Well, it’s been a while since I’ve written anything here & that’s mainly because we have all had a lot going on! You’d think I would learn to post short, simple stories as an event comes to an end, but here I am, playing “catch-up” once more… Ah, well, it’s like I always say, “better late than never”, right? 😉

Now, the only thing left is to figure out what approach to write this in, chronological, or by person, or some other way… The way I’ve written the topics on my iPhone is just a list of possible titles for separate stories, but that doesn’t give any detail. Hmmm… let me just back up a bit, because the first couple of events actually occured more toward the beginning of the year.

First of all, Jeremy & I are looking forward to our 10th wedding anniversary this fall, which means it has actually been more than 10 years now, since he proposed to me. We became engaged on February 14, 1999. So, this past Valentine’s Day marked a decade since he asked me to start this journey of familyhood: first, ecstatically becoming his wife & later to be blessed to share the responsibilities of parenthood to the 2 wonderful daughters we’ve been given. It’s had all its upturns & downswings over the years, but has always been a wonderful experience of growth & love & I appreciate him more every day, though I oftentimes forget how to express it…

Getting back to the girls, they have each had their share of learning in the past few months. Katrina began clogging lessons & graduated from a 6-week course in March! She continues to dance with her Nana & I in weekly classes & just loves this new hobby! It’s nice, because we can practice together at home & it gives us some special “Mom-and-Daughter” time, too.

Alyssa began potty training around the same time, and although she has been kind of “hit-and-miss” recently, she has had some definite success & progress in that area. We know that it will “click” one day & she will be more consistant. For now, we’re happy she enjoys sitting there & isn’t apprehensive at all…

Seems like Aly’s the only one of us who isn’t bothered by the changing of seasons, yet, anyway. I have always had “hay fever”; was diagnosed with it as a kid & have had to deal with my sinuses acting up almost every year, since. It seems to effect Jeremy in the way that his eyes & nose get bothered, too, although he’s never been diagnosed as an allergy sufferer. Same thing with Katrina, but to a lesser extent. Thankfully, it’s officially spring, now — no more drastic temperature changes from day to day, as is typical for our locale when the seasons begin to change.

Katrina’s Spring Break from school was a fun, event-filled one this year! We seemed to be going out & doing something different, nearly every day of it! First, there was the Tulsa Home & Garden show. We went there trying to get ideas for things we’d like to have in our new home, but didn’t find anything we couldn’t live without. The next day, we went to Philbrook Museum of Art, where Katrina got to create her own craft project, which looked like a little leprechaun, when she was done. We all enjoyed the scavenger hunt of the grounds, while Alyssa pointed out the “fwowders” (flowers), all along the way. Sunday’s plans included church service & our Bible study group, then we had a couple of “resting days”, although Kat made sure that we all wore green on St. Patrick’s Day & she helped me with the grocery shopping, too. The next day, we went to the Oklahoma City zoo & a mall that we enjoy there, afterwards. Nice day trip; we’ll have to share the pictures in the photo album, later. The next evening, Katrina & I had clogging class. Sometime that weekend, she & Jeremy went roller skating together, then Sunday’s plans were the same as the previous week. It was 10 days of enjoyment, having our big girl home from school. We’re looking forward to her summer vacation, now, too!

Kat also had to deal with a couple of not-so-fun things, but thankfully, she’s a little trooper & they didn’t bother her much at all… One was her last appointment with her eye doctor, where we found out that her vision in her “bad eye” has not progressed at all, so he had us begin again with the patch therapy. She wears an eyepatch over her “good eye” part of the day, to help the other one focus/get stronger. Since we’ve been told only to have her do this for 4 hours each day, we let her do it in the evenings, from the time she gets home from school until about bedtime each night. That way, not only will she not be questioned about it by her peers (or worse, possibly made fun of), but we can also monitor her more easily & make sure she’s keeping it on & not trying to “peek” over or around it, either. She’s very good about wearing it, though. We’re hoping & praying to have good results at her next eye exam. A couple of other appointments she had to attend dealt with her teeth. She had 2 loose, baby ones that just didn’t want to come out. The adult ones were growing in behind them, instead of under them, so they weren’t helping to naturally push them out, either. A dental appointment, one with an orthodontist & a meeting with an oral surgeon all confirmed we would need to have the 2 baby teeth pulled, in order for her grown-up ones to finally come in properly. She had the operation on April 6th & did wonderfully! She wasn’t apprehensive at all. They told her what to expect, on her own terms & the oral surgeon also ordered her not to eat anything until after it was over, but then she was supposed to have ice cream for breakfast! We obliged & she ate an entire banana split, all by herself! I think this made it a little easier for her to deal with… 😉 She also got some nice stuff from the tooth fairy the next day & was able to go back to school & tell her friends all about it. Now, her adult teeth are in place & you can’t even tell she had any problems with those baby ones, to begin with! She’s getting so big!

