theStockwells

Go Team

2012-01-25T16:23:00.003-06:00

We missed Brett's basketball team's photo day due to an early Christmas celebration, so I rounded them up after last weekend's game. (Sorry, I'm too lazy to crop the lady walking by out right now :)

They are so cute and he is having a great time.

Replaced in a second

2012-01-18T11:48:00.005-06:00

I think I'm getting old.

One of my favorite magazines is Reader's Digest and one of my favorite TV shows is Sunday Morning (and Parenthood of course!). I was reading the Feb. issue of RD and this piece struck a chord with me. It's so true. People from different walks of life had written short essays finishing the thought, "All I Really Need to Know I Learned. . . " Here's a shortened version of the one I really liked -

----- on November 22, 1963. I'm a kid, right, and one of the things that happened in the ensuing days is that television as I knew it ceased. Every station, every hour of every day, was talking about the assassination. And there's only so much a kid can deal with that. But I was still watching because that's the nature of television: obsession. At one point, I see this really tall guy standing next to Jackie Kennedy. I turned to my father and said, "Dad, who's that?" And he said, "That's the president." And I said, "No, Dad. John F. Kennedy was the president." He said, "Yeah, and the moment he died, this man became president." And I just looked at him and said, "That fast?" And he snapped his fingers: "Like that."

And I realized that's how important the most important man in the world was. He could be replaced in an instant. It was a lesson I never forgot. In fact, I was talking to a friend the other day. He was telling me, "I'm leaving my job, but I gotta stay because I have to help them blah blah." And I said, "You don't have to do anything. You leave, and they'll take care of their own business; they don't need you. You may want to stay. You may want to help them. But never make the mistake of thinking that you're so important that the world can't live without you, because no one is that important, ever.
-- by Walter Mosley

At first, this thought can be kind of disturbing. But when I'm feeling really stressed, it is strangely comforting for me to step back and realize that the world isn't going to fall apart because I didn't get blah, blah, blah done.

This has been "Deep thoughts" from Sharla Stockwell :)

25 Rules

2012-01-10T09:31:00.002-06:00

25 Rules for Mother's of Sons - thought this was a good one

A New Year

2012-01-09T09:44:00.003-06:00

This is why I read Karen religiously -

Time is inevitably going to pass and one year from today, you can find yourself in the exact same spot you're in now, you can find yourself further away from your goal or you can find yourself closer to your goal - so where do you want to be a year from now?

Night Tree

2012-01-01T22:57:00.008-06:00

Aunt Becky had mentioned the "Night Tree" book over Christmas and we didn't get to make one then, so we were really glad it worked out to go visit them on New Year's Eve and decorate a night tree. I want to do this every year with the kids now - very cool.

Thanks Rowley's for letting us share the experience with you!

Brady drilled holes in the apples to hang - yikes! :)

Stringing popcorn and cranberries -

Decorating our "night tree" -

Christmas

2011-12-29T21:34:00.014-06:00

Christmas Day was warm!

We were so grateful for the chance to spend the day outside at Grandma & Grandpa Jones' farm.

Grandma had received a new horse for XMAS and "Pal" was so gentle. Brady got to ride her - all over the farm. I couldn't believe it. He loved every minute of it - until she started loping towards the end of the day and he fell off. He quickly recovered though - and I hope feels comfortable and can enjoy riding her again. We think she just got excited because there was another horse out. Brady's story has changed many times since the incident - he becomes more of a superhero through each telling :)

Yep, he's a natural :)

We also got to see Shorty, their miniature horse and play football/Apples to Apples (while Scooter the goat looked on :).

And last, but not least, we had a bonfire and they took a ride on Grandpa's train.

(We were timing to see how quickly the cat would decide this place got too hot!)

It was a fun day! I'm sure it's going to get cold now. Blah.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-28T22:35:00.008-06:00

It is tradition to celebrate Christmas Eve with Ed's dad's side of the family and this year we were able to have it at our house. I think a good time was had by all!

The boys always end up on Grandpa's back for rides - pretty soon (if not ALREADY), they will be too big.

Brett was excited to trick Grandma Jacki and give her pickled pigs feet for a gift. They had given him a doll last year (mistakenly) so he thought this was very funny.

Brady was given Apples to Apples Jr. and we had to try it out. Brett loves to play now (even though he has to partner up with someone because he can't read - he doesn't seem to mind AT ALL :)

We ended the night with an egg nog toast - Aunt Debi had brought a cute wreath made out of shot glasses.

Party, party!

2011-12-21T13:49:00.017-06:00

The boys had fun at their school holiday parties on Monday.

Brady's teacher is Jewish and he has learned a lot of songs that he really likes and knows how to play a Dreidel game. I'm glad that he is learning about other traditions. (He did have a normal holiday class party Monday afternoon, but I'm not sure what they did :)

Being the room parent for Brett's classroom has been a new experience for me - luckily I had one mom show up to help with the Christmas party. They have been fun to plan/attend and I'm getting better with each one (I think) - 2 parties down, 1 more to go (Valentine's Day)!

This year I got all of my ideas from Pinterest. Love that site!

We played "Pin the Nose on the Snowman"- which Brett said was his favorite thing.

Had Santa Graham's and juice boxes -

The last activity we did was play a version of bingo with Gingerbread men and dice.

And then last, but not least, they took home reindeer treat bags!

Tis the Season

2011-12-21T13:09:00.008-06:00

We celebrated Christmas with my family in Lebo last weekend - it is always fun to see how the kids interact as they get older. It has really worked out well (in an unplanned way :) - Garrett and Breckyn, Brynna and Brady and Brogan and Brett can kind of pair of on age-related stuff. And yes, there are way too many "B" names. Lol!

Still playing with the wrapping stuff -

The boys got camo shirts from my brother's family and dart guns from my sister's - they were ready for action!

We made it out to my grandpa's farm a couple times for walks - one of my favorite holiday traditions to do with my brother's family/kids/dogs.

We left one night just as the sun was setting. The ride home was wonderful - we saw more than 20 deer!

Rudolph

2011-12-13T21:23:00.011-06:00

I fell in love with this reindeer in the last issue of Good Housekeeping. It was very easy and quick to make - I love it. This is my idea of taxidermy :)

Hoop it up

2011-12-07T20:56:00.011-06:00

The basketball season has started for us!

Brady and Brett's basketball games started last weekend. They play in the GABL league. Brady continues to play on the same team and has been practicing for several weeks (5 on 5, four 6 minute quarters) - this is Brett's first year to play and the K league plays 3 on 3 with 30 minutes of practice and then 30 minutes of game.

Fortunately Brady's team has stuck together since they started in kindergarten - they have a great head coach and this is Ed's 2nd year as assistant coach, which I think he really enjoys. It has been really fun to watch them practice and play - they have grown up so much. They won their first game!

Brady's on the end sporting #13 this year.

I think the kindergarten league is set up really well - I love that practices and games take place on the same day, right after each other. Brett had a moment when they were warming up before practice where I think he got nervous and thought he would run over and say he was hurt (his finger :), but he got over it quickly and I was so proud to see him play aggressively in the game and even tell the coach that he wanted to stay in (they had 5 players, so one player always stayed in when they switched in and out). He did great and had lots of fun!

There's my lefty - the boy guarding Brett in this pic is actually his teammate (Brady's basketball's coach's youngest son, Keaton) - they practice together during Brady's (and Landon's -Keaton's older brother) - practice so that is nice!

Should be a fun season!

Horses

2011-11-30T13:18:00.008-06:00

Over Thanksgiving break my brother was working horses every day and I finally got motivated to ride horses again. My parents bought "Honey" a pony awhile back and I wish I had a picture of her. She is a very sweet 5-year-old and I had a great time riding her (but boy was I SORE the next couple days!).

