facebook saves the day!

i posted on facebook that i had lost that movie, and one of my friends asked if i had checked the TOP of the car. as soon as i read that i knew where it was! i remembered putting it up there when i grabbed the trash out of the car!

so now i can rest easy! the movie has been found!

missing in action

today we rented pink panther 2 from the red box. spencer left it in his seat when he got out of the car. so i picked it up and stuck it in my purse.....i thought. i haven't seen it since i took it out of the car. we were going to watch it tonight, but instead spencer and i have been unsuccessfully searching for the movie. my head hurts from trying to figure out where it might be! i've even dug through 2 trash cans twice!

now i'm beginning to think one of the males in this house have hidden it from me just to drive me crazy. i really wouldn't put it past them. i'm trying hard now not to think about it hoping it will just show up in the most obvious place. we'll see how that plan works.

so up until this evening, i had a really great day! lisa, samantha and anna kay came over to swim. after that lisa, the varmints and i had a delicious lunch at ted's. then i dragged the boys to 3 different stores trying to find an 8.5 x 11 d-ring scrapbook album to use for an online class i signed up for. no luck on the album, BUT i found a great deal on letter stickers called thickers at big lots!

after that the varmints and i got $1 ice cream cones from sonic. i love these cones!

photo of the day #180

happy cones

quote of the day:The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement. ~Author Unknown

productive

today i felt productive. i got the house cleaned, did TONS of laundry, cooked dinner and even scrapbooked! i've been wanting to get back into it, but i always find an excuse not to. tonight, though, i pulled out some of my stuff and continued working on my album from my route 66 trip with the smors back in november.

so now, my living room doesn't look so clean anymore. i'm not a very neat scrapper, i must say! i need to spread things out all around me within arm's reach so i can see what i have!

photo of the day #179

creative mess

quote of the day: "Dad! Mom's scrapbooking!" shouted Spencer.

"Nuh, uh." replied Daryl.

"Really, she is!" answered Spencer.

sunday summer night.

warning: this post is picture heavy!

first of all, this sign really bugs me! it would be ok if the company had a baby bird or something as it's mascot, and they were doing a play on words with 'cheepest'. but they're not!!!

tonight was such a beautiful, mild night compared to the nights last week, that i actually went outside! colby and i took a walk to the ponds to see what was happening down there. i invited spencer to go, too, but he said he could "care less" about going down there. FINE!

i saw lots and lots of these happy flowers! the more i saw, the cuter they became. so i just started picking myself a bouquet!

photo of the day #178

happy bouquet

look! we have cattails at our ponds! i had no idea! this is the first time i've seen them up close and personal! they're just plain cool.

colby found a "lobster claw"! how exciting!

i loved how the evening sun was warming up everything it touched, so i made colby stop and take a picture with me! love the glow.......

after our visit to the ponds, i decided i wanted to go see the fireworks show at rockets over rhema. {rhema is a ginormous church in broken arrow. they just got the title of oklahoma's second largest fireworks show, next to okc!} of course the boys wanted to go too, so even daryl joined in the fun!

we sat in the middle of a field, and had a perfect view. we also shared the field with a few bugs {which daryl wasn't too thrilled about....you can tell by the expression on his face! or he could be grumpy-looking because he HATES it when i take flash pictures in the dark. you'd think i'd be nice and quit taking pictures like that, wouldn't you?}

spencer didn't mind the flash photography or the bugs! he set his chair way in front of us and enjoyed the show!

i don't have an expensive camera, so i don't exactly know how to take great shots of fireworks. but i think this one turned out really cool! love the colors!!!

tonight was a happy sunday summer night. i'm glad i spent it with my family.

quote of the day: "what a maroon." ~me

ballet and haircut

yesterday i watched my first ballet. my niece, natalie, performed in don quixote. i must say i was quite impressed with all the dancing. it was a very good thing each act was summarized in the program or i wouldn't have had a CLUE what was going on! {i guess i'm not very cultured.}

photo of the day #176

ballerina girl {with her proud uncle daryl}

i don't know about you, but i am so ready for these high temperatures to go away! any temperature with a 9 or 1 in front of it is just WRONG. i felt so sorry for rocky suffering in the heat, that i cut off all of his hair again tonight! now if i could only get a hold of spencer's hair....

photo of the day #177

remnants of rocky

quote of the day: What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance. ~Jane Austen

another weird day

today wasn't one of my favorite days so far in my life. it started out just fine, but after lunch it just got really weird.

i took the boys to freddy's for burgers and custard. after that we were going to stop by hobby lobby and exchange something colby bought that didn't work right. but as we were leaving, my stomach started to hurt. i thought maybe i was just full and the pain would go away. it didn't. i made it out to the car, started it and told the boys to stay put while i ran back in to go to the bathroom. i thought i was going to puke or pass out before i made it to the toilet!

by the time i made it in the stall my breathing was all messed up. i was taking extremely shallow breaths, and i suddenly became very limp. i had to sit down. then i just started sweating. every pore in my body started leaking! no joke...i had sweat running down my face, and i still wasn't breathing right. and my stomach was still hurting.....BAD! the whole time i was worried about the boys being outside in the car ALONE and how i was going to drive us home without passing out.

when my breathing finally settled down, i decided i better go back out to the car. when i got there, spencer said, "mom you look terrible. are you ok?"

colby just asked, "what took you so long?"

i didn't know how long i was in the bathroom, but spencer said it was about 15 minutes. he said if i hadn't come out by 12:30 he was going back into freddy's to ask someone for help. he was so sweet {and extremely worried.}.

the whole way home i just kept repeating the same prayer over and over, "please help me God. get us home safely. please help me God. get us home safely." and praise God he answered my prayer like i asked! we made it home safely.

spencer told me to just go to bed and rest, so that's what i did for the rest of the day. i guess i just have some kind of stomach bug because i spent the next couple of hours in the bathroom. i thought i would sleep, but i ended up watching shows on DVR that i had recorded.

when i was done with those and switched back to regular tv, i was bombarded with the news of michael jackson's and farrah fawcet's death! both deaths are very sad.

needless to say, i didn't take many pictures today! although i managed to get a picture of colby dipping his fries in his vanilla custard! maybe that's what made me sick!

photo of the day #175

gross

quote of the day: "Mom, I just need to take a little siesta. I was really worried about you earlier." ~Spencer

pool time

today colby's friend, caroline, came over for a few hours to swim and play. i think they both had a great time. it was a perfect day for the pool.......hot, hot, hot!

photo of the day #174

colby and caroline

quote of the day: We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. ~George Bernard Shaw

pictures

as of 30 minutes ago, i hadn't taken any pictures today! can you believe that? i even had my camera with me all day.

my first idea for a picture was of all the lightning bugs i saw on my way home from bible study. i think lightning bugs have to be one of the absolute coolest insects that God created! but i couldn't get a good picture while i was driving. i really needed to pull off the side of the road for that, and i didn't think that was very safe on the road i was on. here's my first attempt at my photo of the day. {no bugs. boo.}

when i got home from bible study i just walked around my house looking for things to photograph.

i tried to get a good picture of my new, old chalkboard, but none of them turned out like i wanted. it is a really happy chalkboard, though!

then i realized spencer wasn't in the living room with colby and daryl. he was in his room already in bed with the lights out pretending to be asleep. i snapped this really cute picture of him and thought that would be a good photo of the day. but later i found out that he was in his room because he'd gotten in trouble while i was gone. he told me he was just bored. no photo of the day for YOU!

so then i thought, "i don't have very many pictures of squirt, and he's so cute! he can be my picture of the day!" the weird little guy has started chewing on his cage when we come in! i don't know why....maybe he's teething!

i opened his cage, stuck my camera in and just started snapping pictures. i love this one because he looks like one of those animals with ginormous heads! so here is my

photo of the day #173

big-headed squirt

quote of the day: “The happiest people are those who think the most interesting thoughts. Those who decide to use leisure as a means of mental development, who love good music, good books, good pictures, good company, good conversation, are the happiest people in the world. And they are not only happy in themselves, they are the cause of happiness in others.” ~William Lyon Phelps

dentist visit

today was colby's first visit to dr. owens.....the dentist.  spencer also had an appointment to check on a tooth that was bothering him.  both of them left with fewer teeth in their mouth than when they came in!  spencer lost one and colby lost 2!

