AT HOME

Ten on Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:12:00 +0000

1. Hooray! I think the baybsitter chaos is finally settling down. We have a lovely new babysitter that the boys seem to be having a great time with. M is at camp so we'll get her opinion next week, but so far, so good. (Praying)

2. With the return of a more normal work/life break I'm able to actually not work, when it isn't my work hours. Yesterday, I was inspired by an email from Big Picture Classes (If you've never taken a class there you can sign up for free here using my referral link). Yesterday's email was about an upcoming class called "Kidding Around 4" I have looked at this class every summer, but my kids were always too young. They "might" be old enough this year so I signed up using the KIDFUN code for $7 off the price (expires at midnight!)

3. So, what did we make from the fun email? We made some fun sidewalk chalk paint out of equal parts water and corn starch with a bit of food coloring as well. Above are the results.

4. I leave for Philadelphia in the morning. NO, I'm not remotely prepared. I am looking forward to seeing my friends, learning some new things, exercising, and relaxing. (We'll see if all of that gets done :)

5. M is going to art camp at MDO and having a great time. There are a wider range of ages in her class than usual, but she seems fine with it and is making lots of fun paintings.

6. E got so many lovely things from friends and family for his birthday. One interesting bit is noticing trends across time. The strongest immediate reaction he had to the toys at his party was to this brown puppy. Brent and I smiled at each other across the room as this was actually the third of these characters in our home. Each child has been given one by a different person on their first birthday. Kind of a neat thing, right?

7. Brent is wrapping up IRSP this week. It is hard that he has to work late, but kind of neat that he gets to have some summer fun with this students. He manages to go to a Redhawks game, Shakespeare in the park, and a neuro night lecture each summer along with a variety of things that are different each year. Tonight will be my last night of IRSP this summer. I think we will all be relieved when Friday comes and we can move on to a more real family summer experience.

8. E is not doing as well transitioning from formula to milk as the other kids. It is getting a little better each day and he seems to enjoy other liquids like water, lemonade or orange juice. I think he is hydrating enough, but is definitely getting more of his nutrients from actual food versus milk. That actual food is largely summer fruits at the moment as he loves blueberries, strawberries, and watermelon.

9. The donations keep flowing in for the healing scraps project. It is so encouraging. I think when I get back from my travels we'll begin our focus on the distribution more clearly. If you have any ideas of the best way to get these to victims or good organizations to work with to identify those that might want some of these products, we would greatly appreciate it. We have some leads, but additional ideas are appreciated.

10. We are traveling to a big family gathering in CO soon. All five of us will fly together for the first time. The pure logistics of moving all of us, renting cars, bringing car seats, etc... is kind of daunting. Any suggestions for air travel with a big family would be good or for things to see and do in Estes Park.

Have a beautiful summer week!

Birthday Week: Dear Birthday Boy

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Dear Birthday Boy, there we were a year ago. You were so very tiny, and it is so hard to imagine that now. You were our third baby and we thought long and hard, but knew we needed you. I am so glad we trusted and were brave as you are amazing. Somehow, I think it took til the third try until I truly got that incredible love for the baby phase. It was admittedly not my favorite before, but with you, I knew what came next, I knew to cherish this moment and I feel like I have.

You are third, but completely different and we've cherished that. We are crazy in love with you dear boy from your fuzzy hair and skin issues to that your hysterical little laugh. I love picking you up in the morning. I hold you close against my chest for as long as you want. I just wait until you're ready. This isn't something I did with the others. There was always a rush, always a what's next even when I tried not to, but this time, even with so much more to do, I will hold you close every minute you let me as I know these minutes are short and precious. (I'm writing this on father's day and wondering if part of that is also being the child born after my dad died. Probably too much psychology for a birthday post).

I love how relaxed you are. You have been so go with the flow, whatever that might be. Most of the time you just haven't had the luxury of perfectly scheduled naps or things being done on your time line. You are one of five and happily seem well suited to our lifestyle from big, loud parties to the soccer sidelines to hanging out with Daddy and I when the bigs are in bed. You just smile and snuggle along with us. I love how much you love me in every look. You want and need to be held and carried on my hip. I love to watch you giggle and play with your brother and sister or "chat' with your Daddy. I love to hear you say "Go, go, go" as you practice trying to walk or crawl quickly on your own. There are signs of stubborness and a temper in you too, but we'll figure it out. Truth is, we're all like that too.

I want you to know I've done my best for you dear boy. I've tried hard, savored, and every day I try to make sure that your babyhood and childhood are as full of attention, love, and special as your siblings' or as my own. You are my bitty boy, my baby. A year ago, Janna said to me in talking about her third and last child that he just is "her baby" at the time I could not really understand what she meant. Somehow, although its hard to explain I get it. I am a better mom and a better person for having spent a year with you. I was unsure, to the very last day about having a third baby. You wiped those worries away and made our family new, better, and stronger. Some days I still wonder if I'm strong enough or patient enough, but I cannot imagine a world without you in it. Thank you my snuggly mama's boy for loving us and for being your own adorable, sweet self. Your smile is an everyday miracle and I hope the year to come is full of smiles.

Love,

Mama

Birthday Week: Scrappy Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:00:00 +0000

3 months old

It seemed that as we near the end of birthday week posts we should include some of his scrapbook pages for our Scrappy Sunday installment. These are not all the ones in his baby book and do not include those I made this week and haven't photographed. It is a bit of a look at a few of them though and I hope you enjoy it!

June 2012 - Meeting Aunt Jamie, John, and Mattew

April 2013- constant obsession with trying to eat the dirt/plants.

April 2013- Chillin' with Daddy. He loves to be up high.

April 2013 - the ongoing chewing on his socks obsession

April 2013 - Toy Favorites - this phone was first given to B, but all of them have loved it

June 2013 - Meeting Uncle Able

Playing in the box with his siblings, one of their first group lay times.

June 2012 - Newborn picture by Heather Warren

June 2013 - Newborn Picture by Heather Warren - Story about being our smallest baby.

June 2012 - Newborn Picture by Heather Warren - Story about savoring, clinging to this moment.

September 2012 - Photo by Heather Warren - story about my kids making me happy

Dec. 2012 - Photo by Heather Warren - story about pulling his shoes and socks off constantly

Sept. 2012 - story about his baptism.

Sept 2012 - Photo by Heather Warren - story about E & Brent

Sept 2012 - Story about soccer season

June 2012 - about how calm he was.

June 2012 - Photos by Heather Warren - Story about being brothers.

Birthday Week: E's Birthday Party!

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 02:28:00 +0000

Ooookay! We're back, with more birthday fun. I will be completely honest in that we pulled our house and party stuff together in very short order today. However, it was an awesome party and I "think" everyone had a great time, particularly our somewhat tired birthday boy.

