Strawberry Pickin

For years, I have wanted to take the boys strawberry pickin and each time I brought up the idea it was met with little enthusiasm.  On the first day of summer break, I didn’t ask, I told the crew to load up the car and we were heading out to the country.  :)

Needless to say the boys had a BLAST and we are planning on going back to pick blackberries in late June or July when they are ready.  I’m already dreaming about the blackberry cobbler we’ll be making with those. 

We went to Gieringer’s Orchard and it was such a great place.  It didn’t feel commercialized but like a real farm (because it is :)).

By the way, the berries were fantastic!

      

round here

So since this ol blog hasn’t been updated since Spring Break there is quite a bit of updating to do.

1.  Yeah…this guy turned 8.  He requested frosted brownies for his birthday treat.

 

 

2.  School is out for Summer.  For this momma, I think the start of summer is harder than the start of the school year.  It’s just another sign that time is moving too fast and these boys of mine are growing fast.  It’s rare for Mac to show so much emotion, but this is pure joy that summer has started…or he’s telling me to quit taking pictures.  :)

 

2.  Baseball…hello Baseball.  As a fan baseball is my least favorite sport, but as a Mom it’s my favorite.  Love love love watching these two.  The best is when it is beautiful outside.  Very few things in life better than your kids ballgame (imho)

3.  Addicted…to ice coffee. Can’t get enough.  Trying my own home brew, using Pioneer Woman’s recipe but in love with Starbucks of course.  At least its cheaper than my usual froo froo drink.

4.  For Sale…our house.  We have literally been talking for years about selling our house and heading for the country and we are actually trying to make it happen.  While I feel good that we have made it this far, now that it is on the market, can you say “hello stress”   I need to imprint some great quotes I’ve seen about worry and stress…and how lame it is (basically)  i would plaster them on my walls but maybe not the best thing while we’re showing the house.

5.  Nana and Grandpa Camp 2013 is this week and let’s just say I’m missing my boys.  While a break is always nice, I can’t wait to get them back this weekend.

Spring Break

Grab some coffee…you are about to read a book about our little road trip or you can just skip this blog post.  :)              

The boys were on spring break last week so we decided to partake in a little road trip.  We headed to OKC to watch a OKC thunders game.  We got to OKC got checked into our hotel and walked to the arena to watch the game.  I will be honest that I am not a NBA fan.  My boys don’t necessarily watch a lot of NBA but as much as we know and spend time watching college basketball, it naturally lends itself that my boys would be interested in NBA.  Also it doesn’t hurt that they’ve spent some time playing NBA 2K whatever on the good ol XBOX.  We all had a blast at the game.  Let me tell you it felt like I was at a show.  Music and what not playing the entire length of the game, a sold out crowd.  I sat next to an older gentleman who basically told me his life story in a nutshell.  He was born during the war and was adopted by an older couple who lived on a farm in a small town Oklahoma.  He was the star athlete at his high school and still holds many of the records.  He played baseball at OSU where he met his wife, no kids, holds season tickets to OU and OSU athletic events as well as the Thunder  and really I could go on (like what his favorite restaurants are).  I love meeting people from the older generation that are so giving of their stories.  This man exuded pure joy...i need to work on that in my own life.

Thursday morning we headed out to the botanical gardens just a block or two from our hotel.  This was really more like a tropical garden.  Just to walk in the heat and see the beautiful color so life giving.  They had a neat playground outside of the museum that both boys enjoyed. 

We headed to Bricktown where we took a look at the facilities where Houston Astros double A team plays.  Had lunch at this little joint then headed to Norman, OK.

Our intent was to check out the OU campus.  Needless to say we did a drive by and due to lack of interest by all parties we decided to head towards Arkansas and Mac assured us that OU was no longer on his list of potential colleges.  Really…i had no idea that it was ever on his list.   I can’t really explain it. but it felt like Salina, KS.  Other than having a huge football stadium it was just kind of ehh.

On our way to Arkansas we stopped at the Citizen Potawatomie Nation Cultural Center in Shawnee.   Charlie is obsessed with Indians.  He has loved the Little House series and asks tons of questions about Indians.  The museum was so nicely put together and we all enjoyed it. 

And finally we made it to Arkansas.  This guy wanted to run up the drive…

While we were in Arkansas we took part in good food (as always), rest and relaxation (I finished 3 books) and lots of outdoor play (hiking and four wheelers.)  Ken’s nephew brought this little toy…Um.  so much fun!  It took every ounce of bravery I have to get on this thing and to let my kids on it, and it was an AWESOME ride.  This beast can go on land and water. At one point I looked down and the speedometersaid we were going ~ 50 mph. 

 

And well that pretty much sums up our little adventure. We had such a great time just being with each other.  I.m so thankful that we were able to get away for a couple of days and just be.

I am currently loving….

 

Gingham…i have this shirt in green and black.  Would love to add purple to my closet as well. 

