August 27th

Not too much going on around here...

I guess the biggest news would be Dylan starting preschool. He has done great! He had one day, the second day, where he shed a few tears, but that was it. He LOVES school and everyday waits very impatiently for it to be time to go to school. He is in the afternoon class and doesn't go till 12:45. Everyday when I pick him up the first thing he says to me is "Mom I didn't cry today!". The first week I had a little something waiting for him in his seat when I picked him up. But this week I hadn't done that. I didn't want him to expect something every single today. So today when I picked him up he said, "Mom, can we please go to the store so I can get some beef turkey!" Which is how he says beef jerky. So we did. He has done so well it is hard not to reward him! It has been really strange being childless even if it just for 3 hours. But somehow I manage!! :)

Kristian is still enjoying school. I had to get him a new guitar case because the other one was falling apart. I walked into the living room the other morning and he had scotch tape trying to tape it back together!! I started to get the duck tape out, cause you know that will hold! But instead I just got him a new case. He had had it for two years. Taking it back and forth every day will cause a lot of wear and tear on it. I am hoping this one lasts till high school and then he can get a new case and guitar.

Mick is gone to California this week. He comes back on Friday. He worked his last late night last Thursday night. What a relief! He had been working those long hours since the middle of June and it got really old! It will be nice to have him home for dinner now and then!

We went to Ryan and Tanya's cabin last weekend just to get a way for a few days. We had a great time. The weather was perfect, except that it rained. But that turned out to be a good thing. It kept us there at the cabin so we HAD to relax. That Saturday we stayed in our pj's till 2 in the afternoon!! The boys love going up there. They love the creek and going to see the chipmunks. Which we did manage to get to do that Sunday. There was a break in the clouds long enough for that and to have a picnic on the river downtown. We ended up not heading back till around 7 that night. None of us were ready to leave. Some friends of ours went with us. We don't get to visit with them that often so it was nice to have a get away with them and catch up.

This past weekend we took the boys to ITZ. We all enjoyed that. Kristian has a game there that he loves. He calls it the big spinner. He seems to win 80 tickets each time he plays. Dylan enjoys the bumper cars and the skee ball. Of course, like always, we ate way too much!!!

I ended up joining Curves and I am really enjoying it. I signed up for a year!! So we will see how it goes. It is a lot of fun. My friend Martee and I have been going together when we can. It is nice to have someone to go with. I went 3 times last week and will go for the 4th time this week tomorrow... I could really feel the burn today! But that's a good thing!

Well I suppose that is it from here. I hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend. Until next time...

pictures... Dylan and Grant playing in the rain at the cabin, Mick, Dylan and Kristian ready to hike, Mick and Dylan taking a nap, which that was the position Mick stayed in for most of the weekend!, the guys playing with the legos and lincoln logs, Ms. Olivia what a doll, Dylan and Rebecca their first day of school, Dylan outside his school and the 3rd day of school when he dressed himself, it was a bit cooler that day!

August 4th - August 12th

With it being the week before school started we didn't do much of anything. I think I was pretty much tripped out for the summer.

Tuesday Cat and the kids came out for lunch and to visit. We had a great time! We met Tracy and the kids in town for dinner at Red Robin. It was so good to see them, but especially the kids. They are growing up so much!! I miss seeing them every day! After dinner I took the boys to watch Iron Man at the dollar movies. (Mick was working late) We got home around 11 that night.

Friday we went school shopping for the boys. They didn't have a whole lot to get which was nice. Dylan of course had to try on his school clothes in the boys dressing room. It was really cute actually. From where I stood I could see him. He had a pair of shorts and a shirt to try on. He sat down on the floor to put the shorts on, but then realized he had his pants on. So he took those off and sat back down on the floor. So anyone looking could see his Power Ranger undies! I was very impressed with him though. Because when he came out he had re-hung his shorts on the hanger! Kristian was less than thrilled to school shop. He tried on his clothes, but with a lot less enthusiasm than Dylan! Friday night, Mick came home and informed me that we needed to go to town to pick up my laptop that he bought for me. Best Buy was installing some programs on it, so he couldn't pick it up when he bought it. I was SO excited to get it. I am ALWAYS on his when he isn't. I guess he noticed too. Kristian is excited because we are going to move the desktop up to his room... With LOTS of parental locks on it! After we picked up the laptop we went out for ice cream and then came home.

