We're in Arkansas!

Daddy got back from Norway late saturday night. After Church on sunday, Mommy and the kids drove with Daddy to Conway, Arkansas. After being here a few days, Mommy is ready to leave this place. Staying in the motel room is hard on the kids because it is rather cramped.

Monday, Mommy took the kids shopping for some flotation devices so that we could swim in the pool after Daddy got home. Since we would be out and about, Mommy asked the people at the front desk if there was a park nearby where Mommy could take the kids to play. The motel person said there was a small playground and pond just one street over from the motel. It was a horrible little place. There were two ancient swings and a dirty old pond...yuck! We spent most of the day in the motel. The kids watched Ice Age and Joseph played some video games since we brought the Playstation.

After Daddy got off work, we had dinner and then took the kids swimming later in the evening. The kids loved the pool! Katelyn had a great time splashing around as well. Later on, Mommy looked on the internet to see if there was somewhere fun we could go on tuesday.

Tuesday morning after dropping Daddy off at work, we went to Pickles Gap Village. It said online there was a Kiddie Land with rides and animals and a playground. When we got there, the village consisted of a couple of shops and a little area in the back (Kiddie Land). There were a few chickens, two goats, and a duck. There was also a couple of those dinky coin-operated Merry go rounds that you see at malls. The playground had two climbing domes...that's all. Joseph tried climbing on one and slipped off and hit his mouth. Mommy put some coins in the Merry go round which lasted all of a minute if even that. Needless to say, Mommy was rather disappointed in Pickles Gap Village. Mommy did take the kids to a fudge shop for some fudge and ice cream. That was the only redeeming part of the trip.

Today, Mommy drove the kids to Little Rock to the zoo. It was an okay zoo although Mommy thought it was a rip off that she had to pay $8.00 for Audrey and pay for parking. The Oklahoma City Zoo is much nicer and much less expensive plus kids under 3 are free. The most annoying thing was there were no signs that said you had to pay for parking until you got to the front gate. Then it said that you would be charged for parking.

We pretty much walked around the entire zoo in less than 2 hours. The kids loved riding on the zoo train and we did get to feed the Lorakeets (for a fee). Good thing Mommy brought some cash. Anyway, here are some pictures from Pickles Gap Village and the Zoo. Mommy can't wait to go home tomorrow!

The kids said the real bears at the zoo looked sad so Mommy took their picture at the bear statue instead.

Some neat giraffe statues near the front entrance of the zoo.

Katelyn's first train ride!

Joseph feeding the Lorakeet nectar.

Mommy did not have any nectar, but the birds enjoyed sitting on her head and back!

Farmer Joe!

Zoo Train Ride

At Kiddie Land in Pickles Gap Village

Summertime Fun

Daddy has been in Norway for the last 2 weeks and he gets back on friday. So while Daddy was gone, Yeh-Yeh was able to come visit for a few days which was nice. While Yeh-Yeh was here, Mommy saw a listing on craigslist for a play fort/swingset for $75.00. Mommy was able to negotiate disassembly, delivery, and set-up. The kids love it and Mommy loves it too because everyone is able to have a good time.

The kids have also been playing in the pirate ship Mommy bought last summer while Daddy was in Brazil for a month. Anyone notice a trend? While Daddy is gone, Mommy buys stuff to keep the kids entertained and to save her sanity.

It has been very hot...in the triple digits this last week. Still, the kids want to play outside every day! Funny how the heat doesn't seem to bother you as much when you're little.

Oh...Mommy almost forgot to mention that Katelyn is getting her first tooth. It's the left bottom tooth. I'm sure she will soon be looking like a hamster with two top and two bottom teeth. Once those teeth start coming, it seems like they come in fast. Katelyn is by far the pickiest eater Mommy has had to deal with, at least in the baby stage. Katelyn refuses to eat green beans and peas. She did not like carrots either. She will refuse to open her mouth and turn her head. She even started crying when Mommy brought out a jar of baby food. Mommy has not had to deal with this before. Mommy has started making baby food from scratch. Katelyn seems to like that better. Mommy thinks it is just because it is not in a jar.

