I last updated this blog 5 weeks ago. FIVE WEEKS! Holy cow, has it ever been a long five weeks. This is gonna be a long rambling post.

We were in Oklahoma for 34 days and it seemed like it passed in a blur. We had such a good time getting to visit with family and friends and not feel like we had to rush to get to see everyone in a short time. Even though we were there for so long we STILL didn't get to see everyone. (Sorry if we missed you!)

The kids were good but it was hard on them to be away from home for so long. Plus my grandma's house, while a wonderful place to visit, is not exactly babyproofed. When the kids got bored or tired they knew just where to go to get into trouble. I lost count of how many times Audrey cleaned off Grandma's table beside her chair and rearranged the candle holders in front of the fireplace. It was a fun but exhausting trip.

Now we've been home for almost 2 weeks and are just settling back into our routine nicely. I was sad to leave Oklahoma but happy to get back to my own bed, my cat and West Virginia's cooler temperatures. Oh and Jason too! I did kind of miss him too. :)

We came home to a burnt up garden. Oklahoma wasn't the only one having some hot temperatures during that time. All the hard work we put into our garden, plants and flowers and now they are almost all dead. I could have cried when I saw my herbs on the deck just dried up and way past saving! Oh well...there's always next year! Hopefully I'll get started earlier next year and we'll actually get some veggies from our garden.

Last weekend we took the kids to Marker-Miller Orchard for their Peach Festival. It was nice weather for it. Warm but not too hot, cloudy with a cool breeze every once in a while. We picked a peck of peaches and both kids really enjoyed picking a peach right off the tree. They both came home covered in peach juice. I don't think I've ever tasted a better peach! We also got some zucchini, some amazing Ginger Gold apples, and some of their famous "apple cider doughnuts". Now let me tell you about these doughnuts. I lived here about 5 or 6 years and kept hearing about how good these doughnuts were. Even the 2 year olds at the daycare I worked for knew about apple doughnuts. Everyone here raves about them like they're the best thing you've ever put in your mouth. And they were mighty good, don't get me wrong. But with a name like Apple Cider Doughnuts, I was expecting them to taste...well, APPLE-y. Nope. For those of you who haven't tried an apple cider doughnut, think cake doughnut rolled in cinnamon and sugar. Now those of you who are locals reading this blog, don't get me wrong...they ARE delicious. But I think they need to change the name a little. When apple cider is the next to last ingredient on the list I don't think that is a very fitting name.

Anyway, enough ranting about weather and wrongly named doughnuts. I can't believe it is August 20th today. Where did the summer go?! Now it's apple season and back to school time. And I cannot even believe it is time for me to start planning Easton's birthday party. He's turning THREE! Holy cow! I am excited about another Fall here and making apple butter but feel like summer sure did pass me by. How about you?

We survived the plane trip! I can't believe how great the kids were on the plane. Of course it helped that I had a diaper bag packed with every distraction I could possibly think of and that I had a sweet lady sitting next to me who was a grandma and great grandma many times over. I think God put her on that plane just so she could help me. It turns out she lives in Grandfield and her daughter (in-law?) knows my mom. It's definitely a small world!

Anyway, the kids did great and after only a short rain delay we arrived in OKC around 7:30. My mom picked us up at the airport and helped us get our baggage to the car. And boy what a lot of it we had! I tried to bring as little as possible but when you're gone from home for almost 6 weeks with two little ones you kinda have to take everything but the kitchen sink! We had 2 carseats, 3 suitcases, E's backpack, the diaper bag and my purse. Plus Audrey in her stroller and Easton. It was quite a scene. (If you're friends with me on Facebook, I posted pictures there. I'll add them here if I get a chance after I get back home.)

We left the airport and stopped at Zio's on the way home for dinner. OH MY GOODNESS it was amazing! We had some hot, fresh bread and garlic/herb olive oil for dipping. I could make a meal on that stuff! I also had some awesome roasted vegetable lasagna which immediately made me close my eyes and groan with happiness and think of the "When Harry Met Sally" diner scene. Oh yeah. It was that good! :)

We got to my grandma's house around 11pm that night and the kids had slept from OKC to Lawton and gone without a nap all day so they were WIRED when we got there. I think they finally fell asleep around 2:30am.

Saturday and Sunday went by in a sleep-deprived blur. I do seem to remember some really good food and visiting with lots of my family which was exactly what I needed. I will definitely have to quit staying up so late talking and remember that I'll be here for a MONTH so there's plenty of time to visit during the day.

