Ten on Tuesday

1. This is Rowan's newest mode of transportation. With the current status of my hand I have had to stop carrying him as much, but Rowan is terribly lazy, and very smart, so he has convinced his brother to carry him a lot of the time.

 2. After a year of debating, and looking for a new grill, Zach finally landed on a a half gas, half charcoal, smoker combo. The beauty of this is I can actually use the gas grill without any assistance. It's a win for the whole family! This was my first attempt at grilling delicious chicken tenders.

 3. Friday I drove to St. Louis to visit my people. Friday evening I went to a trivia night with all my favorite couples. I'm not sure why Michelle wasn't in this picture, but she was there too. We had blast, even though we were decently terrible at trivia. I love these girls and their spouses, wish we were all neighbors.

 Allie, Becky (and the Solomonov twin girls), and myself.

 Becky and Allie's husbands, Mike and Kurt. They are tons of fun!

 Michelle's husband Ryan and I rocking out some trivia.

4. Saturday morning I pulled off a surprise appearance at Brandy's jewelry party. I miss these people and that city so much. Going back is so bittersweet, every street is full of memories, and everyone's life keeps going and I am missing it.

 Me, Becky, Angie, Ashley, and Becky

 I met a couple sweet babies of my friends, this is Miss McKenna Jean, Brandy's adorable daughter.

5. Saturday afternoon I got to celebrate Jamey's fifth birthday. I wish Zane could have been there, he would have had a blast. Michelle and Ryan have a beautiful new home, so glad I could be part of all the fun.

 Michelle is also expecting. Her third little one will be arriving in October. I'm thrilled about the St. Louis friend baby boom!

 6. Of course I had to bring the boys back some new Cardinal jerseys. They loved them and were decked out in Cardinals gear all day yesterday.

 7. Yesterday we went and saw the gorgeous iris at Will Rogers Park in OKC. Rowan was very excited about seeing "all the beautiful flowers." This picture of him smelling the iris is precious because under that hat, and behind that flower, if you look close, you can see little baby Rowan's eyes. There are still there, he's not big yet.

8. Yesterday morning I got to take a lovely, much needed nap, in an MRI scanner for about an hour. I had an MRI of my hand and wrist done and whatever contraption they put my wrist in during the scan has made it hurt much worse than before. Of course thanks to the failures of modern physicians I don't have an appointment with my MD to get the results of this scan until Monday, so another week of annoying pain. I'm beyond frustrated with the whole thing and have no idea what to do after they tell me everything looks great, because everything does not feel great.

9. This week, after years of me resisting, I finally let Zane transition into the high back booster seat. He technically has been tall enough and weighed enough for probably two years, but his neuro nurse mother was traumatized by all her patients with TBI's in the past that I couldn't quit face it. In good news Zane is super excited, the boys got to switch sides of the car, making my life easier, win, win, win.

10. Last, but definitely not least, while I was partying in St. Louis the boys were finally going to the long awaited Okeene Rattlesnake Hunt!! It was a huge success. From what I hear they got their early on Saturday so kind of had the run of the place for awhile. The checked out the Den of Death, watched a guy chop the head off of a snake snake with a hatchet, looked at pictures of snake bites, felt the rattle of a dead snake, oh and my personal favorite; watched a snake's heart beat while outside of it's body. Zane held a large snake, not a rattlesnake, but a live one none the less. I hear that Rowan tried to hold it but it was too big. All the boys, Zach included, wore their cowboy boots. In sad news they weren't selling any of the things Zane wanted, like fangs, rattles, or snake skin belts, but they both got Rattlesnake Hunt shirts. They were full of big tales (no pun intended) and it sounds like a great time was had by all. 

DEN OF DEATH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ten on Tuesday

1. Sunday was a big day, Brendan's First Communion. He has worked very hard, all year, getting ready for this day. He has learned all his prayers, I helped him make his banner, and Sunday was the big day!! He did great and looked so grown up in his suit and real tie. I was a very proud Godmother to this sweet boy!

 My contribution to the day were fun Eileen's Cookies and new rain boots for the first communicant. I think he enjoyed both!

 2. Saturday we tried to go see the new Jungle Book. I guess Zach, Zane, and Grandma did see the movie. Rowan and I were just there for the previews, the snacks, and the big scary tiger scene at the beginning. Then Rowan was terrified and refused to go back into the "That lion is too scary, I not go back in there Mamma. I never go in there again!" So Rowan and I wandered around the mall aimlessly before Aunt Abbey came and rescued us, big thanks Aunt Abbey! I hear the movie was great, wish I could have seen it.

