High's and Low's

We've been through a lot of MAJOR changes this month. The highs and lows of the circle of life have hit us full force.

The lowest point was when Wade's grandma passed away. She had been sick for awhile when Hospice called and told us she was within a day of passing. That night we all went up to to see her and she was surrounded by her family when she took her last breath. It was tough to watch, but as the circle of life continues we were blessed with a new nephew to add to our bunch. The boys now outnumber the girls (2 nieces, 3 nephews).

Lots of other major events (in our little world) have happened too:


Our family ran in our 1st sponsored run together. We did the 1 mile "fun run" and spent the rest of the day at the Aquarium in Jenks. It really was one of the funnest days. We ate burgers and dogs, there was face painting, bouncy's, and clowns making balloon animals. Then we spent the afternoon touring the aquarium. Wade and I had just as much fun as the kids did!

Riley had her last day of school and Kindergarten is now behind us. She is slowly learning to put words together to make sentences. We enrolled Caden in the 4 year old preschool program so he'll be going to school everyday at the same school (not a full day). Both Riley and Cade joined the summer reading program at the library and hopefully she'll go into 1st grade with a slight reading advantage. No one in her class is reading yet.


Wade's cousin Amanda married Daniel after their 1st "planned" wedding was put on hold until after he returned from Iraq. As I write this they are off on their Mediterranean honeymoon (I'm so jealous!)
I guess we better start saving cause Riley caught the bouquet!

Another bit of big news is after nearly 5 years, I have resigned my position at my scrapbook store. A lot of factors went into my decision, but with summer coming, bottom line is I wanted my weekends free to be with my family. I'm going to miss it, but I hope that I will have more time to scrapbook there, rather than be on the clock. The owner told me I was an "Icon" at ScrapHappys and she'd still like me to help with special events and retreats. I've been there longer than anyone else (even her) as I was hired under the original owner and the store has since changed hands.

And looking to the future...Wade and I are headed to New York (sans kids) for a little culture and relaxation in the city that never sleeps. I've never been there so I'm looking forward to the touristy stuff (Statue of Liberty, maybe a Broadway show, Greys Papaya Hotdogs)...if you have suggestions of something we should see or do let me know!

It works!

For those of you that are faithful readers, you may remember the cleaning solution I bought last summer for nearly $100. I've been using it for little things like windows, counters, etc... But what sold me on it was that he was able to get a sharpie out of a towel. This week we had our biggest cleaning challenge yet (other than the red candle wax in the carpet at our last house). Brooke found a furniture pen (the ones that you fill in knicks in the furniture with). She managed to "color" all over the fronts of the cabinets, the tile, the counter top (she climbs on the bar stools to get up that high), and everything that was sitting on it (my mothers day card, a glass candle, a purse, etc...). She also colored the bar stool itself (cushion seat and the metal back). Well I turned to my special solution and everything came out except the metal back on the bar stool. Pretty good! Oh and she colored the train table in the kid's room, and it didn't come out of the base of that but it is like thick cardboard and if I scrub too hard the kids wouldn't have a picture on the base of it. But that was a separate occasion when she drew on that. I've moved the pens once before and this kitchen incident was when she found them.
They are now in a childproof drawer.
Wish I had thought to take a picture...I've been slacking in that area lately.