My baby turns 9

Today is the 9th birthday of someone that means the world to me-my baby H-man aka Small Fry. This adorable, blondie is the exact replica of my Daddy - charming, ornery, easy-going, carefree, funny, clever, happy and a Momma's boy.  Everytime I see his charming smile, I wonder how on earth I was able to create such a beautiful little golden haired tooter.  And...if you know me, you know that I mean Tooter in the best way possible.  In the South, he's what we call a "mess"!

He's shy but gregarious. independent but very much a Momma's little guy, mouthy to his brother but adoring in every way towards him and caring but carefree.  This little guy loves fishing, playing football, soccer, basketball..well, pretty much every sport.  He loves the Atlanta Braves because his cousin plays minor league ball for the Mississippi Braves, which to him means he's the greatest pro athlete ever to grace the earth!  He loves going to OU football games and looking for Boomer and Sooner, the real horses and the mascots, but especially his favorite players.  He still rubs my upper arm, which has always been his "pinchy" since he was a breastfeeding baby.  His favorite thing to do when he sees his dog Allie is to feel of her big ol' jowls that hang down - he will sit and feel her jowls forever and that dog won't move an inch.  He completely got the "feeling" things from me.  I still love to squeeze my favorite pillow when I sit on the bed-I have no idea why! HA!  I have to remind him at bedtime not to hug Allie too tight when she sleeps with him.  He will completely cover her with his arms and legs while going to sleep-he adores her and his Beagle Baylee!  He's the kid that always cares that others are being treated fairly and nicely - he was super upset that the teacher this year gave a boy in his class a warning card for behavior on the boy's birthday.  He also is the snacker in the family-which reminds me of his Uncle Keith! I actually have to hide the candy and sweets or he would eat them non-stop throughout the day.  He sneaks the gum out of my purse and I go in his room to retrieve it almost weekly.  Little toot-see what I'm talking about?!  Every night when he goes to bed, he still wants me right there to tuck him in and give him a big kiss and hug.  He'll ask for another hug if the first one wasn't tight enough!  I loooove that!  When he gets dressed in the morning, he sometimes doesn't match at all and he doesn't care...it's just clothes.  I found a pair of shoes in his closet the other day that I bought 3 months ago and he had never worn.  Instead, he had taken the shoelaces out of the new blue Vans to put in his old soccer cleats because they needed new laces. He had forgotten that he had brand new shoes to wear.  He'll sit in the backseat of the car and work diligently texting someone and when I look on the phone, he's just been typing in random letters so his brother will think he has a lot of people to text on his phone too.  He'll walk around all day with food stains or Crystal Light stains on his face and it doesn't bother him one bit-silly guy! 

But most of all, this is the baby that saved me.  He was 8 months old when his Dad and I got divorced.  He was barely more than a newborn when it became a house with just us and his 36 month old big brother.  He was the reason I knew I had to get up every morning and keep going.  He was the reason I got up with a smile on my face and took on the world as a confident, positive, happy single mom.  This little baby was going to have a terrific life and I was going to make sure of it.  He still deserved a wonderful infancy and toddlerhood filled with love, happiness and positive people.  His brother was the reason too but my baby never had a chance to know what a family with a Daddy at home was like.  In fact, he acts like it never affected him.  He still thinks everyone has two Christmas's and two houses with extra Grandparents.  When we moved in with my parents, this little 1 year old sweetie would get up early every morning and run into his Dan-Dan (Grandpa) and sit in his lap, begging for a sip of his black coffee.  They would sit for an hour or more before waking any of us up.  That was their time and I'm so thankful for it since he only had his Grandpa till he was 3.  

This is also the little angel who at 3, one night after my Dad (Dan-Dan) was killed in a car accident, told me that he saw Dan-Dan after the policemen came to our house and Nana and I cried real hard (which was the police telling us about the accident).  He told me that his Dan-Dan had come into the room he was watching TV in and helped him change the channel and sat and watched cartoons with him, then walked down the hall to make sure Nana and I were ok.  He was barely 3 and I truely believe that happened with all my heart because of their relationship.  A 3 year old can't make something like that up.  It was the most comforting thought in the world told to me by a toddler.  I'll never forget that conversation and I will always treasure the gift he gave me by telling me.

