Friday Fun

My super colorful, personalized beach bag from Thirty-One arrived today! You better believe we're packing it up and heading to Storm Lake for the weekend. King's Pointe, here we come!


We painted rocks. Just 'cause it's fun and added a little bit of color to our rock bed. Also because Kent was out of town and I was looking for ways to entertain the kids. And myself.



Kylee did the rainbow, I "helped" her with the flower, I did the heart and the top two rocks Kael did. He said he painted my face. In case you don't recognize me, I'm supposed to be painted on the rock there on the top left.

A brilliant someone handed out seed packets instead of candy at our beloved Summerfest parade. Kylee and I planted them, but first we decorated the pots. She had so much fun doing this...I'm keeping this one in the back of my mind as a future gift for teachers, or anyone really.

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful that sometimes when I let Kylee dress herself, it totally works out. Initially, I was questioning her choice of a tank top, khaki shorts and boots in the 100 degree temps today. Then I let her play at the little playplace at the grocery store that has a riding bull. I'm really thankful she had those boots on because how cute is this picture?

I'm thankful for the pictures Kael has taken on his digital camera. The older he gets and the more he matures, the more I am loving his sense of humor.

Brooklyn, upside-down. Well, the camera is. Not her.

Passing the time at Toe Tappers.

Right back at ya, bud.

I'm thankful Kylee is having fun at Toe Tappers. And yes I am that mom who thinks my kid is the cutest one there.

I'm thankful my kids can make their own fun on a routine grocery shopping trip.





Today I was sooooo thankful for the guy in Wal-Mart aisle who helped me locate a plain, colored, One Subject Wide Ruled Notebook. Why wouldn't something like that be located in the school supply aisles? Because, duh Laura, you should have looked by the fresh flowers. That's where you can find such an item. Grrr. I was literally seconds away from losing my sanity when he pointed me in the right direction.

I'm thankful for a girl who can find nearly anything to compliment a person on. Recently, Kylee politely told our neighbor (who runs a tattoo shop, and has quite a few tattoos), "I really like your stamps. They're very colorful and very big."

I'm thankful Kent will be home tomorrow. I was going to take a picture of how empty our fridge is when he's gone- it's so sad! We have been eating out a liiiittle too much while he's away. Seriously, had I not gotten groceries today, our fridge would consist of a lonely half-gallon of milk, an apple, half of a Papa John's pizza, 2 yogurts, spinach and a few blueberries.

I'm thankful my mother-in-law's gastric bypass surgery went well. We love ya Grandma Cindy!!!

I'm thankful that I'm a mommy. Last night when I tucked the kids in Kael said, "Mom, I love you as big as the world."

I'm thankful that my dad has buckets full of patience. We took the kids out to drive golf balls on Monday and how he got Kael to listen to him, I will never know! And yes, if you're curious, Kael can absolutely hit the ball farther than I can. And straighter.

I'm thankful for a son with a big heart. Yesteday Kylee accidentally broke a necklace that Kael had made at his day camp. She ran upstairs crying and had gathered every single bead in her tiny hands. "Mommy I'm so sorry I did this!" she exclaimed. (I'm also thankful for her honesty.) I praised her for coming and telling me the truth right away and told her how I was proud of her for picking up all the pieces and assured her it could be fixed. Kael walked into the room to see what was going on. He saw the broken necklace and I froze, waiting for his response. He surprised me, "It's alright Kylee. I'm not mad. It's no big deal." Relief. I could tell Kylee still felt badly, and so could Kael. He looked her right in the eye and said, "Kylee would you like to lay your head on my shoulder while you cry?"

Cell phone pictures

Quality might be compromised a little bit, but when I don't have my bigger camera handy, my cell phone captures some pretty great memories.

Kylee sharing some Tropical Sno with Grandpa Keith.

Kael at the Splash Park.

My BFF's from high school.



Well, this one didn't come from a cell phone but I wanted to include it anyways. What an awesome picture and SUCH a beautiful bride!

Lunch with my family today. Ama was missing because she's at the hospital with my grandma.

My little lady patiently waiting for her "Cake"-flavored Tropical Sno.

Jumpy House Fun on Friday afternoon.

Kael loves Brooklyn.

Visiting Dad's new office- rockin' some pretty cool hats.

What memories do you have stored away in your phone?

My Best Friend's Wedding

***I'm interrupting my regularly scheduled Thankful Thursday for a very important post! I guess you could say I'm thankful that I was included on such a fun day!

This past weekend I had the honor of standing up with my best friend Andrea at her wedding. What a wonderful weekend it was- I'm so happy for her and Brendan.