The theme was red wagons and sock monkeys. (Note, yes, there was a handle planned for this wagon. Blame Uncle Able for its absence). Anyway, on the table we had the cake and some classic sweets and toys. Those circus peanuts are tied to some of my only memories of my Grandpa Blakley so they were a must. It turned out lots of people had memories about circus peanuts.

Small fun collection of some of his birthday goodies. He now has his own sock monkey (pictured here) and both small and large wagons. In that scrapbook + on the mantle are layouts from every month of the year and many from certain months. I spent a crazy amount of time making layouts for all 11 months leading up to this one. No one opened this book, and maybe someone looked at the mantle, but it mattered to me and it is in there. (Yes, Chrissie, I know you would have looked if you were here :))

Our recent tradition is to have layouts from the last year on the mantle. Not that many fit, but it is a great sampling of the stories from the year and fun to see how much he grew.

Audra, there were very few things hanging from the ceilings. My apologies. There were balloons? I also, for the first time in all my 34 years, used an entire roll of red curling ribbon all on one day. It was amazing.

Our party started off very quietly with Grammie and Granddaddy and a few neighborhood days. The rest of the day was, well, substantially noisier and more boisterous.

Mom brought some authentic vintage decore for the party too.

All the food was "snack" themed as E very much likes fruit and snack foods. It was a hit. I wish I'd ordered more nuggets as 120 was very much not enough. We did order 2XL and 2L pizzas around 6... (the party started at 2). We party hard here and extra time with our friends is wonderful. Thanks to everyone who hung out with us.

E seemed to like his cake and has been playing with the pinwheels off and on for weeks. Definitely one of his favorites.

E loves his wagon. He went on lots of rides pulled by many people. Grammie got him a shirt with a wagon on it that says "This is how I roll," which I thought was awesome.

This was the best picture during the "Happy Birthday" singing. Yes, he seemed fairly perplexed by it.

Then the cake smashing began. (Yes, we did take off his shirt, but not his shorts....) He, obviously, loved it.

And, wait for it, I made red velvet cake. Who does that with 10+ kids in the house and one baby smashing it everywhere. It is amazing to think I have three kids and still make these strange, naive choices sometimes.

Then, we opened presents and he had A LOT of help. I'm fairly sure he had no clue what was happening and it was all very fast. He did seem to play with this very cool wodden puzzle a lot. (No clue who gave it to him...sigh).

Stephen was definitely the ladies man of the day. These three young ladies had a fabulous time with him. I think they briefly abused and kept him hostage, but he and they seemed to have a great time.

In the back yard we had this mini-carnival set up. We had ten stations around the yard (initially, the mixed up pretty soon). Most of the stations were things we normally have in our yard, just more spaced out than on the porch. A few others we bought for the occasion-- ring toss, burlap sacks for sack races, wagon rides, badminton, and Grandma bought kiddie bean bag toss to match the grown up version Uncle Able brought by. There were also lots of balls, parachute, trucks, trikes, etc...

The signs were fun. It was "supposed" to be red poster paint, but was mostly a neon pink color. We went with it and let M design with do-a-dots as she liked. (Yes, that bokeh is natural, not a filter!)

It was great fun and everyone helped clean up and, all but one small baby, went home happy.

Oh, there were also goodie bags with Cracker Jacks, Jax, Sock Money Stickers, a picture of E, a ring, and, in most bags, a red jingle bell as E rather likes them. If you'd like a goodie bag let me know as we have "several" left.

Happy Birthday to E! I hope you had a wonderful time.

Happy Birthday E!

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 02:44:00 +0000

Today was the big day--- E's very first birthday and we celebrated all day long!

How does one celebrate being 1? Part of me knows it is really a celebration for us, more than him, but we are celebrating him and us and what a year its been! We began with doughnuts with his siblings and let him make a HUGE mess. He loved every bit.

What's not to love, when there are chocolate and sprinkles involved?

Much later in the day, after naps, work, and Daddy's return from his trip we opened a few presents. It is hard to know what to do with a present when you've never had a real birthday present before that you could open yourself?

With quite a lot of coaching he figured it out (with a little help from his siblings). The first present to open was, of course, from them. They each got to pick two things for him from the dollar spot. He loved it.

After presents we had dinner at Humble Pie. If E has a favorite food, it might be pizza crusts. He is completely uninterested in the rest of the pizza, but loves to gnaw on the crust and Humble Pie has fabulous crust. He was pretty exhausted though by the time we got home.

We put him in his chair for cake.... but he was too sleepy to be bothered at first.

So, we waited for Uncle Able & Kari and opened another present, which seemed to help wake him up.

Just in time to smash some more cake and then decide it was time to party with Daddy way past his bed time. We had a great day and I am so excited to celebrate with everyone on Saturday!

We love you so much sweet boy. I think you had a good birthday. There was a lot of clapping through out the day and big smiles. We sang you happy birthday three times throughout the day and gave you all the love, hugs, memories, and kisses we could. Sweet dreams my littlest man.

(More of birthday week is coming, but I wanted to share these right away!)

Ten on Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 04:01:00 +0000

1. At several points in the last few days there have been seven kids here and I have been the only adult. They actually, perhaps, argue less than when it is just my three, but I still worry about the ratio at times. I am glad, however, that they have found neighborhood friends to love and play with.

2. New experience today -- I got to the drive-thru window at Chick-fil-a and discovered I couldn't find my wallet anywhere. I eventually did and took my rag tag bunch (in various degrees of PJs after swimming) in to claim our food. It was embarrassing and annoying.

3. I have no intention of scheduling evening swimming classes in June again so long as IRSP is part of our life. It is just too much, too late in the evening with three kids and me. The lessons themselves are actually going really well. E, however, is not doing well in the Y child care (first the virus and now crying the whole time such that I had to rescue him). Also the sheer logistics of getting everyone in, out, showered, and dressed is just too much at the end of the day for all of us.

4. E's birthday is tomorrow. I have to say, not much is ready for tomorrow. I "think" I have a decent plan for Saturday, but still have to buy groceries, decorate, and assemble the "big" wagon. Brent is coming back early in the afternoon tomorrow from IA, which should help.

5. Some of you may recall that my Dad loved Iowa. I think Brent may be falling in love with Iowa a bit too. Every day he has cool stories to tell and little neat things about the town. I think despite himself that the place, if not the activity he's in, are growing on him.

6. The babysitter debacle continues. As you may know, we've been trying various approaches since firing our babysitter last month. Most recently, we hired someone to come here to watch one or more of the kids 15 hours a week, instead of us taking E or some combination of kids to another person's house. That completely fell apart on the first day so we're interviewing again. ( My mom had to jump in and rescue us on zero notice. Thanks mom. You rock!) Time for finding an ongoing sitter is tight as I leave for Philly a week from tomorrow and we really need someone in place before that trip.

