Marvin

Marvin at 13 weeks....

Savannah

Cute pics of our 9 year old.

Our BFF's

Ryan, Karie, Colby & Ryker Jones (and Haylie)

Bahamas

Just some pics from our cruise.....

Awesome suite in Miami.

Nassau, Bahamas

All dressed up for dinner.

CocoCay Island playtime

Hard Rock Cafe: Key West, FL

Kansas Storms

As you all know, I love the weather in Kansas. I like not having to drive through months and months of snow and I really love the rainstorms we get. When we get rain - its not woosie rain. Its big, its hard, its loud, and there is lots of thunder & lightning. We've had our share of wet this spring. These are a couple of pics from our backyard of the storm clouds we had a few days ago.

Marvin

I am a cat person. My husband is a dog person. My two girls wanted a dog. I caved. This is Marvin. He is now 12 weeks old. He is a Zuchon which is a hybrid mix of Shih Tzu/Bichon Frise.

LORD HELP ME GET THRU THIS POTTY TRAINING!!!

(he is a cute little bugger though)

God's Country

A man in Topeka, Kansas decided to write a book about churches around the country. He started by flying to San Francisco and started working east from there.Going to a very large church, he began taking photographs and making notes. He spotted a golden telephone on the vestibule wall and was intrigued with a sign, which read 'Calls: $10,000 a minute.' Seeking out the pastor he asked about the phone and the sign. The pastor answered that this golden phone is, in fact, a direct line to heaven and if someone pays the price he can talk directly to GOD.The man thanked the pastor and continued on his way. As he continued to visit churches in Seattle, Salt Lake, Denver, St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee, and around the United States, he found more phones, with the same sign, and the same answer from each pastor. Finally, he arrived back in Kansas. Upon entering a church in Lenexa, he saw the usual golden telephone. But THIS time, the sign read 'Calls: 35 cents.' Fascinated, he asked to talk to the pastor, 'Reverend, I have been in cities all across the country and in each church I have found this golden telephone and have been told it is a direct line to Heaven and that I could talk to GOD, but in the other churches the cost was $10,000 a minute. Your sign reads only 35 cents a call. Why so low?' (I love this part...........) The pastor, smiling benignly, replied, 'Son, you're in Kansas, home of the Jayhawks… You're in God's Country, so it's a local call.'

Rock Chalk Jayhawk - Goin' All The Way Baby!

Tune It Off

TV Turnoff Week is April 21-28, 2008. I challenge all of you to turn it off, get off your behinds, and get active with your kids. (If you absolutely can't miss a show, hit record and watch it the week after). :-) 1. On average, American children will spend 1,023 hours in front of TV in one year while only 900 hours in school. 2. 40% of Americans frequently watch TV at dinner. 3. The average American watches 4.5 hours of TV per day. 4. The average American home has 2.7 TVs, yet the average household only has 2.5 people. All I have to say...... GAME ON!

To Be Little Again

I have borrowed the following article from the April 2008 Kansas City Parent magazine. I thought it was very profound. It was written by Tisha Foley in Belton, MO. Last week before we headed to the grocery store, I asked our 3-yr old daughter to change out of pajamas and put on some play clothes. Kaelyn ran to her room and emerged a few minutes later wearing a colorful polka-dotted mini skirt, a white Planet Hollywood t-shirt that's about two sizes too small, a pink Dora the Explorer cowgirl boots, and the blue headband I use at night to hold my hair back while I wash my face. Of course I had to smile. "How do I look, Mommy?" she asked. "Perfect," I told her, and we headed off to the store, where she received many compliments from other shoppers. Other moms gave me knowing smiles. Kaelyn is not really a girly girl. She doesn't care much for pigtails or frilly dresses or kid-size jewelry. She doesn't mind getting dirty, and she'll comb her own hair, thank you very much. But she does like to dress herself, and she cares nothing about matching colors, fabrics or patterns. It's not unusual for her to go to the park wearing a turquoise shirt and pink pants, or a striped top with plaid bottoms. Most of the time her shoes match, but she's wearing them on the wrong feet. Bandaids - for looks only - may adorn her arms. She usually has a dusting of my facial powder across her nose and a shiny spot in her hair where she likes to spray her leave-in conditioner twelve times a day. She's our Little Miss Independent. And you know what? I like this about her. I like the fact that she does not care one iota what people think about her outfit. In her world, pink and orange go together and who says stripes and polka dots should not be combined? Oh, to be three years old again and feel this way. To not wonder what I'm going to wear every time I open the closet door. Or worry whether my pants are too tight or whether my shirt hangs funny. How I would like to just grab the first thing I see, throw it on, leave the house and not worry about what people think. And that's why I have absolutely no problem with taking a mismatched Kaelyn out in public. Too soon she'll be an image-obsessed adolescent - what young girl isn't? Too soon society will be telling her what to wear and how to wear it. So I'll let her independence fly now. And who knows - maybe down the road she won't succumb to the pressures that other young girls and women face. Maybe she'll always believe that stripes and polka dots go together and wear them proudly. I hope she will. Amen Sister!

Easter Weekend

We spent Easter weekend at Silver Dollar City in Branson. Could have been a little warmer but it was still fun. The Easter Bunny came to our hotel. Fortunately we were in an Extended Stay that comes equipped with a kitchenette. We ended up having to buy more eggs and cook them because the ones I cooked prior to leaving for Nashville had some funky smell eminating from them. We spent the day with Brad/Connie doing an egg hunt and a huge lunch. It was a lot of fun.

Nashville or Bust (cont)

The Parthenon. Exact replica of the one in Greece.

The Memphis Temple

Elvis is not dead - he's just gone home.

