Our big big girl!

Bella Rose is officially sassy-less! (sassy = pacifier!) And let me tell you, this girl LOVED her sassies...had to have at least 2 to go to bed at night! Now did I ever think I would have a 4 year old with a sassy still? NO! But Tommy and I were very set on not taking it from her until things were stable for us. We didn't know when we'd be moving and we wanted to wait till we were moved and all settled. And it worked out perfectly! We had been talking to her preparing her for it and hoping she would decide to do it on her own since she's old enough to understand. We were telling her that there are babies whose mom's can't afford to buy them sassies and she could send them hers. (hehe) Last Friday she woke up and said she doesn't need them anymore and she wanted to go right then to put them in the mail box!! So I put them in an envelope and we put them in the box (I got it out before the mailman came)!! I know it may sound ridiculous, but it was a little sad for me. Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled she was getting rid of them, but to hear her call herself a big girl, and anytime my kids make progression towards growing up it always stirs me. I hope I get better with this with time! ha! I'm already very emotional about Tag starting school, but I know all moms feel this way! I just have this vision of him walking in the school and me a mess outside watching! And then I go ahead and envision him walking in high school and it's just too much! How do all these moms do this stuff?! Anyway, here's more pictures of Bella on her big day taking her sassies to mail...

Walking to the mailbox

Excited!

Tag was our escort...he was a little shocked she was going through with it!

Sweet little hand putting the envelope in our box

Afterwards, she was proud...not bothered one bit!

On the phone with her Poppy...she immediately made a round of phone calls to all the grandparents to tell them what she had done!

She has done really well...the first night was a little rough, understandably. She sounded so pitiful at bedtime wanting them back. I think it had hit home what she had done! But after that she's maybe asked for them once and then she found one in the car and brought it to me to put in the mail too! We're very proud of her!


I wanted to ask you to pray for this beautiful little girl named Kate.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate

I don't know them, just found them off another blog I read that was requesting prayer for her as well. She is 5 years old and on June 29th, they found a very aggressive tumor in her brain. They are a strong Christian family but are so weak from all this, as you can imagine. I have just felt a strong burden to pray for them and have been keeping up with them through their site. Please please pray for them! It is our duty to pray for each other...and truthfully, we will all be in some need of prayer warriors at some point in each of our own lives... Thanks!

You've Got Mail...

Tag and Bella received a package in the mail from a very sweet aunt and uncle!! I can't explain how happy this makes the kids to get a box that has THEIR name on it! I wish I could get a picture of them when they realize it's for them. Anyway, here are some pics of them with their "Happy's"!

Bella got some pretty diamond heart earrings that made her so so happy! She can't wait to change out her earrings in a few more weeks! She also got her very own fleur de lis necklace! She was so excited, she ran to my jewelry box and got mine out for me to wear so we would match. =)

It doesn't take much to make my Tag happy....he LOVES collecting random things. He found bottlecaps one day and he wanted them so badly, so he received his own bottlecaps to start his new collection! He was thrilled!!

He also got an LSU stationery and pen set so he can write people. He claims his hand hurts after writing only a few words...so his notes take a while...haha! But he got right started on his first note! I keep telling him he'll be in school soon and will be writing more and more, so get used to it!

Thank you so much for the package!!!! It made the kids' day and they love you very much!!

I don't really have much to say but I do have a few random pictures to share. We've been doing great, excited about some upcoming visitors - we have a calendar countdown going and the 15th can't get here quick enough! =)


This first pic is for Nana! She loves Elvis.....and Bella!! ;)


There is a balloon guy here that is amazing...he does birthday parties and we've seen him at a few locations doing balloons for free (or for tips only) to get business. He made Tag an alien balloon with a "brain shrinking laser gun" and made Bella Rose a princess wand.




We were at the mall and saw this jumping thing at the center court. Tag wanted to do it but I really figured he'd chicken out when it came down to it. Of course he was begging Bella to do it with him, but she would have nothing to do with it...she is his little security blanket sometimes! hehe!

Getting all hooked up

More hooking up

Jumping!!!!

Here is a little video I took with my cell phone...not very long but you can see him jumping! I wish I had been videoing at the end because the lady asked if he wanted to "fly to the sky" and she raised the bands up high on the poles and pulled him down and he sorta catapulted up so so high! He was not wanting to do this at first but then he loved it and was asking her to keep on!

I don't know what our 4th of July plans are just yet, but I'm hoping we can find some fireworks somewhere to go watch. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and gets to spend lots of time with family and friends!

