Wanda's Awesomeness

Sorry.  Not as fun.  But anywho, it's about time I updated.  I don't think I'll ever keep up.  Well, since my last post, I was told I had Celiac disease, Micah had a birthday and party, I was told I did not have Celiac disease, we were blessed in a big way, we had an awesome Thanksgiving...what else?  That's the major stuff.  Tate is getting so big, and talking so much now.  He makes noises animals make, tries to poke everyone's eye out, runs around like a drunkard...  This will probably contain a lot of random thoughts.  I've been trying to read the bible daily, and I've been moderately successful.  My praying habits, on the other hand, leave a lot to be desired.  I still long for that one guy to come back to God, but yet I don't pray for that daily.  What's wrong with me?  I would love to work part time, but haven't seen openings.  Our house is still on the market, and ONE prospective buyer has looked at it in the nearly 4 months it's been for sale.  One.  *sigh*  Will it ever happen?  Jake is considering going back to school.  I would love it if he could find a different career.  He likes what he does, but is not happy.  I'm just at such a fitful place in my life.  I really want (spiritual) guidance, but can't seem to get motivated to get my butt up and out the door to a bible study or anything. 
Ok, next post won't be so depressing.  :)  Hey, on a lighter note, some friends who have been trying for like, a year and a half, to have a baby are finally gonna have a baby!  Yay!

I don't have a whole lot to write about...let's see...I had the joy of getting a colonoscopy the day after my birthday.  That was fun.  But other than that, my birthday was actually great.  We celebrated for like a week and a half.  Jake and I went to a play, which was fun.  We ate at TeKei's so I could have SUSHI!!!  Yum.  Then the play, then dessert at Cosmo's.  While we were there, a guy and his wife and baby were sitting by us.  The baby was totally flirting with Jake, so we had a good little chat about how wonderful babies are.  As it turns out, the guy owns a bar downtown and invited us there for a round on him.  We decided 'why not?' and took him up on it.  Very fun.  Then Jake saw 2 people he knew.  Crazy!  Anyway, we still only stayed out till 11, but we got to sleep in since we were kid-free for the night!  Yes!!!!  Then my parents took me to the fair and we saw Third Day.  Forgot how much I love love love them.  Great show.  Then the following weekend, Jake's parents came up and took us all to the fair!  Good times and the kiddos loved it!  Then last night, my mom and dad had us and Brent, Patty, and kids over for dinner for my birthday!  Fun.  Except for Tate puking.  Poor kid.
Ya know, I love my job, and I love my coworkers.  Well, mostly.  But I am just getting so fitful and anxious to work part time.  It just doesn't seem to be working out for me though...there aren't ever any job ops, Creek Nation only wants full time, and our house won't sell.  The house definitely has to sell first.  It's been on the market a couple months now and no one's even looked at it.  Very discouraging.  But I'm hoping that it will sell before next August.  That seems like plenty of time, right?  *Sigh*  So anyway, can't do a dang thing till the house sells.  In the meantime, I feel like I'm pining away.  So many moms stay home on much less than we make, but in order to make any kind of change, WE HAVE TO SELL OUR HOUSE.  Not that I want to stay home, but even if I did, I can't.  Maybe, someday...I'm waiting...trying to wait on the Lord...it's really hard...God teach me patience...now...
I can't think of any other exciting news...other than Micah's party coming up.  Should be fun!!! 

Xander's party:  Oops I guess I don't have any from his party, but this was 2 days after his birthday and it was so fun.  We took the kiddos to the Kiddie Park at Bartlesville.  So much fun--even the boys could ride some stuff!!

Cheese!!!

Waiting patiently

I'm cruisin!

Me too, but not real sure about it.

Yes!!  A Dora boat!!!!!!!

Flying a plane

The Merry Go Round to top off the evening

 Ok, so I'm liking how I can upload multiple pics at once now...thanks blogger!!  Next up:  Ponca City!
We went to the Rodeo Parade and Children's Rodeo with Brent and Marybeth McCoy and their 3 adorable 15 month olds.  So fun!!!!

pretty hat

Ridin in style!

Look!

fascinating

We're actually in the background of this pic...I think Micah took it??

Horses AND dogs?  Oh, the excitement!

They both cracked up the whole time!

pirates!

Micah's learning to rope.

As you may have guessed, she's not a natural.  :)

Hangin with Caitlin and Bella

Four 1year olds + stairs=no bueno.  Or muy bueno.

Chaos

Crawford's curls

Playing beautiful music

She drew a crowd

We had so much fun with the McCoys!!!  Can't wait to do it again!
 Let's see...in August we also went to the Hotter N Hell Hundred in Wichita Falls.  Brent, Patty and kids came too!  We all stayed with Jimmy and Mindy and had a blast!  We also visited Gramma and Paula and Barb and some cousins, briefly. 
Kameron had a birthday on the 19th of September.  Can't believe she's already 3!  That means that Micah's almost 4...no!  Slow down!!!!
We still have not sold the car...maybe we won't need to???  God has been awfully good to us... now if we could just get our house sold!!  *Sigh*
Until next time...
PEACE!

