A Week in Review (February 16-22)

A Week in Review (February 16-22)

Watched: All of the shows that Downton Abbey has aired. My two week obsession is now down to an episode a week.  It really is a Masterpiece Classic!

Read: I am still working on 12 Years a Slave. It is intense as I thought it would be. I can't read too much of it in one sitting.  I had another book, The Last Letter from Your Lover, come off hold, so I began that as well. Just getting started, but I think it will pull me in quickly. 

Listened: I started the next book in the Sookie series, Definitely Dead (Sookie Stackhouse, #6) . It works well for listening in the car because the story doesn't take a lot of thought and you can go long stretches without listening and be able to pick it right back up where you left off. 

Made: My very own Bat glider boat that was to be part of our larger family creation.  We have had several Lego Movie inspired building sessions.  I real lack Master Builder skills so I do what I can.

Felt: So excited.  When I was talking with my friend about who should play me in her life story, I chose Drew Barrymore (funny, I know).  Any-who, it made me think that I hadn't seen her in anything in a while.  So I go imdb.com to see what's up and I find out that her and Adam Sandler have a new movie coming out a the end of May. I am beyond thrilled. The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates are two of my favorite movies!

Planned: On Jack going to his friend Kate's house while Ms. Beth's husband underwent surgery for a deviated septum. He had such a good time playing with her. Her mother is quite nice too. I can see why Jack would enjoy her company!  I think she will be an excellent back up for me for when Beth needs a break.

Loved: Watching Jack apply for his own library card. He had to fill out the whole application on his own. His face was so serious when he signed the responsibility line.  It's very exciting for me that he wants to take his ownership of his own library materials.

Here are the pics for the week:

The top of his application

Jack working with his LEGO pile. 

Our LEGO creations combined. 

I just love the look on Wiggin's face. I think this picture really captures pure joy. Jack was jumping up and down at the end when he made the winning shot. I can't imagine how either him or Wiggins would react if we win a national championship. 

A Week in Review (February 9-15)

A Week in Review (February 9-15)

Watched: The Lego Movie with Jack. It is really quite the cute movie. If you have a loved one who is into Legos, then I think you would enjoy it. If you don't, then I say you should pass or definitely wait until it comes out on video.  Bottom line: Everything is awesome! (You'll get it if you watch the movie)

Read: Finished up Dead as a Doornail (Sookie Stackhouse, #5).  It continued down the same formula that the previous books have followed. I think it's interesting how Sookie sees herself as dowdy, yet every male character wants to be her life partner.  I'm sure I will keep reading on, but there won't be any great rush. The next book in line is Twelve Years a Slave . It seems like it is going to be an intense read. 

Listened: To bit and pieces of Dead as a Doornail (Sookie Stackhouse, #5). I'm not alone in the very often, especially when Jack has long breaks from school. 

Made: Lots of fun plans for Jack's long weekend. Unlike the snow day break, we had several activities that we scheduled for each day. It really helps to break up the time when you have places that you need/want to be.  We went to the movies, Chuck E Cheese, out to take good to teachers, etc. 

Felt: So proud of Jack. We've been playing a lot of darts recently and I am always blown away at how good he is at math. However, he usually loses as Nick and I don't really pull punches during games. So I was so proud of him when he finally won a game against us. He wanted to pull the errant dart, but I told him it needed to stay in the board for the pic. You can see it below.

Planned: Another week's worth of meals. While that might not be noteworthy for most people, it's a pretty big deal at our house. We are so bad at just falling back to eating out if I don't layout what is for dinner. I think it helps take the guess work out of it, which makes a big difference. It has also meant that Nick has had to have dinners that he just doesn't love 100%. I'm thankful that he never complains :)

Loved: Going to Jack's Valentines Party. They did a little program before hand. It was very cute. I tried to snap a picture of him in his Love Bug headband, but I didn't get a great one and it cut off the beginning of the song in the video. Alas, I shall survive!

Here are the pics and video for the week:

Jack was obsessed with the long icicles hanging from everyone's house. Luckily Tuesday was perfect conditions for one from our back deck. I broke it off, gave it to him expecting he would spend a while exploring it. Nope too cold!

The winning shot!

The love bug Jack made for a sample for his school party. Everything is stickers so that made it so much easier!  Good thing because I made 20 of them with his class in about 30 minutes!  They were all very proud of them. 

A Week in Review (February 2-8)

A Week in Review (February 2-8)

Watched: The Broncos play in the Super Bowl.  It was extremely disheartening.  The only good thing to come out of it is that I won some money from some pools that I entered.  It didn't lessen the pain of the embarrassment my team gave me.  At least I can say that they were AFC champions. 