Nashville or Bust

Spring Break was March 17-21 so we decided to drive to Nashville/Memphis/Branson for eight days. Thank goodness for portable dvd players. We checked out 10 videos from the local library that the girls had never seen and they were set for the 9 hour drive. This will mostly be a pictorial blog of things we did. First of all was the Country Music Hall of Fame (notice the piano keys)?View from inside the Opryland Resort and Convention Center: Miss Di'Vine (get it)? Dukes of Hazzard all the way baby! Nashville Temple

I Can't Believe its Number 10

Anniversary #10 came on February 27th. Since my mom was here for a visit, Mike and I stayed overnight at Chateau Avalon. For those of you from Utah, it is the sister B&B to the Anniversary Inn. We stayed in the Tahitian Suite. We ate dinner at Em Chamas which is a brazillian restaurant (sorry Utah extended family - it beats THE PANTS OFF Rodizio Grill). Breakfast was brought by room service the next day and we came home in a snowstorm.

Better Late than Never

Happy 6th Birthday to our Haylie Bug! Granmoo from Utah was able to come visit (as a surprise). We had the party at Power Play and the best thing is I didn't have to bring anything! They provided table settings, decorations, cake/ice cream, and drinks. All the girls were able to go on rides. A fun time was had by all.

My Life's Not That Hard

I am watching Oprah today and was introduced to a family named Gosselin. I had never heard of them before but they have their own show on some network. And listening to them talk - my life ain't that bad.

I have days when my only two children are driving me up the wall. Especially on snow days. Its too cold to go outside and play. As the day progresses on it evolves into shouts of "I'm not your friend" or "you're a meany". I'm ready to just let them have at it and see who kills each other first.

But I am ssssooooooo glad I am not Kate Gosselin. She and her husband are raising 8 (yes I said eight) small children. They have twins that are 7 years old and sextuplets that are 3. Talk about trying your patience (and sanity).

I can be thankful for the trials I endure x2 and NOT x8.

Cute pics of our 6 yr old.

The "Everything You Never Cared to Know about Me and Mike" Meme

On the invite from Tara; here is my husbands meme. What is his name? Michael Blaine How long have you been together? Married 10 years in February. How long did you date? Our first official date was Dec 24, 1996. We got engaged in Sept 1997 at dinner at the Space Needle in Seattle. Were married Feb 27, 1998. How old is he? He will be 37 on Feb 19th. Who eats more? Definately him. Who said I love you first? I did. Who is taller? He is - by a whole foot! Who is smarter? We both have areas of strengths and weaknesses. Who does laundry? I do. Wednesdays and Saturdays. Who does the dishes? The under-the-counter dishwasher. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Looking at the bed - he does. Who pays the bills? I do. Who mows the lawn? He does. Who cooks dinner? Me, Applebees, Mi Ranchito, BD's Mongolian BBQ, Fuddruckers, etc etc Who drives when you are together? Depends on the vehicle. The van - me: the Prius - him. Who is more stubborn? I would say him, he would say me. Go figure. Who kissed who first? He kissed me (on our first date) but he denies it to this day. Who asked out who first? First date was at my grandmothers, second date was dinner with his parents! Who proposed? He did but only after 9 months. Who has more siblings? He does - 2 brothers. One older, one younger. *****I TAG Shannon, since she is the only other friend I know that blogs.

Kansas City Winter

Money Woes

We were eating dinner at the Crayola Cafe one night and the conversation between big sis and little sis turned to money. Big sis thinks that money is just always available. If I don't have any on me and she wants something at the store "just go to the ATM mama". Little sis is more realistic. Being the mama's girl that she is, her ultimate goal in life is to be a mama herself. In this endeavor she also realizes that there is no monetary compensation for this job. The discussion between the two ended with an very adamant statement from little sis. "I'm a mama so I don't have any money".

You're Not The Boss

Conversation in the basement heard through the vents. Both 8 year old and 5 year old screaming about new Christmas toys and who's in charge. 8yr old: These are all mine and I'm the boss. 5yr old: (screaming) Wait wait wait I have to tell you something 8yr old: I'm the boss 5yr old: You're the boss of me, Mama is the boss of you, Daddy is the boss of Mama I thought Mama was the boss of everybody. :-)

Ho Ho Ho

Family holiday picture A trip to Crown Center Crayola Land & Santa

Oops I did it again............last night

Need I say more??????

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Can you say G-Man times 2????? Yes, we are going AGAIN to the final show Wednesday the 14th. So Pumped!!!

The G Man

For those of you who don't live in KC or couldn't get tickets here are some pics from the Garth Brooks concert. TOTALLY AWEWOME!!!!!! We had such a blast we're trying to get two more tickets for his last show this Wednesday and see it again. Oo-rah!

How does?.......

I was having a conversation with my littlest angel who is 5 1/2 going on 12. It centered around the upcoming holiday, Santa, and how was he possibly going to get into our home. We have been in our home now for 15 months and I guess it just wasn't an issue last Christmas. We started a new family tradition that we all sleep around the tree Christmas Eve and leave the tree lights on (I believe our tree is flame retardent). I asked her how she thought Santa was going to get in our home to leave his presents.(We do have a gas fireplace). Without a second thought she blurted out "he's going to come down the chinney". Duh

Happy 41st !!

This was taken the night we stayed at Great Wolf Lodge and went to Famous Dave's for dinner. It was the Kansas Special Olympics Tip-A-Cop night there and they were "serving" dinner. They sang Happy Birthday to me then took our picture for their website. Was pretty funny. Don't we all look like we've been at the water park?

Pumpkin Patch Visit

We went to Carolyn's Pumpkin Patch in Liberty, MO. Lots of fun stuff to see and do. However, we were not gullible enough to purchase the big pumpkins they sold for $8. We stopped at the Wal-Mart just down the road a bit and got the same size for $3.42!!