For years (and years and years and years...) I have been claiming Andrea as my best friend. I am sure there were lots of other people at the wedding who could say the same. The thing is that Andrea's not just my best friend, she's the best friend. Do you have one too? Do you have one particular friend who always gives more than she receives? One who stands by your side no matter what? I'm racking my brain here folks and I can't think of a better friend in the world than my Andree.

Even on her wedding day Andrea made sure we bridesmaids were taken care of- mimosas while we got ready, dresses that not only could very well be worn again, but were stunning (see photo below), Coach wristlets as bridesmaid gifts (how happy was I?!), a new pair of flip flops waiting for us under our chairs at the reception...Andrea you are AWESOME!

Kent declared the event to be one of the Best Weddings Ever. The reception was lovely, the food was amazing, the cake was great (all 3 pieces that I ate), and the dancing was the best and most fun I've seen. Seriously, after the last song there were still probably 30 people on the dance floor begging, "ONE MORE SONG!!!"

I keep stalking the photographer's blog for in hopes of linking up her photos on here but alas, they're not up yet. I'll share it once they're up. Here are a few photos from the evening- my big 'ol camera didn't fit in my cute little Coach purse so I didn't get any pictures myself. I stole a few of these from FB and some from my mom. :)

Today I....

....woke up on the floor in Kael's room even though I fully intended to ultimately end up in my own bed at the end of the night. Kent was out of town so we decided to do a sleepover- we started in Kylee's room then somehow ended up in Kael's room. The kids were talking and laughing well into the 10:00 hour and I hope it's a night I always remember.

....have no comment on this next photo.




...believe that our Twin Pops melted after we'd been outside for thirty seconds.



.....FINALLY put up some new numbers on our mailbox. Our old ones had been peeling since we moved in. Yeah, that was 2006.

....successfully did a French braid in Kylee's hair! She doesn't love me messing with her hair so when I offer to braid her hair she almost always says, "No thanks." Today she was like, "Sure Mom!" It turned out much better than I expected since I'm a bit out of practice.

....can't stop laughing at this picture.

....don't feel like doing an-y-thing. (Kael loves that song- I had to throw that in there!)

Thankful Thursday

This week I am especially thankful for a fully functioning air conditioner because WHEW has it been hot and humid around here!

I'm thankful that sweet corn is ready! Yummmmmm.

I'm thankful that Kent likes his new job, which he started yesterday.


I am am so thankful that after a crazy summer storm the other night, we woke up and still had power in our house. Not everyone in Ankeny was as lucky as us! Some friends also had big wooden swingsets blown over sideways. All we had was a few big branches down in the yard.

I'm thankful Kael didn't fall down from here.

Or here.

I'm thankful for theses little surprises from Kylee. She sneaks into our bedroom almost every day and leaves some sort of little treat or picture on our pillows.

I'm thankful for the "Eat This Not That" series of books, especially the kids version. I was pleasantly surprised that many of the things I feed the kids ended up on the "Eat This" list.

Better than me: forgive and forget

Today it felt like it was a hundred and fifteen degrees out. I didn't even have the energy to go to the pool with the kids so we decided to set up the slip 'n slide in the backyard. We hadn't been out there two minutes and the kids started arguing about who would be the person to say, "Ready, set go!" (We have one of those double slip 'n slides with body boards for racing.)

I tried to let them work through it. I tried a few gentle reminders of a book we'd recently read together about how to be a good friend, how to take turns, etc. I tried to not let the arguing ruin our afternoon but it totally did. I have zero tolerance for arguing about dumb stuff and my kids know it.

It wasn't pretty. I got upset, Kylee started crying, Kael stuck his tongue out at me and I knew we had reached the point of no return. No matter how much I tried to fix it, we were all crabby and the slip 'n slide was just not going to be fun anymore. You just can't fake fun, you know?

So, we went inside after having been outside barely long enough to make the sunscreen we had applied worthwhile. "What now?" I wondered.


I walked into Kael's room in an attempt to restore peace. He looked at me and reached for a piece of candy from his SummerFest candy bucket. Immediately I thought, "Yeah right! Like I'm going to let you have candy after the way you just treated me and your sister! " I am guilty of letting all thoughts in my head become words but for some reason, I didn't actually say that out loud to him.

His face softened, "Mom, if I give you some of my candy, will ya feel better? I'm sorry for what I did and if you don't feel like eating your candy now I'll just put it by your bed and you can have it in case you get hungry later."

