The One With Sky Booms, Family, and Fun

July 4 - 7, 2019

Another LONG weekend!  Since the 4th  was on a Thursday this year, the party lasted ALL FOUR DAYS!  OK, not really, but at least we did get a long break from routine and some family time in.  And while it is summer in Oklahoma, it was not as hot as it is going to get next week, so we were able to enjoy the holiday weekend and have some fun.

We had no real, solid plans for the weekend or for the holiday, so in true Weaver style, we played it by ear.  Seemed to work out pretty well!  There are always lots of choices for things to do on Independence Day, but this year we chose to keep it simple.  VERY simple!

Lara had a babysitting gig midday on Thursday, so the rest of us stayed home and relaxed for the morning.  I had texted Emma to see what she was doing, and we chatted on the phone for a bit.  She was busy working for her Grandpa in Newkirk, but I told her we were just going to Nana and Granpa's house later, and she was welcome to come, too!  I was super surprised when she showed up in Perkins later that evening!

Roofing

She is not afraid of hard work!

After Lara was home from babysitting, we sent out to eat for lunch, went to 2 different fireworks stands, then went to the cemetery to visit Uncle Brian's grave.  As is our tradition, we lit smoke bombs from the flower holder atop his marker.  Fourth of July was also his favorite holiday.  Light things on fire; blow them up, repeat.

Then, we headed to Nana and Grandpa's with a load of fireworks to enjoy the rest of the evening.  We shot off a few small things before Emma got there, but then once she got there we blew up some more!  She and Jake even went to another fireworks stand for more stuff!

Emma's Here!

Sky Booms, Family, and Fun

Dad and Emma

Lara and Finn

Emma and Finn cleaning (Becuase, Nana!)

Lara, smoke ball dancing

I LOVE THIS CREW!

My two red-headed firecrackers had a fun time together. and with family, and it did this Momma's heart good to have them together for a fun night.  Emma stayed the night at our house in Stillwater but headed back to Newkirk early the next morning.

Emma - 17, Senior Summer

Lara - 17; Senior Summer

The rest of the weekend was pretty lazy.  Jake was picked up to play basketball by a team in OKC, so Lara spent most of Saturday and part of the day Sunday babysitting Finn.  They bought the new "Game of LIFE" boardgame - I hate it.  I want my 1970's version back.  It was more like LIFE!

We missed all the fun we have had the last 2 years (here and here) with our extended Hatfield family, but they were out of town for a wedding.  At The Movies started at Life Church this weekend.  Our Stillwater church lobby is decorated as the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  The movie in this week's message was "A Star is Born."  It was a heavy message, but a good one!  I can't wait to see what next week brings - for the Twisters and at church!

The One With Twins in My New House

July 6-8, 2018

We have to back up a little bit.  There was a PRETTY MAJOR holiday between last weekend and this weekend, and since it is a BIG ONE for our family, I would be remiss if I didn't document it.  Plus, one year ago this week, I started this blog 2020 project with the FIRST post - and it happened to cover 4th of July.  I love this time of year!

It all messed up with the actual HOLIDAY falling in the middle of the week - on a WEDNESDAY!  So, we actually started our party on TUESDAY night!  We all headed over to our friend's the Hatfield's for fun dinner, sides, and sweets, and A WHOLE LOT of firecrackers!  We started at duck with the "little" stuff, then it was on to the BIG stuff!  It was super fun, and a good time was had by all.  It was warm, but not hot, and we all came home with a little sun on our cheeks and hair that smelled a little like a camp fire...

when we got home at midnight

LOVE the comparisons!

Wednesday, the ACTUAL 4th of July, was spent with family.  We slept in to recover from the night before, but there was more family time to come, and more stuff to blow up!  Cousin Kayleigh was here from Texas and staying with Nana and Grandpa.  So we met for dinner, visited Brian's grave, bought more fireworks, and set them off at Nana and Grandpa's house in Perkins.

Finn, Jake, Kayleigh and Lara at Brian's grave site

Annual Smoke Bomb Tradition

Lara, Jake, Kayleigh and Finn at Nana's House

Mom and Lara lightin' it up!

Friday, when the weekend actually starts, we had a visitor!!!!!  For the first time since we lived in our new house (8 weeks, now!), Emma came to Stillwater and STAYED IN OUR HOUSE!  We were thrilled to have her!  Finn gave up his bed for her.  Well, sort of.  He started out on the floor of his room in a sleeping bag, but by the end of the night he was in bed with her! LOL!

After we ate dinner Friday night, the kids just HAD to get out of the house.  All of them.  So, for the first time since I had 2 licensed drivers, all my kids went in a car together.  ALONE together.  I took some pictures, then apparently there was some Snap Chatting by Child #1...

