Memorial Weekend 2008

Another busy weekend and the rain has soaked us for days. Many tornado warnings and watches, scary stuff. The weekend went well, we began with our plan for visiting the graves of relatives. Granny and Grandpa wanted to have 7 flower arrangements for the graves so I went to Hobby Lobby and was very successful in finding wonderful flowers to make arrangements. I spent a couple of hours getting those together then we piled in the van to head to three cemeteries in town.

We have been having blankie issues with Ella lately. Her blankie had become so ragged, I mean just loosely weaved strips of fabric hanging together with thread. The trim has come off the edges. We looked at Wal-Mart the other day for a blankie that might work but she was not really hearing that. But, mysteriously, this weekend, the blankie disappeared. We suggested she try out one of the 5 other choices we had around the house and in the last couple of days, she has not mentioned in the blankie one time. She is still searching for the perfect replacement and I will help keep our eyes open for that...

This summer I have a few goals with these girls. With Maddie, we are going to exercise alot and not concentrate on food. The bad snacks will not be available and since I will be with her I can monitor better what she eats. At school, she would have the freedom to make choices and I was never really sure what kinds of snacks they had around. Sometimes she would come home with chocolate and she was often being rewarded with snacks and candy. That is not cool to me... So she will swim alot, take a gymnastics class, and we will ride bikes as often as we can.
As for Hannah, she has developed an ability to tune out anything and continue to do what she wants to do. This summer, I am going to work with her on her attention and discipline. I am starting by having her stop reacting to situations with crying and whining. Not responding to that and asking her to use a regular tone of voice to explain what is happening. I am also asking her to repeat back to me what I say to ensure she is listening and understanding what is needed. She will have to help more in picking up her messes, even if it takes waiting forever for her to get it done.

For Ella, it's the blankie thing as well as saying goodbye to passies and bottles forever. I know she is too old, but we have allowed her to keep them to make it easier to cart her off to places while we work. Now that I am home, we will set some limits that will help her in school next year. Potty training is done.

Other than that, we are going to work on a few academics. I bought a book for each of their levels and I thought we would spend about 30 minutes a day on each of them. I especially don't want Maddie to lose info over the summer and set her back next year. We're doing a lot of swimming this summer and planning to go to our library that is within walking distance for children's activities, story time, and other goodies.

Boot Camp Begins

Well, today at 7am I began my first 6-week session of Fitness Bootcamp. http://www.fitnessbootcampwichita.com/

My co-worker and friend Sabrina also started and we were both a bit nervous because this is the real deal when it comes to working out. I really think this may be the most difficult workout in town next to training for races and triathlons. But we had a good time even though it kicked our butts! We began with stretches and jumping jacks and then ran/walked one mile. Then the group of 200 people was divided into groups kind of by fitness level and we went through a series of exercise stations. Like running through ladders, jumping over things on a path, attaching a parachute to our waist and running through a field, lifting logs with a team, and football drills. We finished with sit-ups, push-ups, and leg lifts. The workout was a little over an hour. For the next six weeks we will workout 4-5 times per week at 5:30am or in the evening (which I won't do because that is prime time in my house). So it is early morning for me!

I'm excited though, we were working out with many people who were finishing their 6-week session and they said they had lost like 25 pounds, improved blood pressure, etc. My stats are fine but I would love to lose 25 pounds, or more of course. So the rest of the morning I have been pretty tired. Hannah was a little sick last night with a stomach ache and fever. It also rained alot last night which woke us up too. Tomorrow is Grandpa Dick's 85th birthday, we'll have a lunch for him and I had put an announcement in the paper so he has been getting cards all week from people he hadn't heard from in years. It's been really neat to see him be a little rejuvenated from knowing he has not been forgotten.

Riverfest Finale & Graduation Party & Hannah's Zoo Trip

Another week has passed, I am finished with my grading which was really a big job. I was constantly thinking about the papers and wanting to get the grades in so students could have the info. I hate feeling like I'm hanging on to something that they don't know about, when it actually belongs to them. So it's done. I did make a mistake though and looking back I should have planned differently. I did not realize that our entire department attended graduation (in regalia) in support of the students. It makes great sense, but when I was advising we just had a choice and it wasn't a big deal. It really did not dawn on me until it was too late that I should be there to support the studnets. So I did not rsvp and I could not get over the grading obsession. Next year, I will definitely go. Sometimes we just have to learn from our mistakes.

We attended our cousin Joe's High School graduation fiesta the day of the Riverfest's fireworks display. So we had a pretty tight schedule of fun planned for the day and it worked out well. Joe has become interested in the guitar in the past couple of years so John wanted to get him some kind of book related to guitars. He mentioned his idea and then took an afternoon nap...how convenient for him. He was tired from his gig the night before, so that left me to try to find the perfect book with really no knowledge of what is good...but nonetheless, I am a professional shopper (or I should be...) and I found the perfect book:

Willie Nelson's Guide to Happiness. Check it out... http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5430460

We hope he will enjoy it. One of our friends works at Borders and she is a very cool, Kirby's girl and she told me she had given it to almost every rocker she knows and they have read it on tours with rave reviews from all. Even though he is in high school, I'm sure he can come into that kindof word sooner or later.

