Freewheeling

The boys and I leave for Oklahoma tomorrow. We'll be on the road for close to three weeks. We'll spend a week with my folks, then drive to Colorado for my brother-in-law's wedding. This is Mike's brother, Buddy. After the wedding we'll spend about a week in New Mexico at the family cabin in the Pecos Mountains.

Lots of traveling, lots of people to see, lots of memories to make. I'm having quite a bit of anxiety about how we'll find my mom. I know it will be bad, very bad. I'm just so heartbroken and so torn in my hopes and prayers about her. I just want her back, but at the same time I just want her at peace. It's really hard to pray when your heart and mind are not in sync.

So, prayers are coveted: that we will be safe, that we will make beautiful memories, that Mom will find peace.

I'm sure I'll have a lot to blog about when we return. Until then. . .

FANATICS: Star Wars in Concert

Last night was the long awaited Star Wars in Concert. We gave Zachary the tickets for this for his 9th birthday in April. The boys were bouncing off the walls all day, and were wide-eyed by the time we actually arrived at the Fed Ex Forum at 6:30 last night. We had an hour to walk around and see the museum and the characters. The boys loved seeing their favorite troopers!


When we got to our seats we were pleasantly surprised by our location. We'd purchased the nose bleed seats, but for some reason we were moved down a level. We were still up pretty high, but the view was great.

This is my illegal picture of the concert. We weren't supposed to use flash photography during the show. I honestly forgot. Alec reprimanded me!

The boys loved the concert. I admit it was pretty cool. I'm not the fanatic that my guys are, but the music is really captivating and it was fun seeing the lightshow and the movie clips.

This was one happy boy on the way home:

This one was asleep just a few minutes after getting into the car. I wasn't sure he'd make it all the way through the concert. He climbed into my lap for the last half hour or so and got really quiet and still (neither of which are the norm for him).

It was a great night!

Floaty, fanciful, free, forty-wink giving fix: HAMMOCK

I finally, FINALLY found my hammock. I've been wanting to put one in the backyard since I first saw this house, before we even owned it! I saw all of those awesome trees and thought, "Yep, this is the perfect backyard for a hammock." Last summer we got here too late in the season and all of the hammocks were gone from store shelves. I almost missed out on them again this year. I went to FOUR different places and finally found this one at Target. It was the last one in blue and red on the shelves. They had one in green and purple left too, but those colors don't match our house. Anyway, here we are, almost a year later, and my hammock dream has finally come to fruition.

The boys and I hung the hammock yesterday afternoon. They spent most of the day playing in it, and fighting over it. It was even a great place for a snack and a juice box.

For those of you who know my boys, you know they are HUGE Star Wars fans. They've named this half of the yard the "Wookie Forest" because it is shadier and the grass grows thicker and taller. They were very excited to have a new "base" in their Wookie Forest. I may have to put another hammock out there for myself. I'm afraid this one is going to get appropriated by smallish boys.

I love it!

Fact: Zach is Awesome

Today was the third grade award ceremony at Zachary's elementary school. He received the President's Honor Roll medal, which is awarded to students who make all As for three consecutive grading periods. He also received the Citizenship award. While these two awards were great, the BIG award was the Best All Around Boy award and my boy received that one as well! Yay for Zachary! Above: Zachary with teacher Mrs. Nelson and the Best all Around Girl, Channing.

Above: Zach with his super proud daddy.

Family fun in Mississippi

Mike and I took the boys south this weekend for a quick visit with my Uncle Bill and Aunt Lida and family. Uncle Bill is my dad's older brother. I find it incredibly interesting that these two men, who haven't lived in the same state in more than 40 years and who rarely see each other, are so MUCH ALIKE! It is quite funny actually. They are both incredibly intelligent men with incredibly dry senses of humor who refuse to take any sort of medication for pain and who stay up half the night watching television because they are insomniacs. They drive the same model (and maybe even year) trucks: Ford Expedition. They bleed crimson and cream, both being die hard Oklahoma Sooners fans. They dislike crowds and stupidity. They have two grandsons that they spoil rotten. And, as my cousin Rene put it so well, they are both total SUCKERS when it comes to those grandsons.

My Aunt Lida was a huge hit with my boys. I mean, what 5 year old boy wouldn't LOVE a great aunt who will eat blue snow cones and then show off the end results? She is such a fun, energetic soul and being in her home was wonderful. She took us to Uncle Bill's nature center, which was awesome, and to the zoo and bowling. The boys had a ball!


The thing I enjoyed most was seeing my cousins and watching our children become instant buddies. My cousin Rene has a 6 year old son named Will. Alec and Will became thick as thieves after Will walked into Uncle Bill's house wearing a Star Wars t-shirt. That's pretty much all it took to break the ice. Zach was older and wiser than Will and Alec, but I think he enjoyed big-brothering them both.

My cousin Edith Lynn has the sweetest little man in the universe. His name is Jay Ethan and I'm sure you can see he's a little bit of heaven! Poor little guy developed an ear infection while we were there, so we didn't get to snuggle him as much as we would have liked. Edith will just have to bring him to see us soon! My favorite memory of these girls was when I stayed with them for a week right before I started high school. We giggled and laughed and they introduced me to "Death by Chocolate" at Bennigan's restaurant. Such fun times, and reconnecting with them this weekend was a blast! Below from left: me, Rene, Edith. See any family resemblance?
What a great weekend!

First Day of Freedom and Funny Photos

Today was my first official day as a happily unemployed teacher (for the next three months anyway). Monday I gave my college students their final exams, then graded them, then did the official paperwork and submissions to get their grades posted for the semester. Yesterday I met with my homeschoolers for one last time and returned all of their portfolios and final research papers. It feels very nice to not have a single paper in my house that needs to be graded. I really love the job that I do. It is a huge blessing to me that I get to do what I love. It is even more precious because I get to take a break from it and come back fresh every fall.

Since it was my first official day of freedom, I enjoyed myself! This morning I spent a happy hour shopping for my dear, dear friends, the Horners. As of this afternoon they are the happy homeowners of a lovely house right here in my neighborhood. I am so excited that they are so nearby now. In our almost thirteen years of marriage Mike and I have never had close friends within walking distance. Now we do! Our lifegroup from church pitched in to help set the Horners up with necessities in the new diggs. It was fun shopping for them:




I also spent a good hour or so just wandering around Old Time Pottery today. I was looking for a hammock for our backyard. Didn't find the hammock, but I did find some cute things for the yard. That was fun.

Yesterday the boys got ahold of my camera and, apparently, had a bit of fun with it. I always enjoy seeing the perpective shown when children are behind the lens. You might enjoy these pics by Zach and Alec:

Here's to summer!