Happy Birthday Brian!

Happy Birthday Brian!

Brian has been eyeing these golf carts for a few months, because it would be perfect for all our kid, friends, and cousins!  He got to go get it the weekend after his birthday.  On the way to pick it up he say, "I think you should prepare yourself for how big this is..."  

Oh dear...it is HUGE!

Ended like this....

We thought a hail storm was headed our way so Brian sent me back to my parents to put our car in the garage.  I thought everyone looked at me a little funny as I passed them on the street headed home...

We got on the highway and it started to hail.  It looked like Norman had made a mass exodus and so instead of waiting in traffic I turned onto 24th.  It started to rain so severely I couldn't see anything.  My mom called and about that time my car starts shaking back and forth and I say, "I think I am IN a tornado!"  I keep driving, tell the kids to sing some worship (they have NO clue how scared I am...thank you Jesus!) and Brian calls!  "Go back to my parents!" he says but I realize it is too late.  I kept driving to my parents and about the time I get to Rock Creek Road the tornado sirens go off.  Now my kids are concerned until I hit a puddle that literally feels like a ride at a water park and they all start laughing hysterically!  I tell them when we get to Lolli's to run and get in the closet under the stairs, but I'm pretty sure we are in the clear NOW:-)  After a little work we made a cozy little spot to keep us safe if we needed to go in a shelter again.

We quickly realized that I literally drove through the beginning of the tornado!  It was amazing to see the damage that it did to Norman in just a few moments.  Brian went to help our friends the Rice's who's home was hit.  I was with the kids when the power started to flicker.  Again I call my parents frantically looking for flashlights, but they like to use candles!  (That's really fun until you think of putting 4 kids in a closet with candles might be worse than a tornado!)  Don't worry we went and bought Lolli and Champ 6 fabulous new flashlights!

We were SO thankful for God's protection!!

The day started like this....

 We decided to spend the afternoon at JuJu's with our cousins.  

Haynes LOVES fishing!

The weather was perfect...almost too perfect!

 Harper has taught the girls some new things too!

There was a record number of golfers on the course and then suddenly no one was out there.  

We took that as a chance to explore the pond:-)

The girls wanted to be like the boys and play in the mud....

Then we heard the horn for all golfers to clear the course so we headed in the house.

First Baseball Practice

 We had our first baseball practice a few weeks ago.  For some reason the league mixed up our team so we only got half of the boys we had signed up with...great opportunity to meet some new kids.  Brian thought it would be great to get a tent for the boys to hit into...it was quite an event to put together, but they LOVED it!

 Halle thought baseball was great!

Haynes just can't stand for someone to be playing something without him involved...does that sound familiar?!  Love these kids and we are so excited for our baseball season!

It's on the market...

It's true...

If you know anyone that needs an amazing home in a great area, we highly recommend this one!

http://www.openhouseok.com/OK/Norman/617%20Greystone%20Ln/showhome.oht

Parent's Watch Week

 Ella had Parent's Watch Week this week.  I love Parent's watch week for so many reasons.  It brings back sweet memories of my dad coming to watch my classes even when i was in high school and no other parents would come.  I love how my parents have always been the best supporters!

I forgot Ella's ballet skirt this week, so Abbey found her a little skirt to make work...thanks Ab:-)

 Striking a pose 

 Ballet Bar

 Love her serious face here!

 They have the cutest ballet dance with hoops!  

 Ella and Millie

*sweetest friends*

 Juju came to watch with us too!  Ella seemed a little nervous and watched Selah a lot, but as soon as she got home she did everything perfectly!  It reminded me of how my Granma would always tell me to stop looking at the other dancers because it would mess me up and I already knew it.  I'm so thankful she taught me at a young age to be confident in myself!

They have the cutest tap dance too!  

We can't wait for June 2nd!

Easter

We had Celebration on Sunday night so Easter morning was super fun family time!  We got up and had breakfast with my parents...not so bad living with your parents when they cook every meal for you!  (Brian wanted me to guess how much weight he would gain over our time living here)

After my parents headed out for church we had some family worship, read the Easter story, and then opened baskets.  Then the morning was just for us to enjoy being together!

We headed to the farm for lunch, the first time since my Poppy went to be with Jesus.  I forgot easter baskets, so we had to make do....notice the backpack and grocery sack:-)

 This sweet girl was warm in her stroller!

 My brother always loved climbing when we were growing up, my boys remind me a lot of him in that way.  I looked over and saw him and my boys climbing a tree.  Then I saw him SWING Haynes up to the next limb...all Haynes needs is a little encouragement:-)

 Kid picture before the hunt

 She is just beautiful!

 I love that he's a competitor in all that he does, just like his daddy!

I love that he can roll with it, even when mom lets him down and forgets his Easter basket.

We had a great Easter...more pics to come when I download mine. 

 These are my mom's from her new camera!

Liddell Easter Egg Hunt

 This year our Easter Egg Hunt was a little damp, but we had a pretty great turnout despite the drizzle.  This is everyone "patiently" waiting for the hunt to start!

 This boys knows what he is doing and had his entire bag filled with eggs!

(I didn't pull out Easter baskets this year, JuJu to the rescue!)

 Port is an old pro and we could hardly get a shot of him standing still...

