Cain aka 1738

Meet Cain, the newest member of our family.

We took the plunge and adopted a black lab/retriever mix.  He’s 1.5 years old and seems to be a real sweetheart.  He came from another shelter so we don’t know what his original circumstances were.  We looked at all the dogs that the shelter considered to be good with other dogs and kids and “Donald” seemed to fit in best with the kids and Mac.

The name Donald didn’t seem to fit him so we changed it to Cain, after my favorite Royals player, Lorenzo Cain.  With the Royals in the playoffs, it seemed right to name him after one of them.  Cain’s nickname is 1738.  The Royals had a joke this year.  They had to use “1738” in their interviews.  If they didn’t, they fined each other.  You can read why in these two articles:

1.  http://www.foxsports.com/kansas-city/story/royals-fetty-wap-and-how-1738-is-taking-over-the-kc-clubhouse-072915
2. http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/the-royals-are-saying–1738–in-interviews-because-they-love-fetty-wap-211924083.html

 

2014 in review

I was horrible at getting things on here for 2014.  In an attempt to rectify that, I’m going to share our big events from each month.

January 2014

I started my first of three boot camps for the year.  I.Am.Addicted.

Kenny and Luke played basketball and indoor soccer.

February 2014

Kenny made it to the Mathletic’s regionals and his team placed 2nd out of the 4th graders!

March 2014

We went to Lawrence, KS for St. Patrick’s Day.  I love Lawrence so much.  I love showing the boys the KU campus.

We did not go anywhere for Spring Break because we didn’t want to leave one of our dogs, Camille, alone.  She was diagnosed with cancer of the mouth back in November.

My second boot camp stated after Spring Break.

Both boys started baseball and outdoor soccer.

Ryan Lochte did a clinic for our swim team.

April 2014

I turned 36 and Luke turned 7.

May 2014

Nicole came in town and I got to see her for a little bit.  This was the first time I’ve seen her since her wedding.  It was way overdue.

Luke finished first grade and Kenny finished fourth.

June 2014

Kenny turned 10.

We joined Round Hill Bath and Tennis Club with a lot of friends and had the best summer there.  We will definitely join again next summer.

Kenny and Luke tried out for competitive, year round soccer and made a team.  Kenny stayed with the same team as last year.  This was Luke’s first time to try out.

We put Camille to sleep on June 27, when she was no longer able to get up.  We miss her so much!

June 27 also happened to be our dating anniversary.  Eric took me out on our first date 16 years ago.

July 2014

We spent the 4th of July at Round Hill and then watched Meadowbrook Country Club’s fireworks for the last time.  It closed this fall.

Kenny and Eric went to a Cub Scout camp.  That ended up being the end of Cub Scouts for Kenny.

We took a quick trip to St. Louis.  I saw Nicole (again!), went to the Arch, the zoo and the City Museum.  The City Museum was amazing!

August 2014

Eric turned 35.

We took the boys to their first concert – American Authors, The Script and One Republic at Starlight.

Kenny started fifth grade and Luke started second.

Both boys started outdoor soccer and Luke also played in some fall baseball tournaments.

Luke started Cub Scouts, they both joined their school’s running club and Kenny started Mathletics and choir.

Kenny’s soccer team did their first traveling soccer tournament.  We all drove down to Arkansas for Labor Day weekend.

September 2014

Kenny accidentally shut Mac’s (our dog) tail in the door and severed part of it off.  Our kitchen looked like a crime scene but Mac was tough.

Eric and I went to the Theory of a Deadman concert (Black Stone Cherry opened).

Eric and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary.

I started my third boot camp.

October 2014

Eric and the rest of the SWAT team went to Iowa for a week of training.  They do this just about every year.

I went on my first Sweat Crawl.  Think pub crawl, but instead of drinking you go to different gyms for quick 30 minute workouts.

Kenny and Luke ran the last 1.2 miles of the KC Marathon with their school running club.

The boys dressed up as the Grim Reaper for Halloween.

The Royals made it to the World Series and lost in the seventh game to the Giants.  They had such a good year and it was so fun for the city.

