Joyous Tuesday

I had a much better day today! I handed off all my problems at work to others and went back to enjoying my quiet (and warm) little office. I got a lot of office-y type stuff done and nobody yelled at me or called the police. Can't ask for a better day than that right?

When we came home Quincy begged me to open a can of olives that she found. She and Harper both love them! Of course she loves eating them too!

Since I was planning to spend the evening at a wrestling meet, I decided to leave chili cooking in the crock pot and make some cinnamon rolls to have ready for when we got home. I didn't realize while I was busy making the bread dough that Captain Destructo had an accomplice! I should have known when they were entertaining themselves so well that something was up!

This is the last week for jr. high wrestling. It seems like it has been a very short season. The league tournament is on Saturday. Colin only had one match this evening, and he didn't win. There doesn't seem to be very many 95 pound kids his age.

Should have stayed on vacation

Yesterday I was undecided on whether getting back to the grind was a good idea or a bad idea. I should have known it was a bad idea! I had a raunchy day at work which even included making a landowner so upset he felt the need to call the police. Luckily, nobody was arrested, and even though I was (of course) "right" the whole day has weighed on my mind, and I keep wondering what could have been handled better on both of our parts. The history is not mine, the hard feelings were not originally caused by me, but it is my job to make things better, not worse. I failed today in that area! Tomorrow is a new day. I will still be right for the record though!

Colin has decided to play jr. high basketball. He even took it upon himself to go talk to the athletic director since we missed the parent meeting. I am both surprised and pleased with this decision. I am pleased because I really like to watch basketball, but surprised because it is not his normal sport of choice. He is still going to do club wrestling, but we looked over the schedules and he can pretty easily do both, so long as he doesn't mind never being home (he doesn't!). Cam (the family basketball fanatic) is stoked! Looks like we will have lots of chances to go to tons of games, since the girls will be playing in the pep band at the high school games. I am seriously considering investing in some of those old lady bleacher chairs to save my rear end though!

Turkey break's over

I am not sure whether to be happy or sad about our little vacation being over. On one hand, if I had a few more days like the past couple, my to-do list would be non-existent. On the other hand, if we continue to work this hard, we might all be too exhausted to really enjoy the finished projects!

I finally got the little girl's room finished. I did not have to paint it since I had painted not long ago, and Quincy liked the paint colors. That is a good thing or I would still not be done! I am relieved to have this giant project done - this means that all the kids are moved around and into their 'new' rooms. I am not even going to go back to see how long this process has taken (that would just be depressing). The good news is that its DONE and we are pleased with the results! I do feel a little bit like I live in "Rainbow Bright's house" however, as all the rooms are pretty bright and colorful and I am wondering if when we decide to put the house on the market if I will be needing a giant bucket of white paint to tone things down a bit!

All this work has totally exhausted Harper! She could not even stay awake long enough to have her ice cream! I did make her take a bath - but did not have much trouble getting her to go right back to sleep! Poor little girl!

We also cleaned out the attic and re-arranged things up there this weekend. When you do a project like that, you find all sorts of nifty stuff, like daddy's old sunglasses!
Quincy complained that she couldn't see out of them (they are prescription glasses)!

And an engagement announcement from the early 90's! Geez we looked like babies!

We had a jillion places to be today in between the cleaning. I ran some errands in Topeka. Quincy did not want to walk, and I had a huge list, so Colin pushed her in a 2nd cart. This might not have been a great idea? She looked at an older gentleman in a wheelchair and asked him "you wanna race?" the man told her "Bring it on!" At least she is good entertainment for her siblings!

Back to the grind!

Saturday randomness

We started out our Saturday with me having to go into work - the Jefferson county dive team had time today (and not again for a while) to dive down into one of our lakes to figure out what has been blocking the pipe which would not flow after we replaced a valve. I was very cold while I watched these guys swimming around in the 45 degree water, but I learned that their suits had a protective layer of air that doesn't ever allow the water to touch their skin. Very cool. They did not seem cold - but they were down there for a very long time! Interestingly, these are the same divers who are called out to do search/rescue for people who go missing in water. They had some interesting stories, most of which will probably give me nightmares! They were using this as a training exercise.
After several hours of being under disgustingly dirty water, using a crow bar or 2 and a lot of very hard work, they were able to pull this contraption out of the pipe. This has apparently been in the pipe since 1978 when the lake was built - it definitely did its job -- but I am a little upset that nobody realized after all these years that there was a deficient pipe in place - this should have been discovered at the check out by either the state engineer or the watershed's engineer. It is a tire which had plywood bolted into it. Very effective, and it has lasted for years underwater. Next time I need a good plug, I guess I can make one like this!

