Evelyn's Crew

UPDATE!!  Thank you all so much for your generous donations!  They have far exceeded their goal!  So exciting!  I'm so thankful we could be a part of this special opportunity and thankful to each of you for helping!

 Evelyn Joy Roush

Our family is gearing up to celebrate and honor this little lady next month at the annual Buddy Walk.  

In OKC, the Buddy Walk is hosted by the Down Syndrome Association of Central Oklahoma.  A little excerpt from their website about this event:  "The Buddy Walk® was created by the National Down Syndrome Society in 1995 to celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness Month in October and to promote acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome. The Buddy Walk has grown from 17 walks in 1995 to nearly 250 walks planned for 2012 worldwide. In 2011, more than $11.5 million was raised nationwide to benefit local programs and services, as well as the national advocacy initiatives of NDSS that benefit all individuals with Down syndrome. It is also one of the main fundraising events for the Down Syndrome Association of Central Oklahoma. The majority of the monies will stay in the central Oklahoma area to fund the various activities and programs supported by DSACO."

Sweet little Evelyn was born September 2, 2011 to my best friend Chandra Roush (and her husband Rusty)!  I still remember the morning she went in to deliver Evelyn.  We were living in a temporary apartment and she stopped by to pick something up and wanted to repaint her nails quickly so they'd look good in pictures! Ha!  We have known each other since kindergarten through church but it wasn't until seventh grade that our friendship started to blossom and by college we were best friends!  Our husbands knew each other through church growing up and Rusty met Chandra through Michael and I!  We have a friendship that will last a lifetime!  And, we'll probably be living like the Golden Girls if our husbands die first!  :-)  Chandra and Rusty's girls are like our little nieces...I love them to pieces.  Evelyn has been such a sweet little baby to add to our mix of crazy kids!  She always has a huge, bubbly smile.  My kids love her!  Piper always wants to hold her and baby talk to her and Briggs always wants to give her kisses and talk sweet to her as well!  She is a doll   Rusty and Chandra have so impressed me as parents to Evelyn.  They work so hard providing the best for her.  They meet with therapists, special doctors, and resource educators (just to name a few) to ensure Evelyn is learning and thriving at her best!  So, it only comes naturally that our family wants to be a part of this event to help support Evelyn and other kids with Down Syndrome!  So, if you want to find out more about little Evelyn or how you can help our team, Evelyn's Crew, meet their goal of $1500, please click here!

Family Pictures 2012

Our family pictures have arrived and I love them all! You cannot tell it was 100 degrees outside!  Elyse is great!  Check her out here! Here's a link to view all of them but I've posted a few of my faves for you to see on here! The password is Farmers Market.

Happy Birthday Olivia!

Olivia turned 7 on July 25th.  She invited Piper to her birthday slumber party!  This was Piper's first big time slumber party! They swam, made pizzas, swam, ate dessert, swam, had makeovers, swam in the dark, and stayed up way, way too late!  I was told Piper was the first one to go to sleep which I am estimating to be around midnight!!  She wasn't the grouch I thought she was going to be the next day!!

Olivia asked me for months to give her 'Mom makeup' so that's what I did.  And, she LOVED it.  I bought her mascara, eye liner, eye shadow, lip stick, lip gloss, brushes, powder, and blush!  Along with nail polish and a makeup bag!  She yelled, "This is the best birthday ever!"

No, this isn't the scary clown they hired for party entertainment!  It's me!  Before the party started, I let Olivia, Piper, and Dylan fix my hair and makeup!  EEEK!!!  I thought by posting it on here, blackmail won't be an issue later on!  Don't worry, I washed my face before the party began!

I'd like to just say how proud I am of Piper!  She can swim like it's no big deal.  She jumps off the diving rock, swims back and forth from shallow to deep and never has problems!  She loves the water and you would never know that that blue stuff used to be her worst nightmare!  She hated baths and pools for what seemed FOREVER!  She loves the water now and is so confident!

Paige swimming with Briggs.  He usually just stays on the ledge in the shallow end and doesn't even attempt to go in deeper!  But, he does love when an older person takes him around the pool!

Silly head!

No Words...

Blue Bell

We took a little "field trip" to the Blue Bell Creameries in Broken Arrow with Anna, Olivia, and Aunt Sheryl. It was fun to see the ice cream being made and packaged and even more fun to eat it!  Everyone even napped on the way home for us!  That's a bonus!  A little funny story:  That morning while I was fixing Piper's hair she said, "This is like going to the Chocolate Factory, but it's ice cream. (remember, we just went to the play Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.)"  Me:  "Ya, kind of.  But, you know the chocolate factory isn't real, right?" P:  "Right, right."  So, while we are in the middle of our tour Piper starts whispering to me, "When is it going to start?" Me: "When is what starting?" P: "You know!  When is it going to start?"  Me:  "Honey, it has started.  We're on the tour right now."  P: "Nooo!  When is the play going to start?"  Me: "Ohhhh!  This isn't a play..." She was a little bummed but got over it as soon as she found out she got to have ice cream!  So funny how her mind works!

Family Pics Sneak Peek!

