They're 40 and they're Fabulous!!

As they say on TV...parental discretion is advised on "some" of the following pictures.

Two very dear friends turned 40 this month.  Melanie, a very good friend of mine and also Blake's 2nd mom, turned 40 on April 4th.  Her husband took her to Vegas for her bday so Amie (another good friend) and I couldn't really compete with that.  However we did have some fun.

We decorated her yard with flamingos (they say HONK MEL'S 40).  She said she thinks her neighbors purposedly drove up and down the street just so they could honk.

We also took her out to breakfast the morning of her bday...and gave her part of her bday gift.  (Mel is always coming up with tshirt ideas and this is one of them.)  Amie and I have found iron on vinyl that we can cut with our cricut and then put it on shirts.  Mel has a whole list of shirts she "thinks" we should make.  (FYI...she refers to her husband as BOZO.)  We also got her a gift card to her favorite store...Pink Saloon.

We then asked her what she wanted to do for her bday and she said she just wanted to go to Timbuktu (local bar in Andover) for burgers, beer and giggles with the girls.  So we did, however we had a few more gifts for her...  a tiara, because she is a princess, a bucket of blow pops and bubble gum...and another one of her shirt ideas....

"Rub my Willie's...It's my birthday."  It was a fun evening and many laughs were had.

My other dear friend who turned 40 on Friday also happens to be my sister-in-law Barb.  Barb and I, along with her younger sister, Jenny, grew up together...went to school together, played ball together, worked together.  Jenny put together a surprise birthday party for her at Reed's in Topeka.  50 of her closest friends and family were there to help her celebrate. 

Surprise Barb!!

Her cake was quite funny...it's a "not so exact replica" of her husband Scott. The sad thing is the picture of his head is of senior pics in high school and he looks exactly the same!!!

My gift to her was a bucket of suckers...and in the card was a KSU necklace.

Brother-in-law Chris bought her her first shot of the night...klondike bar. 

Down the hatch....or more like sipping the shot.  Sister Jenny was not impressed with Barb's shot drinking experience.

The cutting of the cake...Barb's mom wanted a piece so Jenny and Barb gave her the "whole package".

Linda B. was not impressed and her exact words were..."Barbara Jean I am not eating this".

She was not having it.  We were nice and got her a different piece.

Barb and her parents and sister.  Growing up, Gary, coached us in softball and Linda was our faithful scorebook keeper for the team. 

More shots for Barb...this was compliments of soon-to-be our brother-in-law Trent...grape jolly rancher.  Her shot drinking was getting better.  Not sure what Jenny is doing here but if you know Jenny at all this is normal.

Another shot..compliments of Shannon, close family friend.  I believe this one was a slippery nipple.  Jenny looks to be supervising her.

Here is Trent and Shawn being inappropriate with the blow up cane.  Boys will be boys.

Trent (he will marry Marty's little sister in September) being inappropriate with the cane.

I can't remember what was happening here but Shannon's face is priecless. 

I was hoping to get a picture of Barb, Jenny and I for ol' time sake and Jenny was not cooperating....hence being naughty!!  (You can't see her left hand and that's because she's being inappropriate!)

More inappropriatenss by Jenny!!

And yet again...she (Jenny) can not keep her hands to herself. 

I finally gave up and joined in on the fun with her.

It was a fun night(s) and so glad to be celebrating Mel and Barb's 40th with them. My only concern is what will happen as my payback of posting all these pics when my 40th rolls around (fyi...it's far far into the furture.)  

A little of this and that...

Here is a post to hopefully get caught up...beware of pic overload and a little randomness....              

First up is some room decor for little Miss Rebecca.  She is the daughter of my college roomie, Jill.  We went and saw her when she was about 10 days old.  I made all these items for her sister, Rachael too.

Blake also finished up his soccer season last weekend.  He started out as goalie and had a lot of action.  Unfortunately they scored on him but in his defense it was a hard kick that went by him.

Here he is throwing the ball out. 

Coach Brian giving them an end of the season chat.  He was a great coach and the kids had fun.

Blake getting his medal.

Soccer season 2012 comes to an end.  Onto t-ball.

Our friend, Paul, from church called Brett the day of the NCAA championship to see if he wanted to accept a bet with him.  Paul is a diehard KU fan and he knows how much we love KSU so there's always good conversation on Sunday mornings.  Paul told me what the bet was and if I was ok with Brett accepting this...naturally I was so I let Brett talk to him and decide for himself.  The bet was if Kentucky won, Paul would wear a KSU shirt to church on the 15th and if KU won Brett would have to wear a KU shirt.  Brett accepted the bet (although after he got off the phone he told me he wasn't sure if he should've).  Needless to say Brett was very excited to know he didn't have to wear a KU shirt.  And Paul proudly wore a KSU shirt last weekend and even explained to the congregation before the service as to why he was wearing purple.  Brett had a big smile.  Paul and the boys always have a good time razzing each other. 

