Founder's Day

Every September, usually the weekend before my birthday, we celebrate Founder's Day.  There is a 5K (which I am determined that I will run one day), parade (with lots of candy), and fun activities at the center of town.

This year we ran into some friends at the parade and the boys had a blast.  The people in the parade always throw out a ton of candy.  William was a maniac!  He was getting as much candy as he possibly could and kept yelling, "free candy! free candy!"

After the parade, we walked up to the baptist church for some free snow cones and to participate in the book walk (think: cake walk) sponsored by the library.

It was a fun way to spend our Saturday morning!

small town entertainment

A few weeks ago, on our way to pick up William from school, we spotted an unusual sight.  In the field directly across from the elementary school there was a man practicing jumps on his dirt bike. 

We were quite entertained as we sat in line waiting for William.  In fact, instead of going straight home turned around and parked for a bit so that William could watch as well.  We weren't the only ones either!  The bank parking lot (next to the field) was full as was the school's lot.  Kids got out of the cars and lined the fence to get a closer look.  It was so funny to see everyone who passed by stop or slow down to catch the show!

A few weeks later at Brisket at the Barn (another of our favorite traditions here in town) we got another little show and discovered that the man is Derek Cook.  (If you click his name you'll get a taste of what we saw... except mute it because the music is horrible!)

We love our little town and all the perks that go with it!

Benefit of living in a small town: 

 

 

your kids get to be in the paper pretty often

 way more than I ever was!

twenty-nine years

Me... on my 29th birthday (picture by William)

Yesterday morning {while Rich was at the OU game} the boys and I walked "downtown" to watch a parade.  They claim that it's for Founder's Day... but since it falls on my birthday weekend every year I secretly think it's for me.  The boys did surprisingly well on the walk over there.

Right as we got there we saw a helicopter fly right over us... and it just got better.  The boys couldn't believe all the candy they got!  I think they loved the horses the most.  Alex waved to everyone passing by... it's his new trick.

Afterward, we checked out all the happenings downtown and even won a few books at the library's booth.  And we always run into friends at town gatherings which is fun. 

On the way home, James got a little too tired to walk and decided he should hop in with Alex.  Neither of them seemed to mind so we complied to William's request to go the long way home.

Later in the day we headed to the school playground.  Apparently the kids can't go down the slide at school or play on some of the monkey bars.  William was really bummed about it {he claimed that he hated school because of it} so I promised we would go on the weekend when no one could stop us from sliding.  That seemed to cure his "I-hate-school" attitude.  We called some friends to meet us up there and the boys all had a blast playing together.

Friday night Rich surprised me with dinner and "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" tickets for next week {they are coming to OKC!}  Maybe we're big nerds... but we're really excited!!

I've actually been dreading this birthday.  Maybe even more than 30.  I don't even know why... because it's my last year as a 20-something?  because it's the only year that my sisters and I will all be 20 together?  because it just seems so much older than 28?  I can't tell you.  But it can't be all that bad because my mom is still 29 :)  And if the rest of the year can be as good as my birthday it's going to be a great one...

the last two weeks

Warning: this post contains LOTS of pictures... and believe me, I cut back!

My mom was able to come out and help us out right after Alexander was born.

Alexander--6 days old

It was so great! She made wonderful meals every night (with dessert!), I never had to worry about dishes or laundry, and she had so many fun things for William and James to do.

It seems like every day (if it wasn't raining) she took the boys outside--on walks, in the yard, or to the park. (William even helped her find the park while we were still in the hospital--smart boy!)

She always had some kind of fun craft to work on!

She brought fun gifts. Like balloon cars.

And fuzzy socks.

Seriously, who knew that socks could be this much fun? The boys loved them.

And she acted out stories with them. At the park they reenacted The Three Billy Goats Gruff and The Three Little Pigs. At home we all did Caps For Sale. James was a great monkey.William had so much fun acting out stories that he had my mom help him make a bear mask so we could act out Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

James loved to snuggle up with Grandma and a good book.

For Memorial Day, Rich pulled out the pool. The boys had a great time splashing around.

And while James calls the pool his bath... Alex got his first real bath. And I was realizing... I think that my mom has given each of my boys their first bath!

Toward the end of her trip I ventured out to the park. It was a good thing because on the way home I saw that it was the annual Brisket at the Barn! I was glad that my mom got to experience one of our town events while she was here. William even informed us that he wasn't afraid of Chester the Clown anymore--and the boys loved getting their balloons from him. William also loved getting blue teeth from his sno-cone.

While we had someone to take pictures we attempted to get one of the whole Crane crew. That didn't work out so well.