Read:  I finished up The Sugar Queen.  I enjoy Sarah Addison Allen books. You know what you'll be getting, but still the story line draws you in. I totally wish I was like Chloe and books would just appear me to me when I needed them. It really feels like there needs to be a follow up to this book though!  Next, I started Dead as a Doornail (Sookie Stackhouse, #5). It has been in the typical fashion of Sookie novel.  I am hoping to be done by the end of next week.  

Listened: To a new to me TV series called Downton Abbey.  The first three seasons are currently available for streaming on Amazon Prime and I have been binge watching them.  If you enjoy historical fiction, I would highly recommend tuning in!  Not sure what I will do about the 4th season because it is not available for free yet. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there!

Made: Some lego creations with Jack. The library decided to open up their Legos to give the kids something free to do outside of the house on the 3rd snow day. He had so much fun and created a fun space ship. :)

Felt: Extremely grateful that Jack likes playing with other staff members children at my work. On Friday, had to have our open enrollment due to snow. Because Jack was already slated to come with me because Olathe had a professional development day, he had to wake up and leave our house at 6:30. He fell asleep on the ride there and back to sleep once we for there (see the hilarious photo of him below). At lunch, two other Kindergartners whose mom's also work there arrived.  They had so much fun being together. Jack even chose to miss open gym so he could stay and play longer. He apparently asked the girl to marry him and it left her speechless!

Planned: For a snow day on Tuesday and sure enough, we got it. We even convinced Nick to stay home and play with us too. We slept in and played plenty of games. We finished up Jack's Valentine's for school.  They turned out quite cute! What we didn't plan for snow days on Wednesday and Thursdsy, but we got those too!

Loved: That Jack got to have more spectators for his basketball game. His Uncle Kevin and Aunt Debbie came up to cheer him on. He also got to pick out where we went out to dinner-Mr Goodcents. He was heaven and I thought it was pretty good too. We are blessed that family and friends are able to  watch him on the court. It makes things more enjoyable for him. 

Here are the pics for the week:

Jack in awesome shirt his Aunt Valerie made for him!

One of his snow day activities-a couch cushion fort. In this pic, he is showing how he can play the Wii on the tiny screen of the Wii tablet. 

His Lego Spaceship creation. 

Jack conked out at school on Friday morning. 

Here is a pic of Nick and Jack on his Watch Dog morning. 

Some fun basketball pics his Aunt Debbie captured. Here is calling out his man. 

Waiting for a rebound 

And I think he just passed the ball in this pic. Side note : Number 0 in the red was one of his preschool classmates and he was glad to see him there :)

A Week in Review (Jan 26-Feb 1)

A Week in Review (Jan 26-Feb 1)

Watched: Jack have a great time at his second gymnastics lesson. We signed him up for his birthday so that he could more likely achieve his New Years goal of being able to back flip off a wall.  He has went to open gyms at the same place too. Such a great way to burn energy and get moving during the winter months. 

Read: I finished up The Sweet By and By. It was a good piece of women's literature. It explored the relationship of two workers who bond with the same pair of patients in a Nursing Home. You also get to hear about the lives of each character, which relates to what each person brings to the table. It was written in the style that allows one character's point of view to be highlighted each chapter.  It had a feel for me similar to that of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Next, I started The Sugar Queen. I haven't gotten far, but it appears to be a typical Sarah Addison Allen novel. :)

Listened: To Jack's excitement over Nick being a Watch Dog. It was in stark contrast to Nick's feelings at the zoo. He said if he had to chose between shoveling poop or being a 3rd grade teacher for the reset of hi life, he'd happily pick the poop shoveling.  Those kids must have been some special pieces of work.

Made: A dream menu for the Super Bowl. I guess the thought of eating a bunch of fattening dips and sweet treats is right up my alley. I think I have settled on four things, but we will see.

Felt: Slightly crazy. :) Keegan's birthday party was this Saturday and I didn't want to miss it. The forecast called for a wintery mix Friday night which was supposed to turn into snow on Saturday morning. I knew we need to leave ASAP Friday afternoon to have the best chance of making it there safely. Although it ended up taking Nick until 5:30 to get home, I thought once we got far enough we would be on clear roads.  Traffic and road conditions were horrible until Ottawa, but then things turned better.  Ottawa must have been the magic zone because that is where the roads began to get ice covered on the way home Saturday night. 

Planned: We got lots of details about Valerie's wedding this weekend. She is doing a great job of communicating and get everything laid out in advance. Both of my boys will get to be in tuxes, so I will have some good looking pictures again!

