Next, we went to the Agtropolis building. This is our favorite place to go at the fair. At the chicky incubators they had a 4H girl that was holding a chicky for the children. She said they didn't mind because they were used to it, but I felt sorry for it when Macy got there. She tries to be gentle.

This was at the Farmer's Market. The girls went through a series of steps where they helped the farmer plant a seed and water it, then they picked apples, gathered eggs, dug for potatoes and pumpkins. Then they took it to the market and sold it for fake money.

After we did that we walked towards the back of the building to see the cows and bugs. The insects are Asher's favorite part of the Agtropolis building. I was interested to see the fiddleback spider. Last year the specimens they had were very tiny and I had expected them to be bigger. But when I looked this year, they had increased in size. I guess the ones they had last year were babies. Natalie has been asking me about spiders lately, especially the black widow. She was excited to see an actual spider. In California those things were all over the place, but I haven't seen any while here in Oklahoma. The picture that is hard to see is the Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. Asher loves to tease me every year whith those because he know how much I despise roaches. Yuck, just imagine those crawling on your bed at night.
 

Saturday we went to the fair. Our favorite things to do at the fair is all the free stuff. You know, that is the stuff that seems to be more fun anyway. This is the Bank of Omaha Wildlife Adventure. It was way cool. There was all sorts of robotic wild animals. Macy was a little wary at first because she is too young to truly tell the difference between real and pretend. She was okay after she realized that all the animals were behaving themselves and they were not going to jump out and get her.



This is Macy's "Cheeeese" face. I laugh every time she says it because it is so automatic and that was actually one of her first words.
The girls were intoduced to a fair classic. I wish I had gotten a picture of the girls eyes when they first saw how big the corn dogs were. I didn't think they would be able to eat the whole thing, but that did not prove to be any sort of problem. I had an indian taco, because I have been wanting to try one for a while, and Asher had a colossal garlic chicken burrito. The food was all very delicious and I can see why people talk about fair food like they do. 

Here is a bigger picture of our group. I was hoping that you could see the people in the picture better.

This is Nils Gransburg's group in Norman. He is the one in the white shirt. I don't know him very well, but he seems really nice. He has a deep voice, so I just like to listen to him talk.


This is our group. Can you see me? Can you imagine all these people in our house every Friday, plus the kids? At first it seemed akward because it felt like we were sitting on top of each other. But now I guess everyone is just used to it. I love this group of people. Everyone is so nice and so committed to doing what God wants in their lives. Have you ever been part of a group of people that are just excited about growing in Christ and that makes you excited to be with them. We really do have sweet Christian fellowship when we get together. 

Another crowd shot. The girl in the yellow shirt is Elizabeth. She is the absolute sweetest, most helpful person I have met. She may also be the most organized. I have just loved having her in our bilble study. If there is ever a problem or a need, she is always the first person to volunteer to fix it or at least help. She inspires me and I have learned a lot from her.

This was too cute. I had to take a picture. I don't know whose idea this was, but when I asked why they covering Caylee, she told me that she was a dead princess and they were burying her so that her prince could come and rescue her. Where does she get this stuff? I haven't let her watch a princess movie in over a year.
At the end of the evening Asher took a picture of all the different groups. It was a tradition that Mike Warren started and seems like a good idea. This is the Edmond Bible Study. The leaders are Matt and Debbie Lowman. Such a sweet couple. Matt cracks me up every time I talk to him.

This is a big group shot of everybody. All the bible studies together. 

Yesterday we had a bible study rally at Kiwanis Park in Midwest City. Just kind of a quick history of how this all started. We did not start the bible study at our house. It was started by Mike Warren, who moved away at the beginning of the summer. After he moved, the bible study split into three groups. There is one in Norman, Edmond and ours in Del City. We actually have the biggest group right now because the original bible study was located near our house.

Everyone had so much fun. I love being at events where everyone is having a great time all alcohol free.




I was so frustrated. I did not realize until the next day that there was a spot on my camera. I hate when that happens.

This is Krisha. She loves babies and Bethany is no excpetion. She is going to make a great mom someday.















This is Mike and Michelle. They aren't a couple, they're just sitting together. Mike is the main guy that Asher has been working and he is excited because now Mike is ready to go and train others.

Chow TIme. It was funny. Asher told everyone to bring a side and a soda. Almost everyone brought soda and chips. I guess we should have expected it. These guys (and gals) almost all live in the dorms and eat at the chow hall.

This is what I get for not putting away breakfast right away. On this particular morning I had gotten busy with my morning routine and had forgotten to tell the girls to put away their cereal, so I walked in on a very naughty Macy. The reason she looks confused is because she knows she is in trouble and she does not understand why I am taking a picture of her. It was the princess skirt. I could not resist. It so was hard to keep a straight face. Needless to say, she got off real easy this time.

