More School Pics...

Here are the other pictures I promised of Jack's school. You can see what his favorite thing to do is...play trains! There is a picture of his teacher, Mrs. Staires. He loves her! Monday was her birthday and Jack told me that we should make her blueberry muffins and a pink card with stickers. "She really likes that for her Happy Birthday." he told me. So, what did we do?? We took blueberry muffins to her and Jack made her a special card. She loved it!

Golf Game

Ryan took Jack to the driving range the other day, which Jack appropriately calls the "Golf Course". Here are some pictures from their trip. He LOVES to play golf! He and Ryan are always outside practicing their swing. Believe it or not, Jack is pretty good! He hits the ball 9 out of 10 times when he swings and the majority of the time the ball goes flying in the air! Grandma and Grandpa bought him his first real golf club at Christmas. Maybe we will have another Tiger Woods on our hands!

School Days

As most of you know, Jack started Metro Christian Academy this year. He is in a Pre-K class and loving every minute of it! He is only going 2 days a week, unfortunately, that was the only slot left open when we enrolled him. We are on a waiting list to go up to 3 days a week, but we'll see if that opens up. As for now, we are just truly thankful for the 2 days.

He LOVES his teacher, Mrs. Staires. Ryan and I really like her too. She is so loving with all the kids and is such a genuinely sweet person. I'm looking forward to getting to know her better as the year goes on as I've volunteered to be the "Homeroom Parent" for the class. (I know, I am my Mother's daughter!)

Each day Jack talks about stories he's read, songs he sang, and friends he played with. So far we get that his favorite friend is Kristiana. He is always talking about he and Kristiana doing this or that. He also talks about playing trains with Joey. It's fun to watch him grow in a new environment. He has always been so outgoing, I know he is fitting in perfectly! (Mrs. Staires reassures us of that as well.)

Here are a few pictures we took on the first day of school. Isn't he so cute in his uniform?!



It didn't take him long after he got home to get those shoes and socks off!


Apparently no nap at school...so, what's new! He was a little tired after school.


We have a couple of other pictures of his classroom and teacher, but they are on Ryan's phone. Once I get those downloaded I'll post them as well.

Pregnancy Update

Many of you have asked for me to post some pics of my ever expanding body...and let me tell you, EVERYTHING is expanding this time around! Here are a couple of pics that we have taken. Enjoy!

Everything so far is going pretty smooth. What an answered prayer! Baby Taylor measures right on track. He moves constantly, which is so reassuring to me! I have the latest ultrasound pics on a cd. I'll try to get those downloaded and post them as well. Our next appointment is in 2 weeks, on the 25th. Can you believe I'm already 27 weeks?!




These pics are at 20 weeks. Taken July 25th.




Now, just a month later at 24 weeks. Taken August 27th.

The "Yester-Years"

Jack is really starting to show his deductive reasoning skills. Puzzles have become his absolute favorite past time. Ryan and I are also amazed at how he "links" thoughts together. His latest phrases are proof of this...

When he starts talking about something that he did last night, he refers to that as "yesternight". So, instead of yester-DAY, he understands that the occurrence happened at night...thus, yester-NIGHT is born.

Also, when he has forgotten something instead of saying he "forgot" it, he simply says he "forleft" it. Makes sense, huh! When you HAVE something, you've "GOT" it, right? So, it only makes sense that when you DON'T have something, you've "LEFT" it...thus you get "for-LEFT"!

Oh to think in the mind of a 3 year old!! Precious!!

Green Acres is the Place for Me....

Well, we finally did it and took the plunge. We are now the proud new owners of a piece of land...a little over an acre to be exact! After searching through every nook and cranny in Tulsa County, we finally decided moving out of town and building was the right direction for us. We are so excited! (Ryan says we are moving to "the sticks" which now Jack so proudly repeats. Anytime we drive on a country road he asks if we are going to our house in the sticks!)

Here are a couple of pictures of our lot. It is one of only 20 lots total in this division, Twilight Ridge. Calling it a "division" is using that term loosely. There is only one street in and the "division" consists of only one street, ours. We LOVE that idea! We are far enough away from the hustle and bustle of town, but have the conveniences just a couple of miles away. For instance, the grocery store is only 7 miles away and a Quick Trip is only 5 miles away. I think we drive further than that now!

