Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Basketball shorts and ....

Ryker is starting to become his own person. And I love watching him grow! He is such a special part of my life!

Today he picked out his shoes.

I don't know why this is so neat to me but I love how he has and is starting more to have a mind of his own.

I tried to hurry and put on sandals but this is what he chose.

Monday, July 30, 2012

More. Than. Ready.

I am SO sick of this hot hot hot weather!!!!!

Lucas and Ryker might not be sick of it....


BUT


Me on the other hand, not a big fan of swimsuit weather...

I

can. not. wait. until. sweatshirt. weather. is. here.




Please FALL hurry up!!!!!
(By the way... Hubs is not a Texas fan! Thank the Lord!)

Friday, July 27, 2012

Should have followed in my mom's footsteps...

My mom has been was in the military for many years. That's how I knew my mom growing up. Always in her BDU's, hair up, and boots on.



She enjoyed going to work and following in her dad's, my grandfathers, foot steps.
(My Grandpa is standing behind my mom)



There were a lot of sacrifices my mom had to make when we were growing up. Gone every 1st weekend of the month for drill, gone 2 weeks out of the summer for summer camp, and the other duties that come along with the military. Lucky for us she was never deployed.

There were also alot of benefits. She was at almost every single one of our sporting events. I can probably count on my two hands the amount of sporting events she was unable to attend due to work. That's 20+ years of sporting events she was at. What a great mom!

I think the biggest benefit for her being in the military and joining when she was 18 is the fact that she is now retired. Yes, I said RETIRED!!! That means she can do whatever she wants whenever she wants... And My step dad Terry. He retires on Oct. 31st.








They are acting like kids these days. Going on mini vacations, buying all sorts of toys, swimming all day long, planning more vacations. Man I can't wait to retire! (which won't EVER happen) I should have followed in my mom's footsteps... what was I thinking.



Thank you Mom.

Thank you for serving this great country of ours for 38 years.
Grandma and Grandpa would be so proud of you!
I love you so very much!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Not even a special occasion!

This is something that doesn't happen very often, unless we are grilling out!

Look who made dinner tonight!

Yes, I know it's out of the box!
Yes, I know you just have to throw it in the oven!
Yes, I know it's almost easier than fixing a bowl of cereal!

BUT....

My husband cooked dinner tonight! And it wasn't even a special occasion!

Man I am one lucky girl!

He looks pretty dang good with that oven mitt on!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Best words ever

I uve you too mommy!

I know I already used this picture but it's my fav right now!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

On the right track

I can't believe I didn't tell you guys about some exciting news that happened this weekend.

Ryker pooped on the potty, Saturday at Travis's birthday party!

And then...

He pooped on the potty last night! (I did not take a picture of this, as most of you probably read this with breakfast, lunch, and or dinner! Plus I would like you all to keep coming back and a picture of poop in the toilet might have scared many of you off. Your welcome!)

You know you are growing up when the most exciting part of your day is your 2 1/2 year old pooping in the potty!

On another note:
Something I have learned in my 2 1/2 years of raising my child...
Never ever ever NEVER say my child WILL OR WILL NOT do that.
There have been TOO many times that I have had the "insert foot in mouth" moment. (although this happens to me on a regular basis, not just with my child.)

For example...

--- My kid will NEVER throw a fit in the grocery store / restaurant. -- Been there done that 53 million times

--- My kid will NOT be 3 years old having normal conversations with me and still not potty trained. Welp, we are at 2 1/2 and still pooping in our underware. I'm pretty sure it will be way past 3 before he is completely potty trained. (Anyone have any suggestions? I'm willing to try anything. ANYTHING!)

--- My kid will NOT throw and fit and get his way. --- HAHAHAHAHAHA what was I thinking!

--- My kid WILL sleep through the night. ---- Umm... And when does this start?

Those are just a few examples and I'm sure there are SO many more to come or that have happened and I have just decided to block them out. Isn't it great being a parent! :)

Well gotta run.
We are helping my sister move into her apartment tonight!
Hope we don't have a heat stroke!



