Sunday, September 30, 2012

What? It's October tomorrow?

This school year is seriously flying by.
It must be my awesome teaching partner- making everything so easy for me!  I hope I'm making things as easy for her...

This blog has really gone on the back burner since school started.  

Take pictures of my family?  
Not in a few weeks.

Do I take my camera everywhere I go?
Yep.

However, we haven't just been laying around the house either. 
We've been so busy that Jada yelled, "YEAH!" after she asked this morning if we could just stay home today so she could play with her toys.  

This weekend we took the younger three to the Cosmosphere.  Every year museums in the area have "Museum Day" where you can get two admissions free.  Interestingly enough, we went into the Planetarium and learned about the stars and constellations- which happened to be what I taught about in Sunday School this morning to my preschoolers.  God has a funny way of working in my life.    

At school, we are teaching more to something called Common Core this year- it's state standards that will be the same for every student in the United States, instead of what we've been teaching from- which is each states' own standards in reading, math, etc.  It's been quite a shift in teaching, but I love it.  And this weekend I found the mother load of all.  A website that another school district has put together that incorporates everything we're trying to teach this year!  I'm so excited I could stay up all night looking at it.  

I'm not kidding.

Changing the subject, I found Trey some ridiculously awesome high tops tonight.  He also got a few pairs of "tall socks."  Like what his Daddy wears.  He wanted to wear them to bed, and has already informed me that he's wearing them tomorrow.  

Anything to be like his hero.

Our puppy, Jasper, went through a 10 day experience where he puked up everything he ate.  Then, had blood work, a stool sample, x rays, and a barium test- all for the vet to say he needed surgery.  So, I got another opinion- the opinion I should have gotten in the first place.  Aunt Connie's and Uncle Norman's.  (They are vets in a different town.) Turns out he had worms of some kind (Doesn't that just happen to outside pets who don't get fed every day?  Not inside dogs, right?), and they could be a lifelong problem.  

In my mom's words:  Oh the joys of owning a dog.

Yes, the "joys" of paying a vet bill for all things mentioned above BEFORE we got to Connie's clinic.  There goes that IPad I might have wanted for Christmas.  

But, he's better now.
See?

Back his old ways of digging up the yard/garden.  Eating everything he get a hold of.  Hey, I guess those worms might have come from the birds he's eaten in the last few months.

Hmm..., back to mom's words:  Oh the joys of owning a dog.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

A German, An American, and the State Fair

What do you get when you mix a German, an American, and the Kansas State Fair?

 You get THIS!





 

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Sedgwick County Fair

Amy talks about the Sedgwick County Fair every year.  I see pictures of all these fun activities their kids do, and I usually think, "Why didn't we go to that?"

Because it's a county fair?
Because our own town's county fair is super lame?

Well... this last weekend I realized that we've been missing out!  Not only are there pony rides, tractor pulling by kids, a climbing wall, bouncy houses, face painting, balloon animals, good ol' small town music, and an awesome bbq for lunch... but there's a HUGE playground right in the middle of it all.  

I took the younger three kids, and we had such a good time with Amy and her kids.
 Below are pictures from our day together.




















Saturday, September 15, 2012

13th Anniversary

The Lion King production.
It was ah-maz-ing!
Unfortunately I couldn't take any pictures.
I tears up in the first 5 minutes because of
how amazing it was.
God has blessed those people with such great
talent.  I was obviously super impressed!

This is the only picture we got.
But I think it's cute.
13 years with this incredible man.
He puts up with so much from me.
 

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Rapunzel and a tooth

Remember when you lost your first tooth?

Me neither.

But, I remember my dad pulling my teeth with pliers!  I remember how it tasted gross and hurt.  But, my dad seemed to think it was cool while he was pulling them out, so I thought it was cool too.  However, now it all just kinda sounds white-trashy.  HA!

All of this to say that Jada lost her first tooth this weekend.  Such a great accomplishment!  


Her tooth was loose for several days.  
Mimi and Papa were here from Nebraska.
Mimi wanted that tooth out.
So, they (Jada and Mimi?) came up with a plan.

Take Rapunzel and tie a piece of yarn around her neck.
(Her NECK? sheesh!)


And then tie a piece of string to the yarn.
Tie the string around Jada's teeny tiny tooth.



And then let Rapunzel bungee jump climb down her tower (ie. get pushed off the half wall that lines the stairs.) while attached to Jada's tooth so that the string pulls it out of her mouth.

They got it tied.
They tried to get Rapunzel in place.
But, on the way to the "tower" it pulled the tooth out anyway.

Plans foiled.
Not sure if you know this or not, but Chad doesn't like the tooth fairy sneaking into our house.

It's creepy.

So, he always offers to buy our Childs' tooth for 50 cents more than the Tooth Fairy's going rate.  

Jada didn't take the offer.  It's her first tooth.  Can you blame her?

However, she also didn't put it under the pillow.
Her big sister did when Jada was asleep.
But, the Tooth Fairy came anyway.
$1.
A DOLLAR!

A dollar that bought her a new doll from the Dollar Store.
She only has a bazillion dolls.
She's acquired my ability to save money.
 
Go Jada!




Monday, September 3, 2012

Sophie's Sweet 16th

What does one do on a Sweet 16th birthday?
1.  Wake up to streamers and balloons!
 2.  Open birthday presents from the family
 (money, movies, money, and money- with one more present somewhere in the mail.)
 3.  Eat Birthday Tacos for lunch.
4.  Listen to your family sing, "Happy Birthday to you..." while you wait to eat some delicious cupcakes a sweet friend made you.

5.  Decorate t-shirts with your tennis team.
(no picture here)

6.  Go to the lake with 40 other students and parents to play kickball, eat hotdogs, chips, and fruit.  And then make s'mores for the very first time!



7. Oh, let's not forget the flowers a Brazilian boy brings you 
(and the other birthday girls!)

Happy Birthday Sophie!
 
 

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Statue of Liberty

My kids can't complain anymore that they haven't touched the Statue of Liberty.