The perfect nap

1. Everyone else must be sleeping too--I just can't seem to really sleep unless all the kids are sleeping too.
2. Cool weather and open windows.--Temperature has to be cool enough that I need to curl up in a blanket, but not so cold that my nose freezes!
3. Quiet--See #1.
4. Sweatpants--See #2. I love sweatpants!
5. 2 hours--Not too short, not too long.

And there you have it.
The recipe for a PERFECT nap.
This is not to discredit the thousands of less then perfect naps I've taken over the years. Those have been sufficient, yet not perfect.

I may exist only to survive until my next perfect nap!

I'm back.

What a roller coaster!

The last several days have wiped me out, but as with most things that are in the dark, there are inevitably flashes of beautiful light.

Due to the ENORMOUS generosity of a dear friend who is a flight attendant, I flew out of Kansas City early Sunday to Virginia for a dear friend's funeral.

I couldn't leave til after Chad's football game Saturday day, though.

This is where the roller coaster started!!

UP, UP, UP...

It was a FANTASTIC game! We beat the #7 team in the nation with near perfect precision.

I'm a little bias, but the game plan was spot on :) I loved seeing Chad grin ear to ear on the field after the game.

DOWN, DOWN, DOWN...

Right after the game, I raced home, unpacked all our tailgating stuff, packed up what I needed for the trip and loaded up Autumn, Cory and Caleb. We kissed Chad and Elijah and took off for KC at 11:15 p.m.

I made it to KCI at 3:30 a.m. and tried to park in the parking garage and sleep for awhile. Caleb woke up, which woke Autumn and Cory up, which means I didn't sleep. So I drove around the airport for awhile, got gas, and the kids fell back asleep.

I parked and slept for about 20 minutes before my parents called and they met me outside the airport to take the kids. I got on my 6:00 a.m. flight and slept all the way to DC.

Can you say TIRED???

UP... I was tired, but during my flight from DC to Norfolk, I sat next to a very kind Navy admiral and had a great conversation with him.

and UP, UP, UP again...

My sister-in-law and neice picked me up. It was so nice to see them! I was able to take a nap at their house and then head to the visitation.

UP, DOWN, UP, DOWN...

I haven't seen our friends for probably 6 years and I was so happy to see them. And so sad for why I was able to...

UP, UP...I went back to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's house and had a super fun evening chatting and drinking a good bit of wine.

DOWN...Went to the funeral Monday at noon.

UP...spent the afternoon with my relatives, saw my neice do gymnastics, visited with my other sister-in-law, neice and nephew in the area, and spent most of the night with the Stroyecks, cathing up and remembering their mother.

I left on Tuesday feeling thankful and sad. So thankful that I was able to go and reconnect with a family that is so dear to me, visit some familyAND have a few short, but restful nights of sleep without a certain 2 year old waking me up!

On my way home, I think God decided I need just a little pick-me-up. I was suppose to fly out on a 9:15 flight, but didn't make it in time so I was put on an 11:35 flight which ended up being delayed so I would have missed my connection in Philadelphia. I wasn't worried about it cause I really do enjoy hanging around an airport. Great people watching :)

So as I'm waiting for my now 1:30 flight to board, I notice a woman that I thought I saw at Linda's funeral. I wasn't sure so I didn't say anything, but she thought the same thing and DID say something to me.

Long story, short...She was Linda's very best friend who had moved away from Virginia a few years before we moved there. I had heard about her, but never met her. We were able to sit next to each other on our flight and spent our layover together as our gates were right next to each. It was such a joy to talk with her and I feel like God just orchestrated my delays and flight changes so we could meet.

So glad to be home!!

A life left too soon...

I'm going to be traveling tomorrow to Virginia.
Unfortunately, it's for a funeral of a dear friend, Linda.
I have such great memories from our time there. Those memories often included a beautiful family, the Stroyecks.
Linda and Kevin opened their hearts and home to us at a time that was crucial for me.

