Minneapolis

Well we just returned from Minneapolis. We had a great vacation. It wasn't the ocean but we still enjoyed it. We met Brian's parents up there and it was great for us and especially for the boys to see them and spend time together. Brian and I have really begun to enjoy discovering big cities around the US. We did Seattle in November and Chicago is prob next. I decided to blog about my fav part first which was the St. Paul Children's Museum. We dragged the boys around town for several days doing what we wanted and then on the last day decided we could make it all about them.








So this museum was AWESOME as Baker would say. Both the boys had a blast as well as myself. It was great for for a 15 month old, a 2 1/2 year old, and for a 26 year old but I think the peak age would have been 9. I would have eaten this place up as a little girl. My favorite part was called "Our World". They had a mini everything. Baker drove a bus, shopped for groceries, cooked dinner at a cafe, played in a rock band, delivered the mail, played Dr. He loved each station. They also had a water area, a rooftop sandbox with a jungle gym, and a place to water paint. They had a nature exhibit and a seasons exhibit. They had a "Wizard of Oz" area. You can see in one pic that the boys climbed up in a woodpecker's den. They just ate this place up. Three hours of pure fun. It was great to watch. You don't realize how much your children learn about life from you until you see them role play, but then again, I guess that is the point. So, if you go to Minneapolis then you HAVE to go to this museum. It is a direct flight from Tulsa and you don't need a car to get around.






After the museum we headed to Nickelodeon land in the Mall of America. The boys had a blast here too. As Brian said, "we have a bunch of adrenaline junkies". This place is centered in the mall so you can see from almost everywhere you go. Somehow we convinced Baker to ride the log ride with us and Nan. It was a blast. He did ask to get out after the first drop but he stayed in and didn't cry at all. I was so proud of him. I have a lot of memories on the log ride with my family and so does Brian . It was really special for us to ride with Baker. Then the boys rode the ferris wheel and I of course thought of Addison, she would have loved it. You know, we still don't have cable so the boys didn't recognize any of the characters. There was a life size Diego walking around and other people, but they only know Barney and Sesame Street, and prob Super Why characters. Anyways you can see that we rode the blue's clues ride and the boys drove big rigs and they even went on a train. We had to "chaperone" ride on most of the rides but that was okay. By the last ride Baker finally got the hang of waving to Nan and Papa as he rode by. It was cute.


Needless to say we had a grand time. I will share more if I can. Thanks for coming with us Lee and Rita. I hope I get to go back to the twin cities soon!

Well it has been a while. I don't like to lag in my blogging but I have no excuse as to the gap.

Basically the boys and I are going to Oklahoma this weekend and that is all I really have to say. I have missed my family very badly this summer and I am so so so glad I get to see them before Thanksgiving. It was like I recently had an epiphany that life still goes on without me in Weatherford, you know? I think previously I thought... oh we all get together when I am here and other than that--- they don't see each other. That was dumb. Anyways, so I miss that I am not there and I am missing out on the memories they are making. Also Baker has a huge memory. He doesn't forget a thing and he misses all his grandparents and aunts and uncles. Then you throw in the fact that Beau is the most beautiful baby in the world and they haven't seen him in so long and you just get homesick. Needless to say I am thrilled to see everyone in my family. My parents, my siblings, my nieces and my sister-in-law. then as soon as we return we will be heading off to Minneapolis for a vacation and Brian's parents are meeting us up there. So, Baker and I will have a huge dose of family and hopefully that will help hold us over until winter.

These pics are from our front yard yesterday. I am very proud of our flowers. They were destroyed earlier in the summer due to a hail storm but they recovered. If green had an opposite color, that would be the color of my thumb so I am just thrilled that these flowers have flourished.

It feels like fall here some days already, as I am sure you can see by the boys' clothing. I am ready for fall but it will be weird not to be in Tulsa. Tulsa is so beautiful during the fall. Brian and I share fall as our favorite season and I know he will miss the ranch- but we do have the badlands and hunting season starts next week, so maybe that will make up for it!

I will end with some funny things Baker has said. He is hilarious these days. Yesterday when we were outside he said "it is super windy today". Which he obviously learned form me. Total teenager English to just say "super" instead of very. I said, "yah, it's windy" and he said "it sure is".

