Soccer Star

Here are pics from our very first practice...we have our very first two games this Saturday! We will get in one more practice before the big games this weekend. Andrew tries to touch with his hands when he thinks no one is looking...

Our Blog is One!

It is hard to believe that it has been a whole year since we started our blog. My first post was on September 18, 2008...it was about our first trip to the Kansas State Fair and Andrew riding a pony for the first time! Lots of firsts in this paragraph!
So much has happened in a year, and I am glad to have documented our lives during this time! I have considered making the blog private to only friends and family in the past. I know who is hitting our blog each day, and this includes, for the most part, our very special friends and family. That is who this blog was made for...to keep in touch with those we miss and care about from back home, to keep in touch with friends and family who have relocated, to keep in touch with friends where we currently live, and to even get to know friends of friends who blog. There will always be some level of voyeurism involved with blogging...our daily lives are just so fantastic that others can't help reading about what we are up to... Life is good by the way...

Book Review - The Things We Do for Love, by Kristin Hannah

I was not joking when I said that I thought I had found a great author. This is, I believe, the third book of Hannah's that I have read...another page turner here! This book was about a woman named Angie from a big, Italian family. The family owns a restaurant, and Angie decides to return home and restructure the restaurant in hopes of saving it. Angie is in advertising/pr which made it all the more fun to read for me. One of the reasons Angie returns home is because she and her husband are getting a divorce due to problems having children. Angie meets and befriends a beautiful, intelligent, underprivileged high school student named Lauren at a winter coat drive. The two characters both find qualities that they need in the other. This book taught me to be even more thankful for family relationships that I have. Sometimes parents may seem to not make the best decisions, but it was clear after reading this book that some kids get a real bum deal in the parent department. The mom to Lauren in this book was a severe alcoholic, stole money from her daughter, abandoned her for days at a time, and relied on her daughter to make the rent payments while she was also a full time high school student trying to get scholarships for college! Whew! I don't want to tell too much, but I will say this was another good one. I read it quickly, and I can't wait to start the next one!

Kansas State Fair!!

Lee and David enjoying the fair.

Liz and Nancy enjoying the fair.

Andrew, our little sunflower!!

Montgomery Gentry Concert and the KS State Fair!

A view from our seats...I thought I had hit the jackpot when I got these tickets the day they went on sale. We were close, but there was a big pole blocking our view...it was okay, we still had a great time!

One of my favorite times of the year is the KS State Fair. It is so much fun, and there is so much to see and do! The whole family went on Saturday, and Liz and I went to the Montgomery Gentry concert that evening. It was awesome!! We will be going back this weekend, and I can't wait to see the butter sculpture, the cakes that won the decorating contest, and the winning vegetables. We looked at mainly boats, cars, and equipment on Saturday since the guys were left watching Andrew while the gals went to the concert.

Should have been an engineer...NOT!

Andrew seriously has not gotten a new toy since his birthday in June. For reals. So, I let him pick out this parking garage/gas station/car wash play set at Wal-Mart. It was only $20, and it only took me 2 hours to put it together. Once I figured out the architecture of the darn thing, I had to go back and figure out where all 100 of the itty bitty stickers were supposed to go. No wonder it was so cheap. This is my proudest accomplishment for today! I did it without David's help...he could have put it together in 5 minutes without even reading the directions. Must be nice!!

Book Review - Between Sisters by Kristin Hannah

After reading Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah, I found two more of her books at our fabulous local library. Most recently, I finished Between Sisters...another good one! This book was about two very different sisters who experience marriage, career success, and motherhood...all the good stuff women like reading about! Their relationship is put to the test when one of the sisters is diagnosed with a medical problem. In order to not tell too much, let me just say it was well worth reading...not in the same league as Firefly Lane, but it is going to take a lot to compete with my affection for Firefly Lane! Between Sisters was no disappointment. Hannah writes in a way that makes you want to finish her books...I literally want to read them from cover to cover all at once they are so good!

Book Review - Firefly Lane, Kristin Hannah

Wow. I finished this book last night, and I had to hide from Andrew because I was crying so much. The heaving, coughing, invasive type of crying that leaves your eyes swollen for 24 hours...and I am not a big fan of sad stories, but that is the thing about this book, 95% of the book isn't sad!! Seriously, I think I might have shed one tear while reading a book in my life until this one. The written word just normally does not invoke emotion for me. Very rarely have I read a life-changing, moving book like this one. This was my first time to read a book by Kristin Hannah, and I was glad to discover that she had written 15 other books. I plan to read them all.

O.K., so back to Firefly Lane. I don't want to give away the ending, so I will do my best to just give a brief summary. It is about two girls who wind up living in the same neighborhood and become close friends. They are different from each other in many ways, but they share the need for close friendship and belonging. It starts out in the 70s and follows them through high school, college, marriage, children, etc. One girl, Katie, feels marriage and being at home with her children is important while the other girl, Tully, feels her career is most important. Katie comes from a traditional family where the mom and the dad are together and do family things with their kids. Tully was abandoned by her mom who remains addicted to drugs throughout the story. It was just so good, and I don't even know how to put it into words. It reminded me so much of one of my closest friends from childhood...not that we really had the same backgrounds or beliefs as these girls, but, some of the things they did together just brought back memories of my childhood with her. We grew up on the same street, and even when my family relocated to the country, her family eventually relocated to the same road out in the country too! I would like to talk about how the book ends, but I don't want to give it away! Let me just say that it was an excellent book. Kristin Hannah is a very talented author. This book moved me.

Recent Random Photos

Nancy and David experiencing a romantic moment at the lake...we were really just acting silly!!

Andrew riding a big horse at the "When Pigs Fly" BBQ and Air Show

This was his first time to ride a horse that wasn't considered a pony.

Mom and Andrew waiting on Dad to get us something to drink because we were soooo thirsty!

Book Review

I recently read Beth Harbison's most recent book "Hope in a Jar". Harbison is the author of the "Shoe Addicts Anonymous" and "Secrets of a Shoe Addict" which I have not read but will be reading really soon. This was a great "chick lit" book, and I was was hooked after reading what I believe was the first line in the book:

"The only thing worse than finding out your boyfriend is cheating on you with a beautiful woman is finding out he’s cheating with an ugly woman." (What an awesome observation!)

When a book starts out with a statement like that, you know it is going to be good. It is basically about two best friends who rekindle what was once a thriving relationship at their 20th high school reunion. One of the characters used to be the beauty in high school and the other was the brain...over the years they seem to switch roles. For me, this was one of those you just can't put down...I even took it with me on the boat last weekend which means I really liked this book if I was able to read a few chapters during the excitement of a day on the lake! I am so glad I have discovered another great author, and I look forward to reading the other two "shoe" books as soon as I finish the book I am reading now which is "Firefly Lane" by Kristin Hannah...another new-to-me author that I plan to read more from in the future. So many good books to read, so little time!! No worries, the cold, wintry season is right around the corner...prime book reading time for me.

We have cooties!

We have had a rough several days...starting with Andrew on Thursday night. He quickly recovered for the most part as children normally do. Monday, David was sent home with a fever and a cold...I followed shortly thereafter the same day with a feeling of impending doom. The stomach virus hit me hard and fast about mid morning on Monday. We went to our family doctor (David was forced to take over as caretaker) to get some assistance, but by this point I was dehydrated and sent to the emergency room for IV fluids. We are all back at school and work today, and I am 100% more thankful for good health and looking forward to having it again very soon!