Oklahoma is the place to be! Farm living is the life for me! Mmmaybe.

Immediately after the Fourth, we started out on a scouting trip to Oklahoma.  We stopped over night at my parent's house as it is halfway.  We went to stay in a log cabin at Clear Creek Abbey. The point of the trip was to start looking for an area we want to settle when Brian gets out of our nomadic life style, and we can finally stop relocating every two to five years.

The cabin's a/c wasn't on when we got there, but it also wasn't blowing cold air once we turned it on.  The kids were all going to sleep in the loft and it was 89 degrees at bedtime which was after a storm had cooled things off outside and downstairs considerably.  The upstairs had no windows and the door to the balcony had no screen and a giant wasps nest was right outside that door.  We put several box fans up there and got it tolerable when they were in front of the fans and laying still.  Princess Hannah slept in an extra bed downstairs with us.  Most of the kids were so excited about sleeping all together that they didn't care about the temperature.

A really cute cabin, but hot!

After the storm, it was cooler out on the porch than inside.

There was a kitten hanging around the cabin and she was very friendly.  The kids adored her.  There were also sheep in a field across the dirt road from the cabin.

This was going to be a quick trip, just one night.  We went to the gift shop and looked around the monastery the first day.  It was very hot, but it stormed in the afternoon and cooled it off nicely.  When it was time for vespers we drove down the dirt road from our cabin and a woman and two girls asked for a ride.  The woman worked at the monastery women's house and she told us more information about the church schedule than was on the websites.  After vespers in the crypt, we met the artist working on a giant painting on the ground in the foyer of the crypt chapel.  He was working on The Adoration of the Lamb replica and it was crazy impressive.  We ended up talking to him for a long time about his conversion story and his travels.  He's lived all over and traveled a lot too.  We told him that we almost saw the original Adoration of the Lamb in Ghent, but it was being restored when we got to the church.  This man really has a gift for painting and it is always refreshing to see someone's talent being put to good use.  This painting is to be hung in the cloister for the monks private viewing.  I'm glad we got to see it even unfinished before it goes behind the cloistered curtain.

It had benches set up around it and Bobby asked him if he "put those there so nobody will step on your picture."

It was 7pm at this time and the kids were starving so we drove 25 minutes to get to the closest restaurant.  It was a cute country place with a beautiful view and the kindest people, but the food was not so good.  After talking to people the next day, going out to eat is not something anyone really does in the area.  If you want dinner and a movie, you have to go into Tulsa, an hour away.

Sunday morning, Brian, Isaac, Drew, and I got up early for Low Mass.  About 15 of the monks say Mass at the same time in the small side chapels, basically on every altar in the crypt.  It is silent for the most part, you can follow along in the missal by just watching them.  It was short, and I left the boys with Brian to go experience the silent breakfast with the monks while I went back to the cabin.

These are all pictures of the kids around the cabin, waiting for Mass time.  I love how it shows their personalities too.

At the cabin, I got everybody else up, dressed, and fed so we could meet the boys back at the church for High Mass.  The boys finished early though and walked back to the cabin.  We went to High Mass all together.  Afterwards, we tried to talk to everyone we could.  Brian hit it off with a couple of the men, found out about a lot more land for sale, and we were invited to one of their houses after lunch.  We packed up and ate all our left overs for lunch.  Then we headed over to their house.  Turned out they were part of one of the first families to settle in the area near the monastery a long time ago and part of one of the families I had been told were the people to talk to to learn more about the area.

We really intended for it to be a quick visit, however, when Brian starts talking to men that are big talkers, it is never quick.  Three hours later, a lot more knowledgeable about the area and with contacts in the area to boot, we rolled out on a very late start back to my parent's house.  We decided not to stop in Tulsa since it made the trip longer to go that way and just head back.

The family who opened their home to us told us almost everything we wanted to know.  The closest big grocery store is in Tulsa.  The internet is better than it once was because of the IEW opening a branch right there, but it depends where you are exactly as to how consistent it is.  There is a nice homeschooling community there, but most people send their teens off to a Catholic school because homeschooled teens get bored around there and the other high school options are very poor.  It's a very poor area in Oklahoma and many of the roads are dirt roads, but the paved ones are pretty terrible too.  The Catholics who have settled in the area want to make a village and are very friendly and encouraging of new people moving in.  Clear Creek is a young group of 40-50 monks who are all unique and devoted to the contemplative life.

My new favorite picture of this guy!

It did seem a bit more rural than what we were looking for.  We don't want to live in the suburbs, but we don't want to be quite so far out from the suburbs at the same time.  We want a slower paced life and to live near a good solid church with the option of going into the city from time to time.  A lot can change in six or more years when we are ready to actually move somewhere and settle down permanently, so we'll be keeping in touch with this family and looking at the other areas we were interested in as well.

The kids reactions?  Genevieve said she really liked it, but she probably wouldn't want to live there.  She and Hannah will be out of the house by the time we settle somewhere though.  Isaac LOVED it and thought it was awesome.  Drew and the little boys had so much fun with the family that we visited, and they left with happy memories of the place.

Our Smiley Face Independence Day 2019

I have been going to the gym this summer and so I started the day with a little Cross-fit action at the gym. Brian and Genevieve went running because she is working on her 100 mile challenge this summer.  At this point, she was almost halfway there!

We drove to Marble Falls to visit friends and family.  Started out at Nanna's house for some haircuts for Drew and Bob, and then we all met friends at a restaurant.

