The Magic....

Today, while Wyatt and I were at Walgreens, we saw Santa.

Not a plastic, light up toy. Santa. In the flesh. In the suit. Beard and all.

Buying cough syrup or hand sanitizer or something...probably on his way to a mall to report for duty. Wyatt stared, but didn't say anything.

On the way out, we saw him again, pulling away in his Isuzu SUV.

"Wyatt, look who is driving that car!" I say.

Wyatt stares, then says, "Huh. I thought it was a sleigh."

The End.

Craft Night Options

In a few weeks, we'll be having Craft Night for all my crafty and non-crafty friends. Here are a few of the things we'll be making:

This makes a great inexpensive teacher gift. It's a min-gel pen, attached to a sticky-note pad. You can also slide a small gift card in the cellophane bag. (I market-tested this with teachers, and it's a winner!) These are chipboard letters that come in 3" and 10" high. These are flat, and have to be tipped up against something, but we can also do them in 6" wooden letters or 10" paper mache.

Don't Try This At Home

Here are a few things children should never do....

In case you are wondering:
1. No, I didn't teach him these tricks.

2. These photos aren't altered...I don't know how.

3. Yes, he's in gymnastics.

An Age Old Question

A conversation in the car today between Wyatt and me:

Ahem.

W: "Mom, listen to this. There's something weird about the Alphabet Song."
Me: "Well... what?"
W: "Ok, I'll stop when I get to the part. Ready?
(singing) A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P.... See? That part... What's an 'ellymenopee'?"


On a different note, after school today, my neighbor is forcing me to attend her son's party at Yucky Cheese's.
I told her I got him a drum set.
And a kitty.

Lessons In Warfare

I knew having a boy would be different from having a girl.
James Dobson says girls are relational....Boys? They are here to protect and defend.
And they must! It's like breathing, eating and peeing in the backyard....they must!
So I found this little scene outside Jenna's room today.
The LEGO soldiers appear to be standing guard over....the Barbies? I have no idea.
And apparently, a few of them, might and brave though they were, did not survive the battle.

(Cue "Taps")

They were brave LEGOS.

But when the ship crashed, there was no hope for them.

RIP, LEGO...um...guys(?)

Jenna's Baptism!

So a few weeks ago at church, Jenna and Aaron went to a class about Christianity and Baptism called JoyRide. Jenna went about a year and a half ago, and chose to become a Christian but wasn't quite ready for baptism. This time, at the class, she decided she was ready to for the big day!
Here she is with the other kids, beforehand. One whole family also got baptised together! The kids all get a cute Bible imprinted with their name!

Then, they all line up at the "baptistry"...some people call it a swimming pool, but whatever.

(The girl behind Jenna with the long, blonde curly hair is a friend of mine, Kacie. She is the super-cool praise and worship leader for the childrens church, and a key in closing the deal at Joyrides!)

Here's Jenna gearing up...they guy on the right is Mr. Joel who has been one of the kids' teachers at Wednesday night church for abotu 3 years...he's a staffer at church who is just about to get his nursing degree! We feed him lots of cakes and cookies after our small group on Wednesday nights!

Down and up! All is well!

Jenna's Baptism

The Sound of Music...Redneck Style.

After living half my life without a piano (!), we finally got one a few weekends ago from my friend Shannan. It fits perfectly in the office and has been played every, single day!
The only problem was...what to do with the couch that once sat in it's place. So Aaron came up with a solution.

Unfortunately, since he's the HOA president, he had to set a good example, so its in the garage.

The Currys Go Exploring....

Since I couldn't make it to South Dakota for Labor day, I talked the family into some hiking Oklahoma Style.
About an hour from our house, is Mt. Scott, the highest point in OK, measuring about 2600' about sea level. (Incidentally, I think my folks farm in SD is at 3000'....hmmmm).
But it's a mountain, nonetheless!
And it's hiking, nonetheless!
Well, kinda.

What you really do is DRIVE up the mountain on a nice, swirling, paved road...
THEN, you get out in the paved parking lot at the top, and let the kids romp around all the huge boulders at the top.

Here's Jenna, pondering the mysteries of the universe.

Or thinking about her Barbies at home...

