party.

I have decided to sell my Cricut and save up to buy the Expression. I am in love with my Cricut, but I want the bigger one. QVC has an Expression package for $379, which is $20 cheaper than HL and it comes with four cartridges and a bunch of other stuff. Damon sold my Xyron Wishblade for $90 and that is going in a savings account awaiting the rest of the money. The Cricut is just the coolest little toy.

I started a second job on Thursday, back at Graham-Rogers, the insurance company I worked for before I took the job with EDGE. Business with EDGE is struggling and everyone is taking an hour/wage cut. I dropped to 25 hours a week. Graham-Rogers gave me 15 hours a week, for a couple of months to come in and clean up all of the marketing stuff that has gotten messed up or dropped since I left in February 2006. I am hopeful that after we get into first quarter of 2010 and our new sales guy gets in the groove, business will pick up for EDGE.

We went to parent-teacher conferences for each of the kids Thursday and Friday. Damon went to meet with Jackson's teacher. He had B's in Language Arts, Science and Social Studies, but a C in math and that C came purely from not making sure he answered every question on his worksheets. And, he struggles with organization. So, we are now sitting down each night, with his binder, going through helping him organize all of his papers and walking through each paper to make sure he has answered every question. We told him 90% of life is showing up and making sure all of the lines are filled in. He understands most of the material and does well, when he slows down, reads things carefully, and then TURNS IN THE PAPER.

Reid's teacher said she is doing MUCH, MUCH better with her listening and following directions. She still struggles with staying focused during circle time, but most of the kids still struggle with that at this stage of the school year. We are going to spend more time working with her on letter recognition. She can recognize "R" and that it is the first letter in her name, but she can't look at "K" and tell you it is a "K."

Okay, signing off now to watch The Next Iron Chef.

The Other White Meat

I know the swine flu really has nothing to do with pigs, at this point. It has been a part of the conversation now for months and I have wrestled with the hype and sensationalism of it on the news. It is a legitimate news story, but I think it has been blown out of proportion sometimes and created unnecessary panic. I also debated, "do we get the vaccine or not?" With Jackson's problems, we really shouldn't risk not vaccinating, but at the same time, what risks did the vaccine carry?

Well, never piggy mind. The swine flu arrived on Thursday, with Jackson down with a fever, headache, ear pain, and generally lethargic. He laid in the recliner all day, wouldn't eat much or drink. I took him to the doctor Friday morning and it was confirmed h1n1. The pediatrician prescribed Tamiflu for all of us.

We were supposed to go to Lincoln, this weekend, to see the Drennon family. We decided not to go Thursday afternoon, after Jackson wasn't getting any better and one of the Drennon kids came home from school sick. The ironic part, I had set aside $200 for the trip. I dropped $200 on Thursday, between the pediatrician, the pharmacy and Sonic.

Jackson laid around all day Friday, took his medicine and slept off and on. By Saturday morning, he was fever free and back to his normal self. But, Damon and I were another story. We both woke up with fever, headache, cough, and achiness. We are both still sick today. Reid is still symptom free and taking her Tamiflu faithfully, so hopefully she will miss the fun.

Damon finished up painting yesterday, even though he felt like crap. He finished painting doors, touching up the hallway, painting the front door and painting one small wall in the kitchen. He painted the front door black, with chalkboard paint, and he painted the small kitchen wall with magnetic paint and chalkboard paint. It rocks! We are giving a couple days to dry and cure and then we will write on it, take some pics and post them.

He is now done painting until Spring. Then, we are going to take on our bedroom, the kitchen, and our bathroom. The kitchen and the bathroom both involve wallpaper, so that should add a new degree of fun.

American Girl Continued

The twins (Emmerson and Emily) are fitting into our family nicely. The eat with us, they go to bed on-time, they spend a lot of time going on "errands" around the house, they are very quiet, good babies and sleep through the night. Reid loves the double stroller and having her Dad help her change the clothes.

Below is a picture of Reid in her new Christmas pj's and Emmerson and Emily in their matching pjs. Is the double stroller not the cutest thing! It folds up just like a regular stroller and Reid likes to have us fold it, unfold it, fold it again, etc. Oh, and the girls have had their first hair cut. We are not sure which one or where exactly she cut, but we found scissors and a pile of hair. Not a good thing for Reid.

The kids are home this week because of Fall Break. We went and did flu shots yesterday and today Jackson is running a fever, runny nose, cough. We were supposed to go to Lincoln, this weekend, to visit the Drennons, but between Jackson's cooties and the Drennon's kids coming down with something, we decided not to go. Damon will just have to paint around us!

Since we were homebound today, I broke out the mixer and put it through it's yearly Roberta's Pumpkin Cookie paces. This is a huge recipe, I make it once a year because it makes so many and takes a full afternoon (even with two ovens). They are delicious and they remind me of my Mom. They say food is love and my mother, even though she wasn't a really good cook, loved us through food. She always made sure we had things we liked, and she did it with a generous, loving spirit I hope to pass on to my kids.

We are off to gymnastics tonight and, probably, a laid back weekend at home. I am going to finish covering scrapbook albums and start prepping for a crop next weekend. Damon is going to finish painting the hallway and doors.

Slippery Slope

Move over Build-A-Bear...bring on American Girl. We have read about it, we have looked at it online, but this weekend, we drove to Dallas for the "experience" and let me just say SLIPPERY SLOPE and we are already floundering at the bottom. We took along Nana (Damon's mom), her sister (Aunt Sherry), and their credit cards. This was an early birthday present for Reid and let's just say, she partied in style.

