summer-summary

Well, once again, I fell behind in the blog. But, hey, it looks as if I'm not the only one! I just dropped in to give ya'll a quick rundown of how our summer went.

We didn't get to Gramma & Grampa's as much as we wanted, but when we were there, we made the very best of it!!!

We worked in the garden, A LOT!!! We have GALLONS of tomatoes & green beans, as well as different kinds of pickles. We relocated the vegetable garden, & our new location worked very nice. The vegetable garden was mostly Stacey's terrain, while I grew pumpkins & gourds. I also started a new & very large landscaping plan in front of the house. Right now that's just shaped in & getting treated with compost, but I have HIGH hopes!!! Pictures to come!!!

The kids went to a couple of different Vacation Bible Schools. And we we're constantly preparing Henry for the start of Kindergarten! We were not sure how that would work for him, as he is one of the youngest in his group & was kind of borderline on his kindergarten screening. But, he is very smart! He seems to pick up on things so easily, & is always eager to ask questions & learn more. And we are happy to report, Henry is doing GREAT! Maybe he has a couple of issues with distracting his friends, but we're working on it, & his schoolwork looks very good! We are SO proud of him! Charlie is in the 2nd grade now, & things seem smoother now that he has concrete easy-to-understand assignments to complete, now that the 'learning-to-read' is under our belt. I'm gonna enjoy it now, while I still understand the work he is being given, once the higher math starts, his dad is gonna have to step in! And Elizabeth is becoming a young lady! : / She took well to potty training & so she was able to start preschool. She gets to go every morning, & she seems to enjoy it a lot, I know I do!

We had a belated summer trip to Worlds of Fun when my brother was in town a couple of weeks ago. My mom came up as well, & we were able to enjoy the exciting halloween events at Worlds of Fun. Charlie has been tall enough to ride the big rides with me since last summer, & he loved it again this year (although I DID have to talk him into getting on the Detonator again!) Henry, though, Henry WANTED to get on some of the rides he was now big enough for. But once we were getting settled in, seatbelts, waiting, whatever... he started to FREAK-OUT!!! I mean, fighting to get off & yelling... But as soon as the ride would start to go, he was smiling so big or laughing so hard!!! It was great!!! We were there a LONG time, & they had to drag me out of there! If you haven't been there for their scary night-time stuff, you gotta go!

ALL the kids (and myself) had birthdays over the summer, Stacey's will be here soon! We also celebrated our 12th anniversary.

Well, there were great times, big events. Some large & unforgetable. Some, maybe, quieter moments, bits of happiness, that I will recall in unexpected flashes as I go on, but inscribed on my spirit all the same. Hope you had a wonderful summer too.

Hello, again!

Well, I know, it's been awhile, again... But so many things have been happening!!! School has started (which is what enables me to sit here, doing this right now)!!! Charlie has gone into the 2nd grade, so this is 'old hat' for him, he's a pro. Now, Henry, I was worried about Henry. He is one of the youngest in his group, & on top of his already reambunctious nature, I thought things would be rough @ school for him, but so far there have been no complaints (man, I hope I didn't just jinx anything!) He is eager to get to school everyday, & the work he brings home looks pretty decent. I am so proud of my boys!!! Even Elizabeth is going to preschool every morning & SHE is doing great. And this Momma gets a few hours to herself everyday!!! Even after Elizabeth comes home, she has lunch & lays down for her nap. Except for maybe today. I've looked in on her quite a few times, & everytime she is up to something different! Just a few minutes ago, I checked & she had just pooped-in-the-potty, in a pitch dark bathroom, & she was still running around bare-bottomed & un-wiped, but she's so good. Before that I had looked in on her, & I was able to watch her for a few quiet minutes while she bounced her plastic toy elephant around in the stove of her little kitchen, as she is laying down on the floor, with her head resting on a little stuffed frog. Once she noticed me, she looked away ashamed & acted like she could just be invisable as long as she just didn't look back & acknowledge me! I got her back to bed & noticed she had also been busy lining some of her other stuffed animals up in a chair for some event she had planned. I guess I'll just hafta give up on the nap if she doesn't lay down soon. She is so sweet! In the meantime, I might just try to take a little nap myself before the boys get home! So long.

