Today's an emotional day for us. We're moving out of the house we've lived in for ten years, four and a half months. It's the longest period of time in my life that I've ever lived in one place.
Mikey was only ten months old when we moved into this house in East Tulsa in February of 2001. Cathy had wanted to live in this area since she was a little girl and much of it was brand new; 30 years later it wasn't quite as new and sparkly, but we loved it anyway. We've celebrated many important events in this house: we made a baby and celebrated a birth. We've celebrated many birthdays, including the first birthdays of both of our children. Ten Christmases and ten Easters. Ten anniversaries. Four full-time jobs for myself, not counting the flurry of short consulting gigs during the second year we lived here, when I had been laid off by an ailing company right after the dot-com bust + the WTC attacks. Four deaths of people we were very close to happened while we lived in this house, and two more of relatives who were much-loved but a little more distant. Lots of potty training. Five years of Cub Scouts. Three years of Christian School in two different schools, two years of home schooling and one year of public school. Several seasons of soccer. Brutal heat and crazy amounts of snow. Out of electricity once (or was it twice?) for a week or two at a time because of ice. Two different churches. Two different dogs and two pet frogs. Three different cars. Lots of movies and music. Lots of laughing, lots of crying. Lots of friends.
It's been a good run. I'm looking forward to the next ten years in Bixby!
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Easter Weekend/Mikey's Birthday
I promised pictures, and I uploaded them to Flickr, but I forgot to post the story here! We started off last Saturday at our church, The Bridge, working on some Easter baskets for children in needy Bixby families:
We had like 35 volunteers working... we made pretty quick work of it! 35 volunteers out of a congregation of about 150: I'm proud of my church family!
After that, Mikey had a soccer game. Action shot:
After the game we had just enough time to go home and pick up the cake, and then turn around and head right out to the Fun House arcade for Mikey's birthday party! There were gifts (this is "Endless Ocean: Blue World"):
...and there were awesome video games:
After the party we had some dinner at Carl's Jr. and the kids played until they couldn't play no more!
The next morning we got all fixed up for Easter (see Hannah's beautiful Easter dress at the bottom of this post) and had a great time in church. After lunch we came home and hid some Easter eggs and just spent some time together. Mikey's birthday was Monday, and he had dinner with Meme and Papaw. Lots of fun for the weekend! (You can see all of the pictures right here!)
We had like 35 volunteers working... we made pretty quick work of it! 35 volunteers out of a congregation of about 150: I'm proud of my church family!
After that, Mikey had a soccer game. Action shot:
After the game we had just enough time to go home and pick up the cake, and then turn around and head right out to the Fun House arcade for Mikey's birthday party! There were gifts (this is "Endless Ocean: Blue World"):
...and there were awesome video games:
After the party we had some dinner at Carl's Jr. and the kids played until they couldn't play no more!
The next morning we got all fixed up for Easter (see Hannah's beautiful Easter dress at the bottom of this post) and had a great time in church. After lunch we came home and hid some Easter eggs and just spent some time together. Mikey's birthday was Monday, and he had dinner with Meme and Papaw. Lots of fun for the weekend! (You can see all of the pictures right here!)
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Big Easter Weekend 2009
What a weekend!
It actually started on Thursday, when unexpectedly (to me, anyway) my boss was no longer my boss. I'm still in the same position, but my immediate supervisor moved into a part-time/consultant status, and I was going to have a new manager. So THAT was a crazy day! Friday was Good Friday and the office was closed, so we mostly vegged out at home, but SATURDAY was Cathy's birthday! Mikey had a soccer game at 8am (41 degrees... in April?!?... BRR! ...but they won it 1 to 0) and then he went to Lowe's and built a birdhouse, and then he and I stopped at the store to pick up Mama's birthday present from him.
Mikey got her a beautiful pair of earrings (she wore them that evening to dinner and then again on Easter morning!). My gift to her was a shopping trip! I gave her a little bit of cash, enough for an outfit or maybe two if you got something on a good sale, and we went to a couple of fluffy lady clothing stores with her. Having the family along was supposed to be part of the gift, but Mikey was a little bit disruptive at first (he calmed down later). And we had a really happy surprise when we ran into Cathy's brother's wife Theresa at one of the stores! She's been really sick and we haven't gotten to see her much, so that was quite a treat. She was with two of her daughters, too, and we love them and were glad to see them. Theresa kissed Hannah on the cheeks so much I wasn't sure if she was going to raise a bruise!
That evening we went out to eat at Charleston's, and got full until we were ready to pop.
