October 2012

At the beginning of the month, both boys had field trips for school. Charlie went to Nebraska City to Arbor Lodge and Jack went to the zoo. They were both really excited and had a good time. The weekend before their field trips, we went to the boys' first NFL football game in KC. The Chiefs played the Ravens. We weren't sure how well the boys would like the game or pay attention. Turns out they LOVED it. They both sat and watched the entire game. Charlie cheered pretty loudly and Jack was quiet and Doug-like in his football watching. The Chiefs played the Ravens and Jack is (or was) a Ravens fan. He was glad they won. It was a low-scoring game (9-6) and no touchdowns were made. It was a beautiful fall day for the drive down and back. It was chilly, but not too chilly. We had beers, popcorn, peanuts and hot dogs. It was definitely the experience. They want to go to another game soon. In fact, that is what Charlie has asked for for his birthday. He would like to go to a Vikings game in December. It is obvious their dad's love of NFL football is transferring to them. Charlie knows a lot of the terminology, plays, teams, records, scores and player info. It's amazing how fast they suck it all in and remember it. Charlie loves to watch football with Doug and talk about how all the teams are doing. It's fun to watch. Jack is interested as well, but not quite as much yet, since he's still younger.

This month we also had conferences for the boys. They are both doing really well in school. Charlie loves math and science and Jack likes pretty much anything. Charlie really is enjoying learning about the writing process. In 3rd grade, they had to write a story about their favorite restaurant and Charlie wrote about Hooters. The teacher and I got a good laugh about that at conferences.

During the month of October, we continued our quest to redo the main floor of the house. This month we moved on to lighting and had every light in the house replaced. They also installed recessed lighting on the first floor, which I love. We moved our first floor set-up around a little and purchased some new rugs and furniture. It's looking really good and all we have left to do is the trim, doors, crown moulding and painting. We are almost there. Then I have a feeling we will move on to the 2nd floor and redo trim, doors and bathrooms. It's been fun watching the progress, but it's definitely a lot of work...and we aren't even doing any of the work. We are just watching and picking it out. Eeeek. Imagine if we did the work. I would die.

Let's see, what else for October. We went to Vala's to celebrate fall. We all love going to Vala's and usually spend about 5 hours there. This year we got to do some new things that we hadn't done before. The boys did the paintball and apple blasters. We went this year on a Friday night and decided that we really enjoy going at night. The boys loved going on the train ride and corn maze in the dark. We ate dinner there and sat by a fire with an older gentlemen who told us a story. He told Casey at the Bat by memory and was very animated. The boys sat and listened in awe. They loved the story and asked if there was more. Then we sat and talked with the man and as it turns out, he grew up in Council Bluffs not far from where I lived. Small world. It was a highlight of our visit this year.

The boys had a dress-up week at school to celebrate drug awareness. We had some interesting discussions about smoking and drugs. It's obvious they don't have a grasp on what drugs are yet....which is good.  One day was Hawaiian day and they both had grass skirts, hats and leis.

I turned 38 at the end of October. I was supposed to go to Minneapolis with some friends to run a half marathon, but I ended up staying home with the boys. I didn't want to spend my birthday away again, as I was gone last year too. The day was uneventful. I took the day off work but ended up taking Kiki into the vet for a small surgery. That wasn't fun and she wasn't happy. We also had a sick bearded dragon and I gave him warm baths and fed him crickets. By the time that was all over, I had time for a four-mile run and some coffee. We went to an early dinner at La Mesa and were in bed by 8:30. Whew, I am a party animal. The next day we did go to the neighbor's house for a party and had quite a few drinks and watched the football game. It was a good time.

And for Halloween! Charlie was a mummy this year and Jack was the grim reaper again. He wanted to wear the same costume as last year, so who was I to argue. What, save money and not have to shop for a new costume? Yes, sign me up. The boys' school had a costume parade and they had also decorated the entire school in the Candy Land theme. It was amazing and a surprise for the students. The entire inside had the little colored squares around the whole school. Each area of the school had a different theme and different decorations. All of the teachers and staff were dressed up as Candy Land characters. It was pretty cool and fun for the kids. After school that day, my mom and I picked up the boys and headed home to make chili and mummy hot dogs. I also made white pumpkin hot chocolate, which was amazing. We went trick or treating with some neighbor friends. The night was exhausting. The boys were out for over two hours. I think they need to have Halloween on a Friday night every year. The rest of the week I was so tired.