 Cute Ro enjoying his popcorn before we had to leave. 

3. My boys love climbing trees. They climb trees everywhere, the little one in our yard, all the trees at Grandma's house, and any trees we can find at parks that can be climbed. Hafer park has the best tree climbing trees and Friday, after taking mom to pick up her early mother's day present, we took a trip to the trees!! These boys loved it. Rowan might have taken a few tumbles as he tried swinging from the branches, but he was very brave and got back up to try again.

 My little monkey boy!

4. T-ball continues, Zane's favorite thing, by far is sliding into home. The wet fields were perfect for getting good and dirty. As the daily rain has arrived this weekend I am concerned that games will started getting cancelled which means playing games all through June again.

 Rowan remains bored with watching t-ball and to be honest Zane remains pretty bored with playing baseball most of the time. But we keep on keeping on!

 5. Thursday after our morning gym trip we got to play in the park with E. We even splurged and had a Sonic picnic.  Love these three boys, wish I had three of my very own, but E will work in the interim.

 6. Thursday my boys came out of their rooms, ready to go to the gym, dressed like this. Zane had helped Rowan pick out his clothes for Hawaiian shirt day, oh and cowboy boot day. These two are so silly and have such a great time together as of late. It's sad to think about Rowan not having Zane to play with next year.

 7. Saturday evening and most of Sunday it was very rainy and gloomy. Sunday afternoon there were a few hours of sunshine and we made the most of it. The boys road their bikes through the little puddles along the side of the road. Zane proclaimed "it was the most fun he had ever had!" Zane even stopped mid ride and switched his shirt around so the front and back of his shirt could get fully muddy and wet. Great boy fun!!

Sadly both biker riding attempts yesterday ended in meltdowns (each boy took a turn) about not riding their bikes on the road during peek traffic times. Zane had a near miss with a truck and things spiraled from their. Life if hard at our house.

8. This weekend Zach completely emptied and cleaned our big fish tank and it now looks brand new. We bought some new fish to celebrate and the boys love to watch them swim around. Currently our fishes names are Beverly (aka Bevuary by Rowan), Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Sally, Cheesy, and Carrot. All great fish names. Yesterday the boys found the fun trick of the fish tank making their faces look huge. Lots of pictures, lots of fun. When I got home from work today we weren't able to locate Snoopy, our guess is that Carrot might have eaten him. Carrot, the huge goldfish, might get to be set free in Grandma's pond this weekend.

9. I'm very excited about my St. Louis girls weekend that coming up. I have multiple new babies to meet, a baby shower for my friend who is having twins, a jewelry party, and a benefit night for another friends cousin. I'm not looking forward to the long drive alone, but cannot wait to see all my people. The boys have quite the man weekend planned, including a trip to the Okeene Rattlesnake hunt, finally!!!! I can't wait to get a full report and Zach has promised lots of pictures so there will be a blog soon I'm sure. 

10. Lastly, today was one of those days when I get home from work and couldn't stop hugging my boys. I have no idea how people survive the loss of a child and I beg the good Lord everyday to keep my kids safe and healthy. In my line of work I have gotten really good at compartmentalizing and shutting out the emotion with the simple mantra "It's not my kid." This is what I tell myself over and over during terrible situations. But everyday people loose children, from tragic things. My prayers are with those families. Hug your kids, count your blessings, say your prayers, live in today. That's the take away today.

Ten on Tuesday

1. After Thursday's big morning of kindergarten registration we went on an adventure to the Oklahoma History Museum downtown. There was lots of oil related things, Sonic, Pioneer Days, Native Americans, and of course Astronauts. I think someone who has ever been around children should really help make museums more kid friendly. They had numerous pretend camp sites and kitchens with pots/pans with all the plastic food securely behind plexi glass. And tell me what it would hurt to let the kids actually go inside the tee pee I mean really people. Kind of frustrating at times, but we had fun none the less.

Zane in front of a bread box, now he can know how big a bread box is for the guess that animal game. This was probably the biggest take away from the OK History Museum.

 2. Zach was out of town for Thursday night's baseball game so Brendan stepped in as Zane's coach. Brendan definitely had some harsh criticism for his player, no getting off easy because Dad is gone. I'm sure Brendan ate it up and enjoyed playing catch and giving out some pointers to his little cousin.

 3. One of the causalities of the tball game Thursday night, along with my sanity, was Rowan's little frog chair. He handled me throwing it away in front of him with such grace that he earned himself a new one of his choosing. After going to two different stores Friday morning, in search of kid chairs, we gave up and had a little lesson in patience courtesy of Amazon. Two days little his Lighting McQueen chair arrived and he loves it. He's ready to watch some tball.

