Surprise Autographed Football

Yesterday we received a wonderful surprise in the mail....a football autographed by Corey Graham of the Chicago Bears. So... you're wondering what the connection is, right? Well, our house in Chicago was purchased by Corey Graham. Of course when we got a contract after six months of being on the market and praying everyday for a buyer we were ecstatic to have any buyer and then we found out it was a pro football player named Corey Graham. Not being followers of the NFL or any other sport, well except KU Jayhawk basketball (National Champs!), we didn't really "know" who Graham was, but I hear this year he is a household name in Chicagoland. So our dear neighbors from Lindenhurst, the Sassers, surprised us by sending a football autugraphed by Graham. Thank you Sassers. It was a fun surprise! What's it like to have a celebrity for a next door neighbor?

Card Swap #2

My second "card swap" is tomorrow night. The theme for November was "gift tags". I had fun making them and my sister joined me in her first creative/crafty experience. She did very well I must say.

Spoiled Rotten!!!

My sister, Susan, has been here visiting me and spoiling me for the last few days. It's been a great time....I go to drop kids off at school and come home to find the dishes are all done, the floor is swept and Susan is playing with Bryan. While I was teaching piano lessons after school, Susan was busy in the kitchen making dinner and playing board games with the boys two nights in a row. Last night she made the best chicken dish--so yummy!! She also helped Justin with some hard math problems one night. Susan is a great teacher....runs in our family! We went galavanting yesterday at Flatiron Crossing and rediscovered the Nordstrom Rack and discovered The Great Indoors--great store, by the way!! Tonight we are all going out to eat and then tomorrow sending Susan off on a plane to SLC. It has been a fun week. We will miss you Susan. Come back soon.

Scouts, scouts and MORE scouts!

This has been a week of lots of scouts stuff.

On Tuesday Kempton "crossed over" the bridge and is now officially a boy scout. At the pack meeting he was awarded a special patch and certificate for earning ALL 20 of the Webelo pins/badges! Way to go Kempton. He was also given his scout patch because he earned the Arrow of Light a few months ago. He is excited for Saturday's orienteering course that he will be doing and for the upcoming merit badge university in November.

Wednesday night was a Court of Honor where Nathan advanced to the rank of Star. I am very proud of him for keeping at it when it comes to scouts. He attended merit badge university a few weeks ago where he earned his engineering and first aid merit badges. He's doing a great job.

SSSSSSSnake!

Kempton is the proud and happy owner of a Ghost Corn Snake. "Phantom", as he is named, is a very friendly snake and likes to be held. He eats mice (frozen and then thawed) but will not eat in front of anyone as we have found. You may think I'm crazy, but I think he makes a great pet and I don't mind petting him, although I have yet to hold him! Phantom is the attraction of the neighborhood. The Lowry and Ahlstrom boys have been over a number of times to pay him a visit as well as Kempton's classmate Zack. I would definitely take a pet snake over a rabbit, lizard, turtle, hermit crab or fish anyday!! Phantom likes to slither into Kempton's shirt via the armhole as you will see in the pictures. It's pretty funny and Bryan thinks it a riot when he crawls into Kempton's shirt!

What have we NOT been up to???

To answer that question.....not much!!! We have had some summer indian like weather that has allowed us to enjoy the last of Kempton's football season and take a short trip to Miller Farm (about 3-4 miles away!) to pick some great vegetables, herbs and pumpkins. A friend told me about Miller Farm and it sounded like too much fun to pass up. We had a total blast riding the hayride to the corn field first where we loaded up on indian corn. Next it was out to the potato field where we dug up some nice red potatoes then onto the onion patch where we picked onions the size of grapefruit. (No kidding). When we got to the carrot patch the boys wanted to find the biggest carrot out there. They sure found some big ones, but I don't know if they were the biggest. We loaded up on squash, gourds and pumpkins as well. They had pedal tractors that the boys rode and big tractors and an airplane for kids to climb on. The boys had a blast and we are eating lots of squash, potatoes and onions lately.

Birthday Boys!!

Bryan is officially 3 now and as cute and ornery as can be! We celebrated his birthday last night with a fun cake (pictured here) and a few presents. He loved the part about the cake and presents, but not the throwing away of the binky. It was even harder at bedtime. He cried a lot for the binky, but I held out and didn't dig it out of the trash. Hopefully today he will do better.

Since Nathan will be going on the "turkey shoot" this weekend with the Varsity Scouts, we celebrated his birthday last night as well. I told him he didn't have to "share" his birthday, but he said it was no big deal. Maybe that's because he is turning FOURTEEN!!! He loves to make fun of his parents' old age.....little does he know. We really aren't that old. We're still in our thirties. Old is when you turn 90+.

We had a wonderful time last weekend camping in Mueller State Park just west of Colorado Springs. Unfortunately I have no pictures of our adventures because my camera didn't cooperate. So yesterday I had to "break down" and buy a new camera so I could take birthday pictures. The camping was kinda chilly, but that meant lots of big fires and hot chocolate. We took a hike on Sunday after going to church and had a great time until Bryan got tired and wanted to be carried. He did really well for the most part, but the last 30 minutes of the hike was all uphill and his poor little legs just couldn't go any more. Plus we were at an altitude of 9,500 feet.....kinda hard to breathe when hiking uphill!! The aspens were absolutely gorgeous, but sorry no pictures.

I had an interesting parent teacher conference with Kempton's teacher a few days ago. His teacher described him as an old man in a young man's body. Interpret that how you'd like, but I can see how he would say that. I do have to remind myself that Kempton is still only 10 sometimes even though he acts much older. Let's hope we can keep a good balance of the young and old with him. He's a brilliant kid and loves to be challenged. Challenges don't seem to phase him one bit. He takes after his dad a lot!

Decorating on a budget.....

I have been anxious to do a few things around my house when it comes to the decorating. The walls are a plain color, the carpet is brown, the furniture is brown....all a little blah to me who loves COLOR. Nothing major. No painting, no wallpapering or complicated stuff like that that would put me over the edge. I just wanted to redo a floral arrangement that I had made several years ago. I got the floral stuff half off and re-used the container I already had. So here is a picture of my new arrangement along with a round mirror that I got for 75% off at my favorite place....Hobby Lobby!! Nothing like getting a great bargain that you can put to good use. Moving on to the next project......

Here is the card I made for my very first "card swap". The theme was black and white and I used the "Friendship Blooms" stamp set from Stampin' Up. Everything else is just black and white.....no need to give details!

Rocky Mountains reflecting on Bear Lake
Rocky Mountain National Park

Tiny squirrel eating pine cone. This squirrel is about half the size of a squirrel in the midwest.

Bugling Elk in Estes Park, CO

I cannot get over some of the beautiful places there are to see in Colorado!! I am loving the mountains and the wildlife that you get to see when you drive up there. We took a Sunday drive this past weekend and went to Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. There is a short hike of about 3300 feet around the lake and the sights are just breath-taking. The water is crystal clear and you see trout swimming around. There are the smallest squirrels I have ever seen munching on pine cones, and "squeakers" as my kids call them--- known to the rest of us as chipmunks. We saw a herd of deer and lots and lots of elk as we drove through the town of Estes Park. The bull elk were bugling which is a sound you wouldn't expect. They are so big and tough looking but their bugle is a high pitched sound that the kids described as "sounds like they are doing that sound into a PVC pipe". Here are a few pictures to enjoy. Some look like postcards, but they are just amature shots taken by me or Barton.

A few snapshots of our summer..............

Thayne, WY Ralph and Ann Simpson's golf cart

Barton and boys--Estes Park, CO

Ben Delatour Scout Encampment for Nathan June 2008, Red Feather Lakes, CO

Barton's "mancation" rafting on the Arkansas River July 2008

Day Camp 2008--Ann shooting BB Guns (on the end)

Kempton Day Camp BB Shooting (red hat on the end) June 2008

Justin at Day Camp June 2008

Our Bear sighting in Grand Teton National Park Aug. 2008

Yellowstone, August 2008

Justin's Baptism June 21, 2008

Singing the Blues.......

