Oklahoma Land-run, 3rd Grade Style

The 3rd graders just re-enacted the Land-run today.  It was a fun day for them after lots of work getting their covered wagons and 'improvements' to their land ready.  All improvements, tools, and materials necessary had to fit inside their wagon.  Alli's group, or family, was the Collins.  Alli, of course, was voted 'head' of household which meant she provides the wagon and the place for the family to work (aka: our house).  She also had to 'file the papaerwork' to get their land deed.  They decided they would build a barn and have animals to work on their farm.  Easy enough, right?!?  Yes, IF the Oklahoma wind isn't blowing 50mph!!  ;)

Here are the Collins ready to run and stake their claim.

And they are off!!!  Thankfully, all family members, wagon, and materials all arrived safely!!

Still running!  All families wanted the 'far lots'.  3/4 of the field was empty.

Getting as much land as the rope given to them would allow.

Here's the "Head of Household" coming back to the homestead after receiving their land deed.  Love the smile!!!  Daddy was disappointed she didn't file for the mineral rights though. ;)

The finished Collins Homestead.  The barn only blew over a 'few' times.

Nolan found the perfect spot to play and hide from the wind.

Eating lunch on their homestead.  

It was a fun way to learn about Oklahoma's history!!

Happy Easter!!

He is risen! He is Risen Indeed!! Alleluia!!!

I hope everyone had a great Easter celebrating Christ's victory over death and the grave! We had lots of fun dyeing easter eggs, hiding and finding them, and getting dressed up and attending our wonderful Easter service at church. The kids were really excited this year, asked many questions at our Good Friday service, and then got us up EXTRA early to see what the Easter Bunny brought them. All in all, the Henry's had a great Easter!!

Great Looking Kids!

Alli, looking more grown-up all the time!

Nolan, funny kid! He wanted to pose like this for all the pictures.

Handsome Boy, Cole. He doesn't like to wear ties like his brother, but we got him to wear one today anyway. ;)

Here's some action shots of the egg hunt...

Alli playing with her new "Fijit" friend.

The boys sharing and comparing goodies.

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone had a fun halloween like we did. The kids really like this holiday and love dressing up every year. Here's what they looked like...

Alli, our 80's Punk Rocker...

...Cole, a very fierce Ninja fighter...

...and Flash (a.k.a. Nolan) the fastest kid in our neighborhood!

Here's Flash and Ninja running to get candy from every house they could.

And the 80's Punk Rockers (Alli and friend, MacKenzie) making their way thru the neighborhood, trick or treating.

The weather was wonderful, the kids were excited, and everyone stayed safe...all great ingredients for a Wonderful Halloween!

Ball Season

Our fall baseball and softball seasons are over and I thought I would share some pictures. Alli and Cole both did a wonderful job and had a lot of fun playing.

Cole playing pitcher (his favorite position on the field) and ready for the ball to come his way.

He's making a great throw to 1st base and got the runner out. These pictures are from his last game where in the first inning he got all the grounders hit to him and made perfect throws to first base which were caught for 3 outs! This doesn't happen very often in t-ball.

Here he is smacking the ball.

A little smirk from 2nd base after he hit a double.

He was always ready for the ball.

Here he knew I was taking pictures of him and he started acting a little silly. Cole is quite the athlete and loves to play all sports. He is getting ready to start basketball in November.

Here's Alli hitting the ball. We are very proud to say she had only ONE strike-out all season, including tournaments. She was quite the hitter this season!!

Run, Alli, Run!

She played 3rd base most of the season, but also played pitcher (also her favorite position) quite a bit.

Throwing to 1st base.

Ready for the ball to be pitched and hit. She had a great season and best of all had alot of fun! She is now starting gymnastics which she is very excited about.

Nolan's 1st Day of School

Nolan started pre-school August 30. He wasn't real thrilled with the idea, but had seen Alli and Cole head off to school every morning for a week and didn't like being left behind. Although, he seemed somewhat excited all morning, I never imagined he would do as well as he did his first day.

Here he is standing by the tree we almost always take the 1st day of school pictures by.

Then he took off with Alli and Cole walking to the bus stop. When I took this picture, I realized he thought he was going to ride the bus and go to their school. How was I going to break the news to him that I was going to take him to another school? He actually took the news pretty well and told me on the way to school how he knew his friends were going to "wuv" his new backpack and shoes. ;)

When we got to his new classroom, he started to act really unsure about staying. Then his teacher told him that he gets to be the 1st line leader. Whew! Another disaster diverted! Good thing he has heard Cole talk about how he loves to be the leader.

He had a great day with no tears! Way to go, Nolan!

Nolan's 4th Birthday

A few weeks ago, Nolan turned 4. Hard to believe, I know! We always try to make their birthday as special as they are and this is how Nolan spent his day (which actually spilled into the next day so the grandparents could help him celebrate).

First thing we did was bake his birthday cake. His contribution was pouring in the ingredients and licking the beater. ;)

After picking up Cole from school, we went to his favorite "jumpy place" to play and run off some energy in the air conditioning. Here he is with his favorite super hero, Batman!

Nolan, Cole and Daddy all coming down the slide together. Doesn't look like they are having much fun, does it?!?! ;)

Here's our 'big' man showing us his muscles.

Then we went to supper and Nolan ordered his favorite Macaroni and Cheese. Love the stuffed cheek smile here!

The next day we finished his cake and had his party.

He tried to hide behind the cake when we sang Happy Birthday. Silly boy!!

He didn't shy away from blowing out the candles, though.

He is pretty proud of his new bike and helmet he got. At first, he was just excited about the horn that came with it and our ears got a workout. After a few days of riding it, he quickly learned how to spin around in front of our house with the other kids.

1st Day of School 2011-12

Today, Alli and Cole went back to school. After meeting their teachers on Wednesday, they were really excited. Their school has been under construction for almost a year because they have added on a Pre-K and Kindergarten wing with more offices and a new cafeteria. Needless to say, its not finished. So our morning went smoothly, until we got to the school. No one knew where the new classrooms were and there were no numbers posted to know. The teachers had only been allowed in their classrooms since Wednesday night, so not much was ready for the kids. It will be great once it is finished, I just feel sorry for the teachers until it is done.

Our 3rd Grader! The library is in the center of the school. All the 'little' kids are on the right side of the school and the 'big' kids are on the left. She is now officially a 'big' kid because her classroom is on the left. She was so excited to get to her classroom this morning that Jeff and I could hardly keep up with her. ;)

Look out Kindergarten...Here comes Cole!!! He asked if he could stay all day or if he had to come home for lunch. Unfortunately, I had to tell him that his school still doesn't have all day kindergarten. :( He was still excited to go today!

We are excited for our kids and praying for a great year!

Nolan wanted to be in the pictures too. He wanted to go to school today. I bet that attitude changes before he actually starts at his school. ;)

Big kids walking up to the school.

Cole found his friends quickly and didn't want to mess with saying good-bye. Unfortunately, we found out that they are adding another kindergarten class and will be taking kids out of the existing 3 classes to form this class, so he may have a new class and teacher on Monday.

Alli and her teacher Ms. Fouts. She seems really nice and excited to get the year started. Alli is also super excited to have lots of her best friends in class this year. To that I say..."Good Luck Ms. Fouts!" ;)