A Night on the Town in Wichita

Dave and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary this last Saturday, and to celebrate, we set out for a night on the town that included dinner and a movie.

We had decided on Chinese food, as we love the Shanghai Buffet on Harry Street, but as we were driving to the restaurant, Dave mentioned he was craving fried chicken, and that sounded great to me, so off in a different direction we went. We drove across town, hoping to locate a suitable restaurant close to the 13th street Warren where our movie tickets were reserved. As we were driving down Rock Road, we noticed Amarillo Grill in it's new location. Amarillo Grill's parent company filed chapter 11 bankruptcy back in May of 2003, and as a result, all of the Wichita area stores were closed. The founder of the chain repurchased several of the stores, and also reopened this one here in Wichita. We remembered hearing that the menu still contained many of the local favorites from the original restaurant, so we decided to give it a try. When we arrived, we were told there was a 20 - 25 minute wait, which we agreed to, although we weren't sure why as there were numerous empty tables in the rather small dining area. So, we went ahead and took a seat on a long couch, and waited about 15 minutes for our name to be called. The restaurant was very dimly lit, but on the swankier side, that is until you are seated. It is only then that you can then see the food prep area, as it is arranged similar to a diner, in which you can not only see the commotion behind the scenes, but you can hear it as well. It was extremely loud for the type of customer the owner was obviously trying to attract.

As soon as we were seated, we quickly scanned our menus, and noticed that a huge portion of the original menu was missing, and I need to add here that it was the majority of the good foods that were given a permanent vacation.

The quick scan of the once enticing menu revealed that among the remaining items were plenty of expensive steaks, a barbecued chicken, a mushroom smothered chicken, and a few other meals that weren't noteworthy enough to make it into my memory. That coupled with the fact that they had a separate wine list in a diner style atmosphere made us quickly realize this was not the restaurant for us. So, we advised the server that we would not be dining there, as we were hoping for a few more choices for dinner (there were only about 15, and 8 or so of them were steak, and not one of them was of the chicken fried variety!) and we left. I have never left a restaurant before ordering, but there was absolutely no way I was spending over $50.00 on a meal that wasn't what I wanted. Do you remember the little loaves of bread they used to serve with every meal? They don't anymore. It's a sad day when a family favorite restaurant turns into this. Although I do not wish for the demise of any business, I do not see how this restaurant can survive with this type of atmosphere, and limited menu choices.

So, we decided to just drive to the Warren and have dinner in their restaurant. It was loud, and the service was horrible, but the food was at least affordable, and tasted great. We were out of there for less than $20.00.

In my next post, I will review the move we chose for our viewing pleasure - The Dark Knight.

Gum and Peanut Butter

I hate gum. I didn't used to, but when you have to spend 2 agonizing hours trying to remove the stickiest gum you have ever seen from your 4 year old son's hair, you learn to hate it.

During the afternoons, I babysit for 2 children, a boy who is 7, and his sister who is 2. Today, the 2 year old had gum in her mouth, unbeknownced to me, and only because she is a sneaky snake. I guess since I make her spit it out every time I catch her with it, she has decided to hide it in the roof of her mouth, so I won't know she has it. I make a point of watching her for a few minutes when she arrives, just to see if she's chewing on something, but today, there was no evidence of chewing.

The kids were happily playing in Dawson's room, so I left them alone, and went on to work on some things around the house, and catch up on some orders. About 10 minutes later, Dawson comes out of his room, and yells down the hallway that Sissy (that's what they call her) put something in his hair. So, I go in to see what it is, thinking it is most likely a toy of some kind, only to discover to my horror that the little sneaky snake took a gigantic wad of gum and decided to use my son's hair as a trash can. Poor Dawson is all I can say at this point. The poor little guy grabbed it, and pulled, and when he did, it went everywhere. It started out as a wad on the top of his head, and ended up a stringy mess that covered the left side of his head; hair, ear, skin, and shirt. It even ended up on the door, wall, trim board, and floor of his room. Did I mention that it was the stickiest gum I have ever seen?

