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These were the words of wisdom given to Corban from his Nana(Caleb's mom). We were all driving in the car and I kept saying this quote over & over to myself because I loved it so much!! This is how the best art is created! Nana was the Bethel School art teacher for 25 years, before she retired due to health reasons. She loves everything about art! She won several awards, including the 'Oklahoma Art Educator of the Year'!! On her 50th birthday, when Corban was just 10 months old, he "painted" a canvas for her! Here's the proof:



We decided to continue this tradition for Cruz! Last weekend, Nana celebrated another birthday! We had Cruz "paint" his canvas for her :O) Cruz enjoyed his "Monet moment" so much, that he decided to use his ENTIRE body to paint!



And here's the finished product...Cruz, of course! Bath time immediately followed :O)



Naturally, we couldn't let Cruz have ALL the fun, Corban made a mess as well :O)



Here's to you, Nana! Happy Birthday with many more to come! We love you!

Theta Pond

We had quite the adventure on Wednesday! Caleb was judging 4-H speech contests in Stillwater that day for the state convention, so the little boys' and I decided to tag along! We had about 2 hours to "play" while Caleb was busy, so I took the boys' to Theta Pond. Oh Theta Pond, how I've missed you:O) It actually almost looked like a swimming pool. It was blue...not greenish/brown with algae and other yucky stuff! Leads me to think that if someone "accidentally" fell in these days, they might live...;O) Haha! Corban had SO much fun!! Actually, that's an understatement!! He loved feeding the ducks...and squirrels...and birds! Yes, we had a lot of company! I really think all of the critters enjoyed their Gerber puffs, too!

Lots of 1st's for 4th of July!

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend! The best part...it was spent with lots of family! There were many "first accomplishments" that occured when we were at the lake!

#1-Cruz's 1st 4th of July!

#2-Cruz's 1st boat ride!

#3-Corban's 1st time to "drive" a water motorcycle(aka...jet ski)!

#4-Our 1st time, as a family of 4, to sleep in the same bed! Lots of cuddles & sweet kisses :O)

Little Swimmers

Cruz's FIRST swim

Of course big brother taught him everything he knows :O)










If only I could do this ALL day long!!



Cruz's little water wrinkled piggies after swimming :O)

Happy Summer!!!

Could have fooled me!! It's been hot enough for summer to "be here" for a month now! And what a beautiful, summer day it is! There's nothing better than walking outside into a furnace blowing full blast, or your deodorant not quite powerful enough to withstand the heat, or walking bow-legged to allow the breeze to cool your sweaty legs! I really do love summer! I thought I'd share some of my favorite summer things...since today marks the official first day of summer! This is by no means is an original idea on my part. I'm borrowing this fun, intriguing game from some of the other blogs I browse through :O)

Ahhhh!! There's nothing better than a Sonic drink to hit the spot on HOT summer days!! In my case, this is almost an everyday occurance :O) Large cherry coke with easy ice! I'm proud to say that I probably keep the Shawnee Sonic's in business!

Boden!!! I'm in complete love with this store!! I love my fun necklace that doubles as a teething toy for Cruz :O) It goes with everything and screams "Summer" to me! On the days I wear this, I feel protected from the lurking eyes of Stacy London on "What Not to Wear." Haha!! I'm sure if she saw me on my normal days, I would be a prime candidate!

I love driving down the highway and watching the combines cut wheat! Must be the Okie in me :O) Plus, I have fond memories of helping my dad cut wheat back in the day! I remember listening to old school country('All my ex's live in Texas', 'Baby Blue', etc!), drinking the most delicious ice water from my dad's water jug, watching the sunset on a ripe, golden field of wheat, and getting home late just to do it all over again in the morning!

Popsicles!! I'm really not a huge fan...but both my boys' are! I love watching Corban pick out the color he wants to eat, get it all over his face and clothes, and drink the juice at the end! Cruz watched his big brother so eagerly, that I decided to give him his very own pop ice popsicle:O) Of course, he loved it!

What are some of your favorite summer time treats/memories/must haves?

Opposites Attract...