August?  Let's see...that was just last month.  I can't think of anything other than Xander's birthday.  He turned 1 on the 4th, 9 days after Tate.  Oh yeah, we went to Ponca City to visit Marybeth, Brent, and their 3 kids who are 2 months older than Tate.  It was baby central over there.  This is a sucky post, and I'll tell you why.  No pics.  I'll post more later. 
I do want to give credit to God, though, for coming through for us a couple of times in a major way.  Jake hasn't been working as many hours as usual, so we've had to tighten our belts a little.  I considered a second job, but Jake said nah, if anyone gets one, he will.  Well, I've searched the whole house numerous times to see if there is anything we can sell on Craigslist and we even decided to sell our car and become a one car family for awhile.   Then last week I found a paycheck of Jake's that he never deposited.  Thank you Jesus!!!  And then I got an opportunity to clean a house after their remodel for excellent pay.  Thanks again Jesus!!!  God is taking care of us even though my relationship with Him is struggling and Jake's faith has been in question for a good while.  I'm so glad that my God is faithful even when we are not.  He really gave my faith a boost in the last week.
On a different note, the kids have been at their new daycare for over a month now and we LOVE it!!!  It's even less expensive since they give a couple of discounts for different things.  It would still be worth more money, though, and I'm so glad our kiddos are going there.  Another praise!
Work has been difficult.  Only because I thought I had over a week's worth of PTO, and come to find out I was nearly a week in the hole.  Somehow, during my maternity leave A YEAR AGO, I got paid twice for the same pay period and didn't realize.  So I've just been going along for a YEAR, thinking I had all this PTO, and I didn't.  They finally realized down in personnel, so now I cannot take any leave unless absolutely necessary.  Argghhhh!!!  Oh well.  And sometimes I feel like my dream of working part time is just never gonna happen.  But I'm praying and working toward that goal, and so is Jake.
The kids are great, as usual.  Tate is such a cutie pie and I just love that he is such a cuddler.  Micah is growing up so fast I can't stand it.   She says funny things all the time and she can just charm your socks right off.  Sorry, I can't help the cheesiness when it comes to the kiddos!!

Well...to Tate's birthday anyway.  Things have been going ok.  After Colorado, we celebrated my cousin Jett's 4th birthday.  He's only 4 months older than Micah and the 3 of them (Micah, Kameron, and Jett)  have lots of fun together.  This is from his party, on June 26.  It was at Incredible Pizza, so of course everyone had a blast!

Then there was the 4th of July, which we celebrated at the Lam's with lots of fun friends.  Tate didn't make it to the fireworks, but Micah did and boy did she love them!

Tate and Xander

Sparkler!

Ready for the big show!

Let's see...then we met Jimmy, Mindy, and the kids in McLoud so we could meet baby Madelynn.  She was born June 23.  She is definitely Jimmy's kid.  :)

Great Gramma Ellen and baby Maddie

Micah, Caleb, Tate, and baby Maddie

And then, of course...Tate's birthday!!  We had his party on July 31, and my Aunt Linda and Uncle Phil were there!  I haven't seen them in a long time!  They are my dad's sister and brother, and we don't see them much at all.  Aunt Linda lives in Shawnee sometimes, and OKC sometimes.  Uncle Phil lives in Arkansas.  I'm glad they came!  There wasn't drama or anything, which is a feat, in my family!  :)
Here are some highlights from Tate's big day:

The cake!  And yes, we did it ourselves if you couldn't tell!

There were a few little 'samplings' in the icing...hmmm... (Micah, Kameron, Lexi, Legend)

Legend, Linda, Lantzr, Phillip

It's gooooood.

Who needs toys when you have ribbon?

Beth and Brent

Reunited and it feels so goood!

It was sooooo hot at the park, and there was no breeze.  We are going to have to get creative next year to beat the heat! 
Ok, so now I just have August to go, and I'll be caught up!

Ok, ok, so it was 2 months ago, but here are some highlights:

Missed!  Ping pong in the Burch's basement

Train room~Children's Museum of Denver

Looks like a real firefighter!!!

Bubbles!!!!  (Oops a bit blurry)

A bunny with an acorn!

Tate in a thicket

Casa Bonita!!  Black Bart's Cave--yikes!

Enjoying nature, naturally

Fun in Boulder

Our trip was great!  But we did learn that Tate doesn't travel well, especially at night.  We thought the kiddos would sleep if we drove all night...not so much.  We finally called it quits about 3 or 4 hours outside Denver at about 4am.  We got about 3 hours sleep and felt as good as new!  It was great to see the Burch's (we even saw Jeff!) and we got together with the Haskell's too.  We had a fun time going to the Children's Museum, Casa Bonita, Boulder, and lots of parks.  We took Micah to see Shrek Forever in 3D too!  Tate got sick, but at least it wasn't his ears!  After lots of Ibuprofen, he felt much better, bless his heart!  Just a virus, according to the Children's Hospital Urgent Care doctor.  We learned from our trip down, and planned to stay at a hotel on the way home.  All in all, a fun getaway!!!  Next time we'll have to take the kiddos snowboarding!

I really really suck at this blogging thing.  Here are some pics from the garage sale.

Sums it up:

I'm not sure why her pants sagged so much, maybe cause she's a gangsta.  And then she was havin so much fun playin with her cool ball.

So anyway, that was the garage sale.  Good times.  Jake took Micah on a Daddy-daughter date that Chick-Fil-A set up, so they had a great time.
Here's some proof:

All dressed up!
We took a trip mid-June to Denver, part visit to my mom's best friend Carol, and part vacation.  Mom came along too, to see Carol.  We have a ton of pics from that too, but considering what a pain it is to post, I'll just get back to that.  I've got a lot of catching up to do!