November...birthdays, Thanksgiving & more!

Well only 2 more months to document this year. I can hardly believe it! Maybe in 2015 I'll take the time to read something on how to improve my photos!

Until then we all can enjoy our antics from November, well at least the ones in which I remembered to take a photo of...

The first weekend of November typically presents a challenge of how-much-stuff-can-we-pack-into-1-day. This year our day went something like this: RTC played in a Fall Festival (the turkey earned a Superior ribbon). Then we were off to his last fall soccer game. Followed by La's birthday party and a family dinner...












La's birthday party...

The girls painted their own pottery pieces. These ladies were serious about their art!!! Everyone seemed to have a great time!

A few days later it was time to celebrate her actual day!

 Yes, that is an Elsa dress for a present...

Yes, she immediately put it on to eat her breakfast pancakes before school!

Legos from her brother & it came with assistance with assembly!

 Now it was time for Pack 221's Raingutter Regata!

All the boys seems to enjoy it and there weren't many tears!

As a bonus this year Mimi was down and happened to spend her birthday with us! We just had to celebrate, so we celebrated with cheesecake!!!

This was La's turkey in disguise! Pretty huh?

We went to the lighting of Chesapeake's 

Christmas lights...

Thanksgiving was spent in Wichita. 

We engaged in shooting & shopping. Those were separate things we did and we didn't shoot anyone while we shopped! :)

She looks less than enthused and she took a nap

soon after this photo was taken!

We were able to enjoy a date night! 

While Aunt P & Grammie took the kids to see 

Christmas lights! Thanks for the date night!

More than just May flowers

So May happened. There was a piano recital, a dance recital, last days of school, etc. I think you get the idea. Here are the pictures because they speak with more detail than I typically do...

 We took video on a camera instead of our phone, so I have no idea where that is as I don't think it's been downloaded yet, so just imagine a 3rd year pianist playing. He sounds pretty good actually and earned a I at State this year!

This is Miss Ursula & him. We love

her so much!!!

 Here's our ballerina. She LOVES to dance and be on stage. I got to be a backstage mom so I only got to see 3 dances of the 2 1/2 hour recital...you can decide for yourself if I was the lucky one or not!

 Our school has a reading program each year and if the kids read so many books and all different genres and award winners they receive a gold, silver or bronze medal. Both the kids earned a gold medal. He really was thrilled.

This was the last day of school - he was a bit sad as he loved his teacher so much he didn't want to move on to the 4th grade. Fortunately for us, she's one of our neighbors so he thought he'd give 4th grade a chance.

On Memorial Day we tend to gravitate to the Wichita Mountains and their Refuge for some hiking. This year was no different. The kids love climbing on the rocks at Mount Scott. We also took a hike so we could enjoy nature a bit as well!

One of the kids took this lovely photo of the 2 of us.  

If you look - there's a bird in flight in this photo above.

We were a little closer to this guy than we planned!

Just love the Indian Paint Brush with the rest of nature

in this shot.

Well, that was the month of May in our neck of the woods. Hope everyone is having a safe and fun summer!

Our Renaissance Man

In case anyone missed it we LOVE living in Norman. It's not just for the SOONERS either. Norman is a community filled with quirky little annual events (I can't think of too many towns which have a Chocolate Festival or a weather event). This weekend our son participated in one of those! It was the 23rd Annual NAMTA Music Mall Marathon. The event is sponsored by Norman Area Music Teachers Association, Gilliam's Music and Sooner Mall. This year there were 20 different music studios that performed along with a showcase for advanced high school students, and vignette performances featuring several of the teachers. There was piano, violin, and flute music from 5:30 pm on Fri. until close of Sooner Mall at 6:00 pm on Sun. Yes, anyone in the mall can stop and enjoy! It's seems a little odd at first, but this is his second year to participate and he really enjoyed it. 

We're a little biased, but we think he's doing pretty good and he's having fun. He loves his teacher and that makes asking him to practice soooo much easier! We found it interesting that the president of the University of Oklahoma was in the audience during this! 

It's a short video so please enjoy!

Another First - Piano Recital

When I took my job at Wildcat Well Logging I knew that it would give my kids some opportunities that they had not or would not have otherwise. One of those would be music. When all the pieces started falling into place at the job, I began a search for an affordable piano. Once we found the piano and I was able to get him into the studio that I wanted; RTC started lessons in September.

In Norman quite a few of the music studios have a recital at Sooner Mall. It's a 3 day event where tons of kids show off their hard work. Everything from piano to string instruments. It's quite a nice event. Lots of really good talent is showcased. Gillam Music even let them borrow a super grand piano!

Since he was a 1st year student he wasn't required to participate in the recital but he said he was up for it! He didn't begin to be nervous until we got there and his name started getting to the top of the performance list. We were so pleased with his performance. He had good posture and an even pace - which is not his norm at home when practicing!

I have a 41 second video that wouldn't up load so a still shot is all I have in which to bore you!