Random Thought Monday

Here are some random thoughts floating around my head this Monday morning:

1. I am 31 weeks pregnant today. Only 8 weeks left unless I go into labor earlier. My doctor said she'll do a c-section at week 39 otherwise. At this point in my pregnancy my feet are starting to look swollen by the end of the day and I'm having a hard time getting my wedding ring off. It's probably time to just take it off until after the baby comes. I feel naked without it though. And my baby boy is moving around like crazy. I was balancing a plate of food on my stomach the other night and his kick actually moved the plate. Yes, we eat in front of the tv sometimes. I admit it.

2. Speaking of wedding rings in #1....this coming Thursday, June 4th, is our ten year wedding anniversary. Ten years have flown by and they have been such a fun adventure. I'll blog more about this on Thursday.

3. In other news, my mom has an amazing talent for folding fitted sheets. I struggle to fold those things and end up wading them up in frustration. Does anyone else not enjoy folding fitted sheets? I swear, my mom folds them and you can't tell the difference between the fitted sheet and the flat sheet. I'm sort of in awe of this.

4. Hannah and Leah are playing so well together right now. They will go off to their room and play for hours. They set up little "houses" using whatever they find and make up all kinds of scenarios. The other day they were running a "hotel for lions". I love it when they use their imagination like that!

5. I dreamed last night that a giant toad was sitting on our front porch looking in our glass door. It was the size of a large pig and was actually grunting and pawing to get in. In my dream, I was both grossed out by the toad and kind of fascinated as well. Weird.

6. We had a great weekend at home. It was hot enough to take the girls swimming on Saturday. They loved it! And Mike and I watched the movie Valkyrie Saturday night. It was good. Sunday we went to church and then each worked on a project: Me cleaning out the last of the guest room closet (to make room for baby things!) and Mike cleaned out the garage. It felt good to check some things off our to-do list.

I guess that's it for now! What did you do this weekend?

Kiss

I finally finished reading another book. It was entiteld Kiss, by Ted Dekker. I seem to go through seasons where I read like crazy and then other seasons where I can hardly finish a book in six months. These last few months were like the latter scenario. I enjoyed the book I was reading, but I either didn't have the time to read or if I did I fell asleep after two pages. Overall it was a good book though. It was slightly over-the-top, but I think I had been reading so many memoirs and non-fiction that I had to adjust back into a good action/thriller/suspense novel. In the book, the main character (named Shauna) is the daughter of a popular presidential candidate. When she and her reporter boyfriend catch wind of a money laundering scheme smack dab in the middle one of her father's companies, a plan is put into place to take her out. The plan fails, and after Shauna wakes up from a drug induced coma, she realizes that she has suffered a significant amount of memory loss. Not sure of who to trust, she slowly recovers and tries to piece her life back together. In addition (here's the over-the-top part), she discovers that she has the ability to "steal" other people's memories through a kiss. By "secuding" certain people and kissing them, she attempts to gather enough memories to put her own life back together and to stay alive! This book would totally make a good action movie with lots of crazy stunts, explosions, and car chases scenes. It was good brain candy and an easy read.

If it sounds like something up your alley, you can also check out these other books by Ted Dekker. He's written a ton of books, but these are the other ones that I've read (in order of my favorite to least favorite).

Three
Obsessed
Blink
Showdown

After I finish one book, I do get a little giddy looking at my stack of "what to read next" books. It's like picking out a delicious pastry from my favorite bakery. What do I want to read first? I decided on another non-fiction story about an Arab and a Jew forming an unlikely friendship that spans several decades and survives several wars. It's called The Lemon Tree, by Sandy Tolan. I'll update on that when I finish it. Hopefully not six months from now!

Where I've Been:: Part 3

Part 3: Graham, TX

Here's a little something you may not know:

Even though most of my extended family lives in Oklahoma, and even though I've lived here for the last 22 years, and even though I'm a die-hard Sooners fan..... I was actually born in Texas. For those of you who don't know, Texas and Oklahoma share more than a border-- they share a passion for not liking each other. Especially when college sports are involved. But I spent the first ten years of my life in a small Texas town and I loved every minute of it. Those years were spent playing dolls with my friend Shauna, riding my bike to the pool, watching movies at the drive-in, and exploring the countryside with my parents. In my memory, the town of Graham, TX lives on idyllic bliss.

