The lost updates

HI! It has been a long time since I posted. So here is an update on the Mitchell family. Mother's day this year was spent at home with my three kids. Not by choice. I love my kids but to be held hostage by the strep bug the entire weekend nearly pushed me over the edge. Craig headed to Wichita to watch his brother graduate from college. We are so proud of you Curtis!!! During our "quality" time we did do a lot of fun things we have not done in awhile. We worked out our dvr and on demand buttons. We rented Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler. That was one of the best movies for kiddos that I had seen in awhile. Then I gave in after two days of begging to watch Twilight. Now I am hooked! I am patiently waiting for Felicity to finish the book. After two rentals I told the kids it was time to see what the free movies on demand had for us. It was like a trip down my childhood. Anyone up for a little Ernest Scared Stupid??? That's right they had several of the Ernest Scared series. The kiddos thought that Ernest was the next greatest thing. Needless to say we watched a lot of movies. I was so glad when Monday came because they had been cleared to go back to school. Our spring soccer season is almost over.JC has been the goalie for his team the last two years and really seems to love it. So his coach tonight at his end of the year party gave him a new nickname. He is now the Stonewall! He was so proud of his new name. It was really cute!  Now Craig is thinking of coaching a summer indoor team. I think he forgets that our kids are going to be gone off and on all summer. Oh well, he'll figure it out eventually. Today was our schools talent show. They ran over so I have to go back

tomorrow morning to see Felicity and her friend do their act. We have two days left and both are half days. I can't believe how fast this last quarter went by. It was like I blinked and it was gone. I guess between the sports and social activity shuttling that I do I did not realize it was May. I will try to post video of Felicity and her friend doing their comedy act tomorrow. Have a good night everyone and Have a great rest of your week!

Easter Weekend

Our weekend started out on Saturday morning with Felicity's soccer game. It was not a pretty site. They rallied after half time but not enough to win. After the game we left for Le Roy, where Craig's grandparents live. Every year Grandma Ginny has a scavenger hunt for the kids. It is a hoot to watch them run all over the place. I think this year we had twenty one of the great grand kids doing the scavenger hunt. Lunch was delicious as usual. We did not get to stay long because Katie our youngest niece was singing with her choir at the opening night of the Wichita Wild. They are an indoor football league. So after she sang we stayed to watch the game. It was a lot of fun. Very different then a regular football game. After that we went back to Curtis and Mary's (Craig's brother and sister in law) for dinner. After a while we decided that it was time for  the kids to head to bed. I headed to Wal-Mart to get the last of the items we needed. I stuffed all the boxes and eggs. It seemed like it was just a few minutes when I heard the familiar footsteps of someone in the kitchen, then the smell of breakfast wondered in. It did not take long for the kids to want to tear into the baskets. We ate and then then we made them wait. I know cruel isn't it! We had them all go downstairs so we could hide the eggs in the house. We had a wonderful rain storm settle in that morning. Mary my sister in law grabbed the broom and started yelling at the "bunny rabbit" who was running through the house with his dirty feet. Ginny was so excited! She wanted to catch the bunny and take him home. As they came up the stairs they realized that the bunny had left eggs all over the house. Grandma was armed with bags and the race was on. My nieces are old enough that they do not believe any more. However, they were really good sports about it and did not let on. Mary and Curtis cooked up a feast for lunch. It was delicious!! We watched the Royal's game and then packed up the car. It rained the entire way home. We made it home in good time to a very happy dog and cat who I think actually missed us. I hope you all had a very blessed Easter weekend. We had a great weekend and thanks to Mary and Curtis who opened up their home for us.  

The basement project

I thought I would share the photos of our remodel to the basement. Craig has a friend who is a super. with a construction company. He is very helpful and very very willing to help. We would not even be this far without him. Enjoy the photos. Our snow was all gone by Sunday night. We had several thunderstorms last night. Today was just plan windy and cool. The rest of the week looks awesome. I may just get the ceilings painted in both upstairs bathrooms yet! 

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!!!