I imagine the rest of the month will fly by in a blur of busy-ness (is that a word?), cooking, cleaning, visiting and running around town. And lots of trips to Wayne's for vanilla Cokes. If you're in Lawton I hope to see you while I'm here!

Wowee I am glad that is over! I don't know what the kids had but it was some awful stuff! Vomiting and diarrhea for DAYS! First Audrey had it for about five days, then we had a day or so break and then Easton got it. He actually went to the ER late one night because he couldn't keep any liquids down and I was afraid he was getting dehydrated. That virus was awful! After it was over I was so worn out I just honestly did not have anything nice to say for a while. It was bad! But now I'm back and hope to be blogging more over the next few days. I'm planning a trip to OK for a month to help out at my Grandma's house for a while. We probably will be there from the 1st part of July until some time in August. Hope to see you while we're there!

Whew! I am worn out! Oh and by the way...Merry Christmas! It's been a busy 2 weeks since my last post. Audrey is sleeping better now, thank goodness! Easton is doing ok too. The past couple of weeks have been filled with writing several short papers and one 15 pager, finishing up a class (Child Development - I got an A!), shopping for Christmas, working on some craft projects, cleaning and getting ready for our Christmas company.

I wasn't sure if they'd be able to come or not due to the snow we had (TWO FEET!!!) but Jason's sister, Leslie, her husband Terry, their three kids and Jason's cousin came to visit on Monday. We had a really fun time. It was good to see the kids playing together and good visiting with everyone. We did some shopping to help Santa out with a few Christmas presents, went to D.C. to see the sights, played, cleaned, cooked, ate, played, cooked, cleaned some more. I decided that although I LOVE having people come visit us, our house is WAAYY too small for ten people! That and my kids have entirely too many toys. I think in the next month or so we'll be going through all of the toys and getting rid of some of the ones that don't get played with so much. We just simply do not have room for all of this stuff!

Christmas today was really fun. The kids woke up early and we opened presents and had our Christmas breakfast casserole. Then we cleaned up the kitchen just so we could start cooking Christmas dinner. We had apple butter ham, stuffing, green bean casserole, rolls and pumpkin pie. Whew! I'm so tired! Glad that Miss Audrey will be sleeping back in her own bed tonight and not in our room so I can finally get some sleep.

Some pictures of the big snow we got here last weekend:

Easton and Yellow Bear in the snow

Audrey all smiles and bundled up in her warm snow suit.

My hard working hubby taking a break from shoveling snow



I think we used to have a car under there

Is it a table or is it a big snow cone?

Here are a few pictures of our Christmas Eve trip to D.C.:

Riding the Metro

We're seasoned Metro riders by now. Well, OK. Not really. But we should be.

One of the dinosaurs at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

The Washington Monument

The White House

I can't take credit for this one. J's sweet cousin McKayla took this one. Great job!

Christmas pictures:

This is a lap full of cute right here. Easton and Alexa waiting for Santa.

Easton reads his new Thomas the Train ABC book.

Audrey loves her doll

Alexa, Mason, Addy, Audrey and Easton.

Audrey and Easton Christmas 2009

These days are just flying by in a blur. We're all doing great though. Just staying busy. Jason is working a lot getting ready for the big labor day mattress sales. I just finished one class (I got an A!) and starting a new one today (Nutrition).

Easton is getting bigger and sometimes acting very "two". He's getting some new teeth and that makes him a little cranky these days. Mostly he's just chock full of energy though. I really need to make sure I take him outside more but since Miss Audrey hates her carseat, that makes going for a walk really difficult.

Speaking of Audrey, she weighs 13 lbs now and is getting closer to crawling every day. She still hates tummy time so I'm sure it will be a while yet but she can scoot herself while laying on her back so at least I know her legs are strong enough.

That's about it for us. Just staying super busy. I'm proud of myself for starting to buy Christmas presents already this year. I'm going to try to bring them when we come for Thanksgiving instead of trying to mail them. We'll see if that works out or not. Our little car is going to be crammed full as it is with packing for 4 people for 10 days. Thankfully everywhere we're staying will have a washer and dryer so we don't have to pack so many clothes.

We're really looking forward to coming home at Thanksgiving. Not necessarily looking forward to the 20+ hour drive there but it will be worth it. Just pray that Audrey learns to love (or at least tolerate) her carseat by then or we may be in for it.

Love and miss everyone back home and can't wait to see you in November!

