November Round-Up!

November felt like a really quick month for us, but I don't have too many "extra" photos from the month. We were busy with school, practices, Thanksgiving, and then our Texas vacation, but here are a few of the other things we had going on during the month. 

The girls have band practice in Tulsa on Mondays right now, and the property where they practice has several large trees. The trees finally got some color this month, so I had to take the girls' photo in front of a tree to document that we actually had a little bit of an autumn this year. 

Brecklyn, Brooke

Each year we purchase the kids souvenir t-shirts from track & field nationals. These shirt are pricey in my opinion, but unfortunately the price is not a reflection of the quality. You can see in the photo below how the logo is peeling badly, and one night Brecklyn barely caught her shirt on something and it ripped the whole corner. So frustrating!

November means birthday morning for my dad and me. I'm really having trouble wrapping my brain around the fact that I'm 45 years old . . . I certainly don't feel like I'm 45! Our birthday was on a Monday, but we celebrated the Saturday before because our Mondays are very busy right now, and Chris had to go to Savannah, Georgia for the week. We ate at Trail's End BBQ in Owasso, then went back to Mom and Dad's house for dessert and gifts. Mom and the girls made meringue pies for us (one lemon and one chocolate), and they were delicious!

Dad had mentioned to me several weeks ago that he'd really like to have a nice pair of headphones, so several of us went in together to buy him a pair for his birthday (plus, I'd found them on a really good deal). He was very happy with the headphones, and even said, "Oh! I never imagined I'd have a pair this nice!" It made us laugh coming from the man who has and appreciates lots of nice things!

As a small service project, Brecklyn's basketball team collected food for a foundation that aids local refugees. Brecklyn told me, "The refugees are coming to our practice to get food," but she didn't quite have her details straight :-).

As has been our tradition for several years, we hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year. Dad, Mom, and Mr. Bill joined us. We had a delicious meal and wonderful company!

After we ate, several spent some hours playing games.

Mom and I tried really hard to cut down the menu so that we wouldn't have many leftovers, as we left the morning after Thanksgiving to go to Texas. We still ended up with a few leftovers, but we packed up a to-go container for Mr. Bill and for Mom and Dad. It worked out perfectly!

So thankful for this time with my parents!

I hope your month was as blessed as ours was!

October Round-Up!

October tends to be a very busy month for us, and this year was no exception. Here is some of the things filling our days this month.

Brecklyn and Brooke began a beginning band class on Mondays in Tulsa. Brecklyn chose to play flute, while Brooke went with trombone. So far, it's been going really well, and the girls are loving it!

Much to our surprise, Brecklyn also decided to give basketball a try this year. She practices on Mondays and Thursdays in Tulsa. Her basketball practice begins not too long after band ends, so we just stay in Tulsa (and usually do some schoolwork) between practices. So far, she is catching on quickly to basketball and enjoying herself.

Brenson's basketball practices started at the end of last month. He practices Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays in Tulsa. He is playing with a new club this year (Oklahoma Flame), and so far it has been a great experience. Here's hoping we've finally found a place for him to stay and grow!

Brenson's Monday practices directly follow Brecklyn's practice at the same gym. Each practice is two hours long, so this makes a for long Monday for us. 

Momma and her practice buddies

Brenson has been trying to teach Brecklyn some basketball basics. For the most part, she responds well to him. I love seeing my kids teach each other!

In addition to basketball, all four kids were still running cross country throughout most of the month. The teens had four practices a week while the twins had three. I would always try to walk during the twins' practices and found it was a great time to enjoy the sunshine, clear my head, and get my steps in. 

The kids get pretty close with their teammates, and this month we learned that Kirk - a boy who has been their teammate for several years - has some dangerous tumors growing on his kidneys. When the team found out, they prayed for him together then got busy organizing a gift basket. Kirk made a special trip to practice one morning so the team could give him the basket.

Kirk with his goodies from his team

Four cross country practices and three basketball practices a week has turned Brenson into an eating machine. Another side effect has been that he often falls asleep in the car on the way to practice. Early mornings and last nights mean he's gotta squeeze that rest in where he can!

The teens began an in-person physical science lab class last month. It meets in the teacher's home every other Thursday of the month. I have been dropping them off for class, then leaving from there to take Brecklyn to basketball practice in Tulsa. Brooke stays with Grampy and G-Jo during this time, then Grampy and Brooke pick the teens up from lab. Bren has a bit of time to get ready for basketball practice before Chris gets home from his two day a week in-person job to take Bren to basketball practice. It's a lot of business, but it works out ok. The lab has been very beneficial and worth the effort. 

The twins are currently studying space science, which has some hands-on activities they've enjoyed. 

Anything messy is sure to be a hit!

At the beginning of the month, I had to take Brooke to the dentist to have two baby teeth extracted. I figured Brooke on laughing gas would be a trip, and I was not wrong!

Crazy eyes, haha!