All I can say is it is very, very, very pink and for a four-year-old it was a matter of "Where in the heck do I start and how can I manage to touch all of this stuff?"

At Reid's age, American Girl has the Bitty Baby section and you can choose from an infant or the Bitty Baby twins. Reid was a little overwhelmed with us trying to help her choose, so we enlisted Regina, one of the AG staff, to help her. Reid choose the Bitty Baby twins and within that she chose two girls, both blond. And, with her twins, she got a double stroller.

Then, she had to move on and choose her accessories. She and her Great-Aunt Sherry (i.e. the payee) went in search of those. She has talked about a new baby bed for weeks, so that was the first order of business, and then she went on to choose a tea set, onesies, bottles, diapers/wipes, Christmas pajammas for her and her babies (she will match her babies), hair curling set, and a couple of baby outfits.

20 minutes and $600 later, this is Reid with her twins and all of the associated stuff. We were a little concerned about having enough cargo space in the Pilot. And, drum roll, please, the twins names.....Emmerson and Emily!

After finishing her shopping, we headed upstairs to have lunch at the American Girl Bistro and "the girls" joined us. The twins had their own chairs, as you can see, and they had their own lunch, a chocolate chip muffin. They are a little picky and didn't eat much, but they did try the mac and cheese, chicken fingers and some of Reid's chocolate chip chocolate ice cream sandwich.

Since this was an early birthday celebration, Reid's Aunt Sherry said she had to have dessert and celebrate in-style. So, now Reid thinks she is five. After all, she had candles and she got presents.

And, of course, post American Girl:

Yes, it was expensive. Yes, it was pink overload. Yes, it was a little over-stimulation, but Reid was so excited. Will we do it again? Probably. The stuff is not that badly priced, as individual pieces. It just adds up quickly. We will probably take her back next time we are in Dallas and let her take her dolls to the doll hair salon. And, we will add to her collection of clothes and story books (each outfit comes with a storybook).

You will notice Jackson is not in any of these pictures. Our Dallas friend, David Lowery, picked up Jackson and took him to the Dallas Fair. David, his granddaughter Makayla, and Jackson were at the Fair from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and they had a great time.

Damon and I also worked in a trip to IKEA (my first time) and to Penzy's Spices, a really cool spice store that just makes you want to cook. We had dinner with our friends the Lowery's on Saturday night and headed back this afternoon.

Our den looks like a post-Christmas afternoon - boxes, tissue paper and toys. The "twins" are already in bed. I won't be far behind.

I Really Should Go to Bed

This evening has been weird. Reid went to sleep at 7:30, so my entire evening timeline has been thrown off. Did I use the time to cover albums? to put together a scrapbook page? to work on my Christmas planner? to do the dishes? Nooo...my rear-end has been on the couch watching The First 48 and NCIS reruns.

I am getting back into my scrapbooking groove. In January, I took Stacy Julian's class on how to organize photos and scrapbooks. And, I have the book Photo Freedom, so I understand the system. I bought all of the organizers, but that is pretty much where it stopped. I am FINALLY starting to get stuff in the system. I bought a stack of American Crafts albums with the chipboard covers and I have started covering them and putting on tags - All About Jackson, All About Reid, Holidays, People We Love, Places We Go, All About Damon, All About Me. Jackson has several volumes and I think I have finished two of his five. Reid has two volumes and one is finished. And, yesterday I finished up covering the Holidays album.

Last summer when we were in Atlanta, I dumped a little cash at Archiver's and they were having a promotion with Shutterfly - 50 free prints for every $50 spent. Let's just say, I ordered all of our vacation pics, plus our Labor Day Colorado trip pics and only had to pay shipping! :-)

Our Sunday School class is having a crop October 23/24 and I am planning to crop our Atlanta trip and have some back-up kid pages to work on, in the event I start cranking out the pages. I stocked up on letter stickers Monday and, now all I need is for Hobby Lobby to put paper on sale before now and October 23...then, I will be set.

As soon as I get all of the albums covered and get all of my photos organized, I would like to start albums about my parents. I would like to make albums for me, each of my kids, my brother and his wife, and his kids. Grandma also wants one. I thought about doing digital albums and then ordering multiple copies, but I have some memorabilia to work into them. I need to sit down with all of the photos and memorabilia and figure out the best way to approach them. My kids and my niece and nephew will never know my Mom and they will have vague memories of my Dad, so this is something that is very important for me to get right.

I am also taking a five-week class from Big Picture called Take the Crazy Out of Christmas, which builds a Christmas planner. I saw the class last year and wanted to take it, but didn't, thought I could do it on my on. Didn't work very well. I like the way they set up the planner and, even though I won't use all of the categories they set up, I am going through the set-up exercises so I will have a complete book...just in case, I want to change my mind from year to year. The teacher is a little too much "cheerleader," so I am bypassing the audio messages, but the rest of the class is good information and a little scrapbooking.

I love my Cricut a whole lot more than I thought I would. It is so much easier to use than any of the other systems I have had. It just cranks out my handy dandy letters, I put them through my X and shazamm I have my headline! Love it...now, just have to add to my cartridge library. :-)

Check out our new dining room! It is finished and it is fabulous!

I gave Damon a deadline of November 1 to get it done and it is done 3 weeks ahead of schedule. He is now going to finish painting the trim and doors in the entry way and hallway. The walls are painted all the way down the hall, but there is A LOT of trim and numerous doors to contend, so he will still have a full plate for the next three weeks.

