Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving Day at Grandma and Grandpa Jones. It was really nice and the kiddos were able to enjoy playing tag and "discovering" everything around the farm. Their neighbors saved a doe and have been feeding her for almost 3 months. Now she acts just like a dog and is very friendly towards humans so they have her locked inside their barn until deer season ends. She wanted out so bad - she'll be glad to be free shortly! The kids (and myself) thought it was unbelieveable to be able to pet a deer and have it act SO calm.

Starting Early

My parents came up and we went to see "A Christmas Carol" at the high school. It did seem a bit early for this play, but the music got us into the holiday spirit. The kids did a great job! (and Brady saw the owner of the StrikeZone - the baseball facility we recently joined - and walked all the way around to talk to him which was nice/surprising to see).

Ed said people weren't allowed to take pictures, but all I heard was video ;)

Strykers

Very proud of the team and how much they improved this season. Go Strykers!

Pumpkin faces

I love Halloween. I LOVE pumpkins. Sure wish it would have stayed 80 degrees, but it worked out well (at least for me!) for Ed to carve the pumpkins while we fixed/ate dinner tonight. The boys looked at some pictures and gave their final requests. Ed did a great job!

Not sure why Brady thought this was such a great pose with his pumpkin. . .whatever :)

Where's the Beef?

Ed's company's fall event this year was having a tent/party (they even competed in the contest on Sunday) at the American Royal BBQ - we had never been before and it was a lot of fun. The food was amazing - they took 18th in the Brisket contest.

A Little "Before and after"

As we (slowly) settle into our new house and get "our stuff" arranged, it starts to feel more like home.  For 10 years though, this was our home (before and after) and we really loved living there (except for a few major things - like our small backyard and some neighbors :).

Here is the "before" - this is what it looked like when we bought the house. Amazingly enough we saw through the navy exterior trim and teal walls with wallpaper borders! Ed started painting the navy trim white immediately and our neighbors stopped by to thank us.

Mauve carpet and teal paint (with red brick) - enough said

Ed extended the flower beds and improved the looks a ton shortly after we moved in, which I quickly filled up. This must have been the first spring - bare beds, but lots of tulips :)

And here's a couple pics of the "after" - we changed our carpet to neutral right before we moved out, which I totally understood, but it didn't quite feel like "our" house after that which I think made it a little easier to leave.

Too bad I can't find the "before" shot of the kitchen - Ed put in a new floor, we tore down the "half" wall between the kitchen and dining room and put in new appliances (except for fridge). This was Brady sorting out his cards as my mom and I were cleaning the morning we left. The comment I hear most from Brady is he misses our kitchen - strange, but true.

Oh the places you will go!

The boys started school today - 1 1/2 weeks after they would have started if we hadn't moved. It was weird to start later than so many other kids in town, but nice as well.



I hope they have a great day. We went to Back-to-School night Monday and took their school supplies and met their teachers. I am really excited for them - their teachers seem great.  (The neighbor girl, who we have spent quite a bit of time with, is also in Brett's class which was a nice surprise.)

Brett's teacher - Mrs. Sudac

Brady's teacher - Miss Thompson

They were excited to find out they had lockers. So cute!

Very excited to get this school year kicked off so the kiddos can make lots of new friends. 1st and 3rd grade here we come! :)

Visits from the Tooth Fairy

Brett's smiles has changed a lot this week - 2 teeth lost in 4 days! The tooth fairy had to come visit grandma's Tuesday night and she will be paying us a visit again tonight. He lost the second one just as I was getting ready to turn his light off tonight. What timing!

Worlds of Fun

We went to Worlds of Fun the Monday after the All-Star Fan Fest - it was actually overcast and not crazy hot for most of the day -- and there were NO LINES. Worlds of Fun was our bday present to Brett this year and he waited patiently for us to go. He is definitely the family daredevil and loves all rides.



We rode a lot of flying, go around and around rides - which Ed  DOES NOT love, but Brady does :)

I had forgotten about these old cars -

Brett kept asking to ride the Mamba -

So we thought we would all ride together. About the time we got to the line, I think Brady said "I don't want to die" and was about to break down in tears. Poor guy! But Brett rode it twice (once with Ed and once with me) and loved every minute of it. And even though I kind of felt like Brady at the beginning, it did end up being fun :)

This ride however -the Detonator - not so much fun and I don't think you could get me back on it. It was terrifying how it just shot you up from the bottom. And yet, the boys rode it and I didn't hear much about it from them.

One of the last rides we rode was a water slide. It was where Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun connected so visitors from both parks could ride it. There was a bridge over the bottom of the slide where you could stand and get soaked. I was standing off to the side to try and get a funny shot of Brady & Ed getting wet, HOWEVER the joke was played on me. The waves came out on the sides and they barely got anything. This was the shot I took right before I ran to get out of the way (too late - I was soaked and my purse and my camera were too) - Ed trying to get Brady wet.

Anyway, it was fun - too expensive, but fun. Ed says once was enough :)

Staycation

The 3 days before we started the moving process, we tried to do some fun things with the boys. Our "staycation" started with watching the new Spiderman at Merriam's Drive-in theatre. It was a lot of fun - and the movie was great (yes, I was surprised).

And the next afternoon we went to the All-Star Fan Fest. It was fun - the boys did some activities, we watched the mascots play a game, etc.

And they left with smiles - because on our way back to the car, Brady picked up a glitter tattoo and Brett became Spiderman. And then it was off to Arthur Bryant's for lunch!

Patio

We are slowly getting things situated in the new house. Nothing exciting to look at yet . . Ed is getting shelves built in the garage, clothes and bathroom stuff is getting unpacked. We have some things for the wall determined, but not hung.

BUT we did purchase some new (to us) patio furniture - gotta love Craigs List!! We were shocked at how much patio furniture can cost new . . . so were really excited to find a new wicker patio set through the site for $200. And after 2 trips to Lawrence to pick it up, it is now on our patio.

Now I just need to create some new pillow covers (to cover the ugly ones that came with it - not pictured).

And, just as exciting to me, we finished painting my grandparent's chairs, which had been sitting in our old basement for years just waiting to be spruced up and used. Actually one had gotten painted (red seat and ivory arm rails), but I love the new light yellow color Ed picked out. I was originally thinking a darker mustard color, but this definitely works! Again, just need to make chair pads to go on the seats. I will take a better picture in the day after I get the cushions made!

The front porch is the best place to sit in the evening in the summer.

I like to think my grandparent's would like that they are still being used in our family. . . . .