The Only Half Birthday Worth Celebrating

Emma and Lara.  Twins.  Sisters.  Twisters.  My first born babies.  The babies that made me a Momma.  Seems like a very short time ago when they were infants and I was begging them to sleep and to hold their own bottles.  And this week, they turned that magical age of Fifteen, AND A HALF!

In Oklahoma, it is a rite of passage at 15.5 years old to get your Oklahoma Driver’s Permit.  Both my girls took Driver’s Education this past summer (right after they turned 15) at their respective schools, so we didn’t have to take any tests or do any driving.  But the joy is in the journey, and we had fun and made memories along the way.

Emma came to Stillwater from Orlando Monday night and spent the night with us.  We got up a little extra early, because rumor had it the lines and wait can be VERY long at the Stillwater DMV!  Plus, Emma had a basketball game that night and to be eligible to play we had to get her to school as soon as possible.  A school 25 miles away.  We were in line on a chilly, drizzly, cloudy May 14.  We were about the 10-12^th people in line, but based on observations we thought we were probably the 5^th or 6^th actual customer.  We were very excited when the door opened at 8am and we got out of the elements, but we knew that was not the end of our wait.

Lara was “L03” and Emma was “L04”, but there were other people with other letters and numbers in front of us.  Lara was finally called back to an agent about 8:25.  She did her thing with all the paperwork we brought, checked her vision, take a picture taken, made her finger print and answered her 8 questions, and she was done in less than 10 minutes.  It was back out to the lobby until Emma was called in at 8:36. Back to the SAME AGENT!  Emma’s took a little longer.  For a dozen reasons – Emma just does things a little slower, plus she talks and asks lots of questions – but the MAIN reason was because the agent grew up in Orlando, Oklahoma!  So, they had old home week.  LOL!  Once Emma was finished with all her DMV steps, it was back in the car and off to the tag agency.

We arrived at the Stillwater Tag Agency at a few minutes before 9:00am.  We considered ourselves LUCKY because the place was basically empty.  Emma and Lara went in ahead of me because I was looking for my checkbook in the car.  By the time I got in the building, they were both filling out the “blue form” with an agent who was working them both at the same time.  She was so nice!  Congratulated them on this milestone, asked them fun questions, and when she took the pictures for their licenses, she let them see the images before the printed the cards!  So nice!  She also let me write just ONE check for the both of them.  WINNING! We were out the door by 9:05am!

Very different than when they were babies!

Time to get these Twisters to school.  Lara drove us from the tag agency to Stillwater high school.  3 miles in town with lots of stop lights, lane changes, traffic and stress.  Oh, did I mention it was lightly raining at this point?  But she got there safety by about 9:20 – only missed the first few minutes of her first class!

Emma and I enjoying Lara's driving!

Now it was Emma’s turn.  She drove from Stillwater High School to Mulhall-Orlando High School.  24 miles, mostly highway, very little traffic, high speeds.  Very different experience (Which is so typical of my opposite twins!).  She got to school about 10:05 – (after a quick stop at her house to drop off her overnight bag) and had missed 2 classes already! But she was there in time to be able to play basketball that evening with her Lady Panthers.

I am glad that is over for another 6 months! LOL!  While I am excited for them to expand their driving abilities and I am thankful for a couple of cute re-headed chauffer’s for the next few months, it will be a whole new world when they can drive off on their own… *sigh* 

The one with wins and losses

November 10 - 13, 2017
Hard to believe another weekend is already in the books!  There were a lot of sports contests, and some wins, and some losses.  Both girls seemed to have some illnesses along the way this weekend as well.  The weather was dreary and dark and a little bit more winter-y than we have had yet this year.  The seasons are truly changing - in so many ways!

Friday was a divide and conquer kind of night.  Lara and the Stillwater Pioneer football team were headed to Bixby for their first round playoff game.  Emma and the Lady Panthers were off to Carney for their first basketball contest of the season.  Since Finn has been struggling with his coughing and breathing a bit this week, he was off to Carney with Nana and Grandpa to see Emma and her team; while Jake, Dad and I went to Bixby for the football game.