Since meeting Mike some thirteen years ago, I have told him stories of my childhood in Graham. And for thirteen years I've wanted to drive the four hours south to highway 16, and take Mike on a tour of my past. And this past weekend, we finally did it. After packing up our campsite Saturday morning, we hit the road. From Lawton, we headed south crossing the border into Texas in about an hour. We continued south through Wichita Falls, Scotland and Windthorst, until we saw the sign pointing us to Graham. Thirty minutes later we were there and my eyes just couldn't take it all in. It was like memory overload. We drove all over the place and I pointed out all the things I remembered, telling multiple stories along the way. My old house, my friend Shauna's house, the elementary school, the downtown square, First Baptist Church, the high school football field, good old Dairy King and K&N.

Finally, we checked into a hotel, then decided to take the girls bowling for the first time. We went to the old Steer Bowl and watched the girls try rolling the ball down the lane-- each time was a thrill, gutterball or not. Later we went back to the hotel to swim. And after that, we ventured out for dinner. It rained after that, so our plans of going to my favorite childhood park got squashed, and it as okay because we were all four asleep by 9:30 that night! I think our camping trip caught up to us.

After a leisurely breakfast Sunday morning, we drove back to Oklahoma City. It may not have been Disney World, but it was a fabulous little vacation.

Leah showing off her muscles at Dairy King.

The Drive-in theater. The first movie I saw here was Flight of the Navigator.

Leah showing off her bowling shoes. Poor girl didn't have any clean socks, so she had to wear mine. What a trooper.
Hannah ready to bowl!

Leah after hitting her first few pins!

The water was a bit chilly, but they all bravely got in.

Leah in the water.

A late afternoon stroll through downtown ended at the gazebo in the middle of the town square.

Where are some of your favortie places to vacation or travel to?

Where I've Been:: Part 2

Part Two: Camping at Lake Lawtonka

Well after the girls' recital weekend, we had a busy week of "the last ofs"--- the last day of school, the last day of ballet, the last day of my Bible study, etc. Then Memorial Weekend was upon us, and we took off on a little get-a-way for our family. Mike and I decided that we needed to go somewhere just the four of us on a little mini-vacation before our baby boy comes in July. So, keeping in mind a small budget and short time frame, we decided to take the girls camping for a night. We picked a lake near Lawton, Oklahoma which is about a 2 hour drive from our home. Several years ago, in our pre-kid days, we went camping with about four other couples at the same lake, and had a great time. Lake Lawtonka is situated in the Wichita Mountain range (yes, Oklahoma has mountains-- just small ones). And because it is a small lake, it is not extremely crowded on holiday weekends.

The girls were so excited to camp out. They asked every morning, "Is this the day of our camping trip?" Finally, Friday arrived. Mike came home early, we packed our car, and we hit the road.

Arriving at our campsite. They were so excited to go set up our tent.

A lovely view of Mt. Scott.

Ahhhh....sunset over water. So nice.


Leah by the campfire anxiously waiting for s'mores.

Hannah on the picnic blanket looking so content and grown up.

I survived! Me first thing in the morning after a rough night's sleep. Remember, I'm 30 weeks pregnant here. Mike is in the background laughing.

But this view out our tent door early Saturday morning (along with the squeals of our girls after waking up outside!) made it all worth it.

After a quick breakfast, we packed up our stuff and hit the road for our next destination.

So stay tuned for Part 3......

Where I've Been:: Part 1

Oh my, are you all still out there? It's been over a week since I last blogged-- shame on me! These last two weeks have been packed with activities and I am finally coming out of this busy time into a season of rest. Ahhhh....I knew May was going to be crazy. It was fun, but I'm ready for a slower, summer pace. To fill you all in what we've been up to, I'm going to break this into three parts.

Part One: May 16th, Ballet recital

Shortly after the last time I blogged, we had our girls first ballet recital. Really, I should say tap recital because they actually performed a tap dance, not a ballet routine. Throughout the year, the girls have been taking a one hour dance class: thirty minutes of ballet, thirty minutes of tap. Their teacher chose tap for the recital dance and put together a cute routine to the song "Thank Heaven for Little Girls."

I would like to think I have a deep amount of knowledge about dance because I was a dancer for many years. Not a good dancer, but an okay dancer. I started off taking ballet, tap, and jazz (as it was called in the day), but around 8th grade, I focused in on ballet only. I even took ballet as an adult. In fact, the last year I danced was the year I was pregnant with the girls. So with all of this being said, I thought getting two four year olds ready for a recital would be no problem.

Wrong.

First problem. The girls hair was supposed to be curled. Uhhh....I'm the mom who can't really do hair. Ponytails are about the extent of my hair abilities. So after experimenting with curling irons and bobby pins, a friend finally reminded me about sponge rollers. And to my delight, they worked!

Here's the proof:

Curlers in. Girls ready to go to bed.

