Winter playland

It snowed last week. To be more specific, we had Tulsa's first Blizzard last week on Christmas Eve. We got a lot of snow. I have never experienced thunder and lightning during a snowstorm before, wow. The snow was blowing so hard we had a pile of snow piled up on inside our back door as it came through the cracks in the door. It also piled up in our windows between the screen and the glass. When it was all over Christmas day, Brent had to dig a path through the drift that settled in front of our door. We still have quite a bit of snow left and we're expecting more tomorrow night. That's fine for us, I know we won't get any in Phoenix so it's nice to get in some last minute snow play.

Wait for it...

Cold fish

These are my fish in my little fish pond in our backyard. I've had these two guys for about 2 years but I've always had goldfish in a little pond in our yard, here and in Texas. In the wintertime, they just go down to the bottom of the pond and sort of hibernate through the winter. Last week my pond froze over and for the first time ever, one of my fish did not get down to the bottom in time and he froze in the ice! If it wasn't so morbid I would have taken a picture of him. I had to wait for the ice to thaw to get him out. About 2 days later it finally started melting. I saw him in a little melted whole in the ice, but still couldn't get him out. I decided to wait until it was all thawed and then get him out of the pond. The next day my pond was completely thawed and I went out to get my poor dead fish out to see him swimming around with his buddy again! My amazing cryogenic fish! So both little guys are fine and they will have a very cold Christmas. It's supposed to snow, I hope he learned his lesson and swims down.

Rhema Lights

We went to the Rhema Christmas light display last night. We go every year and it is usually freezing cold and windy. It was nice to be out on a chilly evening but above freezing.

Woolaroc Christmas Lights

We took the girls to Woolaroc earlier this week to see the Christmas light display. Woolaroc is Frank Phillips' (of Phillips 66) ranch just north of us. He named it Woolaroc because there is a lot of woods, lakes and rocks on his property. It was beautiful, and a very manly ranch. There's a museum as well as the house and out buildings to walk through. He was quite the big game hunter and there were hides and mounts all through his home and museum. http://www.woolaroc.org/index.php

The girls liked the wagon ride, and petting the animals in the barn- oh and Santa, he was nice too. He and I talked about shopping in Owasso. I guess that is where Santa likes to shop. We climbed a staircase that took us to a gazebo perched on top of one of the houses on the property. It was a good view of all the lights all over the ranch, but we really didn't get to see much else since it was dark. I'm sure it's a beautiful view in the day time.

Not a creature was stirring...

I love this photo Brent snapped of Lucy.

Cookie evolutions

So We were baking again today. I thought if I'd add some red dye to some cookie dough and make drop cookies. Then I thought I'd add some coconut around the edges and a marshmallow on top it would look like a santa hat. Karianne thought that was a great idea and we set to work. We were excited to see the results when it came out of the oven. When we put the cookies out to cool we all agreed they didn't look like santa hats at all. More like pink pigs in some hay. So we added some chocolate chips for eyes and voila!

Christmas sneak 'Peak'

I just finished up 4 little aprons and chef hats for the girls for Christmas. Even put one on Lucy when the others weren't around. It's not like she'll remember seeing it on Christmas morning. That's the beauty of Christmas to a one year old. :-)

Angie cooks

Angie's turn to cook earlier this week. She made some excellent chocolate chip marshmallow bars. We finished them off tonight. I'm afraid this baking may last well after Christmas. The girls are already lined up and knows who gets to bake next.

My kids amuse me...

Karianne and Amy playing hide-and-g0-seek: Amy" "count to 16, 17, 20 thousand!"
Karianne: "uh, ok I'll count to 18."

Angie held up six fingers, "momma how many is this?"
Six
"ooh, you're getting very smart!" thank you Angie.

Angie sat next to me while I was reading a book. "how come you're not reading it?"
I said, "I am."
She said, "No you're not, you lips aren't saying any words!"

Introducing the girls to warm apple crisp with ice cream. Karianne says, "Dad you've got to try this!"

Karianne said, "since we're moving I guess I'll find someone else to marry."

Amy ( with her arms full of toys) said, "whoo, I sure have a lot to pack."

Karianne emptied out a pocket full of paper clips and staples and said, "I found these at school today so I brought them home."

Karianne who just turned 5: "I am such a busy woman!"

Me: Angie, let's play until your sisters are done. Angie: Play with scissors? ok!"

Happy Family Day Angie!

4 years ago today, Angie came into her daddy's arms for the first time. Gotcha Day. We spent the day looking photos and video of her in China. Thank you God for bring this little girl into our family.
We love you Angie!