they both had "laughing gas" and shots to numb their mouths.  i'm really surprised that neither of them cried because it looked extremely painful when dr. owens was "wiggling" their teeth out!

both boys told me not to take pictures, but what could they do?  they both had masks on their faces that made them look like little piggies!!! {such a mean mom!}  before we left home spencer even tried to tell me that there was a sign in the dentist's office that said no photography allowed!  nice try!

photo of the day #172

no pictures at the dentist, mom

the tooth fairy just came to our house saturday night.  i hope she's prepared to come back and buy 3 teeth tonight!

quote of the day:  "Yay!  It's dentist day!" ~ Colby {i bet he won't be saying that again.}

happy father's day

tonight i want to give a shout-out to the 2 best dads i know........

my dad: 

i don't know where to start.  there are so many things about Dad that make his so special.  

he is one of the funniest people i know.  just looking at him you wouldn't believe that he's quite the prankster!  the stories he tells from his childhood are hilarious!  like the time he burned the teacher's paddle in the woodstove, or the time he put a cow in the principal's office!  there are so many other stories that just make me smile.  {i know you this may come as a surprise to most of you, but i can be a bit ornery myself.  i must get that from Dad!}

Dad is also very strict.  growing up i thought that was terrible to have such a demanding father, but now i am so grateful for his leadership.  Dad taught me to respect authority and elders.  that quality is something that is desperately missing in our society today.  maybe i could send all my students for training at my dad's house!

the most important lesson my dad taught me is to honor God above everything else.  rain, sleet, snow or hail when the doors were open at church, we were there.  our work schedules were planned around worship times.  i'm so blessed to have a father who saw the importance of the entire FAMILY attending worship together.

and i know that my dad must have been praying a long time for God to bring the right man into my life because God did just that.  now let's talk about the next best dad:  their dad. 

you can tell from the looks on spencer's and colby's faces that these boys adore their dad.  i didn't even have to beg them for this picture!

daryl is such a great father.  he loves these boys with all his heart. {sometimes i get jealous when he loves on them more than me! :) }

he spends time with them.  he plays with them.  he coaches soccer teams.  he tucks them in every night and tells them that he loves them. he studies the bible with them, and he prays for them and with them.

i am so grateful to God for these two men.  what would my life be without them? {empty.}

photo of the day #171

happy father's day

this is how spencer greeted daryl this morning!  from left to right the signs read "happy father's day."  how cool is that?

quote of the day:  I love my father as the stars - he's a bright shining example and a happy twinkling in my heart.  ~Adabella Radici

wahoo

photo of the day #170

wahoo

colby has been pestering us to play wahoo ever since i brought the board in last night.  so tonight the whole family played wahoo.  it was fun to land on someone else's spot and send them home.  it brought back memories of playing with my parents....very cut-throat! 

i thought this picture of my marbles turned out cool.  since all my boys kept sending them back home, and i couldn't roll a 1 or a 6 to come out, i just started taking pictures! 

quote of the day: You don't choose your family.  They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.  ~Desmond Tutu

just one day behind...

i couldn't blog yesterday because i was in edmond getting spencer.  his time in exile was up, so i drove over there yesterday afternoon to fetch him.  before leaving for edmond, colby and i spent the day playing at gina's house!

colby and brett watched toy story while gina and i made a quick trip to river city trading post. {ok, so it wasn't quick!}  but it was a successful trip!  i found an old chalkboard with a red, wooden chalk tray, a wahoo board, and an old box of chalk.  the most awesome, super-duper, incredible treasure of the day was discovered by gina.........sock monkey socks with instructions!!!!!  6 pairs of socks for only $5!!!  so we split the pack, and one day soon we will be making sock monkeys!  i'm so excited!

photo of the day #168

sock monkey socks

as if finding those socks wasn't enough, my day was topped off with a visit to a delicious frozen yogurt place in edmond called orange tree.  the whole place is serve yourself.  you get a bowl and then choose from 10 or 12 different types of frozen yogurt.  

you can get as much or as little as you like.  {i got vanilla, peanut butter and cookies & cream!}  then  you move down the line to not one, but 2 topping bars!!!  the first one is all kinds of fruits and nuts, plus some gummie stuff.  the second one has all kinds of candy, cookies and brownies.

