Big sister benefits

I think I've mentioned that having big kids is pretty awesome. 

Big kids laugh and play and tickle. They cook and clean and babysit. 

They hold pie making demonstrations complete with aprons for helpers and taste testing. 

The Blue Room

Goodbye, gross brown, flat paint covered in scuff marks and dry boogers!

Hello, clean happy blue paint!

And hello, new "grown up" big girls room with new bedding and soft sheets that make you want to stay in your bed ALL NIGHT LONG and not come in and sleep wedged underneath your mother.

Now stay!

Two and half years later.....

I always like to remind Mark that I'm not very competitive.  I'd rather hum along at my own pace that try to beat the people around me. Plus, being competitive means I'd have to work harder and faster. Where's the fun in that?

So I typically finish any given workout in the middle of the pack. 

But today.....I smoked them all!

I finished a good round and a half before anyone else and I gained a little understanding for Mark's competitive streak.

Ha ha, suckers!

Grandma Jean's 70th Birthday Dinner and a Realization

Grandma Jean's birthday dinner took place at 6 pm at the Abuelo's in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Ethan has mandatory marching band rehearsals all morning and the next day. 

That means we are going to need to make a 3 1/2 hour drive down there, eat dinner, and turn around and drive it back. 

No probelem!  It was definitely no problem on the way down because Mark did all the driving and I snoozed and read my book. It was eeeasy.

We stopped for some bright and cheery birthday flowers: 

Arranging flowers/repotting plants is a special en route skill of mine.

The Allred/Hufford cousins:

Jean realizing her cupcake cake looks like a large purple mattress:

One of the great things about families....hanging out and shooting the breeze.

The girls presenting Grandma with their handmade cards and letters.

We laughed and enjoyed the food and conversation. We got to meet Simon (the Allreds soon to be adopted son).

And then it was time to drive home. UGH.

Mark is very used to waking up at 4:30 every morning to Crossfit with a couple friends. Which means that he is ready for bed by 8 pm and almost incapable of staying up past 9:30. Because I want to live and I want my children to have a future, I knew I was going to need to do the driving on the way home. 

Now, I really was tired., too. I had a knot of fear in my stomach. Falling asleep at the wheel is something that you don't consciously do....it just happens. Luckily, I could feel my legs getting sore from the morning's workout and the pain I could inflict on myself was enough to get me about halfway home. 

Then I relied on a roll of lifesavers (1 every 10 minutes) and an interesting podcast from Mormon Stories to get us back to Olathe. 

We are alive. 

That was scary and I will never ever do that again. 

I'm too old to be driving that late at night. 

I remember my Grandma June saying that. And that freaks me out.

Summer Dates!

This year we added kid/parent dates to our Summer Bucket List. 

It's been tricky to find the time, but absolutely worth it and something we really need to keep going. 

We split the kids up according to how much time we get to spend with them. 

Mark took Ethan, Megan and Everly....

I took Mathew, Laney and Anna.

Anna chose a breakfast date. She got to pick a donut at KC donut and a chocolate milk. One of the great things about being with just one kid....saying 'yes' to chocolate milk doesn't cost you 25 dollars. 

After donuts, we went to Savers Thrift store to peruse the "treasures". She selected a miniature decorative plate with sparkly unicorn. It was truly fantastic! 

Mark and Ethan went on their "date" to a guitar shop in Denver. And because they are boys, they did not take a selfie....and they would not appreciate me calling it a date. But I sniffed out a couple photos of their matching Fender hats...

Ethan has really been getting into guitars and Mark loves it!

Mathew and I went on a date to a 10:30 pm showing of "The Secret Life of Pets". Mathew says it was really good. I wouldn't know because I am old and can't stay awake. I slept through the middle, my arms pulled into my shirt and feet tucked under me because that theater was FREEZING! I wish I had remembered my afghan....so cold and so old.

Mathew was sweet and patted my arm every few minutes. He was happy to have his super mega soda.

I felt bad about sleeping through part of our date, so we made a run through Freddy's for a treat a couple days later...it was the least I could do. Sacrificing!


Mark told Everly that he was going to take her on a date and she was SOOOOO excited! She got all dressed up (with Megan's help) and chattered about it until it was time to go.

They went to Applebees for some dinner. She chose the grilled chicken and broccoli. She insisted that this wasn't part of the date....this was just a "restawant".  Then they went over to Hobby Lobby and she got to choose a new Beanie Boo. I little pink and grey cat on a backpack clip....with huge sparkly eyes, of course.

Laney and I went for breakfast as well. I offered IHOP or Panera....but she couldn't resist the sweet call of KC Donut either. And I got the fun of giving her an enthusiastic thumbs up when she cautiously pointed to a HUGE long john. Again, keep those expectations low and when you say 'yes' to a giant donut, you are a hero. She got a Gatorade to wash it down and I stuck with my classic glazed and a white milk.

Then she decided that Anna's date sounded like just the ticket and we went to Savers to treasure hunt for her. She took careful stock of all her knick knack choices and ultimately settled on a dolphin figurine. They were meant for each other.  I loved having the time to talk to her about her dreams for the future and all the things she's looking forward to in the 3rd grade.

Megan was the last one to go out and that very fact caused us a lot of grief....I mean, her grief over having to wait until Mark wasn't actually AT WORK started to cause me a lot of grief. By Saturday, I was very clear that they better go to lunch or I might say something I regret. Good grief!

So they went off to Freddy's for burgers and custard. I don't have all the details, but I do know that they came home with two new toilet seats and blinds for the basement....which can only mean one thing.

Home Depot.

Summer dates complete! Check it off!

3 isn't a crowd

Shiela Clarke offered to hire the boys to do some yardwork for her last Saturday and so they spent the afternoon with her, organizing the shed and mowing her lawn....

When it was all said and done, she overpaid Ethan and so he promised to come over after band camp and do an hour of weeding. Mat came along to help (I suspect he was hoping to hang out with McKenzie ;)

I promised to help them identify the plants/weeds before I let him loose.

Only I couldn't find the gardens. They had been eaten alive by morning glory and crab grass. So after a thorough dousing of DEET, we got to yanking. SAVE THE VEGGIES!!

After a solid hour, we had an impressive weed pile and we had excavated the beds:

We make a pretty good team, we three.

She's going in.

It's no secret that middle school wasn't the easiest for me. Ashley Trashly made sure of that.

But I am pretty confident that Megan is going to have a great time. She's got a great sense of humor, good friends, a kind heart, a brave spirit and she's already mastered her locker.

What could go wrong?