A dog's life on a swingset....with a two-year-old!

Wally's first time to play on Kate's swingset. Oh, what fun we had today!
I barked and barked until they put me up the ladder!

The best part was going down the slide. Kate laughed and laughed at me.
I did it a few times before the weekend ended!

Playing hard makes me thirsty. Kate gave me some water.
It was out of the hose! The BEST kind in the world.

Ahh...cooling down after a hard day's work! Kate put my mama's hat on me too!
Silly Kate.

 

waterfall.....

 

Quick trip to Texas....

Goofing off with Aunt Emily is sooo much fun! Kate loves to have her picture taken, as does Aunt Emily. So, let's smile together and take it of ourselves! What a great idea!

Can you see the cantaloupe juice dripping from the chin?
Dinner was good.
I think we will be making a cantaloupe run in the middle of the night.
She eats it like it's going out of style...better cantaloupe than cookies!


Will is crawling. He's 6 1/2 months! He pulls to stand too.
I won't be a bit surprised if he's walking independently at 8 or 9 months.
He's a cutie. He makes the greatest faces and noises!

Look at me! Aunt Emily had a great idea to put the pool at the bottom of the slide!
This was fun. We splashed water up the slide and then slid into the pool!
What a fun day with Aunt Emily!

 

more things..

another few things to note: i've mentioned seeing the man walking his opossum on a leash down the sidewalk, never before have i seen him actually walking down the sidewalk, while his opossum was on a leash AND sitting on his shoulder. crazy. i tell ya. crazy.

on another note: i'm headed to stillwater tomorrow for my Peace Corps interview. i'm thrilled. i can't wait. it should be fun. i'm nervous too. check my other blog emilyinpeacecorps.blogspot.com

later.

the day in creek county...

so, i stayed late tonight for work. i had a late visit in the middle of nowhere in creek county. it was a 7 appointment...which is pretty late, plus i missed american idol. so, on the way out there i saw a herd of goats escaping their fence. i drove about a half a mile past it and i felt like i should go around and tell the family in the house. i turned around. knocked on the door. they weren't there, so i left a note saying the following "the goats were escaping. i thought you would want to know." on to my visit now....i turn off by the lake exit...and drive to find the house. find the house, they forgot i was coming. crap. now i'm all the way out here and am missing american idol for nothing. darn. on the way back i realize it smells like smoke and i see a fire. it's only on one side of the road, so i drove by it. it was there for several blocks...in the middle of the country, and there were houses. i proceed to call 911 because it's the only number i know. i am then transferred from fire department to fire department and they finally tell me they are on their way. i never saw fire trucks on the highway on my way home. i hope they got out there. i hope no one was hurt. what a day!

Faces of Will...

After spending a weekend in Texas, I had to post pictures of my cutie little nephew, John William. He's absolutely perfectly adorable. I don't know how it can get any cuter! Here are a few of my favorite faces of the weekend! Enjoy.

Day at the park in Texas....

Will slept throughout the entire morning! What a trip to the park. Must be rough!








Look at the prairie dog. He's a cutie too!











Kate's a monkey. She's already climbing the rock wall at the junglegym on the playground! Wow.









Kate loves to go down the slide...Fun times.












Ahh....water. Water is sooo good. Especially after a long day at the park.

Ilze and Eve, Part Deux

I even think Eve is rolling her eyes at Taylor!
Just like the rest of us...nah, we love him lots!

Eve is a beautiful bucksin! She's amazingly fast...and isn't a thoroughbred.
Ilze rides her well and it will be fun to see what happens next!
I think Ilze has a few more shows and then the World Show in July....and it's in Tulsa!
How perfect!

Emily and Eve.
She's the most beautiful horse, and she likes me too!
We were all bundled up trying to stay warm!

Ilze and her favorite girl, Eve!

 

Ilze and Eve

Ilze and Eve
Claremore Expo Center
May 6, 2006

Ilze riding Eve in her first horseshow ever!
She did FANTASTIC!

We all love Eve. Ilze loves her and does so well with Eve.
They are a perfect match for each other!
Aren't we glad we found Eve!


Yesterday was my little sister Ilze's first horseshow ever. She did a great job and won several ribbons! She was the fastest in her class of barrel racing, pole-bending, and keyhole. Trust me, I never knew what those were before yesterday! It was very cold outside, raining, and a cold breeze from the west. I think I'm just now getting warm throughout my entire body. It was fun to see Ilze have such a great time with her horse, Eve. What was really great about it was that so many people were there supporting her! Dad and Gayle, Taylor and I, and our Mimi. It was a fun day, also a very long day..I think Ilze was up at 5:00 and didn't get home until 7:00.

What a way to spend Saturday.

 

fUn iN tHe sUn!

This kid is amazing. He is so alert when he's awake. I can't wait until he's big enough to play baseball with in the summers! He's a cutie!


Kate has amazing faces. She really does. I want to keep capturing those special days!


Kind of an odd angle....but she loved the sidewalk chalk.


A great way to end the weekend...at the park with Aunt Emily and Mimi. I taught her to say "Emmy rocks" and she passed with flying colors!


They have to go back to Texas tomorrow. I will miss them a lot. I think I will visit in a month or so....can't go too long without them! Just too adorable kids. I laugh when I think how great they are....that when I finally get some of my own, I will be really insane!

 

Will...He's adorable!

