Happy Birthday, Guy!

Guy recently celebrated his 2nd birthday in style - with a bundled-up 4-wheeler ride with Grandma and Lincoln. We'll plan a full-blown birthday party with a cake, candles, and friends in the summer.

It's hard to believe our"baby" is already two years old. It's certainly been a busy two years with our two active boys. Guy loves playing with his trains (he calls them "choo-choos") so we got him a Cranky Crane for his birthday. He has also recently developed an interest in the TV. He loves to watch (what else?) train shows - Micky Mouse Choo-choo Express is his current favorite. Of course, Guy's all-time ultimate favorite game is "doing exactly what Lincoln is doing". The two of them can play together pretty well, although they often want to play with the same toy at the same time. I think we've "solved" this problem, though - two of everything!

Snoooooow!

We woke up this morning to our first now of Winter. Sub-20 degree temperatures accompanied the snow, but we still managed to bundle up the kids and get out for a while. We finished off our snowy play time with a nice cup of hot chocolate.

I also got to take advantage of the snow and freezing temperatures and bundle up and play Ultimate for a couple of hours. I guess I'll never grow up - I love playing in the snow (and I have the frost bitten toes to show for it).

Jus' Mowin'

Last weekend we took advantage of the nice weather and tackled the leaves in our back yard. As a four-mower family, we were all able to get in on the action. Scott bought a new mower recently and I got to try it out as he used the old one to tackle the larger piles, while each of the boys has their own.

*** Note that even though Scott is not pictured mowing, he is in fact our official mower. The picture below shows about the second time in our marriage that I have operated a lawn mower.

Happy Thanksgiving

We hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! My parents came to Kansas City for the extended weekend and Scott and I hosted Thanksgiving. We did a lot of cooking - the little boys and I made a pecan pie a few days in advance (which Lincoln did not eat as apparently he's a pumpkin pie fan), and Randy and Mary brought over their new deep fryer so the big boys could cook up a delicious Turkey.

Guy, Lincoln, and Everett enjoyed Uncrustables and juice boxes at the Kids Table while we ate the good stuff upstairs. After a day of eating, my mom, Mary and I headed out Friday morning to do a little shopping. We used to be up at 4:00 am for the sales, but this year we slept in until 6:30. We still managed to cross off a big chunk of our Christmas lists, though! That afternoon we got some more time with baby Grayson and we tried out Randy's xBox-Kinect.

It's sad that the weekend's almost over, but we still have a lot of wrapping, decorating, and crafting to keep us occupied until Christmas!

Weekend fun

My parents were in town for a fun-filled weekend, and on Saturday we went to a Parents as Teachers event that included a mini children's zoo with a puppy, hamsters, and a gerbil. It also had a couple of snakes and a tarantula. Guy was pretty interested in the snake - he certainly does not get that from me. Lincoln preferred to color pictures of animals rather than looking at or touching them.

We also took advantage of the beautiful weather to do some work outside. We started getting our yard ready for the winter (raked leaves, etc.) and helped Tracy and Joni hang Christmas lights. At the end of it all, Guy was ready for a break and a little snack.

Halloween!!

I hope everyone had a nice Halloween! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, and this year we had great weather for all of the weekend's events. We let Lincoln pick out his costume this year and he chose Spiderman. The costume we got was awesome - the fake muscles looked great on him! Guy got to wear the skunk costume that Lincoln wore a couple of years ago, and even though it was a bit tight in the shoulders he really liked it.

The festivities began on Friday with two Halloween parties - first at Lincoln's daycare (where Lincoln only took off his mask to eat) and then at his friend's house.

On Saturday both the boys wore their costumes to Science City for their Mad Scientist event. The event was so-so (maybe it was geared towards older kids?), but we still had fun.

Finally, on Sunday we went trick-or-treating!! We walked over to Tracy and Joni's house to get some cute kid photos, and then trick-or-treated our way home. The boys got some nice treats, although Guy didn't quite understand that the candy was supposed to go in his bucket and not directly into his mouth!