Once he finishes the hallway, I think we are going to take a winter-break from painting. Then, it will be on to our bedroom, our bathroom, the kitchen, the kids bathroom, my office and the sitting room. Basically, the only room that isn't going to be messed with is the den. Fresh paint just makes the world and our house a happier place!

Other than that, we have had a full weekend with First Friday at church - the kids going to their activities and us going out for dinner with our Sunday School class. Jackson really didn't feel like going (he is still battling a monster sinus infection), but I bribed him with a deck of Yu-Gi-Oh cards to go. We really needed a night out and this was a night with free babysitting.

Saturday morning we got up early and headed out to the Pumpkin Patch. We hadn't been in two years and that is just part of fall, a must on the Crawley family calendar. The kids favorite - a new pumpkin shaped inflatable jumper. Reid even RODE A PONY this year.

The rest of the month is packed with activities and the kids are out of school for three days one week and one day the next. The kids and are going to head to Lincoln four a couple of days to see my friends the Drennon's. Damon is going to stay home to paint trim, shampoo carpets and other jobs on his honey-do list. We also have a trip to the American Girl store, a crop with my Sunday School class, a hayride/weinie roast and then Halloween!

Way to go, Jackson!

Jackson took 11 seconds off of his 50 free time and almost 6 seconds off of us 50 back times! Yeah, go Jackson. The Splash Club had an inner-squad meet this morning to give new kids/parents a chance to see how swim meets work and to let the more experienced swimmers get back in the groove for the season. Jackson was awesome. He did three races and made improvements in two of his times. The third race, the 100 meter individual medley was a first for him and he got disqualified. This was the first time he raced the butterfly and he got DQ'd for not keeping his arms moving forward at the same time. He didn't want to do the race because he is still struggling with the butterfly and the breaststroke, but his breaststroke looked awesome. It was a good meet for him and, even though it was just our team, the meet was USA Swimming sanctioned, so his times count for future meets.

After the meet, the kids and I headed out to Tulsa to get them some winter clothes and Damon stayed home to start painting the dining room. The kids and I hit Old Navy, contributed to the economy there, and then went down to Build-A-Bear. They both had BAB certificates burning holes in their pockets. Skater the Monkey and Bear came home with new outfits and some rockin' new shoes. I also got them Dairy Queen, at the Mall. It was a banner day for my kids. On the way to the car, Reid said, "Mom, I am very, very, very, very happy." Good, this should off set those DHS mom days! :-)

Next weekend, we will probably hit the Pumpkin Patch and the weekend after that we are headed to Dallas for an early Happy Birthday Reid celebration. Since her birthday is right after Christmas, it is very hard to have any big celebrations during that time. Sometimes, we do something a month or so after and we have her kid party on her 1/2 birthday, but this year we are doing it early. We are taking her to Dallas, so her Nana (Damon's mom), her Aunt Sherry and Damon and I can take her to the American Girl Store. We can't wait to watch her little head spin with all of the pink!

Because Life is Just that Exciting

This started out as another one of those misc. update posts because not a lot has been going on recently, just the same old routine. But, I decided to break out of the routine and give it a snazzier title!

This weekend we have stayed around the house. I cleaned, lamented how closely related to pigs we really are, and Reid and I got fall/Halloween decorations out. We only decorated the sitting area around the fireplace since the dining room is going to be a reconstruction zone starting this week. We also put our light up ghost in the kitchen window and some Halloween decorations in each of the kids' room.

Damon and I bought the paint and supplies for the dining room on Thursday and, this week, my goal is to get all of the glassware packed up and get the room cleared out. Damon is going to start on the ceiling next weekend. I gave him a deadline of November 5, which will give me two weeks to get Christmas decorations out and ready for a holiday party I am hosting on November 22.

I started Christmas shopping this weekend - looking at options and starting a list. Since we got out of debt last year, my goal has been to pay cash, whenever, wherever possible, Christmas especially. We can plan for it, save for it, instead of waiting to figure it out at the last minute. This year, I have done pretty well about putting $100 into a Christmas savings account every month. I skipped one month - July - because we really needed the money on our vacation. But, other than that, we will have the money to pay cash for Christmas. I feel pretty good about that.

I also wanted to get a jump on Christmas so I could figure out what we are going to do for teacher gifts. That is my challenge every year - what do I do that is creative, inexpensive and not the teacher mug or hot chocolate everyone else gives. I don't worry about keeping up with the Jones', I want to out create the Jones'! This year, I am leaning toward similar gifts to what I gave the 40th Birthday girls - a customized Yankee Candle and customized M&Ms. We have at least 27 gifts in that category...I think I am going to order 50 and then we will have enough for all of those little gifts that come up at the last minute.

Not Much Going On

There really isn't much going on, but I thought I should update since I was mocking those of my friends (hi, JoLynne) for not updating their blogs.

This week is pretty much like last week - shuffle Reid to gymnastics, shuffle Jackson to swim practice, go to church, work with Children's Choir, hang out waiting for kids to finish said activities, etc.

Last weekend, we went out to Osage Hills State Park for the SplashClub Family Picnic. It was a nice day, the kids had a good time and were able to visit with some of the other parents. After Reid said, "She is from my school," pointing at one of the parents walking in, we made the connection that her principal is the mom to one of the Gold Team members, Colton. We have been talking to Colton and his dad to get Jackson and Colton together for some one-on-one workouts. Colton is going to do some coaching with Jackson to help him figure out the speed part of swimming. Jackson can't wait, he and Colton have a great connection.