I got home in time to have a nice visit with Uncle Jay and his new fiance. The kids were reasonably behaved, which is good for any time that Uncle Jay comes by!

More random - last weekend Preston went to a 4 wheeler birthday party for one of his best buddies. It was a father/son party, so Jim got to go 4 wheeling with Preston. The mom sent me this photo today, which I really like! Colin told me that I should have gone instead of Jim because "dad is a nervous Pervis and would drive too slow" (sorry Jim, I am just quoting here!) I did mention to Colin that these boys are 6 and probably any ride on a 4 wheeler is a good ride!

I was really looking forward to having time off, but now I am really looking forward to going back to work. We have been working like dogs around here! I almost have the little girls room finished....the only thing I am not finished with is hanging up their good clothes because I ran out of hangers. I cannot believe how long it took me to get that done!

Jim and the boys put floors in part of the attic which has never had floors before - and now we are in the middle of trying to re-arrange the stuff that has accumulated up there. I want the job done, but it is a huge undertaking. We are approximately halfway finished with it, and of course it has spread to the living room as we brought stuff down to sort through, so basically we have to finish it in order to get the living room back! I also have to paint the computer room in the basement and the hallway and I want to finish painting our room. Too many jobs and not enough entertainment for the baby! She has discovered how to move the baby gate and climb up the stairs, so I guess in the middle of getting all these projects done, it would be smart to teach her to go DOWN the stairs without falling.

Quincy is a singer!

Thanksgiving

When you make kids spend the day before Thanksgiving cleaning like maniacs, they go to bed very easily!
We had a very low key, relaxed Thanksgiving. It was a lot of fun! We have a lot to be thankful for!

I failed in the photo taking department, though, because I didn't get many photos of anyone except for our kids. We were happy that Jim's Uncle Gary was able to come down for lunch, and his brother and family came for a visit after lunch. Fail on my part for not photographing everyone.

Madison spends a lot of time photographing her self, but if anyone else tries to take a picture of her, she sticks her hands up like this. She better be good, Santa is watching!

My vacation is flying by! I better go make the most of the time I have left!

Turkey Break

Harper doing Jim's patented glare!

The kids are out of school for the next 5 days. I am taking a vacation day and then have Thursday and Friday off. I am excited about having a little time to hang out with the kids and I have a little list of projects to finish! I am looking forward to turkey day too!

Colin wrestled at Washburn Rural last night. He won both of his matches. It was a great night for him, but not really a good night for his team as a whole. He has 2 meets left next week and then jr. high wrestling will be done and he will move on to club wrestling. Club wrestling is more individual, and Colin tells me it is harder (the coaching is tougher). He is excited and is really hoping to go to state this year. Preston is also doing club wrestling and he says he can't wait for practices to start next week!

Speaking of Preston, he came out of school today and asked me if his twin friends could come down to watch a movie. I told him they could play outside maybe but that I was trying to clean house and didn't really want them vegging out in the living room. He looked disappointed but said OK. About 20 minutes later, here came the twin friends with popcorn to eat while they watched a movie. Last week's rule - help your friends. This week's rule - ask mom or dad before you invite people over! This friendship thing is really hard! Profound statement of the evening: Madison actually said to me - "are you sure those boys are twins? They don't look anything alike!" I busted up laughing and am still smiling several hours later!!!

Jim, Cam and Preston went to the Sprint Center last night to watch 2 basketball games (Jim's b-day gift). They saw Marquet vrs. Duke and then KSU vrs. Gonzaga. They had such a great time! They made friends with the college guys behind them and had all sorts of crazy stories today! They got home about 1 this morning, so it was a very long day at school (and at Jim's office) but it was worth it they said! Luckily, they can sleep in tomorrow morning (except for Jim - he has to go to work.) They won't be sleeping in too late though because the biggest part of my list includes cleaning the house and I have chore lists for everyone!

Happy Birthday Jim!