The story goes like this...

8 years ago I was a young mom at 22 with 2 babies under 2, living FAR away from my family for the first time. Not hard to say that I was wiggin' out pretty often.

The church we had found to attend was very small. Probably just 8-10 families.
One of those families was the Stroyecks.

They were beautiful, in the most unpretentious sort of way. 4 girls with long, flowy, hippie hair, a dark haired son, a mom with the darkest wavy hair, kind eyes and soft demeanor and a dad with a goofy sense of humor and a quick smile.

Chad was in the Navy and in and out quite a bit. With 2 little babies, church was difficult at best and flat out frustating at worst. This family just helped. When I needed to leave with Autumn, they entertained Elijah. When I had to take out Elijah, they held Autumn for me. This sort of thing turned into invitations for dinner to their house, requests for babysitting by me, and eventually, I just felt like I fit there with them.

Holidays were spent there if we couldn't get back to the Midwest.

Kevin, the dad, LOVED to bar-b-q and he was GOOD at it. Like, grilled scallops, salmon and steak, good. No burgers and hot dogs for this guy!

My brother Luke became very sick during this time and passed away. I don't even know if Linda and her family knows how critical they were for me. My family was so far away and I just desperately needed a family.
4 lovely daughters and a son that let us be a part of their family. At the time, the younger 2 girls, Caroline and Morgan were so fun and sweet. They LOVED Elijah and Autumn. Elijah called Caroline, Caro-lion, and to this day I always call her that too :)

In what was a very difficult time for me with very little kids, an often absent husband, no family around, and losing my brother, this family was there. They filled a void that really needed to be filled.

Linda, the mom, was diagnosed with cancer several years ago and received a bone marrow transplant. She then developed graft vs. host, which caused it's own health problems. She was by no means healthy anymore, but she was not dying either. Thursday she went in to the doctor because of pain in her left shoulder. She passed out, went into cardiac arrest and the medical team was not able to revive her. Her children are now in their 20s and early teens.

I want to be at the funeral so they know what their mom and wife did for me as a young mom and what their family means to me.

I cannot imagine loosing my mother at such a young age. Words don't come to express that emotion.

As I remember that time in our lives and the way Linda embraced us and so effortlessly had room in her heart and lives for us, I can only hope that I too, can be that for someone sometime.

Oh for the love!!!!

SOMEONE PLEASE STOP THE YELLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He is so loud!!!

You have no idea...

He is in rare form this morning. It started last night with an all out screaming fit for water.

Not just any water, but downstairs water.

The water Chad had by our bed wasn't good enough. Water from the bathroom wasn't good enough.

I'm stubborn so I let him scream it out for awhile.

Me: "Caleb, I have water here."

Caleb: "WWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRR!! DOWNSTAIRS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me: "Caleb, just take this water."

Caleb: " NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Me: "Caleb, be quiet!"

Caleb: "NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! WWWAAAADDDEEERRR!!!"

This went on for several minutes....

Then Chad from his insane ability to not notice the screaming child in our room, says, "Caleb, do you want to go back to your bed."

Caleb, calmly: "Yes."

There were a few more yells/hollers/screams but for the most part it was over.

So this morning he wakes up in the mood of all moods...Mean, bullying, LOUD!!!!

So, for the record, I love him. I really do. He's so adorable and so smart and so funny.

And LOUD!! :)

Fun things in McPherson

We have lived in McPherson for just over 3 years now and the longer I live here the more I like it.

Here are a few places that make this town special...in my humble opinion :)
P.S. Due to my non-functioning camera, I don't have any cool pictures to entice you with, so you'll just have to go to each of these and see what I'm talkin' about! :)

Kettle Creek Coffeehouse- 1358 N. Main

WARNING: SHAMELESS PLUG.. I know, I know, I work there, but it's such a perfect little place :)
It's just the right size with just the right atmosphere. And here's the kicker...the coffee is awesome. Trust me, I love coffee and I've tried lots of different kinds. Joan has an impressive selection of drinks and her menu of food, both breakfast and lunch/dinner are YUMMY!

