I know people...I am so far behind with the posting!!!

And we have so many things to update everyone on...especially the new member of the family!!!

To be continued....

A Moment of Silence

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What a day!!!

A couple of weeks ago us moms took turns watching the 3 musketeers since JCPRD had a week's break. We enrolled the boys in a baseball camp put on by the high school coaching staff. It kept them busy for the mornings, and then we took them to the pool in the afternoons.

Thank goodness for books at Pizza Hut!

Don't they look like precious little angels?

And this is what the day led me to...a night out with Abby and a couple margaritas and the Sex and the City 2 movie. The movie was fine, but the company was outstanding!!!! This one's for you, my friend!!!

Hot Air Balloon Festival

The Kansas City Hot Air Balloon Festival was held at Celebration Park on Memorial Day weekend. We headed out Saturday evening to see the launch. It was delayed a bit because of the wind, but it soon died down enough to allow the balloons to launch. Here is a picture of the first balloon that launched over the Gardner water tower.

Matt and I were having fun telling Dylan all about our trip up in a balloon during our trip to Maine several years ago. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I hope we can take the boys sometime in the future!!

We ran into Jenny Piper and her boyfriend on our way back to the parking lot...it was our first time to meet him!!

Dylan's 1st Grade Graduation

Matt and I went to the 1st Grade Awards Assembly the last week of school...or as Dylan called it "his graduation to 2nd grade". All 3 first grade teachers presented the awards for their class. Dylan's teacher was so emotional...she loved her kiddos so much...and we loved her!!! Dylan's kindergarten teacher set the bar very high...we didn't see how anyone could top her...but Ms. Beverage just moved that bar quite a bit higher. We hope to see her on the walking trail with her family a bunch!!!

I think Dylan is standing in the 3rd row right beside Mr. Mortenson, the principal. Dylan got a gold medal for the KU (Ahem...yes I said those two letters) Reading Program. He read over 50 Accelerated Reader books during the year.

Here's Dylan with two of his buddies from his class...Ethan and Adam.

May Wrap-up

Moxie found a new friend.

(Really, she's not as evil as she looks...ha!)

We attended the GEHS graduation with Adrienne and Brady. Our favorite babysitter, Miss Lindsey, graduated. We love the fact that she's sticking around in Gardner for another year before she goes off to college.

It was a hot, hot, hot day at graduation, but our boys made it through the whole ceremony!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

I can't believe that Dylan has 1 month left of school! I'm so sad that Ms. Beverage won't be his teacher anymore!!! His last day of school is the 28th, and then he has a week off, and then he will start summer camp. Thankfully the grocery budget won't double this summer...instead of taking a lunch every day, the kids will get bussed over to Gardner Elem. for lunch everyday. It only costs us $30 for the whole summer!!

His first baseball game is May 18th. He's typically been playing at 3rd base or shortstop. His arm strength has improved so much...he can throw easily from 3rd to 1st to get someone out. Collin on the other hand seems to think he needs to be on the baseball field as well. Looks like Jessie will be hired for every Tuesday and Thursday evening this summer.

Matt built me a retaining wall for my flower garden behind the shed a couple of weeks ago. Here are the before, during and after pictures. The flowers have been purchased and are supposed to be delivered by UPS on Saturday. I think I've planted flowers in this area at least 3 times and then I tear them out. Somebody please take my shovel away from me!!!

Take Me Out To The Ball Field

Sunday was Easter and my birthday. We headed out to Royals Stadium for their easter egg hunt with Steve, Adrienne and Brady. Collin and I headed off on our own to his age group's hunt on the "Little K" field. He looked right at home leading off of 1st base.
Each child could only gather 5 eggs, and then turn them in for a prize. We ended up with 2 KC Royals backpacks.

We were going to stick around for batting practice, but it turned out to be a warm day, so we headed out to QT for some cool drinks and headed home.

March update

(Disclaimer....this post is the first of 2 posts that I'm cramming into tonight!!! See the next post about our spring break!!)

Collin turned 2 on March 4th, and so we headed to Applebees to celebrate with our friends!! I'm not sure what the people around us thought...we can get a little loud...especially with the big boys...take a look...