This is the snow storm that started as rain here yesterday. It has dumped at least two to three inches of snow so far. It is expected to snow all night. The kids are  itching to go outside and play. We are going to wait till tomorrow when it has warmed up a little bit. We made a quick trip to Target to get snacks and a new dominos game. We are in for the night. We saw three accidents when we ran to Target. One guy had his two seater BMW out and had kissed a light pole with it. OUCH!!! Will post more pics when the snow is over. Photos taken by our resident photographer Felicity. Have a good night everyone!

Can you order replacement parts ???

I am so sorry I have not posted for awhile. I have not even been on to check on my friends blogs. Sad, I know. We have started the second phase of demo in our basement. Our house looks like a bomb went off in it. I think the kids are really frat brothers trapped in kids bodies and as soon as the authority figure is not looking the party is on. So I ran my errands today like I normally do. Came home to start the massive clean up. It was so windy today! It made life ruff for Craig at work. So, when he got home he was ready to eat and head to bed. Ginny had come in with a boo boo demanding first aid. She is a drama queen when it comes to blood. I was trying to calm

her down and find a band aid. When I accidentally knocked Craig's power drill off the counter and into my foot. I have never felt pain like that ever. And to top it off it fell on the foot I poked a hole in last night when I decided to step on Craig's  Tae-Kwon-Do bag. On the bright side at least it is all on one foot. I am going to make an appointment in the am to go have an x-ray dToday was not a high point for me today. On the upside..... Tuesday is a new day!! YEAH!!! I just heard the thunder start. It was so windy today. Like Wyoming windy. We are in line some thunderstorms but I think all of the tornado producing storms will stay to the north  of us. Today was the last day for spring break for us. I think even the kids are ready to go back. Well, the dryer is going off so I will sign off for tonight! Have a good week!

We spent the weekend in Valley Center with Craig's brother and family. The girls are in basketball. This was the next to last game of the season. They have gone undefeated. It is a lot of fun watching them play ball. After that the boys went out to Granny Annie's farm and helped clean up. They where gracious enough to take the kiddos with them. Later that afternoon Mary and I picked up some of the kids and headed into Wichita to a ski shop. The girls needed helmets and goggles. They are headed to Weston this coming weekend to learn how to snowboard. Must protect those little brains. Taylor my oldest niece has already had a run in with a tree. She ended up with a broken arm. She didn't let that stop her! Next she got right back on those ski's. Saturday night Katie's school was having a fun night. We spent a couple hours up at the school playing games. It was a lot of fun! After the crazy day we had we sat down and played a domino game I had never seen. It involves a little train gadget. It was a blast!!  Craig and Curtis got up early Sunday and went back out to Granny Annie's and worked on her tractor. They got it running but came home smelling like gas. YUK!!! Needless to say he headed to the shower and the clothes headed for the washer. We had lunch and headed home. We had been home about thirty minutes when we realized that Craig's co-ed game was about to start. We scrambled to get everything and everyone into the car and headed to the arena. Luckily his men's game was right after it. I have never been so glad to see my bed! It was a great weekend! Yet, I am so glad to be home. 

TGIF!! I am so glad this week is over. Both of the girls have been sick. Felicity missed two days of school this week. JC was nice enough to bring his sisters homework home to her so we spent the evenings after dinner getting her work done so she would not fall behind. Virginia has had this stuff for over a week. She had a really bad ear ache the other night. That was not fun! She still has the sniffles but seems to be on the tail end of it. We are going to Valley Center to spend the weekend with Craig's brother and his family. The girls have their last basketball game on Saturday and then the school is having a fun fair. It should be fun! Our neighbor girl is going to let the dog out and make sure that he doesn't eat all the cat food. He will eat anything!! Well, I suppose I should finish packing. I have done laundry all day and got the house cleaned up. I hope everyone has a good weekend!! 

