Girl Time

Baylor Boo spent the night with Abs. With Jess being here for three weeks, Abs was ready for some girl time. We hung out at the pool, played PlayStation, and watched Hannah Montana. Caleb spent the night with Blake for more boy time.

'Board' Meeting

While the boys went to Oklahoma to watch BJs game, the girls went with me to our home school groups Board of Director's meeting. The kids enjoyed swimming and diving. After the meeting, I enjoyed a little hot tub time while chatting with Donna. Who knew a 'board' meeting meant 'diving board.' I bet we would have more volunteers, if they only knew!

BJ's Tournament

Jon drove Jess back to Oklahoma in time to see his brother, our other nephew, play ball in a tournament. BJ's school is a 4A team but played up to the 6A division and did fairly well. My understanding that was in the double-elimination play-off they won four games. Jess and Caleb enjoyed the game, and judging by Caleb's cheek, they enjoyed some sunflower seeds too!

'Fun'-tastic Friday

Jess & Caleb participated in Fun-tastic Friday today with the other 6th-8th graders at church. They broke up into teams and competed in a game called BIGGER or Better. Each team began with one penny and had an hour and a half to trade for something BIGGER or Better. They had to make at least five trades. The winner would be the team with the BIGGEST or Best item at the end.

1. Caleb and Jess' team traded their penny for $1 with a lady at CVS.
2. Traded the $1 for a can of pineapples at a ladies house.
3. Traded pineapples for a large can of sliced tomatoes.
4. Traded the tomatoes for a carton of mangoes.
5. Traded two mangoes for a large pizza.

So their final items were a carton of mangoes (minus 2) and a Large Pizza. The winning team's trades went like this:

1. They traded the penny for a carton of Dr. Pepper with the Dr. Pepper guy at Quik Trip.
2. Traded the carton of Dr. Pepper for $70 with a guy driving a Hummer at a construction site.
3. Traded the $70 for an ice chest full of drinks and snacks with a realtor at an Open House.
4. Traded the ice chest for 3 brand new remote control cars.
5. Traded the remote control cars for a TV with DVD player.

Only in Plano, in 90 minutes could you go from one cent to a TV with DVD player, . . . oh, oh and they got the 'Over the Hedge' DVD too! After our BIGGER or Better game we watched 'The Bee Movie' and finished the day with a game of Killer.

More Kids, More Fun!

Donna was right, apparently I have lost my mind, after all they did remove all my 'wisdom' teeth! I thought it would be a great idea to finish off Jess' visit with a trip to Six Flags, a week after having oral surgery! CRAZY! It was 102 degrees outside, very humid, and lots of people! We arrived when the gates opened, the kids rode rides, I walked them from ride to ride. Then I rode the TEACUPS with Abigail and fainted!!!! Did I mention, I passed out on the TEACUPS!!!! I spent 2 hours in the first-aid trailer, while Frankie, Jess, Caleb & Abigail wandered Six Flags!!! Apparently it takes 2 to 3 weeks for anesthesia to get out of your body. Once I left the first aid trailer, I met up with the kids and we continued on through the park. I didn't ride any other rides! What I learned from this experience:

1. Six Flags has very comfortable, adjustable beds!
2. It's easier to spend 10 hours at Six Flags if you have a 2 hour nap in the middle of your visit!
3. If you are in first-aid and your kids are starving because you are sound asleep, a really nice EMT will give them food vouchers!

Happy Birthday, Jon!

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Everyone who knows us, know that we celebrate birthdays with breakfast in bed. Before you're too impressed, know that breakfast can be anything the birthday person wants! Jon's birthday are always every one's favorite! He has a HUGE sweet tooth! For breakfast we had Ho-Ho's, Strawberry Shortcake Rolls and Dr. Pepper, at 6:15am while Jon opened his presents.

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Poor Jess, is still adjusting to our quirky antics! I think he's having the hardest time with our singing in the car. We ALL sing, very loudly, to usually weird Cd's, like 'Bob & Larry Sing the 70's' or 'Beethoven's Wig.' Jess just stares out the window! I have caught him clapping along a couple of times!

Pool Time

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I had lofty expectations of going to the Dallas Museum of Art today, as you can see above, we didn't make it. Donna teased me yesterday that it was obvious I had my 'wisdom' teeth removed if less than a week after oral surgery I took four children to the zoo! Today I was a grumpy gus, we all agreed the pool was a better option! It was amusing that we arrived at the pool in time for the :30 minute 'adult swim.' That means no kids in the pool, only moms! Jess, Caleb & Abigail shot at me with water guns! No worries, me and my Mp3 just floated on! We did play a little basketball later (girls won!). When Jon came home he took the kids to the ballpark to hit some balls.

