Pumpkin Patch!

Today we made a trip to our local pumpkin patch!!! :D Micah's teachers had set up a "Meet Your Teacher at the Pumpkin Patch" day, so we had lots of fun with our fam, and lots of the kiddos from his class. They got to ride the hay ride, feed the animals, go through the hay maze and pick out a pumpkin!! And, of course, take cute pictures!!! (Which they loved, dont you know!!!)

Family Fun Weekend!

Last weekend we had a ball just spending time as a family. The whole weekend was Miles Family Fun!!! It's been awhile since we've had time like that...it was so great. Friday Micah and I had a "date morning", just he and I, and had so much fun I kept him out of school!!! Friday night, we headed to the Tulsa State Fair...we've lived her for 7 years and never gone! So, off we went. We rode the park and ride bus to the fairgrounds, and I think Micah was about as excited about that as anything! We got to watch a piglet being born, pet camels and giraffes and llamas, a baby bunny, all kinds of stuff!! We even saw "The Worlds Smallest Horse" (yeah right) and a "GIANT alligator!!" Each dude got to ride one ride....E and Clay picked the scrambler...and neither threw up!! :D Micah and I rode the Ferris Wheel. So much fun. Saturday was a trip out to the lake to meet some of the people we camped with lots last summer. Such a ball, lots of laughing, eating and great stories!!! Sunday was church, friends over and more fun.
Hope all of you are having as great a kick off to fall as we are!! Much love.

Micah turns 5!!! (Almost :D )

I know, I post a lot of slide shows, but I love to take pics!!! Anyway, Saturday night we had Micahs birthday party! It was so much fun. He wanted a Hoops and Yoyo theme (they are Hallmark characters) and no one carried any of that stuff!! So, we set about making our own decorations, and I've got to tell you, I think it was the most fun I've had putting together a birthday party!! I went online and found some printable stuff, so we spent one evening coloring pages to put up around the house to decorate with. It was so great, sitting with the kiddos and hearing them talk about how special this was to make it by ourselves. We spent Friday evening putting things up, and they helped me decide what would go where. Saturday was the party, and of course, it was pouring rain all day. Micah had wanted a pinata, but I was not going to have a bunch of 5/6 year olds swinging bats in my house! So, we decided Twister and Apples to Apples for kids was a better alternative. They all had a ball playing. It really was a fantastic day!! I still have all the stuff up in the house b/c Micah dosent want to take it down until his REAL birthday....not that I mind it, it's pretty cheerful!! :D

Jenks Wild

Last week, Ethan had the opportunity to go to a environmental/science camp with all the 6th graders at his school. It was at Dry Gulch, in Pryor about an hour from here. They left Tuesday morning and finished up Friday afternoon! I got to go for the last 2 days and we had a ball!! We were in a bunk of 18 boys! Holy cow. During the day, the kids would have outdoor classes and activities and each night was something special. One night was a talent show and the night I was there was the "Social". Not a dance, but there was dancing :D. All the kids did a great job performing the line dances they learned earlier in the week. It was so neat to see Ethan in that element...I tried really hard just to blend into the background and not "mother" him. All the bunks were arranged so they had one or two people from their class in thier bunk, but for the most part, had to make new friends. E was really nervous about that, but did a fantastic job. It was quite an experience!! I cant wait to go with Clay!! :D

Oh Heavens......

Look closely and you'll see the new haircut the boys tried to give themselves!!! This morning I was talking to Micah and realized, HOLY COW!!! He'd tried to cut his hair!! I was trying not to giggle, lectruring about how it's not safe to have sissors by your eyes, etc...but it was too funny!! Clay came in and I was telling him to look at what Micah did, and then realized, OMG!!! He did it TOOO!!!!! At that point I was beyond trying to keep my composure. Both Josh and I were laughing pretty hard. Seriously, what else are you going to do??? Once Micah realized that we'd have to cut his hair, he was not so thrilled with his little adventure. Josh gave them buzz cuts tonight, and we stayed as long as we could, but it had to go pretty short. Too, too funny....
(By the way, for those of you thinking I'm a horrible parent for having sissors accessible to my children, they did it with thier safety sissors!!! Can you imagine the SAWING they had to do??? Oh, and they did get a serious lecture about sissors near eyes, and their ones taken away for right now. :D )

Our new tree house!

