Tenkiller 2010 (Warning: lots of pictures!)

Fall Foliage 

 A Lake House Surrounded by trees.

What does it all mean?  Why it's the Fall Lake Tenkiller trip of course!

We are back from our third annual Lake Tenkiller Trip with our good friends The Reutlingers and The Millers.  With six adults and eight kids in a three bedroom lake house, the quarters were tight, but always cozy.  There is just nothing better than lots of time + friends+ playing outside + good food + practical jokes + games + laughing hysterically.  I am so thankful for times like these.

As soon as we arrived the kids got busy building things with sticks, small branches and rocks.  Nature provides endless entertainment opportunities.

On Friday we headed to the water's edge to skip (or throw) rocks and to get our feet wet.

Leah and Hannah

Brian and Angie brought their sailboat, so we took turns going out on the water. 

Our sailing adventure was followed up with a lively game of soccer in the front yard, and.....

a walk to watch the sun set over the water.

Our mornings were spent lounging on the back deck in front of the chimenea.  I could snuggle with this boy all day long.

Self-timer group shot!

Getting the kids organized from oldest to youngest:  Eli, Leah, Hannah, Parker, Silas, Madison, Lucas, & Marlee.

I sure love these girls!

And a final parting shot:

My family!

Pops!

Last week in our girls' take-home folder, we got a nice surprise.  Both Hannah and Leah's teachers had nominated them as Terrific Kids for the month!  They were both nominated for showing the life principle of integrity, and they would each receive an award in an assembly later in the week.  We were so proud!  I was simply beaming. 

So we decided to immediately turn that news into a celebration.  I always want the girls to know that good behavior is something we make a big deal out of.  Mike and I thought about it, and decided to take the family for dinner at Pops in Arcadia, OK.  Arcadia is just a few miles east of Edmond (the suburb of Oklahoma City that we live in), and it is situated on a strip of the original Route 66.  Arcadia is a small community near Lake Arcadia.  The town is famous for The Round Barn (featured in the movie Elizabethtown) and Pops.  Pops is a very large, futuristic gas station that has literally thousands of different rare and interesting sodas from around the world.  Question:  do you say soda or pop?  This is a matter of great importance.
Anyway, we let the girls each pick out whatever drink they wanted.  Leah chose a super sweet strawberry soda while Hannah opted for chocolate milk (the girl does not like anything carbonated), and Mike and I chose root beer.  We sat and sipped our sodas (or pops!) and ate some burgers and then ordered a giant chocolate chip cookie for dessert.  When we left, it was just getting dark, and the giant soda bottle outside was starting to light up.  It was a great way to celebrate their accomplishment!

 Leah and her jelly belly strawberry pop

Hannah and her non-carbonated choice:  chocolate milk

Me and my Jack Black Root Beer

The Pops Bottle at sunset

Do you have a favorite place to go for special celebrations??

One Week Later

I am finally emerging from nearly a full week of sickness.  The entire puke-fest started with Lucas last Tuesday.  He woke up at midnight and proceeded to vomit off and on until 4:00 am!  From this point on, our week was a downward spiral of sickness.  By Thursday night, I was throwing up.  Friday night Leah and Mike joined in on the fun too.  Hannah escaped with just a fever and stomach ache, but no actual puke.  The stomach bug we all caught lasted about 48 hours and came with a terrible fever too.  Fun times at the Galloway house! 

While we were all either throwing-up or laying under ten blankets shivering with fever, my house became a disaster area.  It looked like an episode of Hoarders in my bedroom/bathroom.  Seriously.  I had sorted out all the laundry on my bathroom floor the night before I got sick.  Then I didn't touch it for four days, but continued to add sheets, towels and such to the mess until my entire bathroom floor was covered.  I am finally making progress though!

Toward the end of the weekend, as we were all starting to feel a little better, we proceeded on with our plan to walk in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light The Night fundraising walk.  We walked to support and honor two specific people:  my mom (who is a 30 year survivor of Hodgkin's Lymphoma) and our friends' son, Brock (who is currently battling Leukemia).  Thanks to so many generous friends and family, we personally raised over $500.  Our team, "Brock Rocks", ended up raising over $5,000 to go toward cancer research!  Woo hoo!