September 2012

Where did September go? It's on to October and we've been so busy, I don't see an end in sight. I don't ever remember feeling so busy and rushed. I don't like it.

At the beginning of September, Jack turned 7. I can't believe I have a 7 and 8 year old. It's seems impossible. Jack wanted a lizard of some sort for his birthday. Doug agreed. He needed to agree, because let's be honest! He would be the one to run to the pet store frequently to get crickets, etc. Doug and the boys did a lot of research and reading about which lizards were easier to care for, what they ate, how big they would get, etc. They took many trips to MANY pet stores in the area. They got pamphlets upon pamphlets, read them and put them in order of preference. It was very entertaining. Finally, they decided on the bearded dragon. And the bearded dragon for Jack needed a friend, because doesn't everyone? To solve that problem, Charlie bought one with his money. The boys have really enjoyed their dragons. I think Doug might enjoy them more. They are pretty cool little things. It's fun to watch them eat and bask in the heat lamp.
For Jack's birthday, we ate at a lot of restaurants to celebrate! We ate at Joe's Crab Shack one evening, Red Robin another and Kobe's Steakhouse the night of his actual birthday. My mom and Bob came for that dinner. The boys love the Japanese steakhouses.

For Jack's birthday party with friends, he chose to go to Skatedaze. They kids played in the Playdazium, ran around like crazy and then ate lots of pizza and cake. I thought this would be an easy party, but when you get 20 1st graders trapped in a little party room, nothing is easy. It was fun, though.

Mid-September I decided it would be fine to add a little more craziness to our household, so I volunteered to foster a little dog who needed a home. I figured we would help her find a new home and it would be fun. Well, as it turns out, most dogs are cute and I like cute dogs. So we have decided to keep her. The boys love her and so do I. Her name is Sasha and she's a little shih tzu daschund mix. She's an odd looking but really cute dog.

At the end of September, we went to the River City Rodeo for the first time. We had a blast and really enjoyed watching all of the events. The boys liked watching the other little kids riding on the sheep the best. Following the rodeo was the Jake Owen concert. It was a first for the boys and we all had fun.

The next day was Doug's 43rd birthday! Our weekend was so busy, it seems that poor Doug's birthday got a little over looked. Good thing he's a good sport. My sister was in town that weekend and along with that, the rodeo and a family get together on Doug's birthday, there wasn't time for much else. We spent Doug's birthday evening at my aunt and uncle's farm out in Underwood with my dad's family. We had a great time, good food, cake and beer! and the kids were able to run themselves ragged on the farm with my cousin's children. We sat outside, watched the sun set and spent the evening watching the Husker game. It was pretty nice! Maybe Doug's birthday wasn't so bad after all. Beer and football on a farm! 

On top of all the birthdays and other things, we had a BBQ with friends, attended a Powwow and are redoing all the lights in our house--adding can lighting on the first floor, new fixtures and all new lights upstairs. Phew, it's been fun around here. 

August 2012

When August started I couldn't believe summer was almost coming to an end. But we packed in what we could in the last couple of weeks of summer vacation.

At the beginning of the month,  we stayed one night at Mahoney State Park. I wish that we could have stayed another night, but in order to get good reservations, you have to call a year ahead. Since obviously I had not planned that far in advance, we only got one night. But we had so much fun. We did a lot of hiking and walking around the park. We walked down to the Platte River and watched the trains go by. The boys thought that was awesome. The Platte was in bad shape while we were there and it still is. There's been a drought this summer, so the river was pretty much sand. We spent the evening grilling out, hiking and working on an electrical circuit building set that the boys had gotten previously. We had a really great time and intend to go again next year.

After we got home and that same week I went out to Denver BY MYSELF to visit my sister and my good friend, Jeanne. I was there for five blissful alone days. We shopped like it was our job and I even got in a 7-mile run with Jeanne on a beautiful trail. It was awesome. While I was there, my sister and her boyfriend were in the process of closing on their first house. This meant we got to do lots of house shopping. Since we are redoing our first floor, I got to do some shopping too. I bought two big rugs and some new light fixtures. We visited Ikea, the outlets and many other places. It was fantastic. We ate out a lot, too. I had so much fun I forgot to take pictures! I need to get better about this. I took one photo of Jeanne and me in the parking lot the last time we got to hang out.


