Beautiful Weather

The kids definitely loved the park! And I was loving the beautiful weather. This is the best time of the year. Warm enough to go in shorts and a t-shirt, but not hot and humid enough to be uncomfortable. And I am loving the fact that they are actually playing together!

Princess Ball

Brenna and her prince charming! Prince charming even got her a corsage.

Brenna outside the enchanted castle...a.k.a. Chesapeake.


There was even a horse drawn carriage!

There was a Daddy Daughter Princess Ball at Ryan's work, which he promptly signed up for. There was a banquet of chicken strips, macaroni and cheese, french fries, and other children friendly meals. Afterwards was the carriage rides around Chesapeake campus. Then there was dance. Which Ryan said was hilarious to watch. All the little girls would flip out when Hannah Montana or the Jonas Brothers would come on, Brenna seemed confused as to why all of the excitement. But when "All the Single Ladies" came on, she screamed and started dancing all over the place. Crazy girl. She was on cloud 9 when they finally came home, and talked about it for days following.

And they lived Happily Ever After.

Need a Vent

Literally. Specifically an air conditioner vent.

Yesterday was one of those days. The day was busting at the seams with things to get done. But it was all unraveled when we realized on Wednesday night that our air conditioner had stopped working. (After a day of 90 degree weather!) I had a piano recital, my last piano recital at 7:00pm, had to make the refreshments, do laundry, go grocery shopping, make/print the programs, figure out how to get the Church building unlocked because the lady who was supposed to lost the key, do my scheduled piano lessons, and now sit at home for the repair man????!? Of all the days! Needless to say, I somehow accomplished all of those things on my list (except for laundry), our air conditioner was fixed only for around $200 (a major miracle considering our home is 25+ years old), and the piano recital was great. I slept soundly last night, and I am actually ready for another one of those days. But all of this is in preparation for one of my fabulously relaxing days on our trip. It will all be worth it.

Up the Nose

Cannon is experimenting with how different objects can fit into different facial holes. Ears, mouth, nose. And this blue bead is a perfect fit for his nostril. Thank goodness we have a good friend who is an Ear-Nose-Throat doc, who can tweeze the bead out! And thank goodness Cannon is now comfortable sitting still while doctors poke and prod him! He sat perfectly still while Dr. Nose picked it out. It was amazing to watch. We didn't even have to tie him down! Hopefully he has learned his lesson...but I have a unshakable feeling that this is the first of many.

Tea Party

Not the "Tea Party" Brenna was expecting. She was a little disappointed!

No explanation needed on why I was there. Right? But I have to say it was a perfect day for a little protesting! And I was SHOCKED at how many people were at the Oklahoma City Capitol, on a Wednesday, at noon! Middle of the week, middle of the day, there were an estimated 3,000 people there! Go Oklahoma.

A.D.I.D.A.S

All Day Cannon Dreams About Sports!

Particularly soccer. And I say that not because my soccer obsessed husband is already brainwashing him to the international sport, but because he tries to kick anything and everything! Including the dog. But he still points out anything sports related. Every Sunday, while sitting in our chapel, he will point to the raised basketball hoop and yell "Ball! Ball!" He is also a fan of golf, and loves to hit anything on the ground with Brenna's plastic golf club. And he will sit on his dad's lap and watch ESPN. It cracks me up. We couldn't have bribed Brenna to be this interested in sports. Boys and girls are definitely innately different!

Sidenote: Cannon's absolute favorite nightly activity is sitting with dad and watching America's Funniest Home Videos. So much so, that when we were at a friends house watching a movie about their daughter who was just baptized, he laughed at every picture. Which made everyone else crack up. I've come to the conclusion he thought he was watching America's Funniest Home Videos. Crazy kid!

Easter Egg Hunt

Ryan's high school, Deer Creek, has an annual Easter Egg hunt. We took Brenna, Cannon and their two cousins, Ces and Lauren. The weather was perfect, and everyone had a lot of fun! They divided the baseball field into age groups, so Cannon wasn't competing against the crazy 10 year olds! 0-2 yrs old went first. It was hilarious watching Cannon impatiently wait for the countdown, and when he could finally start, he took off! How quickly he got the concept of competition. He tried to pick up 2 eggs with one hand even! He gathered a LOT of eggs! Brenna had a good time, and I directed her to the back of the field so we could beat the crowd then work our way forward. Brilliant strategy! It worked for Cecily and Lauren also! It was a great start to the Easter weekend.

Mental Mom Moment

I have had some issues. Parenting issues. Do you ever have a moment when you feel yourself snapping? It is really funny in hind-sight, but definitely not a laughing matter at the time. Without incriminating my daughter, we've had a few reoccuring issues with making the same bad choices. We tried giving her a stern talk, the naughty corner, no play-dates or tv shows, almost anything we could think of. And it didn't seem to make any sort of impact. One very long and exhausting day, and I had had enough. I informed Brenna that I was cleaning out all, ALL, of her toys from her room. And I did. It looked like we had moved! And it was very traumatic for her. I do have to say though, that we haven't had the same issues since, and she has earned back all of her toys. Sometimes our moments of crazy as parents actually gets the results we are looking for! I am putting away the crazy for now, and hopefully she won't return for a long time!

What are your mental mom moments?

THE beard

I am NOT a fan of facial hair. This is an understatement. I despise kissing lips through a prickly facial hair forest. But for some unconscionable reason, Ryan decided to prove his manliness by growing a beard. He maintained the full beard for several weeks, then trimmed to the chops-and-goatee look. And now is sporting a much more manscaped goatee. He does not like his new look either, but will not give up until the cruise. Ew.

