learning opportunities

We have a funny story in our family about the day our kitchen caught on fire. OK, so my sister and I thought it was funny. I have laughed about it for years. It is funny because everything and everyone was fine. We had much closer calls to disaster than this particular story. Other stories that cost my sister her eyebrows and bangs, involved broken banisters and light sockets, or being lost on a deserted road.

But I digress. THIS particular story is funny because of how it all played out. It started with my stubborn, passive aggressive sister strolling into the living room and telling my mom (whom she was mad at) in a rather nonplussed voice that the toaster oven was on fire. The selfless actions my mother took to "save her family and home" were admirable...and hilarious.

Why am I telling you this today? Because last night I got a glimpse of what my mom must have felt in dealing with that situation. Last night, while making dinner on the stove, my burner started really smoking. (If you know my kitchen you know I have little counter space and often set stuff on my stove. It is not uncommon for gunk to be on my burners.) As reached up to turn on the fan, I heard a little "whoove" sound. I looked down to see the drip pan under my burner was on fire. Brenna was beside me at the fridge, so after calling Josh's name, I tell her to get Daddy. (Mainly to get her out of there.) I then grab our fire extinguisher. When I turn back to the stove, I could tell it was pretty much contained to the burner, which I had already turned off and removed the pan from. I stood with the fire extinguisher in hand, pin pulled, and had the thought "I really don't want to clean up this extinguisher mess, lets see what happens." Josh comes in the kitchen and tells me to spray it. I tell him to just hang on for a second. (I'm sure loved that!) The fire was burning itself out and was still contained in the drip pan. Josh tried to extinguish it with a pot, but nothing really cut off the supply of oxygen. He was looking for one final pan, when I said "There it is gone." And it was all over.

Brenna and I had quick refresher course in escape routes, calling emergency personnel on the land line and cell phone and why we don't throw water on a grease fire.

All in all, it was a successful fire drill at our house.

2nd Annual Big Hat Brunch

Please consider this your personal invitation to our
2nd Annual Big Hat Brunch.
A fundraiser for the
American Cancer Society's
Relay For Life of Edmond.
We would love to have you join us!
Comment or call me with questions.

This day in history

Many of us are heavy hearted today as we remember the tragedy in our own city 15 years ago. I remember clearly where I was when the bombing took place, as many of you do. I remember going to the Murrah building and trying to encourage rescue workers. I remember the groups singing and passing out food and water. I remember the people crying. I remember the tired recovery workers not letting their weary bodies stop their mission. I remember being proud of Oklahoma. I remember being proud of being a citizen of this state and city.

Waco has a very different memory of this date. But those memories are just as strong for the people who experienced that tragedy.

I found it interesting how many things took place on this date over the years.

First Boston Marathon held, 1897

American Revolution

The American Revolution begins, 1775

Automotive

Mario Andretti competes in first Indy car event, 1964

Civil War

Baltimore Riots, 1861

Lincoln's Funeral, 1865

Cold War

Soviet clowns lampoon U.S. foreign policy, 1949

Crime

The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building explodes, 1995

Disaster

Earthquake rocks Guatemala, 1902

General Interest

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins, 1943

Branch Davidian compound burns, 1993

Hollywood

My Big Fat Greek Wedding released, 2002

Literary

Lord Byron dies in Greece, 1824

Music

The Captain and Tennille bring wedded bliss to the pop charts with their first hit record, 1975

Old West

Wyatt Earp dropped from Wichita police force, 1876

Presidential

Jefferson sells servant to Madison, 1809

Sports

First Boston Marathon run, 1897

Vietnam War

Air Force pilot cited for bravery, 1967

Vietnam Veterans Against the War demonstrate, 1971

World War I

Discussion of Italian claims begins at Paris peace conference, 1919

World War II

Warsaw ghetto uprising put down, 1943

Piperisms

This evening Josh and I were in our room catching up on our days and Piper came in (pad and paper in hand), shut the door, and crawled on our bed.

Me: "Why did you shut the door?"
P: "I don't want to be touched."
Me: "You don't want to be touched?"
P: "No. Brenna was kissing me when I was trying to kronkincate."
Me: "Trying to what?"
P: "Kronkincate."
Me: "Kronkincate?"
P: "Yup. I am kronkincating right now."
She picks up her pen and starts writing (Brows furrowed, tongue out).
Me: "OOOhhhh, you mean concentrate?"
P: "Yes, kronkincate".
__________________________________________

We ate dinner on the back porch this evening. The meal was winding down and we were just chatting. Brenna was explaining something in minute detail and Piper was talking over her about her day.

Josh: "You girls have the most beautiful eyes."
B: "No, YOU, have beautiful eyes."
P: "And Mama has a ....beautiful....plate..."
-
I went in and did dishes to the sound of my husband cracking up.

travel plans

This week, Brenna's class traced their bodies (with the help of Mrs. D.) and drew a picture of where they want to go. Bren said most of the kids said Oklahoma, a few said Texas. My kid said Egypt.

Well, Ejipd, but you get the point. (Notice the pyramids behind her feet?) Egypt? What 6 year old says Egypt? MY 6 year old says Egypt and I love it. I asked her why she chose that place of all the places in she could go and she said because she really wants to go there. Because it is "cool". I have to agree!

She said she only had time to color the design on her shirt, the pyramids and the straps of her backpack (cuz you're gonna need a backpack in Ejipd). She also said she cut the head too big, so she turned it into a cape. Introducing an Egyptian Superhero!

