Top Ten Reasons to Attend an Oklahoma Family Reunion

10. Free swimming
9. Catch up on gossip (“Did she have
plastic surgery? He is living with whom?”)
8. Free fishing
7. Kids get to meet new cousins: first, fourth, sixth, whatever
6. Possible business connection (“So you are telling me that if I call this 1-800 number, I can make 25K a month while watching TV all day?”)
5. Free FOOD that we don’t
have to cook or clean up after!!
4. Aunt Linda is always giving away cute
clothes/shoes. Hang around…
3. If you come and act stupid, I’ll write about
you on my blog!
2. Rumors of the Amish guy coming and bringing ice cream!

and for the number one reason to go to your local family reunion....
1. If you are single, what better place to hook up?! You already know
everything about the family!

My mother's father's side of the family (which, because of so many sisters in one family marrying brothers in another family, ends up being my whole entire family, and most of north-east Oklahoma) had a family reunion this past weekend... here are some fun re-caps:

We did meet lots of new cousins. I realized my boys only knew their first cousins. They played hard all day with many many more second and third cousins!

Tate with second cousins (below) Tyler and Chase
The Amish people did come to make homemade ice cream. Although, I don't know what kind of Amish people Aunt Linda rounded up that used a motor instead of hand cranking it. I may have to report them to the "Better Amish Business Bureau of Cheating" for using a rigged-up Honda motor. They also accepted a ride in her mini-van instead of leaving at day break to pull the horse and buggy. I am pretty sure they will go to Amish hell now. But, they may be forgiven if God tries the ice cream. That was the creamiest, richest ice cream I have ever had.

(above) the evidence I am using for Amish blackmail

(above) expaining to the kids how it works

Aunt Linda explaining to Zach (second cousin), Tate and Sam how they used to do it at their house, growing up. She seemed to believe that since she was one of the littlest, she had to sit on top of the ice cream maker, while my mom (one of the biggest) cranked it. My mom confided to me that she actually made Linda sit on top of it to keep her from running all over the place and getting into trouble!!

Tate and Sam enjoying the yummy ice cream!

My dear sweet little brother and brother-in-law took an opportunity to toss me into the pool. (the picture below is me with Micah; notice he is counting with his fingers above my head. They were plotting this!)

As I was screaming for help from my giant husband, he said, rather weakly, "now, you guys better put my wife down..."

And they said, "OK!!" and into the deep end I went. The pic below is Micah and Matt, with Tate looking on. Tate got revenge for me by throwing ice cold water on Uncle Matt. Thanks, Tate!

No one seems to care that I had spent 45 minutes in Stage that morning trying on shorts and sun glasses while my husband and boys waited in the car so I could look nice and cute for the reunion. (sniff sniff) My brand new clothes are now officially not brand new! And do I even need to mention how many hours of velcro rollers it took for me to get my thin hair poofy enough to make an apperance in the July humidity!? That's what I get for vanity. I did manage to hurl the new sunglasses into the grass as I was soaring through the air. but.... the pool felt great!

The food was awesome. Very Oklahoma-ish. We (meaning an uncle) catered from Charlie's Chicken, a local chain, and the Rib Crib. This is Dennis and Chris (Chrissy in the back ground)

Here are some real conversations from my cousins at the reunion that might make you smile:

my first cousin: "I hate going to Wal-Mart, too. All the people exercising just get in my way."
me: "Excuse me? I had no idea people went to Wal-Mart to exercise??"
first cousin: "Oh yeah. There isn't anywhere else to go in our town. And the funny thing is that they drive around 30 minutes to get the best parking spot by the front door."

my first cousin's fiance: "Yeah, our wedding is scheduled the first day of rifle season. My dad's side of the family is pretty upset about that. They don't want to miss out." (she thinks this is pretty funny!)

me: "So, its sure nice to meet one of my great uncles. What do you do, anyway?"
great uncle...?? Bob? maybe:"Me? Oh, the lawn mostly. Yep, thats about it. I like doing the lawn."

me: "Wow. You have a blog site, too? That is great. I love to blog."
another first cousin: "Yeah, but no one in the family knows..." (This person's blog address will be kept a secret for his/her blogging protection!)

an aunt: "So, how many times did you get lost before you made it here?"

a thrid cousin, once removed: "Now, I know you are one of Carol Sue's daughters, but which one are you?" me: "The best one."

my mom's fiance: "Can you believe these roads out here! I got run off the road three times trying to make it to her house!"

a cousin: "So..... why don't any of her sisters come to family stuff?" another cousin: "Well.... no one really remembers. They are real real mad about something, though. Huh... I wonder what it was?"