At IHOP-where he wanted to have his birthday dinner!  He loves IHOP!

Checking out his soccer cake with his cousin Joshua

Reading birthday cards and looking for money like a typical 9 year old

Opening presents - he got the ITouch he had been wanting so bad thanks to his Nana

His big brother with his Nana Jack and Grandpa Arch (His Dad's parents)

Goofing around with his cousin and big bubba

Nana and Momma - so proud of what a big boy he's become

He loves his Grandparents!  He had all of them at one table! That makes for a happy little guy!

Blowing out the candles!

I love that he still gets embarrassed when we sing Happy Birthday to him!  He's done that since he was a baby!!!  Silly boy!

This is what your teeth look like when you eat a ton of blue icing-he thought it was hilarious!

This is what you feel like when you eat too much blue icing-ugh.

 This is the original "team" - I've always told my boys...as long as the three of us have each other, everything was going to be fine.  But, luckily that changed 6 years ago when we met Mr. H to.....as long as we have each other and Mr. H, who they love to call Dad now that we all got married last summer, everything will be just fine.

Because...now we're a complete team!

Happy Birthday Baby!!! 

Your Mommy, Daddy and Big Bubba love you more than you will ever know!!!

White Boxer Allie loves the wind in her hair

Our precious puppy Allie loves to go on car rides.  When I pull into the garage everyday, she comes out with the kids to greet me and jumps onto my lap trying to get in for a ride.

She's kind of spoiled....just like we like her!

TheRHOK's

MckLinky Monday

~April 19, 1995~

Where were you?

Today is the 15th anniversary of the Alfred Murrah Bldg. bombing in downtown Oklahoma City.  The bombing happened at 9:02 am.  At that moment in time, I thought that nothing on earth would happen that could possibly be any worse than that moment in time. 

The morning of the bombing, I was sitting in my office at an aerial photography and mapping firm in Tulsa near the airport.  It was my first job and I'd only been there for a little over a year.  I was 23 years old and had been married for less than a month.  

I remember my boss, Lyn, calling into my office and asking me to try to call ODOT (Oklahoma Department of Transportation) and get a hold of the man he was talking to on the phone when the phone hung up.  He had been talking with Bob Myers, our ODOT contract person and they heard something loud like an explosion in the background of the call.  Lyn said that Bob Myers had commented that he thought maybe a boiler had exploded in the basement of the ODOT building.  Then the line went dead.  We tried and tried but the call wouldn't go through again.  A few minutes later, our accountant in the office, Tricia, called over the speakerphone and told me that there was an explosion in Oklahoma City.  I honestly thought it was an oil refinery explosion, since we are in Oklahoma and that's the most common explosion we hear about in oil and gas country.

We barely had the internet back in 1995 so we couldn't go to CNN.com or any other news sites.  We just kept working and wondering what was going on.  A little after lunchtime, my sister called from Atlanta and told me not to watch the coverage of the explosion until I got home.  She said it was really bad and an entire office building had exploded.  I remember thinking to myself that it must have been a natural gas explosion.  It's amazing in the days of Facebook, Twitter and 24 hour news coverage that we still didn't know the magnitude of the situation and kept working like normal for the rest of the day.  I do remember that our phone lines were quiet that day and we just figured that it was a slow workday. I think that might be the reason why I was so stunned when I got home and turned on the news.  I had no idea that it was that horrific.  My husband was at one of his last college classes that night and I was so upset, I wanted him to come home. I didn't want to be alone.  

I never would have thought that someone would purposely bomb a building.  And, in Oklahoma.  We're the heartland of the country. I always felt lucky that I lived in a place that never had anything scary or frightening happen.  This was absolutely unbelieveable. 

I didn't have children then, but now that I do and know what a Momma Lion I am....it would have hit me so hard that day.  Back then, I couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose a child like the mothers who had left their children in the daycare on the bottom floor of that building. It was unimaginable then and even more so now that I'm a Mother.

I did find out later that my cousin who is a counselor at a school in Oklahoma City counseled the boyfriend of one of the victims. He was the boyfriend of the girl who had to have a leg amputated in the rubble in order to get free.  Her leg was crushed and the only way to get out was to amputate it right there on the spot.  Horrific. Well, my cousin counseled the young man for a long time because he had pressured his girlfriend to go to the Social Security office in the Murrah Building to get a social security card for their young daughter.  Can you even imagine the guilt he felt? 

