Trip to ICT

Can't believe that it has been 8 months since we have been to Wichita, that is quite unusual for us! We were able to give the boys enough snacks so we could hold off and eat dinner at Taco Pronto when we got thee. The boys had a great time at Nana & Papa's house. They love being able to ride their bikes and scooters it such a big area. Great choice on the cul-da-sac! Driving the truck is still Logan's job as you can see. The other boys just let him. Works the same way at home with the gator.

Normally when we get together it's a really late night...well we took it to a whole new level this time. Tdonn and Jessica keep me up until 5 am! So I racked up a total of maybe 3.5 hours of sleep. I am not a spring chicken anymore. I can't handle that. Thank goodness I had my pronto or else I don't think I would of had the energy to make it! Saturday was Rylin's (a.k.a Dorothy) 3rd B-Day party. The Wizard of Oz theme was not noticed by the boys so I have made a mental note to make sure they watch that. Logan was a little concerned that it was going to be way too girly but he was pleasantly surprised. Grandad and Kale shared cake and Logan and Lucas got Uncle Zach to hang out in the heat when they weren't wrastlin' with Uncle Jamey. The boys made sure to get at least 2 more sessions outside driving the truck. With school already started we left mid morning and were not able get another pronto run in. Steve was very distraught! Kale did a great job with the potty training on the trip. He is starting to tell us that he has to go. I think he is working on earning a new vacuuming (that's what he calls it).

Lucas' first note sent home

So just like me, I'm sure anyone who knows Lucas saw the post title and instantly though, "Oh great, what did he do?" Actually, the teacher knows us and sent home a note of a cute/funny story. Apparently Mrs. W was taking pictures of the class and filled the memory card and so she told the class that her camera was no longer working. Well Lucas piped up with, "Just throw it on the ground and stomp on it and that ought to fix it!" Her note asked who taught Lucas how to fix things. If that's his approach, repairing things may not be in his future. Guess he is fitting into his class just fine!

Back to school!

The first day of school was fabulous for Logan and Lucas!Kale's day... kind of rocky, he bite Benjamin today. Logan was so stinking excited for school he woke up with a smile and I didn't have to ask him 500 times to brush his hair & teeth and put his belt and shoes on. I'm sure that will kick in tomorrow. Lucas was nervous but didn't let it show too much. He thought he would get to see his brother at recess and lunch but that won't happen. He was okay with that since I would still be there...yeah that doesn't happen either since mom has to work. All those security blankets pulled out from under him and he still handled it like a champ. Thank goodness as I might of issues if he hadn't. He found some toys and a boy named Maxx and I was free to go. Logan thought his mom was a total goober for taking pictures in school. I was not the only one! The morning went smoothly which made for great days for the both of them! Logan got camo pencils and a new pencil class so his day was basically made from the get go. Steve had a good first day of class as well.

Excited and looks confident going in!Still smiling once he made it in!

Logan in his classroom wishing his mom would put down the camera.

Logan and his good buddy Connor. Not in the same class this year. Shoot! On the same Soccer team though!

Logan and classmates Cade, Logan R. & Tyler. They too are on his soccer team.

Kale Prays!

Yesterday in church, there was brief moment when Kale wasn't jacking around and hears Monseigneur says,"Let us pray..." and in his non whispering voice call responded with, "Bless us oh Lord and these mumble, mumble gifts." Leo and Shirley who sit behind us thought he was hilarious. It was pretty funny!

So long summer!

In an effort to pay tribute to the last week of summer (for the little boys as Steve had to actually go to work this week) we tried to fill the week with some of the fun things they like doing. We suffered through a night at Chucky Cheeze-it (Lucas' name for it), we rode the scooter for what fell like ever, we played the wii, watched movies with popcorn, etc. One of their favorite things was the picinic and quasi camp-out. Being that it was a Berens boy picinic we of course had Pizza and Pop (chips is the missing food group). The picinic was just on the driveway since the chiggers love to munch on Lucas and Kale. We then let them campout and sleep in the tent. They totally thought it was a real campout even though they slept on an air mattress inside the tent which was inside the garage which I closed after they fell asleep. They stayed up late and chased fireflies. They had a great time.

The fellas enjoying the picnic

Lucas & Daddio after eating

The 3 amigos hanging out in the tent.

Finally snoozing safely in the garage!

Funny Stories

A couple of Funny Stories:

Logan was reading a book which has been quite the frustrating process for the both of us and this is what he says:
L: How many more pages?
M: Don't worry about it. Read.
L: This is dumb.
M: No it's not. Read.
L: Just get me a Peter.
M: What?
L: You know, a peter.
M: I have know idea what your are talking about.
L: (frustrated) Yes you do, you told me about it. The person that helps you learn.
M: Oh, a tutor?
L: Yeah a tutor. Just get me one.
M: (quiet laughter) Read.

