FOD: That Apple

I'm instructing Ryan to clean up the play area in the kitchen.  He had a tough time getting the floor straightened up, so when I told him that he needed to clean up the table, it didn't go over too well.

"Why!?!?!?" --Ryan

"Because it's a big mess.  Santa Claus is coming tonight and we need to show him that you're a good boy, so clean up the mess, please." --Me

"Oh, dag-gummit!" --Ryan

"Wow.  Where'd he learn that from?  Huh, Mommy?" --Aurora, implying that I taught Ryan that phrase.

I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, as they say.  Both my speaking children just repeated my lines back to me in perfect form.  I'm doomed! 

Doomed, I tell you!!!

Of course, it does make me feel better to know that they will have children someday and hear these same phrases repeated back to them, as well. 

Muahahaha!

Birthday Mayhem

Today was Ryan's 6th Birthday Party.  It was spectacular!

 
Apparently, the last full Saturday before Christmas is a GREAT time to have a party where lunch is served.  Moms were more than happy to bring their kids with gifts in tow and drop them off for 2 hours while they got those last-minute Christmas items.  We had such a great attendance, I think I might plan his party on the same Saturday next year.  Last year, we only had 2 kids come from his class.  This year, he had BOTH of his best buddies from school!  He was stoked!

 

We started off expecting only 8 kids, but had to change our plans when moms kept sending us their RSVP.  By the morning of the party, we expected 12 kids.  When you include our 3 kids, that means we had 15 kids in this house!  I've never been more glad for the square footage of this house than I was today!  It didn't feel overwhelming for a single minute.  Ok, maybe for a minute...  But, the kids were all well-behaved, played nice together and had a blast!  We only did one craft, one game and of course all the actual party activities (lunch, cake, presents).  The rest of the time, we filled up with free play.

I do have to mention, however:  Of the 12 kids in attendance, 5 of them were girls--at a Captain America themed birthday party!!!  I became even more suspicious when Ryan opened his presents and 2 of the girls wrote "I like you" in their cards to him....  I think we may be raising a little stud.  And, he may already be caught in a love triangle!  Oh, those sweet Kindergarten romances.

We turned this....

...Into THIS!!!

Our craft was a small red frisbee that we turned into Captain America shields (see above).  The kids just thought those were the best things ever and spent the majority of their free play using their shields against each other.  As far as I know, nothing is broken as a result of those little frisbees.

 

At the end of the afternoon, the kids were enjoying Ryan's birthday loot together.

Best Laid Plans

So, remember all those 10 Year Anniversary ideas I was playing around with?  Well, as it turns out, none of them were really feasible.

Originally, we were going to celebrate with my side of the family at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL.  That is, until we tried to nail down a date that we ALL could go.  Since the kids are in school, Rob works retail, my sister is in college and my Mom and Paul have to work around Paul's crazy ship-check schedule with Northrop Grumman, we just couldn't seem to find a week that worked for everyone.

So, we thought about sending the kids to my Mom's house and heading off to New Orleans or somewhere else on the Gulf Coast near her house.  That idea lasted a whole 10 minutes.  You see, my mom's house wasn't child-friendly when my sister and I were kids, so there was NO WAY I was going to send my 3 hurricane-force children to her house.  I can't tell you how many Hummel, Lladro, and Capodimonte figurines I broke in my life.  I'm sure that I owe her a fortune!

Then, I found this great resort out in New Mexico that I thought looked like a great retreat for me and Rob.  It had a spa (for me) and a golf course (for Rob)!!!  And, it was 10 hours from everywhere.  We could go and pretend that the whole wide world didn't exist for a day or two.  Just the two of us.  We could make it if we try...  Ok, so I got carried away there.  Going to NM would have meant that Mom had to come here to watch the kids for a few days.  Since she's coming here at the end of December, she didn't think they could make a trip back so soon for our anniversary at the end of February, first of March.  So, we had to improvise.

