Branson Part 2

Branson Part 2! Silver Dollar City:) Will and I had never been there and Steven hasn't been since about age 6. We had so much fun going there with our good friends, the Torres family! I am thankful we didn't have Owen because as much fun as SDC is, he would have just had to wait in his stroller or be held all day. Not any rides that were small enough for him, and only a handful that all the kids could do. That handful took us the better part of the entire first night!

The train was a huge hit. Will loves trains wherever we go, as does his buddy Mason. The kids waited and waited and were finally rewarded with the sound of the train whistle and the last train ride of the night. Silver Dollar City in the fall is truly beautiful and maybe I am sounding old saying this but the fall foliage was gorgeous and all the decorations for the holidays they had out all around truly put me in the Christmas spirit. Here is a photo of the family (minus O Man) while waiting for the train:


Not only does SDC has a ton of rides, shows, and stores to shop in, but they have a TON of food vendors. Smart on their part! I think during the short time we were there we inhaled some corn dogs, fries, popcorn (butter), hamburgers, philly cheese steak, more fries, popcorn (kettle corn this time), and not to be left out.....FUNNEL CAKES!!! I actually had to turn around, hit an ATM because we had already blown through our cash, and return to the park for my funnel cake. Those are my favorite "blow through my arteries" kind of food. Will was eyeing something the whole weekend too. You pick your potato, watch them slice it, watch them fry it, and then add your own seasoning (all on a stick of course). He HAD to have one before we left. Let me tell you, he ate the entire thing all on his own too! Also, to mention we were there 2 different days so it's not like we ate this food all at one time:) Just a sidenote...

Here is the above potato lover enjoying his snack:

Yes, we wore him out. Yes, it was overpriced (but worth it). Yes, we were tired. Yes, it rained on us. Yes, my feet were yelling at me by the end of the trip. But, it's memories worth making. It is a time where Will can look back and think of all the fun he had with his family. 4 year old's remember things, right??? Okay, maybe he will just dream about it.....


This was 7 minutes outside of SDC. Not even really out of the parking lot yet. Running your kids till they lose steam....priceless!

Branson Part 1

A weekend away! It was great:) Steven and I loved being able to spend some time with our firstborn without Owen! Don't get me wrong...Owen is awesome and we love him with all our hearts, but spending some one on one time with just one of your children at a time is special too. Off we shipped O Man to Nana's house and Momma, Daddy, and Will went to Branson! Silver Dollar City (more on this trip tomorrow), mini golfing, shopping, some good quality time with some great friends....so relaxing! Actually it wasn't all that relaxing and I am still tired from our trip. We went non stop, but it was all worth it because the kids had a fabulous time!

Here is a pic of Will with his best bud, Mason. They have so much fun together, rarely fight, and enjoy each other's company. Here they are posing for the camera:


On this trip we decided to take Will mini golfing. He has never been before and LOVES golf to no end, so we both thought he would just eat this up. He did! He did an awesome job golfing and even got his very first hole in one! I am not bragging here, but I got a hole in one too (Steven DID NOT!). Let me tell you of all the times Steven and I have gone mini golfing together I have only beat him maybe one time. Now, you can make that two times. Check this out!!!!!!


That's right...that is my score which is 3 strokes LOWER than Steven's:) Oh, victory is soooo sweet! The whole point of the trip to the mini golf course was not my bragging though, but Will's enjoyment. Here he is doing just that....


Look at the form! I think he might be a little pro in the making! Considering he says, "Go Phil" when he sees golf come on TV, I think he might believe he might be a pro one day too. Good thing for Mom and Dad because then Will can be the one taking us to Branson one day:)

Forgot About the Sister:(

I meant to add to the last blog a pic of my sister and I. We don't get too many pictures anymore of just the two of us, without snot and drool, without kids crawling or grabbing at us, without other people needing our attention....I think you are getting the picture. Here is a snap of the two hot momma's at our Dad's birthday party. Love you Ang!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Dad

Happy 53rd birthday to my wonderful dad! Last Tuesday, Oct. 19th, was the old man's birthday:) Here is a shot of our original family of 4! This family has grown by leaps and bounds over the last 10 years or so, but we still love to get a shot in of all of us to document what it used to be like "before" all the madness!

Dad had all his grandkids at his big party. 4 is not too many kiddos...but when they are all under the age of 5 it makes it difficult (to say the least) to try and pose them all on one lap and one time. We tried our darndest. Here was the result:


My little O man looks so much like my dad...STILL! He loves to spend time with his Pappy and was giving him lots of extra love on this his birthday. He loves to hug, snuggle, wrestle, head butt, and crawl after his Pappy while they are playing. He also will just cuddle up to him and give him sweet kisses and hugs.


Happy birthday to my dad! One of the two best men in the entire world. I love you dad!!!!