The weekend I was in Chicago, Grammy and Papa came down to visit and built a tree house! Josh and his dad worked all weekend, making an awesome fort for the boys. They love it! This weekend we painted it, and finished the trap door. Now, the neighborhood kiddos are begging their parents for one. ;D

Trip to Chicago!

About a week ago, I headed to Chicago to help my sister and bro-in law, Jason move into their new house in Lombard. It was a fantastic trip. We spent the first day unpacking and putting up pictures and things, and the next day was shopping!! We headed to the outlet mall for a bit, then into the city to meet one of my dearest friends who lives in the area, Mimi for some lunch. It was fantastic!! We went to the Cheesecake Factory right at the base of the Hancock Tower, and after eating, Betsy and I headed up to see the view. Pretty awesome...the boys got a kick out of seeing the swimming pools on top of the big buildings. :D Sunday was Jasons first *official* Sunday to preach and he did amazing. They are such a fit for the church, and I know they are oging to do amazing things there. We got to spend some time with all the peeps afterward, and it was fun to get to know some of them better. That afternoon, we headed to White Castle for some sliders. Yes, they are called sliders, and that is exactly what they do!! ;D Overall, it was a ball, eating amazing food, shopping, unpacking and just goofing off having agood time. We bawled like babies when it was time to go...and I already miss her like mad.

First Day of School!

Holy cow...can you believe he's in 6th grade???

Clay is so excited!

Micah ready for school!


And so it begins!! The boys all started school this week, hard to believe its that time already, huh? I'll give everyone a quick update about where all the dudes are!

Ethan is now 11, and starting 6th grade. Holy moly, blows my mind! As I'm typing this, he's out mowing the grass with his dad. He's so big! I cant get over it..of course, he wishes I could! ;D I get a lot of "MOM,ughh." (Imagine a huge sigh and rolling of the eyes!) He really is an amazing kid. He's in that stage of taking a bit of advantage of his little brothers by being the "oldest and knowing the most", but really, thats his age, right? He's learning how to control that impulse! ;D So far he loves his teachers, and his class. He's also still really active in Boy Scouts, and this winter is going to try his hand at basketball. He takes quite an interest in my classes, so when he's able, I may let him start participating.

Clayton is 6 and just a mess! He can be quite the turd when he wants to, but turn right around and be such a sweetie. Hes got that amazing combination of rough and tumble and big teddy bear. He is getting ready to start fall soccer, and can hardly wait! That dude would play a sport every day of the week if he could. This year, Clay is in the multi-age program at school, which means he is in a class of 1st and 2nd graders. Its cooperative learning, with the older kids helping the younger ones, etc. I'm really interested to see how this works out! His teachers are amazing, and definately passionate about the program. Next year, he'll have the same teachers, and the opportunity to help the younger ones. I think he has the personality to benefit big time from this set up.

Micah is nearly 5, only a month before his birthday! He just started the Pre-K program, and has the same teachers as Clayton did. They are AMAZING, prob my most favorite of all the ones the boys have had. Micah is that typical youngest dude, convinced that he can do anything his older brothers do...and has no hesitation in trying! This summer, he and I worked hard on his swimming and he's able to go down the slide and off the diving board w/out me catching him! He's so proud of himself! So are Josh and I. He's kind of extra attached to me right now, the transition of school has been a little nerve racking for him. But he's going to do wonderful. It's going to be hard for me to have no dudes at home!!! :D

So, thats it, we really are blessed with fantastic kiddos. Of course, they have their moments, but we wouldnt have it any other way.
Happy back to school!! ;D

Farewell to the Davis'

This weekend, my little brother and his family came down to say Adios to Betsy and Jason. The Davis' are leaving for Lombard, IL in just a few days. Jason accepted a job as a senior pastor there! So exciting for them! We had a little party for them Saturday, and got to hang out with the El Dorado Whitsitt family and Mom this weekend. It was lots of fun...Micah was the *official* photographer! ;D We'll go help them pack the POD tomorrow, and they will head out Thursday morning for Chicago, with a pit stop in KC and St. Louis.

Pizza!

Tonight we made pizzas, once again, trying to entertain my dudes!! Josh is in Dallas, so we're having some fun with Mama this week. They loved doing this project! They were bummed today b/c we were going to go to the pool, but it was closed due to thunder and lightening! Ah well, it was a good day for a movie and popcorn, and pizza too!

