Progress As Promised!

Once life settled down a bit after the holidays, it was time to start construction on the inside of the barn. The plans are drawn up and we are fully committed to finishing out part of the barn as living quarters. The plan: build the "barndominium" (as we like to call it), put our house in MO back on the market, and as soon as the Loma Linda house sells break ground on the house. Anyone that knows us knows that our "PLANS" are made to be changed...we like to keep everyone on their toes! Construction of the "barndomium" is proving to be going a bit slower than we had hoped for...THE BLIZZARD, has not helped, but oh well...as long as it's livable by May 1 then I'm good!


Brock's dad, as always, has been a big help. Along with his expertise, he loaned us the Bobcat the trencher, and extra man power. Best of all the boys love when he's around!

We all know who the big boss is!



Cash even got in on some of the action...not sure if he was throwing the rocks or eating them, but either one is a safe bet!

I think most men will think of any excuse to run heavy equipment. When we built our first house, I got to run the skid steer...I haven't gotten a turn since then...I wonder why?

The electrical lines are ran and the plumbing is in! Exciting stuff, I know. I told Brock that all I wanted for Valentine's Day was a concrete slab...maybe a card if he could squeeze it in, but most importantly a slab!

Christmas Time Festivities

WARNING: THIS IS A LONG ONE!!

The month of December flew by as it always does, filled with parties and baking and shopping and decorating. It seemed as though Christmas kind of snuck up on me this year. I have to admit that my glass of Christmas cheer seemed to be half empty this season, but even in spite of my internal "Bah-hum-bugs" we managed to squeeze in some festive fun!

Because we live in The Less-Than-Spacious Rental on D. Street and all of our Christmas decorations are in storage, we kept the hanging of garland and tinsel to a MINIMUM!

I let the boys be in charge of putting up the (three-foot) Christmas tree and all of the decorating. And for the first time, I relinquished all of my decorating control!! A big step for me, and the joy it brought to the boys made it totally worthwhile.


They carefully hung each ornament and ribbon (and stuffed animal and Dr. Seuss book).

Once something was put into place then that is where it stayed...at lease until the next day when they would rearrange everything!

Tytus took this picture of Beau next to the tree (and vase??). He was obviously very proud of his work...he even fixed his hair for this photo session (I guess wearing a shirt was optional!).

I bought the boys this Nativity scene to which Tytus so precisely placed each person and animal admiring the baby Jesus!

And we colored Christmas pictures for our friends and family....

he can't color worth a darn yet, but he's as cute as can be...and he always wants to be a part of the activity.

T-Man takes it pretty seriously...

but not as serious as Beau...yup, you saw it...a PURPLE Christmas tree...the boy still LOVES purple!

Cash really likes to color...just not on the paper (oh, well).





Tytus had a Christmas assembly at school...

The Pre-K class led the other grades in songs and poems. Tytus line was something like, "Please join us in a moment of silence. Ready, begin."...you couldn't hear a word he said, but he's come a long way from crying hysterically like he did at the VBS program! He did a great job and sang loud and proud on "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

Tytus with his "best friend" KC.



And we made gingerbread houses.....

Projects like this are serious business to Beau...constructing something with sugary, delicious treats...what could be more important to a three year old than that?!

Thank goodness for Tytus or I would never be in a picture with my children (not that I'm that eager to be on the other side of the camera!) And on a completely unrelated note: someday I'd like to count how many photos I am in wearing that beloved O-State hoodie that I somehow managed to steal from my sister and hang on to it all these years...I'll get back to you on this one...I know you are waiting with baited-breath!

Not sure Cash was that much help with the house construction, but once again..."How cute is this kid?!!"

The finished product! Next year......Daddy is in charge of the gingerbread house construction!!





And Beau had a preschool Christmas program...(which lasted all of seven minutes!)

He did a fantastic job! He walked around for weeks with his "I'm way too cool to practice singing this song" attitude, then surprised us as usual by knowing every word! He seemed a little confused as to why Mrs. S. felt the need to clutch onto his shoulders during the performance (as did I), but he shrugged it off and kept on singing!

We worked for hours making cookies for the "cookie exchange." Then as soon as it was his turn to choose which cookies he wanted to take home...he ran straight to the cookies we had made rather than "exchanging" them for others brought by his classmates! We were in and out of there in 25 minutes flat!!


