Finally Photos!!!

I'm finally able to post photos!!! It only took me two days. Oh well. Here they are!

This makes me nervous.  The campsite (think unit from Girl Scout Camp) Storm Shelter.  Yeah. 

Jacob by his tent on the "younger boys'" side of camp. 


Jacob and his homesick tent mate, Shane.  I don't know if you can tell he'd been crying. 


Inside their tent.  What a mess!

The Ico.  This is the gas station/general store/ice cream parlor.  The line was for ice cream, which seemed to make an elderly gentleman with a gas can agitated since that one pump was right by the line.  

The Toad Suck.  I don't know if it was even open since the lot was pretty deserted. 

The kids at Osceola Cheese. What a great place!

Family Day at Boy Scout Camp

Sunday was Family Day at camp. It was a long drive down and back, but it was awesome to see Jacob again. We drove through a bunch of teeny, tiny towns in Missouri, which was fun. The little town outside of the camp is called Iconium. It had a cemetery, a gas station (one pump)/grocery store/ice cream parlor, a "restaurant" (hot dogs and root beer floats), a fire station and two houses. The sign outside of town said, "Iconium Population abuot 16." Yep. "About" was misspelled.

Jacob seems to be doing well. He is homesick, but not like his tent mate, Shane. That poor kid was crying when his parents arrived. He also holed himself up in the car for a while. Shane was pleading his case to his dad, who kept telling him that it was going to be fine and that he really doesn't want to go home, to which Shane would say, "you keep saying that but it's not true!" Poor kid. Out of all the kids there, I really thought it would be Jacob that would be demanding to be taken home.

In typical camp fashion, the only dirty laundry I took home with me was one shirt and the pair of underwear he'd been wearing since Thursday night that I made him take off. Note to self, you do not need to pack 8 shirts, 6 pairs of shorts, 12 pairs of socks and 11 pairs of underwear that you packed for Jacob's 10 day camping trip. At least they've been swimming everyday. I seriously wanted to rip the Class A uniform he was wearing off of him. I think that thing's going to be walking all by itself by the end of camp.

We were able to take Jacob into "town" (Osceola...pop. 800) to the cheese store. That was so much fun. What was even better was that I scored some cheese curds and a 12-pack of peach Nehi. Next time, I think we'll skip the Nehi and get more cheese curds.

I wish I could post pictures but Blogger's being stupid lately. I'll try again tomorrow.

Off to Camp

Jacob left for Boy Scout camp this morning. He was so excited about going, especially since he was going alone with his friends. The first 5 or so days, he'll be there alone and then Mike will come down on Wednesday and stay until the end. It was sad to watch them load up the bus and then head out, but I know he'll have fun. Here are photos from this morning.

Jacob and Jack hang out while waiting for the bus.
A photo of all of the first year Scouts that are heading out to camp for the first time.
All of the boys from Jacob's school. Jack, Shane, Dean, Jacob and Andrew.
Waiting to get on the bus. Jacob and all of his friends lined up quickly and an Eagle Scout came over to tell them that, as first year Scouts, they'd be the LAST to get on the bus. It was pretty funny.
Still waiting.
Jacob was the very LAST Scout to board the bus. He didn't care, though. He got a seat next to his friend, Shane, in the very front. They were very happy.
And the bus heads out. It was everything we could do to NOT hop into our cars and follow.
We will be heading down on Sunday for Family Day. I can't wait to see the camp!

5th Grade Farewell

Jacob's 5th Grade Farewell was tonight. I cried, but only during the slide shows. They had one where they took their kindergarten picture and morphed it into their 5th grade one. It was really neat. If I can figure out how to copy it to my computer, I'll post it. Anyway, here are some photos from tonight. I can't believe Jacob's in 6th grade!!!





They asked us to bring in photos of the kids as infants and their current picture. They hung them up like this.
The 5th graders line up for a song.

