Let's go stud!

Have you ever heard something come out of your child's mouth and wonder, now where in the world did that come from??? Chris and I had one of those moments this morning as Chris and Ian were getting ready to head out the door for school. Chris came back in the living room to tell me something and Ian, my four year old, piped up, "Let's go STUD!!!" Oh my! Hahahahaha! Not sure what to say after that...

What an awesome God!

Thanks to a wonderful website called Caring Bridge, I have been able to get frequent updates on a little friend of ours from Rose Hill that had been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of tumorous cancer. Charlie is only four years old and his older sister, Annie, was a classmate of Isaac's in both preschool and second grade. We have prayed and supported Charlie from the very beginning and it was quite the blow to all of us that someone so little had to go through something so devastating. Even with our move to Chandler, we have continued to receive updates and about the time we were moving, Charlie was going through the last of his chemo. Back in the beginning, the doctors tried surgery to remove the tumors but they were too hard and none of them were able to be removed and so Charlie started chemo.

Today, after more than a year since he was diagnosed, Charlie went through surgery again and they were able to remove EVERY LAST TUMOR!!! Praise the Lord! I can't even imagine what joy Charlie's parents are feeling right now!

Look for the stripes!

We had a little excitement around town on Monday and Tuesday! I went to pick up the boys from school as usual and as Ian and I neared Isaac's school, I had to stop for a police barricade. They were checking all the cars heading towards the school and I started wondering what it was all about as we inched closer. Soon it was my turn to be checked out and I politely asked the officer what we were all being stopped for because he hadn't said anything to me other than, "You're good." He very nonchalantly said that there was an escaped convict...like it was no big deal! Well, I have since found out that this happens every now and then because the officers that transport the inmates from jail to their court appearances or lawyer meetings are all elderly and portly. Hmmm. It led to some very interesting conversation with Ian as we drove the rest of the way to pick up Isaac.

So when I pulled up to Isaac's school, it was pretty tight security and all the students stayed inside and were only called out when the parent was waiting at the front door for them and they were ushered directly into the car by a teacher. There was also a police officer standing at the front door. I was surprised after going through all this that there hadn't been any sign at Ian's school pickup that anything was up! I did remember seeing one police car sitting at the corner of the playground but I just figured that he was there to keep cars from driving past the school buses that were loading and unloading kiddos.

That evening we went to Jonny and Amanda's house for dinner and found out more about what was going on. The 28 year old was just getting done meeting with his lawyer about noon and just as he was being escorted through the doors back into the jail area, his lawyer walked out the door to the outside just a few steps away! HELLO! So anyway, he ran out the door and was on the loose for almost 24 hours here in our little town before he was caught when he walked into a gas station in the south part of town the next day about mid morning, reportedly with his jump suit pants still on!!! Now we do see several inmates that are allowed to do yard work at the court house and they have the traditional black and white striped jump suits on and it has always started interesting conversations with my four year old but I am not sure if the escaped convict was wearing those striped pants or maybe the bright orange ones but either way he was a dead give away! Our friend Jonny works at the lumber yard right next door to the gas station where the man was caught but he was mad because he almost missed the whole thing while he was in the bathroom! Haha! I am just glad that I don't have to keep every door locked even when we are home anymore. Plus, with the planes and helicopters flying right over town all day and the K-9 units scouring Chandler, the neighborhood dogs had been barking nonstop and I have realized that there are a lot of dogs in this neighborhood! Thankfully, Gunner wasn't one of them that barked all day but I did catch him howling every now and then. Haha.

Surprise!!!

Well, I thought I was getting a BLACK dishwasher but when Rip and Betty showed up with it around noon, Rip said that he was only able to get one in red...haha Rip. I know you better than that already! Betty and I sat in the living room and visited while the boys tried to fit the little bit larger than needed dishwasher into the space where the other one had been. It was fun listening to the "boys" as they tried to figure out how to make it fit. They kept bringing in more tools! Then Chris was in talking to us and mentioned something about it being stainless steel...WHAT!!! Rip got me after all!!! I have said it before and I will continue to say it...God knows the little desires of our heart and he delights in seeing us happy. Even if it means a stainless steel dishwasher!

