Blake's 22nd Birthday!!

My oldest baby turned 22 years old today. This morning I was semi sad at the thought of him getting older. In a good way of course! I called and wished him a Happy Birthday and then asked him how is it your getting older and I am getting younger? he just laughed at the inside joke. Of course my nephew will tell you I'm only 39 years old.. love that Hunter Joe! Now the truth is I do like being 46 years old. But I don't feel old most of the time. I am so proud of Blake! He is legally blind and yet if you didn't know it you wouldn't be able to tell. He will never be able to drive a vehicle legally EVER. Although he races his race car without much problems. He also owns several nice trucks along with boy toys such as 4wheelers, Rzrs by Polaris and such. He is a derrick man on a oilrig and does a great job. Blake has never let his eyesight stop him from living. For his birthday he wanted Under-Armour thermal pants and Under-Armour hoodie. I asked him how much the leggings was and he said about $80.00. Yikes! I already knew how much the hoodies were because I've bought many of them thru the years for the boys. I told Blake I would get him one or the other but not both items as it was close to Christmas. I swear this boy always gets the short end of the stick when it comes to his birthday. I went to the Oklahoma City Outlet Mall and went into the Under-Armour store and found a hoodie on sale for 20.00!! Bought his leggings for $35.00! The leggings were on sale 40% off! I so scored on his gifts!! I was extremely pleased with his gifts!

Blake at Galveston Texas I love this son of mine with all my heart! Happy Birthday William Blake!!!

Sam Noble Museum Trip

I went on a trip with the First Baptist Church Marlow Oklahoma to Norman. They were going to the Sam Noble Museum. I am so ashamed to say this but I have never been there before so this was a treat. My Aunt Sandra invited me to tag along with the SALT group from her church. I have been to Washington DC to several of the Smithsonian Museum's.. saying this I will say I greatly enjoyed this museum as much. We had a guided tour which lasted a hour. The guide was very knowledgeable. I do believe she was in her late 70's. I am a hands on person so the Discovery Room was perfect for me! I liked touching the fossils and rocks and such...till I thought about ALL the other people who touched the object as well. Then I got creeped out so I stopped touching stuff and went and washed my hands really good. Nope didn't even touch the furs from the animals..like most of the others.

This is my Aunt Sandra going into the Native Art section of the Museum.

When we finished at the Museum we went and ate at Rudy's. Another first for me and let me tell you this BBQ was the bomb! Of course I am going back really soon I hope!! Our day was perfect and I am so glad I went with this great group!

Baron's Hockey Game

My brother Stacy called and he had free tickets to the Baron's hockey game. He had won 4 tickets from a radio station. Kaylee his daughter, Stacy and I went. The game was Friday night. I can't tell you when I had such a good time. I screamed and whooped it up like everyone else! Friday nights is $1.00 hot dogs and $2.00 draft beer night. The parking under the Cox Convention Center was $8.00. A very inexpensive but fun night! The tickets were regular $25.00! I had never ever been to a hockey game. One of my friends Tracy Bratcher used to go with her mother in law to the games. I now understand the pull of the game. the energy and lights and camera's along with everyone having a great time. Made it a magical night for me!

I can't wait to go back and enjoy another Baron's hockey games. I had a great time and it was nice getting out of the house on a Friday night for a change. Just in case your wondering I asked my boys if they wanted to go and they didn't. They wanted to go to the Bray Doyle football game. I even begged Trevor to go with me but he flat refused. He would have enjoyed the game as much as I did!

Brook's Wedding

I love this rain we are getting. I know it won't last all day but was glad to wake up to it this morning. Over the weekend I went to a wedding at a OLD Western town out East of Marlow Ok. It belongs to Orville and Judy Robinson. They have done so much work to it and it is a awesome place for weddings or even family reunions. This is Brook Sims and she is a doll! Along with her beautiful bridesmaids and flower girl. Sarah Ellsworth is first on left. I just love her to death!!

