Chaos Control

Wow, I feel like someone put a little zippy drug in my morning coffee! I am having a very productive day! Laundry is almost done, kitchen is cleaned up, cleaning is done . . . I think this back to school thing has triggered my nesting instinct! (Plus, I was down with a cold over the weekend and I am feeling much better now!)

Zach and Emma are having a blast today with their good friends Sammy and Maisy. I guess the next few days will be "one last hurrah" before school starts on Thursday. We did secretly find out which teachers our kids have, and we are worried that Zach will be really disappointed that his two best friends are in another classroom together without him. We can't decide if we should tell him before "Sneak-a-peak" on Wednesday night. Wish us luck with that one. Emma seems to have scored a really good teacher this year - and we know for sure that her good friend Carter will be in class with her. She is excited!

I forgot to put in my last post that Roger and I have been playing kick ball! The team we play on is made up of other parents/friends from our school. We are having a blast! And, the kids are having fun hanging out with their friends and cheering us on. It is too cute to hear your six year old yelling "You can do this mom!" from the sidelines! So far, our team has won one game and lost two. We pretty much got our booties handed to us by a bunch of 20-30 year olds these past two weeks - but, hey, at least we are out there making the effort! We still have a few more games left - so I will keep you posted. I will try to get Rog to take some pics so you can see us at our finest!

We spent the remainder of our weekend watching the Olympics from Beijing. Wow! I have been so impressed and mesmerized by how beautiful everything looks! Beijing has really outdone themselves! We cheered for Phelps and the other relay swimmers last night as they took gold! We watched the women's gymnastics team and bit our finger nails! We also watched the men's basketball team beat China! I was amazed to learn that badminton is still a recognized sport in the Olympics - and man those guys are good! I really want to catch the synchronized diving - that boggles my mind as well!

Have a great Monday!

J9

A Beautiful Day in Kansas

I am updating today as I sit outside with my "farmer boy" husband. The weather is beautiful for an August day in Kansas - 79 degrees and tolerable! Makes us wonder how bad this winter might be - because you have to pay sometime! Rog is telecommuting from home today, and the kids and I are getting ready to meet our friends the Duffy's (Aunt JoJo and the boys) for a short field trip to the Gardner pool and water extravaganza. I'll let you know how that goes!

Things around here have been chaotic as usual. We have been making preparations for the kids to return to school next Thursday. Can't really believe that summer is almost over! But mom is ready for some much earned "alone time" to get some current projects "nailed up" and begin some new ones. The kids also seem to be craving a little more structure in their lives these days, so a return to school may be just what the doctor ordered!

Zach will be a first grader this year, and is excited about two recesses and lunch at school, but is nervous about having to be there all day. He is very much hoping that his two "best friends" (Sammy and Cole) will be in his new classroom. We have our fingers crossed! Emma will be in third grade this year, and has already decided on her first day of school "outfit", much to mom's dismay! It seems she will be wearing a large tie-dye shirt and athletic shorts - not a "dress-up" outfit (which would make mom happy). It is lovely having a tom-boy for a daughter! (Can you hear the sarcasm?) Actually, I am glad that she has her own opinions and spirit - it really defines who she is.

Rog (aka "farmer boy") has really outdone himself this year with the garden. We have more tomatoes than we know what to do with. The kids and I have been delivering tomato "care-packages" to any and all of our neighbors who will accept, and Rog has already made two giant batches of salsa! Give us a call if you would like to sample the salsa, or if you are in need of a "care-package". We hope to have watermelon, green beans and zuchini soon. We will keep you posted.

I am getting closer to my goal of erradicating all of the wallpaper in our house. This past Sunday, my mom drove up from "the farm" to help tear the nasty wallpaper off of the walls of our living room. We worked from 9:00 am until about 6:00 pm, but we were successful! I now need to clean the rest of the glue from the walls and repair any damaged areas - then I can paint. What a refreshing feeling! Anyone interested in helping paint - just let me know! Thanks mom - you are an angel!

Oh yes - and I must not forget the exciting news that Rog has finally purchased his new iphone! After checking the AT&T stores, the apple stores here and in St. Louis, and many profanities - he was able to stand in line at the Leawood store all for the pleasure of that little bit of Apple goodness! He is very happy indeed! In fact, all of the pictures I have included today were taken with his iphone! I can't wait until I am eligible for a phone upgrade in September - maybe then they will have released a pink one! I will keep my fingers and toes crossed!

That's enough for now. I will let everyone know how the first days of school go! Happy Friday!

J9

Wow - I just realized it has been some time since my first post!  Lots of chaos here!

Hope everyone had a fun and safe July 4th weekend!  We were really lucky to have the opportunity to spend the weekend at Beaver Lake with Zach's best friend and his family.  We had a fun and relaxing time - lots of laughs - and were really glad we decided at the last minute to go!  This was the first time swimming in a lake for our kids. Once we convinced them that the fish stayed really deep, we had a hard time getting them out!  Zach even did an accidental dive off the side of the boat that made the parents gasp - but all turned out well!  Always great when you find another family that are easy and fun to be around!  Thanks Sammy, Maisy, Joni and Tim! 

