Because I'm the Mom

Blazer!!!

2011-07-22T20:54:00.000-05:00

My posts will be pictures...

2011-03-11T21:47:00.003-06:00

Christmas Eve

Dylan's first confession

The dog and cat face off

Spiky hair

Blazer's first day home.

since my to-do list doesn't seem to have blogging anywhere on it!! And hopefully this will make me take more pictures of my kiddos.

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

2010-09-10T08:30:00.001-05:00

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

To be continued....

A Moment of Silence

2010-07-01T08:33:00.003-05:00

http://sendlovetocohen.blogspot.com/

What a day!!!

2010-06-23T22:03:00.001-05:00

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

2010-06-21T21:53:00.001-05:00

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

2010-06-18T21:45:00.001-05:00

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

2010-06-16T21:28:00.002-05:00

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!!

2010-05-06T22:02:00.005-05:00

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

2010-04-07T20:47:00.003-05:00

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

2010-03-21T20:25:00.005-05:00

(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!!

2010-03-21T20:19:00.011-05:00

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!

2010-02-21T20:48:00.006-06:00

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!

2010-02-08T20:34:00.002-06:00

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

2010-01-23T15:19:00.003-06:00

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!!

2010-01-05T22:14:00.003-06:00

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?

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-26T16:04:00.007-06:00

We're having a lot of togetherness this long Christmas weekend...snowed in because of the Midwest Christmas blizzard!! I'm just glad that it happened when we didn't have to go anywhere!!

Not sure how much snow we've gotten...probably 9-10 inches.

We let the boys open a couple presents on Christmas Eve...Collin got these stacking blocks...stacks them up taller than he is....

...and then proceeds to kick them over!

Christmas morning Dylan crawled into bed with us around 6, complaining that he was "starving to death". We made him stay in bed until until 7. Then he forgot all about being hungry. Ha!

Dylan and his Colt McCoy football jersey.

Collin and his 4-wheeler.

Moxie and her cat-nip filled scratcher.

Dylan and his lego set.

Collin and his Thomas train set.

I think I blogged about how we are changing the boys' rooms around. Well, while the closet is being built in the nursery, the boys are sharing a room. We thought it would be a bad idea, but the boys love it. Collin will not go to bed without Dylan in his bed, so it has definitely made it easier to get them to fall asleep. No more 10 trips into the rooms to get them water, or rub there back, etc. Not sure what will happen when we have to split them up. Guess I'll probably have to lay down in the twin bed until Collin falls asleep at night.

Dylan and I put this Gingerbread Train set together last Sunday. It was a good little project that kept us busy for maybe 20 minutes of the long, snowed-in weekend.

Collin did get to experience his 2nd sledding experience (his first was when I was pregnant with him, and I went sledding with Dylan down our driveway).

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

My boys

2009-12-21T20:38:00.004-06:00

This is definitely a post about my boys. Quite a few pictures too! Last week we took the boys to see Santa Claus at Bass Pro Shop in Olathe. Collin found himself a pretty good sized present to ask for (which is kind of funny because he's actually getting a smaller, battery-powered version of the 4-wheeler that he's sitting on in the picture below).

We're in the process of doing a little remodeling in our house this week. Many of you know that we took the formal dining room and turned it into a nursery when Collin was born. We don't have a formal dining room set, and never will...we always eat in the breakfast nook. And there were only 2 bedrooms on the main floor of our house. So instead of moving Dylan downstairs to the 3rd bedroom which would have scared him to death, we had the doorway closed in and added french doors. Well, Dylan needs a bigger bed these days, and the nursery is bigger than his current bedroom. So we're having a closet added to the nursery, and then we'll switch the boys around. Actually they're already sharing Dylan's current room for the week or two it will take to finish the closet. Coach Davy is doing the carpentry work. Let me know if you have any projects you don't want to tackle, and I'll be glad to pass on his number.

Dylan has decided to become an architect. He designed this castle yesterday from scratch.

I do miss not having a girl to dress up in cute clothes, but I do love me a preppy boy-look with a rugby shirt and jeans!

The annual Jacobs/McAtee/McCarty Christmas party was Saturday night. I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of the boys each year. This is our 3rd annual get-together, and here are the boys!! Yes, I know my child doesn't have any pants on!!

Holy Cow!!! Check this out!!!

2009-12-09T15:21:00.002-06:00

I just found this giveaway on Mckmama's giveaway blog....check it out!!!

http://mckgiveaways.blogspot.com/2009/12/hp-touchsmart-giveaway.html

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2009-11-26T21:18:00.001-06:00

My boys ready to watch some football!!

My picky eater actually liked the pumpkin pie!

The tree is up...yes I know it's leaning. Ugh!! I'll worry about that next year!

Next up...State Football on Saturday. Go Blazers!!! Horn Power!!

Giving Thanks

2009-11-24T22:23:00.006-06:00

I'm thankful for our family's health and happiness.

I'm thankful for our immediate neighbors, who are some of most trustworthy people, and I'm so glad to call them friends.

I'm thankful for our little town of Gardner, and the family atmosphere it provides and the opportunities for our children that it provides.

I'm thankful for our group of Gardner friends...Flageolles, McAtees, and McCartys...they are our family.

I'm thankful for our group of friends in Kansas City...Janes, Bonawitzs, Hafners...we've been friends for a long time...we may not see each other very often even though we all live in the same metro area...they are our family.

I'm thankful for all of our friends back home (Marquette, Lindsborg, Kingman, Topeka) and all over the United States (OK, TX, MS, NV...to name a few)...we definitely don't get to see each other enough.

I'm thankful for Heather and JCPRD...they provide loving and caring and fun environments for our kids to enjoy. We trust them with so much!!

I'm thankful for our jobs...especially in this economy. A lot of changes have taken place this year, and I know I gripe about a lot of things, but I'm very grateful to have a job.

I'm thankful for my co-workers...we've spent 8 hours a day with each other for 9 years or so, and they're still some of my closest friends.

I'm thankful for our parents and family...there's too much to thank all of them for.

I'm thankful for my boys...they love me unconditionally...no matter how cranky I am.

I'm most thankful for my husband. He loves me no matter how much I take out on him. I love you so much, Matt!!

I'm thankful for Jesus Christ our savior.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

October Recap

2009-11-08T11:10:00.005-06:00

It definitely doesn't feel like November around here. I think I brought back the Gulf Coast weather with me from Mobile...warm and humid.

I had one more trip to Mobile three weeks ago. This time it was so much easier being away from my boys. I ventured out a couple nights to different restaurants. The first night I ate at Los Rancheros...according to Trip Advisor.com, it's the best Mexican restaurant in Mobile. It was good!!! Quick, cheap and good!! Reminded me a lot of Chapalas here in Gardner.

On Wednesday night, I drove down to Mobile Bay and found a seafood restaurant right on the water....Ed's Seafood Shack. I ate the biggest shrimp I've ever seen, and I saw the sun set on the water.

We all went trick-or-treating twice. We went to BooBash on the Thursday before Halloween. Then we invited everyone over for chili on Halloween, and then us moms took the boys trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. Matt & Steve stayed home to hand out candy...and to watch the KSU/OU game.

Now we're just trying to make our Christmas lists, do homework, make holiday plans, chase Collin around, etc. Our crazy life, huh?!

Hugs for Everyone!!

2009-10-13T12:09:00.002-05:00

I swear I could have hugged everyone I know since I returned to Kansas on Friday night!!! I hugged Matt & the boys hundreds of times...I even hugged my co-workers Jim & Pam when I got to work yesterday...with tears of happiness in my eyes!! I think I could have even hugged my boss, John...if people wouldn't have looked at me strangely! Ha!

It's not that I didn't enjoy my week of mommy time...it's definitely "you don't know what you have until it's gone". I am planning to get out a little bit more next week when I return to Alabama. Of course, since I was so stressed about going last week, a lovely fever blister popped out on my lip. Yuck!!! So I didn't really want to go anywhere...I ate mostly fast food in my hotel room. Next week I think I'm going to find a mall to browse through. I'll definitely have to leave some room in my suitcase!

Dylan's football team won their first game last Saturday...39-26! He got 2 carries as a running back...he's just so darn small and shifty...definitely like a Darren Sproles. The quarterback also threw the ball to him for a 2 point conversion, but he underthrew it. They have a game this Thursday night and another one on Saturday.

Collin is learning to say so many words...football, Oreo, cookie, monkey, bus. He also knows how to act out "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on a Bed"...he waves his finger like crazy when I say "the doctor said, no more monkeys jumping on a bed!"

Have an awesome day ya'all! (Nope, still can't quite do the southern accent...it's still too easy to say "you guys"!)

Greetings from Alabama!

2009-10-08T19:50:00.002-05:00

Tonight's my last night in Mobile. I'm headed home tomorrow evening!! This week has been good...there is so much stuff that we're going to have to coordinate...and I'm sure I'll find out more when I come back down here on the 19th.

I have pretty much stuck around the hotel. I did drive down to Gulf Shores on Tuesday night. I arrived just as the sun was setting. I had just enough time to run down on the beach, stick my feet in the water, take some pictures, and pick up a few sea shells for Dylan.