On Thursday night Steve and I both had meetings that overlapped and we couldn't take the kids so our fabulous neighbors, Leahman and Marie, agreed to watch them for about 30 minutes. They have helped us out a lot recently so the boys made them thank you pictures and took them flowers. When we delivered them Marie told me this story:

Lucas: Miss Marie, I need a drink.
Marie: What would you like? Juice, water,...
Lucas: Um, I'll just have a beer.
Marie: I don't think so, how about a lemonade?
Lucas: That'll work.

This just days after they drug a cooler of beer to the end of the driveway in the rain waiting to hand them out to the neighbors that passed by. They just wanted to have a party. These boys....

Dress Up

As a Mom of 3 boys, I never really thought we would play much dress up. Boy was I wrong. They are always dressing up as hunters, army guys, policemen, batman, superman, stormtroopers, etc. Last night Steve and I were downstairs watching the Olympics and Logan came to the top of the stairs and with tons of excitement tells us to come up stairs. Now the model parents that we are we told him to come downstairs as we weren't really up for moving unless we had to. He insisted that we come to the playroom and it was mine turn to deal with them so I finally relented and drug my sorry behind up the stairs. I wasn't pleased because nearly every toy know to man was out but there stood the cutest kid ever! Logan dressed him up and was so proud and exclaimed, "Look how cute my baby brother is!" He was right. Kale is watching me post this and just said, "Oh me cute. Amryman."

Skate Park

Logan was such a great help this week while I was in New Jersey he earned a trip to the skate park. Something that's not my favorite thing to do as the skate park doesn't pull the best crowd. Thankfully it wasn't very busy and the guys there were more than willing to share the ramps with Logan and his climbing tag alongs...and his dorky parents with the camera. Logan had a couple of crashes but nothing serious. He was a little conservative as I think he learned a big lesson this week. The kids visiting the neighbors decided to try to ride their scooters down the big hill. Needless to say, they spent the rest of the day in the ER but were lucky and survived with just road rash from head to toe. The boys had a ton of fun at the skate park Lucas' feet are black from running up and down the ramps.

Fun in the Sun...and Moon.

We had one of the best times yet on the lake this weekend. We met our friends, the James family, out on the lake Friday night for pizza and boating. The best thing about going in the evening is that the that the lake is smooth and there are very few boats out. We headed out to our favorite cove and dropped anchor. The boys swam and played with causing very little trouble ( a lake miracle!). Logan skied some and was simply amazing however, we had to cut him off pretty early since we were running out of sun light. We tried to convince Cole and Lucas to ski but both gave us the big thumbs down on that idea. One of these days I'll convice Lucas to try. Kale gained some confidence in the water and actually did some free floating. Normally he makes sure that he has both hads securely wrapped around the sleeves of your life jacket or that you have your arms securely around his waist. He really doesn't like it if you aren't wearing a life jacket when you swim with him. Sometimes you can get buy with sitting on noodles or sitting on a life jacket but he complains if you aren't wearing it properly. We stayed out on the lake until 10:30 pm and the only reason we came in is because the boys were getting really tired. It was a new moon and very clear so you could see a million stars. Kale's first reaction to the seeing them all was, "Holy Cow!". Logan, Steve and I were lucky enough to see a shooting star. I know it was a first for Logan and I'm not sure I had ever seen one. Logan won't tell us what his wish was but I'm pretty sure it was for an i-pod. It was a pretty amazing, fun night. Good fun, good friends, good kids, relaxation, floating in the lake...that's living!

On Saturday the day Todd, Tawana and Austin came to visit. The boys were pretty excited for them to come. Here they are waiting for them to come up the hill.

We all went to Whole Hog Cafe, the home of award winning BBQ, for lunch. Austin was positive that it was no where near as good as what Todd cooks! After that we headed out to the lake. It was Austin's first time to ride on the boat and go tubing. Lucas and Austin tubed together and Austin said that was his favorite part. Steve yawned while he was on the tube and then he ended up wet. Don't taunt this woman driver! Here's a picture of a brief moment in time when the boys took a break from swimming.

Not long pants

My dear sweet Lucas loves to wear long pants or green shorts. Why he likes to wear long pants, I have no idea. He likes to wear green shorts because William Luyet wore a green shirt when he was here and Lucas thought William was the best and the green shorts are Luke's way of honoring William. I'm not sure he left his side the whole time he was here. I hope this is not an indicator on how easily influenced he will be in his teen years! However, I am afraid it is. The green shorts is a new and probably short term passion. The passion for long pants has been around all summer. This kid sweats like crazy (thank you Papa!) but still wants to wear the long pants. I have taken them all away but somehow he finds them. So this week I grounded him from wearing long pants. As you can see in the picture to the left he used his creativity to get around this grounding. The storm trooper costume is not long pants it is a costume with pants connected to a shirt and I did not ground him from that. He caught me on a technicality and he's just 4! At least he doesn't have the blue pants on that he wore for a week straight. Notice he still has to have something on his head. Thanks to Aunt Kasey at least he show his Wildcat pride at the same time!