It was a cool night, and a long drive over to Bixby.  The game was very one-sided right from the beginning, and after a lot of hard work, grit, and FIGHT, the Pioneers came up short, and *just like that* the football season was over.  So surreal.

Meanwhile, in Carney, the Mulhall-Orlando Lady Panthers were ready to open their season.  Although our Emma girl didn't get to see any court time, her team came out victorious after a close and hard fought game.  She got to hang out with Finn and and her grandparents and stayed in the gym to watch the M-O boys team play, but they did not come out with the win.  A late night for ALL involved!

Saturday, we all divided and conquered some more...  Nana had a meeting in Perry; Emma was home resting in Orlando, Lara was home in Stillwater with a friend over to binge watch TV, and we took Jake to basketball in Edmond - Grandpa and Finn met us there.  We got home after the OSU Cowboy game was already over (THEY WON!), so we watched the replay of that game and just hung out the rest of the day.  Emma was going to come to Stillwater with us for the rest of the weekend, but she had either some food poisoning or a virus, so she stayed home to keep the rest of us "well."  Lara's friend Erika was here for the whole day and well in to the evening.  She "taught" Lara to play chess, and the two of them had a fun time irritating Finn.

Sunday everyone slept in.  Finn had a rough night with his coughing, and Lara was starting the cold the rest of us had already passed around.  So Sunday was spent watching TV and resting.  We threw it back OLD SCHOOL and watched High School Musical and High School Musical 2 on Netflix.  Lara watched Camp Rock, too!  Thanks, Disney Movies!

This afternoon it was church, dinner, family meeting, errands, homework, showers, and bed!  SO thankful for these restful Sundays! Now, if everyone could just get well around here!

The one where we fell back

November 3 - 6, 2017
Ah, October.  You've been a good one!  Not without a few down turns, but over all, not too shabby!  We said Good Bye to you this week, and welcomed in November.  Leaves finally started to change, the weather cooled A LOT, and everyone in this house is sniffling and snorting.  Sounds about right...

Friday night the Stillwater Pioneers had a BIG game to play in Midwest City.  Winning this game clenched a home Playoff game.  Losing meant we would be on the road again for our first round playoff appearance.  Unfortunately, injuries abounded and a few botched plays, and we left Mid Del Schools a little disappointed - and a lot worried about our injuries!  It's going to be a tough week of recovery and resetting to get ready for Bixby this coming Friday night.

Favorite part of the game is when they come see me at halftime

Saturday morning, everyone was up and at 'em pretty early.  Lara was going to a ticketed sale at Belk with Nana that the proceeds help SMAC week.  They left about 7am to go get Emma in Orlando, then do some serious shopping.  (Of course, Jake had basketball in Edmond, so we were off to that not too much later).  The girls both got some new clothes, and new shoes.  Emma needed dresses to wear to upcoming events, and Lara got some new shirts.  They also got shoes at Ross, so a good shopping day with Nana for sure.  After dropping Emma back in Orlando, Nana, Grandpa and Lara came to Edmond to watch Jake's games and have some lunch.

Meanwhile, back in Stillwater, ESPN College Gameday had taken over the town and Bedlam mayhem was everywhere.  We got back to Stillwater just before the 2nd quarter started, and watched the craziest game on TV Saturday from the comfort of our living room.  Again, not the outcome we had wanted, and those crazy TV announcers were totally fangirl-ing over Baker Mayfield in the most ANNOYING way, but it was fun to watch.  Second half Pizza was a good dinner, too!

Sunday, after we changed our clocks and FELL BACK, was a lazy, relaxing Sunday.  Homework, Laundry, naps and Netflix.  We went to church at 4, did our usual dinner and family meeting after that, and then it was bed time!  Ready for a new week!

Some of us fared better with the time change than others.  Lara has a little trouble resetting her alarm clock, and somehow the alarm went of at 5:15am on Monday morning.  She thought it was time to get up and get going.  Until she checked her phone... Luckily (or not, however you want to look at it), Mom was the only other person who heard that 5:15 alarm and woke up.

And because the picture order came in over the weekend, here is Lara's official sophomore student trainer photo: