Our Camp out!

We enjoyed our first family camp out! We have been wanting to go camping with the kids but with the kids ballgames, and gas prices we decided what was keeping us from just pitching a tent right here in our own yard! Then we could experience it and take notes of what we need to do different. We told the kids we were going to camp out and they got so excited so for a whole day we were getting ready! Steve set up our tent and got all our chairs together. The kids started packing their backpacks with pj's and a change of clothes since they were going on a real camp out! haha I headed for the store and filled an ice chest with some camping essentials! SNACKS! We all knew we were not going to have a camp fire so I just fixed the hotdogs and brought them out to eat! I couldn't wait to sit outside and just watch the stars come out with the kids. Mattie said, "This is a really big screen!" We had lots of bedding and pillows and an air mattress so it was nice and cozy. It was a beautiful evening and I'm so thankful that we did it because it was so much fun. We played games where Mollie held the flashlight and Mattie and Brady danced around watching there shadows grow bigger and they walked either towards Mollie or away from her. They got so tickled at all the things they could make their shadows do! Then we sang devo songs together (this was my favorite) because our goal as parents is to instill in our children a love for God. I want to make singing to God something that they will do to make them feel better, safer, or closer to Him. We enjoyed singing underneath the big beautiful sky while we were amazed by his craftywork. The night did get a little cool but five in a tent was just about perfect for snuggling. I am so thankful to have a family and getting to do special things with them, just enjoying the little things together. The kids are ready to camp out again!

Hello Summer Road Trip!

in Tulsa at the Peach Wave with Aunt Rachel and Uncle Dave

WOW! It's been a while! When you haven't blogged in months you find it harder to catch back up, but there have been some interesting and special things happen lately that has urged me to blog about.

We are having a great summer! Steve is teaching summer school 4 days a week until 2pm. Mattie and Brady are both playing ball, Mattie on her last year of Machine Pitch and Brady on his last year in T-ball and then next year Mollie gets to start! We are pretty much at the pool everyday unless we have ballgames. When the kids were out of school Steve said it would be a great time for us to visit family before ball season started, and he still had a week to go so we took off to see who we could! Our first stop was in Beaver at Pizza Hut, had the kids all ready and packed and bathed so they were sleeping and then I get info that we had tornados downstate and that I may need to wait until the next day. I called several people and listened to news reports and we ate and waited and then finally decided to go on to Woodward! We made it there safely and continued on trying to steer clear of any storms. We made it to my sister's house in Edmond by 8 just in time to sit down and watch the Thunder game with them! The kids were very excited to stay with aunt Rachel and uncle Dave. We enjoyed our visit there very much. Rachel and Dave took us to where she works at Transformation Fittness and gave us all a workout! I thought she was just going to work me out and let the kids watch but Rachel is very sweet and she had all three kids in on the fun whatever she had me doing she made up games to go along with my workout. She is so good with getting kids excited and involved in excercise. Then we had a delicious lunch at Alfredo's! Dave is the manager of the Alfredo's in Moore so the new one in Edmond was a fun experience. It was a treat for sure! We said our goodbye's and were back on the road! This time we were heading east! Tulsa, my friend Amy and I worked that this would be a great time for a visit! She Loves the kids so much and is always being thoughtful with giving them gifts I thought we could atleast go and visit where she lives. Right away Amy took us to a really cool Frozen Yogourt place called The Peach Wave! It was awesome and delicious!We were in topping heaven just looking at all the many differnt toppings! We stayed at Amy's for two nights and had a great time! She took us to her classroom, to several parks, Hide-Away Pizza, and many other cool places. Sunday we went to church with Amy and I was thrilled to get to see people I knew from college. I was so proud of the kids they went right to their classes as happy as could be and I enjoyed going to class with Amy. I really liked the preacher, he a great lesson. We got to eat at another new place called "Which Which" which is Amy's favorite place it was pretty cool! Then we were on the road again heading to Duncan! The kids were all very anxious to get to Duncan to see Granma, Grandaddy, Robyn and many cousins! We made it for church that evening and then took the kids to kiddyland with my mom, and sisters. We couldn't resist taking everyone for snowcones we laughed and were so happy being together. I got to walk with my mom in the mornings before the kids woke up we both have been trying to walk regularly so it was nice having a partner. My mom found out some sad news that my dad's sister passed away. The kids swam everyday and we enjoyed playing with cousins and seeing my sisters. I always try to squeeze in as many visits as I can when I am down. I got to see Ricky and Debbie one evening. We went to Mammaw's and Papaw's one day and played and had lunch. My cousin Kristi came and then we got to visit with Larry and Annys and to my surprise she had called Bryan ( my cousin) to come over! I was thrilled to see him and his wife and their little boy. While there again we were in a Tornado warning so we stayed there and watched the weather, the kids played and we had a great visit! Back to Duncan we fixed Daddy a very good supper and enjoyed a visit from Uncle Buck. All in all it was a nice get-away, but we were ready to get back home to Daddy (Steve) and he was missing us pretty bad! We left the next day again after swimming with cousins: Tyler, Haley, Joe, Jenna, Aubrie and Caleb and Aunt Gina and Aunt Rhetta! and was on the road! The kids slept all the way to Clinton where we stopped to see Grammie and Papa and she had a prepared supper for us. We visited with Aunt Lori and Uncle Phil and Payne. The kids were so good in all of this traveling, I fixed the back seat to lay down and made a padded bed so they could lay down, they had their pillows and blankets. We played the Alphabet game, the Animal guessing game, sang Dear Liza and Dear Henry. We had a wonderful trip and as we drove closer to Hooker we were excited to be home. We pulled up and Daddy was waiting on the porch for us we were greeted with hugs and lots of kisses. Great to get-away but also great to be back home!