One way that Alyssa continues to grow & progress is in her vocabulary. She seems to just add words by the minute! Even though she still talks like a toddler, you can understand her a lot more, now too… A cute thing she likes to play with us is “knock-knock jokes”. Katrina started this, when she was a bit younger, herself. I think she actually taught her sister to say, “Knock-knock!” and wait for a reply. Then, when we say “Who’s there?”, Kat will typically say, “Katrina.” Then, of course comes, “Katrina who?”, to which she’d happily state, “Katrina Zongker”! And, that would be the funniest thing ever! Now, Aly’s spin on this is that, she likes to say her own name, but she can’t quite pronounce our last one, just yet, plus, she likes to go by her nickname, rather than saying, “Alyssa”, so her punchline is always, “Aly Oscar”! Good stuff! We’re working with her on it, but right now, we can’t help but giggle, anyway…

A recent event I attended, right before my Birthday was a clogging workshop in Independence, MO called the “City Slicker Stomp”. It was all under one roof — the hotel we stayed at had a convention center in the lower floor, plus a restaurant, “convenience store”, etc. Little did we know what a good thing that was, until we got there! There were 10 of us from my group, including my Mom-in-Law, Annette, who was my roomie for the weekend, as well. We carpooled up & back in 2 vehicles & when we got there on Friday evening, attended the “fun dance” — just a bunch of cloggers, learning some simple routines together, for fun. Plus, my group got to perform a routine that was written by the workshop coordinator, herself! The next day, we each attended whichever class in the workshop appealed to us, at any given time. Around lunchtime, it began to snow & it didn’t stop until sometime late that evening. We were glad we had decided to stay until Sunday morning, even though the workshop ended Saturday night. This goes to show the kind of difference in temperature we experience in my region — by the time we left on Sunday, all the snow had practically melted off! The streets were not slick, nor did they cause any problems for us getting home, at all! It was a fun time, even though I missed Jeremy & the girls. They got to play in the snow on Saturday & even built a small snowman, but he was all gone by the time I got back. Oh, well, I got to see him on the camcorder, at least! 🙂

The next weekend, the 4 of us went & visited a local wildlife sanctuary called “Safari’s”. They are mostly known for the fact that they have big cats — lions, tigers, cougars, etc. Even a liger (yes, those of you who are Napoleon Dynamite fans, it’s true)! The other cool thing is that, since the cages are double-enforced, the tour guides let you feed the big cats raw chicken (off of a 10-foot pole, that you stick into a hole in the chain-link), for a small fee. Jeremy & I had been there before, but this was the girls’ first time. Katrina got to feed some of them, with her Dad & I’s help, but Alyssa was content just to watch from the stroller. This was another place that was a good “photo-op”, but lo & behold, when we got there, our camera battery had died. We took some pictures with my phone, but I don’t think they do it much justice…

Now, winding up with more current events, Easter, Katrina’s Birthday & Mother’s Day were all nice ones for us this year. We especially got some great pictures of the girls in their coordinating dresses on Easter! I know, here I am, promising all these pictures & not delivering… yet. It’s mostly due to time constraints & me not posting things on here, as they occur, which I will try to be better about, but you know, life, it kinda’ just happens & we’re happy to share the memories, whenever we can…

I will share one photo that I recently pulled off of my phone, because as all these other events have been going on, our new home has also been under construction. We used to visit it once a week, on Sundays, but because it is getting closer to completion, we’ve found that the crew has been locking it up when they leave. So, we try to make it on a Friday, while there’s someone still there working, and we can just go in & out. The exterior was recently painted (a little over a week ago) & we were excited to drive up & get that pleasant surprise. I hope everyone else is enjoying spring as much as we are, so far! Soon, all the kids will be out of school & the weather will turn even more warm. We will be moving & settling into this new place! Can’t wait!