Today the girls got to go to the movies as part of their afternoon at school! They saw Santa Claus 3. Makenzie wasn't that impressed and told the teacher it was an adult movie and she didn't like it. She told me it was a little scary. She didn't like Jack Frost being mean to Santa...

This weekend our chruch did a drama and it was the nativity story from the animals perspecitve! It was awesome! It was so funny & yet still told the story beautifully! And then I found out our preacher wrote it and the last song sung (which was incredible and sung by a girl that sounded like an angel) was written by our youth pastor! The solo's were wonderful and the whole choir did fabulous! Poppy even was the grandpa in the beginning of the story! Karsten was hollering out "That my Poppy!" and "Hi Nanny" (she was in the choir) so after we got him settled down he and the rest of us really enjoyed it!

We finally got a few lights up yesterday! Our icicles from last year got broken in the high winds we had last year, so the Grinch (Daddy!) thought we should just take a year off...Makenzie and Mommy couldn't stand it and so we now have a giant light bulb walkway up to the house & 3 tiny lighted trees in the front yard! Surprize Daddy!

After a long day, when you're so tired you can hardly see straight...this is why it's all worth it...tonight when putting Karsten down for bed, he kissed me and I said Does Mommy get more kisses? and he just smiled this sweet sleepy smile and his eyes lit up and he put his hands on the sides of my faces and said Of course Mommy! I love you Mommy! and proceeded to give me several more kisses!!!! Tooooooo precious! I love that little boy! And my precious girls too! And even my very own sweet Grinch!

Good week of therapy for Sydney, although she seemed a little tired a few times. I think all the holiday excitement has been a little much! She is so independent and stubborn! Which is good as long as we can channel it in the right direction! HA!

Yesterday I severd over 600 ice cream cones to the kids at the grade school! We had a lot of fun but man I was tired when we were done! The kids love it - the PTO does it once a month. Unfortunately, we only had 2 adults volunteer yesterday - me & my cousin! But it was all good!

Got our Christmas cards mailed yesterday, so that is nice to have that done! We are just waiting on a few more gifts in the mail and I think we are done except for any last minute pop up things! Always nice to have that done too! Now I just get to bake and bake and bake!

We started potty training Karsten a few days ago. He is doing pretty good! We are having some successes each day so I think we're on the right track! Pray for us!!!

Tooth Fairy Time!

Yesterday at lunch Nanny noticed something funny with Sydney - Daddy & Poppy checked her and said it's just food in between her tooth that is making it look like her tooth is missing...a few minutes later we realized SYDNEY LOST HER 1st TOOTH! Go figure! We didn't even know she had a loose tooth but give the girl some corn and lose a tooth! She is so proud of her missing tooth! It's so funny to watch her. I'm not sure she totally got the tooth fairy thing, but Makenzie sure did! Makenzie thinks she will lose a tooth today probably. We shall see...no loose teeth in her head at the moment!

Makenzie also participated in the Xtreme Praise kids choir performance last night and did a great job! The whole performance was wonderful! Eugene (our kid's minister) is soooooo good with the kids and we also celebrated his 7th anniversary with the church last night after the performance - so lots of fun last night!

Yesterday Makenzie and I were doing a little shopping and while we were talking about stuff - in this case we were talking about what if kids make fun of Sydney (she brought it up, not me) and she stopped in the middle of a sentance, said "wait just a minute Mommy", looked at her chest a minute and then said "Mommy, Jesus just told me that if someone calls Sydney names that I should tell them that it isn't nice to call people names and let them know that God made Sydney special. He said I should look out for Sydney because she can't do some things right now." I of course agreed - how can you argue with that?!? Several times throughout our conversation she would stop, look at her chest and then tell me what Jesus told her about the subject. And she was dead on everytime! How cute and special is that?!!

