When Is Summer????

It's been a long month. That's not to say it hasn't been good, but it's been long. Spring Break has come and gone, which is sad. Bobbi and Ed were here for the week and we did a lot of things that we never do on our own.

We visited the World War I monument and museum...the only one of it's kind in the country. We all enjoyed that one. The only problem was that there were so many challenges to my fear of heights.

Of course, the kids wanted to go up to the top of this. Okay. I've been up in the Arch. How bad could this be? Ummm...it's open at the top. AAAAAAAAACCCCCCKKKKK!!!!!! But, I went up and even looked over the side. However, I did think I was going to be sick the entire time and the kids told me I was a buzzkill. Oh well.
















Here's the view of downtown Kansas City from the top.















Oh, and when you walk in, there's this.
















Pretty, right? Each poppy represents 1,000 soldiers that lost their lives in the war. Of course, that's covered with Plexiglas and you have to walk over it to get to the actual museum. And, it's fairly high up. Like a story up. *sigh* Is it sad that Hannah held my hand as I walked, eyes closed, over it? Oh well.

We also went to Kaleidoscope (a children's craft type thing by Hallmark) and Crown Center. It was neat to see the Hallmark Visitor's Center...we got to see them actually make a card. Jacob really liked that.

Interestingly, it snowed 10 inches at the end of the weekend. This weather never ceases to amaze me.

Jacob has started baseball and he loves it. His coach says that Jacob's already the most improved player on the team. His first outdoor practice (they've just been doing batting practice) is tomorrow. I guess it's a good sign that Jacob keeps asking to go to the batting cages. The last time he played, he wanted nothing to do with any of it.

Hannah started soccer again tonight. She just loves soccer. Half of her team from the fall left but there are still 12 girls playing. I have a feeling they'll be back in the fall. I think many of them are playing softball.

Daniel bought himself a pair of roller blades with his birthday money and I swear that's the best $30 I've ever seen anyone spend. That boy is constantly on them. He took them with us to Hannah's soccer practice tonight and skated around the playground for the entire hour. He's getting really good. He and many of his friends play street hockey after school, so he's been begging for a hockey stick. The trouble is, I can't find one. And I'm not spending a fortune on one at the hockey store at the ice rink. Someone suggested Toys R Us...eventually I'll get there.

Jacob crossed over to Boy Scouts last week. I cried the entire meeting. They had some boys from the Order of the Arrow come and help with the Arrow of Light ceremony, which was awesome.
Jacob with his Arrow of Light Award
Our former pack leader asks Jacob which Boy Scout troop he'd like to join
Crossing over
His new troop is there to welcome him. They outfitted them with their new neckerchiefs.

We also celebrated Hannah's 7th birthday on Sunday. I don't know where the time has gone. How is it that she's already 7? I think I'm being punked. I haven't uploaded the photos yet but I will soon.

Also, Happy Passover to all of my Jewish friends and family.

Sick

Ugh. We've caught something. I don't think it's the flu but it's definitely something. I suddenly felt sick yesterday and managed to get to bed at 9 (absolutely unusual for me) and knew that Jacob was starting to slide last night. Hannah complained of a sore throat before she went to bed last night so I wasn't hopeful for her either.

Jacob wasn't up when I got up this morning, which is completely out of character for him. He's usually up around 6:30 on school days so he can watch cartoons without being bugged by Daniel and Hannah. When I went in to wake him, I could tell he was sick. I immediately knew he was staying home. I went in and woke Daniel and then Hannah. She was also not looking so well, so she's home too.

Both have been just hanging out on the couches this morning...I think Jacob finally fell asleep. I'd like to try to take a nap as well but don't know if I'm going to get the opportunity.

Fortunately, neither have fevers so if they're feeling better tomorrow, they can go back to school and there's no school on Thursday or Friday so that should help.

I just hope no one else gets this!

Busy Weekend

You've already seen the video from the Miley Cyrus concert that Hannah and I went to yesterday. That was just one part of the weekend. Mike left for Chicago on Friday morning so it was just me and the kids until this evening. Fortunately for us, there was no Sunday School this morning so we got to sleep in since none of us were in bed before midnight. This morning, I made a lovely breakfast of bacon, eggs and pumpkin pancakes. Yum. This is the time of year that I really get into the whole pumpkin thing.

Hannah was the star student for the week in her class so she got to bring home Bow Wow for the weekend. It's pretty cool that she'll get to put the concert in Bow Wow's journal (Bow Wow never got further than the parking lot). Bow Wow also got to go to puppy school with us this afternoon, which was super cute. Jen, the trainer, was really into the whole thing and would occasionally call on Hannah to have Bow Wow do something. LOL! We got some really cute pictures this weekend.

Jacob and Daniel enjoy dinner at Five Guys on Friday.
Hannah and Bow Wow
Jacob and Alice. I love this picture.
Daniel has a big dog that looks just like Bow Wow. They insisted on getting a picture together.
Hannah and Bow Wow during puppy school. Hannah's hair looks so long!
Bow Wow, Hannah and Jen the trainer at puppy school. Jen looks about 16 in pictures. In real life, she's mid-20's.