New Stuff

There has been and will be a lot of noise around my house today. We are having a new sink and counter top put in back in the mudroom this morning, not that we needed one but someone in the church got a stainless steel one somewhere and so they are putting it in here! I haven't looked at it but I am sure it is nice.

Saturday, I was just a little dismayed to find out that after I had loaded the entire dishwasher, it won't start! A couple days prior it had done that same thing but Chris was able to get it started eventually. I guess it has died for good this time. Our head of Stewards Committee is coming sometime today to measure the space and then is going to get a new black one from Lowe's. I had asked for a stainless steel one to match the stove before I was informed how expensive they are!!! Don said they were $900!!! Yikes, black will do just fine. Haha!

Also, Isaac has been taking piano lessons for the last two weeks and his wonderful teacher, Ms. Helen, has graciously found an apartment piano for us to have! It will be great for Isaac to have something to practice on here at the house instead of trying to find time for him to at church. Now I just have to unpack and cleanup the last pile of boxes so that we can have a spot for it in the living room. Such fun!

Hmm, Hmm, fried chicken!

I have never been a big fan of fried chicken, probably given to the fact that I never really had it growing up but tonight...I found that I LOVE Grandma Bertha's fried chicken!!! Sorry, it's not a restaurant, she's a wonderful lady in our church and it was GOOD! It was great because she didn't put a ton of breading on it. I am one of those people that likes to see what she is eating and I sure liked what I saw!!! It also helped that we were with great friends. I was about to help myself to more chicken when Amanda pulled out the dessert that she made, Death By Chocolate! I thought for sure that I was going to have to be rolled out the door when it was time to go home, YIKES! Good thing we sat around talking for quite awhile because I wasn't wanting to be walking anywhere for awhile. LOVE IT!!! Thanks Grandma Bertha!

Our first night of Pioneer Club

Chris and I have never been a part of a church that had Pioneer Club so this is a new experience to say the least! Last night was our kickoff night and we had planned to have a picnic outside with a bounce house but as it turned out, it poured rain all day. Good thing we have a gym and could set up everything inside! The bounce house was of course the big attraction and Ian had a hard time letting the other kiddos have a turn. We also had kick ball, hula hoops (still can't hula hoop!), watermelon and drinks. It seemed like everyone had a great time and the HS/JH group even got some time inside the bounce house. After everyone was done, Emma and I climbed in to bounce but she wasn't too excited about it. I can't blame her, it was terribly hot inside there, so we bounced for just a little bit and then we ungracefully climbed out! Haha!

Kris and Amber had a great group of HS/JH also and they seemed to have a lot of fun! So much fun that one of the kids put a large hole in the sheet rock during Musical Chairs! Haha! I think Kris was really worried about it but my Chris assured him if that was the only thing they broke while they were here, then they would be doing really good! I am sure that Kris is glad that Chris was a youth pastor for ten years and therefore knows what to expect from a youth group!

Couldn't resist...

I know I already blogged today but we have such a fun night that I didn't want to forget any of it! It started with our neighbor friends Doug and Kasi walking past our house and we all ended up outside talking with the kiddos riding their bikes and scooters all around. We have enjoyed so much getting to know them and they have two boys, Isaac, who is Ian's age and Jack who is a couple months younger than Emma. Ian and their Isaac have so much fun together and we have a hard time separating them when it's time to go home. Thank you Jesus for letting us live in town where we can step outside and talk to people!

Shannon showed up for our girls night out and I loaded Emma up and we headed out for Shawnee with a few side trips to see some of the housing developments in south Chandler. (I am always shopping for a new house for us). We had an absolutely yummy dinner at Red Lobster and the highlight most definitely had to be when I fed Emma some of our Coconut Shrimp. She made some of the greatest faces and gaging motions until I was able to swipe it out of her mouth!!! Shannon and I had a good laugh about it too. The mall was just across the parking lot and headed into Ross. Now I have shopped in a Ross before but I must have totally forgot about all the awesome deals that can be found there! I was in bad need of some new church clothes and for $32 I was able to come out with a black skirt, a burgundy dress shirt and a brown tank top! SCORE! Emma was getting tired so we decided to head for home.

