Puppy Power

Padme' travelled with us too! We dropped her off at the puppy hotel for a bath and a visit! She loves to sit in the front seat and watch traffic. What a sweet traveling companion!

Yes, I did!

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Oh yes, I did have them dress up like cows for free chicken! And on the road trip from Texas to Oklahoma we did stop by a 7-11 for a free Slurpee (or two). It was fun, the kids got their pictures taken, won a cow doll, a Chick-fil-A calendar and a few other goodies! It made the road trip to Oklahoma a little more entertaining!

Road Trip

We're headed to Oklahoma today for Ms. Pauline's memorial service. It's never a good day for a funeral!

Today is July 11th, or 7-11. That means it is the convenience store 7-11's birthday. So all day today 7-11s across the country will be giving out free Slurpees. Also, it is Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A. Which means if you dress like a cow you get free chicken. So I've been teasing the kids that on the way to Oklahoma they can have all the Slurpees & Chicken they want, if they'll wear cow masks! Abigail thinks it's a great idea. Frankie and Jess are not thrilled!

I read my post to Jon this morning, and asked, 'cute?'. He's reply was, 'when you start out with a funeral, it's hard to follow up with anything funny!' He cracks me up!

WALL*E

Today was a laid back day the kids enjoyed playing and I worked on the Bible lessons for camp. For lunch we went to the Studio Move Grill and had pizza and watched WALL•E. It was a cute movie, no overtly political message other that we need to be responsible humans to the planet we live on. It had a hilarious cast of characters including a pet cockroach, and a heroic team of malfunctioning misfit robots. Good vs. Evil, and good prevails. It also had great music, the soundtrack to this will be fab. Oh, if your looking for some really great music, Starbucks has a new CD of Frank Sinatra's favorites. I picked one up for Jon the other day, really soul-ful, great sound!

Kung Fu Cousins

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The boys . . . where do I start! Today was the last day of the service camp that Jess and Caleb were attending. They went to the home of a single mom of four small pre-school children. They did a ton of yard work, mowing, trimming, weeding etc. Like the other days, when their service was done, then they played. They went to the mall and saw Kung Fu Panda. I stuck a camera in the boys back pack in case they wanted to take any photos. Jess took pictures of Caleb up to no good on the bus ride to the movie. He also to pictures of Caleb, Ian, Hayden & Andrew in front of the panda display. The only photo of Jess was a picture of the top of his foot, he took himself!

The boys are having a great time. They are worn out, but having a ball. The last two nights Jess and Caleb have gone to bed by 9:30pm on their own. Richard has already invited Jess and Caleb over for Sunday to have a light saber war!

Run Forrest, I Mean Abs, Run

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This morning we dropped Caleb and Jess off for the 6th-8th grade work camp at the church building. The boys went to Hilltop Haven, a local Church of Christ nursing home. They visited residence and played bingo with them. They also ate lunch at Hilltop Haven. In the afternoon they went to Strikz and played five games of Laser Tag.

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While the boys were busy doing their good deeds, the girls and I stopped by the middle school near the church building. They have a really nice running track that is open to the public during the summer. Abigail loves to run! She has always had amazing endurance, not supper speed, but great endurance. Abigail, Frankie and I did four laps on the 1/4 mile track. We were barely in the car before she starts telling me should could run even longer if she had an Mp3 player with Hannah Montana tunes! After our run we did a few errands then took in the children's movie at Studio Movie Grill. They were playing Happy Feet, it's a cute little movie. Focus on the Family says, the movie implies "If only mankind would go away, they seem to be saying, then all the creatures of the world could be happy and live in harmony." It is political with the evil white man and the virtuous 'nature' theology. It's frustrating when these views are thrust in what should be a cute children's film. If we were seeing 'Chronicles of Narnia' I would expect theological undertones, but in a movie called, 'Happy Feet.'?

Jess' Visit

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The boys participated in the Jr. High Work Camp today. They washed cars for elderly members of the congregation. Following the work portion, the kids ate lunch and then went to Strikz to go bowling and play arcade games. Once the boys came home they played board games including Clue, Monopoly, and Twister. Sissy was the only one interested in playing Abigail's Hannah Montana game with her. While the girls played Hannah Montana, the boys played Stratego.

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Jon took me to the oral surgeon today, insurance requires pre-authorization to cover the surgery. He will be removing my wisdom teeth next Wednesday, July 16th. I'm past ready to at least have the cracked one removed, but I guess I'm the only one in a hurry! hmmm!

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Jess asked how long he gets to stay, I told him I would love for him to just move-in and he could do 6th grade with Caleb. Jess said OK. He would let Roosevelt Elementary know that he's not coming back. I'm not sure Aunt Sherrell will go for that! Caleb thinks it's a great idea, he wouldn't be surrounded by girls!

Kirkwood Kids

This was a good photo Jon took of the Kirkwood grandkids with Granny (Minga) & Donnie. This photo was taken on the 5th, the kids got up early and helped Donnie clean up the yard from all the fireworks. Then Jon took them to the batting cages to hit a few balls. Jon and the kids came home last night.

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We're excited that Jess came to Texas to visit for a while. If BJ wasn't still playing ball, we would have been thrilled to have him here with us too. The 'old' cousins are having fun together. After services this morning the boys helped me with lunch then they played Play Station, Battleship, Monopoly, etc. It's fun to watch them play together, it's like the boys have never been separated. Jess is adjusting to my kids going to bed around 9pm and getting up at 6:45am. He said if left alone he would probably sleep until 11am or so!

Mimi Pauline

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Mimi Pauline went to be the Lord in the wee hours of this morning. God allowed her to slip away quietly in her sleep. Our prayers and thoughts are with Miss Janice as she travels to Oregon to be with her brother for a memorial service there. We will celebrate her life with a graveside service in Tulsa when Janice returns. My children are blessed to be growing up with faithful Christian grandparents on both sides of our family. Heaven's doors must be swelling with Nana and Grandaddy, and Wallace and now Mimi Pauline. Pauline was a wonderful blessing to our family. Not only did she serve as a wonderful example for the kids. As a Christian author her 30+ works will serve as her legacy. She also blessed each of the three kids with college funds. Someday they will understand how blessed they were to know her.

Born on the 4th of July

Happy 4th to everyone!

Jon and the kids are with family in Oklahoma for the 4th. I choose to stay home with Padme'. I'm headed to the oral surgeon on Monday to have my wisdom teeth removed. I stayed here to get things in order for next week.

It's a blessing that it is summer time. I'm still trying to decide on curriculum for the coming school year. Middle school, ugh! So many choices.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday!