Cousins

Keith and Tomi were over with Baby Lucas on Sunday. He is such a happy little guy, and he makes Lewis look huge!

Ledges Birthday Party

Carter asked for weeks if we could go to The Ledges for his birthday party. We were planning on Chuck E. Cheese, but he said he would rather go to Ledges to catch stuff. So we took four of his second grade friends, picked up some Happy Meals and headed out for an evening in the great outdoors. They all had so much fun; I'm sure they would have stayed all night if we had let them. We bought Carter a couple nets for his birthday so he was excited to try them out. But before they went hunting in the creek, they played a game of soccer with one of Carter's new balls.

Ledges Birthday Party - The Soccer Game

This is one of three soccer balls Carter got for his birthday. In case I haven't mentioned it before - he LOVES soccer!!! The first thing they did after happy meals, cake and presents was to play a game of soccer. Lewis was a bit confused (I think he was playing Lacrosse), but they all had a ball!!

Ledges Birthday Party - The Creek

These boys had a ball searching for creatures in the creek. We all took off our shoes, rolled up our pants and got right in. Some of us got pretty wet! But the boys had a wonderful time. The only complaint I heard was that we didn't stay long enough. No toads or frogs were caught, but they did get a bucket full of minnows.

1st Day of School

This is what I got when I said, "Hey boys I want a picture of you on your first day of school. Can you tell which one was not interesting in heading back?

.
This is the first year Carter has not seemed nervous about going to school. Yey! He wasn't all that excited, but he was okay with it. Owen was not nervous either, but as you can see from the pictures, he was not happy. Oh well, sometimes in life, you have to do things you don't want to do. The boys and I were glad to find that their rooms are just down the hall and kiddie-corner from each other, so they might run into each other now and then.
.

About My 8-year-old Boy

1. He loves soccer. We have a dozen soccer balls in our house, and what did he want for his birthday? Another soccer ball, of course.

.

2. He isn't embarrassed to kick the ball with his mom. In fact, he often asks me to go outside and kick with him.

.

3. He can kick the ball three times without it hitting the ground. The triple-kick as he calls it.

.
4. He reminds me of his dad. He is so very quiet in a group of people he's not comfortable with, but get him around people he loves and he can be quite a funny guy.
.

5. He is a button-pusher. He knows where Owen's buttons are, and he has the gift of pushing them in such a way to get a rise out of his brother. (This is not my favorite of his abilities.)
.

6. His sweet-tooth must be his largest molar, because it is insatiable.
.

7. He can eat 6 popsicles at once. I'm not kidding.
.
8. He enjoys reading if he has the right book. Captain Underpants is tops on the list right now, but we're waiting for a new one to come out.

.

9. He can do math in his head almost better than I can.
.

10. He loves frogs, toads, snakes and a bunch of other gross stuff.
.

11. He loves waterslides. Our Wisconsin Dells trip is just around the corner. I just need to settle on a date. Who-hoo!!
.

12. His favorite suppers are tacos, goulash and chili.
.

13. He can almost ride his bike with no hands.
.

14. He loves to have his back scratched.

.

15. He can make farting noises with his armpit and his kneepit.

.

16. He has lost nine teeth.

.

18. He loves to be outside barefoot.

.

19. He gets so tan in the summer that I have people tell me that he looks Hispanic. Nope. He's mine and Corey's and we are as Caucasian as they get.

.

20. He looks a lot like me. There must be some Corey in there, because sometimes people will say, "He looks just like his dad." We don't see it though, that boy is Nelson all the way. You should see his kindergarten photo and my dad's kindergarten photo side-by-side.

.

21. He is a wonderful little guy.

Priceless

5 Dads, 10 sons, 1 daughter, 5 canoes

Corey has long talked about the day that he would take the boys on one of his trips with him, and it happened this weekend. He and four of his friends took their kids on a little canoe trip, complete with a night of camping on a sandbar. I seriously thought about hiding Lewis in one of the bags to be found after they were on the river, but decided it probably wasn't a very safe thing to do, so the little guy and I spent some quality time at the Burger King playland instead.