Brian made chicken on the grill and he looked at it and said " there is no chicken in here" b/c it was like grilled and a little charred.

He can buckle his car seat now and I was telling him to do and he said " BE PATIENT MOMMY!"

And by far the funniest thing he has said was while we were looking at a family photo on the computer was "I am adorable"! Perfect pronunciation! He is obviously very loved!

Life is good

I can't say enough good things about our summer. It seems there is no way that this is the same town we suffered through winter in. So much has changed. It is hard to believe that winter will indeed, come again. Perhaps winter is the reason summer has been so sweet. We know it is very limited and we MUST reach its potential.

I cannot remember if I told you about the girl I met at the Redbox- Krisitna. Well we have started a little "newcomers" group per say. It is several moms who have moved into town, mostly for oil reasons and we have joined together to help each other and our children cope basically away from family. It has become one of my favorite get togethers. It is so funny to hang out with other Southerners in North Dakota. Texans have become very comforting to us. Today, the Lord brought us a new friends who has only been here one week and she just happended to show up with her 3 boys at the same park we were at, at the same time. I am sure you can only imagine how hard it is to move to a new place far far away and not know anyone. It is very , very providential how we have all met and how others keep coming in. It is nice to be fully comfortable with my outgoing personality to meet these new people. I spotted a girl at church one week and I thought- there is no way she is from here. Sure enough! She was an aggie.

Anyways, I told Brian this but it seems that we have more friends than we have ever had. He disagreses and says I have more friends but he doesn't. It is hard to think that we can live in a big city for so long and never know as many people as we do now. It boggles my mind.

So, as for our summer fun- it includes.: lots of golf, even as couples with some of our friends., lots and lots of bike riding, going to the State fair in Minot, going to Horsefest (don't ask me what it is b/c I still don't know), pool parties, swimming in the 75 degree lake, and lots and lots of grilling out. For the 4th of July we purchased some outdoor dining furniture and we use it like crazy. Brian has become quite handy on the grill. I have includud some pictures. Well the pancakes and egg salad sandwiches are not from the grill but they are some beautiful dishes I made. We also spend a lot of time just sitting on the deck. Last night we went to a concert in the park, It was lovely.

I have been working at VBS all week and I have really enjoyed it. It takes a ton of energy but it is nice to get out the house and serve and get to know other people from church. We are really happy with our church.

Anyways, life is good. Tomorrow is Brian and mine's 4th wedding anniversary. Does it seem like 4 years?- Yes in the fact that we have lived in 6 different homes since beginning there in our first love of OKC and Portland Ave. Yes in the fact that we now we are in ND with our 1 and 2 year old. That all takes at LEAST 4 years. And yes in the fact that we have changed so much. I asked Brian the other day if I was the same girl he fell in love with and he said "no, you are so much nicer!" And Brian is way funnier than he was 4 years ago. Honestly I look back and think- my goodness, I had no idea how small my love for Brian was on the day we got married compared to now. Don't get me wrong, I loved him A LOT, plenty enough to marry him, its just that I didn't know on that day that my love had so much room to grow!

I think what I have learned about marriage is how much I just enjoy that Brian is my life partner. I hate saying that b/c "partner" usually takes on a different connotation but that is what he is. Does he still piss me off- yes! Do we still have arguments? Yes! Are we still selfish? yes! But we do life together. And we want to do life together. I think this is something my parents have always done that I am just now understanding. my dad always wants my mom to do things with him, like go to wal-mart or garage sales. They do the little silly things together. And all those silly things really add up for me. There are lots of reasons that it doesn't seem like 4 years. Do Brian's good looks catch me off guard and still intimidate me sometimes- yes! Does he still bring me flowers for no reason- Yes! Do we still hold hands in public- yes! Do we still go on dates-yes! We now have our own pile of special moments that only the 2 of us share.We also have the simple things in life that we love like watching Reba or whatever version is going of The Bachelor. Life is good and I am so glad in my choice of husband!

Life is good, but it's not perfect and it never will be and I am so okay with that. But I love Brian and I love my children- but really who couldn't love a family that beautiful!