Happy Fathers Day!!!

The greatest gift I ever had Came from God;

I call him Dad! ~Author Unknown

Happy Anniversary to us!!!

One more year!!!

Stacey & I were married on June 18th, 1997 on the island of Kauaii in Hawaii. We had already been together for about eight years before we eloped and I loved our wedding day.

Stacey & I at the baby
shower his co-workers
had for us when I was
pregnant w/ Charlie.

June 18th, 1997

Stacey & I with a new
Charlie. Aren't I pretty!?!

Us & boys at a Royals
game in 2006.



We were up before the sun & out to the docks to meet the crew who would be taking us deep sea fishing. The fishing boats over there are all pretty much restaurant sponsered. Meaning, they take you out fishing (for a fee, of course), you catch the fish, & they keep it & serve it to their customers. You do, however, get to go to their restaurant & have a portion of said fish for free, sides not included.
So... It was the farthest I had been out to sea on a boat, Stacey & I were so far gone with sea-sickness. There was a kind of an enclosed area where we rested while the boat carried us out to sea, the floor of this area was a few inches lower than the rest of the deck. That was a kind of a sick, really unlike any I have ever felt before. Neither of us actually GOT sick (Stacey has not even thrown up in the 20 years that I have known him)(that's ironic really, 'cause HE'S the one who, I feel, is responsible for a lot of MY throwing up! ;> ), & I was to the point that I had absolutely no interest in catching a fish. But, as luck would have it, a fish struck Stacey's pole & we were immediately improved. We were up & working at reeling the fish in & too busy to think about feeling bad any more. I don't think it took too long for Stacey to pull the fish in, I had no idea of what to expect, I know he had to work hard for the time it did take. Meanwhile, there is another newlywed couple on the boat, who have retreated to the enclosed area. And when I said WE were sick, man, they made us look the peak of health. They were sick, all over the place. Did I mention there was no kind of drainage in this sunken, enclosed area? Jeez, it was disgusting. (but I can't help laughing a little just now). So, we get the rush of reeling this mysterious 30 pound fish in & it's not anything I recognize. Turns out it's an ONO, or a Wahoo, common in that area, & sometimes shipped to meat markets & restaurants in this area. When the fish is finally pulled onto the deck we are warned that it has small, sharp teeth. And then they beat it to death with a small aluminum bat. I don't know why there would even be a metal bat that size, except to maybe pummel a toddler sized fish to a messy & somewhat slow death. I mean, the first few whacks were not quite enough, it started to flop around again after a moment of rest & they had to give it a couple more. I kind of started to feel sick again after that. What an exhilerating morning that was! Boy, I did not see this story taking quite that turn, sorry, but I guess I just wanted to paint the whole picture. As we were unloading from the boat, one of the crew was trying to sweep & hose out that little enclosure...

...sorry, I was just laughing to myself again.

Okay, so after all that, we needed a nap. We had some time, we weren't getting married until 4p.m. And would you be surprised to learn that we were late for our own wedding? No, I thought not.

It was a beautiful late afternoon in Hawaii. We had scheduled our ceremony with a woman, Beverly, who has a few of Hawaii's most glorious acres, really pure utopian paradise. Our wedding picture, that you see above, is her back yard. The ocean. The Pacific ocean is her backyard. As we stand there, we are facing the rear of her house, with Makana looking upon us. We were married, however, in her front yard. The estate was beautifully landscaped, so green & tropical, bordered on one side by a swift, but quiet stream. The whole scene was overlooked by the mountain, "Makana". The woman called her 'business', "Wedding's with Makana", as the mountain serves as a witness to the marriage. Our 'human' witness, & the only other guest to our wedding, beside Beverly, who was ordained to marry us, was our photographer. We were married in the gazebo, it was simple & quiet, & better than I ever could have imagined. Would you be surprised to know that I was a blubbering idiot? I didn't think so. Beverly & the photographer left us following the ceremony, so that we could look around & take our own pictures. And when we found the stream alongside the property, I realized that further upstream was a swimming hole,utilized by the locals, that my family & I had found & enjoyed in a previous vacation. Kind of a full circle moment for me.