I'm so ready to see my boys and Matt!! I spent much of the day on Monday getting teary-eyed, but the tears don't come so readily after 4 days of being away.

I think my mind is fried...I'm going to watch the Office wedding and hit the sack!

Alabama Pictures

2009-10-07T21:36:00.007-05:00

I'm posting some pictures from Alabama...a couple of the office, and a couple from Gulf Shores. I'll post more about my trip later...going to sleep now...goodnight all!

Mommy's going on a business trip!!!

2009-09-24T20:43:00.004-05:00

I just found out that I'm going to be the "key integration contact" for our Kansas City office. I'm going to manage the switching of our system over to the Mobile system in the next couple of months. This means that I'm going to be traveling to Mobile for 2 weeks in October...the week of the 5th and the week of the 19th. I didn't expect them to even consider me since I have other pressing committments at home. My friend Jim would have been perfect...he doesn't have any kids. But my boss really wanted me to go since he feels like I have the most knowledge about how our stuff works. And I told him as long as they were able to work around Matt's traveling schedule and I would only go for one week at a time, I would agree to do this. So, they agreed to split up my two weeks into every other week. After I return, I'll work on the integration a little bit each day, so I'll be able to keep my regular clients. I was especially worried about this because our clients are already uneasy about the merger.

I leave early on the Monday mornings, and return Friday nights. I'm so excited to be able to experience what Matt gets to do so much of. I'm going to miss my 3 guys like crazy, and I know I'll probably cry a little bit each night, but I'm ready to sit in my hotel room and read my books, and I'm even planning on making a few little road trips. I want to venture over to the Biloxi area, and check out the damage from Hurricane Katrina...see what has changed since we were there in June of 2001...and hopefully catch up with our friends, Aaron & Stefani Lapointe. Then I want to travel down to Gulf Shores and check out the beach houses for rent to see if that area will be a good vacation spot for our summer vacation next year with the McCartys and McAtees. I plan on walking out on the beach and taking a picture of myself!!! (Boy, it sounds like I don't get out much, doesn't it?)

Anyways, back to the here and now...Dylan had his first flag football practice tonight in the rain. But, the boys stuck it out. Dylan had some great spin moves to move out of the way of the defender. I think he may be like a Darren Sproles...tiny but able to zig-zag around the defense.

Collin's been reading more books...all he wants to do is sit on our laps in the recliner and read books these days. And he loves to "mump" on the bed..."jump" on the bed. Tomorrow night while the dads and the big boys go to the GEHS football game, all of us moms are going to Adrienne's house and let the babies jump on the trampoline.

We're going to try and take Collin to the KSU football game on Saturday. I figure he'll make it 1 quarter or hopefully maybe the 1st half, and then Mom & I will have to take him out to the van and let him play. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that since it's our last non-conference game, maybe there won't be a full stadium, and he'll have room to move around our seats.

Well, the bed is calling my name...goodnight everyone!!

The "Cool Street" block party

2009-09-20T20:06:00.000-05:00

As promised, here are a couple of block party pictures.

Here is Collin with Fred, Blaire & Tim's basset hound. Collin loves Fred because he's so low-key.

Here's Collin & Caden interrupting the washers game that the older boys were playing.

It was such a great time...we have so many new neighbors on the street that it was a perfect time to meet everyone. We probably had between 30-40 people, counting the adults and kids. Here's to next year!

Go Cats!!!

2009-09-19T21:57:00.006-05:00

Our Wildcats are playing at UCLA tonight, so their game just started at 9:30!! If they don't start doing better on defense...just allowed a huge run down the field...I may just have to go to bed. That ought to show them!! HA!

We had our block party tonight...I'll post the pictures tomorrow. We have such great neighbors...we've all heard other residents of the subdivision say that we all have the "fun street". And we really do. I know I've talked about it before on here...the kids are all the same age and they all get along...and all of us moms are good friends.

Last weekend Matt & Chris Flageolle constructed a swing set in our back yard. I can't believe it took us so long to finally get one! I've always felt bad because our boys go next door and play on their swingset...so now the neighbor kids can come over to ours!! Collin has already figured out how to climb up the ladder (I know the grandmas are going to cringe when they read that). Dylan loves the tree house...he immediately said that he was going to hide up there and play his PSP.

Chris wouldn't let me take any pictures of them while they were holding the instructions in their hands...ha! Guess I didn't get any more pictures!! Just kidding....I took the boys to a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese during the major portion of construction.

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing. Matt & Chris headed out to western Kansas Sunday afternoon, and they returned late Monday night.

I am reading the newest Dan Brown novel...The Lost Symbol. It's a fantastic read!!! I even put down my latest Sookie Stackhouse novel in the middle of reading it so I could start on the Dan Brown novel! I have 3 people waiting in line for it as soon as I'm done. Has anyone else read it yet?

This last paragraph was added Sunday afternoon....well, the Cats lost to UCLA...only by 14 points though...I expected a blowout.

Hope everyone has a great week!!

School Starts

2009-09-01T21:35:00.005-05:00

Dylan is having a blast in 1st grade!! His teacher is Ms. Beverage. She is a sweetheart! And she's good friends with our neighbor, Robyn (so we always have an additional connection to her).

I did embarrass myself in front of her the first week of school. She was getting into her car at the same time as I was walking out to our car after picking up Dylan. I was busy talking to her, and watching Collin toddle along behind me (because he never wants to be carried anymore) at the same time. He tries to step off the curb, and falls face first into a puddle of water (it had rained earlier that day). She's like freaking out, as I calmly pick him up and brush him off, and he goes on about his business. I told her that Collin is my tough guy, at the same time as I'm thinking, "boy she must really think I'm a great mother!!"

Collin is also my daredevil. Dylan never stepped foot on a slide or jungle gym, until he was in preschool. Collin has no fear, and promptly climbs up the ladder and slides down the slide.

Back on August 22nd, us girls went out for Jenny's birthday. Back down to the Power & Light, we started at Howl at the Moon, but the band has totally changed, and it wasn't as fun. Well, one of the girls that Jenny works with was hanging out with some guys who had reserved a VIP booth at Angels Rock Bar that evening...free admission and free drinks. So, we spent the rest of the evening with them. It was a blast!!! We are definitely some sophisticated moms!!

The next day I sucked it up and took the boys to Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead in Overland Park...it's a petting zoo. You can also pay $5 and rent a fishing pole and worms. That's what Dylan wanted to do. So, since Daddy didn't go along, guess who really had to suck it up and actually put the worms on the hook....ackkkkk!!!

Here is a picture of Collin feeding the goats...I tell you, Collin is the total opposite of his big bubba. Dylan wanted no part of this...he even stood outside the fence!!

Last weekend we went to Max's birthday party (the son of Collin's babysitter). It was held at an indoor swimming park. Here's Collin walking through the fountains.

This weekend is the first KSU football game!!! Go Cats!!!

Watch out world...I'm a photo editor!!

2009-09-01T20:10:00.000-05:00

The Three Muskateers

2009-08-12T22:01:00.005-05:00

Dylan started school today. JCPRD's summer camp ended last Friday, and they didn't provide care Monday thru Wednesday of this week. So us 3 families each took a day where we watched the 3 boys. My day was yesterday.

Our three boys are so much like brothers. They've been together for 3 years now. They argue like brothers and compete like brothers. Everyone wanted to be first. I may sound like I'm griping...the day wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Hey, I got a day off from work and spent the afternoon at the pool!

This is their "senior picture" pose.

This is their "manly" pose.

I took them to the park before lunch. Thank goodness the City of Gardner had just dumped 3 big loads of new sand for the sandbox. They had fun stomping it into the ground and playing King of the World!

And last but not least, a picture of our little, but loud, cutie.

My New Obsession

2009-08-04T21:07:00.006-05:00

I'm blaming the fact that I can't get the blog updated more often on the fact that I'm officially obsessed with I-Tunes. We bought Matt a new IPod for Father's Day because he washed his other one in the laundry, and I think Dylan and I have used it more than he has! Dylan has picked up all of the words to a few songs, and his favorite is "I Kissed a Girl." (Yes, I know this song is sang by a girl...he hasn't figured that out yet!!)

Oh, what have we been doing. Dylan just completed 2 weeks of swimming lessons in Olathe. He does really good swimming on his stomach and under the water, but he hasn't quite figured out the back float yet. I feel bad because we haven't been swimming as much in the month of July. He goes to pool with summer camp 2 or 3 times a week, so I don't want to wear him out by going during the evenings too. It's supposed to be really hot this weekend, so Matt said we could spend it at the pool!!

Collin is now running around on two feet!! And he talks like crazy!!! He loves to answer questions from his Uncle Steve (Brady's dad), and we're still not sure why he calls Uncle Steve "Ba". Not sure where he got that.

This is what it usually looks like in the mornings...a lot of crying and carrying on!

We visited Chris, Mandy, Megan, & Erin one Saturday night for a cookout. I got my baby fix by holding Erin the whole time. It's been so long since I've held a baby who will actually stay in my arms and not want to wiggle the whole time. She just slept so peacefully.

Megan and Collin jumped in and out of her wading pool. Collin decided to show off his muscles to all of us.

Here he's saying "How do you like these guns?"