This weekend we don't have anything on our plates, except church. Hopefully, I can get fall decorations out and maybe get the dining room glassware packed up. I have given Damon a deadline to get the dining room painted. I am hosting a Holiday Kick Off event for our Sunday School class on November 22 and I would like to have a shiny new dining room to host it in. The complication will be painting and keeping Reid out of it. We can't completely block off the dining room, so I am going to have to leave with the kids for a weekend or figure out something else creative to keep Reid out of the paint.

Rocky Mountain High

What a fantastic weekend! It was relaxing, fun, got a little shopping in and spent the day in the pure Rocky Mountain air.

We left Friday morning and headed to the airport. Reid was so excited about going to the airport, but was a little confused when she couldn't just walk on to a plane. She kept asking, over and over, "Is that our plane? That's our plane. Is that our plane?" We flew Southwest, so with the stampede seating, we ended up two rows apart - me with Reid and Damon and Jackson two rows behind us. Reid talked ALL THE WAY TO COLORADO. She couldn't figure out what she wanted to do - watch a movie, play Leapster, not watch a movie, not play Leapster, look out the window, not look out the window, eat her peanuts, not eat her peanuts, and ask over and over and over, "Where is my Diet Coke." Her greatest quote, as we came out of the clouds to land, "We're off the map, Mommie."

We arrived and picked up the rental car, which proved to be another concept Reid couldn't wrap her head around. "Whose car is this? Are we taking somebody's car? Is this our car? Where is our car?" We tried to explain that we were borrowing the car, but she was convinced we were going to get in trouble for taking the car.

Friday evening, we hung out with our friends, the Knight family, at a nice little park not far from their house in Highlands Ranch. We cooked burgers, let the kids get really dirty, and just relaxed. Saturday, the Knight's boys - Buddy and Zach - had football games, so Jackson went with them and we headed out to do a little shopping. We hit Archivers, Wolf Camera, and took Reid to Build-A-Bear. We ended up in a nice outdoor mall that had our favorites - Apple, Williams-Sonoma, Hallmark, and a few other stops. Reid enjoyed the one-on-one time with Mom and Dad and loved the fact she was in Build-A-Bear getting just about anything she wanted.

Sunday morning we loaded up two cars and headed into the mountains to Winter Park. What a fantastic place! We bought all-day, unlimited passes to the activities and the kids (and adults) had a great time. We were able to ride the ski lift, bungie trampoline, gyro, human maze, putt putt golf, and the alpine slide. The alpine slide was slide down the mountain. We got in a little sled, that could be controlled with a joystick, and when flying down the mountain. Reid insisted on riding by herself, so I let her, but told her she had to ride behind me so I could control her speed. That little snot kept ramming my sled. I would speed up and she would speed up more, ram my sled, throw her head back and cackle. Jackson and the other two boys went down the faster of the two slide and they were just flying. Damon and Randy were also on the fast slide and everyone was having way too much fun.

After a little shopping, we headed down the mountains and stopped to eat in Idaho Springs. We tried to get a little pizza at Beau Jo's, but the wait was 45 minutes and with hungry, tired kids and adults, we opted not too wait and ate an Italian place across the street.

Sunday night, we stopped to see a friend of Damon's from high school - Jason and Danna Spohn. They were very welcoming and Jackson was in heaven because they had an xBox and two arcade games - Ms Pac Man and Donkey Kong. Reid feel asleep on the couch. I got to drool over Danna's scrapbooking ROOM.

Monday morning, we said goodbye to the Knight family and met high school friend of Damon's, Christie and her husband Patrick for breakfast. It was nice to meet them and take some time to visit.

We headed to the airport and had no problems dropping off the car, getting through security and getting to our gate. Reid was equally excited about flying home and loved the bus, train and getting back on the plane. Both kids sat down, relaxed and were out cold before we even got to cruising altitude.

It was a nice trip. Thank you Knight family for a great weekend. We will be back!

Craziness

I read an interesting article today - it summarized a study that said it is a myth that our kids our over-scheduled. Kids do fine with multiple activities, within reason, but it is the PARENTS who are stressed and overwhelmed. That's funny. And, hits it on the nose!

In the last two weeks, our fall schedule has fallen into place. Both kids are now in activities, different times, and we are now having those conversations, "Okay, you take this kid at this time. I'll pick them up, because this kid needs to be here at this time." Reid is in gymnastics and Jackson is back in swimming workouts. Tuesdays and Thursdays involve different start and end times for each kid. Let the fun begin.

Reid is loving gymnastics. We can't watch her class because of where they are in the gym, but she tells me she is learning backflips. From what we can here - we can hear over the wall - she is having a grand ole time.

Jackson is back in Splash Club workouts. They were on a two-week layoff while the pool was being repaired and were supposed to be back in the pool this week. The pool is still being cleaned and repaired, so they are doing dry land workouts - aka, running and playing games. But, it is a workout.

Tonight, we start back in the school-year routine for Wednesdays at church - dinner, children's choir, and AWANA. I am helping with pre-school children's choir, which really comes down to herding cats. They have changed the children's choirs this year to a program that divides the kids (they were all together last year - pre-school through 5th grade) into three age divided groups. Jackson's group (3rd-5th) will be working on learning more about music, including reading music. Reid's group will be working on learning the basics of music - beat, soft/loud, etc. They will also be learning songs that will build into a musical at Christmas.

We are headed to Denver this weekend to visit the Knight family, a family we went to church with who recently moved out there. We are flying out on Friday and coming home Monday. This will be Reid's first flight, so it will be interesting to watch her. I think she will enjoy herself.

