Boxers In Boxes

This is probably my all time favorite picture of the puppies. How can you not just love it. From the left on the bottom was Grady (famous Oklahoma Boxer named Sean O'Grady), then Lia (known as Dottie at that time!) Next is Maddie, Then we have Durga (I can't remember her birth name!) The next cutie is little Callie who was known as Sweet Pea . The top box holds Flynn for Arrow Flynn if any of you are old enough to know who Arrow Flynn is. But Flynn had the shape of an arrow on his neck, hence the name. And last but certainly not least is my little Rudy. The little runt guy that should have died three times, but was such a fighter. And he is now my boy. So handsome and loveable. He is the most precious thing. Callie is my little sweetie too. and to think Zoe gave me these most wonderful gifts. I love my babies, and to this day, three years later, I still call them puppies.

More Slimey Stuff

Caleb loves his slime. It comes in several colors but the green is one of my favorites because it is so gross looking. But more than that is the fun in watching Caleb play with the stuff and the look on PaPa's face!!!! (remember you will probably have to push the play button twice to make it play...that's for you Linda!)

Caleb and The Slime Monster

This video might be a couple years old. We had Caleb for his birthday for a few hours and one of his presents was some slime. I don't know if any of you remember playing with stuff like this as a child but I sure do. And when I was going through videos the other day and saw this I knew I had to share it with you all to see. I still laugh when I watch it. Oh what good memories. So sit back and enjoy Caleb and the Slime Monster. I even have another one that I might have to add to this one. Caleb loved the slime so much that when we went to have his birthday picture made at Moto Photo we took the slime with us. Martin just loved us for it.

It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas

Lalalalala,

The trees are covered up with beautiful snow, the Christmas lights are on the trees

Oh it is soooo pretty. This is what I have been waiting for.
The snowflakes are huge, and just pouring down.

Rudy went out and just loved it.

He became very playful.
And just started running all around the yard.
The birds came in to feed.
The flakes are huge and heavy.
Oh wait, this is January 31st. Silly me.

You Know Your An Okie when....

Every time I have things like a 60 degree morning, short sleeves, no jacket weather to take the boys to school and then by the evening or late afternoon I have to turn the heat up in the house or build a fire, you know you live in Oklahoma!!! And I laugh. There are so many jokes about the Oklahoma people from friendliness in the stores to our weather. You know you are in Oklahoma when people look for a shaded parking spot rather than how close to the store door they are. Been there done that one! But yesterday as I was taking the boys to school I got up and left the house in short sleeves. No jacket either. The weather was great. I don't know what time the front came through but by the afternoon the temps had dropped to a whopping 32 degrees. It was cold by that time. When your poor old body (non-emphasis on old! just a word used lightly, carelessly, teasingly, etc) goes from 60 to 32 in a matter of hours it just goes into shock. It's not normal, its not right, it just shouldn't happen. But then you remember, Oh yes, this is Oklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plains (break out in song about now will you, please feel free to join in if you know the words) Stop, I have sneezed five,six times now, seven. Enough already. Eight. Good grief. I covered my mouth, nine, so you should be safe if you just don't touch the keyboard after I , ten, sneeze and then type. Excuse me, bless me, eleven, dag gum it. Now I need a tissue. Be right back. twelve. OK, an even dozen should be enough. Or is it like a bakers dozen and there will be thirteen??? So far no hint. Where was I? What was I talking about? Let me go back and re-read for a moment. poor body, singing, Oklahoma weather, sneeze,sneeze, sneeze, oh forget it. I don't know where I was going with all of that.
I miss my cousin. Why is it that when I was gone on my cruise I really didn't miss her or anyone for that matter? But now that she is gone I miss her terribly. I miss her phone call at 5:05 when she is coming home from work (or 5:30, 6:00, or whenever). I miss her being there to talk to when ever I want to for the most part. She has become the sister I never had. I can remember when we were kids my mom would say they were coming to the house and I just dreaded it. I didn't want to have to take "care" of her. She was/is five years younger and she was just a tag along. But as we got older (high school) then we started having fun together. I remember my boyfriend (James/vet now) and I went with Jill to get her a puppy. We were in James' big read truck. Needed a ladder to get in and a parachute to get out. It was sooooo cooooool. I remember teaching her to drive in my old Chevy. And getting caught on the Arkansas River bank photographing hang gliders. My mom was FURIOUS with me. Like they would kidnap us girls and do something to/with us. My mom might have had a small valid point now that I look back on the situation. Jill was in my wedding too. She wore a yellow pastel dress that I thought was pretty with her long beautiful blond hair. She still has that long beautiful long hair too. She says it has some grey in it, I don't see it, as I don't see the age in either of us as we are now in our 40's and not the same as we were back in our teens. But I see the girl/woman that I love as any sister. I see the wonderful person that is funny, weird, giving, tolerant, smart, mom, grandma, listener, advise giver, go to wal-mart at midnight because I just want to, talk/can't talk now, understands, non-judgemental, loving, human, best friend. I am glad I have moved home. Best friends are hard to find. I had three, now I have two. I now treasure the two I have more than ever after having lost the one. Linda, Jill, I love you guys and miss you both. Jill hurry home and Linda, we need to talk soon. I forgot to call you back!!!! But knowing you it will be OK! Aren't best friends great??!!!!!