November 2014

Kenny and Luke started indoor soccer and basketball.

Kenny and the rest of the fifth graders had Colonial Day at school.  They dressed up, danced, did activities and even ate food that had to do with that time period.

Thanksgiving was pretty low key since none of our out-of-town relatives came to KC.

December 2014

Mac turned 7.

Luke celebrated the sacrament of Reconciliation at church.

Kenny and the rest of his choir sang at Crown Center.

MythBusters came to KC.  Eric took the boys to see their live show.

Eric and I went to the Black Key’s concert (St. Vincent opened).

Eric became Hattie’s godfather.

We spent Dec. 19-the morning of the 25th with my family and then the evening of Dec 25-Jan 1 with Eric’s family.

4.5 months

Crap.  It’s been four and a half months since I’ve put anything on here.  I’ll have to go back and post previous things (Cub Scout, soccer, basketball, St. Patrick’s Day, school things, etc) later but until then, here is what is going on:

– Kenny:

Kenny is doing great at school (as always).  We went to EL the other week and were able to see the different things he’s been working on, including acting in a short silent movie, power point, brain teasers and reports.  He plays soccer competitively year round and I just love his coach and the organization (KC Legends).  They are just so good at teaching the boys strategy and skills.  He played basketball this winter and baseball season has already started.  I really wish baseball started in May when soccer is over or at least close to it.

– Luke:

I am absolutely amazed at how well his reading has come and I owe it all to his teacher.  He has come so far and I’m so proud of him.  He played with a Legends soccer team this winter and the team went competitive this spring.  His coach is talking about keeping the team together all next year too.  If not, he’ll tryout for a competitive team this summer.  He played basketball this winter and is playing baseball this spring.  Luke’s 7th birthday is coming up at the end of this month.

– Eric:

He’s still coaching and working his normal job, on top of being the assistant coach for Kenny’s baseball team.  The man is busy.  He’s a little scruffy for work and has people tell him that he looks like Bradley Cooper all the time.  He loves it.

– Me:

Work is going well.  Our swim team and Speedo brought in Ryan Lochte last month.  I’ll do a whole post on that some day.  I have problems with my feet and plantar fasciitis.  My feet actually feel pretty good right now but I still feel it when I’m on them for too long or walk too far.  For example, we went to the zoo during Spring Break and I was hobbling out of bed the next morning.  I started an 8 week bootcamp at Fusion back in January and loved it so much that I’m on #2.  It’s mainly spin related so it doesn’t bother my feet at all.  We can do studio classes too.  They are the hardest classes I’ve ever done but I feel so much stronger and better now.  Fusion is seriously the best place.  It’s a little intimidating at first but everyone there is so nice and encouraging.  I’m addicted.  I’m currently doing their 30 workouts in 30 days April challenge.  We can’t count our bootcamps so that means I’m doing 38 workouts in 30 days.  I’ve done 17 so far (or 23 if you count my bootcamps).  My birthday is on Friday but we’re not celebrating until Saturday because Kenny has a baseball game.

– Mac and Camille:

Mac’s ACL seems fine.  Camille is still hanging on, even though she has cancer.  We didn’t do anywhere over Spring Break because we weren’t sure about how she would be doing at that point.  She does drool more and more on the side of her mouth that has the tumor.  She’s lost 5 pounds since we last took her in back in November.  I swear that her love of the soft, canned dog food that we now buy her is keeping her alive:)

What’s going on here…

Here’s just a quick update on what’s going on with us:

–  Eric and I went to Vegas for a whole week for ASCA’s World Clinic (for swimming coaches).  It was a lot of fun and we learned a ton.  We got to talk to Olympian Tyler McGill, see Phelps’s coach and listen to great speakers.  I took a Build a Pool class because we are really hoping to have our own facility sometime in the near future.  Hopefully I will have more news on that in the next few months to year.  A week was a long time in Vegas but we were lucky enough to have my parents take the boys Monday-Friday and then Eric’s mom took them Friday evening-Sunday night.  We walked the entire strip, went to the top of  the Eiffel Tower, saw an illusion show and played craps.  We did not come home big winners.

