Ten on Wednesday

Let's see, I wonder how long it has been since I did a Ten on Tuesday post... in any case, I think I'm turning the mental corner back towards crafting, writing, etc... instead of just reading in all spare moments. Only time will tell if as I do tend to shift back and forth.

1.  Yes, I have completed my December Daily--- I documented all the way through January 3rd!  I "may" take pictures of the days from Dec. 22-Jan 3rd... but we shall see. At the moment, I'm happy to close the book on that project. I do like the neat row of December Daily albums and love looking through them with our kids.

2. Swimming- over Christmas break, B was promoted from "Sapphire" to "Ivory."  The good news is he is getting faster and it is a big deal to move up a level. It does mean one extra additional day of practice a week (for a total of five) and, of course, the distances in practice get longer and the time to complete the sets get shorter.  So far, due to weather and holidays we haven't actually had a five days of practice week and I'm guessing it won't happen this week (probable ice storm) or next (his birthday party).  So maybe we'll make it there before the end of the short course season. He does happily still seem to really enjoy it and improved his times in the most recent race.

3. Horses -  riding - this remains M's activity of choice/passion/one true love.  Grandma gifted her with Holly Jolly Horse Camp as her Christmas present and she adored every bit.  She loved mucking out stalls almost as much as riding and was a font of new information each day.  She continues to take lessons for an hour a week and would probably live in the horse barn if that were an option. Her Christmas was filled with lots of horse related items and she spent her Christmas money on even more horse toys.  Obsession! I'm glad that she has found something she loves.

4. E - E does not have any activities per se.  He does really like snuggling me and we emphasized doing that part of every day of break.  He is also pretty fond of his hot wheel cars/tracks and all the newly aquired nerf guns.  Lately, he has persuaded B to read him a book in bed each night, which is tremendously adorable. I love the way our children's relationships are growing of late.  E is VERY tired in the morning as we shift back to school.  We all got pretty used to sleeping in.  I hear he has taken up napping at school, which is good for everyone. He is very sweet and polite right now, which is awesome---- save for when he is not, of course.

5. Brent is heading in to a harder semester.  He has more students in his classes than usual and more sections of his classes/labs than is normal.  Also, this is the spring semester which means he is also trying to plan and set up all the camps for the summer. Usually sometime around March I can feel the stress ratcheting up.  It is not fun.  Maybe this year will be better/easier as they have done it more than once now? It is tricky.

6. My big project for the last six months (off and on) has been helping with my job's search for its next president.  We locked that down last week in a flurry of last minute things.  Now, I'll move to help with the transition along with my normal load.  I did get a big raise and a slightly new title as the year begin, which is awesome.  I'm also doing the Yoga Revolution - 31 days of Yoga series.  I'm about 2 days behind due to our journey to Tulsa over the weekend, but finding it challenging and just the right length for a daily practice.

7.  Disney World - We are going to Disney World for Spring Break.  I'm not quite sure how we're getting there yet, but may actually be driving as the plane tickets are obscene, and hey, we should show the kids more of the country, right? Planning has been a bit more involved than I anticipated, but the kids helped pick out what rides they most wanted to do (and get FastPasses) for yesterday so progress is being made.  It feels a little overwhelming as a new to the Disney universe person, but this is going to be tons of fun, right?

8. Gather - my one little word for 2017 is going to be "Gather." It came to me as I reflected on the many holiday gatherings we had and how much I enjoyed them. It is my element and a strength.  Prior one little words have often been areas that I need to focus work on to improve or change.  This one is about embracing something that is so essentially me.  Looking to 2017, I'm playing to my strengths---gathering hope, courage, bravery, perseverance, people, knowledge, inspiration, challenges, opportunities, new experience and adventures and more.  I've begun by signing up for the Oklahoma Policy Institute's State Budget Summit to try and learn more about the Oklahoma budget I so often rail against.  I'm planning to be much more active this legislative session.  I'm also going to look for ways to gather people to our house as much as possible, and much more.

