Heads Up:
Mom went to Oklahoma City for OESD (Oklahoma Embroidery Supply and Design) for a few days. For those of you who live in a box, OESD is three days of sewing, from simple embroidery to hi-tech computer/sewing machine programs. She left on Wednesday and came back yesterday. While she was gone, we decided to replace the carpets and tile in the house. The best part was she had absolutely no idea.
Mom had already picked out the carpet and tile, but Dad told her it wouldn’t be ready until November. In this post I will take you through our experiences behind the scenes as well as Mom’s reaction.

Day 1
We waited for Mom to get far away because we did not want her to turn around and figure out our plan. She had left a day early which was an advantage to us. Dad told her to call when she got into Tulsa. Close to that time, we went to Sam’s Club for a dolly. Of course, we got some food and sweets. Haha! We went to the car and got ready to leave. One small problem. How were we going to fit a dolly in a Honda Accord as well as a driver and two other people? We experimented and it never would fit. We had to compromise. Dad had to fold over some seats and Bailey had to sit in the front seat with me. We went home very crowded. When we got there, I took pictures of shelves in the front room so that I would know how to put everything back. We started moving things out of the house. I had to squeeze in a large amount of laundry because we wouldn’t be able to run the washer and dryer after it had been moved into the garage. After a while we knew it had to get intense. Dad moved the front room TV out and I had to untangle all of the wires, take them out of the TV, and wrap them around the speaker which they belonged to. I did all the tech stuff. In Mom’s room, I had to do this with the game systems as well as the cable box and the DVR. Bailey did little things because she’s younger but she was a great help. The stuff we didn’t want to do even though it was small, she did. I was called “The Tech” and Bailey was “The Janitor”. We were proud, too! Eventually everything was out of the house and into the garage. Well, not everything. Just stuff from the kitchen, the front room, Mom’s room, her bathroom, and Dad’s office bathroom.

Day 2
Bailey and I had to be stuck in Mom’s office (the basement) for the whole day. Thursday was the day of carpet and tile. Bailey and I brought a large container full of stuff like pepperoni, books, crackers, ibuprofen, band-aids, and chocolate! When we were down there we were constantly hearing bangs and clangs. We could hear the saws as if they were right beside us. I actually lifted up a ceiling tile once to see if they could see us. LOL! I knew they wouldn’t be able to but it sounded like they were coming through the floor! I stepped outside about half an hour in, and saw my Dad’s recliner on the deck. Looking around there was also the couch and the refrigerator. The TV had been unhooked and the Internet connection was down. I worked on my AP report and played Bailey’s DS. I also drew some Star Ocean characters which came out very well. Around 6, Dad called us upstairs. Rain was pouring down on the furniture. We brought it in and dried it of. The recliner was leather so it was easy. The couch had to dry almost naturally. The men were still working but the house was looking great. We had Wendy’s at 9:30, which was around the time they finished up.

Day 3
We got up and got to work. The carpet was beautiful. It felt good to. It wasn’t soft like the other carpet. It was a burgundy tan mix kind of color. The kitchen tile has a little bit of cushion and it has some tan and white. We had to move everything back in. Again, I was the tech and Bailey was the janitor. I had to hook up the front room TV with speakers, DVR, cable box, and the whole nine yards. It’s amazing how much copper hurts! I went back and forth between the front room and Mom and Dad’s room, hooking stuff up and plugging stuff in. Finding the right cords and knowing every coax took forever. But it was finally paid off when the TVs worked on the first try. So I didn’t mess up! Dad and his friend Lyn moved everything into the house. It looked amazing. Grandma picked us up and we spent the night with her. This was because she was taking us to Terra Studios to get Mom and Dad’s anniversary present! I had been planning it a long time and Mom’s arrival was the perfect time. Even though their anniversary is August 1st.