While I forgot to take a picture of her, I did take a picture of her friends - Barney & Wild Paint :)

On Saturday we visited Grandma & Grandpa Jones and met their miniature pony, Shorty. He was very cute - the boys loved him.

We forgot to wear our heavy coats, so we took him into the garage and brushed him.

First Christmas Decoration

2011-11-20T20:02:00.006-06:00

I had a fun weekend with Dedra and baby Graham! It was great to have a baby in the house again - the boys enjoyed playing with him (and making videos on Dedra's phone :).

We shopped a little and crafted a little (and she ran a 1/2 marathon Sunday morning!) . . . . and with Dedra's help, I got the one thing made that I had hoped to. I have literally had these Christmas ornaments in the corner of our dining room since last January so I was anxious to get the wreath made.

Our first Christmas decoration has been hung so now I'm ready to put up the rest this weekend!

11-11-11 Photo Challenge

2011-11-10T10:04:00.004-06:00

Take a photo tomorrow - 11-11-11 at 11:11 am photo challenge!

Golf Outing

2011-11-07T22:17:00.012-06:00

I went golfing! Okay, I didn't golf, but I really enjoyed driving the cart on the trail up to the 3-hole "youth" golf course and watching the boys golf. They did a great job and it was a beautiful day (Friday before Halloween when the boys were out of school). The trees were beautiful. And it cost us a whopping $2 each for them to golf that afternoon. Bonus!

Pretty trees.

And here's a close-up of the "shiner" Brett gave Brady the day before (threw a stick at him in the pasture) - hope this never happens again! Everyone thought he was wearing Halloween makeup that night at BJF's Halloween carnival (which he thought was cool).

Rock stars

2011-11-07T21:39:00.003-06:00

It's "Say no to drugs" week at BJF and today was "Rock Star" day. The boys were in full character without me saying anything but photo time. Pretty funny.

Decked out :)

2011-11-07T21:10:00.004-06:00

Ed made some great updates to our deck, so I thought I'd share the progress.

I'm not taking the time to dig through the files for a "before" shot, but as some of you may remember, when we moved in (and up until a few weeks ago) our deck had a seat around the long side (where Ed is standing in the photo below). It was fine, but now that we've removed it the deck seems so much bigger.

My favorite part is the side with the stairs opening up to the brick patio (that we put in when Brady was a baby). It ties the patio to the deck so much better. The "before" shot here was a side with half railing and a much smaller stairs.

And this weekend (luckily before tonight's rain) we stained it. Thought I'd take a quick pic before the dog's trampled it!

Strikers - Fall 2011

2011-11-01T23:00:00.014-05:00

The Strikers stayed together for the Fall 2011 season! And no, they weren't undefeated (like their first year), but they had a great season. The Shawnee Soccer league combined with another and they now play as part of the Metro United league, which is a little different.

The coach is a high school basketball coach and his son, Ben (between Brady and the coach) is also on Brady's winter basketball team so we'll be seeing them shortly. We love that we are kind of to the stage with Brady that he is hanging with the same teams for all of his sports- so he probably has about 40 different team mates that he plays with. I think that is great!

Last year they played 4-on-4 with no goalie, this year they played 4-on-4 with goalie. A whole new game. Brady started out playing goalie for 1/2 of the game and then I think they needed him on the field more, so he ended up doing goal/corner kicks. He took great pride in being called "Thunder foot" but he has a lot of work to get better.

He spent a great deal of his time this fall playing baseball . . . . but he's said he likes soccer just as much (if not better) so we've told a team that he can play on their indoor winter team. I swore this winter would just be basketball, but guess not! I think it will be very interesting to see how the winter league goes. He seems to really like soccer. I'm just along for the ride. . . . .

OMG - the hair!

Hunt Orchard

2011-10-26T21:34:00.010-05:00

A family tradition that I love is going with Ed's dad and family to Hunt Orchard in Amazonia, MO (where??). It's my favorite pumpkin patch and they have AMAZING apple slushes. And this year we had awesome weather. We have been so spoiled this fall - so thankful!

Brady was most looking forward to shooting the gun at the targets. He did REALLY well.

Little Britches took some shots too. We assured him he had hit something in the pasture beyond :)

The deal is you have to be able to carry the pumpkin you pick. Brett could do this. . . .Brady could carry his for a very short time. :)

Grandpa Stockwell is holding Brady's pumpkin in this pic :) Brady is holding the pumpkin I had to have because it was green/orange and tall and skinny. They measure the circumference to price them - my pumpkin was a whopping $2. Bonus buy of the day

The boys also had their first caramel apples (on a stick). I'm already looking forward to next year. . . and yes, I will probably be making them go when their high schoolers. I love pumpkins! :)

BRR Fall Fest

2011-10-18T21:51:00.013-05:00

Ed's firm always has a fun Halloween family activity. This year they had their Fall Fest at Old Shawnee Town. The boys didn't dress up (you could go either way), but they did go around to the old buildings and collect candy! They also enjoyed sliding on the big blowup slide, eating snacks and decorating pumpkins.

Becky, Brian & Renae - if you're reading this, the Mad Hatter (?) below is Robert, my (Irish) dancing partner :)

Halloween Jars

2011-10-16T21:09:00.006-05:00

I thought these halloween jars were really cute and so easy, so I saved a spaghetti and salsa jar last week and ta-da! Halloween decorations I actually didn't have to buy a thing for. (I used orange scrapbook paint I had which is thicker than acrylic - acrylic would definitely be better for brighter pumpkins.) Oh well, they'll spook up our bathroom this season at least!

Levi

2011-10-15T21:13:00.009-05:00

So many wonderful memories. . . . and I thank my parents for taking such good care of him.

Rest in peace Levi Original.

Taste Tested

2011-10-14T19:18:00.004-05:00

My mom has a variation on this recipe - I think it's called "Oriental" instead of "Asian" and has a totally different taste. Love them both! Here's the one I just tried out of Kraft Foods magazine -

Asian Chicken Noodle Salad

Security Cameras

2011-10-11T16:39:00.000-05:00

We were grocery shopping in Wal-Mart last night and Brett spotted us in the TV security camera and said, "Mom, look! We're on TV!"

Brady's immediate response, "Duh! We're famous."

I thought this was so funny (and so typical of a 2nd grader? or should I say "MY" second grader :)

Family Night

2011-10-10T10:55:00.016-05:00

At the end of September we had fun celebrating my dad's bday with a family cookout. It was a fun night and great to have everyone together to hang out.

Trevor

2011-10-06T14:46:00.001-05:00

He was so proud. Poor squirrel!

Nice 'stache

2011-09-30T16:32:00.012-05:00

Cute

2011-09-21T10:45:00.005-05:00

And just to clarify, the only way this can be called "Cute" is because it's not my child and I didn't have to do his laundry :)

Taken last Saturday as we were waiting to see if Brady's baseball game was rained out. As you can probably tell, it WAS.

Chiefs

2011-09-14T13:41:00.009-05:00

After the baseball tournament last Sunday, we headed to the Chiefs game.
(Last weekend's motto was "Let's fill every second with something" - we literally ran from one place to the next and the boys probably handled it better than I did - not something we want to do very often, but everything was fun.)

We were walking across the parking lot as the opening ceremonies were taking place and I was afraid we were going to miss the special "9/11" events, but we had a great view.

The Chiefs played terrible, but the boys loved being there.
We left at the end of the third quarter along with everyone else :)

Taste Tested

2011-09-13T21:52:00.004-05:00

Avalanche Bars - yummy!

