Kids had a snow day on Friday, December 6th even though there wasn't any snow on the ground in the morning. There was some ice and then supposed to be lots of snow during the day. Then the kids had their 2nd snow day on Tuesday, December 10th. You can see how high the snow is on the table. The roads were clear by the evening so John was able to make it to his first soccer futsal class he is taking with the new soccer club he's recently joined. He was so excited to find out he made the team he tried out for at the end of October.

Kids at the roller rink.

Before heading out to trick-or-treat. After about an hour it started pouring with wind gusts up to 50 mph. We were already on our way home so kids thought they might as well stop at the houses along the way since they were already soaked. Amazing what kids will do for some candy!

Drying off the candy.

An after school snack outside - love the beautiful 75 degree weather.

Enjoying the fire pit. I think John ended up eating almost a half a bag of marshmallows.

Kids playing Frisbee with their dad.

Was surprised to see the kids doing homework shortly after getting home from school on a Friday. Nice to see John actually reading on his Kindle. Glad he is finally enjoying reading!

Birthday dinner at Boi Na Braza. We went here last year for her birthday since it was right across from the hotel where we were living at the time. She wanted to do the same thing again!

Alyssa getting to enjoy some corn on the cobb after getting braces off!

First day of school

Before our walk to the bus stop. Kids both got off the bus later in the day saying they both had a good day! It was fun! Yeah, love to hear that!

Early morning to go to soccer games. Both had their first games of the fall season. Alyssa's team won 4-0 and John's team lost 1-5. He played the whole game and scored their only goal so he was happy about that. Didn't get a picture of Alyssa earlier so took one of her getting pushed over in the chair by her dad.

I just love my smile!

June 7, 2012 Before braces

June 7, 2012 Braces just on - of course there was no way she was going to give me a smile

August 20, 2013 Before getting braces off - now that's a smile

Big smile! Alyssa was thrilled to have her braces off! After 14 months and paying double it's nice to see such a beautiful smile! She wanted to celebrate by getting a Potbelly sub!

Kids love having a fire because they love roasting the marshmallows and eating smores!

Picked 9 1/2 lbs of blackberries and 2 lbs of blueberries. Way to many to eat over the next few days so am spending the rest of the day getting them washed and frozen so we can have "fresh" berries during the winter!

Kids now wearing the same shoe size and only a few inches and pounds apart.

Friendly game of Monopoly?

John requested that I make the same cake I've made for him before. It was dad's idea to smash the car into the cake. John had a few friends over to swim before watching the Wreck-it-Ralph movie. Later we ordered pizza and enjoyed some cake and ice cream. The weather wasn't the greatest for the pool. Rained all day then stopped before we headed down to the pool. On the walk down it started pouring but later stopped. Think everyone had a good time despite the weather.

Found a blueberry patch not far from the house. Ended up picking some blackberries too. Nice knowing where our fruit came from. Yum!

Ice cream truck came through the neighborhood.

In Michigan visiting parents and siblings. Lots of cousins. Alyssa and John are the oldest of all of their cousins on my side of the family and are the youngest on Jeff's side!

What a beautiful day! While visiting relatives in Chicago we went to the Lake Forest Beach on Lake Michigan. The lifeguard mentioned the water temperature was 70.

Enjoying the evening outside. Didn't do the fire pit but lit the tiki torches. I sprayed myself with repellent (except for my face)and Alyssa didn't. She ended up with 10 mosquito bites on her legs. I ended up with a big one in the middle of my forehead! Guess those critters just love the girls!

Playing some croquet in the back yard.

Enjoying the pool.

Kids having a backyard tea party.

Before and after picture of the house. After includes new roof, windows, exterior trim painted white, garage door and trees trimmed. You may notice the tall tree leaning over behind the house that the top is split in a V shape. We had the top removed and it looks much better - not to mention much safer! That doesn't even include everything we did inside or on the deck. And to think when we purchased it we didn't think there was much to change. Ha! :)

Poison Ivy

Weeding in the front yard and saw what I thought might be poison ivy. I pulled it because I didn't really think it could be poison ivy in our yard - it's usually found in the heavy woods, right? Wrong! I had gloves on so thought I'd be fine if it really was. Later on I noticed a rash on the side of my face and behind my ear. (Then I remembered that I had some hair in my face so brushed it off and tucked it behind my ear). Several days later noticed a big rash on the side of my leg. Not sure how it got there but it's been about 2 weeks now and finally clearing up.

Enjoying marshmallows and making smores!

We saw a caterpillar on our curly leaf parsley plant.

Before and after pictures of the deck. Previous owners had a wooden planter built onto the deck and wooden barrel. After moving them realized it's not a good idea to use wood planters on a wood deck. Had to replace all of those boards where the planters were sitting. Also added a bigger step for more support. Am sure will have to replace the whole thing eventually but hopefully this will last us several more years. We are really enjoying having a nice useable deck - having plenty of shade and nice temperatures. I think we have already spent more time on this deck in just the past few months than we used the deck the entire 7 years living in Kansas.

Spring Sing at the school

Attended an all school "Spring Sing" for all of those who volunteer at the school. Both kids were in the front row. John with the black striped shirt. Alyssa in the white t-shirt with Olathe East soccer.

School Walk-a-thon

Field trip to Fort Ancient