When I got back from Denver, it was just a few more days until the dreaded start of school. The boys enjoy school, but I think they enjoy being home with me during the summer even more. They didn't really want to give up days of sleeping in, playing, swimming and fun to sitting in desks.

And then, because we couldn't stop it, school started. Jack started 1st grade and Charlie started 3rd. So far the school year is going well and they really like their teachers. This is the first year I wasn't able to take the boys to their first day of school. My school started the same day, so I had to be at work. Boo. This meant Doug was in charge of photos!

A Night Out

One night in June, Doug and I at the last minute decided we really wanted to go out to dinner. We couldn't find a sitter, so we took the boys with us. It ended up being a really fun night. We went to Cantina Laredo at Midtown for dinner. We sat outside on the patio and the weather was perfect.

                               Then we headed downtown to Gene Leahy Park to walk around.

 Finally, we hit Mutual of Omaha on the way home to see the swimmer's head and watch the swim trials night video on the side of the building. 

Summer Happenings

As I was going through some summer photos, I realized there was quite a bit I hadn't included in my summer posts.

In late June, we visited Lincoln with my friend Ruth and her kids. We took the kids to the Lincoln Children's Museum, Mueller Planetarium and Morrill Hall. We had a really good time. We stopped at Noodles and Co for lunch and walked on UNL's campus throughout the day.
One of the things the kids liked the most was wading in the fountain outside the student union at UNL...even though there was clearly a sign that said "No wading, No swimming!" Oh well.

Another fun thing we did with Ruth and her kids was to go down to Linder Lakes in Louisville one day to go swimming. We had a great time using the paddleboats and swimming. Did I mention the boys love swimming in lakes?

July 2012

I'm not sure where the summer has gone or what we have even done! Last summer we did so much and this summer not as much. We took a little trip to Kansas City at the beginning of the month. We stayed at Crown Center and visited Sea Life, Lego Land, Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun. This was a vacation for the boys, not for Doug and me. It is safe to say that I finished the vacation needing a vacation and yearning to go somewhere relaxing and more for me. Ask Doug. I spent the weeks following researching our next trip and it will be somewhere GOOD!

 Lego Land was a little bit of a disappointment. The boys were in a hurry to get through it, because we had promised them a Lego set at the end. They wanted to rush and get to the gift store to pick theirs out. And then they wanted to quickly return to the hotel to put them together.

One of the restaurants we visited at Crown Center was Fritz's. Friends had told me about this place, that the food wasn't the best, but go and see the trains. The boys LOVED it. They thought it was so awesome that little trains delivered the food that we had ordered by phone. And yes, the food wasn't the best, but we had fun!

The next day we went to Sea Life. We liked Sea Life a little better than Lego Land, but our zoo has a pretty great aquarium that is hard to beat. So it wasn't super exciting. The boys enjoyed answering the quiz questions throughout the aquarium.

The next couple of days we visited Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun. The weather was nearing 100 degrees the day we went to WOF, so we opted to visit during "twilight hours." That meant we were there from 5pm until close. And let me tell you, we stayed until the very end. It was perfect, though. No one was there. We didn't have to wait for anything. Jack, our non walker, still complained of being hot and not wanting to walk, but Charlie loved it. He has no fear when it comes to rides. He rode on anything and everything. He even went on the Mamba at 9:15 pm in the dark by himself, which, for the record, did not make me happy. I don't do roller coasters, though, and Doug, in his old age, gets sick from them. So....that leaves Charlie. Jack did go on the Boomerang at the start. He then was reminded that he isn't a big fan. Charlie would go on a scary ride and then when it was over he would say, "that's it?" No big deal. 

We drove home from Kansas City on the July 3rd, ran home, unpacked and then drove out to Glenwood to celebrate the 4th with family. The boys love the lake. They love swimming out there and hanging out with everyone. Most of all, they FREAKING LOVE fireworks. 

Some random photos:

Fritz's

Swimming at Jen's

View from my Sunday morning run at the Wabash. An awesome 7 miles! 

My BFF. I love her so much. 

Our new beach bag...It's huge!