OK, so I've missed alot of days, but I'm not going to dwell on it. I'm moving on.

The long story begins when I woke up this morning with a sore and very swollen throat and we were scheduled to fly to Seattle today, ugh! In fear that I might get really sick at some point during our travels. I loaded up the boys and headed to Urgent Care. Turns out my swollen, very red throat was negative for strep, but the doctor wanted to treat it as such (a false negative). Major antibiotics were prescribed and there I was. Sick and on my way to Seattle, where my brother-in-law just had major heart surgery. Not good.

On top of that, I was really nervous about flying by myself with the kids, something I've never done before. Little Guy tends to take off in crowds, so I decided to go with the stroller. Granted he hasn't ridden in a stroller in over year, but I could not afford him the luxury of walking (RUNNING) in the airports. And with the wonderful help of Buddy, it turned out to be no big deal. I must say I was pleasantly surprised at how well the boys did, especially Buddy. He really took on some responsibility pushing Little Guy in the stroller and helping at the security check. Look how happy they are on the airplane.

We were also very happy to see the Man after a very long week with out him. Unfortunately he had some bad news. M.E. and the boys were not allowed to see his brother or anyone who was going to see him within 8 days. WHAT???!!! My strep throat has totally ruined everything, we weren't going to see the first cousins or Grandpa & Nana for the duration of our trip. So much for lending moral support to the family, we only caused more stress. Sorry about that!

UPDATE!!!

Hey folk, Sorry I've been out of commission, but the Man has the laptop. I'm at the library and I just wanted to give everyone, who made not have heard about the Man's brother, a quick update.

The Man's brother (to be nicknamed soon) had surgery on Thursday and is doing great. He is expected to come home today. We really appreciate and would like to thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers during this time. It was really scarey for all of us and we are grateful that the Man was able to be with him and his family during this time. And the boys and I look forward to seeing him soon.

I'll try to update when I can. Thanks for the patience.

Tending the Garden

As the Man's been gone, one of the main questions he has during every phone call home is, How's the garden? Well, its huge and is really producing. Today the boys and I got out and picked the ripe tomatoes. There was actually more than this but Buddy squished them.

Camp Pow Pow

Buddy had an absolutely wonderful experience at his summer day camp this year. I was really excited for him, as I remember going to 4-H camp once (it was an over night camp and once was enought for M.E.). As I look back it was actually a lot of fun, but there's no sickness like home sickness, especially at 10 years old.

Anyhow, today was the last day of camp, so all the parents were invited to a closing ceremony of sorts. It was pretty funny and Buddy refused to let me take his photo, so he's the one with his head back in a major laugh.

I have no idea who these other kids are, but it looks like they are having fun.

Double Rainbow

The Man flew to Seattle today to be with his brother and family. I'm really glad that we are in a place to him to get to be there and help out, although its nerve wracking being so far away all the time.

Tonight the boys and I joined some friends at church for a little cookout. The boys had a good time playing with their friends and playing corn hole. While there, a cloud blew up and it started thundering pretty good, so we had to leave, but not before we witnessed this beautiful double rainbow.

Summer Day Camp

Buddy's off to summer camp! It's bittersweet for M.E., I just can't beleive he's big enough to jump out of the van and take off with even looking back. Gotta love the thumbs up and poptart bite in his mouth. Have fun Buddy!

Father's Day Photo Gallery!

We took Daddy to a shopping center down by the river today and had a blast hanging out and playing.

First stop the water works for the kids to play and cool off.

Second we walked along the boardwalk taking in the views and window shopping and letting the kids dry in the sun.

Next we went to eat at the fabulous mexican restaurant. It was really good and the boys got to tell the Man... HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

(If only we had a t-shrit that said Buddy)

For dessert we headed down the way to the Marble Slab Creamery.

Gotta love it! Happy Father's Day, Daddy we love you!

Overall Good Day!

We were suppose to go black berry picking this morning, but having stayed up half the night working on the frig, we slept in. Then got up and checked the frig.......

STILL WARM! ugh.. We got a repairman to only find out that Frigidaire are notorious for breaking down and he won't even work on one. So why he didn't tell us this when we had him on the phone... I guess he wanted his money. So off to the store for ice to put our food in coolers.

Today was also the Man company picnic and it was a blast for the kiddos. They had inflatables, games, cotton candy, snow cones and it was just a really good day. I left my camera in the car to enjoy running around with the boys and playing boccie ball. I wish now I'd taken some pics, but I enjoyed the day with out having the camera hanging on M.E.

So due to the lack of picnic pics, here a virtual tour of the Man's garden. Tomato plants are nearly taller than M.E.

Near red tomato.
Baby pickle.. too cute!
I'm so proud of him for his garden work.

another one bites the dust.

As you know we got a new furnace in February because ours was totally not working properly, and I may not have mentioned it but we got it paid off last month. Yay! So we were totally planning to have a blast in WA next month for our family vacation with a little extra cash.
But its also said, if its not one thing its another. and the other is our refrigerator. This afternoon when we got home from VBS, Buddy went to grab a Popsicle. What he found was juice filled tubes. Ugh! I though well perhaps someone left the door ajar. That's happened before, so we made sure it was closed and when on about our day.
Later in the evening, the Man got a drink of orange juice and it was needless to say very WARM. oh no! So we got the manual out and read up on what we could do. It said clean the coils. OK....

