Traveling Alone with Kids

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Well we are visiting Ohio for 2 weeks! I took the 2 kids by myself and came to visit my family! When we lived in Chicago, I made the roadtrip by myself dozens of times; it was only 6 hours! Roadtrips are my comfort zone. Kids strapped in to carseats with endless snacks, movies, and naps when they get sleepy. That isn't always fun, either, but at least you don't have to physically wrestle them.

This time, since we just moved to Oklahoma, we decided that we would fly since it is just me and the kids, and a 20 hour roadtrip by myself didn't seem fun. But, we got cheaper tickets out of a city that is 5 hours away! Soooo, we had to do a 5 hour roadtrip, and then fly. And the flight involved a stop and a switch, and getting into the Cleveland airport at 11:30 pm! Let's just say that we were all exhausted. By the end of the last flight, I just wanted to close my eyes and not hear screaming, fussing children that I was responsible for. It was nice to not have to keep my eyes open and hear fussing children for 20 hours straight by myself in the car, I will say, but flying wasn't any picnic either. Yes, it's nice that we didn't have to buy a ticket for Judah since he is 18 months, but that means that a super active toddler has to sit on your lap for the duration of the flight, and let me tell you, he didn't want to do that. The flight attendant came and told me that he had to be on my lap or in the empty seat next to us, and buckled. I just nodded my head and thought, "I hope he either walks away and doesn't look back, or he can come try to make him sit still!"

Judah was pretty inconsolable by the end of the flight, and refused to sleep the whole time. He got one 45 minute nap the whole day! The good news is that we are visiting Ohio for 2 weeks, so I don't have to think about doing that again right away!

I did feel like I was adequately prepared though. I had new dollar store toys for each of them, new snacks, snack size M&M bags, McDonalds food to eat on the plane, a little casino game with buttons for Judah(thinking I could give him that to play with instead of my phone). I even had my ipod to try to distract them. But I will just say, when they are done, they are done. Nothing can console them when they have limited space, limited sleep, and it's late. So, after all that griping, I will give you a little list of the things I am thankful for concerning that adventure!!

1. We got to fly instead of drive 20 hrs. I might have lost my mind!

2. We met a nice girl on part of the flight, she helped me immensely!

3. On 2 legs of the flight, we had an extra seat, so Judah was a little more entertained and not as fussy.

4. With there being 3 legs of the flight, at least we weren't on any plane for too long. The flights seemed pretty short.

5. Judah was briefly entertained by the planes and the wings of the planes, so that was a blessing.

6. Drinks/snacks on the plane!! They loved getting their little drinks with straws and their own little bags of pretzels!

7. Kind people on the plane; no one told me off for my noisy, fussy kids!

8. Maddy was very well-behaved. She colored, helped with Judah, was very obedient, and even tried her hardest to sleep on the last part of the flight, but with Judah being so fussy, it was kind of impossible.

9. It could have been worse. Judah wasn't fussy the whole time, and I thought he would attempt to get down and out of the seat much more. He kind of knew he couldn't get down into the aisle, so that kept me from having to chase him everywhere.

10. I am so thankful I am here visiting my family!!! My Uncle and Aunt are here from China, my Uncle is here from Florida, my other Uncle is here from Tennessee, and it's great being here with family. And of course the kids get to see their Papa and Nana! The kids are having a blast, sleeping well, and I have gotten to see a lot of my friends as well! We have been having a great time!! So until the flight/drive home, we will enjoy ourselves!! And if you think of it, keep us in your prayers on July 12 as we will be traveling back to Oklahoma!!

Unforgettable Hike: Salt Plains Lake, Oklahoma

Packing and More Packing

We are in the midst of our last few days of craziness!! Actually, as of now, we have 3 days left! We have guests in town back to back, mostly staying with us, lots of packing to do, Christmas parties, getting together with people before we go, and lots of goodbyes!! My parents, my grandparents, my best friend Liz, and Tad's 4 siblings are people who are all visiting us before we go! And in the midst of all of this, my kids have been sick nonstop. Sadly, Maddy has had to miss almost all of her "last" things - last 2 Cubbies (Awana), last Mom2Mom group, last week at church - I feel so bad! But she has been so miserably sick with colds, pink eye, and an ear infection, that she wasn't well enough to even go, let alone be around other kids and give it to them too. Judah has gotten everything after Maddy, pink eye (or some kind of eye infection), a nasty cold, and an ear infection! I feel like we have been at the doctor more than anything else!
And now that we are down to our last few days, with packing and Christmas quickly approaching, I'm thinking to myself, "what were we thinking of moving right after Christmas??" It's enough to pack, move, and say goodbyes, but to add a Christmas letter, Christmas baking, Christmas parties, and the works, it adds a load of stress!!! Though I have chosen to do a lot of stuff I maybe should have put on hold!
We are excited to move! We are counting down the days! I have started getting anxious though, as I say goodbye to good friends, realize the finality of our few days left, and anticipate a completely different lifestyle, especially as we will be living with Tad's family for a short time! This time is bittersweet. We have been ready to move on to another place for awhile. But Chicago has been our home for 8 years. We met here (at Moody Bible Institute), had our first place here, spent our first 5 years of marriage, and had 2 kiddos here. It's the only home "we" have ever known, as a little family.
As our time is winding down, we are grateful for good friends along the way. Some very thoughtful ladies from my old homegroup had a going away party for me, where they got a cake from Sweet Mandy B's, filled a huge gift bag with treats from Trader Joe's (an awesome store that isn't in Oklahoma at all!!! and I will greatly miss) for our long drive, and sent me off with many blessings.
I appreciate the people who have taken the time to come visit us at the end of our time here, to help us pack, watch the kids, and wish us well as we will be moving so far away. Some of our closest friends we will dearly miss, and are glad we got to see at the end of our time in Chicago.

