Fun with Friends

At the beginning of November Sharla and her boys came to stay with us. The boys played while we made some Christmas crafts. We ended up with enough football tickets that Adam was able to take all the boys (minus Graham) to the KSU game. Owen and Brady were the lucky ones who got to sit with Jeff in the "good seats."  Us old ladies enjoyed the game inside a warm house, glueing glittery snowflakes and reindeer. 

Halloween

We aren't huge fans of Halloween, but actually had a fun evening with friends--despite the frigid temperature!  I let the kids choose their own costumes (so long as they weren't too complicated to create or track down). Graham was the blue Ninja turtle, Miles was "Scream", and Owen was a KSU fan. The big kids trick-or-treated at BLAST and that alone earned them enough candy for 10 kids!  We went to a neighborhood party at the Snowdens' and then each kid went their separate way.  I was with Graham's group and they had a total blast!  We still (November 16) have enough candy to last us until the Easter Bunny restocks.

Fall #2

This post will be my collection of random things that I want to document. 

The elementary teacher inside me is trying to get out. E-hall bulletin board. 

Twin day with my favorite math teacher, Laura. 

From a box = homemade by my standards. Prizes for classes at school. 

Yes, we buy Owen new shoes. The kid must play some intense kickball at school. 

Another pair bites the dust. Steel-toe boots perhaps?

Crazy sock day at school. I love that they want to participate. Hopefully they never get "too cool" for such things. Miles even wanted to go shirtless on pajama day since that's how he sleeps. 

Random nap after making a nice little nest (beanbag on bed). 

Fall #1

In an attempt to catch up I'm going to dump a bunch of stuff together and call it, "fall."

Over Labor Day weekend we trekked out to Denver to spend time with the Butlers. The kids had a blast playing with cousins, hiking, and watching movies in the car. I was excited to visit IKEA for the first time. 

A week later we celebrated my favorite twins' first birthday in Kansas City. You better believe they liked the cake.  

Graham = 4

Okay, at least (after this post) I will have accounted for each of the boys' birthdays.  My "baby" turned four this summer.  After seeing the Bigs open gifts earlier in the week, he was very excited for his four presents. The gifts plus ice cream and the swimming pool were all he needed for a great day.  I think I did exceptionally well choosing his presents this year as he has gotten tons of good out of each of them:  neon yellow outfit, Air Jordan slides, a new Mickey Mouse movie, and the Frozen soundtrack.  Since I'm writing this two months late I can tell you he listens to the CD every night, has worn the slides daily (they are now brown), worn the yellow clothes anytime they are clean, and will watch Mickey as often as he is allowed. 

At four Graham:  talks all of the time and often sounds older than he is, can rattle off a list of bad words, loves swimming, "cool" shirts (like dry fit Under Armour), pretend play, building with blocks and Legos, still loves blue blankie as well as white blankie, still sucks his thumb, enjoys "school", getting interested in his own play dates, loves Mickey, tries to keep up with his brothers, and sometimes needs an attitude check. 

Miles = 8

Miles turned 8 this summer. Like Owen, the only thing he wanted to do for his birthday was have a slumber party. Because of baseball we had to wait until July for a party, but he did get to have a few boys spend the night. They had a fun time participating in a video scavenger hunt, eating junk, and staying up really late. 

At eight he:  loves sports, swimming, colorful socks, neon clothes, Mine Craft and other iPad games, friends, tagging along with Owen, food, school, and sometimes arguing with me. 

He's still young enough that he likes to go with me on errands. Here he's trying to get his reading time over with while he's in the car (so it doesn't cut into pool time).  

Finished with baseball for a while. Waiting for football to start. 

He's a curious guy...wanted to know how anyone walks in shoes like this (while shopping at Dillard's). 

Owen = 11

Owen turned 11 this summer (back in June, I've been bad about updating).  I guess you'd say he's  in the tween stage.  He's become our free baby-sitter for short outings. Well, not really free since it seems we pay it back to him in the form of $20 socks!

At eleven he:  loves sports (especially basketball), enjoys school, spends a lot of time with friends, looks through my Instagram, has a little bit of an interest in girls, loves neon colors, expensive socks, shooting free throws, TV, any form of food, and continues to be an awesome big brother (although at times he's too cool for us).  

Since his closest friends all play on different baseball teams it was hard to find a time for a "more-than-one-kid" sleepover anytime around his birthday. Instead he waited until Miles went on vacation in early August and had a few boys stay over. 

Owen with buddies. 

What actually goes on when friends are over. Too bad you can't smell the stinky boys through the picture. 

Spent lots of hours at the pool this summer. 

Hanging out with buddies at a baseball game. 

Like I mentioned...he will eat anything. 

Hoops

Owen loves basketball and ended up going to three camps this summer--the high school camp as well as two overnight camps. He had a blast at all of them, earned some awards, and hopefully got a little better at basketball too. 

We also joined the KSU rec this summer. Between the rec, camps, and our driveway, he has put in a lot of bb time. Which also means Mom and Dad have had to play a lot of defense and do a lot of rebounding. 

Members of the All-Star team at HOA I'm Salina. 

Wildcat teammates at HOA. All of the boys made the All-Star team and collectively won a lot of awards. 

Owen attended Yes, I Can (in Ottawa) with his teammate Dawson. They loved the camp. I think Owen was worn out after so much basketball. It's been a long time since he's fallen asleep in the car...

Little Buddies

Owen met his buddy Grant Snowden when he was four, so it's only fair that Graham buddy up with Jake Snowden when he is four.  Mandy and I decided to alternate weekly play dates for the two little guys. Graham had a blast planning things for them to do when we hosted, and anxiously looked forward to going to Jake's when they hosted. 

Play dates included trips to the zoo, splash pad, park, Discovery Center, McDonald's, several pool trips, and time at our houses. Looks like these guys will be good buddies, just like their big brothers!

Getting every last crumb of Cico pool funnel cake. 

Splash pad fun. 

Aliens?  If it's too chilly for the big city pools, bring out the little one at home. 

Visitors

I'm trying to catch up on all of our summer fun before I head back to school...  In July one of my best friends came to visit us for a few days (from San Antonio). The weather was strangely cool so we spent time at the park and  Discovery Center fountain area. We met Sharla in Topeka, and even though we had to eat at the mall food court (to corral kids in play area) it was fun to catch up. 

Graham giving rides in his car. 

Graham (who obviously didn't follow directions to not get his clothes wet) and Ali working on their tans. 

Graham, Hudson, Ali, Miles. 

Hazy picture of Amy, me and Sharla. Old friends are the best!

Riley County Fair

The boys finally got to hit the carnival rides they had been eyeing all week (as they were assembled). I planned to take Graham and Miles for an hour while Owen was at football camp nearby. An hour turned into two and then four. We finally called it a night at 10:00 when the wristbands were no longer valid. They rode more than 30 times!  Owen came over after camp and walked around/rode a few rides with his friends. 

Miles also made "Cowboy Cookies" with Kelsie and entered them into the open class. He and Brecken earned purple ribbons. This counts as our 4-H right?

Miles was a good sport and rode some little kid rides with Graham. 

Motorcycles, tenth time. 

Miles riding solo on the Octopus. 

He loved the horses. 

$5 funnel cake for dinner. 

Cousins

The kids had fun with the Butler cousins over the July 4th weekend. Lots of water play (in the yard and two different pools), fireworks, and Mine Craft. 

Driving Mike's rhino to the Linder's for a swim. 

Slip-N-Slide fun. 

I think they exceeded capacity!