1. See Breaking Dawn at some point, because I could count on MIL wanting to babysit.
2. Visit the OKC Memorial (again) and this time, take pictures.
3. Take the kids to Orr Family Farms.
4. Drive around and look at Christmas lights.
Only number One was accomplished. There was just never a long enough break in the action during the morning hours to get number 2 done. Afternoons are out, due to nap. Number 3 was slated for Sunday evening, but they were closed. Number 4 just never materialized, which is a shame. OKC does a stellar job with lights (especially the Chesapeake buildings downtown) and the Nichols Hills neighborhood is a favorite. Those people go all out.
We arrived Monday eve and finally got the kids in bed around 11 (10 o'clock CO time), which wasn't too bad. Tuesday morning we slept in and had a lazy day. We went out for a late lunch at Ted's (Mexican food), which is an absolute must whenever we visit. Late in the afternoon, my MIL picked up the two younger cousins from school, and they and Dean, Jordan and Rylan went to a bounce-house indoor gym type of place while I stayed home with the little boys and they (and I) napped.
On Wednesday morning, I took Rylan with me and we shopped for all of the perishables I would need to make whatever I was making for dinner and for Thanksgiving the next day. I spent the rest of the day cooking. Rylan helped her grandma open and unwrap several Christmas ornaments that grandma was giving to all of the grandchildren (16 in all), as she does every year. They hung them on a little tabletop decorative ornament tree. Colin promptly pulled down the tree a couple hours later. Miraculously, all of the ornaments (most were glass or ceramic) survived. One little ear from a Rudolf chipped off, which Rylan found under the dining table a couple of days later and we glued it back on. BIL Jeremy, SIL Jill, and their four kids arrived from Texas later that evening, along with SIL Carrie and her daughter, coming from Kansas. As soon as the SILs and teenage nieces arrived, I hatched a plot to accomplish goal number 1. Dean would rather pull his eyeballs from their sockets than go to a Twilight movie, so I thought maybe a girls movie out would work. An even better plan worked out: On Friday morning, we would ALL go to the movies. The girls would go into the Breaking Dawn theater, and everyone else (and all of the little kids) would go into a different theater and watch the Muppets.
Thursday morning came and we cooked away. The teens peeled 15 lbs of potatoes and then mashed them up. MIL had the turkey in a roaster in the mud room, and a ham in the oven. Stuffing was next in line for the oven. I had baked 6 dozen rolls the day before, and all I had to bake was the spinach & artichoke dip. I put it in with the stuffing. All of the other food was arriving with the other two SILs and their families, and the oldest niece and her husband. It was a very nice dinner, with way too much good food. Dean and I sat with our kids and some of the older kids in the kitchen. I joked that we will NEVER graduate from the 'kid table'. After dinner, BIL Steve approached us and asked if we were interested in attending the OU football game on Saturday. You could have lit a Christmas tree with Dean's face. As it worked out, SIL Joyce offered to come over and help her mom watch the little kids, so it was a go. Steve and SIL Karen are season ticket holders, and they weren't going to attend the last home game, so they offered up the tickets. What. A. Gift. It didn't occur to me until the end of the day that I didn't take any pictures. nada.
Friday morning came and we got ready to go to the movies. The movie theater we like is located within a mall (Quail Springs). We arrived plenty early just in case the mall was a mad house with Black Friday shoppers. It was. But not too bad. We all got tickets for the 10 am showing, and as luck would have it, our theaters were right next to each other. I was thankful that I got to see Breaking Dawn 'with the girls' instead of my husband. I would have had to listen to 'This is so stupid' at least twenty times. I sat between my SIL and my twelve year old niece. I appreciate that the movie was pretty true to the book with regards to the whole honeymoon scenario (and kept things fairly tame... but my niece was giggling and squirming and I felt rather uncomfortable myself. The target market is obviously the tweens and teens - they might have kept that in mind and kept things a little less risque. I liked it okay, but I have a couple of concerns. Young girls will idolize the 'thinness' of Bella - even in pregnancy? The young age at which they married, and how a baby made everything better and brought them 'together'. I loved the books, but the movie treads a little differently, and these aren't the messages that young girls should be receiving. Overall though, I enjoyed it. 'Alice' is freaking beautiful... I'd love to have her hair.
