Family fun at the Lake

So this weekend was our annual lake weekend with the Denner's (Chris, Katie, Alex and Dalton, Katie is my cousin). We have I think been able to have them down to our lakehouse pretty much every summer since we got our lakehouse....I think. The kids have a good time as do the adults with getting caught up and of course, swimming, tubing, and riding the jet ski.

This year the kids entertained us with their flips off the tube/dock.

Blake (the youngest of the group) couldn't be out done and mastered his flip off the dock. I know it looks as if he is going to land on his head but he actually gets around and ends up on his back.
The kids "built" a spring board I guess, by flipping the big tube over on the dock. Here's Dalton getting some air.Brett and one of his many flips.

Alex and her flip.Brett getting some air with his "hand spring".

Blake with a sommersault.

Love the look on Dalton's face....."I'm flying"!!

Brett again.

Alex and her cannon ball.

And after all that swimming you get really really tired......Katie and Blake crashed out.

This is totally random but as we drove upto the lake Friday night we came across this tractor and bailer sitting in a field just north of Strong City. Looks like things got a little hot.....not one strip of rubber was left on the tractor or bailer wheels. Can only imagine how hot that fire had to have been. It looked as if the fire was caught fairly quickly as there wasn't too much pasture burned but the tractor and bailer were definately a loss.

This week we will be getting ready for our summer vacation. We are headed to San Diego early Saturday morning. We will be staying at a resort with beach access right out our back door, we plan to go to the Zoo, Sea World and the USS Midway. The boys are excited about going on another plane ride and mom and dad are looking forward to nicer temperatures.

Brett's Slugger Season

I forgot to post this last week as the picture was on my phone instead of my camera...but we found out that Brett's Slugger team took 3rd in the league, which meant they earned a trohpy. Needless to say he was quite excited about getting another trophy to put on his shelf.

As said in a previous post Brett is also going to play fall baseball with his Sluggers team. With the extra practices and games this fall it can only make them more prepared for next season with it being the first year for kid-pitch.

Congrats to our #5 and the rest of the 2011 Slugger team.

Blake's Sluggers season finally comes to an end tonight

Blake's baseball season has officially come to an end this year tonight with a Pizza Hut Party and Awards banquet. It was a fun first season of tball and we can't wait to see what happens next year.

2011 Sluggers
Blake and Parker were fast friends this year.Coach Troy giving Blake his medal. Blake also received a certificate award for the player with most endurance and spirit.

I was even given a certificate award for Best Dugout Mom as I helped in the dugout getting the kids helmets on and up to bat.

See ya next year Sluggers!!

We are now getting ready to start Brett's first year of tackle football this fall along with a fall baseball season. We are also considering signing Blake up for fall soccer but not sure if we can fit anymore into our schedule because let's not forget we also have KSU football. Going to be a busy fall season.

Summer + Friends = Fun

As the title says, we've had lots of friend time this last week so that means fun for the kids and moms. First up our friends the Koster's are home for the summer from Singapore. They are on their 3rd year over there and we all hope they will be home for good within the next year or two. They were able to squeeze in a playdate with us with their crazy busy schedule and we are so very grateful for it. The kids had fun playing and Cari and I got caught up. They will be home again for Christmas but again they have a full schedule when they come home but hopefully we can squeeze in another visit then. We miss you already Kosters!!

The kids: Kourtney, Brett, David, Blake and Gabe.

On Thursday the boys and I headed to the lake to meet up with my KSU roomies, Kelly and Jill and their kids. We've made this an annual event the last two summers as it just happens to be Jill's little girl, Rachael, bday month (her bday is July 16) plus the kids don't ever get together to play due to logistics. So we met up for fun in the lake and a bday party for Rachael.

Garrett and Brett played hard on the tubes.
This is Miss Anna aka The Fish. She loves to swim!!

Miss Rachael and Jill along with Abby who happens to be one of Rachael's babysitters. Jill asked Abby and her sister Ivy if they would come along to the lake to help with all the kids. We are forever grateful for all their help.

Rachael braved going down the slide as long as Abby and Ivy would catch her.

Rachael and Blake lounging in a floatie.

Rachael also braved a ride on the tube with of course Abby and Ivy with her. You can't see Rachael but she's in the middle. She loved it and wanted to go faster. Brave little girl for only being 2!!

