Happy 4th of July

We had all the normal 4th of July Festivities this year. There was no burn ban so Aubrey go to see fireworks for the first time. She really enjoyed them. I thought they might scare her, but they didn't seem, to bother her.

The Cousins at Uncle Mike's

Hamming it up at Church!!

I finally used the lens Brian bought me for Christmas.

I think they turned out pretty neat.

Zoo Birthday

Noah turned 1 on June 21st!        
I cannot believe he is already 1 year old!!

For his Birthday we took Noah and the Girls to The Zoo. My girls have never been before. I know, Katelynn is almost 4 and had never been to the Zoo but you have to take into consideration the timing; 2 years ago I was huge pregnant with Aubrey and last summer was JUST TOO HOT! (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!)

Noah waiting to go into the Zoo for his Birthday!!

Such a cutie and such a love bug! He has the best laugh, the best kisses and the BEST blue eyes I have ever seen. Love this little boy!!

I bought Katelynn a disposable camera for her first trip the The Zoo. We have yet to develop her pictures but I have a sneaky suspicion that not many will be frame worthy. No offense Kiki. (this was also on our Summer List. Another check, cool!)

Aubrey got very excited at the Koi Pond. Although you couldn't really tell what she was saying, well, because she will NOT remove the baa from her mouth.

Here is Noah telling Aubs all about the goats, because that is what a boy cousin is supposed to do!!

Kiki and Aubrey feeding the goats hay.

Noah catching a ride with Daddy

Kiki catching a ride with Uncle Paul too. These two are so close, I love it!!

It rained while we were at the zoo, but that was not a problem. It actually kept things cool and we found refuge with the monkeys.  Oh, and we saw some gorillas while we were there too.  **hee hee hee**

 Katelynn likes to tell the story of how the monkey "startled" her. She actually uses the word startled. She is getting so big.

The loved The Zoo. We didn't get to see the whole thing. It is so spread out and since it was raining a lot of the animals were under shelter. We'll go back again.

Guess what, going to the Zoo was also on out Summer List so you guessed it, CHECK!!

Continuing with the List

I have been having problems downloading my pictures to my computer. Well, actually our laptop broke AGAIN and I cannot get my pics to download to the Mac so I had to buy a card reader. That is why I haven't posted anything lately.

But we have been working on our Summer List. Not much has been checked off because we have been so busy and when we find something we like to do, we keep doing it so that doesn't leave much time for checking things off. But we have made a bit of progress, just a bit.

We have finger painted!!

Katelynn has finger painted at school already so it was no biggee for her. But for Aubrey to be able, actually encouraged, to stick her fingers in messy, gooey, cold finger paint and then smear all paper, she was in heaven.

Their master pieces have been saved and I am thinking about sending their "art" off to a company that scans the pictures and turns them into a Book. How neat would that be for them for in the future. (And I wouldn't feel the need to hang on to EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF PAPER they give me. So it's a win-win.

We Have taken a Glow-Bath!

After the finger painting we decided to check another activity off the list by taking a glow bath!! We just turned off the lights, put a towel over the window and threw glow bracelets into the tub. They loved it. Now, the pictures are terrible but it was very hard to get the camera to work. (yes, it was the camera's fault, it had nothing to do with me or my abilities.)

We have Ding Dong Ditched a Neighbor!!

Katelynn picked Miss Tamera and Mr. Rob to DDD and she had a great time. I let our neighbors know ahead of time since they had an unfortunate TP incident on Easter morning that resulted in the flooding of their entire house. I knew they might be a little leery if we rang their doorbell and then took off. They were great sports!

After were did that Katelynn wanted to DDD the entire neighborhood. I had to inform here that only a couple boxes of Ding Dongs were purchased, but we'd put more on our shopping list later.  =)

Well, that's 3 more checks off our list and only a limited number of days left.

We best get busy!!

Found this is the "Drafts" section of the blog...totally forgot about these.

Funny conversations by Katelynn:

The other day at school while everyone was sitting down to eat lunch Katelynn proclaimed:

"Why don't we all get up and do the Hot Dog Dance!"

Her teacher said no.  (This was last year in MDO.)

Aubrey will jerk back suddenly if she is not "happy" so you have to be very careful with her, or she will jerk right out of your arms. She caught me off guard the other day so I said" Aubrey if you don't stop doing that you are going to break your back!" To which Katelynn replied, "Aubrey, if you break your back we are going to have to put tape on it!!"

I picked Katelynn up from "school" and I asked her if she wanted to walk to the car. She said no. Then I asked if she wanted to fly. She said "I cannot fly like a bird, yet. I am only 2!"(Obviously more than a year ago!)

