K-State watch party

This afternoon, we all got together at Mike and Beckie's for a K-State watch party. (Even though I went to Rutgers, I wore my K-State T-shirt to show my solidarity.)

We were joined by Rick and Julie Carver and their sons, Jack and Scott; Mike's parents, Ken and Connie; and, of course, Captain Don and his crew.

Dan and Grandpa Ken


Suzanne, Mike, Rick, me and Grandma Connie


The Tiki Party Tribe


Captain Don after a few Captain and Cokes


This pretty much says it all.

Soccer game

This morning's soccer game went really well. I'm sure we won--but we don't really keep score.

I think this photo of Brett really sums him up; he may not score many goals but he always stays in the game and runs his little butt off!

Fun Friday

I took the day off today because the boys were out of school. We had a big day of fun, starting with a private tour of Cici's Pizzeria, with our friends, the Dillons.

We got to see how and where they make the pizza, then we each got to make our own.

Brett making his sausage and pepperoni pizza


Casey making his pepperoni pizza

The best part was getting to eat the finished product.

Yum!


Mmmm!

After we finished lunch, we headed over to the Sedgwick County Zoo. We had a great time looking at all the animals.

The boys monkeying around:

Casey, Brett, Brandon and Logan

The playground was a big hit as always. I'm sooo glad the zoo added this. It really helps the boys burn up their extra energy.

Casey

Logan and Casey

Brett

Halloween craft

I like to make a little craft to give the boys' teachers for Halloween and Christmas.

Tonight, I began making this year's Halloween craft.

I bought several metal orange pails at Wal-Mart in the Halloween aisle. They were $1 each. I also bought several yards of Halloween ribbon which were 93 cents each.

The plan is to decorate the handle of the pails with the ribbon.

I alternated three types of ribbon on the handle of the pail. To get the ribbon on the handle, I folded 4 1/2" sections of ribbon, then stapled just above the fold. I then threaded the piece of stapled ribbon onto the handle. (It's easier to take the handle off the pail.)

Here's the finished project:



Cute, huh?

Fall TV premieres

This is my favorite week of the year. It seems like summer lasts way longer than three months when you're waiting for your TV shows to resume.

It's scary when I think of how many shows I record: Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters, Heroes, Men in Trees, How I Met Your Mother, Private Practice, Ugly Betty and The Office.

Not to mention the fact that I've added a few new ones this fall: Bionic Woman, Chuck, Pushing Daisies and Cane. Oh, well, when you look at how the networks rarely give new shows more than two or three weeks to prove themselves, most of my new ones will probably get canceled anyway.

I like going to the TV blogs the day after a show runs; TV Guide.com and Entertainment Weekly have the best blogs/recaps. The blogger usually catches something I totally missed. This is especially true with Lost, yet another show I record.

What about you guys? What shows do you watch and which new ones are you looking forward to?

Thanks Mike!

Our neighbor, Mike, came over this afternoon to show us his new riding mower and even offered to mow our yard.

What a great neighbor! (Most of the time :) )

Mike and his mower


Suzanne supervising the mowing

Finally...

The Chiefs won their first game of the season today. It was their home opener, so that may have been the reason. Who knows?
Who cares?

Hopefully the season won't be so dreary after all.

SpongeBob!

Today the boys got to meet their idol, SpongeBob, at All-Star Adventures.

It's amazing to see how shy and/or excited they get around characters like this. Brett had to go up and hug him at least twice.


Brett asked me if SpongeBob would be going back to the Nickelodeon Hotel when he left All-Star Adventures. I didn't have the heart to tell him it's not the "real" SpongeBob.

Green Machine 6, Other Team 4

This morning Brett had another soccer game.
He even got to play goalie.



The team really seems to be coming along despite the fact that there's such an age range on the team.

Corporate Challenge

Tonight, I went to the Corporate Challenge, an Olympic-style athletic competition where local companies compete in a variety of events. I coordinated Via Christi's team. What that means is I begged 60 people to compete in all the events.

Team Via Christi entering the stadium

Each team creates their own T-shirts, and there were lots of interesting designs.

I especially liked this one from a local ad agency, whose current campaign is about how they don't like sheep because they follow the flock instead of going their own way.

A new skill

Today, I went to WSU to take a class in InDesign, a desktop publishing program.