Here are some pics from our fun night:

Getting ready to walk

Cotton Candy Girls:  we took a risk with their freshly recovered stomachs, but they loved it!

Moving with the rest of the group

I hope you all are all healthy and doing well!

New Piece

You may recall that way back in August, on the girls' first day of kindergarten, Mike and I went on a little daytime date.  We did two of our favorite things:  eat and go to an antique store.  While shopping that day, we came across a dresser that we both fell in love with.  We loved the color (a cross between robin egg blue and sea foam green).  We loved the shape (the drawers are curved).  We loved the subtle flower details (well, I loved those.  not sure if Mike loved them.)  And it fit our need of more drawer storage.  But, we didn't buy it because we didn't want to make a spur of the moment purchase that we might regret later.

Well, weeks went by and we kept talking about that dresser.  It would look great against that wall.  I could store the girls' art supplies in some of the drawers.  We even went back a second time and measured it and then returned home to ponder it some more. 

A few more weeks went by and we finally made up our minds to go back and see if it was still for sale.  We did and to our surprise the price had been significantly reduced!  It was a sign!  So we bought it, brought it home and it fit perfectly in our home. 

Since this photo was taken we've hung a collage of photos over the dresser and it looks nice!

Here's a side view.  Can you see the flowers?

Right now we have linens, art supplies and photo albums stored in the drawers.  I love things that are both aesthetically pleasing and functional! 

Do you have a favorite piece of furniture in your house?

Keeping It Short and Sweet, Plus A Few Photos

It's been a very busy day today, but I wanted to let my faithful few readers know about a book giveaway my friend Maria is having over on her blog.  Check it out!

And here's a photo just to make you smile.

It's blurry because this handsome fellow has started running everywhere!  And he keeps that sweet grin on his face the whole time.  I am so lucky to be his mom!  Oh and he started saying "Mama" officially today! Literally, all day long I heard, "Mama! Mama!"  I couldn't wait to come home from work to hear him say it again.  So sweet.

And guess what else.....These two are READING!  It happened so suddenly, but they are plowing through simple books slowly, but surely.  They are SO proud of themselves.  And so am I. :)

The girls wore their OU cheerleader outfits for "Wear Your Favorite College Gear" day at school.

Some Things From This Week

http://www.vimeo.com/15412754
1.  Go check out this video that Mike shot of Lucas on Wednesday night while we were at the park.  We took the girls to a nice open field to practice some soccer skills and when they were finished, Lucas took over.  That boy LOVES to kick a ball.

2.  Monday we were driving home after running a few errands when traffic came to a halt.  I thought maybe there had been an accident, but as we creeped ahead slowly, it became evident that all the cars had stopped so that a little turtle could finish crossing the road.  How cool is that?  And he (or she?) made it across!  Of course my girls thought it was a Mama turtle trying to get home to her babies. 

3.  I am officially ready for fall.  I'm going to bake some pumpkin bread today in hopes that the smells of cinnamon and allspice waft out my window and enourage the leaves to start changing around here!  We don't get the pretty fall foliage until later in the season since it stays warm here for so long. 

4. We have started a new tradition on Friday nights called "Family Movie Night" (not the most creative name, but it works!).  Now that the girls are in school, they have come to realize the importance of Friday night.  So to make it special and relaxing, we instituted Family Movie Night.  The following things must occur: 1.)  Homemade Pizza for dinner 2.)  A pallet on the floor big enough for everyone 3.)  A big bowl of popcorn  and 4.) A kid-friendly movie!  Tonight's selection is Furry Vengence.  Mike picked it out and I sort of cringed because I know that the silly factor is going to be off the charts.  But the girls will like it, I'm sure.  And if I get to snuggle up with them for an hour and a half, I'm good with that.

What do you all have planned this weekend?