When we got back to my house, Shannon's boys were still there watching the very late Broncos game and we had another couple hours of great fellowship with them before everyone headed home. Even Emma was up until about 11:30 entertaining everyone! Now it is 12:30am and I really need to go to bed so that I can get up sometime decent tomorrow morning (hopefully not too early!). What a awesome evening with good friends and I don't think I have ever learned so many great sayings in such a short amount of time before! Haha!

Boy secrets

After Sunday morning church we headed out to Grandma Bertha's, Jonny's grandma, for lunch and as always, the boys wanted four wheeler rides as soon as anyone was done eating. First Isaac and Amanda headed out and then it was Ian and Jonny's turn. After them, Isaac wanted to take Chris out and show him the Teal that were on one the pond's. Later that afternoon, Ian told me that Jonny and him had some secrets that only boys could know, like Isaac and Daddy. Haha! They had checked out the old cabin where Jonny used to play as a boy and I can only imagine the stories that Jonny has told my young impressionable son! He said that Jonny also showed him the pond and the boat where his Grandpa died when he fell out of the boat and drowned...it sounds like Ian got quite the education yesterday. I can't wait until Jonny and Amanda have some kiddos of their own! Heehee!

First day of goose hunting

Today was the first day that Chris and the guys got out to hunt resident geese during this special season to get rid of the the ones that stay around all year and destroy farmer's crops and golf courses. The whole family went out last night and made sure that Chris would know exactly what the geese were doing for the morning. We had a great time checking out both the old lake (Chandler Lake) and the new lake (Bell Cow Lake) and the boys reminded Chris and I that they wanted to go camping sometime soon! There are a bunch of great campgrounds around both lakes and it seems silly not to take advantage of the fact that they are only about five minutes from our house! Guess we will need to break out the tent and sleeping bags.

Well, the hunt this morning didn't go that well as the geese decided they wanted to be in another field just south of where the boys were set up. It sure didn't help that a group of guys who also had permission to hunt the field showed up just after Chris, Jonny and Paul got decoys set up. The farmer had told Jonny that the other guys weren't planning on hunting until Sunday and since Chris was already there, the second group decided to set up just a little ways away from our guys...in the same field...ummm, that's not cool. There really wasn't enough cover for seven blinds and Chris told them that but it really didn't seem to matter to the other guys. They were determined to hunt there too. And the geese were smarter than all of them since only two even came into gun range all morning and they circled and left before anyone even got a shot off. Haha! Sorry, I think that's funny...don't tell Chris!

Stillwater

We had a fun trip to Stillwater today with Kris and Amber! The purpose of the trip was for all four of us to get our new Oklahoma driver's licenses but once we got there, we realized that Chris was the only one that had all the information that he needed to get his. Arrgghhh! So we decided to make the most of the morning in town without our kids...we went shopping! Well, it was just Lowe's and Linen's and Things but it was great! We also stopped at Chick-Fil-A for my Chris because he absolutely loves it (yes, it was only 9am but he is a die hard)!!! It really was a great time even though Kris, Amber and I will have to go again so that we can get ours too! Now I am enjoying a relaxing time on the computer, watching TLC, while the boys are at school, Emma is sleeping and Chris is at the office! Nice!

New Cellphones

Yeah! I have a new phone and it is awesome!!! I have recently been introduced to the wide world of texting and I must admit, I really like it. I know, I know...it's not as personal but you could say that about everything electronic. Why don't we go back to the day of walking over to your neighbors house to ask them over for dinner the next night instead of calling them on the phone? My rationalizing for all this technology is simple...I probably wouldn't walk over and invite my neighbor to dinner at all since I am lazy! At least this way, I still talk to my friends even though it isn't in person. And you all wouldn't be reading this either if it wasn't for all this wonderful technology, well, I am not sure that anyone is reading this anyway but just in case.

Isaac LOVED his piano lesson today and I think he is picking it up very well!!! As soon as he got home, he got out his piano books and did his "homework". I think we may have to look into getting a piano for this house so that he can practice here at home and not at the church, which is the plan for now.