Loved: Celebrating my nephew's birthday with him. It's so hard to believe that the boys are 6.  He chose to have his party at Exploration Place in Wichita. You can read about it HERE. Denise and I took Jack over early so that he could play longer in the Math Alive exhibit.  It was priceless to see the excitement on his face when he saw his cousins though.  Luckily, the boys and Roy were able to come to Grandma's afterward and get in another couple of hours of playing together.  There were tears that they had to say goodbye so soon. I am so thankful for cousin love!

Here are the pics for the week:

Just love this!

Had to buy Jack new shoes this week!  Check out the awesome deal I got on one pair. Love Academy Sports!

Can't believe I failed to mention Henry Hank!  Grandma Denise and Papa Lee rescued a lab from being put down. He is one of the sweetest, most well behaved dogs that I have been around. Jack LOVES him.  He's already offered to be his babysitter!

Jack and Grandma Denise playing one of Math Alive games. This one taught you about the angles needed for proper snow boarding.  Although you can't see it, Denise is standing on a spring-loaded board whose movements correlate to the player on the screen. Jack tried plenty of times on the board and also was able to

attempt it video game style with the yellow board. 

Here is desiging a cart that was launched down a path. You had to design your cart so that it was able to be launched a break in the track and successfully land on the otherside. He had a ton of fun seeing which optioned work and which didn't. What was great was that he failed the first couple of tries, so when he actually figured it out, he was super proud of himself!

A Week in Review (January 19-25)

A Week in Review (January 19-25)

Watched: The Baylor v KU game on my own because my boys were lucky enough to be there too. They got stuck behind too tall people and so they watched most of it on the video board, but Jack got to experience the Allen Fieldhouse atmosphere again. He even waited and got a ball signed by several of players. 

Read: I finished up Losing Hope (Hopeless, #2). My basic review, if you liked Hopeless (Hopeless, #1), than you should pick this one up too.  I am about halfway through The Sweet By and By, which was given to me by my boss for a read at Christmas. I need to leave a detailed review so I can reference it when we are all ready to discuss it. 

Listened: To the horn sound a little too long at Jack's game. Turns out the clock operator didn't realize she needed to turn it off at the end of the period. Wait that clock operator was me :) I guess the just ask for random volunteers to run it.  It really wasn't too bad after you got used to it. Much easier than games where they keep score!

Made: Too many plans for Thursday.  After work, I had to drive home 30 minutes, get some stuff from another mom for Jack's school project, run to the UPS store, cook dinner, make up a guessing game for a baby shower game, get my food to a Bunco friend since I was going to be late, go to Jack's reading night at his school, and run to Bunco. Phew!  But I made it to all the events and everything was a good time. 

Felt: Frustrated at myself for letting someone from my past get my goat this Saturday. It took a couple hours of my time before I was able to formulate a plan of action and move on.  I know that some bystanders will be affected by my decision, but I had to do what was best for my mental health. 

Planned: Lots of meals for at home that didn't get eaten because our week got sucked up with other plans. Nick found out that his favorite restaurant, Fogo De Chao, was participating in KC's restaurant week and so Jack and I joined him for dinner there on Tuesday. Not exactly my cup of tea, but now I can understand what he is talking about. 

Loved: Celebrating a dear friend's 40th with her. We went out to a murder mystery dinner and she ended up being the murderess. We also went out for drinks with a smaller group afterward. Lots of fun!

Here are the pics for the week:

The birthday girl and her hubby. 

In this picture, Jack has the ball at the top of the key. 

He likes to play the point and was really acting like a floor general towards the end of the game. 

A Week in Review (January 12-19)

A Week in Review (January 12-18)

Watched: Jack get his promotion to green belt in karate. I am not sure which Sensei he will choose for his Spring Semester, but he loves it. As you can see by the pictures, Sensei John has several students. Jack is the man in the yellow belt in the front row of my pictures.  He is really enjoying the deeper combinations that come with the higher belts.

Read: Just about 2/3 of Losing Hope (Hopeless, #2). I am sure that I will have a review for you next week. It's been an easy read since I already know the plot from the previous book. 

Listened: To a new (I think or at least it's new-to-me) radio station. It's called 99.7 The Point and they play such a wide variety of music that I enjoy it.  If you are looking for something different, give it a try. 

Made: Jack two football cakes for his birthday party. They turned out exactly how he wanted and so I was pretty proud of them. Nick helped me too, so it was fun to share that experience with him.

Felt: So loved and grateful for my friends and family. They did an awesome job of stepping up and helping out with Jack's party.  I looked up from saying goodbye to the guest and they had swept, packed up the presents, cleaned the tables, put away the chairs, packed up the cake. Seriously, I don't think it gets better then that. So much love goes out to them.

