Maize Fall Festival Parade

Before I cover today's events, I have to post this picture. I pulled out some of Emily's 4t clothes I had been waiting for her to grow into and she spotted this skirt. She was with me last winter when I bought it off the clearance rack and has been begging to wear it. Despite it being a 4t, it's still too big(we had to pin it), but she got to wear it anyway. This is what pure delight looks like. :) Okay, back to today... Jen thought it would be so awesome for us to join her at the Maize Fall Festival parade. On the way into Maize, I drove through a stop sign...and this cop was in the road averting traffic at the time and saw it. He called me on it and I said, "I never saw it!"...then he proceeded to explain that it is the red, octagon with blinking red lights(I was by Vermillion Elementary). Thank you Captain Obvious. Still doesn't mean that I didn't see it. There were a ton of people everywhere, all roads blocked off so I couldn't park anywhere, and I had absolutely no idea where I was going, let alone that there would've been a stop sign there to watch out for. Thankfully he was too busy to write me a ticket.

Captain Obvious. "Grant's Marching Band", as Emily says.

Cymbols...Justin use to play them for Maize. Ha ha. It was about 40 degrees out there and if the band hadn't been one of the first groups through the parade, I would've played it off and said, "Kids the parade is over!!" :)

Emily's favorite..the big, big bus.

Representing the new Maize school...Maize Maverick's. They are splitting Maize into two different schools since it's so big now. I'm happy to report, we made it out without getting frost bite, and without running any more stop signs. :) Oh, and I never got to meet up with Jen, which is why there are no pictures of us together!!!

Welcome Back

He's in. Justin got his physical accepted today, so he is back in the Navy. He has some finalization things to do, but he should(we hope) drill next month!!

Visit from the Chief

After the third re-schedule, we finally got to see the Chief today. Justin was nominated for the 2009 Excellence in Public Safety Award in February. Though he didn't win, the Chief presented the nominees with a certificate to thank them for their hard work.

Chief Norman Williams and Justin

Justin's cheesy acceptance speech.

Chief, us and Captain Ramsah

Moving Day

Moving day is here!! Didn't know we were moving?? That's because we aren't. Jen is. The house that they rent in Riverside is being sold by the owner, so they have about a week to get all of their stuff out of the house. After we saw the Chief today, we dropped the kids off to Papa and went over to help Jen empty out the house. In. The. Rain. Oh, and 3 of the 4 Whitcomb's have/getting over the flu. NICE.

Boys and Couches.

Rule #1: No couch will fit through a normal sized doorway without being tilted. That being said, all things should be removed from the couch.

Rule #2: Double check that you've removed EVERYTHING...including the feet.

Rule #3: PIVOT!!!

Rule #4: When raining, run with the couch through the rain, to the moving truck.

The poor boys. It rained. And rained. They were soaked.

Emptying the bedroom...

..and the closet.

Whitcomb house--for the next week. :) Happy moving, Jen and Grant!!

Waiting for November 1st

I love the Fall. For some reason, the Fall season makes me think of vintage. I don't know why that is. Vintage table runners and plates. Vintage chairs and Halloween decor. Maybe it's all the arts and crafts fairs that go on during this time. Either way, I adore it. Fall also makes me very aware of important dates: **September 20th- our anniversary **September 24th-Maisie's birthday(Justin's niece) **October 26- Tim's birthday(Justin's dad) **October 28th- Justin's parents anniversary **October 29th- Chloe's birthday(Justin's niece) **October 31st- Justin's birthday(30th this year!) **November 1st- Karsten's birthday(Justin's nephew) **November 13th- this year it would be my dad's 81st birthday **November 20th- New Moon premiere(that's right...it's on my important events calendar!) **December 1st- my birthday **December 10th- Emily's birthday **December 25th- Christmas!!!! There are also more birthdays of close friends and their kids in December, as well as Jason and Heidi's anniversary at the end of the month. As you can see, I have a list of things I have to get through before I can get to Christmas(if you're wondering, I skip Thanksgiving as a personal preference. That's me. Not the rest of the family...just me). As a rule in our house, I have to wait til after Justin's birthday to get any Christmas stuff out. Hold on...that's an understatement. I can't even LOOK at Christmas stuff til after his birthday!! He curses Hobby Lobby every August when they bring out Christmas trees. "There should not be ANY Christmas stuff out til after my birthday!!" he grumbles. What a sad, strange little man he is. :) This year I've already managed to break the rules a few times. I haven't bought anything or gotten anything out, but boy have I been looking!! That darn etsy.com has some great stuff!! Well, yesterday I was getting myself acquainted to the surroundings of my new favorite blog, "Whatever", and decided to take a stroll back to last December. Gasp. That's the only sound that came out of my mouth. And then I felt something that shocked me. A tear was sliding down my right cheek!!

