Mother's day, 2011

After years of wanting to join the Mommy and Daddy club, Team Oakley FINALLY gets to participate in Mother's day and Father's day! Though our sweet son, Emery, is not yet here, we are going to take full advantage this year of being parents!!!

For Mother's day, Michael made good and sure that Beka was celebrated to the fullest!!!! He woke up early before he had to work, and started his spoiling. He woke Beka up with a lovely breakfast of curried potatoes, and orange juice.

On the tray he had a card "from Emery."

Then he presented her with a beautiful art piece that he made her. Oil pastels on canvas. 

It was a sweet sweet way for Beka to wake up on her very first Mother's day.

When he came home from working, he surprised Beka further with a BEAUTIFUL tulip. Then they were both getting ready to go, and she found three other tulips that he had hidden in different rooms of the house that he knew that she would go in. Four beautiful tulips in total. In the days to come the tulips opened up. It was like a gift that lasted for days. 

From there they went to shower Michael's Mom with love, gifts, and attention. Beka's mom and step mom are in SD, and they would be seeing them soon. Team Oakley is so blessed to have multiple moms, aunties, Mom in laws, step moms, and grandmas to be able to celebrate. Because, really, you can't have to much "Mom" in your life, can you?

It was a GREAT day, and the first of many to shower Beka in the love that is motherhood.

Happy mothers day to all! We hope you were as spoiled and blessed as Beka felt that day.

Thanks for sharing it with us!

Beka

Date day - Michael's turn

So in the Team Oakley house hold, we know the importance of date days. Both Beka and Michael are very busy, and unless we schedule it out, we can go weeks without spending any real time together. So we switch on and off who plans the date. This particular date was Michael's turn to plan and execute. And as is the usual for his date days, it was raining, and it ruined his plans. :( That always seems to happen to him. But if there is anyone who can improvise, it is Mr. Michael Oakley. 

He took Beka to Kroger (the local grocery store) to get a yummy lunch, then to sonic for some drinks. And instead of a drink, Michael opted for some soft serve ice cream. 

Then Team Oakley went to a local park (where a picnic would have ensued, had it not been raining) and sat in the car, listening to the rain, and eating lunch together. 

Beka's lunch consited of some veggie sushi. It was very good, but a little hard to eat in the car. 

Michael chose a favorite of his for lunch...bread. He LOVES bread. He bought a huge baguette, and some chicken salad. Voila, the perfect Michael Oakley lunch. 

After our bellies were full, we sat in that car, at the park, in the rain, for a couple of hours, just talking. It was not very "exciting," but it was precious time that we do not get to enjoy very often. And if we were to cancel, and wait till better weather, we could both be 50 before anything happened. You have to be flexible, and you have to make the best out of what life gives you. 

Here is to date days, rainy days, and still being able to talk for hours, after years of marriage. 

Thanks for sharing in our little adventure! 

Team Oakley

the Franklin festival!

It is the time and the season in the south to go to as many fairs, festivals, and carnivals that you can! Team Oakley cannot get enough of these culture rich festivities! We bask in the southern food, traditions, and people.

This festival is Team Oakley's FAVORITE! Every year we cannot wait to go and see all the art, booths, and bands. But with the craziness of the pregnancy and the business of life, we almost missed it! It was not until a few days before that we found out it was happening. We had already made some commitments, but we were determined to go. We were able to squeeze in a few hours on Saturday to get our fill of Franklin Fair goodness.

The day was BEAUTIFUL! the sun was out and everything was in bloom. We actually had to put sun screen on and we still got a little toasty by the end of the day.

We started at Cracker Barrel with Michael's parents, Craig and Josie. Happy bellies make for a happy day.

The colors of spring are breathtaking. We cannot get enough of the out doors and all it has to offer.

Here we are at the festival! When we pulled up, and finally found a parking place, Beka was so excited, she exclaimed, "It smells like fair!!!"

This was the 'beer tent' which neither of us participated in, being that Beka is 5 months pregnant :) No partying for Baby Oakley today, sorry bud. 

We entered on the street that had the majority of the food. The smells were wonderful! There were so many choices, and you cannot go wrong with anything there. Yum yum yum!!!

At last, after surveying all the wonderfully unhealthy but amazing options of fair food, Michael and Beka made their delicious decisions. Michael chose Jet's pizza and a coke. He was one happy Oakley.

Beka, being a vegetarian, had a bit of a harder time finding her grub, but alas landed on a veggie gyro. 

It was messy, overpriced, and so good :)

There were so many people there sharing in the experience with us. There was young and old, and it was so fun to be a part of something that so many people share once a year. 

All of these booths are vendors selling their handmade and unique goods. Everything from art, to collectables, knick knacks, and so much more. If you are a visual person, like Beka, and love to be entertained, like Michael, it was a wondrous place to be on a sunny saturday. There were new vendors offering fresh and exciting things that we had never seen, and there were repeat vendors that are still at their trade, years later. 

Our other favorite part (mostly on the Michael side of team Oakley) was all the live music and acts. All sorts of blues, blue grass, country, folk, and soul. We could have just sat and listened for hours. 

Here is a video of this fine band charming our ears. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugA3ekhMMo4

And this is a video of some youngsters just playing their little hearts out on the corner for a few extra bucks.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwIe300XU2w

It was the most wonderful day, and it filled a place in Team Oakley's hearts of the arts and culture. We would do this every weekend if we could, but alas, we must wait until next year. But you can be sure of this, we will be there when the festival returns to Franklin.

Thanks for sharing in our adventure!

