Friday (3-7-14):
Back in March, this was just DAYS before the big move. Almost all our stuff was already gone and I had the odds and ends mostly rounded up at my parent's house. We'd already said good-bye to our family in OKC and the kids and I had one final trip to Texas planned to attend my (fake) cousin's wedding.
My sister was on board with the roadtrip plan and we sweet talked Gramee into going with us too. It has been extremely difficult for her to get away since they've been taking care of my dad's mom and she always has a huge mix of emotions about leaving, mostly guilt. My dad convinced her they would survive a few days without her, and away we went. Two sisters, their mom, and 3 amazing kids!
We left around 9, if I remember correctly...but your guess is as good as mine!
We stopped for lunch at a Sonic that had a playground AND a bathroom! Score. And for a girl who loves her Sonic Dr. Pepper, I was savoring one of my last opportunities to indulge!
Some time after we left Sonic, we got a call about my mom's mom, we call her Moma T. , so take note. Anyway, Moma T. had been sick and they were trying to convince her to go to the hospital because after taking her antibiotic for a bit, she wasn't doing better, and she had gotten very weak. We were originally heading over to one of the cousin's house, either Kathryn or Kandalynn, I'm thinking it was Kandalynn's to drop off mom, Kristee, and Deanna's stuff. With the news of about Moma T., we were able to head straight there. The living room in their house (she shares with my aunt), is so small, and we didn't want the house to be overrun with hyper kids who had been in the car all day. So mom went in, and Kristee and I seriously considered stealing our cousin's sweet baby. He's their 4th boy, and I don't think they really *need* him, do you??
My mom and her sister were able to get Moma T. headed to the hospital, so we took all the kids over to Kandalynn's place and had snow cones!
The last time we were here, we lost our "new to us" Blue Mater and Lightning McQueen, and they found them!!! Yay!
Let's be honest, they don't really need this one either, I'd take him in a heartbeat!!!
My sister, mom, and Deanna were staying at Kandalynn's and my kids and I were staying at Kathryn's place. We all went over there for dinner. Their backyard is pretty fun! And trains go by on the other side of that fence. So exciting!!!
Kees found a large crater in the yard and decided to hatch eggs in, of course.
Kora loves Uncle Chris, she always talks him into playing with her and carrying her around. I think he likes having a little girl around, just a smidge.
I'm not sure who invented this game, but I have a special love-hate for them, as I do for this "game". You basically take turns trying not to pop the balloon. Playing this game furthered my belief that I am the world's biggest chicken baby.
Surprisingly, Kees thought it was fun, and wanted to play it again. He does not like loud noises or unexpected things, so him liking this game makes zero sense!
No joke, I think this is the first pudding cup either of them has ever had.
You know, when we lived in Thailand and our family would go through hard times, I'd feel helpless and out of touch. This time, when Moma T. was in the hospital and everyone was running around like crazy to get things ready for the wedding, I wanted to help. Unfortunately, I have two tiny people, and Doug was in Idaho. So basically, I ended up offering about 10 minutes of my life to chop an onion for some enchiladas. I felt terrible for not being able to do more, probably worse than when I lived far away.
Saturday (3-8-14):
Saturday, Doug confirmed that he had found an apartment for us in Couer D'Alene. He wouldn't send me very many pictures, but he did send this one! Our new friends had visited Thailand over Christmas and brought us some fun Thai goodies! My favorite was the coffee sign! When we were leaving Thailand, it was unexpected and I just didn't have my wits about me. I was tired, struggling, crying, praying, and surviving. No part of me was thinking about getting cool stuff from Thailand for our future home. This gift is so, so special to me and extremely thoughtful on their part. I may have cried about how happy this makes me, and maybe it's been more than once, judge away....
Meanwhile, back in Texas, my kids still wearing yesterday's clothes discovered this kid sized claw machine that had candy in. It's "after a healthy lunch" somewhere, right?!
It was UNUSUALLY cold in Texas, and you guessed it, the wedding was planned for outdoors! My kids did NOT, I repeat, did NOT care about the cold weather and happily played in the back yard.
The kids and I took Taco Bell orders and ran to pick up lunch. Sometimes, things like this happen, I don't always document it, but just know, my kids are just like everyone else's and fits get thrown.
She was probably just hungry and this rice, let me tell you, it did. the. trick. This girl loves her some rice.
Why do I get stopped by a train every time I'm in Texas. We headed to the wedding, but stopped by the hospital to visit Moma T., our newest (fake) cousin, Sarah, stayed in the car with our kids, and despite my doubts, Kees survived!!!
The wedding was moved indoors and it was about 2 degrees warmer inside.
The cake and decorations were great, but most importantly the ceremony was quick and painless. I care about this a lot more now that I have the tiny girl human. She's difficult to control in these types of situations, so the quicker the better I say. But, by all means, don't plan your special day around us, and if your wedding is long, I'll do my best to get Kora out of the room if she starts getting rowdy. :)
Okay, remember how I said it was 2 degrees warmer inside. If you hover/hoarded one of these babies it was toasty and wonderful. However, my kids were dancing near one, and when someone was trying to adjust the top part, it detached and the propane tank SHOT fire. Talk about traumatized. They both wailed for a good ten minutes and I was in the lucky position of trying to comfort them both WITHOUT their dad. This reminds me, I think he owes me some chocolate or something.
Carson is getting way, way too big. Make it stop. He's one of those 4 boys I mentioned and even though he keeps growing, I'd take him too. Perhaps their parents should limit the amount of time they spend with me. (And in case you think I'm serious, I'm not, I would never actually take anyone's child)
But it DOES look like Kora would be more than willing to join their family. I think her plan was to just latch on to Uncle Chris.
The beautiful bride, I was beyond thrilled to be a part of her special day. I thought we'd already be in Idaho, so when I realized we'd be able to go, I appreciated it all the more. Even though it was freezing and that propane tank almost killed my kids. Totally worth it!
Not sure what Chris was telling him, but Kees seems concerned. (Side note, every stinkin' time I type Chris's name I have to go back and delete a "t", cause I'm always typing Christ. Geeze, missionary problems).
Kandalynn and Kristee, cousins! They were roommates in college for a while, same year in school and born just a couple months a part. They have lots of fun stories!!!
CAKE
His teeth are not naturally blue. I'm trying to figure out if he's blue because of the cake or the temperature.
Sunday (3-9-14):
I got up early on Sunday morning, it was the time change weekend, I barely slept because I was so paranoid my phone wouldn't update the time. I kept googling it and even after I knew it changed I was still worried that maybe I was just confused. So when I came back from showering, I was missing a child. She was there, in the bed with Kees when I left...
Kora went to nursery. I wondered why my kids were quiet as I was signing her in, then turned around and saw this!
After church, we headed back to the hospital to visit with Moma T. and to pick up my mom. She stayed at the hospital the whole weekend and barely slept. I hope that if I've learned anything from my mom, it's how to serve and sacrifice for family. She is such a good example of that!
And then we headed back to Oklahoma, 24 hours after I took this picture I was heading to the airport to move! Crazy, crazy, crazy!!!
Our last night in Paden, Kees is telling Grampa all about something. Maybe he was telling him about his near death experience at the "FROZEN" wedding...
My Oklahoma hoodie, snuggling my girl, enjoying our last few hours with family.
This is the last blog post before I'm MOVING (in past tense world...in real life I've lived here 2 months now)!
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