15

Dear K1,

Today (on 07-08-09) you turn 15 years old. It seems like just last week that you were born! You were the first person to ever steal my heart---and you did it before I even met you. The day you were born (after literally more than 24 hours of labor and an emergency c-section) was the happiest day of my life.

You brightened my world like noone or nothing else could have. It was such a struggle in those early years, but I wouldn't trade a single minute of it! You were loved by more people than you could ever imagine. You were our little mascot at all of the football games. You were such a happy baby and I truly couldn't have asked for any better.

You have changed so much in all of your 15 years. This last year, you have changed more than ever. Not only have you grown a few inches on me and are looking more like a man, but you have matured inside so much.

I am very proud of you and all that you have accomplished so far and all that I know you are going to achieve in the next few years. I am so thankful for the relationship that we have and hope that it only gets stronger as you get older. I love you so much and wouldn't trade you for the world, my dear firstborn child. Happy 15th Birthday!

Love,
Mom

Summer Fun

Summertime is in full swing, and as usual proves to keep us very busy! So busy that I have several weeks to catch up on here so a quick recap (in pictures, of course!) of what we have been up to lately.

Spending time with our cousins in the water...


and out of the water!



birthday parties with pony rides....


and a 3-week old baby miniature horse to pet!


K2 and K3 took a pony ride together....


so sweet of K2 to go for a ride with his little sister!


Little did we know that he is apparently allergic to ponies, which led to this!


poor guy was just miserable for a few hours :(



Mom got to have lunch with former OU quarterback, Josh Heupel

We have spent time with friends, holding babies...

and we have spent LOTS of time at the pool!

K1 showing off....

and K3 jumping in right behind him!

they all 3 love the water

it always wears them out....K3 couldn't even finish her chip that day!

K3 and I went on a baking spree....she loved being able to do it by herself!

We spent one day at Frontier City for the annual LifeStock festivities (put on by our church, LifeChurch)

There wasn't much for K3 to do, but she made me ride the carousel with her 3 times in a row!

K2 got brave and rode his first "upside-down" ride!

and he absolutely loved it! (just like his mama)

While the boys spent time on rides like this:

K3 and I hung out in the sand...

I think she had just as much fun there anyways!

K1 spent a little time behind bars....

and K3 discovered the tea cups! She rode them 3 or 4 times and we had to make her get off. She was laughing so hard the whole time---it was so cute!

K2 and K3 are also taking swim lessons....

K3 is doing really good without her arm floaties

and K2 is perfecting his swimming skills

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY.....but I still love summertime!

Not Me! Monday, take 2

One of my most favorite bloggers, MckMama, created a blog sensation called "Not Me! Monday!" and I have always absolutely loved reading those posts. This alone was one of the reasons why I started my own blog---so I could join in on the fun and confess my own "Oops" moments!

With that said, welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I have had alot going on the past couple of weeks and I completely missed out on Not Me! Monday! last week, so we have a lot to catch up on!

We went to the zoo last weekend with my sister and her family for K3's end-of-the-season soccer party. It was very hot that day (I believe around 95!) and after several hours, we were all miserable and tired. And by "we" I mean mainly the adults. Even with all of that heat and tiredness, I would never encourage the small children to do my job and push each other in the stroller. And if I was able to convince them to try it, I most certainly would never make a game out of it and allow them the privilege of being the "pusher". If I would have done all of this, then I definately would not have been successful enough to have them actually fight over who got the next turn pushing the other one. But I wouldn't really know anything about any of that! Not me!






While on said zoo trip, I also did not find MckMama's Small Fry being pushed around by some other family that we were with. I searched frantically for MckMama, Prince Charming, and the other MSC, demanding that this family return Small Fry to her rightful family! All of that freaking out, only to realize that it was not the real Small Fry after all, but this precious girl could sure pass as her twin in Oklahoma anyday!

K3 was in the bath the other day while I was getting ready to go somewhere. We had the radio on, but I really wasn't paying too much attention to it. (Imagine that---I can tune things out!?!) I would never play inappropriate music for my 4-year old daughter to hear because I know that she loves to sing along with the songs (especially if it's Skillet or Hannah Montana - such a great combination!). So there is NO WAY that I heard her singing "Birthday Sex" as she colored with her bathtub crayons! If that were to have happened, I would explain to her that she couldn't sing that song because it wasn't very nice and she would have stopped, of course. Everything was fine until the next song started. At that point, I definately did not hear her follow-up "Birthday Sex" with "I kissed a girl and I liked it..."!!! I think I would just have to shake my head and laugh at that point. Oh yeah people - I have NO IDEA how my child would ever hear songs like that!

Ok, one more for today. Almost 5 weeks ago now, I did not get dumped by my boyfriend - over the phone - while I was sick in bed and home from work - and while he was driving on his way to work. It made for kind of a rough couple of weeks and if that did happen, I most certainly would not have kept it a secret from literally everyone (with the exception of 2 people who learned by default). And I definately would not have been able to keep that secret for at least 3 weeks. And there most certainly wouldn't be some people who will only just now in reading this blog find out. :( The good news is that all things happen for a reason, and if this did happen, then I wouldn't have been able to bounce back and find someone incredible so soon! NOT ME!

Games, Goats, and Girl talk

Saturday was my 32nd birthday. It happened to fall on Memorial Day weekend this year, creating an extra day in the weekend for celebrating. Right? Umm...not so much! Instead of telling you what we have been up to, I thought I would show you. (I will preface this by saying that since I wasn't going to be home all weekend, I got all of my birthday presents early...including a new camera - which I am obviously thoroughly enjoying!)

K1 had the state cup soccer tournament

in Broken Arrow this weekend.

I was able to get some great AIR shots!

This was the action on the sidelines (at times in the pouring rain)....at least K2 and K3 had friends here as well!

My bestest friend, J, lives in the area with her hubby and 5 wonderful children. We were able to make it a fun, full weekend (as if the soccer wasn't enough?!) by staying with them and hanging out between games. We always enjoy our time here and we never fail to find something to keep all of our children busy. They recently bought 5 baby goats (to match the number of children maybe?? haha!) so I took my city kids into the country life for a while. The little ones all loved the goats! K3 even named one K3, just like her (even though they are all males), because "this one is mine when I am here"!

We also went to great park they have here in Owasso.

One of the best parts of our visits up here is always the "girl talk" that J and I get to have. Sure we talk on the phone often, but it's just not the same! Each night, we got the kiddos all in settled in bed and left her hubby behind while she and I went out for a drive and some ice cream all by ourself! That's a big treat for us moms. We always manage to laugh so hard it hurts....and that is the BEST! I miss being around her often and always look forward to our girl time, where we pretend it's just us and there are no men and no kids...and that is nice for a few moments.

I love ya J....thanks for a great birthday weekend, as usual!