Home Opener

One of my "game-night" girlfriends suggested an outing with spouses a couple of months ago & chose the KC Chiefs home opener game for our "couples gathering". We had our new members ceremony at church so we were unfortunately unable to meet up with the group for tailgating festivities so we ended up meeting them there separately.

Our neighbor Laine was kind enough to watch Mason for us & I was really looking forward to having an afternoon "date" with my hubby as well as spending some time with the girls & watching the KC Chiefs home opener. 

We got out of church, dropped Mase off & made our way to the stadium which is usually a 45 minute drive. By the time we battled traffic & got close to the stadium it was 70 minutes. We then paid $30 at the gate to park, drove another 1/2 mile to a parking spot which was a make-shift gravel parking lot, walked the 1/2 mile to the stadium, spent 30 minutes getting frisked by 3 different check-points, walked in on the wrong side of the stadium & FINALLY found our seats & it was 10 minutes into the 1st quarter.

UGH....

By this point I was ready for an ice cold beer & happy to finally be in our seats:

We had seats on the 50 yard line which was a great view of the entire field:

We were having a great time, catching up with the girls, drinking my $9 beer, watching the game & then this happened:

 

This idiot who is clearly a Tennesee Titans fan (who was the team the Chiefs were playing) kept standing up in front of me every time his team had the ball. Notice how nobody else around him is standing?? THEN he starts bantering back & forth with the people sitting a few rows behind us THE. ENTIRE. GAME!! Really? I paid $70 to sit & watch this the entire game?

By this time I am beyond irritated. Along with the fact it was like 90 degrees out & like a dummie I forgot sunscreen & could feel my face frying! I did manage to take a minute & smile for a group selfie & a pic with the hubby:

So it "looks" like I am having a good time when deep down I am irritated. I am hot. I am ready for another beer...even if it is $9!

We made it until the middle of the 4th quarter & then most of us decided to leave early to avoid the crowd, avoid the traffic out of the stadium & get into some air conditioning. We got a quick group pic with the girls & then were on our way.

All in all it was a good time & I thank Michelle for getting us the tickets & planning this little gathering with the husbands. Shane & I agreed however that it will be a very long time before we pay to watch a Chief's game at Arrowhead Stadium again. 

In my opinion, although we had fun, the experience just isn't worth the cost. Would much rather be snuggled up on the couch with my little man watching the game in the comforts of my own home.

Members

Shane & I have been trying to find a church to call "home" for several years now. We have spent many a Sunday morning attending a variety of churches & just haven't ever felt that welcome or inviting feel to any of them. I hate to say, but we grew tired of trying to find "the one" & just stopped going all together.

So when Mason came along, I got the urge once again to seek out a church "family" - especially one that had a good youth program for Mason to grow up with. It was really important to us for Mason to grow up learning about God, stories from the bible & how to be a good Christian.

Rewind to last October. I had noticed a flier posted up at Mason's daycare for a Halloween Party on a farm that was close by to where we lived. There was all kinds of food, kids dressed in costumes, a bon fire, & a haunted trail for the bigger "kids". A few people from the daycare were going as well as a couple of kids from his infant room so I thought it would be a great way to meet others in our community as well as get to know the parents of the kids Mason spends every day with.

We had SO much fun & everyone was so very nice. I met the "owners" of the farm & later found out that it was a church sponsored event. I also learned that Mason's daycare providers & owner of the daycare all go to this same church in the next town over from us. I asked a lot of questions regarding the church & went home to tell Shane all about it & how we really should go & check it out.

A few months passed by (without going to church) & I noticed another flier posted at the daycare for a fundraising spaghetti dinner put on by the same church that did the Halloween party. We ended up going to the dinner, meeting all kinds of nice, welcoming people & the following Sunday decided to attend their Sunday service for the first time.

It is a smaller congregation with about 215 members & people noticed that we were "new" so when the service was over so many members came up to us to introduce themselves & welcome us. They had a nursery for Mason to stay in & they also served cookies & refreshments after service - which scored points with me :) The pastor is a female which was something new for the both of us but we really liked her & enjoyed her sermon. 

That was almost a year ago & we have been going to the same church every Sunday ever since.