 This girl moves at her own pace, but don't doubt her either...she had those eggs clear of candy before the day was over:-)

I was pretty drugged up so Champ helped out by carrying Halle for me.  All she needed was one egg this year, next year she is going to love it!

Kidney Stones

Saturday morning I woke up early feeling like I slept crazy and had a crick in my back.  Brian had been gone all week to the Masters, I'd been packing up the house, so I didn't move all night I was so tired.  I rolled over and couldn't go back to sleep my back was hurting so bad.  I decided to get up and try to stretch while I was reading.  I had taught Maddie her tryout routine the day before and couldn't believe that I had actually hurt myself!!  I couldn't hardly walk downstairs, but my parents were down there.  We problem shot for a little bit until I couldn't hardly stand the pain.  

Brian came down and started problem shooting with us and decided to call Cathleen.  They couldn't decide if it was kidney stones or my appendix.  We finally decided to head to the ER despite the fact, the kids had pictures in the next hour!

When I got to the ER the pain just got progressively worse to where I was actually throwing up!  My nurse was amazing and tried to get me an IV started, but blew out my first vein.  He then went for the kid size IV and got it in.  I quickly got some morphine and meds to break up the kidney stone...

I came home and took a short nap because we had a full day.  When I woke up I still felt really drugged but felt NO pain!  I haven't felt any pain since!!  When we were admitted to the hospital I asked Brian to pray for me so that I could be healed and do the rest of our day...isn't God SO good!!

Last Soccer Game

 Ready to play...

Haynes is really loving soccer, but can't wait to play with some big boys next year:-)

 I love how hard he works on the court, he just loves to compete!

Love these boys!

We've Moved!

 Well it's official...we have moved out of our house!  The Friday before Easter we moved into my parents house.  We celebrated by dying Easter Eggs together.  I insisted that the kids dye eggs in their undies:-)

 The boys working hard on the eggs.

 Jenny and Halle had a great time watching from a distance:-)

We had a great time and laughed hard when Haynes literally dyed his hands and face blue!  Thankfully it all came off before pictures the next morning.  

*We are super thankful for my parents for graciously hosting us for a few weeks.  

Improvement...

Halle has getting better at eating solid food every day!  

This weekend she had toast, a quesadilla, and a grilled cheese.  

We are so proud of this big girl!!

Our land

 We've been praying about how we want to pray over our land and some prophetic act we could do as a family before we break ground.  This was Brian talking to the kids about what we are getting ready to do.  We bought some wild flower seeds to sew on our land as we pray.

We decided to be intentional about where we would pray...

We started where our front door will be and Brian prayed dedicating this home to the Lord.

Next we walked the four corners of the lot and let each of the kids pray and sprinkle seeds.  It was so fun hearing what they wanted to release...

Port felt like the Lord said He would be our Protector

Ella released a spirit of dance

Haynes chose JOY

We are so excited to break ground this week and start this new adventure!

Crew is 4!!

 Crew turned 4 on Sunday!  

They have an amazing backyard, perfect for a spring birthday party.  I love all these kids gathered around the turtle...especially that cute Harper Florence:-)

Crew had a construction birthday party so I bought him some building blocks.  When Ella saw the gift she was SO disappointed in my choice.  She thought it was a baby gift.  She really LOVES Crew and wanted something different, next time I'll let her pick out his gift!

Birds

We spend most time outside lately, and the boys saw two birds fly into our basketball goal!  They were both scissortail fly-catchers.  One died immediately but the other seemed to be stunned.  I honestly had NO idea what to do, so I called Brian:-)  Brian's suggestion was to let the boys figure it out...they wanted to kill it!  I said "guys, i don't know what to do!"  Ella said "Mommy we need to pray!"  Ella started praying and then trying to show the bird how to fly...notice her flapping her wings:-)

After about 15 minutes the bird just flew away!  We had a small burial for the other one....

I love that her response was to pray...even if it was for a bird:-)

Monroe

We've been praying over the last few months to hear what God has for Port next year as a 1st grader!

We went on Friday to enroll him at Monroe Elementary School.  We are so excited for what God has for this mighty warrior.  A few months ago I heard the Lord say that Port will be a Joshua at Monroe next year.  We are thankful that God has a powerful plan for this mighty man!

*I sent Brian this picture at work and he said, "Wow!  I think my mom has a picture of me standing in that same location!"

Silly girls

I love these SILLY girls!

I got to hang out with them during soccer practice this week.  

This was their silly faces:-)

Crazy hair!!

Remember when this girl had hair that looked like this everyday!!  

For some reason her cradle cap has seemed to come back?!?  The positive thing is we can get our hair to do CRAZY things:-)

Tiger Cage

Well...they delivered our pod last week!  Of course it's not called a "pod" in our house, Brian told the kids it's a "Tiger cage."  He built it up and told them a tiger lived inside...you should have seen their face when he opened the door:-)  We've had dessert nights in the pod, dance parties with neighbors, played inside the pod...but Sunday we finally packed the pod up:-(  Tomorrow they come to take our pod away and we move out of this house on Friday!  We will sure miss our neighbors...they are all not pleased to see this pod on our front porch.

*My favorite thing is that when we see ANY pod throughout the city my kids will say, "They have a tiger cage too?!?"