This is Brook and her dad David getting out of the wagon! How fun is that I ask you?

I went with Kim one of my long time friends. In fact I am considered part of the extended family. I am so appreciative that I was invited to this wedding!

Refletions.

Am so wishing I was here instead of Marlow Oklahoma! I am thinking I could so live next to the water! It's so very calming and peaceful even when it's about to storm. I never thought of me being a water person but maybe I am deep down inside my soul.

I am amazed at how close these birds were to me. It was almost as if I could reach out and touch them. To bad I didn't bring along some food for them to enjoy while I watched them. Do you ever look back on your life and wonder how you got to the place your at? I try not to but lately I am trying to embrace my past so I can go forward. I am trying to reach out to old friends and bond with them once again. My cousin Brenda and I grew up together. It was as if we each had two mothers. Anyone with a close knit family knows what I am talking about. They both treated us as if we belonged to them. My mom was the oldest out of 6 siblings and so she was the one in charge. Until her death believe me she took that role very seriously. On Friday my cousin Brenda called me and asked if I would stop by her house. Of course I will as I had a totally free day. Let me tell you we got to talking and it was wonderful to catch up with her. In fact after several hours she finally had to run me off so she could get some housework finished. I have been stopping by my dear friend Kim's house every great know and then and have reconnected with her. We are and will always be best friends. I love her family as if they were mine. My brother Stacy and I have always been close. I do feel like since mom passed we have clung together more so. He is such a good role model for his children as well as me. I find him teaching me new things all the time. Most importantly how to be a better me as well as a better partner for Mr.C. I still can't believe Stacy has chickens, goats and such! Oh my!! He has a cool blog. So my question to you is why do we get so caught up in our own worlds that we tend to forget about the friends and family that have always been there for you. For 9 years I have wanted a new friend in Rush Springs that I could hang out with and do things with. When in fact I have Lisa and her mom Sharon right there in Rush Springs. In fact Sharon and Lisa was the first people I called when my mom passed away. Lisa left her job and drove about a hour to be with me. Sharon drove out to mom's house where mom was and stayed with us. Guess what I am saying is that I really need to reconnect and treasure the people who know me and love me for who I am. With out these people in my life who knows where I would be today.

Here I was looking at the end of the boat as we enjoyed being on the water at Kemah Texas.

foodie Pen Pal October

I love foodie pen pal! I was teamed up with Amy R. We sent a few emails back and forth. We both have a sweet tooth. She hit it spot on with what she sent me. I love sunflowers and I opened them right up as I was looking at my other items Amy also sent me brownie bars from Clif and some mint chocolate cookies. I love mint in everything always have and always will! I took the cookies into my bedroom as sharing them with the family just isn't going to happen! That evening I ate 2 of the cookies. I am not on any kind of diet but have been trying to watch what I eat as well as eating healthier. Amy R. Thanks again for the goodies! This month we exchanged with each other. So I sent to Amy as well. Here’s a detailed explanation of the program: -On the 5th of the month, you will receive your pen pal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your pen pal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions. -You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your pen pal! -The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination! -You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!) -Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. - Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & European residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada! ***If you’re in Europe, please contact Carol Anne from This Is Rock Salt at rocksalt@thisisrocksalt.com to get involved! check it out if this sounds like something you would like to do and follow up on!

My first homemade cake!

I decided to make my first ever homemade cake. I was like I can do this recipe and I had everything on hand to create the cake. It turned out so very good and the bonus kids loved it! I was surprised but they ate the double layer cake in less than 12 hours! SCORE!! I got this recipe from ALLrecipes.com Simple White Cake You will need: 1 cup white sugar 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1/2 cup butter 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder 2 eggs 1/2 cup milk 2 tsp vanilla extract Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, ass to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch. How super easy was this to make? Let me tell you if your scared of making a homemade cake this is the recipe to try. It's a no fail recipe!! Life is good and I often surprise my self! Now what should I make that is homemade? how about some shooters with liquor in them?? yummy!!