We had the Christmas parade today - it was postponed due to the Championship football game last Sat - which was rescheduled to Mon due to major ice/snow storm & which we lost 32-3 :(
The kids had a big time as we got to eat a wonderful pancake breakfast at the Lion's Club and then they watched the parade with Daddy, Nanny & Granny! Poppy & Grandpa both worked the parade & Mommy got to ride the firetruck with Santa...got to love having an "in" like that! It sure impressed the kids! Especially Makenzie! Of course, she wore her OSU Santa hat for all to admire! HA! By the way, our Cowboys won their basketball game today! They are now 11-0!!! Go Pokes!!! Anyway...after the parade, we came home and played and Makenzie got to inivte one of her best buds (Rebekah) over to play and they had the best time! It was so fun listening to those 3 girls giggling and being chased by Karsten! Steve & Grandpa put in a new phone line today! YEAH! Ever since we moved our computer desk we have been triping over a phone line that we had to run from the living room - it is so nice and they did such a great job! And fortunately for Steve, there weren't any possums under the house this time!

I am a little stressed out tonight...this is the second time in a week I've had to call poison control on Karsten! The first time, he brought in a bottle of ibuprofin that I had beside my bed (minor knee injury) and I apparently forgot to put it up the next morning, after another sleepless night in Karsten's room and I was in the kitchen cooking when Karsten walks in saying "yum" and shaking the bottle. It happens to the the one non-child proof lid bottle in the house...of course...and he tells me he ate some. When I asked how many - he showed me a handful! I ask him a few different times and ways and look for traces of color or pills. I find no evidence that he has eaten any & I did give him chewable Tylenol about an hour earlier so I'm not sure that he didn't just want more of those but you can't assume anything with this kid - so - I got to call poison control! Fortunately, everything was ok and I really don't think he did ingest any of the ibuprofin, but still...more gray hairs! Then, tonight, I am cooking and the kids are watching Frosty the Snowman but they were so quiet I decided to look in on them when I see Karsten sucking on the nozzle of a Windex bottle (Steve was helping clean the other day & apparently forgot to put up the Windex!) so after smelling his breath and finding Windex on it...here goes another call to poison control! Again, fortunately, everythings is ok, but holy cow, I am a basket case now! He is so into absolutely everything and you think you have things where he can't get them and viola' he gets into it! I've never seen anything like it! And this is coming from a mom of twins!

OK, better go, Steve is playing with the kids, but I'm just a little paranoid now...

Happy (belated!) Birthday to Steve! Steve turned 38 Friday! He flew in that afternoon and braved the horrible roads to come home for some birthday pie & presents and then got up early the next morning to drive back to OKC to go fly some more! Fortunately the roads weren't too bad the next morning! It's kind of wierd being married to an almost middle aged guy!

The snow men...we really didn't have the best snow for snow men, so they are a little small and not exactly round, but we had fun making them anyway! The little one Makenzie made all by herself and was so sad when he melted...And we totally wore Karsten out...he sure loves his State Farm Good Neighbear! Thanks Poppy!

Snow Snow Snow!!! We had a wonderful (but very cold!) ice & snowstorm last week and had a huge time playing in the snow and making snow angels and snow men! It doesn't snow very much here, much less so early in December so we did it up right!

Here are our Christmas pics, the tree, the nativity, the stockings, and the kids with their 2006 ornaments...

I don't know if you can see it in this picture, but the one of Karsten with the stocking holder is there because the little toot pulled the stocking down and the stocking holder nailed him right on the bridge of his nose! Poor baby boy! He still has a little bruise from it and will say his nose hurts! The happy baby boy picture is because he is so happy he is a boy...I'll let your imaginations take it from there! It's been interesting having a boy...And the group picture is from Thanksgiving - after Nanny & Poppy had all the grandkids for several hours while the kids moved Suz & Lefty into their new house! We had a lot of fun and it even made Steve & I want to move into a new house too! Crazy, I know!

Orr Family Farm pictures from November...they had such a great time petting animals & riding trains and picking pumpkins!

Yea! Marlow won their semifinal game and is heading to the State Champtionship game this Saturday! Very cool! Everyone around here is so excited! Unfortunately, my Cowboys lost the Bedlam game...but Steve and I did manage to make it to the game - which was incredible! It was so much fun to hang out with Steve at the game! We just don't get much "together" time anymore...so it was twice as nice!