Updates

Last Saturday, a friend of ours called and said, "You want to go to the lake?" Umm..yeah. He took us out in his boat and pulled the kids around in an floatable. He called it an inner-tube, but it was more like a triangle with two seats built into it. The kids sat down in the middle of it. Neither one of them has ever been on a boat or out on an inner tube like that. They both had a ball. Jackson was wanting to go faster and hit the bumps harder (it was pretty windy out on the lake, so it was choppy), but Reid had her limit and was readily communicating it when we started going too fast.

School has been in almost a week and both kids seem to be settling into their routines. Reid loves Pre-K and every morning we have the same conversation, "Mom, you can let me out here." Mom: "Can I stop the car first?" Reid: "Yes, but don't get out." She hops out of the car, runs in and heads to her classroom. Big, independent girl.

Tonight, Reid starts gymnastics. We had thought about dance, but between Reid telling us she didn't want to do it, she didn't want to do anything and the fact that it was near to impossible to get information out of the dance studio, we gave up on dance. She will go two days a week, for 50 minutes each night. I think she will like it once she gets started.

I have my first PTO meeting tonight - we'll see how this goes. So far, I haven't hacked anybody off, but it is early. Tonight is just a welcome/kickoff meeting, so it should be short/sweet.

Friday night, Damon and I are going on a date and going TO SEE A MOVIE WITHOUT ANIMATION. We have found a new babysitter and we are ready to rock date night again.

Saturday we are headed up to Winfield to spend the day with Grandma. The last time we were there was early June and she is getting antsy for a great-grandchildren visit. She hadn't pulled out the "roast" yet, but it was coming.

First Day of School

Big day...she gets to take her lunch, go to her Pre-K and stay there for the day! She has waited a very, very long time for this day and it is FINALLY here!

First day of 5th grade. Wow, big man on campus!

The first day of school is here. Two kids, two different schools, lots and lots of pencils, paper, notebooks, crayons, markers, and more.

We dropped Jackson off at Ranch Heights for his last, first day of school as an elementary kid. He didn't seem particularly excited, but he said he was ready. We drove over to Will Rogers Early Childhood Center, parked and got the cameras at the ready. Reid said, "I can walk in by myself." Uh, not. Jackson robbed me of this moment and dear Reid, you are paying for your brother's sin of not letting me walk him into his first day of school.

We took Reid in, found her teacher, and followed them to the classroom. I got a hug, but it was a half-hug. I don't think Dad even got a wave. This girl had things to do, people to see. Parents were huddled in the hallway and all of the kids had this look like, "Why are you guys still here?"

I teared up a little. Life has changed. Time is flying. But, at the same time, I am happy for Reid. Happy she is confident and ready to take on this new stage of her life. Happy that she isn't afraid to be in the middle of something new. Go get'em little girl.

Just Everyday Details

The summer is winding down, but the activity around here has not:

We had Jackson's birthday party at the swimming pool on July 31. He had a friend, Joseph, over to spend the night before and all day Friday. I don't think, no, I know I have never heard the word "dude" that many times. It was "Dude," "Dude," "Dude," all DAY LONG. Jackson enjoyed his party and received about $50 in cash/gift cards, plus a lava lamp.

I went to Curriculum Night at Reid's school on Monday, which gave me the opportunity to meet her teacher, see her classroom and get the low down on what she will be doing during her day. All I can say is, please pray for this teacher...she is going to have 23 four-year-olds. I need a magarita just thinking about that.

Monday night, we go back to Will Rogers Early Childhood Center for Open House. This is Reid's turn to check things out, take her school supplies and put them in her cubby, and meet her teacher. She is ready! She doesn't know this yet, but I will walk her in to her classroom, hand-in-hand. We will not have the Jackson-Running-Away-From-Me fiasco that we had when Jackson first went to school. Yes, she is paying for the sins of her brother.

Jackson's Back to School Open House night is Tuesday night. This his last year at Ranch Heights...I have a 5th grader. How did that happen?

Reid's last day of day care is tomorrow. The LAST DAY! I wrote the last check this week and I should have taken a picture of it. I will have to get an image of that check and scrapbook it. After 10 years, 9 years at the same day care...WE ARE DONE!!

Tonight, we are going to a birthday party at the pool and tomorrow night Jackson has a sleepover/birthday party at a friend's house. We are thinking about taking Reid swimming - a little Sissy one-on-one time.

This weekend, we actually have nothing, nada, zip, on our calendars. It was somewhere March the last time that happened.

Happy Birthday, Jackson

Happy Birthday, Little Man! Welcome to 10!!

Every year, you turn into a more incredible kid and, in these last six months, we have watched you mature into an even more confident, self-assured boy. You are really leaving behind your "little kid" ways and moving into your own identity as a "tween."

Even though you are maturing and becoming more independant, you still:

• Take my hand and want to walk hand-in-hand
• Can't sleep without your blankie
• Tell me I'm a good mommie at least once every day
• Say, "I love you Mom" at least 10 days times a day
• Want your parents to go to activities with you

I know those things are probably going to slip away more and more, but I am going to hold on to them and treasure them each and every time. (And continue to pray you will just stop growing for a second.)

You still surprise and delight people with your compassion and your ability accept people for who they are. We started a new church this year and you slid into that situation without a hitch, and in one ministry situation you showed your personality to a 99-year-old member of our congregation. You walked up to her, without hesitation, talked with her, and helped her blow out her candles. Not many 9-year-olds would do that.

