Go Cats!

We had a fun weekend in Manhattan - staying with the Braxmeyers and going to the KSU game. Friday night Brady & Owen had a fun sleepover on the air mattress (aka trampoline) -



and Saturday morning Brett and Miles ate breakfast together -



Doesn't everyone look like they're having a great time at the game?? Ha! Everyone was much happier in the second quarter when we had room to spread out, but next time we'll probably be trying to go to a night game (instead of nap time!).



Ed brought his bike and enjoyed riding every morning (except when he got a flat tire in Aggieville and couldn't get it fixed!). All of the boys had fun riding bikes/trikes Sunday morning.





We really appreciate the Braxmeyers letting us stay at their house for 2 nights! In another month, we're going to have a mini "college reunion" - that will be fun!

This and That

We're looking forward to taking a little road trip to Manhattan this weekend for our first KSU fball game of the year and hanging out with the Braxmeyers! Brady loved going last year and I hope Brett enjoys it too - although it is during nap time. When I told Brady again this morning we were going to the KSU game this weekend he said, "Watching it at the field, right?" Funny that he wanted to make sure I wasn't talking about watching it on TV.

And since I'm just ready to get out of our messy house (we're in the middle of moving everything around) - I thought I'd post a pic of something I DID accomplish this week - I made a new elastic cover that fits over the stool in the boys' bathroom. I think the pirate fabric is really cute and it goes well with the blue stripe around the top of the wall.





And as I was looking back through my pictures, I found a picture of Brady at tball practice this summer that I don't think I ever printed but really like now . . . .

2 Little Monkeys . . .

jumping in the house! In addition to picking out a new TV while I was gone Saturday :), Ed blew up this "thing" we got Brady for his 2nd birthday (yes, he will be 5 in January - oops!) and got out of the closet a couple weeks ago. It's kind of like a mini bouncehouse.



It started out in the garage and has moved into the living room - and is moving to the basement soon . . . . .

It's fall, ya'll

Brady was excited to see his school decorated with fall wreaths, scarecrows and mums after the weekend!

Last week they started the "sound of the week" and it was the letter "s" so we took a little schoolbus for him to put in the sharing basket. This week is "m" so he wants to take the pink sock monkey (I should have made the blue one first!) and I thought we'd take marshmallows for them to eat.

And he asked to see the picture after I took the first one and he said, "Mom, they won't be able to see my hair." so we went in for the closeup. He asks to have a mohawk every day now - I'm liking it too!

Craft Fair

My mom, sister and I had headed to Hillsboro (at the crack of dawn :) Saturday morning to go to the craft fair. It was bigger than ever and the weather was beautiful so it was a good day! I got some painted snowman rocks (what is my deal lately with rocks?!), some candleholders, a witch's shoe and Christmas ornament.

But mom and Sheri took home much more - actually just much bigger :) This picture cracks me up . . . . .



The German band that played while we sat on the street curb and mom ate the German sausage sandwich she "had been looking forward to for two years" (this makes me laugh because this is totally how my family talks about food - at least me and my mom :)



Aw, good times!

Charlotte's web?

It didn't take much to entertain us this weekend - when I came home Saturday night Brady was so excited to show me what they had found. I didn't expect to see this! Ed handled this so much better than I would have - they just left it alone and went inside to read about it on the internet. They found out it was a "writing spider" (black & yellow argiope) -

From Wikipedia:

Like almost all other spiders, Argiope are harmless to humans. Like most garden spiders they eat insects, and they are capable of consuming prey up to twice their size.

. . . and sometime during the conversation Ed said, "If he writes your name in it's web, you're a dead man." so Brady was telling people that :)

The internet also had videos of the spider wrapping up it's prey in the web, which was pretty interesting. Ed found a dead grasshopper and threw in into the web and I couldn't believe how quickly it really happened.

