who let the dogs out?

      NO, Really?  Who let the dogs out?    This is already the most commonly asked question in our house.  The (close) second most common is "did you wash your hands?".   They are currently  staying in the building in the back as they are so young and it is still cool- but soon they will have a nice big fenced in area of the yard , just for them.   Daddy and I have finally broken down and fulfilled a lifelong dream of a few little cuties we know.  We wanted to wait until we thought the responsibilities that come with pets were something  they were ready for.  We had fish, they croaked after a year ( sadly, someone forgot to tell Wyatt that petting fish just wasn't a good idea).  We have dino & ellie, the hermit crabs and they were pretty great for a couple weeks!  They now reside at their 2nd home, Dawson's Kindergarten classroom where they get plenty of attention and kids are excited about being able to take turns taking care of them!  We had some pet worms for , well,  a couple days, and let me just say it was a beautiful memorial service!
      A donkey, a horse, or puppies have been on the wish list forever, or at least for a year and a half ,  ever since we moved here with all this land to run and play on.  Puppies won, but we did not tell the kids!!!  They were shocked!!
        We made them leave early from their cousins birthday party, they weren't happy :(
They got in the car and we told them it was a surprise.  "Cherry Berry?" one asked, " OH, I know, to see more buffalo!"  said another- as we pulled down an unfamiliar street in the neighboring town they were all speechless( RARE moment!!!)  I urged daddy to drive slow and make this last but being a big kid himself, he couldn't wait either:)  When got out of the van at a house and stepped in the back yard.  The sweet lady called for the puppies, and several cute little bundles of pure puppy joy came waddling out.  Beside them their momma,Chiggar, a Jack Russell and their dad Skip, a Red Healer.   Kayli says, "looking back I thought it was kind of a mean trick to go looking at puppies when you guys  always said "no" because of the extra responsibility"-   "I couldn't BELIEVE it when you said we can take two home!" (Truthfully I couldn't believe it myself, our grocery bills and medical bills for the six of us were already enough- why take on more?) I took one look at the happy little grins on 5 faces ( 4 little ones and 1 big one) , I knew this was the right thing to do.   
      "Besides mom, puppies LOVE me!"  Wyatt says as he oh so gently picks up a pup- well, maybe not SO gently- but we are learning ( in fact as I type , we are learning that Carter CANNOT share the puppy's squeaky toy even if he really likes it)  ; a great life lesson I think it shall be!  So without further ado, meet them for yourself....

This one here is Chiggar, affectionately named after her momma:)

(Just to clarify, Chiggar is the smelly little puppy in front that doesn't have chocolate on their face!)

 

Chiggar on left with Dawson and Kayli has "HER" Freckles on the right!  I'm hoping they don't get tired of them too soon-(The PUPPIES tired of the kiddos that is-poor lil pups are probably already needing a break.)

..........Where the buffalo roam

         There are plenty of little "dears" but not many antelope playing around here.  Wyatt, my little animal lover, desperately wants a donkey because, well, because he is Wyatt.  Kayli would absolutely do ANYTHING if a horse would show up here for her birthday. When we pass the John Deere, New Holland, or Kubota store Dawson drools, but I suppose tractors are another subject( I do tend to ramble, those familiar with my daddy will realize I come by that honestly).  Anyway,the first night Carter came home from the hospital and we were all sitting around just watching him sleep, he smiled one of those cute little baby, gassy, smiles and Wyatt whispered, "Look guys! He is smiling- must have been dreamin' of the Zebra's."   A completely random remark and the rest of us snickered, but as a baby really enjoys looking at the black/ white contrast and  we all joke about his love of the zebra, but it does seem he really continues to enjoy looking at pictures of zebras and his tiny stuffed one that goes clickety clack, it's ever so cute, and don't look now but I'm rambling again!   I DO have a point and I have said all this to say WE all enjoy animals.  We have a membership to the Tulsa Zoo, go annually to the Independence zoo, have visited a few other zoos in other states and have toured a Safari zoo- BUT, we have never done what we did this week on Spring Break!! 
       We told the kids nothing, to keep our adventure a surprise, grabbed some bottles of water, a camera and a map and set out on a BUFFALO HUNT!  This is something I had wanted to do for about a year now!  Although there are over 4,000  head of buffalo  between the Woolaroc and the Tallgrass Wildlife preserves, that is not where we headed.  It was a bit of a Scavenger hunt for Buffalo Statues all around town.  When I say "Town" I mean Bartlesville, the nearest city to our small but sweet spot in the road of a town.  Just  like the Ingall's, we also have to go into "town" to pick up our list of necessities, only we drive a minivan instead of a covered wagon.   Okay and so back to my story-my map included the addresses of 15 of these statues but along our way we found a few more.
           A girl scouts troop came up with the idea of these statues and could be purchased by businesses around to be painted by local artists and all proceeds would go to the Mary Martha Outreach Center downtown. Way to go girl scouts!   Each buffalo is beautiful and unique and I enjoyed getting up close and personal to check them out,  can't really say that for the real things because  momma here likes to enjoy animals from afar :)  There are 3 more we have yet to visit-2 being indoors and 1 at Woolaroc which we plan to visit again soon.  There is also at least one more that we know of in the process of being painted by the art teacher at the kids' school and it will be placed at the B'Ville Kiddie Park.  We are very anxious to see that one, for each little hand of the children at their school will take part in it's design. 

