An Adventure

Leah (in the yellow life jacket) going on a canoe adventure at VBS last week

The other day my kids and I watched Finding Nemo for what was probably the 20th time. Pixar has their storytelling down pat, because I never seem to get tired of watching their movies. I am also a big softie and tend to cry at all of them.  Especially anytime a parent and child are reunited.  It's sad really, but true. Anyway, this time in particular, it was the very last line in the whole movie that got to me.  For some reason, it made my heart twist around tightly and I could feel the telltale lump forming in my throat.  In the last scene, Nemo is about to head off to school when he stops his teacher and runs back to give his dad one last hug.  The dialog is as follows:

Nemo (hugging his dad): I love you, Dad.
Marlin: I love you too, son.
Nemo (after being embraced a little too long): Uh, dad, you can let go now.
Marlin: Sorry! Now go have an adventure....

I am so glad God designed the process of life the way he did.  Because if we had to let go of our children right off the bat, no one would sign up for such emotional torture.  But instead, babies are born needy and helpless.  And parents are there to hold and feed and take care of all their needs.  Slowly, though, the letting go process begins.  Perhaps it starts off with Grandma watching the baby for a few hours while Mom and Dad go out on a much needed date.  Then maybe a babysitter watches the baby all day while Mom goes off to work. As the baby turns into a toddler, he may have an occasional sleepover at his grandparents' house. Or maybe even a multiple night stay if Mom and Dad are going on a vacation.  The process of letting go is done in small, manageable increments.

Later, as I am finding out, the letting go process gets harder.  Because instead of releasing your sweet baby into the loving and familiar arms of grandparents or other family members, you instead release them into the arms of a teacher, or daycare worker, or Sunday School teacher, or dance instructor.  That's when your heart seems to want to burst open and your eyes well up with tears.  In those moments you want to run back into the classroom and say, "Uh...we'll just try kindergarten next year when she's six.  Or eight.  Or never."  But then you take a deep breath, say a prayer for God to watch over her, and move on.  In all of my experiences like these, I have come back to happy children who are bursting at the seams to tell me all about their day.  Their adventure.

All of these experiences are just practice for when your baby is one day a grown young man or woman.  I can't imagine how much my heart will want to explode when I have to leave one of my kids at college.  But I hope I can look them in the eye and truly say, with confidence, "Hannah, Leah, Lucas.....it's time to go have an adventure."  

Thankfully, we still have lots more years to practice.

A Friday Night and a GIVEAWAY!

The wind was cool for an Oklahoma June night.  So cool in fact that I grabbed a nearby beach towel and wrapped it around my shoulders.  One by one the kids came out of the pool, shivering and tired from hours of non stop play.  A plate of fresh from the oven oatmeal cookies with craisins and white chocolate chips sat cooling on the table only to be gobbled up within minutes by both the kids and adults alike. Soon the children were warm and dry enough to head over to the outdoor playset and start an imaginary game called "royal castle."  Their singsong voices could be heard talking and laughing as they played.  Soon after, two big dogs came bounding out of the house wiggling with pure joy.  They ran a few laps around the yard, then settled down long enough to let the kids pet them and give them kisses.  A few of them started throwing the tennis ball for the chocolate lab to run and retrieve over and over and over.  The adults sat in lounge chairs eating a second round of cookies and chatting about the events of our weeks.  As evening set in, lighting bugs blinked and twinkled off and on as if to announce the end of the day.  I glanced behind me and saw the sky fading from aqua to baby blue to orange to feisty pink.  I grabbed my phone and snapped a quick picture to remember the calm feeling of the night.  The others turned to notice the sunset as well and for a moment we all sat quietly taking it in, breathing deep.  Then as quickly as it began, the colors slipped below the treeline and it was dark.  We gathered our tired brood and drove home in quiet contentment.  And that's how our Friday evening went.

Now...on to the giveaway!  Well, it's not my giveaway, but instead I want you to go to my sister in law, Rachel's blog to check out her awesome giveaway.  She is giving away a beautiful, handmade beaded necklace that has a story behind it even more beautiful than the jewelry itself!  Go check it out, read the story, and enter for a chance to win.  You have until tomorrow night to enter and she will announce the winner on Monday morning.  So go visit the Green Door Project and see for yourself!

Taking Off

This little boy of mine is only two for a few more weeks.  Two still sounds like a baby, but three sounds like a toddler.  An independent toddler.  He is really taking off in many ways lately.  His vocabulary is multiplying by the minute.  He is more thoughtful in his questions and answers, and he uses lots of cute inflections and funny facial expressions.  He is a hoot!

He is starting to play more independently and for longer periods of time.  This is helpful when I need to get some work done.  Right now we have his train table set up in the open space between our living room and kitchen areas.  While I am cooking dinner or cleaning up the breakfast dishes, he is usually right there puttering around with his trains.  Today he was holding a train in each hand, and I could hear them having a conversation with each other.  It went something like this:

Red Train, "Hi Train!  Are you stinky?"
Blue Train, "Yes, I poo pooed in my diaper."
Red Train, "You are stinky!"
Blue Train, "I need to poo poo in the potty."

It was pretty funny.  And speaking of bathroom words, we are so very close to potty training.  I have had to be patient with this boy because my girls were potty trained by this age.  I know it is something you can't force upon a child, but I am really getting tired of buying diapers and wiping a poopy bottom!  We're still not there yet, but in the past week he has told me every single time he "is stinky" and wants his diaper changed immediately.  And twice he has come running up to me half naked, holding a wet diaper, saying, "It was too soggy, Momma!"  He is starting to recognize that having a dirty diaper is not comfortable! Up until now, it didn't bother him one bit.  Progress!

