A visit from a Black Widow

Do you know anything about Black Widow spiders? Have you ever actually seen one alive other than at a Bass Pro Shop behind glass? Well I haven't and haven't wanted to either, but this evening I lost that option by seeing one right out my own back door...

I went on a late Wal-Mart run and when I returned I opened that back door to let Roxy out. That's when I saw it! By the ground about one foot away from me hanging from the siding close to the cement floor. I could see with our bending over the bright red on it's belly and I thought no way it can't be! Bending down closer I saw that it wasn't a dream but reality and that's when I screamed for Scott and ran for my camera. It was about 1.5 inches long and really calm, it didn't move at all even when I took a few pictures. Good thing because after I took the pics I really wanted this spider dead! Scott squashed it and that maybe me feel a little better.

Now I remember my older brother telling me when I moved to OK that every kind of insect in the US lives in here. I don't know it this is true but I think I've had my share of them already. A very common thing here is to have your yard and house sprayed monthly for insects. Honestly I haven't wanted this extra expense BUT that thinking changed tonight! Mother's Nature Pest Control has a new customer first thing in the morning - ME!

Jared in High School?

School starts next Wednesday, August 13th and we have a FRESHMAN! How exciting!

Jared goes to North Intermediate this year. Down here in OK they call 9th & 10th grades Intermediate School and 11th & 12th High School. The schools are also separated that way, with around 5,000 students in 11th & 12th grades alone. So I guess technically Jared isn't going to High School but 9th grade instead. This is funny to me since Im used to 9th being the official beginning of High School, so we will stick with what were used to and say Jared's in High School now!

This morning we took Jared over to the High School to pick up his schedule. It opened at 8:00am and we arrived at 7:45am to beat the rush and get it all wrapped up so we could get to work hopefully by 9:00am.

There were alot of people who had the same idea too because there was quite a line when we arrived. Still standing in line after waiting a while a girl recognizes Jared and say really loud in the quiet hall we were standing in "Hey Jared!" Everyone turns around and looks at him and he is too embarrassed to say hello back to her, but instead turns bright red.

We finally make it into the cafeteria and stand in line T-Z (why is this always the longest?). When our turn comes up the lady working the table tells us to repeat our last name, a say V as in victor, O, D as in dog and A. For some reason she thinks I say VODO. I tell her no it's A at the end and she says "OH, VADA." (does anyone with the last name voda understand my pain!?) On the inside I'm laughing and thinking "and it's only 8:15." HaHa. SO to lady working kindly tells us they do not have a schedule for him and we will need to go see a counselor.

Jared's counselor tells us not only do they not have a schedule for him, but nothing in the computer, and no file! Ms. Hass his counselor softens things by telling us she is making a wake up call to someone at their home to try and find out what is going on? I can truly say I did not expect that to happen. By this time I'm pretty frustrated and trying my best to hide it. I'm getting the "everything is gonna work out/calm down look from Scott." The phone call proved to work out well! Whoever the lady is that got woken up - not only knew where Jared's file was but she would be in in 30 minutes to talk with us should we have any questions. I feel the calm coming!

Jared's counselor assures us that even though all the elective classes he had previously chosen are full she would find a way to squeeze him in. It was extremely important to us considering he was taking a computer class that would be a foundation to all his other elective classes for the next three years!

By the end of our time with the counselor we weren't able to get the computer class:( What a disappointment. He ended up with his two electives being weightlifting and intro to woodworking/cabinet making. Jared is thinking that woodworking may be cool? I'm hoping he likes it. My grandpa is a fabulous woodworker and can build almost anything he sets his mind to. He has helped build houses and churches in the past. So well see! This may turn out good after all!

Another good thing is that we drive right in front of his school on our way to work each day so, no riding the bus in the morning. Jared's school day is from 8-2pm. I would have loved getting out that early each day!

Yahtzee!!

I don’t know if you played Yahtzee as a kid or an adult but I have played a lot in my lifetime. I have some great memories as a kid playing with my Grandpa at his kitchen table and I would stare in amazement at how his great big hands made the cup look so small.