So, I sat him down, and asked my daughter, who was laughing hysterically at this point, to bring me a glass of ice, and a wet wash cloth, which made her laugh even more as she thought I has lost my mind. As soon as the requested items arrived, I began the painstaking process of icing my poor son's head and skin to freeze the gum. I think I forgot to tell you that this gum was STICKY, and refused to freeze. So I started pulling. I do not recommend that remedy at all, and neither does Dawson. In fact, he is adamant that it should be avoided at all cost! So, not thinking too clearly, I call Dave, hoping for some words of wisdom, and he gives me the wackiest solution I have ever heard of in my life. Are you ready for this... Peanut butter. Yep, the same stuff my son loves to eat for lunch. Really, are you serious? Peanut butter? Convinced he was completely off his rocker, I went to my trusty friend Google, and asked him what he thought. Would you believe he agreed with Dave? Peanut butter?! I was shocked. So I grabbed the jar, smeared it on, and couldn't resist this hilarious shot. The peanut butter worked on his skin, but nothing could remove it from his hair except my trusty scissors. So, he now has a little bald spot on the top of his head, and is missing a small patch of hair at the base of his neck, but at least it's all off of his skin now.
So, my poor sticky mess of a son is missing some hair, my daughter thinks we've all lost our marbles, and we found a new use for a yummy sandwich filling. Not a bad day after all.

All About Me

I don't have anything really exciting to talk about today, so I figured I would answer this little survey one of my friends e-mailed me. So, here goes. Probably more information than you would ever want to know about me. :)

1. What time did you get up this morning? 9:30
2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Dark Night, last Saturday for our anniversary- Awesome movie!
4. What are your favourite TV shows? The Closer, Psych, All Law & Orders and CSI, Bones, House
5. What did you have for breakfast? I skipped it.
6. What is your middle name? Michelle
7. What is your favourite cuisine? Chinese or Mexican
8. What foods do you dislike? Smelly fishy things.
9. What is your favourite chip? Cheese Doritos
10. What is your favourite CD at the moment? I haven't bought a CD in ages, so I don't have a favorite right now.
11. What kind of car do you drive? 2001 Chevy Lumina
12. What is your favourite sandwich? Dave's Mom's Egg Salad. It's delicious!
13. What characteristics do you despise? People who think they are better than everyone else, and treat everyone like dirt.
14. Favourite item of clothing? comfy t-shirt
15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? I would have to say Maine believe it or not. I have no desire to travel outside of the country, and Maine is the most beautiful place I have ever seen.
16. What colour is your bathroom? One is lime green, and one is white
17. Favourite brand of clothing? Wal-Mart brand. Cheap and long lasting.
18. Where would you want to retire? See question 15.
19. Favourite time of day? 1:30 am, when Dave gets home from work. I like knowing my family is all home and safe.
20. Where were you born? Wichita, Kansas
21. Favourite sport to watch? Nascar
22. Who do you least expect to send this back? Well, since it's posted on my blog, I don't think anyone will send it back
23. Person (people) you expect to send it back first? See above.
24. What type of detergent do you use? Whatever is on sale
25. Coke or Pepsi? Coke
26. Morning person or night owl? night owl
27. What size shoe do you wear? 10
28. Do you have pets? Yes, 3 dogs.
29. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with everyone? Nope.
30. Favourite candy bar? Snickers
31. What is your best childhood memory? Our last family vacation to Branson, Missouri. My dad, my brother, and I told my mom the American Plunge at Silver Dollar City wouldn't get her wet, and that the drop wasn't that bad... She didn't speak to us for hours.
32. What are the different jobs you have had in your life? Opening shift manager at Wendy's, advertising rep, call center rep, nanny, daycare provider, business owner.
33. What colour shirt are you wearing? blue
34. Piercing? 2 in each of my ears
35. Eye colour? blue.
36. Ever been to Africa? Nope
37. Ever been toilet papered? No...but have I ever BEEN toilet paper-ing?! Oh, heck yeah!
38. Love someone so much it made you cry? Yeah, and thanks for bringing it back up.
39. Been in a car accident? Yes.
40. Croutons or bacon bits? Both.
41. Favourite day of the week? Sunday
42. Favourite restaurant(s)? Red Lobster, Big Cheese Pizza, Chili's
43. Favourite flower? Carnation or Bleeding Heart.
44. Favourite ice cream? Tin Roof Sundae (my grandma would have this for me every time we went over there)
45. Disney or Warner Brothers? Warner Brothers
46. Favourite fast food restaurant(s)? Wendy's
47. What colour is your carpet? We have wood floors in the main rooms, but Dawson's carpet is blue, and Hannah's is gray
48. How many times did you fail your driver's test? Zero times
49. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Michael's, or Wal-Mart
50. What do you do most often when you are bored? Watch TV, surf the net, work on my blog or website, design new products, text Dave

