Disney on Ice

This past Sunday at church the woman I was sitting next to asked if I'd ever taken Leta to Disney on Ice at the State Fair and how much she thought she would love it.  I'd never taken Leta before (we have sleeping schedules to keep after all!!) but she mentioned that they did some matinees.  During nap time that day I spontaneously decided to look at the schedule.  It turned out the only time that would work for us was that evening at 5:30.  I quickly bought two tickets and waited for nap time to be over (even though Leta didn't nap that day).

Luke was sad to find that he had to stay home and this would be a fun trip for "Just the Girls", but a promise of watching a movie at home that night pacified him somewhat.  Leta was very excited to go and on the car ride over was very concerned as to why we were not there yet.  On the walk through the park she was very concerned that we were missing the movie and that it maybe had already started and we were missing it.

We got to the area and got something to eat and went and found our seats.  There are no bad seat in the arena, but ours certainly weren't GOOD seats.  We waited until the show started and we moved over to some empty seats.  There were plenty to be found.

Leta LOVED it soooo much.  There were 3 stories, first the Princess and the Frog, Cinderella, and Tangled (or according to Leta, Miss Punzel, the MOVIE!)  In between each story Minnie and Mickey Mouse came out to entertain.    Leta sat in my lap almost the whole time and was completely enthralled.  After every song or big dance movie, she would clap her hands as loudly as she could and yell, "Yay!" or "Yay Cinderalla!" (or who ever else might need cheering for).

After we arrived home late (for Leta) (after some drama with getting the car unlocked in the parking lot) I told Kyle that I thought it had been the best night of Leta's life...no exaggeration.  And it was THE MOST FUN I can remember having....in a LONG time.  It was so much fun to see HER having so much fun and enjoying the "movie".  It's definitely top 10 best nights EVER.  (including wedding, 3 births and Christmas'!)  I'm so glad we went.

I'm not very good at going and doing special things with the kids, in part because they're so young, but it's something I want to improve upon.  With all the blessings of living in a first world country and having plenty and excess, I really don't want my children to just have more and more things.  I need to shift my focus to experiences that we can share and memories that we can make together and let those things be our gifts to each other.  And this night with Leta?  Probably my favorite gift of all time.


Oh, and on a tangent...can I just say...the people at the state fair? Oh my.  There are no words.  The theme at the State Fair this year was Home Grown Fun, and let me tell you, there was some Home Growin' going on.

Seen and Heard

Me to Leta: Marlie is here.  She's outside in the driveway.
Leta: Yay!  She will hold hand with me and turn in circles!

Later that morning Me to Leta: Come on Leta, we have to take Luke to school.
Leta: Why?
Me: Because it's his school day and we have to take him there.
Leta:. BUT HE'S MY MAN!

She had picked out a dress to wear that morning and declared herself Cinderella....so maybe all of this is connected?  I don't know.

My Update!

This is where you can quit reading if you want ;)  This summer I have been chasing kids, going to the lake and skipping runs!

Running: Acually, I think I did alright keeping up with my running.  I didn't have any races scheduled and it was SO HOT, and it's summer!  I did run a couple of times in Nebraska and I always run when I'm at the lake (Hello hills!).  But I did skip quite a few runs and I didn't do hardly any long runs.  I was lucky to get 12-18 miles per week this summer.  One week I logged 6 miles.  That's 1 run.  BUT now temperatures are cooling off in the mornings and I've registered for 3 half marathons in the coming months...and my runs and long runs are happening again!  I'm finding it much easier to get out of bed to run knowing it's not going to be pushing 90* (at 6:30am!) and I have something I'm training for.  My next race is October 14th just outside of Joplin, MO.  I'm running in the Mother Road Marathon ( just the half). This is a pretty neat race, where if you're running the full marathon you will run through three states (OK, KS, and MO) before it's finished.  But if you're just running the half like me, you'll just run through 2 states. My friend, Shanna, is going to come with me.  We'll leave Saturday during nap time so I can pick up my packet before 8pm and come home late Sunday night after some Joplin fun on Sunday after I run.  My long run yesterday ended up being 10.25 mi. so I'm in good shape for getting in some decent miles before next month.  I've taken to doing my long runs down Hiawasee.  I drive the 1.5mi. to the 33rd/Hiawassee intersection and then take off.  I feel very impressed with myself when I can say  I "ran to Jones!". My yearly milage total is just over 600 miles, and with 4 months to go, I really hope I can hit 1000 miles.  I don't think I will, but it will be fun to see how close I can get!  Now I'll really regret skipping those runs this summer!