Mondays

I wrote this beautiful blog about the boys yesterday and this is what I get today. Not for the faint of heart.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXcZM7WVcks

copy and paste that to your browser if the link doesn't work

"The Boys"

Life is good. Summer has been great. I think this is the most adventurous summer we have had yet.
The boys have been changing a lot and I wanted to share some pics with everyone. We just passed Beau's due date, July 23rd and that is such a relief to me. He is walking, quite well I would add. He can say several words including- Mama, Dadda, Night Night, and I am pretty sure he can also say NO and up. He is delightful. Delightful is the perfect word. You know when he was first born we thought, how could we love anything as much as we love Baker, but it happens. We also thought how could he be as cute as Baker, but he is. We actually call him beautiful. It is just terrible how blind you might be as a parent. The boys are very different and yet all too similar.

Beau is honoree, just like Baker. He knows what he is not supposed to do and will do it anyways with a smile on his face. He too is opinionated. He learned very quickly how to throw a fit when he doesn't get his way. Its amazing how even the best of us are born sinners. Beau is a flirt. He doesn't know a stranger. He loves most people and certainly isn't afraid of invading their personal space. He has been such an easy baby and good sleeper, Thank you Lord!
Beau is tough and he is finally learning to defend himself. We thought this day would be much farther away but the time has come that he knows how to fight back. It seems now I am taking Beau off a crying Baker as much as I am taking Baker off a crying Beau. I can now say "get off your brother" and be talking to either of them.

We play this game at our house called "beat up". Baker will say "Beat up me daddy". The game has always consisted of Baker trying to beat up Brian and the two of them having some good male bonding. Well now Beau is in the game and he is viscous. I suspect that this whole time he has been on the side lines he has been taking notes! He will jump right in there and just go to attacking, except Beau likes to slap- HARD, which is not allowed in the rules of beat up, b/c it hurts. So Beau just walks in and slaps Brian in the face and then will jump on his belly like he is riding a horse. This kid is so proud of himself that finally he can get a piece of daddy. Within seconds though Beau has forgotten the game and is inevitably cuddling Brian. He is a major cuddler and he actually gives hugs. In the morning when I get him out of bed he will actually squeeze me. Its nice, to say the least.

So some of the pics I posted are of Beau playing beat up with Baker, which doesn't last long b/c like I said, Baker can get hurt. I hope you can see the intensity and joy on Beau's face. These boys are really starting playing together so well. My days have become a bit boring b/c I have less and less entertaining to do. They will wrestle together at least twice a day and Baker has been letting Beau "work" with him. On Tuesday I said, "Baker we have to go to the store" and he said, "No, I'm working, Beau working too!". You can't help but laugh at that stuff. So, their favorite working activities which are of highest importance to Baker are sitting under the desk and "screwing" things into it and then hiding in the closet. Now, this one makes me nervous, especially when they are quiet but somehow Baker has convinced Beau to just go sit with him in the closet. Baker gets pretty upset if for some reason Beau won't go into the closet. Baker is also very considerate of Beau. If Baker gets a junior mint or a marshmallow for going potty he will ALWAYS ALWAYS tell me- "Beau want one too". Anything I give Baker, Beau want one too. It surprises me but I am glad Baker cares for him. The other day when I went to go lay Beau down for his morning nap Baker said- "No, Beau stay wake!" They are buds! At this point in life the age gap (15 months) is totally paying off. I thought it wouldn't be til they were 4 and 5 but 1 and 2 is working out pretty well.

Beau is also completely fearless. He loves any kind of animal, will jump from any height, and thinks he is old enough for a bike with training wheels. The other day they were outside and when I joined them Beau was on Baker's bike (which is actually for a 3year old). He had climbed up on his own and was turning the handle bars like he was driving. You can see the pic. Again, he was very proud of himself.
Beau also likes to play peek-a-boo, but he hides for at least one minute. I am not exaggerating here. He will have the blanket over himself for SO LONG! I am like- Beau, please come out now. It's very cute though. You can see this in the pic too.