Grayson, Welcome to the Family

This week we welcomed a new member to our extended family - Grayson. Mary and Randy are proud new parents, and Everett is a proud big brother. We visited them at home this morning and Linda got to enjoy some baby-time.

Grayson will probably grow-up to be the toughest of the bunch because he has three older cousins/siblings to battle with. I'm certain there will never be a dull moment when they are all together.

Fall Fun

Fall is my favorite time of year, and after the beautiful day we had yesterday I think it may be the boys' favorite season, too. I made some pumpkin bread at lunchtime, and after Lincoln and Guy woke up from naps we each had a slice and headed outside to make a nice big pile of leaves in the yard. They both had lots of fun diving and burying themselves in the leaves, and Scott and I even took a turn.

After we came inside it was time for another fall tradition - carving the pumpkin! Lincoln picked out a moon and stars theme, and Scott set to work on the pumpkin Lincoln picked out a couple of weeks ago with Grandma and Grandpa King. The boys were interested in the carving for about five minutes, and then wandered off while Scott finished the pumpkin. I think it turned out pretty nice!

This week has much more Halloween fun in store - a "pumpkin hunt" at Lincoln's school, and costume parties at both boys' daycare. I'll be spending the week "taste-testing" the Halloween candy, and hopefully there will be enough left for the trick-or-treaters next Sunday!

26.2 (Round 2)

After Tracy and I ran last year's Kansas City Marathon, I said it was fun but it would be a long time before I do *that* again. Well, I guess a "long time" means exactly one year because last week Randy and I ran the KC Marathon.

I was much more reasonable about my pacing this year, so when I finished I wasn't a total physical and emotional wreck, which was a nice change for Linda and the kids. It was a great experience, and now I say again that it will be a long time until I do that again.

Here's a photo of me and Randy after the finish, and Lincoln patiently waiting for me at the finish line.

Crusin'

Over the last few weeks Guy has become a pro at riding his his Radio Flyer "bike" around the driveway. Now he cruises around any chance he gets, which includes before school, after school, and any other time he can sneak outside for a minute. This weekend he even rode all the way to the park by himself (with Grandma King's supervision, of course).

Recently I grabbed the camera and got some footage of an early morning, before school riding session. Enjoy!

Livin' the easy life...

Hard to believe, but my Dad retired a couple of weeks ago after 30+ years at LES (Lincoln Electric System)! He's looking forward to lots of relaxing days, leisurely breakfasts with my mom and their friends, and exciting cruises. We're looking forward to lots of visits from Grandma and Grandpa!

Congratulations Dad!!

Goodbye Summer

Lincoln has gone back to pre-school, the pool has closed, it gets dark earlier, and the temperatures have finally dropped out of the 90's. I guess that means another summer has come and gone.

Last weekend we did get to have one last summer hurrah with the garden hose. We're trying to patch a couple of areas of our lawn, so we've been watering our new grass. The kids love to take that opportunity to get completely soaked and covered in grass.

Labor Day Weekend

We hope everyone had a pleasant Labor Day weekend. We celebrated the holiday with Grandma and Grandpa King and Tracy, Joni, and Madeline. We started with a visit to the KC Zoo to see the new polar bear exhibit. The polar bear was exciting (and definitely worth the visit), but Lincoln and Guy really enjoyed getting to feed the sheep. In the second picture, my arm is raised up to keep the food pellets safe while I handed them one-by-one to Lincoln.

Back at the house, Lincoln gathered up some sticks and Tracy and Grandma King made a pretty awesome tipi. Lincoln declared that it would be a good hiding place for animals but probably not giraffes since their necks would be too long to fit inside.

Meanwhile, Guy and Grandpa Guy did some Very Important Work on the tricycle. You should always keep your gear in tip-top shape.

Soccer Practice

Last week marked a major milestone for our family: we became a soccer family as Lincoln had his first practice of the season. This week Scott got some great photos of him in action. Each practice starts with some drills and ends with a scrimmage. The scrimmages are fun to watch as all of the boys chase after the ball, knocking each other over, and occasionally making a goal. Lincoln loves it!