The girls had a great time at the fiesta. They ate and broke a pinata then rode on the back of uncle Dale's riding mower with a trailer attached! Fun! Joe was hilarious when he finished off the pinata, he spun around the stick to get dizzy and fell when he tried to swing. John was cracking up, we all were.

The little kids are all cousins in the family on John's side.

John's first cousin Jeremy & his wife Lori have adopted two children in addition to having a birth child. So they have a neat family. Little Leah is from China and their brother Ryan is African American and I believe he is from Wichita originally. They are a neat family.

My girls have a magnet within them that detects and draws them to candy of any kind. They spotted this little machine with M&Ms inside and a nicely placed dish full of nickels to buy the candy. They surrounded it like bees and went to town. Hannah was stashing them in her little dress which was white with flowers, goes great with melting chocolate!

Very cute cake. The 2008 was actually a cookie and they had a basket of these cookies also on the table. Great idea. I am assuming the school colors are blue and black.

The Fireworks were awesome. We have a secret place we like to go and hope the rest of Wichita does not figure it out. Each time, though, it is getting a little more crowded. Luckily, our friends Jon E & Jessica made it there before we did and MeeMaw & Papa Bruce also came. We laid out the blankets right as the daylight ceased and the children ran around in circles. We only lost Sue Sue one time and that was terrifying. In one second, we noticed she was no longer running in the circle of kids. We started yelling her name and she was down just a ways looking at plants under a tree with cousin Jimmy. But in a crowd like that, it easy for a grown up to get confused much less for a little one...

John was the bomb this year! He had said that he was never going to spend big money on glow sticks and he remembered to go to Hobby Lobby before the event. He bought 50 glow sticks for like 5 bucks and all of the 10-15 children had them. We even gave some away to strangers so that was awesome and no buyers remorse! Maddie & our neighbor Charlotte made bunny ears and glasses with theirs!Next, was Hannah's zoo trip. The end of school years really bring on the events! Her Montessori school went as a group and I offered to drive since we have the van and can fit many children!

Ella was able to go too and Hannah loved playing with her friends. These kids are so cute and they really did well in such a big group.

Mother's Day 2008

I am so excited, I got a wonderful new camera for Mother's Day and I feel like a professional photographer! Suddenly I think I have an eye for the perfect shot!

We had a great Mother's Day. Maddie made me a set of stationary in art class with watercolor painting on note cards and I will have a very hard time sending them away to anyone. She also made a pen with a flower on top. Homemade gifts are my absolute favorite. But don't get me wrong, I love all kinds of gifts. Hannah's teachers created a Mother's Day print-out that asked questions about the child's mom and they wrote the answers. Here's how it goes:

My mom's name is Natalie, she is "this tall" 2 feet tall

She weighs 10 pounds and is 10 years old.

Her hair is long, brown, pretty, and curly.

When she goes to work she...I don't know, it's a school and they have basketball there. She writes her name on the computer.

Her favorite thing to do is: she likes to swim like me, take us out to eat. She likes to go to the park with us.

I love my mom because she: is the best! She takes me to McDonalds, she lets me fold the laundry and color with me.

Oh my gosh, how can you not love that! She signed her own name at the bottom.

Ella Sue woke up first thing and said "Happy Mother's Day, Mama" Even sleeping through the night she remembered first thing what the day was about.

MeeMaw Geni had come over the day before to give me a gift of Hasta plants and 3 elephant ear bulbs. Not only did she give them to me but she came over and planted them and helped me clean out my front flower bed. I am really excited, it is going to look cool this summer!

We went to brunch at Piccadilly with John's parents as well as his younger brother Kenny and his family. The restaurant was so packed but everyone was patient. The girls met a clown and he made them special balloons.

Our niece Sarah is so sweet. Such a little blondie!

After brunch, we went to the Center for the Arts. Of course, John saw a friend at brunch (he usually sees a friend every place we go...) and they are planning to move soon and the husband was finishing up an art show. He is trying to sell his pottery before the move. So we checked it out, I got a couple of neat pieces. One is this amazing green canister that can be used in the kitchen, I also go a bowl that has a handle and a pour spout...you know, for all that cooking I do!

We later met at Granny & Grandpa's for a dinner. Cousin Scott was there and although we live in the same town, we have not seen him in a couple of months. That is too long. I snuck a few pictures and our dog Henry came over to join in the fun! Is my husband a cutie or what? I told him to pose like for a senior picture, but we are getting older so senior has a different meaning these days! Just kidding John. It is great to see John in his sweater vest, this is his favorite articles of clothing and can really be a versatile piece... Here is Granny's new bathroom. We have all taken baths in the huge jetted tub and it is like a dream! Granny has yet to try it because it is such a challenge to get in and out. But she does love that fancy shower.

