Some Playtime Observations

With each birthday, there is generally one new toy.  Last night, Andrew got a new-to-him Playmobil set.  As I watched Chris and the kids put it together and later play, I noticed a couple of things.  First of all, when they were putting it together, you could definitely see the differences in the boys' personalities.  Luke is my construction guy, man of few words.  So, yes, he was the one putting things together, looking at instructions if he couldn't figure it out, making sure it was all done correctly.  On the other had, Andrew is my social love bug.  So, he was the one that gathered all the people and made sure all their attire (hair, hats, clothes) were all there and matched.  That brought me to my second observation.  Luke set all of Andrew's Playmobil stuff out and the three of them played a long time mixing construction workers and knights with not one problem.  They are talking and interacting the entire time.  Their story line is seamless to them and their imaginations are open wide.  The thing that I find so interesting is how they know what the other is doing/trying/thinking.  They seem to just have it all go together smoothly.  This isn't the only time I've seen this.  It holds true with their Lego sets.  Sometimes, they'll get those out and they have all sorts of stories going on.  It really is mind boggling to watch the three of them play together like this.

Now, just for the record, they are not perfect and they are siblings.  They don't always play like this and yes, there are disagreements at times.  When, it goes smoothly, though, it's interesting to observe!

Eager Readers

My kids love to read....much to my delight.  When I was a child I remember getting a glass of grape kool-aid (sounds horrible now!) and a stack of graham crackers and sitting in our living room reading for what seemed like hours when I was the age of my kids.  I never anticipated that my kids could possibly do something similar, but it's fun to watch.  Libraries are a true gift and great help to the budget.  The picture above was taken after our most recent trip to a library (Andrew had just finished reading when I grabbed my camera...he'd gone through the stack of books behind him).  They come home and it is so quiet because they all just sit down and read without being asked.  However, the summer reading programs at the libraries in town have been an added bonus to them.  Andrew is the one that has surprised me the most.  They have to read 600 minutes to earn all the prizes.  Monday, I had to remind Andrew that he didn't need to read all 600 minutes at one time.  He just kept reading and reading.  I'm sure he sat there over 3 hours.  I must say, that he was most delighted when he came home with the most prizes yesterday.  Luke and Hannah are doing a great job as well don't get me wrong.  They got their fair share of prizes as well.  So thankful that they like to read.  Now, if I could just keep them in good, quality books.  I'm open to suggestions!

Look Who's 6!

Andrew's eagerly anticipated 6th birthday was yesterday.  He'd informed me for days that he "just can't wait" for his birthday.  As you can see, he did wait and he did survive.  He had big plans that day that included breakfast at Happy Donuts, a meal at Pizza Hut, playtime at McDonalds and some time at the pool.  Needless to say, he didn't get all that his little heart desired.  Instead, we had a quieter celebration at home in the evening and having lunch with Daddy earlier in the day.  He enjoyed his birthday cake and I must say the best part of my day was after he had tasted it and he jumped out of his chair and gave me a hug and a kiss (if you don't know him well, he is a love bug!).  The day ended with phone calls to grandparents and a lot of play time with his new toys.  Even though, it didn't have all the bells and whistles he asked for, I think he still enjoyed it!

One last thing, the other part of the day that was special to me was Luke.  Luke had begged me for days to take him to the store so he could buy Andrew a gift with his own money.  He chose well when he got a set of matchbox cars that were all police.  Then, he begged me for days to give it to Andrew early because he just couldn't wait to give it to him.  I really hope his generosity and passion continues as he goes through life.

A Moment in Time - Book Review

I have read books by Tracie Peterson in the past and just loved, loved them.  However, I didn't fall in love with A Moment in Time.  It was an easy read and easy to follow for a somewhat of a mindless read.  However, it was missing some of her trademark history that I appreciate as well as some of her in depth character development.  There did seem to be several characters and they all had good qualities that you could enjoy, but I didn't feel the cohesiveness of her characters that I often feel.  I must admit that I was a bit disappointed, but I still enjoyed the book and the events that played out.

I received a complimentary copy of Undetected by Dee Henderson from Bethany House Publishers.

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!

The Trio throwing rocks into the puddles (yes, we have puddles after an unheard of 7 inches of rain in a little over two weeks!) in the alley.

Today was a rare, beautiful summer morning here in Altus.  Many of the summer days since we've been assigned here usually top out at 100 around noon and that lasts until past (my) bedtime.  So, we've been enjoying the milder temperatures of this year.  I decided that we needed to take full advantage of this morning.  So shortly after breakfast, we headed to the reservoir for a 2+ mile walk.  We really had an enjoyable time.  We first spotted a fox.  It really surprised me to spot one literally in the middle of town, but later when I was chatting with one of the local ladies, she concurred that there indeed is a red fox that has taken up residence in one of the nearby neighborhoods.  We also enjoyed spotting cranes (or herons...I don't know the difference), turtles, ducks, geese, and of course the construction equipment that passed us a few times.  After running a couple of errands, we headed to the park to meet up with some friends.  The kids had a sweet time together as well as the Mamas as we chatted away the remainder of the morning.  Needless to say, the kids enjoyed a quieter afternoon after using so much energy up this morning.  So thankful to have my trio to enjoy the summers with!

