Sunday 4 November 2012

Wii Sports

Every once in a while, something smacks you upside the head and makes you realize your kid is quickly growing up. Today's event was brought to me by Wii Sports. When we last played this, he was inept at best. Now he can play quite decently and really understands the flow the game. Just watching him play amazed me. I'm so glad that we took the time to play a game that made me my boy in a whole new light.

Friday 2 November 2012

Thankful November

Following the spirit set by Facebookers, I am going to try and record what Jack and I are thankful for each day. I normally would ask Nick to participate in something like this, but seeing that he's working at least 60 hours a week, I think his usual answers would be either coming home or sleep.
I now see this post needs broken down into a few shorter posts.

Day 1:
Kara: My sweet boy who exhaust me thoroughly but makes sure that I laugh at least 5 times a day.
Jack: That you (being me) played football with me.

Day 2:
Kara: For having enough change in my pocket to be able to afford eating out. It's nice to not cook after a long day.
Jack: For Joe playing football with me. He was the Sooners and I was the Jayhawks and he beat me.

Day 3
Kara: For good books. When life gets too stressful, books provide an awesome escape to another reality. It's hard to think of the problems of the day when you head is in a book.
Jack: For Jarett and Callum. We are all blessed to have the Beane family in our life.

Day 4
Kara: A relaxing day. Nick knew it was shaping up to be a long week for him at work with him having to report for jury duty and so he made sure that I took the day to do very little. It sure felt nice.
Jack: Playing Wii Bowling with family.

Day 5:
Kara: Jack's school. I'm so glad that he has a place where he is happy and learns the rules of school behavior. While I feel like I am missing some of the things I was hoping for out of his preschool experience, he loves it and that's what I want the most.
Jack: School. Today's highlight was playing Tornado. It's a PE game involving a circle and a big ball.

Day 6:
Kara: Medical insurance. Without this, we would have a hard time affording the dental care Jack needed today. It will be a challenge, but we will manage because we have at least a portion covered.
Jack: Snuggling with mom while we watched a movie and recovered from above mentioned dental work.

Day 7:
Kara: Trinity Lutheran Preschool. Even though I just sort of fell into this job, I really love it. It provides me with the joy to continue to reach children and their families even if I am not in the classroom.
Jack: Art class at his preschool. He really has came a long way in his desire to draw/create.

Day 8:
Kara: Beautiful Savior Preschool. Even though my time there ended on a sour note, I am continually reminded of the awesome people that I met during my time there. I have a wonderful support team and I blessed to call many of the mothers that I met there friends!
Jack: Music class at preschool. His teacher describes it as PE with songs.

Thursday 1 November 2012

Super Hero Camp

My dear friend Laurie found this camp on one of the days they had off from school. I know he had a great time because he keeps wanting to know when they are having it again. Here are some pictures from the two little plays they put on--As The Butter Churns and The Dark Night Lights featuring the Revengers.

Sunday 28 October 2012

Pumpkin Carving

We carved our pumpkins today. I couldn't get a lot of good pictures of our Jack O Lanterns, so I thought I would share what I got. Jack did a lot of work on his own pumpkin. He cleaned out the vast majority of it and then drew his own face and attempted to carve it. I had a help a bit because the walls were so big. We are currently sitting here watching the Broncos vs the Saints and KU (Jack) vs Baylor (his imaginary opponents), while the pumpkin seeds roast (with a new recipe!). Sorry the pics aren't in order. The blogger app could use some improvements.

Saturday 27 October 2012

When he grows up to be a man

I must admit, I lay there next to my sweet sleeping boy and I can not picture him as a man. I try. But in my brain, he's just 4 with more refined quality. I'm so lucky to go on this journey with him. I hope that I am always his bedrock like my mom is mine.