Well it's back to school for everyone! Nathan's first day was today and he was singing the blues about being placed in choir class. He didn't choose that class when he chose his electives, but all the other electives were full so he was placed in choir! The school counselor told us that AFTER Labor Day he might be able to switch! What?? That's TWO WHOLE WEEKS away.

Kempton and Justin are attending Centennial Elementary and say they like their teachers. Kempton has a male teacher and he seems like a really cool guy. When dropping them off at school yesterday for their first day they were their usual independent selves and when they got to their pods turned around and looked at me and just said "goodbye". That's it....no walking them to their classroom door, no nothing! Independence can be a good thing because then there is the other end of the spectrum which you hope your children aren't.

Bryan and I with our new found freedom of just the two of us at home took a bike ride this morning and stopped at the park to play for a few minutes. It was a fun time on a nice cool, sunny morning.

Barton told me Sunday night that he needs to apply for a passport. "For what?", I said. His reply was that it's only a matter of time before he's traveling to Europe to work on the sales departments for Sunrise Medical over there! So much for a "non-traveling" job. It lasted a few months. As for the passport, I told him, "Well then apply for one. Walgreens does passport photos."

Bryan is on the "Potty Train" as of yesterday. With some "Cars" and Mickey Mouse underwear and some gum and skittles for positive reinforcements, so far it's been somewhat disasterous. He wakes up dry in the morning but is too moody and will not go potty. So we have to wait until later to get him to go. Today he pottied on the laundry room floor and on the garage floor and in the toilet once. Oh, what fun!

It has been some time since I put anything on my blog. Today I dropped off Nathan, Kempton and Justin at the rec center to swim.....so just Bryan and I are at home. He's playing in the kiddie pool while I work on this.

We have settled nicely into life in the West. It has been very warm and we have not had a drop of rain since we moved here. That is definitely something we are not used to. We miss the Illinois rains that can last for days at a time. We are finding it a little tricky to manage our lawn here. So far about half of it is dead due to a fungus we believe. Not much can be done but just to let mother nature run her course and hope it will come back to life here soon.

Nathan attended scout camp back in June. He had a wonderful time and even earned a few merit badges. Kempton, Justin and I all went to day camp the same week. It was great too and we all had a good time.

This week Barton is on his annual "mancation" with Dan and Kip. His Arizona friend, Rich, was unable to come this year. I'm sure they are having a fun time mountain biking, and whatever else they had planned to do. They are in Dillon, CO (i think??) at a mountain campground enjoying high altitudes, sunshine and cooler temps.

Today I took the three youngest boys and went to Ace Hardware here in town. For my boys that is like being in a big toy store. Kempton, Justin and Bryan could have stayed in there for hours checking out all the "stuff", but we had to head home with our hardward to repair a fence and some sprinklers.

How many dishes, pots, pans and utensils are dirtied when Nathan cooks shrimp cakes and pasta for dinner? ALL OF THEM!!!! This picture is after I washed all of them.

Nathan likes to get a little creative in the kitchen and decided to cook something a little complicated and new. While he fried up his shrimp cakes he told me to let him do it on his own and that I could go lay down and "relax". Yea, right. As grease was splashing everywhere I was supposed to relax on the couch and hope that they kitchen would be all right after he was done. Well, it all turned out, but he says he's never making fried food again. I agreed and told him simple meals are good too.

Haven't posted to my blog for several months now! Life gets busy--what can I say? Since last posting, Barton learned his job was being moved to Ohio. There were several factors that led us to decide not to move to Ohio and keep his job, so Barton has been job hunting for the last few months. As of today we haven't made a decision regarding a future job, but hope to make that decision this week or next. All the jobs we are considering are in the nearby area so we wouldn't be required to move. His job at Cardinal ends Nov. 9th and so he has a little time yet.

