Family Pics by the fabulous Amber Lanning

The 1st Soccer Season Under Our Belt...

We officially wrapped up Owen's first season of soccer, and it was very entertaining to say the least! I don't think I've laughed that much in awhile. Owen's team as a whole was more interested in chasing their shadows, wrestling, shooting imaginary bad guys and rolling around in the grass than actually playing soccer, but they definitely had fun together! It will likely be Chris' last time to ever coach soccer, but I know he made some fun memories... 

We had some last minute fans come and cheer Owen on, and he loved having an audience. Thanks for everyone for coming and loving on Owen! 

Silver Dollar City

We got to celebrate two of our buddies birthdays at SDC this past weekend, and we all had a great time. It started out a little chilly, but as the day went on it was pretty perfect. Owen and Sawyer, being the same size, were able to spend the day on the smaller rides and in the kid's "tree house". Harper and Ember were able to ride a few rides too and seemed content playing wherever. Ethan was actually able to ride the bigger rides this year, and I had a blast getting to ride some roller coasters with him. (my back may say otherwise...) After riding a few smaller roller coaster, we all decided to try the Powder Keg. It's pretty legit, and Ethan couldn't decide if he loved or hated it. I think we'll have to go again to help him figure it out!

All in all it was a great day and we were thankful to celebrate with the Crawfords!

Hay Bale Sculptures

Crystal Bridges just put up several hay bale sculptures in the open field where the future Children's Museum is going to go. We decided to go check it out, and the kids had a blast climbing on everything. This is the kind of art Owen really can get into!

Catching Up...

September flew by and October seems to be doing the same. We've enjoyed the mild weather in spite of missing the pool life. The kids and I have been enjoying some trails close to our house; we feel really blessed to be so close to so many good ones!

It's these days that I am so thankful that Ethan is home more than he's not. I love seeing his friendship with his brother and sister grow. Harper loves it when he plays with her, and of course Owen loves it when he has a buddy to wrestle.

We've been grilling out a lot too and having some fun and crazy friends over to join in on the fun.

There is a fun ice cream shop down on the square that we've probably frequented too much lately too! They have tiny cones that are perfect for little hands, and Ethan LOVES the vintage cartoons that they play on the tv.

 Owen and Harper have a typical love/hate relationship, but when they're loving each other it's really sweet. They play house together, soccer and fire station together. I've started getting asked if they're twins...thankfully Owen is completely oblivious to the fact that she might be catching him in height...

 My brother got us free VIP (yeah, baby!) tickets to the Lumineers a few weeks ago, and so we made the drive to OKC to watch them play again. We had fun getting eating great food and being SO close to the band as they played. Thanks, Jon, for the hook up!

The kids are cracking me up in the car these days. We've made several late-night trips home, and they're personalities come out on the night drive. Owen will promptly announce he's tired and going to sleep. He'll be out cold in seconds flat, and nothing can wake him up. Ethan fights it a little harder but eventually gives in. Harper, however, has had too much to say lately and will not stop talking long enough to go to sleep! 

September

I'm in a little bit of shock that September is almost over. I've had a couple of people ask what we've been up to, and I am at a loss on what to say. I know we've been doing something!

Probably the bulk of our time has been spent at the pool. We have loved swimming this summer... Harper has absolutely no fear and would be in the water all day if I'd let her. She can swim pretty well, but she still makes me incredibly nervous as she still hasn't quite grasped the concept that she could drown. Owen has turned a corner this summer too, and he's enjoyed getting more and more comfortable in the water. Of course Ethan has been a fish for the last couple of years, and that hasn't changed. 

Over Labor Day weekend we had a cousin's reunion with Chris' mom's side of the family. With Nanny gone, it's been hard to see everyone. I think everyone enjoyed hanging out and eating wonderful food. 