Thanks Mom, for coming out here! We love you and can't wait to see you next month!

donut palace

Rich and the boys are running to the Donut Palace this morning to get us a special Saturday morning treat. As they were getting ready to leave I was reminded of the first time Rich made a donut run here in our little town. It was my birthday so he and William decided to wake up a little early and run for a treat. They picked out their donuts and, when they went to pay, realized that they only accept CASH! Yikes. We're not big cash carriers so Rich didn't have a dime. But, life in a small town has it's perks. The lady told Rich to just take the donuts with a promise to come back later with the cash to pay. Nice huh?

party at chester's

As I've mentioned before, Chester the Clown is a staple at Piedmont functions. So it only seems appropriate that the end-of-the-summer-reading-program-party be held at Chester's Party Barn.

The boys had a blast! They loved petting and feeding the little goats. I was actually really surprised that William was so willing to go up to the animals--usually he's so hesitant about stuff like that. James, of course, had no reservations whatsoever. In fact, I was more concerned for the goat's safety than for James'.

William continued to amaze me when he wanted to go on a pony ride and then didn't cry out of fear at all. (And it was great for me too... because it was free. Being the cheap-o that I am, I'd rarely, if ever, pay for a pony ride.)

Next, we were treated to a relaxing hay ride.Luckily for William and his fear of clowns, it was so hot (as Oklahoma summer's tend to be) that Chester decided to forgo the clown costume. He did still put on a magic show for the kiddos though.

William thought it was hilarious! It was so fun to watch him be amazed at the magic--and he still talks about it!

Yea for Chester's Party Barn! Yea for the Piedmont Library! Yea for a wonderful way to spend a Saturday as a family!

brisket at the barn

There are many perks to small town life, one being the community events. Perhaps my favorite gathering is the annual "Brisket at the Barn" sponsered by the local bank. There's brisket, hotdogs, chips, drinks, snowcones, tractor "train" rides, and even entertainment from Chester the Clown. And best of all? It's all FREE. Now that's my kind of party!

So Thursday evening we headed down to the barn behind the bank for our wonderfully delicious (and free) dinner. Just about everyone in Piedmont was there. William couldn't get enough of the train ride and loved to run around with his friends.

We also enjoyed some refreshing snowcones.

However, it was not a perfect evening. You see, William is terrified of Chester. Unfortunatley he's a staple at town events. If Chester was in sight then William was clinging for dear life to either my or Rich's legs. It's kind of hard to walk that way! The funny thing is that on the way home William cried and cried because he didn't get a balloon animal from Chester!

So if you're ever passing through around this time of year we'll be sure to treat you to some fabulous fun and food down at the barn!

what's up doc?

In the past year or so Piedmont acquired a medical complex. That's right we have one doctor's office now. Before you feel sorry for us let me tell you that we lucked out. Dr. Corman was recently featured in U.S. News and World Report. In case you don't want to read it, let me sum up. Dr. Corman is all about about customer service and wanted to be an old-fashioned, small town doc. His practice is also being studied as part of a two-year experiment by the American Academy of Family Physicians testing out the "patient-centered medical home." Sometimes there are perks to living in a small town. This just happens to be one of them.

pastry woes

I know this is silly, but ever since last year's pie fest I've been looking to redeem myself and reclaim 1st place Apple Pie status. I've been searching the local paper for entry calls and pondering over which pies I should enter this year. I was even going to have a poll to let you help me decide. Yesterday I finally emailed a few people. In return I was told that they are "taking a break" and that the person who handles the pie fest had "something personal she needed to concentrate on this year." WHAT?!? Oh well. Such is life in a small town. But next year my friends, next year, I will get that blue ribbon!

"I can breathe in a small town"

Population: 6000

Area: 43 square miles

Traffic lights: 0

Schools: 5

Churches: 6

Gas Stations: 2

Grocery Stores: 0

I went to a high school whose student body almost equals the population of our entire town. That would bother some people... but not me. There are some things that drive me crazy (couldn't we get just one grocery store here?) but for the most part I have come to really enjoy small town life. I will go into more of those reasons later. Today I want to brag about our library. It's small (perhaps the size of our home) and fairly new (less than 5 years old) but it is awesome. Our librarian, Rhonda, is so creative and is always planning things that will help the community.

Every Tuesday morning she holds a wonderful story time filled with stories (of course), dancing, snacks, and crafts. A few months ago we learned all about colors. For the craft all the children got to put their hands in paint and make a handprint on a quilt square. And what did she do with those?

Well, there is a quilting group that meets at the library every Friday morning. They made these adorable curtains for the children's section of the library. Cute idea? She's full of them! Even better? William is on all three curtains. Here are some close ups:

1. William's handprint 2. William and his buddies, Beckham and Stoddard, reading their books quietly on the rocking bench (note: it's amazing that these boy are sitting still. Normally they are terrorizing the library. This is probably why Rhonda took the picture.) 3. William is in the foreground in the red jacket. This is a music and movement class that they hold once a month... so fun! 4. William in the orange shirt during summer story time.

I just thought this was a wonderful way to combine story time, quilters group, and beautify the library!

And here are some cute pictures of my boys playing at the library... for your viewing enjoyment. (Which is another great thing about our library... we can go at certain times and no one else will be there... love it.)

... more to come on small town life...