The greatest aspect of this land is that it is SO quiet and peaceful! You not only don't have to worry about your neighbor's house being 3 feet from yours, but you also get the incredible view from a 360 degree perspective. We can see downtown Tulsa from the back part of our property. Who wouldn't love that!

We have also seen several kids around Jack's age that live in the area. What a great place for our boys to grow up and not have to worry about the dangers "city" life can bring. We love the fact they can play and grow up with other kids that live right down the street from us.

God has certainly blessed us!

Front of lot-from the street


View from back of lot...can you see downtown in the distance?


Another front view from the street


View from back right of lot

The Zoo

We finally made it!! After two failed trips, we finally were able to visit the Tulsa zoo. Jack had a great time. I think his favorite thing of the day though was riding the train...who would have guessed! HA,HA!







Our little monkey...

Purple Glaze

Jack and I went to a pottery painting store with Jacie and Harper. The boys had a great time choosing the pottery they would paint, picking out the colors, and of course, PAINTING! It got a little messy, but hey, isn't that the point?






GREAT JOB, JACK!

At the Car Wash, yeah...

Jack was Daddy's BIG helper washing the cars...





Daddy looked a little hot...

Nature Walk

Well, we started the day off going to the zoo. Jack was SO excited, he barely slept the night before. With just our luck, we pulled into the zoo parking lot and there was a big sign saying they were closed for the day. What?! How can the zoo be closed? So now, we get the great task of telling Jack that we can't go. What a disappointment. (This actually happened to us 2 times in a row, if you can believe that. A couple of months prior we tried to go to the zoo in Dallas with Grandma and Grandpa, but it was closed because they had filled capacity. And now this!)

Daddy had a great idea, though. We could go to the Nature Center that was in the same area. Great! Jack was all excited to be able to go for a LONG walk outside. So, off we went to the nature center. Now, keep in mind, we had just come off of a couple days of rain, so we were a little worried about the conditions of the trails...as well we should have been! ha, ha

All in all it was a great day! We got a little muddy, but Jack loved looking at the flowers and listening to the bugs and frogs. We saw tadpoles in the murky swamp waters and even a snake! (Momma wasn't too thrilled with that.) We were hot and tired by the end of the trail, but it was so much fun watching him explore and discover new things!





Ugh! There go the white shoes!

Fun in the Sun

Jack enjoyed a day in the sun with his new sprinkler set.

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY JACK!!!

Sorry for the delay in getting these pictures posted. Jack and his friends had a BLAST at his birthday party! It was a huge success. Once again, he got more than he needed. Thanks to everyone for all of the great birthday gifts! His summer will be filled with lots of fun outside games and toys to enjoy.

Here are a few pics from the day.




We had a Handy Manny birthday party! Manny was present, along with all his helping tools!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!




YUMMY! CAKE AND ICE CREAM!!



FUN WITH THE PINATA!

Jack's Birthday Ideas

Jack's 3rd birthday is fast approaching! I can't believe he is already 3 yrs old--how time flies!

Many of you have asked about gift ideas. I created a wish list on the Toys R Us web site. You can access that by clicking on 'wish list' at the very top of the screen. Once inside, go to existing customer and enter our account as 'angela.strode@yahoo.com' and the password as 'jackson'.

He is really into books and games these days, as well as playing outside as often as he can. He wears a 3T shirt and 2T bottoms. His shoe size is an 8. Just give us a call or send an email if you have other questions.

Hope to see all who can make his party on the 10th!

Hi Ho...Hi Ho...It's Off To Work We Go!!

The other morning Ryan was getting ready for work while Jack and I lay in bed watching Mickey Mouse (tough life, I know!) Anyway, Jack looked up at Ryan and said, "Where you going Daddy?" Ryan said, "I'm going to work and you will go to school." Jack sat there for a minute and thought about it. The he piped up and said "No, I go to work and YOU go to school!" Ryan thought that was a pretty good trade! ha,ha

Speaking of Ryan's job, some prayers are needed for a new venture he is traveling on. As most of you know, for the past year or so, Ryan has been working an incredible amount of hours (sometimes up to 80-90 hours a week!) between his office job and his side work. Well, come this Thursday, Ryan will be in business for himself! He has left the firm he has been at for the past couple of years and is starting to concentrate on his "side work" full time now. This will be his "full time job"! Strode Design is the name of his business. We have been praying for this for quit some time now, for relief for the amount of hours he is working and the ability for him to concentrate on what he loves. It's exciting to see God working in his life! This is a very exciting, yet some what scary, time for us. I have all the confidence in the world that he will succeed! Please pray for him as he takes this leap of faith. Pray for his success and his happiness.