Team Oakley

Date night: wii and thin mints

This is an old adventure that we finally found the pictures for, but we thought it was worth the post!

It was date night again in the Team Oakley home, and it was Beka's turn to make some fun happen! However this night had some obstacles going against us. This was when Beka was still in the "throw up every couple of meals" stage of their pregnancy. They were also at the end of the week, and some what strapped on the "date" cash. So what do you do? Forget the night? Forgo the fun? Skip the closeness?

NOT IN OUR HOUSE!

We buckled down, got into our jammies, and got our wii on!

We have an old Ikea love seat that folds out into a bed, and we busted that thing out!  We also loaded up on the snacks, which were (by pregnant Beka's request) a ton of grapes, cuties, and some thin mints for Michael to devour. 

We gorged ourself on fruit, girl scout cookies, and mario kart for hours until we fell asleep. Total cost = 0$, but the fun, memories, and level of closeness was off the charts! Don't let feeling sick or being strapped for cash make you sacrifice time with your sweetie! I think we all know how important that date time is, so make it work! Don't over think it. And if you have a wii, then we will race you on Mario kart :)

Thanks for sharing our date with us!

Until the next adventure!

Team Oakley

Art Date

In the Team Oakley home, we take turn planning dates. It keeps things fresh, and always unique. Well it was Beka's turn, and she had had a few dates up her sleeve, but I decided to pull out....drum roll please....

THE ART DATE!

Beka works part time, and when she is off, she has an office in the Team Oakley home that lets her exercise her creative bones whenever possible. This usually consists of sewing and repurposing fabrics into new lives of their own. She has all sorts of fine art supplies as well, but that is not her go to. She is not the best at the fine art stuff. And Michael works full time from home, and as far as creative bones go, his are well exercised from being a worship arts pastor. He does music, arranging, video filming and editing, photoshop, and many more things of that area that I am so inexperinced on, I would probablly call them the wrong thing. Unlike Beka he is EXTREMELY talented at the fine arts, but usually does not have the time/space to get everything out get going. 

So Beka Made some time, and got all of their fine art supplies out, along with their canvases, and lots of newspaper. She put on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and forced the both of them to become artists for the day. 

For Christmas this year Michael got Bob Ross's the joy of painting set (you know, the happy trees hippy guy on PBS). We brought that out to use the supplies as well. 

Here is our studio for the day!

And here are the canvases. 

And the supplies. We have spray, tempera, oil, acrylic, pastels, and water color to choose from. And a wall cross that must have fallen from the wall into our paint basket. I did not notice that until now :)

Here is Mr. Michael's blank canvas! Beka's looked the same. 

We painted and painted and laughed and laughed. We loved the hours we spent together being artsy. Here are the finished products:

Beka's

Michael's

It was such a great date, one that we will surely be doing again very soon.

If you have some art supplies, no matter how nice or how professional, bust them out! Get someone you love to be creative and goofy with you. You will surely have a good time.

Thanks for sharing the time with us!

Team Oakley

Happy Mule Day Blog Friends! Yes, Mule day. Tis a tradition here in middle TN where people from all over the south get together and celebrate the history and culture of....yes...the mule! It is by far the most country thing Team Oakley takes part in, and we have a dawg gone good time doing it! 

Mule day began for us with a parade down main street. There were many floats, many country scenes, and MANY MANY MULES!!!! 

So many people come out for this yearly festival. The streets are lined with all shapes and sizes of mule fans. 

And It begins! it starts out with TN finest leading the way. 

However I do think this one is a bad idea. Who could this possibly intimidate? 

The then livestock follow! Many horses, and many many a mule (a cross between a donkey and a horse, and is known for it's brut strentgh. And fin fact, they cannot reproduce). 

And there are even people dressed up as mules!

Many southern TN companies come out to support the mule, and to publicize their businesses, political parties, and other affiliations. 

They are all very....creative, and they are all VERY VERY COUNTRY! 

Here are the stars of the show!

Team Oakley went to the parade with Michael's Mom and Dad. Josie, his Mom, was up and snapping photos the whole time, while his Dad, Craig (or as Beka affectionately calls him, Pappy), was sitting in his lounge chair, enjoying the bright sun shine. It was a good day for all people Oakley. 

After the wonderful parade, the four Oakley's drove to lunch, then to the site of the Mule Day Festival! Oh yes my friends, it does not end with just a Mule Day Parade!!! There is a three Day festival to keep the celebration of the mule going strong! Strong as a mule :)

The Festival was at Maury Co. Park. It is a beautiful park, and an even more beautiful day!

This is Michael and his Dad walking to the festival. Michael brought the books that him and Beka were currently reading. They both happen to be Dave Ramsey books, and they both happen to not fit in the backpack. We should have made commission on the free advertising. 

As we entered the gates of the festival, the first thing we went to was the livestock area. Nothing turns two grown men into little boys like being able to touch a mule! a real live Mule! 

 There were many people at the fair experiencing the food, the vendors, the crafts, and the fun of the mule!

There were many country scenes, and this, I feel, was the best one that I captured. 

This was the area where they were judgig the mules! Oh yes! it is not just fun and games for the mules. They get judged, win prizes, and glow in their glory of being stars. 

Here is Michael looking on in awe of the mules being judged.

It was a fun fun day for Team Oakley. We got to see the best of the mules, and the best of the country at the festival. We will always remember the fun we had at Mule Day, and we look forward to the next year when we can celebrate all things mule again! 

Thanks for sharing our Mule day adventure!

Team Oakley