In Memory Of

In memory of my uncle, Frank Peacock, whom I will remember for his big mustached grin, his infectious laugh and his love for the outdoors, especially airboating the St John's River around Christmas, Florida. He loved his family, his boat and telling tall tales. He will be sorely missed.

Just a taste....

The kids got Antiquities photos done as part of a fundraiser for the Cherokee County Child Abuse Task Force. Some of them turned out very well. These two are pictures that I did not order, but they gave me a couple of proofs. Just to whet everyone's appetite about the ones that I did choose....so without further ado. Da-Daaaah!

Flars and Aigs

This past weekend was pretty busy for us. The town had its annual easter egg hunt at the park on Saturday. Of course, it was over in about 5 minutes. But we didn't see the Five o'clock shadow guy with a warrant in the Easter bunny costume, so I guess that was good. Then the fun trip to walmart (on a saturday! aaah!). Sunday, we went to another Easter egg hunt in Siloam Springs. Caught that hunt and then went back to Walmart to get the finishing touches for our flower bed. And then, since our Xbox 360 was broken, we took the plunge and got a Wii. More kid games, more active, cheaper games, etc. Anyway, we spent the rest of last night doing the flower bed and sending the kids to bed so we could play bowling (I won), golf (got creamed by my HC for some reason) and boxing (worked up a serious sweat). So now I'm sore from working out a bit (and playing a video game?!).
So if you wanna come and challenge me to a round or two of boxing, just remember, I have 2 KO's under my belt. Oh yeah.

(and in case you're wondering, that's Valerie Bertinelli on the tv behind Erin)

Visitors to our Planet

This week we had some visitors, who opted to go off the beaten path and stop at our house for the night. Well the path originally went from Colorado to St.Louis. St Louis got dropped for little old Cow town, Oklahoma. And eventually ended for a bit in GA before going home to FL. Some path, huh?
But since we are so special and pitiful and no one ever visits us (big puppy dog eyes), and because they were convinced by Papaw that it would be the Christian thing to do to prove to my kids that I actually have friends, they came!
Of course I looked out the window all day, even though I was assured they wouldn't arrive until 5. And they gave me periodic updates at rest stops. But I couldn't help it. They stayed the night on Wednesday and left at 5:30am (on the dot, I tell you truly). Even so, it was so good to see dear friends that share such a long history with me.
Ian was thrilled to have a deviation in his schedule that allowed him to play and goof off with someone other than me and HC and still stay up past bedtime. Erin just enjoyed the general chaos (and she stayed up late too). My HC enjoyed the visit too, since he shares the same history. There's nothing so comfortable as old friends. They understand when things aren't quite as clean as they could be, fuss at your kids when they want to bungee jump from the fan (or other tempting feats), and stir the skillet of browning meat when you are untangling the cord from the fan to prevent future jumps. This is metaphorical of course.
It was just plain nice (the help, not the feats of derring-do).
That much being said, I can whine a bit. Because they could have stayed longer. But they wanted to keep jobs and previous commitments or something else equally ambiguous.

Spring Snowstorm

After a week of gorgeous spring weather, where it actually approached 70 a couple of times (but didn't quite get there), we were hit with a surprise sneak storm. So we celebrated the first day of Spring by dragging out our boots and heavy coats again, finding gloves and then just watching all the mess fall outside. This is the most snow I've ever seen at one time here. Pretty crazy. So we popped popcorn, pigged out on whatever we could forage and just stayed home. The power was fine, but it was a challenge to get the dog to do her business instead of leap around like a crazed rabbit and eat snow, especially in the middle of the night. But Erin got a huge kick out of Lily's antics from the warmth of her room, watching from the window. Ian's favorite parts were making a really strange snow pinnacle (not really a snowman) and the snow fort they figured out this afternoon. He said it was really warm in there, out of the wind. He and the inventive HC got Lily in there too. cute. Erin opted to stay inside for the second round and washed all of her play dishes in the sink with some soap bubbles. But you can see for yourself. ;) Of course, it's supposed to be all melted by tomorrow or Tuesday and spring temperatures will come back. We'll just have to wait and see on that one, because we're not taking anyone's word for it.

