Acts of Kindness

This was my recent submission to the Ellen show, I hope Ellen's producers pick my mother for this contest.  She is not a perfect mother, but she does so much for us and our community.  I would like to try to have the repairs to her home completed as a thank you for all the sacrifices she made for me and for others without EVER expecting something back.  She does what she does, because it's the right thing to do.

A mother's love & help are considered a given by most.  My mother was never bestowed with a mother's love.  Her mother was extremely abusive and my mother, Rita, still bears physical/emotional scars from her traumatic childhood.  I tell you this, not so you feel sorry for her, but to understand her parental phoenix-like rise.  I am Rita's daughter, I am a product of rape.  My mother kept me and made me feel loved.  I wasn't an easy child to raise.  I have not always been appreciative of her sacrifices.  I could tell you many stories about how she worked her fingers to the bone or went without shoes (she had holes in her 80's pumps) so my brothers & I could have something.  She did ALL of this w/out reverting to what she knew & what was shown in her childhood from her Mom. 

The biggest act of kindness came from when I became involved with an alcoholic, abusive man (Btw this has been proven in a court of law, so it is not deflamation or slander to say my ex-husband was abusive.) My mother and step-father-he adopted me when I was 17-filed for temporary guardianship of my daughter.  By the time the guardianship was dissolved, my relationship with my parents had dissolved as well.  I didn't talk to them for almost 10 years.  When I had enough of the physical/emotional abuse, my mother welcomed me back with open arms and paid for my divorce.  Rita and Floyd Lee dipped into their retirements to do so.  They now need to have repairs to their home & their walls are about to fall down around them.  Can u help?

Please pray Ellen helps her.  :)

Christina

Oopsie!

So, as a new blogger, I have completely screwed up my bloglovin account.  I inputed my personal blog button on my teacher blog.  So long story short, if you want to follow me at Cowan's Pre-K Caterpillars, this is the link to do so.  I've updated the button so it should route you correctly.  I'm sorry for the extra button pushing I'm asking from all of you, but good news...I have a lot of new posts to share with you and a brand spanking new linky party! :)  I hope that makes up for it!

http://cowansprekcaterpillars.blogspot.com/

Wait, what happened?

Ok, first of all.  Camp Egan was amazing!  I will post pictures later.  (I'm on my Mom's Apple and it doesn't have a SD card slot, go figure!)  

As soon as we returned home from Camp Egan, we packed up and headed out the next day to our annual Hot Springs trip.  My parents bought a condo in Hot Springs way back in the 80's and we have been enjoying that good decision ever since!  It's nice that now as adults, we have a Camp Ogle and just spend time together.  Sometimes it's close quarters and I think if Derek comes next year, we may rent an additional condo close by.

Today, we rented a pontoon boat and tubed on Lake Hamilton.  Well, I say "we" but it was just Alexandra, Tony, Emily and Trey.  I took pics, Mom was safety and Dad was captain.  For awhile, we thought Emily may opt out this year, but she climbed on the tube with Tony and Alexandra.  Alexandra said, "Anytime Emily got nervous, we just talked to her about Sponge Bob!"

When we came back to the condo, I took the kiddos to Taco Mama.  It was yummy, but we did wait a little longer than necessary for our food.  Emily kept insisting on a grilled cheese, so I ordered her a cheese quesadilla and prayed it was close enough.  :)  Thankfully, she was so hungry she never made a comment that the bread was a tortilla. (whew!)


Well, tomorrow will just be a relax day.  I know Mom and Dad plan on massages, but the kids want a break from the sun of Crystal Springs/Magic Springs amusement park.  I thought about giving them a tour of some haunted spots around Hot Springs, but I'll just have to see what they are in the mood for tomorrow.  

Blessed Peace

Today was one of those days you don't plan.  They happen!  Our official plans were to go to a swim party at Kelly and David's house, but somehow I plugged in the party date wrong.  The party is actually tomorrow and tomorrow is our family's 4th of July/Mom's Birthday party.  So I was a little bummed that I wouldn't be able to attend, but thankfully Kelly understood.

So, after picking up Alexandra from Jackie's house, we 

Hey, I remembered to take a picture!  Yay!

headed to Danielle's to help with the moving process.  We weren't able to stay long, but Danielle was thankful that we came by.

