"These are a few of my favorite things" - Caroline

Conversation this morning over our kitchen island while we prepared lunch:

Caroline: "Daddy what do you think my favorite thing is?"
Daddy: "I don't really know. Let me guess, baby turtles?"
Caroline: "Nope."
Daddy: "OK, what then?"
Caroline: "My favorite things are quesadillas and checking the mail."

Picture #1: Earlier in the morning, daddy spent some time disassembling Abigail's old stock radio from her 2003 Toyota Matrix which she purchased a few months ago. I had a big helper in Olivia as I scavenged for various fasteners and other parts to throw in my misc nuts & bolts box.

Picture #2: As I was sipping my coffee this morning, Sarah started playing a beat from her phone. I started bobbing up and down, doing my best to sincerely impress my teenage daughter with my white boy dance moves. Of course, I did nothing more than embarass her and give her something to laugh at. She really laughed when my coffee mug handle broke right off from the sheer up and down force of my dancing bobs. Surely only a naturally skilled hip hop dancer could actually break off a mug handle, right? The mug was actually one I broke many years ago in a hallway at Zebco. My great co-worker Chad Hoffman who was our model maker at the time, fused the handle pieces back together which gave my mug approximately 10 additional years of life. It had a great run, but this time it was not worth attempting to fuse back together.

Picture #3: For the 2nd time in a week, we had a tiny box turtle exploring our back yard. I was cue'd into this little guy by a trail left in the grass by his scooting across the dew drops earlier that morning. The girls eaglerly took turns holding it and give it the name "Pokey".

Pictures 4 and 5: Abigail got her license Monday morning by narrowly passing her drivers exam. Phew! As soon as her and I returned home from the visit to the DMV (and of course a daddy-funded coffee to show his congratulations), she and Sarah jumped in and took their first freedom ride with no adult present. They went to the local coffee shop to "study".

Charlotte's Cold Feelings For Ty

This afternoon, Charlotte and Caroline were out in the yard playing with the neighbor boys, Grant and Ty Hawkins. According to Caroline, the conversation went like this: Charlotte: "I want to marry you Ty" Ty: "Do you think I am hot?" Charlote: (walks over to him, pulls up his sleeve, and touches his arm) "No, you are cold" The humor of 4 year old Charlotte always brings smiles to this family. It is spring break week and yesterday was Sarah's birthday. We decided instead of a whole family dinner of Sarah's choosing, we would make it a special mommy/daddy/daughter date out with just the 3 of us. We had a great time eating at Charleston's where we debated whether or not fishing was a strenuous enough activity to qualify as a "sport". Abigail needed help tonight as she dipped her toes into Trigonometry for the first time, and Daddy was eager to help because that is his favorite math topic of all time. Anna had a normal soccer practice tonight and came home to tell us that Braylen apparently injured herself while ice skating during Anna's birthday party on Friday night. It started with just falling on her duff, and apparently the pain started creeping up her back and now is hurting her neck so much she can't even turn her head! Meanwhile, Papa helped watch the girls tonight while we were out to dinner. He did a great helpful thing getting Charlotte ready for bed and getting her all ready in her PJ's. After he left, mommy and daddy were messing around in the closet not keeping an eye on her. Charlotte and Caroline were already in the bathtub, and when daddy walked out of the closet, Charlotte had crawled into the full bathtub, PJ's, diaper and all!

And lastly, we've been saying the rosary each night as a family activity for lent. Because it always works into bedtime, Charlotte has been known to fall asleep sometime during the 2nd or 3rd decade. Tonight was no different. It might seem sacreligious, but we chuckle because Charlotte looks like a corpse in her sleep pose with a rosary wrapped around her hand.

Funny Charlotte

This morning we woke to over 5" of rain that fell overnight. With the girls in the kitchen I cracked a joke about Noah's Ark and asked "Who built the ark?" Charlotte didn't miss a beat and nonchalantly answered "Not me."😂 

We've also had a bumper crop of cucumbers lately. Uncle James brought some pickled cucumbers over last weekend and they were snappy and oh so good. Daddy decided to try his hands at pickling so we went and bought the whole works. Anna and Caroline were gracious little helpers and we now have 6 quart size jars of homeade picked waiting for us in about 12 hours. 

We finished the day with dinner at the Oppers who generously fed us and where we enjoyed the usual skit performance by Katie, Sarah and Anna which tonight turned into an entertaining musical. And as usual we enjoyed a beautiful Oklahoma sunrise. 

The Lion King

We had a wonderful girl day last Sunday.  We went to the Spagetti Warehouse and then we went to see the Lion King.  The girls loved it.  Sarah kept telling people she went downtown.  She also wants to be Nola when she grows up.  That is so fitting since she walks around on all fours all day and loves cats.  Abigail was enthralled with all the characters and was amazed with the entire musical.  We definetly need more girl days.  Thank you Grandma for the wonderful day filled with memories.

 

Lindsey and Sarah

Melissa and Abigail

Grandma, Abigail, Sarah, and me.

Abigail's 7th Birthday

Abigail loves horses. It is what she talks about, reads about, and she wants to work with horses when she grows up.  So for her birthday, which was May 6th, we went horseback riding where she was is heaven. 

 

Here are all her friends that came to ride horses with her.

Abigail and Lydia (one of her best friends)

Look at that smile!  She smiled the entire time.

Happy 7th Birthday!

Aunt Ashley made the cake for her birthday and Abigail loved it.

 

Abigail has turned into a very mature girl.  She is growing up fast, acting mature and wanting to do more grown up things.  She loves to read and can absorb herself into a book and not notice what is going on around her.  She has a caring heart and wants to please others.  She makes me very proud to call her my daughter.

Sarah's Graduation

Sarah had her preschool graduation in May.  She has come from such a long way.  She used to cry to go to school every morning and loved the days she could stay home and play.  By the end of the year she was ready to go to school every morning.  She once was a loner, but by the end of the year she was a social butterfly and had two or three boyfriends.  I am a little worried for the future.  Sarah is a smart girl but doesn't like to show her knowledge and requires cohersion to show what she knows.  I was once very worried about her going to kindergarten but thankfully that fear has been greatly diminished by the end of May.  I am so proud of how much she has grown over the year.  Her time in preschool went by in the blink of an eye and she is growing up so fast.

 

Here is Sarah with her teacher, Ms. Sylvia.  We love Ms. Sylvia and are so grateful for how much love and hard work she poured out to Sarah.

Easter 2013

We had a beautiful Easter spent with most of our family.  We found our Easter baskets and Abigail showed us what the tooth fairy brought her and then we got ready and went to church.  After church we went to my mom's and shared a wonderful Easter dinner with some friends and family.  After Anna had a nap we went over to Aunt Kim's where Grandma and Grandpa Denton were and had a wonderful dinner there.  We are now full and the kids are sleeping peacefully in their beds.

 

Not a half bad family photo!

 Sisters

Anna loves all the sunglasses she received for her birthday.

Abigail looking so grown up.

Sarah growing up as well.

 

My three beautiful girls with beautiful smiles after a beautiful mass.