4th of July 2009

We celebrated 4th of July by spending the afternoon over at Butch and Debbie's. Much like most other weekends, time was spent in the pool. We came back home and enjoyed the fireworks to ourselves. The boys got 20 or so parachute men and spent a good hour chasing the "little" men.

Later we shot off the colorful fireworks and watched as the neighborhood gave us a beautiful show to watch. Every direction from our driveway, we saw mortors being shot high above the rooftops and trees. Absolutely beautiful (and cheap)!!

Owen's 5th Birthday - June 2009

My baby "O" has turned five!! It's unbelievable that he is five. Wasn't all that long ago that we were welcoming home from Wesley Hospital.


A big day was on tap to celebrate Owen's birthday. We decided to have a pool party at Uncle Butch and Aunt Debbie's house. Owen has been into Transformers for some time now and with the fast approaching new release of Transformers 2 (movie), it was more important than ever that there be a Transformers' theme. Owen did great and fun was had by all.

WOW!!

Really it has been a long time. Sorry to not keep all of you updated. We have been having a busy, busy summer. It won't be long before school starts again. Tyler and Austin start school the 17th and Owen begins on the 19th. Owen will be joining his brothers in all-day school finally this year. Unbelievable!!!

I have posted highlights of our summer above. Enjoy!!

Happy Memorial Day!!

Wishing all a Happy Memorial Day and hoping that everyone enjoys the BBQs, lakes, pools, etc. We on the other hand took it easy this weekend. Dustin has been fishing several times waiting to catch something...well anything; he keeps getting skunked (been to Watson, Buffalo, and the Arkansas). Neighbors went to the lake but we decided not to go...they said that the Cheney was under water at Cabin Cove and the water was nasty!! We took the boys and Bert to the drive-in last night. Saw Night at the Museum 2 and stayed for Wolverine. Tyler and Austin really wanted to see Wolverine but fell asleep ten minutes into it. I am not really into the whole X-men movies but this one was actually pretty good. Maybe I do need to watch the rest of them.

Thought I would take a moment and reflect on the past couple months as it has been some time since my last post....

...I have been working at Hanger for the past seven weeks. Enjoy what I do, get bored at times but love the part of having a life again. Go in at 8am, take an hour lunch and gone at 5pm. No being on call or being responsible for anyone else other than myself and my job.

Back in April, Dustin and I took Owen to the Monster Truck Rally at the new Hartman Arena (Park City). Owen had a blast and was "big-eyed" the whole time. They raced the six trucks and lots of motorcycle races (teenagers down to the guys not too much older than Owen himself).





Owen went to the zoo with his class. He continues even today to tell everyone what all he saw. Here is a picture that just came home last week...

Tyler and Austin have recently been on field trips to the zoo this past month. All of the boys went before the new tiger exhibit opened. Will have to plan a family outing this summer or fall to visit. Several years ago, I was really down on our zoo - think that I had been there so much with the school that I was just sick of it. But I have realized that we here in Kansas (Wichita of all places) have been blessed with an outstanding zoo that continues to grow and grow. They have just opened the tiger exhibit and are already speaking of a panda exhibit!! How exciting!!Anyway...

We have gotten lots of rain lately. But the week before Mother's Day, I planted the garden. Tyler helped some what. Dustin helped weed the garden first before planting. I planted cabbage (we'll see what happens), onions, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, indian corn (from grandma eklund), and flowers. We all went to Tree Top Nursery that weekend (never had been there before). It was huge. Definetly a place that Dustin and I need to go without all the boys. We picked up tomoto and pepper plants. Dustin then found a peanut plant for the heck of it. Everything is now planted and the flowers have been potted. The yard turned out great this year; nice, thick and lush (like carpet and lovin' it)!!

Owen's last day of class was last Friday!! He is now officially a Kindergartener!! Unbelievable - he made it through and he is getting so big!! Tyler and Austin's last day will be this Thursday.

New Job

As most of you know, I quit my job at ParkWest Plaza. My last "official" day was a couple weeks ago. Been sending out applications and resumes since the end of February. Had several interviews last week. I was offered and I accepted a position as Office Administrator with Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics this morning. Right now we are waiting for the background checks and drug screen to come back (not worried at all - HA!!). My first day will be April 6, 2009. Am excited and ready to get back to work. The office that I will be at is just across from Wesley Hospital. Very convenient to/from the house. Only a fifteen minute drive.

Snow?!?!?!?

Last Friday night into Saturday, we experienced a late season snow "blizzard". Wichita began receiving sleet mid-day Friday and it continued as such until Saturday morning when it eventually turned into snow. There were episodes of thunder snow and it came down until shortly after noon. The boys got out Saturday morning and played and then the sun broke out after noon and the snow was already melting. Thus creating heavy, wet snow great for snowballs and whitewashing!! Just to the west of Wichita, Pratt received an incredible amount of 28 inches - Wichita got a mere 6.8 inches. By Sunday evening most of our snow was gone and yesterday, all that was left was the piles of snow created by snowplows. I have not seen any snow today except for a small patch just under Austin and Owen's window where it's always shady except in the morning. The wind is howling and has been since Friday. Last night we were under severe thunderstorm watches and even got some hail (pea to marble size)...only in KANSAS!!

During the "blizzard", looking out from the front porch.

Boys having some fun!!

Dustin had the upper hand as he had the shovel and was heaving shovel-fuls of snow onto the boys. Fun was had by all and mom even got in on the snowball fight too!!

REMODELING - - phase three

Posting that I was going to put pictures online was a definite boost to get the house clean. Friday morning the boys and I got up and started cleaning right away. They did a good job in helping me. You now can see the wall hangings and the pictures on the wall.
View from the front door/entry way.
View from the dining room.
This is a better picture of the one on the wall above our couch. Dustin and I both saw this at the store at the same time and fell in love with it immediately!!
Another view from the dining room.

Little over a month ago, Dustin and I purchased a new bedroom set. Ever since Dustin's back injury, our mattress just didn't give him the support that he needed. We decided to get a king size and because of the limited size of our room, we chose a captains bed for the base. We absolutely love it. When we got this bed we dispersed our "old" furniture into the boys rooms. Tyler now has our "old" bed, chest of drawers and nightstand. Austin inherited our dresser and nightstand and Owen, well there wasn't anything from our room left so he got Tyler's "old" bed. Now every one's room is complete and put together.
This is our bedroom and the new Captain's Bed.

...then last night Dustin and I were at Lowe's without children. We decided to redo the front entry way. Started on it last night and all that is left is to put sealant on the grout. Looks 100% better than the old stuff. Now, I can't wait to get the kitchen/dining room floor done.

This is the "old" floor that is in the kitchen and was in the entry way of the house.

In the process of grouting.

All complete!!