Monday, July 23, 2012

Unexpected Surprise

I know, I know most surprises are unexpected... that's why they are called surprises. But this surprise I would have NEVER seen coming... and DIDN'T for that matter.

But before I get to the unexpected surprise, I will tell you a little about this weekend.

Ryker had a BLAST  at Uncle Pat's surprise party.
See for yourself...(I tried to post a video.. It won't work)
So here is a pic.
 He LOVED karaoke!!
That's his second cousin William.
 William was a total sport the whole night. Ryker loved playing with him.

Travis's Birthday was a SUCCESS! He is one spoiled PERFECT boy!

Me on the other hand not so perfect... I forgot my memory card for my camera at home and didn't get ANY pictures. I'm the worst aunt ever! Okay I'm really the best Aunt EVER but I totally FAILED this weekend. :(

Luckily there is this little thing called Facebook... I stole this off my sisters page.



Yeah he was a MESS! But that's what 1st birthdays are for!!

Time for the unexpected surprise.
Little background story.

When I was somewhere between the ages of 10-13 we had our brothers girlfriend living with us when she was in high school. She became part of the family and we LOVED having her around. She definitely knew how to make my sisters and I feel loved and special since we got to hang out with a HIGH SCHOOLER! ;) She was pretty much the best babysitter ever! Not to mention she was our brothers girlfriend. WAY COOL!

After her senior year she decided to move back to Colorado to be closer to her parents. As the years went by we had less and less contact with her and then all of a sudden it was like she disappeared.  (there wasn't facebook back then!)

We have searched for years trying to find her and about 6 months ago she joined facebook! We were so excited to see her and talk to her. Alot has changed since the last time we saw each other or even talked to each other. It's been 15 years! 15 YEARS!!!

My Mom, Terry, sister Lindsey and her Husband went to Colorado a couple of months ago to pick up Terry's Mountain Goat. (It's stuffed... maybe I will show you all a picture later... different post)

Anyway, they met up with her and started to plot a surprise for my other sister Tara and I.

GUESS WHO WAS AT MY PARENTS THIS WEEKEND!!!

That's right! It was Jodi! My long lost older "Sister"!

It was such a great unexpected surprise to see her there! I had no clue. Not even a little bit.

Jodi and Tara


Jodi and Lindsey




Jodi and the Gang. Quite blurry I know. sorry!



Jodi and Mom
Jodi and Us girls this weekend!
Thank you so much Mom, Lindsey, and Jodi for planning such an unexpected surprise!
What a wonderful weekend!

Can't wait to meet up again!



Friday, July 20, 2012

On the road again...

Well it's the WEEKEND!!!

Thank goodness!

I would first like to apologize to all 3 of you that religiously look at my blog, for not posting yesterday. :( I am sorry but I think I have realized somedays I'm just not going to be able to post! Sad I know. Please don't cry, I will do my best to post everyday. (Well Monday - Friday ). ;)

Now, with that said.

IT'S THE WEEKEND!!! I think I already mentioned that . Just didn't want you to forget!

This weekend we are headed to my parents! It's a big weekend. We are celebrating my uncle Pat's 60th birthday on Friday (tonight) night and then tomorrow we are celebrating my nephews 1st birthday! Ryker is going to love singing happy birthday to everyone. (it's his favorite song)

Then on Sunday we will head to emporia to see Luke's parents! Hopefully the truck window will be fixed and we can bring it home. When a window doesn't work and by doesn't work I mean doesn't roll up, it's almost like not having air conditioning and right now is not the time to not have AC! 108 on Sunday! Are you kidding me???

Anyway got a little off subject there but it's a scorcher outside!

After all this awesomeness we will have to head back home on Sunday and then go back to work next week! ;( weekends go WAY too fast, WAY TOO FAST!

I wish we could all just stay home everyday and do fun things! But such is life. Such is life.

