Progress

Move Over, Brad Pitt

Luke came down for breakfast this morning all snazzy. They have a short week of school this week due to parent-teacher conferences, and today they were supposed to dress like their favorite character. I asked Luke who he was dressing up as, and he didn't have an answer. Just dressing up, he guessed. Frank Sinatra? Cary Grant? Nope. So I suggested that maybe he should tuck in his shirt....

"It's Hollywood NOW mom, not like when you remember."

A Direct Quote From Loverboy

Background: Jackson has been spending all his spare time lately making things out of paper products and office supplies. I am officially out of tape, paper plates, paper bowls, toothpicks, and plastic silverware. Staples and glue are in short supply. So, in an effort to keep him entertained last night, I showed him how to make paper chain necklaces. He picked out several pieces of different colored paper from my scrapbooking stash and was busily cutting and gluing. I asked him what he was going to do with his necklaces, and he just shrugged. I then jokingly said, "You could make a different colored necklace for each of your girlfriends." His answer.....

"There's not ENOUGH colors to do that ..."

Uncle Mick's response: "And you wonder why we tease you about your girlfriends!"

For you, Grandpa Ed

Jerry and I went on a Parade of Homes here in Hutch a couple of weeks ago (collecting ideas for our bathroom remodeling project.... more about that later!) Most of the homes are new construction and do not have anyone living in them. The owners of one of the houses had already moved in, and since I had my camera along in case we saw any bathroom ideas we wanted to remember, I snapped a couple of shots just for Grandpa Ed.

W
Wouldn't that make a nice addition to your pedal car collection?

Netflix Greatest Kiss

Marilyn stopped by today for lunch with Jerry and I while Tim had a meeting. It was so fun to see her and catch up a little bit! I thought I'd post a link to this video of her son, Kaleb:

http://www.netflixgreatestkiss.com/

Kaleb and a friend of his won Netflix's Valentine's Day contest for their video of the Greatest Kiss from a movie. They won a trip to Las Vegas and were on the Today show last Friday. Congrats Kaleb!

On another subject, I don't know what it is about Hutchinson and hostage situations, but there is another one going on right now. You Kansas residents will probably see it on the news. Don't worry, it's a looooong way from our house or the kids' schools. We are praying it is resolved quickly and harmlessly. The man being held hostage is our neighbor, a lawyer. Apparently the man with the AK-47 was served divorce papers this morning, and is not happy about it. Wow.

Odds and Ends

We spent Friday night in Ottawa watching Adam and Ryan play basketball. Ryan's team won by quite a bit, but Adam's game was a nail-biter. They ended up winning by one point! Both boys played great games. It was fun to watch! Ryan came and sat with us during Adam's game, and Stacia and I got a kick out of watching Luke immediately jump up and sit next to Ryan. Forget Dad - it's a lot more cool to sit by your older cousin! Adam and Ryan are so good to Luke and Jackson; they don't seem to mind playing with their much younger cousins at all. They all slept in a pile on the floor like puppies, and spent hours outside playing with the Airsoft guns. Luke and Jack were in heaven! Aubrey was outnumbered and decided to spend her time with us adults :)

On the way home Saturday we stopped in Emporia to visit Aunt Jo and Uncle Dick. It had been a long, long time since we'd been to their house. We watched the fun part of the K-State / KU game (i.e. the first half when K-State was winning!) The kids all graciously "let" Uncle Dick beat them at ping-pong. Somehow I think it was Uncle Dick "letting" them stay in the game :)

Today Jerry is working on patching walls in our bathroom remodel project, and I am playing catch-up with some tax work. My pile is growing faster than I can keep up with it. I know, I know... here I am blogging instead of working. Everyone needs a break!

And, to make this post a little more interesting, here's a picture of Luke's basketball team at the Nickerson Tournament:


Oh, and before I forget, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to everyone who sent Jackson a Valentine. He was very glad to get them all!

Love is in the Air

Or the water, or something. Maybe it's just the proximity of Valentine's Day. Jackson was giggling and snorting yesterday as he ran home from the bus stop. I asked him what was up, and this is the conversation.

"Mom, all the girls at school like ME. EWWWWWW!" More snorting and giggling.

"So, how do you know they like you?" I asked him. "Are they sending you notes?"

"No, mom," big sigh, "Aliyah has my picture hanging up in her room and she kisses it every morning. She told Taylor! And Kelsey told Taylor she loved me on the playground. And Taylor loves me too, I just KNOW it! But I am going to tell Taylor to sneak over to Aliyah's house and take down my picture. NO MORE KISSING!"

"Who do you like, Jackson? Do you like Aliyah or Taylor or Kelsey?"

"I like Jaden."

Move over, Casanova. Luckily for me, Jaden lives in Ohio. It's a long-distance love affair!

Jackson's Valentine Box

Jackson, otherwise known as The Child With The Office Supply Fetish, spent this weekend making a Valentine Box for himself. It is covered with miles of tape (three different kinds) and some lovely artwork. I am strongly hinting that his siblings had BETTER make him a Valentine to put in his box. Wouldn't it be sad if it were empty?

So, on that note, if you have time to drop a Valentine in the mail for him, or if you could send me an email for him I will print it out and put it in his box. He would be so happy!

Another addition to my blogroll...

Just a quick note to welcome Uncle Larry to the blogging world. You can follow his progress restoring the old Model T at www.larrysmodelt.blogspot.com . The old rusty thing is already looking much better!

San Diego, Bumps, and Poppyseed Bread

Jerry and I flew to San Diego for a quick weekend. Jerry had a meeting for a Chiropractic Management group he is part of, so I went along for the ride. Marilyn came up to stay with the kids over the weekend, and it sounds like they all had a blast. The kids loved, loved, loved having her here!

We stayed in La Jolla, which was beautiful (and warm!! shorts!!) I snapped a quick pic of Jerry with two of his friends from college, Vince Siraguso and Michael Buffington. Vince practices in KC (some Missouri suburb, I forget which) and Michael is in Dallas. We all went out to dinner with a few other couples at a seafood restaurant along the water. Got to watch Carol put ketchup on her lobster - a first !
Aubrey has to make a series of four recipes for her FACS class this semester. We reap the benefits of that, let me tell you! She made Grandma Evelyn's poppyseed bread Sunday:
And as for Jackson's bump, it is pea green right now. Marilyn told him she thought he was rotting because he didn't want to take his bath! It does look pretty gross. Ugh.