I didn't get many pictures, because I was so busy talking and having a great time! If I didn't mention you, I just ran out of room!

My motto is, never miss out on a chance to get to know your family, and always
kiss and make up if you get mad. Life is too short! Our family isn't perfect,
and even though we had a great time together, there were lots of people who
didn't come. Some were working or on vacation, but some just didn't feel welcome
to come, I'm afriad. We miss them. I think God misses people who don't feel
welcome in His family either. We usually don't mean for it to turn out
that way, but family rarely goes accoring to plan. If you have rifts in your
relationships, make it right. Your kids like knowing there is a big family
backing you up. And they already know good and well your aren't perfect, so you
don't have to pretend.

The good-bye sign at the end of the gravel drive; it was great to see everyone! See you next time!

Country Livin'

Since we chose to live quite a ways out of "town," the gas prices (yawn) have made us do a few things differently, like revive the old Honda and drive it instead of the huge full-size truck - we probably should be doing that anyway. But we have not considered moving closer. We love it! This is what we see as we turn our corner on the morning commute. (Don't tell me you can't see them, I didn't even come to a complete stop, just snapped a quick pic.) The same deer are around at dusk as well. We've also had foxes, racoons, ground hogs, and all manner of wild birds in our yard. We're gettin pretty good at bird calls and learning their manners as we watch them month after month.

HOWEVER, this is what we see IN THE MORNING IN MY BEDROOM before I leave for my morning commute. Mr. Lizard decided it was too hot to sleep outside, so he crawled in under my bedroom door. We have discussed the rainy-day worm invasion (see April post of "Worm Rescue"), but I really don't have that same special spot in my heart for lizards. Luckily, Tate is a fast catch and we relocated him quickly outside. I really need to seal that door up (meaning Chris).

And here we are with neighbor friends (12 miles away neighbors but that is close enough out here). Sam and friend taking a drive in the John Deere for fun. Yes, it was fun.

Tate and his buddy showing off the muscles. They are both about to turn 7 and they feel like men. Tate is in grey. Arrrrg!!
Finally, Sam Story:

The boys and I drove to church Wednesday night (we left my heathen husband at home taking a nap) and Sam fell asleep on the long, green, hilly drive. We got there a little after dinner had already started and it was raining. I had set my hair in curlers but since we are new at this church, I didnt' think I should walk IN with the curlers. Plus Tate told me not to. So I tried to reach around and shake Sam's knee to wake him up, but he was out cold. Tate jumped out and was running for the door, so I had to get out and stand in the rain, ruining my nice, poofy hair to unbuckle Sam and carry him in. Before his eyes were open, he lifted up his little index finger and pumped his thumb, and whispered: "pshew, pshew. gotcha." Then he fell back asleep. I was shot by my sleeping warrior! I laughed so hard I forgot all about my gorgeous hair, now stuck to my face. I love boys!

Puzzles by Sam

Sam can put jigsaw puzzles together, and likes them!

Since my two children are quite different and excel in different things, I try awfully hard not to compare. But Tate could do the whole USA puzzle when he was about 23 or 24 months old, so as month after month went by and Sam still didn't show an interest in jigsaw puzzles, I admit, I have been nail biting and "doing" puzzles on the floor in front of him more often: "Look at Mommy, Sammy! Isn't Mommy having fun!? Don't puzzles look exciting! I wonder where this piece goes? Can Sammy help Mommy?! I bet he can!!" Sam casually looks over and says, "Good job Mom. Now I am very busy driving cars so you'll have to finish all by yourself." Sigh.
But today, he got out the puzzle boxes by himself, picked out a good one, and did it, alone, over and over and over. I watched from a distance, and bit my tongue to not help. Its hard for me to believe that the whole world doesn't want my help, but Sam is living proof. He did stop for a quick picture, but besides that, he was content by himself. He even became a bit territorial when Tate or I walked by too close and tried to offer encouraging words. "I CAN DO THIS BY MYSELF!! DO NOT HELP ME!"

Great job big boy!

Proud to Be FREE

In New York harbor stands a lady,
with a torch raised to the sky.
And all who see her, know she stands for
liberty for you and I.

I'm so proud to be called an American
To be named with the brave and the free
I will honor our flag and our
trust in God, and the Statue of Liberty.

On lonely Golgotha, stood a cross,
with my Lord raised to the sky.
And all who kneel there live forever,
as all the saved can testify.

I'm so glad to be called a Christ follower,
to be named with the ransomed and whole.
As the statue liberates the citizen,
so the cross liberates the soul.

Oh, the cross is my Statue of Liberty,
it was there that my soul was set free;
Unashamed I'll proclaim that a rugged cross
is my Statue of Liberty.