I'm writing this in the car as we head out on to our eventful weekend and my mind starts wondering a little. I'm thinking " I bet kids are so confused if they call both sets of grandparents, grandma and grandpa" I can only imagine what goes through Ryker's little brain when we say we are going to grandma and grandpa's. Can you imagine the anticipation and excitement that kid has as he doesn't know whether or not he is seeing my parents or Luke's parents! It's doesn't matter though because he is equally excited to see all of them! Just got me thinking...Thanks for listening!

Well the travel time is almost over and it's time to PARTY!!

Hope you all have a "ums up weekend" I know we will!!



Wednesday, July 18, 2012

All I got

I'm so over this week! So today all you get is 4 pics of my main man!

Hopefully tomorrow you will receive a real blog post. Or maybe not... (can you tell I'm not in a very good mood?)

With that said... Enjoy!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Animal Train

My son amazes me every day!

Everyday is a new adventure for him and I love witnessing it!

Here are a few examples from the last few weeks:

*We have been working on thumbs up and the poor kid could not figure it out by himself. He always needed someone to help him get his hand to situated in the right position. BUT a few days ago he figured it out all by himself and he was so proud! "Mommy, ook ums up!"

*He was playing with his animals in the bath the other night and lined them all up on the ledge. At some point, it clicked in that little brain of his that it looked like a "train".
"Mommy, ook animal train, choo choo!"









  






















*We were watching cartoons and a pirate showed up on the television.
"Ook mommy, irate" I looked at him an couldn't believe he knew what a pirate was! He is so smart and learning so much at school!
(if you haven't noticed he leaves the beginning letter off most words!)

*My favorite is when he breaks out in song. Twinkle twinkle little star, happy birthday, and 5 monkeys jumping on the bed are his favorites!

Hope you all had a good Tuesday! Don't forget it's veto night tonight on big brother! And eviction night tomorrow! ;)

Monday, July 16, 2012

PERFECT

So I think I had a big enough pity party last Friday about how I was going to have to work all weekend, so I will spare you all the "waaaaa poor me", Monday details of how awful the weekend really was. And how awful today was considering I'm just now posting this post.

You're welcome!

Today I'm going to tell you about my Nephew!
My sweet, handsome, PERFECT nephew.
 It's his 1st birthday today!


Along with Travis, I have another nephew and 3 nieces.
They are all PERFECT in their own ways and I can't wait to tell stories about them! ;)

BUT

Today is Travis's Day.

Travis is my younger sister Lindsey's son.
My youngest sister Tara, doesn't have any kids yet, and better not have for awhile! ;)

Anyway, back to Travis.

Travis is such a PERFECT baby and I'm sure he will be a PERFECT toddler, a PERFECT teenager, and a PERFECT adult. :)
I'm telling you this baby kid is PERFECT and the cutest darn PERFECT thing!

I say PERFECT for more than a few reasons but I think the main reason is because he started to sleep through the night at 2 months old.
2 MONTHS!!!
Ryker is 2 YEARS old and still doesn't sleep though the night!!
Oh what I would give for a full nights sleep! ;)

As PERFECT as this boy is he will probably be potty trained before Ryker too... I'm actually surprised he isn't potty trained now! And I'm not even joking!!! :)


Grandma and her Boys.


The day Travis arrived
(Aunt Casie's Story):

My sister called me on that Saturday(the day he was born) and said "Casie, I think my water just broke. NO... I KNOW my water just broke!!"

I asked her where her husband Ben was so they could go to the hospital. Ben was out golfing, you don't bother this man when he is golfing. My sister called him a couple of times and he didn't answer. When he finally did he was a little irritated at the fact that she was "bothering" him during his golf outing. Needless to say once he realized that it was time for Travis to come he finished 3 more holes rushed quickly to meet my sister at the hospital.

Tara and I were watching Ryker swim and we decided we could wait an hour or so because this is Lindsey's first baby and she will be in Labor for awhile.
Tara and I got took our sweet time, packed up and headed for Salina. Lucas and Ryker would come down later so they wouldn't have to sit in the waiting room FOREVER! (Which wouldn't have been the case come to find out!)

While on our way we got a call from Lindsey who said she was already dilated to an 8.... (We were still an hour & a half away)  ARE YOU SERIOUS??? AN 8???? This is her first baby why is she laboring so FAST???