Planned: For there to be more events and order to Jack's party. Nick knew it wouldn't happen and he was right. There were kids who just couldn't handle the game and kids who just didn't want to play, but overall, I think everyone had a great time.  Jack said it was all awesome and he is who I did it for. As he gets older, I think I'll be shooting for more venues like Laser Tag, Skating, Swimming, Etc. :)

Loved: Being able to give Jack a "YES" day for his birthday. We started the morning off with a Captian Crunch Breakfast, went to school wear he took sugar cookies with aqua blue icing with fish sprinkles for the teachers and a snack mix of 6 different things for his classmates, followed by a PB&J  and Mint Oreo Blizzard lunch, swimming, present opening, dinner at Mongolian BBQ, a carousel ride at the mall, a sugar cookie cake decorated in colors he chose, a stop by the Lego store where he spent some of his birthday money, basketball practice, a Skyped conversation where we actually got to see Tio and Aunt Jess, played Pit on Your Neighbor (a reverse game of the one we usually play), and fell asleep in my spot on the bed after some books.  All in all, I would say he had a fabulous day.

Here are the pics for the week:

I didn't get one great shot of him on his birthday, but here they are anyway. 

Struggling with the mountain of packing tape, hence the face 

Here is the great pic I got of him from Portrait Innovations, a day after his 6th birthday. 

Birthday Party Pics:

Notice the candle change?  We lost the green candle to a football accident. Somehow we got lucky enough that it didn't damage the cake. Just broke the candle!

A Week in Review (January 5-11)

A Week in Review (January 5-11)

Watched: Jack's first basketball game.  It was hilarious. He looked nothing like the kid at practice.  There was lots of side line coaching from parents that drove Nick nuts.  I do think that there was just too much for the kids on the court.  Hopefully we see an improvement next week!  

Read: I finished up Never Let Me Go. So it is clear to me that the Man Booker panelists would not have the same taste in literature. This is my second attempt at either a winner or a finalist. Neither were books that I enjoyed. While I thought this book had a good premise, I kept waiting for it to take me somewhere that it never did. I'm surprised that this was made into a movie and one that rates so well with internet reviewers. Maybe they added in a bit more... Guess I'll have to add it to my To-Watch list and see.  Next, I am starting on Losing Hope (Hopeless, #2). It is the same story line as Hopeless (Hopeless, #1), only told from a different point of view. 

Listened: To a bit of an audio book again. I was only able to finish because of the pages I was able to mark off driving too and from work this week. 

Made: More new Pinterest recipes.  One was for a ham and cheese baked sandwich.  It was a miss at our house. The second one was a corn dip and it was a big winner with the poker crowd.  Simple and yummy. I can see it being a go to dip for me!  I made it by mixing a half packet of ranch dressing mix with a 1/2 cup of each sour cream and mayo. Next, I added in two 12oz cans of Fiesta Corn (corn with bell peppers in it). Lastly, I added in about a cup of shredded sharp cheese.  If you wanted to spice it up you could easily add something liked pepper, green chiles, or diced jalapeños.

Felt: Excited to actually do well at poker. My friend, Stacy, invited me out to her neighborhood gathering. Usually I just go, eat some good snacks, and play for a bit until my luck runs dry. However, this time I managed to make it into the top 3. I should have gotten 2nd at least, but one guy had all luck and beat me with worse pocket card twice in a row.  But that's the nature of the beast.

Planned: Out various activities leading up to Jack's birthday next Wednesday. So much to do so little time. I thought about writing my to-do list here, but then I decided that no one would really about the details. Just know that next week's post will be birthday heavy!

Loved: That my husband volunteered to take Jack to karate practice on his own on Thursday. Generally, we do this together and have some time to talk. However, after working all week, it felt so nice just to veg for a couple hours. I am even more in awe of full time working moms!  Not sure how you ladies get it all done, but you rock it!

Here are the pics for the week:

A funny photo from Nick's Christmas party. Funny because this was last call for the drink tickets and Nick had somehow managed to double his number of tickets. You will notice that he was generous enough to share. Secondly, I guess someone lied to the kid in the middle. It was business casual and someone told him it was totally casual. I guess this was funnier because he normally dresses to the 9's at work. And lastly, that chick just snuck herself in the photo in the last minute. It was kind of funny too. All were much better than the play that was showing!  Thank goodness for the good food!

The next two are of Jack's game.  When I was clapping I managed to turn on some funky filter. And, of course, those would be my two best shots. He played the point (or what they have of it) often that game, which you see in the first shot. I like the 2nd shot because it's him getting back on D.