HELP!!

Okay, so we have finally finished Elijah's room, but there is one problem.  We are doing an OKC Thunder(and OU) theme.  What's the problem?  He has lost his autographed Thunder hat.  We know exactly where, and about when, it is just that I  didn't realize until now.  He lost it in the bathroom outside Section 307 in the OKC Arena during the playoffs, I'm pretty sure it was the last home game against Dallas.  So here's where you might be able to help.  Tweet this link or Facebook it.  Whatever social media you prefer.  I know it is unlikely to bring any results.  The person who found it, he did go back to get it once he realized what he had done, has probably sold it or will want a reward ford it.  But maybe, just maybe a little boy's prayer (and his mom's too) will be answered!

The hat has his name inside, I think, and has been signed by most of the players, except for: Durant, Westbrook, Robinson, Perkins, and White (who is now with the Bobcats), Rumble, and two Thunder Girls.  Morris Peterson signed it twice and Nazr Mohamed is the only one of the new players to have signed it.

So, thanks in advance!

I'm sure I'm opening myself up to a lot of spam comments, but you can reach me by posting there.

Here's the hat brand new, not sure how we didn't get KD's autograph.

You may be able to see some of the autographs in this pic.

I Lost My Pull-up and Can't Find It!

Well, what should I expect after 2 years of mostly off, off and on Crossfit? A broken wrist has not helped any either. Six months (to the day) on from falling while snowboarding and it is still pretty sore. I have been able to greatly modify my “pull-up”. I do them from a standing position, sway forward in a kipping movement, come back and jump up, letting myself down as slowly as I can, which right now is not very slow. I also do a lot of ring rows. In order to hopefully facilitate a faster gain in finding my pull-up, today I ordered some Iron Woody Bands. They are ginormous rubber bands that you can hook under your foot or bent knee that helps you to get the full motion of a pull-up, while providing the needed help in getting up. Can’t wait for them to come in! Yes, Tab, I will let you borrow one!

What a Difference a Year Makes!

Last Fourth of July was a world away from this year's.  Like the difference between Venus and the Earth.

Last year was unusual in the fact that it was a very cool and wet day, especially for that calendar date.  We are usually in the mid to upper nineties, and more times than not, we have a burn ban in effect.  Last year we went to a baseball game and it was delayed due to the rain, and eventually cancelled.  We sat there not sure if they were even going to be able to shoot of any  of the fireworks.  It was only 75 degrees at 7:30 in the evening.  What a great day!

Here is what we did last year.

This year we really didn't do much. to celebrate.  I really don't like to admit that.  It is one of my favorite holidays for more than just the parades and fireworks.  It represents freedom and the fact that it is not free.  It is as much about history as it is the future.  One thing we did do the night before was to go watch four F16 Fighting Falcons from the 138th Fighter Wing of the Oklahoma Air National Guard fly over the campus of Herbert W. Armstrong College.  This is the college Tabitha attends.  The flyover was followed by a concert inside Armstrong Auditorium by Grammy-winning fiddler Mark O’Connor’s American String Celebration.  We didn't for the concert, but the flyover, brief as those things are, was a stirring moment.  I really need to get a DSLR camera, there was no way my was going to get a good picture of that, but I did get a picture.

Due to the horrible temperatures we are experiencing right now (100+ for the past week and next week at least), I really didn't feel like doing anything.  So, I took Tabitha and a friend shopping.  I guess that would be another great thing about the 4th, sales.  We were planning on heading out in the morning to see their school's song and dance troupe in the Liberty Fest Parade, but they are getting ready for camp and had meetings at the same time as the parade.  So we hit town as the temperatures soared.  (Why did I buy a black car?  Why have I never had the windows tinted?  I digress.)  We ended up just cooking out some burgers and spending a nice evening at home.  From our rooftop we can see the shows from Frontier City, Edmond, OKC, Guthrie, and all of our neighbors.  It's good to be an American!

Why on Earth Would You Want Your Child to Read?

A friend of mind sent the following to me:

How do you expect kids to listen to their parents when Tarzan lives half naked, Cinderella comes home at midnight, Pinocchio lies all the time, Aladdin is the king of thieves, Batman drives at 200 mph, Sleeping Beauty is lazy, and Snow White lives with 7 guys. We shouldn't be surprised when kids misbehave, they get it from their story book.

Not only do they get that from their story books, but also a belief in magic, in aliens, that kids are smarter than adults and on and on.  So, do we discourage the reading of children's books?  Should they only read about historical events and figures?  Should the Bible be their only source of reading at all?  Of course not.

Let's start with the Bible, in my venerated and valuable opinion should be first and foremost in our children's lives.  Besides the most important fact that it teaches morals that they will never get in any children's book (especially more modern writings), the Bible is exciting!  A young shepherd boy defends his entire nation against a giant and then the boy later becomes the leader of that nation.  In a seven day period an entire planet is reshaped and repopulated with the most beautiful creations imaginable.  A man goes on a voyage and is swallowed by a giant sea creature only to be spit back out on land three days later, unharmed.  A God becomes a man in order to turn men into Gods.  Can you imagine any little boy not loving these kinds of stories?   Best of all, they are all true and all teach something valuable.


