Memorial Weekend and First day of Summer Break

Memorial Weekend for us was spent at our lakehouse. Saturday was really cold and was spent in jeans and sweatshirts on the couch watching tv (I guess that was me, the boys played outside.) Sunday was a much better, warm enough to wear swimsuits and take a spin or two on the jet ski, however the water was really cold. But that didn't stop my boys and nephew from taking dip or two. Monday turned out to be another warm day however it was so terribly windy that being on the water wasn't any fun so we headed home after lunch.

One of my favorite photo ops is taking pics of people from the back (this way you don't have to worry about who's not smiling and who has their eyes closed). Here are the boys eating lunch and probably discussing worldly issues I'm sure.
Here they are playing out on the water.

The boys also roasted marshmallows and Blake came in with his first two. When I asked him who they were for he said pointed the uncharred one and claimed that as his and then he said with a big smile that the other one was made especially for Uncle Scott. He was so proud that he had cooked it real good too.

Our first official day of summer break started off with swim lessons for the boys. I was lucky enough to get them in at the Wichita Swim Club at the same time. Brett has taken his lessons there for several years and Blake took them there as an infant....(FYI...it's a great place to take lessons).

Here's Brett getting instructions from his teacher. Brett's on the far left, green goggles.

Brett swimming.

Blake with his class. Unfortunately Blake cried thru most of his lesson mostly because he was a little nervous and some of the other kids in others groups were crying so he thought he should too. Even though he was crying he still did really well during the lesson. Tomorrow will be a whole different story I'm sure.

Blake in mid air jumping in.

Here he is swimming back to the side of the pool.

Tomorrow is another day of swim lessons. I have successfully scheduled something everyday in the month of June for the boys so that we have somewhat a schedule and a reason to leave the house. Now to see what I can come up with for July and August. Hope the summer has started off with a bang for all of you.

Gifts, gifts and more gifts.....

This week has been busy finishing up school for the boys (Blake finished last Friday and Brett is done this Thursday). I also have been doing gift orders....lucky for me I have friends and family returning to me for orders for their friends and family.

Jill, my roomie from KSU, called last week wanting to know what I could do for her regarding ladybugs as she is hosting a baby shower for a friend who is having a girl and the nursery is done in ladybugs. Well this is what I came up with....

A frame for the new parents to put a picture of their "little ladybug".
Also a buckets to put whatever baby needs they need to store...could be to hold bath stuff, diapering stuff or just baby stuff. The saying on it says... Butterfly kisses and ladybug hugs.

Next is a frame I did for Brett's teacher, Mrs. Unrein. This was her first year that she had her own class, (last year she was the computer teacher for the school). She did a great job and we all enjoyed Brett's 2nd grade year.

Brett delivered it to her today and she loved it so much she emailed me today and asked if I could make her 3 of these for her to give to co-workers that have helped her have a successful year. I was excited to know she loved her frame and wanted me to make more. (FYI...the little guy in the right hand corner of the frame is a Wheat Warrior as Brett's school is Wheatland Elementary). So here are the frames for Mrs. Unrein's co-workers. Thanks again for requesting these Mrs. Unrein!!

My SIL Kay, who is now officially graduated from KSU, and you know what that means....weddings, wedding and more weddings to attend. Lucky for me, she's doing her shopping at Refurbished Riff Raff. The next four tiles are for her to give to friends who are getting married this summer and fall. Thanks Kay for shopping :)!

Friday will be Marty's younger brother's 40th bday. We are headed to Topeka to meet up with them at my niece's ball game and then dinner and drinks with family and friends to celebrate this milestone with him. We don't normally do gifts for birthday for the adults but since this is such an important birthday I thought I should do something for him. So I came up with this

He and Marty's dad farm together on the home place. I've done this same design for my father-in-law on a frame 2 Christmas' ago. However the brand on the cattle is on the wrong hip in the frame as Scott so kindly pointed out when my FIL opened it. So I made sure I flipped the cattle to put the brand on the correct hip for him. I'm still going to fix my FIL's frame just haven't gotten to it yet.

And last but not least a picture of our newest "pet".....Barney.

This little guy lives in our backyard under the evergreens by our patio. I can see him out my window when I'm working in my room. He's so stinking cute. Not only did we have a baby bunny born this spring at our house, but also two sets of birds, one in the back evergreens that I never did figure out what they were and then a robin made her nest in my lilac tree right outside my front door. It was fun to watch her and her babies hatch (I actually looked in the nest when one baby was just coming out of the egg). I also got to watch the young robins take their first flight as I was pulling weeds near the tree and must have spooked them enough for them to leave the nest.

Well that's it for not. Like I said Brett's last day is Thursday, we're headed to Topeka Friday and then it'll be time at the lakehouse for the Memorial Holiday weekend.

The Packers Spring Flag Football 2011 Season comes to an end today.

Brett spring season of flag football comes to a close today. The season ended with 3 W - 2 L - 3 Ties. This was a really fun team to watch as they have improved a lot since we first started and I think we have some really good athletes in the making. Thanks to our coaches, Shawn and Marty for all their time they put into this team.

Brett had a great day even though he took a couple rough tumbles late in the game.

Another medal to add to his growing collection.

And what's better than playing football with your friends.....having ice cream afterwards. Thanks Coach Shawn!!