7. I am scrapbooking again! Not too much, but three E pages for this book in advance of the party. It is helping the mental state a bit as well. Sadly exercise is not happening in a world of being the only parent + sickness+ birthday week. Soon? I think it would help on multiple fronts as the "nutrition" regime is pretty loose here at the moment too.

8. We had a lovely time at Grammie & Granddaddy's house on Sunday. The kids got to play in the kiddie pool, ride bikes, and have hot dogs. True summer fun. I think we stressed out Granddaddy a bit, but all was well. He is, by the way, doing quite well six months out from his stroke and goes back to work in another week or two!

9. This afternoon, in addition to swimming and chick-fil-a, we attempted to go to the library and the park. Neither was exceptional, but a few more things marked off the list. I really need to buy a few more things for this party and spend a bit more time focusing on B's reading and writing this week. How are we going to fit that in? I really just need to schedule some "school" time in the mornings.

10. M, randomly, knows what sounds every letter she sees makes, but often can't name the letter. Isn't that weird? So clearly that is her "school" project for the summer. We'll see how it goes. She does love activities so I'm thinking a workbook might make her happy. We've currently relocated our kid crafting cart to right under the dinning room table and she is LOVING that. I often find her doing projects on her own initiative there and love it.

Ok, I have to try and rest as today was just crazy town. Thanks to Audra for the long talk and to everyone for the birthday wishes. I (hopefully) will be back here tomorrow with more birthday musings!

Birthday Week: E's Smile

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 13:00:00 +0000

I'm finding it very hard to pinpoint what it is exactly about E's smile that is so incredibly, heart meltingly, infectious. It is so awesome and I'm completely addicted. His poor little smile was missing last week due to illness and it is just back in regular rotation and we're all much better for it. Here is a (lengthy) montage of E smiling through his first year!

Birthday Week: A Boy & A Wagon

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:17:00 +0000

I had a guess that E might like to have a wagon of his own as he likes to push, pull, drag, and investigate things all day.

Recently, the big kids were away at farm camp and I thought maybe E would like one of his birthday presents early so he could play with it all by himself.

He loved it.

As predicted, there was lots to explore, touch, and investigate.

This little guy is having a red wagon themed birthday party next weekend, and I think he's going to like his new "big" present quite a lot!

12 years & Counting

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 01:00:00 +0000

Brent,

I love you.

I love us.

2001 & 2013

This is us, then and now. I love our story. I love our past, present, and the promise of our future. Today, we celebrate and I feel so lucky to share, build, and creat this story with you my love. Thank you for all the years so far and the many more to come.

Thank you to all of our friends, family, and children for supporting us, loving us, and helpign our marriage and family grow. We so appreciate all you have done and love having you in our lives.

A Year in Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 17:12:00 +0000

This year in pictures runs in reverse (oops!) Can you believe how much our little guy has grown? On Wednesday, he will be 1 year old!

May 2013

April 2013

March 2013

February 2013

January 2013

December 2012 - Photo by Heather Warren

November 2012

October 2012

September 2012

August 2012

July 2012

Week 2 - June 2012- Photo by Heather Warren

Day 1 - June 2012

Friday Favorites + Random Musings

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 04:26:00 +0000

This week, I've been pulled thin to moments when I think I'm going to plummet right off some mystical cliff. The closest I've come so far is yelling at M this evening, but oh the precipices of this week.

One thing I did do this week was go through the first 1/4 of all my scrapbooking supplies to gather things for the Healing Scraps Donation Drive I've been talking about. So far, I've gathered three boxes of things to share and had another six boxes come in the mail to me or the store. It is great and my office also looks less like a disaster area, although more like a warehouse as days go by.

What I haven't had time for is scrapbooking (or exercise, but the being ill has been the bigger issue there). Just as I hope scrapbooking can be healing for some of the victims of the tornado it is my own therapy as well. It is 11pm and I'm back from taking my mom to the emergency room. There isn't really time to scrap and still get a good night's rest before Mr. E wakes up so I'm going to share with you links to some of my favorite scrapbook pretties of the moment instead. Enjoy and I hope you have a fun and restful weekend!

1. Maggie Holmes Gold Glitter Thickers - I love them, really. They are so different, lovely, versatile, and they actually stay adhered to the page! (Really, its the little things and why do so many Thickers not stick to the page?)

2. Mint Julep Die Cuts & Transparencies by Basic Grey - This little packet has SO many clever little bits in it both in paper and transparencies. I've done several pages already just using these bits as all the embellishments and could do many many more. Pretty and so fun!

3. "Sunset" Ombre Washi via Studio Calico's Outerbanks Add-on - I sort of impulse purchased this add-on after they offered several discounts and Lady M and I adore the sunset washi tape. We've been using it on lots of things (just no pages for me yet, she, on the other hand has made a layout on each side of one of the pages from this add-on).

4. Clear Pop Mint Alphabet by Heidi Swapp - I went past Paper Crown, my LSS, today to talk about strategy for the supply drive and had to pick up a few other things as well. I've almost bought these letters several times already and today I went ahead and splurged. They are so different and interesting looking. I was a little surprised at how tall each letter is and can't wait to try them out. It is hard to tell from the picture, but they are plastic and semi-transparent.

5. Aqua Arrow Paper Clips by Freckled Fawn - First, I have to say, I love basically everything I have purchased from Freckled Fawn. Not only do I love it, I actually USE it right away, which is awesome. (No, I am in no way paid to say this and they probably don't know I exist). These particular paperclips are exclusive to Two Peas in a bucket and are appearing on almost all the layouts I've made lately. I also have the plain silver ones. I was slow to join the paper clip trend, but these arrow clips converted me!

Ok, those are a few of my favorite crafty things and perhaps on Saturday I'll actually get to use them!

Thanks again to everyone's support in the chaos this week and for helping with the supply drive. E is feeling a bit better and I think my mom is OK too, just a muscle strain we hope.

Have a lovely weekend!

Ten on Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 03:27:00 +0000

1. Yes, my computer is still broken, but maybe "someday" you'll get to see all the awesome photos on my camera from May...Sigh.

2. Babysitter saga continues. I'm interviewing someone tomorrow for more of a Nanny-type approach that would involve her coming here for a certain number of hours a week.

3. Remember how last Tuesday was the ideal Summer life day. Today was not. Schedules were weird and out of sync. Poor E and I went round and round about napping. It was the 1st day of Zoo camp, the first day of swimming lessons, and the 2nd day of IRSP (meaning no Brent to help with most of that chaos).