Last weekend Dylan & Collin stayed with Grandma and Papa in Marquette. It was Marquette's 130th Birthday Celebration, so they went to the parade and BBQ in the park. Auntie Bev, Uncle Rod, and Cousin Susan came down from Des Moines to visit too!!

Matt & I went with Jenny, Steve & Adrienne to Jenny's dad's on the Lake of the Ozarks. OMG!!! I could live on the lake all the time. He had a fabulous house, boat, dock, jet ski, everything. They cooked us prime rib on Saturday night, and entertained us with the best adults only weekend ever!!! We went out on the boat several times, rode the jet ski, went shopping in Osage Beach, Matt & Steve took the paddle boat out fishing, etc. It was the best weekend!!!

Dylan starts school next week, and the boys have all decided to skip soccer and just play flag football. It starts in mid-September, but Coach Elder (Cayden's dad) is going to start practicing on weekends, so we can get the upper-hand. I'm in charge of teaching all of the moms about football. Now I know why Matt loves me so much...it's my football knowledge!!

Goodbye for another week!

The Summer Always Goes So Fast!!

2009-07-18T10:35:00.005-05:00

Well, let's see now, I think I need to finish summarizing our June activities, followed by what's happened so far in July!

Swimming, swimming & more swimming! Either at our pool, the Gardner pool, or Kohlton's pool. We're all turning sunkissed bronze, and the boys are both fish.

Matt & Dylan went fishing a couple more times in June. Here's a picture of one of their catches (this is the only one that has come home with them).

Collin has learned how to ride his bike standing up...ha! He's our little daredevil. Dylan is still tentative about things, but I think Collin would climb up on anything!!

Our long 4th of July weekend was so much fun!! Steve & Lori Harris were in Kansas visiting all of their families, and they stopped by on Friday to see us. Bowen and Reese came along with them. Reese and Collin hadn't been together since right after Collin was born. Reese is a little more than 3 months older. Check out the difference between these two pictures!!

We went to our annual 4th of July party at the McAtee residence. It was cool and cloudy and Collin slept through supper!! He didn't take an afternoon nap (YIKES!), so we took his pack'n'play with us. We laid him down at 5:30, and I had to go wake him up at 8!!! It was great...we were able to eat supper without having to chase him around, and he woke up happy and ready to watch the fireworks!!

Our 2nd vacation of the summer was last weekend. We rented a camper, as did the McAtee family, and we headed down to Bennett Spring, MO for the weekend. We had air conditioning and plumbing and electricity in the camper...my kind of camping!!! We let the dads do a little fishing (not as much as they wanted), and we went swimming, and we just hung out together and relaxed. Collin finally started walking 100% of the time, and he loved camping!! He followed the big boys around and got muddy and played in the water and rode Bubba's scooter (with help from Daddy) and just loved being outside.

I had a little bit of change at work the last couple of months. FBD Consulting, Inc. is no more...my company was bought by DailyAccess Corporation, a pension firm located in Mobile, AL. We are their Kansas City office. I always thought I rolled with the punches, but boy, "change" is hard. I thought I would be working at FBD until I retired, and I guess I kind of am, but yeah, it's hard. I think we're safe with our jobs, so I'm trying to be positive.

Matt & Dylan went to the Pretty Prairie rodeo tonight, so Collin and I spent the afternoon shopping at the Legends with Adrienne. I got Dylan his school shoes already...that boy has some stinky feet!!! The boys have decided that they don't want to wear their sandals after they go swimming, so they wear their tennis shoes without socks to summer camp. YUCK!!!! His shoes stink up his whole room!!!

Dylan has lost two teeth within the last week. He looks like a vampire with fangs on the bottom. He starts swimming lessons on Monday with Brady. They are going to do so good!!! (Mijkin, you would be so proud of my little fish!!!) He loves diving into the pool to get his diving sticks. Good grief, I'm scared to even stick my face in the water!! LOL

Well, I'm going to go sit on the deck and have some ice tea. I had big plans for tonight after Collin went to bed, but I think I'll go to bed!! More school shopping tomorrow!!

Good night!

Vegas Baby!!!

2009-06-21T16:21:00.008-05:00

Matt and I went on a "mommy and daddy" vacation last week. Matt had a couple free flights for Southwest, and we found really great rates for Mandalay Bay (the hotel where we stayed for our honeymoon).

We went out on Wednesday and came home on Friday. Dylan and Collin went to Marquette to spend a couple of days with Grandma and Papa (they had a great time at the zoo and at a movie and at Pipers).

Matt & I spent the majority of our vacation at the Mandalay Bay Beach. As soon as we checked in, we put our suits on and grabbed lunch at the pool. We also rented a cabana on Thursday. It was sweet!!! We had a refrigerator stocked with pop and water, a flat screen TV, a couch, table & chairs, and 2 lounge chairs just for us. We didn't have to worry about finding chairs at the crowded beach. I stayed outside the whole day, and Matt went back and forth between the pool and the casino.

Wednesday night we went to see Terry Fator. He won America's Got Talent a couple of years ago. He is a ventriloquist and celebrity impersonator. It was a packed house, and it was a great show.

Thursday night we went out to check out the Vegas nightlife. We went to GhostBar, the Playboy Club, and Moon Nightclub...all at the Palms Hotel and Casino. Of course, we started early...at 8:30, so the places weren't very busy. We did win $100 at the Playboy Club...and had free drinks. That made up for the $10 drinks at GhostBar!! I can't believe how much food and drinks cost in Vegas. The hotels and restaurants sure haven't lowered their prices in order to attract more tourists, since the economy has affected the tourism in a negative way.

Dylan's enjoying t-ball, summer camp, and swimming. We only have one more t-ball game left. Then the next week is July 4th, and then the next week we have our camping vacation. The summer is going so fast!!

Here's Dylan's soccer team the last game of the season.

Here are the boys celebrating their successful soccer season at the soccer party.

Dylan's Graduation...just a quick post!

2009-05-26T21:43:00.003-05:00

I wanted to get a quick post done since it's been forever!! Dylan graduated from Kindergarten last Thursday, and here are the pictures to prove it!! : )

They sang several songs to lead us through what they've learned this year. Dylan was featured in the first song.

Here's a picture of him receiving his diploma from Mr. Mortenson, the principal.

Here is a quick picture of their whole class. Dylan is right in the middle on the top row.

And finally a picture of Dylan and Mrs. Furlong. We couldn't have done this without her!!! She is an awesome teacher!!

It's so weird...we were so sad to leave Madison Elem last fall after he finished preschool, and we were so scared to start school at Sunflower Elem. Now, everytime I drive by Sunflower, I feel sad because even after just one year, it feels like "home" to us. I can't wait until August!! I know Dylan feels the same way...he's so anxious to be in 1st grade!!!

Show Us Where You Live Friday - Guest Rooms

2009-05-12T21:54:00.006-05:00

Kelly at KellysKornerBlog is hosting a homes tour every Friday. I've missed the first two Fridays (kitchen and living room), which is probably good, since those are the two messiest rooms of our house.

This week is a Guest Room Tour. I love my guest room...it's one room where all of my decorations and furniture have all fallen together nicely.

This bedroom is in our walkout basement. It's a huge bedroom, with a huge walkin closet (which houses our out-of-season clothing). This will probably be Dylan's room when he gets older, and after we finish the 4th bedroom downstairs so we can move both boys downstairs.

The comforter and curtains are actually a light yellow/light blue floral print. I actually got the yellow/blue idea from a throw pillow that I found at Hallmark a long time ago (see it on the wicker chair below).

The window frame mirrow was actually sage green (from our master bedroom in our old house), and I painted it yellow. The white ribbon around the straw hat is from my wedding bouquet.

The iron bedframe is from Matt's dad's family. He found it up in his parent's garage. My dad sanded it down and repainted it for us right before we were married. I love the heart shape in the footboard (there's also one in the headboard).

The vinyl wall quote above the bed says "Sweet dreams, sleep tight. We love you, Goodnight."

Thanks for visiting!!

Kenny Chesney, Baby!!!!

2009-05-12T21:28:00.004-05:00

Last Saturday had to be the busiest day ever in the life of the Jacobs' family!!! Dylan had a soccer game at 8 a.m., and he scored the first goal of the game again. Then, Matt decided to postpone the mowing, and we headed to Olathe to check out a new car (since we had zero luck on Friday). We bought a Hyundai Sonata in less than 3 hours...the fastest car purchase I've ever been involved in. It wasn't my first choice, but it's silver, it's an '08, it's sporty, AND it has my XM radio included in the stereo system!!!!

Then Dylan had a t-ball game at 2 p.m. Matt said that he rocked out in the field. He plays at 2nd base, and he had two great stops with throws right to the first baseman.

I just wanted to thank my M&D for everything they did this weekend. They came up Thursday night, and watched Collin/picked up Dylan so we could go car shopping on Friday, and then they did the same thing on Saturday...plus all of the regular things they do...cook, pick up, etc. We could not have done this without you last weekend. We Love YOU!!!