Saturday Mick worked on the car and I cleaned the house. We went over to Cat and Brett's for dinner and got home around 10:30. Matt and Jennifer came in around midnight so we just went straight to bed.

Sunday I actually cooked a big breakfast. I don't even remember the last time I cooked anything more than ... cereal or cinnamon rolls! It was so good! We sat around and visited in the morning and then Mick and Matt went and picked up a truck on Schriever. The guys got home and "said" they were going to unload the truck off the trailer. Me, Jennifer and the boys were watching Home Alone (it was chilly and cloudy out, so it just felt right..) About 45 minutes later the guys come walking in telling us they took the truck for a drive and it broke down. Neither one of them had taken a cell phone, so they couldn't call us. Luckily they were able to get it going and make it back. We never saw them leave and just assumed that they were out in the shop. I mean they did say they were unloading the truck!! We grilled some burgers on the grill for dinner and watched RV that evening. We ended up playing Scattergories and visiting after the boys were in bed.

Monday was Kristian's first day of 7th grade! I took him to school and he was so nervous. Luckily when we were pulling up his friend Zach was also being dropped off, so that helped. I came back home and visited with Matt and Jennifer. We had lunch in Ellicott and then they headed back home. I ended up taking Dylan to the doctor yesterday afternoon because he had another spider bite on the back of his leg. This makes the 3rd one since March. They must just be attracted to him. They put him on antibiotics, so we will see. I got home around 7:30 last night. I had to wait for 2 hours for them to fill his prescription. I was NOT a happy camper..

Today I took Kristian to school and then came home and straightened up the house a bit. Dylan's preschool teacher and her aide came by around 2 to go over some things with me. Dylan actually talked to them. They asked me if there was going to be any separation problems on Monday and I said probably so. He has told me that he is going to try not to cry, but I think it will be more of a blood cuddling scream.... I am hoping for the best though...

Mick had a bad start to the day. He had a dentist appt. to have his permanent crown put on, but when they were pulling off the temporary one they grabbed his gum too. He was not happy. After he left there he swung by Best Buy, only to find out they didn't open for another hour. When he went back to his car, he realized he had locked his keys in his car. And we don't have another set! He called Chris in town, who went to get some tools out of a guys truck to bring to Mick and ended up locking that guys keys in his truck! Mick ended up being able to push the window glass far enough that a lady with really skinny arms was able to reach down and unlock it! He got really lucky! After that I think things eased up a bit.

Well I suppose that is it. Hope things are going well for all of you. Until next time...

Pictures are of Kristian on his first day of 7th grade, Matt dressed up as the "chef" and Dylan and the love of his life Jennifer!

June 25th-Aug 3

On Friday Dylan had a dentist appt. and they pulled his tooth. He did great. I was so glad when it was over! After his appt. I took the picture of him and showed it to him. He said "But I don't want it to look like this." Oops... Not much we can do about that. By lunch time he was over it. Kristian showed him all the "cool" things he could do with a missing tooth. So he was happy again. Friday night I had Bingo night. The theme was "Sweet Tooth"! There were so many great ideas that the girls brought. I ended up with a nice bucket of Reeses and Snickers! YUM! The tooth fairy also came that night for Dylan. He got $5. We told him it was because of all he had to go through with that tooth. And to not expect that much next time...

Saturday, we took the kids to Itz and had a great time. Harry Potter was showing this time. We didn't watch all of it, like we normally do though. We will just have to be on the lookout for them to come on TV.

Sunday, Dylan and I started feeling sick again. I actually felt it the day before at Itz, so we headed in to the doctor. Come to find out we both had Strep and Dylan had an ear infection on top of that. I just felt like I had a bad sore throat. I wasn't running a fever or anything else. Dylan was running a fever though. I guess next time I will know.