One word... Pitocin.
Pedal to the metal.
We are NOT going to miss this!

We made it just in the nic of time. Didn't get to see her before she had Travis but got to go in right after! We were so excited to see our Nephew and our sister of course!
He was PERFECT and she did GREAT!


This I will NEVER forget...
It couldn't have been more than an hour after she had him and she said "That wasn't bad! I could do it again tomorrow!" TOMORROW? Are you serious? You just gave birth in 4 hours and popped blood vessels in your eyes and you could do it again tomorrow?

Crazy woman!

 I think my sister was put on this earth to have babies and be a mom.
 She is such a good mother!
I am so proud to call her my sister.



Travis and his birthday cupcake.




Happy birthday sweet PERFECT nephew of mine.
 Aunt Casie, Uncle Lucas, & cousin Ryker love you so much!
We can't wait to celebrate with you next weekend.
We miss you!

P.S. Tell your mommy and daddy to move closer to Aunt Casie and Aunt Tara!:)

Friday, July 13, 2012

Jealous

I'm going to be quite jealous of Lucas this weekend.


I have to work Saturday AND Sunday.. :(
And he gets to spend those two days with the one I love most. 


I will be Jealous in a good way though, 
 because the two of them will get to spend the entire weekend with just each other.

This doesn't happen very often.

They love each other so very much!
And Ryker will be so excited to see me when I get home.
So what is there really to be Jealous about?



Except,
Lucas did mentioned they will probably go to the pool.
And they will take 3 hour naps.
And they will play outside.
And they will do all sorts of fun things. 

So, Jealous I will be!

 (P.S. Lucas just wants to go to the pool so he can look at all the honey's. He can't fool me. Remember what your dad always says "10 foot rule"!) :)

Lucas will have his hands full though.
This kid is non-stop.
Not that he doesn't know this already.
I just like to remind him how "fun" this weekend is going to be for him!

This kid could be outside all day no matter how hot or cold it is. And would stay in the pool all day no matter how hot or cold it is. For the most part he is a fish, as long as he can touch.
Otherwise he is like a monkey and will NOT let go!

It gets a little stressful when it's time to go inside or get out of the pool.


I hope you all enjoy your weekend of relaxation, free time, and fun.
Think of me when you are taking naps or enjoying the pool.

JEALOUS of the napping part!!!!

I will be at work thinking about what next week's blog posts should be about..

I mean WORKING :)

Is it July 19th yet????
(That's when I am no longer on-call for work and can have my life back and my nights sleep!)

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Big Night ....

Guess what starts tonight........

Thats right...

BIG BROTHER !!!!!!!!!




Wanna see how excited I am???


This is the same excited face that I used when my best friend Emily came to town!

This is her excited face to see me!
 I love you Em!!!


See HERE how much I love her!

Happy Season Premere of Big Brother Thursday!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Long day..

And this is what I get to come home to!!! Nothing better!! Sorry to the 5 of you who read this... That's all I have for today! ;)

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Ziiinnnnggggg

Is it football season yet? Ziiinnnnngggggg

We are a house full of chiefs fans!

GO CHIEFS!

Nothing better than sitting down on a Sunday afternoon to watch our chiefs play!





BUT
The BEST part about football season is SUPERBOWL!
Every year we always throw a superbowl party!

Katie and I are the shirt designers.
(I think we do a pretty dang good job if you ask me! See for yourself)

Take a look back into the past...
(Katie and I were not the shirt designers that year)

Lets start with the first annual superbowl sunday get together.

Oh the way we used to party.... :)




We have settled down a little..





Once the kids arrived...




























Winner of Squares! Who's exctied! ;)

ZZZZZIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGG
Is it Superbowl Sunday? -- Who cares Let's Party!!!

Superbowl 2011


Like I said before...

 Is it football season yet? Ziiinnnngggggg

 Go Chiefs!

Oh and if you haven't noticed... Ziiiinnnnnggggg is our new Superbowl Motto.
Thanks Morgan! :)