It took us 6 months of going to this church regularly to decide to become members & after 4 weeks of "new members" classes, I am proud to say that today our little family officially became members of Hillsdale Presbyterian Church:

I know in my heart this was the right decision for us because every time Sunday rolls around we don't mind waking up early & going to church. I look really forward to going & can honestly say that I have never felt that way about a church before. I am looking so forward to Mason turning 3 years old & being able to participate in "children's church" & getting involved in their youth program as well as Shane & I getting involved in their ministry throughout the year. 

Last month we attended a yummy breakfast fundraiser, next Sunday I am donating the cookies for after-service refreshments, we have enrolled in a young married couples class & I volunteered to help with providing lunch for families after the funeral service of a loved one so we are slowly getting involved & I am super excited to become even more involved with this wonderful church family.

It is really true that you meet people for a reason & had we not had Mason & enrolled him into this specific daycare we would have never met the wonderful people who introduced us to their church & we would probably still not be going to church. 

God definitely works in mysterious ways & for that I am thankful.

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

I'm sure most of you have heard of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that has been going on around the social media circuit?! Well, if you have been living in a hole this summer & never heard of it here is what it is all about...

The challenge involves people getting doused with buckets of ice water on video, posting that video to social media, then nominating others to do the same, all in an effort to raise ALS awareness.  People can either accept the challenge or make a donation to an ALS Charity of their choice, or do both. The challenge has gotten so popular that it even has its own definition on wikipedia!

The official rules of the challenge are:
-you have 24 hours from the time you are challenged to record a video of yourself doing the ice bucket challenge.
- First announce your acceptance of the challenge, pour ice into a bucket of water, then lift & pour said bucket of water over the participant's head.
 - Lastly call out a challenge to other people to do the same.

There are several different versions out there of the ice bucket challenge. In one version of the challenge, the participant is expected to donate $10 if they have poured the ice water over their head or donate $100 if they have not. In another version, dumping the ice water over the head is done in lieu of any donation or the participant says that they will be making a donation along with performing the challenge.

Regardless of how you do the challenge the point is to raise public awareness of ALS as well as raise money for research for this horrible disease. Since this "challenge" has gone viral, the ALS Association has received over $100 million in donations from July 29 - August 29 alone. I would have to say that making this silly video has been effective!!

So if you are friends with me on Facebook then you might have seen that I was challenged by my sister to do the ice bucket challenge. I accepted the challenge as well as made a donation. 

You have no idea how much fun Shane & Mason had dumping that bucket of water over my head! Shane even said to Mason after he did it "we got Mommy good" - so nice of him! You will notice there isn't hardly any ice in the huge amount of water being poured over my head but only because it was 100 degrees outside that evening when I did it so all the ice had pretty much melted. But trust me - that water was ICE cold & took my breath away!

Without further ado, here is my video:



To learn more about this horribly sad disease or to make a donation, please visit: http://www.alsa.org

Labor Day Wknd

The last holiday weekend of the summer is upon us & we are off to my parents farm in South Dakota for the weekend. Shane unfortunately got stuck out on the road working so sadly Mase & I made our way up to the farm Friday morning without him. 

Mase is such a good little traveler! During our 7 hour road trip he took an early morning nap, then when he woke up he flipped through his new books for awhile, we sang songs, stopped for lunch, looked at more books & took his afternoon nap. By the time he woke up we were at my parents place.

Mason LOVES the farm. He would watch the sheep & lambs all day if I let him. He ventured around checking out all the sheep & cows, tried to feed the lambs, chased the kittens & dog, & didn't want to come inside! I love that he gets to experience farm life & enjoys it so much!

Saturday we hung out around the house, played outside, ran some errands, did a little shopping & enjoyed visiting with family. Early afternoon my brother Chris, his wife & kids came over for the day & my mom's sister was visiting for the weekend before she heads back to Ghana in West Africa to do a year of mission work next week. We enjoyed visiting & catching up with everyone & loved hearing my Aunt's stories of Ghana & the way of life over there.

Late afternoon my grandparents came over for supper & it was so nice getting to see them also. I always treasure the visits with my grandparents when I am home because I never know if it is the last time I am going to see them. They are both in their late 80's but looking at them & talking with them you would never know it. I am still amazed that my Grandpa is 89 years old & still farms! 

Sunday morning we all went to my parent's church which is the same church Shane & I were married in & Mason was baptized in. I love sitting in that church looking around & reminiscing about those two wonderful days & thanking God for all the blessings that have been presented to us thus far.