That day forever changed Oklahoma.  Most people in Tulsa knew someone, somehow who was affected by the tragedy.  My family has several OKC firefighters that worked for weeks on end to help in the recovery effort.  I knew several people who went down to the site to help. It was the topic of discussion everyday at work for a long time. 

I have to admit that I was leary of being in a large office building, especially a government office building, for a long time after that day. 

It's so hard to fathom that those young babies in the daycare that day would be 15, 16, 17 years old.  Teenagers. They never even got the chance to live a full life.  The great things those babies could have accomplished.  Even 15 years later, it makes me so sad. 

May God be with their families on this sorrowful anniversary. 

And to imagine that six short years later, an even more horrific tragedy would occur.  I never would have believed what the future had in store for 2001.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

The weather has been so nice lately that I couldn't resist buying flowers for the flowerbeds.  I recently scored two urns from Big Lots for only $40.  They are the heavy, large urns that look beautiful on the front porch.  They were a brownish color so I brought them home and used the old standby, black spraypaint, to make them look a little more elegant. 

Lowe's had Boston Ferns on sale so I bought those to put into the urns.  I also bought a swallow fern for a pot on the seating area of the porch.  I think it will look nice next to my favorite peace lily. 

I also found a ton of beautiful purple flowers, pentas, petunias and some others that just looked good.  I'm not even sure I looked at the names-ha!

I also bought two hanging baskets since we have a ton of shephard's hooks leftover from our wedding last summer.  The shephard's hooks might be my solution to having flowers in the backyard without being destroyed by a white boxer named Allie.  I planted three bushes last summer and she promptly dug them up and ate them.  Zero evidence left.  Dogs....sometimes you just have to wonder about them!

We have two soccer games tomorrow and the weather is supposed to be just perfect with a high of 77-I love it!  I bought a red shirt to wear with my Soccer Mom pendant necklace that I made.  Both boys are on teams with the color red.....makes it a little easier on me!

In other exciting news, I'm down 3.8 pounds for the week since signing up for Weightwatchers.  I even feel better.  I did splurge today and meet my friend Jennifer out for Mexican food, but I order the chicken and grilled shrimp with grilled veggies.  It couldn't have been as bad as some of the other stuff on the menu.  Hopefully I can keep myself on track this weekend and stick to the plan, all while chugging tons of water.

I'll post pics of my newly planted flowers tomorrow.

The best week!

Guess who went to see the Black-Eyed Peas in concert?

That would be yours truly, Hautemama! 

It was the best concert I've ever seen.  And...that's coming from a girl who was an 80's concert-going fool.  I've seen lots of great concerts, but never a concert that didn't have one boring moment. Not one.

BEP must have spent 10 million dollars on their clothing and sets. 

And....I so want to be Fergie when I grow up!  That woman is phenomenal looking.  She has the best body.  She even inspired me to get on the treadmill two nights in a row.  She looked that good.

Will.i.am does a solo in the middle of the concert and he does a club DJ set.  It was awesome! It reminded me of the reason I originally wanted to be a radio DJ.  I adore dance mixes.  Music has always been so important to me!

           

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jmPGpfBbnA

Here's Fergie and I together in a pic-HA!

Completely random, but really cute pics below:

This is one special puppy!  How bad is it that we put out comfy blankets for her to sleep on.  Hey-it's better than dog hair on my chair.

My friend Nancy gave this adorable frame to Mr. Hautemama.  She knows how he feels about his puppy!

Thought I would share the rock that Small Fry gave me to carry in my purse all the time.  It's just a reminder that he loves me.....that kid just melts my heart!

Spent one evening with good ol' Modge Podge and some cute black and white toile paper

Popped into Dollar General by my office looking for cheap flowerpots and came out with this cute $8 purse...I've gotten compliments everyday so far

Remembered I bought a lazy susan serving thingie at IKEA and never used it. 

Then remembered I had cute striped scrapbook paper and leftover Modge Podge

Now I have a cuter lazy susan serving thingie with stripes! And...I know it's not perfect but I didn't have a ton of time...it looks good in person.