Finally, Matt & I went to the Kenny Chesney concert on Saturday night with McCartys, McAtees, and Elders. It was a blast!!! Miranda Lambert was one of the opening acts, and she ended up at the PBR nightclub after the concert...less than 10 feet away from us. Jenny was also set on taking "Kenny" home with us...she got him out of the club, but then some guy offered her $20 for him. Oh well...we had a full car anyways. We would have had to strap him to the top. : )

Enjoy the pics!!

A Classic Collin Picture

2009-05-11T08:51:00.000-05:00

ByeBye Camry

2009-04-30T22:00:00.005-05:00

Boo Hoo Hoo, I had to say goodbye to the Camry this weekend. For those of you who have known me since high school know that I had a treasured Camry back in high school and college. Both Camrys have gotten me through many years and many miles.

Collin & I were in a car accident Saturday night. We were on our way to church and to run errands, and going through an intersection, a high school girl "didn't see us...ha!" and turned left right in front of us. We collided, and I t-boned her car pretty good. Both of my air bags went off, and the front end was pretty well crunched. Collin and I were both fine...I had a tiny cut on my forehead and a pretty good knot from where I hit something...still trying to figure out what I hit.

Dylan and Matt were at the truck race at the KS Speedway, so they had to rush home. Matt said that he even had to flag down a parking attendant to give him an escort out of the parking lot. Here they are before we called them.

My friend and neighbor Allison came up and gave us a ride home. It was wierd...I've never been in a wreck when I couldn't drive my car home.

The insurance company has already declared the Camry a total loss (well, what can you expect...it was only worth $3500). We should get the check from the insurance next week, so we'll be hitting the pavement looking for a car next week.

I'm very thankful that Collin was alright...he was perfectly fine!!! I talked to his pediatrician on Saturday night, and he didn't think it was necessary for us to take him to the ER. Just gave him some Motrin, and he was good to go. I dug out the Hydrocodone from my last c-section, and that got me through the next couple of days. I wasn't sore as I thought I would be.

Other than all of this, we've been pretty quiet around here this week...went to the park on Sunday, practices were all rained out, and Matt & Dylan went to see the rest of the truck race on Monday afternoon (after they left on Saturday, the race was postponed because of rain and tornadoes). I think God was watching out for my boys...that's the one good thing that has come out of the car accident. They had left way before the tornado sirens went off.

This Saturday we're having a garage sale at our house. It is the Gardner City-wide sale. Adrienne is bringing over some stuff, and Jenny is going to stop by and hang out with us.

Have a good weekend!

Girls Night Out

2009-04-23T21:28:00.004-05:00

Last night Adrienne and I went to the David Cook concert. For those of you who may not watch American Idol, he won the contest last year...and he's from right in the KC Metro Area...Blue Springs to be exact. And Adrienne looooves him!!!! The concert was at the Ameristar Casino, so we ate supper and had a couple drinks, and then headed into the concert. It was definitely 90% women, 10% men in the audience. The poor guys in the audience didn't really look like they wanted to be there...more than likely they were convinced to go by their significant others. Hee, hee...our significant others volunteered to stay home with the kiddos.

David Cook was awesome!!! He only sang for a little over an hour...it was definitely too short. We hung out in the parking lot after the concert in hopes that he would come out and sign autographs. I wanted nothing more than a snapshot of him with me and Adrienne. We thought that since he was in his hometown that he would definitely want to sign autographs for us hometown women!! But, unfortunately, he drove right past us in a white SUV...at least he rolled down the window and waved goodbye.

Adrienne and I did drive around the entire Kansas City area looking for the darn white SUV. We checked out the Power & Light District and Westport, but alas, no sign of him.

Oh well, I guess I can at least say that I was 5 or 6 feet away from him as he drove past us.

Here are some pics!

This is his brother...he came up on stage to sing background vocals for one of the songs. I think it was "Declaration."

His brother was the one who convinced him to audition for American Idol.

Picture Post

2009-04-14T21:05:00.006-05:00

This is going to be a post full of pictures...to wrap up what we've been doing the past couple of weeks!

Dylan jamming with Daddy's IPod on a cold and rainy Saturday.

Dylan lost his 2nd tooth...took a little more tugging by Daddy and this time it did bleed. Yuck...I'm shuddering just thinking about it.

Future K-State linebacker.

Look at these precious little toes.

Coach Davy (the boys' former soccer coach) wrapping the 3 boys up at the McCarty Easter Egg Hunt. It was so great to see him and Robin and Caden. Since they decided not to do soccer this year, we haven't seen them in ages!!

Collin figured out what to do at the easter egg hunt. It started out cold and windy, but it turned out to be an awesome afternoon...hanging out with all of our friends...plus about 100 other friends and family of the McCarty's.

The fam on Easter Morning. Good grief...can Matt & I stand any further apart? We weren't mad at each other or anything...I promise!!

Collin and Daddy at the PTO Art Walk at Dylan's school. This was tonight. Collin is showing off his tye-dyed "Hand Made at Little Wonders" t-shirt from daycare. Boy, are we blessed by having Heather take care of Collin for us. I consider her to be a good friend too.

These are so cute!

2009-04-09T07:52:00.001-05:00

Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls is hosting another giveaway...these shirts are too cute!!

http://frugalmommyof2girls.blogspot.com/2009/04/lucky-me-tee-by-demi-bella-giveaway.html

Target, Target, Target!!

2009-04-06T20:36:00.002-05:00

I entered this giveaway for a Target gift card...no one can deny that I love Target!

http://www.stlmommy.com/2009/04/25-target-gift-card-giveaway.html

Totally into shoes

2009-04-06T20:10:00.001-05:00

I'm totally into shoes this time with Collin...with Dylan, I bought the cheapies from Walmart and Target...this time, I'm into the shoes that stay on!!!

Check out this giveaway!!

http://frugalmommyof2girls.blogspot.com/2009/04/vincent-shoes-75-gift-certificate.html

Oh my gosh...these would be perfect for Collin's droopy pants!!

2009-04-06T12:32:00.001-05:00

Since Collin has little thunder thighs, his pants are usually too big in the waist and too long.

Well the prize for this giveaway will definitely solve the waist problem!!

http://www.jollymom.com/2009/03/droopy-drawers-no-more-tiny-bigs-review.html

http://tinybigs.com/index.html

Another coupon giveaway!!

2009-04-06T12:08:00.001-05:00

Or try this giveaway!!

http://momsavesmoney.blogspot.com/2009/04/mom-saves-money.html

Going through the weekly giveaways

2009-04-06T12:03:00.001-05:00

I've been slacking in the couponing department lately...here's a giveaway that may just give me a pick-me-up!

http://www.freekydeals.com/2009/04/huge-coupon-giveaway/

Random Picture Challenge

2009-04-04T08:58:00.002-05:00

I'm joining in with the Random Picture Challenge from http://4littlemen.blogspot.com/.

February 2008 or 17th folder 33rd picture.

My baby definitely doesn't cuddle like this anymore. : (

A Diaper Bag Giveaway

2009-04-01T12:10:00.003-05:00

I know that Collin is getting bigger and that I don't need to tote around as much stuff anymore, but I'm not really liking carrying a Thomas the Train backpack for him.

I love these diaper bags and Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls is hosting a Diaper Bag Giveaway.

Click on this link to enter!!! http://frugalmommyof2girls.blogspot.com/2009/03/baby-kaed-diaper-bag-giveaway.html

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-01T09:05:00.003-05:00

Best Buddies.

Keep praying for Stellan!! Click on the button on the right hand side of the page.

The Lemonade Award

2009-03-27T21:22:00.006-05:00

I'm passing on an award that www.littlepeoplewealth.com gave to me. Here are 10 blogs that I love to follow, and the ones that I've been consistently reading this week.

Here are the rules
1) Put the logo on your blog or post.
2) Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude.
3) Link to your nominees within your post.
4) Let the nominees know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5) Share the love and link to the person from who you received your award.

my charming kids - the blog that I've been reading the most this week because of little Stellan

http://www.coupongeek.net/ - I check her blog every week for her great printable coupon links!

thehappyhomebody.blogspot.com - one of my favorite decorating blogs

Deal Seeking Mom - one of the blogs that got me started going to Walgreens and CVS

Kelly's Korner - I think this was the blog that made me start my blog.

http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ - the other blog that started pushing my towards the Walgreens and CVS ads

thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com - I learned the tricks of hemming tape from this blog...love it!!!

Nesting Place - another one of my favorite decorating blogs.

themcclenahans.blogspot.com - a sweet family who lives in south central Kansas...still praying for them after their loss of their precious Cora

thebalzerfamily.blogspot.com - more fellow Kansans, and K-Staters; I just found their blog today!!

An Award for my Blog!!!

2009-03-27T08:00:00.002-05:00

I'm so excited!!! I think I have officially entered the world of blogging. Sweet Heidi at Little People's Wealth gave me a Lemonade Award. Check out her post by clicking on the link!

I love her blog because she has great updates about all the deals at Kansas City area stores, such as Price Chopper and Hyvee.

Thanks Heidi!!

Spring is here!!

2009-03-24T20:25:00.004-05:00

The boys have been enjoying the warm weather...until today. Last week was spring break, and we were outside playing until at least 6:30 on Monday and Tuesday. All the kids were out in the cul-de-sac with their bikes and basketballs, and us moms were all catching up on what has happened throughout the cold winter months. I love it when we can all sit in the driveway in our lawnchairs and chat while the kids play.