He's bright eyed and bushy-tailed! Man, he's so handsome!

BLUE EYES!!!

Silly Aunt Emily taking pictures of me again!

I love to swing! I'm only 4 months old too! What a big boy!

 

Kate's 2nd Birthday Party!

Here are a few pictures from Kate's 2nd Birthday Party! I'm sure I'm a little partial, but this kid is beautiful! I'll put some up of Will in a new post. Kate had so much fun with her family and friends! We celebrated with Sesame Street Friends: Elmo, Cookie Monster, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird, Zoe, and I'm sure I forget some more.

Kate loved having her family over celebrating her special day! She opened lots of fun presents, and will have lots of new things to play with in Texas.

Enjoy the pictures!







Look at those eyes!













She was patiently waiting for Elmo cake!

















I can open presents! Everyone wanted to help me too!














I think I want chocolate ice cream Aunt Emily, but mama said no. So, Mimi gave me bites of her vanilla ice cream!

Child Abuse Prevention Month

April: Child Abuse Prevention Month

This is a pair of shoes out of 51 that were hung at the Gazebo in Sapulpa today. There were 51 children killed by child abuse and neglect in the year 2004. This is only one set of shoes. What are we doing as a society to help save these children? This is a passion of mine. I'm working hard on some different task force's to prevent and educate regarding child abuse. It's a sad thing.

Go out into the world and do what you can. It takes a whole village to raise a child.

God Bless

 

Leaves, Sticks, Acorns...Oh My!

Well, I made the move to mom's house and things are going great. It's been about two weeks I think, and we have had a great time. Having said that, I don't know if I've ever seen so many leaves, sticks, and acorns in my life! We have spent the last three weekends raking leaves, trimming trees and shrubs, and raking acorns up too. It's been fun, but I'm tired nonetheless. Wally really enjoys being out and about in the backyard and gets some great exercise. It helps us wear him down so he's a little calmer at night. If you know Wally, you know that the two words Wally and calm usually don't go together. But, it's fun.

I had the chance to meet a really great guy today for a blind brunch date. I decided to try the Match.Com approach and see what can happen. After all, Ashley, my friend from summers in New York, is marrying her fiance whom she met off Match.Com too. Why not. Not much to lose. So, I met a really nice guy today. He's new to town and recently moved here from Houston. He took me to The Chalkboard, a nice restaurant in downtown Tulsa. It was nice to have a good conversation over a good meal with a new person in my life. He's a very respectful and kind gentleman. It was nice to have a good meeting! We'll see what happens. If nothing else, I've made a new friend!

Next weekend is Kate's birthday weekend, Robert's birthday weekend, and Easter weekend...all in three days! Kate will be 2 on the 29th of April. Robert will have his birthday on the 18th, and Easter is on Sunday. I'm excited about having them here. I haven't seen them for a few months. They will be here in April and I might go down sometime in May to visit them in Texas! I have to figure out if Kate and I will have our pictures taken in May or if we should wait a little while...I don't know! We will see.

Hope all is well with everyone. Things are going well here and everything seems to be moving along smoothly. Take care.

Always,
Emily

rain...rain..go away...

Hi. It's been awhile since I've written anything on here about my life. There have been a lot of life updates, changes, happenings, and events that have occurred in my life. I'm not sure where to begin, so I might start with this weekend.

Brr...it's cold outside. I'm happy it's raining, because I know our land so desperately needs it...but it's quite a depressing place....its cold and rainy...for almost 48 straight hours. Man, I just need a little bit of sunshine. It's pretty cold....well, it seems like it at least. I think it is supposed to rain for 48 more hours.... which I guess will be fine...so long as it stops by Thursday. That's the moving day for me.

Moving...you may ask, where is Emily moving to? Some of you may know..and others may not. I'm moving back in with my mom for a temporary place for a little while. It's a good thing and a hard thing all at once. I am moving back in with my mom with some short-term goals in mind. (1) Debt-Free
(2) Savings
(3) Home Buyers Account
I am moving back home to save money, get rid of all my debts (which, fortunately, I don't have a lot, but enough to hang over my head), save money, and then get out on my own. If things happen differently or whatever, I'll take it one day at a time. I think I would lke to be out on my own in about a year...my own cute little house, something comfy, affordable, and in a reasonably safe area. Then...I have a few other goals in mind.
(1) MSW program
(2) Foster Children
(3) Peace Corps
I'm not sure what of these I will really take action on..it really depends on my year and things that happen.

Which brings me to the next part of my writing...I just don't know where I want to be, what I want to do, or what to do with my life. Each time I think I have a good idea, something else pops in my mind as a neat idea....I think that's my problem...I have too many ideas of what would be neat things to do....I've thought a lot about the Peace Corps...going abroad to work on some orphanage project in Romania or teaching kids on an African desert....I just don't know. It sounds like a great experience, but I don't know how I would do being away from my family for that amount of time. I've thought about fostering children here in Tulsa...and that would be neat too. I just don't know. I've also entertained the idea of going back to get my MSW...which is has a high liklihood.

Anyhow, guess I need to just relax and live each day for what it brings and take life as it comes. With that being said, I started attending a new church here in Tulsa. I feel very spiritually fed and at home there. I'm going to First Presbyterian Church in downtown Tulsa. It's a great place and welcoming to everyone.

I must end this post...and get something to eat. Hope this finds everyone well and I will write more at another time.