Caged Animal

Ryan's parents gave us an old wire cage, in case we needed it for Cupcake. Well, Cannon and Brenna have gotten more use out of it than the dog! Somehow Brenna will convince Cannon into climbing in, and then will close the hatch once she climbs out. He finds it amusing for the first... 3-4 minutes, then he wants out! But every time I see him in there, it cracks me up!

25 Days!!!

It is not a secret I am beyond excited for our upcoming vacation! I have just now become aware how often I say out of the blue, "Oh....I am so excited for our cruise" or "....Only twenty something days till we leave!" I'm sure my friends are sick of hearing about it. So hopefully I can get it out of my system in this post! I CAN'T WAIT!!! And I've thought of 25 things I am looking forward to (some have also been suggested by those patiently listening to my constant excitement):

1. Sleep!!!

2. Food, as much as I want, and I don't have to prepare any of it!
3. Spending uninterrupted time with Ryan. Now, I'm sure he will have to break away from me to beat his older brother on the treadmills, or another brother in a card game. But then I can do more of #1.

4. Having nothing on my schedule for 5 days straight..except our dinner reservations, but when they say "Eat" I run!

5. Being somewhere warm, and beautiful!

6. Going outside the country for the first time! (Ryan will remind me that I've gone to the Canadian side of Niagra Falls, but I still argue that doesn't completely count!)

7. Being on the beach for the 2nd time in my life!

8. Being able to eat without Cannon climbing on me saying "More. More. More. More. More"

9. Digging a hole in the sand in Cozumel that is big enough for my expanding tummy, and lying face-down! It's been a while!

10. Spending some quality time with several of Ryan's siblings, without kids. This will be the first time, and it will be awesome!

11. Missing my kids like crazy, but being completely comfortable they are with people who love them just as much! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Bushman!

12. Hopefully listening to Ryan actually use his fluent Spanish! I mean, you would think he would while we're in Mexico!

13. Seeing the Mayan Ruins at Chichen Itza.

14. Listening to Todd and Allyson do a Karaoke duet, I thinking High School Musical?

15. Going dancing! Don't let the belly fool you, I can still get down! And Ryan and I love to go dancing! It was one of our favorite things to do when we were dating.

16. Watching Ryan and his brother Eric get beat up wearing USA Soccer shirts while walking the streets in Progresso. And they'll think it is hilarious!

17. Going shopping with my bargain hunters Wendy and Heather, finding the cheapest deals in Mexico.

18. Getting a pedicure before the trip. I may not look good in a swimsuit, not have the preparatory tan or work-out bod, but my FEET will look GREAT, whether I can see them or not!

19. Ryan being clean shaven! He is growing out a beard until the cruise, and I HATE it! Don't get me wrong, he looks handsome. But I get beard-rash everytime we kiss.

20. People watching. This is one of my favorite past-times. I even give people pseudo names and personal histories. (This began when we spent a night in the Denver airport!) It will be more entertaining with all of them being drunk. Last time we were around anyone drunk was at Ryan's high school reunion. Good times.

21. Reading! I have started a list of books I want to read. But I already know what will happen. I will be so relaxed, I will fall asleep 1 page into the book, and never finish a book!

22. Late night conversations with Ryan. We have gotten out of the habit, since we have to wake up early. And I am SO excited to reconnect with him like that!

23. Laughing so hard that Wendy turns bright red, and Mike chokes on his food. It's happened before.

24. Making more inside jokes.

25. Hopefully coming home being ready and rejuvenated for the next few crazy months and years of our busy lives!

I'm sure most of you skimmed the list, but if you have any things we should be looking forward to that I haven't thought of, DO SHARE! 25 days...and counting!

A snowy weekend

I was surprised to see in our forecast a snowstorm arriving the last weekend in March. But since I love the cold, I wasn't like the rest of the Oklahoma population who was upset it was arriving. The weathermen in Oklahoma have tornado prediction down to an art. This psyche does not translate into predicting "Winter Weather". They warned us that we will receive at least 3-6 inches. We maybe received an inch, and it only lasted one day. But in that one day, the kids enjoyed themselves! Brenna made a bowl full of snowballs, Cannon collected snow on his shoes, which slowed him down and of course made him unhappy, and Cupcake ate all the snow she could stand before the shakes would set in! But it was nice to have an excuse to stay in over the weekend!

We stayed in, but Ryan competed in an indoor Sprint Triathalon. I don't know all the distances of the swim, run and bike, but he placed first in the "Beginner Division". He has worked hard to get there, and I think it has had great affects on his physique! Woo-hoo! What he's losing, I'm gaining...it's not fair! But he did a great job!

Won't Budge

Sunday was a beautiful day outside. When we left for Church, our neighborhood girls were playing in our neighbors yard. When we arrived home from Church, they will still playing out there. Of course Brenna asked if she could go play with them. We reminded her of our family rule that Sunday is a family day, and we don't play with friends on Sunday. She decided to play in our back yard instead. Soon after we walked in the house, there was a knock at the door. It was the neighborhood girls, wanting Brenna to come play. We explained the same rule to them. They said ok, and left. Or so we thought! A few minutes later, I heard them in our backyard. Brenna came in the door, and I asked her who was back there. She said, "Emily and Alex. They still want to play." And I asked, "Brenna, what is our rule?" She said, "Not to play with friends on Sunday." I told her she needed to tell them that she can not play today. So she marched out there and said, "Girls. I can't play today." I could hear the faint reply, "we're just playing in your backyard." And Brenna said trying to imitate a mom's voice, "Get out of my yard! I can't play!" And they left! I was so proud this little 5 year old was standing up for what we believe and practice to 9 year olds! We'll see if they come around to play again....