Ellie's first Birthday!

Ellie's first birthday started off with some pretty exciting news.....her hair is FINALLY long enough for pigtails!!!  She has also mastered walking which is wonderful because now she can get lots of cute shoes and will no longer have dirt patches over her knees!  She is very smart of course and her favorite things at the time of her first birthday include; singing, listening to music on my old phone, and dancing. Her best friends are Ben, Charlie, Mattie, and her pacifier.  She can say mamma and dadda but her preferred method of communication is pointing and screaming as loud as she can for what she wants. 

Her birthday started out as usual, eating breakfast in her high chair.  As you can see she is pointing at my phone and screaming. She wants it now!  She usually listens to music on it every morning while we eat. 

Then we went to the YMCA.  She must have had a great time playing because when I picked her up this is what I found!

Her official birthday party was not scheduled for a few more days, so she finished her evening off with her dad enjoying a beer!  OR I guess I should say chewing on his empty beer can.

We did have a little get together for all the February birthdays in my family the week before Ellie's birthday.  That includes Hank, Ellie, Charlie, Grandpa Jim, and Steve. I Good Month I say!  Here are some pics from that dinner.

Now the Official first birthday party!  Here she is helping me load the dishwasher before everyone arrives.

Her cupcakes.

Having dinner with Grandpa Buddy.

Opening presents in her brand new red glitter shoes from Gigi!!

The End!!

I may be the only person who will appreciate this post, but sneaking back into Ben's room to see where Charlie finally fell asleep has become one of my favorite things to do.  He is ridiculous about going to sleep anyways, he wants you to tuck him in 3 times and wants pillows surrounding his entire body with a blanket scrunched under his whole body so that he cannot move.  I go through this entire ritual (because only I can, apparently according to Chars, Scott doesn't do it right) only to walk back in an hour later and find him in the closet or under the dresser.  I put just some of the pictures I have taken, there are way too many to put up!  I honestly don't know why we have spent the money on not one, but two beds for chars when he will only sleep on Ben's sheep skin rug!

This is what he looks like when he goes to bed!

Honoring Our World War II Veterans

Wednesday, October 12, 2011 was a very special day for a large group of Oklahomans. Waking at about 4 AM was brutal but everyone was excited about the day-long trip to Washington, DC to honor our local World War II veterans.

Buddy and I skipped the trip to Midwest City for the police escorted bus trip to the airport in hopes of getting a few more minutes of sleep. We would need all the energy we could get. Once we arrived at the airport they let us slip through security without delay. All 103 veterans gatthered for a group photo and a brief send-off from the Lieutenant Governor, Todd Lamb.

We spent most of the day on an airplane or a bus traveling around Washington DC through traffic from one monument to the next. After an event-free trip we arrived first at the World War II Memorial. Representative James Lankford greeted us on the bus at this stop to welcome us to DC and to thank the veterans for their service. This monument was a highlight for me. Even after being in DC several times while we lived in Virginia I had not seen this one yet. We spent about an hour walking around the monument taking photos, looking at bronze reliefs, the fountain and even trying to find Kilroy (look it up if you dont know, "Kilroy was here"). All of the vets enjoyed this stop as the rain held off long enough for us to enjoy our time without getting wet or having to hurry.

Next, we did a very brief bus tour of some of the other monuments including the Korean War memorial, Jefferson memorial, and the new MLK monument. We arrived next at the Marine Memorial or otherwise the Iwo Jima memorial. This is my favorite staute/memorial in DC by far. I have always found the photo and statue of the flag raising to have a deep impact on me and the sacrifice our veterans have made. Most of the vets didn't get off the bus for this one as our time was limited and it was starting to rain again. I did snap some good pictures though.

