Days 146-150

The days just seem to fly by......

Saturday, May 23rd - This photo was taken at the Orpheum prior to seeing "Wicked".  Fabulous show!  
Sunday, May 24th - We grilled steaks and asparagus on the grill.  We've never fed asparagus to the kids before and of course, they didn't like it.  Madison is quickly washing hers down with a glass of water.  
Monday, May 25th - Memorial Day - We spent the afternoon catching small and very small fish at Oak Lake.  
Tuesday, May 26th - The Clematis finally bloomed at our house.  Andy gets it confused with Chlamydia, which is just not as pretty!  :)
Wednesday, May 27th - I almost forgot to take a picture, again.  So, here's another one of Madison reading a bedtime story to Grant.  

Days 141-145

I missed some great photo opportunities this week, but just am too tired to care!  

Monday, May 18th - We had Madison's first softball practice tonight and I didn't want to walk back to the car to get the camera, so I chose eating ice cream at DQ afterwards instead.  Andy and Tyler missed out.  They were in Ashland picking up trash along the roadside for Youth Group.  
Tuesday, May 19th - Here is Grant and Grant's best bud, Cameron, at Tyler's ball game.  Tonight is the first night for the Jr. Saltdog's team that Tyler is on.  He finished his "somewhat select" team and now is playing with the same kids on a different team.  Can't get enough baseball....I guess!  
Wednesday, May 20th - We had another night of baseball, but here we are watching the neighbor kids' play ball at Fleming Fields.  Tonight Tyler won his game, but once again, didn't think to get out the camera until much later! 
Thursday, May 21st - This use to be our nightly routine (walking the dog) until the kids got so busy.  It was a nice night for a walk...love that spring weather! 
Friday, May 22nd - Yeah, it's Friday!  T.G.I.F!  I meant to get a picture of the five boys camping out in the tent in the backyard, but it was dark once I remembered and the pictures are terrible, so here's a picture of our well-traveled Little Tikes Coupe Car.  What household goes without one of those cars at some time in their lives??  It has the cheapest upkeep on any car we've ever owned!  Hope the government saves Little Tikes too!  :)

Fishin' with the Family

Today we spent part of our relaxing Memorial Day fishing with the family at Oak Lake for a few hours.  I, myself, do not like anything to do with fishing....baiting the hook, taking fish off the hook, cleaning fish and least of all eating the fish.  Since I don't have a license (Andy does) and we are a strict "catch and release" type of family, this event is a little more tolerable on my part.  However, I do enjoy being the photographer of this little event.  
The kids were able to catch a couple dozen little fish off of corn and worms, so it was easy to keep their attention.  Grant was the official "release the fish" guy, but would give each fish a special kiss before throwing it back in.  (BTW, his siblings told him to do this!)  If there's some new pandemic "Fish Flu" going on, you will know exactly where it started from!  
Tyler caught the world's smallest fish on a hook today.  I had no idea that a fish of this tiny size could actually put a hook in it's mouth.  Amazing!  
Here I am, taking it all in....sitting in the shade of a tree, feeling the nice breeze and waiting for the next photo opp!  

Wicked was wonderful!

Today we went to see the musical "Wicked" at the Orpheum Theatre in Omaha and it was fantastic!   I loved the story line of how the two witches from Oz became good and evil prior to Dorothy's arrival.   The story was pretty well thought out with mesmerizing costumes and beautiful music.  I can see why the soundtrack is popular with many who have seen the production.  I thought it was also clever in the way they tied in the old Wizard of Oz story by hinting at it with subtle comments and innuendos.  We didn't take Madison and Tyler with us, but after seeing it now, I know they would have LOVED it!  

Days 136-140

More of Project 365...

Wednesday, May 13th - The kids took the dog for a walk and decided to tie the wagon to Tyler's low riding three wheeler.  They are ready to go because Madison's got her plastic bag with her to pick up Ranger "treats" that he leaves behind on his walk.  :)
Thursday, May 14th - I know that Grant following Tyler with his own lawn mover is a bit dangerous, but I couldn't help but snap a quick picture before taking Grant out the situation and on to Madison's final soccer game of the season.  Darn cute!  
Friday, May 15th -  The minute I stepped into the house after work I started cleaning the house. It was a huge pit!  First the kitchen, then the bathrooms and finally the living room space.  The carpets were in desperate need of being cleaned.  Yikes!  
Saturday, May 16th - Andy made Schwan's French Toast Sticks for breakfast before he headed out and did some neighborhood garage sales.  I found some scrapbooking racks, a sandbox and a Thomas the Tank Engine shirt for Grant.  
Sunday, May 17th - It was such a nice relaxing day that the only thing I could think of taking a picture of was two kids on the couch.  They were watching The Incredibles on DVD.