We will never forget

2011-09-12T13:31:00.012-05:00

I wonder what she thought
As she stood there, strong and tall
She couldn't turn away, She was forced to watch it all.
Did she long to offer comfort
As Her country bled?
With her arm forever frozen
High above her head.
She could not shield her eyes
She could not hide her face
She just stared across the water
Keeping Freedom's Place.
The smell of smoke and terror
Somehow reduced her size
So small within the harbor
But still we recognized. . .
How dignified and beautiful
On a day so many died
I wonder what she thought,
And I know she must have cried.

Last month marked my 10th anniversary at work. I had printed off and saved this poem at my desk ever since 9-11 happened (2 weeks after I started). Unfortunately, I don't have the name of the person who wrote it.

Although we did take a family vacation to New York/DC when I was in elementary school, I'm not sure I was aware of the "Twin Towers" before. Since working at MetLife (and taking sailing lessons on the Hudson!), I know much more about the layout of NYC. Soon after 9-11, my boss and I took a ferry across the Hudson to the Financial District and walked around the area and went into a church where a lot of the memorials were. It means a lot more to me now -I hope to visit the memorial.

Taste Tested

2011-09-07T10:42:00.004-05:00

Made this over the weekend and thought it was yummy. I used chopped shrimp instead of crab meat and lemon juice mostly instead of lime juice (because that's what I had), but same idea :)

September Video

2011-09-02T13:42:00.003-05:00

Game to Remember

2011-09-02T12:58:00.017-05:00

Wednesday evening started with Brett sleeping (on the way to Brady's baseball game) - as he has done almost every night we drive somewhere after school. Kindergarten is hard! I took this picture because he was also rockin' Ed's funny KC hat with flaming whiting wig attached.

Brady's game was at 5:15 pm, which is hard to make after work (but gives me a nice reason to take off early). Probably due to the game time, Brady's team only had 8 players (a 9th straggled in later) and it was decided Brett could fill in.

We've been really glad Brett has been able to practice with Brady's team and were pretty excited that he was going to be able to play with them. At the same time, I just hoped he didn't strike out every time he went up to bat because I knew that he would feel bad.

<
SO, (wait for it . . . :) we were so excited when Brett went up to bat, hit it and made a homerun!!

I really wish I would have had my camera ready to take a picture of the excitement (I think Brady may have even lifted Brett up in the bullpen), but I was totally "in the moment." It was so cool!

We never would have thought Brett would get a "gameball" for playing in one of Brady's games. It was a great night.

It will be great if they can play on the same team in the future.

Fall Baseball

2011-08-21T22:12:00.016-05:00

Fall sports have started! The boys have both had a couple baseball games each and soccer games also start next weekend for Brady (along with a basketball camp in September - We didn't anticipate doing basketball camp, but his basketball coach encouraged a specific one and it worked out schedule-wise.)

Ed's 90+ year-old Grandma Stockwell always talked about how Ed's favorite sport was the one he was playing at the time and I'm beginning to think that is exactly how Brady will be. He really loves baseball (most time-consuming it seems), but has found a love for soccer as well. And then during the winter he says basketball is his favorite. How do you knock one out when he loves them all?! :)

The boys had games right after each other this Sunday - had to take a pic of them in their uniforms together.

(I work the "dugout" for Brett's team so unfortunately hardly ever have time for pics. I'd love to give that job over to someone else!)

Brady joined a new, more competitive team this fall and is loving it. He is learning a lot

He rocked first base today and had great hits - so he got a game ball! He was so excited - he claimed it "the funnest day ever" on the way home. We stopped at Dairy Queen to celebrate!

Grapes

2011-08-19T11:46:00.006-05:00

After I picked Brett up from school last Tuesday we went home and had the best time picking grapes.

Back to School

2011-08-18T21:27:00.019-05:00

Brady started school with two 1/2 days Monday and Tuesday. I don't worry about Brady when he starts school - he is smart, confident, and has a great personality (that's his mama talking :), but he STRUGGLES to stop talking when his teacher (and coach's) need him to. (I have a feeling this will be the feedback we receive from ALL teacher's, but we'll see.) He has a response to everything and wants to share it - was I like this? Probably! Um yes, I'm sure.

Note: He has become particular about his hair and is starting to show an interest in having "girlfriends" - we haven't figured out if he just means girls who are friends or thinks this is something special yet. We are afraid to find out! :) Brady has NEVER said he has a girlfriend and all of a sudden, he has 2!

Little Britches (aka Brett) started school Tuesday morning with a 1/2 day. Ed and I attended a 45 minute conference and then he stayed until after lunch. They gave him potatoes with his sandwich which he didn't like, so he had a sandwich and chocolate milk. He got a choice the next day and will love having that. (I'm sure he will choose PB&J's most days!)

I would have given anything to have gotten a picture of him walking into school with Brady Wednesday morning. He had the biggest smile on his face - I think he knew that was the start of the "real deal."

Shake it!

2011-08-15T10:34:00.002-05:00

Meet the Teachers

2011-08-12T15:22:00.008-05:00

Last Thursday evening was BJF's back to school ice-cream social and "sneak peek" for classrooms. (They posted class lists at 4 pm)

We knew we'd be happy with either of the all-day kindergarten teachers because Brady had Mrs. Nelson, who is fabulous, and you can't help but like Mrs. Knight because she always has a smile on her face and has purple blood as well (we've seen her at a couple KSU games :).

Brett was excited to meet Mrs. Knight, but feeling a little shy I think (and will be working on looking at the teacher's who talk to him).

Brady found out he is in Mrs. Hill's class. She taught 6th grade last year so 2nd grade will be a big change, but I think they'll get along just fine :)

She gave each of the kid's a cute poem attached to confetti at back to school night and Brady is sleeping with the bag under his pillow tonight -

Back to School Magic Confetti
The night before school is exciting and fun
There are always so many things to be done.
Your clothes are ready, your backpack is too.
Your classroom is full of fun things you will do.
There are so many questions that go through your mind,
All types of thoughts of every kind.
But sometimes we all get the jitters down deep
And that makes it hard to fall asleep.
So I've made you some magic confetti, it really is cool.
It will help you be rested and ready for school.
Just place the confetti next to your bed.
On the night before school starts where you lay down your head.
The confetti will help you sleep through the night
And you'll wake up in the morning fresh and bright.
I'll place the confetti near my bed too.
And remember, I just can't wait for school so I can see you!

I picked flowers for teacher's today - Brett's very last day at Montessori is tomorrow and Brady's first day of school. Ed and I are going to school with Brett for 45 minutes Tuesday morning and then he'll stay until after lunch. Very exciting!

Chiefs Training Camp

2011-08-08T13:35:00.019-05:00

We went to the Chiefs Training Camp in St. Joe with Grandma and Grandpa Stockwell last Saturday and had a fun time. Luckily the sky was overcast in the morning so the heat didn't catch up with us until mid-afternoon.

It was Family Fun Day so all of the kids got a free t-shirt, face painting and balloons and they had some kicking/throwing stations, photo ops and autographs with the players before the players practiced.

We saw the KC Wolf first thing! (Brett later asked us if we didn't think the Wolf looked pregnant? LOL!)

A lady from the McDonald's booth asked us if she could put Brett's painted face on their website, but I have no idea where she was going to put it . . . . .

We wiggled into a space for autographs (they did them from 1:10-1:30 so not a lot of time) - I think this guy scared Brett a little bit (see hand on shoulder :)

I was proud of Brady - he had his signature "intro" and wasn't scared to talk to each player - "Hey, can you sign my book, my shirt and then my brother's shirt?" He lined up the 3 things he wanted them to sign right away and it worked well.

We told Jon McGraw we were big KSU fans :)

When Matt Cassel started getting close. I started getting pretty claustrophic, but the boys did get his autograph and I took this picture right before excusing myself!