I'm A Sick Person

No really, I am sick....with the flu. And the bad part is so is Scott. It should be a law that only one person per family can be sick at a time. It's just not fair. You know men are bigger babies than women anyway but when we are both sick it's just not fair. I want to be pampered, waited on hand and foot. I want my every whim to be met, I want my way and I want it now. So Scott needs to hurry up and get well so he can get back to taking care of me!!!!
No really, Scott does a great job of taking care of me all the time. But this is unusual that we both get sick at the same time. We went to Enid last week to help with some DARE graduations. And then afterwards we had the privilege of taking Caleb and Allie home with us for the weekend. I have not had a three month old baby by myself in a very long time but thank goodness Allie is a very easy baby to keep. Caleb is a lot of fun but does require a lot more attention than the baby of course. He wants to be entertained by grandma and grandpa. We have puzzles, books, McDonald's' playground (thank goodness), Wal-Mart, and a big yard. After a great weekend Scott took the kids back to Enid on Sunday and attended the open house of the new fire station #2 (sub station). When he got home ( I stayed home to set up my new computer that I had put off till the kids left) I told him I was not feeling well at all. He said that he didn't either. He asked if I wanted him to go get anything. I asked if we had any NyQuil and he said no. Darn it. Usually if I take that stuff I get well pretty quick. About thirty minutes later I asked him if he went to get some would he take it too? He said yes he would. So he went. We both had very sore throats, headaches, and felt yucky. The next day I had a fair amount to take care, didn't get it all done, but didn't feel any better. Today (this morning I felt worse.) I hate this. I am taking care of my cousin's two boys (teenagers) while she and her husband are on a cruise for their 25Th wedding anniversary. The boys are easy to take care of, I just hope I have not exposed them to my germs. However I figure I got this little bug from either the DARE graduation and kids, from Caleb and the kids at his school, or just kids germs in the air. So I guess I will just suffer through it, whine a little more, and all will be well. So pass a little cheese with this whine would you and pray for Scott's sake I get well quickly!!!!

Bad Hair Day!

Spanky Lookalike ! Oops I mean Alfalfa Look a like

What in the world happened? Grandma gave me a bath and this is what we ended up with! She might need to get some better conditioner or get me to a professional.
I don't think the wild look is for me.
Even the dogs couldn't look me in the eyes after this. They looked away as if to hide the smirk on their faces. But grandma says I am still adorable! Thanks grandma.

Where's the Deer?

Deer in The woods.

Deep in the woods the deer reside.

Their beautiful coats help them hide.

Soft and quiet with big brown eyes

God's creation here reside.

You will have to enlarge the pictures to look for them.
The deer did not move for the longest time. This picture has three deer looking at me.

I could not believe that these deer stood right outside my fence while I called Scott on the phone to tell him. Then I went back inside to get my camera. Still there I took pictures with a flash going off even and they were still there. After SEVERAL minutes I decided if they weren't going to run off then I would walk closer. So I did. They stood still for me to get even closer. Yes, I have a zoom lens on the camera but I was still within feet of them. Finally with one big snort( an awesome sound to hear for a non hunter) they stomped and then ran off. Not at a dead run, but just fast enough to say, ha, I know you are there but we are leaving now. Up with the tail (big white flag) they jumped off their merry way. I love deer. I would feed them but fear it would just make them more desirable for the hunters!!!!!

Allie Gator

Oh Happy Days!

I'm so cute aren't I?
My shirt says it all...ain't it the truth baby?
Here is my sweet and innocent look. Is it working for me?
Grandma just kept taking pictures of me and changing my clothes.
Allie was very easy to keep this weekend and I loved taking pictures of her every chance I got. She always wakes up in a good mood and tolerates me changing her clothes or putting a bow in her hair. She looks big in the pictures, but at three months old she only weighs 12 pounds. But also by the pictures you can tell she is very filled out and looking good. She is filling out and has lots of kissing and nibbling places.

