Zoo Trip

On the kids' Friday off of school we headed to OKC for a few things and made a quick stop at the zoo.  It was hot, my good camera was not working, and we didn't have much time there, but I documented what I could on my phone. 

The rhino was a hit with Cole and Crosby!

My boys look entirely too big to me!

The gorilla was a HUGE hit!

The cats were hot, but a few were out napping in the shade.

The flamingos were beautiful as always!

Cory and my boys!

The butterflies were all over this bush and Caden kept trying to catch them.

My big boy!

Quick but fun trip!

Happenings at Our House

The last couple of weeks have been CRAZY!!!  I had surgery on April 19th, and as you can see Cory took good care of me in the hospital!  It was an outpatient procedure and I was home later that day.  My mom came up here and took care of the kids so I could rest for a couple of days.  I had several friends help out in so many ways.  Between picking up the big two from school to bringing meals, I was well cared for!

We have had a great soccer season!  Look for a soccer post soon!

Once I felt a little better from surgery, I was telling Cory how overwhelmed I was feeling about being behind in chores and laundry.  Later that afternoon, I sucked it up and got to work.  I pushed a little too hard and swept and mopped the kitchen...only to have Crosby go out the back door and bring in dirt :)

My friend Tisha gave us this shirt and it was so cute and he was so ornery that day!

Caden lost ANOTHER tooth, that makes 6 total!

The same day I was feeling overwhelmed, Tisha sent me this photo...so displays my feelings.

This was just a small sample of the CRAZY laundry I had to do!

I can't decide if I like my boys playing with dolls or not, but this is too cute!

This is our week in a nutshell.

 

Tornado Recovery

In the days after the tornado many people helped with recovery. As you can imagine there was TONS to do. But what was I to do? They canceled school for a day so I had all 5 at home, not ideal for debris cleanup or snack delivery for the workers...

So I did the only thing that came to mind. I offered child care to my friends so they could go help. Another friend has a daughter who had school so she was free to help me babysit! We had 12 kids total and it was a blast!

Crosby and Jones jumping

Crosby, Bree, and Sawyer flying.

The three amigos (or stooges). Caleb, Jarrett, and Cole

Carter and Ben being themselves!

Inseparable

We had so much fun that day with our friends!

Tornado

On Sunday, April 15th at 12:15am my phone received a text, but I didn't hear it because my phone was on vibrate and I was snoozing in my bed.  My friend Karen had texted us to take cover because a tornado was heading our way.  Again she texted around 12:30am to see if we were ok.  This text actually woke me up and we realized we had no power.  I tried to get on FB and see what was going on, because of course when you have no radio, tv, etc, you turn to FB.  I only saw one post from a friend and she said their family was fine but pray for Woodward.

I called her and when I heard the concern in her voice, I knew something bad had happened.  As she told of the tornado that ripped through our town I immediately got sick thinking we had slept through the whole thing and two of our five babies were upstairs with us the whole time.  HOW SCARY!  Then I began thinking of the path it took and texted all my friends to see if they were ok.  Cory got dressed and tried to go see if he could help and I talked to neighbors outside for a bit. 

I also called home to report that we were ok and that I was just a tad freaked out that it hit less than a mile away and we had been sleeping.  I am so thankful for our friends that warned us first!  That's the last time I go to sleep in bad weather with my phone off!

Sunday morning when daylight hit, we realized church would be anything but normal.  I hunkered down in the nursery so parents could figure out what to do next.  They spent most of the morning praying, sharing stories,and making a plan of how to help.  A few teams went out that day to clean up.  Caden and I went to church that afternoon to make snack packs for the rescue workers and clean up crews. 

On Monday we were still in shock and many people were trying to figure out how to help.  They canceled school so I kept my 5 plus 7 others that day with a friend so my friends could go help aid in recovery.  We had several friends receive damage to their homes, a few homes of people we know were totally lost.  The children that were killed and injured were members of our AWANA program at church and one was in Caden's class at school. 

This has been a trying time for our community, but we are all reaching out to each other and learning to lean on God a little more and for that I am thankful!  I am humbled by the outpouring of friends and family from out of town and the way they want to help people here in Woodward that they don't even know.  I am proud that my boys came home from school Tuesday and were eager to help victims in their classes.  A great lesson for being the hands and feet of Christ!

Here are a few crazy pics from FB and the audio from our local hero covering the tornado...CRAZY STUFF!

Marty Logan, our local storm spotter for Channel 9, was the town hero.  Listen to his audio of the storm spotting and tell me if you don't get chills!!!

This photo is from a friends house...the tornado ripped the roof off but left the bible and laptop on the counter.

 

 An overview of the storms path from a local photographer.

Although we weren't directly affected...it hurts to see our friends and community hurt.  Thank you all for your well wishes and prayers!  Keep them coming!

Calm Before The Storm

I love Fridays off! The kids are home all day and we get an early jump on house cleaning!




After cleaning but before the crazy storm madness started I figured I needed to my herd outside to run off some energy. We had a great time at the park!






The big two had to bring their bikes along bc the school has all that open space to ride!











They were all good and tired by the time we got home! That's the idea right?!?!

Our Outside Fun

The weather has been AMAZING the last several days and I am not getting ANYTHING done in the  house.  We are all outside and LOVING it.  The house can always wait but these little boys are growing up too fast.  So don't come over if you want to see a clean house, laundry put up, or have a gourmet meal cooked.  I am busy outside playing with my crew...come join us if you want!

Crosby

Cole 

Carter

More Spring Break - Besides Skiing

The first night we ate some great italian food at Capo's!  The kids were so eager to have their pictures taken...

 My niece Brooklyn

While we waited for the boys to finish ski school we took the others to the park.  They were running around crazy and this was the only picture I could get!  I love the way Crosby is running around keeping up with everyone else!

Friday we spent most of the day in town.  We shopped, got some candy, then hit the Playhouse.  There we roller skated, played video games, and putt-putt!  It was fun!

Roller skating with Caden, he is getting really good and we had a great time!  

Carter tried roller skating for the first time and was really nervous.  Thankfully Papa was there to show him a few tricks and by the end of the afternoon he wasn't too bad.

We are so thankful to Grammie and Papa for taking us up to the cabin!  It has been far too long and we want desperately to do it again.  Even though the little ones got up WAY to early each day, it was still loads of fun!

Spring Break - Ski School

For Spring Break we headed to the Reid Cabin in Red River and we let the boys learn to ski.  FINALLY.  We had them in ski school one day while Cory also skied and he was able to check them out of school at lunch and after and take them on the small chair lift and down a few times.  They did really well of course and hopefully next winter they can all go again!  

People have been asking for video of the boys skiing, but there really isn't much since I wasn't on the mountain with them the whole time.  But you get what you want around here :)

In this one, Caden is finishing the yellow chair run and heading toward the bunny slope when someone crashes in to him.   

 

This video I thought he was going to ski down the bunny slope like he had been doing, but he stops and heads back to ski school.

 

I was only able to get one short video of Carter.  When I took the videos at lunch, he wasn't quite as confident as he was at the end of the day.

 

I did take a few pics too...

3 of my guys before hitting the slopes.

Caden with his skis and boots.  He was so excited to go!

 Carter wasn't so sure about skiing.  He threw quite the fit before we left the cabin.  But once we got to the mountain he did a little better.  He didn't want his picture taken, so I had to snap this one in the middle of the day!

 So thankful the Cheaps were also at Red River and in ski school!  Here is a great shot of Caden and Max!

The boys wanted desperately to go back on Friday but Cory opted not to.  But next winter, look out for the Reid's!