Then we went home, made dinner (Jambalaya~a nod to our recent trip to New Orleans) and went for a walk.  It was a nice peaceful day and one I think we all needed. 

Fourth Fun

Tonight, we went to the Meltons to watch fireworks at Tulsa's Boom River celebration.  Our view was perfect because they are just west of the fireworks launch spot! 


Alexandra went to Jackie's house.  Jackie lives in a cool space on Riverside that Alexandra calls the "syringe".  She said they had a perfect viewing spot of all the beautiful fireworks!

I tried a new recipe called watermelon salsa.  A teacher at the urban ag program prepared it (I think she got the recipe from the Pioneer Woman and I was super surprised that it tasted like a sweet salsa.  I wanted Derek to try it, because he's not a watermelon fan and I just LOVE it.  It's hard to eat a whole watermelon by yourself.  Well, I brought it over to the Melton's house and it was a hit.  Danielle and I loved it because it is 0 points!  (We are both on weight watchers.) 

Scrappin' It Up Blog Style

I have a wonderful work friend, Katie, that will be leaving the state this month, who did the most amazing thing on her blog during her first year in Oklahoma. Katie took a picture a day to document her life after college. Then her fabulous mama made it into a book for Katie!

Now, I'm not one to scrapbook, so this maybe a viable opportunity for me to scrapbook virtually.  I like the idea of documenting our family history, because all to soon Alexandra will go off to college and I'll wonder where all the time went.  The next four years will be quite important to all of us, so I'd like to keep track of all that life sends our way!

So, let's move on to my first daily post!  This weekend was great!  It was the last day of TEC camp for Alexandra at the University of Tulsa campus.  She studied about GIS technology which is what drives all of our GPS devices and so much more.  IF Alexandra was writing this post, she could tell you about all the ins/outs of GIS technology.  This was her second year at the camp which is provided by the Oklahoma higher regents of Education.  Alexandra went home right after camp and went straight to sleep.  I think all the nights of staying up late in the dorms and waking up early for camp/activities wore her out!

I went to weight watchers with my friend, Danielle and we both lost this week~that's always nice!  Then later that night, Alexandra went to Mema's to help set up for my niece's birthday.  Derek and I went on a downtown double date with Danielle and Quinton.  We had dinner at Yokozuna which is great sushi restaurant in downtown Tulsa.  My favorite dish is the HOT MESS!  I can't tell you what's on it, but I can tell you for sure that it is delicious!  Then we went to the Max, which is an 80's arcade bar, that has great music and even better video games!  Derek was 100 points from being on the high score list for Pacman.  He said I distracted him, but I don't know about that.  On Sunday, I went with my friend, Angela, to her daughter's first film production shot.  It was neat to see the studio and be able to help with Angela's adorable kiddos! Then we went to my niece's birthday party where kids swam and ate cake.

Today, I went to my new work place to observe transitions and morning routines.  I'm excited to work in such a wonderful facility, but I will miss my friends and students at my old school! 

Ok, tomorrow is the 4th of July and time for another post! 

See you then!

 

The Heat

Tonight was great!  I went to dinner at the Brook with my bestie and a group of her friends.  

I forgot to take pics, but this is a pic of my bestie,
Maria, and my awesome friend, Amber.  Look at how
many people were at the theater!  (Just kidding, this is a
 pic of them at a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert!)

Then we went to see The Heat.  The previews looked so good, but I was pleasantly surprised that the movie far surpassed the previews.  Nicely done, Hollywood.  I hate it when producers try to sucker me in to buy tickets to a movie with a great trailer.  If they can make a good trailer, why not just go that extra mile and make a great movie?  Eh-hmm, that being said, this was a great movie for girls night, date night and even a good teen/mom night.  The language is pretty spicy, so if you shield your teen from that kind of language then maybe not a teen/mom night.

Alexandra is still away at her GIS technology camp

Alexandra, Hannah, Hawana, Jessica and Dominique
at the Tulsa Zoo during GIS TECH camp at TU.

and from all the posts she's made on Facebook, I know she's having a great time (even though her page is occasionally hijacked by some of her friends).

Derek had a chance to spend time with his bestie, Clay.  It's a rare time that they get to hang out, because Clay moved to Dallas with his family a few years back.  I don't know what went on over there, but Derek came back all grins and gaffaws.  (I almost said giggles, but I think Derek would object on grounds that giggles aren't manly.)

Overall, a great summer night had by all.