The Dish on Thanksgiving

This was the first year our family has travelled for Thanksgiving. We drove to Dallas - such an easy 4 hour drive. We didn't get out of the car one time!!!! The key is to leave early in the morning and a strict "no drinks policy" until 10:30.

We had a great feast at my parents house and visited until the late afternoon. Then we went to stay at The Great Wolf Lodge. It's basically a resort for kids. The hotel has a huge indoor waterpark, kids spa, arcade, adventure game, and storytime. The kids had a great time.

Parker's favorite was the humongo hot tub.

That's the dish on our Thanksgiving! Hope yours was equally delicious!!!!

Fall is Leaving

Nothing says "fall" like bouncing on a trampoline covered in mounds of fallen leaves. For maximum enjoyment you have to exclaim "WEEEEEEEE!" It's the Ultimate Fall Activity; maybe even a step above the pumpkin patch.

Luscious Lips

Grant loves, loves, loves tomatoes. He's known to sneak grape tomatoes off the counter by the handful. We're pretty certain he won't have prostate problems in his future. Last night it ate the top off a tomato, sucked out all the juice, and made a set of juicy lips. Goofy and kinda wierd but entertaining at the same time : )

Okie Dokie

We've been living in Tulsa for about 6 weeks now! The kids have been in school and seem to have settled into a nice groove there. We've been to the zoo and the aquarium and many parks in the area. We are getting settled and doing well.

Last weekend Parker was invited to a birthday party at the Safari Sanctuary. Brad took Parker and Grant really not knowing anything about the place. Well, they were in for quite a treat! This place has a lot of exotic animals that you are really close to and they have a lot of encounters with the animals. Look at the picture below and you'll know why I'm glad I wasn't there.

Seriously, that tiger looks like it could attack Grant at any given moment! Keep in mind this picture was taken right after Grant fed the tiger a turkey leg. Seriously! They stuck a turkey leg on the end of the stick and Grant poked it through the fence to feed the tiger. They would put it up high on the fence to make the tiger jump. Crazy. I don't think it was this tiger but one of the tigers used to belong to Mike Tyson.

They also saw a 1200 lb liger and pet a lemur. And some snakes and an iguana. They also fed a camel a 2 liter bottle of soda and then the camel spewed soda all over everyone. What is this place? Just part of our new experience here in Oklahoma!!! Anybody want to come visit?

Roadtrip!

I think I unintentionally began a tradition of taking the kids on a roadtrip each summer without Brad. Not because we don't want Brad with us, of course, but because he's not available! He's always a good sport about being left behind and this year build a desk for me in our absence (maybe I should take more trips.... )

We drove up to Utah and began our stay with Brad's family - Todd and Andrea. Andrea is expecting her 3rd baby in less than 3 years so they were very gracious in opening their ho

me to us. We began our activities with a trip to Thanksgiving Point. Here's the boys on a carriage ride.

Later in the week, we met up with Kristi and her family. We took the kids to the This Is the Place Monument in Salt Lake and the Aquarium.

Here are the kids all hanging out in Kristi's backyard! Enjoying a popsicle!

We stopped at Chick-fil-A for National Cow Appreciation Day and dressed up for free meals. I warned the kids that went we travel with Aunt Kristi, there's a good chance you might end up in a costume at some point. As you can see below, Parker was more than thrilled about this idea. What a kid will do for processed chicken and chocolate milk.

We went to Temple Square (which has changed a lot) and went to see the Christus Statue. Anna and I had a moment talking about His "ouchies" but the boys mostly ran all over the place.

Aunt Sarah and her kids drove down from Driggs. We were so happy to see them and they were so happy to see the sun and feel some heat.

The Next Generation of Roomies???

Chuck-E-Cheese, Gotta Love it!

It still puzzles me that kids work so hard to earn those tickets and then they buy something like green fang teeth. It is a notch above the plastic spider though.

