Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone. 

As well as Debbie and I can remember, this is the first Christmas morning we have spent without at least one of our daughters in the house.  Tara, John, Evie, Maggie and Oliver went back to Greenville yesterday.  Kelsey is with Jeremy's family in Bristow.  Megan is with Nolan. 

Yesterday was pretty quiet.  Tara and John stopped by on their way out of town to say goodbye.  We tried to eat lunch at the bagel shop but they were closed.  We went to McAlesters instead.  While we were eating, Debbie directed my attention to a little girl sitting in a high chair a few feet away.  She was staring at me with a huge grin on her face.   I started waving and playing peek-a-boo with her.  She must be about a year old.  Chubby cheeks and big blue eyes. 

Debbie and I went to For Pete's Sake and bought a couple of OSU shirts. Like we need more of those, right?  Went to Chris' to get a sweatshirt like the one John bought, but they did not have any my size.  Their stock was dwindled considerably by holiday shoppers. 

Debbie made a very tasty batch of red beans and rice last nite. 

The house is quiet this morning except for the commotion that Debbie is causing in one of the bedrooms.  I cannot tell if she is cleaning or remodeling.  Feel like I should go check it out but kinda concerned that she is luring me into a chore.  hee hee.

Have a great day.

Kelsey's big day

Kelsey started the day getting ready to graduate from OSU.  She decorated her mortar board by painting it orange and spelling OSU with sequins.  We met her boyfriend, Jeremy, and his parents and grandparents at the OSU Student Union for lunch that Debbie brought from Subway.  After lunch, we went outside to the west stairs to take some photos before going to the graduation ceremony.  As we were taking photos of Jeremy and Kelsey together, Jeremy pulled a ring box from his coat pocket. 

Kelsey saw the box and said, "Nuh, uh!"  Jeremy got on one knee and asked her to marry him. 

There were several cheers from those watching.

I believe that is a "yes."

Two happy people.  Congratulations!!

A few more photos were taken before the graduation ceremony.

After graduation, we had a reception at the Community Center.  Lots of Rib Crib barbeque and a cool cake Debbie bought at a bakery in Oklahoma City. 

Kelsey had the best day!

Congratulations, Kelsey!

Congratulations, Kelsey!

Today is the last day of your undergraduate college career.  Congratulations on becoming the last of our family to become an OSU graduate.  We are proud of you!

I am so proud that all five of us are college graduates.  It is not easy for that to happen for one family member, much less every member of a family.  It is hard to be humble when I have a wife and three daughters that are so very special.  Thank you.  I love you gals!!

Happy Birthday, Evie.

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Evie, happy birthday to you. 

Love you bunches,

Nana and Opie.

Too early for questions

Good Friday morning! 

We had to stop and get gas in the auto this morning before our daily migration to Oklahoma City.  Anyone besides me getting a little tired of the 20 questions at the gas pump? 

Questions like:  Debit or Credit?  Car Wash?  Receipt? 

Well, ok.  So it is only three questions.  But at 6:30 a.m. that is three questions more than I care to answer.  Answering questions requires thinking and thinking is not something I want to do that early in the day.  It is hard enough trying to decide whether to eat the Raisins, Dates and Pecans cereal or the Cranberry Almond Crunch cereal.  After answering the questions about car washes, receipts and the type of card we want to use, we have to select a grade of fuel.  In the good old days, there was only one thing to do.  Lift the handle and pump whatever was coming out of the hose.  Now, there are five or six buttons to push to select a grade of fuel.  Eighty-seven octane up to 90-something.  At some pumps, there are one or two additional options on the amount of ethanol you want in your gas in addition to the other grades of fuel.  Getting gas is becoming too complicated.  At least at 6:30 in the morning.

When we got home last night, there was a box sitting at the front door.  Debbie quickly grabbed it.  There is something subversive occurring around our house.  I was not allowed to see what was in the box and was banished from the bedroom for several minutes.  I AM THE HEAD OF THIS HOUSE, WOMAN!!  True, you are the neck and when the neck turns, the head moves.  But still.  No secrets!!!  Do not give me that business about waiting a few days before I find out what was in the boxes.  Yes, boxes.  It turns out there were smaller boxes in the larger box.  And since when do people ship stuff from somewhere without identifying who they are?  In a nation full of laws of all kinds regulating everything imaginable, is it possible there is no law demanding that the sender identify themselves on the daggone box they shipped via UPS?  It is a conspiracy, I say. 

Hope you have a good day... without secrets.

Bedlam weekend

GO POKES!!!  

Thanksgiving

Great day on Thursday with Tara, John, Evie, Maggie and Oliver coming up from Texas to spend the day with us.  Megan, Nolan, Kelsey and Jeremy were at the house, too.  Debbie cooked a huge turkey as usual.  Green bean casserole, brocolli and rice casserole, stuffing, scalloped potatoes, cranberry fluff, huge dinner rolls, apple pie and pumpkin pie.  Yum.  Everyone enjoyed the meal.  Played outside with the donkeyballs game.  A little doody head, too.  Good times.

No volcano, but...

After the wild weather, earthquakes and near miss by an asteroid, we have yet to experience the volcano spewing fire and brimstone.  However, I have a feeling that if someone lit a match in the mens restroom there might be a flash fire.  I hope the guy who left that in there feels better.  whoa.

