If You Were Here Today....

...You'd see this.

Riley, intensely playing "Star Wars."
Reece, focused in on his D.S.
All, because this is what it looks like outside.

Granted, my car does have a sheet of ice on it, and supposedly snow is in our very near future, but I'm so bored of snow days!! The chances of tomorrow being a real snow day is HIGH.

I must be getting old. Snow days are beginning to get to me.

***

Next....

If you read this blog, chances are high you are old, like me.

Here's why.

At school we've had several indoor recess days.

A favorite activity in the 5th grade class is playing "Apples 2 Apples."

My favorite game ever!

I was observing them play, and a red card was played.

The red card said

"Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen"

The judge says,

"I don't even know who that is, so this card can't win."

*

You are welcome for proving you are old. ;)

Another One Bites The Dust...

Tooth that is!

Reece lost yet another tooth today.... and oh did the waterworks come. It was literally hanging by a thread, and before I even touched him, there were more tears than anyone has ever seen.... EVER! It was pretty dramatic! Hopefully, the Tooth Fairy makes it up to Reece!

150

Kansas turned the BIG 1-5-0 yesterday!

I signed up for Kansas Day cookies for the boys class..... which really means I signed up my amazingly, talented, cookie making sister to make KS Day cookies. =)

And to top off this wonderful day..... The Kansas Jayhawks killed the K-State Wildcats! WooHoo!! It's only fitting, since a purple wildcat has nothing to do with Kansas history...

Happy Birthday, Kansas!!

Daddy Dreams....

Tonight, Reece told Jake that he couldn't wait to be a DADDY!

That's a scary thing to hear from a 6 year old!

What Reece means, is that he just can't wait to be big. He just assumes all grown ups are dads. This is so Reece. Ever since he was born, Reece never wanted to be left behind. He crawled at 6 months, walked at 9.... anything to keep up with his big brother. Nothing stood in Reece's way. I think he even started opening doors before Riley.... He just might have big dreams ahead!

Snow, Sickness, & Broken Heaters

Oh, My!

This is a break down of my week.

*Monday was a snow day. Yay! I get paid for at least one snow day. Double Yay!!

*Tuesday, I went to work for 3 hours. I came home with a horrible tummy ache, then spent 4 hours, all by myself, violently ill. Thank goodness for sick pay.

*Wednesday. Due to the 24 hour rule, that I strongly support, I knew I wouldn't be going in. Once again, so happy I had sick pay. I had a horrible headache, but I was home on the mend. Five minutes before I would usually be walking out the door, the phone rings with a message that at the school I work at, the heaters weren't working, so school was canceled. I'm thinking that cancels out my sick pay. BOO!

*Thursday. Cabin fever has set in. I'd gotten more rest than anyone really needs, and I was ready to face the day. I finally slept my headache away, and I was good to go. Riley looks awful and is complaining of a tummy ache. Really?? He really did look awful, so I made the calls, felt terrible for being gone again, but it's sick pay. Guess what? Riley never got sick. I was so scared for him to feel the extreme pain that I felt for 8 terrible hours, and he got nothing. I was thankful for this, but I so desperately needed to get out of this house!!! I did get the chance to wash every sheet and towel in this house, and disinfect a very good majority of it. You know I'm rested up, when I take the opportunity to clean. I, of course, had the fear of one of my family members going through what I did, and that was motivation enough.

*Friday. It's not Friday yet, but I'm going to work!! Nothing will stop me!! (Knock on wood) Jake has the day off, so I'm running out that door at my earliest chance!!

SNOW Fun!

Riley, Reece and Savannah playing in the snow!

(digging a tunnel)

1st MAC Snow

And SNOW DAY!!!

How nice it is to work for the school district on days like this...

I would've been home either way, since Reece was sick as of 7pm last night, but this saved me some phone calls and sick time. =)

Sounds of "Sick"

My dear, sweet nephew, Aidan, was so "nice" to give Reece his bell.

Where's that dang sarcasm font...

Just so happened, Reece got this on Saturday, and got sick on Sunday.

Nice timing!

Why?