My mom, Bonnie, Ryan and Tyson came for a visit last week. Oh my goodness, we had fun! We went to the Discovery Museum in Winchester, had Italian ice at Rita's, met Jason for lunch at Backseat (YUM!), watched the kids play in shaving cream and then rinse off in the sprinkler, made homemade pizza and ice cream, played school with the pizza and ice cream lesson plans from when I taught the 3s, went to D.C. for an all-day capitol-museum-White House-monument-viewing adventure, got Ry and Ty some new school clothes and supplies at Target and took about 1,000 pictures.

Ryan sure is growing up. She watched Audrey and Easton for us so Jason and I could go on a date. We weren't a bit worried about leaving our kiddos with Ryan. She changed diapers like a pro, put Easton to bed without a hitch and really just did an excellent job. I was so proud!

Tyson and Easton had a blast playing together. Easton calls Ty "Ty-seen". It is pretty cute! By the end of the days, the boys had played so hard that Easton was just completely worn out. It makes me look forward to the time when Audrey is big enough to play with Easton. Well, I'm not in any real big hurry for that but it sure would be nice for him to have a buddy around (or a cousin) to play with.

All of us waiting to get on the Metro.

The Capitol building

The Washington Monument

Tyson at the Capitol

The White House. Or as Tyson calls it "Barrack Obama's house".

Audrey checking out the sights in D.C.

Ty and E at the Discovery Museum

Audrey and Aunt B at the Discovery Museum


Easton's favorite exhibit at the Discovery Museum.

I think he would have stayed here all day if he cold have.

Mama and E at the fountain in downtown Winchester.


Ryan playing w/E and Ty in the wading pool filled w/shaving cream.

Ryan and Tyson meet their newest cousin

Well, we've got baby2's potential arrival date scheduled. I'm scheduled for my pre-op visit Weds May 27th at 9:15 am and then I'll have my c-section the next day (time to be announced at the pre-op visit). I'm excited we can start planning when people will be here to visit. We're really hoping to have someone here all the time for the first few weeks. My mom is coming out for the big day (and hopefully once before too!) and might get to stay until about June 6th or so. Anyone else want to plan a trip? Come out on June 6th and we'll just make one trip to the airport! :) Let us know if you want to come out and we'll make sure we have an empty guest bed. We really truly want everyone to come out that wants to, so don't be afraid we'll be overwhelmed with too much company. And want a hint? Tuesdays through Thursdays are cheap travel days if you fly Southwest. If you're coming from OK, OKC has a non-stop flight to BWI (Baltimore-Washington International) that you can usually find a decent price on if you book early. Dulles is about the same distance from our house but usually way more expensive.
Just let us know. We can't wait to see you!

We've had a great weekend here at the Crafty house. Friday night, we stayed home, relaxed and hung out in front of the TV. Saturday, we got up and got around and went to Edinburg, VA to the Shenandoah Vineyards Harvest festival, despite the fact that we were getting tons of rain from whichever hurricane or tropical storm was passing through. (Hanna, Isaac, I don't know.)

We got there around 2 and it was still raining lightly. The three of us bundled up in our rain jackets, grabbed an umbrella and set out for an adventure. Easton looked so cute completely covered from head to toe in one of Jason's rain jackets. We paid our admission fee and I got my hand stamped and we were on our way. Jason was on daddy/driving duty, so he opted to just let me be the one to do the wine tasting. Fine by me! :)

We found the wine tasting tent and I was glad to be out of the drizzling rain for a bit. I ended up tasting several wines I liked and marked them down on the list they gave out. Being a very casual wine drinker, I wasn't quite sure the proper way to participate in a wine tasting (and yes, there really IS a right way. Too bad I missed that little demonstration that day) but I sniffed and sampled my way through about a dozen different wines. Thankfully, each sampling was just about a mouthful or I would have been feeling pretty good by the time I got through all 12. After that, we checked out the arts and craft area inside. We ended up buying Easton one of those personalized music CDs that I always thought was a rip-off. (Funny what you do when you have a kiddo of your own. E loves Sesame Street, so mama and daddy couldn't resist. Plus, his birthday is coming up.)

Next, we went downstairs where a band was playing. We sat there for a bit and fed Easton his lunch. By this time, the rain stopped and I was SO wishing I had my camera! The vineyard looked beautiful after the rain and the mountains (the Shenandoah mountains) were topped with fog and clouds. It would have made for a gorgeous picture but I didn't want to run the risk of getting my camera wet so I left it at home. We were only gone for a few hours and Jason was glad to be home in time to watch the OU football game.

What a nice, relaxing way to spend a Saturday! Easton had a good time people-watching, mama had a good time sampling the different wines and daddy had fun watching OU on TV. Pretty nice day for everyone.