This new to us recipe. So easy, so good…it just really doesn’t get much better than that.  We had these twice in the last 3 days.  Yum, Yum!

ecloths…have you heard of them.  I hate cleaning and will invest in any product that might make the job easier or more fun ( wait, is that even possible?)  I made my first order a week or so ago and i’m gonna go out on a limb and say these are seriously a game changer.  My first order included the window cleaning pack, bathroom cloth and stainless steel cloth. 

This video.  I watched this video late one night and seriously laughed so hard I was crying.  I shared with my boys but they didn’t seem to find the humor in it,  they were laughing at me laughing.  Although if i’m being honest, i just rewatched it and it’s not as funny as it was the first time i watched it. 

February

And with that February is over.  It never fails that come this time every year, I’m beyond craving Spring.  We probably have 10 inches of snow on the ground today (as result of the last 2 snow storms) and all I want to do is fill my house with tulips and candles with the scents to represent spring, maybe even do a little decorating for Sprint.  Oh what I wouldn’t give to be on a beach with my toes in the sand…just feeling the hot sun.  I tell you these feelings get stronger and stronger each year. 

So with all the snow we’ve had the last two weeks, we’ve spent a lot of time indoors and we are all itchin’ to get out of the house.

To recap Febuary:

Hello Zac Brown Band concert @ Sprint Center…one of the best times ever.  I knew a few of Zac’s songs prior to the concert and liked them, but now Super Fan am I.  I love live music and realize we need to incorporate that into our life more often.

Charlie finished up his basketball season.  He had such a good little team.  When I say good, I don’t necessarily mean talent, although they were talented, but overall they exhibited really good sportsmanship.  Most of them passing the ball (which is kind of an oddity with 7 and 8 year olds) and congratulating each other for a job well done.  They had their end of season celebration last Sunday, and KC Wolf came and spoke to the kids.  As much as Charlie loves mascots, I was excited to see what he had to say.  KC wolf shared a little bit about his job and what it’s like to be a professional mascot (can you imagine?) and he also shared his personal testimony and his relationship with Christ.  It was a great way to end the basketball season.

We have one more weekend of basketball for Mac and then we will transition to baseball.  I think we are all looking forward to the transition but with the weather we’ve been having the thought of mid March doubleheaders is making me a little nervous.

So I’ve mentioned the snow…um yeah…we’ve seen our share of it in the last two weeks.  This week, we got about 8 inches, last week we got about 10- 12 inches.  Unfortunately all of the snow won’t put much of a dent in the drought we’ve been having but at this point I think most people will/are happy with any thing they can get.

A couple of weekends ago, we headed to Ft. Scott to visit Alicia and Giacomo.  Loved Loved Loved our afternoon together.  I’m so inspired by their story and really their bravery.  Alicia met Giacomo when she was in Italy studying abroad her junior year of college.  After her graduation, she headed back to Italy, they got married and they have lived their until January.  In January they flew back to the States, for good to settle into life here in America.  I admire and respect them so much and can’t wait to spend more time with them.

And so March comes in like a lion…looking forward to a good one and sending happy thoughts to mother nature that she’ll decide to mix in some sun and maybe warmer temps to balance the gray and cold. 

January recap

How is it that we are into our final week of January?  How is that yesterdayy was 70 + degrees outside today it rained and was about 40 and we are supposed to get snow tonight/morning?  Why is it that I did not go for a run yesterday or this morning?  Why so many questions to start this post?

If I could sum up the month of January, I would sum it up in that it has felt calm and somewhat relaxed.  Although we have been busy, and really who isn’t busy,  January always feels like a welcome reprieve after the holiday rush. 

Our month has been full of basketball, basketball and more basketball.  It’s a very good thing I like basketball.  Mac has played in a tournament every weekend since Christmas and Charlie’s games started the first week of January.  Charlie is playing in the Upwards program again and I can’t say enough good things about it.  He is really enjoying it and we are enjoying watching him play. 

In addition Mac went to his first school dance as did Charlie (80;s theme.) 

 

Martha and Ken came for a visit.

I’m obsessed with project life, wrapping up 2012 and starting 2013.  I love that this project can be what YOU want it to be and the system is flexible enough that you can make it simple or more ‘advanced’.  I’ve done a little bit of both.   If anything it’s a good way to get pictures off the computer and into an album.  I think I’m going to go with the seafoam edition this year, but I haven’t pulled the trigger yet.

My oldest is obsessed with Ramen noodles,  if we let him he probably could survive off of ramen noodles and sunflower seeds.

Mac took the SAT on Saturday at Rockhurst high school.  As result of his MAP scores he was eligible to participate in a program that Duke offers.  He didn’t think it was too bad…i’m interested to get his scores back. 

When your oldest son tells you that we have to make this recipe, you run to the store to get the ingredients.  These brownies were a fail, I suppose we should have been cautious since the recipe was in sports illustrated.  Ha Ha!