This is Brett's last season of flag football...in the fall he'll be playing tackle. Going to be a whole new game. Looking forward to what the future holds in the game of football for Brett.

A few projects finished.

Just a quick post to add some pics of recent things I finished.

These two frames were ordered by Savanna who received a name frame as a shower gift that I had made. She loved hers so much that she ordered two frames for her furture in-laws and her aunt and uncle. Thanks Savanna for contacting me.

This plaque was done for a lady who actually put the order in with my friend Summer, but Summer has been so crazy busy she passed it onto me to complete. I'm thinking I need to do this one again and keep it for myself as I have lived by this quote a time or two myself.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to have more projects to show soon.

Graduation Weekend!!

So this weekend was "graduation attending weekend". First up, on Friday, my brother, Scott, received his Master's in Public Health from KSU!! Yeah....so proud of him for going back to school. His girlfriend, Jenn, did an OUTSTANDING job planning his party. Mom, dad, Marty and I chipped in too along with Jenn's mom Peggy and friend Lisa. But Jenn was definately the party planner and she did a great job. Thanks for making it a great party Jenn.

This is the grad gift I put together for Scott.....the before shot.
The after shot....it's a beverage bucket and stand filled with BBQ tools, grill cover, coozies, grilling spices and a picture of the grill, Jenn, Mom, Dad, Marty and I along with the boys we bought him.

I even "KSU'ed" the BBQ utensils.

The next grad gift I did for this weekend was for my cousin/goddaughter, Kelly, who graduated from high school. The picture I put in the frame is of her (she's on the far right) her sisters. You will never meet a closer group of sisters than these four. It's so fun to watch them together....they truly love each other not only as sisters but as best friends.

Now for the party pics.....Scott's grad party was held at the Kathouse Lounge in Aggieville where he has tended bar the last 3 years while he was getting his degree. They were kind enough to let us have our party there and were very accommodating. Thanks again to Jenn for getting this all arranged.

Steel and Brett got a first hand look at how to pour a pop from Dad/Uncle Scott. I have a feeling if the Kathouse is still there in 10 years Steel and Brett will fill Scott's shoes and tend bar there too.

Here they are discussing the strategy of how it's done.

Jenn did put together one surprise for Scott and that was having his best friend Tyler come from CO. Once they got it arranged, Ty, told Scott he wouldn't be able to make it due to family coming to visit. Scott was bummed. During graduation Ty texted Scott with a message that made Scott question Ty's whereabouts. He soon found him in the crowd and had a good laugh. Thanks Ty for coming and making the day even better for Scott. Hank, a former TKE brother with Scott as an undergrad also stopped by to congratulate him.

Scott's Kathouse Co-workers had poster in the bar just for him.

So the next graduation was Kelly's on Saturday in Odell, NE. She graduated with a class of 26. She graduated from the same high school as both her parents as well as my mom and her other siblings.

Kelly and her amazing parents and my Uncle and Aunt...Daylon and Kay.

Kelly and her fairy Godmother/cousin...Me.
Kelly and her siblings...L-R Jordie (she'll be a Jr. next year), Kelly, Jamie (she just finished two years at SCC in Beatrice and is heading to Peru State in Peru, NE), Kasey (she is finishing up her Physical Therapy degree), Trevor (who is Kasey's fiance, they will marry June 2012) and in the front row is baby brother Korey who will be a 3rd grader next year.

And as a parting shot is Blake with two kitties that are currently living in my Grandma's Theye's barn. My mom and Blake visited these little cuties quite a bit while we were there. Hopefully they'll be around the next time we visit.

It was a fast and furious weekend as always but a good weekend none the less. Congratulations to Scott and Kelly and all the other graduates of 2011.

My Mother's Day

Mom's day. Brett was the first one to give me a hug and tell me happy mother's day first thing Sunday morning. He also made a Mother's Day magazine which was all about me at school. It was quite fun to see the answers to the questions....one of my favs... What do you like best about you mom? His answer...what I like best about my mom is that she cleans alot. YES...he does notice. Blake made me a card with his handprints on it (my fav projects the teachers do with the kids....hand and foot prints) with a cute poem about handprints. Then on Sunday morning they gave me a card with a gift certificate to get a pedicure. YEAH....I love pedi's.

Even though my boys push my buttons, drive me crazy on a daily basis, fight and argue daily with each other I wouldn't trade them for anything. They really are "my miracles" and I'm blessed that God chose me to be their mom.

Here are the angels themselves.
A mother's work is never done.....here I am reminding Blake we are trying for a decent picture and would like for him to cooperate.

Momma and her boys.

Slugger Season 2011 has started.

Well Brett's baseball season started tonight. He's playing in the same league (NE Baseball Assoc., Wichita) as last year and on the same team (some of the same boys from last year and some new ones)...Andover Sluggers. I'm not sure who was more excited about the first game....Brett or Marty. Before we left we had to have a quick photo shoot.....

Brett was the lead off batter.....ended up with a double first time up. I guess those trips to the batting cages with Marty are paying off.

Swinging for the fences....ok...so it was just a double but it was a base hit none the less.

The Sluggers pulled out a win tonight, 10-0. Our #5 was 3 for 3 at bat.

We are excited about the season as this is our second year playing in this division and we are hoping for a winning record.