Fun at the Water Park!

Yesterday we headed to Muskogee to go to a water park. We were all badly in need of something new to do! End of the summer blahs, right? So, we went to a "mini Big Splash/Oceans of Fun" for a day of water and sun. It was a perfect day, not too hot, finally! Our friends Sandy and her daughter Abbey went with us. Abbey was so good, Micah loved having her ride slides with him! We spent all day down there, nearly 6 hours! Those dudes were exhausted by the time we got home....Clay was even asking when it was time for bed...now that is TIRED! ;D One week from today, they will be sitting at a desk, not waiting in line for water slides. ;( Amazing, huh?

Painting Fun!

This weekend we decided to paint our living room and stairway/hallway. It's been stark white since we moved here nearly 3 years ago! BORING! So, now its all spiced up. The boys loved watching us paint, and even helped a little bit. Micah took pictures for us, kind of random, but cute!! As we were starting, Clayton exclaimed "That looks like Oklahoma!" And sure enough, it did! Funny stuff. :D

Whitsitt Family Fun Day!

After our time in Wichita, we headed to KC for the annual Whitsitt Family Fun Day event!! It was fun that 4th of July coincided, the boys all had a blast shooting off fireworks. We played and played, frolicked in the pool, backyard baseball, bocce ball, croquet, and lots and lots of talking and goofing it up! One night all the adult children stayed up until 3 am!! Chatting!! It's been awhile since this old gal has done that :D. It really was a blast, and made so much more special that all of us could be together for a weekend. And, of course, we got our annual family photo to top everything off. Long live WFFD!!

Miles Family Vacation!

Last week we headed to Wichita/Haven for our mini Miles Family Vacation! We had a ball. Kent had to work nights, so we got to see him for dinner, and Josh had to work a few days too, but we managed to squeeze lots in to our 2 1/2 days together! We began with seeing WALL-E, so so cute! I think we all enjoyed it. The next day, we hit the water park. Micah had a bit of trouble there 'cause he was about 2 inches short to be able to ride the slide or go off the diving boards, so that was kind of tough, but he had lots of fun, I think! The other dudes had a blast with the slides, and Clay even worked up the nerve to go off the high, high dive! Josh was so nervous...worried about his baby up there!! Clay and Ethan both did it, and the *zoom* slide, the one that goes nearly straight down! Holy cow! They loved it though. The day after that, we went to the zoo and checked out the new Cessna Penguin exhibit. Lots of fun....the boys got to feed some animals in the childrens zoo, which they loved. Clay was kinda nervous...he'd throw all his food out, and at one point, when they were nudging him for more, he turned around and said "I hate those stupid goats!" It was hysterical! After the zoo, we headed for lunch and then to Exploration Place. Lots of cool stuff there...flight simulators and history on airplanes, a *real* tornado. I think that was Clays favorite thing! He is a budding meterologist! They all loved that part. When we finished up there, we went to a candy store where they could make thier own pixie sticks! Dont you know they were all over that! That night we connected with the Omaha cousins and our final day we went bowling and go cart racing. They had a blast! Glad we could see them before we had to leave. It was tons of fun smashed in to not a lot of time, but we were glad to have the time together! :D

Just a quick update....

Yesterday we went to the doctor for Micah to get his shots...the poor dude had to get 5!!! Yuck! Clayton took pics with my camera, so I thought I'd post 'em for you all to see ;). He's a budding photographer/meterologist. Not too much new going on in OK....lots and lots 'o rain! Last night on the weather website, our local weather man posted rainfall amounts for cities in OK, KS and TX. Tulsa had 35.4 inches of rain so far this year....10 inches above the next highest city!!!! Thats a lot of freakin rain! Hopefully it will dry out soon and we can have a pool day. The biggest news here is that CLayton has given up *blankie*, all by himself! He was so brave...he brought down the bag of baby bedding that matches his blanket and put *him* in there...making sure to tell us all that he may take him out and visit once in awhile! So sweet...he was so brave. The biggest news in our whole family is the arrival of the 8th grandchild!! Little Rowan John Whitsitt was born yesterday at 1:54 pm. Ethans immediate response was "Cool!! Now we have an 8 man football team!" We're excited to go to KC and meet the newest dude in a few weeks! So, that is about it for now! Hope you all are having a great summer!