Baby Ashley

I hope our good friends Bruce and Kelly won't be offended that I posted pics of their daughter, Ashley! But, so many of you have asked about them and prayed for them that I just had to share! The Sunday before New Year, Miss Ashley got to come home!

I had talked to Kelly about the possibility of her moving to a special care unit at Newton and out of Wesley hospital in Wichita. Days later she left me a message saying they were bypassing Newton and coming home!

This little girl is small but mighty! She came into this world 3 months early weighing 1lb. 13oz. She wasn't even due until the end of January!

Here is a pic me holding her that day. My hand next to her head gives her size some perspective. Keep in mind, she has grown a lot!

Christmas

We had another great Christmas this year. I often am amazed at just how blessed we are!

Kaela had very few requests for Christmas. The one thing she wanted more than anything was a sewing machine. Well, she got it! Grandma Mary says she's a natural. I'm hoping she can teach me a thing or two. She has already made PJs for she and Brady. At this point (mostly because mom doesn't know how!) we are going to stick to projects that don't require zippers and hopefully don't need buttonholes!

Here are some pics of her sewing and showing her first project.

While Kaela only really wished for one thing, Brady couldn't find paper enough to write his wishes on.

One neat gift he received was a book of simple science experiments using household stuff. We tried out a few and they actually worked! Here are some pics:

We're Baaaack!

Wow! I knew it had been a long time since I did anything with our Blog, but when I opened it and saw November 2, I was embarrassed!

Shortly after that entry, our computer crashed. (It had been dying a slow death and suddenly couldn't hold out any longer.) It took us a while to decide what we wanted, order it and get it here. Then it was Christmas! Now...New Year and I'm back on track!

Sadly, not too much has been happening around here anyway. Even if I had Blogged, it probably wouldn't have been too interesting - not that it is anyway! :)

Happy Halloween

Kaela was Hannah Montana and Brady went as a sheriff. We hit the usual 6 or 7 houses for trick or treating and then everyone was ready to go home. I always wonder why we go to so much trouble.

Brady's costume was simple - just the way he likes it! My grandpa was a sheriff's officer at one time, so mom managed to dig up his sheriff's badge for Brady to wear. Grandma Mary found the belt Duane used to wear when he was a kid. Those, along with a too big cowboy hat and we had a costume.

Kaela went so far as to wear a blonde wig. I must say, she looks much better as a brunette! I think her favorite part of the costume was her fake nails. She is trying very hard to make them last as long as she can!

Brady Turns 7!

It doesn't seem possible, but Brady turned 7 on October 26th. We started the weekend with a 'friend' swimming party on Saturday and finished up with a 'family' party on Sunday. I think it's safe to say the boys had a good time at the pool. He got lots of Legos and even some K'nex, so he is in heaven building all sorts of things. I swear the kid is going to be an architech or engineer of some kind.

Brady is really into anything that flies. Right now it is Coast Guard helicopters, so that is what he wanted on his cake. We got on the internet and found just the right picture to use. It turned out really well. Enjoy the pics from Brady's big weekend.

Knee Surgery

Duane had his knee scoped on Wednesday, October 22nd. We were scheduled to be there at 1:45 - keep in mind he wasn't able to eat after midnight the night before! Needless to say, he was pretty grouchy by the time they finally called him back. The surgery went well. He spent a couple of days on crutches and kicked back in the recliner. By the 4th or 5th day, he was walking almost normally and could bend it to nearly a 90 degree angle. He went back for his follow up a week later and got a full release to go back to work.

The surgeon gave Duane a disk of pictures from the surgery. If we remember right, this was a 'before' picture of the cartilege in the knee.

Our Final Soccer Game

The season wrapped up today with a loss to Hesston. I don't know what they do to kids here in Hesston, but they always put together good, aggressive teams! We played a pretty good game. We only had 8 today, so there were no subs. By the end of the game, everyone was really tired. One thing we noticed about the other team is that they never changed positions. With older kids I agree with that philosophy. We change kids up each quarter and give everyone a chance to play each position. This sometimes puts us at a disadvantage, but I'm not sure that really matters. So long as they have fun and maybe learn something along the way, we're happy!

Here are some pics from the game. Brady loves to play goalie and really is one of our best. Kaela is a good runner. She has learned to get out ahead of the ball and get open for a pass.

Enjoy!

Go Big Black!

