The Answers (to Life, the Universe, and Everything)

...well, or maybe just to the Itty Bitty Bartlesville City challenge. Below are the original pictures from the challenge, along with corresponding pictures from farther back. Please also open up this map (it will open in a separate window so you can go back and forth between the map and the blog) to see where each one is located and to read what it is. Enjoy!

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Itty Bitty Bartlesville City

It's the event you've all been waiting for -

Itty Bitty Bartlesville City!!

What is it you ask?

Below are 26 pictures of details from the downtown area in our wonderful town of Bartlesville. Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to find where each comes from. Posting the correct answer to any picture clue in the comments will earn you a special prize! Some may be easy for you long-time residents, some may require a little more searching. All pictures are from the area between Adams Blvd. and Hensley Blvd, and between Cherokee Ave. and Jennings Ave. I will post the answers using zoomed out pictures next week. Anyone can participate, so spread the word. Have fun exploring our city. (If you don't live here you can see some of the sights around our fair town; we were hoping that you could participate via Google Maps Street View, but it is only available in the eastern part of Bartlesville.) Here you go!

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the MORGAN montage

This is Morgan. Today is his last day of Pre-K. He has grown up alot this year. He has gone full days all year. He has made alot of friends. In particular Tanis and Hunter. They are a funny little group. They have developed there own little crazy language and greetings and games. It makes me chuckle to see them together. We have loved his teacher Ms. Hamilton. We are very proud of all he has learned this year. I am surprised at the new vocabulary he has picked up (thankfully all of it clean). He is able to read a lot of words on his own now. We love to hear him read books with us. He tells me that he is "pretty good at not making any trouble." He has had a great year.
He continues to be a master block builder. I can always count on blocks to fill the time when i need to get things done. It helps that he has such a great imagination. He can always come up with something for he and Emma to play. Often he can suck kids who have never heard of Magic TreeHouse books into playing "Jack and Annie" with him. He makes it so exciting that they can hardly resist. He also loves to explore and find little treasures outside. It is really fun to watch him discover and take care of rocks, bugs, plants, sticks, seeds, etc.
He loved going on his first Father and Sons campout. He said it was the "best time EVER." They went canoeing and hiking, he rode a pony, and they caught a crawfish (and several ticks). He just loved being out at the church ranch. I am glad that he had so much fun but we sure missed him at home. It was hard to face coming home for bedtime without him. I missed him alot. And Emma cried about going to bed alone.
Even though he often practices new teasing technics on Emma (who is the perfect victim), he continues to be a wonderful brother. One night Emma had no blankets on her bed and because of her behavior i was not going to go in to give her one. She was very upset. After awhile she calmed down and when we went in to check on her we found that Morgan had given her one of his favorite blankets to sleep with. It was so tender. He can always make Talmge smile.
Even though he has often been described as intense, we are sure glad to have him around. He is such a good little friend to all of us.

the EMMA enterprise

This is Emma. She is 3 3/4 years old and she can't wait to turn 4 so she can go to school just like Morgan. She says that Morgan's school is her favorite building. She is very social. Everyday after we drop Morgan off at school Emma asks, "Mom, what friends house can we go to today." She always wants to be with friends. Luckily she has some pretend friends who get her through the boring days with Mom. All day long she says, "Mom, remember when . . . ?" and will ask if i remember something Curious George, or Jack and Annie, or some other book character did. It is pretty funny. I am impressed by how much she does remember from books we read.Emma is a silly girl who loves to be fancy and funny. She loves to do silly tricks and make us laugh and she loves to dress up in fancy clothes. She comes up with some pretty awesome outfits and wild dress-up combinations. One of her favorite things is to wear Mom's clip-on earings. The other day we got to go to a doll's tea party. She had so much fun wearing a dress and making a fancy hat and teacup.Emma got a new big bike for Easter and she rides it like a wild woman. The first ride we took her on i was a little concerned that Morgan would be frustrated by the slow learners pace. Boy, was i wrong. Emma hopped on that bike and zoomed out of the driveway speeding right past her more cautious older brother. As soon as we get the concept of brakes down we will be good to go. This picture reminded me of a funny story. For FHE we talked about the many beautiful things Heavenly Father has given us. We went out on a walk to take pictures of things around us. As soon as we came out Emma asked if she could take a picture of "that red thing down there". Seeing red bushes and red maples and red flowers in front of us i said, "Sure, lets wait until we get a little closer." After a bit of walking i asked which red thing she wanted to take a picture of. Finally she pointed and said, "That red thing with big tires!" Ah, i guess we have a true OK truck lover.She has so much fun with her brothers. She loves to hold Talmage and try to entertain him (which sadly often ends in him crying). She is so happy when 3:00 comes and time to pick up Morgan. They have a lot of fun playing together, building block cities, saving Jack and Annie, driving cars, exploring outside, and many other adventures.We are so glad to have Emma in our family. She is so eager to help out in any way. She is strikingly beautiful with her curly blonde hair and big brown eyes. We love our silly, lovey girl.

the TALMAGE report

This is Talmage. AKA Mr. T, Talm, or Tal pal. He weighs almost 14 lbs. now, nearly double his birthweight. Talmage is six months old already. I can hardly believe it. ( Maybe because he is still wearing three month clothes and waking up as much as a newborn.) The time has flown by. I can't believe we have had him for half a year, but i also can't imagine our family without him.
He is doing so many new things. In the last week and a half he has learned to do a fast army/ inchworm crawl. He can move all over and get into all kinds of things now. Talmage loves this new freedom. I am constantly baby-proofing to keep him from eating non-edibles.
He can sit up pretty well, but rarely does so because sitting means he can't move around. He rarely stops moving and is always happily kicking his feet.
He has teeth. His right bottom tooth is all the way out and the other one is just barely visible. The teething means less sleeping and a lot more drooling. (Too bad drool isn't a good cleaning agent for hardwood floors.)
He is now eating solid food, and he LOVES it! He has tried rice cereal, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, applesauce and peaches. He really likes to be at the table eating with us.
He is such a cutie. He puts up very well with all the running around and craziness at our house. He just loves Emma and Morgan and smiles when they come near. We love his smiles. Talmage is such a friendly baby. I just love him to bits.

In the Leafy Tree Tops . . .

In my morning walks i have discovered that we live in a very noisy neighborhood. No, not alot of traffic. It is rare in a half-hour of walking to see more than one car drive by. Not alot of people out either. It is still early and usually house lights are just quietly winking on.
But oh, what a commotion as the birds sing "Good Morning"! There are morning doves hooting, and cardinals singing, and robins converge in whole flocks, and the geese fly overhead, honking to keep the whole gaggle together, and various other varieties twitter unseen from the trees.
So if (no, when) you come to visit us bring your bird books and a pair of binoculars. Come out on a walk and you will be greeted by a whole chorus of cheery "Good Mornings!"

My kids are ADoRaBLe!

I don't like to brag but, how can i help it with these three cuties!!
We had a great Easter weekend. We partied for three days. I will post more pictures later.