You see the copper tubing running to that little box? That's the water supply to the ice maker and when we pulled the frig away from the wall, we pulled alittle too hard and jinked that tube. It immediately began dripping water. We (the Man, I was taking pictures) proceeded to dust and vacuum the coils until they were clean as a whistle. In the meantime, the water leak wasn't going away. Not knowing where the shut off value was, the Man and I take off the tubing, spraying ourselves and half the kitchen before getting into a bucket. The Man tries to straighten out the kink and then reattach it with the water still streaming out of it. The reattachment was a mess but he managed to get it attached, but it was still leaking. So under the house the Man goes and by the way its now about 11:30 PM. This is when we discover the tubing goes under the floor then right back up in the house under the sink at a nice little convenient shut off valve, which I turned off. ahhh! Its always an adventure.

VBS Fun

As the first thru third grade lesson teacher, I've been Buddy's teacher for a portion of the day and was able to capture a pic or two.

Here he's trying to get a balloon into the box. He had a really fun time and I'm so happy I got to be a part of this.

Those Eyes

I've tried several times to get good pics of Little Guy's eyes, but it never seems to turn out the way I wanted. Here's the best I've captured so far, but I'll keep taking pics to get it. The reason I want a pic so badly is because 1) he's my baby 2) I totally love the color transition. With the Man's blue eyes and my dark brown eyes and Papaw's green eyes, the Little Guy managed to get all three. Brown next to the pupil, then to green, & finally the outer rim is blue. Awesome!

VBS is going great. Buddy thinks its a little boring (kinda like school) but Little Guy is loving it. He can't wait to get there and doesn't want to leave in the afternoons. His teacher's said he's done pretty good socializing and listening. (And there were no potty accidents)!

Fishin' Bug

Well, Buddy has officially caught the fishing bug. This afternoon after VBS, he headed outside for some casting practice. I decided to make it alittle more challenging for him and make a big circle on the driveway for him to aim at.

Well that just wouldn't do. He had to make it a real target with points. On his second cast he got 50 points and it only took about 3 or 4 more cast to get the 100.

Once he'd hit 100 a few times it wasn't much of a challenge anymore and he quit. Guess next time, I'll need to draw a smaller circle.

VBS

Today was the first day of Vacation Bible School and it was a success. Little Guy was happy with his classroom, although I don't think he did much socializing. Buddy, however was a social bug and had a blast.

Fishin'

This afternoon as the sun was started to cool down, we headed out to a friend of the Man's for a little fishing. Now, I will say, I originally had no intentions of going on this outing, but the Man really didn't want to take both boys with out M.E. And as we all know about Little Guy's love of water, I agreed I should probably go to help keep an eye (or hand) on him.

It turns out that I was right in trusting the Man with the open faced reel, as Buddy picked it up very quickly and within about a half hour was casting like a champ. And it wasn't too much longer after that, the Lightning McQueen reel jammed. Poor Little Guy, I tried working on it, but it just wasn't working properly and the Man couldn't figure it out either. While he was taking it apart to see what the problem was, Buddy starts yelling. "Little help here, I think I got one, Somebody help here." Sure enough he had one on. The Man and I both take off running to him and here's what was on the line.

A little Bass. Once again, no matter what sport he tries, he's good at it. The Man also got a bluegill and a large mouth bass.

We really had a good time until the bugs started biting us, then we had to head home.

VBS, Bass Pro and BBQ

Its been so nice sleeping in my bed that I nearly forgot to get up early and head to the church for our VBS (vacation Bible school) meeting and decoration. I'm really excited about being apart of this event and for Buddy and Little Guy to be a part of it too.

Little Guy hasn't had much social interaction since moving here, so we'll see how he does.

When I got home we all loaded up and headed for the Bass Pro Shop so Buddy could go get his first big boy rod and reel.

After much deliberating and looking the Man decided on an open faced reel. And I will admit, I was alittle apprehensive about it. Push Button reels to M.E. would be easy for Buddy to learn on, but I trust the Man so we got the open faced reel.

And as you can see, the Man had to get a new pole as well, and we couldn't leave Little Guy out. He got a Lightning McQueen pole that lights up. Too cute.

After our shopping adventure, we headed over to some friends for a cook-out. We had a really good time visiting and Buddy played their Wii for about 3 straight hours. He is once again on the kick to buy one. But the Man and I are sticking to our deal of -- we will only pay for half. We'll see how bad Buddy wants one and if he'll save his money and do extra chores. My guess is it'll be a long, long time before he gets one.

It's good to be home!

As much as I liked being in KY with my family and friends, its nice to come home. Its nice to get back into a routine. Its nice to just be. The Man only worked a half day today, so he could come home and send some quality with the boys. And I talked him into cooking supper. Yay!
He absolutely amazes M.E. that he can come up with delicious dishes with odds and ends from the pantry and fridge. I've been out-of-town for nearly 2 weeks, so you can imagine the grocery situation in our house and he comes up with this chicken dish. Like I said its good to be home.