  This last weekend my brother, future sister-in-law, Jenn, and nephew, Steel, came down so Jenn and I could work on "wedding" stuff.  Our main goal was to get the favors done...which we did.  Limestone coasters with a chandelier stamped on them.  They turned out really good I think and the bride is pleased with them which is all that matters.

My heavy heart once again...

Here I am again saying goodbye to my other 4 legged "kid".  Tuesday was rough day to say the least...my sweet Cali's time with me (14 years!) had come to an end.  She had been having some back issues recently and I thought she had recovered but the damage had been done and it was time to let her go.  Here's Cali's story...

Cali was born December 29, 1997...her mother, Twiggy, was my Aunt Pattie's dog, who lives in California.  March 1998 my parents had visited my aunt and uncle in California (hence Cali's name)and brought her home for me.  I picked Cali out of the litter by photos my aunt had sent me...see below.

Cali was a welcomed addition to our family as we already had Bailey who was about 9mo old and needless to say Bailey was a destructive puppy at the time (chewing the A/C wires TWICE, ripping the sump pump pipe off the back of the house).  However once Cali was home, Bailey wasn't lonely anymore and quit her naughtyness.  She also was a big help when it came to potty training Cali.  They were so good for each other, even with their size difference.

Cali was definately "my dog".  She was the best lap and nap dog ever. She never got jealous even when we brought the boys home, but she also wasn't willing to give up her spot on my lap. 

Here she is the day I brought Brett home.  As long as there was room for her too she was happy.

Cali also enjoyed the boys infant seat as it was a great place to snuggle up for a nap.

Blake and Cali's relationship was a "love/hate" one I think.  She wanted to love him, but sometimes she was never sure what he was going to do....poke her eye, pick her nose, lay on her, stick her in a box and close it, or give her a treat.  She was always very cautious around him and looked for me to save her....which I did.  But as an infant she thought he was ok.....

Cali also was not near the photogenic dog Bailey was.  Her pics were very hard to get.

And yes...before I had kids I dressed her up for the holidays too...I'm pretty sure she hated this.

As hard as it was to say goodbye to her I do find comfort knowing that my girls are together again.

Cali was very petite, and never weighed more than 8lbs.  Here she is laying next to my brother's shoe, which is probably a size 12 or 13.

Oh yes..she was a sunflower for halloween one year.

The girls at Christmas probably about 1998 or 1999.

This was take last year at the lakehouse.   

Life without Cali is definately taking some adjustment...I miss not seeing her when I walk in the door, I miss not seeing her stretched out sleeping on the floor in the sunlight, I miss not hearing her run thru the house looking for me, I REALLY miss not having her clean up under the kitchen table (I had no idea how messy my boys really were), my Sunday afternoon naps will never be the same, but I think what I miss the most is not having her come sleep with me in the morning after Marty gets up.  She was there to comfort me on some of my darkest days, she was there when I got up during the night when the boys were babies, she was there when I was sick in bed with a cold (I think this was her favorite time as it meant we stayed in bed all day) and as much as I hate not having her now I'm really glad I had the 14 years with her I did. She's definately irreplaceable as far as I'm concerned. 

I will say as difficult as the day was to say goodbye to her, our vet, Dr. Cederberg and his staff at Countryside Vet Clinic were wonderful.  They made my tough decision a little easier with their compassion and support.  I look forward to being customers of theirs again in the future as the boys are looking forward to getting a dog of their own (after the move of course). 

Soccer, a blue canoe and Easter

Well it's been awhile since I've posted (even my husband mentioned it) so here goes.

Blake will finish up his soccer season this Saturday. His team, the Wizards, have learned a lot this season and definately improved from the first game. Even though I take pictures at every game it is so hard to catch him in action. Here are a few....he's in the white shirt on the right.
Here he is kicking off...Ok so here is the "blue canoe" part of the title. This is the newest toy for the lake this year. Can't wait to see what these two do with it in the water.

Easter Weekend was spent at the lake Saturday night only to get up early Sunday morning to head to church in Nebraska, with Grandparents and extended family. Here are the boys standing on the deck at the lake at sunrise. (They were freezing as it was quite chilly that morning.)

It's been awhile since I've seen a sunrise at the lake, but it was definatley worth seeing. So very pretty, so peaceful and so appropriate for Easter Morning!!

After church we had dinner with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was so nice to see everyone again as it's been too long. Then we headed to Grandma Theye's to let the kids play at the farm and have an egg hunt. The boys were exhausted by the time we left. However they did find some energy to see what the Easter bunny brought them while we were gone.

The boys got chocolate covered marshmallow bunnies, green bay football figure, a DS game, wii game and Brett got a suduko book of games and Blake got a word search book. And let's not forget the loot they came home with from Gma Theye's. All and all it was a good weekend.