This first one makes its home at the D.C., a.k.a Daddy's work. Lee's friend, Jeff Prescott painted this one        

This one is at the 66 Federal credit union, and if you look closely you will see it is covered in Buffalo head nickels- cute idea I thought:) Yes, Dawson is picking it's nose!

Carter was enjoying being able to continue to get out of the carseat every few minutes, he only likes that carseat if he is sleeping!

This one is Wyatt's favorite!

Bartlesville Bruins!

We LOVE The 'Ville!  This is one Kayli's favorite!

( When checking this one out, look closely at the strategically placed flashy disco balls...don't let the pink confuse you-it's not female!)

Nice.........

Dawson's fave!

Momma's favorite!

Carter is still a smiling:)

interesting......

You can see the shadowed image of the Bartlesville Community Center, a must see if you enjoy architecture!

This one was in a downtown building window- not sure if it has been purchased yet or not- it's yet to be painted.

This just seemed like the obvious choice for dinner after the hunt!

             We did not go on any cool trip or vacation on our Spring Break this year, however, we did try to do one fun activity each day around here.  This one was hands down the favorite day- I think they will remember it forever and so will I!  It was a simple idea but interesting, educational, and only cost us the gas-  AND dinner after of course, we worked up quite an appetite looking for these guys!

You have HOW MANY??

      This is a reaction I get quite often when my answer is four, kiddos that is. Twice this week I got very similar reactions, and last I checked 4 isn't that crazy!!  Statements like, "WOW- I think you are in this condition everytime I see you!" don't make me upset, because it actually does feel that way- 10 years, 5 pregnagncies!  Now Michelle Duggar must really get annoyed with her CONSTANT critisism of 19, but what a LOVELY family they have and No, not everyone or even very many mommas in the world should or could probably have this many- but my point is why are others concerned?? I OFTEN feel the need to act ugly and say" yes, we left the other 6 at home"  when asked if ALL four are ours.
I try to restrain myself but sometimes I do share the fact that"we may not even be done yet".  I smile at the gaping mouths and under the breath whispers , something about 'crazy' :)  I often scream on the inside, "Do we ask for your help?" "Do we ask for your money?"" Do you  hear me complaining I don't have enough 'ME' time" The Answer is NO!  We love our family soo much  and wouldn't change it for the world!( Unless God blesses us with one more:) You know you hear people say, sometimes, "man, I wish we would have went for for it and had just one more!" You NEVER hear, " Boy I wish we hadn't had that last one!"
         The hubs and I sometimes look at each other amongst the chaos going on around us and  say, "can you believe we have four kids?" and agree we both feel absolutely blessed!
These four children ( plus our angel baby, Austin, that I don't often mention as it may make some uncomfortable, but I can't NOT mention him, as he is one of my babies- only God takes care of him , instead of us) are our LIFE! 
       We, Lee and I, have had our "me" time and sometimes have date time(- although our last 4 wedding anniversaries were spent at the B'ville Kiddie Park)- we know one day we will again have "US" time, but we don't wish to rush it!  At dinner the other evening, the kids were feeling particularly energized, or I'll just say it, they were CRAZY, and Lee caught my glance that said, these kids are acting like their daddy again, and we started quietly singing-"DOOT DOOT DOODLE DOODLE DOOT DOOT DO DO" which, if you don't recognize it is Circus music- each little act in our party of six is trying to be in the center ring, being loud, doing their tricks, and sometimes we just have to sit back and enjoy the show.
    For some of you that may be reading this-it may have been years since we have seen each other and many have never met my children, though you may feel as though you know their personalities from my facebook posts, which they are often a subject of.  I thought I would do a little introduction of each of them, so  from now on you can put a sweet face to each silly story:)

Kayli ( in her jammies) with her flowers daddy got her after her play performance in OKLAHOMA:)

Kayli and Daddy dressed for the Daddy/Daughter dance, I would describe her as a sweetheart who likes to mother her brothers, shop with momma and fish with daddy all while wearing heels:)

A sick day home from school watching a movie on the laptop and a tray of "sick food", hmm.... I think want to have a sick day!

Dawson on a school field trip to the hospital, he was the pretend DAD, he played the part well.

Loves, loves, tractors and lawnmowers and well, anything with wheels.  His plans are to go to farmer college (OSU) and then come back home and farm and build a house in the back pasture so he can come eat dinner at my house every night, bc he is never getting married- he said he WOULD keep my yard mowed- a smart, sensitive little man!

Wyatt- I told him one day that it was a bit chilly so he may need a hat and he came out of his room very serious, with this Daniel Boone coonskin, instead of a stocking cap..always giving me chuckles and grins this one!

"Look mom, NO training wheels!!! "

Dawson and Wyatt are both obsessed with Monster trucks of any kind these days and here they are at one of many events that they went to with daddy.

Just keepin it real here, please note this is after a LONG day of labor- first pic of Carter Louis, Aug.18th:)

My little monkey boy- love's LUV's .. hee hee- He is my precious baby and is getting soo big, he sleeps like and angel and eats like a pig:)

It's me and Kayli versus these three and Daddy-but we LOVE every minute of it!