Quick Oklahoma Road Trip

 Last weekend we made a quick road trip to Oklahoma and stumbled onto a little gem of a place that I can't wait to get back to!!

 

We found the Quartz Mountain Resort which has a golf course, paddle boats, campgrounds, hotel and I'm sure more that I haven't discovered yet.

 

 

The kids loved climbing up the hills of boulders. Yip and Yap were more than ready to take off and leave DR, their sister and I in the dust. Cactus and wildflowers and huge boulders. I could have climbed mountains all day long!

 

What I was most excited about though was the art work. The resort hosts art workshops and have a sculpture by one of my favorite artists, Alan Houser.

 

 

Of course my boys were super impressed by the giant deer head.

 

I can't wait to go back and just sit and draw or paint the mountains all day long. What gorgeous and inspirational scenery!!

 

 

 

Oklahoma Wedding!

Whew!! 

Am I ever tired! The kids and I just returned from an Oklahoma wedding. Our cousin was married on Saturday about 8 hours away but we'd actually been gone since Tuesday night. My parents, a sister and two brothers came down earlier in the week to spend time with Mountain Man in southern Oklahoma. We drove down (5ish hours) Tuesday night to see all of them, Wednesday we spent the day with them and some other Oklahoma family there, Thursday we drove through pouring rain a few hours to the northeast corner of Oklahoma, Friday we had the rehearsal, Saturday was the wedding and Sunday we drove home. What a great week! Long and tiring but well worth it. 

Now, if I wanted to be mean to a bunch of my Indiana family I'd post photos of our trip chronologically. But I know there were some who didn't make it down for the wedding who would love to see some photos. I didn't get as many as I would have liked but I'll share what I have. 

Our cousin Al!! Isn't she just gorgeous! 

She tied one of our Grandpa's belt buckles to her bouquet. He had passed away this past May and yes I was tearing up taking this photo. 

Al married a wonderful Oklahoma rancher/farmer and in true western style the whole wedding party wore cowboy boots! 

Al asked if my kids would be in the wedding and I was happy to oblige. Though Friday night after the rehearsal I was nervous that my three exhausted kids would cause mayhem but they pulled through and did fabulous. 

Yahoo wasn't a flower girl but a sign girl! She carried a piece of barn siding right before Al that said "Here Comes Your Bride!" How cute!!! 

See those three little boys standing so perfectly still? Their mothers promised them ice cream and money if they behaved like absolute angels!!! 

I don't know about you but J, the groom, looks just a bit nervous to me! 

What a wonderful couple they are! Too bad we don't live closer though. 

I didn't SEE this part but I HEARD that when Al and J were kissing that my boys, the junior groomsmen, covered their mouths like it was gross and looked away. Anyone get a picture of that?? 

During the rehearsal I asked J if he had made the archway backdrop for the wedding, it was gorgeous! 

"You mean the Outhouse?" he asked, "We're getting married in Outhouse! But don't tell Al that, she doesn't think it's funny!" 

Oh, J will sure fit into this family! 

At one point before the wedding the photographers weren't in the dressing room and Al asked if I'd take some pictures of the girls. I was able to watch the bridesmaids pray over the bride. What a wonderful group of women these are! 

Party time!! 

I have practically no photos of the reception because Yahoo was asleep on my arm for most of it and the rest of the time I was cutting and serving cake! The kids and I had to leave way too early to get started on the 8 hour drive back. We had such a wonderful time with family I sure didn't want to leave. But isn't it nice to have a family that will drive so far to see one another? I still feel blessed! 

Red Dirt Music

I must be getting old. 

I must be getting old when I don't like to listen to the "popular" music on country radio stations. It sounds too "pop". Don't even ask my opinion on Taylor Swift. 

Country music just doesn't sound....country anymore. 

Good thing I live so close to Oklahoma. We live roughly an hour north of the Oklahoma/Kansas border. Oklahoma is known for having red dirt, literally...red. You wouldn't believe it but when you cross into Oklahoma it's like they drew the state line right where the red dirt starts. 

There's also a genre of music popular in Oklahoma and surrounding region known as Red Dirt. I have a whole Pandora station just for Red Dirt music. And, most of it, sounds like the country I grew up with mixed with some bluegrass and folk. 