Karen Russell

2011-08-03T10:37:00.004-05:00

I thought "Karen Russell" might get my family's attention :)

Karen Russell was my horse trainer for many years, but that Karen Russell is NOT who my post is about. "Karen Russell" also happens to be the owner of one of my all-time favorite blogs (see "favorites" in my sidebar) and her husband just left for Afghanistan. Lifting her family up in prayers today!

Go check her out - she tells unbelievable stories and takes amazing pictures.

Float Trip 2011

2011-08-02T22:07:00.016-05:00

We decided to take Monday off and take one last road trip before school begins. We went on a float trip down the Current River by Salem, MO - this was where we (I) took our first float trip with the boyz when they were pups (2002).

Pic from our second float trip on Jack's Fork, but you get the idea.

Things have changed. Our camping spot from the first trip is now a parking lot and the state has taken over a lot of the area because it's now a national park. Did I mention we were "winging it" for a camping spot? I thought we were in trouble when we stopped at a camp store to ask "old dude" for ideas (ya got 4-wheel drive??) about camping spots along the river (even his cabins were full) and Ed came out with instructions to "take the first dirt road, take a right at the fork and continue down to a rocky area by the river" after we were on that NARROW dirt road for what seemed like 15 minutes and we still didn't see the river. (I was picturing dead end, flat tire, no cell service, dark night. . . )

It actually turned out to be a pretty good spot - one visited by the locals (God knows no one else would find it!). Fog in the morning. . . fog in the evening.

I don't have any pics yet of the actual "float" because they are on the water camera. But we took tubes for the first time and it was nice except there were times when we definitely could have used paddles to get us going through a couple slow parts. The boys think it will be cool to travel on their own kayaks - maybe when they get a little older.

Mom, look at me!

2011-07-24T22:45:00.008-05:00

I was tempted to title this post something like "unimportant or meaningless things learned this summer" but I couldn't do it, because to the boys these were VERY important things they learned to do this summer. And it's been really fun for us to watch.

Brett figured out to blow bubbles at one of Brady's 8 am baseball games this summer. He was SO excited that he was screaming with delight and I had to say, "You know what he just learned to do, right?" to the other parents so they would understand. It was so fun to see him excited and I knew it was especially exciting for him because his brother hasn't accomplished it yet.

And just this weekend, Brett started asking me to "push him down" so he could reach the bottom of the pool and do a headstand. After completing his headstand, he started naturally flipping over. And then, out of nowhere, he went against the pool side and started doing back flips by himself. I'm still scratching my head on this one, because I haven't seen another kid doing this at the pool this summer (that they would have watched) and we hadn't shown him.

Anyway, when he showed Brady that he could this, Brady decided he could do this without the side of the pool and then they both started doing them. They were so proud.

Don't Judge

2011-07-23T19:31:00.002-05:00

Brett can't wait for it to cool off so we can have a fire in the firepit and loves picking up sticks to add to the pile. Clothes are optional.

Swim Party

2011-07-19T22:40:00.012-05:00

Brett's baseball team, the Blue Whales, celebrated the end of their season tonight with a swim/pizza party and handed out trophies. One of the boys' dad's lives by Black Swan Lake in Shawnee and invited everyone to their pool/lake swimming area - it was fun!!

In addition to their trophies, the coach gave them a baseball with everyone's name on it. A big hit! (pun intended :)

They didn't want to leave and Brady's last words to me tonight were that he wish he was still out there swimming in the lake. What more could you want as a kid - pizza, jigglers, cupcakes, pop and a pool and lake with diving boards and a big dock to swim out too with all of your friends?!

Fun in the Sun

2011-07-17T21:41:00.015-05:00

Last weekend we headed to Lebo after Brady's (8 am) baseball game. It was about time to catch up with Dedra and the boys (we met them at the pool - see first pic in post before this). Brady loved going to the bottom of the pool with Owen in the deep end and Brett and Miles had fun on the slide. I also got to hang out in the baby pool with Graham - he is so cute and seems to have such a laid-back personality! Dedra and I wondered where all of the kids were on a 100 degree day?? Brady clotheslined himself (literally!) twice on the rope between the snack area and pool. Oh brother.

We spent some time Saturday and most of Sunday at Melvern Lake with the fam. We are very lucky that my parents and brother's family both have boats so we can all go out!

Sunday afternoon my brother's family took us tubing - fun! All of the kids loved it and were immediately figuring out who they were going to go out with next when their turn was done.

We also celebrated this girl's 11th birthday (LOVE her glasses) - Happy Birthday Breckyn!

It's Hot

2011-07-16T22:17:00.006-05:00

Gypsy Rose

2011-07-12T22:49:00.014-05:00

Brenda and Randy told us about a pirate ship ride they offered at Captain Ron's - we had never been to Captain Ron's and were very interested in the boat ride. It turned out to be really fun!

The people running the boat ride were great - all decked out in pirate gear. This lady "narrated" our ride and told us our direction on the map. She also let all of the kids shoot the cannon. Brett did it twice - Brady surprisingly chose not to do it all.

All of the kids had the chance to drive the boat -

After the ride, the kids all went under the boat to find out where the treasure could be found on the beach. When we got back to the dock, the kids were led to an area where it was buried.

Fun . . .candy!

Lakehouse

2011-07-12T11:35:00.009-05:00

We spent the 4th of July weekend at Grandma and Grandpa Jones' lakehouse and the boys were so excited. We spent a lot of time swimming and visited 2 restaurants that have beaches attached to them.

These were taken at Frankie & Louie's -

Fireworks were fun too! We still have some left . . . might wait for a New Year's celebration?!

I'll post pics of our pirate ship ride next!

Slides!

2011-06-30T15:53:00.002-05:00

We love to go down the slides at our pool. There is one "without" tubes and you have to be a certain height and Brett is not tall enough - he was so excited when I told him he would be able to do it next year. He obviously doesn't realize how far away "next year" is. :)

The second slide requires a tube and they don't measure you. I think last year was the first year Brett went down. This year the boys decided they could go down together. This "idea" surprised me for some reason . . .

Bloom

2011-06-30T15:42:00.008-05:00

I didn't take pics because they aren't pretty, but I have 4 tomato plants (had first red cherry tomato yesterday!), 1 cucumber plant (3 cucumbers taken off so far), 2 pepper plants (no luck here), 1 jalepeno plant (2 taken off so far) and MANY carrots. It is the first year to try carrots and I have no idea what I'm doing or if anything is even under the ground. I'm going to check it out mid-July. . . . . .

So far, I've been really happy with how it's going this year. I had a ton of orange volunteer marigold plants pop up which was nice, but everything looking a bit orange. Zinnias have just started to bloom - that will help even things out!

Happy Birthday to ME

2011-06-29T22:37:00.010-05:00

I had some birthday money (thanks mom and dad!) and went to one of my favorite "lunch time" (right by my office) places to shop - the Goodwill Store and found this piece of furniture! I liked the scallop back and thought it would be perfect in my "someday" craft room (and could possibly use it in our entry way now).

I painted and sanded it -

I put some clear knobs on the top drawer because I already had them, but I still need to get knobs for the two bottom doors and I'm thinking I will change the top knobs as well (why do I only want to go to Hobby Lobby on Sundays when it's closed?!). It's the first time that I've felt like I've painted/sanded/sealed something right. And best of all, it's great storage for our games - and I currently have a picture of Ed's grandpa's baseball team and a heart-shaped rock I found in my parent's driveway on the top.

Lost Tooth

2011-06-29T11:52:00.006-05:00

Brett told me when he turned 5 he was going to lose a tooth and one month later he did!

I couldn't believe it. I thought Brady was early in losing his teeth, but this is even earlier. I was in New York so I totally missed the excitement about the tooth fairy coming - that was hard, but I hear the tooth fairy made it anyway and even left a gold dollar. Very cool!

