Ice Casualty

I have been destine to live in a place that has ice storms instead of snow storms. I can't tell you how sad that is! We are having an ice storm right now. It is cold enough to rain and freeze the rain into ice but just not quite cold enough to snow and make a blizzard. This morning we scraped 1/4 inch thick ice off of Matt's car before he went to work. Most of Tulsa is out of power. "Knock on wood" we still have power. But we are out our one and only beautiful shade tree in our backyard due to the ice. Check out the picture!As you can see we are so lucky it didn't hit the house. I am watching closely to make sure that the rest of the tree isn't going to fall. Although, I am not sure what I could do if it did decide to break?! It has not stopped raining. I am hoping the rain is melting the ice and not adding to it!

I am so sad that we lost part or all of our tree.

Happy Birthday!

Rachel turned two yesterday! My baby is TWO! She enjoyed everyone singing Happy Birthday to her throughout the day. By the end of the day I think she finally realized it was her birthday, and started saying "mine birthday".

Rachel is pretty much like every other two year old and says "no" to pretty much everything and is constantly testing the boundaries. She weighs 24 lbs and I am not sure what her height is. We have not taken her in for her two year check up yet. We usually do Jack, Mallory and Rachel all at once after the New Year, since they all have birthdays w/in a month of each other! I can't keep a diaper on the girl. She is ready to potty train, but I'm not ready...lol. She sits on the low-let, as she calls it, alot but has yet to actually do anything while on it. If she wants it it is hers. If she gives you something and changes her mind later, it is hers. If she can take it away from you, it is hers. If she had it a little while ago, it is hers. If it is hers, it will never belong to anyone else, no matter what. If we are building something together, all the pieces are hers. If it loos like hers, it is hers! MINE!!! She loves to hop. She hops around the house from one thing to the next. We have been having bedtime battles lately. She does not want to go to bed and cries anywhere from 5minutes to 20 minutes, depending on how tired she is. She is talking much more. And her words are becoming clearer and much easier to understand. All in all, she is growing up and getting big! I can't believe I don't have any more babies. We love her so much!

Hilarious!!

I sent this to some of you. Click on links below for a good laugh!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1244299069 --Boys
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1243219258 --Girls

Thanks Mom!

My mom has gotten into quilting. Besides making me an awesome throw blanket she quilted this Christmas table runner for us. I got it in the mail yesterday and decided to spruce it up with some greens and candle holders. I think it makes a nice Christmas centerpiece. Too bad the table wasn't exactly clean?!

Very Proud

Dalton told us, about two weeks ago, that there is a boy at school that bullies him on the playground. We have been talking with him about how to handle the situation and checking in with him to see if things are getting better.

Yesterday we got in the car after I picked him up from school and he started to tell me about what happened at school, and I got a wonderful surprise.

Mimi, you know that boy Wesley that is mean to me on the playground? He only has one friend in third grade. We play these math games in class and we get to choose a partner. Wesley is always the last one to be chosen. So, today I got to pick my partner first and I chose Wesley, because he is always chosen last When I chose him everybody is class said "Oh man, Dalton, why did you pick him?" " Why didn't you pick me?" But I didn't want Wesley to feel bad because he is always chosen last.

After hearing this I teared up with joy and pride. I could not praise Dalton enough for what a thoughtful, Christ-like, bold decision that was. I was/am so proud and asked him if he was proud of himself. We talked about how it feels good to do those kinds of things, even when its hard.

What a thoughtful young man that he would recognize that and want to do that for someone in his class. But absolutely AMAZING that he did it for his "enemy" and turned the other cheek.