-by Neil Enloe

taken from http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm

Summer musings by Katie

Lazy summer musings...

(This is long!) I am only teaching one class for the college this summer, and barely doing that. Tate and I are working hard to finish second grade before mid-August. I can take him to work with me in the fall, but since I tutor at a 3-5 grade center, well, you see the problem. He needs to be able to "do" the third grade work. I don't think he'll actually do much, but I do need him to be able to go to the third grade class at least a half day a week. So we press on to be sure his reading and math skills are ready. But that sounds so different than what is actually going on around here. Lots of fun field trips and playing at home!

Here is Tate "studying":

And here is Sam doing "PE" at a Wing family thing. He was fearless on this thing! I was very proud. I tried to show off and nearly threw my back out. Wasn't I just in gymnastics the other day??
With cousins at the same party: Makayla, Mike, Sam and you can't see Lacey but she is riding too. They also had a huge slide into the lake, a trampoline in the middle, a zip line which Miranda and I managed to break, and a canoe which Tate enjoyed.
Here we are finishing up our unit on Medieval Times at the Renaissance Fair. We took tons of pictures, but lets just say it was VERY AUTHENTIC. The period dress, the drinking, etc. I am thanking God I was born in 1975 and not 1475. My breasts would never have supported the dresses. My innocent children have seen their first and last Renaissance Fair, since most of the boobs were at eye level to my six year old. But I am still glad we went. Jousting, drama, shooting bows and arrows, pirates, meeting Henry VIII, all the things we've studied the last few months. Chris didn't go, and I am glad. Miranda and Matt did go, and I am glad it was Miranda with me. She could appreciate the big boob shock with me!
Sam in the sword fight. He thinks he won, good enough for us!
Tate in about the only picture without boobs everywhere. And not mine.

Back home.... My little home is becoming what I have always hoped it would: A little "school" with happy chatter, lots of games, lots of playing, and lots and lots and lots of books, reading, puzzles, discussions, and growing. I read "I am living my dream of being a wife and mother" in Sarah's newsletter last year, and it made me stop and think. I never had a dream of being a stay-at-home wife and mom, but I did always hope I'd have a dead-sexy tall husband, and homeschool lots of children! I just never worked out all the details. I'm glad I didn't try to. I DID dream of so many kids that they'd be underfoot everyway you looked! I dreamed of long nights by the fire, reading stories and then talking about them, debating current events and discussing Biblical history around the breakfast table. Yesterday, I looked around at our living room - where we do a whole lot of living! - and I realized, God has given me the desires of my heart. I have Chris, Tate and Sam (no more, but not for lack of trying!), but they are always underfoot! (har har!!) They are more than I could wish for....although a little girl wouldn't kill us!

Tate reading Morris the Moose.

I am growing, too. I find myself learning to relax on outwards and work a little harder on inners. (Is that a word?) Being a parent and seeing yourself so perfectly (err... something...) reflected every day will do that to you. I love the saying I read in some home school book:

"You can teach your children everything you know, and they will still become who you are."

Yikes! Chris and I remind each other of that often. Especially when our perfect children are fighting, throwing temper tantrums, or complaining. All we can think is, "Wow. I didn't realize that is what I act like!" Thats the thing with homeschooling and not having TV.... there is no one else to blame character flaws on! As I watch our boys grow, I also have come to a much deeper place in my faith. I certainly don't have all the answers, but time and time again, I see that God does. (even the answers I don't agree with... yet) Just when I think I may "deserve a break" for all my years of hard and intense Bible study, I find myself back to a place where I long to know God more and more. Where I .... must... have Him be a bigger presence in this family. The Bible stories I memorized sermon notes to and translated in college sound so different when four big blue eyes are opened, jaws are dropped, and they beg to hear more. ......
"Did David's army kill the bad guys? ....Did God get mad at Pharoah for killing the babies!? I want to tell God to get them!! ...Samuel did WHAT!!??? He stabbed the evil king? YEAH!!!" Notice the war theme in all the stories!?? They are boys!

The other morning over oatmeal, Tate was jumping up and down and slobbering as I told him about the two guys on the road to Emmaus. I taught that passage once for a large crowd in California (I use the word "teach" here for my southern Baptist readers). Needless to say, I have it down pretty good. But I can't tell you the difference I felt as I watched Tate's face when I did my best dramatic voice..... "he took the bread, like a piece of wonder bread... then he prayed over it, then he tore it into pieces.... and he reached his hand across the table and handed it to them..... (imagine jumping and squealing!!) ...... then..... POOF! He disappeared the instant they realized it was..... JESUS!!!" Tate screamed: "Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!! I knew it was Jesus! I knew it would be him!! He is alive but they didn't know it!! They know it now!! What did they do? Tell me Mom, what did they do!?" So I asked him as he bounced around his chair, "What would you do?" "Tell everybody! Ahhhh!!" And so it goes. If that story seems fuzzy to you and you want to look it up like my CA friends did, write me and I'll point you in the right direction. Its there.