I've always been intimidated by design software, but this program seems really easy to use. I can't wait to try it to create my annual Christmas newsletter--oh yeah, and at work. :)

Go Chiefs!

Today the Loving men wore their finest to root on their favorite team. Hopefully the Chiefs can turn things around soon. If not, it's going to be a long season.

Fun with chopsticks

Tonight we ordered Chinese takeout for dinner.

The boys each got a set of chopsticks and figured
out different ways to use them.

Casey used his "freestyle," using two hands to
grab the noodles with the chopsticks then
one hand to put the noodles in his mouth


Brett "cheated" and used the chopstick pinchers


Casey shared egg drop/won ton soup
with Dan, but hated the sushi

Making pizza

Casey loves pizza, and he sometimes asks if we can make it fresh
here at home.

Tonight I got the ingredients and let him and Brett go at it.

First the spaghetti sauce...


Then the cheese...


Then the pepperoni...


Mmmm!

Celebrity real estate

As much as I love celebrity gossip, I think I love looking at the homes of celebrities a bit more. (We can dream can't we?)

I have added a link to my new favorite celebrity real estate site, Real Estalker. It's actually a blog here on Blogspot.

They manage to find and post the actual real estate listing photos of tons of celebrity homes--even those you don't see in magazines.

Be sure to check it out.

9-9-95

Dan and I have been married 12 years today. Sometimes it seems like only yesterday we were dating. It's hard to believe I've been married that long.

Happy Anniversary, Honey!

Fun at the fair

This afternoon we went to the Kansas State Fair with our friends Chris and Janette and their sons, Logan and Caleb.

It was hot, but we had a great time.

Casey eating a Pronto Pup


Whoa!



Casey riding the giant slide


Brett, Logan and Caleb on the bumper cars


Brett checking out the roosters


The butter sculpture made of 800 pounds of butter
(It's a pig on a motorcycle)


Casey checking out the prize-winning watermelon


Casey loved the pirate scarecrow


Brett, Logan, Casey and Caleb with
Scarecrow and the Tin Man

Soccer

This morning, Brett played his first soccer game of the season. His team decided on the name "Green Machine" because their shirts are dark green.

Since there weren't enough coaches, his team has boys from Kindergarten through second grade. Even though there's such an age difference, the team looked good in the first game.

Today we played the Blue Stars and won 4-2.

Going after the ball

Go Green Machine!

Boys!

Last night after his bath, Casey asked Dan if he could make him "handsome" for school the next day.

"I want to be handsome so the chicks will dig me," Casey told us.

So this morning, Dan gelled up Casey's hair and made him handsome.

I hope the chicks dig him.

The long road home

Somewhere in the Flint Hills....

The ride back from Kansas City is always long--some days longer than others. Today the boys passed the time in different ways.

Brett watched videos

Casey spent much of the ride home practicing his
addition and subtraction

He was pretty proud of himself
(Not bad for a kindergartner!)

Labor Day weekend

This weekend we visited Dan's parents in Kansas City since we had a long weekend. His brother, Mike, and his wife and family also came down. Dan's parents have a pool, so there's always lots of swimming when we visit in the summer.

Here is the cast of characters:

Our niece, Maggie.

(She's four going on thirty)

Our niece, Lily
(She's eight)

Our niece, Sophie
(She's 11. I helped her start her own blog this weekend)

Dan's mom, Harla

Dan's dad, Frank
(He let the girls do his hair)

Dan's brother, Mike, and his wife Serena

This is Levi, the newest addition to the Loving family
(He lives with Nana Harla and Papa Frank)

Uncle David, Harla's brother

Harla's sister, Merriam, and her husband Abe

We usually celebrate Brett and Casey's birthdays with the extended Loving clan when we visit
over the Labor Day weekend. Even though this was the boys' third birthday celebration, they really loved their gifts.

KU ball caps and a dinosaur atlas from Uncle David and Uncle Jhon

Cool sweat suits from Aunt Merriam and Uncle Abe


A new Wii game from Uncle Mike and his family

The kids were in the pool most of the day Saturday and Sunday. It was a little chilly, but they didn't care.

Dan and Casey

Brett and Maggie

Lily and Casey

We had a great time, until Maggie got a splinter from the deck and Nana Harla had to perform surgery.

Splinters suck

By the end of the night, the kids were exhausted. They all shared the pullout in the Dolly Room, which got its name from Harla's doll collection. It was a great weekend.