9.  Tulsa Trip - We flew out the door to Tulsa Friday afternoon on the idea that it might be better to drive on the snow while the sun was up and other people were driving than it would be to leave on hard frozen streets at like 6 am.  B had a swim meet in Tulsa and we had planned a weekend with the Wainrights.  So as soon as I finished the post-president electing debriefs with my colleagues we rushed out the door. We arrived in the middle of a game night with their friends and stayed until almost noon on Sunday.  Chrissie watched our younger kids while Brent and I went to the swim meet with B.  We played games, crafted, watched random shows on Netflix, read, snuggled kids, and then did it all again.  The weekends we spend with them whether at our house or theirs are a great blessing and truly relaxed and wonderful.  I feel so lucky to have their entire family be close to our entire family.  SO amazing. I'm already looking forward to whenever we manage to do it again!

10.  Babies -

Alice - is not yet here.  Kari's due date was earlier this week and we're all anxiously awaiting Alice's arrival.  I am irrationally excited about snuggling our very first niece and about all the fun to come. She will likely arrive by the 17th if not earlier!

Thatcher - My sister is also pregnant and has settled on a name for our sixth nephew.  I have no idea what it will be like to have two family babies again, especially so close in age! I am beyond thrilled that they will get to grow up together and we'll get to be a frequent presence in their lives.  Thatcher is scheduled to arrive in late March/early April so all the cousin fun and snuggling is just beginning!

Ten on Wednesday

 1.  Last week, the big kids didn't have school on Monday.  My leave request had gotten lost in the email so they had a lot of time on their own. I was surprised to discover M doing a science experiment at the table during one of my check-ins.  We took it up a notch and read the instructions, moved to the stove, and actually managed to successfully grow some crystals by the next day.

 2.  Girl Scouts has returned.  The first meeting was long and a little chaotic, but the troop leader is nice and there is a good group of girls so we're looking forward to a fun year.  M is still attending Girl Scouts at SEAS, but this may be the last year as after this the logistics/missed class time will likely tip the balance towards another troop.  In the meantime, she is having a great time doing crafts, learning core values, and making friends!

 3.  I read somewhere that a great way to reduce fits/improve behavior is to dedicate 20 minutes to playing with your kid on the floor daily.  This seems easy and something we're probably doing anyway, but I am making a conscious effort to make sure E is getting at least that in a super focused, no distractions way. I have have zero clue if it is working, but it is definitely entertaining and fun.  Last week, we spent the better part of an hour with him jumping off this ladder on to his bed.  Per his request I did video most of his attempts so he could watch the replay.

 4.  We took a whirlwind trip to the farm this weekend and it was great weather for it.  The kids spent a lot of time with the chickens and tree house, but also made fun gourd crafts.  M made 3! and the boys each made one of their own design.

 5.  E & Ro are adorable together.  They spent a lot of time with their tools, adventuring, and doing puzzles in the tents.  There was remarkably less fighting and more cooperation.  (Hooray!)

 6.  E specifically requested this photo with the chickens.  He is a big fan.  I got to spend a lot of extra time with him on Friday as he was randomly out of school.  I have no idea what families where both parents have normal jobs do with all these random days off.  I assume daycare or Grandma? In any case, glad I could be here with him.

 7.  M has a new "spelling menu" of activities to work on.  The first option was writing her spelling words in shaving cream and she loved it.  B would not have liked this as sensory play was not his favorite.  M could recall all other instances when she has done things with shaving cream and loves it.  The spelling menu is in addition to her "homework menu", monthly family projects, and daily XtraMath.  She has WAY more homework than Brendan does.  It is annoying.  She does need the extra time with her math facts, but some of the other stuff just feels like busy work.

 8.  M and I love fall mornings outside.  It isn't nearly as cold as her outfit would suggest.  We wandered the gardens, checked on our plants and faeries, and then sat on the porch and talked before she got in a little scooter time.  I adore our yard and it's quite wood.  Perfect for M & me!  (I should mention that Grandma loves to do all these things with her in the mornings too and is usually around a couple days of the week to lead morning adventuring).