Nanna got herself a new cat, Molly, and she was overwhelmed by our brood, so Genevieve spent the good part of an hour trying to convince her to come out from under the chair.

The fireworks in Marble Falls are done from a boat in the river.  There was a church that hosted a festival and opened their lawn for firework viewing.  We claimed a spot with blankets and chairs, and the kids got sno-cones, jumped in bouncy houses and played games while we waited for the sun to set.

I passed out glow bracelets as the sun set and I reminded all the kids about the game I played as a child with my family during fireworks where we'd try to guess what color would be next.  And as the fireworks started we quickly realized that that game is out of date since they don't just do one firework at a time anymore.  Plus, the fireworks would start one color and change to another color.  Then the littles' minds were totally blown when the fireworks made a star shape, a Saturn shape, and then to top it all off, a smiley face.  You should have heard the gasps.  Somewhere in there Judah, who was in my lap, and I came up with the idea to give the displays names.  Judah had some really good ones like "Rain Cloud," "Dripping Shimmer," and "Buzzing Bees."  I loved listening to his creative, and sometimes funny/sometimes genius names.

Bobby is growing up I guess because he sat captivated in his mini camper chair.  It was a really nice afternoon/evening where I felt we made meaningful memories together.  Hannah only has four years left with us, and that is hard for this mom to accept.

We arrived home at midnight and the oldest four went out with Brian to do their own fireworks display.  The littlest two were carried in and placed in bed already sound asleep after the hour drive.  My heart can't handle watching my children play with fireworks.  I'm a wuss when it comes to fire.

The day was quite busy, but I did find myself thinking of Lillian a few times.  It was nine years ago today that I miscarried, and she would be eight years old now.  I wore my Lily necklace that Brian got me years ago as a nod to my Sweet Pea.

We're Just Peachy

We had an open Saturday which some of us homebodies relish, but some of us doers and goers don't.  So naturally, Brian planned a family day trip.  We drove to Fredericksburg to pick peaches.  We were advised to be there when it opened and I was glad we were because the field was a hayride away and the line of people when we were heading out just waiting on a shuttle to the fields was crazy.

Hannah was less than thrilled about doing a family activity that involved being outside.  She was a pretty good sport though despite the dirty, sweaty aspect, though she didn't pick one single peach.  

She's a peach!

Bob quickly decided that he didn't know which ones were ripe to pick and moved on to spraying himself (and others) with the squirt bottle.

Bob has a spray bottle with water because he is a total weeny about the heat and it keeps him semi distracted, plus cools him off a tiny bit.

Genevieve and Isaac were the ones to do the majority of picking, although the rest of us did pitch in.  We left with two giant boxes of peaches, peach cider, and peach salsa.

Then we went into downtown to get lunch at a German restaurant and do some window shopping.  Daddy was feeling super generous as he often does on these types of family excursions and let the kids pick a scoop of ice cream or some fudge at a candy store.

Genevieve took this picture.

This picture is so asymmetrical!

Then we had tons of peaches!  We made peach jam, grilled peaches chicken with peach sauce, and peach ice cream twice.  Brian is the one who does the ice cream because he likes running the machine.  It's funny because I do 99.5% of the cooking around here, but I bet you anything the kids all remember dad cooking when they grow up and just have a general feeling that mom must have cooked, but I don't remember a specific time when she did.  The reason being that the few times he does it, it is a special occasion and often times a dessert or BBQ. 

Here are the kids enjoying one of the batches of peach ice cream.

In retrospect, she was happy we had picked all the peaches when she got her ice cream.

Good to the last drop!

May the summer begin!

This may be the best "Welcome to Summer" picture ever!  The day after school ended we went to the First Friday Mass with the homeschoolers, then to the pet store to bring home the bird, and then we were off to the pool in our neighborhood.  I ordered pizza to be delivered to the pool and dad met us there for dinner and swimming.

We've been swimming and had a few homeschool events, like a Poetry and Tea for Teens and a chess match for the boys.  I joined a gym and am exercising regularly after a rough start where I got a crick in my upper back after jumping in too hard.  Judah fell off of super high monkey bars that he shouldn't have been on and landed on the top of his foot.  I waited a day, but ended up taking him for an x-ray when he still couldn't put any weight on it the next day.  It turned out to not be broken, thankfully!  He was back up and moving on the third day.  

Genevieve has been having ongoing foot/ankle issues.  Since we have more time in the summer to deal with it and she decided she wanted to do the 100 mile challenge with the cross country team in preparation for the coming season in the fall, we got her x-rays and are now seeing a physical therapist to try to resolve her issues.  She has a collapsible arch and the first change they made was ordering her some special shoes with an orthotic insert.  I was really amazed at how different her gait was when she put on these shoes.  As I write this she is has a mile count of 22, I believe.

Then week three of the summer was VBS.  It is the first time EVER that all my kids can go to VBS ever.  Isaac was sick the first two days and Hannah missed one of those days from feeling poorly as well.  In the afternoon on these days, the girls have basketball camp too.  I got to exercise, shop, and work on my to-do list all morning!

Bobby's group

My girls said that all the high school girls are smitten with Drew and are always saying hi to him and saying how cute he is.  Oh boy!  Bobby thinks VBS is totally unfair because his two older brothers have red shirts and are in the same group with their cousin.  Plus, they didn't even let him mix his own slime, and he found out later that the red shirts got to.  The injustice of it all!  By Wednesday he was dragging his feet saying goodbye to me and not wanting me to go.  Monday and Tuesday, he was fine.