Maple Memories 300 S. Maple St.

My beautiful friend, Shannon (remember: my lunging friend :) ) operates this super awesome house with her parents. It's a scrapbooking/quilting/anything crafty, etc retreat and it's always hoppin'!
It's such a cool, unique addition to our town and she does a great job keeping it fun and functional. Check out her website...P.S-she has some SWEET giveaways today! http://www.maplememories.com/ You can get to her blog from there and see all her crafty, fun ideas.

Sassybags-802 N. Main

Oh my goodness! If you love, (even kinda like) fun, girly, blingy accessories, this is THE place to go. My hip, cool friend, Casey has filled her store with purses, wallets, jewelry, hair accessories and on and on. She has new SASSY stuff coming in all the time so there's always something new to check out. Go there!

If you don't live here in McPherson, come visit me and I'll take you there personally! She has a Facebook page, so check it out!

So, there you go...these are 3 places I love to go and would hate not to have in this town. Go see for yourself, if you haven't already.

What's your favorite place in your town??

Lazy or genius??

Here's the thing...I don't mind reading to my kids.
I don't LOVE it or HATE it. I enjoy it sometimes and other times I don't. Mostly I've done it because I know how beneficial it is and they enjoy it.
So, lately, I haven't really felt like reading to them much. Don't know why, just haven't.

Oh wait, let me back track...since we've moved we have not had TV. We have a TV that the kids can watch movies on, but no stations.
For that reason, before bed, everyone sits and reads instead of watching TV.

Now we're back to my point...which was????

Oh, right! Reading to my kids.
So, I've enlisted Elijah and Autumn to read to Cory and Caleb. For some reason when I read to Caleb we get about 2 words in and he wants to get up/turn the page/rip the page/scream...just pick one.

However, when Elijah or Autumn read to him, he just sits there. Not all the time and not perfectly, but WAY more then with me. So, I think we may keep this going. Elijah and Autumn both enjoy it so why not?

Lazy or genius???

I haven't decided yet.

Almost...

I'm almost 30. Just a few more days.
I've never had issues with any age.
I was what I was and I am what I am.
What I was doing at certain ages didn't always match up with what my peers seemed to be doing at the time.
I'm ok with that.
Not many of my peers were eloping, moving across the country and having a baby at 19 and 20.
Then having another baby at 22...and then at 24...and another at 27.
Well, by 27 I think a few friends were having a baby.

I've always just been a little off of the "norm."

Go ahead, I left that one wide open...


So WHAT am I saying? Good question...
Just that I'm good.
I'm good with 30.
Can't wait for the 30s!
Alot happened in my 20s.
Lots of good stuff and some really sad, life-changing stuff. It all adds up to who I am today.
And, I'm good with that, so bring on 30!!

9/11

I remember.

I was 20, almost 21 with a 7 month old baby, just trying to survive the day to day.

Chad was in the the Navy and we lived in Virginia Beach, VA.

He was at work already, I had just gotten out of bed and flipped on The Today Show, expecting to see the usual morning segments that don't really matter.

I saw the burning tower and turned up the sound.

I saw the plane fly into the second tower. I turned to each of the other news stations. It was just total shock from everyone. What was happening?

I think my heart stopped for a second and then started racing. They said there may be other planes. Maybe in the DC area.

We were so close to DC. Chad worked at the largest naval base in the world.

I grabbed the phone and tried to call Chad. The base was on lock down and I couldn't get through.

Panicking, I called my sister in Fl. Told her to turn on the TV.

The towers collapsed and I sat and watched and watched and prayed.

Chad finally called after lunch. He didn't know when he'd be able to leave.

I can't write about that day without crying.