Muddling Through

For big, happy announcements, Saturday was Anniversary Day for me and my HC. 6 Years! Crazy! On Friday we had an appointment to have the kids' pictures taken, for a Child Abuse Task Force fundraiser. Antiquities: Unique Portrait Fundraiser. They dressed the kids up and had the neatest props. Got some really sweet pictures. For our $10 donation, we get the sitting and a free 10x12 of the kids posed together. Then for an extra couple hundred dollars, you can get all the poses and a few pictures. But they are really wonderful pictures; just wish we could justify the expense! I'll be going back on the 30th for our "portrait selection appointment."
Since we were in town for the portrait sitting (my HC met us there in his unit), we decided to have our night on the town a day early and save some gas (Tahlequah is a 45 wind-y, long drive from home). So we went out for Chinese! Woo hoo! It's been a Looooong time. It was a little tricky with the kids' allergies, but Ian loves boiled shrimp and fruit and rice, so that what he loaded up on. I couldn't peel shrimp fast enough for him. Erin was not hungry, having enjoyed her Burger King french fries from earlier that afternoon. Ian was too busy on the playplace and the slides and tunnels to think about eating, so he was ravenous for dinner. (We can't go to Tahlequah unless we stop at the BK play place; it's a Rule. There will be mutiny otherwise and who can pass up a chance to expend all that energy?)
So we had our chinese....mmmm.....culinary delight. My HC took cranky Erin out, so he didn't get his seconds, but it was good enough (and inexpensive enough) that we have plans to return. High praise indeed from the selective HC. I love chinese food....sesame chicken. Mmmmm. And the dumplings with spicy sauce.
Then I got to pick out my anniversary present: a new sewing machine! Woo hoo!



Had an old one, but with bobbin case difficulties. Ended up being unrepairable. So I've been diddling with my new machine. HC got a new drill, so the loose siding is fixed on the house and some other odds and ends on The List are taken care of. Who knew all we needed was a drill to complete these onerous tasks?
Meanwhile, we are proceeding with our homeschooling plans for next year. We've checked the state laws (surprisingly lax, compared with Florida), perused curriculum, and will start homeschooling this summer (lightly, don't worry) when kindergarten is finally over. I am optimistic and confident about our educational future.
My HC is also looking at pursuing a degree as well. We are currently talking to admissions, etc, trying to see if it's something that's realistic for us right now (or should I say, him, since he'll be doing all the work). We are grateful that he has an employer that is excited and very encouraging about further education and is willing to work with his employee/students. HC was very impressed with a coworker in his 50s who just completed his Bachelor's degree.
My HC is taking it slow. No commitments yet, but we're just checking it all out.
Prayers would be great, especially about finances. I am hoping for a bunch of student aid, since he's working full-time and we's po'!
Still waiting for house to sell, though there is genuine interest from people moving due to road construction and widening. The gov't is buying their houses to tear down for new lanes and they are relocating, hopefully to our house! But first they are waiting on state to pay before they can buy. Who knows how long that could take? But it's good enough to keep our hope alive!
That's about it. We are pottytraining at our house. Having graduated the dog, we are working on the ErinNoodle.

Back in the Saddle

With much fanfare and celebration, we are so joyful to have a computer again! Talk about withdrawals. After spending months in the library waiting on the slow computers and spending 45 minutes trying to pay 3 bills online, I am beyond relieved to be able to do it at home (and it's so fast!). Now the only problem is that we've managed to fill our time with other things and have to rearrange again to remember to check the email every day.... hope to get our new pictures downloaded and figure out this windows 7, then we'll be back in business for sure. ;)