Brenda Turns 45 Today

 
 
 
 
Today my Aunt Brenda turned 45! I promised her and her housemate that I would post their pictures so they could see them. Brenda got several Elvis things for her birthday including an Elvis t-shirt that says "#1 Elvis Fan - Brenda". She loves Elvis. She also got some new markers, coloring books and crayons. In her spare time she loves to color and listen to her Elvis CD's. She also keeps busy working at Crossroads and loves to play bingo too. I hope Brenda and Lori enjoy seeing their pictures and reading about the party on the internet. Wow, they are so famous! (I can just hear them giggling now :))

I told Brenda that she was getting to be an old woman now and she responded that she is still young at heart! Good for her!

Tonight Brenda had Lori, Tori, Kim, Pam, Linda, Tom, Heather and Creighton at her party to help her celebrate. Greg and Colby stopped by to wish her a happy birthday earlier in the day before Colby had to head off to soccer practice.

OK, girls time to get off the computer and get to bed :-) Lori, I will email you the rest of the pictures later. Thanks for having us over for cake and ice cream! 

Day Two

 
 
Colby was just as excited to get going again this morning. I only wish this could last all year! 

So How Was It?

Last night I asked Colby, "So how was your first day of second grade?" She responded, "just like first grade". And she was off busying herself with something else. I kept prompting her for detailed information and all I eventually got was: "I was good mom. I didn't get yelled at".

So all in all it soulds like a good first day, I guess!? It's not any different than first grade and she didn't get yelled at. And that is all she had to say about that!

One More....

 
We're on our way! 

First Day of Second Grade

 
 
 
 
Some pictures from this morning. Colby got up in time to get her hair straightened today. Last year it was curls, this year straightened. Hopefully she is as excited to get up and get going tomorrow as she was today!

(it is obvious that Creighton was still really tired this morning as we headed out the door--he was still twirling his hair all the way to daycare--the first "i'm tired" indicator!)

Things are going to be taken up a notch this year. Her ride arrangement to school is different. Last year we were able to take her to daycare at 7:50am and she had time to eat breakfast before her ride came at 8:15am to take her to school and I had time to get work. This year she will be riding the bus in the morning so we will have to be out the door by 7:00am to get her to daycare to catch the bus. It will work, just stressful at first. 

Labor Day

This morning Colby and I were talking about some upcoming things that we have going on. I told her that we don't have to work or go to school on Monday because it is Labor Day. She asked what Labor Day is. Actually I had never thought about it much, just one of those days that we don't work to me. So I began to explain that is a day that working America takes a break to celebrate, etc. She said, "Celebrate, what? God?". I left it at that.....



(1st day of school pictures to come later tonight. I don't have a USB here at work that fits my camera.)

Twas the Night Before School

Tonight was back to school night so we got all of the supplies to school safely and loaded into Colby's desk, found her new locker and chatted with her teacher. Colby has the same teacher for second grade as she did for first grade and I am HAPPY about that! So is she.

Then we headed to Happy Joes for a little end of the summer fun and to celebrate the beginning of the new school year. I am anxious to get back into our routine (if you can call it a "routine"!). Our schedule is packed full every night this week already. Can't imagine what it will be like when they are both in school and doing sports activities, etc. I think I'll have to hire a driver to help me get them where they need to be!

We got home, got showers done and the kids are tucked snug in their beds sound asleep. Colby had fun picking out her "first day" outfit and insisted that she paint her nails. She is such an awesome mix of "girly girl" and "four wheel riding, horse loving, work with dad" kind of girl. I love it.

Seems like just yesterday I was begging for summer to never end. Funny how our bodies and minds just change gear when the start of a new season is approaching. So ready to dump the pool, pull all the flowers, put out the pumpkins and bring on the sweatshirts and jeans. Fall is here....

May everyone have a fun and safe first day of school!!

A Struggle For Survival.....

Stolen from Jody who stole it from her dad: (I loved this thought. I can identify...)

As Henry Nouwen writes:

"Many of my daily preoccupations suggest that I belong more to the world than to God. A little criticism make me angry, and a little rejection makes me depressed. A little praise raises my spirits, and a little success excites me. It takes very little to raise me up or thrust me down. Often I am like a small boat on the ocean, completely at the mercy of its waves. All the time and energy i spend in keeping some kind of balance and preventing myself from being tipped over and drowning shows that my life is mostly a struggle for survival: not a holy struggle, but an anxious struggle resulting from the mistaken idea that it is the world that defines me. . .As long as I keep looking for my true self in the world of conditional love, I will remain “hooked” to the world–trying, failing, and trying again. It is a world that fosters addictions because what it offers cannot satisfy the deepest craving of my heart."

Thanks Jody--a perfect thought for the day....

Creighton's Turn

 
 
Tonight was Creighton's haircut. He looks very handsome. We are now officially ready for school to start :) 

Daddy's Lil' Helper

 
 
 
 
Creighton "helped" Greg for about 5 hours today only coming in to eat lunch. He helped a little but mostly just watched from the roof of Greg's old truck. He sat up there for several hours today with his sunglasses on so he didn't get wood in his eyes. He was trying to be like dad with safety glasses on.