Later, Stacey & I had dinner at an old plantation-turned-restaurant. It was a quiet celebration, with nobody around us to know we were just married. Pretty laid-back, probably no big surprise there.

The following day we went to the restaurant that took us deep sea fishing. We had our "Wahoo", & it was spectacular!!!

; >

EH ALOHA PAU OLE

(may your love be everlasting)

Charlie's Gr8!!!

Happy Birthday to Charlie!!!

This was the first birthday day that has also been a school day. All the kids are summer (or almost summer) birthdays. I'm a summer birthday too & I thought it was great that Charlie could go to school & be the center of attention for a while! So I got to make cupcakes for Charlie & his friends. I made so many that Charlie got to help pass the extras around to the other teachers, because it was also teacher appreciation week, & there were STILL cupcakes left over!

That night we had a small family dinner at Habenero's & opened family gifts, mostly Star Wars stuff.



Later, Charlie had a 'Video Game' party with just a few of his best friends. And of course, there were more Star Wars gifts!

Here's some more on Henry's preschool graduation.

Here Henry is giving a big hug to his wonderful teachers for the year; Miss Fenton, & her mom, Mrs. Fenton

Here are the kids gathering to perform a song they had been practicing all year long, but now it had a new & special finale! It was really cute with the kids using their BIG voices & their quiet voices, lots of hand movements. And at the end, the new & special finale, all of the kids tossed their graduation caps into the air. Everyone... except for Henry. I can only imagine how excited the kids were to rip off those caps & throw them wildly into the air! But Henry, he kept that cap on until the very end!

Well, now it's been two months since I have posted, shame on me. For so long nothing was happening, & then we just had tons of stuff. The end of the school year is so busy, lots of field trips, field day, programs...

Henry graduated from preschool, possibly for the first time. He had a screening for kindergarten & he's borderline for being ready, he is one of the youngest in his group. We had this same issue with Charlie & had to learn the hard way by starting him in school & then pulling him out. Lone Jack has such an awesome program, with the screening & the kindergarten prepardeness he's in for summer school right now. These things may not completely get him ready for kindergarten this year, but it may help to ease Stacey & I into waiting another year. He's so darn smart, he's got all the stuff he needs to know, he's just too busy to hold still yet for a classroom. We'll see...

There she goes..!!!

Just about every year my sister-in-law, Shannon & her family, host our family Easter dinner. They are just a couple houses up from us & it is so nice to just walk up the street to a family function.

There isn't too much worry about packing this, or 'Oh, I forgot that', I can just jaunt down the street to get something. I love living near family like this, I hope they don't mind it too much! So on Sunday, everybody is looking lovely & we trotted down the street, looking forward to a yummy Easter dinner. Ham with my father-in-law's honey-wine sauce, green bean casserole, my husband's decadent cheesy potatoes! Mmm-mmm!!! It was as the chilly rain was beginning, just before our dinner, that the kids hunted for their Easter eggs. Everyone has thier own color of egg to seek, so that nobody is left out. But everyone was rushing about anyway, trying to hurry to get out of the weather. It was within minutes of our arriving to the family dinner in carefully chosen outfits & smartly styled hair, Easter eggs gathered, & returning inside cold, soggy and laughing. The kids only ate sweets, Man, they don't know WHAT they're missing. As I was telling myself the second helping of cheesy potatoes I was eating were my desert, the key lime pie & strawberry shortcake were brought out. Well, what's a girl to do?! Afterall, Easter only comes once a year!

Much ado about nothing

Well, I guess I'll start this posting the way many others are. "Sorry, I haven't posted for so long..." There just hasn't been much going on around here to talk about. Stacey came home this evening with a Wii, so that's exciting. I haven't had much desire to have one, but the kids were so excited, and I've heard from lots of my friends that they love their Wii! I'm trying to add some pics from Easter, but they just won't upload right now. Keep checkin', I might just get it done!