9.  B sustained his first (very minor) swimming injury yesterday.  First, you need to know that he and the other boys in Onyx are racing at all times during practice. I don't think this is required, but who am I to say.  There is a staggered start for each length of the pool, but they battle to catch the people ahead of them before they reach the end. Over and over and over, for 45 minutes (with only a couple rests to put on flippers or get instruction).  When every length is a battle it was only a matter of time before someone got kicked in the face and yesterday was that day.  He is totally fine and definitely likes the race to the wall with every lap so kuddos to him.  We did mention watching out for other people's feet/bodies and making sure that they are doing what the coaches want. He is sore daily, but always happy to go and happy when he gets out of the water.  Love this.  (Ps. doesn't waiting at the bus stop with these two look fun?)

10. After heading back from the farm on Saturday, we went straight to "International Night" at OSSM.  It is always hard to leave the farm, but I'm glad we made it back for this event.  It features the food of all the countries where OSSM students and their families have roots.  This year, each table had a host family/theme country.  Yes, there were  some straight "America" tables, but a wide diversity of other countries too. The food is amazing and very authentic and the conversations both with other people and with our kids is great.  This year, there was even a short Irish Stepdance performance on the balcony.  This is probably the biggest event of the fall semester at OSSM and getting larger and better each year. I look forward to enjoying it again next fall.

Ten on Tuesday

1. If you know me, you know how I love/tend to overbook us in all ways possible because everything sounds like so much fun, right? Well, Saturday was booked full from about 11am onward.  On Thursday or Friday, Brent's back had started hurting and got worse by the day.  To the point where I was helping him up from sitting positions, consistently, etc... We took this as a message to scale back the rest of the weekend.  We did all the Saturday things -- hair apt. and yoga for me, birthday part for E's friend, riding lessons for M, and then bailed on the Girl Scout party and hung out at the neighborhood pool instead.  After that, we pretty much dialed back to not much so he could rest and we could all mentally rest after chaos behind and looking ahead of us.  We went to the pool every evening as part of our good byes as it has been such a constant to us this summer. We tossed E high in the air I got to swim actual laps (20 one day!). We did other little house projects like replacing some window screens.  We rested.  With a new chair, meds, and rest, Brent's back is MUCH better and I think so are all of us.

2. Sunday's one activity (other than the pool) was breakfast out as we were out of coffee and the kids were feeling like fall hot chocolate.  It was fun and delicious!

3.  M is now in group riding lessons with three other girls including her buddy Ashtyn.  She seems to have conquered her nerves, is feeling the rhythm with the horse and following all the instructions well.  She has beautiful posture on the horse and got lots of compliments from her instructor (rare!).  She got the new riding stance on the first try and took the horse over small landscapte timber obstacles as part of the riding circut.  Having an hour class is MUCH better!

 4.  Did I mention we had a hard time letting go of the pool? Here is M on the last day hugging the furniture!  B is having less difficulty as he knows he'll be swimming four days a week, but it will be less leisurely than our family swims, I suspect and indoors.

5.  In a stunning turn of events I started actually scrapbooking again.  In the course of the weekend I finished 12 pages. (Four of those I started last week, but hadn't done the journaling).  In fairness, 7 total of those were pretty formulaic - 4 pages of vacation photos on the same model, 3 pages of kid interviews on a different model.  The remaining 4 though were all unique and it took me a bit to relearn how to do that.  It is weird, as I've scrapbooked 100s of pages overtime, but it takes awhile to remember what works and figure out the style/layout components.  The above is probably my favorite of the lot.  It is about getting snowcones with the Wainrights and our adventures with them.  The other three pages are about - celebrating July 4th at the lake, going to the Zoo with cousins to start and end the summer, and E's summer gymnastics lessons.  Yes, I scrapbook kind of randomly whatever strikes my fancy!  All this was inspired by stopping at an actual scrapbook store on Friday afternoon and buying 20 pages of paper with the challenge to myself that I had to complete 10 layouts by the end of Monday--- and I did it! Hooray!