Traveling Photos

2011-06-21T12:44:00.004-05:00

I'm embarrassed to say it, but I think Ed got me this digital photo album for Christmas 2 years ago and it's been sitting at my desk for that long waiting for me to try it.

With an upcoming trip to New York this week, I really wanted to get some pictures/video on it because someone always seems to ask to see some and I never have any (bad mom!). I just put some pictures and 3 videos on it and it was so easy and the pictures look great (hard to tell in the picture below).

So, 2 years later . . . . . .thanks Ed! I will LOVE having these with me this week.

Taste Tested

2011-06-20T16:34:00.006-05:00

Some (good) recipes I've recently tried -

Tex-Mex Spicy Meatballs (Family Circle)

Steak Fajitas (Farm Girl Recipes)

Bean Dip (Farmer Family)

Rotel Dip (Farm Girl Recipes - this was awesome)

Frozen Coconut Limeade (She Wears Many Hats - I made ours with Lemonade)

Orange Chicken (Farm Girl Recipes)

And last, but not least, "hamburger" cookies! (Come Together Kids) I even took a picture :)

May

2011-06-01T15:50:00.012-05:00

Before I say "Hello June!", I thought I better recap (some of) May.

Brady learning how to blow a bubble

Brett got Mario Wii games for his birthday - both boys were excited

Brett got his very own DS. Cracks me up how Brett always ends up on Brynna's lap and they always look so comfortable. And yes, they are beginning to look very much alike!

Brett's "Circle of Life" ceremony on his birthday.

Garrett graduated from 8th grade

Memorial Day picnic with the Rowley's - thanks for the yummy food!

Briar Rose giving us the eye

Party, Party!

2011-05-19T11:55:00.017-05:00

Brett celebrated his birthday last Sunday with a party at Emerald City. He loves the Angry Birds game, so I found examples of Angry Bird cupcakes and Angry Bird templates online (oh, the power of blogs!).

I used the templates for the front of the treat bags - I couldn't find all of the colors in one bag, so I was cheap and just got orange and green bags. I had no idea the boys knew which color each of the different characters was (they knew exactly. . . and what each could do in the game.)! Oh well, they were "angry bird" sacks and Brett was okay with that luckily.

It was a new place for most of the kids and they all seemed to have fun playing. I was so glad Jackson, Brett's best friend from Montessori and left for kindergarten (2nd from the right not looking at me :) was able to come.

On a side note, I'm not sure Wrigley had fun playing, but he did enjoy cupcake time. He spent 99% of play time sitting on a mat or pointing his finger at me! Oh my.

Play time -

It was a fun party - however, if they will let me, I think we may limit celebrations in the future to having a couple of friends go do something special together. . . .

Last Soccer Game

2011-05-14T21:54:00.013-05:00

Today was the end of a great (undefeated!) soccer season.
Way to go Strikers!

Cute

2011-05-12T12:57:00.000-05:00

If only I could knit . . ..

image (and directions!) -
http://www.purlbee.com/tube-sock-legwarmers/

Western Carnival

2011-05-11T16:29:00.000-05:00

Brady's school (PTA) put on a Western Carnival last Friday. (Did I mention I got roped into being the PTA secretary for the next 2 years?! Hopefully it's as easy as I want it to be.)

My contribution for the carnival was helping organize and volunteer at the cupcake walk. It was fun and crazy, but we had plenty of cupcakes so we just made the rules up as we went along.

We hit the jackpot - got our swimming pass through the silent auction and Brett won a Hot Wheels basket after putting just one ticket in for it. We were so surprised.

This picture = pure happiness

Spring Program

2011-05-10T22:37:00.005-05:00

Despite the fact that Brett's class has more than 20 students and they crammed all of the parents into the lunchroom (can you tell we wish we still had just 1 great teacher (love Ms Deja!) and just 12 students?!), we really enjoyed Brett's spring program - because he was sitting on the front row and singing his heart out!!

Play Ball

2011-05-08T22:14:00.006-05:00

Brady's baseball season has started - hitting off of the machine, 1 1/2 hour games, actual "outs", new coach. Let's play ball!

Sunday Funday

2011-05-08T21:06:00.015-05:00

Last Sunday we went to the Royals game and it was the first time the boys made it through and were able to run the bases (Fun Run is after every Sunday game). It was also "Faith & Family Day" and Jim Morris, the guy the movie the "Rookie" was made about was the speaker. Pretty cool.

Before the game, the boys mini golfed and hit balls.

We found Slugger.

The real "Rookie"

Couldn't resist taking this pic -

10 years!

2011-05-06T14:04:00.014-05:00

Ed and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary at the end of April so it was "meant to be" that Sawyer Brown was in Branson on April 29th. :) We decided to make it a road trip with the boys so they could go to their first concert.

We took Friday off and headed down for go-karts and mini golf that afternoon. The weather was beautiful.

Time to rock out with Sawyer Brown!

It was um . . . an older crowd, but probably to our advantage since we sat down a lot more than usual which allowed the boys to see over everyone.

Did they like it?!

The next day we spent 3 hours at the hotel water park and ate at a new Mexican place before heading home. It was a fun trip! Branson is always a good little get-away.

Teacher Notes

2011-05-03T14:49:00.014-05:00

It's Teacher Appreciation Week and this morning the boys wrote notes to give to their teachers.

"She helps me learn and is very nice" - but you already knew that's what it said, right? :)

Easter Egg Hunts

2011-04-27T10:57:00.018-05:00

The boys were able to participate in 3 egg hunts this year and they were definitely excited about the thrill of the hunt!

At our church -

Easter morning -

In Lebo -

Frozen Bananas

2011-04-19T13:46:00.003-05:00

We tried this last weekend - I liked it . . . . . Brady ate it while there was still chocolate on it . . . and Brett did not like it which was really surprising since he loves fruit so much.

And Brady enjoyed making faces at me while I took his picture.

Strikers

2011-04-18T12:44:00.005-05:00

We hadn't really planned for Brady to play soccer this spring. But when a boy's dad from his basketball team asked if anyone wanted to play on their soccer team, we took him up on it and are really glad we did! He has improved so much and seems to really be enjoying it.

It's 4 on 4 - no goalie.

He scored his first two goals of the season Saturday! (Unfortunately I didn't see them because I was home napping with Brett.) Hoping he gets the chance to score again this season! He was so excited.

Go Egg Someone

2011-04-17T21:23:00.011-05:00

We egged someone today and it's not as bad as you think :)

The KC Parent magazine had a cute idea for Easter this month - they provided a poem and the idea is to leave a basket of plastic eggs at someone's door before knocking and running away. The poem is called "You've been egged!"

"The Easter Bunny

Was out for a hop.

He saw your house

He made a stop.

That wascally wabbit,

He had you pegged,

No bunny was home, so

YOU'VE BEEN EGGED!

(Keep one egg and egg

somebunny else!)"

The boys helped me fill the eggs with jelly beans and malted chocolate eggs (I love Easter candy!) and were excited to "egg" Jake (a kindergartner at Brady's school). Ed dropped us off by Jake's house on the way home from Brady's soccer game and the boys kept saying how nervous they were. They made me go up and knock and hid behind a big pine tree. Jake's family wasn't home - at first the boys were really disappointed, but then I told them it was perfect since the poem says "nobunny was home" and they were okay with that.

