First Day of School - 2011

FINALLY! It's here!! Actually I missed the chaos the first day the kids were gone. Our 13-year-old Shih Tzu, Skyler, went over to his leash at NOON and growled. He could not figure out where the kids had gone.

Off to 4th grade!!


Off to 2nd grade!
("Mom, why do you have to take my picture every year on the first day of school?)

The Rest of Summer

It went by so quickly! I complained about having TWELVE WEEKS between the end of school and the beginning of a new year, but again, it went by SO FAST!

Here are a quick recap of the highlights from July/August -

The Luke Family Reunion - in Oklahoma City - anyone else hear about a crazy long heat wave there this summer? Yeah - this is 5 p.m., at a minor league baseball game - air temp is 109 degrees. That is WITHOUT heat index. These are the ways my kids decided to keep cool.
Hats for the girls - DOUBLE billed!

Shirts over the heads for the boys. Anyone else remember doing this? I was invited to do it by my nephew but I declined. I told him that I didn't think many people would be that inspired by my lack of top.

This is from the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. It is a beautiful, heart wrenching, awe inspiring place. I highly recommend going INTO Oklahoma City even if you are just driving through, to visit it. It will always be a constant reminder to me that terrorism, evil and hatred lies within our own borders, not just those on foreign soil.

LEGO birthday cake for the 10-year-old
Wait......I have a 10-year-old???


Girls weekend in Des Moines. These are a handful of my dear girlfriends from high school who met up in Des Moines for a last hurrah. We try to do this every summer. Nothing like getting back together every year and just being able to pick up where we left off.

Summer!

I have affectionately titled this summer, the "Summer of Things We Did Not Do (last year) Summer. "

I know, it's a long title but I couldn't think of anything that was cuter and shorter, so just deal!

So, our list of things we did not do last summer that we are doing THIS SUMMER began with Field Trip Fridays!!

So every Friday the kids and I try to take a "field trip" somewhere, just to get out of the house. The rest of the week we are usually busy with other things (some of which you'll see later in this post) so I have made it a goal to try to get out of the house, away from the house, on Fridays. I mean, thanks to NKC schools, we have TWELVE WEEKS of summer vacation to fill! Holy guacamole!

Our first Friday was field trip to the zoo! Yes, we DID go to the zoo last year, but we didn't go get doughnuts on FREE DOUGHNUT Friday last year!



We didn't get to see much of the zoo that day, but we did get to hear an awesome zoo chat with the lady who takes cares of the cheetahs. And we got to see all 3 female cheetahs chowing on some delicious raw meat!

The next Friday the kids spent on a "field trip" to their Uncle Alan's condo and to their cousin's for the weekend. Lucky kids!! It was their first "official sleepover" without parents and grandparents at their cousins house, and they had a great time. Hope we have lots more in the future!

The next weekend, we did our "Friday field trip" Saturday and Sunday - when we toured Shatto Milk on Family Day, and had a campout (these are also listed under the "things we did not do last summer" category). Kids got to milk a cow, taste coffee flavored milk (my fave) and then we camped out near Maysville, Missouri. Had a great time!



The next Friday field trip was to the drive-in, to see "Cars 2." Grandma and Grandpa came with us. The drive-in has become a yearly tradition with our family. Load up the kids (in pajamas, natch), snacks, adult beverages, and off we go to the drive in.

Also under the "things we did not do last summer list" on my list included:
1. Taking a truncated anatomy and physiology class (I would NOT recommend this, it has been insane trying to keep up with this class in the summer)
2. Breaking my toe!

3. Actually using 2 of my golf shots in a best ball tournament for Aaron's work's golf outing.

Looking forward to more fun Friday field trips and "things we did not do" summer activities in July!

My Grandma Edna

As Aaron and I were doing our daily wind down discussion last night, I had the very strong realization that this was the week my grandma Edna Gunderson passed away in 1981. I could not remember if it was April 20 or 21, but I vividly remember how much her death affected me even at the age of 10.

My grandma Edna (my dad's mom) was very much the old-fashioned, country, Iowa grandma. They lived on a farm and raised their 3 boys (my uncle Dave, my uncle Robert and my dad). She cooked EVERYTHING from scratch. To this day, people in our family still use her pie crust recipe (with a few minor changes) and her homemade noodles. Now I know, a LOT of us have/had grandmas like this when we were little. Back THEN, it wasn't even an option.

We went to her house for Easter, Christmas, Fourth of July - there isn't a holiday I can't think of her being a part. Coloring Easter eggs, putting lightning bugs on our toes while we watched fireworks on the 4th, and my BIG BEAUTIFUL afghan she knitted for me (and all of the grandkids had/have one) - which is still in use today, every night. Still looks just as beautiful as the day she gave it to me.

She was also the first significant person in my life to pass away. She was diagnosed with cancer at 64. By the time they found it, (well, SHE found it), it was so far advanced there really wasn't anything they could do. They did chemotherapy treatments at Mary Greeley in Ames and Mayo in Rochester. Back then, chemo was UGLY. There was no "if" you were going to get sick - there was just getting sick. But she still did it with her wonderful attitude and all of her courage and strength. From the time she was diagnosed until the time she passed away - about 11 months.

It still pains me to think she never got to see any of us get married or hold a great grandchild in her arms. But I know she is smiling down on all of us, every day.

Miss you Grandma.