Sunday, Makenzie made her decision to ask Jesus into her heart public by going down in front of everyone and letting Bro. Joe know. She did sooooo good and it was a very special time for us all! She told Bro. Joe she had Jesus in her heart, He was going to be there forever and she was ready to get bab-uh-tized! It was so cute! Due to crazy Christmas scheduling, she probably won't get baptized until some time in January but the whole family is looking forward to it!

We had a great Thanksgiving at the Terrell's house where we got to spend time with "little" Kristin and jack and then we went over to the Hoy's house for some Brown family time and then on to Tulsa for some more Brown family time! Karsten HATED the hotel we stayed at and was up ALL night Thursday night. We were going to spend another night there, but due to a change in plans we had to come on home Friday night and it turned out to be a great thing as when we went up to our room to get our bags, Karsten had the biggest fit I have ever heard him have! He sreamed bloody murder at the top of his lungs until we walked out of that room! The good news is he was asleep before we pulled onto the highway to head home! Mak & Syd did much better - after finally locating a roll away (they couldn't find one when I called the front desk, nor any extra pillows or blankets, but Steve went down there and she was shocked to find one in the back corner...got to love a man that can sweet talk the cranky front desk people!) anyway - they snuggled up together and never moved all night long! All 3 had a big time with their cousins and grandparents while all the parents moved stuff from Suz's old house to their new house!

Suz & Lefty's new house is really great and we can't wait to see it all put together - it actually made Steve & I want to move into a new house too! Scary, huh?

What a nice easy going week! Except that Steve was gone for most of it...oh well, can't have everything!

Nanny had a birthday and the kids helped make and decorate some special cupcakes for her! Big mess, but lots of fun! Sydney was able to start back PT and OT at OKC this week which was good! She was however not impressed with the PT at school this week and came back to her classroom crying...not sure what happened, but she recovered quickly after being back with her class and that was that...

Makenzie told me Thur morning that she didn't want to go to school as some of the kids had called her names...they called her a boy and a meanie boy...of course I blurted out my first inclinatation which was "tell them they need to get their eyes checked - you are obviously a girl" to which Mak replied "but Momma, I'll never remember all that!" And by then I realized a said that smarty comment out loud and told her that she should tell them that it isn't nice to call people names and walk away. She alternates between being too sensitive and then caring less what anyone else thinks...oh my heart, I don't want her to stay as sensitive as I was at that age!

Sydney is just happy to be riding her 2 wheel bike everywhere! (with training wheels, but still!) She is doing so many great things! Sometimes it's hard not to wonder too much about the future and what it holds for her...but you just can't focus there, you have to look at today and how far God has allowed her to come! What a gift she is - and all our children!

Karsten is such a boy! I know, I keep saying it, but you just have to or cry! HA HA He managed to take off his diaper and run around naked for a while and it was all funny until Daddy found some poop on the floor! AAGGHH!!! Little stinker! Literally!

The high school team won last night so we move forward in the playoff's - very exciting! The girl's "Outlaw Buddy" is playing so good and they love watching and listening for Drew's name! That is such a neat program! I'm not sure who we play next week, but hopefully we will win! The last championship we played in my brother was a senior and the last one we won, my dad played in! I hope we don't have to wait for Karsten to win another one! HA

Big weekend! Marlow beat Tuttle 16-14 in the first round of playoffs! Always fun to beat Tuttle! Especially twice in one season! And then we left Sat morning for OKC, dropped Daddy at the airport, picked up Uncle Ga (Greg) and then Nanny & Poppy took the kids to Tulsa and Greg & Kristen got to go to Stillwater to watch the Cowboys thump Baylor! We met Lefty (Uncle Steve) and my friend Misty (from Tulsa - who has twin girls 3 weeks older than mine) and got to see the game from one of the new suites! Very nice and a lot of fun! Great food - prime rib, Italian, BBQ & Mexican - plus, what a great view! Great day for football!

