Let's Explore Oklahoma - Part 1

Our family has lived in Oklahoma for 9 years now. And every summer we end up leaving the state to visit our family in Texas and go to another state for a vacation. This year we will go to Texas but we will also get to know Oklahoma. So when Frommers calls, I will have my Okie travel book ready...Let's Explore Oklahoma.

Part 1: Go to The Paseo Art Festival in Oklahoma City. Check.

(Pictures are NOT downloading so we will try those again later.)

Here is what we know about The Paseo: built in 1929 and intended as a miniature version of the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City. (Since I don't know what the Plaza in Kansas City looks like, I have no idea if they achieved their goal.) The Paseo has an arts festival every Memorial Day weekend. We can now cross that off the list of things to do. I cannot say that enjoyed this festival immensely. It was nice to be out and about and people watching. There was a great kid's section where Collin and Katie made sock puppets, made something out of clay and then did some spin painting.

For our family this event gets "no stars". It's fine to do once and everyone should probably go walk through the old neighborhood.

Village of Hope: Walk for Hope

Note to self: next year we will WALK in the Walk for Hope.
Collin scooting and Katie riding along the 2 mile path. After the big start I lost track of my 2 (Matt was at home with a still sick Jackson) and could not catch up with them. But I heard Katie honking her horn at people and Collin blowing his whistle. So I began to walk quickly to find the two and remind them of some bike/scooter manners. We made it to the end, enjoyed some pizza and lemonade,

and came home and climbed trees. It was a great evening.

A sad day for Collin

Collin had the stomach bug last Friday and missed Multi-Cultural Day and the Walk-a-Thon at his school. He was really sad he was missing school. About mid-morning Collin realized that Friday was his good friend's last day of school. The friend was moving to Colorado. So after a few phone calls to the mom, the school, and the teacher we arranged for his friend to come over after school for a quick good-bye as they were taking off for Colorado right then. Bless them! It totally made my sick boy's day.

Collin said, "It's really hard when someone moves away because they are off on a new adventure and might forget their old friends easily. But I'm left here without my friend to play with me on the playground or to talk with me about Harry Potter." Um...let's just say that Mommy teared up a bit here. Wise and true words from an 8 year old.

The Sonshine School Program

Here is Katie performing with the PreK Pond.
She is singing "I'm Gonna Sing" and "

And here is Katie with her ME Book.

Here is Katie with a friend. She has plans with this friend. She and this friend plan to be a cowboy and cowgirl together in Tennessee and be karate teachers there. I would prefer Texas of course!

And here is our girl with her fabulous teachers! They have taught her so much and I know she is ready to head off to Kindergarten thanks to their hard work! (Insert tears and sobs.)

Jackson was not able to make his walk-across-the-stage appearance due to a high fever, ear infection and breathing problems which came on about 2:00 this day. To say I was bummed is a serious understatement. I'm glad we still have one more walk-across-the-stage year!!

Medals in May

Katie started taking gymnastics in January and has loved it! This day was Parents' Visitation where the gymnasts would show off all their skills.
Here she is with a friend she has known since toddlerhood.

Katie doing a handstand. We also saw her do a backhandspring, walk on the beam, do a running-vault-flip thing ("Ina do it by myself," she kept saying to her coach.) and her favorite move - a one-knee hang on the bars.

Her favorite part: throwing Dad in the pit.

Champion Katie! Of course when she makes it to the Olympics then she will need a more slick-backed ponytail.

It's a fun, challenging, smelly, and exciting job!

Katie - 5 1/2, Collin - 8, me, Jackson 1 1/2
Hard to get a photo of all of looking in the same direction...

What a crew. Keeping me on my toes. Making me laugh till it hurts. Making me cry at the good (and also bad) choices they make.

But I feel so thankful to be their mom. The greatest job!

And this picture is to my mom: these are the rolls. Next time they will look better right?

That will be $360 please.

Well, this picture does misrepresent a bit. Nine cans of EleCare Vanilla cost $405 and Jackson only needs 8 cans a month. But the formula pyramid just didn't look right with only 8 cans. You know, just when I think I've got EVERYTHING figured out with Jackson's diet I'll read a food label for the 1000th time and see WHEAT or HIGH EXPELLER PRESSED SUNFLOWER OIL in it and say "oh dear...well, no wonder." So, let's update our no drinking list: NO milk, almond milk, goat's milk, soy milk, rice milk (due to the high expeller pressed sunflower oil). We have also ruled out oat milk and banana milk because of zero nutritional value but friends those milks are out there if you want or need them. So Jumpin J is on EleCare Vanilla and he guzzles it! Seriously guzzles it! He takes 8 oz with breakfast and 8 oz with dinner and a calcium-fortified juice at lunch or any other time. If he didn't like the stuff or I didn't think it was working I would quit buying it. I have really only purchased 3 cans at the full price of $45 through Target Pharmacy. Then a friend said she had purchased some formula on ebay. I said, "Really? Because it's a prescription. Can they do that?" Actually EleCare is only a special order not a RX so I have been bargain shopping on ebay. And I purchased well, let's say enough cans to last me from now until August at only $18/can!! I'm so pumped! Haven't been this excited about a purchase in a long while. After 2 weeks on the formula his skin is looking clearer, he seems happier (but he was always a happy baby), I think he feels fuller and we are now at 5% for weight on the growth chart!!! He has been below 5% for 6 months - like unrecordable below 5%. And he has gotten taller!! He is now 31" which puts him at 10%!! Yippie! We are so excited around here! Now, we will not be taking any vacations for a while but we are thrilled that Jackson has something nutritional to drink!

PS. Lack of blogging due to work laptop (my blog laptop) getting a virus. A bad virus. A need-to-replace-the-whole-thing virus. And since my home computer (a year 2000 purchase from dissertation days) likes to restart itself when I go to my blog I've just not been able to update. I've had a talk with the year 2000 and he's decided to cooperate just this once. Things are looking up around here.