4. I have finally managed to send out the invitations to E's birthday party. We're now in that awkward phase where I simultaneously fear that no one will come and am terrified that way more people will come than will fit in my house. I'm hoping the amazing weather somehow manages to continue so I can send all the small people outside to play fun vintage games (which I'm sure I'll have found the stuff for before then, right?) We are still "light" on the monkey aspect of the party so I'm hoping Grandma graciously brings all her sock monkeys (hint, hint).

5. E and I are getting a lot of time together. Some days in the last week it has been so awesome. Today, mostly frustrating. I have started running with him again. He seems mostly ambivalent about it. Pushing the stroller into the wind with a 25lb baby is intense. His new hobbies include crawling laps on the couch and occasionally attempting to stand without holding on to anything. He is completely adorable and snuggly most of the time. We took pictures with Heather on Thursday and I'm excited to see how they turn out.

6. As noted, M had swimming lessons for the first time today. She was a little bit more nervous and tentative than I would have anticipated. I actually think it would have been better if she had started her class right away rather than sitting with me to watch most of B's class. His class was easy for him and seemed to go well, but strangely she was increasingly concerned. Ultimately, with lots of encouragement from me, she did most of the skills in her class save for the last fun one which is jumping in the pool to her teacher. This, she absolutely refused to do. (By the way, yes, taking three kids to the Y alone in the evening for two different swimming lessons starting at different times, but overlapping is complicated. More so when some of those children are of the opposite gender in the wacky rules around Y dressing rooms... I digress)

7. Zoo Camp - M is in zoo camp for the first time. Her class is called "Lions, Tigers, and Bears, oh my!" I think it went OK, but her report was fairly thin. B's class is called "Zooper Heroes." Each day there is a connection between some zoo creature and a super hero. Today, for example, they learned about spiders ("Spiderman") and tomorrow they will be learning about bats ("Batman"). B is a Zoo Camp expert as he's been going to little classes and camps at the zoo basically since we moved to Oklahoma when he was 18 months old. I'm sure with a little more practice M will be right at home as well.

8. Our Scrapbook Supply Drive seems to be going very well from what I'm hearing in social media. So far, only two boxes have made their way to me, but many more are in transit to me or the store. Please send me names of anyone that might benefit from this project as we'd like to help as many people as possible. Jennifer McGuire has been an amazing support of this project and shared it on her blog post today about Giving Back. It was so exciting to see our little project featured and I'm hoping we'll be able to help many more people thanks to all her support! She is donating $1 from each card camp registration this summer as well so please check the above link if you are interested in card camp with Jennifer!

9. As part of IRSP, Brent took his students to see the new Star Trek movie. Of course, none of them knew virtually anything about Star Trek and his attempts at explaining sound hilarious. I think we're becoming old.

10. I need more rest. E has decided that waking up between 5:45 and 6:30 is the way to go. The good news is he is ready for a nap by 9:30, the less good news is that we haven't adapted by going to sleep any earlier. With that in mind, I'm off to rest as there is much to do before Brent's trip (He is leaving on Sunday for several days as clearly we needed to make things tougher) as he will be back just in time for E's 1st birthday! Fun times and challenges abound, but we're going to make it work!

(Ps. If you would like to read about the adventures at Farm Camp that I mostly missed check out Audra and my Mom's blogs for highlights and pictures!

Healing Scraps for Oklahoma

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 13:30:00 +0000

I've seen, from a distance or on TV, many tornadoes. As a kid, I knew a few people that were impact somewhat, but never until the Moore tornadoes have I known so many people who lost so much. A couple friends lost cars and/or the place where they worked blew away. Another friend's business was destroyed. And worst of those we knew was a family we're friends with who lost their home. The mom was home and sheltering in a closet. She survived. For the week after the storm, their family, our friends, and my husband spent many many hours carefully driving in groups in and out of the destroyed and then secured area of Moore salvaging their belongings. They are heartbroken, but resilient.

There has been a huge outpouring of support for the tornado victims in Oklahoma from across the state, nation, and even globally. Many are working on critical needs like housing, health, and reconstruction. When I saw my friend, what she seemed to also need was something to lift her spirits, something to help her find beauty and joy in the destruction and dirt. What came to mind for me was scrapbooking. My friend Stacey was crafty and liked to make things like cards for her 6 year old son's birthday party using her scrapbooking tools. For me, scrapbooking is a kind of therapy in tough times and I'm hoping that it might bring a similar happiness to her. Looking around at the devastation, I knew I wanted to do more for Moore, that we could, maybe, through the generosity of the scrapbooking community help more than just my friend.

So, I checked in with my local scrapbooking store, Paper Crown. One of their former employees had lost everything as well. They were already helping her every way they could, but also wanted to do more. Together, we are collecting scrapbooking supplies for those impacted by the Oklahoma tornadoes (all of them). We hope that maybe we can send out some joy and beauty to those impacted.

If you have supplies you would like to donate please mail them either to me --email me at healingscraps4ok (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll tell you my address or send your package to

Paper Crown
9303 N Pennsylvania Ave.

Oklahoma City, OK 73120

If you know someone impacted by the tornadoes please send their contact information to me at healingscraps4ok (at) gmail (dot) com. We have some recipients already identified, but the positive response to the idea already from Studio Calico members and Twitter has been so positive that I think our little project may be growing larger than the people we've found so far.

We have social media ways for you to share or communicate as well. Visit this project at:

www.facebook.com/HealingScrapsForOklahoma.

https://twitter.com/HealingScraps

This picture is our first big donation from Jennifer McGuire and hope to bring smiles to many faces of our fellow Okies before this project is over. Thanks so much for your help with this and all the relief efforts in OK!

Hugs,

Abbey

Ten on Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Wed, 29 May 2013 03:52:00 +0000

1. Today, was a great day as days go at our house. If every day of summer were roughly like this it would be good. Now, in fairness, both E and M managed to get hurt, and B and I had small/med attitude moment, but really all told just want the "dream" I'm living is supposed to be like, but almost never is. E woke up earlier than usual and we got to play together for an hour or so. Then family breakfast followed by time outside with the kids. We have a no screens before I go to work rule :) We played in our newly mown grass for quite awhile. Until the bigs freaked E out by tackling me (all in good fun, but he was very worried). Then, E had water play time in the bathroom sink while M played in a very full tub of water. (Sadly by the time this portion of the day was over E had nearly bitten through is lip bonking his chin on the tub....). After the tylenol, E slept for FOUR hours. I worked and the big kids ate, played, and did chores as well as minor "school" work. When work was over E was up and there was more play with neighborhood kids and a few errands. Then, M's minor injury at a neighbor's house followed by dinner and more wandering kids. B wrote the most adorably awesome notes to us in chalk on the driveway and may have won himself back into good graces in the process. More snuggle/silly time before bath/bed. I changed for my run and got an honest to goodness double take from Brent when I walked out in shorts for the first time in nearly two years :) After the bedtime ritual I had a lovely run on a beautiful, windy evening as the sunset. And there you have it :) Ups and downs, but over all elements that make me happy. Of course, tomorrow change is coming.