Mom and Dad came up last Wednesday through Friday. They took care of Collin, while Dylan enjoyed his Spring Break camp back at Madison Elem. with Kohlton.

Dylan had his first soccer practice on Thursday night, and then he also attended a Soccer Academy on Friday...basically a soccer camp put on at no extra cost by the soccer club.

Matt and I are starting to study the Financial Peace University course by Dave Ramsey. We're doing the home study...13 lessons on CD to listen to, workbook to follow along with the lessons, textbook to read, and budgets to create.

Mandy Flageolle and I are going to opening night of Phantom of the Opera on Wednesday night!!! I'm so excited...a girls night out with good company and fantastic entertainment!!!

Yum, this cake is good!

2009-03-10T20:40:00.004-05:00

We celebrated Collin's birthday with our friends, the McAtees and the Elders, on Sunday, March 8th. The older boys got to play outside since it was still nice out, and they helped blow out the candle.

We stripped Collin down to his diaper, and let him have his very own cake (with a Powercat on it, of course). He did a pretty good job tearing it up, and then he had a bath.

Happy Birthday Collin!

2009-03-10T20:36:00.002-05:00

Here is his official "I turned 1" picture on his birthday, and Maddie came over to say Happy Birthday to her favorite friend.

He's bursting at the seams!

2009-03-10T20:28:00.004-05:00

Look how big he is compared to me!! I don't think he fits in his carrier anymore. I was trying to cook supper, and he just wanted to be held...so we tried this!

Junior Wildcat Day - Winter version

2009-03-01T21:18:00.005-06:00

Go Cats! We visited Manhattan for the Junior Wildcat Basketball Day. We met up with a few football players (more on that below), and then went to the KSU girls game vs. Colorado. Mom and Dad met us there to celebrate Collin's birthday.

Here's Dylan in the group doing warm-ups with Willie.

Dylan with Brandon Banks, wide receiver.

Dylan with Aubrey Quarles, wide receiver.

Look at Collin checking out Willie in this picture.

We were disappointed with the turnout of the football players. There were only 4 players that showed up...now we didn't figure Coach Snyder would be able to attend (he needed to be out finding a new offensive coordinator since ours left without even coaching one game!!). But, we expected a big group of players (good grief...the total roster has 92 players...at least 20 could have shown up!!). I sent an email to the Alumni Association on Monday, and they actually called me back, and shared my disappointment. They said that there was a breakdown in communication between them and the Athletic Department. I wasn't even really expecting a response, so I was impressed to get an actual phone call.

On Sunday, I took the boys to Monkey Bizness (inflatable playground), and we met up with the McCartys. Collin and Kameron hung out in the toddler area. I think this was the first time the two buddies actually paid attention to each other.

This weekend Matt's mom came up to visit. She came up on Friday night since we had a snowstorm on Saturday. We only ended up with a couple of inches, but it was so weird since it had been 70 degrees earlier in the week. Thank goodness it's going to be warm again in a couple of days!!

Collin's birthday is on Wednesday!! We are having a little party for him on Sunday!

I really need to write my entries earlier in the evening...I'm out of catchy comments!! Catch you next time!

Dylan's Birthday and other things to catch up on

2009-02-22T15:34:00.002-06:00

The first big news of Dylan's birthday weekend was that Dylan lost his first tooth. It seems like this was the first tooth he got when he was a baby. That's kind of cool to think about. Matt asked me if I wanted to keep it for his baby book...that's kind of gross. I said, no thanks!

We celebrated Dylan's birthday with his buddies at Monster Jam at the Sprint Center. Then everyone came over to our house for supper and cake.

Here's Collin yelling at the top of his lungs trying to make people hear him over the roar of the trucks!

Our cheeseballs.

Here's Collin checking out the snowboarding show at the Power & Light District before the monster truck show. He's a little sad that all of this wasn't for him. : ) Notice the short sleeves...and we're sitting outside!! It was 70 degrees that day...I don't think the snowboarders planned on the snow melting that day!!

I know this update should have taken place several weeks ago, but we've all been sick once again. Yuck!! I'll have pictures from the Junior Wildcat Day on the next update.

Cora

2009-02-08T10:59:00.002-06:00

http://themcclenahans.blogspot.com

Cora went to heaven today. Please pray for her parents and family.

Our baby is growing up!

2009-02-05T21:24:00.004-06:00

Before I get to show you how Collin isn't a baby anymore, I thought I'd share with you one more picture from Super Bowl Sunday. Here is Dylan, with Brady, Kohlton & Sydney...showing us their coooool poses. Crazy kids.

And here's Moxie hanging on for dear life to HER chair. Speak of the devil, here she comes...she just hopped up on the couch to look at her picture...oh, I mean, paw at my hand until I pet her. What a sweet girl.

Collin has decided that he doesn't want anything to do with a bottle or baby food. If he sees a spoon dipped into a baby food jar and then stuck up to his mouth, he promptly pushes it away. So this week we have given him people food for his meals. I told Heather not to bother buying anymore baby food either. Tonight he sampled mixed veggies and sloppy joes, along with juice in a sippy cup.

Dylan got in trouble for throwing cars tonight and had to sit in his room for 5 minutes. Look who followed him in there. I heard Dylan telling Collin, "you can't come in here...I'm in trouble."

Happy Birthday to my cousin Anne Meghan!!!!

PLEASE PRAY!!!!!

2009-02-04T13:58:00.000-06:00

For this precious little girl and her family, who live near Wichita.

Their blog is http://themcclenahans.blogspot.com.

She is only 1 day younger than Collin, and she is fighting Stage 4 Neuroblastoma. I just found their blog, and I'm sitting here in tears thinking of my own little Collin, and wondering how I would be able to watch him in a hospital bed like this precious little Cora.

Super Bowl Sunday Go Cardinals!!

2009-02-01T14:47:00.006-06:00

I thought I would quickly update the blog before I go pick Dylan up at his friend's house. We're just hanging out before Dylan and I head over to McCarty's for the Super Bowl tonight. Matt volunteered to stay home with Collin since he's still feeling under the weather.

I did dress him up in his Chiefs football jersey and take some pictures of him. He wanted to eat the football instead of throwing it.

Dylan's class had Pioneer Day on Friday. They were supposed to dress up like people in the 1800's. This is all I could get him to wear...and then he even took the bandana off when we got into the school!!

Brrrrr!!!!!

2009-01-18T20:44:00.009-06:00

This the one time when I really wish we would have moved to Dallas. I hate the cold and I hate driving in the snow. There! My venting is over with!!!

We have now finished with the last of our holiday celebrations. Two weeks ago Chris and Mandy and Megan came over to eat pizza and exchange gifts. Megan is a girly girl, so I enjoy buying her girly girl gifts. Here's Megan standing on her gift, trying to get out of Collin's way as he zones in on something to put in his mouth.

Dylan started basketball camp on Saturday mornings. They have had 3 weeks of practice, and next week they start 3 weeks of games.

We went to Gavin Bonawitz's 3rd birthday party on Saturday. He's such a cutie (even though his parents are brainwashing him to like the Jayhawks), and easy to buy for!!! He LOVES Thomas the Tank Engine.

Look at him vacuming in this picture...what a helper!!

The main event of the weekend was Matt's company Holiday party. It's definitely not as fun as it used to be (Mrs. Harris, I hope you are reading this because I'm talking about those good ol' days). Most of the people left after the dinner, so there was nobody dancing. Matt wanted to hang out until the end of the evening because he figured if everyone left, he'd have a better shot at winning a door prize....well we didn't even hear the DJ announce that the door prizes were all gone by 8:30. But, we hung out until midnight with the rest of the airports group...we always seem to be last ones to leave every year. Hmmm, what does that say about us? Are we lushes?

Here are Chris and Mandy (Megan's parents).

Matt's hanging out at the bar with Joe and Byron.

Does anyone know of a lovely single lady for Byron to hook up with? I suggested that he should become ABC's next Bachelor.

Last but not least, I would like to ask everyone to say a little prayer for one of the sweet bloggers I read about. She's listed under my favorite blogs...Kelly's Korner. Her and her husband just delivered their precious little baby girl on Friday, and she is having some heart problems. Click on the link to read about this sweet family.

Have a great week!!!

Happy 2009!!!

2009-01-03T21:33:00.004-06:00

Here's Moxie in her customary place during Christmas...tucked between the presents under the tree.

The new year has started and it's a fresh start for everyone!! I am ready for everything to get back to a normal schedule though. It seems like I feel that way every year. I get all excited for Christmas, and then after the holiday stress, school vacations, no daycare, etc., I just want our little family to go back to work and school.

We spent Christmas Eve and Day all on our own...just our family of four. This is the first time that's ever happened...it was nice and relaxing. We went to see Bedtime Stories at the movies on Christmas Day...along with the entire KC Metro Area. The theatre was packed!!!

Dylan was thrilled with his gift from Santa...a PlayStation Portable. He's mastered several levels of each of his games already. Matt also tries to sneak in a few games of Madden 09 when Dylan isn't looking.

Collin received several new toys from everyone, and one of Dylan's toys from his first Christmas from Mommy and Daddy. He'll never know the difference between a new toy and a used toy...he was more excited about eating the bows.