 6.  We had big rains last week!  Just a torential downpoor so all the occasional "water feature" in our yard were in full effect.  My favorite of them is when the little "creekbed" in the front pours down the steps creating little waterfalls.  (Most of the rest are less cute and more in need of fixing).  E dancing in the rain in his backwards swimming suit is always cute too!

7.  We've been so lucky to have Grandma stay with us several days a week of late.  Thursday (you can tell it is Thursday by E's mass-day uniform, lol), she bought each kids some books and little fun presents. They loved listening to her read books most of all.  E is especially cuddly of late after long days at school.

8.  FunRun! The school fundraiser at Cross Timbers is named Fun Run.  They raise money for technology, teacher grants, Scholastic news, school events, and other supplies for the school.  If you'd like to donate click on  (M) or (B) and donate either a flat amount or an amount per lap.  The fundraiser ends Thursday! Thanks to those of you who have already donate!

9.  Yes, we did wake up to the big 5.6 earthquake on Saturday morning.  It was the longest one I think I've experienced so far. We're all fine here, but there is damage closer to the epicenter. I do worry about what happens with the next bigger one when this one was a record.  We're starting to do a bit more teaching of our kids about earthquake safety and I'm looking at my emergency supplies in a new light.  Apparently September is national emergency preparedness month (apparently?) -- -anyway, I picked up a couple more items for our kit today. I add a few things now and then in an attempt to get it closer to the 72 hour kit ideal, but no so big that Brent loses patience with it..... hmmm Today's additions were these emergency whistles with compasses and a few other cool features and a small sleeping bag - this is only the second sleeping bag in the kit, but there are those mylar blankets in there.  In concept we should have time to grab actual sleeping bags but like to have some as back up.  In DC we had whistles like this for building collapses so that might have been inspired by the earthquake...

10.  We planted fall garden! I forget pretty much every year, but we made some small attempts this year.  I'm not super optimistic about all these things actually maturing before cold weather, but who knows!  Our sprinklers broke right after the big rainstorm so M is now in charge of watering the garden lightly 2x a day.  So far, so good!

Ten on Tuesday

1. LEGOs!  Because we always love them.  E got a gold and white ninjago dragon for his birthday that has been an excellent group project.  B, E, and Brent have all jumped in now and again.  Great to have a place where we can leave things like this out and come back to them.

2.  Speaking of which,  Great Grandpa dropped by and saw the house!!  I wasn't sure that would ever happen and it was a huge surprise. I almost missed saying hi because of all the calls I had, but broke free long enough to talk for a bit. I think he liked it? Hard to say, but glad we got to show him our home.  That also makes two times seeing him in less than a month with two more scheduled in the next month.  Hooray!

 3.  Love this photo - we close down the pool one evening recently. We're not swimming two times a day EVERY day any more, just most of them :)

 4.  M is having some swimming confidence issues that ended her swim meet early on Monday with just full body sobbing. Her coach is doing great with her and we have a joint strategy going in to Saturday's meet.  I believe she will swim two different races Saturday morning... if the plan works?  This "balking" tendency of our kids is super frustrating and nearly inexplicable, but we continue to try and work through it.  B has made it largely to the other side so we know it is possible!  We'll keep being positive and encouraging, but also keep making them try "hard things."

 5.  This guy is loving pool time and getting slightly more adventurous.  Overall, he is kind of emo.  Lots more tears than a few months ago, but also amazing snuggles.  We're hanging in there as snuggles always win.  The otter snuggles in Finding Dory are basically E & my spirit animal so we're good.

 6.  The oh, so comfy, best reading couch ever has arrived.  I realized at some point that I built my own blue room, just like my grandparents, but this one encourages using the furniture and curling up on the couch a bit more.  The kids and the baby sitter spend most of their time in this room as it keeps the noise away from the office.  They seem to be having a good time and I'm glad it is finally pretty much furnished and very comfortable.

 7. E went to VBS with Zane last week.  He "might" have been two young, but I think had a great time and occasionally tells us random things he learned after the fact even though he wasn't very forth coming during the actual week.  Zane, however, went also and was full of information so we got the gist.