2. Tomorrow, the big kids are going to farm camp. I think this is the third year, maybe? They are excited and I know it will be awesome. Brent, E and I will join them Friday afternoon to catch some of the fun!

3. The child care search continues. (However, if E would just agree to sleep for those four hours every day he could stay here.... sadly, almost one year olds are impossible to negotiate with). The place we toured today was clean, neat, new, and featured a very large tornado room. However, also crazily expensive for the small amount of time we'd actually be using it. Hmmmm....

4. Let's see, we have managed to finally get our yard mowed for those keeping track of that saga. I literally let some guys mow it that were just randomly driving by. Brent and our existing guy have discussed and he is back on the case on a trial basis. It is nice to be able to fully play out there again so we bought badminton rackets today too. (I made it almost a month without going to Target and now remember why I was doing that as this was an expensive trip, obviously).

5. I have been again considering our storm shelter stash of supplies. I have agreed to limit them to the one large tub currently down there as Brent seems to think there needs to be room for people? This week, I added a first aid kit (yes, I know, it was supposed to be there earlier, but ended up being assigned to my car instead). I've also ordered five pairs of work gloves after watching the cleanup efforts Brent has been part of in Moore. Technically, the first aid kit needs some supplementing as does the limited food in there. Some people were in their shelters for several hours before they could get out last week and there isn't much in there just now to keep kids at bay that long. These are the things we are thinking about as another possible storm looms tomorrow.

6. I have finally begun planning E's 1st Birthday party. We are having a sort of vintage red wagon/monkey theme (B is so insistent on this Monkey bit that it MUST be included). Any suggestions for the party are always welcome as we all know I won't actually pull things together until the last minute although we have made some basic steps in that direction already.

7. My computer remains "Bjorked." I'm still tentatively hoping Brent will just send it back or Zach will appear and know how to somehow reformat it and reinstall windows (But obviously it didn't come with a disk or anything). I probably will suck it up and mail it back for warranty service instead though. Eventually. I did manage to press enough random buttons to, I think, get everything off of it that I wanted. However, pictures here will be thin until that is resolved.

8. This weekend I ran the "Red Dirt 5k" in Enid. It was definitely the smallest race we've done and actually really fun, aside from randomly arriving an hour earlier than I needed to. The first highlight was a new personal record that is about a minute faster than the last one for a total of 10 minutes off my time since September. The best part, however, was when Tracie and I walked back down the course and ran with Sarah to the finish line. The odds of that sentence ever occurring if you knew us in high school were basically zero, but here we are! Tracie and Sarah's parents were all there and similarly amused to be at a race with us. I ran for my Grandpa Dotter in honor of Memorial Day, which was awesome and I think he liked it too when he saw his name on my race dog tags later that day.

9. Random Memorial Day aside- I know almost unconsciously play this crazy game with myself where I ponder whether or not my Dad would be at any given event. For example, B's program last week-- definitely not. He would have wanted to come, but would have been working and sad to miss it, but glad to not be in the fancy Edmond school in a big crowd. The race, however, I think he might have come to and liked. It was early in the morning, small, folksy, and near his home. I saw cowboy roses growing along the road as I ran and ran just a little bit faster imagining him there with them cheering me on.

10. Oh, school is out! We survived and excelled at all the various programs and the kids were quite excited about summer. I think now they are ready for the next thing, which is nicely timed. Farm camp is first and the following week they have zoo camp and swimming lessons in the evening. Followed by a complicated string of other camps woven among our various trips,work, and other adventures. Here's to a safe, happy summer that maybe isn't "quite" so hot ---wishful thinking indeed.

Ten on Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Wed, 22 May 2013 03:21:00 +0000

1 .All of my family is OK as are our homes. One family of friends lost their home, and another lost his business. Once it is clearer how best to help them I'll share a link here.

2. Yesterday was just the hardest day in an already hard week. I really don't have words to process it and so wish I were writing about end of the year festivities instead. So here are a few things. Sadly, there will be less pictures for awhile as it appears that my laptop needs to be sent off to the shop... sigh.

3. This story about the love and fear of the Oklahoma skies really resonates with me right now.

4. I also found this article about the very unusual "Tornado Emergency" designation useful and fascinating.

5. Just one more, this one is about how the tragedies continue to define us along with the Oklahoma Standard. Long before this disaster one of my former bosses would introduce me by an ever changing number of tornadoes I'd seen so clearly we've been "defined" by this for awhile already.

6. I have been so touched by the outpouring of love from outside Oklahoma for me personally from friends and colleagues far away, and for the state in general. It really matters so much.

Yes, I'm having trouble moving past this...

7. So, yesterday was the Kindergarten Revue - in theory. The above video (apologies if it is sideways???) Was the second song in the program. Where the video ends is where the program ended. The tornado sirens blew and we were all to go to the tornado safe rooms or take our student and go home. There did not appear to be an immediate threat so we went home. We were home safe and watching the other storms unfold as our kids acted crazy and we tried to teach them to love Gary, spot hook echos, and read radar maps (like you do) (See description in article #3 above if you are unfamiliar with this). Somehow the "living in the heart of America" seems appropriate, just now.

8. In true resilient spirit, we tried again today. B is, perhaps, even harder to see in this video. However, it is the song he has been loving to learn for at least a month. As the concert progresses he does try vigilantly to be a bit more visible as you can see below.

Dress Rehearsal - M is on the far left

9. Oh, and there was M's dance recital. Right as it was time to go to the dance recital on Sunday, we had to dash to the tornado shelter (well, as quickly as five people can move with flashlights and stuff--oh, did I mention we didn't have power for two days...right, that). So, we hung out there for awhile as the storm passed and meteorologists called out our cross streets. M was in the storm shelter in costume, so we hustled everyone up, everyone but M changed clothes and we made it to the recital. She did a fabulous job!! She was a little shell shocked when I picked her up, but we loved getting to see her dance. I did forget my "big" camera, but there will be a dvd and some phone pics as well as these that were taken at the studio earlier in the week. There are some pictures on my camera from home and dress rehearsal too, but again some technology issues....

Ballerina's need sustenance and this one got to have Braums afterwards with her support crew of friends and family--- just like we used to do after programs with our Grandparents!