The week before Christmas we went to dinner with Uncle Darren, Aunt Jenny & Gavin (Matt's godson). Uncle Darren is Dylan's godfather. Unfortunately even though they just live in Shawnee, we only get to see them a couple times a year. But we always seem to catch up quickly!!

Collin and I also visited with my best friend Abby (Collin's godmother) and her little guy, Thad. This was the first time the little guys have gotten to play with each other. They just stared at each other a lot. We'll give them a couple years...then they'll be terrorizing their mothers.

New Year's Eve was spent out at the McCarty residence playing on their new Wii. We left Collin with Grandma and Papa because we knew he wouldn't make it past 7 p.m. Can you believe it? I forgot to take my camera and Jenny didn't even take any pictures either. Probably a good thing as I took my turn at singing to Guitar Hero or Rock Band or whichever one it was. I really need to educate myself on these games.

Dylan celebrated a little too much on New Year's Eve...too many chocolate brownies. He threw up at 2:30 in the morning, and then pretty much slept the whole day. He finally got lively Friday afternoon after Grandma was able to get him to eat some applesauce. He's back to normal today...even went to his first basketball practice this morning with Brady and Kohlton.

Thank you Grandma and Papa for spending the week with us and taking care of the boys while Matt and I worked late, ran errands, and had a dinner date last night. We don't know what we would do without you!! I know you didn't get much sleep, Mother!!

I finally finished reading the 4th book of the Twilight series, and tomorrow, Adrienne and I are going to see the movie. The dads are going to watch football while the little guys "link up" their PSPs to play video games.

Have a good week everyone!

Hello to New Readers!!

2008-12-17T21:30:00.006-06:00

Hello to those of you who read about my blog in our Christmas letter this year!

Well, we had the first 2 Christmases of the 6 total that we are going to have this year. Matt's mom came up last Saturday. We all went to the Christmas concert at the Church of the Resurrection on Saturday night. That church is amazing, so you can imagine what the concert was like. Full orchestra, choir, kids choir, men and women groups...it all sounded like a professional concert.

Sunday night we hosted the McAtees and McCartys for our Christmas gift exchange. This was the 2nd year of this event. We all buy gifts for the 3 boys (and now the 2 babies). The secret to buying the gifts for the 3 boys is to buy 3 of each gift...the exact same thing. Then there isn't any fighting over what they received!! Each boy received a new sled, a marshmallow shooter, and a floor puzzle of the USA (yes, I was the boring mom this year!!).

As you can tell, we always seem to have a good time with this group!!

We did take the boys to see Santa Claus last week at Bass Pro Shop. Collin and Dylan sat on Santa's lap together...neither one of them cried!!

Let's see what else happened...this week has been crazy with the snow, and now ice will be coming tomorrow. Today my department had our gag gift exchange. I ended up with a KU National Championship poster. We always have to display our gag gifts in our cubicle for the remainder of the year. I unhappily taped up the KU poster on my wall, but promptly printed out huge Powercats and taped them all over the poster. It's been a good week at work...we all were given parking permits for the underground garage (since the landlord threatened to give us all parking tickets for parking in the garage when it snowed on Tuesday). Plus we all got the "OK" to wear jeans for the rest of year. Let me tell you...that's a big plus!!! I get so much more work done when I'm comfortable!!

Dylan has his class party tomorrow. Friday is Collin's last day at Heather's until February. She is scheduled to be induced on December 30th, if Maddie doesn't make her appearance before then. Then, we're headed to Wichita on Saturday for an overnight trip, if the weather holds out.

What a nice relaxing Sunday!!!

2008-12-07T11:22:00.005-06:00

Good Sunday morning to everyone! I'm sitting here in my nice comfy pants, listening to Matt give Dylan instructions downstairs on how to build shelves, while Collin is snoozing in his new bed...well not really a new bed...we decided that he doesn't like to take naps in his room. Considering how bright it is in his room versus how nice a quiet and dark it is at daycare for his naps, Matt set up the pack 'n play in our room, and Collin has been snoozing for over an hour now. Yeah!!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We went to Des Moines with my M&D and Great-Gma Nora to see Auntie Bev, Uncle Rod, Anne, Corey and Logan. We drove up on Thursday morning and came home Saturday afternoon. We got a hotel room for our family of 4, with a pool so Dylan could swim. Well, Collin wanted to keep everyone on the 2nd floor awake Thursday night by screaming every hour or two. So Collin and I spent Friday night at Auntie Bev's so we wouldn't get kicked out of the hotel.

Dylan and Logan got along great and played and played and played. Auntie Bev taught Collin how to crawl up the stairs. Thank goodness we don't spend a lot of time down in our basement!!

Friday night we left all 3 boys with the grandparents, and went out to dinner and a comedy show with Anne and Corey. That reminds...Anne, we didn't pay you back for those tickets.

After everyone left on Sunday, we dug out the Christmas tree. We had to put it in the living room this year, since Collin's room took over the front room where we used to put it up. I was just excited because since it is up against a wall instead of the front window...I didn't have to worry about putting lights and ornaments on the back of the tree!!!

Last night we headed out to McCarty's to watch the Big 12 Championship football game. This was our first chance since the babies started moving around on their own to really let Collin and Kameron play with each other.

Kam was a very good host...until Collin yanked the binky out of his mouth!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2008-11-24T21:10:00.004-06:00

Wow, it's been awhile since I posted. It's not like we weren't doing anything around here! : )

Matt has been in Dallas several times during the last couple of weeks. His Grandma Bogner passed away last Wednesday evening, so we went back to Colwich for the funeral on Saturday. I hadn't attended a Catholic funeral mass, but it's definitely a fantastic way to say goodbye to someone you love. It's a terrific send-off. We are all definitely better people from knowing Grandma Bobbie.

We're headed to Des Moines for Thanksgiving. I went ahead and started digging out the Christmas stuff last night. I have everything out except for the Christmas tree. Poor Moxie's stocking was relocated to hanging on a kitchen cabinet because we only had 4 stocking holders. Collin took her place.

Here's hoping that I have lots of pictures from this holiday week to post next weekend to give you all something to see!! : )

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I've found myself a musical lover!

2008-11-09T20:36:00.005-06:00

I took Dylan to see Lion King on Broadway yesterday afternoon at the Music Hall in KCMO. Even though he wasn't feeling good, he loved what he saw. There was lots of action and dancing and singing to keep his attention. We left at intermission though, because he was burning up!! We came home and he laid on the couch the rest of the evening. Poor little guy!!!

We just watched a lot of football the rest of the weekend. Our Trailblazers won Friday night, so they move onto the next round in the playoffs. Collin has become their biggest fan!!

K-State lost (of course) to Missouri, and the KC Chiefs lost (of course) today. Matt worked all day today, so the boys were very good and played so that I could get all kinds of projects done. I switched out the summer clothes for the winter clothes, hung up a few new decorating items (I'll have to take a picture of my favorite thing), and put the bigger car seat in Matt's truck for Collin.

One last picture...this is how we have to change Collin's diaper nowadays. He moves too fast!!!! Lori Harris gave Matt this idea...stand him up to something so he can play.

Happy Birthday Collin!!

2008-11-04T14:10:00.004-06:00

My baby is 8 months old today. Just said his first word last night...not exactly sure what he was saying...either ba-ba for bath (because I heard it for the first time when I carried him into the bathroom while the bath water was running)...or ba-ba for Bubba (big brother Dylan).

Here he is posing with Hunter, our friend's dog. This dog is the best dog...so calm around kids.

Halloween round-up

2008-11-03T15:41:00.007-06:00

Well, I'm sitting at home on a Monday afternoon because Collin got sick at the babysitter's. It must have been a fluke thing, because he's fine now. He's taking a little snooze now so I'm going to catch up on my blogging.

Halloween was a success at our house. The weather was awesome, so we skipped Boo Bash. We ate supper with McCarty's and McAtee's, and then headed home. Matt and Dylan went trick-or treating around the neighborhood, and Collin & I sat outside to hand out candy. Collin's cow costume didn't fit him anymore, so he wore Dylan's dragon costume from Dylan's first halloween. Take a look at the two pictures below. Dylan is in the picture that was taken on our front porch at our old house. The two of them look pretty much the same in that costume.

Saturday night we went out for Steve McAtee's birthday. The 6 of us went down to the Power & Light District. We ate at Gorden Biersch Brewery (awesome food), and hung out at Howl at the Moon and PBR clubs. The PBR is a country bar, so it brought back all of my college memories of hanging out in Longhorns!!! Matt's mom came up to see the boys, so she babysat for us.

The rest of the weekend was a bust...thanks to the KSU Wildcats who got BLOWN OUT by those "stinky Jayhawks" as Dylan would call them. Good grief...fireronprince.com gets my vote as the best website of the year.

Brrrr...it's feeling like Halloween weather!!!

2008-10-21T21:46:00.002-05:00

Here comes the cold wind....I love how it feels outside when the wind blows and it's dark and you see everyone's pumpkins glowing on their front porches. I love our neighborhood this year...everyone has orange lights and pumpkins and scary stuff on their porches. Everyone went all out!!! This year should be fun on Halloween. We are planning to trick or treat in the neighborhood...all of the neighbors are sticking around this year...and then we're heading out to McCarty's house for a bonfire.

