Some more OK pictures

Our last day in Oklahoma we decided to drive down to the Chickasaw Cultural Center. Oklahoma is home to many Native American tribal peoples, some by choice, some not. They had a good size of land devoted to educating the general public about the history, culture, and struggles of the Chickasaw Nation. Behind us is the museum. We watched a film about the history of the chickasaw people then the screen went up into the ceiling and doors opened into another room (it was impressive). We walked through the doors into what they called a spirit forest. There was a trail leading us through a forest with trees, streams, and animals. The animals spoke as we walked by about taking care of the forest and their experiences with man. (o.k. I kind of don't remember what they talked about... all I remember is how distracting it was to have the animals talk in such a heavy Oklahoman accent.) But other than that, I thought the museum was very impressive and informative.

This was our favorite part. They had a demonstration village. We saw a man shoot a bow and arrow and play a native flute. Then we watched some girls doing some weaving and they all explained what the early Chickasaw people would have worn and done day to day. I didn't get to hear much because I was running after these two rascals. They were all over the place.

Running around included climbing up into the corn crib.

My dad took us to the unveiling of the Edmond, OK safety village. This was kind of cool. It was a little town built to teach kids all about safety. They had bikes and go carts with helmets for the kids. They also had streets for them to ride around on with Stop signs and traffic lights so that they could learn about traffic safety.

This is the safety village. They had a City Hall, police and fire stations, and "construction sites". The purpose of the place was to teach kids all about traffic, fire, and stranger safety. I thought it was a great idea.

Claire and Noel sitting on a park bench in the safety village.

OK City Zoo

While visiting my folks, my mom decided to take us to the Oklahoma City Zoo. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. Here are some memorable moments from the day:

first -

These birds love my mama

Claire decided that she needed to bring her baby doll and then dropped her off the side of this tram. She started screaming "My baby! Stop! My baby!" The driver did eventually stop.

At the petting zoo, my kids kept getting into the goats' pen and getting scolded by the attendants.

Feeding time for the lions. Kind of cool, kind of scary...

Haircuts, Astronauts, Messy Faces, and Train rides with friends

September went by so fast. I though I'd recap a few fun things that happened to us that month.

First thing, I found out I was pregnant, which was a bit of a surprise. Then I started feeling sick right away (I've improved, but I'm still not feeling great now). One Saturday, Aaron took Noel to get his first real haircut at a real barber in Sun City. These guys are old school and have all kinds of WWII model airplanes in their shop. Noel loved it. I told Aaron to get Noel a treat for being such a good boy and they came back with this awesome and huge cookie monster cupcake.

Noel, with his new haircut, eating his Cookie monster cupcake

He made sure to share some with his big sister

And this guy bought me these to cheer me up and give me a nice surprise for a change. Don't get me wrong, being pregnant is a nice surprise, but being sick is not so nice. I made sure to give him a big kiss to say thank you.

Here is another not so nice surprise, but kind of funny, Claire experimenting with my eye liner pencil.

We took the kids to the space center in Peoria in September. They were able to try on some fun astronaut clothes.

Noel Armstrong

We also were able to visit our friend Roux! We met him at the train park in Scottsdale and had fun on the train and at the park playing. We miss him and his mom.



These two "got married" (Claire orchestrated the whole thing) last year when I was babysitting Roux at our house. Can you tell that they were happy to have a reunion?

Halloween Fun!

Here's a picture of Claire and Noel at our Trunk or Treat at church. Claire originally wanted to be Tinkerbell - but she was Tinkerbell on her second Halloween and I couldn't find a costume for under $20. So I found a Little Red Riding Hood costume at Target that I thought she would like for $8 and luckily, she did. Noel originally wanted to be a fire truck - but I found a inexpensive costume for a fireman that he ended up liking. I just didn't have the energy for any sewing projects this year.

Noel really got into the trunk or treat. He caught on pretty quickly. He loved going from car to car and asking for candy by saying "Trunk or Treat". Then a quick "Fank you" and it was off to the next adult with candy. I was amazed. He's really come a long way from the shy little boy he used to be. Claire has always been an outgoing girl. She's done a good job showing him the ropes.

Our city holds an annual Halloween party at the mariners practice field. Noel was stoked to be able to get up close to this old fire engine.

The other thing he was pretty excited about was this hot air balloon. He always points to the sky whenever we see one or two in the mornings and says Albuquerque - it comes out more like "apple cookie". On my way to visit my parents last month we stopped in Albuquerque on our way to Oklahoma during the big balloon feista they have there every year. We didn't see any balloons in person because it was dark, but we saw some on T.V. at our hotel. Now he always associates hot air balloons with "apple cookie".


This could have been his horror halloween costume. It's just my boy chowing down on chocolate after digging through the spoils.

In other news, we found out that we are having a boy. I'm only 15 weeks (and still feeling sick btw). I went in for an ultrasound and they had a big TV screen up on the wall, front and center. My sister in law warned me not to look, but it was right there and so hard not to. I had wanted to be surprised this time around, but it was obviously a little boy up there on the TV. Claire was a little upset and cried. So, in a way we are glad we know now and she seems to have gotten used to the idea. Now to come up with a name. Boy names are so hard!