Monday Night Basketball

Today was going well until the cat tipped my laptop off the couch. Now the screen is really loose. So, I will have to make an appt. at the Apple store and see what it will cost to fix it. KU basketball is on and it is against the Mizzou tigers. I may have to leave the room it has already been a crazy game and we are only six minutes into the game. I don't know if Craig will keep his cool. It was a beautiful day here. We had a rain storm move in and out. Then the rest of the day was sunny but extremely windy. I think it is so funny. They have wind advisories down here. The kids and Craig had Tae-Kwon-Do tonight. So that left Ginny and I some time together. Tomorrow we have Valentine's Day parties at the school. I am Felicity's room parent. So I have to get my stuff together for the party. I just volunteered to bring stuff to JC's classroom. I am hoping that Craig will be off so he can hang out in JC's class and help them out. Wednesday starts parent teacher conferences. I am excited to see the progression the kids have made in their studies. Well, it is getting deap in here so I think I will go do some laundry or clean our bedroom. Have a good night!

TGIF!!! It was absolutely beautiful outside today. I had all the windows open in the house. The kids had the day off so we did some cleaning. JC's room needed to have his toys gone through. It did not take us long. The kids are headed to grandma and papa's house for a sleepover. So, I am taking Craig out for dinner. We have not had a quite night for awhile. He has to work so he needs to be home early to get to bed.  He goes in on the weekend at about midnight. I have not seen a girlfriend of mine in awhile so we are going to see He is just not that in to you tonight. I guess I get to have the best of both worlds tonight. Date night and girls night. 

Saturday night was the Daddy-Daughter dance for our Girl Scout Service Unit. This picture was taken by a friend of mine who was working the dance. Felicity had a great time. She got her first pair of heels. I guess that is what happens when you let daddy take her shopping. She could talk him into anything. She loves this once a year event. Craig rolls out the red carpet. She got to have steak and one on one time with daddy. Which in this house is a rare event! The girls dance till they can't dance anymore. When  they got home I asked her how it was. Like a pro she began to tell me about the DJ and how this one was better than last years. She then told me all about who was there and the pictures. It looks like they had a great time.  The weekend was finished off with a round of soccer games. I really like the fields they have been playing at. The viewing deck and concessions sit above the fields.  I know it was Super Bowl Sunday but there was a women that had way to much to drink. She was leaning as she walked and spilling her beverage everywhere. It was comical. Yet, I worried she would try to go down stairs. Head first! Luckily whoever she had come with was only there for one game so she left as fast she came. We came home got ready for showers and everyone headed to bed. All in all a pretty great weekend!

TGIF!!! It was a beautiful day out. The kids even walked home from school it was so nice. Felicity has become interested in cooking. So she made hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner. It was really delicious! After dinner Felicity went to a friends house to play till nine and JC went to a sleep over. I went to a girlfriends house to drop off the cookie money for girl scouts and she was also having a tastefully simple party. So I hung out till nine and then picked Felicity up. We got home and Craig was a sleep. So I guess we will have a girls night in! Craig will go in late tonight. So he will be home early in the morning. He is really good about making french toast and bacon for breakfast. Yum!! I can't wait for breakfast. Tomorrow is the Girl Scout Daddy Daughter dance. I am sure the afternoon will be spent primping, curling and dress fluffing. I hope to post pictures this weekend of the dance. Well, I think it is popcorn and movie time. Have a good night!

It is soooo cold outside. It went from spring like weather to winter in a matter of twenty four hours. We went to church this morning and ran home to get some lunch in. Craig started the laundry while I headed into our bedroom to start rearranging it.  We only had a couple of hours to get our stuff done because Craig had the first of three indoor soccer games at 5:55 p.m. Then we took the kids to McD's for dinner and to play. Craig's second game was at 8:30 p.m and the third was at 10:55. We decided to skip the third game and come home. We hustled the kids into the shower and to bed. So I thought I would sit down and gab about our day before I headed into the kitchen to clean up. It was a great weekend! I took Craig to the fights, he was off Saturday, and we had a busy Sunday! It could not have been better. I hope the week runs smooth. It sounds like it is the last quiet week for awhile. 