Altus, America

Chris asked me several months ago what I would miss about living in southwest Oklahoma.  Initially, the list was rather short, but after reflecting on this for some time, I came up some things that I will truly miss.

1. The ability to see for miles....literally!  It is so easy to navigate because I can see where I am going.  I have no idea how I will find places when trees are in my way.
2. Lack of traffic.  More people produces more traffic.  This will take some getting used to.
3. The beautiful sky - unique clouds and exquisite sunrises/sunsets.
4. Following storm chasers to see if those supercells are really headed our direction.
5. Early spring and late summers.  The amount of time I have to keep my boys in pants is quite short.  I have no idea how to keep knees in their pants!
6. Our small and amazing elementary.  In the three short years we've attended there, they set the bar high - really high!
7. Dumpsters for trash pick-up.  I know this sounds strange and I believe it is definitely unique to this part of the country.  They've laid out the city to have alleys behind all the homes and locate dumpsters along the way.  I have no idea when trash day is.  I just take it out.  Plus, we've gotten rid of so much that we couldn't have otherwise gotten rid of easily.  It made our remodels much easier!
8. Unique plains life.  I'm pretty sure you can't attend a cattle drive at another military base or go to a rattlesnake festival anywhere else! 
9. Getting anywhere I need to be in town in no more than 15 minutes and usually 5 minutes.
10. Seeing friends pretty much wherever I went - the commissary, soccer games, church, AWANA, Wal-Mart, driving down the road.  I will miss socializing and waving to friends as I go through my days.
11. Simplicity.  There are few stores here and mostly fast food joints to eat.  However, it made like much simpler.  Honestly, the number of choices at our new home initially seems exciting, but are actually becoming a bit overwhelming.  Here, if I need something, my only option is Wal-Mart.  Otherwise, it is the internet.  I just don't want the number of choices to completely consume my time and energy.  When there are fewer choices, I don't browse nearly as much.
12. Friends!  Missing them is an understatement.

Just as a side note...in the picture above, you can see Andrew's look for the summer.  He's really preferring his cowboy boots with shorts these days.  I think it's because he doesn't have to tie them...

So Long, Farewell...

A lot of reflection has been going on over the past few days.  We've closed on our new home.  I've attended one farewell dinner and have a farewell luncheon next week.  All the talk of moving is quickly becoming a reality.

When military assignments come out, Altus Air Force Base isn't generally where people want to come.  For those of us who did get this assignment, it's an environment that is hard to leave.  Situated in southwest Oklahoma, 45 minutes to the nearest Target (it was 1 1/2 hours...), miles and miles of straight roads with few towns and high speed limits, and days upon days of searing 100 degree days in the summer and wind that never (or so it seems) stops blowing, it doesn't have a lot of attributes people desire.  I can't blame them.  I was one of them when we were here for training seven years ago and had to pray a lot about coming here.  However, all of that contributes to the bonding of friendships and building of community that I value far above "easy living".  The people that we've done life with these last three years have made this one of our bests assignments to date.  Will I miss my black widow encouters and grass that is brown a vast majority of the year?  Absolutely not!  Will I miss the friends that have become like family?  Yes!  It makes my heart grieve as God has different journeys for our families for the moment.  However, God is already at work preparing my heart and building a network of people that we already know that live at our next assignment.

I'm so thankful for the three years assigned here and the paths God is already laying for us in our new home!

These ladies and their beautiful families played a huge role in making Altus "home"

Swimming Season

Our Trio

We took our inaugural swimming outing this past weekend with dear friends.  Believe it or not, it was actually cool the weekend it opened (that is definitely not the norm for this part of the US!).  We had a great time.  Despite, the cool water that warmed up after a bit, a good time was had by all.  Each one of our trio had to get used to swimming again, but they were quickly independent as they played around.  Luke took a couple of jumps off the diving board and they all took on the big slide.  We'll definitely have to head back a few more times before the moving trucks arrive!

Undetected - A Book Review

Undetected is an all around well developed book!  I loved the character development, the story line development and her thorough writing style that did not leave out details.  This book will require you to think a bit as the author dives into the world of a genius and navy submarines.  She explains all very simply and in a thought provoking manner.  She does a good job of broaching difficult topics of the ethics behind firing missiles and doing the job our military members have signed up to do.  I also really appreciated how she adequately portrayed a military spouse at the end.  I am one (although not Navy) and I felt like I knew what she was talking about.  I do have to say, I felt like the submarine captain came off as a bit sterotypical, but I think they may just need those character qualities to do the job required of them.

I received a complimentary copy of Undetected by Dee Henderson from Bethany House Publishers.

Happy Birthday!

Chris is a another year older and wiser today.  Happy Birthday to the man who evens out the highs and lows in my life, loves our family deeply and works hard for us!