Have you ever filled an entire card to find out who has the highest total? It can take hours. You should try it sometime, it’s a lot of fun. Just be careful who you play with… I can remember having to switch papers at the end of the game to make sure everyone was being truthful. Lol!

Well the other day my mom suggested to the kids that they play a game of it. It was funny to hear Charlie tell Grandma that we don’t have all the pieces to the game anymore! HA! I’m not sure if she didn’t want to play or didn’t know what it was?

After getting out the 5 dice and sheets of score cards Grandma set out to teach her how to play. I was very curious as to how long Charlie would hang in there once she found out Grandma was a pro at the old game of Yahtzee. After a few games Charlie reported that she hadn’t won once. But she hung in there and they were tied 2-2. Next was the tie breaker game and you could tell Charlie really wanted to win. By the end of the game Charlie was the winner by almost 100 points more! I bet you can guess what Charlie’s new favorite game is?!

Thank you Mom for taking the time to create a memory with your Grandaughter. It’s the simplest things in life that can make the greatest memories. Memories that we hold on to for our lifetime, just like when I played with my Grandpa!

The Family Dog

Two weeks ago we adopted a dog. She is a 9 mo. old Jack Russell Terrier mix named Roxy. Charlie found her at petfinder.com and beside her name it said "very loving dog." We drove to Cushing, OK to check her out and she was as sweet as they said. We really liked the idea that she was house broken, fixed and all ready to go.

This is so nice because we never have to take her out during the night. She’s just used to sleeping all night long.

In the morning Scott get up about an hour before I do, and he let’s Roxy out of her crate and she jumps so high it’s like she has springs on her feet! He actually read that a Jack Russell that is 12 in. tall when standing, can jump 5ft high. This is definitely true with our Roxy!

Charlie is having a great time with Roxy. She carries her everywhere and she’s not that small of a dog. It’s really funny because she seems to like it. When she goes to sleep Charlie covers her up like a baby. I told her to really enjoy the dog and treat her like a baby if she wants because that’s the closest she will get to having a baby in our family! Lol

The first few days we had her, we let her on all the furniture and after we noticed the white hair on the brown couch we (I), decided it wasn’t such a good idea. We put a blanket on the ottoman and that is her special place to lay and take naps. Works for me!

Roxy really likes rides in the car. We say bye-bye to her and like a flash of lightning, she’s in the car. This is funny to me since she wasn’t in a car much before we got her.

Some funny things about her is that she spends most of her time outside chasing crickets or spiders. She likes to eat them, yuck! It took her a while to figure out the pool is round and once she did she just runs circles around it. It is so nice to see the kids outside playing with her. It is true, a dog really adds something to a family. It’s hard to explain and I have never experienced it before now, but we sure enjoy having Roxy.

The Riverwalk

There's a beautiful place in Jenks, OK that's called the Riverwalk. When when we have time available we like to go there and walk along the river. It's especially nice when we have enough time to get ice cream and then go the the movie theater that's there.

There's small shops, restaurants, an amphitheater with live music and a walking trail close to the river. When we go we will usually find a bench and talk and watch people walk by

with their cute dogs.

I'm really happy that our kids like going there because most of the time we just go there and hang out and talk.

I can't really explain why we like it there so much other than by saying there's a great atmosphere there and it's very relaxing and quaint.

A few weeks ago when we had a week off we went down there with the kids. Charlie really wanted to go because it was a chance to heely! She never misses an opportunity for that.

It was also Charlie's turn to pick the movie so we saw Kit Kitterage an American Girl. That was a cute movie, not sure that Jared & Scott thought so, but me & Charlie liked it!

That was a very nice day for us! Thank you for taking the time to enjoy it! We hope that everyone takes time out of their busy lives to spend with loved ones. I try to remind myself that when the end of my life draws near I will not be concerned of how much more money I would of liked to make or places I would have liked to visit but rather how much of my life I invested in the ones I love the most!

Charlie's 10th Birthday Surprise

Hello! Well I thought I would include something special about our very beautiful, super, fantastic daughter Charlie and her 10th birthday celebration. After reading the article about Jared I wrote, Charlie thought it would be nice to have some pictures of her 10th birthday and the story about how special it was for her Grandparents and Great-Grandma to visit us for her birthday. I agreed with her, so here you go!!

