Speaking as a mom ... these moments are wonderful. To see a big brother taking his little sister under his wing and doing something special like fishing? He has no idea how special these things are.

Fishing with Grandpa ... pretty special holiday treat! Of course, there are TONS of photos. Sixty-Two of the favorites are in a web album here (or click the photo below).

Fishing with Grandpa

The man I love ... sometimes words aren't enough.

Theater Arts ... tonight was a showcase with all kinds of improvisational exercises. This particular one was a story line where each person volunteers one word and they build a story until the leader says stop. They did GREAT and I'm proud to say my son had awesome comedic qualities. My daughter, however, tried her hand at video with some interesting results ... I'll upload her work, too! Just click on the clip to watch.

Contraptions

Who can resist a field of contraptions? Thankfully, K doesn't mind stopping for me and my camera when we're on the road! If you're curious, click on the picture above to see the whole album.

Isn't this a great idea for coffee-scented candles? I saw this in a gift shop by the Cane River in Louisianna ... I'd say the town, but I can't. The closest I can come is "Not'cho Torches!" I can tell you, however, that Steel Magnolias was filmed there.

This sign reads ... "NATCHITOCHES INDIANS - According to legend, in 1835 a proclamation was read to the Natchitoches Indians who assembled across the River from this spot, departing them to the Oklahoma Territory - Museum Contents, Inc."

It was pretty amazing and sad to be standing on a site where history took such a terrible turn ... the Trail of Tears.

Her first night at Girl Scouts ... well, BROWNIES to be exact. I remember doing that for a short while at about her age. But now I'm a girl scout, too! I guess we'll both be figuring this thing out together!

Veterans Day ... I went to the school program mostly to get photos of my son, but I ended up wiping tears from my eyes for many reasons. One of the most touching things to me was presenting some very old veterans with their high school diplomas ... they had been drafted before they could finish school, and were just now receiving their honorary diplomas. Made me cry! Of course, there were numerous elements, but I guess when I get to witness the moment in real life versus hearing a story, it means so much more.  

My musical son was part of the Veterans Day program at school. Some say he needs a haircut ... he says he needs a matching dog (we found a picture of one that has inspired this thought - I Tibetan something-or-another I think). 

Fall is my favorite season (at least it is during the fall!) ... and yet I rarely capture the colors. Today was beautiful and I finally remembered to take a few photos of my japanese maple as it turns red (among a host of other things in my front yard) ... and just barely caught it before the leaves started falling.

Autumn in Oklahoma

Another Pride performance ... I think this is my young cousin! It's so hard to tell when I'm looking through my camera trying to recognize him by his instrument and cheeks!

This was the only straight face (well, nearly for the littlest clown) and still moment of the night!

Just going through photos trying to gather all my family reunion shots ... I had forgotten about this one! It was the first day of fishing for my little one. Grandpa taught her how to fish. What a precious memory! 

The rock star, leopard, and the leopard's dog all had an adventure tonight. Of course, no one wanted to wait for Mom to get cute photos ... so this is about the only one I got! We even carved pumpkins this year (and the roasted seeds were quite yummy).

OK ... so this is a "bad" picture (I don't like the harsh light of the flash) but the light is low and I haven't had my breakfast yet so my hands must shake too much for no flash right now. That's my excuse! ANYWAY ... I heard a funny noise and a grunt. I peeked into the other room and found this! Somehow this qualifies as comfortable ... maybe it's that whole "warm towels from the dryer" feeling? 

You Know You're In Oklahoma When ...

... when you can do bull riding at church! Not withstanding bags of candy, hours of games, and pumpkins to lug home in the car ... the kids got to be cowboys at "Family Fun Night" tonight! Click on the image to watch our little video clips.

Our little leopard started out with her cute whiskered nose (until we found the face painting booth). Slowly her costume ended up in my camera bag as her paws had to be removed for crafts, shoes for the inflatable rides and mechanical bull, the tail when walking in large groups (that would step on her tail) ... even the hood came off when it was time to race. But she SURE looked cute! 

A Day At The Zoo

Zoo Day

It rained and drizzled and was quite a grey day for a zoo visit ... but we really had a great time. I chaperoned and had two little girls in my charge who were quite a delight, so it was a breeze for me! Of course, there were a few hundred photos, but click on the link above for just a few highlights. We saw all kinds of animals. A giraffe was VERY close to us, a sea lion winked at us, and we tried to avoid monkeys because of a bad experience one of the little girls had with them.. And a rhino poo impressed all of us with the sheer amount! I didn't get good photos of the monkeys we did see, but they were doing some gross things so it's for the best. One little girl commented on their poo ... "It looks like french fries!"

Breaking through on the last game of the season ... they WHOOPED those Roughers, I tell ya! 

Is this a little version of me or what? Well ... ok, I don't do fingernail polish. And she doesn't shoot the game (just cheerleaders). But other than that, she's pretty much "Little I" as K calls her.

Just thinking lately ... It's so easy to bloom when things seem bright. All it takes is one person to shine into another's life. When the warmth of love turns one's face, it is the most humbling and empowering experience! Those are the easy parts of my thoughts, of course ... the flip side has me struggling with simply accepting and enjoying such a rich gift and wondering why it's so hard to see myself in the same light! Ways of thinking and being seem to creep in like weeds among everything that is familiar ... and you don't even realize they are there until you are uprooted and planted in new soil. Anyway, it's a challenge and an opportunity (with the opportunity being the easy part)! 

More clues ...

... but no home for our canine visitor yet. I thought I'd try to find out what breed she is. K said it looks like she has some bloodhound in her, and she has a distinctly hound-like bark (which sounds a little like a sea lion to me ... ORK! ORK!). She seems pre-programmed to "point" when some extra-special scent wafts by. Anyway, I went online and looked up bloodhounds first ... she's definitely not that! She's much too tall, lean, and doesn't have enough skin! So I looked up hounds in general and found that she looks like the "black and tan" Coon Hounds! No wonder she reminded me of a hunting dog. I guess they are "tree dogs" but I don't really know what that means yet! I suppose they hunt for things in trees ... like coons! The good things I learned (in case we end up as her family)? They are very calm in nature and make great family pets as they are very good with children. They supposedly live long lives ... 15 years!

Remember the lame excuse: "The dog ate my homework!" I always thought it was so silly ... until tonight. I heard some crunching and tearing and rustling. Miss Doggie Dogg seemed to think my daughter's school work was quite tasty!