I have been studying Daniel again, too. My brother is trying to straighten out world history with Biblical history, which is, hands down, my most favorite thing in the whole world to do. I imagine that is what heaven will be like. Endless Bible studies taught by whoever is the star. We can even have class discussion. I'll be the best student, raising my hand, "Paul, could you please descibe the bright light in more detail?" So, back to earth, I am reviewing lots to help Micah with quick lessons. I can't get over Daniel, can you? Germaine is doing it too in China, which is fun. I love the internet. I do wish sometimes though that we could email God real quick. Its so easy to feel connected with people around the world, I just thought He could set up a quick service. Like on Bruce Almighty. har har

Well now for the struggles. Two of them. One, Materialism. I thought, I mean would've bet on, I didn't suffer from this one. Growing up, college, CA, overseas, I didn't give it much notice. But now I see it was there, just covered up a bit. Yuck. Just because you don't deal with something, well that usually means God knows you couldn't handle it! Not, as I supposed, that I was so mature and spiritual! God protected me that whole time because He knew how I really face the temptations any younger. I didn't do so hot even lately. I knew moving home to the Materialism Capital of the History of the Human Race would present challenges, but I didn't realize how quickly I would get knocked down. Now I am fighting back, but struggling.

The thing is, when you are so caught up in stuff, no matter how harmless stuff is, it keeps you less focused on what really matters. I know you know this, I am just saying it anyway.

The other struggle, I really want more kids. I find myself happy but... can I use the word.... coveting, maybe a little??.... the families I know enjoying pregnancies again and twins, etc.... I have heard with my own ears from two different parents with more little blessings in their homes recently: "I go to work to be away from her for a while." And "Trust me, you DON'T want more kids." These were off-the-cuff comments, and I know they probably didn't even mean what they said. BUT. I think you are blessed, and so does God! If you find yourself tempted to pray for me about my "struggles," let's instead keep our perspectives and pray for our world. There are so many right now, as I sit with my healthy, happy family hooked up to my high speed internet with my SUV in my attached garage with an automatic door opener shoving chips into my mouth, who don't have enough to eat, a place to sleep, or worse, the knowledge that they are loved and created by a God who is CRAZY about them. Here is my favorite quote, then I'm going to go read to Tate and let him read to me, while we snuggle with Sammy and listen to the rain....

"This is the true joy of life: the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clot of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy."

George Bernard Shaw

Blessing from a little clot seeking to become a mighty, unstoppable force of change in our world!

Tate's Birthday Party

Happy Birthday Tate! We love you!
Tate is celebrating his 7th birthday at Grandma's backyard pool with lots of good friends.

These are all friends from the best preschool in the world. Even though everyone is too big for preschool, these are still Tate's buddies. One little girl who has been Tate's friend the longest (I went to OBU and Golden Gate with her mom and Chris and I just love their family) is moving, right after the party, out of state. Hence, we moved the party up -- over three months! --at Tate's request so she could come. We will miss them!

Enjoying homemade snow cones by fabulous Uncle Matt. His gift was coming to the party and making snow cones for all the kids (over 15) and parents. He was a big hit!

Another Kendalynne creation: Tate's favorite things -- Snoopy and a WWII tank. This is Snoopy with the Allied forces invading Germany. The most popular part was the cookie wheels. Sam (3) and Mike (5) The cousins left the lake after five days in time to swing by our party. Sam was so happy to see Mike, his "bestest buddy in the world" as he is known.


Thanks for coming!

Camping Out in the Backyard with Dad

We borrowed a tent from Uncle Scott and the boys have been delirious with excitement waiting for tonight... the campout with Dad! (in the backyard)
Sam and Tate worked together to drive in the stakes. They all put up the tent as a team and tucked in all the "pets" right away (Penny and Sneakers were tired). They left the top fly off the tent and plan to look at stars all night.
Then they made the campfire and got everything ready for marshmallows, chocolate, whatever Dad will let them burn! Later they have frog hunting planned. They are looking for a certain type of tree frog for the new terrarium. (And sadly, its boys only! I have the whole house to myself! Yippie!) I plan to.... grab a book, paint my nails, catch up on sleep, and sneak out later to take pictures of the cutest little boys in Oklahoma NOT sleeping (but I bet Dad passes out!). I love this time of year!