Apparently they thought the night was all about them...they had the waiter taking them up to the bar for oreos!!!

The waitstaff sang to Collin and he opened up his presents and then he was ready to go home!!! Definitely not a night owl!!!

Dylan's teacher just had her 4th baby this last week...Baby Josie!!! Several of us moms hosted a surprise baby shower for her the week before spring break. Here is the class with their wonderful and awesome teacher! She's only taking 2 weeks off (are you kidding me? I would never be able to get back on my feet that fast!!!), but she is so dedicated to her class!! We can't wait to see the baby!!!

Dylan's basketball team ended their season with only 1 loss...and boy would we like to play that team again!!!! The boys improved so much during the season...they creamed every team they played...they scored so many points every game that the scoreboard person stopped putting their points up after 30 or so.

We hosted a pizza party for the team after the last game...the weather obviously didn't cooperate so we had it in our garage. (Of course, Matt took the opportunity to make his garage spotless!)

Coach Davy told the boys halfway through the season that if they won the rest of their games, they could shave his head. And so it happened!!! Each boy got a chance to run the razor!

Thank goodness the rule did not apply to my husband, the assistant coach!!!

And so baseball season starts in a month or so...sounds like we'll be seeing a lot of these same boys on that team too!! They are a fantastic group!!!

Later that night we headed over to McAtees for supper and to watch the Big 12 Championship game with KSU against KU. Unfortunately the Wildcats lost for the 3rd time against those crappy Jayhawks, but we still had fun!!

Have a great rest of the month!!!

Spring Break in Lake Tahoe!!

Matt and I used 2 more free flights from Southwest this last week and headed out to Lake Tahoe. Why Lake Tahoe? I was asked that several times. It was just a place that we haven't ever gone to before. Some place new. I could have gone to Vegas again, but I felt guilty not trying something new!

Dylan and Collin spent the week in Marquette...Dylan was on Spring Break and so was Grandma, so it was perfect timing! This way Dylan can have a Spring Break story to tell about when he goes back to school tomorrow...even if it wasn't tropical or exotic!

We flew out on Tuesday morning...very early...7:30 a.m. I didn't realize that the clocks were going to spring forward last weekend...so when we got up at 4:30, our bodies still felt like it was 3:30 a.m...ugh!!!

We changed planes in Vegas...we had a 2 hour layover there. We were sooooo tempted to take a cab to Mandalay Bay for a little bit, but knowing my luck, we would have gotten delayed in security or traffic or something and missed our plane. So we hit a few slot machines in the airport...Wheel of Fortune!...and called it good.

The trip didn't continue very well when we got to Reno, and 2 of our suitcases had been flown to Burbank, CA from Vegas. Of course, it was my suitcase and also the suitcase with the skiwear. They were supposed to arrive in Reno later that afternoon.

So we headed out to South Lake Tahoe...we stayed in a Marriott Grand Residence Club...it's a timeshare place, but they also have hotel rooms that are rented out for a nightly rate. It was perfect...just right outside was the gondola up to Heavenly Ski Resort!! And tons of little shops!!!

We ate at Cafe Fiore on Tuesday night. It is a tiny Italian restaurant...only 7 tables!!! It was soooo good!!! Thank goodness Tahoe is very casual...I was still in my traveling clothes!

When we returned to the hotel, our luggage still hadn't shown up yet, so we told the front desk to just hold onto it until the next morning because we were pooped and we were going to bed!!

Of course, the phone rang at 11 p.m...."your luggage is here...do you want to come down and get it?" Good grief!!! Expedited, HAHAHA!!!!

I went up with Matt on the gondola Wednesday morning, and sent him off onto the ski slopes. Then I headed back down at 10 a.m....the shops had just opened and they were calling my name!!
One of the restaurants in the village where our hotel was located was having a St. Patty's Day party that afternoon, so I got us a table, and waited for Matt to head down from the slopes. Here he is in the gondola...looking very pleased with himself!!

