A Visit North Ok

Yesterday we decided to head out to see Ron on the drilling site.  The drill rig was a couple hours north-Ponca City area.  It amazes me how much the land changes, long flat fields dotted with oil pump jacks.  This is the OK people pictures when we say we are from Oklahoma.  Today we drove farther north to the salt plain to dig for gypsum crystals.  We have done this before but it has been a couple years.  The kids have been asking about going back and with Ron in the general area we figured why not.  Yes....Why NOT???? because it was 106 today and instead of the normal 7am wake up time some sleepy kids didn't roll out of their hotel beds till 9am.  Needless to say we did not get an early start and consequently stepped out of the car into a salt desert, instantly swarmed by bugs.  Well, the two little ones lost it....as about did I.  Bugs, crying, exessive heat and no shade in site left me feeling overcome.  I now know I would be the crazy girl in the desert, ranting/raving....I wouldn't last.  Thankfully things did settle down, we either started to stink too much for the bugs or they just got sick of us and the little ones were made happy in the car. Becca and Brayden were ready to dig and when we starting finding crystals the hunt was on to find the big one.  Brayden made out pretty good but Ron hauled in the big one.  Another year, another crystal hunt...still fun.  Next year we will be back but in April!

I think between the two of them they ate a half of bag of cheetos.

Everything is covered in salt

Let the digging begin!

The largest one we...Ron found.

A desert of salt!

Still impressive to see the rig.

 Adding pipe.  Actually saw a fracking process that was pretty impressive...for all the contraversy

Momma's Boy

Ron has been out of town for a while this past week so there has been a TON of kid/mommy time.  Actually it is not too bad.  I think the kids rather like it because I tend to go on mini-vacation giving in to most of the kids demands which results in too much TV, Wii, computer, a lack of veggies and reading and way too much junk food.  BUT-there is happiness!  Short term gratification is okay for while.  Anyway, my ears are exhausted trying to listen to the kids all day but they do really say some funny things worth remembering.  Yesterday we were sitting at yet another fast food restaurant, I was doing my best to listen to three kids talking who were also trying to touch me-giving them hope that I might listen, along while trying to stop James from yelling  (his defense for being heard) When Becca chimed in.  "Mommy, without Daddy here we only have one adult to talk to"  followed by a pouty face.  I thought this was such a funny thing to hear because all the while I was thinking that I had no one else to talk to but kids.  A different perspective is always good ! 
   Then today at lunch I was talking to the kids about our upcoming trip to MI where we will see plenty family.  I was talking about cousins and asking James if he was going to have fun playing with his cousins at the playground.  The other kids got all excited and were thinking of games to play.  James on the other hand looked at me and yelled "No"  I was confused-he loves playing and usually the more friends the better so I asked him again.  "Don't you want to play with your cousins and Becca, Brayden, Andrea??"   He looked at me and said, "NO......with mommy"  Okay-he just melts me!  He can hang with me any day all day!  So yes, the days are busy but when I sit back and enjoy the time I have with them-we all have a wonderful time....(as long as there is quiet time!)

MY BOYS

Wonderful to have a good friend who has a photography business.  Makes it easy to capture some of the kids true smiles.   They love her and her kids and I am so glad she could capture them both at this stage in their lives.

