Sable's New Hat

R tried out the "hat" first

He thought it looked much better on Sable!

Sable has been inside most of the time now that cold weather is here. Her poor old hips definitely don't do well in the cold! She is so happy to be inside where it's warm, but that means she has to tolerate little R! She has been SO good with all of our kids through the years, and she is just as great with little R. You can tell by her face that she isn't enjoying his shenanigans, but she lets him have his fun anyway! On this day, he had a blast putting his bowl on her head (and his)...he thought it was just too funny!

Cheerleading Again!

We have found Upward Cheerleading again, and A couldn't be happier! She missed out on cheerleading while we lived in Arkansas, but now she is back at it and loving every minute of it! She is quite the natural, too! After the holidays hopefully she will be able to start some tumbling classes, which she is very exicted about.

Winter Jammies!!!

Is there anything cuter than a little one in their "winter jammies"???

Our Chorus Girl!

T is taking Chorus this year as one of her electives. We thought it would be a good way for her to develop her voice, since we haven't been able to afford vocal lessons. They sing some pretty crazy songs, and she absolutely HATES the dress that is her uniform...but we thought she looked beautiful, and they sounded GREAT at their first concert!

Our Annual Fall Picture

Each year we go to the pumpkin patch, pick out pumpkins, decorate a fall scene in our front yard and take pics of the kiddos in front of it. We have done this for many years (since we lived in VA). Last year our beloved scarecrow Johnny was destroyed by the "ill-mannered" neighborhood dogs...I found poor Johnny in a million pieces in our front yard one morning. So we ventured out to get a new "Johnny", even though R is very scared of anything scarecrow related. Well, by the time we made it to Hobby Lobby, they were out of scarecrows anyway, so we wound up with a very "fallish" rake decoration...which suited R just fine! We got everything together and got the kids rounded up for the photo shoot...and this was the result! As you can see, R is not in the pic with the girls...after taking a pic on my lap, he would have nothing more to do with the photo shoot. As soon as we would sit him down, he would hop right back up and walk off. So we got a lovely picture of our great kids...minus little R.

Purity Ball

R and T went to a purity ball last weekend. They had a great time having dinner and dancing together, and got a lot of good information! The girls both thrive on "time alone" with Daddy, and any time they get a chance to go on a date with him they are thrilled! Now hopefully I have a chance with little R actually getting excited to go out with Mommy when he is bigger...somehow the mention of a Mommy/Daughter date night just doesn't hold the thrill for the girls that the Daddy/Daughter date night does! (I mean, I'm only the one that threw up for 5 months straight, suffered through horrible heartburn, weight gain, stretch marks...and we won't even discuss the labor, delivery and nursing!) I'm really not bitter...I love that the girls love their Daddy and want to spend time with him...and I think that relationship will be VERY important as they get older and start making decisions about the kind of men they want in their lives...

Little Professor

This is R sporting his "intellectual" look!

How do you keep a 2-yr old from destroying the house while you shower??

Put him in the bathtub with a bunch of toys!!!

Simple Shoes

Okay, I just found a great shoe brand, and I had to share! I have always bought little R Stride Rite shoes, because they are flexible and comfy. Well, I came across simpleshoes.com the other day, and I hit the jackpot!!! I bought R a pair of shoes that were full price and they weren't cheap, but no more expensive than Stride Rite. But, I also got A two pairs of shoes (one pair was $7.90 and the other pair was $8.90), and I got myself a pair of shoes for $14.90. And shipping was free!!

The best thing about the shoes is that they are all "earth friendly", made from organic cotton, recycled tires, etc. We have a great recycling program here, so we are adamant about recycling and teaching the kids to recycle and take care of our earth...and here's one more way...new shoes without harming our environment...and they were cheap (and WAY cute, by the way)!

I'll post some pics of the kids sporting their eco-friendly kicks as soon as they wear them!

R's 2nd Birthday Party!

Headed out on the hayride...

I didn't get pics of R eating his piece of cake, but the tractors on the cake had their buckets full of frosting, and this is R enjoying every last bit of that frosting!