Which leads me to our newest plan: Here in Tulsa. Mom and Paul are coming in December 26th, give or take, and they will be here for Ryan's birthday on the 28th and Ellie's First Birthday on the 30th.  This will also mean that Mom and Paul will be present for all 3 of my children's First Birthdays!  That makes me happy--that they are willing to make the special efforts to be here for things that I feel are so important.  I know that my children aren't going to remember their 1st birthdays, but I will.

So, between the 2 birthdays, Rob and I will probably be staying at a hotel here in town.  If you see us out and about on the 29th, pretend you don't know us; we are pretending we're on a special anniversary trip and we don't want to feel "local".  Help us with the facade, ok?

I must end this post saying how blessed we are to have lasted 10 years.  Of course, I'm the blessed one to have found ANYBODY to put up with me and all my idiosyncrasies for this long!  Rob's so easy to live with (no matter what I say to the contrary) and he's a better husband than a girl like me ever dreamed of having!

Date Night aka "Yes, We're Married."

Tonight, our church had a Children's Party and all 3 of our kids were being watched by SOMEBODY ELSE!!!  So, Rob and I took this opportunity to go on a date.  Now, let me set the stage for our dating experiences:

Rob and I met in Feb 2001, started dating in August and were engaged by Christmas Eve 2001.  Then, we had a whirlwind engagement, getting married March 1, 2002.  We didn't really have a whole lot of time to create fun, exciting date nights; we really just liked hanging out and watching movies, or going bowling and playing pool.  Nothing overly exciting.  We've now been married nearly 10 years and have 3 kids (which means date nights are few and far between, but are much appreciated when they come).  Our date nights usually consist of dinner and a movie.  If there isn't a movie out that we are willing to pay to go see, we opt instead to go walking around the mall after our dinner--which is what we did tonight.

I got a little dolled up tonight, I'll admit that.  More so than usual... I guess, since I got asked if I was Rob's girlfriend not only once, but 3 different times!  When we were at the restaurant, the waitress asked if our check was going to be separate!!!  I smiled, stifling a laugh, and said it would be all on one ticket.  Now, I have a blingy set of diamonds on my left ring finger, but I guess I should have cleaned them up before we went out.  While we were walking around the mall, I had 2 separate people in 2 different stores assume we were unmarried again--one was just another customer and the other was a store clerk.  We were not hanging all over each other, sucking face and being all PDA, so I don't know what the deal was.  It kind of made me wonder if I was a little overdressed/made-up.  I was wearing dress pants (because they were the only ones that didn't cause muffin top) and a chocolate brown knit faux-wrap shirt, topping off my look with some copper-colored jewelry from Premiere Design.  Nothing overly fancy; even my heels were a simple brown.  Rob was dressed well, too, wearing khaki pants, a light blue polo shirt and his black wool jacket.

Sitting here typing all this in my yoga pants and fluffy slippers while Rob plays his video game kinda makes me want to giggle, though.  It's amazing that, after all these years, we still look like a couple very much in the first stages of dating--doting on one another and paying attention to what the other says as though it's the most wonderful feeling in the world to just be together.  At least, that's what I'm telling myself they saw.  Wouldn't it be awful if instead they were actually witnessing us being awkward together.  What if they assumed we were on a first date?  Oh, I don't even want to go down that train of thought...

I'm going to live in fantasy land and think that we looked very nice together and people assumed we were in puppy love.  That's where I live; that's how I roll.  In La-La Land.

FOD: The Devil in New Orleans

FOD: Funny Of the Day

I am attempting to find an alternative 10 year anniversary getaway, since our Disney vacation just doesn't seem plausible. In talking with Rob about a New Orleans, LA getaway, I mentioned that my mother said to stay away from Bourbon Street. Aurora asked why we had to stay away from Bourbon St. I told her that's where people get really drunk and we just don't want to deal with that on our anniversary vacation.

While I was explaining this, Rob said over me "Because that's where the devil lives!" Aurora started laughing and said "The devil lives on Bourbon Street!?" Ryan, not to be outdone by all the hoopla, said "The devil takes drugs!" Aurora's reply, "No, the devil eats your souls!" took the cake, though.

Now, I'm thinking that we should look for a more demure location for our romantic anniversary getaway... Perhaps somewhere that isn't infested with local soul-eating, drunken, drugged-out devils.