Our plans to hit the pool with friends today have been spoiled by a sudden thunderstorm.  So, we are stuck at home (which mom finds to be a good thing!)  We have cupcakes in the oven, laundry in the washer and good friends here to play.  What more could you ask for on a rainy day?!  Plus, it gives me this great opportunity to update my blog!

Emma Update:  It is with deep regret that I report that Emma has decided to end her fabulous gymnastics career.  After, two full weeks of practice at level 5 (and lots of tears), she decided it just wasn't very much fun to do cartwheels on the beam, or to do hip circles on the high bar.  Roger is disappointed, J9 (the family accountant) is somewhat relieved, and Zach was only sad that he wouldn't see his friend Blake at the gym anymore!  So that she didn't lose her strength and skills, we decided to enroll Emma in a high level tumbling class that is offered through the cheer program at KGDC.  She had her first class last week and absolutely loved every minute of it!  It took a little trial and error to find the right class for her - but she is now, once again, having a blast!

Zach Update:  This Sunday will be Zach's last baseball game of the season.  It will be nice not to have practice and games on our busy schedule.  The Muddogs have had a great season with lots of personal improvement and achievements.  It has been fun to watch the boys grow through the season! Lots of thanks to our fabulous coaches!  We hope to keep the same crew for next year!  Zach is just excited to have a party at Beach Bums Island and eat cake after the game Sunday!

Rog Update:  My "farmer boy" husband has proven once again that he really does have a green thumb (and that he missed his calling in life)!  We have a beautiful, thriving garden this year, and will soon be harvesting large tomatoes, grape tomatoes, yellow peppers, green chili peppers and strawberries.  Keep your fingers crossed for the watermelon, cantaloupe, green beans, zuchhini and squash.  I told you we are trying to reduce our footprint!  Maybe next summer we will add a cow (for milk), and chickens (for eggs)!  Good thing there is no homes association in our neighborhood!

As for me - I continue to be in charge of "chaos control" around here.  Not much new to tell - but will keep you posted!

Have a fabulous week!

J9

Getting Started

Welcome to my new blog!

I am very excited to have this opportunity to share updates on our family, funny stories, links to pics, trials and tribulations in our life, with all of you.  So here is my first attempt to blog away.  Enjoy!

Life here at our house is never dull.  We seem to be on overdrive most of the time, and just completed a hectic week of fun and games!  One of my goals for the remainder of this year, and especially this summer, is to slow down a bit and enjoy the moments.  I was recently inspired by a new blog I found - more on that later.  As a few of you may know already, one of my new year's resolutions this year was to create a simpler life for myself and my family.  Rog and I have recently expanded that to include reducing our family's "footprint".  We will share our adventures into this somewhat new area in the coming weeks and months.

Enough of that, though!  Let's get on with the updates!

School officially ended for the 2007-2008 schoolyear this week.  Zach officially "graduated" from Kindergarten in style with a music program and cookie reception on Tuesday.  Emma enjoyed her final day as a 2nd grader on Thursday.  And, on Friday our summer break officially began.

Emma continues to enjoy her career in gymnastics and will begin practice as a Level 5 gymnast this summer. Notice the reference to "career"? It has to be close to that when an 8-year old spends 13.5 hours per week training away from her family - don't you think?!  And let's not even talk about the six-pack abs and brick-house body - we are a bit afraid of swim suit season! Roger is going to be knocking the boys away at the local pool!  We are waiting with baited breathe to see if she can hang with the increase in time, skills and conditioning.  Seriously, though, she has great talent and is beautiful to watch!  You can check out highlights of this past competition season at Roger's photo posting site: akitanik.smugmug.com.

After less than successful attempts at soccer and basketball, Zach has recently joined a baseball team made up of 15 of his friends from Kindergarten.  We are pleased to announce that he has found a sport that really gets him excited!  The boys began practicing in March and had their first game on Mother's Day.  We have had so much fun watching Zach learn the ropes of baseball and be successful increasing his skills with catching, fielding and hitting the ball!  His team is official named the "MudDogs", and Zach's team name is Zee-Dog.  We are lucky to have a great group of dad's, and one mom, who are awesome coaches.  You can't even imagine how hard it is to keep track of 15 kindergartners during practice and games.  Are hats are off to "Dog Trainer", "Dog Catcher", "The Big Red Dog", and "Scrappy" - our fabulous coaches!  You can see pics of Zee-Dog and his friends in action at Roger's photo posting site I mentioned above.

As for Rog and I, we continue to plug away at our respectful careers, work on home improvement projects, cheer our children on, and enjoy time with our family and friends.

I think that is enough for now - I want to keep you interested - not bore you to death!

We will post again soon,

The J9