We again recreated the gotcha day picture of Brent and Angie, she'd bigger, she's smiling, but she can still wear the same jacket. :-)

Angie-isms

Angie says some pretty funny things. She came running out of her room with a new discovery this evening. She said, "momma, when I move like this (she did a little dance) I only hear one little brain right here!" (she points to her temple.)
Karianne, always has to be the oldest, so she said, "I have 11 brains!"

I told Angie, "Hey Angie, lets play until your sisters are done."

She said, "Play with scissors? Ok!"

Amy bakes

I don't bake much, just at Christmas. When the girls bake with me, they take turns. "Too many cooks..."

Today was Amy's turn to bake, we whipped up some cookies. She was so cute. She made some good cookies too.

A dad called "Momma"

Lucy is a smart little girl. Her favorite thing to do is to torture Brent by insisting to call him momma. Maybe it started when I got a job and Brent stayed home for a while, I don't know. Brent takes a lot of time working with her pointing to himself and saying "DADDY"! She will smile a mischevious smile at him and point at him and say "MOMMA"! He'll go around the room and point to everybody and say, "Where's Angie?" and she'll point to Angie, and so on she'll point to everybody as they are named. Then he'll say, "where's daddy?" and Lucy will look all around with a big grin on her face and act like she does not see anyone by that name. She knows very well who daddy is, she just really enjoys teasing him. I can give her something and tell her to give it to daddy in the other room and she'll do it, as long as he isn't looking on. Stinker. Yesterday, she got hurt playing with her sisters and came in the living room crying, "Momma, Momma!" I held out my arms to her and she ran right past me and cried, "MOMMA!" and flung herself at Brent. She is such a character. She calls me Momma too, she just likes calling both of us momma. It's a compliment to Brent in a way. :-)

Amy is her favorite sister I think. Amy is the only name she will say, her bed is right next to Amy's and often they will end up in the same bed together. She does the same thing to Karianne and Angie that she does to her daddy and calls them all Amy.

Fun!

This is what we do for fun around here.

Thanksgiving

We went to my sister Debbie's house for Thanksgiving. Our girls just love their cousins and had a great time with them. Debbie did all the cooking- well she did trust me with the green beans which has always been a family tradition since I am notorious for not being able to cook very well. :-) The food was great, I had seconds on the green beans! :-)



After dinner we went to the Old Mill. I was hoping to get some family pictures for a Christmas Card but it was a little too dark already, so we just had fun.

On Black Friday, Debbie and Abigail got up at 4 am for the sales. That was a little early for me, but I did manage to get Brent up and out the door with me at 7am for a little shopping. Of course, that was late compared to everyone else who had been up hours before, so everything I wanted was already sold out, oh well.

Karianne bakes

I am behind on my blogging. Karianne's birthday was last monday. She wanted to make her own cake so she did. I put it together and iced it, but she mixed it up and decorated it. It turned out so cute and she was so proud of it.

SHe wanted to make brownies yesterday but I was out of oil. She kept on me to go buy some until I finally went out this morning and bought some oil for her brownies. So this morning she made Brownies and also some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Mmm Mmm. Lucy was a big help too. :-)

Karianne is 5!

Karianne got her picture taken for her 5th birthday. Just thought I'd share a few pictures that I love. She is just so beautiful! Five is a big landmark. It makes me reflective about all we went through before we had her, our first little miracle; a living child. She has had 3 siblings before her turn 5 already, but those were just anniversaries that I kept in my heart. Those little Peaks are in Heaven with their Heavenly Father. It is such a treat for me to be able to celebrate this landmark birthday with Karianne. Thank you God for this sweet child.

"You will come and have mercy…because the time has now come." Psalm 102:13 (NCV)

My heart hopes for a home,
A family to call my own.
I need your love…
When will you come?

I lie alone and I'm cold,
There is no one to hold.
I need your touch…
When will you come?

The days turn to weeks,
In silence I plead.
I only speak with my eyes…
When will you come?

As I lie in my bed, I am living yet dead.
I pray for hope to arrive,
Please hear my cries…
When will you come?

by Jan Beazely

What a cutie!

This little boy needs to find his forever family, take a look!

Brennen is an adorable strawberry blonde boy who was born in April of 2008. He is all smiles! He was born prematurely at 35 weeks. His medical says he has communicating hydrocephalia, subcompensated form. He has had some respiratory infections and several ear infections. They were concerned about his hearing but they have put tubes in Brennen's ears and now his hearing appears to be fine according to the orphanage director. We need to find a home study ready family who is able to complete their paperwork quickly to bring Brennen home. If you have a completed home study for international adoption and would like more information, contact Kids To Adopt by email at kidstoadopt@yahoo.com or by phone at 360-695-1704.