Fall

We love our buddy Anna Kate!

Anniston had a Halloween party at school and she was so proud to bring Benton with her and let him walk in the parade with her.  They went as Ninja Turtles.

October is just a good excuse to always wear a costume, even if it's just to go to the park.

Our neighborhood has a fall festival and this little one enjoyed the cookies and the petting zoo!

Anniston had an intruder visit her room one night.  I took a video of Jake trying to grab him and catch him while he jumped out at him.  It was quite entertaining.

Halloween night the kids went as PJ Masks, which are little kid superheroes that fight crime at night time!  We had a blast doing a little trick or treating with friends.

She's getting so big.

Dad is the best at reading bed time stories.

We got to take the big kids to see a movie and it was so much fun!  We did 3-D which was a hit, until Benton learned he had to return the glasses.  That ended the night on a bang.

When I look back at this election year, I wonder if I will remember how tense and heated and emotionally charged it was.  All of the hard conversations and how divided we were as a nation.  As time goes on, the thing I will want to remember is that we tried to choose joy, peace, and gratitude in the midst of it all.  Gratitude for our country, for our families, for our friends, for so many many things...so we spent election day celebrating together!  Red white and blue!

We also made it to the polls...all four of us waited in that line to cast our vote.  Grateful for that privilege!

Sometimes it's hard for this guy to wait for his laundry to be done.

Twice a year I get to sit in Anniston's dance class and watch her class for the day.  I love getting to see her in action!  She's such a lovely dancer!

This Fall Jake's dad built us a deck in our backyard for the kids to play on!  We love it so much!  One beautiful night we brought the blow up mattress out there and had an outdoor movie together under the stars.  I love moments like this!

Fall 2016

I don't update often enough and I definitely don't record as much as I would like so I won't forget the beautiful moments of this season.  But every few months I carve out some time to get some pictures put up with short captions so I can remember.  We try to life fully and love life and find abundant joy in the middle of the mundane.  I hope looking back on these pictures one day I will feel like we did that well.  

I found him on the floor making snow angels out of baking soda.  Awesome.

Always wearing costumes.

A trip to the Cleveland County fair one night with the family and Rara.  It was a beautiful night and the kids had a blast.

Both kids played soccer this Spring and Dad coached both teams.  Anniston loved practice and loved her teammates but wasn't too excited about the games.  The "Unicorn Dogs" had a rough season with a couple ties and a bunch of losses- but hey, it's about having fun, right?  Benton was only 2 when he started and couldn't quite understand the concept- his feelings were quite hurt when someone took the ball from him when it was "his turn".  Poor buddy.

Just having fun in a box.

Some mornings we go to Ember, a place where I get to pray for the city of Norman with my friends for an hour.  I thought the kids would dread going and sitting quietly for an hour listening to worship and prayer...but they really look forward to it and ask to go.  Something about the presence of God is irresistible I think.  Plus they really like the cool colored pencils.  

This guy was so proud that he put on his shorts himself.  I couldn't break it to him that they were backwards and his waist was through the leg hold.  This is a typical outfit.

Ben's little soccer team.

Fun at the park.

Little buddies.

Cutie on a scooter.

We got to take our little cutie on a date just her and us.  She loved the waffle dippers.

Love this crew.

Trouble.

Fun at the lake with Nana on the Ranger.

These kids really wanted to get in the water...in October.  There was no chance Mom was going in after Ben if he couldn't swim back, so I did what any loving, caring Mom would do...I tied him up, and reeled him in.

Kayak time with Pops.

The kids had fun when they found a "pet" turtle in the backyard.  Eiley was the most brave, walking right up and picking it up and carrying it around.  It wasn't until later I read that turtles carry salmonella and you should never have them around young children.  Oops.

Just an evening family dinner on Campus Corner.  Love this crew.

Loves his Colorado hat.

My little superheroes.

Buddies in their light up rain boots.  They wear them all the time, rain or shine.

He even sleeps in his.

Anniston had a "bug walk" at school and brother and Dad got to go with her.  What a treat.

The big kids got to go to the Tulsa Fair with Dad, Papa, and Joel.  They had a blast.

Buddies.

Benton is three!

This kid is so fun to celebrate.  He gets so excited about everything.  For his birthday, I got to take him on a date just the two of us.  We went for donuts and played around campus for a bit.  He is just so fun.  The next day, Jake and I got to take him on a breakfast date just the three of us.  I always love this set aside time for just him and us.  Then grandparents and Uncle Joel came to celebrate!  He got to open gifts and have a dinosaur cake, something he is loving a lot these days.  There are so many things I love about Benton in this season...but the thing that I always come back to is his generous heart.  It amazes me when he displays the kind of extravagant generosity that he does.  I love his little heart so much.  Benton Clay- it just keeps getting better and better with you!

First Day of School

This year we have one at Gingerbread three days a week, and two at First Christian one day a week.  Anniston was so excited to get back to Gingerbread and Benton was THRILLED to be starting school.  Truth be told, he's probably been ready for a year.  They all had such a great day.  Anniston played with friends, Ben charmed all his teachers, and Eiley held it together all day, didn't nap, pounded her lunch, and came home and crashed from exhaustion.  All in all, a great day had by all.  We are so grateful for wonderful schools where our kids can go and be loved on by some awesome teachers and kiddos.