A big day for Elizabeth!!!

Today's the Day! Elizabeth came to our bed early this morning & slept a while with us. When we woke up, I felt her diaper & she was dry. She has been waking up dry often lately, but I've never been able to get her to sit on the toilet. She is eager to get there, but when actually confronted with this porcelain challenge, she freaks out & won't sit on her seat. And then, most of the time she asks for "priseat", meaning, she wants privacy & I should go away! Today, I was just happy to get her to sit on her nice, padded seat with the yellow duckies printed on it. She wasn't worried a bit! I told her if she could go pee-pee, I would do the happy dance for her. She had a little trouble trying to figure out what to do once she was sitting up there, but once she saw how excited I was when she made a couple of tinkles, she just kept trying. She looked pretty happy with herself!!! Maybe we're on the way!!!

Saying goodnight is so hard to do...

Here are some images to show our nightly routine. Charlie now reads to Elizabeth every night before bed. She is still in the habit of sucking those two fingers on her left hand, while holding her baby-of-choice in her other arm. Tonight it is Ivan, my childhood Cabbage Patch doll. Sometimes she just gazes at Charlie, studying him while he reads to her. Henry is laying nearby, in Elizabeth's toddler bed, looking tired & listening quietly to Charlie's story. But, as you can see, Henry doesn't always make it all the way to bed. Here he has fallen asleep on the stairs up to his room! The flash of the camera kept waking him up & made him grouchy, but it makes for an entertaining post! Elizabeth needs a little extra attention to get her to stay in bed. She has a fear of 'the barkley' at night. See, her cousins have a wiener dog named 'Barkely', he's a sweet thing, & one of the first dogs she has spent any real time with. So I guess this is why she calls dogs 'barkleys'. There was a time, months ago, that the neighbors 'barkley' was barking outside her window & she woke up from her nap terrified. So now we have to continually reveiw every night, that she is safe in her room, & the 'barkely' is stuck outside in his cage... I have even created "Barkley spray" by disguising a can of nicely-scented Lysol, & we spray a little "Barkley spray" in her room for each nap & bed time. So the other night, while I stayed late at work for a delivery, Stacey was at home scratching his head in frustration because Elizabeth was crying & refusing to go to bed. By the time I got home, she had finally gone to sleep. But Stacey wanted to know why she was crying for "Pocket space", because that's what it sounds like she says when she wants her "Barkley spray"!

Here's Jojo!!!

Meet Jojo, our guinea pig & newest family addition. He's taking some time to get used to us. But, as you can see, the kids (okay, & me) love him.

just Elizabeth

Here is Elizabeth with Ivan Harvey, my childhood Cabbage Patch doll that we found & cleaned up today. And he is accompanied by Elizabeth's best friend Bunny, the blue elephant.

!!!Ugh!!!

Okay, this is just the kind of thing that happens to me. Stacey is selling some pressure cookers on Craigs List, & my cell was listed as the contact, as I was off last week & more able to take the calls... Well, I worked this weekend, & the number was still on the listing, not too big of a deal, I was able to manage the calls that came in, or so I thought. I received a call about a pressure cooker on saturday from a young lady, who was really just being the relayer of information from the man she was with, I could hear him in the background with the questions. There was a lot of back & forth, some phone interference & lots of wind, I could tell they were out & about. They had all kinds of suggestions about meeting in other parts of KC, so they would not have to drive all the way from Olathe to Lone Jack. I had to explain a couple of times that I was @ work & unable to transport the pressure cooker & I didn't want my husband to load up the kids to go for a long drive himself. At one point I thought they asked if they take 50, I said "yeah, you take 50 highway". We arranged that they would call me back for directions after they finished their current errand, they called back, I gave directions & they got out to the house to get the pressure cooker. But that's when Stacey calls me to ask how much I told them for the pressure cooker, I said "we didn't discuss price, so it should be $75." Well, they left the house & immediately called me, & we tried to figure out why they thought we had discussed a different price. That's when I realized it was when I said "yeah, you take 50 highway." They were not asking if they take 50 out to Lone Jack, they were asking if I would take $50 for the pressure cooker. Well, I did feel bad, but some people don't make it easy to work with them. This young lady was nice, but in the background, I heard the man say we should owe him $15 for the long drive out there, and then she asks if we will take $60. I tell her no, that I'm sure we'll get the $75 for it, but I feel bad. Stacey felt the same way, we wanted to work with them, but in the end we just let them keep going, because it was just a misunderstanding, & then there was the suggestion of entitlement that I didn't like. So, today, I get this text from their number saying "I hope you know that I have turned you guys in for fraud." !!! Ugh !!! Now I am probably thinking about this, & having more angry feelings about it than they are. Also, I don't feel comfortable, because they have my number (if they chose to continue to harass me), but more worrisome, they know right where we live. This will probably all amount to nothing, they will probably do & say nothing else (I'm sure there is also no claim of fraud anywhere out there). But right now I am very bothered. does anyone have any suggestions?