And we checked on him all weekend long. Seriously folks, hours of entertainment :)

New Set of Wheels

With Ed riding his bike all the time now, he got an "extension" to hook on the back of his bike so Brady can go bike riding with him. I think it will be great for Brady because he isn't really interested in learning to ride his bike, but he wants to do this. Last night was the first cruise around the neighborhood -

Darius Rucker

I LOVED (still love) Hootie & the Blowfish in high school. So when I heard "Don't think I don't think about it" on the radio - I liked the song, but I LOVED the guy's voice and was super excited to find out Darius Rucker (Hootie's lead singer) is going solo now. His new CD is called "Learn to Live" (released today!) and although I don't get many CD's (no, I don't have an ipod - I am so old school), but I might just have to get this one. Because he's just one of those people that I don't care what he's singing - it sounds GOOD.

And if I could, I would be here on Oct. 11th to see him perform!
Billy Bob's Texas
Fort Worth, TX

Did you know Hootie sang at Tiger Woods' wedding? Just a little bit of trivia :)



Update: #1 country single and #1 country CD this week!

Around the house

After attending the wedding Saturday, Ed went golfing with his dad Sunday and the boys and I walked the dogs and did stuff around the house.

I've been trying to move some toys to the "give away/garage sale" pile in the basement and get the boys' rooms organized - especially since Brett has a big bed now and his room is the smallest. I moved the big chair we bought for the "nursery" out of Brett's room (and at his request, it's now in Brady's - when I asked him where it was going to go, he pointed to the middle of the room. Ha!) and that made room for the kitchen to be in a "playable" space. I told him to go stand by his kitchen and this is what I got - the "proud" look I got makes me laugh :)



And I didn't ask for this -



We also had time to make "hot rocks" - we've been collecting flat rocks for a couple weeks with the intention of making these. You put rocks on a piece of foil in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes and when you take them out, you can color on them and obviously the color melts on it. I was worried about Brett burning himself, but they both had no trouble.



this was the one given to me - now a paperweight for work

Congrats Quint & Susan!

We had a great time at Quint & Susan's wedding Saturday - Susan's mom talked during the ceremony which I thought was special and the boys loved the maracas that were handed out to shake as the couple left the church. It got loud! I think everyone was just glad to be outside when it wasn't raining! Which was a blessing for Susan because they left the church in one of her dad's old cars - I can't wait to see those pictures.



And Brady was thrilled to be able to spend some quality "play" time with Owen at the reception - they were way too busy to sit down and eat.



These are blurry, but you get the idea :)



And the kids took over the dance floor until everyone started dancing - then they watched from the corner. I think they got their fair share of dancing in too! One time I couldn't find Brady on the dance floor and then I caught him by taking all of the flower petals off the cake table (which he then gave to Amy and I as "gifts"). And I should have taken a picture of the cake - it was the tallest wedding cake I'd ever seen! Seriously like 10 cakes stacked on top of each other.

It was a fun night! And so exciting to see people I hadn't seen for so long (Amy!) - we got to meet Amy's man, David, and Dylan's girlfriend and got the chance to chat with Alice and her husband (it's been at least 8 years since I've seen her!).

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

We made these last night (bars in the sheet cake pan) - http://megduerksen.typepad.com/whatever/2008/09/best-ever-chocolate-chip-cookies.html - and they were so yummy! She has the recipe posted in her sidebar for easy printing!

The Bucket List

Have you ever tried NetFlix? I received a 2-week free trial mailer last week and took advantage of it - ordered The Bucket List and Little Miss Sunshine. If I had the time to watch movies (instead of forcing myself to watch one since I only have it 2 weeks), I think this would be a great service - although we love The Red Box that's at McDonald's/Wal-Mart's everywhere for a dollar a day.

Back to The Bucket List -



we watched it last night and now I'm thinking I need to make my own "bucket list". Hmm, what do I REALLY want to do before I "kick the bucket"? I'll be thinking about it . . . . .

update: Little Miss Sunshine was hilarious - a "must see"

Born in Texas

Ed told me on the way to the dog park last night that Brady told his teacher he was born in Texas. Brady was overhearing this from the back seat and when I turned around to talk to him, he had the biggest grin on his face. When I asked him if he thought that or why he told his teacher that, he couldn't stop laughing.

