Mid-Summer Update . . .

Life continues to roll along. We are in full-on Summer mode around the Buchanan household. Kayla has been going to iKamp at First Baptist Church in Broken Arrow. Of course, she'd rather just stay home each day but . . . such is the life of a kid with working parents. Ain't gonna happen kiddo!

We had the girls for 2 weeks this Summer. Actually, we were supposed to have them for 6 weeks but that all fell apart when Larry got up with their mother's constant intrusion into our lives. He sent them merrily on their way back to Mommy's house to stay. We don't need her daily phone calls (a.k.a. Buchanan Household Updates) in our lives. We don't intrude on her time and she need not intrude on ours.

Anyway . . . enough of that drama.

Let's see . . what else?? Gosh . . not really anything. We haven't done much besides the usual stuff so far this Summer. We recently found out Kayla will need her tonsils and adnoids removed so we're tentatively planning that for Thanksgiving Break. I just hope it helps her snoring and restless sleep. Secretly, I hope she's less grouchy once she's better rested. She has been an absolute bear!

So, there you have it. Our life in a nutshell. Boring, aren't we?

Well . . it's been a while

And boy has life been eventful. I'll leave it at that for now. Don't want to put too much information out in cyberspace on the "big events" just yet as not all affected parties have been informed. Nuff said!

Let's see . . . . one big piece of news is Mom and Benny FINALLY bought some land in Tulsa . . . FINALLY!!! Could it really be that I will actually have my Mom in the same area code as myself?? I'm almost scared to get my hopes up too high. I'm going to close on the land for them Friday. After that, it's just a matter of time before construction will begin which means my Mom will be moving up here to oversea the process. I imagine Benny will stay in Corpus Christi until the house is done. He's not exactly mechanically inclined so my Mom is the most logical choice to be the one supervising the building process. It's so exciting. They will live just down the road from my in-laws.

Larry and I took the kids to Branson last weekend. We stayed in a beautiful 2 bedroom condo at a place called "The Villages at Indian Point". I HIGHLY recommend that place to anyone going to the Branson area. I was so nice . . . and clean . . .and peaceful . . . and spacious. Never again will I rent a hotel room . . . it's condos all the way baby!!

Work is . . well WORK. Nothing too much new there. I've got an intern here right now which means I basically have someone up my rear 24/7 but hopefully he'll work out and we'll be able to offer him a full-time position once he finishes graduate school. He seems relatively sharp so I'm feeling good about things right now.

Kayla just wrapped up 1st grade and has started summer camp at FBC of Broken Arrow. It's a program called iKamp. Today is her second day. She was absolutely wiped out when she came home yesterday. She fell asleep at 7:30 and slept all the way until almost 6:30 this morning. I had to drag her out of bed. I think she would have slept until noon had I let her.

I'm going to close out this post and start a new one . . . as today is now July 20th!!

Jennifer

She got me again!! This time . . . STILTS!!

I swear, Kayla is a master at backing me into something before I even know what it is. The other day, I picked her up from school and on the way home, she says, "You know what I want someone to teach me this Summer? I want to learn to walk on stilts". I was a bit taken aback as I didn't even think she had any clue what stilts are . . nor any reason to be interested in them. I replied, "Well, I don't think I've ever walked on stilts. I wouldn't even know where to go to find them. We'll have to see if we can track some down."

At that point, I thought the conversation was over. Kayla was quiet for about 5 minutes and then says, "Mom . . I have this paper for you in my bag. I'm supposed to raise money for people with bad hearts (Jumprope for Heart . . for the American Heart Association). Maybe you could donate $100." I was a little stunned and said, "I'm not sure we'll donate $100 but we'll certainly donate something." Kayla was quiet a bit longer and then said, "Well, maybe you could donate $1,000 . . because if I raise $1,000 I get all 10 of the 'Thank You' gifts . . . and the biggest gift is a set of stilts!"

That girls never ceases to amaze me!

BEAN MACHINE!!

That's what we call Kayla . . . THE BEAN MACHINE!!! The kid LOVES ranch-style beans. If I allowed it, she would eat beans for just about every meal. As I lay here in bed, I am reminded of her love for beans as I smell the remnant of her dinner drifting effortlessly from her bottom. YUCK!

Kayla and I are on our own this week. Larry is in Texas doing some manager training. Kayla has been crashing in bed with me. If I said it was only for her benefit, I'd be lying. Truth is . . . I enjoy it just as much. I know one day I'll long for the days when she actually WANTS to spend time with me. She is growing up so fast and, someday soon, I'll probably have to take 2nd place to her friends and social life.

It's hard to believe I now have a 7 year old. How did that happen?? When did she stop being a baby? Who is this little girl who LOVES peace signs and begs to go to the store to get "nails"? As much as I enjoy this time, a big part of misses the toddler of just a few years ago.

We spent the day with Janeen and Hensley over the weekend. It was nice to hang out with them for a while. We mostly just hung around the house but it was pleasant and relaxing. However, I woke up yesterday morning with some stomach problems and had to stay home from work for another day. Apparently several in Janeen's family fell ill as well. I think we may have contracted something through our food. The illness left as quick as it came.

It's off to bed for me. My sweet "Bean Machine" is beside me snoring away (she's her father's daughter). Two more sleeps until Daddy comes home . . . that's what she told me on the way home from school. She may be getting bigger by the day, but her innocence still hangs on.