Houston, We Have Ignition

Ellie has been making huge progress in the mobile department lately. She's been crawling for over a month now and just started pulling up onto the furniture last week. When I caught her walking along the couch while holding on last night, I thought it was time to bring out her walker-thing. Sure enough, she took off like a champ today. Here's the video of her first few moments:

Gearing up for Halloween 2011

Gosh, I can't believe how fast the past few months have flown by! School started in August and it just seems like I'm finally being able to take a moment to update everything now--and it's the end of October already!

Aurora started 3rd grade this year. She is enjoying her new teacher, Mrs. Cipolla. Having had the same teacher for 2 years in a row, getting a new teacher required some changes and she's doing great. This year asks more of her in the area of organization and homework, both of which she does NOT enjoy, but she's working at it and we're holding her accountable for it. I can't control what her desk looks like, but her teacher is very patient with her.

Ryan started Kindergarten in August. His teacher is a very patient woman! His first couple weeks were rough. He didn't want to follow the rules. Ryan has no volume control--something we struggle with here at home now that we have a baby--and he was constantly going in time-out because he wouldn't be quiet when asked. Rob got the brilliant idea that he should bribe Ryan. If he got a "Green Light" each day of the week, Rob would take him to the comic book store and buy him an age-appropriate superhero comic. He now has about 6 comic books and last week he earned a Hulk action figure! We have a parent/teacher conference next week and I'm hoping to hear good things. Cross your fingers!

Ellie is a completely different baby from the last update on here. She started rolling everywhere at 8 months old. Not too long after that, she started getting up on her hands and knees and now she is crawling everywhere! She's started pulling up onto her knees and pulling up to a standing position is the next step. It won't be long and she'll be running everywhere! Ellie can now say "Mama", "Dada", "Rora", "Bubba", "nana" and her own version of "Sassy" (which actually sounds like "chi-chi"). She loves blowing kisses and giving smiles to anyone who looks at her. She really is a happy baby and the older 2 just adore her! Ellie started sleeping through the night, finally, just a few weeks ago. We're starting to transition from breastmilk to a cup. She absolutely loves chocolate milk--the sugar free Nesquik kind, of course.

Here in a few days, we're going to dress up for Halloween. Last year, Aurora got to go Trick-or-Treating for the first time. Ryan was sick and I was very pregnant, so we didn't get to go with her and Daddy. She would like to do it again this year and hopes Ryan will get to come with her. As you can see in the picture below, the kids already have their costumes.


Aurora wanted to be a witch this year, but since we go to our church's Fall Festival, we thought maybe we should go with a less controversial costume. So, she found a really cute black cat costume and it suits her perfectly! The mask outlines her eyes and it's so pretty on her!

Ryan is the black Spiderman--when he was being taken over by the symbiote, "Venom" from Spiderman 3. We thought he wanted to be Captain America, and then we saw a Thor costume, but when he saw the Spiderman costume, it was all over. We had to buy him some new shoes (his feet are growing so fast right now--they're already bigger than his sister's feet) and he even wanted the black Spiderman shoes. So, he's set from head to toe for Halloween.

Ellie gets to be a really cute ladybug this year. A friend of ours had a daughter a few years before Ellie was born and we are the very fortunate recipients of this well-dressed little girl's clothes. When I saw the ladybug costume, I fell in love! She's so adorable in it!

Halloween usually marks the end of Daddy's free time. From the beginning of November until the middle of January, he's so busy with Christmas shopping and returns, etc. Before we know it, Thanksgiving will be here and then Christmas--and then Ryan's 6th birthday and Ellie's 1st birthday! We can hardly wait! Ryan is already planning his party. I better catch up!

Pocket Treasures & The Machine

I don't know how it manages to continue to work week after week. It's not industrial strength. It's 10 years old. Somehow, each week it manages to survive and thrive through all the abuse and filth thrown at it. This monster usually just eats things like this, but today, the Machine Monster must not have appreciated the love offerings from my children.

