Wichita Weekend

We went down to Wichita this past weekend to look for a new car but had no such luck. We went to bunches of dealerships and nearly bought a Toyota Corolla yesterday but they just wouldn't budge enough on the price, so we said no. Thank goodness the dealership had one of those huge bouncy slides. The boys spent hours on that thing. Plus, they were grilling hotdogs and hamburgers so we got a free lunch. We drove down Saturday morning and looked at a few cars. We then checked into our hotel. We got a GREAT deal at the Hyatt Regency (thank you, priceline negotiator). It's right downtown, overlooking the Arkansas River. The hotel had a really nice indoor pool and a couple of hot tubs. So, we spent lots of time swimming. We made the obligatory visit to Chuck E. Cheese. We've learned not to eat there, though--just play the games. And went to Toys-R-Us. On Sunday we drove up to Emporia (an hour away) to visit our old ward and to show the boys around town. Adam was 3 y/o and Matt was 6 months old when we moved to Garden City from there. I thought Adam would remember a bit more but he didn't. So, now we're back in town, hoping we can find a car here.
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A couple of days ago, Adam was talking about different kinds of jobs and wondering what kind of job he would like. He then asked, "Are there any jobs where you can get paid for doing nothing? Because I'm good at doing nothing."
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Matt likes to write his name. For the past month he thinks it's fun to write it backwards--
T-T-A-M. Today he wrote it again backwards and asked me what it said, so I told him it says, "T'tam." He then said he wants that to be his new name and wants to be called "T'tam". He even wants us to tell his friends his new name.

R.I.P.

Our beloved Honda Accord has finally died. It's 18 years old and has over 197,000 miles on it. We're sad to see it go. We've had that car a long time. When we bought it we decided we were going to keep it until we "drove it into the ground", and that's what we've done. We're not going to be able to resell it, since it's literally dead, so our plans are to somehow get it to a junkyard and scrap it. So, we're off to Wichita this weekend to look for another car. That's not my favorite thing to do and I don't like spending a lot of $$ on cars, so hopefully we can find a good deal.

"No More Pencils, No More Books......

(Adam's 1st day of summer break--doesn't he look relaxed?)

NO MORE TEACHER'S DIRTY LOOKS!" School is out and summer has begun. Adam finished school yesterday. This morning he slept in 'til 9:30am. And right now, he's watching cartoons. He's excited for summer, however, since he's such a busybody, we've got lots of activities planned. We have a school lesson/worksheet/activity and running time every morning. He loves to run and can run 1.5-2 miles w/o stopping. That's pretty good for a 6 y/o. Starting June 1st, he'll be going to a playground program for 5 weeks. The Rec dept. puts this on. They have a 2 hour/daily program where the kids play, have a craft and eat lunch. Adam will also be taking a couple of science-related kids classes at the junior college. They each last a week. And, we have both boys signed up for 2 weeks of swim lessons. And, that's just the month of June.

12 Years.....

OF WEDDED BLISS!!!

I've just about got our garden in. Last month I planted lettuce, peas, broccoli and cauliflower. The peas are doing great. I'm really excited about them because I love to snack on raw snap peas. Two heads of lettuce have died but I've still got 7 left. And, I've solved the mystery of my "mystery" plants. They're pumpkins. I pulled one up and the seed was still attached. There are about 20+ plants. I'll definitely have to get rid of some, otherwise, our backyard will become the new local pumpkin patch. This morning I planted green beans, basil, and parsley. And, to pay homage to the great state of Kansas, I planted a couple of sunflowers. I thought it would be fun and they'd look pretty. I've still got to put in our tomatoes. It's just a matter of getting by hinie down to Home Depot to buy the plants. So, I'm hoping we'll have a good garden this summer. We've got a good variety--10 different things--so, we'll see.

This morning Adam and Matt asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day. I said that I would love for them to clean up the playroom. Matt looked at me and said, "Hmm, no, I don't want that for Mother's Day."--(like he's supposed to receive a gift).

Milestones & Mudholes

Adam touching a tortoise.

Adam's class playing in the rocket at the zoo park.

Adam's class watching the otters swim. Adam is in the top, right corner.

So, life has been busy the past week or two. Time tends to slip by and then I realize I haven't written anything down as to what's been happening. We've had two, big accomplishments.

1. Adam has learned to tie his shoes. We spent a couple of frustrated evenings trying to learn and then, one day, it just clicked.

2. Matt is no longer wearing pull-ups to bed. In fact, he's done so well, I was brave enough to return a package of pull-ups to the store. Perhaps it's his new, big bed, or maybe since he'll be 4 y/o next month--who knows--it's just great.

The weather the past month has been crazy here. We didn't have any rain or moisture for months, literally, and then we had a blizzard that dropped 16 inches of snow. Every weekend since then we've had rain--and a lot of it. And, there was a tornado just south of town two nights ago. All of the trees have their leaves, the grass is green and flowers are in bloom. A couple of weekends ago, between rain storms, we put in a bunch of new landscaping in our front yard--azaleas, asian lilies, gauras, spendwells, spireas, barberrys, geraniums, etc. We've planted some of our garden, too--peas, broccoli, cauliflower and lettuce. Yesterday I went to check on it and found some 'mystery' plants sprouting, where I didn't plant anything. They look like beans, or maybe pumpkins. Last fall, Adam and Matt were playing with some old, dried beans(black, pinto, navy, etc) and pumpkins seeds and they stuck them in the dirt. Perhaps they happened to survive. We're going to leave them for now to find out what they are. We need to get our tomatoes and other veggies planted pretty soon. And our lone raspberry bush is doing well. We planted six of them last year but only one took, so we're hoping it does well this summer and we might get a couple of berries from it. As for the tornado, it damaged one of the elem. schools and a dairy farm and a few homes. The sirens were going off for about 30 minutes. Some friends came over that are basement-less. Initially Adam and Matt were a bit fretful when they heard the sirens and we had them put their shoes and jackets in the basement. But, once their friends came over, they were fine and quickly forgot about the sirens and tornado.

School is winding down. The last day is Tues., May 19th. Adam is both excited and a bit sad. He's really liked school and I think he'll miss seeing his friends, teacher and having lots of activities fill his day. It's been fun to help out on Weds. in his class. I think Matt, though, is ready for it to end. He's been a bit more restless and bored those afternoons and is starting to act up a bit. So, I'm glad we've only got two more weeks to go. Last Friday, we went with the kindergartners to the zoo. It was a 5 hour field trip and by the end, the kids were exhausted and hot(it got up to 90 that day). With summer fast approaching, we've already started making plans. It's going to be a busy, full summer. For June, we're going to Cheyenne so Grandpa can do dental check-ups, and I've got Girls' Camp. In July, we'll be gone 16 days to Miami, and I think we've got family coming for the 4th of July. August is still up in the air, but school starts the 12th so we can't do too much. It should be fun.