Tori's Birthday - Part Deux!

Ha, ha - I just couldn't resist the homage to a Charlie Sheen movie! Poor old Charlie is back in rehab, and I pray that he gets the help he needs. But that is another story....I digress.

Tori posted pictures of her car on Facebook yesterday. She is over the moon - and who wouldn't be. She actually does not have her driver's license yet - she will get that later in the summer. But, she has a car.




Some people will say that her car is too much for a teenager - and does she have a job, by the way. No, she doesn't have a job. But she does quite a bit to help her family at home - keeping the kitchen clean and helping with her younger brother. She is a good student. She doesn't get in trouble (that we know of ). She has lots of friends and is a good friend. In short, she is a good girl and her parents want to reward her for being a good girl. So be it.




Now, would everyone please pray that she is covered and protected from all the crazy Houston drivers? Thank you!

Tori's Birthday Weekend

I traveled to Houston on Valentine's Day to celebrate the Sweet Sixteen birthday of my "forever Valentine" Tori. I know grandmother's tend to brag about their "grands", but this girl is SO special. Not only is she beautiful and talented - you should hear her sing! She is also a sweet, funny girl who has such a wonderful way with her younger brother Wyatt. Wyatt is great and does great - he is an Asperger's child. When he doesn't understand social convention or gets anxious - his big Sis can break it down for him so he get's it - and sometimes she has to help us get right in talking to him. So, she is just a wonderful person, as well as being a treasured granddaughter.

We started with cake at home - Little Mermaid is still her favorite. Then we headed out to a Japanese place for dinner - and the usual food throwing over the grill show. It was a lot of fun. Tori caught every piece of food thrown at her in her mouth. Her mom, Kate got one, the rest of us "zero"!!



Tori's favorite cousin - and my other favorite granddaughter Mathilda came over from Austin with her mom Jennifer for the big celebration. The group here is Christian - Tori's big brother, Tilda and Jenn, the Birthday Girl Tori, Mom (my daughter Kate), Dad (Mike) and little brother Wyatt.



On Monday the kiddo's all had a holiday from school for President's Day, so we thought and thought about what we could do together for fun. Tori came up with the great idea that her brother and cousin would love the Children's Museum. Of course, at 16 she is far too mature for such a place. So, after taking the scenic route to get there, we finally found it about 12:45pm on Monday. It was PACKED with other people looking for a fun thing to do on a holiday! Nevertheless, we took it on and the grown-ups followed the kids to explore science, technology, real life (Kidtropolis) and many other wonderful and fun hands-on areas. I think Tilda and Wyatt enjoyed the outdoor water area best. They have a very big "river" where you can add dams or other things and see how that affects traffic ont he river.


Inside there was a huge area about telephone technology and a great "Telephone Man", dubbed by Tilda as the Telephone Monster.





Tori's getting a car for her birthday - which hasn't arrived yet. This isn't it, but made for a fun picture anyway.





Tilda and Wyatt donned lab coats to enter the particle physics area. Maybe we have a future pair of geniuses in our midst. Wyatt pondered the mysteries of science for us! If you watch "The Big Bang Theory" - think Sheldon Cooper, PhD - that is Wyatt in 10 years.








We are pretty sure everyone had a good time - this is a picture of Wyatt and Tilda on the ride home.

Thank you, Tori for being a wonderful granddaughter, sister, cousin and THE PERFECT SWEET SIXTEEN.

1776 - Those were the days!

As promised, here comes more information about the wonderful event that took place last week at the University of Tulsa - Revolutionary Day. Selected 5th grade classes from Tulsa and surrounding school districts were chosen to attend this event based on the quality of essays they wrote entitled "What Freedom Means to Me".

The days started of with a cold drizzle, but that did not dampen the spirit of 1776 brought by the teachers, students and professional "re-enacters" who all came together for a fun-filled day.





Here is my DAR Chapter Regent, Reta with the teacher who invited us to participate in the event - Beth Howard. Beth is in the process of getting her application complete to join us in DAR.