After the movie we all went our separate ways, and Dean and I and the little ones headed to a sportswear store. I have a hard and fast rule on Black Friday - BUY NOTHING - but we had to break it because we needed gear for the next day when we went to the OU game. When we were packing up to make the trip, I asked Dean if he wanted his OU jacket. He said 'no' - he was still pissed off that they lost to Baylor, so he packed nothing that said OU on it. So we were stuck - you can't go to a college game and not wear the team colors, so we were in the market for some jackets. Merry Christmas to us. I had other things in mind - but oh well. At least they were 20% off. Friday night we left the kids with the grandparents and went out to dinner with friend Alicia for some grown up conversation. We love you - keep taking care of you!
The next day, Saturday, was game day!
We made the 45 minute drive down to Norman, parked in a free lot on the edge of campus, and walked and walked and walked to get to the stadium. Aptly named Owen Field. :)
Karen and Steve (SIL & BIL) are season ticket holders and also members of the Booster Club. So we also had passes to get into the Booster Club tailgate party. There were about 40 food vendors there - you just walk by and pick up anything you want, along with beer and McCalister's sweet tea. Yes! There was so much red in this room my eyes hurt...
This is the marching band. It is absolutely huge! There is only one drum major - and when he is marching across the field he arches his head so far back that the top of his hat almost touches the ground. It makes my back hurt just watching him.
These are the Ruf Neks. I love watching the ponies. They come out and do a short lap every time OU scores. I guess it is normal for the guy to hang out the back of the prairie schooner upside down and hold the OU flag like that. It makes my back hurt just watching him too.
This is the massive score board. Football is big here. Hence a. lot. of. money.
We had a good time. It was cold. It drizzled the entire game, and it was rather windy. We luckily had gloves with us, and a hat to share. I made fun of some fans that were wearing snow pants (secretly of course), but then I grew to envy them. I bet they were warmer than we were. On the way back to the car we picked up a new bumper sticker (our finally bit the dust last year) and new shirts for Rylan and Jordan - they had outgrown theirs. I don't know if the kids will be encouraged to attend here or not, but just thinking about it on the walk back to the car made me very, very sad. Not sad about them attending OU - I just don't want them to grow up and go away. College years scare the dickens out of me - there is so much trouble you can get into. And so many wonderful experiences as well, I know. I'm glad there are a few years yet left to go. I also realized at this point in the day that I had been away from the kids, in the past 24 hours, longer than I ever have. I genuinely missed them and felt an intense need to hug them and kiss their cheeks. It was a long drive home!
Sunday was a quiet day - we hung around the house and went out for dinner. Monday was the day to pick up stuff from all over the house, sort, count, wash and fold and get ready to go home. Dean, along with MIL and FIL, spent most of the day over at another sister's house helping her husband pack up for a move. The sister is already in California starting a new job, and the rest of the family is joining her this week. They were preparing to leave town on Wednesday - so Monday was the do-or-die day to get everything in the POD, or pitch it. Dean came home in a pretty foul mood. Apparently things did not go very smoothly. I am glad I stayed home with the kids. If I had walked into that mess I think I would have had a coronary. I feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about it. They have two children - a teen and a little boy, who has chronic asthma. He has to be hospitalized on a routine basis for asthma attacks. Now we know why. Thank God I have Fly Lady in my life.
So that's it! Monday evening we started to feel sick, and then REALLY sick, and then we had a really, really, really super fun drive home. We got home Tuesday evening, and I have spent the rest of the week either on the couch or doing too much when I had intermittent bursts of energy. I wrote scathing blog posts. And then went back and did massive edits. And not because my mother told me to. :) I have only managed to throw away the pumpkins on the porch and pull out the Advent calendars. I even made a new one. Post will be forthcoming. During the times Dean was up and around and productive (he took two sick days) he finally loaded my iPhone with music and pulled my pictures off of the phone. Thank you honey. I think I am ready to get back to the land of the living now...