All 4 kiddos leaving in Jett the Jetta

I can't even

Saturday was pretty chill.  The girls went out in the morning and ran some errands.  Then, the took Jake to see a movie - Uncle Drew.  Jake LOVED it! I think the girls liked it, too, but the best part was just making memories!  That evening, Finn got to ride in Emma's truck with Emma and Lara as they ran some errands for us as well. This teenage driver thing is great!

Sunday, we all got up early to beat the crowds for At The Movies at Life.Church Stillwater.  Even though we went to the 8:30am service, it was still PACKED!  The movie was "The Greatest Showman" and the message was SPOT on!  I made the kids pose for a picture before church:

Jake (11), Emma (16), Lara (16), Finn (6.5)

What a great weekend it was!  Can't believe the summer is 1/2 over.  I heard a Back To School shopping ad on the radio this morning.  The kids are already talking schedule pick-ups and meet the teacher.  I finalized my class schedule as well.  Summer is speeding by!

Oh - and this fun comparison:

My kiddos are looking old....  Here's to next weekend!

A letter to Finn at 9 months old

Dear Finn,

Well, an app on my iPhone just beeped and alerted me that you are 9 months old today.  How in the world did that happen?  Especially since I am pretty sure I just brought you home like a month ago!  But, the calendar doesn’t lie, and you are, in fact, ¾ of a year old today.  Luckily for us, your adjusted age will only be 6 months tomorrow.  I can totally live with that a lot better.  The app also told me that separation anxiety peaks around 9 months old.  I wonder how the adjusted age thing plays into that…

You are such a joy!  A very smiley baby!  Everyone loves to see you smile, and you are so friendly you will share that smile with just about anyone!  Daddy and Nana are your favorites to smile at, but you will share with me and your siblings, too!  Your dad and I have a million pictures of that infectious smile on our phones and camera!  Let’s see, you are still in 3-6 month clothing – although the one piece pajamas are starting to get a little too short, wearing size 2 diapers, you can roll front to back with no problem and you try back to front every once in a while, you can sit for about 2 seconds on your own, and YOU HAVE YOUR FIRST TOOTH!  It just popped through the gums yesterday!  I am going to miss those precious toothless grins!  Just another indicator that you are in growing into a Big Boy!

You go see your pediatrician next week for your regular 9 month checkup, and we also have a hearing screening scheduled for that day – just routine since you were a NICU baby!  I am pretty sure you can hear just fine since you have all the noise of a 6 person home around you!  You got to enjoy your first 4th of July fireworks display last night, and you were in awe!  Just sat in my lap and stared at the beautiful lights in the sky!

And your local celebrity streak continues!  The Oklahoma Blood Institute once again used your miracle status as a call to action for people to donate blood, and to show how that act can literally change a life!  You are the cover boy for this summer’s OBI newsletter – and we couldn’t be more proud.  You are showing off that precious smile again!

I love you, my little peanut!  I can’t wait to find out how much you’ve grown when we weigh you and measure you next week.  You change every day, and I am so blessed to be a part of this miracle.  You have changed our entire family for the better, and I am appreciating every moment we get to grow and stretch with you.  Thank you for being my son, and for teaching us all so many important lessons.

Love,

Mom

State Night (and other news)

Lady Gaga, Swoosie Kurtz, Katy Perry, Tom Wopat (Luke Duke),  Bruno Mars, Dolly Parton, Michael Jackson, Miley Cyrus, Buddy Holly and 2 of Johnny Cash.  Snow White, Abe Lincoln, Henry Ford, Sarah Palin, and Hawaiian Princess Kaʻiulani.  Barry Sanders, Brandon Weeden, Tim Tebow and a skate boarder named Ryan Schekler.  Plus about 50 others I can’t recall.  What do all of these famous people have in common? They were all at Westwood’s 4^th Grade State Night last night!  It was AMAZING!  The kids did SUCH a great job, and we all had a blast going from booth to booth learning about each of the 50 states, the celebrity that was being represented, and getting snacks native to that state at some.  (You could bring snacks for the crowd for extra credit – my girls were ALL OVER this step!)  We really enjoyed asking questions and listening to the kids give their spiels, while Jake just went from station to station getting food.  He saw someone with fried chicken, a complete stranger, and then asked her where she got it, because he NEEDED some chicken!  LOL!  We also had grapes, cantaloupe, ice cream (thank you, Buddy Holly), wild rice, pineapple, dried cherries, blueberry muffins, sunflower seeds, and pickles- among other treats.

Emma represented the state of New York and dressed as a pop super star that is hugely talented and legendary for her strangeness, Lady Gaga.  Her costume consisted of a “bubble” dress, red tights, silver glitter high heels, a microphone (from our Wii) Gaga-esk wig, and outlandish make up.  She brought pizza bites as her snack for her station.