Body & Soul:  We had out fall workshop and I've learned my new routines and the fall session has started.  It's nice to take all the kids with me because after class we can now stay and play on the church playground with the other kids instead of rushing straight home.

Allergies: If you hadn't stopped reading yet, I bet you wish you had now!  I'm doing an allergy therapy treatment that is supposed to cure me of my allergies (the ones I'm being treated for anyway).  It's supposed to take 3-5 years with benefits noticeable around 6 months, so I will update you on if they're working for me.  It's supposed to have an 85% success rate, so let's hope I'm in that 85%!  On my first appointment (45 minutes away! ugh!) they tested me for the 50 most common allergens in Oklahoma (not the full 400 like in a full blown scratch test!)  They tested me for molds and air born allergens and animals and of the 50 things...I'm allergic to 27 things.  Lots of molds, dirt, tons of trees and weeds and cats.  I'm not allergic to cows, but I am allergic to cockleburs DAD! thanks for making me walk all those beans!  Anyway.  Now that we know what I'm allergic to, I have vials of solutions with these allergens in them that I will have injected into my arms every other day for 4 months and then twice a week after that.  But since I'm extra lucky and allergic to both molds and air born allergens I get TWO shots every other day.  I will get my first 3 initial sets of shots (they don't hurt at all, these are the tinniest needles ever...and I've done 2 sets) at the clinic and then the rest will be at home.  Kyle had to come with me to my last appointment to be trained on giving me these shots.  After being miserable seasonally (spring and fall in Oklahoma) for as long as I can remember, I am really hoping I see some benefit from the treatments.  My allergies have been restrictive to my life and activities and at times limit where I will go (houses with cats are usually a no no!).  Hopefully that will be behind me or much improved.

Max Update!

Max: Max turned 1 this summer and totally lucked out and had his birthday party when my mom was here for a visit so she, Grandma Key, and Marjorie got to come, which was special. Max should feel special just getting a first birthday party since Leta didn't get one at all!  A few days before his first birthday Max took his first steps and hasn't looked back since.  He enjoyed practicing walking and just kept trying and trying until all he does now is walk and walk fast!  I've decided Max didn't get the memo that he's a baby and has decided he's about 3 or so!  He can climb up the ladder and go down the slide all by himself on our outdoor playset.  He has started picking up some sign language, which is nice, but he's not consistent yet and uses the same sign for food and drink and uses it even if he's not hungry or thirsty!  He loves outside and enjoys following the "big kids" around.  Max has gotten quite loud and demanding.  He hollers and screams quite a bit for the fun of it and to get our attention.  I'm also a little concerned that maybe he enjoys getting his had swatted....it doesn't seem to be a deterrent for him at all.  We could have our hands full with this little guy!  He has recently started "talking" on the phone. My old cell phone is now a toy for the kids and Max hold his to his ear and babbles and grunts his gibberish and really enjoys himself.  Too cute.  He is down to one nap a day, which is my favorite schedule by far to be on.  It makes going and doing so much easier.  Now that Luke is in school I can take Leta and him to the library for their ages 0-2 storytime.  He didn't seem all that impressed but Leta LOVED it.  Any place where people sing songs and want her to participate is right up her ally.  Max enjoyed the free play time at the beginning, though.  He can't sit still for anything.  Maybe we will see some improvements in that area with the help of this library time.

Leta Update!