Today is Jim's fortysomethingith birthday. He is never all that thrilled with birthday candles - but he indulged his wife and children! You never get too old to be sung to and to make a birthday wish! Jim is an awesome dad and husband and we are very blessed to call him ours! Now you can see where Preston learned to pose for photos! For his big day, he got tickets to watch the Cats play basketball at the Sprint Center tomorrow night. He wanted to take all the boys but Colin has to wrestle so he is only getting to take Preston and Cam. He tried really hard to find the tickets for Tuesday night since the kids don't have school on Wednesday, and Colin would have been able to go then, but had no such luck! Preston is so excited about being included with the big boys! Anyhow Happy Birthday Jim - we love you!
And speaking of included, Quincy was invited to one of her preschool buddy's birthday parties yesterday. She was INVITED! She started in the minute we got up yesterday wanting to know what time I would take her! Sometimes I forget how hard it must be to be on the younger end - she sees everyone else going to stuff and she hardly ever gets included! She had a great time and got a goody bag with a basketball whistle in it! (Next time I will be screening the goody bags more thoroughly!)

We had "Langsgiving" today. It was fun to get to see my family. I even got in a little bit of snuggle time with my new nephew - although Harper is not too thrilled with anyone holding him! Unfortunately, Cam spent the night with a friend last night and came home today not feeling well. Jim stayed with him during mass, but when we got home he was still not good. Jim then volunteered to stay home with him and watch football. It meant that they missed out on turkey dinner, but they seem to have had a good day without the girls trying to change the channel during the big games!

Two days of school for the kids this week and for me too! I am excited to have some time off, even if it means that I will pay for it when I return!

Friday is good!

Colin had a band concert tonight. The band sounded great and it was an enjoyable evening. I love my kid enough to dvr "Medium" and go to his performance - that should say a LOT!!

We are now waiting up for Mallory and Madison who are attending a "Thank Goodness Marching Band is Over" party. They are excited because someone has agreed to take them shopping tomorrow (thank you Bev)!!

We just watched the new Karate Kid movie. Preston loved it - I thought it was ok, but I still prefer Ralph Macchio!

Over the past several days I have almost hit deer 3 times. I sure hope my luck holds out! There was a pretty big buck which had caused a car wreck on our way to the band concert. I had almost hit a different deer a few minutes earlier. I have never been a hunter, and I sure am not interested in landing a buck with my van! Colin wanted me to stop to pick up the road kill so we could make deer jerky, and he wanted a deer head for our living room wall. Cam thought that was a good idea, but thought we should freeze the meat until he gets a smoker. I am pretty sure my boys need parental supervision at all times!

finally...

I finally got the video of Harper's first steps to upload, but my computer skills are so bad that I cannot for the life of me figure out how to make it be straight. Tilt your head for a minute - I stink at this stuff!!!

Long week with internet drama

This has been the longest week I can remember since I was a little kid! I don't know why but it has just dragged on and on. We have been experiencing technical difficulties at home, so the teenagers we live with have been very sad...and I have not been blogging either. Actually, though not much has been going on so I wouldn't have much to blog about anyhow!
Tuesday night, Colin wrestled in Rossville. This is a photo of him in what may be the strangest match I have ever seen. Colin is the kid in blue - you might notice that he is in a cradle and is losing the match. The ref called a pin. I thought he lost. So you can imagine my surprise when the ref held Colin's hand up as the winner. Apparently the kid he was wrestling held him wrong, and ended up pinning himself. Do NOT mention that fact to Colin, he called it a defensive pin, and was totally in charge the WHOLE time! He then quoted uncle Jay "nobody asks you HOW you won, they just want to know IF you won!"

Yesterday, Preston had a set of twins over to play after school. They were getting along really well and were including Quincy and everyone seemed happy. Preston came in to ask me to come out and help them tie their shoes since they had been on the trampoline. I told him I would be out in a minute. I walked out the back door just in time to hear him telling one of them "you will just have to have your mom buy you some NEW glasses, cause I can't find them and I don't want to look anymore!" Needless to say, we had to have yet another conversation about how even if it isn't fun to look, sometimes we have to anyway! The kid returned home WITH his glasses!

And that just about sums up our long week.

11 months old

Harper is 11 months old today. Our little girl is a ton of fun, and I love the little personality that is starting to shine through the baby-ness!
These teeth are so funny - they are big - and sharp - and she uses them to their full potential!

Harper has NO socks - at least none that match. That is because she refuses to leave them on her feet. There are socks all over the house - stuffed in any place she can find - and all over the van where she takes them off as we drive down the road. Shoes do not stop her from getting to them! I wonder if she will change her mind about being bare-footed when it is really cold?