I remember the days, weeks, months after that. Constant coverage, 24/7. I wondered when each news channel would take the first step and cover something else.

They did eventually.

We've all moved on.

You have to.

But it's good to remember.

Weekend...

GO BULLDOGS!!!

At any point, if you get tired of hearing about football, you can say so.
I won't stop writing about it, but I will acknowledge your frustration :)
It's a bit all consuming at this time of year. I'm sorry. Really, I am.
Every week is the same, yet so different.

New opponent, new emotions. For example, last week we played Haskell. Not a great team. Not that you can take any game lightly, as they say, but I wasn't nervous about losing this one. More worried about someone getting hurt. This week, we play Friends. BIG, big difference. Much better team, much more emotion involved, I think.

Here are the things I think about during the week:

Travel plans. Home game, not much to think about, but we go to Wichita this week so got to think about when to leave, what to bring...

Tailgating or not. I LOVE, LOVE tailgating, but it's a lot of work. Not really into alot of work these days.

Get a babysitter for the 2 younger boys or take them to the game. This is critical to my happiness. Away night games are tricky cause it's really late and I don't want someone to have to watch them that late, but it's hard to keep Caleb occupied and actually watch the game so not sure about this one yet.

Do I wear a Bulldog t-shirt and jeans or just something red and black? Again, major life decision here. Got to be comfortable, but need to look cute, but not too over the top cause it's just a football game, you know.

Big decisions people!!!

And finally, tonight, we are having the quarterbacks over for dinner. I love this part. I like to "entertain", although I don't know how entertaining our house is to a few college boys. Anyway, I get to feed them food til they are stuffed and sick feeling. Pretty sweet. I like the guys. They are easy to be around, polite, and don't care if I feed them tacos, spaghetti, or enchiladas.

Lots go into a week of football all for a couple hours on a Saturday.
It's crazy. I know that. Please don't institutionalize me.
Actually, I could use a break.

a list

1. I don't have a "topic" that's been on my mind so I thought maybe a list would be sufficient.

2. I don't really get Labor Day. I suppose it's nice to have a random day in September off, but I really needed to go to the bank today.

3. I super duper, really, love my job at the coffeehouse. I can't wait to go there tomorrow.

4. I think I like my oldest son more when he's not in school everyday. I can't decide what that means.

5. I think I like my middle son more when my oldest son is in school. Again, I don't know what that means.

6. I REALLY want to go to my hometown this week for their big Fall Festival. It's not really that big cause the town is 2500 people, but it's a good time to see people.

7. I miss my mom.

8. We won our first game on Saturday! 45-0. A serious whoopin'! This next week is going to be a whole different kind of game. Much better opponent. I'm nervous. No, excited. No, nervous. You get the picture.

9. I really love my house, but I CANNOT decide on what else to put in it. Let's just say it's sparse. Really, sparse. It doesn't feel cozy and I kinda want cozy. I'm too cheap, though. I don't want to buy anything unless I love it and I can't decide what I love. HELP!

10. I love my husband and my kids, but they can only do so much to make the house cozy.

11. I'm wondering how many numbers I could get to in this post. I think probably a lot.

12. Are you bored yet??

13. My camera bit the dust this week. I'm kinda sad, but then I think about getting a new one and I get excited and then I think about Chad taking over our finances and then I get sad again cause he doesn't see that as an essential item. The camera I want is going to cost me ALOT of hours at the coffeehouse :)

14. Now are you bored?

15. I am.

ROAD TRIP!

It's a small one, but I'll take it!
I'm going to see 2 of my favorite people...



Fortunately, for them, they live in the same town together now.

Unfortunately, for me, that town is Fargo, ND.

I don't get up there much.
But I get to hang out with them tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited to see their lovely faces!!

And here's the kicker...I get to go on my little excurision with another one of my favorite people.


This is my lunging friend, Shannon. You can't beat loyalty like that, folks.