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!