These two rugrats crack me up! They have polar opposite personalities but love each other and love being together.

While I am typing this post, Owen and Sarah Cate are making their own citrus juice concoction. They are debating on what they should call their orange/grapefruit/clementine mixture. Right now “The Magic SO-Made” (SO= Sarah and Owen) is at the top of the list.

Earlier this morning the two of them got up early and watched a marathon of “Man, Woman, Wild”.
“Man, Woman, Wild” is a reality series which airs on the Discovery Channel. The show features a former US Army Special Forces survival expert and his television journalist wife. The two must survive for several days with limited supplies in wild and inhospitable locations around the world.
After a couple episodes the two began to pretend they were forced to survive in the wild together.

Sarah Cate spends hours outside with the dogs. She loves to dig up roots and tend her own “garden”. Her garden is made up of rocks, sticks, uprooted plants, and some trash treasures. She loves to swing and perfect her flips on the trampoline. SC is always wearing mismatched outfits that usually involve a tutu and if she wears shoes she usually chooses plastic high heels. While getting a “makeover” from SC recently, I was a tad disgusted by her dirty little hands touching my face. She told me, “Don’t worry, Mom, the dirt is all dried.”

Owen spends hours with his nose in a book. He researches cars and memorizes their top speeds, how much they cost, and what part of the world they come from. The other day Owen was telling me about the way Proboscis monkeys communicate. He loves to draw. Owen almost compulsively washes his hands and brushes his teeth.

I love that SC and Owen make it work so well. I must sign off now, because I am being called to go to the “Restaurant OSC” in my dining room. It is fine dining at it’s best with intricate hand made menus and food that has been hunted and gathered from the wilderness.

These two keep life interesting in the Freeman house.

Owen had his first piano recital last week. He rocked “Up on the Housetop”. His music would not stand up and his nerves tripped him up when he had to play in front of the HUGE (or at least HUGE to him) crowd. I am super proud of the cute little rugrat.

Before the show:

Our little star:

The little star with his super star buddies and his brother, trying to look taller than he really is…

Piano recital cuties:

The whole fam came to support:

Way to go Owen!

How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days. ~John Burroughs

Here is what Vance had to say about the ordeal:

“God had his hand on me yesterday. I was going to Dallas for some meetings yesterday when a tractor trailer with an oversized tall load hit the underside of an overpass directly in front of me. My Expedition smashed through the load as it flew off the back of the trailer. It was some sort of plexi-glass structure with a welded steel crate around it for transport. In the split second before impact, I thought it was going to smash through my windshield and impale me or rip my head off like in a movie, but the hood rolled up over my windshield at impact and absorbed the debris that would have surely entered the cab. You can see in the pics how the metal cut and gashed my truck including the underside of the hood. I escaped with bumps, bruises, and minor cuts. Who says SUVs are unsafe? Take time to soak in this life and hug your loved ones!”

This morning, in a devotional with the kids, we talked about the ladder in Jacob’s dream. I am thankful that wherever we are, even on Dallas highways, we are connected with God. God is with us, everywhere we go. What a miracle!

The three younger kids and I spent a day in Kansas City while Vance and Caelan froze their booties off in a tree stand. We met up with some good friends and took the kids ice skating.
Texas kids ( with no access to a skating rink) are pretty amusing to watch on the ice. Somehow I ended up being the only experienced ice skater ( it had been about 10 years) on the ice with 6 non skating kids. Yes, we made quite a scene.

The kids did better than I expected and no one was hurt. I say it was a win!
Trying to get a picture of all the kids together was another story.

Owen is going down...

Sarah Cate opted out of trying to pose for a picture.

See ya, Caleb...

I took a two minute video that is a pretty good representation of what our crew looked like the ENTIRE time we were on the ice. Unfortunately none of the kids were able to stay on their feet long enough to document my triple lutz and one-footed axel.

The family got out of town for a few days and headed to Kansas to the cattle ranch. While there, Cowboy Jim asked Ella to help him round up a few stray cows on HORSEBACK.

See the stray cows? The two black dots way in the back?

I was a tad nervous to let my baby ride off into the wind on a horse to gather up some huge stray animals.

She had the biggest smile on her face. She was very excited and eager to help.

Ella helped to retrieve the stray cows and returned them to their herd.
I was very proud of her. Cowboy Jim was too.

Cowboy Jim let the little kids sit on his horse. The horse, Blue, was very patient with our littlest cowboy and cowgirls.

I read an awesome blog post by Ann Voskamp today. You can read it here.

“When I only give thanks for some things, aren’t I likely to miss giving God glory in most things?” (AV)

I am convicted. Maybe the tree should stay up all year… and include the good and the bad… .

Thankful always,
Meg˙

SC learned to pump. She was vey excited. Pushing kids on swings has never been my favorite thing to do. While I am happy to be relieved of my pushing duties, I am a little sad that I may not ever have a child that needs to be pushed again.

Fifteen years ago Vance and I said yes to forever. What an amazing fifteen years it has been! I am so thankful that we get to do life together, I can’t imagine being on this crazy ride without my sweet hubby.

Um…yes, that is Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia on our cake bought from Sams Club. Aren’t they brother and sister? A Star Wars wedding cake was fitting since we did walk down the aisle to the Star Wars theme song music.

We have come so far in fifteen years and I love Vance more every year that goes by. Happy Anniversary, Vance. I can’t wait for the next fifteen years.