And Tytus had a Christmas Pajama party at school...

they had a book exchange, which seemed to confuse and frustrate most of them as they really just wanted to keep the book that they had brought!

and he got to sit and Santa's lap and tell him what he wanted for Christmas...thank goodness I was there for this! I had no idea all he wanted was a "Slinky-dog" from Toy Story 3! Thankfully my sister was not finished with her shopping either and could join me on the "dog" hunt.

At this point I will refrain from sharing my Scrooge-like feeling towards Santa!

We saw Santa again...Man, that guy is EVERYWHERE! Beau and Cash wanted NOTHING to do with him, so this is the family picture with Santa this year!


And we went to The Christmas Train with the Becks...which is officially going to become an annual Holiday event for us.

IT WAS COLD!!! and it's impossible to get a good picture of five kids.

Look closely...yeah, that's Kyle on the carousel!

Look at those chubby cheeks....have I mentioned how cute I think this kid is?!?!

The Boys with their best bud, Eli. Those three have so much fun together!

Ahhh, how sweet! We love these two.

and Journey Faith came too!

The Gang loved The Christmas Train. It will definitely be a family tradition from now on, as well as the coloring pictures for friends and family and making gingerbread houses and baking cookies...I may even allow the boys to decorate the tree again. Okay, let me clarify...I will let them decorate their own three foot Christmas tree again next year and keep the big one all to my controlling self!

Brain Fried and Dog Tired

Well, I don't usually go this long without blogging. My goal since starting this venture has been to blog two to three times a week, unless we are on a roadtrip or the computer decides to freeze up and not let anyone touch it!! But these past few weeks has been a struggle for me. I have lots to talk about...Cash's birthday party, Tytus starting Pre-K (oh I guess I did blog about that), Beau going to preschool and the many hilarious one-liners he has been cracking me up with, the older boys going to AWANAS, finally starting dirt work at the land, doing some contract work, T-mans playing soccer, Cash saying more and more words, Cowboys football, a fun weekend away with Brock, oh and running into Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood!

I'll be honest, with all of that going on plus having a bad case of the seasonal allergies....I'm exhausted! I was prepared in NO WAY AT ALL that our new schedule would wipe me out as much as it has. The boys have always been early risers, up and at it around 7:00, but there just seems to be something to having us all out the door by 8:00 that has pretty much rocked my world!! I'm assuming that this is a universal mom duty so I'm trying not to swim in my own pool of pity... for too long. Working moms of the world, I applaud you and I don't envy you! The silver lining to my new cloud is that most mornings I can at least throw a baseball cap on and leave the baby in his pajamas!


I do plan to blog about all of the above topics as soon as I can breath without the assistance of that allergy medicine you have to sign your life away for and if you use too much the police will come and bust into your house in the middle of the night under the suspicion that you are cooking meth in your basement!! And also as soon as I reclaim my blogging time back from my exhausted body (in other words, use the time when all the children are napping to blog rather than curl up in the fetal position and go into a comatose state for as long as the boys will allow!)


Until that time comes I thought I'd share one of my favorite pictures from the summer. All four of my boys in their jammies on a Saturday morning...this is why I blog, why I live, why I had to start getting up between 6:00 and 6:30 everyday! Oh how I miss those lazy summer mornings!

Up, Up, and Away...

Can I just say that this wonderful, colorful, summertime event had me more than excited from the moment I read about it in the newspaper! The Annual Gateway Hot Air Balloon Festival was last weekend and there was pretty much nothing that was going to stop me from loading up The Gang and enjoying as much of it as I could! Anyone that knows me knows that I love hot air balloons and they kind of have a special place in my heart !!!

We were joined by good friends and I'm pretty sure that we all had a great time. I'm already excited for next year's festival. I think it will be even more fun...now that we know what it's all about we will be prepared with lawn chairs and empty stomachs to load up on yummy, greasy, carnival food! What's even better is that the event is held just a couple of miles from our land...which will hopefully eliminate the full hour we waited in line in our car trying to get out of the parking lot!

Here's a few pictures that capture the evening...

What I wouldn't have given to be in that basket floating away!!

There are tethered balloon rides if that suits your fancy...

I have to say, these boys are crazy about each other and had SOOOO much fun!

Here's our group, minus Brock (someone had to take the photo) who was our leading man of the night! Thank goodness for him and all his help with the kids. He wouldn't have missed it...he know very well how much I adore hot air balloons!!