 3. Friday night Zane lost his second tooth, the one right next to the first one that came out. Zane had been wiggling it all week and it finally came out with a little help from daddy. Zane's immediate reaction was that he couldn't talk, since he now has a new little lisp. The tooth fairy came, but only brought fifty cents this time, probably due to all the fits that he had been thrown earlier in the day if I were guessing. The tooth fairy knows, don't ask me how, that's her job not mine.

 4. This week marked the beginning of severe storm season here in the Sooner state, with Sunday evening's severe storm threat. Nothing materialized besides a lovely thunderstorm, which is usually the case, but the whole state flew into a panic. At least everyone at the hospital did. That is all anyone, staff and visitors alike, talked about all day Sunday. Everyone has PTSD and needs some therapy, in my opinion. We were prepared for the worst though. The kids and I spent quite a bit of time cleaning out and playing in the storm shelter earlier in the week. Light sabers make great flash lights if you ever need one in your storm shelter, just FYI.

Yes, I did finally cave and get both boys light sabers, three dollars at Target was the perfect price.

 

5. While I was at work this weekend Zane had his Sunday school pizza party after church. Marking the end of his first year of Sunday school. Zane loved everything about Sunday school and has a great grasp on all sorts of deep things such as the crucifixion and the resurrection,  which I would have had no idea how to explain to a five year old. But Ms Maggie is quite the Sunday school teacher. I think after completing her class you could probably go straight to the seminary. But I think we'll stick with Sunday school for now.

 The boys were great helpers while we made Black Onyx no bake cookies for the party!!

 6. Today I finally made it to Okeene to visit my Grandpa. It had been far too long and I kept putting it off because I thought the boys would drive him crazy. But, we all went and I think everyone had a good time. The boys were wonderfully behaved, played outside, upstairs (hand on the wall going up and down of course), and they took turns riding Grandpa's bike. Zane asked Grandpa to tell him snake stories and about antivenom, which I'm only mostly sure he did as I was on Rowan duty during that conversation. Zane did tell me that Great Grandpa told him that a snakes head can still bite you after it has been cut off from the body. Good to know. I'm so glad we went and think it amazing that Zane will have memories of a Great Grandparent. Oh to bee so lucky. Of course there is always long conversations with the boys about how Grandma's Dad is alive but mine isn't, which is hard to explain and very hard for all of us to understand.

 Zane sat and listened like such a champ, while trying to cut this pencil in half with a pocket knife, obviously.

7. Before lunch we took a little field trip to the redone Okeene park to run off some energy. The park is phenomenal now and the boys could have spent all day there. There are all sorts of animal statues to climb on, a tree house type play equipment, lots of swings, benches, and they even left the merry go round from my childhood. Love it!

 The stairs to the slide are up through the tree, be careful there's a bear in there too!!

 There is a picture of me on this merry-go-round when I was kid, floating around somewhere at mom's house. I remember lying on my back with my head hanging of the side while Able spun me. Super safe and lots of fun!!

 8. Of course we had to stop and look at the rattle snake mural on the way back to Grandpas. Zane is beyond excited for the Okeen Rattlesnake Hunt, which is happening in less than two weeks. I will be in St. Louis, but Zane chose to stay here, for the hunt, over seeing the penguins. He has seen the penguins lots of times, but has never seen the den of death!!! I hope someone takes lots of pictures. Zane wants to get a snake skin belt, a rattle snake rattle, eat snake on a stick, and possibly find some fangs for sale as well. All lofty goals and he double checked with Grandpa that there would be antivenom on hand, just in case. He is thoroughly prepared!!!

 

 9. Lucky for us Grandma Dotter's iris were blooming for our visit. I am not sure the boys were impressed but it did my heart good seeing her beloved iris all over Okeene.

 10. Then it was off to Grandma's for a quick little visit before we had to head home. They boys spent a lot of time checking on the chickens. They are all doing great and Grandma has added ten or so to her brood. Zane was pretty sure they remembered him and he continued his work trying to teach them how to fly.

 11. The rest of the time was spent working on/playing in the tree house. Zane really wanted to paint so he and Grandma painted a few walls, painted a sign by the front door, and I painted my signature frog in a top hat per Rowan's request. Rowan did not get nearly a long enough nap and was a pile of emotions for most of the afternoon so he and I cuddled the majority of the time. 

Very exciting day, ending in Zane crashing his bike in the driveway as soon as we got home and he fell into a puddle of tiredness and allergy headache. They were off to bed early and I plan to do the same.