Gingerbread Train

We enjoyed assembling and decorating this gingerbread train.  (Then, two hours later, both children enjoyed disassembling and eating it!)

Zoo In Winter



"Oh dear, I can't believe I allowed myself to
be talked into this!"



School is out for Christmas break!  Well, public school is.  Homeschool can take the day off whenever it is needed.  Or wait, we can just do a field trip!  The weather could not be more accommodating.  Grab the stroller, the zoo pass, refillable zoo cups, the cousins, and let's GO!

As you can see, we began our day visiting the newly remodeled children's zoo.  It being such a warm day, guess who was out?  Yep, after a brief stop at the Nectaraunt, we braved the Lorikeet exhibit.  Ignore the date on the picture, I'm a lousy camera operator.



Makenna is a natural at this!
No look of horror on her face!





"A bird on the head is worth two in the bush."







"They may try to leave me
behind, but I'm too fast! 
They will NEVER
lose me!"



My little mini-scientist is thinking,
"this small bird just drank a whole cup
of nectar.  It is going to excrete the
waste at any moment.  Oh no,
I'm going to be a bird toilet!"









We'll never be too old for the carousel.




WE LOVE THE ZOO!



Church Christmas Program

Pre-Program Prep:  the making of an angel.

This year, the children were given the opportunity to participate in a real, live church Christmas program.  They rehearsed and practiced their little hearts out.  On the night of the program, I was shocked as close to 100 people packed into our tiny church.  I'm certain we exceeded fire code safety.  My parents stated that they had not had the pleasure of seeing an old-fashioned, country church, children's program in years.  In a small church like ours, children = babies through teens.  All participate, the older ones helping the little ones.  I just love everything about it!

Claire playing Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.

Glory to the newborn King.

Wisemen from the East.

First Piano Recital



Claire's recital piece



I'm so nervous!  It is Claire's first piano recital.  The queasy feeling in my tummy suggests that it is I, not she, that will be walking across the stage to perform in front of dozens of adoring family members.  I prepared a pep talk, told her that I know just how she feels, even gave her the option of backing out if it was too stressful.  "Mom, I'm not nervous at all.  Just calm down," she replied.

NOT NERVOUS!  How can she not be NERVOUS!  I'm a wreck.  I turned to one of the few things that give me stress relief: not alcohol, not drugs, not nicotine--hairspray!  Doesn't her hair look adorable?

Warming up just prior to the
big event.

There she is, announcing her piece.  I feel proud
and nauseated at the same time.

Awarded as best new student with a certificate and chocolates?
Well, there are a few disadvantages to enlisting outside help.

Trick or Treat

Lets see: a Samba dancer?, cowgirl, Spiderman,
tap dancer, and nerd.

Okay, I'm not a big fan of Halloween.  However, my friend Felicia and my sister Mandi came up with this great Trick or Treat alternative several years ago.  This is our third year to participate.  All of my moral qualms and safety concerns regarding Halloween festivities are put to rest.  The children schedule appointments with several families/relatives living in their rural area.  These dirt road dwellers, (some of whom are widowed, elderly or sick),  aren't used to having trick-or-treaters and really look forward to visits from our costumed candy seekers. 

Cody as Spiderman

Claire in her cowgirl best.

TRICK-OR-TREAT!

Romantic diversity



Clay and Charlotte
1998

 It was this time of year on a crisp, windy, overcast day like today in 1998 that my boyfriend invited me to go on a picnic in the woods behind his house.  There, in the secluded oaks, surrounded by a rainbow of changing boughs and flying leaves, on the tailgate of a shiny red Ford F-150, he unpacked the lunch, and unable to resist until dessert as he had planned, pulled out the beautiful ring inside that, before he had even uttered the words, made clear his intention.  It wasn't until much later that I realized why, just weeks before, he had taken a load of his prized Angus to the OKC stockyards to be sold in their prime.

I'm lucky to be employed at a very ethnically diverse work place.  One coworker recently showed me her wedding ring.  Though not nearly as fancy or shiny as mine, it was very pretty.  She beamed as she told me her engagement story.  She and her fiance spent a weekend panning the streams of her homeland after a flood.  Though the diamond mines of central Africa are owned and heavily guarded by foreigners, no amount of policing can stop mother nature from sweeping through the caves with her seasonal floods.  What ends up in the outlying streams is free for whoever is patient enough to look.  Her perseverance paid off nicely.

Another coworker fell "victim" to an arranged marriage.  The thought horrified me at first, but listening to the tail unfold; the initial meeting, everyone waiting to see if she would give her consent, the loooong engagement, the various rituals, feasts and celebrations, and finally, the wedding itself which lasted for days, not hours; left me feeling almost a bit jealous.  I realized how shallow I had been to think that the "American way" of choosing a mate, based upon some arbitrary thing such as how a person's behind looks on the dance floor, was so much better than having a small group of people who love you and have only your best interests at heart spending years searching for your lifelong mate.  We Americans claim to love the mystery of discovering the perfect mate ourselves, however, what often happens is, after the wedding, the mysteries begin to unravel and reveal that you chose a narcissistic neanderthal with a nice behind as your lifelong mate.  Congratulations!

So, in the middle of the night, in the middle of the USA, you can find 3 women, about the same age, one with very dark, coffee colored skin and black, cottony hair, one having skin resembling the color of heavily creamed coffee with long, straight shiny black hair, and the last with skin the color of buttermilk and yellow curls, working together like a well oiled machine.  Each with a very different engagement story, and each really thinking her own to be the *most* romantic.

Lake Hefner at dusk

Grandad took Claire and Elliot on a bike ride along the Lake Hefner trails leaving Cody and I to entertain ourselves.  We fed ducks, played on the playground and enjoyed watching the sunset from the beach.