Vroom

As many of you know, Kyle is VERY interested in cars/trucks/wheels/tires. His new favorite activity as we drive the car is to scream at cars as he recognizes them... If you have a Toyota, Hammer (aka Hummer), Lexus, Porsche or (sometimes) Ford, then rest assured that as we drive by, he is screaming about your car! :) and he asks about new ones each day. We're now learning Honda and Jeep.

In other Kyle news, Jason and I made the decision to literally duct tape his closet doors shut at night to keep him from going in there to continually try on shoes and outfits, including pulling all diapers and pull-ups off of shelves. So, we thought we won last night! Until he decided to empty out his dresser and toys off of the shelving in the room.... He won. Temporarily. Any ideas on how to keep my style-inclined child to stop modeling at 10 p.m. nightly?!?

13.1 and we did it!

Oklahoma City's Memorial Marathon was this morning! A few months ago, Jason and I decided we'd love to tackle the challenge of completing a half marathon, especially being non-runners! The weather was a breezy 55-60 degrees and just perfect for us to run. Having never run together, we didn't know how we would do but we tried being running partners and had a nice time doing so until we split about mile 9.5.

Here is a picture of Grant and my dad after they completed the Kids' Marathon of 1.2. Grant had previously run 25 miles, bringing him to a total of 26.2. He was very proud and had a nice time!
Kyle and GG were the proud bearers of support signs during the races. Here is Kyle doing his part in this morning, and Mom doing her part of camera-taker and Kyle-tackler. :)

This is the 9:01 gate of the actual Memorial grounds. After the race was over, I took Grant to show him all about it and where I used to work. I gotta say that I was very emotional at this point, and oh-so proud to be an Oklahoman and to have worked there for years. What a wonderful tribute to those who lost their lives 15 years ago. During the run, you can run "In Honor Of..." someone... we ran for the Survivors and the Families.

We don't have any pictures from the actual race, but here we are after having met up with the family.

Here's my sweet pea and me! I am so proud of us!

The whole gang congregating at the Survivor Tree afterwards! Thanks, team, and thanks Haley family for taking the photo for us (great to see most of ya there!)

My time was 2:18, which is about a 10:30/mile.

Jason's time was 2:25, which is about a 11:08/mile.

Okung

Our family was glued to the TV last night during the NFL draft, and when pick #4 was announced, and it wasn't who we thought it was going to be, we got annoyed (plus it was the 3rd OU person out of 4!). But, finally, lucky #6 came along and Jason's friend, Russell Okung, was selected!

A true gentle giant with a childhood I wouldn't wish upon anyone. You wanna know Russell's career choice (after the millions in the NFL)??? - he told Jason he wants to be a dentist! Jason kindly said that he thought his hands were too large to fit in patients' mouths! :) I first met him last spring setting up the fields for the YMCA youth soccer games. Other than his huge size, you wouldn't notice him. Very quiet. Smiled a lot. Sweet. Huge. Polite. Those are the words I have for him. Also, no ego - last week at the OSU Orange/White game, he graciously was posing with fans for photos and so happy.

Way to go Seattle on getting a quality man to join your team. I've always been a Hasselbeck fan (mostly because of Elizabeth on Survivor!) and can't wait to watch him with a strong lineman.

We're excited that Dez is going to be in Dallas, too! So fun - FINALLY, for OSU football!

Peter Krause

How do you know that you're getting older?!? Other than achy joints, thinking college students are crazy, worrying about skin cancer, and reading a newspaper daily... I've discovered another way I can tell: that I think a 40 year old is just a hottie!

This is Peter Krause. So, apparantly he's been around for decades but I've just discovered him on Parenthood. Also, I really like Lauren Graham on that show (Jason can blog about her if he so desires!).
I couldn't find a recent "mature man" photo of him smiling but he does have a great smile! :)

Half of my Life - 15 years

As an Oklahoman, I will never forget the morning of April 19. I was a sophomore and in a Spanish class when we heard and felt the boom that would forever change the face of OKC and our nation and the views of terrorism - it was an American! A few friends were panicky about their parents downtown; two of them ended up losing a parent. Future sorority sisters (3 sisters!) also lost their Mom, Peggy, who was a veterinarian, and tonight, they are interviewed with Brian Williams at 5:30.

As a staff member for nearly 4 years, I will never forget the pride, respect, emotion, struggles, enrichment, friendships, maturity, opportunities and so many other things that I gained as an employee of the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. The facility itself is outstanding, and I know they've made several improvements since I left. As a teaching tool, there is none comparable to the education and history provided.

The photo below is the Museum's mission statement, taken on my last day of employment. It's the first thing visitors see as they enter the Museum.
Jason snuck this one as I was headed on my first trip as the Tours and Marketing Director. Even then (man, I look so young and skinny!), I was proud of my job. I know many people aren't able to truly feel "pride" in their job, but I was lucky at 23 to feel it. Still do 7 years later!

On another Strategic Planning trip with a crew of OKC leadership, survivors and employees to Washington, D.C. I was 6 weeks pregnant with Mr. Grant here!

(this may be the worst photo I have ever taken - but it was a few weeks after Grant was born and my first activity back as an employee. Not sure what's going on with the hair, make-up or the outfit. Three strikes!). Mr. Brian Williams used my office as his hub when he was in town for the 10th anniversary. He was as nice as could be and even left me a thank you note for "loaning" him my space (I would have sat in the hall on the floor to be around him!)