Voila! Hannah's hair the next morning. Leah's looked just as pretty and curly, but I'll spare you a repeditive picture.

Next came make-up. I don't wear a whole lot of make-up and am no expert at applying it. But I could manage blush, a dusting of shimmery eye shadow, and some lipstick.

Sweet Hannah

Lovely Leah

One thing I did learn is that I could never be a pagent mom. Not that I want to be. Moving on....

Finally it was time to go. The big day had arrived. The girls looked beautiful, but more importantly they felt special. They had been working hard to learn their dance and were so proud of themselves after they got on the big stage and performed their routine well. I admit I teared up as I watched them up there. They looked so independent and grown up. And I know that the clock is ticking down the days of being a family of four. I think I feel a sense of urgency to make these last few months really special for them. Their lives will be changing more than they can grasp right now. In good ways, though. I just want them to know how much we enjoy being their parents, and how much we will always love them.

Backstage and ready to go!

After the show. They are holding the flowers my parents brought them.

Our wonderful family of four. Plus one in utero.

Bikes, Turtles, and Ice Cream

If I made a list of things enjoyed on a typical childhood summer evening, it might look like this:

1. Bike riding
2. Ice Cream
3. Finding "Critters" (like frogs, turtles, etc)
4. Laughing
5. Firing up the Grill for Dinner

Amazingly, all five of those things occured last night here and it was just about perfect. When Mike got home we grilled hot dogs for dinner, then quickly got our shoes on and headed outside to enjoy the girls' new favorite activity: Bike riding!! They had outgrown their tricycles, so on Monday night we took them to buy "big girl bikes" complete with training wheels, pink sparkles, and a bell. The girls rode their bikes as Mike and I brought some folding chairs out to the driveway to sit and relax and talk. A storm moved in creating some amazing clouds and distant lightning. Mike grabbed his camera and got some awesome pictures. Eventually an ice cream truck drove down our street with it's cheerful (yet annoying) tune blasting from a top speaker. I ran in, grabbed some cash, and we all enjoyed a little ice cream for dessert.

Later we discovered a sweet little turtle, who was obviously lost, crawling around on our front porch. It is just about the size of a half-dollar coin and so cute. The girls instantly declared her our new pet and christened her "Susan the Turtle." Susan has been given a good temporary home, but we plan on taking her to the nature center to drop her off later this afternoon.

So that was our evening....laughing, sitting in the warm night air, watching a storm roll in, listening to the sweet voices of our little girls, seeing their faces marvel over one of God's small creatures, just being a family. It was a little taste of summer during the spring.

Leah on her bike

Hannah on her bike (they are both wearing tights because I took these pics earlier in the day before their ballet class. In case anyone was wondering).

Evening Ice Cream Treats

Susan the Turtle

Storm Clouds


What are some of your favorite summer things?

About Sunday

The Lovely Flowers my husband brought me.

My homemade Mother's Day cards: Leah's is on the left, Hannah's is on the right.

Mother's Day is a two-fold holiday now. One one hand I want to honor and give thanks to my own wonderful Mom, and on the other hand I get to relax and enjoy the things my own family does for me now that I'm a Mom myself! I had a great day. Mike got up early and went to Panera Bread and brought back some of my favorite breakfast treats. He and the girls arranged them on a tray and carried it all back to me so I could enjoy eating breakfast in my cozy bed. In addition to breakfast, Mike brought me the amazing flowers pictured above. The girls presented me with their homemade cards (Leah's is a "rainbow tornado with pink bubbles" and Hannah's is a portrait of me with "rosy cheeks and glasses".) And while Mike was out he picked up a newspaper so I could read and clip my coupons (remember my recent coupon hobby?). It was so nice to wake up leisurely, read, and enjoy a quiet morning with my family. Later in the day, we treated my parents and our girls to a movie. We saw Earth, which was very cool, and then we all went out to eat that evening.

After the girls were sleeping Sunday night, I just reflected for awhile on the four years they've been a part of my life. Only four short years, yet they've made such a huge impact! It's hard to remember a time when they weren't here. They're laughter, their tears, their songs, and their toys are scattered throughout every part of my day. When I'm away from them I wonder what they are doing and how they are feeling. Even during the frustrating moments of parenthood, I wouldn't trade this job for anything. I love them so deeply and so unconditionally and am so grateful to be their mom.

And next year on Mother's Day I'll have another little person so snuggle and love and enjoy. Little guy, I'll be seeing you in about 11 weeks!

Mom's Day

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Galatians 5:22-23

Happy Mother's Day Mom. Your life truly displays all of these fruits, and I am so grateful that I have you as an example to learn from. I thank God every day for you!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Happy Birthday Dad!