I'm kicking myself now for not snapping some pics but we also stopped at our good friends home - the Liljenquist's. It was so darling to see Kate and Parker once again find refuge together- finding shade beneath the large trampoline and hovered over their own bowl of appleasauce. Grant and Luke only wished they could spend more time together - or watch some more Star Wars together anyway : ) So fun to see them too! By the way, if you are looking for a good laugh about motherhood and all it's adventures, check out her blog - it a fun read - http://jamsandpickles.wordpress.com/

Thanks for a great trip everyone. Perhaps next summer we can break tradition and have Brad come along!

The 4th of July celebrations came a day early this year. Our cul-de-sac rented out a bounce house, snowcone, and cotton candy machine. My kids had a LOT of sugar but I seriously think they ran all of it off with all the time they spent running around with the kids.

Two Sparklers!

When Grant discovered the neighbors had chips and dip he pulled up his chair and got cozy!

Purple snowcone!

Good times!

The Sandias

On Memorial Day, we headed out east of the mountains for a little hike. It's nice to be where it's green and forget that we live in the desert. It's only a 30 min drive and we love it out there.

Cute Anna giving me one of her looks!

We were surprised to still find snow along the trail! There wasn't a ton but enough for the kids to play in and, yes, eventually cry because it was "SOOOO cold".....

Post K

Parker graduated from Kindergarten!!! He had such a great year and loved his teachers Ms. Cutshall & Ms. Sullivan. Parker loves to read now and just seems like such a big guy. He is quite helpful with the "little kids" ( that's how he refers to Grant & Anna).

Now, how am I going to keep him occupied this summer????

4 Fun at Chuck-E-Cheese's

It all began last summer after our first trip to Sam's Club in New Mexico. "HEY MOM, there's a Chuck-E-Cheese's here!" exclaimed Parker. "I wanna go!" I told Parker he could go for his birthday but he opted to have it at the house because he so badly wanted to have a pinata.

Since then it has been Parker's mission to convince Grant that he should have his birthday party there. Well, Grant resisted at first. He wanted to have it at McDonald's and then even Sonic. It took a 30 minute drive to the gym and Parker's carefully-crafted, well-laid-out persuasive argument to convince Grant that Chuck-E-Cheese was the only way to go. That was about a month ago. Yesterday, the day finally came!

We had a great time and the kids loved it! Grant yelled out "Hey, Chuck!" when he came around and gave him a high 5 & a hug! Happy 4th Birthday Grant! We love you!

Sweet ZZZs

Brad finished up his first furniture building project! We found this great website called knockoffwood.blogspot.com that made building this rather simple! Anna now has a new pink bed and just loves it! I'm not sure if I'm ready for her to give up the crib but she seems to be ready. She's making her inaugural run tonight so we'll see how it goes!!!

HammerTime (oh-o, oh-o-oh-o)

Last week Grant was hanging out in his occasional hiding spot - under his bed - with his legs straight and feet pressed up to the mattress. Parker, without knowing Grant was under there, pounced on his bed and jammed Grants legs into his chest.

Grant has a flair for the dramatic so it was hard to determine if his strict adherence to the leg drag or crawl was really indicative of an injury. I decided to take him to a chiropractor to make sure nothing was out of alignment.

After Grant talked his ear off about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, the chiropractor tested his reflexes by doing the tap below the knee. All checked out with the reflexes. Then the chiropractor checked for tightness and alignment. As it turns out, one leg was a bit shorter than the other and Grant was given an adjustment.

Later on, Brad asked him how his doctors visit went. Grant said, "Good." Brad asked, "What did the doctor do?" Grant replied, "He beat me with a hammer."

What's in Your Basket?

Parker came home yesterday with a homework assignment. The piece of paper had a big basket drawn on it and each student was asked to fill the basket with things that reminded them of spring. I was on the phone so I was somewhat distracted while he completed most of his work. Then I noticed a boxy stick figure with long hair and the label "Geesis" (aka Jesus). He wrote below, "I poot Geesis becaus he is the resin we selebrat Eester." He added a couple of other things too about easter eggs and such.