{i topped my yogurt off with reese's peanut butter cups, brownie chunks and oreos crumbles.} it was so yummy......i'm glad grandma and i decided to split a burger for supper, or i wouldn't have had room for all the delicious yogurt!

today spencer and i made a mad dash down to the other side of okc to go to this antique mall that had a billboard advertisement out on the turnpike.  i've noticed this sign before and wondered what it was like.  so today i found out.  it wasn't easy to find since i don't know my way around that area, and when we got there, i was extremely disappointed.  95% of the stuff was locked in glass cases, so what does that tell you?  expensive!!!

then we rushed back to edmond to meet mom and dad for a father's day lunch at charleston's. it was nice to hang out with them even if it was just for a little bit!

after that.......pool time at aunt carla's!  everyone was gone except for her youngest son {who was hanging out with grandma}, but carla said we could swim anyway.  so grandma, the 3 boys and i hung out at the pool for a couple of hours.  i absolutely love their pool!  i think we need one like that in OUR backyard!

photo of the day #169

me and my toes at carla's pool

spencer and ryan thought it would be fun to get in the hot tub, turn on the jets and inflate themselves!  spencer reminded me of violet on charlie and the chocolate factory!  she is the one who chewed the piece of gum that wasn't fully tested yet, and she turned into a blueberry!

now we're all home again.  the boys are watching hotel for dogs while daryl is watching tv in our room.  i'm glad we're all here.

quote of the day:  Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.  ~Henry James

hmmmmm.......

i wouldn't say today was boring.....it was just not exciting. 

slept late.  bought stuff for wednesday night meal.  cooked wednesday night meal.  taught bible class with only 2 boys in it. came home.

today was so not exciting that i had to find something to photograph so i'd have it for my photo of the day!  so i took a picture of my fingers and toes to show that my nail polish matches!  {i painted them a glittery orange this morning!}

photo of the day #167

matching nails

quote of the day:  "Your toenail polish and your fingernail polish HAVE to match if you're going to wear sandals or flip flops!!!"  ~a friend in Arkansas {giggle.}

new do!

photo of the day #166

no more long hair

i was tired of my long hair and being hot, so i got it all cut off today!  i didn't really have an idea of what i wanted except i knew i wanted it shorter.  kelly, the girl who cuts my hair, did a great job!   i think it looks cute.  colby said it's puffy!  whatever!  i'm a texas girl....i'm supposed to have big, puffy hair, right?

quote of the day:“Beauty isn't worth thinking about; what's important is your mind. You don't want a fifty-dollar haircut on a fifty-cent head.”

too many......

buttons!  i admit it.  i have a few too many buttons that i don't really need.  so tonight i purged my button stash.  i emptied each jar and examined every button, and i only kept the ones that were unique.

photo of the day #165

too many

quote of the day: Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.  ~Judy Garland {no, this has nothing to do with too many buttons!}

like mother, like son

well today was the big day spencer was supposed to go to church camp.  last night he started worrying about it so much that he cried himself to sleep.  we had him all packed and ready to go...we even took his stuff to church with us since they were leaving right after worship. but in the end, he decided not to go.  he said he just didn't want to be away from mom and dad that long.

daryl told him that he wasn't going to force him to go to camp, but if he didn't go to camp he was going to go somewhere.  spencer said that was totally fine.  i think deep down spencer thought daryl wouldn't stick to that.  so as soon as church was over this morning, daryl called his sister and convinced her to let spencer come hang out with them for the week!

spencer was not exactly thrilled with this new arrangement, but he made an agreement.  so i drove him to aunt carla's this afternoon and left him.  it was a very quiet ride from tulsa to edmond.  i thought he was asleep in the backseat, but he was just stewing.......

