Another year has flown by...

Well, another one of our children has graduated from Mrs. McBride's class. (Can you hear my sobs??) That means my babies are growing up WAY TOO FAST!! For those of you that don't know, Mrs. McBride has been teaching the pre-K class at Memorial Rd. Church of Christ for something like 38 years. She is amazing!! She teaches these kids with so much patience and love, and I love that she has some structure to her classroom, because she has them sit at desks, and behave appropriately for 4/5 year olds. Yes, they can actually do it!! The first two quarters of the year are usually very interesting--the kids really don't know what she expects, but as we saw last Wednesday, they all came along just fine--and learned a ton of Bible stories!! Mrs. McBride is one of my favorite people, and I love being a helper in her class--I learn so much just by being in there with her!
Here is my baby girl with Mrs. McBride:

And, starting in June, my baby Dylan will be joining her class.....what am I going to do???

ALSO, today was the last day of school!!! Dustin and Jodee had SO much fun today--and I now officially have a 3rd grader, Kindergartener, and pre-K student!!!! They spent the afternoon swimming in our pool--even though it wasn't really warm enough, but it was a great celebration!! (I only had to get in once, clothes, shoes, and all, to rescue Dylan who for some reason, got out of his ring float and fell off of the kick board he was using!! I know the other kids were going to help him, but it wasn't fast enough for me. I don't know HOW I got in the pool without making the whole side cave in, and without going in headfirst, but somehow, I did it!! Too funny....and too cold!!!)

A Weekend in Jal, NM

We travelled 1080 miles in our new van over the weekend, to visit 2 sets of Great Grandparents in Jal, New Mexico!! It was SO much fun--first of all, the travelling went very well....it's getting easier each time we go, as the kids get older. They all were so good, and entertained themselves, each other, and Josh and me! The trip takes about 9 hours, and we got to Pop pop and KK's house at 3 am (our time--only 2 am their time). We all got some sleep then woke up to some yummy breakfast being cooked in the kitchen. We spent some time there, then went to visit Nana and Dandy Don. Dandy Don used to be a rodeo clown, and he still has all of his wigs, hats, and overalls! The kids got to dress up and have some fun!
Here's Dandy Don showing how he'd throw his hat to get the bull's attention:

Then we spent the rest of the afternoon back at Pop pop's. The kids had fun scootering, finding cool rocks, playing with marbles, and playing tea party.Here's sweet Kay kay reading a bedtime story to two sleepy kids: And Dustin was watching some sports with Pop pop:


One of their favorite things---the piano!

Here are the kids with both sets of great grandparents at lunch on Sunday afternoon:
Josh preached and taught class on Sunday--it was awesome!! I know his grandparents just love to hear him preach God's Word. It makes them so proud!
We had a great trip---we feel it was a true blessing that we were able to go and visit.
Hope you all had a great weekend too!!!

Tornado drill, Mother's Day, and more!

If you read our earlier post about tornado sirens and playing outside, this is the contrast! We actually had a tornado warning VERY close to us--so close in fact that I actually had the kids in our "safe place" and everything I thought I would need in there with us! Roxy was in the bathroom with us, but poor dog, she didn't fit in the shower with the 3 kids and myself! Josh was at work, and safe in a big concrete building, but the tornado went right over him!! SCARY! We were fine, thankfully, and here is the picture to show how serious it was: (and for those of you not used to tornado drills, yes, those are bike helmets!) We celebrated Mother's Day on Saturday before Mother's Day, just to have more time with our family, and to not have to fight the crowds at the restaurants. Here are all of the girls from my side of the family that were able to make it:
And here are the boys:
We had a blast at the park--with tons of food, presents, and FUN! We also celebrated my sister Hayley's 20th birthday--I can't believe she's 20!

Then, on the real Mother's Day, we had a great day of worship--getting to hear Josh preach at Tealridge!! I love it when he preaches--he's really good! Then we went to the park again that afternoon/evening, and had a great day!! My kids and hubby always spoil me with great presents and lots of hugs and kisses. Who could ask for more?
(It was VERY sunny in this picture--see all the squinting?)

And, Jodee has been loving her gymnastics lately! She finished up the "year" and they always get a medal in May. She is awesome--very talented and really enjoys it. Good for her!! I'm so glad...it's fun!
Well, that has caught you up a little, I know I left a lot out, but we are SO busy right now--and looking forward to summer break!