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Firefly

At preschool last week, Jack made a cool firefly. They put a glow stick in each one and Jack loved them. We had to go out to the dollar store to buy us our own stash. Tonight, he found one of the LED tea lights that I had bought for Halloween and wanted to use it to light up. Problem: It didn't fit in the opening. So he realized that it fit decently againist the bottom. Problem: If you weren't always holding it, the light wouldn't work. So we decided to cut a whole in the bottom. Problem: It's really hard to cut a hole in the bottom of a water bottle that has stuff taped to it. However, we persevered and got t attached. The effect was pretty awesome. So we took one picture with no flash and then we took a picture with the flash one. The first couple were not so good, so I said put on your nice smile and snapped away. We ended up with the picture you see here. In laughed so hard, I just couldn't get rid of it. Hope you enjoy it too!

Tuesday 2 October 2012

It always the same people

Who sign up to volunteer, who get things running. Why is that? What would happen if the small percentage of us stopped doing it? Would someone else magically step in? I'm constantly amazed at that. After my experience at Jack's school today, I feel like I will always have to be one of those moms in his class. They were supposed to wear mismatched clothes to promote bully awareness. He was the only child in his class of 13 who participated. There was one memo sent home from the teacher and another reminder in all the school newsletter. Luckily the teachers had dressed up so he didn't feel so odd. It was also the kind of mismatching that a sports fan would appreciate. He wore football pants and a basketball jersey. He also wore one pumpkin sock and one Chief's sock. Oh well, I guess this is a good lesson for me to leant!

Monday 17 September 2012

Jack's Swing Set

As you may know, Jack has a giant swing set in the backyard. While it came with a glider, it was broke down and not ideal. When we picked up the swing set, the lady we bought it from suggested replace it with a skateboard glider. I happened to find a skateboard for 50 cents at a garage sale. It took the Chiefs having their first regular season loss for us to take the time to build it. It is a huge hit. Also,, when we were buying some supplies at Lowe's we added a pulley so he can enjoy that feature when he's on the highest level. I'm so glad fall is here and we can enjoy being outside again. Here is the link to the video. (Sorry that the blogger app won't let me embed it!).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x59IJsVDnB4

Pancake batter anyone?

Jack and I made pancakes this morning and he was a bigger fan of the batter then the pancakes. I just had to snap these two adorable photos of him.

Sunday 16 September 2012

Our 11th Anniversary

I'm probably far enough removed from the trip to be able to write about it now. (So I wrote that in the early part of Sept 2012 and didn't get any further). However as our 12th anniversary approaches, I feel the need to get the story down.  

Last summer was sooo hot and dry.  Our anniversary was on a Saturday and so we decided to look into a raft trip. We didn't really want to drive several hours, and I saw a tour that allowed for you to take a day trip down the Platte. 

The ride there was fun as it was quite hilly and we got several of tummy tickling hills. When we arrived at the place, we were treated to a near place to explore since the meeting place was an old power plant that was right on the river.  I can't believe I didn't take a picture of the building. They got us to our drop in site and it looked like things were going well.  We took some early pics:



Jack even got right into the water. 


It looked like it was going to be a good trip...But it wasn't. The river was so low that we had to walk soooo much it. Jack wanted to spend more time splashing in the water because it was almost 100 degrees out. We hit one spot that was so horrible that we almost tipped the canoe, but instead, I lept out banging myself up. We were supposed to be off the water by 7pm and there was no way that was going to happen. They had to end up sending another guy to help us lighten our load and to try and help us try to find the parts of the river that could help float us better.  See it looks so nice, but here if you look close you can see the other canoe that the sent for us. 


You can also see that disks was coming. I was never so happy to see the power plant for pick up. We were exhausted and extremely filthy.  We even tried to clean up before getting into the car and this is still what I looked like when I got home. 


It was painful and generally unpleasant, but totally unforgettable.  However, there are no two other people I would rather have had by my side during such a "dirty" experience. 


Saturday 15 September 2012

KU Football

KU football is back. I'd love to say that it's better than ever, but it's not quite there. There does seem to be more on field discipline and commitment than during the Turner Gill years. The players aren't as friendly, but I pay to watch them play football, so I guess that's a trade off I'm willing to deal with. We always have a great time with our tailgate. Our life is scheduled around football now that it's that time of year. It means we sometimes have to miss birthday parties and other fun events, but I feel the memories we make will bring us closer as a family. Here are some pics from the first two games.