And one of the walls of my office showing our marketing pieces created for the 10th anniversary. It was a series of ad designs for various media projects.

The pride and awe I feel for the Memorial and Museum has led me (and Jason is joining!) to accomplish something I've said for 7 years that I would do - participate in the Memorial Marathon. In 2005, a bunch of the staff wanted to run the relay, but we always had to work. And then I was pregnant, or just had a baby, and never did. No excuses this year!! Our goal is to complete it, as neither of us are runners (and we decided like 8 weeks ago!). But we'll be there and I can't wait to high-five my coworkers and hug them for the great things they have done for OKC, Oklahoma and our great nation.

April 19, 1995 - 15 years later. Never forget.

Can you tell I'm passionate about it!?!? ;)

Camping 2010

We were kindly invited to go camping with friends over the weekend. They have two kids and a baby on the way, and the dad, Cory, and I were friends in college! now, we can't separate all of the boys! The five boys stayed all night in the tent (my boys were back home by 8:15 the following morning - up quite early, to say the least!), but the girls headed back to town about 9:30 p.m. Hot dogs and smores for all! a long nature walk and attempted fishing. Fun times!

I'm wondering if Grant enjoyed himself!?!?!
Family photo

The boys waiting on their smores. They were Gooo-ooood!

The "men" preparing our campsite.

The women hard at work cooking dinner!

This is Cory's creation - it was hilarious and awesome at the same time.

Thanks, Woods family, for a great time!

A rough batch of tears

As I came home last night from our family camping trip (the girls came home, the boys stayed in the tent), I saw that Teddy Bear was floating belly up in the frog home.

long story short... he's in frog heaven. Grant cried for quite a while and was really upset, but he has a slim understanding that he's now in heaven and believes Jesus went to the frog pond today to see him! :)

The Real Face of Jesus?

Before you watch the video below, let me explain: last weekend on the History channel, there was a show called The Real Face of Jesus? WOW! It was a 2 hour history show so I do admit there were parts I fast-forwarded, but overall, what an impressive show. Basically, historians have taken Jesus' burial cloth, and through major technology, gotten as close as possible to what they believe he looked like at the Crucifixion. Enjoy!

So what is below is the 15 seconds or so of the revealing of the graphics work... It could be gruesome to some, but it is reality of what He did for you and me!

and then there were TWO!

Oh what a happy day when I opened a box a few days ago to discover that the "nice" people at the tadpole/frog factory decided to send a Froggie Friend for Teddy Bear when I ordered the official frog food and container...

So now I have 1 husband, 2 boys, 1 dog, and 2 frogs to feed and clean up after! :) Teddy Bear officially become a frog last weekend, so it took less than a month - and it was a great experience for all. The new friend is named Bouncy.
the proud parent of them (which basically means he may remember to feed them, or may not, but definitely doesn't get to clean the water one or two time a week - that's me!).

Kyle attempted to go to the bathroom this week and decided to not wear diapers. On Monday and Tuesday, that is. This was his creation on Tuesday... after about 20 trips (almost not exaggerating) to the toilet "by myself, Mommy" (I peeped around to make sure he wasn't getting it on the floor but realized he just wanted to stand there and try)... really discovered that he was making such a beautiful masterpiece. Jason lovingly named it the TP Bouquet. You'd think this would get old 2 1/2 years after his first attempt at this but no....

on a different note, my body is screaming at me and I am off to take two advil PMs and get a good night sleep. We are camping with friends tomorrow night and I'm pretty sure that sleeping on the ground isn't going to be as fun as it once was two decades ago...

Easter

Don't forget the real reason why we have a celebration today! Jesus is Risen! and it sure is fun to dress up, hide eggs, and eat yummy food with family!

Easter season

If you can't tell by the blog background, our family is excited for Easter this year! Both boys were lucky enough to have great weather for their school egg hunts. Grant's was on Tuesday and Kyle's was on Thursday. Last night, we celebrated the Last Supper with our Sunday School class in an intimate service just for our class. We have great teachers!

Here are pictures of their egg hunts. Grant's class went to a park near to their school so here they are walking....

The whole class with the teachers (Grant is posing in the back row as is his girlfriend!)

One mom bought little drinks for everyone, and Grant did not want his (it was sprite and we don't let the kids drink soda), so Kyle graciously volunteered to drink it up for him. :)

Here's Kyle's hunt... he looked for a while on his feet, and then decided he better hop on to the tricycle for the rest of the time. (he had on one of his "own" new shirts (most are hand-me-downs) and was so proud of it! ahhhh - the excitement of the 'little' things in life!)

"Here's an Egg, Mommy!"

April Fools

Over the years, I have been involved in several April Fool's jokes, whether as the jokester or the jokey (this is a real word according to spell check). But there isn't anything as fun as when I get a text message in the morning that says "hurry up and look outside - it snowed!" from my Dad.

You see, for as long as I can remember, so let's say that past 25 (yes, TWENTY-FIVE) years, my Dad has always woken my brother and I up with a comment about how there is snow on the ground. I fell for it for about 5 of those years. And, yes, it's dorky. And, yes, it's not creative anymore.

But you know what? I treasure it and I know my brother does, too! So, thanks, Dad, for being our corny, fun-loving Dad!

Happy April Fools to all.... and be sure to build really big snowmen and have snowball fights today!