And though you can't see in the photo, Wyatt, luckily, has his "Spider Feet" on, so he could easily climb straight up any boulder.

Good thing.

It was a perfect day with no wind, and we all had fun exploring. We attempted to take a family photo...here's me telling Aaron exactly how to do it (so Mama Jewell, I know...)

And here's Aaron running across boulders to try and make it to the shot.

Bummer, cuz that was going to be our Christmas Card photo...

Oh well, we have plenty of time to get a family photo before Christmas.

We were standing up there chatting, and discussed the fact that no one ever puts photos in their office of them and their family watching TV or playing video games.

It's these moments that we are really living life that we choose to capture on film and go to the trouble of framing.

You still have a whole day left of this weekend....go make a memory that you wouldn't mind framing on your walls!

First Day Of School

We are terribly luck to get to go to brand new school. Here is a shot of the hallway, and us on Back to School Night. We met the teachers on Tuesday, but started on Thursday. Here's Jenna, rockin her new Third Grade Style:

And then Wyatt, collar buttoned to the top and tennis shoes...oh boy. Jenna's going to have to work with him.

We knew some of the teachers from our previous school, but we got a new principal, and had heard good things about him. He has a program called Morning Sunrise, and expects all the children in the cafeteria at 8:45 (did I mention we don't start until 9 am!) for the event.

We all stayed to check it out, and they say the pledge, have a moment of silence, say a creed about being a good person, and (get this) they always sing a patriotic song! Yesterday, because emotions weren't high enough, he choose Lee Greenwood's "God Bless The USA!"

Raise your hand if you can make it through that one without crying?

Not only am I standing by my friend who's hubby is USAF pilot, but across the room I see my friend Jennifer, who's A) dropping off her first and only for Kindergarten and B) Standing with her hubby, who's Military Police and dressed in his khaki BDU's. (She's at Def Con III by now...)

And then, at the front is a Navy Mom in her blue BDU's!

At that point, it was hard to tell who was crying about first day of school, and who just proud to be an American, where at least we know we're free!

Afterward, I had all the mom's come over for brunch (it's a Yahoo/Boo-Hoo Party!). One drove up from Norman, and arrived sobbing on my front porch. She said, "All the way up the street, I could see moms driving and wiping their eyes!"

Another one said, "I"m going to be OK now...I already threw up at home."

So after brunch, I fed Wyatt lunch, while he did the "I'm So Excited for Kindergarten Dance" in the kitchen. He said, "I'm going to pack a lunch for school, in case I get hungry." He was shocked and saddened that kindergartners don't get to take lunch.

This is Wyatt walking out the new gate that we had installed on Sunday by friends. It dumps out into the School Bus Turn-Around Lane, and is about 20 steps from the back door of the gym.

Here is the new playground, yesterday afternoon. They were still rolling sod, putting out woodchips, and building the fence. The kids had recess on the black-top area of the school bus turnaround, which is nice when is 97 degrees.

So, did I cry dropping off my little guy at kindergarten? Well, he had the same teacher that Jenna had, and I know it just for a few hours.

Mostly, I wasn't sure what to do next.

Actually, I had so much to do, I didn't know where to start...and since I only had 2 hours and 25 min, I just decided to go shopping.

But then on the way home, some country song came on the radio, about how all I need is the simple things in life, and my family by my side. And that did it. I was the first mom in line at the kindergarten wing....

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

In my on going effort to be Wife of the Year (I'm pretty much out of the running for Mom Of the Year, so I'm moving on...), I went with Mr. Curry to a fundraiser for the Oklahoma State University Alumni Assoc.

I joked all night about not wanting my photo taken because I didn't want anyone to know I went.

Well, I gave in (my hair was particularly cute that night) and the roving photographer snapped our picture, then returned a few minutes later to tell me that my eyes were closed, and he'd need to take another.

Well, me not wanting to take a bad photo, was so busy fluffing and glossing that I didn't notice someone (something?) sneaking up behind me.



And this is what happened next....





Warning: this photo is not for the faint of heart.....





I'm telling you...don't scroll down unless you are prepared....







That's the OSU mascot, Pistol Pete (or Peyote Sam...I forget, really), and AC paid him to sneak up on us.