Family Reunion Continued

Ok, so here is my second post about our family reunion. Guess what the kid's favorite thing to do when we get to the hotel is. You guessed it, swimming. Dawson and Hannah started talking abut swimming at the hotel pool a couple of weeks before we left, and they started begging as soon as we got there. So, after a little nap, it was off to the pool. We were lucky on Friday night because we had the entire pool just to ourselves. Saturday night was a completely different story. There was a family of 4 who were staying in the hotel, and apparently had come from their own reunion because they were wearing family reunion t-shirts. Anyway, they, along with about 15 other members of their family, were monopolizing the shallow end of the pool all night Saturday night. At about 5 minutes until 10 (keep in mind that the pool closes at 10) they finally left, and all you see is car after car pulling out of the parking lot. Only 4 of the 20 so people were registered guests of the hotel. So, we were able to enjoy the pool for 5 minutes before they locked it. I guess 5 minutes is better than no time at all. :)

While I was talking to family at the reunion, Dave decided to use my camera to get a couple of shots of myself, and a couple of my father and my grandfather. What he captured in the first photo is enough to make any true camera professional proud. I think this photo was supposed to be of me, since I was standing on the other side of the food counter, but I'm not sure. In any case, the photo will be a constant reminder of why I should be the one behind the camera, and he should continue to be one of my favorite models. In his defense, he has always had a problem with taking photos, no matter the camera. It seems he is always cutting someones head off in the shot, or forgetting to set the flash, as I think was also the case in this shot. But, at least he tries. :)

He did manage to take a decent photo of my father, and my grandfather though, so I can't fault him too much. I did forgot to ask them if he captured their good sides in the photo. I do like this photo, and plan on having it framed. It's nice to have a photo of at least two of the generations together. My brother, and his sons, couldn't make it this year, and when we took the generational family photo at my grandfather's 90th birthday party last year, my brother and his sons were also mysteriously missing from that one as well.

I hope that we are able to get a photo of everyone together in the very near future. A photo with my grandfather, his kids, and all of the grand kids, and great-grand kids (congratulations Shannon) is one photo we are all going to wish we had. With our family spread out all over the map, it is difficult to get everyone together at the same time, but it will be well worth it. The photo taken last year had everyone in it, except my brother and his kids, so it was close. But, the grand kids keep having kids, so we are going to need a new photo before long.

Ok, I'm losing track of my post here. This is a family reunion post, so I need to talk about the family reunion. We left at 7am on Friday morning, July 18th, and arrived in Conway, Arkansas at around 1:30 Friday afternoon. We checked into the hotel, and promptly took a nap. We then readied ourselves for dinner, and met the rest of the family at Ryan's Steakhouse for dinner. After dinner, it was off to the hotel to swim.

Saturday morning, we left for our Saturday morning trek to Wal-mart at around 8:30 am. We did our shopping, my dad bought his normal 50 pieces of chicken, and we were off the 20 or so miles to the 1st Baptist church in Damascus. We arrived at a little before 10 (the reunion is scheduled to be from 11 - 2), and the men put the tables and chairs up for the event, while the women began cooking. At a little after 11, my grandfather grabbed his gavel, and began tapping the podium to get every one's attention. It always takes him several minutes to gain control of the unruly crowd of people who seem to think that we are there to talk to one another and catch up on old times. After a few unsuccessful minutes of tapping the podium, someone stands up and let's out a loud whistle, and at last, it's quiet. So, my grandfather begins one of his speeches that we have all come to know and love. This one was about the most painful experience a person could suffer through, the pain of undelivered speech. After the speech comes the prayer, and then the mad dash to stuff ourselves. We sit around for an hour or so talking and eating (an my dad and Rose bought me a birthday cake since it was also my birthday), we pass the hat to collect money to "rent" the hall next year and pay the postage necessary to mail out the reminder postcards throughout the year (we raised over $200 this year) and then a little after noon, it's time to take the annual family photo, outside in the dripping hot. And I do mean dripping hot. It was 96 degrees and HUMID! It takes about 20 minutes to round everyone up and get them outside, and then another 15 minutes or so to get everyone situated so we can take the photo. Then another 5 minutes (every one's hustling to get inside) for everyone to get back inside. So, that puts us at almost 1, and people start to leave. Oh, I forgot to mention the 4 huge pieces of paper that adorn the walls of the hall. You know what I'm talking about. The family tree.