After fun in the lake we headed in for supper, bday cake and presants for Rachael.

Miss Rachael's ladybug cake I made her.The whole clan....left to right (Kelly's kids) Sam, Anna, Garrett, (Jill's) Bday girl Rachael, and (Mine) Brett and Blake.

All singing Happy Birthday to Rachael. She sang to herself too!!

Make a wish Miss R!!

And of course the whole gang needs to make a wish too.

Rachael....one of my favorite little girls. I love ya!!

I told Rachael to give me her silly face and this is what I got.....such a silly girl.

Jill came with gifts for all the kids even Abby and Ivy....they all got travel pillows with pillow cases that she stitched their names on with her fancy new sewing machine. All the little kids got KSU cases and Abby and Ivy got pink polka dots.

Jill even made me a pillow case for my little pillow that I've had forever and her and Kelly like to make fun of me for carrying it around since before college. Jill was appalled to learn that my original pillowcase was held shut with safety pins so she me a new one with Maxine comic print (it's really fun) with velco to close the ends. Thanks Jill for making my pillow new again and "safe".

This morning I caught Blake and Sam playing the DS and they were both giggling. I'm not sure what they were playing but their little belly laughs were too cute.

It's been a busy couple of days. We are taking the weekend off from the lake and staying home (first weekend home since May I think). On Monday we have another playdate with a friend and her kids that are back from WI for a summer visit. And next weekend is more company at the lake....my cousin Katie and her family are coming for more fun in the sun. Looking forward to it!!

Gifts and more done and given

So even with our busy summer schedule I have found some time to be in my room and get some gifts done for others.

First up is a little jewelry box that my friend Kelly found at a Goodwill store for her daughter. I told her I could "dress it up" for her and this is what I came up with.

I also scrapbooked a gift for my Grandma's 85th birthday which we celebrated this last weekend. My mom came up with the idea that all of us grandchildren and great grandchildren should take pictures with the quilts our Grandma has made over the years for us. All of us were given a baby quilt when we were born, and then a full size quilt when when were in high school or there abouts. Some of us even had her make tshirt quilts out of our high school or college shirts and or just a patch tie quilt for every day use. Personally my tshirt quilt is my favorite...it's just the right size, thickness, and is my go to blanket when I don't feel good. She was surprised by the gift and didn't remember making ALL those quilts.

Here is my page in her book.....

My Aunt Jody also asked me to do something for her using an old frame she found....(fyi..old frames are the best....love their textures). She is going to hang this with a couple of pics she already has. Thanks Jody for letting me help you finish your wall decor!!

I also had a couple of requests for some tiles for up coming wedding gifts for my mom and my cousin Kristy. Thanks ladies for letting help with the gift giving!!

This one is done on a smaller tile....8x10. Still looks nice just on a smaller scale.

Well that's it for now....hopefully I'll have some more gifts to post soon...however I need to design them, create them and complete them first.

Thanks for stopping by....

July 4th at the Lake

Once again we celebrated the 4th at the lakehouse in Council Grove. Our good friends, The Kimberly's joined us. It was a great weekend with lots of lake time and new water toys to master on the lake. The Kimberly's own knee board so that was the toy to master this year. Brett had learned the week before at my brother/sister in laws so this was not new to him. However it was new to Blake. And he waited patiently all day while everyone else tried it out and finally got a turn at the end. He was soooooo excited to be "ski boarding" as he called it.
What form.

So happy to do something the big boys were doing.

He even hauled the board back when he fell off.

Now I will confess he was only going about 2 mph but still he was up and smiling and thought he was big time. Needless to say we have now purchased our own knee board. (We made a deal with the boys that if they let us sell their swingset to my girlfriend for little girl then we would let them pick something out for the lake in return and knee board was the pick).

Not only was their knee boarding but also a little lake football. Here Blake "attempts" to catch a pass from Dad.

Brett making the catch.

Blake 2nd attempt.

Nothing says 4th of July or summer time like freshly husked sweet corn.

Brett's turn on the knee board.

Brett feeling a little confident with his knee boarding skills.

More fun at our dock swimming and sliding.

Lake time is always a good time. The residents on the lake put on fabulous firework displays for all to enjoy. We are so fortunate to be apart of this "water community". Hope all had a safe and happy 4th of July.