Had a Pier One Imports frame that was a wedding gift and wanted to hang it up but didn't have the right sized pictures, so I framed cute scrapbook paper...voila!

So far....this has been one productive week!  I love weeks like this because I feel like I'm on the ball.  These weeks are pretty rare so I'm enjoying them when they happen!

We even had everyone in the family over for Easter and it was a ton of fun....I'm posting pics tomorrow.

Weight Watchers - my old friend

I signed up for Weight Watchers again last week.  I had some success with it in the past and thought I would try it again.  I hate to admit it, but I've been going to a diet doctor that gives out HCG shots.  The HCG is in essence, a pregnancy hormone that tricks your body into burning the fat around your middle section before burning muscle.  I've lost 15 pounds and 4 inches off my hips but was at a complete stand-still.  I started thinking it was probably because I've now messed up my metabolism and I'm not eating enough.  Since counting points, I'm down another three pounds. I'm trying to stay away from all of the processed foods like fat free crackers.  That just makes me feel like I'm eating fake food.  For me, it's a lot of salads and sauteed veggies with lean meat.  I guess it would also be an eating plan similar to the South Beach but not high in fat at all.

I do feel better and I've even had the energy to walk on the treadmill at night.  I've learned to borrow Tater Tot's ITouch and listen to it.  He made a running playlist (Ha-running, more like walking!) and it has a ton of high energy songs like the new Black-Eyed Peas song Rock That Body (BEST SONG EVER!)  Hip-hop music is near and dear to my heart, so it's a good way to get me off of my booty and exercising.  In college, I worked at a radio station and really wanted to be a DJ at a cool station in Atlanta.  Then, I found out how much beginning DJ's make and decided that I'd rather go into PR!

The other night I danced around the living room with the boys and gave myself 1 activity point on my Points Tracker.  I was almost out of breath by the time we quit boogying.  I figure, if you can get your little guys to dance with you, make a total fool of yourself and get out there and show 'em your moves!!!!

The funny thing is.....my boys think it's totally normal for me to dance and sing to them!  HA!

Monday....Monday

I worked on my menu planning last night after finishing my freezer and pantry inventory for March.  I'm a little late to be working on the lists but it's been a crazy, busy month so far.

Here's our menu for this week (including 3 days of soccer practice until 6:45)

Monday:  Poorman's Dinner - fried potatoes with onions and hotdogs -all cooked together in a pile of        yummy goodness (don't judge, I have a house full of boys)

Tuesday:  Lemon Chicken and Spinach Salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil

Wednesday:  Pancakes

Thursday:  Crockpot dinner - German turnip delight (turnip, potato, onion and smoked sausage cooked together like a stew)

Friday:  Salmon Patties with hushpuppies and pea salad

Saturday:  Date night with Mr. Hautemama

Sunday:  Pork Roast stuffed with Louisianne peppers and whole garlic cloves, cheesy mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli

We'll use the pork roast leftovers for pork carnitas - soooo good!

Speaking of food, I've recently discovered the best low-fat snack evah!  It's Quaker True Delights Multigrain Fiber Crisps, Blackberry Pomegranate flavor.  I tried to find a picture on the internets, but no such luck.  You can eat 13 pieces of these delectable treats for 110 calories, 1.5 grams of fat and 3 grams of fiber.  That's 2 weight watchers points.  These rice cake crisps are sweet and crunchy without the fake sweetener after-taste that low-fat snacks can sometimes have.  I had to be careful to not eat the entire bag.  They...were....that....goooood!  That's my new go-to snack at night.  I'm a night snacker, I confess.

On to my other favorite subject.......TV!  I'm a total Bravo fanatic!  I've recently been watching Kell on Earth.  She's the lady that runs People's Revolution (the clothing, fashion, pr type company) that acted like a crazy boss on the Hills.  Lauren and Whitney worked for her in LA, then Whitney moved to NYC to work there.  Kelly Catrone is a crazy, confident woman who tells it like it is.....she's blunt and so real.  That's the draw.  I tend to be pretty real, what you see is what you get.  Just not as real as she is in the show.  She borders on brutal.

I can't wait for the Real Housewives of Orange County reunion show.  I'm really not digging Alexis and Jim, the new couple on the show this season.  Jim = slimy, controlling and white trash.  Enough said.  Vicki is a whiner and I don't feel sorry for Tamra. She needs to act more like a Mom and not a party girl.  The reunion should be good!