Anyway, we are all out of there by 1:30. We make a stop at the statuary place, that last about 5 minutes since they don't have what I'm looking for, and then we stop at Pickles Gap, a very small town along the highway. We buy useless stuff in the gift shop, walk through the pouring rain to the fudge shop, have a cold drink, and then head for the antiques shop. I spot a sign the owners of the shop have posted about children (very rude and unnecessary) so I take my children and make my exit. We then head back to the hotel for more swimming, and relaxing. The older generations head to the fish fry, and Dave and I, having pawned or kids off on my dad for the evening, head to the Chinese restaurant to celebrate my birthday, and then head to Wal-Mart for a little "I want that"-less shopping. Then it's back to the hotel for more swimming.

That's the reunion in a nutshell, and I'm sure next year will be the same, as it's pretty predictable.

Sunday morning, we were on the road at 8am. I snapped this photo of Dave while he was driving, before he had any caffeine. He does this cute squinting thing when he is trying to stay awake, and I'm constantly yelling to wake him up. He went off the road and onto the rumble strips several times, so many times in fact, that Dawson can make the rumble sound himself. It's so cute. After the 15th time or so, he asked his daddy why the car was going "HMMMMMM". It was hilarious!

The trip home is always the longest. We are tired from the long weekend, but don't want to go home as that means back to work the next day. That and the fact that Kansas doesn't offer the most scenic of views, so the last few hours of the road home are boring. But, we can always count on Dave to provide some much needed comic relief along the way. He got mad at me for grabbing the wheel when he drifted off the road for the gazillionth time, and threw his sunglasses on the dashboard. The resulting photo is one that is sure to haunt Dave for the rest of his life.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip. While we wish more than anything that we could go to Maine this summer, we are fortunate to have been able to afford the trip to Arkansas. Gas prices are astronomical, so we weren't sure we were going to make it. But, we managed to save a little for the trip, and made the best of it, since it is the only vacation we will have this year. Dave started working at his old job early in the year, so he had to start over with his vacation days. But next year, we will be taking a lengthy family vacation, and I plan to start saving now. :)

Family Reunion

Wow, it's been a few days since I last posted, but with good reason. We left on July 18th for our annual trek to Damascus, Arkansas, for our family reunion. I have been attending this family function for years, and I can honestly say, that I still don't know who half of the people who attend this thing are.

This year, the attendance was rather lacking, but it was still an enjoyable time. Some of the more annoying family members were still there in full force (Julie, you know who I'm talking about), and many I look forward to spending time with could not make it this year (you of course Julie). But, we still found fun things to do.

My favorite part of the entire trip is always the car ride. The first set of pictures below are of the wind farm in eastern Butler county, called the Elk River Wind project. This wind farm has 100 1.5 MW wind turbines, and is the largest wind farm in Kansas. Joplin-Missouri based Empire District Electric Company entered into a 20 year contract to purchase wind energy from the facility. They plan to purchase 555,000 mega-watt hours of energy a year, which is enough to power about 42,000 homes annually. Not too shabby for an endless, free resource here in Kansas.

The first photo was taken on the ride down, and it was cloudy and rainy. I snapped a couple more photos on the way back, when it was sunny and clear. Of course my father, who we were following, as well as my husband, were in an all fired hurry to get home, so the photos were taken at 75 miles an hour. Next year, we plan to leave a couple of days early, and take our time driving down. There is a scenic drive through the Ozark mountains that we want to take every year, but just don't have the time. Next year, we are making the time.

The next pictures are of the Ozark mountains. I was researching the mountains, and discovered that although they are referred to as mountains, the region is actually a high and deeply dissected plateau. A dissected plateau is a plateau that has been uplifted and severely eroded so that their relief is sharp. There are several features that mountains have that dissected plateaus do not, but I won't bore you with the details. I just thought it was an interesting point to mention.

The Ozark Highland region occupies 55,000 square miles of Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, and Illinois. 33,000 of those miles are in Missouri, 13,000 are in Arkansas, and the last 4,000 are in Illinois and very Southeastern Kansas.

The photos below are of the cooling tower for the nuclear power plant in Russellville, Arkansas. This is always a sight to see, and a welcome point on the trip down, as it let's us know that we are less than an hour away from our destination.

Construction began in 1969 on the nuclear power plant, formally known as Arkansas Nuclear One (ANO). It took only 4 years to construct the plant, and it is Arkansas's largest industrial plant investment.

"The first reactor was named Unit 1, and the second reactor was named Unit 2. Together, they have a combined output of about 1,800,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity. The total cost of the entire project was about $901,500,000. Unit 1 started to produce electricity on December 19, 1974. Unit 1 alone produces 850 kilowatt-hours. Unit 2 started producing electricity on March 25, 1980, and Unit 2 alone produces nearly 1000 KWH. To put these numbers into perspective, 1,800 KWH would meet the needs of 2,572 homes or 600 commercial customers . . . for one solid month. This is based on the 1972 average consumption 701 KWH a month for residential consumers and 2,996 KWH for commercial customers in the Russellville area. AP&L officials expect electric requirements in the company's service double about every seven years. (Estimates obtained from the Daily Courier-Democrat, 4-10-73.) Currently, ANO supplies electricity for 50% of AP&L's 575,000 customers." -http://asms.k12.ar.us/armem/terrell/const.htm

Ok, I'm going to split this into 2 posts, so check back for more tomorrow. :)

Slumber Parties

Ah, to be a kid again. Back when the world was small, and there wasn't a care in the world. When you looked forward to the weekend, so you could spend time with your friends, and have a sleepover. Back when I was Hannah's age, our sleepovers consisted of our favorite foods, prank calling boys, playing truth or dare, sneeking out of the house to "tp" the neighbor's house, and freezing the bra of the first girl who fell asleep. These days, they consist of tying up the phone to call Radio Disney a million times, watching High School Musical (is this ever going to go away?), and of course, video games. I snapped the first video while Hannah was playing a High School Musical PS2 game.

The next video is Hannah and her friend being silly last night. They took my old cell phone, and performed a silly little dance routine to one of the ring tones. Girls are so funny!

We are the Champions!!

Congratulations to the Augusta Rental softball team for a fantastic season! Hannah's team had their championship game(s) tonight, and they won 4-2. The tournament is a double elimination tournament, and her team lost 0 games and took 1st place! It was an awesome game, and full of tension until the very end.

Hannah had a strike out on her first at bat, but had a whopper of a hit on her second. I of course recorded the strike out, and missed the hit. I missed it on purpose because I think the camera makes her nervous. It seems that every time she knows I'm taking a picture or shooting a video, she strikes out. So, I opted to let her have that last at bat camera free, so now you'll just have to take my word for it. It was an awesome hit!

The girls were all very excited, and promptly put on their championship t-shirts, and held up their trophies for all to see. Last year the team that Hannah was on ended up in 2nd place, so this was very exciting for her.

She's already looking forward to next year, and so am I! We are hoping to get her into a clinic between now and then, to give her some more confidence, and improve her skills. She loves to play 1st base and catcher, but doesn't care for 3rd base that much. Maybe with a little more practice and coaching, she will like the other positions.

S'mores Anyone?

It never dawned on me that Dawson had never eaten S'mores, let alone heard of them before. S'mores is one of my favorite ooey gooey treats, and it never occurred to me that I had never made them for the Dawson, until last night. I just happened to have some Hershey's chocolate bars and graham crackers lying around, and I mentioned that all I needed were some marshmallows, and I could make Smores. Hannah responded with "Ooh yum!" and Dawson responded with "What're mores?"