This child has been photographed waaaaayyyy too much - I swear when I got the camera out today, she started cheesing it up like a Vogue model!

Trying to get her to sit still is a challenge! She has a cut on her eye and a couple of bruises on her forehead from learning to walk! She also mastered the stairs and we had to go digging out the baby gate!

And when we have mandarin oranges for dinner, we have to open a can just for her. This girl is serious about her oranges!
She is also very popular around here!

Walker

Harper started walking! During mass, we were given a survey to fill out. While I was reading it, I suddenly realized that she was walking down the aisle without holding on! She has been all over the house today on foot! Its funny how when they decide they can do it, they just go! She is such a little thing with such big determination! I tried really hard to upload a video of her first steps, but I just can not get it to work. I will see if I can get some help from Jim or one of the girls tomorrow. Technology is just not my thing!

We finally had some time to work on the little girl's "princess" room today. We got a lot done, but still have a long way to go for it to be done! Quincy is beyond excited and although she has been sleeping up there, it has been a pretty big mess, so it will be very nice to have that accomplished. Luckily I painted the room not long ago, so I don't have to do that!

The colder weather has not stopped Cam from declaring every Sunday "grilling day" - he made delicious pork burgers! All he has asked for this year for his birthday is a smoker -- I think that is awesome! I can already taste the smoked meats in my future!

What Saturday looks like from here...

We spent today at a very large tournament in Silver Lake. Colin had a great day and ended up placing 2nd. His team was 3rd overall, and there was a lot of great wrestling action. I spent a little bit of the day rooting for a kid from Jeff West because I thought he was Grace's nephew only to find out that her nephews do not wrestle. Well, how many 'Broxtermans' can there really be? Luckily, I wasn't caught by any of my fellow wrestling moms cheering for the wrong team!

I know that all I did all day was sit around in a gym, but it was exhausting so now we are going to watch a movie!

TV watchin'

It may not be what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends, but when there is music on the TV, Harper scoots right over there and dances and squeals! It is very sweet! I should try to video her dancing though, as still photos don't capture the moment very well! I actually try to turn some of these shows off, not because I dislike them, but because the songs get stuck in my head and then I find myself at the grocery store singing all sorts of weird stuff and then I realize that I am singing out loud and it is just very embarrassing!

We are headed out early in the morning for a very large wrestling tournament in Silver Lake. Colin moved up a weight bracket to 95 pounds, so he might be facing different kids than he did last week, even though some of the schools are the same.

The girls are on an overnight babysitting excursion, so I hope that they don't stay up too late and are too tired to deal with tomorrow! Cam is spending the night with his friend and is then going to spend all day there tomorrow. He was so awesome this morning, STU-CO was sponsoring a Jr. High dance during the school day. He was in charge of admissions (canned goods), and he went off to school dressed in a shirt and tie. He takes his position very seriously! Colin said that the dance the STU-CO had was very fun, and that Cam was very professional in his role! I am thinking if he doesn't stop wearing ties to school, they may try to make him be the assistant principal or something!

Tuesday

Our friend took some photos of the soccer tournament (plus one that I thought was hysterical) and shared them with us. She did a great job! (thank you Becky).

Preston
Quincy

This photo obviously wasn't from the tournament on Saturday, but for some reason it cracked me up. Great season!

This evening, Colin had a wrestling dual with Silver Lake and Emporia. I enjoy the duals because to me it is a lot easier to get to see all the kids on the team wrestle. Tonight there were only 2 mats going, so it was awesome to get to see all of Colin's team mates. So much of the time there are 6 or 8 mats going and sometimes in more than one gym, and it is just impossible to keep up with everything going on, this is a great way to do things! Quincy spent most of the time sitting with Colin's wrestling team....Colin said she was keeping them entertained. I can hardly wait to hear her use her newly acquired vocabulary that she picked up off of a bunch of jr high boys!

Between watching Colin, and sitting with jr. high boys, Quincy also found time to run up and down the bleachers, torture Harper, and spill someone else's nachos. One perk of baseball season, most of the ball fields have a playground!!!

Colin did not have a great night on the mats....he lost both of his matches. BUT we are extremely proud of him for putting himself out there and giving it everything he has!

I liked this photo because if you look closely, you can see Quincy on the side....she really loves her big brother and she is already planning to have a career in wrestling herself! She can't wait until she can start kindergarten so she can be on a wrestling team too!