Jacob gets his certificate from Mrs. P, the school counselor (remember her? I haven't mentioned her in a long time!) and from Mr. L, the principal.
Jacob with Lanston and Louis
Jacob and Andrew

Jacob and his best friend, Kellan. Kellan was smiling right up until I took the picture. He did the same thing to his parents when they tried to take one. Gotta look tough, I guess.

Jacob and Mr. L. See that chair to Jacob's right? There are a couple of moms that call it my chair because that's where I usually sit to wait for them to get out of school. LOL!

Who Said Jacob Could Go To Middle School?

I was so excited because I got to have coffee with my dear friend, Shanna, this morning. She was my MOPS coordinator when I was involved and her sister passed 3 weeks before Mom did, so we formed a tight bond pretty quickly. I've chatted, briefly, with her over the past year but I haven't been able to really talk with her. What was supposed to be an hour long coffee thing turned into 2 1/2 hours. We decided to go for pedicures next Wednesday. I'm so excited. I've really missed having her around.

Tonight was parent orientation for middle school. I am so not ready for this. It was, however, very nice to see many familiar faces from our elementary school there. I have a feeling I'm really going to like Jacob's new principal. She is a riot. She tends to go off on random tangents, but the stories are hysterical. She was even showing us about how to use the parent portal to check grades and told us about how, last year, she pulled up her son's grades and it showed he had an F in band. She said she was horrified but was proud to show us that he'd brought it up to a C this year. LOL! Nevermind that it took her three tries just to get into the parent portal because she couldn't remember her password. She actually reminds me, a bit, of Mrs. Burroughs.

There are several core classes that they have daily: Reading, Communication Arts, Math, Social Studies and Science. They also have an Explo class. Each area is 7 weeks. The areas are Visual Arts, Family/Consumer Science, Integrated Technology (explained as shop class), Speech/Drama and Technology Education (computers). In 7th and 8th grades, they'll get to choose two of those as electives, running a semester a piece. They'll also have Spanish, PE, Guided Study (study hall) and Music (strings, band or choir). Jacob is really excited because he'll have strings every other day. Stings alternates days with Spanish. PE alternates with Guided Study.

Jacob seriously can't wait for middle school. I'd be thrilled if I could hold him in 5th grade forever.

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.

Hanging In There

It's been a pretty laid back week since the big ER thing on Monday. Mike went back to work on Wednesday, even though he probably should have stayed home another day. We decided to skip TKD on Tuesday but the weather turned nice so the kids finally got to go outside to play for an extended period of time. Jacob and I have been out playing catch in the afternoons, trying to get him ready to go for baseball season. He's so excited.

After his last season, two years ago, we never thought he'd want to play again. His coach was mean and was very hard on the boys. He also only played the best kids on the team (which is completely against the rules...each boy may not sit more than one inning and Jacob was sitting two to three innings at a time) and the coach didn't seem to care about actually teaching the kids the fundamentals. I recently found out that most of the kids on that team jumped ship after that season and after another bad season last summer, that team no longer exists.

It's shocking how competitive how these teams are...and they're only in the 5th grade. Many teams cherry pick their teams so it makes it hard for the kids that like to play but aren't very good to get on a team with their classmates. When I signed Jacob up this year, I specifically said I wanted him on a low to mid level team (there are three levels) and preferably with his friend, Jett, who goes to a different school. I'm still not sure what team Jett landed on but the team Jacob did seems wonderful.

First of all, you have to love a team that starts the year off with a pizza party. That was tonight. There are three other boys from Jacob's school on this team, one from Jett's school, two from another school in our district and the rest are from a local parochial school. It seems that all have had really bad experiences in the past with coaches so they are very sensitive to that. Jacob also really likes his teammates (they all sat together and were talking and laughing during dinner) so I think this is going to be great for him. I just wasn't ready for the season to start so early. Formal practices don't start until the end of the month but batting practice starts on Sunday. Jacob can't wait. Since the season ends at the beginning of July, it's going to be a long season.

Hannah starts soccer in three weeks. *Sigh*

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.

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."