One bright & disturbing morning...

While we are all enjoying breakfast together the other morning, Henry exclaims, "I can hear the Rice Krispies scream when I eat them!"

Lucky day

We were lucky enough to get some good pictures, a couple of years ago, of this bright & beautiful double rainbow from our Lone Jack home.

If you look close, I think you might just spot that pot 'o' gold.

"...it's what's for dinner!"

It's funny how lots of little events in a family's life can culmunate to one unforgetable & priceless moment. For instaIt's funny how lots of little events in a family's life can culmunate to one unforgetable & priceless moment. For instance, our family has taken many trips to 'the lake' (my mom lives on the 34 mm at Lake of the Ozarks). On one of our many trips, when Charlie was about 3 years old, we were starting to teach him how to fish, and he was excited to learn! One of the things he was a little fuzzy on, was why we catch the fish. What do we do with them, once we have them? Our response was, "We gotta eat those fish!" So he helped us to place each catch into the holding basket, for safe-keeping and we later cleaned them & cooked them for dinner, as promised. He was not disappointed! Well, after another fun weekend, we returned to our home in Lakewood, and to all the work that awaited us there. One of our projects that had been plagueing us, was trying to keep the squirrels out of our attic. They were able to squeeze into one little hole in the corner of our roof, & set up camp on the ceiling just over our bed. And those dang squirrels would be up & wrestling EARLY in the morning! Our solution was to catch the squirrels in a 'have-a-hart' trap and release them at some far-away park. One day Charlie watched us as we set up this trap, & then later we showed him how the trap caught the squirrel, unharmed. When we asked him what we should do with our catch, well, he responded as you might expect. With a gleam in his eye, he said "We gotta eat that squirrel!"

Another Quiet Weekend...

Well, you all havn't heard from me in a while, 'cause there hasn't been much to say. I keep trying to think of something fun to post, but there's nothing there. I guess there was the other day when Henry told me, as he is resting his head on me, that he likes my belly "because it's so squishy." I thought that was pretty sweet of him. Otherwise, not much is happening. Really, I've had a weekend of trying to find a quiet corner to read & relax. As some of you know, I have been a little under the weather for a while, & I didn't feel motivated, or even able to focus enough, to get anything done properly. So on saturday,I had resolved to give myself some quiet time to read, or watch som HGTV. I really had just settled into my chair for less than 5 minutes, when Henry came along to play some 'Guitar Hero', I tried to go somewhere else, & someone else would show up to watch 'Spongebob'. So I was feeling pretty manic on saturday, as you can imagine, being chased from spot to spot. I was determined to get the kids worn out at the playground & then go to Borders to unwind. By the time I got them all tuckered out, all I could do was lay down for a nap myself! Henry & I like to lay down on the couch for our naps, each to our own end, so that we are feet-to-feet, and we can share our blanket this way. I woke up @ some point to find Henry had climbed right up on top of me & fallen asleep! This is how the whole weekend went, really. At some point i just fell into a quiet reslove about the whole thing... I actually kinda got to enjoy it. Like when we put on the movie 'Ember City' saturday night, I was covered in children!!! I had a little crevass through which to watch the movie. I thought the couch might tip over from all the weight being on my end. And then they fell asleep. That was a pretty good movie, by the way. All of this continued right up until this morning. I could not get on the treadmill without Henry & Elizabeth fighting, or one or the other of them crying about something. I settled on a much shorter workout than usual, I was starting to run out of time before Henry had to be at school, & he still needed a shower, too. So I let Henry into the shower with me & we're fighting about who's turn it is under the showerhead. Elizabeth is waiting for us outside of the tub, & she has to keep checking on us by pulling the shower curtain all the way open & throwing the occasional bath toy in for us, another thing to avoid tripping over, while we have our faces full of soap. But we have all survived, and I have to remind myself, for better or worse, "This, too shall pass".