Today was Craig's birthday! We did not do much tonight for it. His step mom has been in the hospital since Monday. Nothing serious as usual so she will be dismissed tomorrow. I have bought tickets to the mma fights tomorrow. So we have gotten daycare for the kids and are going out on the town! We do not do this very often but the big 3-0 deserved a night out. It was warm and sunny here today.  It was a day right out of spring. The bad news is it is supposed to go back to winter weather tomorrow. I can not believe how mild of a winter it has been. I really should not complain. Virginia has really struggled keeping her hands off our new cat. She treats him like one of her dolls. I have tried several things to keep her away from the cat. She is just so stubborn! I am really surprised how well our dog has adjusted to the cat. I thought for sure he would be chasing the cat all day long. They actually get along really well.  I will have to upload new photos. I have not updated my photos in awhile. I will try to get that done over the weekend. I need to finish up the painting in our kitchen and do the repair work to the cabinet end where we removed an overhead cabinet. I may go ahead and start with the trim. If I do that I will have to to the whole house. I am not sure if I am ready to dive into that or not. I also need to finish painting the trim in the kids bathroom and get it back on the wall. Once that is done maybe then I will dive into the trim for the house.  Have a good night everyone!

It is Inauguration Day for our forty-fourth president. It has been so much fun to see our system work and showing the kiddos how it works. Felicity has been really interested in policies and how that affects us. JC has just been excited to pick a president. I wonder how much the kids will get to see of today's events. I think I will set the dvr to tape it all. Today is history in the making.  I was sitting here just thinking of the last eight years and all of the things that have happened.  I am glad to live in a time where my kids have the chance to see so many amazing things. We have seen things that I never imagined to see in my life time let alone my kids. Happy Inauguration Day!!

TGIF!! I woke up this morning to about an inch of snow dusting the ground. It was a surprise since we did not have it in the forecast for today. I can not believe that today is Friday. This week must have been on hyper drive. Craig is working Saturday so we won't be doing much tonight. Most likely laundry. We normally have indoor soccer games on Sunday but I just found out that there is a tournament this weekend so we are on a by week.  Our weekend is really wide open. Maybe we will take the kids to the movies. I know that sledding will be on the agenda today. I I am so excited for the weekend! 

Today was the last full day with my mom here. She flies out of here tomorrow afternoon. It has been a great visit with her here. We don't get to see her all that often and it has been a really long time since she was in Olathe last. I hope to get back to Chadron soon. Grandpa is getting older and is health is up and down at times. I would like my kids to spend as much time with him as we possibly can. All the kids are asleep and the dryer is calling my name so I will sign off for tonight! 

Hang in there Anna!! I promise that it will get better and the sweet little girl you know will return. I want to wish Amy good luck tomorrow as she and her husband Jim get to meet Lindy for the first time. Have a great day and smile someone loves you!!!

I am so excited for 2009! I am hoping this year will be as good as 2008 was for us. Christmas was very exciting for us this year. Craig's mom was able to fly in Christmas night. We told the kids we were going to check out some very interesting lights. It was a blast to have her come and visit with us for the holidays. It has been so warm here that Beverly was able to really help me get some of my projects done. It was a big relief to have those items checked off the list.  Then my great uncle died. So we packed up and headed to Onawa, Iowa. It was great to see everyone. We were to be there two days but grandpa needed to head back right after the funeral. So, we got my mom a one way ticket home and she came back to Olathe with us. It was great to have her here for my birthday. Now I just need to get my dad here and they will have seen most of their grandparents. HINT, HINT dad! Craig turns thirty this year and I have big plans for him. His grandma Christy makes us a calendar every Christmas. The great thing about this calendar is that it has everyones birthday and age on it. Well, every year Craig is a year younger than he really is. He claims it to be the fountain of youth. This year I took a big red marker and made a correction to this years calendar! There is no running away from this birthday!! I am so excited to show him the highlights of his life. It has been a great trip down memory lane. If anyone has a funny story they would like to share let me know. The more the merrier!! We just got Girl Scout cookies in and we have been delivering them. We had 250 boxes!! UGH!!!  They have been saving a part of their cookie profits for the last three years. We will be taking a tour and sleep over at the Henry Doley Zoo in Omaha! I am so excited! We went to the Zoo two years ago for Mother's Day and had a blast. We have a great Zoo here in KC but I really love the Henry!!! The kids are back into school and back to the crazy schedule that we call our life. Craig is playing on three soccer teams this session. That really makes Sunday a long day for us. Indoor soccer is crazy!! The co-ed teams are mean!! It is like watching hockey but no ice. I hope that everyone is having a great start to their week!