You're a good (third parent) big brother to your Sissy. She worships you, I hope you know that. You are incredibly patient and giving to her, even when she isn't the most appreciative or the nicest to you. Thank you for that. Thank you for being someone Reid can count on.

You started a new sport this year - swimming - and joined the ConocoPhillips Splash Club. I hate to break it to you, kiddo, but you are not a natural born athlete. Mom and Dad did not bless you with athletic genes. But, that hasn't stopped you and it hasn't stopped from dreaming. This is the first sport you have done that you have aspired to moving up. Early into the training, you said you want to be on Gold Team - you are starting on bronze - and you have stuck to that. I have no doubt you will get there. It won't be easy, nothing worthwhile ever comes easy, but I see your determination and that will is your ticket. Hold on to it and swim!

In this your ninth year, we lost your Grandpa. But, you were loving, understanding and more worried about me than about yourself. I hope you know and will remember how much he loved you and how we said good-bye in a way that honored who he was and allowed you, his grandchildren, to have fun in the great outdoors, just where he was most at home.

Here's to another year of good-night tickles, food on your eyebrows, snotting Dad's pillow, leaving toys in the chair, and living, laughing, and holding on to every ounce of your childhood.

Happy 10th!

Mommie

Change

We've talked about Reid going to school for months. We have driven by the school and listened to Reid yell, "There's my pre-K" for months. We even went and bought her school supplies. But, today, we walked in her school hand and hand. It was real. My baby is going to school.

She was so excited. They took her picture with her new name plate and took her into the gym to meet the pre-K teachers. They were doing some assessments and parents were relegated to the hallway to fill out paperwork. She came out just beaming. We bought her school shirt - every Monday is spirit day and they all wear their school shirts - and I paid for a school year worth of Pickles & Popcorn day purchases (they can buy candy/popcorn every other Friday).

Then, Reid got mad. She wasn't getting to stay at pre-K; she had to go back to day care for the rest of the day. Not her idea of what was supposed to happen! Two more weeks, sweet girl, just two more weeks.

Home Again...For a While!

We are home...and we are staying home for the next six weeks. Hotel rooms used to be fun, an adventure. Now, they just represent some place that we tend to forget stuff.

We were in Norman this weekend for the Oklahoma Division II Swim Meet. This, I can safely say, was not one of my favorite meets and it didn't help that it was kind of a disappointing weekend for Jackson. The meet just wasn't as well organized or well run as the others we have been to. And, you know us, we are experts in swim meets because we have been to FOUR. We were at OU, but the pool was really kind of nerve-wracking. The kids were diving off blocks made of plywood and some outdoor carpet; very weird. And, both ends of the pool were 3 ft. 6 inches...they had kids diving into shallow water. Made me NERVOUS. They also didn't announce or post what event they were on, so we spent most of the weekend asking everyone around, "What event are they on? What heat?"

Jackson had six events and by the end he was pretty discouraged. He doesn't seem to be improving or getting any closer to qualifying times. Two of his events (50 breaststroke and the 200 free) were new for him, so we had no times to compare against. One event he swam .5 seconds faster and the other three he swam 7-15 seconds slower than he has in previous meets. He wants to swim "b" times, which would qualify him for more meets, but he seems to be getting further away from those times than closer.

Sunday afternoon he was pretty discouraged and started to cry. I felt so bad and completely powerless. As a parent, I want my kids to succeed, to find something that makes them happy and gives them a sense of confidence and accomplishment. Swimming seems to be a good opportunity for Jackson, but I also know that he will have to work for everything he gets. He isn't a natural born athlete and his parents are not natural born athletes. It is just discouraging to be into this nine months and not see some progress. And, it is very hard to know how to encourage him to hang in there.

On the school front, we took the kids to Staples last night to buy school supplies. We have an appointment to take Reid for her Pre-K Preview and assessment next Monday. She is ready for day care to be done and to get on with this pre-k business.

We picked up my car today and left almost all of my work bonus with the mechanic (we think he was looking at plans for his vacation home as we were leaving). From what we understand, they worked on the car three days straight, including Saturday and Sunday, and at one point on Saturday the only part of my engine that was still in the car was the block. In ended up needing valve seals and a head gasket.

Other than that, we have a busy week ahead. Damon leaves for CKU/CPR on Wednesday and the kids I need to prep for the Allen's to come visit this weekend. Yeah! Can't wait!

Back to Life

Last week was fun, we had a great time, but we are back to reality. Uggh!

This week has been funfilled in the repair department. We took my car to the mechanic today and they are trying to determine exactly where in the engine the problem lies. The car blows black smoke out the tailpipe in the mornings, just after you start it. So, oil is piling up somewhere and that somewhere is sure not to equal inexpensive repair. They are going to keep it overnight and take a look at the engine in the morning, after it has sat overnight. Then, they will call with the bill. I will be waiting by the phone.

On the home front, we have hired a handyman to install two ceiling fans and mount the new bedroom doors. Because of the "interesting" wiring in this house, it has taken him all day to assemble and hang the fans. He will be back tomorrow to deal with the doors.

Otherwise, I am trying to get back in the groove of working, get bills paid, get Jackson's birthday party on track, and start thinking about packing for this weekend. We will are heading to Norman for the Oklahoma Division II swim meet. Jackson is swimming six events (50 Free, 50 back, 100 free, 100 back, 50 breaststroke, and the 200 free). Two of his events are Saturday and four are on Sunday. He is going to be exhausted, but he is ready and excited to go.