A Day At The Park

Heritage Park in Sapulpa

A Great Place to Play

This is a neat park, I know nothing about it, but we so enjoyed finding it and getting to play.

Playing on the chains was tricky, but he managed it just fine.
Just another cute shot of a really cute kid!!
Sliding down the pole like PaPa at the fire department of days long gone.
The climbing wall with a picture of a buffalo.

Sitting in the tepee
In the fire station at the park.
A nice slide, one of about three or more!
Route 66, watch out for the cars Caleb.

Three very nice boys came to play at the park. They included Caleb and made him feel so welcome there. It is nice to see kids that are raised with manners. The played tag, running and laughing. I wanted to post their picture but decided I better not without permission. These were some of the nicest boys I have met in such a long time. They showed Caleb some neat things about the park, and treated him very nice when playing. I told their mother who was sitting in the car how polite they were. I hope she treated them to some ice cream.

Grandkids for the Weekend!

Oh how sweet it is!

This is my dad getting some Allie time at McDonald's. We took Caleb and Allie there to eat lunch and let Caleb play in the neat play area. We needed out of the house.
This is my niece and Caleb. They are pretty close in age, he is one year older but they play very well together.
Callie and Allie
Grandpa, Caleb, Allie, Callie and Rudy all working on a puzzle for Grandma!
I love this!! I do not know if he is just holding her head or what, but other pictures he made bunny ears, and touchdown hand signals, etc. But I think he likes her a little bit.

We were suppose to have Caleb this weekend for some special grandma/pa time. He was feeling a little low that little sister is getting so much attention, he left all his friends in Washington, and his daddy is not here with them. He is still on the ship. And will not be with them until about June except for a short time in Feb for about a week. But having said all of that, when we went to get Caleb momma was needing a break and some rest. So we took Allie as well. It has been a long time since I have had a three month old around. But it was not bad at all. Thank goodness we have easy grand kids to keep. She is such a happy baby nearly ALL the time. And goes to bed so easily, oh great, I just jinxed myself didn't I? We picked them up on Thursday, and will return them on Sunday, a nice break for Sarah. And I will be ready to return them!!!! That's the wonderful thing about grand kids....and you know the next part of the saying, which I am pretty sure will be true. Need I say more?

Too Tired to Post

Ok, I know there are some out there that actually read my blogs. But for the last week I have had stuff going on or I just was not in the right mood to blog. So for the Linda's in my life I am sorry that I have not posted any pictures or interesting stories. Not that there hasn't been any, but none that I was willing to sit down and actually write about. Things can be used against you in a court of law, I know first hand how that works. So one must be careful not only what they say, but most certainly what they write. I am getting my grandson for the weekend after having to make two trips for DARE graduations in Enid. I have had a long week and another one awaits me. So be patient and I will start blogging again soon. I promise. Are you out there Linda?

Happy Birthday Baby Brother

Happy Birthday Rob

This is my baby brother Rob. Born this day about 39 years ago (I think). He has always been very special to me for many reasons. One is the obvious, he is my baby brother. Two, I took care of him a lot, he was my BABY brother. Three, he is just really a neat person and so handsome. I love my baby brother.


Rob played soccer as a kid. He was pretty good at it to. I was out of the house by the time he was playing soccer as a teenager but as a young mother I decided I had time to volunteer as a coach. So I signed up having NEVER played before. I taught the very young kids thank goodness, so rules didn't matter a WHOLE lot. I read a book or two then when all else failed... I called Rob. Help I would scream, what do I do? He was very patient with me and would give me some ideas. I usually tried them too. We even had many winning seasons thanks to him and some talented kids. It was NOT due to the coachingI can assure you!
Rob always has so much patience with the kids. He does a great job explaining things to them and gives them examples that they can relate too. I was taking pictures this year for the kids but would get caught up listening to him coach the youngin's.
A great daddy, he was in my son's wedding with his own two kids. I like taking pictures of him with his children. He acts so tough at times, that I just love catching his "softer side". There he is with his little princess. He would do anything in the world for her or Trent for that matter.