I immediately felt so nervous about him taking that to school. Would he get in trouble for bringing up religion? When he finished up his paper he was so proud and said, "I bet nobody else thought to put Jesus in their basket." Sadly enough, he might be right.

I sent him to school today with that paper feeling very proud of him. Here's hoping that we all keep Jesus in our basket this Easter and all year long.

Spring in Her Step!

Here is cute Anna in her new spring dress! Can you tell we have 8:30am church! Anna's eyes still look tired!

Thanks Aunt Sarah for making such a darling dress for her! If you haven't seen her handiwork - check it out at http://www.etsy.com/shop/ruthieco

Now if we could just keep the snow away!

Raiding the Dirtpile

Anna hears the "swish, swish" on the kitchen floor.

She lifts her head high and sees the top of a broom stick.

Anna appears steadily engaged in the task of putting on her shoes.

I return to the closet to retrieve the dustpan.

Anna deftly strides over to the pile; pulls out whatever looks good.

Todays prize: One Abandoned Smartie

This mother of 3 just laughs and sweeps up the rest.

Those kind of skills should be rewarded.

It Wasn't Workin' Out

I am not used to the cold mornings of New Mexico. And they probably aren't THAT cold but I'm just not used to it. Therefore, we have started working out in the evenings with Brad after we put the kids down.

A couple of weeks ago, after our workout, we heard some rummaging going on upstairs. "What?" "I thought they would be asleep by now." I dash up the stairs and open the door to this:

I'm not exactly sure what to make of it. Were they actually reading all these books? Is it some sort of literary brick road that leads to the glorified red throne on the bed? Grant quickly jumps in his bed as though he's been asleep the entire time. "Where is Parker?" I ask Grant. "He's asleep" "How could he be asleep when his bed is COVERED in books and paraphanalia?" Grant fills me in, "He's in the crib." "He's in the CRIB? My 6 yr old is in the crib asleep?" Sure enough, he was:

We've had to revamp our evening routine a bit - and add to that a little threat to the kids.

Gotta get that workout in.

Mrs. Potato Head

While driving in the car, Grant informed me that I should be Mrs. Potato Head for Halloween next year. He said I looked just like her and would look very pretty in that costume. Gee, thanks! I guess.

Which brings me to my next point, I finally began teaching some fitness classes. So far I have only taught twice and teach again tomorrow. I am already feeling more comfortable and really enjoy the diversion. Perhaps in time I will no longer remind Grant of Mrs. Potato Head.

Anna is Double Trouble

Anna has officially doubled her age in one year!!! She's twice as much fun, twice as cute, and even twice as naughty at times. She is a truly fun girl to have in our home - a hearty laugh, a sweet word, a tight squeeze - all sum up my beautiful Anna. I can't imagine life without her.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Christmas Travels to Tulsa

Oh, how I love the portable DVD player. It makes even a 9 hour (10, with kids) drive to Tulsa completely bearable, bordering upon enjoyable. This is Grant below after being lulled into a Tom & Jerry coma.

We had a great visit with Brad's sister Jenny and her family. The boys have cousins there and they all just take off playing as soon as we arrive. Cousins are great, aren't they?! I think Parker spoke about 20 words to me during the entire course of our visit and that mostly involved the necessity of food or the lamenting of taking a shower.

Brad's parents were there as well and we always love seeing them. Here is a picture of Grandma Lyn with Anna. What a beautiful Grandma my kids have!

We went for a round of bowling and Jen really put the heat on. Who knew she had it in her! Here are the Glenn kids minus 2.

So good to see Uncle Jeff! He's got his hands full here with the matchy-matchy boys.

Here's Kate with the infamous kazoo. She put on quite a show.

It was a most memorable visit and so good to be with family. The drive home seemed a bit longer as the DVD player went out. Already got a full refund from Costco - love that place!!!