Thank goodness I hadn't chewed him out for reaching for a piece of candy. After I quick made a mental note to stop letting my thoughts turn into words so quickly, I relaxed, proud that we are raising such a good-hearted kid. He wasn't going to let a silly argument get him down and ruin his afternoon, which is more than I can say for myself. He was ready and willing to make amends and move forward. What an admirable attitude.

SummerFest

We are more than halfway done with summer folks! Kael goes to first grade on August 15 so by my latest count that leaves us only 35days- we started with 80! (Remember?) Ahh!


This is the first year I've officially swayed Kent into loving SummerFest as much as I do. Sunday night, as we sat and watched the band with the kids dancing like crazy (after they'd scored some free ice cream sandwiches from the Jaycees guy) Kent turned to me and admitted, "I love SummerFest."

"Yeah, me too," I agreed. We smiled, knowing that attending SummerFest is a tradition we'll continue for as long as possible. Kent said, "I hope that when we're 85 and the kids are 60 they'll still come back to town for SummerFest." I laughed, thinking of Kael and Kylee out on the makeshift dance floor at 60, dancing and spinning with their spouses. I hope Kent and I are out there dancing right alongside of them.

Here are a few of our favorite SummerFest activities.

Carnival Rides. Those guys for sure lost money on us. The wristbands are only $17 and we rode waaaay more than $17 dollars worth of rides. We were there from 5:00-8:30! Kael is such a thrill seeker. He was going on crazy fast/high rides- I couldn't even watch!

Kiddie Parade. Every year I stress about this. Coming up with cute costumes and decorating floats/bikes for the kids just is not my thing. This year Kael didn't want to do it and Kylee did. She said, "I want to wear a fancy dress and ride my bike." Done. One less thing I have to worry about and it's not like we're ever out to win first place. This year Brooklyn and Mandy joined us in the parade!

All fancied up and ready to ride in the parade.

If I'm being completely honest, we're in it for the popsicles.

The Grand Parade. I love, love, love parades, particulary the SummerFest parade. My mom and dad always go early and set blankets up so we have a great spot in the shade right at the beginning of the parade route. We got soooo much candy!

Yeah, I brought Wheat Thins and Laughing Cow cheese to the parade...so what? It is a pretty long parade.

Mom, Kael, Kent

Koozies that double as legwarmers. It's SummerFest- anything goes!

Fireworks! We have been saying for years that we were going to start riding our bikes to watch fireworks to avoid the crazy post-firework traffic, and this year we finally did! Kent found us an AWESOME spot right next to the bike path. We had the best view of the show and could hear the music from the Leisure Garden in the background. There were no bugs or anything! We sat there with our red, white, and blue glowsticks around out necks, munching on popcorn and M & M's just taking it all in. As we rode home from the fireworks, all of us very appropriately exhausted, I couldn't help but feeling that all was right with the world.

Stuck Up

Have you ever not known something about yourself until you heard someone else say it?

Last summer, Kael was invited to a birthday party in our neighborhood and I was a little unsure of letting him go. The boys there would be older, we didn't know the family that well, the boys would be swimming in their backyard pool, and Kael just hadn't been to a lot of birthday parties and I wasn't sure if he would "get" the assumed behavior at a birthday party. So, I did what I thought was best. I let him go, but talked to the mom a little bit before the party about Kael's diagnosis and that if she had any concerns, she could call me. (We live a whole 3 houses away.)

Naturally, I watched the party from our front yard, a nervous wreck. Would Kael stick his fingers in the cake before they had a chance to sing? (He LOVES frosting.) Would he be OK swimming by himself? Would he sit in the corner and not play with anyone? The boys were inside for most of the party but eventually made their way out to the front where a slip 'n slide was. Other neighbors (mostly little siblings of kids who had been invited) started making their way over so Kylee and I followed.

I was talking with the dad as we watched the kids play and after a short while, he said to me, "Well, you guys are kind of the stuck up neighbors." Ouch. Clearly my overprotectiveness of Kael had gained me a reputation I wasn't proud of. I wanted to tell him what kind of neighbor I thought he was. I didn't. I wanted to defend myself. I didn't.

I thought long and hard about his comment. He was right. I was kind of stuck up. At the time, I tended to let Kael and Kylee play with the kids who I thought were "good kids". Like, the ones who always told their moms where they were before they came into my house. The ones who always looked both ways before they crossed the street. The ones who shared. The ones who helped clean up after they had dragged every last toy out of our garage.