10. On Saturday, we also went to "Touch a Truck" --- where the kids climbed all over everything (once they got over all the horn honking noises). We also met some lovely people from Edmond Electric with power trucks who explained how they dig holes for power poles and set the poles.

Little did we know how relevant that lesson would be. We still can't drive south on Penn from our house, which is resulting in all sorts of crazy routing around here...

Mostly, as you can tell it is just chaotic crazy town. Tomorrow is the last day of school for the bigs and day one of two of final exams for Brent's classes. Who knows that happens after that, but I'm hoping it is less "exciting" for awhile.

Much love to you all!

Scrappy Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Sun, 19 May 2013 13:30:00 +0000

After several M pages this week, we have several "B" pages this week. First up, is a layout featuring B when he was only maybe 20 months old. He seems so little and so adorable. It is a very simple layout using a new banner from Heidi Swap and full of memories of B discovering new things, like the ipod shown here.

Grandma B is around for story time at least once a week lately. I am not sure what they were reading here, but love the eclectic mix of things going on in the photo and stretched that out in the the theme of adventure being everywhere in their books. Most often these days Grandma B reads them selections from Winnie the Pooh who is always on an adventure as well. (Supply Note: The space themed items are from the OA Rocket Age collection. They have been sitting around for a year or two and I am glad they are in the book. They are some of our favorites!)

The design of this layout is inspired by one of Susan Weinroth's with the April SC Kit. It captures a very normal weekend morning around here and I'm so glad this bit of every day is in the book. Also, I love those fun star sequins I found in the clearance section at Hobby Lobby. Hooray!

More stars, but also Lady M's smiling face in a beautiful page of flowers. This page was definitely one of those papers I've been "aging" hoping for the right page and am so glad to have finally used it with my happy girl. Today is her dance recital and I'm sure that I'll have many more stories to tell.

Happy Scrapping!

Ten on Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Wed, 15 May 2013 02:38:00 +0000

1. Telecommuting is weird. You probably knew that. The transition is tricky as you're never quite in one place or the other. That said, I do love it and am so glad I get this opportunity. I had a wonderful dinner with some of my girlfriends here this evening and will have another. We are all finding our nitches careerwise and each is so different!

2. DC in May is so beautiful. There are flowers blooming everywhere and the evening air was rich with the scent of Iris, Peony, and Rose as I walked home. The yards s in this old neighborhood are so small by Oklahoma standards, but overflowing with beautiful flowers. Love it.

3. I miss my kids, already, still, always. I'm glad my Mom and Brent are there with them and know it is tough for them to pick up my entire routine at odd intervals, but I am glad they do it so well and graciously.

4. M had Dance pictures today. I think there was some timing issue, but she looks adorable:) I believe those are "Swan" arms from a bit too much watching of Swan Lake with Prima Princessa?

5. E finally got his first baby haircut. Grandma, Uncle Able, Daddy and I worked together and there is no longer a baby mullet, but it may need a bit more trimming up one of these days. I did almost cry. He looks much more like a little boy now.

6. It is the last full week of Kindergarten. Where did the time go? They are having all sorts of random end of the year things almost every day. I think B is having fun. We even got his yearbook this week! (This makes me sound old, but did you know that yearbooks are in full color these days?)

7. I slept for most of the plan rides today. It was a very unusual and nice thing.

8. I love my coworkers. They are so sweet and give me hours of big hugs when I arrive back in DC. Next week marks 10 years of working for OGC if you count way back to when I started as a law clerk. It is amazing.

9. Brent is nearing the end of the semester as well. He is in that place where he both needs more time and is kind of relieved that vert zoo at least is coming to an end.

10. The next week includes: Board week, Beach Day (B), Dress Rehearsal (M), Dance Recital (M), Kindergarten Revue (B), Spring Program (M), Last day of School (M&B).... it is going to be wild.

Scrappy Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Sun, 12 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Lots of Lady M pages this week, complete with bright colors. For inexplicable reasons, I've been using a bit more orange lately. This is a bit tricky as I don't really own many orange bits. Here, I used a cut sheet so many of the bits are actually cut from the same piece of paper. I also continue to try and use every one of the pieces on the gold thickers sheet. The journaling is about preparing her for the beginning of school and encouragement to her. The background is a bit more layered than usual with cool butterfly masks, ink splatters and sequins too.

Recently, I got a bunch of glitter POW paper on sale. The paper is delightfully glittering, but sealed so the glitter doesn't get all over. I've been using bits here and there, but this time, I bold used the entire sheet as a background. This layout is M's fashion show right after her birthday party. She's showing off her new sparkles and fun. I love all the expressions.

We don't tend to keep all the book jackets we have. I had a hard time parting with Tallulah though. The book, as you can tell by some wrinkles here, is well loved and in constant rotation this winter. I cut the front of the jacket and a short description from the back flap and added them along with a random picture of M and some tidbits of teal. It is a great way for me to document what she's really into right now.

This layout was inspired by a sketch by Allison Davis. It is a good way to work in a series of smaller photos from a given event. This page is just about us getting ready, on a complete whim, for the fairy ball in the Paseo last October. I had heard of it, and when we found out our neighbors were going we decided to pull together some costumes and go as well. The kids were adorable and it was our first attempt at outfitting all three! Those ombre letters are quite nice too.

Happy Scrapping and Happy Mother's day!

Use Your Spices: B's Favorite Fish

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Wed, 08 May 2013 20:00:00 +0000

B's favorite dish these days is also the fastest, easiest, and most crowd-pleasing dish in our rotation. This is how simple it is, ready?

B's Favorite Fish

Ingredients:

1-2lbs white fish fillets (flounder, tilapia, etc..) I typically buy frozen and thaw at the last minute in cool water.
1-2 tsp Cherry Creek Seafood Seasoning
1-2 T. Olive Oil

Pre-heat oven to 425. Lightly oil a cookie sheet with olive oil. Baste fish lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with the Cherry Creek Seasoning. Bake for 7-9 minutes until the fish "flakes" using the tines of a fork. The fish will be lightly browned at the edges. Serve to happy children everywhere.

*Cherry Creek Seafood Seasoning contains: Salt, lemon peel, our Four Corners Peppercorn blend, red bell pepper, dill weed, cracked dill seed, onion and citric acid. It also makes a lovely dip mixed with yogurt or sour cream.

Ok, so that was super easy. What do I serve it with? Well, B prefers Risotto, but that is a bit more time consuming so here is my quick dinner fix alternative.

Smoked Paprika Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients are scaled to amount per large sweet potato so you can adjust to the size of your family. Right now, my family usually uses 2-3 med/large sweet potatoes.

