Monday, July 26, 2010

Home Run!

Tommy bought Steven a Royals bat and baseball. Tonight we took it out for the first time and Steven hit several home runs! I got to be Zack Greinke and Steven was Billy Butler.He's a natural.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Note to Tommy


Remember to check the roof of your car before driving away from the kids' school. Shoes fall off and cars run over them!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Emerald Isle 2010

Just uploaded our photos - check them out here.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Where did June go?

I can't believe I didn't post once during the month of June!?!?! We were busy but I didn't even realize that I missed an entire month of blogging. So, I guess that I will do one big post summarizing our month...here goes:

Week 1- Visit from Grandma Ham and Papa Gene; Royals Game
The Arizona grandparents were in town for the weekend on their way across country in the new motor coach. Steven thought their "school bus" was great!

On Sunday afternoon we took Steven and Lyla to the Royals game to get their Build-a-Bear Polar Bear stuffed animals. This is the fourth year that we've gotten the Zoo-sponsored Build-a-Bear toy. I nearly threw a fit the first year (it was a Hot Dog) because I was pregnant and the person handing them out wasn't sure if she should give anything to me. I wasn't moving until my baby got a Hot Dog. This year's Polar Bear is really nice and it has joined our collection including Relish, River Otter and Slugger the Lion!

Going to the Royal is more like going to the carnival now. They have mini-golf, batting and pitching cages, a spray ground, a playground and a carousel. Steven was very excited to buy his coins to ride on the carousel. Lyla nearly jumped out of my arms to get on her ride and she was screaming when our turn was over and she had to get off. I'm glad she likes to participate but she needs to learn that she isn't always the star of the show!

Week 2 - Birthday Party at Brendan's
Steven was invited to a birthday party at his friend Brendan's house. The party featured a concert by Funky Mama, a local children's musician. During the party we had torrential downpours along with thunder and lighting. Funky Mama's sound system almost crashed after a power surge but in the end she got to play. Steven didn't want to dance at all but it was fun watching all the other kids bust a move!

I also got to go on a Girl's Night Out during week 2. It was really nice being out with the girls but I remember now why I don't do this very often. I am just not cut out for loud music, dancing and staying up past 10pm. No, I'm not ancient but I am happy to just be home with family!

Week 3 - College Visit and My Lucky Work Trip
Tommy went on his first college visit with Kauffman scholars during the third week. He visited Northwest Missouri State with about 30 soon to be ninth graders. He commented that the boys were much better than the girls - I said, speaking from experience, middle/junior high girls are never very nice.

Tommy got back Wednesday night and I had to leave early the next morning for a visit to Austin. I had to give a webinar for a project that we are doing with TxDOT and it surely was my lucky day. I thought my flight was at 6:40am so at about 5:30am I got on the road to the airport. I don't know what possessed me but I decided to dig out my boarding pass on the drive. That was when I found out that my flight was at 6:05. At that point I was flying down the highway. I got to the terminal parking at 5:53 and ran to security. I made it through and on the airplane with a minute to spare. Literally only a minute.
Iarrived in Austin early for my meeting so I decided to drive the rental car around a few favorite places to kill time. I ended up stopping in a parking lot for a few minutes and got out of the car to grab somethings out of the backseat. Click. The doors somehow locked when I closed the front one. Thank goodness I had my cell phone in my hand. I called Hertz to get a locksmith or have someone bring me an extra key. When the operator answered she asked if the car had On Star. It was a miracle! Yes, it did and less than a minute later the locks were open. Definitely a feature I will consider on my next car!

Week 4 - A week with the Arkansas Grandparents
The last week in June Steven and Lyla spent with Grandma and Papa in Arkansas. Tommy and I both had to be out of town for work that week and we are lucky enough to have grandparents who were willing to have the grandkids for a whole week. Let me tell you, it sure wasn't easy for me to leave them that entire week and once we got back in town we were in the car heading down to get them but they had a wonderful time! Thank you Grandma and Papa.



Thursday, July 1, 2010

Closer to Done

The bathroom is getting closer to being done!

Yesterday we had two men come in to do the wall tile. They originally were planning on taking two or three days but they got it done in one nine hour day. Boy, I wish we could get work done that quickly!
Now all we have left is to:
replace the HVAC vent cover (of course, non-standard size)
replace the light and fan
paint trim
paint walls
buy and install new bracket for shower curtain rod
new shower curtain
install new tub faucet and shower head
scrape mildew off window sill (yuck!)
finish base board
buy and install new mirror
finish caulking
Um, anything else? I am sure there will be with this silly house!