Damon leaves for CKU/Photography next Wednesday, so the kids and I will be solo for two days before our favorite friends the Allens' come to visit. Yeah! The kids are excited to show Price the trampoline. We will hit Kiddie Park if it isn't deathly hot outside. I've already got the menu planned...it involves cream cheese and chocolate. It will be a good weekend!

I am also trying to pull together ideas for Jackson's school PTO. After the PTO sent out four or five begging emails, I finally said I would volunteer to be president. Not sure what possessed me, but I am going to jump in with both feet. Maybe this will be give me the opportunity to go in and change everything I hated about PTO last year. :-) I have set a planning meeting for July 27 for the executive committee and the committee chairs. It will be interesting to see who shows up. We have had some lack-of-volunteer-issues, but most of them have come from lack of communication, lack of specificity in communication, and not really defining roles and expectations very well. We shall see what happens. I am taking the glass half-full approach...hopefully that will last!

Sunday afternoon we are taking my baby to buy school supplies. Reid ends her day care career in three weeks and starts school in a little less than 4 weeks (August 12). Uggh! Staples is running a special promotion Sunday evening, so we are going to take her and let her get the things on her list. I will take Jackson some other day. After five years, the excitement about school supplies isn't there, maybe next year when he is preparing FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL. When did I get so old?

Georgia Vacation

We're home! We had a fun-filled week in Atlanta, saw some great stuff, bought a few things, got wet, and built some great family memories.

Friday, July 3 - Drove from Bartlesville to Memphis, including a drive by Graceland. We didn't take the tour, but we did see the house, the Lisa Marie jet and another jet from the street. I took a couple of pics of the house and the gate from the car.

Saturday, July 4 - We got up and went into downtown Memphis to see the Lorraine Hotel, where Martin Luther King, Jr was killed and tour the Civil Rights Museum. Awesome museum. Jackson studied MLK this year and he wanted to see this. He seemed to enjoy it and really liked the fact you could see blood on the sidewalk outside the hotel room. We doubt it was really MLKs blood, but they have preserved a piece of the walkway that MLK was standing on and there are some red stains on it. After seeing that, we hopped back in the car and drove on to Atlanta. Seven hours later, we pulled into our hotel.

Sunday, July 5 - Georgia Aquarium! This is the real reason we set out for Atlanta in the first place. The GA is the largest aquarium in the world an

d home to three whale sharks. By far, the best attraction I have ever seen. They had five areas and the exhibits were all just incredible. When we got to Ocean Voyager, the kids were beside themselves. Reid was wanting to see "bammerheads" (hammerhead sharks) and she got her wish just as we stepped up to the first window. Jackson wanted to see the Manta Ray and we saw her many times. Damon and I wanted to see the whale sharks. The GA is home to three whale sharks in an exhibit that holds 6.2 million gallons of water. The exhibit can hold up to six whale sharks and they currently have four. The exhibit also had a variety of sharks, grouper, sting rays, and thousands of other fish. Awesome is all I can say.

The shocker of that experience was lunch. I always expect to pay out the nose to eat at those places, but the Georgia Aquarium takes the cake on this one. $63 for four of us to eat lunch. Yes, read that again slowly, you read it right....$63 for lunch...and we didn't have lobster. The kids each had chicken strips, fries and a drink. I had a bacon cheeseburger and drink. Damon had a chicken sandwich, a individual pizza, and a drink. And, we got two desserts to share.

After seeing the Aquarium, we walked across the park area to World of Coca Cola. Very interesting, very fun 4-D movie, and some time in the tasting room.

Monday, July 6 - I have always wanted to see giant pandas and today I got my chance. We headed over to Zoo Atlanta for the day. They currently have three pandas - a mom, dad and baby. The docent was telling us that the zoo pays the Chinese government $500,000 a year to keep the pandas and any baby pandas bred are sent to China once they are weaned. The baby is getting ready to go to China in a couple of weeks.

Tuesday, July 7 - We headed back to the Centennial Olympic Park area and went to CNN for the tour. Jackson got to sit in a news studio mock-up and read the news off the teleprompter. He thought that was pretty cool and the group applauded for him. The tour was very interesting even though we didn't get to see them broadcasting. Due to the Michael Jackson memorial service, most of the broadcast was coming out of California for the day. After the tour, we ate lunch at CNN Center and drove over to the Martin Luther King, Jr. birthplace/burial site. After seeing the Memphis museum, we were disappointed in the Atlanta museum. His church - Ebenezer Baptist - was closed due to some reconstruction work, the birthplace home tours were already full, and the museum just wasn't as well done as the Memphis museum. We also drove over to the Atlanta Underground - not much, didn't stay long.

Wednesday, July 8 - Six Flags White Water! We spent the day splashing and sliding at White Water and the kids had a blast. We also stopped at Archiver's on the way back to the hotel and I left my contribution to the Marietta, GA economy.

Thursday, July 9 - We made a brief stop at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens in the morning. But, between the humidity and Jackson's allergies, we didn't stay long. We went to lunch at CNN Center and then let the kids change into their swimsuits. Centennial Olympic Park has a splash pad, with water shooting up in the pattern of the Olympic rings. Damon and the kids went to that, while I went back to the Coca Cola store to pick up a few things I wanted.

We asked the kids to choose one thing they wanted to go back and see again. They both chose the Georgia Aquarium, so back we went. It was worth another $100 in admission tickets. This time, it wasn't near as crowded and we were able to see some things better. When we got back to the Ocean Voyager, we just sat down at the larger observation window and stayed there for a while. We could have stayed there for hours.