Our next stop was Arlington National Cemetery. Now it was officially raining! Many of the veterans decided not to attend the changing of the guard due to the rain. After a bit of a discussion, Buddy and I did get off the bus and head over the tomb of the unknown soldier. We were both very glad we did despite the wet pant legs and shoes. There were 2 special ceremonies for other groups that were there with the playing of taps both times. It was a very moving experience with the gentle rain, the dark clouds, the somber music and the quiet crowd. Here is Buddy in his rain get-up...

Next, it was time to head back home. Fortunately for us the timing of this trip corresponded perfectly with afternoon traffic in DC. It took us a while to get back to BWI Airport but we were able to see the Capitol and the White House along the way. There were several Nancy Pelosi jokes which lightened the mood a little but it did not improve the traffic flow.

Overall, it was a great day. I was able to meet and talk to several real heroes. It was a long and tiring day but I enjoyed it thoroughly and would do it again in an instant. Another one of the memories with my grandpa I will remember forever!

My Birthday

I had a GREAT birthday!  I got to have dinner with Kelly, Elizabeth, Kari, Wendy, Anthony, and Scott.  It was honestly so fun and I laughed the entire time.  Scott got me a new camera which is awesome and here are some of the pics we took with it.  I told him I loved it but my favorite gift was the GIANT pencil that Kari got me!

Ellie Belly

I am finally ready to get back to the blog!  I have been a crazy person this last month and apparently I officially have too many children to keep up with all of my hobbies!  No, seriously, I have too many kids to even remember their names and continue to call Ben "Charben" which he responded to yesterday by asking "mom, why do you call me that?"  I just laughed and shrugged at him and then he said, "OK, Scottash!" 

What's new.....well...would anyone believe that in the last 6 weeks Ellie has become the crawl master!  She is good I tell you!  It all started at the beach with a military crawl in combo with a log roll to get her were she was wanting to go. Since then she has focused and really gotten to business with this "hands and knees crawling".  She is now a wonder woman, following me and the boys all over the house.   Oh, did I mention she is talking too!?!....No, I didn't because I haven't blogged in soooooo long!  She started at the beach with "momma" and  "dadda".  Now, she is stopping mid-crawl to throw her hand up in the air and say "HIIIIIII"!   She claps and waves frenetically saying "HI"!  I will attempt to get a video of this but in the meantime, here is a video of her just giggling and being cute!!!!

Here are some pics of the boys feeding Ellie.  Ben will do it if I beg but Charlie considers Ellie his personal responsibility and LOVES feeding her.  He feeds her food as well, which we are working on regulating.  I am a fan of him helping out but not a fan of her eating pizza yet!!

So, the bicycle helmet....I do not really have a good explanation for this, we were not riding bikes or anything like that, he just likes to dress up.....What can I say!!!!  In fact they have several new super-hero costumes and have been sporting them around.  I had to get some variety, that spider-man costume was starting to smell!

Today was absolutely beautiful!  We went to the park and Ellie is finally big enough to swing!

Tonight we read about the USA.  The boys love this book, which is strange, but they love learning about the different states, etc!  Tonight we learned about Texas and New York in honor of our favorite little girl in the WHOLE world...Carter and our new favorite "uncle"  Anthony, who just left this morning from spending the week with us! 