A Day in the Sun

Sun. Fun times. Sand box. More fun times. My boys love both sun and sand. I think I hear a trip to the beach soon:) Will has always cherished his sand box. Owen is now beginning to enjoy it too until he starts to eat the sand and Momma has to intervene. Sometimes Owen starts to find other things to do because the sand just won't hold his attention like it does big brother. Case in point...let's water the yard.


He didn't really water, of course, he just likes to pretend! If water and sand will not hold my little one's attention, let's try toys. There are several of those and big brother is always there to lend a hand. If only to tell Owen which toys he can or CAN'T play with and at what given time:)

Dry Gulch Getaway

Dry Gulch, USA....much needed! Thank you, Church on the Move, for throwing such an amazing event for all ladies to come and relax and get away even if only for 24 short hours. Who needs sleep, right??

The day started around 2pm with sister picking us all up and going to Sonic. I felt a cherry vanilla coke was in order so I indulged (I run, right...it's okay!) Off to Dry Gulch. An hour later we pull up with Angela asking a million questions about how pastor found such a remote place, why people actually lived on the property.."there are horses here?" questions the rest of the night. Just to let everyone know, about halfway through our night she was already planning on her whole family moving to Dry Gulch, having her hubby work in the barns, and her girls living and running around the campsite all day:) Here we are posing by the beautiful Lake Hudson. Not to be outdone by Angela and I, Jennifer and Amanda got in the action and posed with me too....

We got checked into our bunk, got our beds made, and took a stroll around Dry Gulch. We were killing time before it was time to get our nails done. Manicures with Parafin wax all around please:) So much fun!


Dinner was awesome with grilled chicken, fresh salmon, rice pilaf, broccoli, to die for rolls, and a chocolate dessert made just with women in mind!

After dinner it was off to hear Beth Jones speak to us and to have some praise and worship with Andy Chrisman and our band. That was amazing as well. So many women, all different, but also having so much in common!

Can anyone hear the smore's calling? We could! Off we went. Change into night clothes, put on our jackets, and head over to get even more fattening food in our bellies. Nevermind the fact that we all smelled like bonfire smoke the rest of the night. It was worth it!

We also had an opportunity to win several awesome prices and a $500 Visa gift card playing Bingo. No one won in our group, BUT 2 of our other bunk mates won great prices. One of them even won the grand $500 prize. 2 people in a bunk of only 7....that's good odd's!

Karaoke....the last thing before bed. Not my cup of tea, but Jennifer got up there and rocked it. Did I mention the fact that Starbucks was being pumped into us from the moment we arrived at Dry Gulch? No wonder we could all stay up WAAAYYY past our bedtimes.

Like I said before, who needs sleep right? 2am bedtime, up by 7am, and not very good sleep in between I might add. Such a great time bonding with my girlfriends, making new friends, getting encouraged by God's Word, and getting away from the daily grind if only for 24 hours! Thank you Jesus:)

A Night at Carmichael's

Carmichael's. 171st and Mingo. Way the HECK in the middle of nowhere in Bixby, Oklahoma. Worth the drive and all the money you might (or will) spend there! The boys loved it! Will loved it last year, but Owen was only a wee one so he really had more fun this year:)

Will has NEVER been interested in riding the horses, ponies, or camels but this year he was brave. He will be 4 in just a few short weeks and he has finally experienced his first pony ride. The thrill was there, even if it is not evident in the photo:

All brother could do was watch. He stood on his little hay bale and watched with all his might! Whenever big bro would roll by on his pony, Owen would begin to wave and smile. Maybe next year Owen will actually be large enough to ride. It's the middle of October, it's 90 degrees outside in Oklahoma, my kids are in short sleeve's and shorts, my little one has hot sweaty pink cheeks, and this is Fall???? Too confusing!


Last but not least Will got to feed the goats, chickens, sheep, llama, roosters, rabbits, pigs....the list could go on and on. Seriously everyone, 50 cents and you buy a bag of feed (which Will totally tried to eat) and this keeps the little ones entertained forever! Hand sanitizer was necessary after this adventure and I am not even a germ freak like many other out there!


Fun was had by all, Momma bought fudge, Will and Owen shared a popcorn, lots of memories! One word to the wise though...I would not enter the hay maze unless you have a very brave one. Very dark, can't see your hand in front of your face, kids screaming, hay itching your eyes, and not very fun. We made it about 5 steps before the Kueny family was exiting. Get out of our way!!!!!!!