After service we made the one hour drive to Huron, SD for the State Fair. I LOVE going to the fair & couldn't wait to take Mason to experience it also. We got there around lunch time so the first item on the agenda was to eat. We all dined on Indian Taco's, hamburgers, corn dogs, fries & funnel cake. I don't know what it is about fair food but it is delicious & as many calories as I consumed I am glad I only partake in it once a year!

We stuffed ourselves full & decided to get up & do some walking to work off some of the food we just ate so we headed over to the Woman's Expo building to see all the cool exhibits submitted by people around the state. Then we made our way over to the Petting Zoo where Mason got to "pet" the mini horses, calves, lambs, pygmy goats, a camel, bunnies & puppies. He loved watching & touching all the animals & we had to literally drag him out of that barn!

Next stop was the beef barn where all the cows are located. Mason was so excited to get up close & personal with the cows & the some of the owners even let him pet them which made his day!

We moved on to the area where all the tractors, combines, weed sprayers & gators were located & like the beef barn my kid did NOT want to leave. He had to crawl up in ALL the equipment which meant Mama had to crawl up there with him & he had SO much fun pretending like he was "driving"!

After playing on all the tractors we noticed the sky was starting to get dark, the wind was picking up & the temperature was starting to drop which can only mean one thing in the mid-west - there was a storm blowing in from the west so we decided it be best to make our way towards home. We made one last stop on our way out for my most favorite fair food - mini sugared donuts & a root beer - yum!

We weren't in the car for more than 10 minutes when this happened:

Little guy was SO tired that he fell asleep with his hand in his snack cup! 

We got back to the farm & thankfully managed to miss the storm. The rest of the evening was spent hanging out with the family, getting things packed up for our trip back home the next morning & thanks to Grandma, snacking on chocolate chip cookies before bed:

We SO enjoyed our time on the farm & can't wait to go back for Christmas - hoping Shane can be able to go with us next time!

"About Me" Project

So last week I was picking Mason up from daycare & before we left I was given my 1st "project" to complete as a parent. We were given a white poster board & asked to make an "All About Me" photo collage of our child. Once completed it was going to be displayed by the entrance of the Toddler 1 room for everyone to see. Since I consider myself a "crafty" person, I was super excited to be given the task & a bunch of ideas came to mind as I made the drive home.

However, when I sat down to actually create this project, I got "writers block" & had NO idea how I was going to make this. Knowing the kind of person I am it had to be perfect. It had to be amazing. It had to be the best. I am competing up against 7 other mom's & the competition was ON! The more I thought about it the more anxious I got so I put it away & do what I always do best....wait until the last minute & then rush to get it all done.

So 2 days from the due date & I still hadn't started "the project". I had searched Google & Pinterest for ideas & there wasn't much out there so I soon realized I was going to have to use my own brilliant ideas for this. 

Later that afternoon, I picked up Mase as usual & while there I noticed in the corner of his room a pile of already handed in posters from other parents. I may or may not have snuck a peek at what the other Mom's parent's created & I was immediately bogged down by ideas. 

HT was BACK & she was inspired! I GOT THIS!!!

So after dinner we got the finger-paints out & Mase had fun making his hand prints. Once he went to bed I pulled out the colored paper, glue & scissors & cut out his little hand-prints, began organizing photos, created little explanations for each picture & assembled Mason's photo collage which described him & his favorite things.

I ended up finishing it the night before it was due & it all came together just as I had imagined it. It was bright. It was bold. And in my opinion (& my husbands) it was awesome. 

I present to you all my 1st "project" as a parent:

And here it is displayed on the wall among the rest of the other collages:

I loved putting together this little "project" & can't wait for future ones where Mase can help :)

Playdate

To finish off a fabulous birthday weekend, we started our morning by going to church. Then Mase & I met our besties, Jen & Miss Ava at our favorite place - Deanna Rose Farmstead for an afternoon of lots of fun. It was so good to get to see these two as it has been awhile & the Mommy's had so much fun catching up & enjoying watching the little's. 

Mase & Ava are SO cute together. They started off by feeding the goats:

Then sitting on the bench for a cute photo op:

Next stop was ringing all the cow bells:

While in the dairy barn they both wanted to sit on the wooden horse together:

Then we made our way over to the baby goats where Mase & Ava fed them bottles of milk:

It just warms my heart to see these two hang out together. I hope they will be good friends for a very long time!