Thursday we headed back to Reno (since our flight out on Friday morning was another early one). We took the scenic route around the other side of the lake. Here is our view from a lookout above Emerald Bay...I believe this is probably a very popular landmark from the lake...I've seen tons of pictures of it on different websites while researching our trip.

The weather was so perfect....50's and the snow was still on the ground!!!

We stopped for lunch and to watch the KSU basketball game in Squaw Valley, CA...home of the 1960 Olympics. After watching the Olympics earlier this year, I knew I had to see this!!! I was picturing a huge complex because the current Olympics are held in such large areas. Well, they only had 5 or 6 events at the 1960 games...it wasn't very big at all.

Here is the actual Olympic flame cauldron at the entrance to the park.

We went up to High Camp in a cable car to look around. This ski resort is huge!!! And the runs were very wide....I think I could have even skied and not run into anyone else!!

It was a great day topped off by K-State's victory over North Texas in the First Round of the Big Dance. (And as I'm typing this on Sunday night...we also won our Second Round game over BYU, and we're heading to Salt Lake City on Thursday night!!! GO CATS!!!!)

We headed back home on Friday with a whole bunch of laundry and a whole bunch of pictures. It was so good to see the boys!!!

My First Baby is Growing UP!

We celebrated Dylan's 7th Birthday with a couple of events. We took him out to eat at Applebees for supper, singing and FREE dessert on his birthday.

Then we took all of the boys and Sydney to Incredabowl for bowling and laser tag! It was a long afternoon for Collin and Kameron...they just wanted to be able to do what the big boys were doing!

I think I'm going to have to get one of those "House Divided" license plates...KSU and Texas.
Here are a few photos of Dylan's basketball game. He's been scoring around 5-6 points a game, and definitely is a terror on the defensive side of the game. Small and scrappy...he can tip the ball away from the other team so quick.

We've hired Jessie, the 7th grader who lives next door, to watch Collin every Saturday while we go to Dylan's game. Again, Collin just wants to do what Bubba does...he doesn't seem to understand that he can't run out on the court with the team.
Collin decided for himself that he should start sleeping in the big boy bed. This was his first night.
Collin definitely enjoys his breakfast...2 or 3 mini pancakes usually find their way into his mouth at the same time.

Collin also thinks he needs to watch TV in Bubba's room. Dylan has started shutting the door to keep Collin out.

Jenny & I are going to see Billy Joel/Elton John in concert this weekend!!! It was postponed since December...I can't wait!!!

January is over!! One more month closer to spring!

And the boys are excited just thinking about spring!!

Matt wasn't quite as excited about our loss to the Jayhawks...even though we got to go out and watch the game since Miss Lindsey came over and watched the boys.

Collin was definitely not happy about the loss...or maybe it's because of his ear infection this past week. : ( But Papa came up to take care of him, and for that, we are all grateful!!!! (Especially my boss.)

Snowy pictures since we don't have snow anymore

Now that the snow has melted away, I like looking at snowy pictures. We took the boys to the sledding hill in Corporate Woods a couple weeks ago. We weren't really sure if Dylan would like it or not, but he was fearless.

And a picture to remember the snow drifts of the 2009 blizzard.

Dylan is going to a birthday party tonight, so Matt & I are going on a date...with Collin. We'll see if he is easier to control without Big Bubba to egg him on. Thanks to Grandma Jan for the gift card to Red Lobster. Yum, Yum!!

Enough with the snow already!!

Just got the email...school is closed tomorrow...and it hasn't even started snowing yet! They say that we're supposed to get 3-5 more inches tomorrow. I am so dreaming of a beach right now!!!

Dylan and Matt figured out how to create a ramp out of the snow drifts for Dylan's sledding.

Mom and Dad were up here all last week to take care of Collin while Heather took the week off. They got a kick out of his talking, and his 4 wheeler driving skills. They also watched him while we took Dylan over to Jenny's for New Year's Eve. Kohlton and Kameron weren't there, but Brady and Dylan kept themselves busy playing with Wii. Brady got a Wii for Christmas, so between the two of them, they have plenty of games.

And just a picture of my pretty girl to end this post with. Isn't she supposed to scratch on this? Not sleep on it?