                        Photo session of the boys by M.M. photography

SWIMMING

Another year of swimming.  We are almost finished with the two weeks and the kids have all made huge improvements.  The first week was such a chore...for the kids and for me.  James spent much of his time screaming MOMMY at the top of his lungs.  He would start out the morning with such determination and excitement to swim, even doing the little warm up exercises with a huge grin but standing on the side of the pool looking at his teacher all braveness washed away and for the first five days we had lots of tears.  I don't know what James learned more from swimming...to be a big boy and deal with moments without mommy or to like the water, I am great with the first!  Thankfully by the second week he had warmed up to the idea and I was able to be in the pool area watching-even getting a brief smile.  Andrea was also put to the test this year.  Time to learn how to swim!  I realized she relys a lot on her float, she spent much of the first week looking like a drowned rat-screaming.  She would try so hard to be brave but I could just see her little body shaking-she was so scared!  Turned out she didn't know how to swim underwater while holding her breath.  This second week she is doing much better, even swimming out to her teacher, remembering to hold her breath (sometimes!)  Becca had a great time as did Brayden.  Becca has no fear and is learning the basics.  Brayden was pushed this year but it didn't seem to bother him.  Swimming as deep as possible while holding a diving brick, treading water and swimming across the pool learning different kicks and strokes.  All in all it was a good two weeks full of learning.

Andrea's favorite thing to do is the kick board.  Today she finally made it to the end of the board by herself, she was shaking like a leaf but she jumped all by herself, no big grin when she got out of the pool just big sad puppy dog eyes.

A brief smile before going all the  board.

IT"S SUMMER!!!

Seems like we have been on Summer Break for some time now but we are now in full swing with all the fun that comes with summer...like all things WATER!  The pool is officially up today and amazingly the older boys are still totally having fun.  I love seeing them all have such a fun time.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

We are so thankful for our wonderful daddy!  Ron is just the best and we all love him a bunch, always ready for fun, but still able to chill and hang out.  He always has some plan working in his head and keeps the kids on their toes.  This weekend we enjoyed a little get away, sometimes nice to get away from the house and just let everyone relax and have fun together.  Just a couple pictures of the kids enjoying some fun time with daddy!

When we got back a couple of ears of corn were ready to eat....best tasting since living in OK!

Climbing to this spot was a little crazy with the kids but gave us a very fun jumping spot.

Becca was all about jumping, Brayden was a little more apprehensive-mostly because he was wasn't so sure how he could get out of the water-the rocks were a little slippery.

Brayden can fish for hours!  Ron hung with him today in the hot sun, even if they only caught one fish and went through all their bait!

                                                               NUMBER ONE DAD!

Tulsa Tough

This past weekend was the Tulsa Tough-lots of  biking events all weekend long.  The pro teams come into town and have races during the evening and then on Sunday afternoon.  They are always lots of fun to watch-their are extremely fast paced.  It is amazing how they all ride so close at such high speeds.  Saturday morning Ron and I did our bike ride-not the fast crit racing but a long ride.  We have been riding/training, although Ron has been pushing/pulling a lot more and has been super strong on the bike.  I should have known better when he said he wanted to have a "nice" ride.  Nice meant start in the front on the pack and hold on.....bike hard and strong.  I was just praying I wouldn't take out any bikes surrounding me and that I would keep my mouth shut from yelling at Ron.  Rule....NEVER, get caught in the inside!  It actually was a nice ride, sometime good to push hard.  Total of 70miles.  For some reason our timing chip did not work and I did not ride with a GPS.  According to Ron we did hold an average of 18mph which is pretty good for me.  With no chip time I didn't get a time for my hill climb...King of the Mountain (KOM).  There were plenty big hills but 50miles in they had a hill climb that you could race and see who would be the fastest.  Ron was ready for it, dumping his water bottles and leaving me in the dust-I don't know where he got the strength.  Turned out that on his GPS STRAVA data he beat everyone! Ron....KOM champ!  Who knows where I ranked but I don't think I was any slower than last year. 

              Sunday we did the Townie ride with the kids-a more relaxed family ride, 5 or 9miles.  Brayden ended up biking with a friend and did the entire 8miles-still crossing the finish with a smile on his face.  Ron helped Andrea along, and I hung with Becca towing James.  I just love biking with Becca-no race with her, just happy go lucky the entire ride.  There were actually some pretty good size hills for the kids in the beginning-I kept encouraging Becca and she plugged away at them-riding them all!  Funny thing, half way up one she about fell off her bike but managed to push forward but she kept talking...what about??? Ice-cream!  By the time she made it to the top she had her entire banana split sundae planned for after the race.  That's my girl!