Because, we set Reece up nice and cozy.... sleeping bag, pillow, water bottle full of Sprite, video games, large bowl (in case he did it again), and his bell.

Reece was able to ring the bell if he needed/wanted anything.

Yay!

He really did a great job at not overdoing it... I had already stressed to him how much I really didn't like the noise, so he's been very nice to me. It was just a funny couple of hours of hearing that bell.... usually he was just thirsty.

***

So Reece got sick around 9 am yesterday, he was his happy energetic self all day.... no fever, no napping. Then around 7 pm he did it again, and again back to himself, never phased!

Not sure what to think of any of it.... it doesn't sound like any flu I've ever heard of. Today he is doing great, I'm just making sure that bowl doesn't get too far from him... Just. In. Case.

***

I also have to say, I'm not really that bothered that he was given the bell.... Reece is keeping it under control, because he is such a sweetie!

Christmas Crafts

Among all the chaos that December can bring.... one more thing that was semi~stressful, was how our dining room table had looked as though Christmas crafts had been thrown up all over it!

Seriously!

I'm pretty sure Reece did little learning in December, and lots of cutting and gluing.

Poor Riley only brought home tons and tons of school work... some finished, some not.

I tend to keep a LOT of things that come home, and I do so in an organized manner. Both boys have a large storage tub that I keep cute things in, but it often takes me several days of looking at them pile up, before I do anything. Meanwhile, getting overwhelmed...

So, I thought I'd just snap a few pictures and blog about them, so I'll always have these... not sure if I'll keep doing this or not, but here I go.

What A Difference A Year Makes!

I just don't think our lives could have changed much more in 2010.

The year pretty much started with a BANG!

January 15th... I lose my job the same day Jake is approached about a new, better paying position. The big key, was it was 3 hours away. A transferring, promotion.

I stayed behind, to let the boys finish school and get our first home on the market. When we left, it was 11 years old, we had lived in it for 6 years.

Soon after the house sold, I came down with Mono while I worked a brand new, temporary job for an Orthodontist.

The last 3 weeks of being in Gardner, the boys and I actually slept on a mattress on the floor at my brother's house.

Reece graduates Preschool.
Followed by us saying goodbye to best friends, and leaving Trailblazer country...AKA: Gardner, KS.

We had to say goodbye to Riley's school of 3 years.

Then we arrived to our "new" home.

McPherson, KS.

And to a house that is 103 years old.

I spent the next 8 weeks of my life, transforming the decor of this charming home.

You'll have to refer back to my June posts to see those pictures.

My car took a beating in 2010.

First a dang raccoon forced us to put it in the shop with $2500.00 in damage, and weeks later, our neighbors tree dropped a limb on it. Same amount in damage, just this time it was bearable, and we didn't have the money for another deductible.

Riley turned 8!

Reece lost his first tooth!

Both boys learned to ride their bikes, which proved to be painful at times.

We were close enough to cousins to have play and pool dates!

Riley began 3rd grade, Reece ALL DAY Kindergarten.

I moved just 2 doors down from Casey, who I played basketball with in High School.

Her friends welcomed me immediately, and she owns the cutest Sassy Bags store.

It didn't take long for me to realize that we were in BullPup/Dog country now.

(And KState is much more liked in this part of KS)

I also got a job with the school district, to be on the boys schedules, and so far it's been wonderful! I feel like I've been waiting ages for the day that the boys were in school all day, and McPherson sped that up, just a bit!

We are close enough to celebrate Halloween with cousins too!

Not everything changes... my boys are still obsessed with Mario Bros!

Leaves, leaves and more leaves!!! We didn't have this problem in Gardner...

Jake turns 8!.... I mean 37!!

Reece turns 6!

We have a much larger kitchen, which made our annual caramel/chocolate covered pretzels so much more fun to make!

And no Fireplace to hang our stockings with care on... but a lovely staircase that already had the perfect hooks to hang them on. Santa was forced to use the front door as well... no chimney in this old house either.

Well.... 2010 was a roller coaster, but it had some amazing life changes. I wish for a slower 2011, with many blessings ahead!