Our yard is out of control

We are not "lawn people". Our neighbors can attest to that. We do the minimum effort, reluctantly. Every year, we both have aspirations of having a beautiful lawn, but then is becomes July in Oklahoma and we perspire more than aspire and really no longer care. Now this year, to make matters worse, our mower is broken. We have no idea what is wrong with and are in no big hurry to plunk down $200 on the cheapest mower.

That having been said, Josh borrowed a mower on Saturday and mowed. The yard looked lovely (I did not take a picture) and perhaps was the best on the block that day. On Monday, he mowed again. We could not believe how tall our dandelions (the only flowering plant in the front yard) had grown. And again, Monday night, we found ourselves with a nicely mowed, crisp looking lawn.

And then Tuesday morning I found this:

Not 12 hours later, the dandies were 6 inches tall again. It was absolutely jaw dropping.
And then Wednesday morning, it was like this:

AMAZING!!
I'm sure you can understand why we made the decision to not even bother mowing again until all those stupid dandies are heinous puff balls that make us sneeze. We just hope our neighbors don't turn us in to the city for it!

Walk in the Park - literally

Mountain Climbing

The Summit


"Grandpa's trick".
Piper is about 6 feet behind Brenna.

Redbud Classic


Love will Build a Bridge

Ripples in the 'creek'

Whee!!!
I love the static in their hair in this shot.

Easter day

We had no egg hunts, no Easter bunny came to our house, and there are not tons of chocolate filling our cabinets or bellies, but and we have a wonderful Easter Day. It was filled with worship, wonderful friends and family and delicious food. I wouldn't change one thing about yesterday.

Showing off the dresses and shoes

"The loot"

My girls

B

sweet, sweet B

"wiggly hair"

Easter 2010

For Damma-Pre Easter Primp

Bring back any memories for you?




Bring back any memories for you?

Yesterday after school, the girls and I got a little ice cream. It was about 4:30 in the afternoon and Piper had just put her last bite of ice cream in her mouth.

"Ummm...Mama?"

"Yes, Piper."

"This ice cream is my... ... ... lunch dessert...."
(raises eyebrows up and down twice)
"...Can I have a snack now?"

A picture is worth 1,000 words...

I'll shut up now.

Today I learned

I am still learning. Perhaps my upcoming birthday is making me aware of how much more I have to learn in life. Perhaps some things just slap you in the face and say "How do you live 36 years 11 months and 3 weeks and NOT know this???"

Today I learned you really shouldn't leave hot rollers in your hair for 30-45 minutes. Even if you have really straight, heavy, thick hair.

Huh- imagine that!

Here are the save face options I have come up with in my moment of crisis
A. Call it my Dolly Parton hair.
B. Say I am paying homage to Irish Dancing on this festive St. Patty's Day.
C. Say I totally miss the 80's and am doing my part to bring it back.
D. Do my best it shove it all up under a hat and sneak in the back door at work until it loosens up a bit.
E. Kill some time at home entering a blog update at home before implementing plan D.

I'm going with E!

Happy

Mandy's Friday contest is 'happy'. This is one happy girl! How can this face not make you happy?

Just an average morning at our house

Now, I recognize that not everyone will enjoy these videos. It is 5 minutes of your life that you will NEVER get back. So, don't feel obligated to watch the whole way through.

But for the 4 or 5 individuals I can think of that will eat this up, I think you will be entertained up until the last second. And you may even be left wanting more!

The soundtrack for this is provided by They Might Be Giants, specifically "The Blood Mobile" and "The Electric Car". She is still working up her routines to "Science is Real" and "I'm a Paleontologist"

Happy Birthday, Dr. Suess

March 2nd is Dr. Suess's birthday. Both girls celebrated at school.

Brenna's outfit is inspired by The Cat in the Hat.Pipers' outfit is inspired by Piper. Her skirt is red (Sam's favorite color) and her shirt is hot pink.
She ditched the hat pretty quickly this morning. Long before we left the house.

Parenting Triumph

Somedays parenting is hard!! The fighting, sassiness and disrespect our girls show each other is challenging and I can only pray we are doing the right things to help them grow up to be sisters who love each other. Monday felt like a success!

I packed their lunches and as I started to write the notes for their lunches, Brenna asked if she could write Piper's note. Then Piper asked to write Brenna's note.

These are the notes they had in their lunches as a surprise.

Piper wrote Brenna's name and then drew a picture of Brenna when she was a "bald baby".

That feels like a parenting success!

Oh Dear

So, here are a couple of her latest statements.

Notice a theme? She certainly has already established her style.

And I will personally want to crush the first person who tries to diminish her sense of self. As crazy and color blind as it is.

What this picture doesn't show are the terrible stains on the knees. She wore these leggings once ruined them in the Oklahoma mud. Since they are new, she wants to wear them.
I wonder, just how good is the Old Navy return policy?

Today, I am digging the clippies.

Ghosts in our House

Monday I was in my bedroom getting ready for the day and I hear the girls come giggling down the hallway. As they turn into my room I hear:
"Ooooooo, OOOOOOooo, ooooooooooooOOOOO,
giggle, giggle, giggle,
Ooooooo, OOOOOOooo, ooooooooooooOOOOO"

Then I see this.Maybe powdered sugar donuts for breakfast wasn't my greatest idea.

Relay For Life

My Reason to Relay

I Relay for my mom.

I Relay for my sister.
I Relay for my Grandma Berry.
I Relay for my Grandfather.
I Relay for my family that has heard this diagnosis too many times.
I Relay because I want to see an end to cancer during my lifetime.
I Relay because I want my grandchildren to talk about cancer the way my generation talks about small pox or polio...a thing of the past.

If you want to help find a cure click here to make a donation of any size.

I charged my daughter a dollar to find her shoe today.

Thoughts?