Deathstar killed the dinosaurs

Having dinner last nite with Debbie, Megan and Nolan.  A comment was made about the asteroid passing near the earth at 5:30 p.m. and that it must not have hit anything.  Don't remember exactly how the topic turned to the Deathstar, but another comment was made about the Deathstar being responsible for killing off all of the dinosaurs.  As it turns out, the person making the comment did not know what the Deathstar was and that it is a fictional space craft from the Star Wars movies.  The Deathstar was used to blow up an entire planet in the movie.  Pretty funny.

Earthquakes, thunderstorms and a tornado or two

Last nite, we had very strong thunderstorms.  Torrential rain.  Lots of lightning and thunder.  Several tornadoes in SW Oklahoma.  Flooding.  And, another earthquake.  4.7 magnitude, which is about 10 times less strong as the one on Saturday nite.  Megan called earlier this morning and said she heard about a sinkhole along I-40 east of OKC.  All we need is a volcano to erupt in Oklahoma.  We've had blizzards, drought, massive hail storms, flooding, earthquakes, tornadoes, sinkholes.  A volcano throwing fire and brimstone everywhere is next.  Strange goings on.

Huge asteroid, earthquakes, end of the world

Big-for-Oklahoma earthquake on Saturday nite.  By California or Japanese standards, it was nothing.  For Okies living in flimsy houses and people doing needle point for quilts, it was kinda spooky.  Someone wondered if it is the beginning of the end of the earth.  I dunno. 

I am not a religious fella, but I like one guy's belief that the earthquake was caused by God doing "the Gundy" after OSU's win over KSU. 

There is a big asteroid, the size of an aircraft carrier, that will pass between the Earth and the moon tomorrow evening.  If that hits the Earth, it would make a huge divot. 

For some OU fans, OSU being ranked #2 in the country and undefeated is a sure sign of the apocalypse. 

All I know is that if the end of the world is coming, I need enough warning and time to improve my flexibility so I can kiss my butt goodbye first.  Well, at least enough time for adequate procrastination on improving my flexibility. 

Be sure and wave at the asteroid as it passes between us and the moon.  Should happen around 5:30 p.m. central time.

Have a good day. 

College football

After the WONDERtorium, we went back to the house and ate a great lunch.  Debbie prepared barbeque brisket and cocktail weenies, vermicelli salad, baked beans, and mexican caviar.  My friend Jimmy and his son, Soren, arrived about 3:30.  After eating, we went to OSU and The Walk.  The Walk is where the football team and coaches walk across campus from the OSU hotel to the football stadium.  Several thousand fans line up along both sides of the street and cheer the team during the two block walk.  The band plays the OSU fight songs and Oklahoma!  Pistol Pete walks ahead of the team.  Lots of fun.

The gang at Boone Pickens Stadium waiting for the team to arrive.

GO POKES!!

Kelsey gets a higher vantage point to see the team arrive at the stadium.

Jimmy and Soren watching the team arrive.  Pistol Pete in the background had just finished leading the fans in an OSU cheer.

Head coach Mike Gundy

Soren and Jimmy

The gang heading to our seats after getting a sweatshirt for Soren and some blankets at Chris'.  The blankets came in handy later.  The wind was kinda cool.

Jimmy and Soren

Hee hee.

Deb, John, Tara, Megan, Nolan, Jeremy and Kelsey

hee hee

The OSU football team running onto the field.  Time to get Boone Pickens Stadium ROCKIN'!!!

We were part of a record attendance at an OSU football game. Just under 59,000 fans.

"Here comes, BULLET!!"  Bullet and the OSU spirit runners coming onto the field after an OSU touchdown.

Nailbiter.  The game was in doubt for OSU to the last second.  Literally.

Everyone appeared to have a great time.  Glad the Pokes won since Jimmy and Soren came from Colorado Springs to attend the game.  As we were leaving, Kelsey and Nolan felt the earthquake while we were still in the stadium.  Eleanor was at the house and said things were rattling around.  Sad that I missed it.  Enjoyed the game, the family and friends and looking forward to doing it again.

WONDERtorium

Fun day Saturday.  We all went to the new children's museum in Stillwater, the Oklahoma WONDERtorium.  Pretty cool place.  Everyone had a good time.

 Making paper airplanes was alot of fun. 

Trying to blow a ping pong ball out of a soda bottle. 

Blow across the top of the paper and the paper rises.  Example of how air blowing across an airplane wing creates the lift that makes the plane fly.  The air blowing across the top of the paper is moving faster than the air below.  The faster air creates a low pressure area compared to the air below the paper.  The paper rises into the lower pressure area.  Cool stuff.

Giant Spirograph.

This was alot of fun.  Tubes with pressurized air blowing through them.  Put lightweight balls and scarves in one end and the air blows them through the tubes toward an opening at the end of the tubes.  All of the kids loved this one!

How did Aunt Kelsey use these things?

Chillin' on the cool furniture created by the OSU architecture students

Gravity displays created by the OSU architecture students.

Making origami with three people from Kameoka, Japan.  Kameoka is Stillwater's sister city.  Students and citizens from both cities have shared their culture, and visitors, with each other for at least 25 years.

Too much excitement for Eleanor.

Maggie showing off the origami frogs she made.

Learning to use chopsticks.  The young lady in the red gown is from Kameoka.

Eleanor, Debbie and Tara relaxing on another piece of furniture created by the OSU architecture students.

Nolan playing.

Making the deal.