"Lady Gaga" telling Jake about New York

Lara chose to research the state of Nebraska, and her celebrity look alike was Swoosie Kurtz who is currently on the sit-com Mike & Molly on CBS.  He costume was an awards ceremony worthy coral dress, the highest heels she could find, and “show” make up – with a prop of an “award” and actress of Ms. Kurtz quality might have won.  Nebraska is the Cornhusker State, so her snack was popcorn.

Swoozie Kurtz posing with her popcorn

In other news, Finn is FIVE MONTHS OLD!  

He may be colic-y, but he sure is CUTE!

As of yesterday, he has been with us for five whole months.  It really doesn’t seem possible.  Time is going so quickly.  I would estimate his weight to be 10 pounds 10 ounces, and he is 21.5 inches long.  Pretty much right on track with his 2 month old peers.  We are weaning the oxygen this week – hope to be off completely by the weekend!  He is sleeping soundly right beside me with no oxygen assistance, and we shall see how the rest of the day goes.  He’s a trooper, for sure!

Better, but still not great!

YAY! Made it to Friday! It has been a CrAzY week, where I have felt marginally better, but have not been great. The highlights are 4th of July (day off work, and blowing things up), registering for baby items (and the barrage of Transformers movies and shows my son is now obsessed with), getting all of my chicks back in my nest (the girls were gone for 2 whole weeks!), going to court (where we got to kibitz about lawyer fashion) and for Britt, finding out that the Peach Shake is back at Chick-fil-a! I have been looking forward to this day (Friday) as it is OFFICIALLY the start of my second trimester. I just got an email that said THIS:

Welcome to the second trimester! This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb. Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him -- a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb. In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches -- about the size of a lemon -- and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces.

Monday was the 4th of July, and no one had to work, so we loaded up the van, and took to the City. My folks went with us – Babies R Us is quite a draw when you haven’t bought baby items in almost 5 years! We started off there, and made a short registry of the basics – Britt was hoping that would help me get more excited about the pregnancy. It helped! I came home with a tiny diaper – it’s SO CUTE! – and some ideas, so that’s fun. After BRU, we went to lunch at Jason’s Deli – a family favorite with lots of healthy choices. And of course, free ice cream at the end for the kids! And Dads! Britt and my Dad were both loading up on the ice cream! ;) After that, we headed to Bricktown for a quick stop at Pinkitzel – we can’t be that close and not stop in! Got some treats to bring home for later! Then, it was off to our FAVORITE shopping destination – TARGET! We started a baby registry there, too. Added a few of the same things that were on our BRU list, but got some others as well. This is where Jake decided he wanted the transformers movie, but he is a bit disappointed with it, and likes watching Transformers: PRIME on the Hub channel much better. My DVR will never be the same… *sigh*

Got the girls back on Tuesday night, and Jake was in HOG HEAVEN! I thought I had never heard him talk so much as when they were gone, but he ramped it up into OVERDRIVE when he had them back – he had to tell them EVERYTHING from the past 14 days since he had seen them! It is so nice to have them back in the house – even if it is louder and messier! Wednesday night we hung out with our “LTC” LifeGroup friends at the Perkins splash pad, which was fun and refreshing even if it was like 102 outside and the splash pad water turned off an hour before it was supposed to! We all needed to get home to bed, anyway, right?
But, the most EXCITING part of Wednesday was THIS:

 

That’s right! It was late afternoon, and I was at my desk at work, and I stretched my arms up over my head and leaned back in my chair, and I felt my whole uterus do a flip flop! WOW! I know it was the baby, and it made my WEEK! I was so excited to tell Britt, and the kids thought it was pretty cool, too! (My mom was torqued because she found out on facebook – I forgot to text or call her… OOPS!) I guess it also led to my first craving, as this was my tweet soon after we got the kids all to bed:

We also had the distinct pleasure of sitting in a court room for 3 hours yesterday afternoon. We finally got the settlement entered from when Lara got hit by a car in the crosswalk in front of her school in February of 2009. I am so glad that is OVER! We still have a few small steps to take care of, but they all fall on me (the victim, of course – why do other people’s negligence always cause the victim work and stress?), and I have some time to carry them out, but it will be COMPLETELY over soon!

So, this weekend I hope to get some rest in between sorority meetings, church, and kids’ commitments. Will probably have to visit Chick-fil-a for that a fore mentioned shake for Britt, and I need to clean my house a bit, too, since this energy drain in my belly is not really allowing that to happen these days! Here’s to the dog days of summer - and the SECOND TRIMESTER!