The party site...PaPa's shop...one of R's favorite places!

On the tractor w/ PaPa...another one of R's favorite places!

The entrance to the "job site" AKA MiMi & PaPa's house!

We decided to go home to Arkansas for R's birthday party. That's where we celebrated his 1st birthday, and it just seemed right to go home where we could celebrate with our extended family. And boy, did they show up!! We had a Bob the Builder party, because R is into everything Bob...tractors, dump trucks, fixing things, oh yeah! My parents worked VERY hard to get everything ready at their place, and the party was great! We grilled burgers and hot dogs, Uncle Paul brought fish and cooked fish and hushpuppies, and of course yummy birthday cake and ice cream!! We had tractor rides, a hay ride, go kart rides, and even an impromptu baseball game with R's new bat & ball! It was tons of fun!! Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate our little guy's 2nd year...it is obvious he sure is loved!!

Sorry!

Sorry for all the mess with the slide show! For some reason it didn't work the first time. I wanted to do this for R's first year, but with Daddy being gone, I just never found the time. It's a little long when you are trying to fit 2 years worth of life into one slide show!!

Happy Birthday Little R!

Happy Birthday Little R!!!!!

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MAN Stuff!!

Picking up firewood from the back of the truck

Handing them off to Daddy...

Helping push the "hebby" wagon

Too cute!

Little R helped Daddy unload some firewood from the truck the other day. R is always trying to get little R to do "man stuff"...he seems to think that we have "girlified" little R...just because he likes to do cartwheels, ballet, and wear "makemup"! So the boys had some bonding time outside...little R had a blast helping Daddy with his "maann-tuff" as he likes to call it!

First Day of School

R discovered T's saddle in her room the other day...he kept saying "giddy up, horsy"!

A is ready for her first day of 2nd grade!

T putting on her "brave face" for her first day of 7th grade!

The girls started school at a new school AGAIN on Tuesday.

T is in 7th grade, in a new middle school, and she has 7 periods in a BIG school, with only 4 minutes between classes!! I am so proud of her...she has been very brave...at her age I would have been totally traumatized if I had been told I had to move to a new school with all new people. As she gets older, it becomes harder for her to make new friends...kids in 7th grade (especially girls) can be quite mean and only interested in their own little group. But she has gone into it with a pretty positive attitude, and we just keep praying that God will place good friends in her path and that she will adjust and enjoy her time here.

A started 2nd grade (this is her 4th school), and so far she is enjoying it! She makes friends quite easily at her age, and she has a great teacher so this should be a good year for her. A's only challenge is that here in OK they teach a different writing style than A has already learned...so she has to "relearn" a new style of writing. But she will do great...her handwriting is wonderful, and if we can just get her to stop worrying about failing writing, then she will be just fine!

I thought that little R would be somewhat traumatized by the girls being gone all day. He definitely enjoyed having them around all summer. But, he has done quite well...he is very happy to see them when they get home, but I really think he enjoys having me all to himself during the day (he sure doesn't like sharing his mommy with anyone!)

Brandon Heath

This was our wonderful view of the stage from our seats!

We were all hot & sweaty...it was around 95 degrees and HIGH humidity!

I always get on to A for her "fake" picture smile...no fake smile here...she was genuinely happy!

The girls with their meet & greet passes...genuinely happy again!



The girls and I got to see Brandon Heath in concert on Saturday night! I have loved his music for a long time, but the girls have really started enjoying it in the last few months. Anyway, when we bought our season passes to Frontier City, we saw that Brandon Heath was part of the concert lineup for the summer. The girls have been waiting all summer for this concert, and they were so excited!! The concert is free with admission to the park, so we weren't sure how seating would be. We got there early and found out that we could buy VIP seats for $5, so we did...and ended up in the 2nd row. The lady was also nice enough to give us "meet and greet" passes, so we got to go backstage and meet Brandon before the show. The girls were so excited and nervous...but he was great, and very down to earth. The concert was awesome, and we thoroughly enjoyed our girls day out!