photo of the day #164

not a happy camper

not wanting to go anywhere away from home at this age is where spencer and i are exactly the same!  when i was a kid, i wouldn't even go spend the night at my grandparents' house who only lived 3o minutes away!  i didn't mind going to friends' houses, but that was the only place i'd go! i didn't go to church camp until i was in high school.  when i went away to college, i bawled that whole first night!

so i can completely empathize with spencer where daryl can't.  he was always the kind of kid who would jump at any opportunity to go.  i wonder what makes us so different.

needless to say it was difficult for me to say goodbye to spencer.  i don't want him to be sad and miserable.  but at the same time it makes my heart smile to know that he loves his family so much that he'd rather be with us.  i hope he always loves us that much.  i know i'll always love him.

quote of the day:  "There's nothing to do without Spencer." ~Colby

summer nights...

things were getting a bit too emotional around here tonight, so i decided we needed a distraction. {spencer is supposed to be leaving for camp tomorrow, and he's a bit scared.}

it was time for some oreos, and not just any oreos.......double stuf.  i poured 3 glasses of milk, grabbed the package of oreos, and told the boys to go out on the front sidewalk.  so we sat outside, ate our oreos, and watched lightning bugs!  what a great summer night.

photo of the day #163

oreos, boys and bugs

quote of the day:  "It's hard to hide the kid inside when you're crunchin' O-R-E-O." ~from an old Oreo commercial

yes!!!!!!

photo of the day #162

top score

ok.  this may not seem like a big deal to you, but this is a huge accomplishment for me.  today i finally beat my brother at bejeweled blitz!  every time i've gotten the top score, he has come right in and topped that!  it's so frustrating!  i was beginning to think i would never beat him!  but today i think i finally got him. of course in a few days the scores will be wiped out for the week, and i won't have my title anymore.  oh well, it was nice while it lasted!

quote of the day:  "Yes!!!!  I did it!  I beat Andy!" ~ me, shouting when I beat Andy's score today

back to life....

today i had my yearly "well woman" visit.  talk about fun!  

after that i went to wal-mart where colby spent most of his allowance that he's been saving up for a few weeks now.  guess what he bought?  pokemon cards.......no.  hot wheels cars............no.  a funny looking fish.........yes.  meet tiger.

photo of the day #161

tiger

colby even paid for the lovely neon pink sculpture to go in the small fish bowl.  he thought tiger needed something to swim through.

after we unloaded the groceries and got tiger all settled, the boys and i hung out at the pool for a couple of hours.  the water was much warmer than it was 2 weeks ago!

then i made tacos for supper, and we watched the movie parent trap on disney.  {there was NOTHING on tonight!}  just as the movie was getting to the happy-sappy ending, i felt something warm and wet underneath me.  i looked down, and colby had squirt on the couch playing with him.  i immediately knew why my right cheek was warming up!  

so of course i yelled, "colby!  squirt is peeing!!!!!  get him off the couch!!!!!"

and colby said, "how do you know?"

"because he's peeing on me!!!!!" i shouted.  sure enough that cute little guinea pig had somehow managed to pee on me, the couch and the blanket that was draped on the back of the couch!  what is it with our critters and using the bathroom????

quote of the day: Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things. ~Antonio Smith

catching up....

the last time i blogged was saturday, and we had just spent a wonderful day at hershey.

sunday wasn't as exciting.  we went to a small church in elizabethtown, pennsylvania.  everyone there was super friendly and welcoming.  the worship service was very relaxed and joyful {as it should be}.  after worship we had lunch and drove through amish country.  

since it was sunday, the amish people weren't doing anything.  we saw a few walking on the side of the road and some others in their carriages.  their farms and houses were something to see, though.  lush green fields and white houses with barns and silos dotted the land.

photo of the day #157

amish country

of course the boys were not thrilled with taking a sunday drive, so after a while we just went back to the hotel.  daryl took the boys down to the pool, and i took a much-needed nap!  then we had dinner and took the boys to see night at the museum.