 My wonderful middle-brother got us tickets to the Gentlemen of the Road festival in good 'ole Guthrie, Oklahoma a couple weeks ago. In true Oklahoma fashion, it was freaking hot, but we still had a blast. The first night we saw Willy Mason, Justin Townes Earle, and Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros. The following day started at noon, and one of our favorite bands, Bear's Den, opened. So we sat in 100 degree weather singing our hearts out. :) Chris and Jon held our super close seats during the blazing heat so we could be close when Mumford & Sons came on. I think they would say it was worth it... Alabama Shakes was phenomenal (she gave me chills), and Mumford & Sons of course were amazing. Guthrie did a great job hosting all 30,000 people, and we owe my parents big time for watching all 7 grandkids for two days!

 Owen started playing soccer this fall, and he has loved it. Every day he wakes up asking  if it's a "soccer day". Chris volunteered to coach the team, and it's been fun watching them do soccer together. I wouldn't say their team is good...but what they lack in talent, they make up for in enthusiasm...

 This summer Ethan has really been missing his buddy, Xander. The boys were able to spend almost an entire day together this last week, and it was so sweet hearing them play together. They seem to be able to pick right back up where they left off...a sign of a great friendship.

Harper is fulfilling her role as the baby of the family quite well. She's always looking for a laugh and thinks that saying "bottom" and "poop" are HILARIOUS. Can you tell she has older brothers? She also ran off one day yelling "See ya suckas!" Oh, my. She's become obsessed with ballerinas and wore her tutu for 2 days straight. She keeps asking to go to a ballerina class...we'll see. And we tried transitioning her to a "big girl bed" by taking down the side of her crib. After 3 not so great nights, we gave up and put the side back up. Only to have the crib side break for good. We took the crib apart yesterday, and now she's on a twin mattress on the floor. It only took her 3 hours to fall asleep last night...and an hour to fall asleep for her nap today...here's to hoping it gets better....

1st Grade

Well, the inevitable happened...school started. I'm still in denial, but maybe posting the event will make it more of a reality?!

Ethan started 1st grade on Monday of this week, and he was SO excited. He was up at 6:15 ready to go. He requested homemade cinnamon donuts for breakfast, an everything bagel with cream cheese for lunch, and cinnamon crunch cereal for his snack. The kid knows what he likes!

I was a little curious how the first day would go with his 2 best friends having moved this summer, but it was so encouraging to see him walk up and talk to kids that were new in his class. By the end of the day, he'd become buds with a new boy that shares his love of super heros. Thank you, Lord!

The highlight of his day was recess, naturally. He said Mrs Temple was "super fun" and "all smiles", so it was going to be a good year. I am so thankful for Providence and what a blessing it's been to our family. It was easy leaving Ethan there knowing that he was being loved on and taught well. And that I would get him back the next day!

Stitches

2013 is proving to be an interesting year of health for my first born. He opened the year with a broke leg. He had the usual illnesses in the spring, and this summer had a pretty bad double ear infection, a concussion, and the latest ER trip was to get stitches...

The boys were playing in their room building a fort when I heard a blood curdling scream. I ran into the room to see blood gushing out of Ethan's head. I had to keep telling myself that head wounds bleed the worst... We finally got it to stop bleeding and sent pictures to our ER nurse friends to see if they thought Ethan needed stitches. We ended up going to their house to see what they thought, and they promptly sent us to the ER. Again. Thankfully our ER nurse friend was actually working that night, so she hooked us up with the best doctor to do stitches. They numbed Ethan's head really well, turned on the tv and he did not care what they did to him after that. Four stitches later, and we were free to leave.

I asked Ethan to pose for a picture and this sad, sad face is what he gave me. I then asked for a picture of how he really felt...

...and this is what I got. He said he was pretty tough. Pretty tough indeed, buddy! Pretty tough indeed!

July

I'm in mourning over the fact that July has come and gone. I realize we still have 2 more weeks before school starts, but when July ends, it feels all over. Here are a few random pics from July...