The kids in the mean time had a bit time with their cousins! Sydney & Karsten did great with the stairs - althought we had a scare Sun after church with Sydney and the stairs...Suz and I were downstairs changing kids into playclothes after church when we heard a huge crashing tumbling sound coming down the stairs. We were completely paralyzed for a second in total shock and panic - when we saw a suitcase shoot out the bottom of the stairs! Sydney had pushed her suitcase down the stairs and was at the top laughing at the sight of it! It took several seconds for my heart to start and to breathe again - I never want to experience that again - ever!

Suz's church had a neat option for Sunday School for Sydney - they have a special needs class...we were going to put her in with the cousins, but decided to try this class out. It really was nice and Sydney had a ball!

Of course, Karsten didn't sleep at all Sat night and then Sun night he was out of sorts and didn't sleep again and then last night he was up again in a predictable pattern after the last two nights...and Sydney was up at her usual 5:50am so while those two monkeys were in bed with me around 6am, Sydney starts patting Karsten's head and saying clear as day "sister, sister" and smiling so big! Karsten just smiled back at her, it was so sweet! I wonder if she thinks sister is just sibling or if she meant she was his sister? Either way it was precious!

Makenzie is still stuggling with the whole I want to be independent but still momma's little girl thing...sometimes she can act so grown up and she is such a great helper and so sweet and then she turns around and is the complete opposite and then you blink and she's back! On another note, she has completed her little book about becoming a new Christian and she is very excited about getting baptized! We are going to talk to Eugene (our Children's minister) later this week about several things and find out when she will be baptized! Very exciting! We are so proud of her!

Another week has flown by and I haven't posted anything! Imagine that?!?! Let's see...the kindegarten class (and lots of moms) took a field trip to Orr Family Farm in S. OKC last week. Lots of fun but colder than we expected so everyone's hands were purple and frozen! We learned all kinds of interesting things about pumpkins, rode a train, had a hay ride, got to go out into the pumpkin patch, pick out our own pumpkins and pet some farm animals! Big time fun!

Sunday we had a big time at church...after the morning services, we had a (fund raiser for missions) lunch - always interesting with the kids and hundreds of other people! Then we came back that night for another dinner with a church group from Duncan all while a pretty good storm was happening! We came home to a dark house and cozied up to the fire place and read to the kids for a while. It was really nice to have no tv and no distractions and just hang out together in the warmth of the fire. Of course each kid had to have their own flashlight and we were nervous as cats on a hot tin roof with Karsten and the candles! Fortunately we had no fires to put out!

Monday Steve & I painted my Soph girls Sunday school room. We didn't quite get finished, but it is so close that I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! All we have left to do is the glaze! (Of course the girls & I picked a very involved process to do!)

Wednesday I helped the PTO serve ice cream cones to most of the grade school kids! Over 600 served! We were exhausted! Then to top it off, I spilled over 3 gallons of liquid ice cream in the back of my SUV on the way home! What a mess! It also happened to be 80* that day and the next day, so you can just imagine...I think I have managed to get the majority of the ice cream out of the carpet, but we should find out this weekend if I missed any spots! Fun times!

Tonight Steve & I are going on a date! Very exciting! He flew today with his new copilot! John was my flight instructor at OSU and the guys have flown together before & both were with American until after 9/11 so it ought to be great for both of them! Tomorrow Steve is flying, the kids are going to Tulsa with Nanny & Poppy and I am going to the OSU football game with my brother and brother-in-law and then we are going on to Tulsa for the rest of the weekend! Suz's kids are in a choir program Sunday that we are planning on watching! Makenzie is so excited that she can hardly stand it! She has been drawing pictures for her cousins for days!

The girls had a great week in school, except Sydney had to come home early today as she had diarrhea...more fun times! Fortunately, she feels good, no fever - no snot, etc., so maybe she'll get over it soon. One of the teachers said this bug is running all over school (parden the pun!) So, I guess we'll take it to Tulsa and help spread it around there! We're givers! HA HA

Makenzie announced that she will be marrying Jared when they get way older...so we are on our 3rd potential husband of the school year! At least this one is her own age! (#2 is our preacher!) Sydney can now ride her 2 wheel bike with training wheels! Another huge milestone reached! And Karsten, well, Karsten is a 2 yr old boy - need I say more?!? Each one more precious than gold or whatever else you come up with! We are blessed!

more pics...