Lining up early morning for our race-crazy riding fast down riverside in a sea of bikes...a little scary!  Wish I could have gotten a shot of all the bikers taking off.

Ron and I ready to roll...I don't think I totally knew what I was in for.

All finished-earlier than expected!

 Okay, not the correct time....I think we were around 3:45, 18.2 average pace.   Lots of timing problems, over half of the riders had time of zero!

Jeremy Powers-Cycle Cross Champion!  Raced on Sunday...he is amazing to watch racing Cyclocross.

Go Team Jelly Belly!

GIRL POWER!!!  I was amazed at Becca pushing up those hills!

All Ready to ride.

Brayden racing to the finish line.  Wish I could have gotten a shot of the beginning as we rode through the actually race course lined with people-such fun.

Cooling off after riding hard.

Friday night races

GARDEN

What do you think grows in this awful OK clay-filled soil?  CUCUMBERS....what does my family not like....CUCUMBERS!!  The three plants have taken over and are producing like gang busters.  Brayden and myself are the only ones who eat them.  This garden was just a fun thing to do with the kids, problem now is that it is actually producing and I don't really know what to do with them all.  We did manage our first meal of yellow beans-green bean don't seem to be doing very well.  The next project is trying to get our watermelon vines to produce some fruit.  They are growing great but not producing, and this is one plant I know we all would love to see produce some fruit.  Next week we might actually have our first sweet corn, although I am really unsure on how to tell if it is done growing-time will tell.  Lesson for next year-plant more yellow beans and just ONE cucumber plant.

Yes, tonight I finally cooked up Brayden's catfish.  I ended up frying it and everyone liked it except Becca.  I didn't think it was actually that bad but I think in the future I will just stick to the traditional talapia fillets. 

VBS

It is that time again, time to get the kids out of the house....VBS week!  The kids loved it this past week and couldn't understand why it was only a week long.  James was not too sure about going the first day but by the second day he was tear free walking into his room like a big boy carrying his diaper.  The older kids enjoyed the singing crafts, games and snack.  Brayden was pretty excited the first day when he found out snack was his first stop of the day!  The week was full of fun-exploding caps, decorating pillow cases for a mission project, fun/yummy snacks, clothespin airplanes and fun/scary story's (Becca was not to sure of some Roman guards).  The week ended with a Friday fun night at church, lots of fun things to play.  Andrea loved the music, Brayden was all about the slime bucket, Becca loved the water slide and James was finally convinced to jump in the bouncy house.  Seeing 500 kids jumping and screaming to the music every morning, learning about trusting  God makes the mornings worth every busy minute.

Water Fun and Fishing

So we decided to check out a splash pad yesterday.  James has not been so great in swimming at our neighbors pool-wonderful for the big kids....not so much for little ones.  Anyway, would you know he would have nothing to do with the splash pad, too loud, too many kids, once again suctioned to my leg.  I am sometimes at a lose with James, he loves ramming and having fun but most of the time I think he would be happy just attached somehow to me.  Frustrating but at the same time comforting to still have one loving on me!  Turned out to be a little cool- but the kids still had fun, most fun because it wasn't overrun with a gazillion other kids!

This is a picture looking down at James clinging to my leg....all smiles!

With a little cover of clouds the day didn't heat up and we decided it was a pretty good evening for fishing.  I think the kids are experts at fish identification and knot tying-we have to sit through the lecture every time we fish at the aquarium.  The kids don't seem to mind, especially when they always catch fish.  The exciting moment last night was when they kids saw them setting up the fish cleaning station....I was not so excited.  Would you know Brayden actually caught a pretty good size catfish...guess what is sitting on our fridge waiting to be fried???  Anyone who knows me and fish knows how excited I am about cooking that thing up-double YUCK! 

Such excitement!  I was with Becca in her reactions.  Once they started cutting on that flopping fish I couldn't watch, I think poor Becca was a little traumatized!