Mom’s Reaction
Bailey and I wrapped up the present and wrote stuff on the bag like “I love you!” and “You’re the awesomest!”. Haha! We left the present upstairs and we stood in the kitchen. Dad brought Mom in blindfolded. He had told her we has a surprise for her. She thought he meant a welcome sign or something. He opened her eyes. A big “O” formed Mom’s mouth.
“You guys replaced the tile!” She squeaked.
“That’s not all...”
She turned and saw the carpet. An even bigger “O”.
“O my gosh!!!”
We led her through the house. She couldn’t believe it. She was amazed.
When she calmed down Bailey and I brought the present. They brought the box out of the bag and opened it. Out came two little bluebirds on a little blue stand with words at the bottom. They said:
“Two little bluebirds know for sure
Your love is deep and perfectly pure.”

Friday
Grandma's House
On Friday, I went over to Grandma's house. I visit her every once in a while and it's always fun. When I got there, we decided that we would go somewhere special for dinner. I thought of Cafe Rue Orleans and she agreed. There I had the Crawfish dinner and she had the Shrimp dinner. After dinner we came home and had ice cream with hot fudge. She was looking at my blog and thought it was really cool. She was also amazed that I can get money off of those ads at the bottom (hint hint!). Out of nowhere she sat up and said, "I want a blog!". Grandma is quite "in tune" with the technical world, so I understood. I set it up for her and she chose her background and all that jazz. She started on her post and typed out four sentences. Now she's stuck. She thought about it over night and didn't know what she wanted to put on there. She looked at other blogs and found out what you put on a blog, anything! She still couldn't think of anything else that would good for an introduction. She knew what she would put on future posts, but not on this one. Since she couldn't think of anything else, we saved it as a draft and watched The Forgotten. She liked it, and I always have! We went to bed at 11, which was when the movie ended.
Saturday
Grandma's House
I woke up the next morning and Grandma made eggs, bacon, and toast. We ate and did crossword puzzles from the newspaper. I took my shower and then we put our make-up. It takes her much longer than it takes me! LOL! I've never met anyone with that much make-up. Not that I know of at least, LOL! When we were ready we got in the car and started driving. We drove for a long while until we arrived at a remarkable place. Terra Studios!
Terra:The Bluebirds
Outside were all the glass bluebirds set up in an orderly fashion. We went into the building and found beautiful glass pieces shaped into birds, eggs, and wind chimes! Multiple colors of glass shaped to perfection. We walked into the next room which was even more amazing. A set up of bluebirds was the centerpiece of the room. Around it were shelves full of blue birds. Red ones, pink ones, green ones, and of course blue ones! Big birds, small birds, cowboy birds! The most amazing part was the window! Through the window was a furnace. Moments later, appeared a man. He took a metal rod and slid the tip of into the furnace. When he pulled it out, a bright ball of orange glow stood on it. Melted glass! He pulled out these pinchers and began to shape the glass. A green shine began to appear as the bird took form. He pulled out the tail and hung it upside-down for it to dry. He did this multiple times, creating blue bird after blue bird. We looked around at some of the birds in the store. Some were angels, bunnies, and apples. A bunnybird, that's a funny word! We left the building and crossed the street.
Terra: The Pottery
We walked up to see a beautiful stone mosaic with a waterfall pouring through. Grandma took my picture with it and a few other things. There were statues and a really cool bathroom. This was only the "Welcome" area. We hadn't even gone into the building. We walked along and saw huge mosaics just standing in the middle of nowhere. This one in particular had colorful fireballs tall and wide dancing across the cement. We walked and saw something amazing! A little house without walls, but bluebirds filling the shelves in a neat and beautiful order. Grandma took my picture in it and I took hers. We walked up and saw another little waterfall! Beside it was a little miniature house with a miniature door and miniature stairs. We walked out of this little area and walked into some woods. In the middle was a giant waterfall! Mosaic walls were places throughout the park. Little benches with clay people on them scattered throughout. Grandma and I were the only ones there! We walked around a little bit, and Grandma called me over. "Loch Ness Monster!" I cried in excitement. There was a little creek and in it was a Loch Ness Monster going into a giant gnomes mouth. Little people were working around the creek. It was so cute! We walked around and gazed at the bluebird mosaics and others. We walked out, and went intside. You'd think we'd had so much fun out there we wouldn't have fun in the building. Yeah right!
Terra: The Pottery House
We walked in and looked around the shop. Little pieces of blue glass created a scene across the floor . For some strange reason the room reminded me of Norway. The exciting part of the room was the cave. I could have lived there. I find that blue darkness relaxing. There was a pretty waterfall in one of the corners. There was a somewhat secret passageway into a little room. I went in and found a chair curving into the ceiling with it's jewels. The wall was dark blue with sunlight shining through, creating stars. There was a moon that glowed in the darkness. We took some pictures and left the cave. We looked around and saw all the pretty vases and gnomes.
Terra: The Bluebird House Again
We went back to the Bluebird House to buy some stuff. Mom's kitchen has an apple theme so I decided to get her a green glass apple. For Bailey, who loves rabbits, we got a little pink glass rabbit. Dad got a glass egg with a little bit of blue at the top. I got the original bluebird!
Grandma's House: Back Home
After eating burgers we went to Grandma's house. We had been taking notes in the car, so we filled out her profile and she finished her first post! It was published to her blog and now you are welcome to visit it by clicking here!