Lanie Grace

Cash got to ride a pony...and he did not want to get off!

My lifelong friend and her adorable daughter...finally we thought to take of picture together with our babies! love her

Journey Faith

The boys tore up the inflatables!

Here's Tytus and Eli...I love those big smiles!

I should probably rephrase that: The inflatables tore up the boys...Beau and Tytus had 'burns' all over their elbows and tummies from sliding so many times!

I just love this kid...and I'm so glad we can just drag, urr, I mean take him anywhere and everywhere and he is so easy-going!

Wait, maybe I spoke too soon...Cash was beginning to get a bit impatient as we waited for the balloon glow.

SO PRETTY!

I wonder how much a balloon costs?

Do you have to have a license to pilot one?

Can I fit all three car seats in the basket?

How long will it take my family to get tired of me singing

"Up, up and away in my beautiful balloon"?

A Day at the Ballpark!

Yesterday we spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon enjoying America's past time at the new Drillers Stadium in downtown Tulsa. It is a fantastic little park that was build by Manhattan Construction. Brock was graciously given privileges to the company suite so we were able to enjoy a Drillers victory in comfort with clients, friends, and co-workers. Good times!!

(I would have been able to exhibit our summertime happiness with pictures if the battery in my camera had not ran out of power...oh well, just imagine the adorable faces of my boys in their baseball caps and snow cone stained lips!)

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A...!!!

YIPPEE!!! It's official, we are Oklahoma residents again! The move is complete, but the unpacking is not! I have been a very busy little momma the past couple of weeks (hence the lack of blog posts), and I still do not have the internet (or television for that matter). So I am borrowing Brock's work computer and global internet for one quick post.

We are exhausted from a very physically and emotionally draining last couple of weeks. Leaving Joplin/Loma Linda was a lot harder than I had prepared myself for(more on this later). In the midst of all the packing, moving, cleaning, and lots of driving between Claremore and Joplin, the boys and I made a quick trip back to NWOK to be with family after the sudden death of an uncle. In addition to that, we have been spending as much time as possible with Brock's family during a very difficult situation.

However, the good news is...we are all back together again! I did not realize how hard it was on me with Brock being gone so much until now. It is so nice to have him home to help and hang out with. And because his office is in downtown Tulsa, he can't really stick around and work late (or at least he shouldn't)! I think Tytus said it best, "I LOVE the new rent house, because we all get to be together and Daddy gets to come home every night!" It just proves...the kids don't care that we are more cramped and that I gave half of their toys away. It matters most that the gang's all back together!

Althought I'm beginning to think they might be tired of my sudden bursts into "OKLAHOMA"!!

Tah-Dah!!!

Well, I finally did it!!! I have been saying for two years now that I wanted to start a family blog to chronicle our daily life, and I just haven't accomplished it until now. I am not sure what has been holding me back... I mean, besides moving, having babies, taking care of little ones, running a household, and everything else that being a stay at home mom entails. For some reason I finally bit the bullet and dove right in (or is it dived? I never can remember). I'm not sure my timing was all that great, with the holiday season just around the corner, but what's one more thing to do??? My hope is that blogging will allow me to capture our memories as they are happening (not similar to my attempt at scrapbooking, which clearly exhibits my gift of procrastination).

The title of our blog was obviously adapted from the 1969 Western "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", a classic that I love and can give partial credit for inspiring my parents to name me as they did. Also, the title was inspired by my step-father, who never fails to refer to my children as The Sundance Kids. Brock and I started our little "gang" nearly four years ago, when we were blessed with Tytus Bentley on January 6,2006. Only a short fifteen months later, Beau Broox joined us on April 2, 2007, and just three months ago we completed the threesome with Cash Allen Edward on August 4, 2009. We could not ask for more amazing boys. They are sheer joy! It gets a little rowdy at times, but they are definitely the best of both of us. I thanks God daily for entrusting them to me (and pray fervently for his guidance).

Well, so here I go...officially entering the world of blogging! It is certainly a work in progress, but surely over time I will tweek it until it is just right. I have been so blessed by the blogs of some of my friends (e.g. Julie, Carissa, Bratt) that I dare attempt to match up to their blogging skills! My main desire is to create a virtual journal about this family that I love so much. In the meantime, I hope that you too are as blessed by my life as I am! ENJOY!!