Have to Make the Most of It

You have to make the most of it. Sam's, that is. Don't like the place. Hate the place on most visits. I have the same feelings for the sister store, Wal Mart, truth be told. But hey, I have to do it so might as well make it the most fun it can be. The most fun it can be means allowing a 14 month old to just not ride shot gun all the time. Give the man some action! Owen got to ride in the actual buggy on this trip. I thought he was gonna die from laughter. He just thought it was the most hilarious thing ever. Will was cooperative, although once he saw how much fun brother was having he wanted to ride along too. Not gonna happen. 50 pounds of kids, tons of heavy food and boxes, and no spare room for a 4 year old. Sorry Will. His reward for not throwing a fit....cinnamon sugar pretzel from the concession. Loves, loves, loves these things. Oh well, it's the small things in life.....

Happy #32 to Steven!

Happy birthday to my hubby Steven! He turned 32 yesterday which means I am just a short 6 months away from doing the same thing. My wonderful mother in law came from Norman to watch the boys for us so Steven and I could go out for this birthday. We started the date with a trip to Marshall's for me to look at some tights. Never thought I would actually purchase the highly trendy and tight tights (like the pun there), but I did buy them and now I love them. Now, it is on to seeing how many of my longer shirts actually look good with them. This almost 32 year old is not going to be sporting tight tights and short shorts. No sir ee! Anyway, back to Steven. So went to Marshall's and then drove to Cinemark to see the new Ben Affleck movie, The Town. It was good if you don't mind the F word being said no less than 300 times in the movie. Good plot though and lots of action. We ended the night out with a dinner at Baker St. Pub and Grill. Loved our fish and chips and the whole "eating outside on the square" feel. That was fun!



Then we got home. 7:30pm, the boys are in the bath and are headed to bed in about 30 minutes! We have the quickest birthday celebration ever with singing to Steven and enjoy our delish cupcakes my mother in law ordered from Goodness Bakery (www.GoodnessBakery.com)! Super yummy and fat free (NOT!). All Will cared about was blowing out the candles. In fact, Daddy did it the first time and we had to relight them so Will could do it the second time. Of course, why not?

Why do I run 5 miles everyday and then eat fish and chips, cupcakes, and all the icing? It is a question I ask myself every single time I put something trashy in my mouth!

To the Dentist and Happy Assistant

Will went to the dentist yesterday. Yes, I know I am behind on this seeing as how he is 6 weeks away from turning 4. We don't have dental insurance so this is just something that got pushed aside. He did awesome! No crying, no fear, no cavities!!! He saved Momma some money. He will not be saving Momma money in a few years here because he WILL have to have braces at some point due to his 100% overbite! We all knew he had an overbite, I just didn't realize it was so severe.

Of course, Will had his sidekick Mason with him. It really helped to have his buddy there with him getting his teeth done too:) Owen joined along for the ride (this he has to do at all times!) and was great at the dentist. Not counting the fall in the kids playroom. He had his few second of tears and crying and then was back at it. I snapped this photo of him after the dentist in his cute fall outfit. He is getting too big for my liking, but I would like the walking to hurry up and get here. Momma does not enjoy carrying this lug everywhere:)

As Different as Night and Day

My two boys are different. Different in so many ways. They are different in who they are closer to (as a parent), in how they eat, in how they are growing, in how they interact with others, their personalities, etc. The list could go on and on. I am even pretty sure that little O Man in going to be a lefty! Will is serious most of the time thanks to his typical first born male, type A'ness ( I made up that word). Owen is never serious and always a ball of laughter and giggles. Case in point. This is how Will looks a lot of the time. Don't get me wrong, he is a happy boy, but also in the "thinking zone" a lot of the day.


In comparison, this is how Owen looks pretty much any other time of the day except for when he is napping. Non Type A, total go with the flow, always happy and up for anything at any time of the day. During his naptime..no biggie. He just won't nap that day. Always my happy man.

Don't get me wrong. Will does have his happy, all smiles time too. Yesterday he went with Daddy to the eye doctor and was "helping" him out. All smiles, just like his brother.

Daily Grill Fun

Downtown Tulsa. There is not too much going on unless the BOK Center has decided to host some special concert or event, unless the PAC is holding a Broadway show, or unless you decide to eat at the Daily Grill. If you do decide to do the last choice, then you must stop in and see my cousin, Kasey. She is one of the managers there at the restaurant in the Crown Plaza Hotel. We went to visit her last night and had this lovely view while eating outside waiting on our meal to arrive:

If you can't read the letters up top, or have not been to downtown Tulsa in a while...this is the BOK (Bank of Oklahoma) building. Not too much to say about this building. Super tall and right in my viewpoint as I was snapping photos!

So, the food is really good at the Daily Grill. The place is pretty fancy though and I have two little ones that can get loud (mainly Owen). It was a nice night outside so we decided that the boys could be as loud and messy as they wanted outside, right? They had to do something to kill the time so Owen became Mother Theresa:)


The boys had a great time, the food was wonderful, the staff and family that work there were great. Overall, a very satisfied experience! The boys sure love their Kasey:)