We have parent-teacher conferences at the boys school tomorrow.  I'm slightly nervous to talk to Small Fry's 3rd grade teacher.  I call her "the Nazi" at home.  My poor child tries so hard to not get a yellow or red card.  Sadly, he gets the ol' warning card at least once a week.  I told Small Fry just to try to cruise through until summer. Next year will be a better year!  Tater Tot went to the middle school to tour his school that he'll be going to next year and his teacher told him he would be in advanced Math next year.  That's a ton of work but I love it for him!  I'm so proud of both of my boys.  They are the best and smartest little guys in the world!

I really, really want to be Amish

Last weekend we had a family dinner with my husband's Masonic group (I know, please don't harass me about my husband being the youngest Mason in the world-it's kinda fun hanging out with the older generation!!!!)  The dinner was being held at an Amish Farm called Miller's Farm in a little town outside of the Big City. There is a large population of Amish people in a few towns in Northeastern Oklahoma and people drive from all around to eat at the Miller's place.  I wasn't that excited to go because the weather was dreary and foggy, not to mention I'm on a diet.

When we arrived at the farm, I was instantly excited by the milk cows that were right across from the house in a huge field with a grain silo and barns.  I never had the chance to really see that stuff growing up so I love when I'm anywhere near a farm.  I love Holstein cows and their adorable black-and-white coloring.

(***Total sidenote........I remember in 1987 when Poison came in concert with Brittny Fox and the lead singer of Brittny Fox wore holstein cowboy books.  I've wanted a pair since the first day I saw him wearing those.   I also caught CC Deville's t-shirt that night-It's probably still in the garage packed away with my other headbanger momentos!)

I took pics of the cows and when everyone in our group finally arrived, we went in to be seated.  It was a simple farmhouse and the eating area was in the basement. 

My boys getting ready to eat some good food!

Such a quaint, simple and beautiful house.  It reminded me of paintings of the perfect farmhouse

They require a reservation of at least 10 people so that you fill up the long tables.  The food is served family style and there was tons of it.  I'm not exaggerating at all when I say that, next to my Momma's cooking, of course, this Amish food was........the......best......ever!!!!

We started out with coleslaw, then green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade chicken and noodles, rolls with apple butter (to die for!), turkey and dressing, roast beef, baked chicken, 4 kinds of pie; butterscoth (soooo good), coconut, chocolate and peach.  One of the other tables had left a whole cherry pie and the sweet Amish lady serving us asked us if we wanted it.  Of course we did!!!  After all, we did have a crowd of around forty people.  It was amazing that the food kept coming out.  They gave us more than enough to eat. 

The really fun part of the night was explaining to my kids that the egg noodles for the chicken and noodles didn't come in a bag that said Reame's Egg Noodles.  The noodles were made by hand and cut by hand.  The pie crusts didn't come from the Wal-marts, they were handmade.  My poor kids didn't know what to think about that.  It actually made me feel a little guilty for not cooking home-cookin' type food all the time.  The honest truth is....I work and I don't have that kind of time, nor do I have that kind of metabolism! HA!

Mr. Hautemama and I have been on a diet for a couple of months now and we actually weighed ourselves before we went to dinner and then the next morning.  I gained 1.4 pounds that night and hubs only gained .4 - go figure! Men-they kill me!!!

The biggest surprise of the night was the lighting in the family's house.  And we ate in the basement of their house.  Upstairs where you walk in has a little desk and some shelves for selling their food stuff.

The lights throughout the house were gas lights, and they were super bright.  Towards the end of the night, it got a little warm in the basement because the house had no central heat and air.  Also, it was slightly dark upstairs when we left because of the no-electricity thing going on.  I am not a dark room type of person and I'm quite sure I would be completely depressed with no electricity.  Also, how would I use my Chi hair straightener??? That's a serious dilemma! 

I have to admit, I bought some of almost everything they had for sale.  I bought a huge jar of sweet garlic dill pickles, a package of homemade noodles and chicken base in a little plastic container.  We also bought a big jar of the apple butter.  We've had toast every morning for breakfast and eaten it with the apple butter.  During the dinner, Small Fry liked the Apple Butter so much, he put it on his plate and started just eating it with a spoon.  Now that's some good Apple Butter - kid tested and approved!

