Top Ten (August 20-26)

After looking back at some of our Top Ten posts from last year
I've decided to continue our Top Ten or so... There may be ten, there may be more

1. School started on Monday (Aug. 20th)
I can't believe we have a fifth grader and second grader

  2. We had our first broken pair of glasses

First time in 3 years, not too bad

3. Aunt Debbie has a new kitty (Kiki) so of course we had to go out to the farm  to visit

4. Speaking of kitties, this girl is loving the peace and quiet and all the attention

Honestly, I think she misses the boys while they are at school

5. It's back in the 90's, I think we should have left the pool up a bit longer

6. Spencer came home on Wednesday and said he had homework to finish
Within minutes, he was headed outside
I took a peek to make sure the homework was done and done correctly
Here's what I found-

Here's an up close

His new Under Armour back pack
(BTW- Who taught this boy to color in the lines?)

 7. Spencer tried out instruments at school on Thursday for band
Is he really old enough for band?
Stay tuned to find out what he'll be playing

8. Parker got a 100% on his first spelling test of the year

9. We survived the first week of school and celebrated with DQ

10. Saturday I must have heard "I'm bored" at least a million times
I took the boys to Weed Park to play sand volleyball

11. Sunday we got some much needed rain and the boys got to play in it

We have a busy week ahead of us
Let the fun/hectic school year begin!

33! How can I be?

I always imagined I would be married and that I would have kids

but some how, I never imagined life beyond 25

I'm married, I have two amazing boys
and
I'm another year older
 (which makes me 33- how did that happen?)

On Sunday night my Mom had a birthday dinner for me

Steak, fried potatoes, salad, watermelon, cantaloupe

 and for dessert

CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH WHIPPED FROSTING

and 

WHITE CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY ICE CREAM

Oh My Goodness!

I told my Mom that she makes a bigger deal out of our birthdays now 

than she did when we were kids

My Mom just laughs

My parents gave me-

 Some vintage Pyrex bowls

 A purse

A cookbook they picked up at a Flea Market

and 

A pair of silver hoop earrings

The kids went back to school on my birthday so I enjoyed some window shopping by MYSELF

I went to Davenport and looked around

I didn't buy much but found a lot I could have bought if I were rich

I almost had to have this

I LOVE all Philosophy products and let me tell you, this smelled AMAZING

I may have to go back and get some

I also found THE PERFECT purse

The one my Mom got me was a bit bigger than I like (and I like BIG)

So I returned the purse she gave me (with her permission) and searched for a new one

I found it!

The straps were braided and a perfect length

The size was good

I LOVED the color (Not quite gold, not quite champagne)

And then I noticed something about the purse

The buckle was sewn on upside down

SERIOUSLY

It was the only purse like it and it was flawed

I came home and got online praying I could find it online

No SUCH LUCK

I found one that's a different color (I don't love the color) but it might just have to work

I haven't talked my self into it yet
I liked the shimmer of the other one
I'm bummed!

I also found the cutest dress at TJMAXX and passed on it too
I'm kicking my self now


The only thing I bought myself was a Diet Coke at Target


It was a good thing I didn't splurge because my hubby did
He bought me a new computer monitor
and
took the family out to Applesbees


Over all it was a great birthday but I still can't believe I'm 33

Summer Bucket Photos

Here are just a few pictures that were taken while trying to accomplish our Summer Bucket List

The pool has been taken down and the kids are back in school

Summer is officially over for us

Back to school

Today the kids headed back to school

We have a fifth grader (this is his last year at Colorado-sniff sniff) and a second grader

We had monkey bread for breakfast (Parker's request)
I'm hoping for healthier breakfasts from now on


The boys had a GREAT first day


And I would have to say that Amelia enjoyed the peace and quiet

Parker brought this home
I love cute papers that I can put away and pull back out in 20 years

It's going to be another GREAT year at Colorado Elementary!

Over half way

We are over half way through the week and that means just a few more days until school starts

Yesterday we took advantage of the nice weather
and went to the aquatic center one last time this summer

There is something I love about pool pictures
(Could it be the facial expressions?)


We also did a little art project yesterday
We got to cross Sidewalk Chalk off of our bucket list

This little guy is growing up way to fast


What do you think of the new haircuts?
The boys begged me for mohawks, I gave in and gave them faux hawks
They have too many cowlicks and their hair is to straight for it to look good
but they were happy and that's all that matters

Tonight we had back to school night

The boys were excited that they got the teachers they wanted

Spencer will be in Mrs. Truitt's class
and
Parker will be in Miss. Shaffer's class

I'm sure it won't be long before I get a note sent home saying they are being to chatty in class


3 days left
Who's counting?