I learned during the day that Oklahoma is the first state to join with the Educational Outreach Program of Mt. Vernon to promote Early American history in schools. This was enabled by grants from numerous organizations and individuals. This partnership enabled Mt. Vernon to allow "Martha Washington" to visit Tulsa and meet with the students at the event. Mrs. Mary Wiseman brings 30 years of interpretive experience to the role of America's 1st First Lady. She has appeared at the White House Visitor's Center, Williamsburg and her "home" base is Mt. Vernon.
She is so well-versed in Martha Washington's life that she easily transforms the environment and you are transported with her! What a wonderful treat this was for all of us.


Here we are with Martha Washington!











Equally delightful, and of course a true Renaissance man, Mr. Benjamin Franklin was also there and provided a wonderful interactive experience for the students. Mr. Stephen Smith of Oklahoma has entertained hundreds of audiences around the nation with his one man show as Benjamin Franklin. I always heard that ol' Ben was a bit of a ladies man, and found it to be true when he assured me we had met before! I'll admit, I was truly charmed.












The students had all made Colonial attire to wear, and we greeted them as they arrived.



All in all, this was a VERY FUN day and I hope they do it again next year. I love to get dressed up in my costume - and I'll be doing it again tomorrow for our February DAR meeting. I surprised my grandson Michael with a colonial outfit of his own. I'll post those pictures soon.

In the meantime - Happy President's Day Monday and Happy Valentine's Day Sunday.

Puppy Love!!

The dog days are supposed to be in late summer. But, with cold weather keeping our mutts inside, I have decided there can be such a thing as the dog days of Winter!
My dog - Pugsley - and I have tried to make our daily walks as many days as possible. We don't attempt it when the streets are too icy.






The other dog in the house is Harriet. She is a Great Dane/Rottweiler mix and she is a BIG dog. She is just as sweet as she is big and lately, she has decided to spend more time with me in my side of the house. Here's the story. When my Pugsley was born, his mother was a dog that my son was "keeping" for a friend. She didn't act much like a mama dog, so Harriet took over the maternal role with the litter. So, Pugsley thinks of her as his "mama" and she likes to keep him in line!!



As you can see, my Puggers is a little shy and he tends to yield even his favorite toys to Mama Harriet! But they really love to play and Pugsley gives his fair share of wresting and boxing - wish I had a picture of that to Mama. He's even starting to get territorial about our side of the house and starts a low growl when he hears her heading our way. He'll go and lay by his food bowl with an "I dare ya!" expression.

DAR Martha Washington Tea

Yesterday I got to play dress-up - which I just love to do. The Tulsa Chapter of NSDAR invited all the area chapter members to their 98th Annual Martha Washington Tea. It was great to participate in something that is older than I am - ha. They gave special mention to a couple of ladies in their chapter who have been DAR members for 64 and 75 years. Goodness me - I got a late start - and I guess I'll be lucky if I get to the 20 year anniversary.

Everyone was invited to dress in Colonial style, and my Chapter Regent and I decided to take up the challenge. We needed a Colonial outfit anyway for today's Revolutionary Day at TU. More about that later. One of our own Chapter members was the guest speaker - she gave a fun and fact-filled biography of four amazing women from the Revolutionary period. One of them actually took her dead brother's name, dressed as a man and fought along with men for almost two years before her "true" identify was discovered. Wow!



Here is Margo Bowles - the speaker along with my Chapter's regent, Reta Schwerwinski.


The SAR (Sons of the American Revolution) Chapter was there to act as escorts for each lady as we entered the dining room. The event was held at the Tulsa Junior League building. We entered through crossed swords held aloft by the SAR - very fancy and it made me feel so special. Does anyone else every thing they were born in the wrong time period. I just love the "pomp and circumstance" of the older days and older ways.



All the food was made by the members of the Tulsa Chapter. Take a look at this dessert table. Everything was delicious - I loved the trifle! Very old world. And of course, a pineapple which is our current National Regent's symbol for her administration - hospitality.



One of the many activities DAR does is with JROTC groups in area schools. We were fortunate to have a color guard from the JROTC at Nathan Hale High School. They did such a great job. Don't they look great in this picture with several of the area Regents? Such an impressive group of young people.

As you are learning, if you follow this blog, I am getting into DAR with both feet. I am having such a great time and enjoying making new friends through this wonderful organization.