Yes, people, I'm talking about my beloved washing machine. I tell the kids to empty their pockets before they put their clothes in their laundry baskets, but it just isn't enough. I don't have time to go through each individual pocket (because there are about 50 of them total in each load of jeans). So, my poor washer ends up having to empty the pockets for me. Here are the spoils of war from this week:


Clockwise from the fish: A Rainbow Fish broach pin, a glass bead, some chenille pipe cleaner concoction (who knows what it looked like prior to the washing), a broken rubber bracelet, some random piece of something (plaster, maybe drywall?), a mulch wood chip from a flower bed (probably from school), and a flower charm from a bracelet (the bracelet is nowhere to be found).

Oh, and let's not forget Mr. Dryer. He ended up with a few treasures of his own. The picture below shows a rock, a piece of recycled tire mulch, and a penny from the dryer.

These made horrible noises, but I thought it was just because I had a load of jeans in there. I honestly thought all that banging around was the metal buttons from the jeans, but then I realized that my kids don't have jeans with the grown-up metal buttons; they have the snap closures on their jeans. So, I went to investigate and found all new treasures!

So, let's recap. Just how much could all those pockets secretly hold? Even I'm surprised this go-round:


Remember back to when we were kids and we thought all this stuff was treasure? And we were so shocked when our moms made us throw it away? I'm on the other side of this now and I am so shocked that they think these things are treasures--especially treasures worthy enough to put in their pockets!

I just really hope that my machine lives a few years longer. If my children want to make offerings to the washing machine monster, so be it. It would be even better if it was money next time. Like, a $20 bill--OOH! Or maybe even a $100 bill! Wouldn't that be great? No, probably not. That would just cause me to wonder what the heck my kids are doing on the school playground!

A Day of Firsts

Ryan lost his first tooth!!!!!!! I found out last week that his tooth was really, REALLY loose; he hadn't even noticed it was loose yet, typical boy. I was so excited that I took tons of photos on my phone. Of course, my phone camera is horrible, looks great only on my phone and won't print out good pictures. It doesn't really matter, though. The most important picture is the one above: The missing tooth picture!

He lost it last night after we brushed his teeth. Ryan has a tendency to lose track of what he's supposed to be doing and we were already late for bed, so I took the initiative to brush his teeth for him (I try to do that once every few days, just to be sure his teeth get a good cleaning every once in a while). Of course, I got toothpaste all around his mouth and it freaks him out when this happens. Instead of letting him wipe his mouth off on the hand towel next to the sink (gross!), I like to have him lean his head over the sink so I can rinse his face off. While I was rinsing his mouth, I heard a faint *clink*. I looked in the sink--where the water was running at full blast!!!--and saw his little bitty tooth! I acted as fast as I could and caught it just before it could go down the drain! Yay, Mommy! Ryan screamed when he saw that the gap in his mouth was bleeding and we quickly put a paper towel up to stop the blood (and the screaming).

After Aurora's Tooth Fairy Debacle, we made sure that the tooth was in a proper place for the Tooth Fairy to visit Ryan. She did her job and he woke up to a shiny Gold Dollar this morning, happy as a clam and excited, to boot!



Sassy and Ellie are starting to notice each other quite a bit more. Ellie wants to play with her, but Sassy is skeptical. She doesn't always run, but most of the time she does. This picture was one of the rare moments that Sassy took an interest in Ellie.



Ellie has been teething. I think her top teeth are coming in--at least I hope they come in soon! We haven't been sleeping well at night, she's been fussy and drooling like crazy. One of the results of the drooling has been a terrible diaper rash. At first, it was just a little bit red. Usually when this happens, I put some Desitin on it and the next day it's gone. When this didn't happen, I became concerned--not like "Oh, my gosh, she could DIE from this" concerned, but when I saw it was blistered and bleeding, it was enough to take some more drastic measures. I certainly wouldn't want MY butt to look or feel like that; I'm not going to make her have to live with it! With each diaper change, I was becoming more upset that the butt cream wasn't enough. So, I sprayed some Fantastic in my kitchen sink, wiped it, sprayed again, wiped it, and sprayed it again. I guess you could say my kitchen sink was clean by this point ;) To make a long story short, Ellie has gotten a sink bath every couple of diaper changes. Her diaper rash is still there, for now, but it's not bleeding anymore. As you can see from the photo above (and please excuse the clutter surrounding the sink), she loves her sink baths. It's just the right size for her and she can sit up on her own in there. We may make these sink baths part of our usual routine!