Piano lessons

This afternoon, Isaac has his first piano lessons with Ms Helen and I think he is really excited. It may be the fact that she has five pianos in her living room...a baby grand, an upright and three electric pianos. Isaac's favorite is the electrics because he can play with all different types of instruments and he thinks that he will know how to play all of them if he just learns to play the piano! Haha! This should be fun! I am thinking about learning myself so I think a piano here in our house may be something that happens soon in the future. Course Chris wants a boat and a four wheeler so we will see what happens first. Gotta run, Emma needs to go down for a nap and I need a shower! God Bless!

Something different

I was just enjoying watching the wind blowing outside and thinking how this is the first day that it has actually been windy here in OK. Most people wouldn't even think about it but when you come from Kansas and the wind blows everyday, it seems a little strange to realize that it doesn't blow everyday here in Oklahoma! It makes me want to get outside and go for a walk! Maybe when Emma wakes up. I think I am actually missing the wind in Kansas...just maybe.

Another great weekend!

Well, Labor Day weekend is winding down and I must say it was a GREAT weekend! Stacy, Jace and Mom got here Friday evening just in time for Isaac's eighth birthday party with friends, Jonny, Amanda, Kris, Amber and Aiden. Isaac wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and it was a big hit! Isaac also did very well on presents. He got a Razor scooter with helmet and elbow & knee pads from Chris and I, a tennis racket and tennis balls from Grandma and Poppa, a table top basketball game from Stacy, Jeremie and Jace, and a wallet and flip flops from Jonny and Amanda. He said later that night that he got everything that he wanted!!! Good job everybody! Chris and I are still going to get him a bible with his name on it this week since he has been asking for one but we couldn't get one before his birthday, on account of our poor planning.

Saturday was spent trying to figure out where to put all the pictures that I have and I had been waiting until Mom and Stacy got here so that I could have their help before putting a bunch of holes in the wall. We also rearranged Emma's room so that it would work better and I love it! We hung the quilt that Mom made her on the wall and I was able to finally get her name decal up on the wall above her bed. I need to take some pictures and post them on here of her room! We also hung my Great Grandma Bullis' quilt on the big wall in the living room and I really like it too! Thanks to Stacy's great mind! It was sure interesting trying to get things done with the two little ones crawling around and getting into things but we got most of it done while they were taking their naps.

After church on Sunday, we invited Kris, Amber, Aiden and Kris' brother, Kyle, over for some very yummy ham cooked in Dr Pepper! It was great! We rested for a few hours and then headed to Sunday night church where Ian couldn't keep from yawning loudly while Daddy was preaching no matter how many times I scolded him. Afterwards we headed over to Jonny and Amanda's for hamburgers with a bunch of friends. There were so many people in their house but it was a good time of visiting with everybody. I think Mom and Stacy even had a good time.

I kept hoping that I would be able to sleep in one of these mornings but with Stacy and Mom here, I was wanting to spend as much time with them as possible so when I heard Jace awake this morning I was up. Course, it helped a little that Chris and I had been sleeping in the boys beds this weekend to give Mom and Stacy our bed! And Isaac kept banging his head against my bed all night long for some reason. It never seemed to wake him up but the ant walking across his forehead this morning sure did! Haha! We were invited over to the Rozell's for lunch and Mom and Stacy decided that would be a good time to head for home. They enjoyed more of the Dr Pepper ham for a quick lunch before they left though!

Everyone is just hanging out this evening and trying to enjoy the last little bit of the holiday weekend before the normal routine starts again tomorrow. It sure is nice to know that it is a short week though! Emma has been prefecting her walking skills and is quite good at walking now. She can even turn around and manuever around objects in her path. We even got video of Jace walking this weekend for the first time and it was so neat to watch trying it out for the first time. He was so proud of himself and would even clap when he did something that he thought was tricky! I take Emma in tomorrow morning to recheck the double ear infection and for a complete checkup so I could use the prayers as she doesn't like anyone checking her out and she sure won't like the shots she is going to get either! Hmmm, I think it might be about time for some ice cream...