What about other historical figures and events?  Most major historical events seem to involve war.  Yes, there are many events that are of the utmost importance that don't.  The colonization of America, at least at first. But seriously, sitting here wracking my brain, I can't seem to think of any.  Even the land runs that made the settling of Oklahoma possible were marred by people who felt they needed to cheat and cross the lines early to stake their claims-Sooners.  (One good reason to be a Longhorn fan.) If I want my son to read about Benjamin Franklin, and not the one that was my junior high boyfriend, it has to be a highly sanitized version.  This goes for many of our founding fathers.  Also for the many kings and queens of the past.  So many were adulterers, murderers, and egomaniacs.  Almost makes you wonder why we would want them to learn about such things.

Now to children's stories.  Have you looked to buy a book for you child lately?  For boys you have sorcery, dragons, video game characters, and mythology.  For girls it's vampires, getting boyfriends, and fairy tales.  While I fume every time I try to buy my son a new book, I just have to be thankful that my daughter is grown and not reading the trash available to young girls.

Here are a few of the books that I have bought over the past couple of years:

The Mysterious Benedict Society- by Trenton Lee Stewart -a trilogy telling the story of 4, very intelligent children brought together by Mr. Benedict to help save society from the evil Mr. Curtain.  We've read all three and Elijah has read them several times.  He has a new book coming out soon that tells the story of Mr. benedict as a boy.

The Dangerous Book for Boys and The Field and Forest Handy Book.  The first one is a newer book with all the great things that boys used to learn to do before political correctness set in.  The other is copy righted in 1906.  It was written by the founder of the Boy Scouts of America (What would he think today of his organization?) and has lots of information about camping, kite building, pier building, how to pack a dog for use as a pack animal.  We are just getting into this one.  I got it at Bass Pro Shop.

Lots of condensed classics-Moby Dick, Huckleberry Finn, Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Prince and the Pauper-many more as well.

Childhood of Famous Americans series-  Just as the name implies, it tells about famous Americans as children.  Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson are two we've read.  Also, since these are about these figures as children, you don't have to explain to them that Babe Ruth as an adult was a gluttonous drunk and womanizer.

Finally we have bought several biographies from a home school book seller.  We have everyone from Alan Shepard and Ronald Reagan, to Laura Ingalls Wilder and Christopher Columbus.  There are geared towards children, so those who do need some sanitizing get it without loosing the most important facts.  This series is called Heroes of History.

Finally, finally.  He also reads a set called the Bible Stories.  They are not a dumbed down version of the Bible.  You as a parent could learn a lot from them.

So, there's my rant and my input.  I hope you find some of these books and enjoy them as my as we have.

“There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all.” - Jacqueline Kennedy

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read.” - Mark Twain

“The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who'll get me a book I ain't read.” - Abraham Lincoln

Summer Camping 2-Sipapu

Looks a little different in January
His snowboard jump
Thumper
Lift area
Up stream from the ski area
MMM
Back at the cabin-okay so this part of the trip is not technically camping
the stream that runs through the ski area

Summer Camping-Colorado

Getting there
Lake Fork Trail Head
On the Move
Rock Lake
Wild Strawberries
Rock Lake

Filtering water
Bed-Much needed after the first day!
Nothing burns like a fire!
Glassy water-Big Lake
Beaver dam beginnings
 Cutthroat or Cutbow-we weren't sure, so we threw it back
Building his own fire pit
My first (and only) trout!
Sweet potatoes
Doesn't get any fresher, unless you go Bear Grylls style!

Still snow-capped

What a Day

Yesterday was a different day altogether.  I awoke in the morning to hear the rain falling.  My first thought was "Yes!".  The next thought was "Oh, no!"  Two big events were happening that day.  One, by the time I had rolled out of bed, had started.  The Memorial Marathon in OKC.  Now, I didn't worry for myself, (it seems I may never make it to another one) but for the thousands of runners, 6 in particular.  I could hear occasional thunder and just hoped that it was closer to our house than it was to them.  The second was a wedding that was to take place that evening.  An outdoor wedding no less.  There was still plenty of time for it to dry out before the ceremony, but it was supposed to stay cool.  Downright cold for May 1st.  I'm not sure how either turned out, but I made sure to pray for all of them.

Later that morning we headed to downtown OKC for the first of the second round games of the NBA playoffs.  (It was still raining and there was still lightning and the marathon was still on.  We passed several runners who were finished already.  Cold, wet, yet mostly smiling.  These were surely ones who had participated in the 5k walk or the first leg of the relay, but they had participated and remembered why this marathon is run.)  Anyway, as we were walking to the arena in our emergency ponchos, I just had to think about my friends running and hoped they were still at it.  Unlike teh three previous home games, it was dead outside of the arena.  There had been only a very smallblock party planned because  it lies on teh marathon route.  Since it was raining, even that was cancelled.  It just seemed to kill some of teh normal spark, the game stunk by-the-way.  I think players from a parallel universe showed up for the Thunder.  Oh well, there are 6 more chances to win 4 games.

We missed baseball practice and the wedding since we got home too late to prepare for either one.  We don't generally make it to a lot of weddings.  Knowing what they symbolize we ought to try harder, they just aren't our thing.  Isn't that so lame?  I think from here on out I will resolve to go to more.

Finally the evening ended with some long overdue news.  Bin Laden was dead!  I hope that people don't think that this is over with by any means.  There are still thousands of those men out there who want to see us dead just as much or more than he did.  It's jsut nice to see that our government stuck with it and saw it through.