A Summer of Lists

I love lists. I actually love crossing done items off lists. To be honest with you, usually the first item on my TO DO list is "Make a To Do List" so as soon as I am finished, that gets marked through and I start off my list with something already accomplished.  A little off, I know. Somewhere there is probably a statistic that says because of that I am a little schizo, maybe ADD or OCD or something like that (and to answer the question that is in your head, yes the clock in my car is 15 minutes fast!).

But since time is just flying by I thought that maybe lists would help me make the most out of the time I have with my children, help me remember and follow through with the grand ideas I have for my home, heck, get a couple of fun things done this summer!!  So Saturday morning, Katelynn and I turned on Sprout and made a list of 50 things we wanted to do this Summer.

Now, it is nothing fancy. It is not framed, or written on a chalkboard, or even written in multiple colored ink. It is just a list of 50 small things we think might be fun.

The best part of this list is every morning Katelynn will come up to me and say "Mommy, have you checked the list yet?  We need to check the list." 

I let her pick 3-4 things that she wants to do during the week. I don't tell her what they are, she just randomly chooses a few items and I put a star by them. those are what we need to do that week. 

I hope this ends up being fun for her and Aubrey both. We've been able to check one item off already. We went swimming Saturday. Or the girls went swimming. And so did Pop.  It was no where warm enough for me. I'l be waiting until the middle of July to get into the pool, but the girls got in and that is one big ol' check on our list!!

A Very Busy Weekend...

This past weekend was very busy for the Bateman Family.  We headed to Tulsa for a couple of days, then to Mulhall for a race and then Mother's Day on Sunday.  It was a good time though. We spent a lot of time together as a family, something we don't get to do for that many consecutive days.

Thursday afternoon Brian and I packed up the  girls and we headed to Tulsa to see The Fresh Beat Band in concert. It was something that I have been looking forward to for a very long time.

Before we went to the show we walked around downtown Tulsa for a little bit;  having lunch and chasing bunnies, you know, the normal things you do downtown.

Here we are at Billy's having lunch.

Daddy took the girls to see a statue in one of the offices downtown. They were intrigued by the man reading the paper.

Katelynn and Aubrey by the water fountain in front of the BOK Building.

The little bunny we caught having an afternoon snack. (Aubrey tried to follow it back into its "home" in the shrubbery.)

The girls loved the hotel room, who wouldn't? The ran around for about 15 minutes repeating "Holy Mackerel" and to hear Aubrey say it is the cutest thing EVER!

Checking out the shower

Opening EVERY SINGLE drawer

Kiki's funny face!

After we got back and "Fresh"ened up it was time to head to the Brady and get ready for The Fresh Beat Band.

Katelynn in her Rockstar Jacket my Aunt Linda made for her.

Aubrey all dressed up.

These were our seats. 2nd row!!!!

The infamous Twist!

Marina, Kiki, Twist and Shout

Katelynn dancing

They girls were in awe

Action shot!!

After the concert we went to an after party just around the block from the theatre. The girls got dance lessons from a couple of the FBB dancers.  They also got to color, play dress-up, play on instruments and then there was a meet and greet with the band members.

Kiki coloring a picture of...Twist. Shocking!!

Aubrey loved the little canvas tent/tunnels.

Katelynn walked up to Twist and gave him a hug, then she told Kiki that her names was Kiki too. And Aubrey did not hesitate to climb up on Kiki's lap for a picture. It was really a good time!!

Needless to say, after the after party we filled up on fine Mexican cuisine and then headed to the hotel to crash!

Friday morning we went to see Aunt Julie at work. The girls loved going up to the 16th floor in the elevator and they loved the view from Aunt Julie's office. Not sure if Aunt Julie's neighbors liked the fact that two little girls kept walking into their offices, but hey, it was a Friday!!

After that we headed to the Aquarium.  Katelynn really enjoyed this. The first thing she was able to do was touch a starfish. After that she was "hooked".  (I kill me, really!)

There is that funny face again.

Feeding the turtles with Daddy

The girls really enjoyed this.

Saturday morning we headed out early to Mulhall so I could run in the Dirty 30 with some friends. We had a great time and I am so glad that Brian and the girls were there with me.  It was the best feeling when I came up on top of a hill about to plunge into the first of 3 mud pits and there was Brian and my girls yelling for me.

Melissa and me before the race.

When I saw B and the girls before the first mud pit

The finish line

Me. Melissa and Mary 

Melissa and me after the race

Mother's Day was perfect.  I woke up early and just chilled by myself for a little bit and then everyone else woke up. The girls and Brian gave me presents, a Beatles mouse pad and cowboy boots, PERFECT!!

Then we headed off to Church where the men in our Sunday School Class made breakfast. It was delicious. Then for dinner we headed to Uncle Paul's house and he grilled out. Everything was so delicious and so relaxing. The perfect end to a perfect weekend.

Noah playing the guitar with Paul

Ridgley Hayes, gorgeous!!!