monday morning we got up, had one last holiday inn express breakfast, and started the long journey back to oklahoma!  martha {our gps device} took us home by the northern route, and it was a lot less scenic.  it wasn't ugly or anything, but there weren't near as many mountains or valleys as the southern route through kentucky and west virginia.

the coolest part about this part of the trip was actually driving THROUGH the mountains!  that's right!  tunnels were built right through the mountains, and you had to drive in them.  you knew a tunnel was coming up because you would see road signs that read "remove sunglasses" or "stay in lane".

photo of the day #158

through the mountains

we stopped late that night somewhere in illinois to spend the night.

the next morning we were up again determined to drive the rest of the way home, even if it killed us!  

daryl had promised us we would stop at the arch in st. louis, and he stayed true to that promise. the closer we got to the arch, the more colby protested about going inside it!  he just kept saying, "i don't want to go. i don't want to go."

photo of the day #159

st. louis arch

as we were walking through the park to actually get up to the arch {you can't park close to it!} colby just kept stopping and saying, "i'm staying right here."  and we just kept walking, leaving him behind.  he'd run to catch up and then say again, "i'm staying right here."  we finally got up to the arch, and he leaned up against it and started knocking on it to make sure it was safe!!! and again he said, "i'm staying right here!"

of course he changed his mind and joined us on the journey to the top of the arch.

he was not thrilled about the ride though. he held on for dear life!  i was not so sure about the safety of our little capsule, either!  it was a bit claustrophobic in there.  imagine crawling into the drum of an over-sized dryer, and that's what it was like!  even i had to duck while we were riding in the capsule because it was so small!

once we got to the top, colby was just fine!  it was hard to believe we were 630 feet in the air!  the view from up there was incredible! i think spencer took more pictures than i did!

after the arch it was time for lunch and the last leg of our drive.  by that point we were all ready to be home.

that is why i was only allowed ONE stop at an antique store, so daryl said to make sure it was one i really wanted!  {how was i supposed to know if it was a good one until i went in?}  so i just looked for a big store!!!!  

as soon as we walked in, i heard that annoying alert from the emergency broadcast system coming from the store's radio.  my heart started pounding......."the national weather service in springfield, missouri has just issued a tornado warning for pulaski and lebanon counties until....."  i had no idea where in missouri we were, so i just marched up to the counter, butted in line and asked what county we were in!  the ladies in line and at the register asked what was announced on the radio, so i told them that pulaski and lebaNON counties were under a tornado warning.  can you believe that they actually had the nerve to correct my pronunciation of lebaNON to lebaNUN???? our lives were possibly on the line, and i could care less how to say the name of the county!!!  i just wanted to know if i was about to get blown away by a tornado!!!!!!!!!!!!

so as it turned out, the store was not in one of those counties, but they were the next counties on I-44.  we were headed straight for the storms.........so from springfield to the missouri/oklahoma border, i was armed with the missouri map and was actually tracking the tornadoes!  {i also had daryl's phone playing bookworm to distract me between tornado warnings!}

we drove through nearly every county that was under a tornado warning while the warning was still in effect!  needless to say, i was a tad bit uneasy during all of this, but i couldn't let the boys know that.  we would have had some major problems if they really knew how nervous i was!

after a long day in the car, we got home around 6:30 last night.  we got squirt and joey back from the howes, and then i just sat on the couch.  it was so nice to be home.

this morning daryl and spencer got rocky from the kennel.  he was more than happy to be home!!!  he wiggled and ran and jumped for several minutes after he came in the house!  when i picked him up, i noticed that i couldn't feel his ribs sticking out on the sides like i normally could.  then when i was rubbing his belly, i noticed he didn't feel as bony there either.  he had actually gained weight while we were gone! 

so i asked spencer what they'd fed rocky at the kennel, and he said we took his food.  oh my gosh!  have we been starving our poor little dog?  

another little change occurred while we were away.  the birds came back to the grill and built another nest!  only this time they were able to lay their eggs since daryl wasn't here to destroy their home!  maybe he'll be nice enough to let these eggs hatch before he demolishes the nest. {doubt it.}

photo of the day #160

the birds are back!

quote of the day:  "There's no place like home." ~Dorothy, Wizard of Oz