Last night I had a MOPS meeting. Our yellow table provided the dinner...chili and the fixin's. I took cornbread muffins. We had the best speaker....she is with the MOPS organization, and she spoke about how to find God in this hectic world we live in. I (along with all of the moms at my table) agree that we are always rushing the kids to get their teeth brushed, coat on, into the car, hurry, hurry, hurry, we'll be late!!! It's hard to do, but I have to remember that I just need to take a moment and breathe. We'll get to school, I'll get to work. The verse she ended her speech with was Psalms 46:10...Be still, and know that I am God. Just the way she said it made me take a deep breath and exhale. It was like a calm had settled over me. It was just a very good evening!!

Have a good week everyone!!!

I don't think we ever slow down!!

2008-10-21T21:29:00.004-05:00

It was such an awesome weekend for being outside, and we definitely took advantage of it in the great town of Marquette!!

Matt had a golf outing planned for Friday afternoon with his department at work, so the boys and I headed out for Marquette around 2 or so. I had thought about stopping by the Smoky Valley High School football game since it was a home game, but we were going to go through Lindsborg too early to just stop by on our way to Mom & Dad's. So, I vetoed that idea....until Mijkin, my best friend from high school, called me on the way home. She said that the 1988 State Championship football team was going to be honored at halftime, and EVERYONE would be there. Well, since I haven't been to a SVHS anything since I was in college, I decided that we could go. And I didn't have to twist Dad's arm too much. After we ate supper, me, Dad & Dylan headed over to Anderson Field in Lindsborg. OMG...everyone looked so totally different!!! I found Mijkin, and sat down with her, while Dylan and Dad hung out together. I couldn't help but stare at everyone, but it took me so long to figure out who they were. Let's just say that Mijkin and I feel pretty darn good about how we look for our age!!! Everyone seemed to be either bald or heavier. There weren't very many girls there...only the wives of the former football players. I actually sat down behind a couple of guys who were part of our "Group" in high school, and I didn't even realize it. But it was so good to see them and catch up and of course, show off my pictures of Dylan and Collin!! That's another thing...everyone seemed to have kids in junior high...they were shocked to find out that I had just had a baby!!! Yep, started kind of late!!

Anyways, then on Saturday, Marquette hosted their Autumn in the Valley fall festival uptown. So Mom and I took the boys up to walk up and down Main Street. For those of you who know Marquette, you'll understand when I say that it took us a good 30 minutes to walk through the whole festival. Here's a picture of the boys in front of some of the decorations. As usual Collin is sticking stuff in his mouth!!

Then on Saturday afternoon, I met Mijkin up at the park in Marquette so the kids could play and so Collin and Kenzley could meet each other. Kenzley is almost 1 month older than Collin, but very petite...especially next to our football player. Here is the picture we took of the 4 kids...Dylan (5), Collin (7 mo), Kenzley (8 mo), and Kira (8). Kerrington (6) was playing at a friend's house.

We headed back home on Sunday to see how Matt was doing with his bachelor weekend. He tackled chores around the house, watched football, and hung out with Moxie. He was so bored with the KSU game Saturday night that he took pictures of Moxie and sent them to my phone!! I knew she was special to him!!!

Happy Anniversary!!

2008-10-17T08:10:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was our 9th wedding anniversary!!! We went to lunch at EBT Restaurant to celebrate.

Today I'm heading back to Marquette with the boys for the weekend. Matt is staying up here to catch up on some things. He has a list a mile long to work on. Saturday is the fall festival in Marquette...Autumn in the Valley. I've never been to it, so it will be fun to get out and see everyone.

Mom and Dad have dial-up internet service, so I may be going through blogging withdrawal by the time I get back home on Sunday.

Have a good weekend!!!

Awesome Giveaway

2008-10-16T11:05:00.002-05:00

Since I'm hooked on using coupons at Walgreens these days, I thought I would pass on the following giveway to my friends!!!

http://savingourcents.blogspot.com/2008/10/just-when-i-thought-i-was-done-purging.html

I really tried to keep my cool!!!

2008-10-14T21:09:00.008-05:00

Well, we had an interesting pick-up at Dylan's school today. The kindergarten classes didn't have school today because of P-T conferences, so he had full day care through JCPRD. They went to Chucky Cheese today for their field trip. Knowing that he didn't have to be picked up until 6 p.m. (not that I would leave him there that long), I left at my regular time and stopped at Walmart on my way into Gardner. Well, I had been there 20 minutes when the school secretary called me to find out if I was going to pick up Dylan since he was a car-rider today. I said no, because he's not a car-rider today...he's in JCPRD. They said well, he says he's a car-rider today. I thought to myself...and you're believing a 5 year old? Anyways, there was just a mis-communication, and he went back to JCPRD. Well, I sped through Walmart, went to pick him up, had a stress-filled conversation with his JCPRD teacher, picked up Collin, felt bad, and came home and sent an email to his JCPRD teacher, apologizing for acting all crazy. She just responded back, whew!!!, and said that she was actually going to call me tomorrow to apologize for her attitude. Matt just told me that I should just let it go and move on.

Oh, and Matt just read my posts, and said that I forgot to say that he waxed both vehicles last weekend, and that I should have posted a picture of his shiny truck!! LOL!!

Good night everyone.

K...S...U...Wildcats!!!

2008-10-12T20:50:00.006-05:00

OK, so I'm back on the bandwagon after our impressive offensive performance this weekend down in College Station. Our Wildcats beat Texas A&M on Saturday. Now, the defense...not so impressive. But a win is a win, and hopefully we'll beat Colorado next Saturday!!!

Friday night my boys went to the GEHS football game, and watched the Blazers beat Eudora 41-3. I invited all of the girls from our street to our house for wine night. We've decided that this will be a monthly occasion. We didn't even get started playing games...we had too much catching up to do!! In the picture below is Blaire, Robin, Gricell and Allison.

On Saturday we all went to Coen's birthday party. Coen used to be in Dylan's preschool class at Madison before his family moved to Overland Park. Coen has a little brother, Hayden, who was born last December. The party was at Incredibowl...the boys bowled 1 game (I'm proud to say that Dylan won...he bowled two strikes...definitely takes after his mother!!), and they played 1 game of laser tag....Dads against boys (and Sydney, Kohlton's sister). The boys won!! They came out drenched with sweat...they had so much fun!!! They are all getting suited up in the picture below (Sydney, Coen, Brady, Steve, Kohlton, and Dylan).

Then we headed to Dairy Queen for ice cream cake and presents. It's so awesome to get these 4 boys together for their birthdays...we all know what they like to do, they all get along so well, and we can re-use the gift sacks. I think we've been doing that for a year now. : )

On Sunday, we went to church, Dylan went to Sunday school, Matt planted some bushes, and we watched some football. At least the KC Chiefs didn't play, so they didn't lose again. : )

The Stress We're All Feeling

2008-10-10T09:59:00.002-05:00

Working in the financial industry, and especially since I work with people's retirement accounts, I've been hearing from lots of people worried about how much money they are losing in their accounts. I've gotten way too many calls from people needing to withdraw money from their retirement accounts in order to keep from losing their homes to foreclosure. It's so sad.

Worrying about our future is always at the back of my mind lately...hoping and praying that we don't lose our jobs. I just got an email from Pastor Steve from First Light Methodist Church acknowledging the state of the economy. He is going to focus his Sunday sermon on "Faith and the Economy." He will be talking about "what it means to be a person of faith during uncertain times" and that we need to focus our attentions to God for reassurance. He included a scripture from Psalm 27:13-14. I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

Boy, it's hard to do, but I know I need to be patient. It will work out somehow.

Dancing with the Stars

2008-10-07T19:50:00.006-05:00

We're all sitting here watching my favorite show of the fall...Dancing With The Stars!!! I can't believe Cloris Leachman made it another week!!!!

We had such a busy weekend, and it was so hot!! Definitely not football weather, but we went to a bunch of football games.

Friday night GEHS won their fifth game in a row against Spring Hill. We met up with Brady and Kohlton's families, and also ended up sitting by one of Dylan's buddies from his kindergarten class. Look at these cute little guys in their Trailblazer blue sweatshirts!!! Zachary (on the far right) has a brother who plays on the football team.

Then Saturday we headed to Manhattan for an embarrassing loss to Texas Tech. Holy cow...it seems like just yesterday when our football team was good and we waited around to see where we were ranked in the Top 25. I hope this drought doesn't last long. I'm trying so hard not to be a fairweathered fan. Look at the guy sitting on the other side of Matt. This picture was taken before the game even started, and that guy was already frustrated!!!

On Sunday we went to the Kansas City Renaissance Festival with Brady and his parents. I haven't been there since I was in 7th grade when our school took a field trip. It was fun...not a lot of stuff for little kids to do. Brady and Dylan wants swords, but we said no to that pretty quickly. They liked the wrestling show and the jousting show. That was pretty much it. Adrienne and I agreed that us moms need to go by ourselves to shop. There were some cool jewelry booths.

