N - Easter

It was a cool but sunny Easter Sunday in Oklahoma.  Here is a picture of Joel smiling at his goofy daddy and then not so happy in the family portrait.

M - A week at Grandma and Grandpa's

Every year my sisters and their kids have gone to my parents' house over spring and fall break. Because I've always been a working woman, I have never had the opportunity to go before this year. Grandma Mary and my cousin Jana Kay got to join us for the week too. Here are a "few" pictures.

Joel traveling in style - watching Baby Mozart.

This is how we woke Katie up in the car - a sucker and a BIG Dr. Pepper.

We had a picnic at the church playground, then an Easter egg hunt.

Michaela milking a cow at the Houston Children's Museum - this place was crazy crowded.

Joel enjoyed the museum from his stroller. Doesn't he look happy?

Katie driving a car at the museum.

Joel and Nick's first time swimming. (No comments necessary about the mommies.)

Just because they're so stinking cute!

N - OFRT Rookie

This weekend I went on a motorcycle trip with my brother Joel. He is a founding member of the OFRT, or Old Fart Racing Team. We went to White Rock, Arkansas which is near the "town" of St. Paul. If you're still lost it is in Madison County. OK fine, it is SE of Fayetteville and NE of Fort Smith, that's the best I can do! I made the comment this morning that we saw why Arkansas got it's reputation. Someone asked if I meant as the Natural State or home of Billy Joe Bob Jim. I said both. It is pretty but I can't imagine how people live in some of the places we saw. In that part of Arkansas there are county roads that are nothing more than one lane of (mostly) dirt with the occasional creek crossing. They wind up, down and through the mountains. Stinks if you are a school bus driver but pretty fun if you're some Oklahoma variety hillbillies looking for a place to ride a converted dirt bike.

I haven't spent much time on a motorcycle since my days pretending to be Bo Duke on our Yamaha YZ80 out behind my parent's house so I was a little nervous. I didn't do too bad though; one minor spill that mostly just hurt my pride although I did have to pluck grass out of my helmet like Brett Favre on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. We road about 110 miles over the course of 6 hours. All in all, I had a really good time. I might do it again (if Mary lets me).

This is the cabin we stayed in. The outhouse is barely visible in the far left.


We came across this cemetery way up in the mountains. They had a small covering for the service with a pulpit and pews. They also had several rows of picnic tables, presumably for the family meal afterwards. Many of the headstones were simply a stone with no writing on them.


This gives you an idea what the roads look like. Not much to it.


If you ever find yourself in Oark, Arkansas I highly recommend the Oark Cafe, very good cheeseburgers. I found that most small towns in this part of Arkansas offer something similar. They are truly a one stop shop. You can get gas, buy groceries, eat a meal, shop for garage sale bargains, play the slots, and buy used lawnmower parts (you know, in case you broke down on the way to the store).


Here's the OFRT and me taking a break.


Ya'll come back now, ya hear.

N - Who put me here and why'd they do it

In the past few days Joel has become much more active while laying on his back. He will work himself all the way around 360 degrees. He has also learned to roll over from his back side to his front. The only problem with that is he pretty much hates it once he gets there. Reminds me of my trip to Vegas but that's another story. Here's some video of his latest feat:



Mary recently discovered the wonders of children's consignment sales. I shouldn't say discovered; let's say had a good excuse to purchase for the first time. She came home with several really good finds. One of them was a Johnny Jumper. Here are a couple of pictures of Joel enjoying it last night after D Groups.

N - What's Been Going On

Sorry for not posting anything in a couple of weeks. Two weekends ago Mary, Joel and I drove to McAlester to visit Grandma Mary. We spent some time looking through old photographs. The picture below shows all but 1 of the cousins (Jana Kay would come along a year or so later). Mary is the youngest in the picture. This is the first baby picture we've seen of Mary since Joel was born. I can see the family resemblence, can't you?


Among the old photos were several Vmail letters that Grandpa Emmitt had mailed home during WWII. Every single piece of correspondence was read before being sent so that details regarding their location and activities could be scratched out. At the time Grandma didn't even know if he was in Europe or the Pacific although she suspected Europe since he sailed out of New York. It was certainly different from the entitled media culture we have today.