P.S. I know this may embarrass my husband, but I am SO EXCITED that the New Kids on the Block are making a comeback!! They have a new cd coming out this summer, and are going on tour in the fall. They will be in Dallas on October 19th, and I'm still looking for someone to go with me! (Yep--you guessed it, Josh said NO WAY!) Ha Ha!! They were on the Today show last week, and Jodee and I have been watching/listening to it, and we love it! Even the boys think they're "kinda cool". I'll take that!

Dustin's Zoo field trip

Last Tuesday, Josh and Dustin went on a field trip with the whole 2nd grade from Orvis Risner. I was supposed to go, but I was still sick, and Jodee was sick, so I had to stay home, but luckily Josh was already taking off a few hours of work, so he was able to go in my place. First was the bus ride!! That is Dustin and his good friends Sam and Will. They later became known as the "Destruction Brothers", why? I don't know! That's just the name they gave themselves. These 3 were in Josh's group along with 4 girls. Josh said there was a sea of children when they got there, and that every school in Oklahoma must have chosen the same day for the field trip!
Here is Josh's group that he had to keep up with, and this one is at the beginning of the day:
Here they are after 5 hours of the zoo:
Too cute! Josh is awesome--he kept up with all of them and had a great time. I was sad that I didn't get to go, but glad he had a good time with Dustin!

Boys will be boys...even the old ones!

Yep, my 31 year old husband went on a Men's Retreat with the other men in our bible class, and this is what he brings home!! I nice, BIG bruise on his arm!! They actually had a really good time, camping out, shooting guns, throwing firecrackers at each other, studying the Bible, enjoying some good food and conversation, fishing, and much more!! Supposedly, they play this joke on a lot of guys....they used a bigger shell in the gun Josh was going to shoot, and he didn't know it, so it kicked back HARD, as you can see!!!

He said it was actually very funny and they all had a good laugh about it!! REALLY? That's crazy! But , boys will be boys. I'll leave it at that!

Orvis Risner Walk-a-thon

Last Friday was the annual Walk-a-thon at Dustin and Jodee's school. They go to the park next to the school, and have a "track" for the kids to follow--and it is like a real track, where 4 laps is a mile. Dustin went 18 laps in 30 minutes!! WHAT???? I never knew we had a little runner on our hands! 4 and 1/2 miles is a LOT! I was going to "walk" with him, but he never slowed down! It was so cute, and plus, Dylan didn't really feel like running for 30 minutes...so we watched! Here he is at the end, when he finally slowed down enough for me to take a picture:

Jodee's class only got 20 minutes (cause they're pre-k), and she went around 7 times! She sprinted, then walked, then sprinted, then walked, and so on. Too cute!

Of course, Dustin didn't want pics of him after the race hangin' with his friends, but I did get some of Jodee!

And I thought this was funny....Dylan always wants to take pictures with my camera, and he actually got a really good one of Jodee at the picnic table:

I am so proud of my kids! They are awesome. I'm also VERY excited that Dylan will be joining the other two at Orvis Risner next year! Yay! I can't believe they will all be in school...thankfully Jodee and Dylan will only be gone for 2 1/2 hours. I think I can handle that. Now, in about 2 years when my baby goes off to first grade, I think I'm going to have a problem!!!

Dustin's Journeyland Puppet Show

Wednesday night, Dustin was in a puppet show with his class at church--in the department called, "Journeyland". Here he is as the narrator for the first little show, and yes, he's in his baseball uniform! We had a makeup game right before church, no time to change clothes! He is the puppet 3rd from the left:

There he is, calm, cool, and collected, smiling at the camera! Boy, he makes me proud! What fun--I love our children's education ministry at Memorial Road. It's the best!!

Oklahoma, born and bred!

You know your kids are from Oklahoma when they can play baseball in the field with the tornado sirens going off!

Dylan playing catcher: Looking at the sky--no, not a tornado! They weren't close to us, thankfully!

I was actually a little surprised that they weren't more nervous about the sirens. I told them that we had checked the weather, and it wasn't coming near us, so we were fine. And they believed me! We did have a big storm roll through over night, but it was just a lot of wind, hail, thunder, and lightning. Nothing compared to a tornado!

EXERCISE!!

Okay, all of my readers out there, here's a challenge for you! My friend (and trainer at the gym) is giving everyone an exercise challenge starting next Monday. For $20, you will get 20 workouts to do, and the goal is to exercise for 20 minutes a day. (or more if you choose to!) You can earn points for extra things, getting people to join in, or doing more than just 20 minutes, etc. The rules are on her blog: www.mommymizfit.blogspot.com, or under Mullin's on my friend's list. I'm so excited for this--I go to the gym and all, but any extra motivation is always helpful!