 They were selling the family cookbook with all their recipes and I bought that too!

 If I could learn to cook like that, I would have a happy family!  A fatter figure, but a happy family.  You win some, you lose some!

After reading through the cookbook, I realized that the Amish way of cooking is fairly simple.  Just really fresh ingredients....that's what makes the difference.  Our family could stand to leave the preservatives alone for a while!  We're probably pickled from all that stuff that's in our fast food and junk food.

The boys getting ready to ring the dinnerbell. Oh how I adore weathered barns!

The cows were mooing at my cute Tater Tot

Notice the sleeping child with his hand still on the Ipod....kids these days!

The absolute sweetest moment of the night happened when we were leaving.  Upstairs when I was buying the cookbook and food, Small Fry was talking to the teenage Amish boy sitting at a small desk taking the money.  The Amish boy had a teddy bear and Small Fry was looking at it.  The Amish boy was joking around with Small Fry and said he could hold it.  When I noticed Small Fry hadn't put it down, I told him he needed to put the teddy bear back on the desk.  Small Fry was a little disappointed that he had to leave it there.  We went outside and started getting in the car, I saw the Amish boy come running out towards us. 

He handed the teddy bear to Tater Tot and said, "Hey, give this to your brother."

By the time I noticed what he had done, he was running back into the house.  I did tell him thank you and that he was so sweet.  That was such an example of the Amish spirit.  Simple ways but with kind hearts. 

Small Fry was so happy when he got the bear.  He yelled, "Thank you!!!", hugging the bear really tightly.

On the way home, I looked back to check on the boys and I saw Small Fry asleep hugging that teddy bear.  It was one of the most precious memories for me.  Sometimes, it's the little things that can really touch a child.  Small Fry now sleeps with that bear.  I sent a thank you to that sweet, sweet boy. 

He didn't have to do that, but did out of the kindness of his heart. 

If we would all act like that, this world would be a much better place.

Spring has Sprung

Yesterday was the official start of Spring for our family.  When you are a soccer family like us, the first practice, whether cold or warm, signals the start of Springtime.  We are sooooo excited!!!  This last winter has officially been the worst evah!  We aren't used to snow and ice during the winter months.  We have a few weeks of cold temps but usually it's a do-able winter.  Not this one-we've had a total of close to two feet of snow.  Yuck.....no...double yuck! 

Needless to say, Momma was super happy about soccer starting.

  I took the boys to their practices, which entailed Momma driving like crazy all over town dropping two boys off at practices that start at the same time but are at different places.  Luckily, I love, love, love Tater Tot's coach so I felt comfortable just dropping him off at practice while I rushed down the street to Small Fry's.   Small Fry was excited when we got to his practice because one of the little neighbor kids was on his team.  They had no clue they would be playing together this season so it was a wonderful surprise! 

Our temps hit a high of 51 degrees today so guess what I wanted to do???

Plan the decorations for our back porch!

I found beautiful urns at Big Lots that were on sale for $20 a piece. 

(Courtesy diynewlyweds.com)

They were brown and I was looking for black urns.  No problem.  That's why they make black spray paint!!!  You gotta love good ol' black spray paint.  It saves the day every time!

I have black wrought iron furniture on the back porch and a small black table for plants.  I recently picked up some wrought iron decor at Hobby Lobby.  I found a black iron scroll for the fireplace wall that's right behind the table and chairs. 

I also bought an iron basket that will sit in the middle of the table with a plant inside.  I've been trying to figure out a way to secure the basket on the table in case an Oklahoma storm blows in.  The best thing I can think of is to use a black twist-tie and tie it through the table and basket.  Hopefully that will help keep the basket in place.  Our winds can get pretty vicious here though during our nasty Spring storms.

I've attached some pics from one of my favorite blogs  - Melissas Heart and Home.  I love the way she decorates her home. 

I adore Boston ferns!  I have almost the exact same chair with pillow and plant stand on my front porch.

Don't you just love this fountain and the furniture? Adorable!

Love the planter in the middle of the table

I'm so addicted to the green color in the pillows below. And the tall iron scroll thingies!!!!

(Courtesy of Outonthepatio.com)

(Outonthepatio.com)