little helpers

I took these pictures because I was telling one of my friends that housework is therapy, especially when the kids are doing it. the very next day, Anberleigh spilled some pot pouri and mixed it in the cat's water dish! yuck! so here she is, after I took off her wet clothes, she whined and fussed to have the towels, so I gave some to her, and this is what she did!  Funny how they are so eager and excited to help when they are just learning! I wish my older kids liked to 'help' as much as she does. 

(I put the 'fuzzy' photos in there so you could see the action!)

Valentine's date

Ben took me to a very nice restaurant for Valentines day. Deep Fork Grill in Oklahoma City. This was our first real date since Anberleigh was born. Thank you, Bethany for babysitting while we were away. The food was wonderful and we enjoyed the quiet atmosphere. 

cat

I don't know why I choose this photo for my blog today, I guess because my Sylvester is just so cute.

I have had this cat since 1991, I believe. He was a gift from myself to myself, to be a companion for our other cat Anna K. I will have to blog about her another time.

 I was sifting through photos and just wanted to share my kitty with the rest of you. The funniest story about this cat is that his name used to be Sylvia. When I purchased him, at the pet store I was told he was a female. I had asked for a female because we had a female cat already and we thought it would be best.  Well, she was the cutest little black and white kitty and looked just like the cartoon cat, Sylvester so I named her Sylvia. I scheduled her vet appointment and took her in for shots and they scheduled for her to be spayed in about 6 weeks. On the 5th week, I was at work, when ben called me and excitedly said, "where'd you get that cat and does she come with papers" I said "I got her at the pet store in the mall and she came with a receipt, but not pedigree papers". He said "well, I need to talk to you when you get home." So I rushed home after work, all the  while wondering what was the problem..... When I walked in the door, Ben greeted me with the most curiously silly grin on his face. "What's wrong", I asked. "That is not a girl cat", he chuckled, Sure enough, we had to change her name to Sylvester. We were literally rolling all over the floor laughing until our eyes watered and our faces hurt from laughing. Luckily we discovered the mistake before I took him in to be spayed....although the vet hadn't caught the gender mistake either.

Anyway, He's very friendly and loves to sit on anyone who will let him. He follows us around and begs for our food. He makes his rounds to every bed at night and recently he started a very strange howling sound at about midnight. He does it about 6 times then jumps off the recliner chair and roams the halls. I don't know why we brought him from Alaska when we moved here 11 years ago, but we did and he's just a part of this family. All of the kids have grown up with him and Anberleigh is learning now about how to pet a cat. We have taught them the word 'gentle' as they each have learned how to treat Mr. Sly. I am sure they have all gotten their natural consequence for not listening to that instruction. Sylvester is one big ole' fluffy ball of fun. 

Peek-a-boo

This was Anberleigh's 1st birthday trip to Incredible Pizza in OKC. She was showing off for my friends and played peek a boo. What a character she is!

Sitting Bull and desperado.

Bethany was Sitting Bull and Brit was a cowboy, searching for water, in the LIGHT group's first drama class performance. The play was called Billy Bart, Scourge of the West, directed by Amy Stuart.  All the kids did a great job and the class was alot of fun. We look forward to the next one, Wizard of Oz!

JaLynn's shrimp .

This is the picture of the shark that Christian took. I am having trouble getting the pictures where I want them, and to erase them. learning pains...

Homeschooling allows us to volunteer

We went to the Eden Clinic in Norman to help stuff and label envelopes for their upcoming banquet and fundraising auction. Our friend, Mark Heihle set this opportunity up for us and we look forward to helping them again. www.edenclinic.tv  We worked for about 3 hours, and then dad treated us all to our next adventure, the OKC zoo aquarium. Anberleigh learned how to say "fish" and got to see the aquatic animals for the first time. We all took pictures and the girls and I drew pencil drawings of our favorite fish. Christian was wondering why we didn't go see any other animals while we were there, but that's one reason why I love the  zoo pass, we can go for just a short visit each time and not get overly exhausted. I look forward to the new Children's zoo that is currently under construction. it appears that they will be making it extra interesting for our children and the exhibits will be interactive. Well, the pictures aren't in order, but you get the idea! JaLynn's favorite sea creature was the red shrimp with long antennas. Bethany likes this blue and orange fish. I tried to draw an angel fish, which was my favorite. Ben and Bethany and I got captivated watching the sea turtles fighting, one had his head completely in the  other ones shell, it was very interesting to see them finally stop fighting. Christian really liked watching the sharks. Of course he was drawn to the piranha's tank, what boy doesn't like to see flesh eating fish? I think Anberleigh's favorite was the sea lions and otters, they were outside and inside and she watched them and clapped her hands when they swam by and they also snorted. She's learning so much every day. All of us got a good look at the sea horse's exhibit and we remembered seeing the babies that were hatched when we first started coming to the OKC zoo. Bethany remembers that they were "due" on her birthday that year.

Relaxing

Today is the first day of 2009! We are relaxing around the house and enjoying the quiet, non-hurried time. Our baby girl, Anberleigh is 11 mo old today and she's learning so much each hour, it seems. she's about to take her first steps and already walks as long as she's got something to hold onto. I picke dup several new toys from an ad on Craigslist and she's having so much fun with them. Christian, who's 8 had been playing with her (well that's what he says when I catch him using her toys) and they giggle and have a blast. She loves her brother and her face lights up when he enters the room.

Bethany and JaLynn take such good care of the kitchen and help with the baby so well that I got to make banana bread and watched part of the Rose parade today. The kids played their new wii games and had friends over for a short visit. I also had time to catch up on email, read a magazine (No greater Joy) and take a long hot jacuzzi bath.

It's been a blessing to start this year in a comfortable and calm way. I look forward to reading the Bible through this year, teaching the baby to walk, talk and just about everything they do in the time from age 1 to 2. I want to work on some sewing projects, exercise, eat more healthy and all those other lifestyle goals that seem so easy to say but so hard to accomplish.

I am hoping that I will keep up this blog as I am not used to writing in this manner. It's fun to see what my friends are doing and am glad to have them share their lives through this tool, so I am embarking on this journey. We'll see where it takes me.