A Late Post on an Early Celebration!

Aaron's birthday was Monday, but since he's gone this week we celebrated on Saturday (just a little). He requested an ice cream cake from DQ so Anna helped me pick it out. She said blue is Daddy's favorite color so this is the one she picked!

Happy Birthday!! We love you more than words can say!

He's as bad as Jacob!! :)

She'll Either Save My Sanity...

...or we'll both lose our minds!!

Aaron is traveling for work this week (Happy Birthday Honey!), so Mom came down to stay with us while he's gone. Whew!! Last week was a train wreck, so I'm glad she's here. I just might have ended up going stark-raving mad had she not!!!!!

I babysat a little 1 yr. old boy for a couple days last week. The added body and energy was tiring (he's a really good kid just has a lot of energy!! :)). One evening I corralled Jacob in the Pack-N-Play. Then Anna got in and they thought it was great fun! Even decided to "nap"!

Jacob...he's officially TERRIBLE TWO!! Wow. He is going to test every single boundary! It's so tiring. But I KNOW if I'm not totally 100% consistent with him he'll take complete advantage and we'll have to start from square one again. It's like the book "If You Give a Mouse a Muffin" (or is it Moose?). Give an inch, he'll take a mile!!

Climbing on top of the table is a battle I've decided not to fight, though! I might regret it later, but oh well!!

This day...this was a bad day. He was a mess. Anna was a mess. I was a mess!!

But hey, they're coloring nicely with each other. At this particular second, anyway.

I'm afraid Jacob is a combination of Jamie and my cousin Seth. Grant it, if Jacob turns out even close to what these two guys have--he'll be great. But it's the getting there that causes stress and heartache and NIGHTMARES OF MY SON DESTROYING MY HOUSE...oh wait, those aren't nightmares! It really happens!!!! I love Jacob more than life itself, but heavens to Betsy does he ever test me every minute of the day! I think the Lord is sitting in heaven saying "Daughter, I'm trying to teach you patience...aren't you getting it yet???" :) Today, Mom had the air mattress rolled up sitting in front of the TV cabinet. Jacob is fascinated with the DVD/VCR and we're constantly after him not to touch it (he's already gotten one DVD stuck in the VCR part!). So anyway, he kept climbing up on the mattress and trying to mess with the VCR. The first time, Mom told him "No. Don't climb up there." He did it again. The second she stopped talking. She took him down, swatted him, and said "No. Don't climb up there." He did it again. The second she stopped talking. She took him down, swatted him, and said "No. I said don't climb up there." He did it again...............are you getting the picture?! This had to have happened at least 6 times. And then it was like he thought Okay...she's really serious about this. I'd rather go play with my tractor than test Binga. Well, that was the morning. He decided he wanted to try again this afternoon...see if maybe Binga had forgotten about the whole air mattress thing during naptime. No such luck for him, but he still kept trying at least 6 more times!!! Whew. What a stinker. I pray that persistence will one day help him in doing something GOOD!!! :)

Saturday was Warrior Fest...a fun celebration the weekend of the College's first home game. It was fun. All the sports teams were out, there were bouncy things, food, booths. And the weather was PERFECT! Jacob loved playing with the soccer boys! He had a lot of fun kicking the ball. Not always in (or even toward!) the goal, but fun no less! :)

That tongue! We can't help it!!!

One bouncy house was only for preschool kids, so it was nice not worrying about Anna getting plowed over by the big kids! They got pretty crazy on the slide! This little boy was actually balancing himself on either side, not catching air:)

Anna went down all kinds of ways!

And JAKE even showed up!!! Anna Mae too:) Those 3 were more than excited to see each other!

Jake going head first!

Wheee!

Anna going headfirst backward!

Alright, I better get to bed! We're going to visit the new baby tomorrow!!!

Anna-isms

While swinging:

"Mama, I need to turn my brain on."

Then she poke herself on the head and screamed

"Okay! It's on!!"

*I'll try to get some pictures posted tonight.*

Reunion Weekend!

Well, I guess I'm officially old now. I had my 10th year high school reunion this weekend! Most of the time it really doesn't seem like it's been 10 years, but when I realize that I've been married for 7.....Oh well! We had a good time just hanging out, talking, and eating pizza. Hopefully we won't wait another 10 years for one! About half the class made it. We graduated with 18. 13 of us went to school together from Kindergarten all the way through our senior year!

Ashley, me, Tyson, Jason, and Jamey. I forgot to get a group picture before Cory and Derrick left! :(

There were 6 little ones there, too. They got along really well and had a lot of fun playing together! The boys (Jacob isn't in this one) played with all the trucks and tractors! Anna and Kylee were the only girls. Anna colored for quite a while, then had fun running in circles with Braden and Jacob!

She is adorable!

All that running wiped her out!

Him, too!

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For supper that evening, we went out to Larry & Brenda's (my uncle's brother so not technically related, but basically!) They live out in the country and their grankids were there as well. They had so much fun playing together!