So far, Katelyn loves sweet potatoes, potatoes, apples, rice cereal, french fries (bad Mommy), and freezer pops! She's also pretty much weaning herself...much to Mommy's dismay. Katelyn loves milk from a bottle and water from a sippy cup. She only nurses a little in the morning and some before naps...mostly for comfort, not for sustenance. They sure grow up fast.

Anyway, here are some pics of the fun times the kids have been having while waiting for Daddy to come home.

Yeh-Yeh's Visit

We went to Arlington last weekend and brought Yeh-Yeh back with us for the week. The kids love their Yeh-Yeh. We've had so much fun, and Mommy could get used to having an extra set of hands around. We've been to the park, the zoo, did some gardening and just played in the back yard. Mommy also got to take some naps this week, which has been sooo nice since Mommy can't remember the last time she got to take an afternoon nap.

The kids really like having Yeh-Yeh around. They won't even leave him to go to sleep in their own room. They insisted on sleeping next to Yeh-Yeh so Mommy and Daddy made some pallets for them on the floor. They've been sleeping on the floor all week.

Today we went fishing at Hafer park and the kids played a long time. We also went to Best Buy and bought Mommy a netbook. Mommy is now blogging on her netbook. The keys are small and take some getting used to, but it's really not too bad. Mommy and Daddy also finally took our loads of recyclables to the recycling center. It's been a busy but fun day. Joseph actually said that he was tired and needed to go to bed when we got home. That's pretty amazing since he normally says he is not tired and does not want to go to bed.

Well, our fun little week is coming to an end. Sadly, Uncle Michael is coming to pick Yeh-Yeh up tomorrow. The kids will be so sad to see him go. Audrey is especially attached to Yeh-Yeh. She prays for him every night She is so cute! Here are some pictures from this week.

Yeh-Yeh put flowers in Audrey's and Katelyn's hair.

At the Oklahoma City Zoo

Star Wars Obsession

Joseph is obsessed with Star Wars. He loves the legos, the Lego Star Wars video games, the figures, light sabers, etc. Mommy is not sure how it all got started. Apparently several of his friends have the Lego Star Wars games. Mommy had a friend of hers watch Joseph one afternoon while she took the girls to a doctor's appointment. Joseph would not stop talking about the game. Mommy made the mistake of asking the friend what game Joseph had played at her house and then getting him one. Joseph's cousins and Uncle Andrew also love Star Wars so he is in good company. Oh well. Mommy has to say that she prefers Star Wars to Star Trek...sorry if there are any Trekkies that follow this blog.

Mommy and Daddy have fueled Joseph's Star Wars obsession by buying him toys and video games, watching all 6 movies with him, and by throwing him a Star Wars themed 4th birthday party.

Anyway, here is a cute picture of Joseph with his drawing of Jabba the Hutt.


Joseph and his favorite present...Lego Star Wars for PSII


Some decorations Mommy and Daddy made for Joseph's party.


Playing light sabers with Daddy.


Uh oh...Joseph lost an arm...

You said what?

So we were at breakfast the other day and Joseph randomly said, "I don't like your husband!" Mommy said, "What did you say?" Joseph said, "I don't like your husband!" Mommy said, "You don't like Daddy?" Joseph said, "I like Daddy." "I don't like your other husbands." Mommy was laughing so hard. Mommy said, "I don't have any other husbands." Joseph just kept saying he didn't like my other husbands. He wouldn't explain what he meant. Mommy told Joseph that Mommy and Daddy are married and that Daddy is Mommy's husband. Mommy called and told Daddy what Joseph said. Daddy laughed.

Audrey's funny word of the day is "delicious!" She always tries to drink the bath water and Mommy and Daddy tell her not to do that. The other night, every time Mommy told Audrey to stop drinking the water, she said, "delicious!" It was so funny that Mommy couldn't get mad at her.