And that's me, grinning like a big, dumb idiot.

He took full advantage of my vanity.

Aaron thinks this is going to be our Christmas card.

I think not.

P.S. Did I mention that last summer AC, as a "courtesy," put my name and phone number on the OSU alumni list?

But's It's A Birthday Party for the Barbies.....

Why do I still think I can leave my kids alone for an hour?

They look very guilty, don't they.

Oh, look! School starts next week! Who knew....

Our First Summer Trip

We have had so much fun this summer, I forgot to tell you all about our first trip, but I think this photo sums it up: Cats, cousins, and lots of playing outside.
In case you still can't figure out where we were, here's a hint:

Again, you won't see Wyatt because he's he's too embarrassed to be seen with us (see previous post...)

My sister and I found time for hiking...we had to cross a stream, fight ticks and mosquito's, and avoid snakes and poison ivy. It was awesome!

This is my husband getting a taste of farm work. I don't think my dad is going to hire him on anytime soon....

We snuck away from the farm one day to go to the Black Hills. We went rock climbing at Sylvan Lake, and everyone got soaking wet!

Leaders Club 2010

We just got back from Aaron's company trip...guess where we went?
Yep. The Happiest Place On Earth.
At 2 pm, it also becomes the Whiniest Place On Earth, but that's another post altogether...

I would like to have a nice family photo taken, but Wyatt is going through a phase (I hope) that deems him too embarrassed to be seen with us, so just pretend he's there.

This is the Bibbity-Boppity-Boutique where Jenna got a makeover from her Fairy Godmother while Wyatt went to the Lego Store.

This is the one photo that I got of Wyatt, but probably only because it wasn't really Wyatt...it was the Flash. (This was at the company farewell party on our last night...all kinds of food, fireworks, and fun.)

This is how I found everyone on our last afternoon, when I came home from the gym. We spent 8 hours at the pool the day before, and 5 hours this day....

Wyatt's Birthday

Wyatt's Birthday is always the official start of summer. Eight little friends came over to celebrate today. It's an occasion we have called "The White trash Party." It's always in the backyard with a sprinkler and a BBQ grill, and some cheap lawn chairs.

No ponies

No jumpy things

No Clowns (except the ones that live here)

Just good old fashioned fun...

I'm certain that each year I have this exact photo: Wyatt blowing out candles (on a store bought cake! I know...), and Jenna, in his personal space, telling him how to do it. They are always wearing swim suits, and I'm pretty sure in last year's photo, Wyatt doesn't even have on a shirt.It makes me proud just to think about it....

So once again, Aaron bought all the birthday gifts for Wyatt (!).

Here he is showing the 3-6 yr olds how to shoot the guns...at each other.

Here he is "helping" the kids play Iron Man Meets Nerf Gun.

As you roll your eyes, I'd like to point out that every other father was also out there shooting guns and taking cover behind corners. (Just without the Iron Man mask)

During the ensuing combat, I got out the face paints for all the children.

This is the happiest little saber toothed tiger I know...love those boys!

The Graduate

Wyatt's Preschool Class at Mother's Day Out had a graduation program tonight.His teacher, Miss Aimee has threatened to fail him so she can have him one more year. Teacher's Pet....The Program-Hander-Outer was stellar, too

All the mommies took a photo together b/c it's the only time we all have on make-up and no sweat pants....

My Funny Valentine

Wyatt's class made Valentines this week, and they arrived in the mail. The kids said what they wanted written, and the teacher wrote out the sentiment.

Aaron's was on top:

Sweet, huh?

Mine, however, was much more meaningful to all:

Take that!

Happy Valentines...may you all have tasty chicken!

Who Knew?

Who knew that 8 years after this....

We'd have this...

In case you are wondering, it's her index finger...I checked.

Is someone flashing gang signs?

We had a birthday party at Michael's Craft Store, which was the best idea I've had all year. (I know it's January...)

We thoroughly destroyed 3 tables with glue, catsup, and frosting.

And I didn't clean any of it up.

Aaron 'accidentally' took this photo of the girl helping with the party. Guess he's been taking photo lessons from my mother.