Countdown to....Claire's 7th birthday!

Claire, Claire, Claire!  You cannot help but get a kick out of her.  She is FULL of life and I mean FULL!  She worked on this sign for several hours today...picking out the felt, writing out the letters, cutting it all out, gluing it on.  She had a little help from me, but not much.  She is a determined and very independent little thing.  I was busy doing laundry, making lunch, etc...just kind of busy and giving her a nod and a smile every once in a while.  Then she finished it and presented it to me to display.  She suggested we hang it in different places around the house all week.  She cracks me up.  Made that poster for herself for her own birthday - love it.  Today we hung it on our pantry door in the kitchen for all to see.  Tomorrow, she wants it in her room.  In any case, she'll be 7 years old on Saturday.  Hard to believe!     

Will meets the "ish!"

One of the most enjoyable things about having a new baby is the list of "firsts" you get the pleasure of witnessing and celebrating.  First smile, first tooth, first steps, first word, first wave "bye, bye".  Love it!  And this time around, I have enjoyed watching my girls enjoy it!  Kate and Claire are 15 months apart, so basically - we had two babies at once.  Kate didn't get to experience Claire's firsts in quite the same way she is experiencing Will's firsts.  And Claire is just as delighted to be a big sis today as she was 17 months ago when Will hit the scene!  Here are a few pics from Will's first trip to the Oklahoma Aquarium.  He was wide eyed and amazed at all the "ISH"!    

Fickle

I am a Southern girl.  I absolutely love the South.  You cannot persuade me to feel otherwise.  Born, raised, and educated in Mississippi, I am very attached to where I am from.  I love the tall pine trees, the huge live oaks, the enormous hydrangea bushes, the sweet tea, the grits, the cornbread and peas, the hugs when you meet/greet everyone, the MS gulf coast, the yes ma'ams, the no sirs, the y'alls, the drawls, and the football.  Yes, there are arguably more beautiful places, more sophisticated places, places with more to do, places that are more "hip", but there is no other place that feels the same to me, no other place that resides so deep in my heart.  With the exception of a small stint in Houston, TX, I have been in OK since I graduated from Southern Miss in 1995.  I am now married to an OK boy and my kids are all Okies, born right here in Tulsa.  Basically, I am outnumbered at this point!  The Okies have it.  However, I do not let my Southern roots lie dormant.  I find lots of opportunities when I am cooking, writing thank you notes, talking about my family, telling stories, to leave a little bit of the South with my girls so they will have a taste of my background.  Will's turn is coming!

Although I do love our life here, I cannot say I do not long to move "home".  I think that feeling gets stronger the older I get, the older my kids get, and possibly, the older my folks get.  I miss lots of "things" about home, but also, and most importantly, I miss my parents, family and friends from home.  However, our careers led us here and now Bill's career keeps us here.  And again, I am outnumbered!  My husband loves OK about as much as I love MS and my kids know nothing else.  So, here we are, out on the pasture!  There are no tall pine trees, no live oaks, no hydrangea bushes, no magnolia trees.  The winters are cold in my book, springtime brings major wind, and summer...well, let's just skip the temperature evaluation this summer!  Bill knows that I take exception to this treeless pasture from time to time.  But then there are days I look out there and think...wow, that's beautiful and I'm thankful for this place.  I'm thankful my kids have such a fun spot to grow, explore, discover and call home.  Thankful for the family we have here and the many good friends I have made over the years.  So, I'm fickle....very fickle about living out here on this OK pasture.  The jury is still out.  To help explain this further, here are a few pics defending my love/hate relationship with this place!         

Hate....the grass fires that come eerily close to our barn and horses in the wee small hours of the night.



Love.....the view of a rainbow from my back porch



Hate.....winters like this! 



Love....a beautiful, quiet sunrise but hate that the little tree you see there is the largest one in my yard!



Hate....the grass fires!  Hey - there are lots of 'em! 

Love.....a new calf!  Who wouldn't!?

Hate...pulling in from a long day to see this in your yard.  Hmmm?  Star Lake Ranch missing one of its cows?

Love....seeing my girls enjoy an afternoon exploring.



Love....another great sunrise!



Always, always love the sunsets!

Will turns one! (several months ago....)

How did I let this blog post slip by?  What a day!  March 3, 2011 came around so fast, too fast.  "How did this happen, how is he already one?"  These were my thoughts all day.  Along with, "What a wonderful year we have had."  "Cannot imagine life without him."   "He has been so much fun for all of us."  "We are so happy to have you with us!" 

One of the highlights for me on this day was watching him devour his little cake!  The girls picked, poked, tasted, made faces as if we had given them lemons.  Kate broke out in a rash (poor thing!).  They were just overall underwhelmed by the whole "you get your own cake!" thing.  Not this guy.  No - not at all!
We LOVE you big, Will!

Oh, yeah - this is what I'm talking about!

Let me just get a little taste...

I'm going in!!!

I'll share with Daddy!

I am so NOT finished....!

Mom gave it RIGHT back! 

Happy Birthday, William Everett Woodard!

Catching up...

Well, April was my last blog and it really doesn't surprise me. We had the busiest May on record - since we've been keeping records at the Woodard house! There was so much going on...end of school activities, Kate's first Communion celebration, grandparents visiting from MS, Kate's 8th birthday, dance recitals, gymnastics exhibitions, our 10th wedding anniversary....etc! And in the midst of all of this - one very busy toddler. The pictures in the post below were just a prelude to the level of action he exhibits now. WOW! In any case, here are a few pics from a busy but wonderful May.

Little dancers with Pap and Dot

My mom and my girls

 

Kate's 8th birthday

First Communion - Kate

 

Claire on the beam

Kate on the beam

Just hanging out!

Grammie, Claire and a gorgeous sunset!



Girl scout father/daughter sock hop - so much fun!



Stuff Will enjoys!

A day in the life of Will Woodard.  The guy has quite a to do list for himself every day and he does it so well!  I, on the other hand, am exhausted yet happy as a clam I must add.  He is a pleasure, regardless of the image these somewhat incriminating pictures present!  And such a helper....just check it out!       

                                                  Helping with dinner

                                          Helping unload/load/unload/load/unload the dishwasher

Retrieving something valuable I mistakenly threw away.  Whew!   

                                                   Getting his own snack!  Impressive. 

                                                           

Throwing away old, dirty flip flops. 

Changing the paper towels! 

Sorting through the "junk" drawer. 

Checking on the laundry! 

And this....this is the little face that greets me every morning!  He brings me more joy than I probably deserve!  Sweet, busy baby. 

Eggstravaganza!

I love this!  Every year, I absolutely love this!  I understand what Easter is really all about and my kids are on their way to understanding too, but this is a seasonal tradition that I truly do enjoy.  Brings back lots of good memories for me.  I remember my mom telling me the story of how one Spring she was sitting at her desk (best elementary school teacher that ever lived) and one of her students brought her an Easter egg she had dyed over the weekend. The class went out for recess or headed off to another activity and there she was....at her desk...all alone...with that egg. She said it brought her to tears, bittersweet ones, in an instant. My brother and I were long gone - starting careers, in graduate school, etc.  All the memories of the two of us sitting at our kitchen table, dying Easter eggs just came flooding back. We did it every year, same place, same cups, same dye, until we were too old to probably be comfortable telling our friends we had dyed eggs! I totally get it now. I'll need a tissue when noone is dying eggs in my house anymore! And I can't use PAAS or any other Easter egg kit. We always did it old school - water, vinegar, and food coloring...red, blue, green, yellow and several combinations made from those four basic colors. Pretty simple, but pretty sweet!  Happy Easter!