So, I ran to Wal-Mart, my home away from home, and picked up a bag of marshmallows. I came home, and let Hannah prepare the S'mores for her and her brother. It was quite comical watching her get frustrated because the top graham cracker wouldn't stay on the marshmallow (she was microwaving them). They were quiet for about 10 minutes, enjoying their treats, and then Dawson ran in and announced, while showing us his chocolate covered hands, that he was finished. I just couldn't resist the photo opportunity that presented itself. Enjoy!

A Bountiful Harvest

For the past three years, Dave and I have planted a small garden in our back yard. The first year, we had a fairly decent crop, several yellow squash, a few green beans, and a few cucumbers; enough to prepare several dinners throughout the summer. The second year, all of our plants died while we were on vacation, so we did not have any vegetables to eat.

This year, we changed locations of our garden, and planted in a sunnier spot. We increased the size, and planted a variety of plants and seeds. We both love summer squash, so we planted 3 plants, and 2 packages of seeds. We planted a package of cucumber seeds, zucchini seeds, several packages of Kentucky Wonder green beans (my grandmother planted these every year, and they are a family favorite), three tomato plants, corn, and 1 green pepper plant. Today, we checked the garden, and brought in our first harvest. I am awe struck at what God can do!

This is the first harvest from the garden, and there are at least 50 more summer squash growing, tons of beans, and several tomatoes and cucumbers. We even have 8 ears of corn growing! I know I am probably way more excited about this than I should be, but I just can't explain the joy I feel when we plant a small see, water it, and receive such a bounty in the end. With the high price of groceries these days, this is a true blessing for our family, and our neighbors as well, as this is more than we could ever eat by ourselves, so I sent several squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes home with them today. They planted a garden in their back yard, but because of the excessive rain we have had this spring and summer, their entire garden was under water for weeks, and everything died.

The squash pictured here is 17" long, 12" around at it's widest part, and weighs 3 pounds 12.8 ounces. Dawson just had to hold it for the picture, and he complained about how heavy it is. I have washed, cut, blanched, and froze all of the vegetables, except for this big guy. I think I will cut and use half of it throughout the week, and freeze the other half. The green beans are soaking in water as we speak, and we will be eating them with our ham and scalloped potatoes for dinner tonight.
I cut up half of the cucumber, one of the smaller squash, the green pepper, and several of the tomatoes (we have Roma, grape, and Big Boy hamburger tomatoes), and added a little garlic and onion, and New Potatoes, and will make my famous chicken packets for dinner tomorrow night. I just toss the veggies and chicken together with some Italian dressing, and place them in foil. I make little packets, and place them on the grill. In about 20 minutes, we have a complete meal. The kids don't care for the veggies, so I just make a couple with chicken and potatoes only, and that makes them happy. I'd love for them to eat more veggies, but I'll take what I can get. :)

Pretty Present in a Pinch

A couple of weeks ago, Hannah's friend called her and asked if she had received an invitation to her birthday party. The girl's father was supposed to hand deliver them for her, to save on postage, and the girl had only received 1 RSVP. Since we live in a small town, this happens a lot. Unfortunately, the girl's father delivered 2 of the 15 or so invitations he had agreed to deliver, and Hannah wasn't one of those 2 girls.

The party was at the local pool at 8pm that night, and we were notified of the party at around 2 in the afternoon the day of. Needless to say, that didn't leave a lot of time to find a gift, especially since we have a very small Wal-Mart that doesn't carry a whole heck of a lot. So, I did my best to create a unique gift, that any 11 year old would love. I started with an empty gallon paint can that I purchased from my local Ace hardware. I then glued scrapbook paper to the sides, and lid of the can. The scrapbook kit I purchased had several embellishments with it, so I added those to the can, and added some pretty fringe yarn around the top and the bottom, and lid. I stuffed some tissue paper down inside the can, and loaded it full of make-up. I then finished it off with pony beads on the handle, and matching curling ribbon on the bales.

I put the entire can inside a shrink wrap bag, and tied the top with more curling ribbon. Hannah said that everyone loved it, and her friend even called the next day to thank her again for the gift.