Why?

All because of this picture. I caught the glimpse of quite a few other holiday pics and decorations before this one, but something about it made me sad, ecstatic, anxious, overwhelmed and joyful all at once. I have always wanted vintage ornaments like these and this picture was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Weird, huh? Here's the extra weird factor: I went back again to look at this picture today and I had the exact same reaction: gasp and tear. I guess it's the simple things in life. But look at those pink balls!! They are so pretty!! :) So, here's to November 1st.

I await your return.

Random Moments Start at Home

Just a few random pictures to share today. I've been needing to upload some and have been putting it off. Nothing says "manly man" like a backwards cap and a pink blanket. Emily working on her new clothing line. Cookin' in the kitchen. The Fresh Beat Band on Nick is a hit! :) Shirts for our premiere party. The iron-ons are from Leslie at Shabby Sneakers.

The first one says, "Stay in School.. you never know who you'll meet in biology." The second says "It's all fun and games til someone gets a papercut". 45 days til the premiere.

Riverside Park

Today was the end of a long week and hopefully the start of a wonderful weekend. On Monday there was a Sheriff's Deputy that was shot and killed while responding to a fake larceny report. Area officer's, including Justin, spent the afternoon looking for the suspect. After about 6 hours, the suspect popped up in a field--opposite to the one Justin was in--shooting at officer's. After a shoot out resulting in the suspect's death, I'm happy to say that my husband only came home with a sunburn. It was a long day and with the event still very fresh in everyone's minds, it's made the week difficult and seem very long. To add to it, Justin had a bad loss on an important court case on Wednesday. That sealed the deal..it was time to do something enjoyable this week. So, on a whim, we decided to take the kids to the park. Despite the 40 mph wind gusts and the fact that Aiden and I still have coughs, it was quite enjoyable. We met up with Jen and her kids and played...and were even on the news!! Channel 12 was out to ask parents about the H1N1 shot. Jen, being the socialite that she is, obliged them with an interview. She's so funny. The end product looked great!! :) The kids and I had some cameos, as well.

Lunch time at the park! A little shot I caught. I love how this one turned out!!

This one, too.

Up high with Morgan.

The kids went down the BIG slide. I'm not a big fan of the emergency room, so this was the first time for Emily to try this by herself(after going down with daddy a few times first). She had so much fun.

If you're not familiar with Riverside Park in Wichita, it has a huge rocket ship(as seen here) that you use to be able to climb in and up ladders to the top. It's been sealed off for a while due to someone trying a stupid stunt, but the rocket itself has been at the park for a LONG time. We are talking back when Justin's parent were kids! WOW. :) Sorry, Tim and Rena...I know, there goes my Christmas present.

Shy Spider-man, Cole.

The kids.

The kids checking on Morgan. Poor Morg had fallen in between the gap at the back of the bench and scraped herself. Everybody had to make sure she was okay before they would proceed with more picture taking.

The Whitcomb's.

Jen and I love this picture.

Lily pads.

I think they were yelling cause I wouldn't stop taking pictures...

Mama's boy, Cole.

Always performing.