mr. and miss shrock go to the capital

Tuesday we went to the capital with Chris and a lot of OSSM staff, faculty, students, parents, and alums to elicit support for OSSM. The school's budget has been reduced significantly and we're trying to get it back, plus add more students to fill the empty dorm wings. If you'd like to help please write your representatives on our behalf and ask for support for OSSM.

Looking up at the dome.

Granddad and Uncle Ken came to speak on OSSM's behalf.

It was a neat experience. If you wanted to talk to your representative you can go up there, and if they're in session a page will go and get them to come out and speak to you if they're not busy. I don't know how much good it did, but I guess we'll find out in May. Please be in prayer for the school. It's such a good thing for the state and so many kids who need to be academically challenged.

siblings

Watching these two is powerful! Elle loves Todd so much, and the fastest way for Todd to smile or laugh is to see Elle.

They've been sleeping in the same room now for a few weeks and it's gone surprisingly well. I just think before too long they'll be in there together plotting against us.

I made this for their room yesterday. It's inspired by Chris' words from when he performed his sister's wedding.

They started taking a bath together this past week. They love it!

I pray for their relationship and hope they always love each other this much!

quiet easter

The kids and Chris were suffering with bad allergies so we decided to just stay home this Easter and rest over the weekend. We went to church and Elle sang (ok stood on the stage while the other kids sang), then she hunted eggs. Then we came home and rested.

Elle got some stickers in her Easter basket and thought Todd needed to wear them to church.

Elle wanted to take a picture of her new movie she got. Lilo and Stitch is one of her favorites from the library, but their copy is scratched up so you miss parts of it. She was so happy to get a copy of her own that she doesn't have to take back to the library!

Elle's wardrobe provided by her Daddy who likes to buy her Easter dresses and Todd's wardrobe provided by Target and our wonderful friend Erin who knitted his sweater vest.

Sunday night everyone felt good enough to try and go out to eat. We decided to try a new place and went to Tucker's Onion Burgers. Why didn't someone tell us about this place sooner?! It's so good!

Todd @ 4 months

Todd's become more like a baby and doesn't seem like a newborn anymore. He laughs at Elle and Mops the most, but likes to give out smiles. He's really getting the hang of grabbing things and bringing them to his mouth. He even rolled over for the first time on his 4 month birthday! His hair is thinning out on top, but he's still a cutie. I think he's around 16 pounds. He's showing more of his personality. He's very sensitive to when other kids are upset. Love this boy more and more!

He likes to sit like this with Chris, and so Chris started calling this is newscaster pose.

He loves to go outside in the stroller!

A comparison pic: Elle at 4 months

more easter activities

Wouldn't you like this little Easter Bunny to come to your house?

We've done a couple of Easter activities this week. I came up with the Amazing Egg Race when I was trying to come up with an activity for the book The Easter Egg by Jan Brett. In the story she uses the vocabulary word "amazing" so I thought this would be a fun way to teach that word. If you don't know the show, it's about partners who travel around the world finding clues that lead them to the big prize. In our version the partners (Elle and Chris) travel around campus using all of our kid vehicles to find clues in plastic eggs that led them to the big prize.

He did it for Elle. That's all I can say.

They started with the tricycle...

which led them to the wagon...

which led them to the stroller...

which led them to the Daddy's bike...

which led them to the cozy coupe...

and finally to Todd with the jelly beans!

We also went to an Easter party this week at Katie's and Olivia's house. You can read more at Katie's blog. We had the best time!

Todd enjoying himself!

The adorable bunny cake Katie made!

I made these "carrots" that I found at Hungry Happenings.

Then a fun egg hunt for the kiddos!

Elle liked the goldfish in the eggs!

playing in the park

We didn't do much over spring break, but one day we did head over to the Myriad Gardens to picnic and play. I love their playground and that there's a bathroom available for a little miss someone! I can't wait for the sprayground to open there.

walk a mile

This Monday my sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and niece became a foster family. They picked up a 7 month old boy who will be with them indefinitely. Please pray for their family. To support them and foster care awareness we'll be participating in a 1 mile walk on Saturday, April 28th @ 9 am in Bricktown. (There's supposed to be one in Tulsa too, but right now it's location is TBA.) You can check out more details about the walk at the website for Walk a Mile In My Shoes. It's free or you can buy a shirt. If you'd like to join us you can meet at our place at 8:30 and we'll have some breakfast goodies and walk over to Bricktown together.

We're also planning on doing the Tot Trot again to support Christian Services of OK. We'll probably all do the 1 mile because Chris has been having ankle problems.

Elle is 3!

I can't believe Elle is 3 years old! It seems like just yesterday I was calling Chris in Fort Worth and telling him to come home because I was in labor. 3 years ago Elle changed us from two to three and became the first biological relative Chris knows. Since then she's taught us a lot, made us laugh, and melted our hearts. She's even made us want to pull out our hair at times, but it's been worth it! Lately, she's jabbering away or singing several songs at the same time. She's also memorized a lot of books and likes to "read" them with me or by herself. She's loves her brother and is really good about taking care of him. She's very independent and likes to tell us she did something by herself then ask "Aren't you so proud of me?" That's why in the first picture her clothes don't match. We also noticed she's recognizing gender identity. Chris got her a remote control car for her birthday because the older boys that live here have them, but she couldn't drive them. Chris found her one that she could handle, but she didn't want to have anything to do with it at first. Later on in the day she told me it was a "boy toy". Eventually, after Chris got it set up and when she saw how fun it could be outside she got over it. But here was her reaction at first.

Elle wanted a Snow White party this year. I tried to stay away from the "princess" part of it and focus on elements of the story. I realized later we didn't get any really good shots of the set up or the cupcakes (apples). I mostly wanted Elle to have fun with her friends. We had several activities for the kids, and Chris made fun me and called them centers. We had mirror drawings with window crayons and markers.

Shave a Dwarf- We used three of Chris' razors that don't have blades and the kids "shaved" a balloon dwarf.

Edible Diamond Mines- M&M's that the kids could dig out with a "shovel".

These are the shirts my sister Casey made for everyone.


Thanks to everyone who came or gave Elle a gift. We are very blessed to be writing lots of thank you notes this week! Sorry if it was a little crazy and if I missed saying goodbye to you. Todd was a bit overwhelmed and I had to go feed him. Elle really enjoyed having everyone come to her "house".