Harvest Breakfast

Justyces' face is priceless!

Today was the annual Harvest Breakfast at Carpenter Kid’s (Justyces’ Preschool). The Harvest Breakfast is a father & son breakfast. The kids had worked on activities all week to prepare for it. They made centerpieces and place mats, Justyce could not stop talking about it. He was so excited that he was taking daddy to school with him!

Justyces' handmade centerpiece

On the menu: sausage balls, muffins, eggs and juice or coffee. Luke and Justyce were able to choose how they wanted their eggs and then prepare them together. I know that they had fun, but I was a little jealous I didn’t get to go. However, in February there will be a Valentines Tea Party for the moms! I asked Luke to take pictures, but of course got none.

Place Mats

On a side note, I finally got Justyces’ school pictures, almost a month later than we were told originally. They are cute, but nowhere near as good as last year. However, I will be calling the photographer on Monday, they gave me the wrong package. Ugh! I hope they will be nice and fix my problem quickly! Wish me luck...

New York, Part 1

In October Luke and I traveled to NYC for a wedding! It was AMAZING to say the least. I absolutely love city life, and no Springfield, Missouri is not even on the same scale. If I did not have three kids, I would live there in a heartbeat. We or I definitely want to go back and experience more. Yet, we were still able to squeeze a great deal of sights into the little amount of time we had . Which in turn meant ALOT of walking and by ALOT, I mean by the end of the first full day I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to move for days!

Our first experience in a New York cab was unforgettable and without a doubt terrifying. Christina and I laughed the entire time, because it was either that or cry! Our hotel was less than 3 miles from the airport and that was enough for me to know I do NOT like NYC cabs. The cab fare was close to $20.00. The funny part is that it took forever to actually get to our hotel, we could see it but the driver could not figure out how to get us there (luckily he turned off the meter for that). Once we settled in ,we ventured out to the steakhouse down the road ,for some drinks and dinner. The drinks that we ordered were the strongest mixed drinks I have ever had. I strongly believe that their menu should have had a warning... Or maybe Missouri’s “Bible- belt” drinks are just extremely weak. Either way after one drink I was feeling “it” as was Luke and Christina. Shortly after that we called it a night. I slept just like a baby!

Saturday, we were up and out of our room by 7 am (6 am MO TIME)! We first, had to catch a bus to the subway and then take the subway from Queens into the city. Our first destination was Ground Zero. It was almost surreal for me to be there. I remember September 11th, 2001 like it was yesterday, as I am sure many of us do. To be there 9 years later was indescribable . I cannot even imagine being in NYC on that tragic day, what a horrific event to have to experience. The museum was heart breaking, but amazing at the same time. I would highly recommend going to anyone.

Next, on our agenda was Battery Park. Oh, how city parks are different from the parks we are used to back in the Midwest. The children’s play area was modern and fantastic. The boys would have loved it! The dog park was surprising too. We were able to see the Statue of Liberty, but chose not to go out to see it. There was no way I was going to stand in the massive line, for the ferry and waste what little time we had. But, it is definitely on my to-do list for next time. Also on that list is to go on the Brooklyn Bridge. None the less, I am satisfied we got to see it.

We ate lunch and did a little shopping at the South Street Seaport. Following lunch we headed to Wall Street, to see the bull. Along the way we saw Tiffany’s , The New York Stock Exchange, and the Trinity Chapel just to name a few. Our next mission was Rockefeller Center . Christina and I soon got sidetracked with some street shopping and we drug Luke along. Street shopping was the best, I could have stayed there for days!! After that, we saw the ice rink, where the Today show is shot and where the famous Christmas tree goes at Christmas time. With the sunset quickly approaching we headed for the Empire State Building!

Our original game plan was to get to the observation deck of the Empire State Building right before sunset. However, once inside and in line waiting to go up we soon realized that there was NO way that; that was going to happen. We were in line for almost three hours and no I am not exaggerating. Despite the long wait the views and experience was unbelievable. Leaving there around 9:30 pm, we headed to Time Square to eat.

Once we were at Time Square, we got some authentic New York pizza. The pizza was delicious, two thumbs up! Once our bellies were full and a short lived “second wind“, we did some more shopping and took a ton of pictures. By this time, we were all so exhausted, we decided to call it a night. We got back on the subway and headed back to Queens. The subway was quick, because we got lucky and caught an express train. Unfortunately, the bus was a whole different story. We waited for almost an hour for that dumb bus! We FINALLY made it back to the hotel at about 12 am! I was so tired I was delirious! You know when you’re so tired you can’t sleep?? Well that was me. Needless to say, once I was able to fall asleep, I was dead to the world.

