Look what's sprouting up ...

Sam's Garden

!!!

We stopped by Grandma's Saturday 

and took a peek at Sam's garden!

He has a bell pepper and a jalapeno!

everything is growing

There should be squash and cauliflower soon

he was so excited

asking Grandma if the strawberries are doing okay

and looking for buds on the squash and the cauliflower

he just seems so concerned and so proud of it all

{I can hardly stand how cute he is}

t

Then we all jumped in the car and went to Zona Rosa 

for some Yogurtini

Grandpa had never been, so we couldn't wait to take him.

When I was young, mom and John used to take us to

TCBY {the countrys best yogurt} all the time.

It was a family thing that we did often

It was a delicious evening

from mom with love

Hey there my sweet boy,

I just read about a young boy that took his own life last week, it sounds like he was being bullied by some kids that obviously had no idea how much they were affecting his life.  I have just been so sad reading about this and it made me think about you starting middle school this year and how hard life can feel sometimes.

If only this boy, his name was Hunter, if only Hunter knew that it wouldn't be this bad for very long.  In a week or so things would have gotten better.  The bullies would have moved on to someone or something else.  I wish he could have remembered that lots of people loved him, his family and so many friends.  They are all devastated.

When you are young, you don't realize that things really will get better, sooner than you think.  It sometimes doesn't seem like it, you think everyone will remember an embarrassing moment, or something you've done, but I promise, in a week or so, no one will even care.  You have to trust me on this, I've been there, things always do get better.

If kids are mean to you and they make it too hard to ignore them, please remember that your dad and I are here for you.  Your cousins, your grandma, your friends ... please always remember that you can talk to any of us, we will help you through anything.  There is nothing that we can't get through together, nothing.

Let this be a reminder to you, to never be mean to other kids, no matter what.  Try to stand up for the kids that are different or don't have as many friends as you do. Be confident in yourself and be proud.

So, my sweet boy, I know that we have have talked to you about these things before ... but after reading about Hunter, I just felt like I needed to let you know again.  Please be strong my son, and always remember that we love you more than anything in this world!

Photo by Brian Kvidera

To handle yourself, use your head

To handle others, use your heart

Words to live by

I love quotes and sayings
these are some of my favorites

Transformers 3

... Dark of the Moon ...

Whoa, we loved this movie

definitely the best out of the three

Sam and Keaton were so excited

from the very beginning

I loved how the story line

 connected in with real life

a scene of John Kennedy in an interview

 about Apollo 11 and the space race,

to Buzz Aldrin confirming that 

the "one step for mankind" was actually 

an investigation into a crashed spaceship on the moon

McDreamy even had a part in this movie

that was a nice surprise for me
even though he was a bad guy

I know that a lot of the guys 

are upset that Megan Fox isn't in this one

I am here to tell you that 

Rosie Huntington-Whitely

is not to shabby to look at either

the action scenes are bigger and better,

the music is so much louder

and the autobots are tougher than ever!

We loved it!

Keaton in Kansas City

for an entire week!

We brought him home with us

last weekend when we were visiting his family

at the lake

It can be like a little vacation week

for him

I have lots of activities planned

First up, was of course Fourth of July

{I already wrote about that in my last post}

Keaton really wanted to eat lunch at Fritz's 

in Crown Center

so I thought we'd make a day of it ...

We found a Rain Forest exhibit 

they learned a few interesting facts

We went to The Crayola Store

there is always something good to do there

They changed into swim trunks and 

played in the fountains

for almost an hour!

Later that night ...
a water balloon fight!

There has also been video games, toy stores, bicycle rides, 
hide n seek in the dark, tree climbing, a trip to the candy store,
open gym, playing with the neighbor kids, a movie,
whew ... I'm tired!

finally a little down time

We have kept ourselves pretty busy and

it has been a really good week!

{a few disagreement here and there

but for the most part, a lot of fun!}

Baby, your a {firework}

Fourth of July was a little different for us this year

 usually we go to my sister's for a bar b que and then to

Oak Grove Park

we lay out a blanket for us all to watch the show

but this year

We have Keaton and Kayla

and we are doing it a little bit different ...

First we had to make a stop in Riverside to 

pick up some fireworks for the boys to shoot off, in the yard

I am never excited about this

I love watching fireworks, but hate shooting them!

... 

Then we went to Liberty's 4th Celebration

at William Jewell College

to see Kayla play in her summer community band.

we went a little early so the kids could play
on the obstacle courses and inflatables
 we also wanted to hear Saucy Jack, an 80's band.

They even got to go out on the field and play frisbee
can you see them out there?

Just before the fireworks display Kayla's band started playing

some amazing patriotic music

Kayla played the cymbals, the bass drum and the xylophone!
such a talent!


{do you see my little guys, in the background,
 with their hands over their hearts during the National Anthem
... so stinkin' cute!}

After the amazing show
we all went home and it was time for them to light some
of their own fireworks.  Ugh.

stresses me out

We had a really good time with our extra crew this year
and doing something a little different. 


 Plus, I heard Gladstone's fireworks display happen to be a dud this year.  
{so glad we missed that}

Weekend Get-Away!

what's better than a quick weekend get-away
with great friends


We packed up and headed out to the Lake of the Ozarks
to stay with Darren & Angela
in their new house!


It couldn't have been a better weekend
the weather was perfect and
the company was amazing

boating and swimming all day Saturday
and even some night life adult time without the kiddos 
{hellooo Captain Ron's rum runners}

Such a relaxing, fun weekend 
Perfect for hanging out and catching up with our friends!


{and we decided to kidnap Keaton and take him home with us, for the week}