1 large sweet potato
1/4 tsp smoked spanish sweet paprika
1/8 tsp hot smoked spanish sweet paprika (optional/to taste)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 T of olive oil
1/4 tsp sugar (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 425 (note, same as above!). Cut sweet potato into 1/4 inch slices and then cut each slice into roughly 1/4 fries. Drizzle cookie sheet with olive oil. Add remaining ingredients, and toss well together. Cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring every 7 minutes (roughly).

I have this for lunch sometimes and add a small handful of peanuts during the last two minutes. So good!

I hope you enjoy all of these quick and easy meals with your families too!

Right Now

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Wed, 08 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Right Now:

I am 34 years old.

I primarily listen to NPR in the car. (We are scarily close to becoming my parents).

I drive a minivan -- and love it.

I prefer whole wheat chocolate chip cookies to the regular ones.

I spend an inordinate amount of time picking up and dropping of my kids.

I love scrapbooking.

I love my job.

I love our family.

I run 9-14 miles per week and do pilates 2-3 days per week.

I have wonderful friends.

Brent and I are very different than when we met and fell in love, but I am more in love with my husband than the day I married him.

I love spring, but spend most of it dreading summer.

I love to be busy, but there is a tipping point.

I like to cook, but have trouble sticking to a recipe without experimenting.

I have a huge, fun, delicious spice collection.

I love traveling, but am OK with the reality of right now, which is being home most of the time.

I am a people person, but I telecommute and have learned to really like working this way.

I still love to dance and read. Just like when I was my kids' age.

I have lots of education and flexibility in my life, which is special and liberating.

I love going out and love being home. I'm usually torn between the two.

Right now is often crazy, but I love the right now.

Ten on Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Wed, 08 May 2013 03:48:00 +0000

1. Love this. E was in need of lots of snuggles this week as he worked his way back to health. He basically stopped drinking for a couple days while running a fever. This resulted in another Doctor visit and antibiotics for his ear infection (as well as a lot of rough nights). He is almost completely back to his charming self now, thankfully.

2. B is the "STAR" student this week. This is a rotating Spotlight week in his class. He gets to make a poster about himself, bring star bear home for the week, and a variety of other special things. It is lovely, and hysterical. He adores star bear and takes him everywhere. Star bear did almost get kicked out of the spice store today for being too rowdy. His poster is awesome. One prompt was something like what is one wrong you would right in the world. His answer - Zombies. (Yes, we're playing a lot of plants vs. Zombies just now). Overall he's having a great week. Today was "field day." I'm not sure what that involved other than outside games. It was also another "Frog Log" lunch as now that I'm doing the paperwork he won again. He also has a field trip on Friday to the zoo. From here on, it is just a huge list of end of school excitement!

3. It is also "Teacher Appreciation Week." I, newbie grade school parent that I am, thought this meant we would get something nice for his teacher and send it some day that week. Ummm, nope. Each day has a theme. Monday, was something about giving her a drink so we sent Canela Hot Chocolate mix from the spice shop. Today was "she's the write" teacher. We sent handmade cards as part of the stationary prompt. Tomorrow, is sweets day so we're sending Lavender Sugar (from the spice shop, of course). Thursday, I believe is supposed to be seeds or something garden related. We are stretching a bit here, but are sending cumin and poppy seeds because we like to support the family business. The final day is supposed to be home room mom's choice, but as I have heard nothing from the homeroom mom we're sending the Savory Selects gift set we bought a month ago thinking we'd just be picking out one thing... Grade School is complicated for parents too, just in case you were wondering. Oh, and we don't forget the "non-classroom" teachers as Grandma used to be one so they'll get Savory gift cards too. (See, Savory Spice Shop OKC for all your gift giving needs!)

4. Today was a very special M and Mama day! M, as you may know, is commonly referred to as "Ladybug" here so it was only appropriate to dress her up and go to the Myriad Gardens' Ladybug release event.

4. I just love this picture. Random happenstance, but isn't she beautiful?

5. Obviously when one is wearing the most awesome costume in the gardens that happens to have a twirly skirt you must dance. So dance she did. Also, apparently was photographed by a reporter so look for her in the OKC paper this week.

6. One awesome part of today and our week was getting to share it with friends. Gavin and CJ joined us for our adventure and we passed Molly and her girls coming in as we were leaving. I also got to spend the weekend with the Palfreymans, Chrissie, and Sarah. We ate, talked, crafted, exercised, and shopped. It was awesome and just what I needed. Thanks to everyone today and over the weekend!

7. Once our ladybugs were released. We explored the gardens, got a hand tattoo, and managed to take a picture together (albeit a strangely somber one).

8. Here's the back story though. Originally, this day was supposed to have two adventures. We were also supposed to get to have lunch with B at his school, which M has wanted to do all year. However, at the literal last minute we found out it was Frog Log lunch so we couldn't go. She was sad. We came home and danced and watched dancing movies intermittently, while I worked, but I did have to work. We had to leave the ladybugs sooner than we probably would have if I didn't have to work this morning. (Cue Mom guilt). I told her we would come back in the afternoon with brothers to play. We decided to make a picnic. We did come back, but the playground is closed for the week before a big event. (Why I didn't notice this when we were parked nearby earlier is a mystery). We did have a picnic, but strangely early, in the heat and without E's hat. We blasted through the gardens again in the last 10 minutes it was open with her brothers. I felt like a pack mule wearing E, carrying the picnic bag and the diaper bag. It was hot. They really wanted to play, but there weren't good options. We left. By the time we got to the spice store to buy a teacher's gift for Ms. V we were all a bit frazzled. Brent swooped in to rescue us and took M to her hair appointment while I finished shopping. I missed my exit by miles and was slightly late to my appointment, which started later still. This is the real story of motherhood for me. It is wildly important to me that I get special time with each kid doing something that makes them happy. It is important that I be good at my job. I have a lot to juggle. Sometimes the magic works, sometimes less so. Know that I'm trying hard and that it isn't always as easy as blogville looks.... I love you ladybug.

9. Oh, here is B with his STAR Student poster surrounded by all the kind things his classmates said about him. Very sweet.

10. I can hardly believe school is almost over. I leave for DC in less than a week. It is going to be a crazy few weeks around here. Hold on for a wild ride everyone!

Scrappy Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Mon, 06 May 2013 03:22:00 +0000

I did a lot of scrapbooking this weekend so you're getting an ~~accidental~~ double post! Here are the kids enjoying the Merry Go 'Round at Orr's Family Farm at a friends birthday party. It was inspired, in part by Studio Calico's NSD Challenge to use five different pattern papers on on project.

These pictures are older still. They chronicle our trip to the Transportation Museum in STL when we flew up to meet lil' Zaney Boy as a baby!