And then on the way home, all of a sudden he said, "Brett, I'm going to a wedding and you have to stay home with grandma and grandpa." No idea why he thinks that - maybe it's just wishful thinking (more likely just trying to make his brother mad). He's super excited about going to Quint & Susan's wedding this weekend and keeps saying he's "going to a wedding tomorrow" (it amazes me to hear him talk and realize he has no idea what "tomorrow" or "yesterday" mean).

Oh, and my "girlfriend" status changes depending on how Brady is feeling. Brady lets me know when he's upset with me by saying, "Mom, you're only going to be my girlfriend this long." and he points his fingers together. But when he decides he really likes me - he tells me I can be his girlfriend for "60" (or whatever he thinks sounds like a lot that day) days!

Farm Chick

It doesn't happen all that often, but I found some fabric at Joanne's I love - it's red (my current favorite color) and has a ton of cute sayings/pictures on it. Here's a snapshot from a little something I made for Jennifer, our neighbor, this week - I'm not going to show the whole thing because I'll probably be making some more as little gifts (and for myself!).

Onesies

We're having a baby shower for my coworker this Thursday and I decorated these onesies for her. She doesn't know what she's having so I tried to keep them "gender neutral" - although Ed says the pumpkin (which I like the most - it's brown fabric with stars on it) looks like a girl. I tried to work with fabric I already had so I didn't have any "real" Halloween fabric. . . .

Busy Weekend

In between all the rain, we visited the KS State Fair Saturday. The weather wasn't all that bad - and I just didn't want to feel like I'd missed out. I don't know that I've ever missed it! We saw a sheep get sheared, ate A LOT at Bogey's (annual treat - Tiger Blood slush!), ran into Megan & Kate, rode some rides and walked around with Sheri & the kids and watched them ride their horses before heading home (Whitney & Garrett showed Sunday in the Quarter Horse show).





While Ed was mowing Sunday, the kids and I worked in the garden. I couldn't wait to take down our hanging cherry tomato plant and have an open entry to our front door again! When we first hung it up, we realized a bird was living in the top. And this was what I found when I took it down - the boys were pretty excited (although they thought they were going to keep them and have some baby birds).



Now we're ready for the rain to stop so we can go bike riding with the boys - we're currently looking around for the "best" way to bring them with us . . . . .

TGIF

I haven't been in a very good mood this week - not sure what my deal was BUT I can tell it's turning around. The boys and I had a really good (smooth) morning getting ready and after getting some Taco Bell for lunch I started thinking how much I love Mexican food . . . . and then the radio was playing 80's lunch hour on the drive back and that made me super happy too. Aw, it's the little things!

I didn't think much of it at the time, but Brady and I always go into his classroom when we get to school (everyone else is playing outside) and look at the lunch menu and he eagerly waits to see what he's having that day. When I told him they were having fish sticks today - he smiled big and gave me a high five and said it's going to be an "awesome" day! And I agree.

Homemade Sauce

We came home after Labor Day to these in our garden -



so I made spaghetti sauce while it was raining last night -





and finally by the end of the night, it looked like this -



I tested it out and think it tasted really good - now I can't wait to have spaghetti/lasagna!

If it's not one thing . . .

We started out the week by Brady hurting his knee at school (tripped over a log in the playground after waving goodbye to me - don't ask), so he went to the doctor yesterday (she thinks it's probably bruised) and spent the day with Ed at work (took a nap under his desk, wish I had a pic of that!). So he has a wrap on his knee, is taking OTC pain medicine and sits in the recliner with ice on it whenever possible - with the hopes that it will feel better soon. So far, no improvement. He won't bend it to walk and yells in pain if it gets in a bad position or is touched. I sent him to school today (with an umbrella stroller, just in case) and hope he starts moving around more. It might be a long day at the State Fair Saturday!

Labor Day Weekend

We headed to Grandma & Grandpa Jones' "lake house" (as Brady loves to say) Saturday morning and had a great time - it was so nice to have warm weather and be able to swim in the warm lake.

Ed's brother's family (except Gracie) were also down at the lake on Saturday - the boys had fun playing with Alexis & Jaxon.

We visited Rick & Val's waterfall every day - Brady loved collecting the sticks Val would "send down"

Brady was a "pro" on the tube

One last boat ride Sunday night after dinner . . . .