I Need a Vacation

I need a vacation. It really only needs to be a few days. Honestly. I don't need a whole week; just a few days of silence and being left ALONE!

I want to go somewhere where nobody is latched on to me, requires constant direction and re-direction and more re-direction. I want to avoid laundry, dishes, cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming, and meaningless discussions with acquaintances. I want to sip Mai-Tai's (whatever those are) and hang from a hammock for hours in the shade between two palm trees, their leaves blowing gently in the breeze coming from the shore.


I don't want to have to answer "Why!?!?!?!?", "Why not!?!?!?!?" or "Mom, can I...?" I don't want to have to ask "Do you have homework?", "Did you flush the toilet/wash your hands/turn the lights off?" I don't want to have to repeat "Aurora, eat!", "Ryan, sit straight in your chair!", or "Both of you, be quiet and EAT!" Investigating should only be done from the sea shore, as I follow the footprints of a crab or seagull; it should NOT require searching under beds for lost Squinkies or pieces of trash!



I will nap all day long and sleep all night through during this vacation. When my vacation is over, I will come home fully refreshed, slightly tanned, and able to take back my responsibilities with great ease, because in some sick way, I will have missed it all while I was swinging in my hammock peacefully. After all, I am blessed beyond belief with 3 amazing children and a wonderful husband, who all love me unconditionally--even on days where I desire vacations over my daily grind.

Ok. Vacation is over. Time to go re-direct again.

Some Things Never Change

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you have found a pattern: My kids do NOT like to clean their rooms. I don't know why they allow their rooms to become so messy; they always act like it's such a big surprise that I want them to clean up their messes! Why is that? I don't know... Perhaps they have short-term memory loss.

Today, I have made an ultimatum for the older 2: No lunch until your rooms are clean. I made the ultimatum at 10:30 a.m. More than enough time to clean their rooms before noon. It is now 2:40 p.m. and I still haven't made their lunches. Why? Their rooms are not clean yet! Argh!

They must not be that hungry, though. They aren't working very hard--at all! I have gone back there every 15-30 minutes to see their progress. Fortunately for each of them, there has been progress. Otherwise, I think my head might explode!

I desperately want to feed them. But, this is one of those Mommy times where I have to stand my ground. *sigh*

10 Things You Should Know About Me by Aurora, Age 8

Aurora was given homework to bring back for the first day of school. Her teacher had a form for them to fill out the following information. I thought her answers were quite interesting and, well, Very Aurora.

1. My name is: Aurora Lynn

2. I love: my little sister Elliana... for now.

3. My family: Robert D, Helen E, Aurora L, Ryan D, Elliana N :D

4. I like to: read books and watch TV

5. My favorite animal is a: 1) Bunny 2) Dog

6. My favorite sport to watch/play is: I don't watch/play any.

7. An interesting fact about me: I don't really have favorites... I'm just jotting down ones I really like!!

8. The coolest place I have been to is: ??????????

9. If I could have one wish, I would wish for: World Peace

10. When I grow up, I would like to be: I don't really know. I guess I'll have to wait and see :)

Ryan "Shredded" his pillow (FOD)

I went back to check on Ryan during his nap time today and found a pair of scissors in his crayon box. Now, knowing Ryan, it's terrifying that he even has crayons in his room, much less scissors! But, I looked around and saw that only papers had been cut. I did have a slight heart attack, though, when he came out of his room and announced:

"Mommy, I shredded my pillow!" and he seemed so proud and ran back to his room to show me what he was talking about.

Fortunately, he came out, thigh deep in his pillow case to show me how he "shredded" his pillow. I explained to him that when he says the word "shred" it usually means to cut something up into tiny pieces. He looked at me like I had grown horns and said:

"No. Shredded, like, you know, when animals shred out of something tight!"

"Oh! Bubba, you mean 'shed'!"

"Yeah, I shedded my pillow!" and he proceeded to show me how he sheds out of his pillow case!

tee-hee!