Day 1--July 9th
After church we came home and prepared for the highlights. We thought that my hair would have to be dry to have it done. Nope! I ran to the bathroom and got the squirt bottle. Mom sprayed all around my head to dampen it. It was freezing cold, therefore I thought she had soaked it! I sat at the bar and mixed the dye, bringing thoughts of delicious vanilla icing to my mind. When it was ready, Mom took the brush and started streaking my hair. If you look at the pictures Bailey took of me in this state, you will see that there are trails of white foam sinking into my brown hair. It was required to sit for a while, so in that time we decided to do nails! As the clocked ticked away, we filed down the real nails and glued on the fake ones! When we got close to the end, I was looking at Bailey. OW! Pain suddenly seared through my ring finger and then seemed to disappear. Mom's finger had been glued to my real nail and she had yanked it off. We continued with Mom's nail gluing and my watchful eye. When finished, we went to the sink and washed my hair with Garnier Fructis shampoo, and the Garnier Nutrisse conditioner that had come with the product. My hair was all tangled on my head, so Bailey took my picture, which I didn't mind. I did mind that she took multiple pictures of my head in the sink. Waste of memory if you ask me. After everything was finished we looked at my dry hair. Wo! Wo! Wo! Bright golden streaks swallowed the top of my head and ran down. It was shiny and brassy, and did not go well with my dark brown hair. It had to be fixed. We put some Red Glaze on it hoping that it would take away the spark. Well...

Day 2--July 11th
On the tenth, we had gone to Target and gotten some light brown hair-dye. A Latte color, as it was called. Our plan was that it would lighten my brown hair, so that the blonde would stick out so much. Also, it would lighten the highlights just enough so that it was blonde and not brassy. We went home, and on the 11th we tried it. Mom helped me dye my hair and then she dyed hers. The moment of truth would be for the both of us. She had first put the dye on the bottom layers, without highlights, let it set, and later put the dye lightly on the highlights which were on top of my head. While I sat, waiting and reading, the time went by and so did Mom's dye. Eventually I washed my hair, and she washed hers. We found that both of them came out great! So I have highlights and slightly lighter hair, and Mom has red hair! Again!

On Thursday night, we went to Grandma Judy's house. She had made delicious crawfish etouffe, rice, and bread. When we arrived, Aunt Jean and Uncle Jim were there and they greeted us. Gary, Nancy's husband was there. We had only see him once which was at the '03 Family Reunion. We shook hands and looked for Nancy. She popped out of nowhere and walked up to me. "What is it I should say? Oh! My how much you've grown!". She then walked over to Bailey and did the same thing. We laughed and everyone went into their separate areas. Little groups of people scattered across the living room. I observed them and listened to their conversations. I then went over to check out my Grandma's new flat screen monitor. We then ate the crawfish. The nine of use were split up into 2 tables. After dinner, Bailey and I got some ice cream with hot fudge, while everyone else decided to chat away. I went over to the computer to show Gary my blogs. He thought they were cool. I showed him each of my pets from my picture blog. I gave him my blog address and he promises to look at it when he gets home. He traveled far to get here. We went to the table and we talked about what kind of TV shows we watch. Turns out we have a lot in common. I am not a chick flick girl. We found that we both watch things like "I Shouldn't Be Alive" and stuff like that. He thought it was weird that I like Stephen King. He recommended a Stephen King book that he really thinks I should read. We talked for a long time. Later, we talked about foods that we eat. Bailey wants to be a chef, so that's how the conversation started. We discussed vegetables and fruit and baked potatoes. He told me that his son works at McDonalds, which I thought was kind of cool. Later, when it got a little dark, Gary, Dad, and I went outside. Gary and Nancy have a trailer that they use when they travel. When they travel, they're gone for about two weeks, so they need it. He let me look inside. I had been in Katy's trailer a few times, and they're kind of different, yet a lot alike. The bed was above the driver's seat, which I thought was really cool. There was also one in the back by the miniature bathroom. Bailey came in and Gary and I told her that the bathroom was huge, so she went in. She was so confused because a toilet the size of a basketball is not "big" to her. That was funny. Eventually, we went inside and told everyone goodbye. We hugged everyone and then headed home. We got home at 9:30.