Guy doesn't play on the team, but he does have his own soccer ball. There's a little girl his age that he hangs out with during the practice, but mostly he just enjoys being outside for the evening.

Corn, Slippers, and a Triathlon

That's what we've been doing recently - eating corn from our garden, knitting slippers for Lincoln, and running triathlons.

First, we recently picked our second batch of corn from our garden. We've only got a few, small ears, but it's still an accomplishment for us to get anything edible from the garden.

Second, Lincoln went back to pre-school this week with a brand new pair of slippers (a mandatory item for pre-school). Linda knitted him a cool pair of red and orange slippers (he picked the colors). They look a little crazy in this picture because this is before they were felted and shrunk. After the felting they turned out great, and Lincoln was thrilled.

Lastly, I did my second triathlon last weekend. This time Tracy, Randy, and I all punished ourselves. We had a great time, and everyone (Joni, Mary, Linda, and the kids) came out to watch. The only bummer is that I won't be able to do another tri until next summer - the season is pretty much over.

Being neighborly

This weekend was our annual neighborhood picnic. As usual there was lots of fun stuff including a police car, a fire truck, balloon animals, and an ice-cream truck. It was fun seeing some of the other kids in the neighborhood, and chatting with the parents. Both Lincoln and Guy got balloon dogs, but sadly Guy's had an early demise after he tried to play with it on some dried grass.

Unfortunately we didn't take any photos at the picnic, so instead we have a video montage of Guy on his favorite ride-on toy. We have several "real" ride-on toys in and around our house, but Guy seems to prefer smaller vehicles that aren't really meant to carry actual children (in addition to this fire truck, there is also a tractor he rides on that is even smaller). I predict he'll grow up to be in the circus riding one of those teeny-tiny-too-small clown bikes.

Let the chase begin

Since we had great weather this evening, we got the kids outside and tried to wear them out before bedtime. As you'll see, they loved chasing Lincoln's remote controlled Bumblebee (the Camaro from Transformers). We only captured 20+ seconds of this on film, but the whole "chasing" event went on for minutes. It's amazing what can keep a kid occupied.

P.S. I'm not sure what Guy picks up and eats at the end of the video, but he's still alive at the time of this post so I guess it wasn't too bad.

Carb Loading

This weekend I did the Midwest Mayhem Triathlon (my first tri). I was dreading the swim, but I survived and it actually felt pretty good. Hopefully this will be the first of many tri's in my future. I've already got my eyes on the Jackson Country Triathlon, and I'm expecting Randy and Tracy to join me.

Of course, it's difficult to do a triathlon without some big-time carb-loading. Luckily Linda's been digging up potatoes in the garden. It's exciting to dig around in the dirt and discover real, edible food. There's also corn and bean plants that look like they might be providing dinner for us soon.

Summer Vacation

Last week the family took a much-needed vacation to Breckenridge, Colorado with Mary, Randy, and Everett. We packed a lot of fun into our four days there - one of the highlights was a ride on the Georgetown Loop Railroad's authentic, 1900's era steam train. The train itself was awesome, and the trip through the valley (about 1/2 hour long - perfect for preschoolers) was beautiful.

Scott and Randy took one morning to climb two of Colorado's 14,000 foot peaks. They summited both Gray's and Torrey's peaks, and this now makes three "14'ers" for both of them. Mary and I spent the morning visiting the local donut shop and taking the boys to an old gold mine, where they got to pet real, live mules.

We also took advantage of Breck's new (free!) gondola. At the "top" (which is actually the base of the ski resort) Scott and Lincoln went down an alpine slide at Breckenridge's Peak 8 area. Much to our surprise Lincoln loved the chair lift (a prerequisite for this winter's ski trip) and the slide. Lincoln wanted to go again, but since it was *not* free, we appeased him with another trip on the gondola.

The biggest surprise of the trip was that we made the 10-hour trip from Denver in one piece. We made some stategically-timed stops to let the boys run off some steam, and were home in our beds a little after midnight.