Charlie's 10th Birthday last year was very special to her because she was moving from one digit to two! She was a little sad the day's leading to her birthday since she realized that the family was just too far away to attend her party.

Scott's parents Dick and Sue along with his Grammie called ahead and told us that they were planning on making a visit on her birthday weekend but they wanted to surprise her. When she woke up the day of her party she said that she was sad that she couldn't see any of her family and you could tell she was really trying not to cry:) Just then her grandparents called to wish her a happy birthday and then the doorbell rang... I asked her to answer it and on the other side of the door were Dick, Sue and Grammie all the way from Clinton, IA to celebrate with us and make it a birthday she would not forget! She was so shocked that she was speechless and after all the hugs and kisses were over she really did cry but these were tears of joy not sadness!

Well we went to the Roller Rink where her party was and had cake, lots of friends came and to her delight she got LOTS if Webkinzs! After her party Grandma & Grandpa asked Charlie where she wanted to go for dinner and of course it was Texas Roadhouse! At the restaurant Grandpa told the waiter it was Charlie's big day and she got to sit on the bull and make a Birthday wish! We all got a good laugh out of that:)

So thank you Mom & Dad and Grammie for making Charlie's 10th Birthday so special! We love you and appreciate all the wonderful things you have done for our family! Words cannot express our love for you...

A Day At The Tulsa Zoo

On the 4th of July we decided a trip to the zoo sounded like a nice change of scenery. It was a good reason to discover why the Tulsa Zoo was voted America's Favorite Zoo. Who doesn't like animal watching anyway? Although we have lived here for 3 1/2 years we have only been there twice and the second time was only for a few minutes (very long story). In the back of my mind I was wondering if Jared and Charlie are too old, maybe they will think this is really boring once we get there.

Charlie was excited since this was the perfect opportunity for a full day of heelying (the shoes with the wheels in the heel.) I'll be the first to admit that those shoes can be annoying, but I decided to be a trooper and let her wear them all day knowing it could be a day of falls, scrapes, bruises, being cut off while walking repeatedly, her ahead of us, her behind us, pull me dad, wait - did I mention I was being a trooper:) Really it came down to the fact that their a special new toy that she had saved all her money to get and Grandma Gail even pitched in some! I knew she would be content and there would be less chance of her getting bored so I thought it would work out great for the whole family... until we made it through the first gate after paying to get in and the guard promptly told us "no heelys." Bummer for Charlie! But I had some flip flops in the back pack and she had a great attitude about it so it all worked out! WHEW!

Right inside the gate is the monkey house and we were surprised to see some little baby monkeys. They were so cute. I was thinking about all the shows you see where people keep them as pets. Cute idea, although when I saw the adult monkey that changed my mind fast!

Lots of the animals were missing, no Polar Bear, no Tiger, no Jaguar, no Kangaroo Rat, no sloth, Scott mentioned that this was probably why it's $2 off admissions in July! Funny thought! We were happy to be there and it was a nice change of pace. We took our time and strolled around enjoying the beautiful weather. Then we were just in time for the Meerkat feeding and that was really neat. They zookeepers gave them 35mm film containers that had small holes to get food out of. They had to shake or roll it and the food pellets would drop out. Those little guys are fun to watch, I can understand how there could be a whole show on Animal Planet devoted solely to them. The kids asked us if you can have them as pets and my mind wondered back to the monkeys... probably not a good idea:)

All in all it was a great day. Different from a few years back when they had the excitement of younger kids, I caught myself feeling sad for just a moment or two thinking about when they were younger with all the excitement and questions. I was trying to remember if I truly appreciated that time spent with them? Then I decided to just let it go and appreciate the moment we were in and how much older they seemed from the last time. Not as many question es nor excitement but still a great time just the same. So we rode the train back to the front and decided to leave and go buy some fireworks after all it is the 4th of July and you can let off fireworks in Oklahoma! Now I see excitement in their eyes! Here come the questions - can we light some, can we get the big ones, how many are we gonna get? Whoa! Well, we got their attention and went and got some fireworks, but that's another story...