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.

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. 

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.

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.

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?