This is a sneak peek of one of the pictures taken by Elyse Fair during our family photo shoot last week.  I cannot wait to see the rest!

Ketchup

In second grade my teacher would declare "Ketchup" days...to catch up on our work.  So, to explain my title; it's a "ketchup" post!

 We've been getting to see the Roush girls a lot lately and even more so now that we know we are moving.  Sadness!  Piper and Lilly were watching a movie together while the younger ones napped.  They were snuggle bugs!

 My sister and I took our girls to see the play "Willy Wonka" at a local park.  Anna, Olivia and Piper.  Olivia looks a little sunburned and Anna looks like a teenager!  Piper was as sweet as she could be this particular night.  She feels really special to go on special dates with Mommy!

 Briggs loves playing my sister's piano.  That's actually the piano I played when I was a kid.  Or should I say, the piano I dusted!  I hated practicing!

 We had a nice 4th of July!  We relaxed, worked, and went to a party my sister and her husband hosted at their house.  The fireworks were amazing!  You could see 6 or 7 shows going on!  Look at Briggs below!  It's a fuzzy, grainy picture but his reaction to that sparkler is priceless!  Uncle Trebor was showing him how it's done.  And, most of you know that Michael is our very own resident pyromaniac!  His favorite holiday is (drum roll please) INDEPENDENCE DAY!  Yes, he had a great time blowing stuff up!  I think some of the parents feared for their children's lives!  Ha!  Wish I had taken a picture of that!  He had so much fun!

 My very own Handy Manny!  He loves wearing these work goggles!

 And, the cheezer himself!  He loves making this face and saying, "Cheeeeeeeeese"!  Cutie Pie!

Now, we are all "Ketched Up."  It's been a fun July so far.  I cannot believe summer is almost over!  It makes me sad!  I think this has shaped up to be our most fun summer yet with kids!

On the Move...

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/4316-Nw-164th-Ter_Edmond_OK_73013_M71980-99703

Well, just call us the traveling nomads!  We are moving again!  Michael is changing jobs and has accepted a position in Dallas with Crosstex.  He starts on Monday, the 16th.  The kids and I are going to stay in Oklahoma for a bit, while the house is on the market.  It's been listed 1 1/2 weeks and we've had showings almost daily; including 3-second showings, one offer that fell through and hopefully to be hearing back about another.  I am full of nervous energy and have been quite the ball of stress!  But, my house has never been cleaner!  Yes, I'm sad to be leaving.  I do love being down the road from my sister, closer to my best friend, Michael's parents and my parents, as well as many friends.  Not to mention, we live in a great neighborhood with great families!  But, I know this is the right thing for us right now (even if I don't want it to be the right thing) and it will give us a chance to see and spend more time with Michael's side of the family!  It's a new adventure that is for sure and Michael is pretty excited about going back to his "home."

I LOVE YOU!

For the sake of recording, let it be noted that Briggs finally said "I love you." on June 27th!  It took him 20 months but he did it!  And, it melted my heart to hear, "I wa eww."  He hasn't stopped saying it either.  Yay!

How Does My Garden Grow!?!

Well, my garden has not been quite as successful as I had hoped but I'm pretty proud of myself for trying.  I planted carrots, lettuce, onions, zucchini, and one other thing in seed form, not plants and the zucchini was the only plant that sprouted.  Actually, I did have lettuce coming up but one child pulled it out too soon!  Can't remember which one but I think it was my boy who loves dirt!  So, we've been getting zucchini every other day or so.  Michael doesn't love it but I sure do!  I've let a few get too big so I shredded and froze it to make zucchini bread/cake/something later!  Next year, I know I can plant zucchini and try one other thing!

Silly Kids

 Briggs cheesing it up!  He is talking so much lately!  His favorite things to say this week are, "Eat, eat" and "Sheryl, sheryl" but it sounds more like "Shawool"

 Last week we went to the zoo with our neighbor friends Jasmine and Savannah.  They have a little sister Hayden too!  We have great neighbors!

 Me and P were having fun with our 3D glasses again.  She took my photo!

And, this week Piper, Anna, and Olivia all went to see Madagascar 3.  I wasn't too excited about it.  They seemed to like it.  We were going to go see Brave but I heard there was witches and monsters which made it scary so I thought I didn't need any more of that trouble in my house and the previews do show a girl who talks back to her mom quite a bit!  I really don't need any more of that!  I'd like to hear what other people say about it??!!

First Dental Exam for Piper!

Most of my friends have taken their kids to the dentist at age 3, but I knew that would not be happening for us until age 4!  Piper just needs a little extra time to be okay with things!  So, I waited until this summer which was perfect for her!  I got my exam over with first while she watched and then they took her to the chair in another room all by herself!  She did awesome!  She tried to bargain with the hygienist for a little bit about getting her bottom teeth polished.  She said, "No, I think I'm fine with just the top teeth."  And, "I really don't want to do that."  in a very polite way; almost sounding like, "Thanks a lot, but I'll pass this time.  Maybe next time!"  ha!  But they finally worked it out and she left smiling!  She was a charmer.  She had two hygienists and the dentist laughing a ton!  Silly girl!  Neither one of us had cavities, I'm happy to report!

Ballet Pictures