Joseph said something pretty funny to Daddy the other day too, but Daddy said Mommy had better not post it...lol. Kids do say the darndest things...sometimes in inopportune places...like a public restroom...lol (Mommy will leave it to your imagination what Joseph might have said...ha ha)!

Growing like Weeds

Kids really do grow like weeds. Katelyn is already 5 and a half months old! Audrey just turned two recently and Joseph will be 4 years old on monday. Mommy doesn't know where all the time has gone.

Audrey is going through the terrible twos and she's pretty terrible. Her screaming and stubborn attitude is driving Mommy and Daddy insane. Joseph has entered the whining stage, but other than that, he's a fun kid and a great older brother. Katelyn is as sweet as ever. She smiles whenever she sees Mommy and Daddy and seems to be in a perpetually good mood. If only they were all so sweet most all of the time!

Our Little Angel

Everyone loves Katelyn!

Our Little Aggie
(Bib courtesy of Aunt Neva and Uncle Robert)


I love my swing!


What kind of trouble can I get into next?

Cheese!


Brrr...We thought it was spring!

Week in Review

This last week was crazy. Mommy and Daddy were sick sunday and monday with some kind of stomach bug. Joseph complained about not feeling well and threw up once monday morning but seemed fine after that. Luckily Audrey and Katelyn didn't ever get sick. Daddy had to go to Tulsa for a few days for work so Mommy and the kids didn't see him at all on tuesday. Tuesday was a long day for Mommy because she still wasn't feeling 100%.

Wednesday was Mommy's birthday. It was the 12th anniversary of Mommy's 25th birthday! Someone asked Daddy if Mommy was 25 (Mommy wishes!). Joseph said he didn't want to be old...nice of him to make Mommy feel good. Actually the kids were pretty bad on wednesday. Audrey and Joseph fought and screamed and cried most of the morning. Audrey hit Joseph (which is not unusual) and Joseph chose to hit her back (which is unusual). Joseph has been pretty patient with Audrey, but Mommy figured one of these days he would smack her. Nice of him to do it on Mommy's birthday. Mommy was exhausted by the time she put the kids in their room for quiet time. Mommy cried and wondered why she had kids at all (just a temporary moment of insanity).

The afternoon was better. Joseph helped Mommy make a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. We did it from scratch using Granny's recipe. Poor Joseph accidentally grated his finger while trying to help Mommy grate carrots. Mommy washed his finger and put on a Spiderman bandage. Joseph liked the bandage. Audrey decided she needed one too for her invisible owie ;)

Daddy made it home around 7:00pm. Mommy wasn't sure when Daddy would get back from Tulsa so the kids and Mommy already ate dinner and had cake. Mommy's friend and her family dropped by and sang Happy Birthday. Mommy got a Cricut Expressions machine for her birthday. Even though she has no time for scrapbooking, Mommy has wanted this machine for a long time. Daddy is way too nice!

Thursday Joseph and Mommy played with the Cricut while Audrey and Katelyn were napping. Joseph loves the Cricut too. He keeps asking to do more crafts. Friday was Mommy's turn to host Joy School (preschool co-op) so we had a full morning. Friday night Mommy got to play with the Cricut and decorated the cover on Katelyn's scrapbook. Mommy is very behind on the scrapbooks. Joseph's covers from birth to 6 months, Audrey's just has her birth information and 1 picture, and Katelyn had nothing at all until Mommy just finished the cover. It will be a miracle if Mommy ever catches up on the scrapbooks.

Saturday was a busy day. Mommy cleaned house and cooked. The neighbors were nice enough to come watch the kids so Mommy and Daddy could go to a geology banquet at OSU. The CEO of Devon Energy spoke. It was interesting, but Mommy doesn't like talk about more drilling and increased energy consumption. Mommy is all about conservation! Anyway, it was nice to spend an evening with Daddy. The neighbors said Joseph and Audrey and Katelyn were all good which is nice to hear. They are pretty good kids even though they drive Mommy and Daddy crazy every so often.