Catching Up....

I'm way behind updating the happenings of our family, so I am playing catch up!!



Drew and his buddy, Garrett, were assigned to do a community service project for their class. They decided to go door to door collecting old towels and blankets for the animal shelter. Here they are, ready to collect!



We took a picture of them with one of the dogs from the shelter. The boys were very proud of themselves and we walked thru the shelter and were able to see how their donations were going to help the animals.

The shelter told us that they also would love tube socks stuffed with pillow material and catnip for the cats. The boys made tons of these tube socks and were able to go in and give them to some of the cats! The cats loved them and were going crazy! It was hilarious!

This little robe was given to me as a shower gift when I was pregnant and so I hung it up in Brooke's bathroom and kind of fogot about it. Brooke saw it and loves it! She calls it her "jacket"

Papa has been wanting to get Brooke a princess bed ever since he saw one last year! So, my parents came to visit and we did just that.....Brooke was almost jumping out of her skin, she was so excited!

Thank you Papa and Nana for putting it together! Brooke is so excited she doesn't know what to do with herself!

Immediately, both boys had to try out the bed. Brooke was content to read to them while they pretended to sleep.

The bed was a source of inspiration for reading apparently! Jacksons friend, Will, read to everyone on the princess bed!

Ready for bed in her new Princess Pjs and in her new bed!

Brooke has also started gymnastics. She is old enough  now that she goes in herself and I get to sit outside with the other moms and drink coffee. We both love it! I told her to do some of her gymnastics and so she started stretching for me.

She told me this was from her ballet.

Last week, Grandma came for a visit and we headed down to the state fair! It was a perfect day....it had just rained and we got there right when it opened, so the crowd wasn't bad at all.

Brooke was able to ride some rides in the kids zone and let me say.....she is NOT scared! She wanted more and more and bigger and bigger!! She would have gone on any ride, she just wasn't tall enough. Someday.....

Jason and Drew went on one of those swings, but it was SUPER SUPER high! They said you could see over the whole fairgrounds!

Ahhh.....the food....Jackson had his first corny dog and as a group, we sampled......fried guacamole, fried pumpkin pie, fried cookie dough, fried kraut balls, and fried peanut butter and jelly!!!! OK, the best was the cookie dough and peanut butter and jelly....we all agreed.

Before school started, my parents let Jackson customize his own pair of zigs (a type of shoe). We have been waiting and waiting.....it said it could take up to 5 weeks to get because they have to make them from scratch with all of his customizations. We tracked the package a couple of weeks ago and found that it was coming from Japan and it had been shipped to China! But finally.........the day came and it was waiting for Jackson when he got home from school. We were all so excited to open them............

His KU Jayhawk zigs!! He said he had alsmost forgotten what they were supposed to be like, but he was so happy! That night, he started to worry about wearing them to school the next day because the playground was muddy. I was thinking, "who is this kid worrying about mud?" It was cracking me up! He did wear them and hes very careful with them. There's a first time for everything!

Oh, the back........he personalized it with "HAWKS" they are pretty cool, I must say :)