What a cute naked Cowboy! And a fun Halloween! Originally Mak wanted to be a horse, Sydney - Supergirl and Karsten - Dash from the Incredibles, however, at school they had a western theme we changed our minds and went with that. Hence, Makenzie still got to be a cowgirl with a horse, Sydney became an adorable cowgirl and Karsten got to wear the (recycled from when the girls were 2, which is why he's a girl cow...) cow costume!

The school took the Kindegarteners to Gregston's Nursing home and they all had a big time doing that...and got lots of candy...The picture of Makenzie with Walker Holland in the blue shirt (as in Corey Holland's boy for you former Marlowites) was taken at Gregston's. The kids had such a big time Trick or Treating - we visited Glenda Ousley (see pic) for her famous homemade popcorn balls, along with other must see Marlowites! And then (after dropping Karsten off at Nanny & Poppy's) we took the big girls to the church for some western fun and tons of candy! We roped steer heads, fed donkeys, dug for worms, played horseshoes, rode a bull, survived the hay maze and had more fun than a June bride in a feather bed! (Sorry - I couldn't think of another western/slang phrase for fun than that one!) We also got to see several people we haven't seen in a while so that was wonderful!

Hope you all had a root'n toot'n good time for Halloween!

I wish you could have seen Makenzie do her dance & cheers! She was the cutest & the best one out there! (Yes, I know I am prejudiced about it!) She really enjoyed the dancing but wasn't as interested in the cheering...those girls were all too cute! I was a little worried about how she would do as she spent a lot of practice sitting on the concrete or playing around with friends, but when the time came to perform, she did! The girls in the pics are Macy (Shanna Newberry Bateman's oldest girl) and Madison (Angela Martin Latimer's oldest girl) Sydney & Karsten didn't make it to the game as Sydney was still running fever - so they got to stay home & play with Nanny while Mommy & Granny took Makenzie to the game. Which we lost in a heartbreaker...

And did everyone see that our OSU Cowboys beat Nebraska Sat afternoon? Go POKES!!!

I can hardly wait until tomorrow to see the kids dressed up! The girls are so excited about it! Steve & I got the plan mapped out for tomorrow night - it ought to be a crazy evening!

Forgot to add HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANNY!!!!! And Happy Anniversay Granny & Grandpa!!!

Just when you think the day can't get any longer, here comes the night! The girls woke up at 2:00am and were wide awake, ready to get dressed and go to school! After puttingthem back in bed several times over the next hour, I finally gave up at 3am and put them in bed with me...then we spend the next hour with Sydney squirming and Makenzie saying "Mommy" "yeah" "It's 312" "Yes, I know Makenzie, close your eyes & go to sleep" "Mommy" "yeah" "it's 313" "Yes, I know Makenzie, close your eyes & go to sleep" "Mommy" "yeah" "it's 314" etc...for a WHOLE HOUR! SO, at 4am I give up and put them back in their beds...by 4:20 I am back in their room as Mak has had a nightmare. Sydney however, did take Makenzie's "nightmare away for her" by turning on the lights. (Thank you Sydney) So then we were up several more times as Sydney kept crying - why I didn't know at the time. However, I fianlly fell asleep at 5:30 and my alarm went off at 6:30 and guess what? The lights were on the in the girls room and I could hear Sydney moving around - shocker! Moved Sydney into the game room couch where she promptly threw up everywhere! Good morning sunshine! Makenzie felt fine and went on to school today. Sydney wound up throwing up 3 more times, the last time all over me! Good times!

Poor Steve is missing out on all the fun as he is having some fun of his own at Caravan school - which he passed! Congrats sweetie! However, he doesn't get to come home yet as he leaves early in the morning to go somewhere else...won't be home until Sunday...maybe everyone will have been sick and well again by the time he gets home!

At least the kids are all down for the night - we'll see how long it lasts for! SLEEP I NEED SLEEP!!!