Days 131-135

I am getting a bit behind in my 365 postings, but am still strong on taking pictures!  

Friday, May 8th - Madison is invited to her BF's 8th birthday party/sleepover complete with a makeover.  What fun!  
Saturday, May 9th - I went shopping at JCPenney's for myself, but end up buying clothes for the kiddos, go figure!  Madison is crabby because she's tired from her thrilling sleepover last night.  Oh, how I love lime green!  Still my favorite color!  
Sunday, May 10th - It's Mother's Day and we went to eat supper at the new Greenfield's (formerly called IHOP) on the southside of Lincoln.  I had a yummy potato casserole!  
Monday, May 11th - Tyler enjoys fishing with the neighbor kids at the pond that's a couple blocks away.  They used stink bait and would catch little fish (have no idea what kind) and then toss them back.  It made for hours of cheap entertainment!  
Tuesday, May 12th - I am getting Grant ready for bed while Madison hangs out in the hallway telling me all the American Girl items on her wish list including a $118 doll bed.  I told her I didn't spend that much on her own bed.  Are you kidding me??

Why Lie or a Little White Lie?

I have an interesting story for you!  (* Notes changes in names to protect the identity for all parties.)

We decided to create a huge cleaning project at home tonight by scrubbing the carpets downstairs with our steam cleaning Hoover vacuum.  Of course, we were out of cleaner, so we made a family trip (everyone goes) to our local *Costco, which is down the street from our home. 

Well...one knows you just can't purchase carpet cleaner without purchasing a new work belt for Andy, Advil for me and some Thomas the Tank Engine p.j's for Grant.  Oh, my Grant so loves Thomas that I thought some new p.j.'s should certainly help with his nighttime routine.  

We then headed for the Express check-out at *Costco where I spent my time chasing down Grant in the candy aisle while Andy paid for our 12 items.  I was not privilege to most of the conversation, but Andy laughingly told me later what all was said.  

When the clerk says..."So, you have a Thomas fan in your household?"

Andy replies, "Yeah, we have a two year old."

Clerk mentions..."I am a teacher at my other job."

Andy says, "Where do you teach?"

Clerk adamantly replies, "I teach Kindergarten at *Lipton Elementary down the street."

Dumbfounded Andy states, "You don't say.  My wife is also a Kindergarten teacher at *Lipton!" 

I then show up to the checkout and the clerk is very quiet.  

The clerk tells Andy the total and Andy looks down and sees she has forgotten to ring up two of our items.  Hmmm....wonder how she could forget?  She apologizes for the mistake, tells Andy the new total and then says to me,  "So, what grade do you teach?"  I then realize that Andy and the seemingly very nice clerk have had a previous conversation about teaching.  I tell her Kindergarten and she responds with "Cool!"  I didn't have much else to say to her since our transaction was done.  

While walking away, Andy is telling me this story while laughing hysterically.  There's two things that came to my mind....Watch what you say, you never know how that may backfire and isn't it nice that someone else wants MY job?!

It's inevitable, especially on Mother's Day!

Today is Mother's Day!  Yeah!  It's truly the one day that I, for once, don't feel guilty about doing absolutely nothing all day long!  Yup, if I only get a shower in that's terrific.  However, I usually get bored and pay some bills, vacuum and do some of that always growing pile of laundry.    

Tyler had his final Blue Chips tournament this weekend in Firth and next week he starts his Jr. Saltdogs team, which consist of the same players, so it's much of the same except no leading off and a different uniform.  

Anyway, Tyler played an 8pm game on Friday night and two games yesterday.  Tyler did a great job fielding at 2nd base, but his hitting was all off yesterday.  Foul ball, foul ball, strike out!  You get the picture.  However, Andy's gift to me this morning was a "Piece of Quiet" by taking the three to Tyler's final game this morning at 8am.  Please notice I didn't say "Peace and Quiet" because that would imply I had that all day long.  No, just three extra hours of only me and the dog.  It was wonderful!  I slept in and read the paper with not one whine, scream or fight!  A truly priceless moment!  However, when I don't go to a game (which is hardly ever) the INEVITABLE happens.....

*  Tyler hits two triples and two singles.  He doesn't strike out at all.  He got his "bat" back.  

*  Tyler catches a pop-fly and gets another kid out by throwing it to first.

*  Tyler's team wins 19-1 (lost all three of the other games that I watched)

And the best of all....I missed seeing the coach on the other team get kicked out of the game because he was so mad they were getting beat!

Oh, well, it was great having a "piece of quiet"!