A Few Words about my Dad

The last few weeks have been full of ups and downs.  We have been to Florida with my family, to North Carolina with Scott's family, and suffered the loss of my Grandmother in between.  Today however marks the 10 year anniversary of my Dad's death and I really want to take the time to think about him.  I cannot believe that 10 years have gone by!  I think about my Dad every single day but rarely am I sad anymore.  I really just think about him and laugh often.  I have so many funny stories about him in my head.  I have been lucky enough in my life to meet quite a few of those people that you just cannot be in a bad mood around but my Dad was amazing in this way.  No matter how much you tried to be mad at him he had this ridiculous smile that filled his entire face up and once you saw it, you had to smile back!  I see that same thing in my brother Hank.  Again, no matter how much you want to be mad at him, he smiles and there you are....thinking how much you love him!  My Dad always grabbed you tight by the shoulders and said with a huge smile on his face "Guys, It doesn't get any better than this!"  I think he is most remembered for saying this.  He generally did enjoy just about everything!  A very positive force for sure!  Now he wasn't perfect!  He was a risk taker and rule breaker all the way!  Now myself,  I am a "by-the-rules" kind of girl and he used to do all kinds of crazy crap that drove me nuts!  He never stopped at a stop sign, he always snuck from one theater to another without paying for the second movie ( and made me do it too, which I had enormous anxiety about),  if a sign said "don't touch it" well then....he touched it!   He used to pick us up from ski-school and while in the car line he would ease up on the car in front of us and bump them.  He thought this was hilarious but some of the drivers flew out of their cars and got real mad!  He was always able to diffuse them.  As I HATE conflict, this made me a real wreck!  I could go on and on about this behavior because it literally defined him!  The rules either didn't apply to him or he just felt like they needed to be broken.  He really saw the opportunity for adventure in everything.  I think back on all the great stories of my Dad and me floating down a river, camping in a cave, sleeping on an uninhabited island, scuba diving, paragliding, bike riding across a jungle, etc.  It is a rare person with such a drive to explore the world.  His father was like this and maybe my brothers are too.  I hope I have some of this in me,  I hope I was not just along for the ride!  I do miss my Dad So much!  He was such a great person to just sit and talk to.  He knew so much about everything.  He always gave such great advice too.  All I know is that I loved being with him and looking back on all this makes me happy!  

Ok, so this is Ellodie in her hat. Don't judge, it is not done yet. It still has to be blocked and lined so that the ear flaps don't flip out like the flying nun!

Here is Ellie demonstrating two things....1) she has learned to sit up on her own but only for a few seconds and 2) her new quilt I made last weekend. I know I am going to quickly gain a reputation by posting my crafts as that strange mom that knits, quilts, and makes her kids eat organic food....but whatever! I also know that this is going to discredit my excuse of " I don't have time for.....fill in the blank".

Ooooops, she fell over.....thank gosh it was on her soft beautiful quilt to shield her head!

Last Sunday we went out to eat for Scott's birthday. We had a party the night before but I keep forgetting to get the pictures from Gena to post. At any rate, we went to eat at a local Hibachi grill because Scott loves it and we thought the boys would enjoy the knife throwing and fire. Well, Ben liked it alright but Chars was not sure. I really have to agree with Chars on this one...the guy came out with a huge scar from his mouth to his ear and he started throwing around these knives but he was dropping them all over the place which is not good at all! Then he started with the fire and I got really nervous thinking everyone I love is sitting right here and we are all 2 feet away from this guy who clearly has had some sort of serious "accident" with knives in the past and now he is going to light up the entire grill!! Well, he pulled it off! I really thought we were goners!

This is a summer of "firsts" for Ben. Of course, He learned to swim, which is wonderful but he hasn't stopped there! I came home on Thursday from work to find him sitting at the table eating grilled salmon and broccoli! Of all of his accomplishments so far, this was the most surprising to me! When Scott asked him what he wanted for dinner he responded with salmon and broccoli and.......he actually ate it, all of it!! I am a proud momma! Finally!! He has also stopped using a pull-up at night! HUGE deal!!! AND.......He has learned how to ride his bike!!! For some reason this blog will only let me put videos at the end, so there is a video of him riding his bike at the bottom.

Here is a picture of Me, Ellie, and Chars in his bed. I always fall asleep first! And in Chars true form, he has fallen asleep in skeleton sunglasses.

Chars was very sweet last night and wrote me a song. He sang it all the way home from the Birdwell's house after our swim party. I missed the first half because I was messing with my phone and was trying to be sneaky so he wouldn't know I was recording it. It is a song all about how everyone was born. By the time I started recording I missed how I was born and how Ellodie was born. He talks about Asher in the song too. He loves babies! It is the second video down at the bottom of the blog post. Or, the second "arrow" to the right of ben riding his bike.