I have forgotten what it was like to have a 2 year old! All day long I feel like all I do is get on to Karsten for one thing or another! He was crazy today and of course I'm also fighting a bad sinus infection so that makes it worse than it really is, but still! For example, at dinner he dumped his water into his spaghetti and then dumped it on the floor, followed shortly after by some orange slices! Shortly after getting in trouble for that, he does the same to Makenzie's while I'm in the kitchen washing my hands after cleaning his mess up! AGH!

Makenzie is doing pretty good at the cheer/dance camp after school thing. She's not into the cheers, but she loves the dancing! She will get to perform at half time at the game Fri night! She is pretty excited about that!

Sydney had a great therapy session in OKC today! Her & Nanny went and after therapy had dinner with Uncle Ga & did some shopping! Big day! Then later in the bathtub we had just gotten Makenzie & Karsten out and when we went to get Syd realized she had pooped in the tub! GROSS!!!! Just almost more than I could take after such a long day...so, that's it for now...I'm going to bed! No passing go, no collecting $200, just straight to bed!

Fall Break & DNow

We have had another big weekend at the Terrell house! Thursday kicked off Fall Break so we got to play all day and Mommy took Laura, one of her Sunday School girls, shopping for some clothes (she is the one whose house burned down). So fun was had by all! Then the kids got to stay at Nanny & Poppy's house Friday afternoon, Granny & Grandpa's on Sat and then back with Mommy & Daddy on Sunday afternoon as Mommy & Daddy had 4 10th grade girls and one college student at our house all weekend for DNow (Disciple Now)! We had a blast! It had a military boot camp theme and so we all got camo shirts & dog tags the first night. The band - Branch - was awesome and the illusionist was good too! Sat we had several mini bible studies at the house throughout the day and that afternoon we went out to the country for some fun - obstacle course, tug-o-war, jousting, marksmanship (paint ball guns) and grenade launching (water balloons). Tons of fun but oh soooooo cold that day out in a huge cow pasture with no windbreaks! That night we got to hear Branch and the illusionist again and then went out for a little innocent fun...silly string, tp, shaving cream - at my cousin Randy's house (he had the 11th & 12th grade boys). We teamed up with April (the girls teacher) she had 11th & 12th grade girls and we all had a ball! Except for Steve who went home to sleep since he has school this week and had to be on the sim this morning at 5:30! Great weekend and lots of changed kids!

Makenzie started cheer/pom camp this week (one hour after school for 4 days) and she will get to dance & cheer at half time of the game this Friday night! She is so excited about it but I wonder what she will think on Friday night! She can actually be a little shy from time to time! At church Sunday morning, the illusionist asked where was Jesus? Mak shouts out "in heaven!" He says yes, and where else is he? And she shouts out "in my heart!" It was so precious! Everyone loved it! Steve also got to be a part of church when the illusionist asked for a volunteer who could juggle...about 20 people shouted out "Steve!" So he got to go on the platform and juggle in front of everyone! He did great! Where are your cameras when you need them?!?

Here goes another catch up kind of post...Kids are doing great! We now have all their costumes ready to go! Plus, at school they are having Western dress up on Halloween so they are getting to dress up in 2 different costumes (as I was't aware of the western theme prior to the costume purchase). Thankfully we live in a western town and I don't have to buy anything new for anyone! Yea! Today Sydney has an appointment with her audiologist to "map" the implants. Jace is so awesome and Sydney just loves him! So Steve ought to have an easy time with that today! I am staying behind to race after Karsten all morning and then I am helping the PTO pass out the Cookie Dough (our Fall fund raiser) all afternoon! The kids also get $1 for each unit sold! I think we're giving out over $2500 to the grade school kids! They rocked on this fund raiser! I think the school will net over $15,000 so that is great for the school!

Last night Makenzie started a new book that will take about a month to complete - It's all about what to do now that she's asked Jesus into her heart! Yes, our baby asked Jesus into her heart last week! Very exciting! She can't wait for Nanny & Poppy to come home so she can tell them! She has been telling everyone and it is so great to witness! What a precious angel she is! Very cool!