Overall, I can see great strides being taken in all areas of his life.  He is such a smart, sweet little boy.  I find myself staring at him so I can capture this phase in his life in my mind.  Because I know all too well how fast the time flies.

Summer So Far

We have officially be on summer break for 19 days, and it has already been jam packed with fun. After our little vacation to Texas, the girls went to Theater Camp at the Oklahoma Children's Theater Company.  They had an absolute blast there too.  Together with their group, they wrote a play, auditioned for parts, and created costumes.  Then they rehearsed, played games, and learned silly songs.  Every day that I picked them up they had so much to tell me. On Friday we got to attend their performance and I have to say I beamed with pride as my little girls went all out saying their lines.  They both had a lot of expression in their voices and on their faces.

Leah and Hannah (a.k.a. Princess Kaitlyn and Princess Buttercup)

This week they have been attending Vacation Bible School at our neighbor's church.  Not only do they get to do the typical fun VBS activities like crafts, games, stories, and songs, but they also get to go fishing and canoeing in the creek that runs back behind the church.  How fun is that?  Tonight Leah was in the bathtub and I could hear her singing "Our God is an Awesome God." I love that she learned that song and is putting it deep into her heart.

 Hannah working on her craft at VBS

Leah ready to get in her canoe

In addition to those things, we have been loving our new library that opened up on May 22nd.  We desperately needed a Northwest area library and we finally have an amazing facility that is literally five minutes from my house.  I can't even tell you how wonderful it is to walk into a clean, modern new building with ALL NEW BOOKS!  Do you know how much the smell and feel of brand new books thrills me?  And the kid area is just wonderful with lots of games and computers and of course books.  I love all the outdoor patio areas and plan to use them soon.  We got all the kids signed up for the summer reading program and look forward to going back there often.

 The new Northwest Library

Ahhh....new books.

I hope your summer has started off with a bang too!

Sunday Night in the City

I love easy summer Sunday nights.  Here's a glimpse into what our family did this last Sunday.

 Downtown Sprayground

 My beautiful Leah (with a tattoo on her face)

 Lucas waiting for water 

 Hannah gracefully jumping across the word "Grow" at the Children's Garden

 Lucas conquering the slide

 Me watching and observing

 The new Devon Tower behind us

 Me and my boy.  My new favorite picture of us.

 Posing for Dad

Hannah resting and pondering what to do next.

If you haven't visited the new Children's Garden and sprayground in downtown OKC, you are missing out!  And Sunday nights there are free outdoor concerts starting at 7:30.  

Now go explore your city!

Lucky Number Thirteen

Today is our 13th wedding anniversary. Lucky number 13. Our friends graciously offered to watch our kids so we could go out for a nice dinner together. And man, did we eat. We splurged on drinks, an appetizer, main course and dessert. Boo ya! Really, though, it was the uninterrupted conversation that was the best part of our night. After all these years, we still enjoy being together, and never seem to run out of things to talk about.

In honor of our 13th anniversary, I thought I would share thirteen random facts about us.

1. We met in college through mutual friends. I was 19 and he was 20.
2. Our first date was on September 22, 1996. We were supposed to meet at Lake Hefner to fly a kite, but we ended up talking instead. We finished the date with dinner at Chili's. I remember that our conversation flowed easily right from the start.
3. Once during a camping trip with some friends Mike defended me from a crazy, drunk Indian man. True story.
4. He proposed in June of 1998. He made dinner for me at his house. Just before dessert he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. I said yes. :)
5. Mike wore his black and white wing tip Doc Martens in our wedding. At the time we thought it was pretty cool.
6. A month after we were married, we got our sweet cat, Tundra. We named her after a song by Havalina Rail Co.with the same name.
7. Mike and I have to sleep with a fan or some sort of white noise.
8. We are both night owls, and prefer to sleep late in the morning.
9. He likes diet drinks, while I like the real things.
10. When we found out we were having twins, we both burst out laughing.
11. One of our favorite things to do together is to drive through and explore random small towns.
12. Our son, Lucas, is really a perfect combination of both of us, while Hannah looks more like me and Leah looks more like Mike.
13. I love the life we have built together. And I wouldn't change a thing.

Here's to another 13+ years!!!

80's Night Pics: A Week Late

As promised a week ago today, here are some pictures from our friend's 80's/Michael Jackson themed birthday party last Friday night.  Enjoy.

 Mike and Me after our red carpet entrance.

Mike came as Michael Jackson's son, Blanket while I opted for a generic 1980's band groupie look.

Yes, Mike is wearing an adult diaper.  He goes all out for the sake of a good costume.

The Birthday Boy himself.
Our friend Reed went for the "Michael Jackson going to court in a blazer and pajama jeans look".

 Me and MJ.  Not sure if this is before or after his hair caught on fire.

 Me and Nikki  (a.k.a Brooke Shields and her big 80's brows) ready to karaoke.  We sang many songs including "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", "Like a Virgin", "Come On, Eileen" and "Pour Some Sugar on Me".  I don't expect any record deals in our near future.

 Blanket.  Uncovered.

 Presenting Dr. Conrad Murray (with his propofol injection) and 1970's Michael.

That's just milk in the syringe in case anyone is worried.

Nikki and our awesome friend Tanda.  Check out Tanda's awesome gloves (which she made out of her daughter's socks!)

A fun night was had by all. :)