Recently, I've been purging a lot of my stash to M's preschool classroom. I found this pink paper and wanted to use it instead. The result was very bright and fun! Most of the elements on the page are from the Pop of the Page 2 printables. I've been using printables more and more of late, to my great surprise.

Here, as promised, is B's scrapbook page from his very first day of archery. The arrows and "target" vellum seemed wildly appropriate.

I hope you had a wonderful NSD as well!

Ps. I fixed the post from earlier this morning so now you can actually see the images, I hope.

Scrappy Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Sun, 05 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

And we're back with, now, with more sequins! I really like them and they're fun. I suspect they may be a phase, but they subtly remind me of crafting with my mom as a kid, which is a nice bonus. The above page, aside from the sequins, is about the kids handing out a huge number of Savory Spice samples at the soccer fields between their games on the day before the store opened. I was really surprised at how dedicated, bold, and excited they were about this project. They are great little marketing/sales assistants! (Supply Note: SC PP cut up & Silver Mister Huey, washi, AC Thickers, sequins, etc).

By the time you see this weeks will have passed as I'm scrapping faster than these posts have room just now, but believe it or not, I scrapbooked the Kindie 500 race the very day it took place! This pretty much never happens and is only really feasible now that I can print at home, have a small number of iphone pics, and have time that day. Regardless, I am so excited that the story of the big "wheels" day at school is already in the album! (Supplies: SC Spencer & Other kits, SC Veneer)

More sequins! I attempted a free form little border up there, but didn't quite manage the randomness I was hoping for. I do love how colorful the whole thing is as well as the sort of ombre sequins below. Better still, I've been looking for a home for that little elephant for months and zoo pictures seem just the right place. The elephant helps clarify that these are zoo slides not just a park or something. In any case, cute, bright, and happy! (Supply Note: SC PP and Printables, AC Thickers & elephant, sequins, washi).

Last, but never least Mr. E. I was flipping through photos and was struck by how tiny his head was as a baby. It is actually still on the small side compared to his large headed siblings. I thought I should write up that story with some of these early tiny pictures. Brent and I found the "top quality" sticker humorous and appropriate as we definitely think he and his head are top quality even if they are a smidge smaller than some. I can almost not believe how small he is here and it wasn't even a year ago! (Supply Note: Old & New SC Kits, AC Thickers, SC Mister Huey)

I have done a few compare and contrast pages among the kids in the last few weeks. What sorts of differences have you noticed between the kids even this early on? Does highlighting them bother you or seem normal? I suspect E will be in on more of these pages from the outset than the others, and I do think it is interesting, but don't want to suggest that any of their approaches are "better" than the others, just unique and fascinating. I love having three kids!

Happy Scrapping!

Uh-oh

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Thu, 02 May 2013 01:26:00 +0000

Baby E has a sad little boy cold. Today, he adorably learned how to say uh-oh. The video quality here isn't great, but he was too cute to miss.

Ten on Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Wed, 01 May 2013 02:55:00 +0000

1. B finally got to try archery this week! He and Brent both tried it out for the first time at the Trosper's Saturday shoot and had a great time. It is only $5 and each person is lent a bow, quiver, and six arrows. You can stay as long as you want. The experts wander around and give tips as well as some safety and structure to the whole deal. They shot at 10m and have to get, I think, a certain number of arrows in the Red/Yellow section to move back to the next distance. They had a wonderful time and are going back next weekend! (Amazingly, I've already scrapbooked this and will share soon).

2. Friday was the Kindie 500 at B's school. This, crazily, involves all the Kindergartners finishing up the "transportation" unit by bringing some wheeled conveyance and a helmet from home. They all rode around a circuit, which I'm told also included areas for running, walking, and resting. B had a great time and was definitely tired that evening! (Yes, already "in the book." Hooray!)

3. E desperately wants to play with LEGO blocks and tried to sneak into Daddy's stash while he was away at archery. He also managed to get some Skylanders and wii motes in the big boys' absence. He times his mischief well and is going to fit right in here.

4. The OKC Memorial Marathon was on Sunday. I completed the 5k with Tracie, Jessie, and 4,998 of our closest friends (Not to mention the 20K other people racing the other races). I wore red socks in support of Boston and completed the Another Mother Runner Virtual 5k too (which is that extra bib I'm holding). Here is an excellent, emotional story about the run this year. A big thanks to Able and Kari for being our chauffeurs throughout the morning, to Tracie, Jessie, Heather, and my other running buddies for all the encouragement and to Brent for his amazing support and patience. It was an emotionally loaded race, but a beautiful day and a nice run. (Technically, my fastest time in a race, but as it wasn't timed and I've run faster in training not sure it counts as a PR).

5. This guy isn't getting to play much outside as he will not stop eating large handfuls of dirt or plants. I'm trying to be patient, but as I'm usually watching 2-4 other kids he has to watch through the door more than either of us would like. We had a minor scare yesterday when I caught him with something odd and purple in his mouth. After being sure he was poisoned, I tasted the stuff....yeah, it was a skittle. Which probably explains why he was so annoyed that I took it away. Just imagine one's first taste of straight sugar. Meanwhile, he also has a baby boy cold and a mullet. Not much we can do about the first, but maybe Grandma will help us cut his hair soon.

6. Today, was the monthly "Day in the Life" so the remainder of the photos are random images from today. In the above, E is welcoming Daddy home from work. Brent, meanwhile, is so ready for the semester to be over, but not ready for IRSP so... ummm, I guess it is good there are a few more weeks to go!

7. M is super loving. E is less sure. He actually doesn't mind, but does want to be on his way so started protesting moments after this shot.

8. This morning, I went to Hobby Lobby to buy Scrapbooking Adhesive in advance of this weekend's girl fun. In theory, it is cheaper as there is the 40% off coupon, but M and i alway sneed a few more things. In happy news, she has used all of the things we got her already. Many of which went into this interesting "painting." We have agreed to frame it for her room when it is dry. That blue you see is actually glitter glue and beautiful, but very wet. (In the background you can see that the LEGO Dinosaur creation is still up, M is bringing me flowers from our gardens and others, and she's also a fan of the American Girl Doll magazine, of course).

9. This Darth Vader thing Granddaddy gave B once held candy. Now, it just keeps repeating the same phrases whenever he moves it around. In case you were wondering, "The force is strong in this one."

10. We mostly have five kids these days as it appears that the neighbor kids are mostly moving in during non-school/daylight hours. Usually, this works fine and they are lovely, but so much tattling and controversy today! They also managed to each get something stuck in our gutters, which is a first. Uncle Able still has our big ladder so I'm not sure how we're going to fix that. Here's hoping everyone is getting along a bit better tomorrow. (Or that we "just" have three kids for the afternoon.)

Have a wonderful week!