Thursday 6 September 2012

My old dog

Barley is such a wonderful dog. He is loving, obedient, loyal, and great. I'll not forget when Nick suggested we take the first step to starting our family. And then a breath later, by getting a dog. He really did fill the child roll in our lives until Jack came along. Now, instead of the dog park, he looks forward to fishing time with his dad. He also instead that Nick pet him as he gets in bed every night. He does a small doggy freak out if that doesn't happen. I was browsing old pics and ran across one of him. I couldn't believe how different he looked. I am not looking forward to the day he is no longer with us. Let's hope he keeps on keeping on for many years.

Tuesday 21 August 2012

Fixing Things

I have been happily married to my husband for 11 years now. Over the years, we've each taken on our own jobs that make our marriage function. I am sure that goes for any relationship out there. One of Nick's job is to fix the "things". However, he was out of town and my printer was having some issues. So I set about tackling the problem because I really wanted the stuff to print. So I open the front cover assuming I'll find a paper jammedo. Nope, nothing there besides the four toner cartridges. I go to shut the down and it won't close. The levers are getting in the way. I see this innocent looking box on the side and think it could be causing the problem. So I pull it out, turn it over, and catastrophe strikes. Apparently that innocent box held dry toner powder which was now covering me, my chair, and had dusted the floor and the few toys Jack had played with earlier. Luckily, our chair has rollers so I wheel myself out to a safer area, stand up while powder cascades to the floor and get myself (clothes and all) into the shower where I have to rub off the ink that had seemed in. My clothes were ruined but I was able to clean everything else to salvageable condition. I've attached a picture of the chair where it poured in between my legs. I'm sure one day I'll laugh about it, but I'm not quite there yet.

Misheard Lyrics

Music is such a powerful force in my life. I love to always have the tunes on and be bopping around and singing along. This has, of course, made for plenty of times that I have sang or heard others sing the wrong thing. The moment that prompted writing this blog post happened with Jack. We stopped and listened to a live show at Worlds of Fun. This is the first time that he has ever sat through because the music is usually too loud. I agree with him too, they could knock it down by half and it'd still be fine for the hard of hearing. Nonetheless, they opened with the new hit song "Moves like Jagger". Now granted, it could be called something else because I don't listen to pop music, but if you've heard the song, you know the one I'm talking about. Of course, Jack's never hear of
Jagger, so he inserted the word that made sense to him. So he looks me and sings "He's got the moves like Joker". I laughed and thought of all the times I'd heard wrong lyrics:
--Talk to me like mothers do. Mother's should have been lovers. But hey, the kid was only 8 or so
--Shake it like a Polaroid camera. Clearly it should have said picture, but it just came out wrong
--Doop, Doop, dowa, Doop. Should have been. Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl. Don't ask. I don't know. However, I didn't realize that and the next mistake until my early 20's.
--Maxwell, Jump. I guess I thought I was an ode to someone, like Roxanne. Might as well jump just doesn't have the same ring.
--Oh give the big boys, instead of give me the beat boys.

I also love the classic when you are singing along to the song and you hit a string of lyrics you don't understand do you just mumble through.

I am sure there more for me to remember, but I'm drawing a blank at the moment.

What's some of your misheard lyric stories?

Tuesday 14 August 2012

Skeeball

Jack has always loved this game. I remember him being a toddler standing there, trying with all his might to get that ball up the runway. He'd spend a good 10 minutes before asking me to help. Fast forward 2 1/2 yrs and I've got quite the little baller on my hands. He was scoring better than most of the older kids playing. I guess all his persistence finally paid off. Below are pics from his latest adventure.

Sunday 5 August 2012

Making up Games

Some things about parenting are better than others. Watching your child acquire new skills and master old ones. While some of Jack's behavior is currently driving me bonkers, I love that he is making up games. I snapped a couple of pictures while we were in the middle of some of his newest creations. Since, I'm doing this on the iPhone, I can't add pics in the middle, but the first picture is of Adding Dice Neighbor and the second is Tron Tag.