Monday, we loaded up and headed to Matt and Jennifer's. It is so nice that they are only 5 hours away. We got there around 7 that night, which was the time that Matt was getting off of work. So we pulled into O'Reilly's and waited for him to come out. We had rented an apartment next to them, but Jennifer had went over earlier in the day to turn on the a/c and it was still really hot. So we ended up staying with them instead. It brought back a lot of memories of when me and Mick started out, a LONG time ago.

Tuesday, they were both off of work. We sat around and played the Wii and cards. That afternoon we went over to the pool on campus for about an hour. We went back to their apartment and grilled out. And then played some more card games. We did the Wii fitness to find out our Wii age. I am happy to say that mine was 33, Matt's the first time was 64 and 68 the second time! Jennifer's was 57 I think and Kristian's was 35. I was pretty proud of myself for being the oldest one out of all of us to score the youngest. But I did it again and got 47! :)

Wednesday, we went to Walmart and I brought some stuff to make dinner for them and few other things. We watched a few movies, ate, played card games again and then went for ice cream. It was really relaxing to be there and the kids loved it!

Thursday, they had to go to work and me and the boys packed up and came back home. We got back around 3:30 and I just went and laid on my bed. I caught up on some tv until Mick got home.

Friday, I cleaned up and caught up on laundry. Always a good time! We met Mick in town for dinner and then went to Chris and Maite's house to visit for a bit. Grant and Olivia were already in bed, but Maite had some pictures of them. Olivia is getting so big! She is a doll.

Yesterday, I finished cleaning, YIPEE and then went grocery shopping. I was going to pick up some school supplies, but it was so busy I just said forget it. I still have this next week! There is still time... Kay and Martee came out around 5 for dinner and to visit. Mick took the boys to see a movie. It was so nice that we were able to sit out on the deck and eat. I made some Pina Coladas, yum! ( I have the best recipe for them! If you are interested let me know...) Martee made some bushwhackers. They were really good too. Considering how many different types of liquor are in them, I was surprised I didn't get a little buzzed! We were sitting outside, talking about what scares us when we are home alone, when I spot a car stopped at the crossroads by our house. I point it out and we watch someone get out of the driver side and walk in front of the car. It is PITCH dark out, so we can't see a lot of detail about the car. It starts to go and turns in my driveway. I ask Kay and Martee should we go in, we are like sitting ducks, just sitting on the deck. But no we just keep sitting there watching this car drive up my driveway towards us... It wasn't until it got all the way to the garage that I could tell it was Mick and the boys! I didn't realize what time it was and I couldn't see anything but headlights. But we didn't move, we just kept sitting there! I don't know what we would've done had it not have been him! Kay stayed till around 11, since she did have to drive all the way back to town! I was glad she stayed as long as she did and that she did drive all the way out. Martee stayed till around midnight. After Mick got back and put the boys down, he came out and visited with us too. It was perfect outside! There was actually just a slight breeze compared to the normal hurricane gusts that we have when we decide to have people out.

Today, Mick is working on his car, the boys are playing and well I am just hanging out! I have no where to be and nothing to do, but work on this blog! What a great feeling! We have one more week till school starts for Kristian and two weeks for Dylan. Which Dylan is still not sure about it. He keeps telling me he is going to try not to cry... I told him if he starts crying that it will make me cry! He didn't seem to care!! I did get a letter from the school letting me know he will be in the afternoon class. Rebecca will also be in the class. So I am hoping that that helps him some. I told Mick they are probably going to have to use the jaws of life to get him off of me that day! I also found out that the week before he starts that his teacher will do a home visit. So I am hoping that that helps too. Maybe meeting her one on one and getting to know her a bit will help him ease into it. That's my hope....

Well I hope all of you are having a great time and enjoying your last bit of summer. Until next time...

The pictures are of my toothless boy! Dylan and Jennifer, he loves her to death!, Matt and Jennifer outside their apartment and the boys with the big dinosaur in Boise City, Oklahoma. We have passed by it a thousand times and just now took a picture with it. We are always like, hey kids it is the big dinosaur, so they know where we are when they see it!