Wild Thing!

We had the best trip to the Dallas Zoo today. They have recently remodeled the Children's Zoo. They have added a section called the Underzone. Kids can crawl through a burrow and pop-up in a safety bubble, eye level with a family of dwarf mongoose. There is also a new Bird Landing where children can feed live worms or seeds to birds from around the world.
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Caleb brought his calcite geode to the Nature Exchange. He's been working on getting enough points to exchange for a beautiful Tiger Cowrie shell ever since he read the book, The Secret of the Golden Cowrie. Today he finally had enough points! Abigail traded up for a sand dollar and Jess picked up two crystals.
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If you haven't checked out the new Zoo Rangers, they are a must! It is a super cool hand held GPS system, with a 4" LCD screen. It knows where you are in the zoo, and gives you great details from the zoo keepers. There are even fun Q&A's for the children after each section of the zoo. I only heard two references to evolution and billions of years, but if your kids have a Biblical Worldview they will dismiss it. But overall it was an awesome asset to the zoo experience!

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Oh, we cooled off at the pool after the zoo, with another rousing round of 'drown the cousin.' Then Jon took the boys to the Little League Majors All-Star game tonight.

Sunday Swim

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With my oral surgery last week, there has been nothing worth posting. The posts would read, 'slept 12 hours today, (without pain meds) wore ice packs, rinsed with salt water, took anti-biotics' . . . not real exciting.

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Since today was 3rd Sunday, we had Life Groups tonight. We had our Bible study at the Cooper's and then the kids enjoyed their pool. While the grown ups enjoyed dinner and good conversation. I skipped Life Group tonight, smiling & talking are two things that hurt. They are also two things that definately happen when we get together at Life Group.

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Jess, our nephew, is back with us for this week. I'm hoping to take the kids to the zoo tomorrow. It will be nice to get out of the house and enjoy some sunshine.

Happy Birthday to my Mom!

Today my mom turns . . . Today is my mom's birthday. She is in Maryland with my Grandmother and her brothers enjoying a wonderful birthday. We recently took the photo to the right of the three generations of hands. It's neat to see the 'journey' in the lines on my mom's hand. My hands have the age spots and Frankie & Abigail's hands have that beautiful 'new' skin.

Let anyone who lacks wisdom (teeth), . . . nap!

Ok, here you go, Sissy took the photo! This morning the oral surgeon cut out my three wisdom teeth. He also put in an abutment that he will use to attach a prosthesis in a few weeks. I had lost a tooth a year (or so) ago that turned out to be a baby tooth with no adult tooth under it. So the surgeon took care of that as well. Do you like the chubby chipmunk cheeks? My paperwork says, 'most swelling peaks between 48-72 hours and then will slowly decrease.' I can't imagine them swelling any more than they are right now!

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I have wonderful friends! Ms. Donna took the children for today. I think she was taking them to Studio Movie Grill to see Charlotte's Web. Ms. Amanda brought by a delicious looking caserole, salad & gingerbread for the family, and some nutrition drinks for me! What a blessing!

Water Babies

We enjoyed a trip to the pool today. Armed with water guns and sun screen we had a big time! They are all good swimmers, it was fun to see that none of them are afraid of the deep end.

Splish Splash!

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Today we joined the Terry's for a little slip n' slide action in their back yard. They slid, did flips and had all kinds of fun. Lunch was filled with all those cool things we only get to eat with friends, you know, corn dogs, cookies, Cheetos! Mom's enjoyed great conversation and 'Crazy Uncle Leon!' Caleb announced last week that Ms. Hannah had all the character traits he would be looking for in a mate when he gets older. Jon said that we've got to be related to any family that has a 'Crazy Uncle Leon.'

On the Road, Again

Notice all the Longhorn hand signs, by all the kids except the Oklahoma boy!

Oklahoma Weather

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We had planned to drive back to Texas on Saturday, but the Oklahoma weather had different plans. Saturday evening it began to pour down rain, with flash flood warnings. We stayed an extra day at the hotel and drove back the following day. I like the picture with Abigail sleeping on Jess' lap. He is getting used to having a 'sister' who needs to snuggle at least once during the day. It's so cute because when she was a baby, she would always curl up with Jess' big brother BJ this way!

3 Little Cousins, Swimmin' in the Water

We arrive in Tulsa a little early. The kids played in the pool at the hotel. They played Marco Polo, Duck Duck Goose, and drown the cousin!