Easter was great! Cathy got up early so she wouldn't have to rush so much getting ready, and we were at sound check on time (!), and the service was AWESOME from start to finish. I think that was the most fun I've had in praise & worship since Brian and Nancy came on board at Grace (which is not to minimize other services, but this one was TOTALLY maximized! I was SWEATING when we were done!) Pastor Bob preached one of the most awesome Easter messages I ever remember hearing him preach, and we had a great lesson in Sunday School as well.
(I touched on how cold it was Saturday morning... chilly but not windy, and very sunny which counteracted the cold a bit. And by noon it had gone up like 25 degrees and was in the 60s! Sunday morning was almost the opposite, though... rainy to the point of big puddles of standing water on the sidewalks at Grace, chilly again, but breezy as well. Have I mentioned, Welcome to Oklahoma? And Monday it was chilly to mild again, and dry. WHATEVER.)
After church we met Mom and Dad at the little church they're attending; they were having lunch together as a church and we got invited. Unfortunately for us we got there at the tail end of the meal; there was lots of food left but the people were trickling out and heading home. We did get to monopolize the pastor for a while, though, which was cool for us. Everybody is really nice there. They even gave Mikey and Hannah each an Easter basket! (Monday night I put the Easter basket they gave Hannah, which is plush like a stuffed animal and has a head like a purple hippo, to good use... Hannah and I played "put the plastic eggs in the basket" while Mikey worked on homework.)
That reminds me... I forgot one of the big parts of Saturday afternoon! It was the annual Grace "Egg-stravaganza", which I guess you could call an "Easter egg hunt" but in practice it's more of an "Easter candy foot race." You may remember it from last year. Anyway, Cathy chose to go with Mikey and I stayed with Hannah in the "walkers to twos" area. He did the run-and-collect thing, and Hannah, who is walking just barely, did the "get carried and sit and put the candy I can reach in the basket even though I've got no idea what's going on" thing. Next year she'll be totally into it; this year it was a bit much for her to take in, but she had fun anyway, as did Mikey. The whole thing was a hiccup in Cathy's birthday, but after having that birthday her whole life, having it intruded on by Easter is no surprise. The surprise is when Easter happens in March like last year or something, and it doesn't step on her birthday!
So how were things with the new boss Monday? He seems like a really great guy, and I think I'm going to enjoy working with him. His name is Travis and he knows about this blog, so I'll tell you the REAL story when he turns his head. Hi Travis! Wow it was great working with you Monday! Don't forget to give me a good performance review at the end of the year!!
It actually started on Thursday, when unexpectedly (to me, anyway) my boss was no longer my boss. I'm still in the same position, but my immediate supervisor moved into a part-time/consultant status, and I was going to have a new manager. So THAT was a crazy day! Friday was Good Friday and the office was closed, so we mostly vegged out at home, but SATURDAY was Cathy's birthday! Mikey had a soccer game at 8am (41 degrees... in April?!?... BRR! ...but they won it 1 to 0) and then he went to Lowe's and built a birdhouse, and then he and I stopped at the store to pick up Mama's birthday present from him.
Mikey got her a beautiful pair of earrings (she wore them that evening to dinner and then again on Easter morning!). My gift to her was a shopping trip! I gave her a little bit of cash, enough for an outfit or maybe two if you got something on a good sale, and we went to a couple of fluffy lady clothing stores with her. Having the family along was supposed to be part of the gift, but Mikey was a little bit disruptive at first (he calmed down later). And we had a really happy surprise when we ran into Cathy's brother's wife Theresa at one of the stores! She's been really sick and we haven't gotten to see her much, so that was quite a treat. She was with two of her daughters, too, and we love them and were glad to see them. Theresa kissed Hannah on the cheeks so much I wasn't sure if she was going to raise a bruise!
That evening we went out to eat at Charleston's, and got full until we were ready to pop.Easter was great! Cathy got up early so she wouldn't have to rush so much getting ready, and we were at sound check on time (!), and the service was AWESOME from start to finish. I think that was the most fun I've had in praise & worship since Brian and Nancy came on board at Grace (which is not to minimize other services, but this one was TOTALLY maximized! I was SWEATING when we were done!) Pastor Bob preached one of the most awesome Easter messages I ever remember hearing him preach, and we had a great lesson in Sunday School as well.
(I touched on how cold it was Saturday morning... chilly but not windy, and very sunny which counteracted the cold a bit. And by noon it had gone up like 25 degrees and was in the 60s! Sunday morning was almost the opposite, though... rainy to the point of big puddles of standing water on the sidewalks at Grace, chilly again, but breezy as well. Have I mentioned, Welcome to Oklahoma? And Monday it was chilly to mild again, and dry. WHATEVER.)