Her poor mouth was swollen for a few hours.

However, she had very little pain after the numbing wore off, and the swelling went down quickly!

Because we didn't have enough going on this month, the girls and I decided to drive to Russ and Lisa's house one Friday afternoon to go with Lisa on Saturday to a band competition of Chloe's. It was also the weekend of a youth rally at their congregation, so Friday night the kids went to that. Then, Saturday morning we drove about two hours to Fayette, Missouri for the competition. It was super foggy that morning. 

However, the fog cleared up, and we had so much fun watching drum lines, marching bands, and color guard performances. Unfortunately, Chloe's band wasn't scheduled to march until 5:00pm, and things were running behind schedule. We had a five hour drive home, so I decided it would be best for us to leave before she marched. We're still thankful we went, though!

On our way home from Fayette, the tire light came on in the van. I put air in the tire, and we made it home with no problems. The following Tuesday, however, I was taking Bren to basketball practice in Jenks when the tire light came on in the car. This is not an unusual occurrence, so I just kept driving. Right as we approached the I-44/244 split in Tulsa, the tire blew out. Chris, my parents, and all the girls were on their way to Muskogee for a gospel meeting, so I called Tia. She, Ross, Sadie, and Caroline had been out to dinner (after Ross's grandmother's funeral that day), but they came immediately to rescue us from the side of the highway. After my crew got back from Muskogee that night, Chris and Dad drove to get the car. Chris changed the tire on the side of the highway and drove it home. The good news is that we now have four new tires on the car!

October is always a bit of a whirlwind month, but I can't think of what I would be willing to give up. As always, we are grateful for God's provisions, protection, and blessings!

September Round-Up!

For the last several years, September has been a month full of lots of church activities and lots of cross country. This month was no different! Here are some of the activities that filled our month. 

Early in the month - before the kids had their first XC meet of the season - we had the junior high and high school cross country teams over to our house for a spaghetti supper and an evening of games. It was fun, a little crazy, and very loud! Coach Renee split the kids into three groups after we ate, and we played an escape room style board game. Then, the kids all went outside and chased each other around for about a half hour before parents came to pick them up. The sky was incredible that night!

Coach made these fantastic signs for the teams that did not win :-)

My team was the winning team 👏👏👏

I made Kaylee a fun shirt for work this month, and she sent me this cute photo of her wearing the shirt!

Our monthly youth devo continues to be a time of encouragement, growth, and bonding. We hosted at Oologah this month and had a solid turn-out. After the meal and devo, Chris facilitated a game of Bible Pictionary. The kids had a blast with it!

Brayden drawing

The winning team celebrating

We started back with school in August, but really found our groove this month. We all really enjoy hands-on activities, so I try to make that happen as often as possible. One of Brianna and Brenson's assignments for American History was to make and serve a meal like what would have been available during WW II. They researched recipes and finally settled on German Potatoes and a bread called The National Loaf as two of their dishes. The potatoes tasted distinctly Eastern European to me, and no one really enjoyed them much. The bread was okay. After we all tried it, we took some to Grampy and G-Jo to try. They felt the same as we did about the dishes.

Brooke and Brecklyn also did a project with food, but theirs was a bit more tasty :-). We are studying Astronomy right now for their science, so we made the phases of the moon using Oreos.

We've had several days of incredible weather this month, and Bren took advantage of it by doing some fishing. About once a week, we were meeting at Heart Healthy Trail in Owasso for run practice, and there are a few ponds near the trail. Some days during elementary practice, Bren and Gavon would fish and actually catch quite a few bass.

Chris and Bren also went out to Oologah Lake dam a couple times. Bren was pretty excited to catch this catfish!

When we were in Nebraska at the beginning of August, Aunt Lisa brought several activities to keep the kids occupied. One such activity was this little zipper bag for the twins to put jewels on. It took them a while to finish this project, but they got it done. Brecklyn wanted to me to send Lisa a photo as a thank you!

Our neighborhood dog, Sam, has loved to come see us for several years, and all the kids adore him. However, this month his brother who lives in a different neighborhood had also been coming around a lot. The kids call him Bob as we don't know his real name. He's not quite as friendly as Sam, but the kids are determined that he is going to like them!

Brianna had a Friday XC meet in Stillwater last weekend, then we (the girls and I) drove from there to Olathe, Kansas for a Ladies Day. We cut across Kansas on I-35, which took us very near to the town where my dad grew up and where my grandparents lived until their death. We decided to take a small detour so I could show the girls their old house. It means a lot to me to have a photo of them in front of the house and to share this piece of family history with them!

Finally, we have decided that Bren will play basketball with a new club this year called Oklahoma Flame. The club had an informational meeting for new families that I attended with all the children (Chris was out of town). We got a lot of good information at the meeting, and after it was over this was the song playing in the van as we were leaving. Hmmmm . . . maybe a sign?!? It was definitely a strange coincidence!