Fall fun

Wow, it's been a while so here is an update on what we have been doing lately! Fall is finally here and I am so excited for the cool weather, warm sweaters and the beautiful fall colors right outside my windows! I must say that Oklahoma does fall a little better than Kansas. We are still very much enjoying being Okies and I think we are fitting into life here pretty well.

Last Saturday, we got to spend some time at a friend's farm helping them harvest (my nice word for it) their chickens. Chris and the boys went first in the morning and then Chris called me and said that I needed to bring Emma out to see our little farmer, Isaac, catching chickens and even chopping their heads off!!! Oops, sorry. I wasn't going to tell you about that! Just be glad that I don't have a picture of it to show you! Haha! Here are some pics of Emma getting to meet her first kitty and she obviously doesn't share her father's dislike of cats...

Last night we had fall festival at our church and we did a Bible Walk. I was in charge of it and there's nothing like diving in feet first! After much worrying on my part, it went great and I think all the kids had a great time! I asked my wonderful hubby to take pictures for me and he managed to get lots of pictures of my little butterfly Emma, but practically none of our other equally adorable kiddos, Isaac and Ian!!! :( They will be dressed up again tomorrow night for trick or tricking in downtown. I'LL get pics of them then!) Thanks to our friend, Jonathan, Emma now thinks the best thing to do with glow sticks is to stick them down the front of her onesies! At least, I can find her in the dark! I just wish I had got a picture of her last night in the dark. She has been playing with them today too but it's just not the same in daylight! Emma's little friend, Caiden, was dressed as a monkey and their were soooooo cute together! Emma was getting a little tired in the picture with me! It was a great evening and we are hoping to do it all again next year but with more bible stories and inviting the community to come too!

OKC Zoo!!!

We had a wonderful time this last weekend with our best friends, Geron and Lorrie! We got to stay Friday night in their beautiful new home and stuffed ourselves at Eischen's (no idea if I spelled that right), a very popular and very good fried chicken place west of the OKC. It is an interesting place, number one, it is a bar (non smoking, thankfully) and number two, they don't seat anybody! You just wander around until you find a table that is about done and you stand there until they leave! Slightly uncomfortable for me but that's just how it is! Very, very busy but that's because it is that good!

Saturday morning we went with Geron and Lorrie to the OKC zoo. We hadn't had a chance since we moved here to Chandler to check it out and the boys were very excited about it. We were there about three hours and didn't even see the African animals but the Oklahoma Trail was the best exhibit by far. I wanted to take a picture of all the boardwalks and water fall but Isaac had the camera. Before we all fell over dead, we headed back to Geron and Lorrie's, ordered pizza (no one wanted to cook after all that) and watched the KU/OU game. It was a great weekend and we always have a lot of fun with Geron and Lorrie!!! It is nice to live closer to them now!

Update on sick.

Well, Chris went to the doctor this morning and he found out that he has a severe sinus infection and bronchitis. The doctor has given him strict instructions to stay in bed the next two days because he is concerned that it could turn into pneumonia and we definitely don't want that! This is going to be a hard time for my hubby because he doesn't want to be confined to the bed when there is so much to be done! And it also means that I will have to skip Friends Women this evening to go to Isaac's parent teacher conference instead of Chris. We could sure use your prayers for Chris and that he will actually rest the next two days and recover from this quickly. Thank you in advance!

As promised.

Last night was our church's annual Hayride and Wiener Roast at the Hick's home. Chris wasn't able to go and it could have been quite the time getting all three kids ready and out the door but I was rescued. Jonny and Amanda came over and picked up the boys at 4pm and took them with to his parents house (the Hick's) to help get everything ready. It was great being able to just get Emma and I ready but we were still a little late. Oh well. The evening was perfect for being out by the campfire and I hardly ever saw the boys all evening. They were either on hayrides, playing football, playing hide and seek or playing capture the flag with glow sticks. Emma loved the glow sticks, which was nice since she didn't want to be held. She wanted to wander everywhere and this way I could keep track of her with her glow sticks! She didn't like the hayride at first but by the time we made it back to the campfire, she was bouncing up and down in excitement. I know that the boys would have liked to be out there all night long and I know I could have sat and talked with friends long into the night too! When it was all done, I had a terrible time getting everyone collected and loaded into the expedition. It was such a great evening and I wish we could do it more often! As tired as we all were from the evening, both boys woke up during the night, at seperate times, with leg cramps! Since Chris was sick it was my job to get up everytime and get them some motrin. Can't wait till he is feeling better! Here are some pics from the evening!

Sick...

Well, this has definitely been a season of sick in our house. Emma got a cold last weekend while we were in Haviland and still kinda has a runny nose lingering. Then Monday morning, Chris got sick and had a terrible week! He was not able to go to the Hayride and Wiener Roast church party last night, pictures to come in the next post, and this morning is at church but said he isn't feeling the greatest. And yes, I am at home when I should be at church, with another sick child. Isaac started throwing up this morning, so Emma and I are at home taking care of him while Ian is at church with Daddy. I had felt this morning when Isaac threw up the first time that he had just been coughing and got his gag reflex going. So we finished getting ready for church and headed out the door. After getting Emma delivered to the nursery, I noticed that Isaac wouldn't leave my side and the next thing I knew he was in the bathroom puking again! So...here we are again, hanging out at home, the place that I feel like I have been way too much this week. Good thing that I took a little time to myself yesterday at the coffee shop! And it was good timing too, right after I ordered, Jonny, Amanda, Kris and Amber walked in! So great to have good friends to talk to! I just keep praying that I don't get sick, oh Lord, please no!