Last Friday night, Kaela (and about 30 other little Wildcats) cheered at the high school football game. They had a day camp earlier in the week to learn the half-time dance and some cheers. This years theme was "Stuck On You".

Of course, they all looked really cute out there cheering and then dancing. Kaela was thrilled because her dance partner was her good friend Ellen. Hope you enjoy some pics from the BIG night.

Fireman's Games

Newton Fire/EMS hosted the fireman's games on Sunday. Duane's shift had a team in as well as another Newton shift and several of the area volunteer departments.

They had a firetruck pull in which the team had to pull one of the firetrucks a certain distance for the best time. Then there was the hose roll race, which is a sort of relay where they unroll some sections of hose, couple them together, turn on the water and hit a target with the stream. (Two of the teams didn't get their hose coupled completely, so when the water came on some of the spectators got quite a soaking!) Finally, there is the barrel. It is a sort of tug of war. Two teams face off and must shoot a keg, suspended from a cable, with water and push it to the other teams side. They play it in a bracket format until one teams wins the event.

It is hard to describe the barrel event, especially if you have never seen it done. Hopefully this picture will help make it more clear.

Newton C shift (Duane's team!) managed to bring home first prize this year! B shift took second. It was fun to watch and now they've got bragging rights until next year.

The victors enjoy their prize.

The Greatest Show on Earth

Memaw got the grandkids tickets to the Barnum and Bailey circus at the Sprint Center. I remember her taking us several times when we were kids and I guess she wanted the tradition to continue. I'm very glad she did! The kids had such a good time. We went early enough to go down on the floor ahead of time to mingle around as some of the performers came out to entertain. Kaela and Brady just cracked up at these two silly clown jugglers. They are still talking about them! Brady doesn't call it the circus, he refers to it as "The Greatest Show on Earth". Makes me laugh!

Here are some pics from our adventure.

Not Kaela's best pic ever, but the best one I had with all four of the kids in it!

Soccer, at last!

After two rainouts, we FINALLY had a game. You could definitely tell it was our first game! We didn't play as well as we had hoped...in fact I think the other team managed to score 7 or 8 goals and I know we didn't score any...but they had fun and got a game under their belts.

Here are a few pics from that first game. My mom took these pictures. I must admit that being the coach really makes me watch the game. I usually see most of their activities through a camera lens!

I am happy to report that after a bye week and a couple of good practices where we really focused on positions, we kicked tail in our second game! We worked as a team and had a great time - and we won! I wish I could share some pics from that game, but Duane was on duty and I forgot my camera anyway. Brady kicked his first goal! He was so jazzed!

I'm sure I mentioned before that this is a teaching league/age. The ref we had this past weekend was great. He was really into helping the kids learn and get it done right. It's also fun that both kids are on the same team and we all get to go down this road together.

Soccer Season

I was hoping to post a few pictures from the kids first soccer game...unfortunately we were rained out. I say 'we' because (foolish) me talked my friend Kelly into coaching the kids team with me. The only thing I know about soccer is that you may not touch the ball with your hands. But, I figured that for a team of 1st and 2nd grade boys and girls, it couldn't be THAT hard!

Kelly's two boys are the same age as our kids, so they are all playing in the same soccer group this year. The Rec. commision always has a hard time finding coaches (and I use that term lightly - especially when speaking of myself!) and I knew this was the only year that my kids would actually play on the same team, so I volunteered - and begged Kelly to join me!

Our team is quite the Motley Crue! We only have 10 kiddos and one has already quit on us. One is in a cast and won't be able to play for a game or two. You do the math...8 kids are on the field at a time. I'm sure we'll be playing short a few times this season!

We have had several practices and a scrimmage with another team. When we woke up Saturday morning, I was actually nervous! Well, the rain took care of that! The kids were bummed, but I was relieved. So, when we DO finally have a game, I'll be sure to let you know how it went.

Frog Day 2008

I've been participating in Frog Day for about 5 years now. This year was different because I took part as a teacher AND as a parent. Every year, 2nd grade kicks off the year studying about frogs' life cycles and habitats. The final day, every student brings a frog or a toad to school for a good old fashioned frog hopping contest!

The mighty hunters!