I sell these altered paint cans on my website, and they have been a popular item for years. They offer a unique alternative to the traditional gift wrap or gift bag, and they can be used long after the gift has been removed. Wal-Mart sells packages of scrap booking paper rather inexpensively, that contain papers for any occasion. These are nice to keep on hand, for those days when you need a last minute gift, and store bought gift packaging just won't do. :)

More Pool Fun

Yesterday, Hannah had the pool all to herself. The rule is that the kids can't swim until their chores are complete, so Dawson was in his room "cleaning". More on that later. Hannah loves to be the center of attention, until she sees a flash bulb, and then she becomes a wall flower. I snapped some of these photos when she wasn't looking, but then had to threaten her with an end to her swim time if she wouldn't let me take some photos. The end result were some fantastic shots, that of course, embarrass the heck out of her.
I wonder if she knows that all of these photos and video clips will be filed away, until she starts dating, and then will suddenly reappear? Between the embarrassing photos, and a dad and step-dad who are saving all of their gun cleaning time for her date nights, the poor girl will probably never date. :)
I love water shots, so I had her splash around, so I could snap a photo or two.

She wasn't exactly thrilled that I was taking more photos of her, but she'll get over it.

Ok, so I mentioned that Dawson wasn't able to swim because his chores weren't done. His chores include keeping his room clean, making his bed, feeding the dog, and helping Hannah put his laundry away. The only chore he manages to do on a regular basis is make his bed. In fact, when we started the chore list a month ago, he made his bed the first day, and hasn't unmade it since. He sleeps on top of all the covers, and uses another blanket to cover up with. That blanket ends up wadded up on the floor every morning, but at least his bed is made, right? The video is dark, because it was cloudy outside, but you can get the gist of his cleaning efforts.

Since he didn't clean his room yesterday, we decided to try again today. As you can see, he still was not very productive. He seems to think that if he falls asleep, instead of cleaning, mommy or daddy will come along and do it for him. That's probably because we used to do just that, but he's a big boy now.

Wow, I just noticed that he finally unmade his bed. I wonder if he'll remake it before going to bed tonight. He's so comical.

Sleeping Habits

Ah yes, bedtime. The time of day that parents look forward to, so we can get a few moments of silence before we turn in for the night ourselves.

Bedtime at our house has been a 3-ring circus for the past several years. Hannah likes to consider herself to be an adult, and tries to stay up as late as she can. Either that child has a bladder the size of a pea, or she's drinking a thousand gallons of liquid each time she gets up for a drink. It's a routine now that she goes to the bathroom at least 10 times a night. Her bedtime is 10 pm during the summer, and 9pm during the school year, but she never seems to fall asleep until sometime after midnight. I guess that's when all her trips to the kitchen and bathroom finally wear her out. She also seems to remember all of the things she forgot to tell me during the day, at 11:00 at night. I sound like a broken record, "Go to bed Hannah!", Go to bed Hannah!"

And then there's Dawson. For the past several years, we have been battling with him to sleep in his own bed. When he was 3, we were finally able to keep him in his bed, long enough for us to fall asleep. But, when we would wake up in the morning, there he was. He had crept into our bed at some point in the wee hours of the morning, and didn't make a peep.

A couple of weeks ago, I spent the better part of an evening battling with him to stay in his bed, and this photo is the product of that battle. I don't allow him to take a drink to bed, because, while he is potty trained, he still has accidents at night. As you can see, he must have decided he was thirsty, and tip-toed into the kitchen to get himself a drink. He was so tired, that he fell asleep mid-drink, with the straw still in his mouth. Last week was a big week for Dawson. We ran out of pull-ups, which he was wearing at night only, and he had to start sleeping in his underwear. It's been almost a full week, and I'm happy to report that there have been no accidents. He truly is a big boy now. :)

Dave never sleeps. At least, that's what he says. But when you tell him he fell asleep, (because he usually does at a family function) and that he was snoring, then he claims he never snores. So, when the opportunity presented itself at our Easter gathering at my mom's house this year, I couldn't resist recording him not sleeping, and of course, not snoring. But in his defense, he was working a lot of overtime back then, and still is today. But even when he is working a straight 40 hours per week schedule, he is still exhausted, because his job is very physically demanding. He does a lot for our family, and we would be lost without him.