 8.  We did a lot of things for Zane's birthday including dinner at Tucker's, the Finding Dory movie, and the big Harry Potter party.  it was tons of fun and their party decorations were, as always, completely on point. I feel we may need to step up our game slightly for M's party.... or have Audra and Zane just make us some decorations?

 9.  I had purple hair for my Tonks costume and kind of loved it.  This is also pretty much my face while my job has been trying to figure out whether or not I should come to DC and where I am most needed.  Just hanging in there and rolling with whatever.  Looks like no DC this month, just San Francisco beginning on Saturday as planned.

10.  Yes, one more swimming picture.  Here, B is lined up to begin the breast stroke.  He hadn't thought he was competing and maybe kind of hoped he wasn't as he isn't very confident in this stroke. The coach told him at race time that he was in and gave him a quick reminder on the pool deck about how the stroke works.  He did great! He went right ahead, jumped in, and won his heat. I am so insanely proud of him for pushing through his fears  and doing it anyway.  Such a great life skill.  Swim team is being very good for him.  He isn't the fastest by any measure, but is getting better every day, trying hard, and conquering his nerves to just go for it.  Great moment for him and for us. 

Ten on Thursday

1. I don't have nearly as many exciting things to report this week, but I am in DC and having a great time with my colleagues doing my lawyer gig.  DC is so beautiful in the spring. I will always love it more than NYC.  It is just more my city and more my style.  NYC definitely has DC beat on things to do in the evenings though. Couldn't find a dance or theatre performance I wanted to see this week ending my streak.

2.  While in DC, I try to run at least on Wednesday, if not more.  Last night, I made sure to run past George as E requested a photo.  It was a beautiful cool evening for a run. I was surprised to find less people out than usual, but they may have been deterred by rain earlier in the day.

3.  Have I mentioned how much I love regalia? In wandering around campus today everyone was wearing fancy new navy GW regalia with the logo on the sleeves. I miss the traditional black a little, but they did look very sharp.  It is luck I'm married to a PhD who does have to wear his regalia few times a year :)

4. I had dinner with a law school friend this evening.  She is from Nebraska so we share a love of college sports.  She got to see Hamilton very early on so we talked about that as well as the presidential election, DC, and our jobs.  It was lovely.

5. My mom is sick :( (Hi mom! hope you feel better soon!) This is sad in its own right and her particular ailment I happen to know is really painful, but she has meds now and is recovering.  Brent, Audra, and Bill have formulated a plan to cover all the kid logistics tomorrow in her absence, but I suspect she'll miss the long anticipated land run.

6. I, sadly, will also miss the land run, but I did get to see B off to his day in the one room school house. I think he had a good time, but was mostly focused on his lunch.  They apparently worked on penmanship and the teacher pretended to take someone outside for swats?  B's family will have a conestoga wagon they made for the land run tomorrow, operate a little bakery set up with cookies each kid is bringing, and then after the land run and claim staking, have lunch in pie plates and play fun period games.  Should be great!

7. We went to the farm a bit this weekend, and made a group hike out to this old house my ancestors staked in the land run of 1893 and told the kids all about it. It is amazing it is still here and may not be much longer given the creek erosion, but it was a neat visit. (Much more my speed than the snake hunting......which also happened).

8.  The kids brought a variety of mother's day things home from school.  E, apparently, wrote his very own name on his for the first time, which was awesome.  B made this entire long amazing book full of poems, drawings, and other memories. It twas incredibly sweet, well-writen, and with such beautiful hand writting.  I will keep it forever.

9. Our strawberry crop is amazing.  We get a couple dozen small berries every few days almost.  The ants are certainly getting some too.  One day E and I came home and had to run off a squirrel from our strawberry patch as he clearly wanted some as well.  It is great fun to pick them and eat 1/2 of them in the front yard in the afternoon.  I so adore this new house and the strawberry bed is such a random fun bonus.  It makes me happy.