My dad and Hannah on Christmas Eve.

Today is my Dad's 62nd birthday and so I'm going to celebrate him today in my blog post. Of course I think I have the best Dad in the world. Here's my top ten list of reasons I love my Dad.

1. He is patient.

2. He is the best PaPa to my girls. He plays with them and teaches them new things. I love the way their eyes light up when they see him. And I can't wait for this next baby to get to know him too.

3. He is smart. Like supersmart. He knows everything about everything. And he's so well-rounded. He has a degree in mathematics and worked as an engineer, but he also loves history and literature and the arts too. He's also a master at the game of chess!

4. He enjoys being outside. He always has a garden going (big or small) and can grow just about anything. I also grew up going on "nature walks" with him and my mom. One of his hobbies is bird watching, and he can spot and identify just about any bird. And their yard looks like they paid for professional landscaping.

5. He is gentle and kind.

6. He never complains.

7. He has strong convictions and can intelligently and respectfully discuss them.

8. He is helpful. He is always more than happy to help with a project (like helping me put a stone border in my front flowerbed).

9. He's funny. He has enough humorous stories to keep me laughing for a long time.

10. He's my dad. And for that simple reason, I love him!

Happy Birthday, Dad!!!

Sugar

It's already Wednesday! Oh my the week is flying! We have sunshine today after ten straight days of rain, so I feel like dancing a little jig. Even though it is supposed to rain again this weekend, I'm happy to have such nice weather right now. Open windows here we come....

So I'm 27 weeks pregnant now and craving two things still: fruit and chocolate. Both of which are high in sugar. I had my basic one hour glucose tolerance test at my doctor's office two weeks ago, and I was informed that my results were "slightly elevated". So Monday I went to a local hospital lab to do the dreaded three hour glucose tolerance test. It went a little like this: no eating after midnight (check), show up at 8:00 with an empty stomach (check), have blood drawn right away (ouch, but check), drink a bottle of super-sweet orange flavored drink (gross, but check), then wait until 11:00 having blood drawn every hour on the hour (double ouch, but check). By the end of the ordeal I had sore arms from being poked four times, but more than anything I was HUNGRY! Don't they know that depriving a pregnant lady of food is like depriving a mama bear of her cubs! Ok, it's not that bad, but my stomach was sure rumbling loudly in protest. Thankfully my mom and I went out to lunch afterwards and I filled it back up quickly.

I came prepared with things to do while I waited for three hours: my book, paper for grocery list making, and my Bible study to work on.

I finished up my lesson pretty quick. Then I moved on to the other things in my bag 'o goodies.

Me around 9:30. I'm giving the thumbs up sign (though my thumb got cut off in the picture) showing that I'm hanging in there. It really wasn't as bad as I remembered it to be.

I won't know the results of this last test for another week or so, but hopefully my sugar is under control. Maybe I should cut back on the amount of chocolate chip cookies I'm eating in a week???

A Worthy Thank You

This weekend I had the chance to go to a surprise party at the church I grew up at to honor a couple that just retired after 25 years of teaching the 12th grade Sunday School class. The surprise party has been in the works for several months now and lots of us came back to say say "Thank You!" for their years of service. This couple truly made that class special and a lot of fun. From "Potato Patch Sunday" to the Valentine Banquet to "Dog Food Day" to the Senior Graduation Program.....they put a lot of effort and hard work into what they did, and they did it becuase they loved pouring their lives into serving high school students. 25 years is a long time! That means they started teaching in 1983! I was six years old then! I really admire people who serve so selflessly, and I'm glad we got to honor them with a big party. And they were really surprised too!

Several of my fellow Class of '95 gals. And still all good friends today: Lisa, Becky, Me, Angela

Lisa's twin girls and my own twin girls.

Other than the aforementioned party, our weekend was pretty uneventful and mostly spent inside due to more rain! I'm glad our grass is growing like crazy, but it needs to stop raining so we can dry out and mow. Mike and his friend got advanced screening tickets to see the new Star Trek movie, so he got out Saturday afternoon for that. He said it was one of the best movies he's ever seen. I have a hard time believing a Star Trek movie could be that high up there, so I'll have to see it for myself eventually. =) Also, we moved one of the girls' cribs down from the attic as well as a changing table, curtains, bumper, quilt, etc. Everything is still in good condition, which makes me so glad I don't have to buy all new stuff. Even though we knew we were having twin girls last time, we purposefully purchased gender neutral stuff so we could reuse it. I'll take a picture of the room once it's all put together. Don't expect that for several weeks (months) yet though!

What did you do this weekend?