The Bierwas Family

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

Dog Days of Summer

Even though it has been unseasonably warm here in Kansas, it is still hot and humid by summer standards. Instead of highs in the low to mid 100's, we have been experiencing temps in the upper 80's to upper 90's. Still hot, but a far cry from the sizzling 100 degree heat we are usually plagued with this time of year.

To help combat the heat, we set up a little swimming pool for the kiddos, and they LOVE it. (Please ignore my husband's hideous mess in the background. It is a work in progress, and has been for over 3 years now) It's small enough at only 3' high that Dawson is able to stand up straight, without fear, but large enough to keep them cool and entertained for a couple of hours a day. I must say though, that for a little pool, it still requires a heck of a lot of maintenance. I check the PH balance daily, and add Pool Shock and Chlorine every day, to prevent algae and keep it crystal clear. The pool has been "open" for almost 3 weeks now, and except for the 3 days that I was too lazy to maintenance it, it has stayed clear and algae free. The trick I learned was to mix the chemicals in a bucket with a little warm water before adding them to the pool. This helps the chemicals dissolve faster, before adding them to the pool. Even though the packages say they dissolve instantly, that is simply not the case. The first time I followed the instructions, there were chemical granules laying on the floor of the pool for days. Needless to say, this was not what I had intended, so I turned to my pal Google, and found this neat little tip from someone clear across the country who had the same problem. Her tip worked like a charm.

I purchased a pool skimmer at Wal-Mart for $9.98, and that has worked wonders for keeping the pool relatively clean. With our infamous Kansas wind, it's next to impossible to keep every fleck of dirt out, but the bigger pieces of dirt and cotton can be easily removed with the skimmer. Unless you're 4 years old, and your name is Dawson. Then you become agitated with the slow skimming process, and decide instead to just hold the wall of the pool down until you remove both the dirt and about 200 gallons of the water. True story. It wasn't that funny last Saturday when it happened, but looking back now, I find myself chuckling.

However you decide to beat the heat this summer, please stay safe, and make the most of your vacation, if you are fortunate enough to get one. :)

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

It's been an exciting softball season this year; just trying to keep track of the schedule with all of the rain delays was exciting in and of itself. The tournament started on Monday, and Hannah's team is in 1st place so far. It is a double elimination tournament, and they haven't lost a game yet! The championship game is Monday at 6, and if they win, they will be the champions. If they lose, they will play another game on Tuesday night, and the winner of that game will be the champ. So, they are guaranteed to either be in 1st or 2nd place, which is exciting. Last year her team ended up in 2nd place, so we're hoping for 1st this year.
Here is a video of one of her at bats this season. I'm kicking myself for not taking the camera to last night's game because she had her best hit of the season. She knocked it all the way out into the outfield. Just a few more feet and she would have had a home run. Okay, so maybe it was more than a few feet, but it was an awesome hit! I was one proud mama, and to celebrate, my dad took us out to Dairy Queen for ice cream. That made her night!

Hannah's Talent Show

This is Hannah's elementary school talent show performance, performed Wednesday, May 14, 2008. She is singing "Our Song" by Taylor Swift.

Welcome to Our Blog!

Hello everyone! Dave and I are starting this blog so that friends and family can keep up with everything going on in our lives, and so I can have a hobby.

This is the latest photo of the family, taken on May 3rd at Caring Hands Animal Shelter in Newton, Kansas. This was adoption day for Jake, our chocolate lab red tick coon hound puppy. He is now 7 months old, and has become a big part of our family. On April 26th, we lost our wonderful Rocket, when he was hit by a car right out in front of our house. This was a very traumatic event, especially for me, because we were joined at the hip.

Even though we were completely devastated, we decided to turn our tragedy into something positive, and we started looking around on the internet for a puppy to adopt. As soon as we saw his photo, we knew he was the one. So, the next day I called the shelter to see if he was still available, and was upset to learn that while he was still available, he was in the sick unit because he had developed a bad cough. Luckily, it was nothing serious, and we were able to adopt him that next weekend. Little did we know we would be adopting a small horse! :)

He is a joy to have around, and we look forward to many years together!

Rest in Peace my Rocket Sprocket!