Pumpkins and Parties

Another weekend has hit the dust, and we didn't waste a minute of it, that's for sure!

The kids were off of school on Thursday and Friday for Parent/Teacher Conferences. A nice little fall break. We decided it would be fun to meet some friends for breakfast and travel down south a piece to do some apple picking on Friday. We weren't sure the weather was going to cooperate (we had rain and hail during breakfast) - but our trusty meteorologist, Roger, assured us that the clouds would soon part and the rains blow away. He was correct and we had an awesome day! We came home with 13 dozen apples, and two pumpkins. I let the really helpful lady at the orchard talk me into buying a "pie" pumpkin, and she gave me some great instructions for how to cook it down to make pumpkin puree. Wish me luck this next week!

On Saturday, we had the requisite soccer game in the morning. Emma played goalie for the second half of the game - and she rocked! She even had the game saving play when she caught a mid-air attempt at a goal from the other team. All of the parents were quiet as we watched the ball sailing toward the goal - then the crowd erupted as Emma trapped it in her arms and saved the day! The Banana Splits tied the game and have yet to lose a game this season! Later, that evening we hosted a party at our house for the entire Golf Course Management staff. We had a blast, the food turned out well, the weather was great, and we introduced everyone to a little game of L,C,R! I actually won three times! We also celebrated Roger's boss, Ed's birthday with cake and homemade ice cream. Thanks Bunny and Kelly! We hope everyone had as much fun as we did. We really enjoyed having everyone at our house for the first time ever!

Sunday morning had us traveling south once again to the Powell Pumpkin Patch in Louisburg, Kansas for our annual fall family outing. My mom and step dad love to take everyone to the "patch" for corn mazing, pumpkin picking and the all important corn tossing fights. Thanks mom for the underwear full of corn! It was greatly appreciated. After, we headed back to Mom and Clink's for tacos. The kids had fun "planting" the stepping stones they had each created with Grandma. Then, Bucca enlisted help from all of the grandkids to clean up the hedge apples. It was crazy to see Aaron driving the rider mower and pulling the trailer while all of the "little kids" tossed in the hedge apples. They are all getting so big - it is funny to look back at the early pictures and see how much the have all grown!

Hope you all had as much fun as we did this weekend! It think I will need this whole next week to recover!

J9

Monday, Monday

We had another great weekend at Beaver Lake with our friends the Crofts and the Rogers. We broke in the new "Big Mabel" which was a blast. Elizabeth and I had quite a ride when Tim decided to catch a passing boat's wake and we "caught some air" and flipped right off. The pictures are hilarious! The water was pretty chilly! My face tells it all! Once again, a good time was had by all! Thanks again Joni and Tim for sharing your home and weekend with all of us!

Short week for the kids this week at school because of parent teacher conferences. Emma is finally back to normal after an episode of strep throat last week. Zach has dodged the bullet so far. I think we will try to do some apple picking on Friday, depending on the weather.

I started a new exercise program at Bally with my friend Elizabeth this morning. She is working on getting her personal training certification, and is helping me get back in shape and hopefully lose some of this extra weight I have been carrying. Wish me luck! It felt great this morning - hopefully I can keep the momentum going!

Rog and I are hosting a party for his work crew at our house this Saturday night. So, will start today getting the yard and house ready for that. I am hoping for good weather so we can move the party outdoors - it is such a great time of the year for that. This is the first time everyone has gathered at our house, so will be fun to spend some time together!

I will try to post some pics from the weekend later today. Have a great week!

J9

Sick Kiddo

Nothing like a couple of days stuck at home with a sick kid. Emma has strep throat and is eagerly awaiting a fever free day so she can return to school. I'm not complaining about my forced time at home. The only thing I have missed so far is a "Team Building" Inservice for work today. And, yes, it would have been nice to earn a few free CEUs (since I still need 25 hours before December 31st), but oh well - I didn't really want to go anyway! Yesterday was spent hanging out on the couch most of the day with Emma, catching up on all of the shows I have been DVRing. Today I have been a bit more productive - laundry, setting up new email, cleaning up loose ends for PTO . . . you get the drill.

Emma just took her temperature (96.6) and has now asked if we can go to Justice. "Yes sweetie, right after we take daddy's car to NTW to get a new tire." Bummer to leave for work, only to realize you have a flat and must change a tire, then figure out how to get to Lawrence and back on a donut. Not a wise choice - driving to Lawrence on a donut. So, kindly ask wife if she can work that out for you. "No problem honey. Because I am the best wife in the whole wide world!" So Emma and I will be heading to NTW later today to see if we can spend even more money on our cars this month! (My poor budget is shot to heck now!)

On a more positive note - I had a fabulous weekend with my mom, her best friend (Marilyn) from high school, and my friends Shelly and Julie. We traveled to Lake Fort Scott, stayed in a fabulous lake house that belongs to Marilyn's son, and scrapbooked the whole weekend away! Mom and Marilyn really spoiled us with food, pampering and presents! We had a "scrapbooking intervention" and convinced Shelly that she really didn't need to scrapbook every single photo she has ever taken! She felt like a big weight was lifted from her shoulders and is now very close to finishing her son's album. We also had some 'laugh so hard that you almost pee your pants' moments. The best was when I went to crawl into bed at about 12:00am on Friday night and the head of my bed proceeded to collapse to the floor. I'm sure it was hilarious for Shelly when she turned around and saw my arms and legs flying in the air. Important to note - she laughed her butt off before asking me if I was okay! I forgive you Shell! And, thanks for a fabulous time Mom and Marilyn! Can't wait to do it again!

I don't think Roger had as much fun hanging out with the kids by himself all weekend. He had to manage a soccer game, and two softball games pretty much on his own (although I did gather all of the gear in a nice pile so he didn't have to search for shinguards or jerseys). It didn't help that Emma was inching closer to illness as the weekend progressed. She did manage to score a goal in her soccer game Saturday morning - then proceeded to leave the field crying because she couldn't breathe.

And, no, I didn't not reach my last month's goal of blogging once each week. So, I will try again this month. Let's see if I can manage it!

Have a great Tuesday,

J9