Birds of Prey

 This week a group came to 4H to talk about birds of prey.

 They had several different kinds of owls and hawks.

 Jack got to be part of the presentation!

 He had to put on the special glove and everything!

 And the hawk flew to him!  It was really cool!  

Click here to watch the video!

22 Years

 Did you know that the traditional gift for the 22nd anniversary is shelving?  Yesterday we celebrated by checking out the most recent house progress, like the pantry.

 Upstairs hall closet

 Jack's closet

 Alice's closet

 Our closet

 We also spent the evening shopping for furniture!

 I can't wait to see this in the kitchen!  We took pretty much no furniture from the old house, so there's still a lot to do, but it was fun to get started.

I'm looking forward to finally settling down after 22 years!  Happy anniversary!

Happy Mother's Day!

 We celebrated Mother's Day with my grandma on Saturday.

 Then the kids and I went to the Mom and Me Hike!

 They had snacks and crafts for the kids.

 

 They could also look around the nature center.

 A bunny!

 Then it was time for the hike!

 It was a lot of fun!

Yesterday was great, too--no cooking and time to read!  I'm so glad I get to be their mom!

Gordon Korman

 Friday night we went to the Anne V. Zarrow Award presentation at the library.  This year's winner was Gordon Korman.

 We brought a lot of books to be signed because we've been reading a lot of his stuff lately.  The first book of his I ever read--before even Jack was born--was No More Dead Dogs, which is so, so funny.  I re-read that to the kids, along with Masterminds (and the sequel) and several others.  Jay and Jack have started the Bruno and Boots

series, too.

 We even had an old copy of Who is Bugs Potter?, which surprised him!

 We picked up a couple of new ones to read, too!

 The kids always like to play on the big boat.

We wrapped up the evening with custard at Andy's!

Tulsa Botanic Garden

 Yesterday was National Public Garden Day, so we went to the new Tulsa Botanic Garden to celebrate!  (You can see book ideas--which we've been reading in our Morning Basket--here!)

 This is the Children's Garden, which will be opening in a couple of weeks.

 The terraces are the only place that's developed right now, but there is lots of land they have plans for!

 Jack liked the cacti!

 Lots of beautiful plants!

 And beautiful views!

 The younger kids went to a story time.

 Tasting some different kinds of leaves

 

The bigger kids went for a walk around the lake!

We are planning to go back to see the Children's Garden soon!

Food Showdown

 Tuesday night was the 4H Food Showdown.  Jack was on a team called The Ring of Fire.

 Making sure their area is ready

 Time to cook!

 They were given a clue and four secret ingredients they were required to use.

 They had 30 minutes to make their recipe, write it down, and clean up their area.  Judges came around while they were working.

 

 At the end, they presented their dish to the judges.

 With their dish!

 While the big kids were working on their dishes, the Cloverbuds learned about cookie decorating.

 These girls love playing together!

 Alice took the decorating very seriously!

 She even tried her hand at making an icing rose!

Ta-da!

Jack says he's not sure if he'll do the Food Showdown again next year, but I'm glad he decided to try it out.  He's so good about trying new things!