I came across this image & thought my fellow bus drivers would get a kick out of it!!!

... "What comes around, goes around"

Well, I can't find a good, childhood picture of myself to go along with this next one. But here is what my mom had to say on the previous blog

It been said... "What comes around, goes around"(or is it goes around, comes around)oh well, or how about "Paybacks are hell" and remember the one,"Just wait till you have your own children".

At three years old, Kati had the same happy smile that she still wears to this day and the extra blonde beautiful hair that she has handed down to her Henry. Anyway being the well behaved little girl that she was, I had convinced myself with her promise to just watch TV so that I could take a much-needed afternoon nap.Our bedroom was a loft that overlooked the livingroom so keeping a watchful eye on her seemed easy enough just while I closed my eyes for a moment or two. The next thing I knew as I peeked over the edge was that she was not in the livingroom anymore but I could hear rumblings coming from the kitchen. I decided to just watch and see what she's up to as she returns from what must have been countless trips. She has in her arms a container of dry oatmeal that she dumps on the carpet in the middle of the doorway. She gets down stirs this with her hands into the already dumped flour, sugar (white, brown and powdered), every spice she can open, boxes of cereal, dry macaroni, cornmeal, a bottle of cooking oil, anyway you get the picture.You would think a person would jump up at that instant but I choose to lay there and see what great things she would return with. By the way, it was peanut butter. She was so happy and proud of herself, she told me she was, "making a cake"! This is one of my favorite memories.Love you,Mom

As if they aren't sweet enough...

Alright, I already sense this blogging may lead to trouble. I have worked three of the last four days, not a terrible amount, but enough for the chores to build up, loads of laundry, filthy floors, & man, the toilet...! But here I sit, building on this blog. I managed to get on the treadmill, but it's in the same room as the computer, so Ithought I would just sit down for minute before taking my shower. Well, I ran out of time & barely had time to get my shower before picking Henry up from preschool. And here I am again! At least dinner is started. So, another thing that got a little out of hand today while I sat here... Henry & Elizabeth fending for themselves. Now mostly they played in the same room as I am working, but for a while they are upstairs watching TV together, peacefully, I might add. That should have been a clue, I suppose. At one point Elizabeth starts to come down the stairs, excitedly trying to tell me something. When I get up to meet her, I see what it is she is so excited about, & why these two have been so quiet. She has the sugar shaker in her hand, which I just topped off this morning. By the time I catch up to her upstairs, she has this sugar shaker up @ full tilt, sucking on it like a sippy-cup! Well, you know she's not giving that up without a fight. I don't know why the phrase 'like taking candy from a baby' implies something is easily done! Remarkably, the rest of the day has gone pretty smoothly. I got this post down didn't I?

My 1st Post!!!

Okay, this is the big moment! My very first post on my blog! I've been so busy trying to figure out how all of this works, I haven't even considered what I might write. Well, now there is nothing left to do but start filling this thing up, and I have been getting plenty of harrassment to do just that! Today, my friend Anissa, who has been showing me how to make a cute & unique blog, has been pestering me to actually SAY something on it. I told her I didn't know what to write, I was afraid to write something now, because someone might read it. She was finally able to tell me, through her laughter (@ my expense, as usual), that this is the whole point!!! So here it is, enjoy!