Now we're back to the work week. I'm hosting wine night at my house on Friday night for the girls on our street. I'll try to get some pictures!!

Our busy weekend!!

2008-09-28T22:03:00.003-05:00

Well, we didn't end up going to the KSU game this weekend...first, because it was going to be HOT, and second, I had several things to catch up on for work. So Steve and Carsyn Harris used our tickets, and came up from OKC to watch the game (Hi Miss Carsyn...hope you had fun!!!). And thankfully KSU won the game. I'm trying so hard to not be a fair-weather fan, but good grief, it's so depressing to remember how good we used to be, and look at us now.

We did attend one football game this weekend...Gardner-Edgerton High School vs. Louisburg. GO TRAILBLAZERS!!! 4-0 to start the season!!! Coach Diener is working miracles with this team. We've got a great team...so I hope we can go far this season. This is what I've been waiting for ever since we moved to the small (ha, ha) town of Gardner...to relive my high school days of when everyone in the town went to the Friday night football game. It didn't use to be this way...the stadium would be half full for the first half, and then everyone went home at half-time. Now, you should see the crowds that head to the high school on Friday nights...and there's even big crowds that head on down the road to attend the away games. I love it!!! It makes me anxious for when our boys are old enough to play football.

Then on Saturday, Matt & Dylan went to the Nationwide 300 at the Kansas Speedway. This is their 2nd race that they've seen this year (they went to the Craftsman truck race in April). I don't mind it at all...Collin and I had a lovely afternoon together...reading blogs!!!

Today we went to church and Dylan went to Sunday School (learned about Noah's Ark, so we had to read the whole story tonight at bedtime). I really need to find him a good children's bible. Any ideas, anyone?

Chris, Mandy & Megan came over tonight for supper and to play at the park. That's all for our weekend. My three boys are all in bed, Moxie is laying on the chair, looking very perturbed that the lamp is still on. How dare I be up this late in the living room keeping her awake?! Time for bed for the ladies of the house.

Kindergarten Heritage Celebration Picnic

2008-09-28T21:46:00.010-05:00

Dylan's class celebrated their family heritages last Friday by inviting their families to join them in a potluck picnic. We were all supposed to bring a food item that came from our heritage or a favorite food item that our family likes to eat. Well, since we really don't have one specific heritage, I decided to take tortilla roll-ups...love, love, love the premade ones that you can find in the freezer section at Price Chopper. OK, so I know I cheated, and I'm pretty sure every other food item at the picnic was homemade. Oh well.

Here is Dylan reading a book to Daddy, while we waited for all of the parents to get there.

They put on a little play for us to start the celebration. It was about making friends. The class was divided up into two groups...outgoing kids and shy kids. Dylan was in the shy group...Mrs. Furlong pretty much hit the nail on the head by putting him in that group...except he doesn't look like he's shy in this picture.

Mrs. Furlong is standing at the head of the line (in the white t-shirt). I'm very impressed with how well the kids follow her directions...it's amazing!!! When she talks, they definitely listen!!

Time to Decorate for Fall

2008-09-28T21:36:00.003-05:00

Dylan decided that since Collin's babysitter had put out all of her Halloween decorations, we needed to decorate too. So last Sunday while Matt was golfing and Collin was sleeping, Dylan and I dug out the 3 tubs of fall decor. I also promised him that we could go to Target and buy 1 new Halloween decoration. We came home with the pumpkin light stakes that we put in front of the landscaping.

I copied the lady down the street with the orange lights around the topiaries. I bought those topiaries at Walmart when we first moved into the new house...3 years ago. I think they cost $20 each, and I figured they would last a year. But, they've been in and out of the house, unlit and lit, and 3 years later, they've only lost a couple of branches!! (Don't look at all of my extension cords...I'm famous for having a million different cords going every which way.) (Also ignore the dead plant sitting on the front step.)

Junior Wildcat Day - September 6

2008-09-24T12:38:00.004-05:00

The KSU Alumni Association offers a program for kids called the Junior Wildcat Club, so I enrolled Dylan in it this year. It costs $40, and he gets a t-shirt and other goodies, and has 3 opportunities during the school year to meet up with the athletes. During football season, they have an autograph session with the basketball players. During basketball season, they get to meet the football players. Then they also have a gathering during the spring football game.

So, Junior Wildcat Day was on September 6th at Bramlage Coliseum. They had all of the basketball players (girls and guys) there to sign autographs. Of course, Dylan didn't want to go down on the floor because he didn't know anyone, so Matt dragged him out there. After awhile, he started to loosen up. Collin, of course, was the hit of the day for the girls basketball players. They couldn't get enough of him!!

Marlies Gipson, who is from McPherson, KS (back home)

Making sure Collin soaks in all of the purple that he can.

Jacob Pullen, our new favorite basketball player

Deb Patterson, girls coach

Shalee Lehning from the girls team...loved Collin!!

I'm kicking myself for not doing this last year...can you imagine getting Michael Beasley's autograph? That would have been way too cool!!!

After the autograph session was done, we all went down on the football field to greet the football team as they came into the stadium to get dressed. I think Matt loved it just as much as Dylan did.

Josh Freeman, quarterback

For $40, I would consider this a great deal!!! I mean, when would we ever get the chance to be on the basketball court or football field...unless of course, our boys become great athletes for KSU. : )

KU Watch Party

2008-09-24T12:29:00.003-05:00

Yes, you don't have to blink and rub your eyes...I actually said the dreaded letters, K & U. When KU played on a Friday night a couple of weeks ago, we had our good friends, the McCartys and the McAtees (all KU fans) over to watch the game. We had planned to go to Gardner's football game that night, but it was rained out.

The guys watched the game, the boys ran around the house and made a lot of noise, and the moms sat and chatted. I tried my sangria recipes again, and they turned out yummy!!

I just love the grin on Collin's face in this picture.

Collin and Kameron (Kohlton's little brother). Kameron was born on April 3rd...almost exactly 1 month younger than Collin. They have no choice but to be best friends!!

Dylan, Collin, Kohlton, Kameron, and Brady.

I'm already struggling for a title...

2008-09-23T21:49:00.002-05:00

So I'll just post some pictures of the boys. : )

Collin was trying to drink out of the sippy cup like this...without holding it in his hands.

Howl at the Moon!!!

2008-09-22T21:42:00.001-05:00

Jenny sent me the pictures from Saturday night at Howl at the Moon!!! This is my friend Adrienne (aka Brady's mom).

Jenny (aka Kohlton's mom) joined us for this party pic. I look horrible!!!

This is me and Adrienne with a couple of Jenny's co-workers dancin' down in the courtyard of the Power & Light District. The funniest part of the evening was when the DJ played "Hangin' Tough" by New Kids on the Block. We started screaming like we were in high school again!! LOL!

Maybe I'll do better with blogging

2008-09-21T19:16:00.000-05:00

OK, OK, I know I'm the worst person when it comes down to sending out pictures of my boys and sending out email updates about the Jacobs' family happenings. So, I'm going to try the blogging thing.

I've been lurking on other people's blogs, and it's a pretty cool thing...I'm just hooked on the cute designs and colors that people have designed for their blogs. Some people compose entries every day...I don't think that I'll be able to do it quite that often...I'm hoping for weekly entries...besides we really don't do that many exciting things!

So, here goes...this week was unfortunately filled with sickness at our house. Collin had a fever on Monday and Tuesday, and I got a call from the school nurse on Friday about Dylan's 101.4 fever. I think Collin's was from teething, and we had Dylan tested for strep throat because his throat hurt terribly, but it came back negative. So, I gave them lots of cuddling and Motrin, and by Saturday, both boys were feeling fine.

Matt had an airports conference on Monday thru Wednesday. The guys played golf on Monday afternoon, social hour at Boulevard Brewery on Monday night, and then Matt and the other BWR guys treated their clients to the Royals game on Tuesday night. Then he went back to his dad's farm on Friday to help Neal mow and clean up the place. He came back Saturday morning to relieve me of my duties...because Mommy had the most exciting plans of the week!!!!

I attended my friend Jenny's monthly wine night Saturday evening. This is the most awesome idea ever!!! A group of her co-workers started having wine night once a month at someone's house. They each brought 2 bottles of wine and an appetizer...with the plan being to drink half of the bottles of wine and each of them would then take a bottle home. Well, the plan hasn't ever worked that way...all of the wine ends up disappearing. Well, this month they decided to have their wine night at Howl at the Moon down in the Power & Light District in downtown Kansas City, MO. Howl at the Moon is the best bar ever!!!! They have dueling pianos (no, it's not what everyone thinks of the first time they hear this.) They have a whole band along with the dueling pianos and they take requests from the audience and they play any song...country, rap, oldies, top 40, etc. Take a look at their website...howlatthemoon.com. I can't do it any justice by trying to explain it. Well, this month, my friend Adrienne & I were invited to tag along, and of course, we had to join them. It was a blast!!!! I'll post pictures of our evening when Jenny sends them to me.

Well, I'm pooped from my late night last night, and I need to wake Collin up from his nap to put his PJ's on and give him his bottle and put him back to bed. Hee hee, he's slept a lot today!!! He has his 6 month appointment tomorrow...yuck more shots. Dylan is going along to be moral support for his little bro.