Friday
Aunt Cindy
Aunt Cindy's birthday was May 16th. We have been unable to celebrate it considering the fact that we have been super busy with VBS (Vacation Bible School), Art Class, and ya-da-ya-da-ya-da. On Friday, the 23rd, we were able to do something special for her. We took her to Shanghai, a Chinese Restaurant, and ate. I forgot what everyone ordered, but we all enjoyed it. Afterwards, we went to Panera. Yum! I ordered an I.C. Mocha, and Bailey ordered an I.C. Caramel. Aunt Cindy had a coffee and a delicious Bear's Claw. Of course, I got a bite of it. She let me have a few sips of her coffee because mine was freezing and it made me cold. Yet, I still loved my drink. Mom got an I.C Cappucino Chip which was very good. We were at Panera for a while, drinking and eating. Bailey and had split a "Very Chocolate Brownie", which I almost forgot about because it was gone before Aunt Cindy and Mom got to the table. We're quick, as you can see. After Panera, we went to the Jewelry and Handbag Warehouse, where Aunt Cindy bought me these beautiful earrings. They hang down, and at the bottom they hold a clear square with a sparkly circle above it. We looked around there and later went to Wally World. After that we went home and Aunt Cindy got her car. We followed her back to her house. Why, you ask?

Keaton
We followed Aunt Cindy home and got Keaton, my cousin who lives directly in front of Aunt Cindy. He is her daughter's son. It was around 3:00 and he had been ready for about 3 hours. We took him back to our house and we hung out. I showed him some things I had done on the computer and some videos from Google Videos. We watched some music videos and some funny videos people had posted. We enjoyed the lady who was "fed up with all of the diet coke and mentos experiments" and did it herself, using herself. Using graphic programs, the woman blew up at the end of the video. It was actually very funny. Keaton and I went outside and jumped on the trampoline, that of which he has a great obsession. We did our cool tricks and jumped and talked. We had pizza for dinner, and later we had some fun. Keaton just recently got a cell phone. There are some girls who like to bug him and flirt with him. Bethany called, and we decided to have some fun. We had been watching Budweiser commercials on the Internet for the past couple of hours. We screamed "WHASSUP!" into his speaker phone and scared her to death. Eventually, we got a couple Oreos and went to bed.

Saturday
Keaton
On Saturday, I woke up and played on the computer for a while. Keaton, of course, slept in. After breakfast, which was Krispy Kreme, we got dressed and went outside. This time, we took the camera and took pictures of each other in the air and doing flips and stuff. I even got a picture of him attempting a back flip. You don't want to know. Some of them came out really cool. Throughout the day we went back and forth between Budweiser commercials the trampoline. Around 4 or 5, Brandi (Keaton's Mom) came to our house to pick him up. While Mom and Brandi talked, we took Lexi outside and jumped on the trampoline. She is the best 4-year-old jumper I have ever met. I have only met two, but that's beside the point! She would bounce us and make us go "really high". She enjoyed it. When it was time for them to leave, we asked Brandi if Keaton could stay another night. She said yes! He spent the night, and the next morning we went to breakfast at Golden Corral. Later, Brandi took him home around 1:00.

Hey!
Thank you for reading. I am so sorry I have not been posting as frequently as I should. I have been extremely busy and what you just read is the least of it.
Will post more soon!
And remember...
WHASSUP!