Miley Cyrus Concert

So, I've had these Miley tickets for about 5 months now, only I hadn't told Hannah about them. The concert was supposed to be 2 weeks ago but Miley got sick and had to reschedule. Tonight was the big night. I had to get a sitter (actually, Hannah was furious that she wasn't staying with the sitter. She loves Lara, and so do the boys. They always have a great time.) since Mike's in Chicago but it was completely worth it. Miss Hannah was shocked. I thought, for sure, Daniel had ruined the surprise on Friday but I guess I covered it up pretty well because she almost didn't believe me when I told her that's where we were going. Hannah and I had a great time.

If you like Miley, here is a song from the concert. I hate to admit that I love this song and crank it in the car whenever it comes on, but I do. Please excuse my lack of singing ability! :) Also, sorry for the crappy camera work. It's hard to dance, sing and run a camera!



I accidentially hit stop in the middle of The Climb but I just had to post this. I didn't notice Hannah singing her little heart out until much later but there she is...So cute!!!

A Little Bit of Crazy

Wow. Another week has gone by.

My dogs are nuts. Alice is still trying to figure out her place in the pack. Oriana's been letting her go until recently. All it takes is on arm to pin Alice. Alice doesn't like that much, but Oriana's had enough. And considering there's a 60 pound difference between Alice and Oriana, Oriana's probably going to win every time. For the most part, they do look like they're playing and that's been good for Oriana.

Alice has been going to Puppy Preschool on Sunday afternoons. It's been a lot of fun for all of us. The nice thing about Mini Schnauzers is that they're very smart and they learn pretty quickly. She's got "watch me" and "leave it" down and this week we're working on the "loose leash walk" and "sit." The interesting thing is that a lot of this is through hand commands instead of verbal. The trainer says it works better, especially for a family like ours, since a hand signal is always the same but verbal cues can vary (especially for Hannah who still has speech issues). It's fun to see the kids really getting into the training. Of course, when they fight about who gets to go first, that's not so fun.

Mike dropped Bella off at the vet to be spayed this morning. We go pick her up tomorrow. It's strange how a little 4 pound kitty makes such an impact on the house. Of course, you don't realize it until she's not here. I really miss her already.

Last week, we discovered that our hamsters had babies. Ugh. Seven babies to be exact. We've been watching them and yesterday, their little eyes opened. They actually look like itty bitty hamsters. So cute. We also talked to the pet store and they're going to take them for us. Sweet.

Hannah tested for her low brown belt in tae kwon do this Saturday. She did really well and actually broke a 1 inch board on the second try. We were all pretty shocked. She's now just one belt below Daniel. We think he's hit the wall.

Hannah's First Game

Hannah had her first soccer game this morning. She was so excited. In previous years, the teams had played at different schools in the district. This year, Overland Park opened a brand-spanking new soccer complex. I think there are about 14 fields. For the games, we play on half of the field with two others playing on the other half. They then break the field up even more so that the kids get even more play time. Since it's 4 on 4, they wouldn't get a whole lot of playing time since there are an average of 14 girls on each team. It's kind of hard to explain but they kind of break each team up into two and they play side-by-side on a quarter of the field. Each with their own goal. It was so cute to watch them running up and down the field. At this age, they don't play positions and all you see is 8 girls running up and down with a ball in the middle. It's pretty funny. I'm so glad she had a good time. She really went after it out there and tried her best.

Oops!! Don't fall! The girl really needs some cleats. I didn't want to get her any until I knew she liked playing.
I love this picture. Hannah and two of her friends sit and chat on the sidelines. Too cute. Oh, and that grass they're sitting on...astroturf. Looks real doesn't it?

Phew!!!

Okay...so I've been really, really bad about posting. I will try to do better. I promise.

This is the kids' third week of school. That doesn't seem possible. I've already gotten a call from Daniel's teacher about getting homework done. It's frustrating when he "forgets" his assignment notebook or doesn't fill it out completely. I really think they should have one starting in second grade but whatever. At least he's got his teacher wrapped around his finger. Hannah's doing really well in first grade. She LOVES her teacher and seems to be loving the challenge that comes with more the tougher academics of first grade. Jacob loves being high man on the totem pole. In fact, tomorrow he has hall duty in the morning. One of his fourth grade friends told Jacob that having hall duty was "tight." I just thought that was seriously funny. Translation for Dad...cool or awesome. Gotta keep up with the current slang. :)

Hannah's been really enjoying soccer. Her coach is fantastic and the kids really love him. She's getting really good at dribbling the ball and keeping it away from defenders. First game is in two weeks on the swanky new fields in Overland Park. Their team name is the Shamrocks because they wear green jerseys. Hannah was mad that they weren't the Green Lightning. I don't know where she got that from but she was convinced that was their team name.

Most of the moms on Hannah's team play on a recreational soccer team of their own. I was asked to join said team. Like an insane lunatic, I said yes. Our first game is next Monday. This should be seriously funny. I haven't played since high school. I can't keep from laughing as I type this!!!