10 More Days!?!?!?!

Oh, sweet blessedness that is the first day of school... How I long for you. How my children long for you. This summer has been miserable without your impending joy and entertainment.

Yes, people, even my children are ready for that first day of school this year! There is no dread in this household. Oh, no! Just the opposite. My kids are bored. I am preoccupied with everything baby and it's too hot to send the older 2 outside to play. When it hasn't been too hot, it's been too wet (like these past few days, but boy have we needed that rain).

*sigh*

The end is in sight. That light at the end of the tunnel. That glorious sunrise after a long, dark night. That first day of school.

The kids have been at each others' throats the past few days. It's getting old. Yesterday, Aurora kicked her brother. Today, Ryan punched Aurora--in the face! Now, in each situation, they both deserved it. I'm sure of it. However, we need more constructive things to do than practice our self-defense skills.

Unfortunately, everything to do here in Tulsa requires $$$. Something of which we are lacking since I have not gone back to work. Oh, we're making do. But, that extra few bucks to go to McDonald's or some other childhood form of entertainment is out the window. It's been too hot to spend even a morning at the zoo. My kids are too loud for the library--when I take them. Rob swears up and down they're good and quiet for HIM when they go to the library! Such a strange phenomenon, that is.

In the meantime, we have rooms to clean and more messes to be made. With the weather turning cooler these past few days, I'm hoping a trip to the zoo can be placed on the agenda. We've got cabin fever.

Poor Aurora (FOD)

It has been a rough day here in the Rose household. These kids are so restless and this Mom is ready for school to start again. (12 more days--HOORAY!!!!)

I have had a short fuse today and the kids have pushed every button imaginable--even the baby! Now, I preface this with: I do not spank my baby. At all!

But, the older 2, I do still spank. Aurora, not so much anymore, since you can talk things through with her, but Bubba got multiple spankings today. He was told to do things and didn't; he was told not to do things and did them anyway. It's been a tough day for him.

Anyway, to get to the point: Aurora was sent to bed early tonight because she refused to eat her pizza. What warm-blooded American child doesn't like pizza? This is always a contentious point in our household. Furthermore, we have pizza once a week, so you think she'd learn by now, right? Oh, no. Not Aurora. She's a stubborn one.

As a result, I sent her to bed. Ellie was FINALLY taking a nap during our dinner time, so Ryan and I got to eat together--just the two of us. That doesn't happen very often, so I took full advantage of it. We ate our slices together and talked about The Avengers (well, as much as my knowledge would allow us). After dinner, we ate ice cream right out of the container. It was a sweet time.

When I was getting Ryan out of the shower tonight, Aurora opened her door and informed me that I loved Ryan and Ellie more than I love her. I said I didn't, so she downgraded their status to "Favorites". I told her that if I had any favorites, SHE would be my favorite first-born, Ryan would be my favorite son, and Ellie would be my favorite baby. Not to be outdone, I further mentioned that if Ryan was my favorite, why did he get 3 spankings today and she got none? That threw her for a loop. Her response was great, though:

"You've given me, like, 5 spankings today!" she said.

"I haven't spanked you once!" --Me.

"Yes you have. You've given me brain spankings. Those are the worst!"

I just laughed and kissed her goodnight. Where does she come up with these things?

If You Can't Stand the Heat...

Well, that's just too dang bad this summer! My GOSH! It is so stinkin' hot (and I mean STINKING--P. U.)!!!

July was our hottest month on record, EVER, here in Oklahoma. I'm so glad I was here for that (sarcasm). Our electric bill for the month, just to keep our house at 80°F, was over $300!!!! The HVAC specialists in the area are trying to tell people that your A/C will not cool your house to 70°F when the outside temps are over 100°F. It's just unrealistic, they say, to expect anything cooler than 20° less than the outside temp. *sigh*


Because of the heat, Rob and I are having trouble sleeping upstairs. He has to take no less than 2 cold showers at night. One to get into the bed and settled down. When he finally settles down enough to get to sleep, the bed is too hot already and he has to go take another cold shower to cool himself down. It's a vicious cycle.