Today, we just relaxed and hung out in our pajamas until way into the afternoon. Then Jason and I got busy and organized our kitchen cabinets and baby-proofed the house a little. Easton is really on the move these days! We're going to have to order some magnetic locks for some of the cabinet doors so he can't get to the cleaners and stuff and dig out (and clean up!) the baby gate that I bought when I had a puppy years ago.

Yep, it's that time! I can't believe how quickly Easton has taken to crawling all over the house. It seemed like just yesterday I could put him down in one spot and go in the kitchen to fix his bottle then come back and he'd be in the exact same spot as when I left. NOT ANYMORE!!! Our boy is on the move! It's cute to watch him explore everything. Must have been so frustrating for him to want to go somewhere or check something out and not be able to get there.

After our organizing was done, I helped Easton fingerpaint. It was fun to do this on a day when Jason could be home to see it. Easton really got into it today. More so than ever before. He even ended up with blue paint on his nose! It was too cute. Hopefully I'll get those pictures uploaded pretty quick so ya'll can see.

Can't wait to go to Oklahoma to visit Leslie and her sweet kiddos. Can't wait to meet my newest niece! I just wish Jason could be there too but I'll take lots of pictures and email them to him so he can "meet" her too. I also can't wait to see Jenni and family and everyone back in Lawton too. Sept 20th, hurry up! Love and miss you all!

Dishes, laundry and packing...not fun. Going home to Oklahoma...well worth it. :) See you soon!

We had the best weekend this weekend! J's work had a "Kingsdown Global Employee Celebration" this weekend and every single Kingsdown employee and their spouse was invited to the corporate office for an all expense paid weekend. It was amazing!J They chartered a bus for us and we all rode to Mebane (6 hours away) and took a tour of the plant. Then we checked into the hotel and rested for a few hours and then got ready for a western-theme party. And when I say party, I mean PARTY! They had a live band, line-dancing lessons, a trick roper, and a gun spinner (had to look that one up because I wasn't quite sure what to call it...but it was VERY cool!). All night long they had an open bar and things got pretty interesting when you combined that with the mechanical bull. :) They served a great barbeque dinner and then had a huge fireworks show and then a dj and dancing until midnight. It was a really fun night. Yes, Jason did ride the mechanical bull and I do have a picture of him on it. I'll have to charge up my camera before I can post that picture though. I really wanted to get my picture taken on it but knew I'd never have a chance at getting up on that thing without some help. I wouldn't have ridden it, but wouldn't it have made a funny picture with my pregnant self up on a mechanical bull. :)

The next day, there were several events you could choose to do and each one was as well-planned and as fun as the next. Some people chose to golf, some people took the chartered bus to the mall for some shopping (wish I would have done this one! They gave everyone a $25 gift card to the mall!). Jason signed up to play softball so I watched him. At the softball fields they also had a wellness fair set up (with free massages, blood pressure and blood sugar checks) and bingo. Then we all went back to our respective hotels for a rest. There were so many Kingsdown employees they had to rent out several. And when I say that, I mean they rented out entire hotels! We stayed in the Best Western and you could tell they had recently done a lot of renovations to it. It was very nice.

Saturday night, we all got ready for a formal dinner and hopped on the buses again to be taken to the Grandover resort. It is a beautiful place and we were in for a very elegant night. First, we had cocktails (or Sprite in my case) on the back lawn for an hour or so before dinner. They had an orchestra and hors d'oeuvres (yes, I did have to look up the spelling on that one). Then we all went inside to the ballroom for an amazing five-course dinner. Then they had an awards ceremony that lasted a long time. All of the employees were recognized for their time of service (even the ones who had been there less than a year were applauded and welcomed into the Kingsdown family) and some retirees were announced. It was a long night but a very nice one.

Everyone I met was so friendly and nice. From the CEO of the company, to several plant managers, to just the "regular Joes"...everyone was incredibly nice. And the first person that asked me how far along I was said "Wow! You're eight months?! You look great!" I just smiled and said thank you and chalked it up to them just being nice. But almost every single person I met said the same thing. Boy, that can make a mama go from feeling fat (ok, I know not fat...pregnant) to feeling fabulous real quick. :)

This morning, we got up and loaded on the bus for the long ride back. It was a great weekend but I'm very glad to be back home. On the way home, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things. (Jason and I did...not the busload full of people.) While we were there, we saw they had crab legs on sale and noticed a sign that said "We'll steam and season them for you for free!" Holy cow! We bought 2 lbs of crab legs for $12 and we are gonna eat well tonight! I've been craving crablegs for a while but haven't indulged because they're so expensive. Usually when we go out to get all you can eat crablegs (which is so far only once since we've been here) it ends up costing us about 70 bucks. We got the crab legs and the rest of our groceries (quite a lot of groceries, too) for $53. Can't beat that! And the best part is...now I don't have to worry about cooking dinner.