Here he is with his family at TJ's wedding. The date on the picture is not correct, it was really 8/12/06. It was posted in military date. Silly me! But anyway. Here he is with his little family and they are so cute together. I hope that they are together always. Rob and Steph were high school sweethearts and had kids in their 30's. They are great parents. Rob is a firefighter/paramedic for Broken Arrow. I am sooooo proud of him and all his accomplishments in life. He is a great husband, father, worker and brother. I have so many stories on him as a kid! One time he kept asking me to get him some tea. I didn't want to get up and get it for him but my mother yelled at me to get up and do it. So fine, I will get him some tea then. I got a cup that was not see through and poured brown vinegar in it. I told him I had his tea but it was "special" tea. I told him he had to hold his nose and drink it all down. He said ok. He was probably about five or six. Well I held his nose and poured the tea down for him. Have you every tasted vinegar? It is pretty nasty I guess by his response. I don't know, I have never drank vinegar. Kind of stupid if you ask me to drink it. Pretty nasty too. Boy did I get in trouble for that.

Another time he was pestering me ( or maybe I was pestering him I don't know) but he started chasing me through the house. So I ran out the house to the garage, out the door and shut the door behind me. Rob was hot on my trial and went to grab the door and broke the window pane cutting his hand. I got in trouble for that one too. He was bugging me another time and I had a bucket in my hand swinging it back and forth. Well he ran up behind me just as the bucket was in a backward swing, I got him right in the mouth. Busted his lip real good, might have even loosened a tooth or two, I don't know. I got in trouble for that. The bucket swinging was in the house. I don't know why I had a bucket in the house.

But my favorite memory with my little brother is this. My older brother and his friend were two guys that Rob loved to copy. To emulate (good word huh?) Well Mike and Dale were in high school and dipped Skoal. Of course that was cool and Rob wanted to do it too. I told him I would be glad to help him learn how to do it. I got a can of Mikes Skoal and told Rob to pull out his little bottom lip. Now he is only about 7 or 8 and does what I tell him. I took about 1/4 of that can and crammed it/packed it tight/ into his little lip. I told him to work up that spit but he could not spit it out. That he just had to keep it in there for a while. To work up some really good juices and later he could spit like the big boys. I might have even said something about swallowing the spit for a bit. Don't remember for sure how it exactly "went down", but that is the story how I remember it. Well we were out behind the tool shed because we didn't want mom and dad to catch us dipping. I mean Rob dipping. Don't know if you all know much about dipping, honestly neither do I, but I do know that if you are a little boy, with a lip full of Skoal, a mouth full of spit, a sister egging you on to not spit but just swallow it, you turn several shades of green and spew all kinds of junk for quite awhile. We never told mom and dad about that one. But Rob still dips to this day.

Happy Birthday Baby Brother, it is truly a miracle you have made it to 39!!!!!

Broken Trees Near Keystone Lake

My parents live by the Keystone Lake, West of Sand Springs. As I drove to their house I see nothing but broken tree tops. It is more than the pictures can ever show. ( if you don't know you can click on the picture to enlarge it and see it better.) I wonder why. Then I think that some of it might be natural selection. These trees have grown so much in the 30 years since I left home. They are over running the place. How will new strong trees grow if they are shut out of the sunlight by the old heavy branched trees? Yes, the old must die for the new, young and strong to reach into the sky for the sunlight.



You can see how heavy the brush and timber is. We all know that is not healthy, that makes for scrawny branches to grow making them weak when heavy laden with ice or disease.












These trees are snapped off at the top. Just look at them, broken and fallen to the ground. But they will likely come out of it. Maybe not as pretty or thick, but I bet they will branch back out this spring.








Just more of the same, I just marvel at it all. I wish I could truly capture the way it looks. I started to take a video and maybe that would help to truly see what has happened here.










I have lived through tornadoes and even this is just different. I have lived through my own ice storm in Enid but we didn't have the amount of trees that this area has, so it is just different.









Mighty trees broken down by water, frozen water, who would have thought so much damage could happen from rain.....cold cold rain. Life is interesting to say the least.

More Dog Pics

I Love My Kids (er dogs)

I don't know how this happened. But I think it is so funny. I was working on the computer one day and looked behind me only to see Callie not on her bed, but in her bed. I don't know how she got there, but she did. This is one of those egg crate things you put on a bed to make it softer. I got one for the kids to sleep on. As you can tell they like to tear it up but I usually fold it up and put a blanket on top, then walla, dog bed. But this day the blanket was not on the padding and Callie crawled into the bed. Too funny.



Now Rudy and Callie are trying to figure out who is in the shower and why they aren't. They love showers!
One way or another they want to get that shower curtain open to see what might be in there.
Oh, it's dad. When can we get in? Is it fun in there? Are you going to hurry? Are we next?