Last week of summer vacation - Summer Bucket List

This is it, the boys go back to school next week

We are going to see how much we can squeeze in

We got to cross off a few things on our bucket list thanks to Dad being on vacation

We hardly got back from our Omaha trip and Dad was talking about going camping

We were home less than 24 hours and we were packing again

(Have I told you how much I HATE camping? - A LOT)

Friday afternoon we headed out to Shady Creek and set up the tent

Once the tent was up, we walked some trails and played in the water at Wild Cat Den

Cross those 2 things off the list 

Here is where we stand -

Bubbles      Sidewalk Chalk     Discovery Center      Visit all the City Parks   
Zoo Garden     Make Smores     Swim     Wild Cat Den     Road Trip   

Aquatic Center     Fishing     Drive In     Mississippi Mist Fountain     Canoe     

Bike Ride     Visit the Lock and Dam     Bowling     Visit the Farmer's Market

Get Shaved Ice     Visit the Library    Sparklers    Read      Camp      Parade

Hike     Play Tennis     Zoo     Game Night     Ice Skating      Picnic     Tree Climbing

Play in the rain     Bake     VBS     Make Salt Clay     Make Taffy     Wii dance party

Feed the ducks     Day Camp     School Lunch    Plant Flowers     Water Bombs 

Send Cards to someone     Make a fort     Water Gun Fight     Movie and Popcorn

Baseball with friends   Write a letter to Dad while he's gone     Play with cousins

Make Jolly Rancher suckers     Banana Split Party    Art projects

I'm hoping to cross off AT LEAST 5 more things off this week

Let's see how it goes

Summer is coming to an end (Summer bucket list)

Some how this post didn't get published from a couple of weeks ago

Summer is coming to an end and we aren't real happy about

Don't get me wrong, after the one hundred degrees days we were ready for fall

but I'm not ready to send these kiddos back to school

Things have been crazy this week

The boys decided they wanted to go to Community Character Camp 

Add one more VBS to our bucket list

We are pretty sure Parker picked this up at camp

Poison Ivy is NO FUN

We added a Dr. appointment to our list of things to do last week

It had been a LONG week of camp and itching 

so we decided to go bowling on Friday and cross it off our list

Plamor Lanes was offering

2 free games of bowling per child every day during summer

I had put it off and put it off and finally decided we should go

Guess what, Plamor Lanes was closed and they would be closed the whole month of July

REALLY? You  hand out these coupons and then you close for an entire month

I had 2 upset boys 

We decided we would go get ice cream at Cheri Top

 And I think they forgot all about going bowling

We'll try bowling another another day or should I say month 

Vacation - Omaha

We are back from vacation and I'm already feeling like I need another one

Don't get me wrong, it was nice to get away,

things just didn't go quite as I had planned

There's my problem,

I should not plan

The hubby ended up with a fever the three days we were gone

and

it was HOT in Omaha

On Wednesday we went to the zoo and it was 95 degrees
(81 degrees back in Iowa - Go Figure!)

On Tuesday we drove to Omaha 

We had lunch at The Amazing Pizza Machine

After lunch we checked into our hotel and let the kids swim for a bit

Once the kids had some of their energy burned we went to the Old Market (Down Town)

The kids enjoyed spending money at the Candy Shop 

We had supper at Subway and headed back to the hotel to crash

On Wednesday we went to Henry Doorley Zoo

(Need I say more? This zoo is AMAZING)

After the zoo we let the kids swim some more

and then we went and checked out the Pioneer Courage Park

On Thursday morning, we checked out of our hotel and went back downtown

We walked the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge

After we were done with our walk, the boys were hungry
I heard that Jones Bros. Cupcakes has the best cupcakes on the planet
Well guess what, they are no longer in downtown Omaha
We ended up at Bliss Bakery to have some sweets

And we headed home

August already?

 I can't believe it's August!

Seriously, where has this year gone?

We registered the boys for school yesterday

I can't believe we are going to have a fifth grader and a second grader

and

I can't believe I'm going to be 33 this month
(I'm feeling pretty old)
Did I mention that the kids go back to school on my birthday?
For some, this may be the best gift ever but I'm not ready to send them back


We have 3 weeks until school starts and a whole lot to accomplish on our Summer Bucket List

Some how I have to pack all of this in -

Visit all city parks    Road trip    Wild Cat Den    Canoe    Drive in   
  Fishing    Farmer's Market    Tennis    Ice Skating    Play in the rain    
Salt Clay    Jolly Rancher suckers    Taffy    Wii dance party    Bubbles    
Sidewalk chalk   Lock and dam    Bowling    Water bombs   

I have already decided that I will NOT have a bucket list next summer

Instead I will have a Summer of Fun list
We've done a lot of fun things this summer that weren't on our bucket list

I have the Summer Bucket List on the brain and feel like if it doesn't ALL get done,
I might feel like I have failed
(I'm certain it's not all going to get done and I just need to accept that)

I would hope, that if someone asks my boys if they have had a fun summer - They would say yes


Summer is also for relaxing and we have done our fair share of this
We had a lot of down time cooped up in the house,
due to excessive heat and my work schedule

Here's to trying to enjoy this REALLY HOT summer