Days 126-130

This has been an exciting week...NASCAR and Rachel Ray about Mindee and Campbell School! 

Sunday, May 3rd - Our church had a spaghetti feed and silent/live auction to raise money for Youth Group today and they were able to get one of Kasey Kahne's cars for the event.  This was incredibly cool since I became a dedicated Kasey Kahne fan last year!  LOL
Monday, May 4th - We were all out of diapers and Sam's is the place to go.  I wish I could say this is the LAST box that I'll have to buy.  I can only wish!  I am determined to get Grant potty trained this summer!  
Tuesday, May 5th - It's Cinco de Mayo and our teachers' lounge is all equipped with fantastic, Mexican foods of all kinds.  It was nice not having to pack a lunch and tasty too! 
Wednesday, May 6th - Madison and Jessi helped me get the house area set up as a Veterinarian's clinic after school today.  It was hard to get them to leave school since they were having the best time playing. 
Thursday, May 7th - Today was Frannie Fields last day student teaching under Cindy Lloyd in Kindergarten, so she brought in a giant cookie for the team.  Thanks Frannie, it was wonderful!

Oh, not to forget the footage from the Rachel Ray Show today that featured Mindee Myers and Campbell School.  Check it out at.....

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/show/segments/view/walking-walk/

Happiest Place in the World!

I am out of my "mood" today!  I had another busy kid day and also had our Kindergarten "Welcome" for those upcoming kiddos for next year, which went rather well.  So, I decided there is one sure way to get joyous.  It's going to the most fabulous, happiest place on earth...Disney World!   Yup!  I took the plunge tonight and called up Mickey and said I am on my way!  Mickey sounded very excited to have me coming too.  I am (okay...taking the family too) visiting him and all of his friends over our schools' fall break at the end of October.  It's quite pricey to visit my friend Mickey, but he's got one awesome deal going on called "Big kids get little kids' prices" in the months of October and November, so the trip includes staying at a moderately priced hotel called "The French Quarter", theme park tickets (jumping parks included) and "The Magic Your Way dining package" all for $646 per person.  This does not include our flight, of course, but I'm going to do some more checking over the next month before booking that one.  Oh, to be blissful again and to be there on my 39th birthday too is way cool!  So, if you want me to send you the email with that great price information, let me know.  It would be great fun seeing you at Disney World too!  

That's "Nuff"

Today was one of those days that I could have just stayed in bed kind of days.  Ever have one?  Maybe more than one.  I guess you could say I'm in kind of a "funk" today.  It's one of those sad news, bad news and mad news type of days.  Nothing earth shattering has happened to me, but it just seems depressing, so I thought I'd write a quick, pick-me-up kind of blog about what makes me smile.....Mr. Grant.

Here he is swinging at a local park last week telling me "Nuff, mama!"  He's verbalizing that he is done with swinging and wants down now.  This is his form of saying, "I've had enough."  I love how he says that word.  He's heard saying it when I've kissed his face repeatedly, when I've eaten more than he thinks in my share of the popcorn or when I've taken my own personal children's books to school for work...He says, "Nuff, mama!"  Oh, how I just don't want that to change into a complete sentence.  It is so very cute and I just can't get "nuff" of it!  

Days 121-125

Here's what we've been up to this week....

Tuesday, April 28th - Tyler and friend Jalen are playing foam baseball with Grant.  It's cute seeing them together.  Grant doesn't hold the bat correctly, but will have no part in being shown the right way.  Such a temper!  
Wednesday, April 29th - Grant just can't get enough of outdoor play.  I am sure that I'll be spending my summer running around outdoors with him.  Here he is taking my decorative rocks and placing them in my lawn with his  Tonka pay loader.  This is not something I encourage. Ugh! 
Thursday, April 30th - Madison #18 had another soccer game that they lost (4-0), but boy did they do a great job against those big girls who are two years older.  The above picture shows Coach Josh handing out ice cream cone coupons for MVP's of the game.  At the end of the season, every girl will get a coupon, which is nice! 
Friday, May 1st - May Day!  Here's a picture of Madison receiving a May basket from friend and neighbor Jessi.  They are darn cute together!  However, there are some fantastic pictures of THE perfect photo of the day on Mindee's blog with the filming of the track at school.  I will probably use one of those when I put my Project 365 together.  
Saturday, May 2nd - Tyler had his 2nd baseball tournament in Seward this weekend.  We had several hours to waste between games, so the boys started to play a little soccer on an empty field while the parents grilled lunch.  I enjoyed seeing my daughter join in with those older boys and take charge of the ball.  I soon heard one say..."Hey, you're being schooled by a little girl".  I am still laughing about this one!