This is what happens when you get HDTV

Nobody leaves the TV for 12 hours, especially on College Football Saturday.

GO HAWKS!

Great win today!!

Our little cheerleader

Her deer in the headlights look:
Grace has been going to a cheerleading clinic put on by the high school cheerleaders. All the Jr. cheerleaders were to go out on the football field tonight between the sophomore and varsity high school football games and do a few of the cheers they learned. Grace was excited to go...we put on her little face tattoo, put a white ribbon in her hair, and Rich and I took her up to the game. When we got to the ticket gate, she majorly freaked out. She was bawling and pulling my arm and burying her head in my stomach begging to go home. So after hemming and hawing we decided it wasn't worth a meltdown and took her home. I made her pose by the fence just to prove we were there :). Then she did a few moves for me in the backyard when we got home.

Not such a good morning

Grace didn't have a very good morning before school today. I knew the happy, smiley, "I can't wait to go to school" stuff would end eventually, but on the 9th day of school?? We walked by Grandma's and she wasn't on the swing like she usually is (she worked last night so was still in bed), and meltdown city started after that. She cried and pulled my arm the whole way to school, wanting to go back home with me. "My stomach hurts, my head hurts, my throat hurts, I think I'm going to throw up. I'm serious!" I walked her into the school and to the gym, where they wait until the bell rings if they are early. When I was walking away I looked in the window and the poor little thing was just sitting on the floor by herself....heartbreaking! I hope I don't get a call from school today!

Fall fever!

So I know it's only August 25th, but fall fever has begun. I put up my fall wreath today...I won't put any more fall things up until at least September, I promise :).

Landscaping update

Here is the (almost) finished landscaping. We're going to get a few shrubs to plant in front of the bedroom windows. Please don't mind Rich's flip-flops with socks....give him a robe and a crazy cat and we could start calling him Old Man Kinney (click on the picture to enlarge it!).

That's some crazy hair!

We went to the park tonight....Grace got a kick out of her hair when she went down the slide.

Happy Birthday Grandma Cathy!

We had a little party for Grandma Cathy's birthday tonight...pizza and cheesecake. Ben gave her some Finding Nemo chapstick, Matt gave her a lint roller, Grace gave her various objects from around the house, and Tyler whittled a stick with the grandkids' names in it. Joel and I got her a print of a painting we had seen in the Hotel Pattee in Perry a couple of weeks ago called "Two Sisters". The sister on the right looks just like my Grandma Mildred! I emailed the artist and he signed a print for me and gave us the backstory of the painting...really cool!

Tough day at school

Grace fell asleep on the couch after school today...she's still adjusting to that all day schedule!

Locust

This was kind of cool...Mom called me this morning to show me a locust on her front landscaping block that had just shed it's shell.

Go Redhawks!

Matt's basketball team had their final game of Summer League last night. They played the Ames Wolves and....well let's just say they DIDN'T win and keep it at that :). They have 2 months off then start up with practices and winter league. Here are a few pics, especially for Uncle Joel.

Snicker

Countdown to football!

2 weeks until the Hawkeyes first game...fall fever is setting in!!

Landscaping at 116

Rich and the boys have really been working hard on the landscaping in front of our house. After we got the $1400 estimate we decided it would be best to do it ourselves! They took the brick out from around the big tree in the front, smoothed it out & got a big load of dirt delivered to even it out. Then Rich dug out a trench and put landscape pavers across the front rock, and will do the same on the other side. Finally new grass will go in over the dirt, and some mulch around the tree where the ginormous roots are. Tyler, Matt & Tyler's 2 friends have been huge helps..I'm proud of all the guys! And just because they are CUTE....a pic of Grace & Ava!

First Day of School!!

The kids had their first day of school today, and they were all excited (really!)! Tyler rode his bike to the High School, Matt walked to Parkview, and Rich and I walked Grace and Ben up to Northwest. We got there a little early so we headed to the gym, where they wait until the bell rings. Ben immediately found a boy from his basketball team, then a boy from his cub scout den, then a boy from his old school that had moved also. Grace met a little boy named Theo that sat at her table, he was adorable. When the bell rang they all marched right off without even looking back! Ahhhh, silence!

Fun times at the Fair

The State Fair is going on right now, and we took the whole gang to it today, including 2 of Tyler's friends and 1 of Matt's friends. It's kind of nice because they like to go off and do stuff on their own, so it's just the 2 little ones with us. They were fairly (no pun intended) grumpy that they didn't get to go on any rides, but besides the fact that the rides are total death traps, they charge you an arm and a leg for them. So we settled for a ride across the fairgrounds on the Sky Ride.Ben and Grace got to do Little Hands on the Farm. They picked fake vegetables and grain and took them to market. They also got to milk a pretend cow, that was pretty cool. Matt and Hunter at the Hawkeye display in the Varied Industries Building.

Tyler and his friends Derek and Andy with their pesky sidekick Grace. The Budweiser Clydesdale horses were there: And we couldn't leave without seeing the Butter Shawn Johnson! You know you've made it big when you get your own butter sculpture at the fair!!

The day before the day before school

School starts Thursday, but tonight was Meet Your Teacher night where you can look at your classroom and bring in your school supplies. Both kids have great teachers, I'm so relieved and happy. Gracie's teacher is a very exuberant and enthusiastic Mr. Smith. He loves teaching and can't wait to start the year.....we'll check in with him at the end of the year to see how he feels :). Grace put her family picture up under her star on the lockers. Doesn't Mr. Smith look like a baby? His wife is having a baby in January, so that will be fun for the kids to look forward to. Ben's teacher is Mrs. Mann. She seems really nice too!!

Tucker's been labeled

Poor Tucker, he endures an awful lot at the hands of his family :). Aunt Linda got us a cool labelmaker so I can label school supplies without cramping my hand and using up 3 Sharpies :). Tyler decided that Tucker needed to be labeled too.

Girls Day Out, Part Two

After we left Perry, we went to the Reiman Gardens in Ames. They have beautiful plants and flowers, and a butterfly room. The butterflies were so cool, there were hundreds of them!

Aunt Carol's lil' passenger:

Aunt Linda's lil' passenger: