It's been awhile!

Audrie tested in Taekwondo last week. Thank goodness she passed and received her camouflage belt. She can now spar with her classmates. I am so proud!

Here are a few videos of Jake that I took yesterday. I know my voice sounds really stupid, so don't remind me.

Halloween!

For Halloween 2008, the kids and I went down to my sister's in Goddard since Daddy was hunting elk in Colorado! We had a great time trick-or-treating. Ayden and Audrie got a lot of candy. Jake even got out of the wagon a few times to go get some candy. In case you can't tell, Jake is a monkey, Audrie is a 'monster girl' and Ayden is Thomas the Train.

Shooting Guns/Jake's Kinesio Tape

Jake is wearing Kinesio Tape that will provide a gentle pull on his hand/fingers/arm to help train it so he doesn't fist his hand as often. It seems to be working. I've also noticed that it provides extra support while he is doing everyday things. It's a pain to put on and take off, but I think our Bubs will survive! We've designated one thing that he can only do with his right hand, and that is pushing the garage door buttons. Today, I put his finger on the button and he pushed it twice!! I was very excited!

Mark and I did some target practicing this last week. We both did fairly well. My biggest thing is that I forget how each gun operates. I'm sure I'll remember them all some day!

Happy Birthday to me! Today i am 27!!

Granny Mae's Pumpkin Patch!

This weekend, my sister Jinny and her son Ayden came and visited us. We went to the pumpkin patch. Everyone enjoyed riding on the little train, especially Jake and Ayden. Audrie had fun picking out candy and pumpkins. The lady who operates Granny Mae's, Tonya, carved her name in a pumpkin and gave it to us. Audrie was excited to ride the gator out into one of the fields to get her pumpkin. Tonya is so thoughtful!

Colorado!

On the last week of September, we rented a cabin in Colorado. Our friends Todd and Andrea Dinkel came along also. We had a great time exploring the land with our fourwheelers and enjoyed the cool weather. It even rained slush on us for a bit. Everyone had fun panning for fools gold. Audrie, Andrea, and I had to cross a creek in our jeans and shoes. That's why i took a picture of mine and Audrie's wet shoes. Jake didn't really do much but play with his toys. He got on the four wheelers for a little bit with Daddy and loved that!

I took a picture of my arm to show the bruises I have from playing volleyball last night. I'm glad we won our games. It's nice being on a winning team this year. My body is so sore though!

Audrie's Birthday!!

Last week, Audrie turned 9 years old! She is growing up so fast! We went down to Wichita to see Uncle Scott, Aunt Ninny, and Cousin Ayden. As part of Audrie's bday present, Uncle Scott took Audrie to High School Musical on Ice. She enjoyed it so much. We got her a cake from Coldstone. It was $37!!!! The cake was good, but not worth that much. On Friday night, we rode go carts at All Star Sports. Daddy Mo, Uncle Scott, Uncle Jon, Aunt Amanda, Weston, Aiden all enjoyed riding and bumping into each other. One time, Audrie ran out of gas and they had to push her off the track. It was a great time. For Audrie's bday present from us, she got a mountain bike. She likes to ride it without holding onto the handles. She thinks she's the cats meow.

Jake is still scooting all over the house. He says 'ball' and 'bye-bye' now. Jake enjoys getting into everything. He likes putting his fingers in the outlets and babbling to the Murphy's Oil bottle. Daddy needs to screw in the safety latches on the cabinets. I have put in those plastic plug in things so he won't get electrocuted. We also need to buy gates, but since our stairs are so wide they are going to be like 80 bucks a piece! Kids are not cheap!

Audrie's Testing at Taekwondo

Last night, Audrie tested in Taekwondo to move up to her yellow belt. She did very well and I'm sure she passed!

Jake can scoot!

Jake has finally learned to scoot. He goes everywhere now. I really have to watch him because he will scoot over to stuff and pull it off the shelves. Jake also will pull himself up against the furniture and chew on it now! Better get some gates for the stairs now!

Audrie is doing great in 3rd grade. Last week she got her first A + on her spelling test. She says that everything is pretty easy as of right now. I bet it gets harder though! Yesterday, we went to the dentist and RD had no cavities. Thank goodness!

Audrie's First Day of School

On Wednesday, Audrie started her first day of 3rd grade. So far, she is loving being at Bickerdyke. This school is grades 3-5. Her teacher this year is Mrs. Coady. So far, Audrie says that Mrs. Coady is very nice. She hasn't told me who she sits by yet, but her best friends are Justine and Abby. They have secret handshakes. I've witnessed these handshakes, so I guess they aren't that secret. On Monday, Audrie will bring home her first homework. Hopefully it's not too hard!



Jake bought a wagon with the money in his savings account! He loves it!

Vacation at Yellowstone

On August 7th, we left for our vacation at Yellowstone. We didn't drive there in one day though. The first night we stayed at Fort Collins, CO. Jake did very well this day without getting car sick!

On Friday night, we stayed at Jackson Hole, WY. This city was awesome! It had a great downtown area with nice shops and the food was to-die-for! We stayed at the Antler Inn. It was a small hotel whose rooms looked like cabins from the inside. I would love to go here again in the future sometime.

Finally, on Saturday we made our way to the park. On the way there, we saw the magnificent Grand Tetons. They are the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen. When we got into Yellowstone, we went and saw Old Faithful and some hot springs. That night, we were greeted by many buffalo eating grass outside our cabin window. Audrie thought it was the neatest thing in the world, besides Hannah Montana.

Sunday, we explored the park a bit. Drove up to Mammoth Springs and had lunch and then ventured into Montana where Jake got car sick. Poor guy! I sure didn't enjoy being puked on either! That night we had to do laundry.

On Monday, we stayed at Gillette WY at the Holiday Inn Express. That night, we went over to John Ayres' house for dinner. Jake enjoyed playing with his daughter Alyssa.

On our last day/night, we stayed at the Days Inn at Sidney, NE. Audrie enjoyed acting silly while swimming in the pool. We ate at the Pizza Hut Bistro for supper and then went to Cabelas for our entertainment. The Cabelas at Sidney isn't as impressive as the one in KC.

We were all glad to be home on Thursday. It gets pretty boring driving all the time, especially when Jake is getting car sick and Audrie's had too much sugar.