Outside with Oliver

Yesterday Oliver enjoyed the 65 degree weather.


First he went for a walk around the neighborhood.


Later, he enjoyed sitting outside in the sunshine.



He sat outside and played with his toys for a long time.



And then he discovered something new ... 


Grass!

Playtime

'Unpatriotic'

Your Tax Dollars at Work

I heard a radio ad this morning in which the Oklahoma State Department of Health informed me that my baby should never sleep in the bed with his mother and me, even if he is breastfeeding. I would urge listeners to get a second opinion, starting with the Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame.

As for advice from the Oklahoma State Department of Health, I would give it the consideration and respect due a bureaucracy which once paid Planned Parenthood $26,841 in part "to increase correct and consistent use of male condoms and insertion condoms during receptive vaginal and anal intercourse among youth (ages 13-19) and their sexual partners within the Tulsa, Oklahoma MSA."

'Woman Meets Child Born Out of Rape, Given Up for Adoption 77 Years Ago'

You'll need some tissues, but you'll want to read this.

I Can't Get Enough ...

of these eyelashes.

Liberal Apoplexy Watch

The National Rifle Association recently sponsored an event in Oklahoma at which 30 boys and girls, all of whom are educated at home by their parents and some of whom were wearing camouflage, gathered at a remote, privately owned rural location to learn how to shoot rifles and hunt with a bow and arrow.

Stargazing

On Saturday night a friend of Brandon's brought a couple of his telescopes over and gave us all a homeschool astronomy lesson. I wasn't sure what to expect, and was surprised by how big the telescope was.



We all learned quite a bit and were amazed at all we were able to see, including Venus and Jupiter. We even saw three of Jupiter's moons, as well as an eclipse of Jupiter. We also saw the Andromeda Galaxy, which is 2.5 million light-years away, and the Messier 81, a galaxy which is 12 million light-years away! It's hard to wrap my mind around how far that is. It's also amazing that God created such a vast universe and yet he knows the number of hairs on our head.

It was a great night and a fun homeschool lesson. Thanks Mike!

Weekend Pictures

My three sons:


Bath time:



Learning about the heart during Friday science lab:


Lillie and Oliver:


Saturday with Ollie:

Saturday Morning with Ollie

Again, with apologies to Folgers, I'm going to have to insist that the best part of waking up is Ollie in your bed. Especially when he says, "Dadda, dadda -- pardon me while I yawn -- dadda, dadda, dadda ..."



Then it was off to Panera, and then we're getting a bit drowsy in the cavernous environs of a home-improvement store.



Any day with Oliver is a good day.

Getting a Workout

There was a time when I went to the YMCA nearly every morning, when it was still dark outside and the house was still sound asleep. Needless to say, that hasn't happened in a while. But I can promise you it's a lot better waking up to Oliver than to an elliptical machine. And these days I get my workout in other ways.

I get to carry around this chunky boy all day:




Ollie + car seat = 32.5 pounds:

Coming In a Disappointing 3,751,351 Out of 3,751,351

The bad news is that the left-wing Oklahoma Observer, in its current issue, pronounces me "the Worst Person of the Year in Oklahoma."

The good news is that, to quote Jerry Seinfeld, "I don't know how official any of these rankings really are."

Doughnuts

Jack Henry has been reading Homer Price.



Which means he has been thinking about doughnuts -- a lot.



So this morning, when he asked if we could go "real quick" and get doughnuts for breakfast, how could I refuse?




Sorry, Oliver. You'll have to wait until you're a little older before you can have a doughnut.

Christmas Break Pictures (Better Late Than Never)

The Christmas decorations have been down for a few weeks now, the tree has been picked up from the curb, and the lights are all tucked away in the attic for next year. We are back to our pre-Christmas routine: school, ballet, and basketball. We took a long Christmas break -- stopping school a week earlier than we usually do -- and I had lots of big plans and good intentions. I had planned to give the house a thorough cleaning out and give away and throw out junk that had accumulated. I had lots of little household fix-it projects that needed to be done. I wanted to do more Christmas baking and crafts. And I wanted to be finished with everything so that in the week or so leading up to Christmas we could slow down -- watch movies, play games, sit in the glow of the tree, and drink hot chocolate.  Well, how does the verse go? "Man makes plans, but God directs his steps."

I didn't really get any of my household projects done. And the Christmas baking and crafts -- didn't do much of that either. And as far as slowing down goes ... well, we have four kids in the house and one in college so even when we're not busy with school and activities there is still a lot going on. And the fact that I'm writing this Christmas post three weeks after Christmas shows just how behind I am. But that's OK. We had a good Christmas break. It was Oliver's first Christmas, and instead of cleaning out closets and doing things that I "needed" to do, I enjoyed our last "first Christmas." It only comes once and it's gone in a blink.

Here are lots of pictures of our break that I meant to post throughout December:


Jack Henry was a shepherd in our church's Christmas pageant. There are lots of things I love about our church. One of them is that our choir leader can put on a beautiful program with all the kids and only have two rehearsals.



My dad has come down for many years between Thanksgiving and Christmas to help the kids hang our Christmas lights. This is a huge blessing and also almost always includes a trip to Ron's Hamburgers for lunch.


The Christmas after Anne Marie died, my dad brought this nativity scene that he had made. I won't ever forget that Christmas -- in the midst of our deep sadness there were bright spots as well. Every year when I put this out I remember.




We spent lots of Christmas break just sitting around watching Oliver, getting excited over every little thing he did -- like chewing on his toes!



We played with him on the bed ...


... and snuggled him while he slept.


And we loved having Lincoln home for almost a month.



Jack Henry was hoping for snow this year, but we had lots of mild days and we enjoyed being outside.



Lille and Oliver cuddled up together while we visited grandparents in Bartlesville.



Oliver loved seeing his Aunt Christy -- she's used to big, chunky babies.




Oliver also had fun exploring the ranch.



And of course we didn't forget our sweet baby girl. While I was out and about I would see things I wanted to get her for Christmas -- little girl dresses and bows, and cute little things to stick in her stocking. The tears seemed to come often this Christmas -- sometimes when I least expected it, sometimes when I rocked Oliver, sometimes late at night while I was wrapping gifts. I missed her and kept thinking, "If only ..."



My favorite thing about Christmas break was just all of us being together.