Grandma Sue's Birthday

Despite all the illness, I went against my "better" judgement and we went to the K-State vs. Texas A&M game in Manhattan on Saturday. Jacob has had a sinus infection for days and I was sick Friday night/Saturday morning.

Here is my REASONING for making myself and the kids hang out in the cold:

1. Jacqie and her friend wanted to come with us to this game for months....Luke looked hard for weeks before he found tickets.

2. My step-sister, Angela and her husband, Matt, were going to be in town at the game.

3. We were celebrating my mom's BIRTHDAY at the game.

Angela made a homemade carrot cake with real cream cheese frosting!

Perfectly decorated for mom and a K-State game!

Yes, it was as delicious at it looks!
Jacob picked this out for Grandma Sue the other day. It is a box with an angel holding a gold shaped heart. Hence the reason it was called the "Heart of Gold Angel."
Jacob wrapped it all by himself with "Superman" wrapping paper.

Thank you mom for being there for me and for all of your family.
You truly do have a Heart of Gold.
We Love You!

Water Retreat Weekend

The first weekend of October I had the opportunity to spend time with 9 amazing women making crafts to sell on the etsy shop for www.water4christmas.com.

4 women drove from Iowa & 4 of us drove from Newton

to Pam's house in Kansas City.

All of us contributing to the project in our own special way.

Crafting Team

Front Row: Teresa, Jody, Shana, Amy, Pam, Megan

Back row: Me, Cassie, Amy, Jana
Me......yes, me.........doing crafts and loving it.........REALLY!

Pam's "House of Crafts"

Cassie, Amy and Jody working hard.

Teresa cutting patterns for headbands.

patterns.....

Pam our hostess....

I miss her so much since she left Newton. It was good to see her.

Megan's finished project.

I was humbled by the passion of these women.

Driven to help raise money to dig wells in Liberia for CLEAN drinking water.

Clean water, which we take for granted here in America.

I have thought about this post for almost two weeks. My post hasn't been as eloquent or as "heart felt" as I would like it to be. Therefore, I encourage each of you to read more about the weekend from fellow "bloggers/crafters." Go to "Clearing the Air", The Burback Family, Whatever, Chapter 35 and http://jodyrlanders.com on the side bar of my blog to learn more.

I apologize in advance, I still don't know how to add their links to my posts.

Visitors!

On Sunday we had surprise visitors come by to see us! Onn and her friend came by the house and brought some food for us. Onn is a very SPECIAL person. She is very caring and she loves the boys (despite their orneriness).Jacob was excited to show Onn his "Bumble Bee" Costume.
Here is Onn, Jacob and Ben (GI Joe).

Onn is originally from Thailand. She has only been in the United States a few years. She is attending WSU, getting her degree in nursing. We are thankful that God has brought her into our lives. Our stomachs like it too because she a great cook!

Check out Siam Cuisine in Wichita for authentic Thai food at very REASONABLE prices. Onn's family runs the business.

Also, Luke's parents came by and spent Sunday night with us. Don had a Drs. appointment in Wichita on Monday so we had extra special time with them on Sunday/Monday.

Jacqie was able to come by and see us too. However, Luke was bummed because Jacqie didn't have time to bring Isabel!

Trooper Therapy & Random Pictures

"Mr. Smiley" AKA "Trooper"

This is "Trooper". He is MY dog. Trooper loves the boys, especially Jacob. Ben is allergic to dogs so he stays clear but Jacob "snuggles" with Troop and they are buddies. Troop got his name because I decided with two boys ages 2 and 3 (at the time) he needed to be a "Trooper" to put up with the boys being rough. Troop is a VERY good boy, low key, relaxed, and melts my heart with those big brown eyes. Troops only down fall are his ears. He gets infections frequently which can cause him to be quite "stinky." That is okay by me because I still LOVE him. Above, Troop looks like a bear rug, relaxing after a very rough morning - ha!
Here is Troop sporting an "80's do" with an "ear head-band."
This is suppose to help get air to his ears so they don't get infected.

Side profile

Trooper very excited that we were in the back yard.

NOW, here is the real reason for the blog.......

I was lonely being in the house by myself on Tuesday and Troop smelled.

Therefore, I decided to give him a bath and "groom him."

I was also trying to be "thrifty" since I am not working and wanted to save $80.

Above is the before bath, blow drying, shaving and brushing picture.
Trooper afterwards.

It took so long to take care of Trooper and clean the bathroom, that I was late picking up the boys. However, it made the day go by quickly!

Jacob's First Day of All Day Kindergarten

Monday was Jacob's first day of all day Kindergarten. He was so excited that he had a hard time falling asleep on Sunday and woke up at 5:00 AM Monday. Luke found him that morning, dressed and laying on his "made" bed. Yes, Jacob was ready but mom on other hand, not so much!Jacob
Ben is in a lovely stage of making "faces." I think this was the only picture without his tongue sticking out.

Ben and Jacob

Both boys waiting for the bus.

Both my "Babies" leaving on the bus.

Jacob had a great day of all day kindergarten and enjoyed eating lunch at school.

I am thankful he had a good day and that Ben helped take care of him on the bus!

Craft Weekend

I am feeling somewhat obligated to blog after getting on-line and noticing that I am the only one left of the bunch that hasn't blogged about the "craft weekend." Which was put together by awesome women with a vision to provide clean drinking water to men, women and children in Liberia. 10 women came together to make crafts to sell on Etsy Shop next month (as a fund raiser) to dig wells. I will keep everyone updated on how to get involved.

I would love to link every one's blog but I am the technologically challenged of the bunch. So either Amy or Cassie is going to have to give me a lesson on how to post cool pictures, links, etc. on blogspot. This may actually require a phone call!

AND, of course I need to figure out how to give credit on certain links so I don't violate any copy right stuff....See the need to follow directions to a "T" is the old "Probation Officer" coming out!

One last thing.....go to www.water4christmas.com to find out how you can give to this legitimate organization working towards a great cause.

A Perfect Day

Today was my first day of being "unemployed" for a few weeks. It ended up being a great day. I started helping Jacob with his homework. All kindergartner's were required to decorate a scarecrow for the hallways at school....My "ex-coworker" (less than 24 hours) knew I was working on a scarecrow and knew I wouldn't make it to Walmart for "Raffia." So she called me and said I am outside your front door, let me in!!! She came bearing gifts...Rafia...yea!

It was fun! We had coffee and apples (her favorite), had fun helping Jacob with his project, had the windows open and listened to crickets.

Lynne has officially made it past the "family friendly" cleanliness rules and she has graduated to family member. I stayed in my Jammie's while she was here, we swept my kitchen floor and even worked on my toilet! I think Lynne is a keeper!

Jacob and Lynne working on the scarecrow.
Trooper, hanging out acting really "stressed out."

Then after an afternoon to myself (ahhhh), I picked up the boys for haircuts and then off to flag football!

Ben is #6 and Jacob #8.

Luke B. (far left), Ben and Jacob getting ready to "tackle".....wait, I mean "pull a flag."

What a GREAT day!