Michaels . . .

You know . . the arts & crafts store? Well . . Kayla is absolutely obsessed with this place. Every time she gets so much as a dollar in her hands, she starts planning her next trip there. Grandma Sharon gave her a $20 bill before she left and Kayla about drove herself crazy thinking of everything she could buy. They have a lot of $1 items at Michaels and Kayla loves getting as many as she can. At her age, it's all about quantity. She measures her shopping success by the number of bags she has when she walks out the door.

I have to say, she comes by it naturally. I LOVE my crafts. In fact, I could do some kind of craft all day every day and be absolutely content. There's something about creating something with your own hands that feels so rewarding.

Last night, I decided to make the hall closet my "craft closet". I cleared out everything and started moving my craft stuff in there. I am so excited to FINALLY have my own little space to store all the little craft treasures I find. Kayla was equally excited about the new "craft closet". I think she's envisioning the hours of fun we'll have at Michaels filling it up.

But, this week . . . no crafts will be done. :-( It's year-end TARP week at Oxy which means I'm working dusk till dawn. We should be wrapping this thing up by Thursday afternoon . . . just in time to enjoy my usual Friday 1/2 day. Hmmm . . . now that I think of it . . . I might just make a trip to Michaels that day.

Another Holiday Season Gone . . .

Now it's back to the daily grind. I've had 2 weeks off at work and I'm back today . . feeling quite refreshed. The holiday break was nice . . but a bit crazy at the same time.

Grandma Sharon was scheduled to arrive on Christmas Eve. However, Old Man Winter decided to bless us with a blizzard on Christmas Eve so Grandma Sharon had to wait in the Dallas airport for 24 hours to get a flight to Tulsa. She arrived Christmas EVENING around 7:00. What a bummer!!! Once she got here, we had a great time. It's always nice having Grandma Sharon around. Larry love to get actual home-cooked food and Kayla loves being spooled . . and I just like having someone around who doesn't expect anything from me! In fact, "Mommy" just takes over when she comes and practically takes care of us all. We did a LOT of shopping and house decorating and cooking and cleaning. She had to return to Corpus Christi on Friday, January
1st and we already miss her.

Kayla?? Well . . let's just say that Kayla is going through a particularly ornery stage. She's got a sassy little mouth on her and, at this point, I'm scared to see what she'll be like as a teenager. She was just a little pain in the rear most of the break. I think she was a bit over-stimulated by all the goings on as her behavior improved drastically after we dropped Grandma Sharon at the airport and it was just her and I for a while. But . . . regardless . . . I love her . . . ornery behavior and all.

For Christmas, Kayla got A LOT of stuff. Santa tends to go a bit overboard. He brought her a 3-drawer rolling cart FULL of Arts & Crafts stuff. Kayla LOVES to do Arts & Crafts. In fact, she'd be just fine without any toys as long as she had supplies to make her wonderful creations. I love that quality in her. She loves to use her imagination.

I do plan to add some holiday photos soon. I've got them all on my camera just waiting to be downloaded. Right now, I'm focusing on a few resolutions. I resolve to be a more patient mother and wife. I resolve to get my fat butt in shape and slim in 2010 (hey, that rhymes!). I resolve to keep myself organized and not procrastinate. I hope that I can look back next year and be proud of myself for reaching my goals. We shall see!!

H1N1 Comes to the Buchanan Household

Uggg . . . H1N1 . . . Swine Flu . . . whatever you want to call it . . . it came to visit our house last week. Kayla went to bed feeling fine . . . and woke up the next morning with a temperature of 102 and a cough. My mommy insticts just KNEW it was H1N1 and I was right. We headed straight for urgent care and a couple hours later walked out with prescriptions (for all of us) for Tamiflu. The good news is the Swine Flu was the EASIEST flu I ever encountered, at least for us. Had it not been for the swab test at the Urgent Care . . I would have never believed Kayla had more than a mild cold. Kayla was thrilled to be home from school and even more thrilled when I told her that now she would not require the H1N1 vaccination.

In total, I was off work for 9 straight days. It was a short week because of Thanksgiving so with the additional 2 days off for sickness and a few weekends in there, it turned into a mini vacation. Didn't realize exactly how much I needed a break until I came back to work today. I feel refreshed!!

Let's see . . . what has Miss Kayla been up to lately. Right now she is so exacted about going to see Hensley (Janeen's daughter) this weekend. Hensley's birthday party is on Saturday so we're heading down Friday night. Janeen and I always have a great time together. There's never a lapse in conversation. Kayla and Hensley take off and do their own thing. They remind me so much of Janeen and I as little girls.

Kayla will be heading back to school tomorrow. She was out of school again today for a Professional Day. She has been LOVING being home so much. Can't say I blame her. She has spent most days working on her "crafts". She is absolutely obsessed with printing stuff off the computer. She has printed tons of coloring sheets. In fact, she made a whole binder of coloring sheets to give to Hensley. I'm glad she enjoys doing stuff besides watching TV and playing video games. I like that she wants to use her imagination. She gets real excited about the "Diji"(sp?) medals that she finds on the "Special Agent Oso" website. You should see her face light up when she finds a new one.

Ok . . so this whole post is kind of random but I guess that's just how I feel today.