I hope Jake liked being egged :)

Coronado

2011-04-14T21:16:00.018-05:00

This is the final "installment" of our vacation pictures. We knew we would visit Coronado Island and Hotel when we went to San Diego, but after checking out several of the beaches in the area we found ourselves (and the boys) choosing to go back when we wanted to hit the beach . . . one more time. One of the mornings we took a bike ride around the island, it was really fun. (And when we returned the bikes, there was a family from Kansas getting ready to rent some. Small world!) Many houses on the island had "Home of U.S. Aviator" signs in the yard. Ending with some sunset pics :)

Catching Up

2011-04-11T11:15:00.021-05:00

A couple of weekends ago Ed and I were able to go to Howl at the Moon - we planned it around my brother and Becky's spring break so it was fun to go out with them, Becky's brother/wife and their friends Renee & Mark, Ed's cousin Brian, our neighbor Sarah (and some other people I didn't know. :) It was a fun night! These two just look suspicious. . . . Thanks for the bunny ears BT! Our neighbor Sarah, who I don't get to see nearly as often as I'd like - Cousin Brian who we really don't get to see very often - BT (and some strange blonde :) We were able to go out thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Jones, who watched the boys. Thank you! This wig totally cracked me up - The next day we went to see Toy Story 3 on Ice - Brett really liked it (Brady was more interested in how they changed the stage, what wasn't exactly like the movie, etc.) - it was even better than I thought it would be. Every time I see a troll doll I think of Quint cutting all of his troll doll's hair to look like Rusty Sowers (short on one side, long on the other) when we were little -

Drive-in

2011-04-11T10:50:00.003-05:00

This weekend we went to Merriam's Drive-in theatre to see "Rango." It was a great night for it - the boys were excited to see the playground below the screen so they were able to go play until the movie started. We will definitely try this again!

La Jolla

2011-04-08T10:31:00.015-05:00

We spent 2 days in La Jolla on our trip. The first day we drove to Torrey Pines (golf course) and went to the Birch Aquarium.

I only include this next photo because there's somewhat of a funny story behind it. There was a really nice hotel beside the golf course with an open grass area. We were walking around it and I told the boys to go stand over by the bricks so I could take their picture. I think I said "over there in the corner by the bricks" and before I knew it Brett had his pants down going pee "over in the corner by the bricks" When I got after him, he looked like I had played a cruel joke on him. Obviously he thought I just knew he had to go potty and was telling him where to go or something? So this is him looking so happy with me - not. I guess I might as well include here that I think I had the flu this day and almost hurled in the trash can right outside the nice golf shop that opened onto the golf course. Good times. (This was also the day there were warnings of Tsunami type waves in this area)

Our pediatrician had told Ed and Brady about the Birch Aquarium at Brady's last checkup so we went. It was pretty cool, but small. They had a lot of cool sea horses and strange looking fish.

Touching starfish -

When we got back to our hotel that night, I was looking through a catalog and saw we had been right by Children's Pool - so we went back later in the week. It was well worth the trip!

The boys now know the difference between a sea lion and a seal. Sea lions are bigger, can climb rock, have ears flaps and make loud noises. Seals use their flippers to scoot, have no ear flaps and are pretty quiet.

Sea lions -

Seal -

Beautiful sunsets on our way home from La Jolla - this is definitely where the surfers were.

Sea World

2011-04-07T09:29:00.023-05:00

Sea World was a lot of fun and probably the most talked about park from the boys. The shows were great!

Sea Lion show - Brady loved this one because they danced with the Sea Lions at the end

Dolphin show - had gymnasts doing some cool things over/in the water

Pet show - cats, dogs, ducks, pigs doing obstacle courses and really fun stuff to music

Killer Whale show (Shamu) - watched the show both times it was on, it was great

The boys were making the Shamu hand sign because they were about to get "soaked" - yes, the first time we watched the show we were in the "soak zone" (it wasn't THAT warm!)

4D Elmo movie - it was pretty cool. When the wind blew in the movie, we got blown by fans, when the water squirted on the movie, we got squirted with water.

And last, but not least, we saw this - beautiful!

Legoland

2011-03-29T21:58:00.010-05:00

The boys were the PERFECT age for Legoland - Brett was just tall enough to ride every ride and the size of the park was great for them. There were lines for the major rides, but not ungodly. We hadn't been prepared for all of the parks to close so early (all of them closed at 5 or 6 pm), but it was probably a blessing in disguise.

Brett's favorite ride was the the big lego roller coaster (Brett and I rode it twice - it was scary for me, I can't believe Brett loved it so much. Well, okay. I guess I can. Seriously, not scared of anything!) Brady and Ed rode the laser shooting ride while we rode it the second time and Brady seemed to really like that ride too.

Some of the other great rides were:

Jet skis - Brett and I rode this like 4 times while waiting for Ed and Brady to finish the laser ride. It was great because the kids could really steer it completely by themselves (they could make it swing out and in - get splashed.)

This ride was pretty cool - you pedaled the car around a track.

Brady's favorite thing was driving the lego cars around a track - he took it pretty seriously. There were stop signs, etc. and told to follow the rules. At the end of the ride, they were told they "passed" their driving test and could get a driver's license. He soaked it all in and dreamed about driving us home. (The driver's license is a fun souvenir. ;)

Brett was a little too young for that track, but enjoyed the smaller track too.

San Diego - Safari Park and Zoo

2011-03-28T21:52:00.020-05:00

We went to the San Diego Safari Park and Zoo while we were on vacation. It was fun to meet one of my former coworkers who lives out there with his family and go through the Safari Park with their 2-year-old, Jackson. Because we went to several "animal" parks while we were in San Diego, we almost skipped the Zoo but decided we couldn't miss it since we were so close. (It was a great zoo, but not better than Omaha's.) I won't post a ton of animal pics, but these are my favorite from the 2 parks Baluga Whale - very cool We were on the zoo tour bus and this huge vulture spread his wings as we drove by. The giraffe on the left-hand side was very pregnant and they said she could have her baby any day (any minute, but no such luck while we were there :) I love gorillas - could have watched them all day.

San Diego - Day 1 and 2

2011-03-23T21:12:00.018-05:00

Spring break started a couple days early for the kiddos - we left for San Diego the afternoon of Wed, March 9th. It was sort of surreal - we don't typically go anywhere over spring break so it kind of snuck up on us. I picked the boys up at school after lunch - it was cold outside, Ed and I were both busy at work and I think we were all ready to get away.

The day before we left, Ed reserved a limo to take us to the airport and we surprised the boys. If all else failed, at least we could say we took off in style!

The boys were excited to ride in a plane again.

Thursday morning we headed down to the USS Midway Museum , a "retired" aircraft carrier.

They had numbers identifying everything throughout the ship and you could listen about each one on a walkie-talkie and they had people giving more in-depth tours of specific areas. (They had one of the planes from Top Gun, but I don't have a pic of it. )

I love this pic taken out the window of the captain quarters/navigation area.

We took the "kid" tour which was a shortened version of the walkie-talkie tour and they gave you a brochure with questions to answer. After turning in the completed brochure, they gave the kids their Junior Pilot License.

This statue was down the street from the ship. I thought it was so cool. I definitely have to say after taking the tour and just being in the San Diego area, I have a bigger appreciation for everything the people who serve our country do and go through. (And the amazing training they have to have). We saw military planes and big ships throughout our trip.

Ed had found where the San Diego Catbackers met before we left - Pacific Beach Bar & Grill. Luckily, it turned out to be a pretty fun place with good food. We ate lunch there on Thursday and watched KSU lose to Colorado (Boo!) and then spent the rest of the day at Pacific Beach, just a few blocks away.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

2011-03-06T22:05:00.006-06:00

The day before Dr. Seuss' birthday (Tuesday) Brady stayed home from school (had been battling a bad cold and was sent home the day before with a fever). Since I was heading to New York the next day, I offered to stay home with him.

They were selling Dr. Seuss' hats at his school Tuesday morning so I ran up and got one with instructions to get a red and white one (when I asked him what his second choice was, he didn't have one - no pressure!). Luckily, they had ONE red and white one left (with a blue stripe).

While I worked at the kitchen table, Brady camped out on the couch reading with his new hat on.

