Family Vacation - Part 1

We survived our church and had a great time! The boys were really good and slept pretty well in the hotel. Mommy even survived all the walking. I didn't start feeling bad until Sunday afternoon and had to rest that evening and all of yesterday. It was worth a little pain to see the boys have so much fun!

We got to the hotel Thursday evening and after dinner went down to the pool. Carter loved it, but Caden was a little scared. It has been almost a year since the boy has been in a pool, so he freaked out a little, but loved the hot tub with Daddy!

Friday AM we got up early (6:30) thanks to Carter. We headed to breakfast then the Oklahoma Aquarium. We got there before it opened, because I got my times backwards. So we went to find a park to play in for a little bit to kill time. Thanks to our Garmin navigator it was no problem! The aquarium was very cool and the boys loved it! Carter was fascinated by the sharks and this one fish. Caden was all over the place, look at this, look at that, etc. He couldn't get enough!

Here are my 3 gorillas at the park before we hit the Aquarium

The boys all got to pet the Stingray. Cory kept commenting on how they acted like puppies. They would come up so the side of the tank and flap the wings (Caden's term). They loved to be petted! Carter even got to enjoy this!

Carter became fascinated by this fish.

I am not sure why, it really wasn't that pretty, just really odd looking!

I tried to get a good picture of the Gar, but through the glass it was a challenge.

Caden wanted Pops to see the Striped Bass, so here you go Pops!

There was a cool turtle exhibit and we loved this one because it was stretched out like Jack!

The Jellyfish were so cool to look at!

That sums up Friday AM. We went to lunch afterwards and the kids slept a little in the car, so we drove around Tulsa like we used to do. We went up Riverside Dr and looked at all the houses we love! We also drove around Utica Square, but didn't get out to shop because Carter was still asleep. After a nap at the hotel, we went shopping for a bit then to Incredible Pizza. We met the Grunewald's there and tried to catch up. The boys were all ready to go play so we had a little trouble chatting, but all in all good times! The boys were pretty tired and so was Mommy! We went back to the hotel and took baths and went to bed!

Stay tuned for Saturday's adventure at the zoo!

Children's Day

I am a little behind in posting, so forgive all the posts, pictures, etc. today. Here are pictures from Children's Day on May 4th. Caden's choir sang in church Sunday Morning, then all our Puggles did a presentation at the Awana awards Sunday evening.

He did a great job singing until he realized he was on the big screen. So he spent most of the second song turned around with his back to us watching himself on TV! I didn't get any good video this time...my camera battery was going out on me, but I did get some cute pictures. He was standing by Hollace which I am sure isn't always a good idea. They have such a love-hate relationship as Hilary puts it. That describes them perfectly. I think they believe they are brother and sister sometimes but other times they are pretty friendly! Hollace has even proposed on occassion. Anyway, they were pretty cute when I snapped this first one!

Sunday evening he did another great job. Our little Puggles sang their Puggles song, did a finger play, and with a little help from their teacher, me, told the crowd what they had learned about God's Creation. With each child I said on the __ day, God made the _______ and they had to fill in the blank. Caden filled in with his line, sun, moon, and stars, almost perfectly! It was pretty cute!

Family Vacation!

I am a little too excited I am sure, but we are leaving today for a mini family vacation! Getting Cory to agree to this a while back was an effort in itself. He doesn't always see the need of doing fun stuff like this with the boys since they are so young, sorry honey, but it's true!

We are only going to Tulsa, but we are staying in a hotel for a couple of nights and hitting several sites! Caden is super excited! Each day I tell him something new we are going to do and you should see the look on his face! I can't wait to post pics about the trip!

Pray for our safety and that we all have fun with a few meltdowns. I am a little concerned about sleeping arrangements considering Carter has been up at least once each night the last several nights. Also this may sound selfish, but pray for my strength and endurance. I had a hard day yesterday and I don't want to be worn out before we start! I wanted to do something special with the boys before summer hit, because I know I won't be doing anything then!