Pretty sweet. An entire bedroom was taken out and the bathroom redesigned. They did a very nice job and Granny had input into every aspect. She was very excited about the custom cabinets they built to fit into the spaces.

Maddie's Field Day & Riverfest 08 Opening Night

This has really been a busy May so far. I am trying to wrap up all of my work at school while making sure that our schedule is full of the end-of-the-school-year events. For those who may not know yet, I have been accepted to a doctoral program to being this summer and this week I went to a luncheon for the people who are graduating as well as to be introduced as the new cohort (there were 10 people accepted for Cohort 17!). It was really a great event because it really showed me that I have chosen a program that really fits my needs and I know I am going to have great experiences with my research in the next three years.

The program is Educational Leadership and this is the first year that non-school system administrators has been accepted. Most of the students are planning to be superintendents or other district level administrators. Since I am interested in college level admin, it works well. Also, the research that is done is about understanding problems in rural school districts and assisting in the change process. Also, very much social work, so this is really a perfect fit for me, I'm excited.

On Friday, I took the afternoon off to volunteer for Maddie's field day at school. Rather than competition (like when I was a kid) it is more an event where each child has a card pinned to them to check off when they have gone to each of the 20 stations around the field. There are bumper things, foot races, shooting baskets, getting tattoos, lacrosse-like activity, and hula-hooping, which was my station. So we had fun having the kids hula hoop and try to put more than one on and sometimes they would try 4 or 5 hoops at a time. They were silly.

John was saying that when was a kid, he loved field day because he was always in the top three in every event and he would get ribbons for all the things he won. That's nice John...but what about the 300 other kids who came out feeling like losers? Now he understands the effort to take out the competition from field days! I'm not sure I ever won one of those ribbons he's talking about... That is Maddie running in the pink. She and her partner didn't really care about getting to all of the stations. Some kids were obsessed about making sure they got them all. But Maddie quickly figured out that if there was no prize or award involved with rushing to get to them all, then she would spend her time doing what she wanted. Like scoring as many tattoos as possible, drinking bottled water, and just do whatever she pleased. It was fun.

So after field day, a luncheon was planned for volunteers. It was really amazing. Each teacher made a dish and they had a beautiful spread. There was hummus & pita, fancy salads, chicken, fruit, and lots of dips and treats. It was really nice. The 5th grade orchestra played for us and it was OK but we found ourselves listening more to their mess-ups...they are cute.

I am sitting with a couple of other moms talking about summer plans and all of our kids accomplishments...we also were discussing the River Fest and if we were planning to attend the opening parade and concert. I really had not planned to go since it is so much work to get all the girls anywhere and try to corral them for hours in crowds of thousands. Literally, there were 30,000 at the parade... One of the moms asked if we were interested in making a few dollars at the River Fest and get to see the parade anyway. So we listened further.

This mom's friend owns this vending company where she sells fresh lemonade out of a huge lemon and also sells roasted corn on a stick. Two hours prior to the parade she needed some people to pull carts full of cotton candy through the parade route a few times and sell it. It sounded kindof fun, the kids would enjoy it and we'd have front row access to the parade. So we agreed and oh my gosh, it was crazy!

These kids took turns pulling a heavy cart though the streets of downtown yelling chants about "cotton candy! Right here in the Box! Cotton Candy! Get your Cotton candy!" They saw school friends and we saw family of ours, not to mention a few people from work (I'm sure wondering what in the world is she doing??? Oh, how nice...volunteering!") No idea, I am just cheap and make my child work for a free ride at the River Fest!

So after selling the candy we had to make our way back. We tried to beat the parade but we were not successful. So the parade caught up with us and we pretty much just included ourselves in the walking and tried not to take attention away from the real purpose of the evening! Yikes! I was a little embarrassed to be right up in the action. This picture shows how close we were to the marching band as they went by...the kids loved it!

When we brought the carts back, we got paid $25 each (the adults) and little did we know but the big lemon we were returning to was in the gated off area for the concert. So not only did we make a little money but we also got to see the concert for free. It was Colbie Caillat http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=8777613 and she has a beautiful voice. The little girls love her song "Bubbly"

The money bought our totally over priced dinner. 8 bucks for noodles... but we did share funnel cake and that is always fun.

Maddie made a friend and she finally danced! I have been trying to get her to dance for a while so I was happy to see her bust a move!This is Ben, Maddie's future husband (I hope) He is the sweetest boy. He lives down the street and is really a boy version of Maddie. They get along great. It was his mother that got us all into this whole event. Yeah! What a day! The night ended with fireworks and a long walk back to the car. It was cool to spend time with new people and become better friends of our acquaintances!