Gotta go, the crab legs are calling my name!

Once again, this will be the Reader's Digest condensed version because it's getting to be past my bedtime! :)



Well, ultrasound day came and went and most of you probably have already heard by now that they think we're having a boy. The tech wasn't 100% sure, but she said as far as she could tell that our baby is a BOY. Hopefully she's right...we got TONS of boy stuff at our baby shower.

Speaking of baby shower, we had a WONDERFUL trip home! First we visited Jason's sister in Tulsa and I got to meet my gorgeous niece Alexa. She is such a happy baby! Hopefully my baby will be just as happy and cute as Alexa and her handsome brother Mason. Then we visited Jason's mom in Perry. We got to stay around the house a lot and just spend some good quality time together. It was really nice. Then on Monday we went into Stillwater and went baby shopping. That was fun! We also rented our truck to haul all our furniture and baby stuff back to WV with us.

The next day we got up, loaded up all our stuff and drove to Lawton. We got into town and went to my grandparents house. It was so good to see them! Of course, as with everyone, it didn't feel like we got to visit with them nearly enough, but we're grateful for the little time we did have together. I did drag J to a few of my favorite shopping places (only 2 though). We went to Hobby Lobby to check out their clearance stuff. I got a beautiful vanity mirror that was originally $89.99 on clearance for only $18.20. I got a few other things too and maybe someday I'll get around to taking pictures of a bunch of things and putting them online. I'm WAY behind on posting pictures, I know! I also got to go to Dustee's (my favorite cheap jewelry place) and I got some fun new earrings. We went to Wayne's drive in a few times and Sonic and Braum's too. I think I got my fill of cheeseburgers for a while! It's time for some fruit and veggies and lots of them! :)

On the 4th, my sister and mom had a baby shower for us. It was a WONDERFUL day from beginning to end. We got almost every single thing on both of our registries! I was so overwhelmed and so grateful to everyone who came. (Baby shower thank-you's are high on the priority list this week!) After that, we went back to my grandparents' house and took a nap. We needed it after all that excitement, let me tell you! After we got up, we had dinner and visited with my sister and her family, my dad, my aunt and her kids (HI, NICOLE and ABBIE!We miss you!) and my grandparents. Then we watched the fireworks from the window. My grandparents live in the country so there were fireworks all around us. We didn't even have to leave the house to see the show!

The drive home wasn't very fun. 2 whole days being cooped up in a Penske truck where the seats don't recline. Guess it could have been worse. At least the air conditioner worked. And the radio. I'd have hated to have had to sing the entire time. :) Overall it was an uneventful drive. Saturday I was feeling a little sorry for myself because we drove through Nashville and saw all the cool places I've always wanted to go to but never thought I'd get to visit. And all we could do was wave through the window of the moving truck. But once I got to thinking about it, we really didn't get to do anything fun for Jason's birthday either. (I was SO morning-sick all day that day!) And we had a whole truckfull of furnture and baby stuff to be thankful for, so I got over my disappointment pretty quickly.

We were so tired from the trip that we STILL haven't unpacked our suitcases or done any laundry. I am so worn out! And getting back into the swing of things after a week off was so hard today! But I am SO glad to be sleeping in my own bed! Kingsdown beds are the best! (Shameless plug for J's company there, but it is SO TRUE!)

We've got so much work to do! All the baby stuff is stacked up in a crib in the middle of our living room. We will be busy this weekend putting things away but that is going to be the fun part! I'm sure it will not be done this weekend, but I'll take a picture of the before and after baby room makeover. I know, I know, I totally have been promising pictures forever, but I'm TIRED folks! One of these days I'll actually make good on that promise and ya'll will fall out of your chairs in disbelief.

Now that I re-read this post, it's not a very short version after all. Gotta get in bed. I've got to get up at 5am!

Tonight we played rummy (I lost...big time!), listened to music (Keith Whitley, Chris LeDoux) and had a fun time. Now we're hanging out on the couch watching the Fine Living channel and trying to figure out where we should go for our long weekend. Baltimore, D.C, Atlantic City, or NYC. We're trying to keep the cost down so these are all places we can drive to within a few hours. What do you think? Where should we go?