Home at Last

Heading West into the Storms.

The boys and I got an early start this morning for the drive back to OK. We weren't sure how far we were going to get but Buddy wanted to drive the whole way once we got going. He has really missing Daddy.

Approaching our favorite stop along the way, I called the Man to see what the weather was doing. There had been some serious storms the last couple of day and it looked stormy ahead. During our phone call, the Man discovered a storm that when from tiny to huge in a matter of minutes. He quickly tells M.E. to stop at our favorite little spot and ride out the storms.

No problem. The boys and I were kind of glad to get out of the van and stretch. We got some supper and was settling in to watch iCarly, when I see this outside.

OK, I studied weather in college and love watching the weather channel, so when I saw this, I nearly panicked. There was alot of horizontal rotation. If it hadn't been for the kids, I probably would have been a wreck. I flip the channel to a local station to find out that we were under a tornado warning (meaning a tornado has been spotted or one indicated on doppler radar). I immediately call the front desk and ask what I should do. They told M.E. to stay put, they were watching it and if we needed to go to the shelter in the center of the hotel they'd come get us. I'm nervous at this point. 5 minutes later the cable goes out and the wind and rain starts then lightning. The Man finally calls M.E. and says they reported on the weather channel tornado and debris on the roadway very near to where we were. It was intense that's for sure, but soon it passed and we were all good to go to bed. The cable never came back on, but at least we got some rest.

Last Day in KY!

We spent today with the fam and took the kiddos to a local pizza place, kinda like Chuck E. Cheese, but smaller.

Needless to say, the boys had a blast.

Baby in a Bucket

As you may know, Little Guy loves water and when Papaw put water in this bucket for the kids to fill up their water guns, Little Guy decided to just play in it. Then we noticed the warning on the side of the bucket. LOL!

Running the Roads.

I spent most of the day in the van. After Sunday School, I dropped the boys off in various locations to play, and I headed off to the high school I taught at last year. I got to visit with one of my best friends, Mrs. A. We taught together last year and it was really wonderful getting to visit with her. It was like we had seen each other yesterday, which let's M.E. know we are true friends. Miss you already, A. We also when to see some of our former students graduate.

Afterwards I headed home to get the boys and then we went to town to visit with our Little Sunshine. She was happy to see us, as we were her. She quickly began the entertainment hour which included many wardrobe changes and singing of karaoke.

She is a true, 100% born performer!

And of course, Little Guy had to get in on the action, which includes tiara and fuzzy slippers.

Family Fun

I was super exhausted when I finally arrived back to the folks house. My brother and his daughter were already there visiting with the boys. To be honest, I was so tired from staying up all night, I wasn't much fun. Although I did get this great picture of Mo. I had told her to put her ice cream cone in Buddy's nose, so he would leave her alone. She thought that was hilarious.

I think Little Guy favors her and my brother.

All Night Scrap

Today I spent most of the day getting ready for our all night scrap. I really miss being apart of my old scrapbooking club, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity for an all night extravaganza with some of the gals.

Technically I think this pic was taken at some point early Saturday morning but it shows the mess we made.

I got 12 pages done... I'll do my best to post them soon.

Hanging out with Uncle!

There's always work to be done when on the farm and Uncle is the man to who gets things done. Here's Little Guy helps him repair a push mower.

Little Guy takes his work very seriously.
Then it was off to the garden to till. Buddy made every step Uncle did.

Check out this gorgeous cabbage.

On the Hill

My aunt (the baby of my Dad's 8 sisters) lives up the hill from my parents house in the family home place. I love this house and my entire life we have called this house the Hill. As in I'm going up the hill, can you see whose up on the hill, etc.... It just one of those sayings like "across the creek" or "over at the property" that only my family would understand the specific location of and distance to get there.

Today with the cousins still in school, the boys and I spent the day on the hill. Luckily my cousin's little girl was visiting my aunt for the day so we had a really good visit. After racing around the house, snacking on candy, and playing barbies (yes, barbies) when finally my boys decided it would be fun to ride a little truck down the little hill in the front yard. Big brother first.

Little Guy takes a go at it, although with caution.

Not to be out done, this girl is tough.

As much as I love capturing the rider of the truck, I love the expression and action of the observers. As above, Little Guy is really cheering her on. And not all rides end so well.

But at least he's laughing!

TRIO OF TROUBLE!

Need I say more....

Walking to the Creek

The boys still had school in KY. They are having to make up several weeks of school due to the ice storm in January. So the afternoon bus was much anticipation by my boys. This afternoon we went for a walk on the farm after supper. Buddy, Niecey and Sman.

The family has the majority of the farm in a federal program to restore it to a habit for native fowl. Last year they had it sowed with native grasses and flowers. Here's a beautiful purple daisy that's come up with the other weeds.

Of course, the Little Guy got tired of walking and hitched a ride with Aunt Cream.