He was supposed to bring his favorite Seuss book to school on Wednesday and he knew exactly which one he wanted to take - "Oh Say Can You Say?" The best part of my day was hearing "Mom, you have to hear this. It is SO funny."

How to Tell a Klotz from a Glotz
Well, the Glotz, you will notice,
has lots of black spots.
The Klotz is quite different
with lots of black dots.
But the big problem is
that the spots on a Glotz
are about the same size
as the dots on a Klotz.
So you first have to spot
who the one with the dots is.
Then it's easy to tell
who the Klotz or the Glotz is.

He read this page several times and would just giggle. I LOVED it - felt like I was having such a "mom" moment seeing him enjoy a book so much. Good stuff.

And fortunately, on Wednesday he felt okay and was able to dress for "Wacky Wednesday" and wear his hat and take his book. Little britches was also very excited about his hat (same one he had last year - he didn't lose his :)

Undefeated

2011-02-27T14:22:00.014-06:00

Brady's first season playing 5 on 5 was fun (and successful!). He continued to play on the team he started playing 3-on-3 last year with. We hope they continue to stick together. They have a great coach - and I think Ed really enjoyed helping out and serving as their assistant coach.

Before the game, after each time out, etc. they lined up across from who they were guarding - one on one baby!

Lots of pics . . . . look for #23

Way to go Bullets!!

Music Program

2011-02-19T23:27:00.008-06:00

Bluejacket's first grade music program was Friday afternoon. I took the afternoon off, went and picked up Brett, stopped by the house and got my dad and we were on our way. It was a big deal because Brady hasn't had an "official" music program at BJF. They sang 4 Valentine songs and did 1 poem.

He was on the back row and stood next to Anna - a girl that has been in his class for the past 2 years. She is very outgoing, boy crazy and we seem to run into her a lot at the pool (and Royals game). Her mom came up to me before the program and said "Anna says she just can't help but love Brady!" Very cute.

(Anna is on his left in the gray sweater and has the white bow in her hair :)

Monster Boxes

2011-02-17T15:37:00.005-06:00

Brady's homework last week was to decorate a box for his valentine party. After looking around for some ideas, I found this one and the boys liked it. I had saved Brett's box from last year with the thought that he could reuse it, but of course he wanted a monster box too.

They wore Old Navy shirts that said "The Ladies Love Me" and Brady has requested I never ask him to wear that shirt again. . . . . . .

It was a fun Valentine's Day!

Making Valentines

2011-02-13T22:39:00.008-06:00

The boys are pretty excited about their Valentine parties tomorrow. We worked on writing the valentines and making their valentine boxes a little bit throughout the weekend.

They were both really good about personalizing the valentines, although Brett peetered out when he had 6 left. I was surprised he did 18!

At 7

2011-02-12T22:37:00.005-06:00

Things to remember about you at 7:

You love watching Phineas and Ferb, Survivorman and Wipeout
You don't have any girlfriends . . . . .but your favorite part about your birthday party was that Hailey chased you around the whole time (and you didn't disagree when I said the extra girl's valentine could be Hailey's :)
You like to come up with basketball plays for you and your brother to run - and yes, you can be quite bossy
You are learning to write sentences in school and I just read one that said "I don't believe St. Nick is real." but I don't want to ask you about it :(
You are doing great in school! Every time we have a teacher's conference, the teacher's tell us that you just need to learn when to talk (and when to be quiet!). If you get a yellow light, you don't get to play your DS.
You like to order crab legs at Red Lobster (so you can keep the "claw") and love chinese buffets and BBQ. And you always pick ham and cheese sandwich over PB&J.

Taste Tested

2011-02-10T22:14:00.002-06:00

I had several reasons (excuses) for making these chocolate chip cookie dough truffles:

my boss is celebrating her 20th anniversary with MetLife tomorrow
my dad is spending the weekend with us
Monday is Valentine's Day

If you like cookie dough (but not the danger of eating raw eggs), they are great and easy!

Cute

2011-02-09T15:24:00.005-06:00

Cuteness found on Etsy -

http://www.etsy.com/shop/atcompanyb?ref=seller_info

OMG - the cutest hats I've ever seen. Wish I had found this before Amy's shower!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nmelone13?ref=seller_info

http://www.etsy.com/shop/daisychestnut?ref=seller_info

On Our Way Home

2011-02-08T19:40:00.003-06:00

Brett and I were coming home from the store tonight and the conversation went something like this. . . .

"I want to skateboard."

"When you're older you can learn to skateboard."

"Like when I'm 10?"

"Yes"

"But when I'm 10 I'm going to have a phone."

"You are?"

"Yes. I'll get a phone and then I'll get a skateboard."

"Hmm. What will you do with a phone?"

"Call you. And Grandma and Grandpa. And (the list went on and on). . . You'll have to show me how to call people. Ok?"

"We'll see. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."

"I got to poop."

Wizard of Oz

2011-02-06T21:23:00.009-06:00

I found Christian Youth Theatre advertised in one of the KC Parenting magazines awhile back. What a great group - they offer theatre classes as an after-school activity and all of the productions are put on with local area kids. We went to see The Wizard of Oz Saturday night and we all loved it. Dorothy had a beautiful voice.

It started at 7 p.m. and I thought it would probably be over at 9, but it ended up being 10. I couldn't believe the boys made it through without falling asleep (I remember my parents taking me to see musicals at ESU all the time and trying so hard not to fall asleep, but failing. . . .). Brett didn't want it to end!

The muchkins had very colorful outfits -

The lion was great!

Lucky Seven

2011-02-04T13:06:00.007-06:00

Brady celebrated turning 7 the entire weekend of his birthday (and the weekend before that with my parents)! He celebrated with his team and Grandma Jones at his basketball game Saturday afternoon, with his friends at Emerald City Saturday night and we had a "Wii Tournament" with Grandpa/Grandma Stockwell and Aunt Debi & Uncle Tim Sunday evening.

His kid party was at Emerald City and he had a great time running around with his friends and being chased by Ms. Hailey. (She is an OLDER woman (2nd grader) and her sister Emily is in Brady's class.)

(Also, let me just say - I lost my camera awhile back (so dumb!) and have been borrowing Ed's. My fault, but the battery died 10 minutes after we got to Emerald City so most of these are what Ed took on his phone. I'm getting bad in my old age!)

While Brady was running around like crazy, Brett spent most of his time swinging from this rope swing into a pile of soft "legos" (that's what he called them) or using the zip line.

After the kids played, we had a party room for 30 minutes. they ate basketball cupcakes (picture coming soon) and Brady opened presents.

Fun times!

Almost 7

2011-01-28T21:15:00.004-06:00

Brady's class had their fill of sugar today! We brought treats this afternoon and a girl had celebrated her (Jan. 29th) birthday earlier that morning.

The kids seemed to enjoy the twinkie sunflower cake.

Class singing Happy Birthday to him -

Celebrating with Pink!

2011-01-23T22:06:00.014-06:00

Amy and David are having a baby girl next month and we celebrated this Saturday at my mom's house. It was great to see everyone and she got tons of cute clothes!

Dedra and I and our mom's made desserts (I made these cupcakes) - with a bonus candy bar! (Valentine candy was perfect!) We had fun decorating with pink! If you look to the left of the candy in the first picture, you can see the onesie banner that Dedra made - very cute.

A onesie clothesline -

I made this owl (and Dedra gave me the perfect owl fabric and flower for it - the pattern is VERY easy to follow in case anyone is thinking about making one of these.)

Wishing Amy & David the best with their little one!

Bonus!

2011-01-18T22:13:00.003-06:00

I was reading Family Circle over the weekend and saw in the "What I want to wear now!" section this skirt. It was advertised at $12! I thought that was so strange - but I love a bargain so I called JC Penney's and they had my size. Ed and the boys dropped me off (a day later so I didn't even know if they would still have them held) and I ran in - they still had them and I got it in black and "CHEETAH" (grr) $12 was a great deal, but I got them for $7 each - seriously?!

