John.Rachel.Gabe.Porter.&.Quentin: October 2014

When I was in second grade, my teacher used to put a bottle of ketchup on her desk when it was time for the class to do some "catching up". So, consider this post my bottle of ketchup. It's nothing significant, just lots of odds and ends that need to be preserved for posterity's sake you know.

One of our first days out and about in OKC !

(way back in August when Emma was still here)

Shrimp Burritos at Fuzzy's Taco Shop : )

On this outing I discovered Oklahoma City is home to Sonic's Headquarters! I LOVE Sonic drinks! When I saw the headquarters building I may have walked inside and asked the security guard for a tour. Sadly, he said there was nothing to see, but I could help myself to all the mints I wanted. After filling my pockets with mints (I LOVE Sonic mints!), I left slightly disappointed, (I'm pretty sure there were secret rooms full of lab rats eating chili cheese fries in that huge building) but the mints did help to ease the blow.

Morning Bed Head

Gabe looking cool in the dentist's chair!

There's a fun Children's Garden and Splash Pad in downtown OKC the boys like playing at.

More fishing : )

Someone should inform him this is a fish, not a parrot.

After seeing snakes in the water the last three times we've been fishing I've decided we are now pier/dock fishing people, and I will NEVER swim in an Oklahoma lake!

Our sweet neighbor in New York sent this race track to the kids. She is an elderly lady that has no family. Once we cracked her hard shell, she started showering us with gifts. It's amazing how showing someone a little kindness can make such an impact in their life. We will miss Lilly.

Oklahoma has lots of bugs and spiders. These are some of the creepers I've found around the house! The pictures just don't do their size justice.

Playing Chess with John is one of Gabe's favorite things in the entire world! This pic is for Jim and Jan. Recognize that chess set?

Funny Story. We'd had Chex for an entire week before we discovered he was actually a she! In my defense, the guy we got her from told us she was a boy and I just assumed his danglies hadn't dropped yet, but it wasn't until John was wrestling with her a week later that he informed me Chex was a girl. Wow, I feel like an idiot, but at least I'm no longer the only girl in the house! As you can see, I got busy doing girly things with my girl!

Funny Gabeism about the dog:

Gabe: If I die before Chex, it'd be okay with me if you used my body as a chew toy for Chex.

Chex thinks she's a lap dog. This might be awkward when she's full grown, but for now I'm enjoying cuddling her : )

Many of you have asked how we like living in Oklahoma. Honestly, this is never a place I wanted to live. However, after living in New York I can really appreciate Oklahoma. We loved New York, because there was lots to see and do, but it was also very expensive! The cost of living was ridiculous. Almost 50% of our mortgage payment went to taxes in New York. Moving to Oklahoma we nearly doubled the size of our house and pay less money for it. It's nice to be living in affordable America again! Not just housing, but food, gas, pretty much everything is cheaper!

I've put off posting pictures of our house because I wanted it to be clean and pretty when I took pictures, but let's face the facts . . . that's never going to happen. So I finally caved and am just posting pics of the house "as is" today : ) So pardon the dishes in the sink, the laundry on the couch, and the toys on the floor, but that's reality : )