Dierks Bentley, Chiefs Players, an Evening Out

Thursday night, Beth & I went to the Dierks Bentley concert at the Kansas City Power & Light District's KC Live! Pavilion. What a nice evening! The weather was very nice and it was nice to hear the great music. Interestingly, we also ended up meeting a couple of Chiefs players. We were standing near them most of the night and eventually started talking. They were Travis Leffew & Nick Novak. Travis is an offensive lineman and Nick is a kicker. It was fun. They were very nice. Travis is actually going to be a new dad in November; his wife is due sometime that month with their first child. Too bad we couldn't get any tickets! Oh well, it was fun either way.

A Cute Glimpse

Tonight I was giving Leah, Leyton, & Nathaniel their baths. Jacob decided he didn't want one because he "got clean yesterday." Patrick wasn't home, so I didn't push it since I was a bit tired anyway. Jacob was in his room quietly minding his own business. I glanced in there to check on him and couldn't help but smile at what I saw: he was sitting in his little rocking chair, Thomas sunglasses tilted up on top of his head - upside down, black eye showing, holding his "baby" that he wrapped up in his blanket. He saw me & just smiled. He was just sitting there, rocking his baby. It was so cute I had to enjoy it for a moment before he moved on.

You Should See the Other Guy

Look at our little tough guy these days. The other night, the boys were playing a game...Daddy lay on the floor, boys jump off the couch over Dad. Well, Jacob & Leyton collided pretty hard. And, here's the proof to last a few days. Still a cutie. He hasn't even complained once.

Leyton's Quote of the Day

So how often do you have someone come to the door to sell something? Apparently, we do often enough! Tonight the doorbell rang and the boys all ran to the door. I said, "Who is it?" Leyton said, "It's somebody selling that expensive candy." Patrick & I chuckled at that. Obviously he's seen them often enough.

Fun Memorial Day Weekend

Wow, what a weekend. We sure kept busy. On Saturday, we had a family birthday party, followed by a graduation party. Then on Sunday we went to the Jiggle Jam during the day, a neighborhood barbeque for dinner, and then Patrick & I went to another neighborhood party that evening...kind of a belated 40th birthday party (this guy turned 42 on 4/15!). On Monday, we did a bit of shopping and then realized the kids were WORN OUT from the weekend. We sure enjoyed it, though.

On the Jiggle Jam update, we have some great news! Jim Cosgrove has a new album out! YEAH. It's called Upside Down and it is actually really good. Leyton's favorite song so far I believe is the "Pizza Tree" and Nathaniel's favorite is Jim's version of "This Little Light of Mine." We already purchased this album and have been listening to it a lot. I really like the song "Let's stick together." His daughter Lyda helped write the song last year when their daughter Willa (then 8 weeks) was injured at a baseball game in Wichita. It's cute and has a great message. A new thing is he partners up with two other local acts that we are liking more and more: Funky Mama (you can also see her blog) and the Doo Dads. Funky Mama has a great voice. I think the Doo Dads are a bit more rockin', but fun as well. The kids have been saying now that they want to make sure we get to see Funky Mama again soon. The Doo Dads weren't at the Jiggle Jam, but we saw them last week somewhere else. Wow, rereading this paragraph sounds pretty silly with all these names! The way we dance to all this is truly the best...lots of hip shaking, guitar playing, and great singing. They still pretend to be Jim each day. It's pretty enjoyable. This weekend, he asked us, though, when they would go on stage and sing with him since they still bring their guitars & wear their Hawaiian shirts to all the shows. I'm not sure when they'll be ready, but in the mean time, they don't miss a beat or a rock-n-roll jump while singing in the crowd. I actually recorded their own performance this time, too!

Hard Working Boys

Leyton, Nathaniel, and Jacob all love being "workers." They're so serious when they talk about all the work they have to do, how much it costs, and when they'll finish it up. I just love it. Today they were telling me about my car needing to be fixed. Leyton said, "Um, Christine, well, your car needs some work and I'll have to take care of it for you. It needs some repairs, that means it needs to be fixed." I asked how much this would cost. "$1." "Sir, by all means, fix this for me. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. I'll take care of it."

Then he was telling me about all his tools to do his "51" jobs he had to do. But luckily, he didn't have to do all 51 things today. Whew.

Jacob joins the fun: "Christine, I need to fix yours car."

"OK, please fix it for me."

"OK, Christine, I just need some more of these screws (from the garage). That be fine?"

"Sure, have a great day!"

Nathaniel pretty much keeps to himself and just works, hammers, digs, etc.

If I refer to any of them by name, they quickly correct me to tell me that they are "the workers." I try to follow their lead and we all get into our own little world.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Interestingly, I recently noticed something odd growing in my flowerbeds...it was a paintbrush, like a small one that comes with watercolor paints, planting brush up right next to my impatiens. I chuckled at the idea of wondering which of the boys planted this and what they may have been thinking when they did it.

School's Out

May 15 marked the last day of preschool for Leyton & Nathaniel. They really had a great year & enjoyed it very much. That night there was a closing program where they sang several songs they had learned this year. Some of them were: John 3:16, Romans 3:23, Hebrews 13:6, Squeaky Clean (through Jesus Christ). Along with the songs were actions and I think my favorite were the actions to Squeaky Clean. Leyton really acted them out, Nathaniel was a bit more reserved, but just as cute. They seemed very proud about the big closing program and talked about it most of the day. I am working on our summer agenda to come up with ideas of what to do. I'm sure we'll go to the zoo some, swim, go to Deanna Rose, and who knows what else. And, I'm sure summer will fly by faster than I can believe!

Taking a break for a snack

I delivered some apples to the boys the other day & they wanted to eat them outside. When I went back out, this is what I saw. It was so cute...they were just sitting there carrying on some serious conversation. I had to sneak out with the camera for it.

All in a Day's Work

What a busy Monday at our house. The boys managed to do the following today: 1) paint the house & their cars, 2) be conductors on the train, and 3) "have babies".

Definitions:
1) they "painted" the front porch and their Cozy Coupes with their paint brushes and bowls of soapy water.
2) we went to the park and they stood atop the play equipment for the longest time yelling, "All aboard, anyone riding the train today? All aboard." It was very cute.
3) this one really got me. I walked in the living room and they were all three lying on the floor holding the vacuum hose on their belly and pushing it around saying they had babies in their belly and they were pretending to be having a sonogram.

What a day. It really made me chuckle.

What we've been doing

Well, hard to believe the boys' last day of school May 15. I really can't believe it's going to be summer. Although I am ready for the weather to have us outside more. We've been enjoying that. Last weekend we went to Washington for Ben's 30th birthday party. We went to Patke's Dairy for ice cream while we were home...it was closing after 54 years of business. Yummy place. They said they just couldn't keep up with the rising costs of purchasing their products. We went on Saturday and Sunday was to be their last day.

We had a nice visit. Grandma & Grandpa were visiting Lissy & the family in TX for Allison's First Communion. That was probably the weird part...the kids thought it was pretty weird to stay at their house when they weren't even there. But, we did also get to visit Grandma Mary & Grandma Rita. They are both doing well.

I'm sure I've forgotten a few things I wanted to mention, but maybe it will come back to me later.

Leah's Recent Pictures

These are her 6 month pictures, so a bit late as she's 7 months already on Mother's Day!