A couple of weeks ago we went to Kiwanis park in Midwest City. I had checked it out on the internet because I was looking for a park that would be good for our upcoming bible study rally. It looked like it had everything we needed on the website, so for family-time we went and checked it out. The girls gave their seal of approval and I gave mine since the volleyball court and playground are all real close to the pavillion.

We stood in the line to get the girls faces painted for, no joking, 45 minutes. The girls loved it though. I have been thinking that I would like to try to paint their faces myself. I know a lady at co-op who does it and halloween is coming up ( we don't celebrate halloween, we just dress up for fall parties). I could also practice on the girls across the street. I am sure they would love it, too.



Here Macy is enjoying one of those delicious whole wheat cinnamon rolls. They are yummy. It is funny, two years ago when we first attended Septemberfest, they didn't taste right to me. They were edible, but just not right. Since then I have tried to exclude as much white flour from my diet as I can simply because I know wheat is better, and now those rolls are heavenly. Just a little different perspective was all I needed.

This looked like a neat idea. It was ice cream in a bag. Unfortunately, we did not have the patience to stand there and shake it for 10 minutes, so we never actually got to try any. But coincidently, someone in my homeschool group sent me a recipe for ice cream in a bag a few days ago. So I thought we would try that next time we have family time.

September 9th we all took off and went to Septemberfest. I look forward to this every year, and it did not disappoint. There was all kind of stuff to do. I bet that we only did maybe a quarter of all there was. Actually, we probably did not do nearly that much. Next year I think I will bring a lunch. Although the samples were delicious, my favorite is the whole wheat cinammon rolls, I want to use the time we spent standing in line doing other fun stuff. Caylee and Natalie love stitting on the tractors. They just love to sit there and pretend like they are driving. Asher told me that his dad actually let him drive a tractor when he was a kid. Sounds a little dangerous to me.
Caylee roped her first cow. At first the guy overseeing the roping had stand where all the big kids had been standing, but that didn't quite work out. I was surprised that when she moved forward a few steps she got it on the first time. Go, Caylee. My little cowgirl. Yeehaa! (had to put that in.)




This is another one of Caylee's favorite things a Septemberfest. I think it is interesting to learn that cornbread does not start out in packages, but as grain that is milled into flour and then baked. I have actually been thinking about milling my own grain and making my own bread because I think it will be cheaper and much healthier.

I haven't blogged in so long and there is so much that I have missed putting on my blog. I am going to go back and try to catch everybody up on some of it. Today I downloaded pictures from my camera so I will just start by blogging them. A few of them are just me capturing everyday sweet moments that are small, but I don't ever want to forget. These pictures are some of the everyday moments. I was in the process of mowing the grass when Natalie jumped into the middle where it was not mowed yet and started rolling around. She was laying there telling me what she was saw in the clouds, when Star "our cat," came over and joined her. The two of them were so precious together. After I was done, Natalie baked me a cake, not a birthday cake, she was very clear on that. It was a present because she loves me. So sweet! I just love it when she does things like that. She is always thinking of others.

 

Yesterday was quite an exciting day. Asher and I woke up in the morning, not having talked about it, but both thinking that we should attend Life Church. This is a huge change for us because we have been attending First Southern for five years and consequently there is a lot of people we would miss.

Well, First Southern is not growing anymore and has not been for quite some time. We are having a hard time finding people there to come to the Bible study, so Asher and I have been thinking that we should change over to Life Church to tap into a new resource. One of the main points of the bible study is that we grow and divide. We need new guys for the guys that have been involved awhile to be able to train and disciple.

It was so funny, Pastor Craig started a new series on discipleship yesterday. So when it was time for the invitation, Asher kept his eyes open and looked to see who raised their hand. After the service, I went to get the kiddos and Asher went up to him and asked him if he would like to attend a lifegroup that would teach him more about discipleship. He was extremely eager and excited that Asher had approached him.

When we woke up that morning Asher and I were just thinking that we would visit to see if we could add our bible study to the church as a lifegroup. But after our experience there, I think God might be telling us that He wants us to stay. I am using that phrase very carefully because I think it is often overused. I am certainly going to have to get used to the style of worship there. I grew up in an ultra-conservative church. To me First Southern gets a bit wild. :) We were a few minutes late because Life Church starts earlier, so when I walked into the auditorium and the music was already blaring, I was like, "Whoa!"

There a lot of things that I really like about how Life Church works. I like how if you are a member of the church you are expected to have a service job in the church. That way there is not just a few people doing all the work. It was funny to see men in every child's class in the nursery. There were also men in Caylee's class too. They seemed to really care about my children, even though they were new. I also like the whole lifegroup idea.

I am excited about the change, but a little bit anxious. I am not type of person that doesn't like change. I like to stay with people I know and in my comfort zone. So, hopefully that will change pretty soon. I already know people that go there. Yesterday I saw Bethany Kumor, my neighbor Kara and a few people from bible study. Sasha, you go to that church too, don't you? What day and time do you go?