They say opposites attract, and for the most part, Caleb and I are complete opposites! Honestly, I can't even fathom what life would be like without chocolate, but Caleb could really care less. He's the optimist in our relationship; whereas, I'm the realist :O) I like to spend money, he likes to save! Although, I think I might be rubbing off on him...he actually buys something for lunch 1-2 times per week(gasp!). Haha!! When it comes to our personalities, Caleb is a sanguine/choleric mix. In other words...he's very outgoing, personable, talkative(I always kick his foot when I'm ready to go and he's still yapping...that's my "stop talking, I'm ready to go" signal!), compassionate, strong-willed, determined, practical, etc...! Me, on the other hand, I'm a melancholy/phlegmatic mix. Which means, I'm analytical, a perfectionist, calm and easy going(most of the time...!), sensitive, witty(I like to call it sarcastic), introvert, yada...yada...yada! However, there is one thing that we are both completely and utterly passionate about...giving and helping others, especially kids. Caleb is extremely involved in our youth program at church. He loves all of those kids as if they were his own! He(we) would love to do missions in the future. We would love for Corban and Cruz to be involved with mission work as well! For the time being, God has led us to sponsor a child(Mitsunge) in Malawi.


Corban calls our child, Mr. Pig. It's quite funny the reasoning behind the name! As you can see in the picture, Mitsunge is wearing a Lion King shirt. Well, Corban thinks he is Simba, so Mitsunge has to be another character...hence "Mr. Pig" aka Pumbaa:O) Silly kid! I can't wait to see what Corban names our other sponsored kids in the future! There's no telling with him!

If anyone is interested in sponsoring a child, Hope House Orphan Care is who we used and they are located locally out of Shawnee! Their website is http://www.hopehouseorphancare.com/

WHIRLWIND of a week!

Literally. It was not fun. I do not want to do it again. However, that's how memories are made, and a LOT were made this week...so far! We saw our first tornado of the season Monday night. Apparently, there were approximately 27 in the state that evening! Let's rewind back to Monday night, the 10th of May. That whole afternoon, I was scrambling around to get all the laundry done...even our bed sheets! What good are clean bed sheets when you have no electricity and you can't take showers?!?! Oh well, at least they smelled good:O) Caleb got home from work around 5:30 and immediately filled our bathtub up with water...smart guy! What would I do without him? Dinner just came out of the oven and it smelled soooo good, but needless to say, we did not get to eat it! At that moment, our weather radio went off and said we were in a tornado warning. It started hailing, so I called to Caleb that we should head to the storm shelter. He grabbed Corban, along with ALL of Corban's stuffed animals and blankets, or so it seemed! I grabbed Cruz and put a blanket over his head and we were running for the fraidy hole! Some of our neighbors came over with their 2 dogs, Starsky and Hutch(love the names)! Then our dog, Abbee, decided she wanted to join in on the fun!! We had 7 people, 3 dogs, and dog poop in our 6x6 storm cave:o) Memories!! After all that fun was over, we were without power until Thursday morning. In the meantime, we stayed with Caleb's parents because they HAD electricity!! That's always fun! It's like a big slumber party when we stay there! It reminds me of the good ol' college days when I would come home with Caleb for the weekend and spend time with his family! Corban, of course, loved it! He loves to sleep with Nana in her big, king size bed. And I think Nana enjoys the cuddles, too :O)



The day after the tornado came through, we drove around to see the damage, not knowing that it was less than 1/2 mile away! If nature had intended that the tornado turn slightly north, it would have nailed our house. Seeing all the damage, makes me so thankful for what we have. Honestly, I didn't care that we were without electricity, when neighbors were without homes. There were so many homes destroyed and demolished by this tornado in what seemed like our backyard. I can't imagine losing everything! One second you have everything, the next, it's gone. These poor people are trying to pick up the pieces of what's left of their lives and they have to start all over again. Please stop and say a prayer for these people, as their homes and memories and lives were viciously uprooted in the wake of this tornado's destruction.



This is our 6x6 storm cave!


Whew! Abbee is glad that's over:O)


This is the view from our driveway. The tornado took place behind the trees in the background.


DESTRUCTION...






This used to be a HUGE barn! Absolutely nothing left.


Mangled power lines with debris