The exciting life of a stay-at-home mom!!

This is what I do all day when my kids are at school. I just meet people for lunch, lay around and watch t.v., and get manicures.....TOTALLY KIDDING and if you believed me, then you've never had kids!! Now that all of us have at least one child that goes to school, we like to get together and celebrate! We usually meet for brunch and then it extends into the minutes right before we have to return to our real lives and pick our kids up from school. This group of girls has been so special to me and I cherish the times that we have together!
Two of those moms and I got together last week to "deceive" our families...we had a puree' day where we puree'd vegetables all day long in my friend Susan's beautiful kitchen. Now, we will all sneak them into the dishes that we serve to our families. So far, I've made hot chocolate with sweet potatoes, meatloaf with squash in it, and spaghetti with broccoli. I can already see them transforming into pictures of health!!
Check out the concentration on those peas...it's very serious.

Weekend in Wichita

The boys and I drove to Wichita for the long weekend. My cousin and his family have moved to Wichita from Minneapolis, so we are only 5 hours away from each other! We went up to visit them for the weekend and help them get settled into their new house.
They have an outside fire pit, so we made s'mores one night. It was soooo cold, but delicious!
Another highlight was "Taco in a Bag." Basically, you get those little bags of chips and put all your taco fixings in the bag and shake it. Well, all the kids loved it and they keep asking when we can have it at home.
Here are the boys checking out their cousin Alyssa's room. It is VERY pink! I think they were in awe of it and carefully examined all her toys while they jammed to Hannah Montana.
We had such a fun weekend and can't wait to do it again!

Big Man on a Little Bike.........

What is wrong with this picture?? A lot! Last week, when the grandparents were here, we all walked up to Jackson's school to pick him up. Drew rode his bike, so we had to bring Jackson's bike so he could ride it home. This seemed like the only logical way to get it to school?!?
I'm just thankful that the tires didn't blow....
When we got home, my parents had a surprise for Jackson. It was a pool, air hockey, ping pong, and a lot of other things....table! With help from the grandpa's, Jackson took to pool like a pro and has spent a lot of time practicing his shots.
This is a great gift for the boys and just their size....I know it will get a lot of use.

Fun, Fun, Birthday Fun!!

Jackson turned 6 years old last week and we had a Mad Science birthday party for him this weekend. "Professor Proton" came out and dazzled the kids with his science experiments. The kids made slime and ended with a "bang" with a jet engine.
We decided to invite all the boys from his class as well as some boys from his baseball team and a few other friends. We had relay races which are a MUST with that many boys. We had to get all their energy out before they sat for an hour to watch Professor Proton.
Check out Jackson's face when he saw the jet rocket...I love it!
My mom made the giant rocket cake which turned out so cute and tasted great! My dad and Jason's dad came as well. It was a fun weekend for all and I can't believe that Jackson is 6!! Where did the time go?

Christmas and New Years....Part 2

We spent New Years Eve at the Rainforest Cafe' with all my cousins and their kids. The kids had a little buffet and then at 8:00, tons of balloons dropped for them and they got sparkling grape juice in fancy glasses and we all toasted to the New Year. It is a great idea and we had loads of fun!!!

At my parents house, the lake had frozen over, so the boys spent hours throwing rocks, sticks, wood, whatever they could find to try to crack the ice. We did lots of sledding and exploring around the lake.
One night, my dad set up a fire pit by the lake and we roasted marshmallows and had smore's. Amanda and Ben stayed inside because it was "too cold" and asked us to make them one and deliver it to the house. Such wimps, but we did it anyways....

A White Christmas!

Our first stop was in Leavenworth, which is where Jason's parents live. They had just had a couple of feet of snow the day before we got there, so it was perfect!! Jason's brother Josh, was home from Japan and his wife Alicia. Jason't grandparents were there from Idaho, so it was a full house and lots of fun!! We spent lots of time playing cards, playing with new toys, and sledding. The Maupins have a great hill that is perfect for the boys right in their front yard, so it was their playground.




For some reason, I can't figure our how to post more pictures and it will only let me post 5 at a time.......well, stay tuned for Christmas, part 2......