I should preface all of this with the fact that Kaela wants nothing to do with frogs. This made hunting for and hopping the frog a bit difficult. Luckily Brady was thrilled with the idea, so last Thursday after school we headed out with our net, ice cream bucket and camera in hand. The frogs weren't too cooperative...maybe it had something to do with Brady yelling and Kaela complaining loudly! Duane managed to get ahead and somewhat alone. Kaela and I continued our search farther back. I happened to look up and saw Duane dancing a jig! He had found one, but was having a hard time convincing it to go in the bucket. Turns out he had caught a leopard frog. My experience with this type of frogs is that they are fast and hard to hold onto. This one proved to be no different.

Here froggy froggy! Come froggy!

Duane was really hoping to catch a BIG bullfrog, but there were none to be found at 4:30 in the afternoon, and none of us felt like going out at sunset...especially Kaela!

We are happy to report that Frog Day went off without a hitch. No frogs escaped (yes that has happened several times in the past) and none were eaten by another frog (yep! that has happened, too!). Kaela never had to touch her frog which made her very happy. Dad rescued her (and a few other kids) by hopping their frogs for them. Her frog hopped 33 inches! The hop of the day went to a bullfrog who hopped 132 inches!

Brady is already looking forward to next year when he gets to have his own Frog Day. I'm sure he'll be willing to stick it out long enough to catch a bullfrog!

Cousins Come Calling

About the only good thing that came from Roger's death last Friday is that Duane's brother, Dwight and his beautiful family came to visit. Hadleigh had just been here a couple of weeks before, but we hadn't seen Lauran and McKinley since May. Kaela was once again in her element. She loves to entertain and keep Hadleigh busy and was constantly asking if she could hold McKinley. Dwight and Lauran said she was welcome to come and stay anytime!

Brady insisted on taking a picture. It took him quite a while to get one, as is evidenced by the look on Hadleigh's face!

Grandma Mary and Hadleigh

Cuties - Kaela and McKinley

Back to School!

The kids and I agree (though I've had a lot more 'first days' than they have!) that yesterday might have been our best first day of school ever! I have a wonderful, very small class of only 10 kids. Kaela is in the other 2nd grade class and already loves her teacher Mrs. Schrag. Brady is in 1st grade and thinks his teacher Mrs. Brandewiede is great.

I had been working very hard to get everyone back into that school mode schedule. We were working our way back to bedtime by going to be a little earlier each day and trying to get them up a little earlier. Then, the Olympics hit! I personally have spent way too many nights staying up late just to hear that National Anthem play as the US brings home another gold. I still get excited thinking about the 4x200 relay when we beat the French!

Here are the usual 'first day of school pics'. Brady refused to wear anything other than one of his "good" T-shirts! We have PE and music everyday, so he insists on being ready to run.

Minnesota

Let me start by saying that Vergas, Minnesota is a LOOONG way from Kansas. We left very early on a Saturday morning and arrived 12 hours later at Loon Lake. Along the drive, we managed to see license plates from 33 states (including Alaska!) and 3 Canadian provinces.

Our cabin was a bit neglected but, after a good vacuuming, cleaned up pretty nicely. Now, Minnesota touts themselves as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes". I would like to see the definition of what they constitute as a 'lake', as several named lakes we saw would only qualify as relatively small ponds around here! Their lakes are almost entirely glacial. There are no rivers, streams or spillways feeding them. The water (at least the water we saw) was pretty much clear and the lakes can be very deep. Much different than Marion Reservoir!

Duane and Mary (his mom) were disappointed in the fishing. We went with high hopes and had heard stories of the BIG walleye and northern pike in Minnesota. Unfortunately, they didn't catch much.

Doesn't he look thrilled!

We had some boat trouble, but found a very nice couple who ran a boat repair in a nearby town. They knew we were on vacation and fixed our boat in record time. After that, we gave up on fishing and just spent time relaxing and pulling the kids around in the tube. The weather was beautiful and the smores were wonderful!

Kaela, Brady and cousin Garret.

For those who don't know, my parents are spending at least 6 weeks in Minnesota, so we joined them (along with my brother and his family) for their first week.

The kids had a ball swimming and fishing for perch. I enjoyed just sitting around relaxing. I read more on this vacation than I have had time to in what seems like forever. (By the way, I LOVE the "Twilight" series of books by Stephenie Meyer...in case you're looking for something to read.)

Brady was able to catch perch right off the dock.

Some pics of Kaela and Brady with their cousins Garret and Tatumn.

What a couple of hams!