Awanas Water Fun at WHBC

Wednesday night was the Awanas water party at WHBC. The girls had a blast on the moon bounce slip 'n slide. (I don't know what else to call it!) I had to teach Madison that she couldn't cut in line...every time she got out of the water, she would run right back to the very front of the line! There was another storm coming in, so we played for a little while and then loaded up and went back to G-Ma's house. Taylor came home with us and spent the night. I'm so glad that the girls get to be a part of some of the fun things WHBC does. I love our church home at South Tulsa, but Woodland Hills will always be my first "home." 

Here are some video's...such fun!

First Trip to the Cellar

On Tuesday night, there was a serious hail storm that was bad enough to send us to the cellar. I was actually tucking the girls in bed when G-Ma said, "Let's go to Poppa's house!' So, we loaded up the girls, Chloe, Pony, their blankies & books and took off for the cellar. Going into the cellar is one of my least favorite things to do...cellars are dirty, there are spiders, there is no air, and you are pretty much trapped underground. Yeah, definitely not my thing! Madison was the spider patrol...she would spot them & Poppa would kill them. We occupied our time by reading books & taking silly pictures. We stayed down there for about 25 or 30 minutes. It was HOT! The wind & hail was bad enough to bust out a few of Poppa's windows in the sunroom & the whole floor was flooded with water by the time it was over. Madison thought the whole experience was pretty fun. Mackenzie, our little drama queen, on the other hand, said, "Mommy, I'm scared. My life has never been like this before!" Then when we got back to G-Ma's house and it was time for bed (at midnight), she started crying and when I asked her what was wrong, she said, "It's just been a big day." She could really be an actress one of these days! We were thankful there were no tornadoes, and not too much damage. Hopefully we won't be taking any more trips to the cellar anytime soon!

Being silly...

Smiling, but unsure about the whole thing...

Happy as can be!

"Rain, Rain, Go Away...Come Again Another Day!"

1st Summer Week at G-Ma's House

We spent the first week of the summer, right after Memorial Day, in Newcastle with G-Ma while Daddy was at Choir Tour. We did a lot of fun things...slept in, played outside, caught fireflies, took lawn mower rides, went to Pinkitzel & Johnnie's one day, took naps, went shopping, colored a bunch, played with Taylor, weathered two storms & took our first trip to the cellar...yep, lots of fun! I seriously love this picture of my mom driving the girls around in the lawn mower trailer...it would really make my dad smile! What he would have loved even more was watching my mom mow the yard...I've never seen anything quite like it...she's like a race car driver, whipping around trees at top speed! I can just picture him sitting on the porch, shaking his head and grinning, and saying, "Your mother is going to hurt herself." or something like that! I was pretty amazed at how fast she got it done! =0) (She doesn't do anything slowly!) As always, we had a great week in Newcastle with G-Ma. We stayed until Sunday for the Garrett Reunion, and then headed to Shawnee to spend a night with Brian before Super Summer started. G-Ma was headed to NYC & we spent that next week at home, just us girls. It is sad to think about last summer with my dad...he was so very sick, but he made the most of every day he had with us. 

This girl loves to be comfortable!! This is the good life, right here!

Mackenzie loves "taking orders" for people!

Catching fireflies is just part of summertime!

G-Ma was off on Monday for Memorial Day, so we visited Uncle Jimmy at OU Medical Center & then went to Pinkitzel for cupcakes & candy. This was our 1st Pinkitzel experience...the girls loved it! They had every kind of candy imaginable, and very cute cupcakes.

Cupcakes are so much fun!!!

My little napper...

I had a hair appt on Tuesday, so the girls went with me. It wasn't exactly relaxing for me to have them there, but they were very good & Madison got her bangs trimmed.

Taylor came over and spent the night with us...the girls love it when she comes to play! 

Madison's "Titanic" moment at the mall...

"Momma, I found an outfit for baby brother!" (I think she's still hoping for a baby sister, actually!)

Here are a few cute video's I took...

Madison loves Jesus! A lot!

We Will Always Remember...

We went to Newcastle on Sunday after church, for Memorial Day. After dinner with G-Ma, Uncle Clint, and Poppa & Louise, we went out to the cemetery. G-Ma made a little wreath to put on Pa's grave from the girls, and I put together this picture collage in a frame. It is still so surreal to me at times that my Dad is gone. When I get really sad about it, I just try to think about the fact that he is no longer sick & we will be together for eternity someday. I am amazed at how much the girls still remember him & will randomly talk about him. We went to the hospital to visit Uncle Jimmy later on in the week and Madison asked if we were going to see Pa...she immediately associated the hospital with him. I also heard her tell someone a few days ago, "I miss my Pa. He's in heaven." and then a few seconds later she said, "I miss my Pa SOOO much!" She was only 2 1/2 when he died, so it is so special that she remembers him. Sometimes the girls will do or say things that I think, "Man, my Dad would think that was so funny!" I like to think that every now and then he gets a little glimpse from heaven...

Uncle Clint & Mackenzie went for a little walk at the cemetery...I remember going to the cemetery as a kid on Memorial Day, and Grandma Jean always took us looking for bird eggs and baby birds. We would always go put flowers out and then have a picnic in the park. It is good to take time to remember those we love who are no longer with us. 

Love you, Dad! You will never be forgotten!

 

The girls colored these pictures "for Pa." 

Memorial Weekend: Pool's Open!!!

Our neighborhood pool opened on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend & of course the girls were super excited and ready to go! I was going to try to do swimming lessons for them this summer, but I'm not sure if that is going to happen or not. Mack is doing much better in the water, as long as she has a lifejacket on. She isn't nearly as timid as she was last year. Madison is still a little fish...she loves the pool & really has no fear of the water at all. This was a great weekend at home together, before the craziness of summer began. I think my favorite part of this whole pool excursion was the bike race that happened on the way back home. Mackenzie kept trying to get ahead of Madison, and every time she got close, Madison would steer her bike to where Mack couldn't pass her. Smart little thing! It was seriously so funny! I don't know how much I'm going to make it to the pool this summer, especially the closer it gets to August. It is just so HOT and it is a lot of work taking two kids that can't swim to the pool. 

We are going to start working with Mackenzie without the training wheels soon.

Madison is a very good little bike rider!

Ready to go!

There will definitely not be any pool pictures of me this summer! It's just not pretty...not pretty at all!

She won't go under water, but she likes wearing goggles!

Only on a 3 year old would this be cute...that can't be comfortable!

The race was on!!!

No better way to end a trip to the pool than eating ice cream sandwiches & jumping on the trampoline!