Oh boy...DIRT!

I don't know what the girls were playing, but they played for a long time! Kaylee, Anna and Reagan had a lot of fun together.

Jacob pretty much just enjoyed wandering around playing in the dirt!

He joined the girls for a bit.

Then they had fun swinging and trying to do flips!

(Anna, Kaylee, Logan (a friend's boy), Jacob)

Here Luke, let me show you how it's done!

We got home late this afternoon and everyone was TIRED! Anna let Jacob lay in her lap and watch a movie while she played with his hair. What a sister!! :)

So now I'm going to go to bed! Before 10pm...it's a miracle (well, I'm not there yet)! One more week and then Daddy has to start traveling. :(

ANOTHER Fair!!

This week we went to our third (and FINAL!) fair of the year! :) Both the kids really enjoyed it and it was perfect fair weather. A few clouds and mild (low 70s) weather! It was also "dollar" day (I use that word loosely because the tickets were 4/$5 so not exactly dollar day!) and all rides were only one ticket! Plus we didn't have to pay to get in! So we bought a few tickets and the kids had fun. Jacob looks much bigger than his age, so even though he wasn't tall enough for any of the rides (not by himself anyway), nobody said anything about him riding.

Daddy went on the first ride--the hot air balloons. Jacob wasn't too sure. Anna loved it. Daddy said he was a little worried Jacob was going to get sick--it went a lot faster than he thought it would! But he didn't...he just didn't enjoy it!

Next up was the turtle ride. It had a steering wheel, so Jacob was happy!

Anna was ecstatic that we ran into her bestest friend Jake at the fair!!! They rode Dumbo together and had a blast! Neither one stopped smiling the entire ride. :)

*Doesn't Anna look so much older with bangs?? It's taken me a few days to get used to the new 'do:) *

Best friends!

After we ate supper, the kids played in the fountains. It actually got fairly warm when the sun broke through the clouds. Luckily I had packed an extra set of pants for both kids (in case of accidents, not in case of water play!). So I let them go crazy and get as wet as they wanted :) Anna kind of tip-toed around things at first.

Gotcha!!!

Getting closer and braver...

He stood at the edge for quite a while and just watched. Then he got brave and stepped inside the circle of fountains. He really liked this spraying one...

Where'd it go???

THERE it is!! haha

Ooohhhh! That one got me good!

Eventually, Anna got pretty wet! They both had a lot of fun. We all had a lot of fun! And of course, we can't go anywhere without running into a dozen people that know Aaron! :)

Anna was very disappointed to find out that we weren't going back the next day! Lately it seems like something "special" has been going on every day. She now asks every day, when I pick her up from preschool, "What are we going to do special today Mama?" She doesn't like it when I tell her nothing! And playing with her brother does NOT fall under the "do something special" category! :)

Anna-isms

Telling Daddy why she put a clippie in her hair:

I put this in my hair so I can be stylin'.

The adults giggle. She turns to me and says:

Mama, what's stylin' mean?

Last night, stalling sleep:

Mama, there's a hot spot right here on my forehead where my bangs are touching me.

(I gave her a trim and bangs *gasp* last night)

*blogger is being not smart right now and a post I had done w/ Labor Day pics is gone (I'm not telling WHO did that!) and now it won't let me load pictures onto the post. WHATEVER!!*

What a Marvelous Day!

We spent several hours today at Scott and Amy's to see their brand new baby girl!!! Leah Dawn was born not quite 2 weeks ago and she is precious! Anna has been begging to go see her...When are we EVER gonna go see Amy's new baby Mama??? Jacob's draw was getting to ride a horse! :)

I was pleasantly surprised at how well Jacob did with Leah! He would crawl up beside Anna and very softly touch her head and smile. When she was sleeping in the swing, he would walk over to her and put his finger to his lips "Shhhhh!" Too cute!

Anna would have gladly stayed there the rest of all time! She sat and held Leah for a long time. She doesn't get rattled when a baby she's holding starts crying. I love it. I'm quite certain she's ready for another baby in our house! haha

Jacob was happy to play with all of Daniel's toys and Anna just sat there and held sleeping Leah. She loved it...have I already said that??

Look at this angel!! She is just so beautiful. And seriously...Anna was smaller than Leah at 2 weeks and I do NOT remember her being that small!! It's crazy.

Time for Leah to eat, so the kids & I joined Scott out with the horses!

Hmmm...what can I do to cause trouble???

He stalked the poor cat! Luckily, Jacob's not quick enough for cats. Yet!

So not only did Anna get to sit for over half an hour holding a tiny baby, she got to ride a horse, too!!! I don't think Scott & Amy would have ANY trouble convincing Anna to go live with them!

Scott taught Anna how to ride all by herself! I thought maybe she'd freak out about not holding the saddle horn, but she didn't! She loved it!

She really concentrated on how to "steer" the horse, Chief. I'm so proud of her!!

Oh yeah...she's hot stuff!