Friday, July 10 - We packed up and headed back to Memphis.

Saturday, July 11 - Home!

It was a really good trip and a fun, family vacation!

Happy 1/2 Birthday Reid

Please use your imagination here because the pictures of Reid's 4 1/2 birthday are on my camera, which is I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA. I lost my good Nikon D80 camera and it makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about it. I loved that camera. I loved the pictures that were on it. The one blessing....Damon just downloaded six months worth of pictures last week, so I didn't lose six months worth, just Reid's party.

So, use your imagination to insert really cute gymnastics birthday party pictures here. We had her party at ConocoPhillips Gymnastics and 20 of her friends and their siblings came to party with us. Her boyfriend William came and he told me he was going to marry Reid. They all looked incredibly cute in their tie-dyed/spray painted shirts and they seemed to like them. One little girl did ask where the candy and goodie bags were. Umm...you are wearing it. Reid picked out a SpongeBob Squarepants cake and she was over-to-top excited about it for weeks. She seemed to enjoy her party, running and jumping into the big foam pit and playing with her friends.

Last night, Damon and I mapped out our vacation, what we are doing what day. We have a lot to get into the week - Georgia Aquarium, Zoo Atlanta, Coca-Cola World, Martin Luther King Museum, White Water, CNN, Underground, and maybe the kids museum. It is going to a busy, but fun week. This will be our first big vacation as a family of four and I think we will have a good time. Reid was drawing her version of a whale shark this morning...did you know whale sharks are yellow? She is also very excited about seeing the "bammerhead sharks." Jackson is ready for the aquarium, White Water and to take me to Coca-Cola World. "This is just going to be your favorite place, Mom."

We are driving to Memphis on Friday and stop and see the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial stuff there, including the hotel where he was killed. Jackson studied MLK in 4th grade and it will be interesting to watch him put what he has learned into the context of standing right in the middle of it. We are also going to go by Graceland. I refuse to pay that much money to go through it, so we are going to stop by, take some pics at the front gate, mail my brother a postcard and do what we need to to say that we have been there.

Reid is at Terrific Tuesdays at church today and Jackson is home. Summer camp was going to the park today all day and with his allergies acting up right now, we decided it was best if he sat this one out. He has been working out with the swim team 2-3 days a week and is looking foward to his next swim meet in a couple of weeks.

Lionfish...Yet Again

She missed it by three strokes...Reid is destined to be Lionfish just a little longer. Reid took her swim test on Wednesday night and last night we found out she missed passing because she can only do two backstroke strokes and she needs to do five. Oh well, she gave it her all and she had fun.

And, she had time to take a little drink while she was there....

















Way to go, Sissy. You did good!!

Just for Heather

Okay, so I haven't blogged for a few days....okay, Heather A...you win! I'm blogging now, just for you. :-)

The one thing that always bugged me growing up was that we really didn't make a big deal about holidays. My mother asked if we wanted our presents wrapped. Mother's Day and Father's Day went by without much thought. And, now, we don't have a lot of extended family to celebrate with, so holidays don't seem to have the same weight of tradition I would like them to have. I have really been trying to change our approach to holidays, make them a big deal and to take a real sense of celebration. Some holidays go better than others, but I am trying.

For Father's Day, we went to church and then went to see Up! (highly, highly recommend by the way...don't miss this movie). That evening, I tried to make a nice dinner and serve it on our china. Didn't pull out all of the stops, but tried to do more than our usual meal. Happy Father's Day, Damon. You are a fabulous dad!


The weekend, other than that, was fairly uneventful. Damon and Jackson got home from church camp on Thursday, they were still tired, and there was still the dirty, stinky camp laundry to deal with. We just puttered around on Saturday.


This week, we are getting ready for Reid's birthday party on Saturday. I ordered her the SpongeBob Squarepants cake she wanted and Monday I went in search of party favors. I, like many mothers across America, hate goody bags. They usually have candy and plastic junk that I ended up trashing. I was hunting for something different and thanks to my loyal friend Hobby Lobby, all of the kids are getting a t-dyed t-shirt and flip flops for a grand total of $2.25 per kid. Rock n Roll! The t-dye is one that you wrinkle the shirt and spray it on. I am going to decorate the flip flops with Spongebob stickers and stamp around the edge "Flipping for Reid's Fourth" on one shoe and "Thanks for coming" on the other shoe. Is that not stinkin' cute!


Today, I worked some and then started looking through all of our Atlanta options. We leave a week from Friday and sort of have an idea of what we are going to do. For sure, we are going to the Georgia Aquarium, Coca Cola World (Jackson speculated that the gift shop is a large refrigerator room), CNN, Martin Luther King's birthdplace, and the Underground. I also found another option today - http://www.stonemountainpark.com/ - kind of looks like a Silver Dollar City type thing. Other options are Six Flags and Whitewater. Jackson is angling for WhiteWater. Looking at the weather, it actually looks like it is going to be 10 degrees cooler in Atlanta than it is here in HOtlahoma.


Tonight is test night for Reid's swimming lessons. We are thinking she may pass Lionfish and go on to Dolphin. The only skill she lacked last session was her backstroke and she has that down now. We shall see. Not a big deal if she doesn't. We are skipping the next session, since we are going to be on vacation for half of it. She will have a two week session the end of July and then off until fall. She wants to play soccer in the fall and also wants to try dance. So, we may take a swimming lesson break to let her try her feet at some other activities.