Got to go, Karsten has located the syrup bottle and has apparently poured it out on the kitchen counter top while I was typing...he is lapping it up like a dog! He's such a boy! We love him so much!

Finally - a post! It's just been so busy the last week no one has had time to post anything! Here is a brief recap - Kristen got a new crown on Monday (it has Pistol Pete painted on it!), Steve left on a week long trip. Sydney did great at therapy on Tuesday, Steve's cousin Laura (from Tennesee) came down with her 2 beautiful girls (Lydia & Annette) and played all afternoon! (If I'm able to download pics, Karsten is kissing Annette). Grandma Brooks turned 97 on Wednesday and Nanny & Poppy left for Italy. Kristen had bible study on Thursday, along with 2 cakes to make, a PTO meeting, took Karsten to the Dr (sinus infection) had a sorority meeting, and decorated 16 giant cookies for the Grade School "Outlaw Buddies". Friday was the big Homecoming (we won 35-7) and the girls got to go to an all school pep rally (big fun), ride bikes all over and Granny & Grandpa left for vacation - then Sat our Cowboys lost a heartbreaker and the Sooners lost the Red River Rivalry...then we had a dress up tea party birthday party to go to that night and Daddy finally made it home! Not to mention all the regular activities in a week - grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, therapy, etc...Are you as tired as I am just reading this?!?!

So far, this week appears to be a little calmer! Whew! Monday Karsten went to a Mom's Day Out program and Steve & I did all kinds of chores in and out of the house. I had the worst time dropping him off that morning. Bawled all the way home. But it was so nice to get so much done in a few hours too and he had a ball, so it was all ok in the end. Yesterday was a therapy day - Syd did great! We also went to the airport to see "Daddy's airplane" and watch Daddy do some work (turned into a long 3 hours, but it was an experience!) Then we stopped at Zio's for some dinner. Also found out our insurance isn't paying for the latest rounds of therapy and we now owe over $2200 so that's a big shock for us. Now we have to determine how to pay for therapy until next year. How do you turn down a child that obviously needs therapy and is responding so well to therapy? It's beyond me. Anyway...Steve left this morning and is home tonight but then gone Thur - Sat so it will be another long few days at the Terrell house with no help but Mommy! Poor babies!

Makenzie rode her bike to school on Wednesday WITHOUT her training wheels! She did so good! She is still a little nervous about stopping, but she did great! We also rode our bikes to church that night and to school on Thursday and today! We are so proud of her!

School pics were yesterday! I think we got some good ones! We'll know for sure in a few weeks!

This morning, one of my Sunday School girls' house burned. It's a total loss and was not insured. She has a brother in 7th grade and her parents are separated. Please keep them in your prayers over the coming days. (Her name is Laura.)

Forgot to tell a story on Makenzie! Friday after school we were driving up Main St. when we saw our preacher, Bro. Joe, talking with some folks outside at the Dollar Store. We rolled down the window and all hollered "Hi Bro. Joe!" and then went on...Makenzie then pipes up and says "When I get older I am going to marry Brother Joe" and I said "Really?" She says "Yes, he is sooooo handsome and cute!" I told her Bro. Joe would be so glad to know that and could I call Daddy and tell him...She says "Sure, but Daddy will say NO WAY! She told me she is marrying Tristan (boy at school)! And I will just have to tell Daddy that I can change my mind and I have, I am going to marry Bro. Joe because he is so handsome and cute!"

Of course I immediately emailed both Daddy and Bro. Joe as soon as we got home and we have all had a big laugh! Our family Doc upon hearing us tell the story at church Sun night informed Joe that he would be giving Makenzie a vision screening as soon as possible! HA

Also, John E - we did NOT have possum stew the other night in case you were wondering! HA HA HA

Makenzie has mastered the art of riding a bike without training wheels! We rode our bikes to church last night and she did great! We are so proud of her! Sydney also pedaled Makenzie's old bike with training wheels so she is on her way to really riding too! Karsten just needs longer legs or he could go go go!