Fun at the Riverwalk

On Wednesday Tommy gets home around 1:00 so we decided to get out of the house that afternoon. We found out that at the Riverwalk in Jenks there is a theater that shows a free Disney movie each week, so we will definitely be taking advantage of this! We were too late this Wed. for the movie but we decided we'd walk the Riverwalk and grab a bite to eat.



They had this cute little spot out front...that of course I saw as a great photo op!

Can you see them behind the waterfall?!


There they are!

Our Bella loves loves loves to sing and dance, so we thought she'd be right at home on the big Riverwalk stage!

She didn't feel up to it that day...too many extra eyes there I suppose. ;) But you see her biggest fan was there ready to cheer her on!

Tag was calling for her to dance, but she was too shy. :)

As you can imagine, in this heat we got REALLY hot REALLY fast! There was a fountain some kids were playing in and the kids wanted to so badly. My initial response was the "practical" answer of "no", because we didn't have a change of clothes with us for the car ride home. But then we decided, oh, what's it gonna hurt?! And I'm so glad we did because they had a blast!! I am trying to say "yes" to more things like this because I know these are the things they'll remember most...like getting to play in their clothes in the water!

This is Bella letting the water go up her shirt...she said she was playing pregnant! Oh Lord!

They were two happy, cooled off kids when it was time to go!

Bella got her ears pierced!

Bella has been asking for a while to get her ears pierced and I had been waiting to make sure she really wanted to. I had been telling her that it would hurt a little because I wanted her to go in knowing what it was like, and she had watched a couple girls get theirs done at the mall. She still wanted to get hers done. So we finally decided to take her after hearing "...sigh...I wish I had my ears pierced" over and over! I was way more nervous than she was. And I think Tag was pretty worried himself. He wanted to hold her hand during and told her it was ok for her to cry. Sweet big brother! But she did so good! She definitely wanted to cry I think, but she held it together and didn't (something she's very proud of now)! And each time she walks by a mirror, or if her hand brushes over them, she says "I just love my new diamond earrings".

Just before getting them pierced!

Just after....just a few tears welled up

Proud big girl!

Getting some loving from a proud big brother!

Showing off those new "diamonds" =)

Our time in Tulsa...

Since moving here on June 5th, we've been quite busy trying to get settled in and trying to keep the kids entertained. It's been hard to move from where we were with lots of family and friends around keeping us busy, to here....where it's just us 4. It's also exciting, tho! We've managed to stay busy and we've found Tulsa has lots of fun things to offer! So, I thought I'd try to provide a summary of what we've been up to up to this point.


~ Starting with moving day...oh what a day. I was an emotional mess the entire day, just with the reality that I was about to have to say goodbye-that it was finally time. If I stopped to think about it I'd start crying, so my focus was to get everything done so we could just get it all over with! (I had joked about just leaving in the middle of the night to avoid the "goodbye's"!) But, now it's done and I must say that I'm thankful to be blessed with so many people to miss and be missed by. We left around 6pm that day with hopes that the kids would watch a movie or 2, then we were going to stop in Shreveport to see Brandon & Erica, then the kids would sleep for the rest of the trip. That was the plan!

And as you can see below, we got our wish! =)

Check out the chaos surrounding the sleeping kiddos!


Poor lil guy...tried to get comfy.


This picture makes me laugh! (Oh & that chocolate
around her mouth is from the yummy brownies
Nana baked for our road trip! )


~ Well, if you know us Banks well enough, you know our first stop once in Tulsa had to be......
.....
.....
.....
.....
.....
Krispy Kreme! Woohoo!





Pure delight!! If you haven't ever had one of their doughnuts hot off the line, you NEED to! :)


~ One day we took the kids to Incredible Pizza Co. as a belated birthday trip. This place is AMAZING! Has indoor go-carts, putt putt, bumper cars, blacklight bowling and carnival games, all under one roof! And a pretty decent buffet too!

Tag at the water gun shooting game

I know it's blurry...the kids playing putt putt


Tag on the bumper cars




~ One of the public parks in Tulsa is super nice! It has 3 playsets that are loads of fun. The kids definitely enjoy playing here...but it's been much too hot to go lately.



The kids on their scooters




That's Tag way down on the bridge!




Bella looks very focused on her "scooter'ing"!


And I just like this pic of our pretty girl!



~These are just some pics from around the house.

Blowing bubbles on the patio.


These bubbles are neat...they don't pop when
you touch them so you can catch them.



Bella with Tag's binoculars. (no we weren't
using them to spy on neighbors! ;))


Check out that hair on our handsome fella! =)



We spend lots of time at the pool to stay cool!

~ One day I found Bella Rose out on the patio "rocking her baby". Too cute!


Posing in her outfit from Aunt Erica
& Uncle Snuffy. Love it!




Whew...I think that just about catches us up to today...well almost!