Here's my latest obsession; Turnpike Troubadours song, Long Hot Summer Days. I've been playing it all morning long. Right now this album is available for download on Amazon for $5!! 

What do you think? Would you listen to Red Dirt? 

Footloose; the TRUE Oklahoma Inspiration.

I don't remember when I first saw the movie Footloose but I've always liked watching it. I'm not planning on seeing the remake though. Guess I'm a snob. I always wanted a pair of red cowboy boots like Ariel. I didn't realize till later that she probably wasn't the best character to dress like. 

Growing up I always heard from my dad that the movie Footloose was about my cousin Kim's high school in Oklahoma. Nah, I always thought, it must be somewhere similar. 

But last weekend we were in Oklahoma visiting Kim for an early Thanksgiving dinner (She's so organized with her Thanksgiving dinner notebook!) and after we were all stuffed with turkey and pie we couldn't do much else but sit and talk and we got Kim talking about her prom. 

In 1980 she was a sophomore in high school and the students wanted a dance but the law forbid public dancing. The laws were written back in a time to prevent dance halls, a 100 years before. So the principal and the students went before the town council to get the law changed. Kim remembers going and thinking somebody was going to get into a fistfight over it. The most opposition against dancing was the local ministers. 

The law ended up getting changed and the students were able to have their first dance and my cousin Kim got to go. They had a banquet dinner before the dance at their school. The problem was that this little Oklahoma town not being allowed to dance had made national news and the night of the prom there were all kinds of reporters outside the school. The cafeteria area where they were going to have their dinner had a wall of windows at one end that had to be blacked out with dark paper so the students could have some privacy. After their dinner the students went and changed, the dark paper was taken down and the reporters were allowed in but were kept back from the students at a respectable distance. 

Kim went on to tell us how all the students were just standing up against the walls because, "Well, we'd never had a dance and who wanted to dance in front of a bunch of reporters?" Then the junior class president and a junior girl started dancing which broke the ice and everyone else joined in. One reporter climbed halfway up a set of stairs and filmed the whole time. Another found the janitor's 8 foot ladder and set it up in the middle of the gym and shot footage down from above. Kim remembers thinking, "What's the big deal? We're just dancing."

Kim's little sister was watching tv that night when a picture of Kim came on the national nightly news. Her sister thought for sure Kim was going to hell because there she was dancing....without any shoes on!! Kim even made the front page of the Chicago Tribune without shoes on...heaven forbid! (I'd sure love to see that photo.)

Now even I wasn't sure just how much of Footloose was inspired by my cousin's school until Mountain Man showed me one of the special features on the Footloose Collector's Edition. And there is footage of the little town we were just a stone's throw from and my cousin Kim getting interviewed all about her prom in 1980. 

The inspiration for Footloose. What an interesting high school memory that must be? 

Thanks for sharing your story Kim! 

Oklahoma Thanksgiving

Other than my brother I have family who have lived in southern Oklahoma for over thirty years. And although, growing up, I didn't spend a lot of time with this side of the family we still keep in touch and visit whenever possible.

My cousin Kim called a couple weeks ago and said they were planning a Thanksgiving dinner this past weekend since that was the only Saturday my brother and her son both had off work. So in a whirlwind, we drove down for dinner.

I love family dinners because although I only brought mashed potatoes it was a feast of wonderful food that I didn't have to cook!

Family dinners crack me up because, like every family, there are always a few characters that make you smile! 

Like this wonderful guy Jake. He is a wonderful guy but he annoys me to no end! Mostly because he runs and hides when ever I try to take his picture! 

Goal for 2012: Get a good picture of Jake! 

This wonderful smiling little buddy is David. I love David because he is a camera hog! Ha, everytime I come around he'll gladly pose for me. He was especially proud that we were able to get a pic of him jumping off the swing. 

Now my boys and David and his little brother Charlie love spending time with one another. On Friday in fact, while we were driving, David convinced his teacher that he had to call home and MAKE SURE he hadn't missed my boys arrival! Ha, what a wonderful teacher he must have. 