Both the Outlaws & my Cowboys got beat this weekend, very depressing...the Outlaws by one point and I'm not sure what happened to my 'Boys...oh well...

My Soph girls Sunday School class & I are getting ready to do some remodeling in the room! I am so excited about it and am hoping to go buy some paint & light fixtures today or tomorrow. I just love Home Depot! It makes me want to finish some projects around my house too! And maybe start a few more! HA

Thurday was a wild day at the Terrell's...around 2pm Steve decided to go under the house to move a phone line when he broke a water line...I am in the house trying to finish up a cake for a baby shower that night and Karsten was taking a nap, girls were at school. The plumbers get there and fix that little problem and realize we have another problem...there is a possum under the house! Steve said it was so funny when nanny's dog got under the house she could smell it but couldn't see it and when she finally did she bit the tail and the possum jumped and then the dog went nuts! Anyway, all the barking woke up Karsten and now it's time to go get the girls, I have icing everywhere and it was just a typical crazy moment at our house! As it turns out, the cake got made, the possum got caught and disposed of, the girls got picked up by Nanny and Karsten had a ball getting to see the possum...

Enjoy the pics of the great hunter!

Love these cooler days & evenings! You should see these kids ride their bikes everywhere! Makenzie is trying to believe that she really can ride without those training wheels while Sydney is cruising everywhere in her new AmTryke! Karsten got a new bike from Granny & Grandpa yesterday but isn't too sure about it after having a little fall on the concrete! He's a little more tentative now but is already getting over it! As for the picture of Steve...what can you say?

We have monkeys in our trees! Ok - it's just our kids, but you get the picture! Makenzie is getting to be quite good at climbing trees and Sydney finally decided to try her hand at it! She was so proud of herself for climbing the tree all by herself!
The others are just some fun pics of Sydney in Karsten's dump truck wearing GrannyBell's hat and Karsten with his new trains...

Great therapy day!

Sydney had therapy in OKC today and she did great! The Speech Therapist at school said she had a really good session there too! The Speech Therapist at OKC said she is really picking up on the PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) We are going to be using this until we figure out how far her speech is going to go...that way she doesn't get frustrated and hopefully we don't either! What is does is lets her give us a picture of what she wants - she verbalizes with it because she likes too! Plus, the words are written on the cards, so hopefully it is helping with her pre-reading skills as well. The PT said she was writing up a new progress report - for the insurance company in order for them to ok more than 20 visits in a calendar year (duh!) - and couldn't believe how far she has come in the last few months! She had reached almost every single goal and hit some of the others today at therapy! They are all so pleased with her progress - especially in the last month! We really think school is helping a lot and once she figured out the pedalling of the bike thing it has allowed other things to click for her! Very exciting!

Makenzie also had a great day at school and had a blast with Nanny after school! She hasn't kissed any boys at school lately, which is good! And she is just growing up so fast! Tonight after her bath I was telling her what beautiful eyes she has and she said I had beautiful eyes too and I said no, her eyes were much prettier than mine because she has long eyelashes that she got from her dad. She said: no mommy - I got my eyelashes from God's workshop! How cute is that!

Karsten got to have a lunch and a playdate with a boy named Josh today! Nanny said he had a big time and managed to keep up with Josh (who is almost 2 years older than he is) - he got very excited when it was time to go pick up Makenzie though! He sure loves his sisters!

We are so very blessed!

More of Karsten's birthday pics! Karsten knew just what to do with those 2 candles - he needed no prompting to blow them out! The guys enjoyed watching the football games on TV while the kids all helped Karsten open his gifts! It got a little crazy when it came to opening gifts! But it sure was a lot of fun! The kids also enjoyed swimming - probably the last swim of the season - it was pretty cold - but it didn't seem to faze them any!

My favorite Outlaws!

Some cute Outlaws before the game Friday night - Yes, Karsten's shirt says "I'm definitely up to something" and it's true!

Ty's birthday

The kids had such a good time at Ty's birthday party and Karsten has decided what he wants for his next birthday! He loved Ty's back hoe & thinks we need one at our house!