Harper has become our newest little fish this year. I credit it a lot to the Penturf girls who she has spent a lot of time in the "little pool" with. All 3 girls love being in the water!

My sweet friends surprised me for my birthday, and I loved spending time with them! It was definitely a good way to ring in 35. (gulp)

Ethan got his first legit concussion 2 weeks ago. We have been to the ER for head injuries before, but this was the first one that we didn't hesitate taking him. We still don't know exactly what happened, but my best guess is that he was running down our hall and slipped on something. He blacked out and still doesn't remember what happened, and Chris was standing right there but with his back turned. Ethan started asking really random questions over and over again, and then he threw up. Our friend who is an ER nurse talked to the doctor that checked Ethan out, and the doc told her he had been pretty sure Ethan was going to have to stay the night. Thankfully, Ethan threw up again while at the hospital and then seemed to recover. We had to take a week off of any activities, so we watched a lot of movies and stayed inside. My kids should probably wear helmets 24/7.

With Ethan taking it easy, Owen and Harper had a lot of time to dress up...

We also told our sweet friends, the Herrons, good bye this last week. They've become dear friends, and it's not going to be the same with out them around. Montana is lucky to have them!

 We also FINALLY made a trip to Ft Smith to see our buds, the Crawfords. My kids were so excited to see their new world and play with them. It was a little surreal leaving them, though, and going back to G Ct w/o them.

And this past weekend Harper and I went to OKC while the boys went camping. The boys had a blast, but I have no pictures to document it! Harper and I enjoyed soaking up time with the STL Dodsons as well as the OKC Dodsons. Mimi sewed dresses for all the granddaughters, and they all looked adorable. Thanks, Mimi!!

Happy 4th of July!

We were able to go to OKC to celebrate the 4th with the Dodson clan, and I think it's fair to say that we had a pretty perfect holiday. The kids swam in the afternoon, built forts, made water balloons, performed a few experiments (thanks to Jack), ate some wonderful food, and ran up Mimi & Papi's big hill about 100 times. The adults were worn out watching! The weather was amazing, and it's always fun to catch up with a few Roswell Dodsons as well as the Carlozzi family that were there to celebrate too. 

We were pretty lame on our own fireworks, but the sparklers seemed to plenty of "fire" for 9 kids under the age of 7. When is finally got dark, my parents house is situated just perfectly that we were able to watch Frontier City's fireworks display as well as a nearby Country Club.

We ended our time there is a bang too...Ethan got sick the next day (of course), so we drove home earlier than expected. It was really sad leaving early, but we had to keep reminding ourselves of all the fun we packed in in the day and half we were there. Thanks Mimi and Papi for hosting a fun 4th of July celebration!

A few...

 It finally feels like we're having a summer break. June was busy and fun, but now we're loving not having to be anywhere unless we really want to! I think we have been swimming 11 out of the past 14 days...it's been glorious.

 Our buddies came to visit from Ft Smith last week, and it was so good to hang out with them. Ethan and his "blond brothers" ran and embraced when they saw each other. They swam hard, explored, argued just a little, and were very sad to say good bye. We're ready to see them again soon!

 

Owen has a nice new "war wound" on his face. Of course. He was doing "tree falls" in his bed and misjudged how close he was to his headboard. The bridge of his nose is still really swollen, his eye is turning a little black, and he has a nice cut. This kid really should be wearing a helmet. Seriously. The next day he went to try out a karate class, and I told him it just made him look really tough. He really liked the class, and what he lacked in skill he made up for in volume. I'm pretty sure people outside could hear him yell "YES SIR" and "HI YAH". 

Harper (aka: Sassy Pants) is continually cracking us up. She's still referring to herself as "Cee Cee", and I think her favorite phrase is "Me do it." She's loving going swimming and is very proud of putting her face in the water and blowing bubbles. And she's loving having Ethan out of school as they are now into building forts together. It's pretty cute.