Hannah's team also has a winter basketball team. *sigh* Seriously??? Of course, she wants to play. And she wants to play soccer again next Spring. And softball next summer. Oh, and there's no way she's quitting gymnastics (she told me that). How funny is it that of the three, she's my athletic one?

Jacob's looking into the violin mentoring program this year. Basically, the high school kids come to teach the elementary kids for 1/2 hour a week (private lessons) for FREE. Since they get community service hours out of it, they can't charge (they do in the summer since they don't get the credit). He's excited about the private lessons. I'm trying to figure out how to put another 1/2 hour into my week.

Daniel is...well...Daniel. He's just enjoying living life and drawing. He's been filling up notebook after notebook of drawings. He's been creating various characters in anticipation of a comic book series he's going to write when he's older. I hope he does.

Ask For a Little Storm...(and a big vacation photo post)

Well, I finally got my awesome storm last night....on what's considered the last day of severe weather season. The lightning started a good hour before the rain and continued well after the rain slowed. The rain came down in sheets. We lost power for just a second so that wasn't so bad. We also didn't get any hail, which was good. We did, however, get some really nasty wind. Enough wind that it blew my hanging flower baskets down. And those suckers can take some wind. I thought about pulling them down but didn't want to be touching a bunch of metal in a huge lightning storm. Luckily, they don't seem injured, so that's good. I saw Jacob in his room just watching the lightning from his bed. It was cute. I joined him for a while and we 'oohhed' and 'ahhhhed' at it all. He asked me to wake him up if the storm got cooler. LOL!

While we were on vacation, they came and inspected our fence around the pool. He left us a note asking if we could get the fence just a smidge closer to the house and that otherwise, we're good. Sweet. Now I can get on with my life.

We got back from our Oklahoma trip on Sunday evening. We were barely in the garage when the kids' friends were asking if they could play. They were certainly missed while we were gone.

The trip to Tulsa was surprisingly easy. Especially since there are no interstates between here and there. We had to take 169 Hwy all of the way. Fortunately, not only was it four lane for a good chunk, it was also 65mph. Nice. We also only hit about 5 towns before Tulsa so we didn't have to slow down much. There's not much in southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma...lots of hay, wheat and little oil pumps. That was the funniest thing. We also passed signs for Independence, KS and I realized we're not that far. I'm so going before the summer's over.

In addition to the water park, aquarium, Build-A-Bear and other stuff we did, we caught up with Mike's great-aunt and two cousins, who live in Tulsa. That was really neat. Of course I took a few hundred pictures (literally)...

Daniel at the Air and Space Museum. They had a hands-on portion that they loved.
Jacob was the only one tall enough to do this. He was like an astronaut.
Hannah in a plane
Waiting for the movie at the planetarium
Okay...so on our honeymoon, we got to pet stingrays. I asked Mike to take a picture of me petting one. When the film came back, it was just my hand and the stingray. For ten years, I've been on Mike about that. Here, Mike tries to fix that wrong. Here's me petting a stingray. Of course, I wasn't paying attention to the stingrays and one of them put my hand in their mouth. It felt strange and squishy (not painful in the slightest) but it scared me enough to scream and pull my hand out abruptly and splash the heck out of Daniel, who was standing right next to me.
The kids and Mike pet the stingrays.
This was cool. They had a tunnel where the bull sharks would swim above your head.
The kids outside of the aquarium.
The Oklahoma Aquarium
At the zoo, they had a rainforest exhibit and there were tons of these little blue poison dart frogs.
There were also monkeys running around. So close we could have touched them.
The kids goof around at the lion drinking fountain.
These tigers were too cute. They had such a good time with this ball.
At the zoo.
We ate dinner at the most bizarre steakhouse. Before the steaks came hummus, pita and tabbouleh. Oh, and cabbage rolls!
Did I mention that dinner also came with a basket of ribs and smoked bologna?
Daniel in the lazy river at the water park
Jacob loved the wave pool. I have to admit that I did too.
My little Hannah was fearless. This slide emptied into a 9ft deep pool. The girl had no problem swimming to the side.
I couldn't believe Jacob went down this 7 story tall slide. Three times. That's him going down.
And at the bottom.
Here's Mike going down.
These slides were 5 stories tall. The kids loved it. Hannah comes down.
And Jacob
And Daniel. The yellow one was faster than the green one. The pink one was for the tubes...Hannah was mad because we wouldn't rent one and she really wanted to go down the pink slide.
Mike's cousin, Kenny, Mike's great-aunt Lorraine and his cousin, Robert with us in the background just after breakfast Sunday morning.
One of my favorite things from the trip. We confused the Garmin so much that it stopped telling what road we should turn on. Instead we got, "Left on road."
The kids wait for the Build-A-Bear to open. They were so excited.
Jacob stuffs his bear.
Hannah dressing hers
The kids with their finished products. Of all the things we did in Tulsa, this is the one thing they can't stop talking about.
Daniel is a happy boy.
This is the coolest sign. You'll have to click on the picture to make it bigger so you can read it. This is the border coming from Oklahoma back into Kansas. It says, "Leaving Cherokee Nation."