Although it was a fast trip and I was sick and exhausted the whole time it was worth it. I got to see a family and friends I don't remember seeing since I was in elementary school. 

I don't think I could ever get tired of family dinners! 

Visiting Mountain Man and TREES!!!!

Over the weekend we traveled 5 hours to southern Oklahoma to visit my brother Mountain Man who moved there over the summer.



What a wonderful view he has from his back door!! 
His landlord runs cattle on a 100 acres behind the house. 

I have missed trees so much that being in Southern Oklahoma reminded DR and I a lot of Southern Indiana. Although Indiana trees are bigger than Oklahoma trees. 

There was a big fallen down tree in the pasture that Yip and Yap spent A LOT of time playing on! You wouldn't believe how filthy they got playing on it! I loved it! I love when my kids get so dirty playing; I honestly believe it's healthy for kids. 

"What's this Uncle Mountain Man?"

"That's raccoon poop boy!" 

Ah, a wilderness education! 

I've heard people call Oklahoma "God's Country" and it sure seemed that wonderful this weekend. 

I have to admit I'm pretty jealous that Mountain Man gets to live in such a beautiful place but I'm sure happy he's my brother so I can come visit him! 

Where's the Vacation?

Is summer over yet?

I flipped my calendar from May to June a few days ago and was shocked to see this month was already full of activities!  4-H, swim lessons, baseball, play dates, bake sales, Vacation Bible School, library reading program.

I don't remember being this busy when I was a kid. How is it that summer is busier than the school year? I didn't plan on scheduling my kids' summer so full. It just kind of snuck up on me. I was scratching my head thinking....where can we loosen up some of our time?

Of course some of it I refuse to cut out. We live a block from the swimming pool and sorry kids but swimming lessons are a must! And I have a standing play date once a week that gives me 2 hours of me time...ahhh, peace and quiet. Nope, not giving that up either.

And how can I say no to Bible school or the library? No, those activities are too important; we're not getting rid of them. 4-H and Baseball? Well, the boys enjoy it too and would raise a fit if I cut them out of the schedule.

I should just be thankful that I have twins!! Yep, twins were tough to handle when they were only a year old, I admit. But now having twins is a blessing! Yip and Yap are on the same baseball team, go to the same library program and swimming lessons, and do the same 4-H projects. For now anyway...twins are great to have. I'm choosing to not even think about what happens when Yahoo is older and I have three kids going three different directions.

How on Earth did my mom juggle 7 kids in the summer? The older I get the more I think of my mother as Super Woman!

Well, I've decided to just be flexible this summer. If we miss some 4-H meetings or library days or other things, then no big deal. My summer goal is to stay as stress free as possible. But please, oh please, let July be a bit slower than June!

So....how busy are you this summer?

Oklahoma City Centennial Land Run Monument

On Memorial Day we also had the chance to see the Land Run Monument in downtown Oklahoma City which was erected for Oklahoma's centennial in 2007. Don't know about the land run? Never seen Tom Cruise's movie Far and Away? Well, read here to catch up on your land run history.





The Land Run Monument begins with a soldier and a cannon, firing the shot to start the run. Twenty-four horses and riders, including a sun-bonneted woman riding sidesaddle, strain for position. A buckboard, two covered wagons, a buggy and a sulky represent some of the many vehicles used in the race. A dog races after a wagon, and a surprised rabbit watches from one side. The 45 figures are 1 1/2 life size and is one of the largest freestanding bronze sculptures in the world. It spans a distance of 365 feet in length by 36 feet in width and over 16 feet in height.

I just loved this sculpture! It was huge and there was no place you could stand where you could adequately take in the action of the entire group. From every angle ther was a new movement and expression and details to discover.

I love the action of this man as he reaches back for his windblown hat.  

Every figure is an individual expressing a unique personality. The contrasting expressions between this couple made me laugh. It's so representative of marriage don't you think?

There were figured tucked into the backs of wagons too.

The best thing about outdoor public sculpture? Touching and climbing it of course! Sometimes that's the only way to fully appreciate the work and detail the sculptor put into a piece.