Funny!

R the Happy Boy

Sable the "mooing" dog

As most of you know, we have a 10-yr old yellow lab named Sable. She is a very good dog, and very rarely barks. One thing that does set her off are sirens though. Well, here in Edmond we have sirens that go off at noon on Saturday. Usually we are out running around at noon on Saturday, but today we just happened to be at home, and R just happened to be at the kitchen table eating his lunch. The sirens started going off, and Sable started howling (she NEVER howls, except at sirens) and little R thought it was SOOOO funny! I told him Sable was howling and he just laughed and laughed. Then he started saying, with a smile "Sable moooooo". Seems the little guy thought that Sable was "mooing" like a cow. Daddy was in the shower, and little R just had to go back there and tell him that Sable was mooing! It was way too cute!

Back to the land of blogging...

Okay, I know it has been a VERY long time since I have posted, and I am so sorry for that! We have just been soooo busy!! I am determined to get you caught up on what has happened in the last few months since my last post, and then I WILL start back with weekly updates...I WILL!!! So bear with me on this EXTREMELY info-packed post...from now on they will be short, sweet and frequent! :) So hang on tight, this is quite a ride! Here are a few of the things that have we have done in the last few months...

We participated in the baby dedication at our home church in Clarksville-dedicating our precious little R to the Lord was exciting and important to us as a family. He was definitely the oldest baby being dedicated, but it wasn't something I wanted to do while big R was away.

A was baptized on our last Sunday at our church in Clarksville. She was saved last summer at VBS, but she wanted her Daddy to be present when she was baptized, so we waited until he returned home.

T graduated 6th grade!!! They had a graduation ceremony because in Arkansas they move to Jr. High in 7th grade. Here in OK she will still be in Middle School for 7th grade. But the graduation ceremony was great, and she had to wait for several minutes while they read all of her academic accomplishments before handing her the diploma. We are very proud of her!

We packed up and moved to OK!! I think I was unpacking boxes for a full month! But now everything is unpacked, things are hung on the walls, and we even had a garage sale to clear out all the clutter! Our big 'ol house is finally feeling like our home!

Grandma and Grandpa Willis were our first visitors at the new house. They came down one evening for a quick visit, and we were very happy to have them.

MiMi and PaPa were our 2nd visitors...we were very happy to have them too!

We have had a mini waterpark in our backyard...all 3 kids have enjoyed playing in R's boat and the sprinkler!

R celebrated his 38th birthday with a homemade German Chocolate Cake...yum!

R and I went to a Casting Crowns concert with Christie and Jason...fun times and great music!

We have visited White Water and Frontier City numerous times (gotta love the season passes). Little R has discovered Bob the Builder at Frontier City, and he is his new favorite person. Bob fits right in with R's love of tractors!!

R tried watermelon for the first time...and kinda liked it!

The girls were jumping/dancing on our bed (yes, they DO know better) and they BROKE it!!

T introduced R to the joy of building a fort in the living room...lots of fun!

MiMi and PaPa came down for the 4th of July. This was R's 2nd 4th of July, but our first together as a family. The 4th is one of our favorite family holidays...it was great to be together for it this year!

We made a quick trip to AR...just me and the kids...rented a hotel room and the girls had some friends over for some swimming and pizza!

We went to Branson for the Willis family vacation. It was great fun seeing our kids with all of our cousins. Little R really enjoyed "the boys" and wanted to know where they were at all times! :)

We drove to Cuba, MO to attend R's 20-year class reunion. Yes, he IS old!! It was great to see where he grew up and meet his high school friends. We discovered that we have very similar "small town" roots, just in different states.

We got to spend a week in AR while R attended a class. It was an unexpected chance to spend more time with family, which we always appreciate!

T went to church camp the week that we were in AR. She is officially a "big kid", even though we have a hard time admitting it. She had fun, learned a lot, and didn't even miss us too much!