So Adios Amigos - posting of the vacation will happen soon I promise!

Pioneer Days - Carnival

Well we all took naps or rested so we could gear up Saturday afternoon after the parade and go to the carnival. It was fun to see Caden having so much fun! Carter enjoyed people watching and even getting on a couple of rides! Caden did several things by himself since cousin Tate wasn't there, but also rode some things with Brooklyn! He was so good all day and enjoyed the carnival tons! Here are some shots from the afternoon.

We got to the carnival just in time to see some of the antique tractors in the tractor pull! Caden was thrilled to say the least! This one is his favorite he said!

Caden and Brooklyn riding the cars. Since Mommy is so pregnant, Daddy had to ride all the rides with the boys they weren't tall enough for! Way to go Daddy! Here is all three guys on the carousel!
This is one of the two rides Caden says is his best favorite. He went on it two or three times.

Carter enjoyed watching Caden ride the dragon roller coaster! Daddy and Caden beat Kayla and Brooklyn down the big slide.
Caden got to ride the train twice. The first time he was just in a freight car, so he asked if he could ride again and be in the engine. He wanted up front so he could ring the bell. The other boys weren't really taking turns, so he got a little upset until he heard us yelling for him to go for it! Then he was all smiles, at least he was being nice and not pushing them out of the way or anything! It was great that he wasn't being the aggressive one for a change!
Carter watching Caden in the train.
This is my favorite pic of the night. We left Guymon around 8pm and by 8:30 or so we look back and they are both sacked out! They were so tired after all that fun!

Pioneer Days

We are in Guymon for Pioneer Days and so far the boys are having a great time! We got all dolled up in our cowboy gear for the parade this morning and it didn't disappoint. It was a little chilly outside, but I packed longsleeve shirts and jackets just in case. We got our seats all set up outside Papa's store and were ready to see some horses, tractors, and of course get some candy.

Here is Carter in his duds...his hat is Caden's old one, but it almost fits :)

Caden was able to borrow cousin Tate's hat, since he didn't take it to Albania. It was too little, but we have talked to Pops about getting us a new one from Crutcher's next time we are in Duncan!
Here is our family of 5...notice the huge baby bump! Cole also enjoyed the parade and kicked me most of the time :)
Besides catching the candy, Caden's favorite part was all the tractors he got to see. He was a little mad at me because I didn't get a picture of the really big one, but these are two of his favorites! An old John Deere and a really cool orange one.


Carter's favorite part by far was the horses. He was sitting in Cory's lap just resting most of the time, until the horses came. Then he would sit up and say "ooo, ooo" over and over. He pointed at them and waved, it was so cute!

We are all resting now, well most of us. I am trying to keep Caden entertained. We are waiting for Carter and cousin Brooklyn to wake up from their naps so we can go to the carnival. I am sure there will be a post about that later!

Worker Bees

The boys have been working around our house this week. We have had plumbers here working on their bathrom, NO MORE PINK TILE :) So they thought they needed to work in our bathroom. They brought some tools in and worked on the toilet, then brought in the Thomas chair and put it in the closet so they could rest! So cute!
We also purchased a rent house this week that needs some serious work. I will do an entire post about this later, but here are the two of them on the way to work.
Here are the two of them in the house working. Caden was seriously prepared with his new hardhat, goggles, and gloves!
Carter didn't work of course, but he did carry around this extension cord most of the evening!

Who Am I

I received an email from my mom and dad with this youtube video in it. I have actually seen it three or four times in an email and it has moved me to tears each time. I love this song, Who Am I, by Casting Crowns, and this video that goes with it is even better. I hope you let God use it to touch you today!

Decisions, Part 2

Well I have changed the poll just a tad and added a couple of new suggestions that we liked, so please ignore the previous poll if you haven't voted yet. If you have...vote again.....but only once (you know who you are) so the results are accurate :)