Riding in Style

I told the kids this was my new car and they were pumped--they thought I was serious!  It is a nice van, if you like a huge ride.  We are using it to travel to and from a tournament in Emporia--glad it's over today!

Growing Up

Miles insisted I take his picture (on Saturday) with the light saber.  He was proud that he was the same height.  Notice the too-small T-shirt and new boxer briefs.  This was the day he never left the house and wore this ALL day.

Happy 40th and 100th!

Saturday night we celebrated Brandi's 40th at Kite's.  Michelle and Rhett made the trek from Denver.... fun times.

Classy jacket!
A new twist on "Dancing Queen."
Meanwhile, Owen is preparing to celebrate his 100th day of kindergarten tomorrow.  Each student is supposed to bring 100 of something to celebrate (and do math with).  We picked sour gummy worms.  And, as usual, he is doing some weird signage with his hands.

Baby Shower Invitations

One of my other projects was finishing these invitations.  I stumbled across this idea on accident (from here), and they were so cute that I couldn't resist trying it myself.  With the exception of being a hair too big for the envelopes, I think my knock-off worked out pretty well--very fun to make!

Happy Birthday Brady!

This week (well, Monday when we didn't have school) I finished up a bunch of projects.  I found this idea online--a homemade game of Memory--and thought it would be a fun birthday gift for Brady--plus his Mom is crafty and would appreciate it.  The boys enjoyed helping me pick out fabric scraps and punch the hole press.  On a side note--Owen made faces out of all of the circles we punched out; one of them is in with my driver's license for identification purposes :) I found this project here.

"New" Cabinet

I am finally done with my cabinet overhaul (well, minus one handle).  If you don't already know I like old/antique/vintage/worn/junk/whatever-you-want to call it "stuff."  Aside from electronics and things like beds or couches that you actually sleep on, I'm not much into sets or store bought things.  So.... fortunately for me I have my own "hunter" in my Aunt Nancy.  Her house is full (to put it mildly) so she is always looking out for potential Dedra stuff.

This old cabinet was my (and Adam's) birthday present from Nancy.  It was covered in thick, white, shiny, enamel (lead??) paint and had "chemical storage" written on it in black marker. Doesn't look too bad, but not something I'm dying to have in my house.
You can't really tell, but this is after some serious sanding.  Don't worry, it wasn't by hand--we have a sander.  
Next, the color--PINK!  Sounds weird, but you'll see.
The doors, painted, then distressed.
The final product (like I said, minus one handle).  I did not think new hardware (in keeping with the original style, where you can see it) would be so hard to find.  Now, everything mounts from the inside or is flat.  I ended up getting the hinges and handles from a little wood shop--something he had taken off a set of doors in the 50's.  The guy was so nice and gave me all of the stuff for $1.  I had to paint it all, but I think it turned out well.  The reason the other handle is not on is because we cannot find a second screw like we had for the other one.  I'm waiting for Adam to give in and try Home Depot again :)
Now I even have a little extra room to put out some of my favorite Christmas gifts like these balls from Quint and Susan.
And, this little tag thing from Sharla.  I'd show you the inside, but I forgot to take a picture of it and am too lazy to go do it now.  

Smarty Pants

The boys have been playing with a set of blocks Great Uncle Kevin made them (from wood scraps) a couple of years ago.  

Owen--"Mom, you know what this looks like?"

Me--"A whistle?  A whale?"

Owen--"No, a COMMA!"

Traitor

The boys had their own KU vs. K-State basketball game in the basement tonight.  I dug this uniform out of Owen's old clothes (a gift from cousin Scott the KU fan).  He thought he was pretty cool, even though it was a little snug.

Lakeside

The kids love to go out to the lake on the weekends and pick up sticks, throw rocks to see if they will break the ice, etc.  We bundled up on Sunday and checked it out.  Personally, I'd rather be on a WARM beach than this one....

Good Friends

Two of Adam's college roommates and their wives were in town for the KSU vs. OU game this weekend.  Even though the Cats couldn't quite pull out a win, we still had a fun time with them, mainly reminiscing about the "old days."  

1-2

That was the score at half-time of the boys' basketball game tonight.   Even more strangely, it went into over-time and the final score was 15-18.  Interesting--unlike any game I've seen!  

PS--Edie threw up an entire chicken breast shortly after I posted yesterday's entry.  Disgusting.  

Bad Dogs!

During the past two weeks (while we've been out) the dogs have....

1.  Pulled a full pan of lasagna off the counter; they didn't get to eat much of it because it was face down, so they just pushed it around and licked the pan.
2.  Took a family sized bag of peanut M&M's out of a Target sack (also on the counter) and ate them all.  
3.  Strangely enough they also ate a bag of those big life saver mints.
4.  And tonight they somehow got a package of raw chicken out of the sink and ate all of it, most of the packaging as well.  Note to self--all food must be in locked cupboards!

Too Old For Toys?

While we were in KC on Saturday Owen managed to con Grandpa Mike into the red remote control helicopter.  If you are wondering why there are two--well, Adam (who is usually the one to remind me how many toys the kids have) decided he needed one too.  They've been flying them as much as possible the past two days.  For as flimsy as they are they can take a pretty good beating!

Ready to launch...
Hovering near my head...
Edie and Newman are fascinated with them...
Miles...not so much!

Back to the Grind

Back to work tomorrow!  The break went much faster than I hoped for.  Thanks to Adam's parents, we were able to enjoy an overnight stay in KC with Quint and Susan on Saturday.  The boys were more than happy to have Grandma Rosie and Grandpa Mike in the house and send Mom and Dad packing. Owen even called them before they came to insure a McDonald's trip. Thanks Mike and Rosie!

I made Adam stop at the Legends so I could look for some boots (successful in that venture), however, when we went to leave the truck would not start.  Here the security guard is jumping the car (no, he didn't notice me taking the picture).  We ended up having to get a new battery, and thanks to Casey (or his parents I guess) I had my "own" car to go do more shopping while they dealt with the car and watched basketball.  
We went to the Plaza with Quint and Susan and Casey and Karlie (just got to meet her).  Good food, good times!  

Catching Up

On Wednesday I took the kids to KC to meet up with Sharla and Susan (who lives in Oregon, but was back visiting her parents in KS for Christmas).  We all have two boys that are same ages, but then Susan went and had another baby, a girl this time.  The kids had fun playing on the toys in the mall--although I realized later that the older boys were too tall to be in there--oops!  After we left Susan and her family, Sharla and I were going to shop some, but given that the kids were more interested in looking at the mannequins' butts we figured we better get out before they did any damage!

A bunch of boys, plus Susan and Sidney.
A pack of cute trolls hiding under the bridge.

Happy New Year!

Since baby-sitters were scarce last night, we decided to have a "New Year's Eve Night In" with the kids.  Of course, we were asleep before midnight; but on the bright side no one was tired today!

Cheers!  The boys toast with sparkling grape juice.  I thought they would love this stuff like I did when I was their age, but neither of them really liked it even though I told them it was pop.