They are adding on to one of the buildings--stalls for horses. Of course, they started this without even bothering to inform me that this was going to happen. It's been talked about for a long time. I guess I hoped the phase would pass before we actually had to GET the horses.

I have a list of a million things we need a whole lot more than horses (or "hayburners" as I lovingly refer to them as). But, I am definately outnumbered on this one. So I may as well get out my boots because it won't be long and I'll be scooping poop. And lots of it... 

A Night Out

Greg and I had a "just the two of us" night out last night. That hasn't happened in many, many months. We could not come up with anything that we really wanted to do. Isn't it sad when you get the chance to do whatever you want for the night and we just wanted to eat out and get back home? I think our spunky, spontenaity is pretty much gone. So our night consisted of eating in Coralville and stopping at Hy-Vee for toilet paper on the way home.

Flowers

 
 
 
 
Greg sent these to me at work the other day. Every flower has just opened up beautifully. I hope they stay around for a few more days. I love them... 

Pretty Girl

 
 
 
 
Colby got a very cute haircut today. AND she let me take her picture...it's a GOOD day! :) 

Almost Done

 
Colby insisted that I take a picture of her jumping off of the ladder with her tube. Considering that she has forbidden me taking her picture lately, I gladly obliged.

Hard to believe pool season is about done for this year. I think the kids have done plenty of swimming, but they are already fretting about the pool being drained soon.

Today I took Colby for a haircut and her stylist immediately said, "she has swimmer's hair". So of course we had to get extra treatments, special shampoo, conditioner, blah, blah, blah.... 

It Just Figures

Greg and I finally have a day off together today. We haven't went out to eat together alone since sometime before last January, not sure when it would have been, but it was honestly like 10 months ago! We decided since it was our 10 year anniversary that maybe we should something together. Mackenzie is spending the night tonight so we didn't have to worrry about getting home early enough to get her home at a decent hour.

Crazy at it may seem we were going to go out to eat and then to the races. We love racing--dirt track, NASCAR, doesn't matter, we love it all. Well, guess what...it's been raining for hours on end and most likely there won't be races tonight. We have been racking our brains to figure out something fun to do tonight and came up with NOTHING.

I imagine we will go out for a quick dinner and come home. So much for a fun night out. That is pretty much the way the ball rolls for us. Maybe, just maybe it will stop raining in time for the track to dry out and have races. Not likely though. So we will do what we love and what we are used to....stay home and enjoy our kids. I guess it just doesn't get any better than that....

Goodbye Baby Kitties

 
Colby getting one last playdate in with the kitties before they left for their new home. No tears....I'm so glad. 

Remembering with Joy In My Heart

This may take a couple minutes to load. Please bear with it. I worked so hard on this until the wee hours this morning and am working today with no sleep :) I had to scan each and every one of these pictures last night as digital photography wasn't an option way back when! There is about 70 photos in the slideshow so it will take just a minute or so to load and about 4 minutes to view--enjoy! (Also, again I would suggest not using the "view larger" option as it tends to distort some images.)

Edit video online at onetruemedia.com

Ten years ago today Greg, and I began our lives together as one. Looking back I am amazed at the changes our lives have seen from that day forward. The growth, strength and endurance required to make a marriage work still intrigues me to this day. We started our marriage living 2 hours apart for several months, we have bought and sold houses, endured career changes, and conquered numerous challenges. We have brought children into this world and seen loved ones leave this world. But most of all we have grown to love eachother more and more with each passing day. We are remembering today with joy in our hearts and looking forward to many more.

Summer Fun

Just playing.....

Edit video online at onetruemedia.com

Pool Time

For some reason there is a pause in the video--it will continue after a few seconds. Just trying to learn a new tool here :) The other night I was obviously very bored and was just searching through random blogs when I came across a couple with video in them. I made it a personal mission to figure out how they did that and came across One True Media today. I think it is pretty cool and I want to spend a little more time with it. It's free, but of course, they tease you with all of the "premium" features that I want, but don't want to pay for :)

Edit video online at onetruemedia.com

Sweet Smile

 
Wet head, swim suit and sunburned cheeks...story of our lives around here.

Just sorting through some pics and thought this was a sweet smile. 

Beach Baby

 
I think next summer I will only need to buy Creighton a pair of swim trunks and a new pair of crocs. This child has drawers full of clothes yet 99% of the pictures I have of him he is wearing the same thing...swim trunks and orange crocs. Go figure :) 

Nothing

In an effort to avoid a "forced" post, I have nothing...No words...No pictures...Nothing.

Rare

 
My two kids, in one photo, both smiling. Very rare. 

Colby

 
 
 
  Just pictures tonight. I struggled a bit to find some pictures of Colby. She's going through the "I don't want my picture taken" stage. There could be worse things, but I still hope it passes quickly...