Homegroup going away party

Beautiful cake from Sweet Mandy B's

My best friend from Chicago and her family

My dad and Maddy bonding

My dad and Judah bonding
My mom and Maddy working on Christmas cookies

So with a few more goodbyes, some more packing, 2 nights at the Ritz with our last comp nights, and Tad's 4 siblings coming, we are wrapping things up in Chicago!! This will probably be my last post before we move, though who knows, I may be able to get one more out before we leave!!! Hope your Christmas season is going well!!

Unexpected Oklahoma Trip

We went down to Oklahoma in February and Grandma, Pops, and all the kids got to meet Judah! They knew we were moving down there, and we decided we wouldn't visit again until we made the big move. Well, in October, Tad's Grandma Davis died and we decided to go down for the funeral. About a month later, his grandpa died as well, but we couldn't make another trip. So in tribute to them are a couple pictures of them with the kids. They were great people, and raised 6 great kids who all walk with the Lord and have beautiful families with children and grandchildren. We will miss them, but we know they are in heaven together, and would have been married for 65 years recently!

Grandpa Davis in February with the kiddos! Maddy loved when he would "moo" like a cow, and often imitated him!

Grandma Davis always spoke her mind. She was sweet with the kids, and loved holding them!

Hello, Oklahoma. My soon-to-be homeland!!!

Taking a walk down Tad's family's street with the dog in tow. Peaceful. Quiet. Nature. I loved it!!! And so did Maddy! Walking that dog like a pro!!

She had to stop and inspect every bug, grasshopper, anything she saw. Such a city girl, about to be country girl!! At least she's not afraid to get dirty!

Walking down the street with Grandma. Precious.

Our future home!! Well, Tad's parents house. But we will be living there while we get settled, Tad gets used to his new job, and we find our own place!!

My beautiful sister-in-law, Lydia. She is 17 and studying Cosmetology while she finishes highschool. She just got her driver's license and works at the local grocery store bakery. She is adorable. I love her!!!

Pops and Judah. Chillin'.

This was one of the best things we did while we were down there for our short trip!! Their Pastor and his wife have lots of animals and land and let us come up and see their chickens, cows, horse, goats, and let Maddy feed some of the animals!!! She had a blast!! Here is Judah trying to decide what he thinks about chickens.

We brought apples that had fallen from his parent's apple trees and fed them to the chickens and cows. They were happy.

Well, hello there.

Aunt Anna and Judah checking out the horse.

Here is my country boy! Looks like he'll fit in just fine!

Is this tractor big enough for him?

She was lovin' it!

Maddy has always loved to feed any kind of animal. Dogs. Cats. Her fish. Anything. But here she is feeding the goats and wasn't afraid even though there was one that was pretty feisty. She actually befriended him and got him to eat the food that she had.

Oh yeah. And this place was right around the corner from where we will be living. You can actually see the sky in Oklahoma. The sunrises. The sunsets. The stars. Things I have been deprived of for 8 long years!

Tons of family was there for the funeral, and this is the girls table eating their food!

Tad's cousin Trevor holding Tucker (who Maddy calls Chucker) and Aunt Anna holding Judah.

Adorable. They will be best friends. And have I mentioned how excited I am to be living closer to Trevor's wife Julie? Yeah, super excited. She might have to kick me out of her house.

This was so precious. Judah crawled over and was helping to feed Tucker his bottle!

Sunset from their grandparent's porch.

Everyone pretending to sleep on the way home.

Right outside the church for the funeral.

Maddy, Aunt Naomi, and Aunt Lydia.

Anna and I.

Maddy and Uncle Nathan.

Drivin' and being cool.

My beautiful sister-in-law again!! I just love this girl, and am so excited to be living close to her and being able to be more a part of her life!

Playing in the backyard!

So, with our move just 3 weeks away, we are getting really excited, as is Tad's family. We have lots of visitors coming in the next couple weeks to help us pack and to say goodbye. Tad's job is getting lined up and his future (hopefully) job has been contacting him and they sound really interested. His application and resume have been sent in, and he had a phone interview. So we are just waiting to hear!

Our trip to Oklahoma was so good. It was so confirming and really gave us a peace and an excitement for our move. We looked at houses a little bit, Tad talked to his contact for his new job, and we looked at the place like it was going to be home. I will keep you posted about how we are doing, and will actually have more time to blog once we are down there and I don't have a whole house to take care of by myself (for a short time!). We will of course be helping out at Tad's parent's house, and I hope to blog more about cooking for a big family, seeing how a big family works, and homeschooling while we live there.

Someone asked if I would keep my blog once we moved, and my response to that is...of course!! I look forward to it taking a turn towards more country-ness and I hope you stick around to see our lives change from fast-paced city life to a hopefully more calm slower-paced country life. We are excited!!!