OklaHOME-a

We have officially lived here for six months now. To recap, bugs. Also, humidity. And lastly, great people.

So here's the deal with the bugs: I hate em. We live in a wooded area that is new construction. So it's probably safe to say they hate me back. I mean, I guess if you want to get technical it is US who won't get out of THEIR house. But since they don't have access to the internet, their complaints go unheard. We have enjoyed a wide variety of creatures at our house including scorpions, huge furry spiders, black widows, snakes, red ants, and ticks. I did not expect ticks to become such a regular part of our daily lives. We do tick checks in the warm weather every night. I think Lila and I are the only ones who haven't gotten one yet. Mostly, they love Maisey. All the girls will be out playing together but it's always Maisey that has them. She's been to the ER a few times with raging fevers and hallucinations due to tick bites. 

The weather up until October was pretty stupid. But the fall- that was a glorious reprieve. We had a lovely fall. There were so many completely enjoyable days that we were really truly grateful for. And the bugs died. Or they're hiding. Or most likely they're planning on new strategies to torment me in 2016. Either way it's given me a new appreciation for winter. 

We have loved our house and our land. It's super duper not to live right on top of everybody else. By the end of our time at Hill we were feeling a bit claustrophobic living on base. Emmett has his own room- he doesn't have to sleep in his car seat in the bathroom anymore. I'm just starting to feel like the house is home- it's decorated (mostly) and it already has marker and nutella and toothpaste on the walls. We have over an acre here and it's been so great to let the girls out to roam. Our wild Oklahoma tundra has been a bit overwhelming as we are trying to tame and landscape....well......the woods. It feels like we could spend all our time and money on that endeavor alone, to say nothing of the goat head infestation.One thing that has pleasantly surprised me is the trees. Everywhere there are trees. That's been lovely. It can quickly lose it's magic now that I know what's actually in those trees. But I try not to let myself go there. 

At the end of the summer we finally got a neighbor. But not just any neighbor- the best neighbors. The kind where you can ask for a stick of butter and they know they're never getting it back and that's okay. Their kids play famously with our kids. I love their kids in fact. And they are home schooled too so we do homeschoolish things together. Pretty much the luckiest of lucky in the neighbor department. All the kids can run free on our land and there has yet to be so much as an argument. Plus Suzanne makes us egg rolls that make us a little bit sad to be white. I guess it's fine that we're white but one day when we move away from her we'll be back to Mormon casseroles and soups, and that's worth pre-mourning. 

On short. Things are cool. We've had great times here, just like we would anywhere else. We have to fight a little harder to have fun due to the climate but we've met lots of great people here. Our ward has some plenty of down to earth, genuine people and that's always refreshing and grounding. Our kids each have a dedicated Primary teacher and I have really appreciated that. It means a lot to me. 

The girls like to take advantage of the tub in our room. I really wanted it. It was important to us. We thought we would use it. But 5 kids. So, no, I don't use it. Maybe I should put all the dishes in there with me and multi task?

Braden found a frog outside so he brought it in to say good night to the girls.

Up the street there is a lady with some beautiful horses. She let us ride them one afternoon after Braden stopped to admire them. And this is Maisey cuddeling with her tick infested dog.

And sometimes turtles go walking by. I'm sure they always leave the experience wishing they had walked the other way.