Changing Seasons Bring Changes Our Way...

 

 
I have been preparing for my first organized run in over 10 years! I am so excited, I ran X- country in high school and loved it. However, 3 kids and 10 years later it is a whole different world. It takes place on Thanksgiving day and helps out the local food pantry. I will also be doing another one in December with the logic... the more runs I participate in the easier it will be, right?? Along with taking running back up, as of November 15th I will be a college student... for the third time! I am hoping this time I can actually obtain a degree.

Luke has made changes too. He is no longer in the roofing business. I know it was a hard and scary decision for him. Since he has been in the roofing industry for 8 years. He is currently employed with C4 Connections, doing sales. He loves it and is doing great, I am so proud of him! I have to admit when he first brought this idea of changing careers to me, I was weary. I have grown up around roofing and was comfortable with it. But none the less, this change has opened many doors for Luke and our family.

The boys are doing great! Justyce is in a Christian based preschool and thriving. Friday he has a father & son breakfast, he is anxious to "take daddy to his school." Rylee is still a wild man and is always keeping me on toes. Harper is growing like a weed. He will be 10 months old at the end of the month, where has the time gone?? He is crawling and always on the go. He also now has two teeth now. I love my boys!

Halloween was fun. We stayed close to home while trick or treating, the boys were hard to keep up with, they were so excited! Justyce was the black Spiderman and Rylee was a giraffe. Harper, who was not impressed at all by the whole Halloween concept, sported a pumpkin shirt. He ended the night early and retired to his crib to count sheep. Luke and the older boys continued out on their mission and came home with an abundance of candy!

Lyrics

Sam Cooke - Change Gon’ Come lyrics

Goodbye Summer...

We have been so busy the last couple of months, I can't believe summer is almost gone! We have enjoyed " Splash Time" at the pool, the St. Louis zoo, Wacky World, numerous park visits and many other activities. All these activities make my job a little less stressful and alot more enjoyable!

Justyce will be starting his last year of preschool next week! He is super excited and he seems to thrive in the school environment! I am hoping this is a quality he keeps until he graduates college!! I am so glad I have another year to prepare for kindergarten!

Other than that not much is going on with us. Luke is in Colorado for six days... so I am hoping my sanity can stick around until he gets back. Three boys by myself.... will I survive?? TBD...

I have decided to go back to school in January, I am hoping that this time I can decided what field I want to go into  and obtain a degree. I have so many credits already but nothing that

Just Another Day!

Nothing too exciting happened today...

However, while we were outside melting in the humidity Rylee came to me...

Me: "Rylee, what happened to your nose?"
Rylee: "The table bite me!"
Me: "Are you okay?"
Rylee: "Yes, tupid (stupid) table!"
*Note: I was outside the whole time, I did not see him near the table nor did he make a sound...

Later..

Dinner time for Harper, he has the best facial expressions!

And last but not least...

An Uninvited Visitor...

Yesterday, we had some thunderstorms come through our area. As usual as soon as it started raining we shut off the AC and opened the windows. I love the rain and thunderstorms!! I could sit around all day and listen to it rain...

About 20 minutes into the storm Rylee came to Luke and I and asked us to shut the windows, because we let the thunder in his house and he wanted the thunder to go back to his own house! Oh to be young again...when your biggest worry is how the thunder got in the house!

I'd thought I would share...

I saw this somewhere on the Internet and thought I would share... it fits my life a little to well...

"In honor of the MOM'S "


A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard.

The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall.

In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a Cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.

In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened.

He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.

As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.

He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?"

She again smiled and answered, "You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?"

"Yes," was his incredulous reply.

She answered, "Well, today I didn't do it."

I think we all could use a laugh sometimes~

To Cool for School!

 Harper soakin' up the sunshine...

Fun in the Sun!!

Haley is here visiting from Oklahoma this week! This makes 5 yes, 5 kids that I am watching during the day. If I am not crazy yet, I might be after tomorrow...

We had a blast today, Justyce was only with us have the day, so it brought the count down to four. Haley and I also got about an hour of one on one time, while the little ones napped!

Loving summer right now!!