After we fed the goats, we decided that it was snack-time so we made our way over to the ice cream parlor. Mommy & Mase shared a couple of scoops of ice cream & Miss Ava got herself a sno-cone. We of course had to get a group photo before the little's got all messy with their treats:

We had a blast with Jen & Miss Ava today! Little man was SO tired by the time we got into the car that he fell asleep while looking at his book:

We are looking forward to many more play-dates this fall with Miss Ava & her Mommy. We are hoping to meet up at Monkey Bizness next month :)

"Birth" Day

So this morning I awoke at 5am to my sweet little boy wide awake & not wanting to go back to sleep - thanks Mase for the early birthday wake up call ;) Luckily my dear hubby took Mase downstairs with him & let Mama sleep in! 

After I finally decided to get up, we headed over to our church for a breakfast fundraiser & enjoyed a delicious spread of scrambled eggs, hash-browns, biscuits/gravy & the most yummy cinnamon rolls made by this cutie-patootie 84 year old named Georgia - who sits next to us every Sunday in church. Such a sweet lady!

We swung by the mailbox on the way home & I was pleasantly surprised to see so many birthday cards waiting for me in the mailbox:

Made this birthday girl feel so loved :)

The rest of the day was spent hanging out around the house with my two boys, grilled out for dinner & ended the day eating some of my favorite cupcakes from Gigi's:

Here's to being another year older - hope I am continued to be as blessed as I was this past year!

Pre-Birthday Celebration

So tomorrow I am celebrating turning another year older. Seems like the older I get these birthdays creep up faster & faster every year - why is that?

Since my birthday falls on a Saturday this year, I figured why not make it a weekend-long celebration?! You only live once, right?

So we started the birthday weekend off by getting a babysitter & made our way downtown to the Power & Light District for a bit of a date-night. Out of all the "fancy" restaurants in P & L, I picked Johnny's Tavern. It had been a crazy busy day at work & by the time we got down there I was craving an ice cold beer & some bar food & Johnny's is the perfect place to get both.

 

We had a cocktail, ate, people watched & caught up on each others week. It was good for this Mama & Daddy to get out & enjoy some one-on-one time with each other!

After dinner we headed over to the outdoor courtyard area where a band called Evalyn Awake was setting up for their Friday night Kansas City Live! show. Shane is FB friends with the lead singer in the band we were about to watch & knowing his choice of music I had a feeling I wasn't going to be enjoying the show!

To my surprise the band was REALLY good. So good in fact that I am planning on downloading a few of their songs! We didn't stay out too late as this Mama was super tired from the long work week, but I'm glad the hubby & I got to go & enjoy a fun night out!

WWYD

Have you ever seen that show "What Would You Do"? 

In the show, actors act out scenes of conflict or illegal activity in public settings while hidden cameras videotape the scene & the focus is on whether or not bystanders intervene & how.

Well while I was sitting at Panera today having a quick lunch by myself I felt like I was on that show & I was expected at any minute to get up out of my seat & intervene with the situation that was unfolding in front of me.

These are the "actors":

get

Now I know that I am not the most perfect mother in the world & I have my days where I am frustrated with Mase but no matter how frustrated I can get you would never hear me say the kind of things to my child that were coming out of this ladies mouth - in a public place mind you nor would I make promises to my child I didn't intend to keep.

The mom is in teal, the sweet little girl named Darcy is in the middle & a girlfriend is on the right. The very well behaved little girl has been eating mac-n-cheese & yogurt while sitting there patiently for an hour while her mom & friend visit & says she is finished. The mom keeps insisting she "shut-up & finish her meal".

The little girl is clearly full but the mom would not let up on her. She kept telling her to eat all her food & then she will get a cookie. It was when I heard this statement "I know how big that mouth of yours is so I know you can finish your meal" is when I started to feel uncomfortable & get pissed. 

The little girl finally finishes her food with no complaining & asks her mom for the cookie she promised her. The mom tells her because of her attitude she doesn't get to have a cookie, proceeds to share the cookie with her girlfriend, eat it in front of her daughter & gave the poor child none. The child starts to cry, the mom grabs her arm, yells at her - for the entire restaurant to hear & then takes her to the bathroom.

