A Very Busy 2025 for Children

For the Children OICA CEOIt is hard to believe that 2025 has come to an end. For those of us at the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA), I must say that our work felt incredibly important this year with addressing issues at the local, state, and federal levels for child well-being.

Dear Boys and Girls of the Cimarron Valley,

Ho ho ho! What a joy it has been for me to sit by the big crackling fire at the North Pole and read all of your wonderful letters that appeared in the Cushing Citizen, the Yale News, and the Keystone Gusher. Mrs.

Merry Christmas

I want to take a moment to wish you and your families a Merry Christmas! May your season be filled with peace, good health and rest. I hope these days allow time to slow down, enjoy one another and reflect on what this season truly means.Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Testing Old Seeds for Viability

Home Grown This is the time of year that the first seed catalogs for the new season start to arrive in mailboxes. For gardeners, this annual ritual often sparks excitement and inspiration, but it can also lead to the discovery of a drawer, box, or jar filled with leftover seeds from previous years.

May Your Season Be Bright and Joyous

For the Children OICA CEOI hope each of you is looking forward to the upcoming Christmas break and will have time to spend with loved ones.As a Christian, Christmas is one of my favorite holidays and is a very special time for those of us who celebrate. It is especially enjoyable for children.

Gardening Activities

Home Grown As the holiday season arrives, many of us will have a little extra time on our hands. With family visiting and kids home from school, it can be easy for everyone to drift toward the television or sit in front of the computer or play games on the cell phone.

Serving Families, Protecting Taxpayers

As we enter this holiday season, my legislative work has kept me quite busy.Recently, I took action on a very different issue that speaks to accountability and openness in government.

Adventures with Allie

I used to think Christmas magic was something you either had or you didn’t. A finite resource handed out generously in childhood and slowly collected back by adulthood, like toys donated to a younger generation.

The semi-domesticated squirrels of Cabinet Village

If you ever want to feel like you’re living inside a nature documentary narrated by someone who’s trying not to laugh, I highly recommend inheriting a family of semi-domesticated squirrels and housing them in a backyard storage unit built entirely out of 1940s pink aluminum kitchen cabinets.Yes.

Mistletoe

Home Grown For many of us the holiday season means Christmas trees, homemade foods that you only get once a year, spending time with family and friends and possibly, mistletoe. But what do you really know about mistletoe?