Busy Road Trip Weekend - College Bound!

Mommy Manning was visiting the college town circuit this past weekend. Attending OSU homecoming Saturday and the U2 / Blackeyed Peas Concert on Sunday. It was too much time away from Colin and Jackie, but so much fun and nice to be with friends. As you can see, I left my sunglasses at home. :-)

At the game - Katie to the right and Tarah to the left. Tarah is really pregnant and so cute! The Boone Pickens stadium is incredible. I was blown away as it had been 2 years since I'd been to a game.

We were sure to visit the Gamma Phi house prior to the game. Some things have changed and others are just as we left them in 2002. Such fun memories being huddled into rooms with 3-4 roomates or more and sharing the previous nights stories. I'm so lucky to have made such wonderful friends in college. This bench is very special. Libby is my dear friend Katie's mom and she passed away a few years ago. Libby was a Gamma Phi alumni and her pledge class donated this bench in her honor. She was a great lady and I'm touched by the fact that she had such loyal friends.

Norman Bound! Thomas, Jenny and I made the treck to Norman Sunday. We managed to find our way around. Not too bad for a few Pokes.

I am a huge U2 fan and was in heaven the entire concert. I just couldn't believe I was hearing them live. I am officially in love with Bono. Love you Col!! :-)

Aside from the incredible music was the fantastic set and stage! It looked like a huge bug with 4 legs, and then once the concert started, it looked like a space ship. Such and amazing portable thing.

And because we know who the real star is, I'll leave you with a Jackie pic.

Rainy October Days

Believe it or not, we are loving these overcast, spitty rain, chilly days. It's not too cold to be outside, so we are spending as much time out in the backyard throwing the ball and exploring as possible. It's finally chilly enough to start a fire (thanks to Dad Manning's skills) and that is just good for the soul. Nothing better than the glow of a fire and reading a few books and smelling dinner in the kitchen on a Fall evening.

Outside my window at work, there is one fire red tree. It is beautiful! Each day it gets more rich with color.

October means OSU Homecoming! Looking forward to the massive creations at each Fraternity and Sorority house symbolizing months of hard work, fun and memories. It's been a while since I've walked the strip and relived college days.

All of these memories pale in comparison to the awe I experience every time I see my wonderful husband and darling girl. They keep me going each and every day. We're like a machine (never quite as good without all of the parts).

Then I get smacked back into reality after wiping this snotty nose. Still worth every bit. :-)

Jackie playing Mrs. Napkin Head

JKM and grandpa played Mr. and Mrs. Napkin Head at Leon's last Sunday. Watch and enjoy.

Video Test

We got a new digital video camera and I am trying to upload it. We will see if it works....

This Little Gal...

This little gal thinks burps and "other things" are funny.

This little gal knows more words than we realize. A few we've captured: ball, spoon, bubbles, bath, Elmo, Oh Daba Daba (Yo Gabba Gabba) baby, duckie, giraffe, uh oh!, elephant, blocks, bear, blankie, nana (banana) apple, eye, nose, boat, shoe, water, bird, flower, tree, bus, please, Katie (classmate), Kacey (one of her teachers), Caroline, Abbey, Jason, Ohnny (Johnny), Thomas, Papa (Grandpa), Gamma (Grandma), Daddy and Ommy (my favorite).

This little gal is pretty stable on her two feet. And when she falls, it's not too big of a deal. And sometimes, she does summersalts to avoid a rough tumble.

This little gal likes to pretend she's talking on the phone, putting on makeup and brushing her hair, baking cookies (and feeding them to people), turning on the faucet, washing hands, turning off the faucet, pouring tea and drinking tea, calling a football game by announcing Touchdown! and raising her arms in the air and kissing her stuffed animals.

This little gal is opinionated and not afraid to let her parents know.

This little gal loves to run around the house naked just before a bath - showing off her stuff.

This little gal does not like to have her diaper changed - not one bit!

This little gal knows her Daddy thinks she's pretty special.

This little gal knows exactly how to make her Mom smile.

This little gal is practically perfect in every way (Mary Poppins said it best).

Early Fall at Philbrook

One Plus One Equals Zoo!

Yet again - at the zoo! This was really pretty outside of the rainforest exhibit.

Jackie and those elephants! This time, we witnessed the amazing process of giving the elephants a bath (or shower). With whistles, the zoo keepers have the elephants trained to clean up the trunk, below the feet, the very back of the hiney, the sides and back of the elephant. It was really cool. I guess you had to be there...

After seeing the "March of the Penguins," you gotta respect these guys.

Jackie, reaching to see the giraffe.

The weird, wild and brilliantly colored flamingos.

We had to take this quick, Jackie was super freaked out by the giant face. Poor kid.

Holy ZooMoly it's October!

Happy Fall everyone! I can't believe we are approaching Jackie's second Halloween! That means we are approaching her second Holiday Season. Wow how time flies. Jackie took her second zoo visit with her cousins last week. We have been Tulsa Zoo members for two weeks now and have already been twice since joining. We love it and Jackie is learning all of her animal names and sounds.
The elephants are so cool. It is so cute to hear Jackie say "Elephant." I have just decided they are my favorite animal. This is one fun thing about parenthood that I have discovered. It's ok to act like a kid again and think about things like your favorite color, animal, kid show, kid song. I'm a dork.

Caroline looks like such a big girl here it cracks me up! Look at her cute bare feet hanging far from the ground. hehe..

Rhino's perplex me. They are so lazy. They have this huge horn on their head that looks miserable and they are the color of dirt. I feel sorry for them and then I see this picture of their soul full eyes. They look like wize old guys with the wrinkles around them. Hmm...

By the penguin exhibit. The zoo has been one of Colin's favorite spots, long before he met me.

Tuckered out on the train. What a day we had. We were so worn out, we all took naps! Learning is tiring!