April: A Whirlwind

It was a whirlwind of an April for us, both figuratively and literally (see tornadic weather).  I am finally sitting down to write about it.

New Addition:

 We had a new addition to our family...meet "Bodie" our new blue merle Australian Shepherd.  We all have fallen in love with him, and who can blame us, look how cute he is:

Anniversary:

Torie and I celebrated 13 years on April 10th.  We were extremely blessed to get to have a 3 day get away (something fairly rare with young children) thanks to some generous people.  My mom's friend, Joy, knew a guy who ran a B&B in Muskogee, OK - The Historic Hayes House.   She got us in touch with Jim, who allowed us a nights stay at no charge, and Joy paid for us to receive the 5 course gourmet meal (more on that in a moment).  Then my mom and dad wanted it to be special for us and paid for an additional night, what a blessing!  Not to mention that mom drove from the Dallas area to our small part of Oklahoma to watch the boys for us.  So the day before we were to head to Muskogee, we stayed a night in OKC, to spend some more time together and cut down the length of the drive to Muskogee.  We had a wonderful evening, eating at one of our favorite Italian restaurants and then went to see The Hunger Games.  The next day we arrived at the Hayes House:

Frontage Picture

Backyard (included Koi Pond, Tree Swing, Deck, Pool, etc.)

My B-E-A-utiful Bride on the swing

Jim, our host, was very friendly and welcoming and a very good cook.  I mentioned the 5 course gourmet meal, but want to do it justice so I am going to do a separate post concerning the most amazing meal I have ever eaten in my life.

Upon returning from Muskogee, my wife immediately left the next day for OKC again to attend  the Women of Joy Conference.  The boys and I, thinking we would have a fun guys weekend, got to endure tornadic weather through which we spent an adventurous 3 hours in our storm shelter.  The day after Torie returned home, we left for a week long trip in Dallas....wheeww...

Baby Gets Older:

Braeden, our youngest son, turned 7 on April 15.  With my sister's 31st birthday being the 16th, we made a trip to Dallas to have a dual birthday celebration (which means my sister gets a little boys birthday party, but she doesn't mind). Braeden is BIG into pirates and requested a "pirate treasure" birthday cake, to which "Gammaw" was happy to oblige:

The Cake

The Boy

Did I mention he likes pirates - LEGO Black Pearl

Odds and Ends:

Well, those were some of the major things that kept us busy.  The boys continue to excel in their music lesson, Braeden (piano) and Joshua (violin), and we have also changed our Homeschool Curriculum to My Father's World, which Torie and the boys are loving!!!  Other than that, I continue to be blessed as, through the Lord's strength, I preach and lead our church.  What a blessed busy life I have, thank you Lord!!!

Braeden's First Piano Lesson

Braeden had his first ever piano lesson today and learned "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".  Torie and I are excited that he likes taking piano, and are so proud of our little 6 yr old!

 

A Nature Journal

One of the great joys my wife and I have is homeschooling our children!  We are so very blessed to have this opportunity to invest in the education of our boys and to give them a strong God-centered Worldview as a foundation.  There is also the fact that we get to do neat activities that reinforce what they are learning.  Such an activity, like that of a nature journal, allows them to be hands-on with the nature they are studying in books, and gives them a greater appreciation for God's creation.  They have recently been studying about the century plant and thought they had found one in the wooded creek bed behind our house:

While I don't think we have century plants in our part of Oklahoma, it certainly has similar features, and was a good find by an eight and six year old.  Shows they are paying attention!

Here is Joshua (8) drawing a picture of it and noting it in his nature journal:

While out exploring, I came across an ol' timey harrow that has long been abandoned in the wheat field behind us.  One of it's blades was off, so I took the opportunity to take a couple of photos:

What an adventure to be a homeschool family!!!

All in a Days Work - My Wife's Garden

My wife decided she wanted to again do a garden this year.  We had one about 3 yrs ago, then we attempted to build some raised bed gardens (that didn't work).  So here we are, needing to till the earth to make ready for a new garden plot.  Thankfully we had just received a snow storm, that promptly melted in two days, making the ground moist and a little softer.  Of course softer is relative, as it was only softer than concrete.  At any rate, I was able to get the allotted space tilled and ready to receive seed. 

We have still yet to determine what that seed will be, but stay tuned as I post pics of the, Lord willing, bounty to come!

Fun Snowy Day

We had some wintery weather move in today in SW Oklahoma.  Due to the cold day we had yesterday, ice and snow have blanketed the roads leading to the need to cancel our Sunday night bible study.  So the boys took advantage of the time...

Death Shimmer: Why I Can't Wait to Hit the Water

Some time ago my buddy Jason Baggett tweeted about a new spinner bait known as Death Shimmer.  As one who loves to fish, I marveled at the innovation of this particular spinner and knew I wanted some.  So I asked him if they were available at Bass Pro or Cabelas.  He told me they were made by Law Lures and were not yet available at the big outdoor stores, but got me in contact with the owner Rich Lau.  Needless to say I am the proud owner of three Death Shimmer spinner baits, two pictured here:

I have yet had the opportunity to hit the water and give these bad boys a proper breaking in, but in a couple of  weeks my mom and dad will be coming in from Dallas, and the one thing dad wants to do every time he comes, have me take him fishing (he never gets too living in the concrete jungle).  So T-minus 17 days and counting till death hits the waters of SW Oklahoma.  So excited, can't wait, and what a blessing it will be to have my dad along with me!

P.S. Special Thanks to Rich Lau, God bless you brother!!!

Why the 2012 Turkey Season will be the BEST EVER!

Okay, so by the title one might think that I might have some inside information about turkey quantities, movements, habits, etc., or some scouting secrets to get you onto more birds.  The truth of the matter is, for me this season has nothing to do with the turkey themselves, but rather the hunt, and more specifically whom I get to hunt with.  This season, I will have the opportunity and privilege of taking my 8 yr old son Joshua out for his first Oklahoma Turkey Season.  As a father of two boys, I have been looking forward to this moment since they were born:
 
1.  The opportunity to pass down to my sons the joy, knowledge, and responsibility of hunting and the outdoor life. 

2.  To pass along the appreciation of God's wonderful creation of nature and wildlife, and our call to have dominion and stewardship over it. 

3.  The blessing of spending quality time with my sons and teach them how to hunt, both ethically and for success.

This list is by no means exhaustive, but it outlines a few of my reasons why, for me, the 2012 Turkey Season will be the BEST EVER!!!