After church we met Mom and Dad at the little church they're attending; they were having lunch together as a church and we got invited. Unfortunately for us we got there at the tail end of the meal; there was lots of food left but the people were trickling out and heading home. We did get to monopolize the pastor for a while, though, which was cool for us. Everybody is really nice there. They even gave Mikey and Hannah each an Easter basket! (Monday night I put the Easter basket they gave Hannah, which is plush like a stuffed animal and has a head like a purple hippo, to good use... Hannah and I played "put the plastic eggs in the basket" while Mikey worked on homework.)
That reminds me... I forgot one of the big parts of Saturday afternoon! It was the annual Grace "Egg-stravaganza", which I guess you could call an "Easter egg hunt" but in practice it's more of an "Easter candy foot race." You may remember it from last year. Anyway, Cathy chose to go with Mikey and I stayed with Hannah in the "walkers to twos" area. He did the run-and-collect thing, and Hannah, who is walking just barely, did the "get carried and sit and put the candy I can reach in the basket even though I've got no idea what's going on" thing. Next year she'll be totally into it; this year it was a bit much for her to take in, but she had fun anyway, as did Mikey. The whole thing was a hiccup in Cathy's birthday, but after having that birthday her whole life, having it intruded on by Easter is no surprise. The surprise is when Easter happens in March like last year or something, and it doesn't step on her birthday!
So how were things with the new boss Monday? He seems like a really great guy, and I think I'm going to enjoy working with him. His name is Travis and he knows about this blog, so I'll tell you the REAL story when he turns his head. Hi Travis! Wow it was great working with you Monday! Don't forget to give me a good performance review at the end of the year!!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Easter Kitties Maintain Focus
Some kittehs get on a train of thought that you can't derail, even two days after Easter is already over:
Monday, March 24, 2008
Someone else wants in on that Easter action
(You're a day late and a dollar short, kitty cat... Easter was yesterday!)
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Happy Easter 2008
Mikey got this dinosaur at the Grace Church Eggstravaganza 2008. I snapped this picture of the menacing fellow while I waited for Mikey to finish collecting his second basket of candy. Mikey named him "Paddy" after I explained that although most people call this kind of dinosaur a Brontosaurus, the actual name of this kind of critter is Apatosaurus (you learn all kinds of useless stuff when your daddy is a bookish nerd... maybe Mikey will get this as his $1,000,000 question on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire one day). Anyway, "Paddy" is short for "Apatosaurus," although since Mikey got him/her the day before St. Paddy's Day gives it even more appropriateness.
Happy Easter!
Friday, March 21, 2008
Why?
Why did it have to be a friend
Who chose to betray the Lord?
Why did he use a kiss to show them?
That's not what a kiss is for.
Only a friend can betray a friend,
A stranger has nothing to gain.
And only a friend comes close enough
To ever cause so much pain.
And why did there have to be a thorny
Crown pressed upon His head?
It should have been a royal one
Made of jewels and gold instead.
It had to be a crown of thorns
Because in this life that we live
For all who seek to love, A thorn
is all the world has to give.
And why did it have to be
A heavy cross He was made to bear?
And why did they nail His feet and hands?
When his love would have held Him there.
It was a cross for on a cross
A thief was supposed to pay.
And Jesus had come into the world
To steal every heart away.
Yes, Jesus had come into the world
To steal every heart away.
from The Life by Michael Card
Listen
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Eggstravaganza 2008
Can you find Mikey in the blue jacket?On Palm Sunday we had our annual "Eggstravaganza" at Grace Church (see official pictures here). The little kids' choir that Cathy and I have been directing (five mighty singers for the Lord!) sang a couple of songs (namely "Lord, I Lift Your Name On High" and "Father, I Adore You") and then we had the "Easter Egg Hunt", which in practice is more like an "Easter Candy Footrace". They throw a bunch of candy out on the baseball field behind the church and let the kids go crazy!
It was a lot of fun... Mikey always has a blast! He was one of the first to get out to the field from the auditorium, and as you can see in the picture to the right, he got out into the candy area pretty quickly when they said "go!" Can you find him? (Click here to go to Flickr if you can't... mouse over the picture and you'll spot him easily!) And if you visit this blog on Easter, you'll get to meet the new critter friend he made when he ran out on the field! 
Unfortunately, because Hannah was still recovering from her procedure, she and Cathy didn't make it out. Maybe looking at the pictures will help Cathy feel more like she was there!
Max wants to come in
and go crazy!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Bunway Airlines
I've found out how the Easter Bunny gets his eggs and candy to all the good children in the world in one night:
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