–  Our dogs developed not only pink eye but some gastrointestinal problems after being at dog place for a week.  It was not fun, not to mention an extra expense that we were not expecting to pay.

–  Kenny and Luke are both doing great at school.  Luke’s mid-term report card looked like this…

–  The boys fall sports are in full swing.  Kenny’s soccer actually started at the beginning of August and his football and Luke’s soccer didn’t start until mid-September.  It was nice to have it broken up a little.  Sporting KC used Kenny’s soccer team in a coaches’ clinic and it’s on You Tube.

–  My work is starting to pick up right now after a nice month lull in August.  Back in June, the owner of our team and I flew to Colorado to look at an infant aquatics program for babies as young as 6 months.  Non-walking babies learn how to float on their back if they were ever to fall into water and the walkers learn how to float and then swim to the side of the pool (or wherever they are).  Most people have seen the video of this.  It shows the baby in pajamas or clothes falling into a backyard pool and then floating safely.  I remember seeing it the first time and thinking someone should pick up the baby.  When we went to Colorado, we honestly sat there all day just watching baby after baby and it was AMAZING.  So amazing, the team has invested a ton of money to send one of our head coaches out there for 6 weeks to get trained.  I would like to get trained some day but I just can’t be gone for 6 weeks at this point in our life; not with the boys being so young and Eric’s schedule.

–  My SIL is getting married in less than 2 weeks!  It still feels like it should be a few months away.

–  Eric and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on September 20th (but actually celebrated in Vegas).

I think that covers all the big things.  Now, off to do more work…

Easter eggs

I always feel like we dye our Easter eggs at the last minute and this year was no exception:) 

Camille and Mac (freshly shaved)

Christmas 2011

We started out a little worried about Christmas.  There was a bad stomach virus going around Kenny’s school  that we were praying we wouldn’t get.  We really didn’t want a repeat of Christmas 2009.  But, of course, Kenny got it on the 22nd.  We made it through the 23rd and 24th without anyone else having signs of getting sick so we celebrated with my family on Christmas Eve.

Getting ready for church:

Christmas Eve at my mom and dad’s house:

Christmas morning at our house: 

Santa may have forgotten to leave anything in the dogs’ stocking.  Oops.  We decided it was probably because they have been getting on our couch while we’re gone.  Luckily I had two bones for them in the cupboard that we were able to give them.

Christmas morning at my parents:

See the stockings in these pictures?  My Grandpa Bill and Grandma Dolly had one made for everyone back when I was little.  This year, my mom made ones for Kenny, Luke and Eric so that everyone now has one.  It took her a long time and they look great. 

Christmas Day with Eric’s mom, Amanda and AJ:

Remember how I said that we thought that we had escaped that stomach virus?  I ended up throwing up every hour on the hour Tuesday night and then Eric had a mild form of it.  I’m not going to say anything about Luke not getting it because I’m afraid I’ll jinx us:)  I’m just glad that it didn’t ruin our Christmas.  And I’m really hoping we didn’t pass it on to anyone else in the family.

Happy 4th birthday Mac!

Mac turned four last Saturday (December 3rd). 

I have to share this story while I’m talking about our dogs:

Apparently our dogs have something against the wise men in our Little People Nativity. 

Luke was playing with the set and when he was done he left two of the wise men standing on their heads.  They were on opposite sides and surrounded by the other figurines.  Camille walked up to the set, looked at it, pushed over the first wise man, looked at the second wise man and then pushed him over too.  Eric and I were cracking up.   

Then last night I found Camille chewing on one of them (which I saved just in the nick of time) and found that Mac had chewed off the top of the head of the other one.  We taped it back up but it will never be the same.

Just a lazy, overcast day

Easter eggs 2011

We dyed our Easter eggs tonight.  Better late than never, right? 

This is the second year that we’ve done them outside on our back deck.  I’m so glad we did because I knocked over the cup of yellow dye within a minute of us being out there.

Eric took the boys to an Easter Egg hunt this morning while I was training two of my new managers.  He’s not used to my camera so most of the pictures ended up a little blurry.

He was mugged (and all they took was his hair)

I think the groomer got a little out of control, don’t you? 