Anyways, it has just been a nice summer. I will say more about that later but I am just so happy and thankful that the boys are getting along and enjoying each other. It was a very unexpected but pleasant surprise. We are very thankful for the both of them. Now if we can just get them a SISTER!

The 4th in the North

Thanks for all the comments on Brian's deck. We received so many compliments it reminded me of how many people read this thing so I thought I better keep going.










This town LOVES the 4th of July. It is one of my fav holidays and I was excited to take in all the events Dickinson had to offer.
Starting on Friday night we went to something called a "street dance". I had never heard of this and so we went to see what it was. Definition: a reunion of locals in the middle of downtown with a surprisingly decent band who are all drinking. So, not so much fun for us but we got to see what it was at least. Very interesting.


Then on Saturday we went THE parade. I personally also love parades. I went to them or was in parades all throughout growing up. This parade lasted 1hr! With no marching bands. It was really cool. They threw so much candy and each class (1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2010) all had floats (unpomped) that they sat on. Very entertaining. The boys loved it. We had ridden our bikes to Joel and Fawn's and then walked to the mile long parade. Also, the govenor was there. Are you serious? I have never seen Brad Henry in Weatherford. I guess it is a lot easier in a small town, and when you are running for the Senate. Then we had a nice lunch at Fawn's. She is very Southern Living meets Martha Stewart.

Then... we went to this art in the park exhibit. Basically an arts and crafts show on the universities campus. It was beautiful as you can see in the pics. They also had a family fun day, but the boys had to nap at some point!

As you can tell Brian's brother Aaron has been with us on and off through the summer. I think he actually enjoyed his 4th of July with us. He is single ladies, although I don't know if any single ladies read this that are at least close to his age. Anyways the boys have loved having him here.








The reason we built the deck so quickly was b/c we had a 4th of July party. If you know us at all you know we love to have parties, whatever the occasion- birthday, engagement, holiday, holiday we don't even celebrate- whatever. Plus, this was the most logical step to avoid risking another terrible holiday away from family.

So, we had 2 families over, (who were also far far away from home) Fawn and Joel, that is Brian's boss and Fawn is one of my bf's here. They have a son Graves who is 10 months. Fawn is actually from Bixby. Then we had Kristina and Robert over. They just moved from Houston, he works for Marathon, and I met her at the Redbox. It is easy to tell when someone is not from ND and I could tell she WAS NOT so I talked to her. We have hit if off really well and several of us migratory folks have started playdates in the park. Kristina has a son John David that is 2.

So, we had ribs, baked beans, potato salad, dip, watermelon, deviled eggs, homemade ice cream and cookie cake. It was delish! Again, I do like to take pics of my food creations. It doesn't look that great despite the time Aaron and I worked on it but it does have 13 stripes and 50 stars and there were no left overs.
After dinner we had some fireworks that we played with in the backyard, safely! Notice Gma, the pick of Baker fully supervised with the sparkler-lol. I bought the fireworks, all $28 worth and apparently my childhood memories have imporved as I have gotten older b/c I was SO excited about the chicken and snake fireworks. I had been talking these things up for days. Now, I don't know if my dad bought different ones for us but Brian was a bit disappointed. They weren't very cool, but Baker loved them. It was pretty funny, I was surprised that neither of my children were scared of the fireworks at all. What a relief!

The city of Dickinson put on a great fireworks show at 10pm where we were bundled in coats and hoodies b/c it was chilly. We went to Kristina's to watch the show b/c we lived too far away.







Someday I will learn how to post pictures in order and align them with the words I write about them, but for now-
Thanks for reading and enjoy your freedom

Brian- DIH

So, when we purchased our lovely home there was a large dog kennel in the backyard which of course- we have zero use for. The previous owners also left their dog house which sat on broken up concrete surrounded by a fence. It was seriously disgusting. Yuck. So, Brian had the idea to build a deck over it and that is exactly what he did. It took him about 1/2 a Saturday and it went off without a hitch. I am very proud of him and very very impressed. We now love our deck and sit on it almost everyday! Baker and I helped out too... well I guess Beau provided some laughter. Anyways, it was a lot of fun and it was pretty easy. We can't stain it for a couple of months until the wood adjusted or something like that, but the pics should show you a good story. Thanks Brian!