What a disservice I was doing to Kael and Kylee. Clearly in life they will come across many kids who aren't "good kids" and they will have to decide for themselves if they're going to pick up that sort of behavior or stick to their guns and do what is right.

Since then, I've tried hard to bite my tongue when one of the girls says something mean to Kylee. I try harder to pitch a few extra baseballs to Kael's buddies. Kent jokes that some of the neighborhood kids are still scared of me, but what can I say? I've got high standards.

Fast forward a year and today we had The Best Day With Neighbor Kids. (No, not just the "good ones". All of them. :)

Earlier this summer as I was working on our Bucket List, one of the neighbor boys asked if we could have a picnic in the treehouise. We weren't available to do it that day so I added that to our Summer Bucket List: "Treehouse picnic with Logan and family". Yesterday was the day: two moms and six kids, PB & J's, juice boxes, chips and watermelon. It was as awesome as it sounds.

Pre-picnic

All the kids were back and forth between houses a hundred times and my earlier promise of going to the pool was easily forgotten as the kids went inside, outside, played "bad guys", played "mommies", and built forts, while my neighbor and I sat out front in lawn chairs just talking and watching the kids play.



A pleasant mix of Nerf darts, baby clothes, Legos and play food was strewn about my house long after the kids had gone home. I looked at the mess and smiled to myself knowing that I didn't care the kids had left before every last toy was put back in place. All I cared was that my kids had a fantastic day with some new friends.

Thankful Thursday

Did you miss me? I had a feeling I would blog less during the summer but I hoped to blog more than once a week! Now that we're home from vacation I'll try to post a little more often. Here's what I'm thankful for this week.




I'm thankful for such a wonderful vacation. Time spent with family is priceless.

The great-grandkids.

What's a family reunion without matching t-shirts for family photos? Here we are waiting to get lined up for the group photo.

I'm thankful for a mom that takes lots of pictures. On vacation I was having too much fun in the water with the kids that I didn't get a chance to take many photos. Lucky Mom was there to capture these moments.

Kael tried waterskiing! He was so confident and gave it a shot but didn't get up. He said he'll try again when he's a little older and I have no doubt he'll get right up.

Kent on the slalom. 'Nuff said. What a stud.

I'm thankful that Kent sometimes pushes me out of my comfort zone. I usually ski about once a year just to make sure I still got it, but this vacation, Kent and I double skiied! He's really good and I am really not. He and my sister double skiied and did a high five that looked pretty cool so I wanted to try. Kent and I did manage to touch hands but Kent and Tam's high five looks way cooler so I'll show a picture of that instead. :)

Turns out I LOVE canoeing. Like really really really love it. I'm trying to talk Kent into getting one.

I'm thankful for kids who love the water. Because I love to be in the water. Jumping off the floating dock is some of the most fun I've had in a long, long time.

I'm thankful that with five kids under age 6 in our cabin we were all able to get a good night's sleep!


Now that we're back home, I'm thankful that Brooklyn is hanging at our house today. Kael and Kylee love spending time with her as much as I do. She is such a peaceful, lovable little girl.





I'm thankful that I have a mother-in-law who isn't quite as squeamish as me! Kael wanted her to feel his wiggly tooth and she asked if he wanted her to pull it and he said "Yes!" so she did. Popped it right out. That's tooth #2 if you're keeping track.





I'm thankful to live in a city that is so dedicated to "playing". I think I heard this statistic correctly from our mayor- he said that Ankeny is one of only 19 cities in the nation that has been named as a Playful City for the last four years in a row! I believe this designation comes from KaBoom!. To celebrate, last night was our All City Play Day which is a really cool event. There are a bunch of activities for kids and families to do like canoeing (which I wanted to do so badly after I recently discovered how much I loved it! Evidently everyone else wanted to canoe too because the line was too long for me to wait.), a dunk tank, big wheel races, basketball, touch-a-truck, bean bag toss, face painting, potato sack races and stuff like that. We really live in a great community.

I would have been really thankful for a bottle of water (or four) at the All City Play Day. I tend to be over prepared as a mom, but last night I was completely unprepared for the 90 degree temps at 6:00 in the evening. Kael was in some long black basketball shorts and a black t-shirt and I had failed to bring any hats or sunglasses or even put on a coat of sunscreen on the kiddos. Duh, Laura. Needless to say, as fun as the event was, we didn't last long.

When you're Kylee and you're at the face painting booth, you sometimes ask if they can put it on your leg instead.

I'd be crazy if I didn't mention that I'm thankful Summerfest starts today. Unlimited carnival rides? We're so there.

Hope you all had a great Fourth of July! Happy Thursday!