Last weekend while driving down the road, we saw a monster truck (the real Bigfoot) doing a show. We pulled in and little R got to see a REAL monster truck jumping over cars and sloshing through the mud...it was a little scary at the time, but he LOVES to watch the video we got on the camera! He said "BIG truck...AWESOME" at least a hundred times in the following days. Big R enjoyed it tremendously...he was giddy with excitement!! :)

And now we are 12 days away from the girls starting 7th and 2nd grade at brand new schools. We have had a great summer together, and I really will miss them being here during the day. The house will be a little quieter (but not too quiet, as the noisy little guy will still be here), and I have a feeling little R will find me a little less entertaining than his sisters. But we will be back to the time when the highlight of his day is seeing that bus pull up in the afternoon...not only because he LOVES a big yellow bus, but because he knows his sisters will be getting off that bus and the fun will begin!

I know this is a very long post, but I haven't been failing to post for lack of postable events, but rather because I have been so busy living those events that I haven't taken the time to reflect on them. Well, those days are over...let the blogging begin!

The Video

And here's the video that belongs in the previous post...

Picking Flowers from Shannon Willis on Vimeo.

Flower Pickin'

A and R spent some time one evening picking flowers for me from the patch of clover in our front yard. When they were done, I had quite the bouquet!! R has become quite a talker these days, and I thought this video showed some of his cuter words. He is still a happy little boy most of the time...and he loves spending time with his sisters! The video is a little long, but his true personality just doesn't come out in pictures...so I thought it was worth the time you invest to watch it...try it and see!

Easter Morning

I know I am a LITTLE behind...but here is the Willis family on Easter morning. We were late for church because I wanted to make sure I got these pictures, but I know that we won't remember one specific day of being late for church, but we can treasure these pictures for a lifetime! And since we haven't had the opportunity to be a "real" family in a long time, I want pictures of us all together as much as possible! : )

Easter Egg Hunt

A says "Yeehaw"

R LOVED the swings!!!

R stayed "up high" with Daddy, to protect him from the Easter Bunny!!

Our pretty ladies!!

This is what R thinks you should do with an Easter bucket!!

We decided to take the kids to an egg hunt on Saturday because the weather here on Sunday was supposed to be horrible (which it was). It turned out that A was the only one who got to hunt eggs...T was too old, and we didn't feel that little R was ready to fight hundreds of kids for a few eggs full of candy that he wasn't allowed to eat! Turns out that A couldn't eat any of her candy either because it was all chewy taffy! (A has had some extensive dental work done lately, with more to come, and now she isn't allowed to eat anything extremely chewy or sticky) But after the 10-second hunt was over, the kids enjoyed the playground at the park immensely! The weather was beautiful, so we let them stay just long enough for T to get sunburned (which if you know T, that doesn't take long)!

Laundry CAN be fun!

Little R spends his days following me around the house "helping" me with my daily chores. When I am doing laundry, I always leave the dryer door open after I get a load of clothes out, because R likes to slam it shut and say "boom"! One evening after taking a load out of the dryer and going into the other room to fold them, I noticed I hadn't heard the familiar slam of the dryer door. When I walked into the laundry room, this is what I saw...

I think at first he wasn't sure if he was going to be in trouble or not, but I couldn't help but laugh, which made him suddenly very proud of his new play area!

Another Fun Concert

Bart Millard of MercyMe...he was great once again!

This is the guy from Hawk Nelson...very energetic! Great songs, if you can catch what he's actually saying! : )

Tenth Avenue North...new group...I highly recommend them...great songs with a great message!

This is the four of us with MercyMe before the show...fun times!

R & I had the chance to go to another great concert recently. We got to see MercyMe, Tenth Avenue North, Hawk Nelson, and Flyleaf. We were in the very front row again, right at center stage! This time we had our friends Jason & Christie go along with us to Oklahoma City to the concert, and we "camped out" in our empty house in Edmond! It was a great weekend! If you follow our blog at all, you know that R and I are huge fans of MercyMe, and we got to meet with them before the show, which was lots of fun! All in all, it was a great concert and a great weekend with friends! Thanks MiMi & PaPa for watching the kids so we could escape for this fun!!