What should I do?

I have been thinking for the past couple of weeks of selling Creative Memories products again but I just can't make up my mind. If I am going to do it, I want to be in whole heartedly but I think I am a little unsure if it's what I want to do with my free time. I love scrapbooking but I am not sure I am good at "being creative" for people. I know that's not really that important, I just need to be encouraging and supportive. Hmmmm, I am so bad at making decisions. I may just give it some time and see how things go in the next few months. Any suggestions or comments???

This could be a long one.

I guess I was taking a little break. That and this last week has been just a little bit busy...total understatement! Chris was going crazy trying to get everything that a senior pastor needs to get done during a normal week, although he only had three days to do it! Thursday morning we headed out with the Smithermans to Haviland, Kansas for the annual Barclay Auxiliary Auction. What used to be a 2 hour drive from Rose Hill is now a 4 and a half hour drive from Chandler but it was fun to travel with friends! We safely delivered Kris and Amber to Kris' parents house about dinner time and it felt good to step into Mom and Dad's log home again after such a long drive. It wasn't fun, however, to find out that Emma had totally soaked diaper, her clothes and car seat! Yuck! It was great fun to get to see Jeremie, Stacy and Jace that night for dinner and then it was everybody to bed since we had a big day ahead of us!

Friday dawned bright and early, at least I think it did...I didn't get up to check it out. Hahaha! Chris and Dad were deer hunting that morning and Mom was off to work so it was just me trying to get all three little ones ready to head out the door for the Haviland Play Day Parade at 9am. Needless to say...we missed the parade. Sorry kiddos. BUT we did make it to play day at the school and there were so many fun things to do that it didn't take long to get their minds off the missing candy. Isaac got to run in four races, the 3rd grade foot race, Dad/son race (with Uncle Jeremie since Chris was at Barclay board meetings), Mom/son race (with Amber S. since she was really wanting to run in a race and I wasn't! Heehee!) and the grandparent/grandchild race (with Jeremie's mom since Poppa was farming again)!!! Isaac won blue ribbons in both the Dad and Mom race (thanks Jeremie and Amber!!!) and a green ribbon in the G/G race (thanks Carolyn!!!). Ian didn't want to run in any of the races and entertained himself the entire time at the play houses set up for the little ones. Emma just wanted to walk everywhere and was very mad when I made her come back so that I could watch Isaac race.

After play day was done, we headed to Barclay for lunch with just about everybody! Hahaha! It was so much fun and even Daddy was there to eat lunch with us. After lunch, Stacy stayed at Mom and Dad's so I could put Emma down for a nap and then take the boys up to ride in the tractor with Poppa. I thought the boys would just ride with my Dad in the grain tractor but after we picked them up we learned that they each got to ride in a combine and Isaac even got to drive the one he was in! They both saw a ton of pheasants and Ian even got to radio Poppa and tell him that he scared out a doe!

Chris and I picked up the boys after a couple hours and headed back into town for the Barclay soccer game and ended up eating dinner there at the game also. There were so many great friends to talk to and even several that we had not seen in a long time! The soccer game ended after double overtime with a tied score and then it was time for the Alumni game. That was just as entertaining! And of course, we had to check out the items that were starting to collect already for the auction inside the gym! Yea for the quilts!

It turned out to be a little chilly Saturday morning and I was the bad Mom who didn't have coats for my boys as they played outside at the Kid's Carnival. Fortunately, it warmed up pretty quick! The auction was a blast and I don't think that I sat down very much at all but it was great to see so many more friends and family! It is always wonderful to get to see Aunt Ruth and Uncle Gene! Chris and I weren't able to buy anything at the auction but we didn't go away empty handed thanks to Aunt Ruth and Uncle Gene! They bought the boys a tractor, John Deere of course!!! and a Cinderella doll for Emma!

Emma was quite the character all morning long. We made four or five rounds of the gym carrying a little friend's dolly. She didn't want anyone to pick her up as we went along and seemed to be on a mission. She did take time to wave once to a cute little old couple on one of our rounds, it was so sweet! Emma fell asleep while Stef was taking her for a walk in her stroller after lunch and slept almost the whole time I was helping deliver the quilts from the selling stage to be folded up and delivered to the buyer, even with the auctioners jabbering the whole time! Too soon it was time for us to head back to Mom and Dad's and pack up for home. It was a great trip but I am afraid that it took a toll on our immune systems. Emma developed a cold on Saturday and this morning Chris woke up with a headache and congestion. Both the boys today have made comments that they felt like they were going to throw up but the never did. Who knows... I have been fighting a sore throat and feel completely exhausted but would do the whole week over again in a heartbeat! Thank you Jesus for such a wonderful time with family and friends!