Pro:  He definitely won’t be shedding anytime soon.

Con:  He looks like one of those sphynx cats.

Easter eggs 2010

Camille

Here’s Camille, our new dog. 

One of the guys that Eric works with was looking for a family to adopt her because he’s marrying someone who had a bad experience with dogs when she was younger and is now afraid of them.  We had him bring Camille over the other day to see how she would do with Mac and the boys and everything went great – she’s really calm and sweet, which is exactly what we were looking for.  There’s just no way I could handle a puppy at this point in time.  Mac is a great dog and has really calmed down but he’s still only two and is as big as a horse (or at least a small pony).  Even though Camille is only 65 pounds, (40 pounds less than Mac), she’s still been putting him in his place when he gets a little too frisky.

Lap dog

 

Guess who’s 2 today?

This post was originally titled Guess Who’s 1 Today until my husband looked at me and said, “uh, he’s two today.” 

1 little, 2 little, 3 little indians

Kenny had a Thanksgiving feast at school today.  The kids dressed up in their Indian gear and ate a lot of turkey, ham, muffins, popcorn and fruit. 

Front view

Back view

This was one of Kenny’s homework assignments.  We had to work together to disguise our turkey so he would be safe on Thanksgiving Day.  We turned ours into a leprechaun at the end of a rainbow.  

Luke (of course) had to try on Kenny’s outfit once we got home.

Elf Yourself 2009

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Bullet points

• Kenny had his last soccer game today.  I really can’t say that I mind too much, considering how cold it has been lately.  We’re having lunch with the team tomorrow and then we’ll all go our separate ways.
• Kenny starts basketball at the end of November.  He’s doing it with his friend J.T. (from preschool) for sure and hopefully his other friend Arden (from preschool and kindergarten).  We haven’t seen J.T.’s family as much since school started so we figured that this would be a great way to get the boys back together.
• Kenny got his first report card on Friday and it was wonderful.  I could do a whole post on just his first quarter at school.
• Take a look at Mac’s face in the picture below.  The entire right side of his face and his nose are completely swollen.  Thank goodness Eric’s friend Ben is a vet.  He told us that Mac probably either ate something he shouldn’t have or was bitten by a snake or insect.  We’ve never seen a snake in our yard so we’re thinking that he probably either ate some of the berries that are on the tree that hangs over into our yard or was bitten by some weird bug.  Ben told us to give him Benadryl and to keep an eye on him for the next 2 days.  I love not having to pay for a vet to look at him, at least for now (knock on wood). 

Crown Center and the Pooch Plunge

We went down to Crown Center for the Free Friday Night Flicks.  We ate dinner at Fritz’s and then let the kids play in the fountains before The Wizard of Oz started. 

If you look hard, you can see both Will and Kylie.

Then yesterday, we took Mac up to the Pooch Plunge.  He didn’t really like swimming in the water but he loved running around with the other dogs.  There was only one other dog that was bigger than him and it seriously was as big as a small horse.  Here’s an idea of Mac’s size.  He’s the big one on the right side.  The dogs in this picture next to him are normal sized big dogs. 

Oreo came too.  I swear I’m going to take Casey and Maddie to one of the ones after Labor Day.

We also almost got a second dog.  Pet Connections had some of their adoptable dogs there.  There was the sweetest big (but smaller than Mac) black dog up there.  If I can talk Eric into it, we may have a new family member some time soon.

We knew this would happen…

See that nose?  That would be our neighbor’s dog, Daisy.  When we lost that side of our fence back in December, she and Mac were able to play together a lot.  Now that the new fence is up, they’re not very happy.  I’m actually a little surprised that it took them this long to start digging.

Almost there

aka Fence work:  Day…I’ve lost count.

Eric is almost done with our fence.  The only thing left to do is the door, which he should finish tomorrow.  He has worked so hard and so long on it.  I know he can’t wait to be done. 

Kenny is now pumping his legs and swinging on his own.  I’m so excited about this.  I don’t know why but I hate pushing the kids on the swing.  Well, I don’t mind doing it for a while but after 20 minutes, I’ve had enough.