10. The Wainrights are some of our very closest friends and we love getting to do things together. In a miraculous turn of events we got to go on a double date with them to the Pentatonix concert in Tulsa last Saturday.  (This is amazing as between us we have six kids).  My sister took our kids to the farm for a slumber party with Grandma and the Korenaks while Chrissie's sister watched their kids. It was amazing.  Brent and I spent almost 22 hours together sans kids which may be our longest kid free vacation in awhile.  We started it with a nap, as one does.  The concert was good - very high production value and great singing from the main group (the first act was... not so good?).  Dinner was quite delicious and we loved getting to spend some kid-free time with some of our favorite people.


Tomorrow I fly home and it is back to the flurry of the last week of school.  I'm amazed it has gone so quickly.  This week, Ali did week in the life, but I want to do it when I'm home. The last week in the life was the first week of school so it seems somewhat fitting to do the last week.  We shall see how that goes as my big camera is broken, but my iphone should do the trick. 

Fifteen on Thursday?

1.  Yesterday, I went to the Mother's Day Tea at E's school.  I was 100% anticipating maybe doughnuts and a handmade gift.  Turns out, it was a full musical performance!  Below are two of the possibly six or so songs they sang.  I have more videos uploading if there is interest!

2.  Tuesday was "Alphabet Parade" day for the Kindergarten.  M chose to go as Anna of Arendelle --- we wrote a story of "a" words - like carrying avocados, apples, and apricots.  The hair was a challenge, but worked out in the end.  I quickly visited the school to listen to them sing one song in the cafeteria and headed back home. 

3.  I came back from wandering through NYC to these more mundane, but awesome Sunday adventures - 1) E playing with his new castle book from the Met; 2) B trying to do the mummy mazes from the Met --- they may be too hard for us?  3) M&E finding a new hidden hideout in the bushes. 

4 Grandma bought all the kids NY tshirts - they love them and are very cute. There are obviously epic amounts I could write about this trip and I'll try to keep throwing in little stories, but here are a few of the highlights briefly. 

5.  In NYC, I happened to discover that Simone Biles, 3x world AA Gymnastics champion was doing an outside demonstration on our first morning there.  It involved a fair bit of standing in the cold, but it was amazing to be so close to arguably the best gymnast ever. 

6.  One of the last things I did was ride the seaglass carousel in Battery Park. We just happened on to it, but it was great fun and the video of my ride was the kid's favorite of my photos/videos.

7.  We also went the the Metropolitan Museum of Art - honestly I could just live in the museums of NY for a week (with occasional Hamilton breaks).  Here are some of our favorites and a few views of GW :)

8, The biggest and best part --- actually the reason for the trip --- was getting to see Hamilton in NY with the original cast.  My mom and I are obsessed with Hamilton and to my great amazement the production exceeded my very high expectations.  I have almost no words.  Just completely phenomenal in every component.  Daveed Diggs is my favorite actor in Hamilton and we happened on to him on the street and got to say hi as we were exiting NYC.  Just a huge bucket list once in a lifetime moment to have this experience.  Thanks so much to my mom for the tickets and sharing this amazing experience with me. 

9.  In less huge, but quite delicious news, we also stopped at Levain for huge cookies and, I think, managed to have cookies of some kind every day. I happen to love black and white cookies which basically don't exist in OK so I brought some of those home for the kids (and me).

10 - Random picture of my mom and Frozen Characters in Times Square before we saw Hamilton (it really all comes back to Hamilton -- I'm sparing you pictures of his grave and our visit to his house.... and some paintings elsewhere... obsessed).

11.  My mom and I hopped off the tour bus to check out some more gardens.  We both loved all the lilacs--- right around here my big camera broke :(

12.  We went to see a triple bill at the NY City Ballet.  It was a huge, extremely talented company and everything was wonderful.  It was 180 degrees different than Hamilton and just a huge contrast in experience. 

13.  Me, fittingly with GW.

14.

Yesterday B's "family" for the upcomging land run built their wagon.  It went way faster than expected which was perfect given our crazy schedule yesterday.

15. We got to video some of M's dance practice yesterday.  She is front and center for most of both of her classses' performances so we're going to need to practice a bit more.  Enjoy!

Ps - let me know if any of those videos work. I'm always a little dubious.