It took all I could do to not run into that bathroom, grab that child & hug her, buy her a cookie & throat punch the mother.

What kind of parenting is this & what lessons does it teach to this poor little girl?? I was so bothered sitting there watching this entire situation go down & I had to fight back the tears I felt for that poor little girl. 

So as I sat there, I did the only thing I knew to do - I prayed for the little girl & her mother. Then I proceeded to pray for myself & asked forgiveness for being so judgemental & critical of a situation that was none of my business. 

I am so hoping the mom was just frustrated & having a bad day & this is not how she treats her daughter all the time?!

Showered in Pink

Today I went to my girlfriend Leann's baby shower which her friends threw at one of my favorite restaurants: La Bodega. One of Leann's friends husband is the main chef there so we were all treated like royalty & were spoiled with all the yummy appetizers that kept coming out to us throughout the afternoon. 

After a bit of mingling, eating & sipping on the most amazing sangria ever it was time for Leann to open her gifts for Baby Olivia.

I always love the "gift opening" part of baby showers. So much fun to see what the Mama-2-Be & baby gets from everybody as well as all the cute little outfits! But what I love even more than the gift opening is the cake - imagine that ;)

Leann has another girlfriend who is a professional baker & whipped up this delicious masterpiece for her shower & it was amazing. Vanilla cake with a butter-cream icing - I may or may not have had 2 pieces - as did a few of the other ladies.

Towards the end of the shower we gathered around to take a group photo with the glowing Mama:

And one of the Mama with her co-worker besties - Taylor & I - who are both planning on throwing Leann's work baby shower in September!

It has been so much fun going through this journey with this 1st time Mama & I have loved being her "go-to" person thus far. Can't wait for little Miss Olivia Piper to make her appearance come early November!

#20/20 Experience

Back in November 2013 I bought two tickets to the hottest, most anticipated concert of the year for my girlfriend Jilly & I - Justin Timberlake. It was painful having to wait 10 months to see him in person while my friends & family got to see him earlier on his tour throughout the country. But finally the day has come & it was WELL worth the wait!

I ended up getting stuck at work late so my happy hour plans with Jilly didn't pan out but luckily we made it to the concert just in time with 30 minutes to spare before the show got started. 

Since we missed happy hour we were thirsty & starving so we grabbed a quick beverage & a bite to eat before we got seated:

 

Then we heard word that our friend Melissa was at the concert also so we met up & grabbed a quick hug & a picture with her before the concert began:

Ugh - it's been a LONG time since I have seen this girl - miss those "game night" girls oh so much :(

After hugs, cheers & a potty break we made our way to our seats - which were pretty amazing & enjoyed watching JT do his thing.

He sang, danced & entertained the sold out crowd for almost 3 hours & after it was all said & done I could have sat there for 3 more hours watching him. He was THAT good!

He ended the show with his present hit "Mirrors" & it was awesome the way he paid tribute to the crowd towards the end. Here - see for yourself:

It was a GREAT concert with one of dearest friends & a much deserved girls night out! Definitely well worth the 10 month wait!

DS Awareness Walk

Dear friends,

As your friend I don't ever ask for much, but today I am begging asking for your help. Help for this little sweetie who is very near & dear to my heart:

 

As most of you know, this sweet baby girl is my niece Dana. Not only is she super special because she is my niece, but she has something special that you & I don't - one extra chromosome.

Dana has Down Syndrome & since her arrival last November she has not only blessed us all with her presence, but she has made us all want to become more educated & more aware of children who have Down Syndrome.

On Saturday, October 4th, my family is traveling to Wisconsin to join my sister & her family as "Dana's Daisies" by helping raise awareness for Down Syndrome by participating in the Down Syndrome Association of Wisconsin 5th Annual Awareness Walk.

The DSAW-Fox Cities has provided my sisters' family with so much support, education, information, many resources, & opportunities in the short time they have been a part of this amazing group.

Won't you please consider joining me in supporting this wonderful organization? This walk is fully funded by your participation &/or by your monetary donation. It is also a charitable tax-deduction! 

Please follow the link: https://secure.qgiv.com/hobnob/account/225934 to sign up & join us or to make a donation! No matter how big or how small, remember that every little bit helps these amazing kids!

Miss Dana & our family thanks you for your support!