Cade turns SIX!

Cade also had a big birthday and turned the big six-er! He's officially using 2 hands to tell how old he is now. He had a great day, brought a special treat for everyone in his class to share and came off the bus wearing a crown and a huge smile. He picked his birthday dinner (pancakes...yes, pancakes for dinner).

Here's a little video showing his big present.


The thing he (and his jealous sister Riley) were most excited about was that it has a kickstand. Neither one of them have kickstands on their current bikes. So funny what kids pick up on.


The kids loved Brooke's panda bear cake so much, Cade asked if I would make him one too. I used red velvet cake on the inside so when you cut into him he looked like he was full of blood (the kids LOVED that).

Cade got 3 different little celebrations too. One on his actual birthday, one with the Wilsons and one when the Clarks came to visit. Cade is an awful peeker... this set of presents were from his Wilson celebration and he knew all but one of these presents below before he actually opened them. It didn't make him any less excited, he is a very happy boy and was very grateful for everything he got. But he is a little stinker.


Riley promised for weeks to Cade that she'd get him a Khun Zhu. He had gotten a track to race on from his cousins so he was SO excited when he got the toy that could "battle" Riley's Zhu Zhu pet. I love their faces here...pure joy!

I love this little boy, love his spirit. He has always been such a happy, fun-loving kid.

Love that I get to be his mom, but I do wish he wasn't growing up so fast.

Brooke's Birthday

Brooke is 4!

I've got a girly-girl here. Every morning, she dresses herself in the "pwettiest" dress she can find in her closet and her "gwood" church shoes. She loves to have her hair and nails done. Loves to put on lip gloss and play tea party. She is such a beautie, such a doll and I can't get enough. This one has such a helpful spirit. She'd rather be in the kitchen Saturday morning being "a cooker", than out in the living room watching cartoons with her brothers and sister.

She (and Cade both) got 3 different celebrations. The 1st on their actual birthday, the 2nd with their Wilson family, and a 3rd with their Clark family (more on that later).

With their cousins Kate' and Kelsey

One very happy little girl.

Brooke really LOVED her birthday cake. She couldn't keep her eyes off it. And of course, she had to help make him.

The cake is a bit of a tradition. I had this cake when I was 3...

I asked my mom to make the same cake for Riley when she turned 3.

Now we missed Brooke's 3rd bithday, but as is my life lately, I'm playing catch-up in all areas. So here's Brooke one year off. With her pink panda bear cake that the all us girls have had.

(Had a problem with keeping little hands off the cake before I could frost it, so unfortunately he suffered a broken leg). But he underwent surgery and as a result all our teeth are going to rot out due to the massive quantities of frosting we tried to repair him with.

But a good day was had by all. Each time...

Big Day(s)

We've had some big days the last couple of weeks.

Bigger than this...

Parking my car in the garage for the first time.

Two Birthdays...Brooke turned 4 and Cade turned 6. Will try to download pics tonight and try to post a new entry.

Running behind and in circles, but hoping to update more regularly.

New School Year at a New School

Kids went back to school this week. We were all VERY ready for the school year to begin. For one, the kids just need to meet some new kids, make some new friends. But we thrive on routine in this house and with the new move, we needed some sort of order in the house.

Brand New Shiny Kindergartner.

So happy to be going to school, riding the school bus, and making new friends. Of course he's had 2 years of Pre-K under his belt. He'll be one of the oldest in his class since we decided to hold him out a year. Loved every bit of school. Favorite part of school: recess.

Big Exciting 3rd Grader. This one is most looking forward to learning to write cursive. (Although she's been "writing" cursive for a year now in her own way). A little upset that she cant wear flip flops to school, but school policy for PE and recess. Had a great first day, met another little girl at the bus stop who is her new best friend....also a 3rd grader, also named Riley!

Think it's going to be a good year!

The Final Days in Tulsa

“What I’ve experienced is that I can’t know the future. I can’t know if anything that I do will change what happens tomorrow. I can’t know with certainty, but what I do know is if I do nothing, nothing will change.” —James Orbinski (1960-); Former President Of Doctors Without Borders

Where to begin?
Big Summer for us Clarks. Haven't had time to document half of what I wanted but here's a start. Of course lots of big changes...

Of course, the biggest change is our move from Tulsa to St. Louis.

I thought I'd put a few pictures out of our last few weeks in Tulsa. Maybe when I have time to scrapbook again, this can help me remember the final weeks so I can document it all. Our social calendar was booked solid (at times overlapping) for the last 3 weeks.
We had several different send-offs. After as many years as we've been there, we have lots of different groups of friends and family to say goodbye to.

My farewell DDD Dinner Club. The girls loaded me up with a ton of Tulsa gear for our new place, including the "I Heart Tulsa" shirt I'm wearing. REALLY gonna miss these gals and our "Girls Night Outs". I just wish I would have thought to grab a group picture.

Wade and some of our oldest TU friends

I've been a part of the most fabulous book club for the last couple of years. Our group sponsored the 50th Anniversary of To Kill a Mockingbird event at the Circle Cinema in Tulsa, just before we left.