Thank you Family Circle! :)

Snow Day

2011-01-10T19:58:00.008-06:00

Pictures posted for my mom (who is not on Facebook :) And for anyone wondering where Brady was? He was inside (watching Ben 10) - he went out later when Ed got home and built an igloo and sledded. It was a fun snow day! Little Britches and I had a great time - it was nice to just focus on him for a little while this afternoon.

And da boyz will be celebrating their 9th birthday next Monday! They enjoyed hanging out with us, but DID not enjoy picking snow out of their paws.

Target Practice

2011-01-02T15:40:00.013-06:00

The day after Christmas we headed out to my grandparent's farm to shoot some BB guns and walk around with the dogs. It's always good to get out and the kids love to see what kinds of treasures they can find.

After target practice, we let the dogs out and walked around.

Log crossing challenge - this was fun until Brady fell. (If someone is going to get hurt, it WILL be Brady.) Luckily he got over it quickly.

LOVE this pic of my bro with his lab, Briar Rose.

Right after I took that pic, we (I?! :) decided we should take some redneck couple shots . . . don't we look mean?!

Game World

2011-01-01T22:24:00.006-06:00

The boys are thrilled. For Christmas Santa brought us a Wii and Grandma & Grandpa Rowley gave Brady a DS. I had to laugh (kind of) as I looked back through the pictures I took during Christmas in Lebo. . . .there was definitely a theme of Brett squeezing in to watch someone play their DS (dreaming of getting a chance to play most of the time :)

Ok, I know what Brett wants for his birthday!

Brett's Holiday Party 2010

2010-12-18T23:04:00.008-06:00

I took Friday morning off and helped with Brett's holiday party - it was a lot of fun. It was also "Holiday hat" day at Brady's school (they had a theme for every day for the last week before Christmas break). It was cute to see all of the Santa hats walking in.

I made 24 goody bags for Brett's party and we signed up for drinks for Brady's Y-Care (after-school) holiday party. It was nice to check these off my list!

Cooper came dressed in a complete Santa costume - it was ADORABLE. Jackson, Brett's "best friend" is on the other side.

First things first - snack time.

They had a busy party - after snacks, they handed out treat bags, exchanged books (Brett busted out crying when he realized another boy was getting the superhero book he had brought - I guess I should have better explained that process!) and got a gift from the teacher's. Then they made 3 ornaments and watched the Charlie Brown Christmas movie. Whoo!

And I have no idea who this little girl is, but she sat by me in "circle time" and kept trying to put that bow on my head. She was too cute and loved for me to take pics of her! :)

Birthday Party

2010-12-10T12:57:00.008-06:00

Our church's teenage youth group has a "Happy Birthday Jesus!" party for the younger kids every year. The boys love it and were excited that Cameron & Porter, neighbor friends, were able to come with us.

After eating pizza, they get to make crafts set up at different tables. The first craft is always decorating a sack to put all of the "loot" in.

After crafts, they were read a Christmas story and then opened presents "for Jesus." Every kid brings a baby gift to the party and then they each get one to open and give to "Jesus" (local babies who are in need). They have kids dress up as Mary & Joseph with a baby and the kids take their gifts to them. It is very cute - but got a little crazy this year.

They end the party by decorating sugar cookies. Never too much frosting or sprinkles! :)

Making a list

2010-12-07T16:35:00.008-06:00

We've been reminding the boys that Santa knows if they have been good or bad. . . . .they don't know what to expect on Christmas morning, but they have done their best to let him know what they would like. Going in the mail tonight!

Brett's -

Brady's -

Black Friday

2010-11-26T22:38:00.011-06:00

After a great Thanksgiving day with my folks and sister's family, Ed and I ventured out at 4 am this morning and headed to Emporia's Wal-Mart. Note: we've NEVER been shopping on Black Friday. It didn't take us long to figure out the people winding through the grocery aisles weren't grocery shopping. :) OMG.

There were lines for different electronics everywhere, but not really labeled so we walked back to the electronics department to see where the DS line was. It just so happened the line was back in the frozen food section (why, of course), but they missed taking a DS box back there SO if we would just wait until 5 right there she would check us out.

We were LUCKY. Instead of hours, we stood in line for almost 30 minutes and were back in bed by 5:30. It was awesome.

After a wonderful lunch of one of my family's favorite holiday meals (chili with cheese/summer sausage - thanks mom!), we headed back to KC to start decorating for Christmas.

Love the way most of the ornaments are mid-way up all together :)

Taste Tested

2010-11-23T15:13:00.003-06:00

These might be the best pancakes I've ever had. Note: I'm not a big fan of syrup - I didn't make the special syrup in this recipe - and these are great by themselves if you love cinnamon.
The boys loved them too!

(Took this picture so I can include it in their "recipe books")

Cinnamon Bun Pancakes - found at How Does She
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
3 T. white sugar
1/2 t. salt
4 t. baking powder
1 T. Cinnamon
2 eggs, beaten
1 C. of milk
2 T. corn syrup
1/4 C. butter, melted
1 T. vanilla
Maple Icing Syrup
1 C. powdered sugar
1/4 C. butter, melted
2 t. Maple flavoring
1/4 C. milk

1. Mix flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon in medium bowl. In another medium bowl beat together eggs, milk,corn syrup, butter, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well.

2. Drop the batter by about 1/3 cup fulls onto the pre-heated/greased griddle and cook until the tiny bubbles start appearing on top, flip over. These only take a couple of minutes to cook on each side. Keep cooked ones on a oven safe plate in the oven at 250 degrees to keep warm.

3. In a small saucepan on the stove, over medium heat, combine all the syrup ingredients. Whisk until completely combined. When heated through, serve with your yummy pancakes!

Taste Tested

2010-11-14T21:56:00.005-06:00

I tried 2 new fall recipes today and thought I'd share.

And yes, Ed and my friend Sarah both told me that you can buy caramel popcorn at the store :), but I wanted to try "homemade" because it sounded so good with nuts in it. And I'm blaming it on the way the original recipe was written, because I totally burnt the caramel the first round (you know how bad burnt popcorn smells right? Well, black burnt caramel poured over popcorn smells much worse. especially at 8:30 am. ugh)

Anyway, we went to church and I came home and tried it again. Much better results!

Caramel Corn -
12 c. popped popcorn
1 1/2 c. Beer nuts or shelled salted peanuts (I used regular peanuts)
1 stick plus 2 T butter
1 1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/3 c. light corn syrup
1/4 t. baking soda

Preheat oven to 250. Place popcorn and nuts in large bowl. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in sugar, corn syrup, and 1/2 t. salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Raise heat to high; bring to boil without stirring. Cool until mixture reaches 248 and immediately remove. Stir in baking soda. Add to popcorn/nuts and stir to coat. Transfer mix to rimmed backing sheet. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with 1 t. salt. Let cool and break into clusters.

My mom brought me the Lebo Methodist Church's cookbook this afternoon and I was excited to see a recipe I could use with my "extra" bag of apples. I love to see what everyone submitted (they list names under each recipe) -this one came from Marilyn Combes, a good family friend. And I will be making it A LOT this fall/winter - great to eat alone, on top of pancakes, etc. I love these!

Country Store Apples -
5-6 c. apples (I peeled them)
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
1 t. cinammon
1/4 t. nutmeg-5
4 T. cornstarch
1/2 c. cider or apple juice

Cut apples in chunks. Place apples, sugar, cinammon, nutmeg in crock pot. Dissolve cornstarch in apple juice and blend well; pour over apples and stir to blend. Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours. Stir halfway through cooking.

Yum!