Chief got a little stubborn about going, but we kept telling her "Make him mind. Show him who's boss!" Dad...you remember telling another little blond girl those things?? :)

She had some trouble with not pulling back on the reins while trying to make him turn. But she got the hang of it.

Jacob wasn't as interested in the horses as he was the DIRT! Surprise, surprise!

I did get him to sit on Felio for a little bit. See all the dirt & sand on his hands and arms? He loved just digging!





Here's a short video of Anna riding all by herself! Notice that after 2 seconds of riding, she's comfortable enough to pay more attention to Jacob than to riding!! Squirt.

For Someone Special!

Here are 2 reasons for a smile today Aunt Cara! :) We love you!!!

Corn, anyone?

These are from several weeks ago. Last time Papa & Binga were here, they brought Iowa sweet corn! YUMMY!!!

Papa also fixed our dishwasher. Phew!! Of course, Anna "helped".

Mama...LOOK at all dis corn!

Look at the wheels bending! haha And there's not a whole lot left! It is so good. And my kids absolutely love it.

Jacob was being quite silly at breakfast one morning. He preferred eating a plastic lemon over his cereal, I guess. And wearing a rag on his head.

He wasn't the only one being silly!

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Next I'll post a picture from this weekend (yeah, only one. Good grief!). Grandpa & Grandma came and the boys worked on a project. :)

I Love This Place

The Country School

It takes me back a century

Simpler days
When it was expected for the teacher to open the day in prayer
And having a school verse
Proverbs 22:6 is this one's


It's surrounded by reminders of God's great creation

*even if some of them are fake*

Even a grape vine growing around an archway

Gorgeous flowers everywhere

It wouldn't be Kansas without sunflowers

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It makes me want to stay out there all day

But life beckons and I return to the "city"

One of these days............

The Preschooler

Anna's first day of preschool was Monday. I was nervous about the early start! My kids routinely sleep until 8 or 9 (sometimes even later). So having to be AT preschool at 8 meant leaving at 7:50. Which meant getting her up at 7:15 (which meant Mommy getting up WAY TOO EARLY! haha). In my defense, I work online (not blogging...an actual job thank-you-very-much) til midnight so those early mornings are rough! :) Anyway, Anna did great Monday morning! After I finally got her to open her eyes, she popped right out of bed and headed for breakfast! She'd picked out a new outfit for her first day and couldn't wait to wear it. "My teacher will looove my new clothes, Mama."

I even had enough time to take a picture (and video!) before we had to leave! Jacob slept through it all, so Daddy stayed home with him while I took Anna to school. I was nervous how it would go because all evening/night Sunday, she kept saying she didn't want to go to preschool. I knew she would love it, but I think she was just nervous about starting something new. I told her she had to try it for a couple of days and if she didn't like it, she didn't have to keep going. To say she loved it would be an understatement!!

Anna and Mrs. Z (and Mitzi...she couldn't get her to go away!). Anna is going to love Mrs. Z and school! This preschool isn't part of the school district. It's actually about 3.5 miles outside of town. This couple has an actual school house on their property. I think she used to teach kids out there up to 4th grade, but retired a while back from that. Her daughter (who goes to our church) talked her into un-retiring to teach her last grandchild to read--since she's taught all her others to (talk about guilt!). I think Mrs. Z was more than happy to un-retire! There are only 5 students and Anna was the lucky 5th one Mrs. Z agreed to add!!

Anna at her desk!! They each have a desk like this, their own computers (reeeeeealy old ones, but who cares?! They're all so excited to have their OWN computer!), and a white board table. Anna marched right in, took her shoes off (the grass was still wet and she hates having wet, grassy feet/shoes!) and went right to her desk and starting coloring!

When I picked her up 2 hrs. later, she talked for at least 30 minutes, non-stop! We had to call Papa, Binga, and Grandpa & Grandma. We had to wait til lunch time to tell Daddy all about it. I'm quite certain she'll be reading by Christmas. She is so ready to go! :)

I honestly didn't have a hard time with this day! I really don't get very emotional about this kind of thing unless hormones are high (like the first time she held Jacob! Which I don't even remember crying about, but Aaron says I did.). Plus the morning was so busy with taking Jacob to his 2 yr. checkup and barely getting out of there in time to go pick her up! The 2 hrs. goes by pretty quickly (for all of us I think!). I was afraid this would seem like a huge time commitment that I wasn't ready for, but I think it will be good. She's really loving it (all 2 days!). And we'll just pretend that we did NOT oversleep on her SECOND DAY of school and wound up being 10 min. late!!! I'd never do anything like that! Sounds like a "Not Me Monday" post!

And here's the super cute video of the school girl :)

Translations:

Just a little bit excited. Too much excited.

When I asked her if she was going to have fun:

Swim in da pool!!!!

Mrs. Z has an awesome pool behind her house and invited the moms to take their kids swimming any time after school. Of course, it hasn't been above 65 any morning so far this week. Luckily Anna was too distracted by the actual school part to remember the pool!