How to play Adding Dice Neighbor: Necessary Supplies: 2 or 3 players, 4 dice, 4 poker chips a person. Two players start by each rolling a pair of dice. Add them up to see who has the higher number. In case of a tie, reroll. Lower number must put a poker chip in the pot. If playing with three players, the loser must give his dice to the remaining player. Play continues until only one player has chips remaining.

How to play Tron Tag:
Necessary Supplies: Putting Frisbees for each player, something for base (we used hula hoops). Each player must come off their base during the round. They become out by being hit by another players disc. Each round last until only one player has not been hit. We played that each player got four hearts before being eliminated from the round. Go until only one player remains.

Saturday 4 August 2012

My Little Super Hero

Jack has hit a phase where he is in love with all super heroes. He is conflicted as to his favorite his. His current talk is that he wants to be Iron Man for Halloween, but I think that's just because he wants the fancy helmet, he's been eyeing at Walmary. Here he is in the Batman costume that we've pieced together. He can rescue me any time!

Monday 23 July 2012

Fish Cleaning

Jack loves to go fishing and he loves to eat fish. This year he has clearly connected the fish that we eat with the fish they catch. This curiosity has lead to him wanting to see the fish get cleaned. Tonight we sent Nick out fishing while we stayed in and watched The Incredibles. After the movie was over, we took a long bath and it ended up he was up late enough for Nick to get home with a fish to clean. When I told him, he acted like I told him his birthday had come early. I was leery of allowing him to see this. But as I've mentioned before, we believe in being direct with him. I watched with anticipation as Nick started the whole process. I took some pictures from inside not wanting to disturb their moment. He was not phased in the slightest. In fact, he came in and announced that he needed to see that every time. I was glad that I was wrong about him freaking out at the process. Tomorrow night we dine on it!

Tuesday 17 July 2012

I love to read

But chances you who are reading this blog know that. If you haven't done so, please join me on Goodreads. I love seeing what other's think of what they are reading. Since joining Goodreads, my reading has most likely tripled. I have read 41 books so far in 2012. This means that I have tons of my soap on my DVR (19 to be exact). Hoping you are enriching your life by enjoying print!

Thursday 12 July 2012

I was born in a small town

And I used to live in a small town and now I visit a small town.

Each time I return to Alliance, I always revel at how different it is from where I now call home.

A trip to the grocery store is almost guaranteed to be a social experience.

When one grocery store doesn't have what you are looking for, you only have one other option. Really, the stores there don't all carry broccoli florets!

The wait list for the books at the library are virtually non-existent. I was able to get two books that I have been waiting since May 31st to read and am not even in the top ten on the cue. Heck, they only have 3 people in line for 50 shades and all the audiobooks were available!

The drive from the town to the country generally takes less time than it takes me to get to Chick-fil-a from my house.

Errands are done in a 1/4 of the time. I kept showing up early to things because I incorrectly estimated how long each stop would take.

The paper comes daily in the perfect size for nightly reading including the comics and Sudoku puzzle. This also serves as the way to keep up on the local gossip with marriage and divorce announcements, court and police reports, and articles submitted to brag on their children.

While I can never imagine moving back and giving up the conveniences that city life has to offered, I've come to see the appeal that it holds for people.

Below is that small town as it greets me after almost 600 miles of driving!

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Spiderman

We were at Redbox the other day when I saw that they had put the 2002 Spiderman release out. I thought that Jack might like it and so we rented it. He has become absolutely enthralled with it. He purchased himself a mask from the store and Grandma Teri bought him a shirt to help the costume. The next day, he decided that he needed a web shooter. We went Dollar General to find something that would work. While we were there, we found a cool Spiderman folder for his "homework". We also settled on a kite string for his web. He has had a blast building webs. He and Grandma Teri had a blast pretending she was the Green Goblin and he was trapping her in his web. The first pic below is one we built together and the others are of their session together.