Every kind of person was represented in this monument. Rich and poor, men and women, the experienced and the naive. A wonderful monument to an amazing event in America's history.

How to Make a Rope.

 See that good looking cowboy down below? That is my Uncle Skip making a rope. Uncle Skip lived in Oklahoma since before I was born. He'd come up to Indiana occasionally when I was growing up and 15 or so years ago, it may have been before, he found an antique rope maker and Skip started making rope.

He didn't just make rope for fun. No, he built up a traveling rope demonstration. He'd been all over with his ropes; Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Indiana and Michigan....and surely more that I don't know of.  

Uncle Skip passed away almost five years ago but one of the shows he'd been doing for years was the Chuck wagon Gathering and Children's Cowboy Festival at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City every Memorial Day weekend. Skip started a family tradition of rope making that his grandson is still keeping alive. His grandson, Charlie, is The Rope maker now. This past weekend Mountain Man, DR, the kids and I met Charlie and a whole passel of our cousins at the Chuck Wagon Gathering to help make rope.

In the back is my cousin's husband David. The rope maker with the sunglasses on is their son Charlie supervising his son, Little David, making rope. I admit, I got a bit sentimental that first day because I can't associate many times when I made rope growing up without Uncle Skip. We had a great time but it felt like something was missing without him.

Wanna know how you make a rope? Well, aren't you lucky...I just happen to have pictures to share! lol

First, you have to get excited! This is Charlie's sister, Katie. Doesn't she look excited to make rope for the next two days, 6 hours straight? Yep, she's just a bit crazy like that.

First you need a rope maker...and don't ask where you can buy one like this. The man who made them for Uncle Skip has retired and doesn't them anymore. Everybody this weekend seemed to want to know where they could get a rope maker! Anyone out there have a machinist shop? Well, I have a project for you...rope makers are in demand.

Okay, so you take two spools of baling twine and you tie the ends together and hook that knot together at place it around the lower left hook. Mountain Man was crazy enough to drive 6 plus hours to come make rope all weekend. Yeah, he's a bit crazy like that too.

Next you walk down to another hook and loop it around. Uncle Skip fixed the hook up to a box with weights that slide on a sawhorse. You can make a rope  with someone holding the hook, and make it as long as you want, but in this way there is one less person needed and a lot less work.

You walk back and forth hooking the baling twine until all three hooks on the rope maker are full. Then you tie off the baling twine and find a young able bodied cranker. Kids are great for this part!!

Here's Little Charlie, always a cheerful volunteer. As he cranks clockwise the rope maker the hooks spin and four twines, on each hook, twist together.

Then after each section of four twines twist together the tension builds up and twists together all the sections. Mountain Man holds a rope wrench to keep the three sections apart, so they don't get tangled, and stay twisting with an even amount of tension. What you don't see is the weights being pulled forwardon the sawhorses, keeping the twists tight, as the rope twists together.

When the rope is twisted completely it is tied off with masking tape and cut off the rope maker end and unhooked from the other end.

Then (fire! the fun part!) because the baling twine is plastic a propane torch is used to melt the raw ends together. The hot end is dipped in a bucket of water and....then...gggrrr...I don't have a picture of this....but a Hondo knot is put in the end with the tape. Then you can make a lasso from your rope.

Now multiply that by four.

Four rope makers cranking, eight people walking around and back and forth, in 90 degree heat, with propane torches, for six hours or so.

Add a line of sweaty little kids waiting for up to an hour (in the sun!) to make their own rope. Kids are crazy like that aren't they? Sounds miserable doesn't it?

Well...I admit...we were all pretty tuckered out by the end of the day but we are already looking forward and planning to go back next year!! Yep, we're a bit crazy like that too.

The Chuck wagon Gathering was awesome! There was so much more than making rope. There was about a dozen chuck wagons cooking over an open fire for two days, pony rides, horseshoe pitching, a Texas longhorn to sit on, Annie Oakley doing trick shooting, and of course the museum!! I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I would have liked but I am so glad we went and sure hope this year goes quickly so we can do it again.

Now...do you need a rope?

Or better yet, do you need someone to come give a rope making demonstration. Let me know!! I'm pretty sure I can hook you up.