Ashton Observatory

With Josh out of town for work, I got to take the older kids to the Ashton Observatory for scouts on my own. It was really quite amazing that this is only 3 minutes from our house! We got to see jupiter and the moon as they were in a good orbit to be seen from Iowa. It was all perfect until we had to watch an hour long movie  that was way above the kids' head. Some interesting fun facts and animations - but it was after 930 and everyone was pooped! Fun that scouts allows us to do fun things like this!

HYC Spring Concert

The Spring Heartland Youth Choir concert was nothing short of magical. I am so honored that Zach is a part of this! I hope he always loves to sing!!!

Can Drive

April 29, 2015

Another wonderfully successful can drive! Grayson and Zach both did a great job. Scouts has been so good for Zach. Allowing him to be more social and be around boys that share his interests. And a majorly proud moment for me - he learned the scout oath with ZERO prompting from anyone. He learned it because it was important to him and he wanted to - just awesome!

Last Days of "Us"

April 22, 2015

Grayson and I definitely have a special relationship. Trying to enjoy the last days of just "us." I got the privilege to pick him up everyday from school and soak up that huge "so glad to see you" grin! We had our afternoons of playing, cooking, gardening with library trips and arts and crafts. These are the last few weeks of just me and Grayson time with the kids getting out of school soon. And next year he is off to (sniff sniff) kindergarten!! I cannot believe it.

We went through some debate at the beginning of the year on whether to send him. He is a June birthday and most people keep their kids back, especially boys if they have a summer birthday. About halfway through preschool when he was already writing better than me, and starting to read - we knew he was ready. 

But, until it will be the 4 of us hanging out all summer, we are enjoying play dates and some "us" time. Love you little man!

Haircuts!

April 19, 2015

Look at these cuties and their haircuts - I prefer long....but they wanted short

New Windows

Because of a defect in our original home windows we were the lucky recipients of a #13,000 bill and 3 new giant picture windows and 11 upstairs windows...hope they last a long time :)

CC-Luna Story

April 22, 2015

I am not sure how I got caught up in the foster dog idea. I think because I saw that Chelsey and Spencer adopted Max, and in speaking to the people who placed him - I discovered a desire to foster a dog. So, I got a call about a lab mix that needed a foster home and I said - sure why not!

Enter "Puddles." Puddles is a terrible name for a dog, I mean who would do that? The first thing the foster ladies asked me to do was rename her. So Kenna came up with the name Honey. We introduced honey to our dogs. It did not go very well - they were completely freaked out by her and she wanted to either play with them or eat them - I wasn't sure. We decided to just keep them separated. After about two days with her I just loved her. She is so affectionate and smart! I told Kathy that she may be the perfect dog for them. They were looking for a lab and she definitely fit the bill for sweet, fun and a lab!

At this point we had to rename her a second time because Forever Home said they had too many honeys for their webpage. So we thought maybe CeCe was more fitting.

I brought her up to their house to see what she thought. It was then we discovered that she was a greyhound lab mix. That dog can RUN! I could not believe how fast and far she ran - I had never seen her so happy. Kathy and Denny both liked her and decided to adopt her. She is so happy at her new home. McKenna went through withdrawls when she left, but it was a bit of a relief to not have to keep all the dogs separated any longer. I think Laney was definitely relieved! Kathy had already picked the name Luna for the dog - so we call her CeCe-Luna :)

It is so fun going up there now and seeing her. The kids just love her and she basically looks like she is smiling all the time - such a happy dog!

Some Awesome Karate Videos!

Kenna Piano Recital

I couldn't be more proud of this kid. She sat in a full college music room and did just awesome on her pieces! She was so nervous but did a fantastic job. Gramma Rue and I got to enjoy the performance. There were kids from ages 5 to adults playing piano and violin. I really enjoyed the entire thing!

Outside Shenanigans

April 16, 2015

Finally it was planting day! Mid April left no more frost warnings in the forecast. This has been a ho-hum year for our garden. We had a great crop of raspberries - but most of the other plants are being slowly eaten by deer, rabbits, or other hungry creatures. Even my upper garden with a rabbit fence has been penetrated. But, I did have this cute planting buddy! 

And speaking of my cute planting buddy this was also his first year of soccer. This kid was the cutest little dude on the field. So focused and into it. He is definitely going to be an athlete. It was only a 6 week club through rush. One of the days was around 30 degrees. I had him out there in a winter coat, gloves and hat, I had a winter coat and two blankets and he was happy as a clam. Crazy kid! He definitely loved soccer!

These manly men had to dig 4 foot holes for our pergola. Josh had designed a pergola that mirrored the angles of the wall. He said that this was the hardest thing he has ever done. This contraption did not have a reverse...so it was man versus machine when it got so low that it got stuck. Glad Damon was there to help because there is NO WAY I would have been able to do this! Luckily all 5 holes were finished with only minimal hiccups (including a rock they had to dig out on the last one.) Hopefully this is the hardest part of the multi-step process!

Cute Note and a Birthday Cake

April 12, 2016

I got a sweet note from my sweet Zach on my pillow the other day - I'm one lucky momma!

And - I very much enjoyed making this minecraft cake with my new frosting tools for Zach's family party. I made jello jigglers for the water - I think it turned out awesome!

Zach's Friend Birthday

April 9, 2015

Oh my sweet boy is 7, I can hardly believe it. What a year it has been! Zach decided early this year that he really want a party at the ARL. He loves loves loves animals and it was perfect. He also really surprised me when I gave him the option of receiving gifts from his friends, or asking them to bring donations of food and beds for the animals in lieu of his gifts. He didn't even hesitate saying the animals needed presents more than he did. Was a proud momma moment for sure!

The party room had lots of fun decorations before we even arrived, but we got there and had about 5 minutes to set up. The best part about the day were the 5 little kittens that played in the room the whole time we were there - who wouldn't want a party with a bunch of kittens? The kids got to color a name badge and pet carrier, received a tour of the facility meeting animals along the way, then we had cupcakes and opened presents. They also got to "adopt" their own stuffed animal to bring home.

Zeeshan - one of Zach's first friends

Lucy - Andersen's youngest daughter - glad that we can be close with their family as all the kids play so well together!

Bella L. - we see her everywhere as her brother was in soccer the same time as kenna, is in karate, and she is in gymnastics. I got a chance to work with her this year in reading each week and she is the sweetest young lady.

Joe is in Zach's boy scout troop. He really loved the kitties.

Victoria has been in Zach's class both years. She was his first crush in kindergarten, he told her he was in love with her on the playground last year...hopefully her mom didn't hear!

Ethan - lives a few houses away and the boys have a great time playing pokemon

Taylor - lives down the street and has twin siblings that will be in kindergarten with grayson next year!

Kenna was in heaven with all these kitties to play with...all my kids just love little critters!