My coping mechanism has just been to sleep on the futon in Ellie's room. Her room is the smallest of the bedrooms. As a result, it is the coolest room in the summer. In fact, it was almost cool in her room when we woke up this morning. Almost. I was covered up with the comforter and didn't feel like I was going to melt. Rob doesn't fit on the futon with me, so he sleeps upstairs. Last night, he quipped, "We should move our mattress into Ellie's Room." I was all for it! However, it was 11 p.m. and neither of us had the energy to move a queen sized mattress down the stairs. If we don't get some reprieve from the heat soon, moving our bed's residence could become a sincere reality.
In case you can't tell, Rob and I don't do the heat well at all. We are used to cooler temps and actually prefer Fall and Winter to Spring and Summer--ESPECIALLY here in Oklahoma! Spring is scary here; Summer is relentless. Especially this summer. I assume it's like this all across the United States, from the news reports I've seen and all the facebook posts from my friends in various other regions of the country. I mean, when Wisconsin hits the 90's in the summer you know something's gotta give!

In the meantime, we are just trying to stay cool. I'm grateful for the air conditioning in my house and for my ice maker in my freezer. We're becoming well acquainted.


How are you all staying cool this summer? Got any "Beat the Heat" advice?

30 Things I've learned about Oklahoma

In honor of my turning 30, I thought I'd share a few things I've learned in the last 4 years:

1. There are a LOT of famous people from Oklahoma: Gene Autry, Garth Brooks, John Denver, Vince Gill, James Garner, Mary Hart, Ron Howard, Toby Keith, Reba McEntire, Dr. Phil, Mickey Mantle, Brad Pitt, Carrie Underwood, James Marsden and many more!
2. The Native Americans do NOT still live in teepees
3. Oklahoma still has Native Americans, but they aren't offended when you call them "Indians"
4. The "Indians" out here look just like you and me, but they get special license plates on their cars
5. Apparently, you only have to be, like, 1/92 Native American to get that special license plate (I'm going to start doing some genealogy tomorrow! Surely somebody in my family married an Indian... Right?)
6. The people out here will bend over backwards to have a conversation with you
7. Not only that, but if they find out you have any needs during that conversation, they will give you the shirt off their backs if it would help!
8. Oklahoma has only 3 seasons: Cold, Hot, and Windy aka Wet, Dry and Tornadoes
9. During the Cold season, everyone wishes for the Hot season.
10. During the Hot season, everyone wishes for the Cold season.
11. Nobody wishes for the Windy season, except for the local weathermen, who get overly excited when they find a funnel cloud.
12. During the Tornado season, men are expected to go out on the front porch to look at their impending doom.
13. Your "safe spot" during a Tornado is locally know as your "Hidey Hole"
14. A "light breeze" in Oklahoma is 15mph, a "steady breeze" is 25mph, and a "strong wind" is 50mph. Anything above that requires a "Wind Advisory". Because the debris flying through your front yard isn't advice enough to stay inside, apparently.
15. There are approximately 2 weeks out of the year where it is comfortable enough outside to leave your windows open. Unfortunately, those two weeks are random days scattered throughout 12 months.
16. Oklahoma is actually civilized; bandits do not roam the streets on horses anymore. Just sayin'
17. Time goes a little slower out here in Oklahoma. If you want to get somewhere on time, you better leave early. People on the interstates are never in a hurry and they believe you shouldn't be, either.
18. There is a Wal-Mart OR a gas station on every corner.
19. Speaking of corners, all the streets are straight out here. The cities are built on grids.
20. Not only are the streets straight, but they are flat, too. Elevation changes are very rare.
21. When it rains, it pours. Literally.
22. When it doesn't rain, the whole area is placed on water restrictions.
23. When water restrictions are enforced, stuff catches fire.
24. Stuff catches fire because the temperatures reach 100°F for weeks straight.
25. Since I've lived in Oklahoma, we've endured over 100 days where the temperature reached over 100°F.
26. I do NOT like 100°F weather
27. I do NOT like strong winds
28. I do NOT like tornadoes
29. I do NOT like straight roads
30. But I sure do love the people here!