The picture at the top is from a recent trip to the city. It was a 90 degree October day and we walked from Navy Pier to the Shedd Aquarium so we could avoid another $20+ parking fee. Needless to say we got a little hot and tired and Justin got scared walking across a big bridge where the the joints of the bridge had gaps and you could see below you. From that point on there were no smiles from Justin as you will see in this picture! We also walked through the park where Buckingham Fountain is. That is quite a fountain. Kansas City may be known as the "city of fountains" but this fountain is the King of them all.

Memorial Day Weekend was a great weekend for our family! We went camping in Wisconsin at Pine Grove Campground. We camped next to a field of cows. They added a little to the noise, the aroma and the fun! The campground has a small lake where the kids swam, went fishing and cruised around on a paddle boat.

We also recently celebrated Justin's 7th birthday. He had a little party at an indoor pool with a few of his friends and his brothers.

Soccer Star!!

Today was an exciting game for Kempton's team. They remain undefeated and Kempton scored in today's game. Way to go Kempton!! During the game I had the chance to chase Bryan around the playground area next to the field. Bryan is now master of the slippery slide and also loves to swing. Nathan took along his stunt kite and got it stuck in a tree, but managed to climb the tree and get it unstuck. After that he moved to another field with less trees and had a little more success there, but found stunt kite flying to be somewhat of a challenge. Lucky for him we live in the "windy city" and so you don't have to "wait" for a day to fly a kite. Everyday is kite flying day.

The Lipstick Baby.
Bryan discovered that mommy's purse has some really neat things in it.....like lipstick. He only got it on his face, but then went and played in the pile of dirty laundry and got it on daddy's nice shirt. Luckily mom knows how to get those kind of stains out!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!

Today was "project day". Barton's project was working in the basement all afternoon.

Nathan's project was shooting off his homemade rocket as well as one from a kit. The homemade one didn't do too bad. It "squirmed" around a bit instead of going straight. It landed safely though and was a good learning experiment. The other rocket is now living in the trees near the high school. The wind blew it there.

Kempton's project was finising up his simple machines project of making a pinball game. Each student in the class makes one. They have two utilize three types of simple machines. Kempton has done a great job!

Justin's job today was his usual Saturday job.....that of using dad's old drill to drill hole after hole in some scrap wood. Now it's "holy wood".

Bryan's job was an easy one. Can I trade jobs with him for just one day? My project today was, well, what project wasn't my project today? Need I say I am tired out?!?!

***Pictured w/ Kempton is his friend Jeremy from next door.

Baxter Bunny

Nathan decided he wanted to work on his pet merit badge for scouts.....so this weekend we found a cute little Netherland Dwarf bunny. He is quite small and also quite cute. He doesn't mind being held so the boys are having fun taking turns holding him.

We had a great weekend filled with some sunshine and warmer temps. Kempton's hockey team played against the 1st place team and only lost by 2 points. For a lot of the game the score was tied. It was a really good game and for playing against the number one team they all did great! Next weekend is the final game of the season.

One more month until Bryan is old enough for nursery......I'm having a countdown! I don't get much out of sunday school or relief society as he is a handful, so I'm looking forward to him attending nursery. I'm hopeful that he will like it and not be clingy.

Toothless Wonder!!

Only one time in your life you can be missing both front teeth and be so darn cute and that is when you are about age 6 or so! Any other time and you'd probably be called a "hill-billy". While playing around with Bryan, Justin's tooth fell out this afternoon. The other one came out a few days ago while he was at school. The tooth fairy will be here again tonight!

Our weather is finally nice again. The upper 40's bring out all the kids in the neighborhood for lots of bike riding and chasing. The snow melted and a possum was hanging out in the yard as well. The kids "chased" it by walking....that's how slow this thing was moving. Maybe he was still thawing out from the colder temps of previous days.