.

One day, when all three boys are older, my dear friend Marti and I are going to get a weekend away while our husbands take the six boys on an adventure of some sort. What you do think, Marti? A day at the spa? A weekend at a luxury resort? A day of garage saling, chick flicks and cookie dough? I don't know, but someday, we are going to do something that doesn't include frogs, toads, snakes, spiders, belching or farting. (Not that I don't have a great appreciation for all of those things.) The boys had a great time. I'm so happy they have a dad who loves to spend quality time with them. He's kind of crazy, but he's really a swell guy! I think I'll keep him.

A Summer Project

At the beginning of the summer, or maybe it was sometime this spring, Owen decided he was going to dig himself a fort in the empty lot next door. He was out there many days with Corey's shovels and various neighbor boys. As you can see above, it is now quite a big hole. Seven boys fit inside.

That's Our Trail

A Perfect Getaway. The trailer begins with a helicopter flying over the NaPali Coast in Kauai. The pilot says "The most gorgeous dead end God ever made." That's our beach! That's our trail!! Those are the views we saw from the cliff's edge when we hiked the Kalalau Trail in January. We didn't run into any murderous young couples along the way, though we did meet Sophie and Patrice, a cute couple from France, but I don't think they were the killing type.

.

To say I dislike scary movies is an understatement, but I am going to see this one. I'll probably have to go to sleep with the lights on, but I'm watching it.

.

http://www.fandango.com/aperfectgetaway_119582/movieoverview

We've Got A Winner

I think there are a whopping 3 meals on my list of things that everyone in my family likes: tacos (though Corey only likes them with shredded chicken), goulash (with homegrown canned tomatoes) and Kraft mac-n-cheese. We do have a rule that if you complain about your supper, you sit in your room until you are ready to eat it, but some meals that part of my family enjoys, others of us have to choke down.

.

Well, last night I was very pleasantly surprised to find everyone in my family likes veinerschnitzel (I'm not sure I spelled that right). My mom used to make it when I was growing up, but I had never made it for my family until yesterday. Carter gave me the compliment to beat all - "This is better than popsicles!" Who-hoo!!

57:55

My husband does of good job of convincing me that I can do things I don't think I can. The most recent example is to run a 10k. After we ran the 5K Hobo Run a couple years ago, he decided we should try the 10k. We did it this weekend, and I won't tell you who won, but I'll give you a hint. It's the person wearing number 213. (I choose to ignore the fact that he has run very little this summer due to a bum knee).
I had two goals and attained them both. The first was to not be the last person to finish, and the second was to run it in less than a hour. My time was 57:55. Yey!!

Hobo Days

This is the only picture I got of my boys during Hobo Day weekend this year. Shortly after this photo, some of my classmates, who were on our class of 1994 15-year reunion float, spotted me in the crowd and convinced me to hop on for the remainder of the parade. Fifteen years!?! Is that possible? (Mara, if you are reading this, do you realize you were only 3 when I graduated from high school?) Unbelievable.

Blessed

Our pastors are speaking on "hot topics" at church this summer. This past Sunday, Pastor Gabe preached on divorce. During the sermon I got a lump in my throat as I started thinking about my life. My parents and Corey's parents have both been married for more than 40 years!! We come from stable homes where we each placed our faith in Christ at a relatively young age. We are in our 11th year of marriage, and I can say with 100% honesty that the thought of divorce has not once crossed my mind. It is not a part of our vocabulary. I know that Corey loves me immensely, even when I do stupid things. And though we don't always agree on everything, I know there is nothing I can do to make him love me less. We are in this thing until God decides to take one of us home, (hopefully, he'll take us both at the same time when we are old and gray and peacefully sleeping (hee,hee)). I have been incredibly blessed.