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.

Working Down the To Do List

We've bit off a lot this summer. As I have said, probably an annoyingly number of times, we have a lot on our plate this summer. But, to add to the fun of all of the events/travels we have this summer, we have also undertaken a one-end-of-the-house-to-the-other home improvement project. It involves a lot of paint.

When you combine the home improvement list and preparing for the event/things we are doing lists together, the number of items on said to-do list seems to grow as I sleep. But, TODAY...I crossed a bunch of things off. It was a slow work day, so I decided to devote as much time as possible to crossing things off my list. So, today...these things are now gone:

• Finish sorting through Reid's toys - trash pile, Goodwill pile
• Get all of Reid's things out of the dining room and back into Reid's room
• Hang Reid's iSpy quilt
• Frame and hang Jackson's olympic swimmer poster
• Clean living room and put everything away from our swim meet weekend
• Laundry
• Clean off sewing table and prep for sewing machine to come back out
• Pay bills
• Balance checkbook
• Make two week menu and grocery list
• Go to grocery store

It doesn't sound like much, but it was mentally a boost to get some of those things off my lists. I am a big lists person. If I don't write them down, I am making lists in my head. And, at my most organized, I am a lister. On the flip side, to do lists can be mentally brutal for me. When I see stuff on a list and it has been there for a while, it is a mental drain. Now, tomorrow, I have to get back to my work to do list. :-)

Reid had Terrific Tuesdays at church today. She really likes it and comes home with new crafts every week. Her favorite part is really that she gets to take her lunch, but she likes the rest of her day there too. Tonight, she had her swimming lesson and swam almost all the way across the pool with her backstroke. Way to go Sissy!

I talked to Damon a couple of times today and Jackson seems to be doing all right at camp. He was throwing around a little bad attitude this morning, but Damon chalked it up to Jackson being tired. He has been going hard for three straight days (the swim meet weekend, plus Monday going all day until 11 p.m.) and it was bound to catch up with him. At lunch, Jackson asked to take one of his benedryl tablets because he was itching and that just added to the tired. In music, Jackson fell asleep sitting in his chair. Damon suggested that he and Jackson go back to the cabin instead of going to the afternoon swimming and Jackson didn't resist much. Both Damon and Jackson slept almost two hours. Moods should significantly change after that.

The Weekend

Yes, we are those parents. We are those parents that stand on the side of the pool and yell at their kid to swim faster. Like the kid doesn't already know that! :-) Logical no. Will we do it again. Probably.

This weekend was the Summer Sizzler Swim Meet in Ponca City. Jackson had four events - 50 meter free, 50 meter back, 100 meter free and 100 meter back. He really did go out there and give it his all. He swam the 50 meter free 4 seconds faster, but we found out the next day he got disqualified for a false start. Two of his other races he swam the same time he swam at the Arkansas meet. And, the 100 meter back was his first time swimming that race in competition, so he didn't have a time to compare. But, he really did well. You could see him trying to do all of the things we were yelling at him (there were three of us yelling/encouraging - me, Damon and the coach).

We had a good time, too and Reid really did well with all of the sitting. At the outdoor meets, everyone sits together - swimmers and parents. So, we were able to sit around, relax, cheer on all of our swimmers, and enjoy ourselves.

On Saturday afternoon we ate at Head Country BBQ. Very tasty. Then, we drove back to Bartlesville to start putting Reid's room back together. Her painting is done and we wanted to get all of her stuff back in her room before Damon was gone this week. Damon put together her new dresser and got her bed back together in her room. She is very excited about her pink room.

Sunday we came back and started packing for Damon and Jackson's week at church camp. They left this morning and will be back Thursday evening. Jackson was a little apprehensive about it. He kept coming back to me for hugs this morning when we were waiting around for everyone to get the church vans packed. Damon said Jackson kept coming back to him after they got to camp, but then when the other male sponsor said he was taking a group to the peddle cars, Jackson was gone. They will have a very, very busy week and I'm sure they will have a great time. I do miss them though and it was hard to think of my little baby boy being gone from home for four days. Damon is with him - that makes it better.

Reid and I have a busy week with swimming lessons and special girls' nights out to Sonic (play area), Kiddie Park, playing on the trampoline and church. She will definitely miss the boys. She has never been away from her daddy or her Bubba for this length of time.

Breathe

We have known for months that this summer was going to be busy, busy, busy and busy. But, now it is upon us and I am already tired. Not complaining...it will all be fun, it will be great family time, but it does make me tired.

This weekend, we are wrapping up Reid's room. Damon got it painted this week and started putting her new dresser up tonight. Tomorrow, we will start moving her furniture back in, put up the blinds back up and hang the curtain rods (granted, I have no idea what I am to do for curtains, but she will have cute rods!). Tomorrow and Sunday, we will be up at o'dark thirty to drive to Ponca City for the Summer Sizzler swim meet. Jackson is swimming two races each day - 50 meter free, 50 meter back, 100 meter free and 100 meter back. We have fun at swim meets and Jackson really likes it.

Sunday afternoon, we will get back and go into full - getting-ready-to-leave-for-church-camp mode. This is Jackson's first sleep away camp experience. Damon is going as a sponsor, so we need to get both of them ready to go. Now, to remember everything they need! They leave Monday morning at 7:30 a.m. and won't be back until Thursday night. I mailed Jackson a letter today, so he will have mail when he is there. (I remember that was one of my favorite parts of church camp - the letters from my Dad. I wished I had saved those.) Reid and I will spend our week going to work/day care, swim lessons, and trampoline jumping. I am sure we will miss the boys, but they are going to have a great time.

This weekend, I also need to get Reid's birthday party invites done. We are doing her party at ConocoPhillips Gymnastics and she has already picked out a SpongeBob birthday cake. Note to self....order said cake.

Catching Up

I started the new blog and then haven't bothered to update it...way to go! I just haven't been in the mood to write, even though I had stuff to write about. 

I spent Memorial Day Weekend with my 40th Girls - Heather, Debbie, JoLynne, Lara, Stephanie and Tricia. While "what happens in Denver, stays in Denver," I can say we had a really good time and will have inside jokes for many years to come. Some highlights, without giving too much away, - tiaras and Cheesecake Factory, Denver Police Department, Denver Fire Department, a day in Vail, my first facial and an 1 1/2 hour massage at the spa, and lots of laughter. It was a good weekend.

Last weekend, the kids and I got up on Saturday morning and watched Damon run a 5K. It took 6 minutes off his time - yeah, D - and is now looking at training for a 1/2 marathon. I will be right here encouraging you, honey. I won't be behind you, because I don't run unless I am being chased, but I will be encouraging in every other way. We also headed up to Winfield for a day trip to pick up my sewing machine. Grandma has had it for the last few weeks, playing and testing it out for me. She was a little sad to see it go. 

This week the kids are in Vacation Bible School, on the Boomerang Express. They seem to be enjoying it and come home with updates on the craft of the day, music, and most importantly, what they had for snack. I am hoping there are some biblical principles sinking in there, somewhere. 

Jackson started summer camp today at a local elementary school. It is the same camp he went to last year and he seemed glad to be back. The staff was also glad to see him. They have a full summer schedule - bowling, swimming, IMAX theater, Incredible Pizza, Zoo, skating, and so much stuff we have to have a daily calendar to keep up. 

This summer is going to fly by and I just hope I can hang on and remember at least some of it.