Leta: Leta is growing and changing and while she is still a baby...no? okay, still a toddler, there is some "kid" peeking through, too.  She is talking and talking and talking!  My kids have A LOT to say.  She is still hot and cold with most people.  She'll love you one time when she sees you and the next she won't have anything to do with you and how dare you even TALK to her, much less LOOK at her.  It takes a while to get into her "inner circle".  She is strong willed, like Luke, but in different ways.  She is much more willing to stand up for herself and in social situations SHE will be an instigator and sometimes even a bit of a bully, which Luke is NEVER that way (except with her ;-P )  She plays with Luke almost always and us good to go along with his ideas, which is perfect for him since he really likes to be the boss, but she does her own thing plenty, too.  She loves to play with her babies and "Soft Baby" is definitely the favorite.  Both Thursdays that Luke has been in Pre-K, we've had at home and spent the morning outside playing.  Both times we've taken walks up and down the street in our neighborhood and we both have to take our strollers with our soft babies (Max is mine!)  Early this summer Leta became quite enamored with the book Miss Nelson is Missing.  In fact, it was the only book she read for over 2 weeks.  The. Only. Book.  She is enamored, in particular, with Miss Swamp.  She can pick up quoting the book any place you leave off, she plays Miss Swamp, wanders around quoting Miss Swamp, and when she's really trying to push Luke's buttons, she will say, "Lukey you LOVE Miss Viola Swamp!"  It gets him riled up every time!  And once when she decided she was upset with my friend, Shanna, for some imagined infraction, she said, "YOU Miss Viola Swamp!"  She is going to be Miss Nelson dressed as Miss Swamp for Halloween.  I hope.  I'm going to try.  A much more recent fascination has happened with Rapunzel, or as Leta calls her Miss Punzel.  We have to check out a different version of the story every time we go to the library and she is quite fascinated by the evil witch (of course).  Due to her love of Miss Punzel, I bought her the movie Tangles so now she has "Miss Punzel the MOVIE!!!"  She is very disappointed that she doesn't go to school and asks every school day if she can go. There are usually tears when the answer is no.

Luke Update!

Luke: Luke is very excited to turn 5.  He still very much likes cars and trains, but he is now expanding his horizons.  He also likes dinosaurs now.  He is very creative and spends a lot time pretending.  He is also full of ideas and is always thinking of things to build or ways something could/should be done.  He just might be an inventor one day.  He has known all summer that he was to go to Pre-Kindergarten this year.  At the beginning of summer, he was not excited about this at all and would say, "school is fun, but I would just rather stay home with you, Mommy."  Then he somehow found out or realized you got recess at school, which made him sing a different tune.  Now he was EXCITED to go to school, "I didn't know you still got to PLAY  at school!"  But as the first day of school drew near, he went back to not wanting to go. He just wanted to stay home.  Then we had a Meet the Teacher event and then he was nothing but pumped and hasn't looked back. He loves school and is always excited to find out that the next day is a school day.  He goes three mornings per week, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 9:15-11:45.  His favorite thing about school is recess.  Ms. Kaycie and Ms. Brenda are nice and he likes that you get to play when you first get there.  He hasn't really made any friends yet, and still mostly plays by himself he says, but he's new and is still learning names.  He's doing really well.  Luke has also gotten a new nap time.  2:30-3:30.  Since Max goes down at 1 and Leta 1:30, there is an hour every day that's just him and me.  We've played a lot of Sorry! and Uno and Hi Ho Cherry-O.

Kyle Update!

Kyle: As always, Kyle has been very busy.  He really expanded our garden this year and did quite a lot with that this summer.  We've enjoyed a few strawberries, corn, edamame,and WATERMELLON!  Our watermelons were hit and miss this year.  Early in the season they were cracking and exploding in the garden, but Kyle got that worked out and then we had just some REALLY good watermelons.  We had more than we knew what to do with, so we gave some to friends, neighbors and our small group members.  Kyle has also decided (well, we have I guess) to sell the lake house.  Kyle ends up with a lot more "chores" because of it that he really doesn't have time for, so he's been working on that lately, too.  Also, hunting season is right around the corner so he has been busy setting up deer feeders and cameras and all other such things the Native Americans would have scoffed at, but are "necessities".  I have to admit, the pictures from the cameras are really neat and every time he goes to fill deer feeders, he brings back new images for us.  We have seen deer (of course), wild hogs (those things are UGLY! and in the world of hogs, that's really saying something!!), and A BEAR!  Well, there are so many wild hogs, and even more have been attracted due to the feeders that he went on a "church guys" hog hunt to try to get rid of them and then on 2 (including this weekend) trips they have worked on building hog traps.  We'll see how that turns out.

Pictures of Summer 2012