GOOD LUCK, BABE! WE ARE ALL BEHIND YOU!!

A Lesson From Jack

We have been talking a lot lately about how it's not nice to tell Mommy and Daddy 'No'. So, the other day Jack and I were going around and around about not running his cars over Annabelle. "Annabelle doesn't like it when you run your cars over her back" I would tell him. "Yes, she does!", he would reply. After a couple of rounds of this, I told him I would take his car away the next time he didn't listen. Sure enough, not even one second later, he looked at me and proceeded to put his car on her back. I then went to him and took his car away and said "Momma said no.". He proceeded to stare me down and say "Hey, that's nice!"

I guess he thinks it's not nice for Mommy and Daddy to so 'No' to him, either! Ha Ha!!

HE DID IT!!

Well, I'm SO happy to report that it looks like we have accomplished the big potty!! YIPPEE!! For about a month now, Jack has been in 'Big Boy Pants' and has been doing great. This journey has been one of many ups and downs. God has a very unusual sense of humor in this subject--just when you think you are making progress, using the potty, going 1/2 a day in regular underwear, being excited about using the big potty, etc, He throws you for a huge loop. All of a sudden, diapers seem like the ONLY way to go in your little guy's mind. What?? But we were doing so good! Come on, don't you want to be a big boy? Nope, just wear diapers Momma! After about 9 months of this up and down progress, something finally clicked! One day, I just suggested that he try wearing his big boy pants again and he was ALL about it! The rest is history, as they say! He is now in his big boy pants all the time (except for sleeping at night-that still has Momma a bit nervous.)and using the big potty.

GREAT JOB, BUDDY! MOMMA AND DADDY ARE SO PROUD OF YOU! (And all before you turned 3! Yippee!)

I found this older picture taken during our first days of starting to potty train--I think it's hilarious! Such a 'guy'thing! lol

The Smith Family

Many of you received an email from me at the beginning of the week asking for strong prayers for this family and their little Gavin. For those that don't know, I received an email from a friend of mine on Monday telling of the tragedy this family in experiencing. (She is a friend of a friend of the family.) All of the specific information is on their blog site, but the very short story is their 3 yr old son, Gavin, was diagnosed with a malignant tumor that took up 1/3 the size of his brain and has spread to his spine. Where I don't know this family personally, it really hit home being that's the same age as Jack.

Many of you have asked for updates on Gavin's progress and I'm so pleased to say that God is working miracles in this little one's life! I have added a link to their family's site in the 'Family & Friends' portion of our site so you can see the day to day progress. I encourage you all to read their story and begin praying for their family. There is so much power in prayer, and if we all pull together to lift this family and their precious son up, I'm convinced God will work more miracles!

The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. James 5:16

I Pledge Allegiance...

Tonight, as we were getting into the car to go to dinner, Jack surprised us all. I heard him mumbling something to himself and when I asked what he was saying I was shocked! He was reciting the Pledge of Allegiance! He apparently had learned it at school. Here is Jack's rendition: (you must imagine it in the sweetest, most innocent child-like voice)

"I pledge allegiance for the flag, for independence, for Joseph, for all."----hmm, for Joseph?? Only a child would hear it like that!

Jack and Harper

Harper and Jack are the best of friends! Thomas buddies! The two of them could sit for hours on end playing trains and talking about Thomas, James, Percy, etc. Jack will tell you that Harper is blue and Jack is green...meaning, Harper is Thomas and Jack is Percy.

Harper came over and played the other day after school. Listening to their conversations is priceless! On our way home, Jack kept saying "See, Harper, that's a big truck." and Harper would then say "I know Jack! That IS a big truck." My favorite interaction I have witnessed between them happened on this day. They were both playing at the Thomas table and Harper noticed Jack's potty sticker on his shirt. (We had been giving Jack stickers for going to the potty.) The conversation went like this:

Harper: "Jack, what's that?" pointing at the sticker

Jack: "Oh, that's my Mater potty sticker."

Harper: "Jack, you went pee-pee in the potty?"

Jack: "Yes I did!"

Harper: "Oh, Jack, I'm SO proud of you!"

It was priceless! I was rolling!!