Saw Eclipse (back to back nights on opening weekend with one of my besties...Jennifer). Saw it one night with our men, then next night with another girlfriend of ours. Loved it both times. Would have gone back for a third if we just had the time. Jen snuck some wine into the theater, which we drank from sippy cups. We may both be moms now, but we still have some crazy fun nights together, just like back in the day. We stayed out way too late that night, really felt it the next morning.

Nicole and I met the day before school started when our oldest were entering kindergarten. We live close enough that we share a bus stop and for 3 years we've been watching out for each others kids. Lucky for us our husbands really get along too (they even got matching "his and his" handguns together). This night we went to the gun range and out for margaritas at one of our favorite places.

I've been taking guitar lessons for the past few months and Mary and I gave an impromptu John Denver performance, there's even a video floating around on-line. Mary is a fabulous teacher, we're hoping to continue via skype once we get settled. The stars were aligned just right...Brad had 2 guitars, the girls were goading us into playing, and the wine was plentiful.

(My book club...like English Class, but with wine) (a few not pictured)

Squeaked in a whirlwind trip to Columbus, OH for a family reunion. Got to spend a few nights with my brother Todd and his family.

Me with my nephews. Garrett did NOT want to be held, but Aiden couldn't have been more loving. He and JP got along like peas and carrots.

Our final morning in Tulsa, we had a donut feast with our family before taking off on for the next chapter in our story.

No one I'd rather be on this journey with.

“There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” —Nelson Mandela (1918-); Former President Of South Africa

Splash Pad

Just one of our favorite summertime spots.
Our splashpad.

(That's Cade getting soaked)

Riley's about to get it...

(Riley)

Beach Beauty

I just love being their mom. They make everything more fun.

Back from camp and all grown up

Got Riley back from camp safe and sound. She had a BLAST. They swam (lake and pool), rode wave runners, and canoed/kayaked. She rode go-karts, bumper cars, rode horses and a jillion other activities.
After hearing about everything they packed in for those 5 days I asked her, "well, did you get homesick at all, do you know what that means...did you miss home?" Not a second passed and she says, "No. Didn't think about you at all." Then she follows it up with..."I was just too busy." Well good, I'm glad for that. (Then she spent the next 2 days being super snuggly).
My girl is fearless and independent, from day one she came out of the womb holding her head up. I'm really grateful that she's that way, she's not going to let anyone walk all over her.
I do wonder what the world holds for her...that is, if it survives beyond Dec. 21, 2012 ;)

Living in Fast Forward

Literally feel like we've had the fast forward button stuck down lately.

Today we put Riley on a bus to attend our Church Camp for 5 days/4 nights.

I know she's going to have a blast and she's had no fear or concerns about camp at all. The girl is fearless...her name means brave/valiant and she certainly lives up to it. I held it together til we got back in the car to drive away. Had to drive back to get one last goodbye in. I'm still getting weepy just writing this...what is wrong with me?

Yesterday wrapped up a very LOOOONG t-ball schedule. Everytime we think we're done, another tournament pops up.

Cade has had a very decorated season. Everyone gets a trophy just for participating. We won first place in our league, so each kid won a medal. Because we won our league tournament we got asked to play in the all-city tournament which we got 2nd place last night (another bigger trophy) and a patch in recognition. Sheesh. We're going to have to build a room just to hold all the kid's awards.

School ended a few weeks ago, here are most of the kids from our bus stop (minus a few). Really gonna miss this.

Sometimes my bus stop moms are the only adults I get to talk to during the day (twice a day at that). We all watch out for the others and will grab the kids off the bus and stay with them til their mom can get to them. Plus the kids look out for each other. Whether it's bullies or falling asleep on the bus they all stand up for each other and make sure the bus doesn't leave without everyone on or off.

We've managed to squeeze in a little summer fun. Kinda feel bad for the kids that get to the park after us...there's no swings left when the Clarks are at the park. J.P. LOVES the swing! What he does not love - is to be held still, now that he's mobile. Totally love his "other" dimpled cheeks. Why is this so delicious on him but not so much on a mom of 4 kids? Speedy (our turtle for a day). The kids and I found him during our early morning bike ride and brought him home. We thought about keeping him. But I found him out of the basket, upside down at one point during the day...and I figured if he doesn't want to live with us so much that he's trying to commit suicide we should probably set him free.

The kids and I went to St. Louis for 10 days. We were there mainly to house hunt, but we got a little friend and family time in too! We got to meet our newest niece Violet (who is just precious)...I'm not sure I heard her cry at all. I had planned my 15 year reunion over that trip and that was an absolute blast. Much (MUCH) better turn out than I even expected! Although I think us girls decided we like calling it the '3rd Anniversary of our 5 year reunion', better.

Of course it's not summer without a little mischief. I included pictures of all the other little ones so I figured I'd share my sweet little angel Brooke. How could this one ever get in trouble? Hmmm... This is what my lovely angel of a child, Brooke, did to my mom's back door. She threw a rock and busted out the glass. In her defense, she wasn't trying to hit the glass...she was trying to hit her brother.