Harvest Time!

Cardinals vs Royals

Can you tell who the Cardinal fans are! These are our good friends Drew and Joanna, and Drew loves the Cubs (I know!) as much as Blake loves the Cards!

Blake was already in KC for Leadership Kansas so I rode up with them on Friday for a night game! It's the first overnight we've had away from the boys in a year. We have been very blessed with wonderful friends here in Pittsburg, otherwise we would never be able to get a little break!


Our seats were GREAT, (thanks Steve) and we were in the shade and very close to third base! Here's a nice pic of Pujols at bat!

The Secret Life of Bees

June was my month to host our Book Club and I chose a book I read sometime last year, The Secret Life of Bees! Great read if you're interested! Of course book club had to fall when Blake was going to be out of town! I had already planned to have it in the shade of our back yard, with the boys inside, so that worked out well. I basically never went back in the house until after Mason went to bed! Braden knew we were out there, but there would have been no peace for our sitter Rose, if Mason had known a party was going on and he was not part of it!

I owe Blake big time for mowing the yard, arranging the tables, stocking the cooler and ensuring a plentiful garden all before he left town on Wednesday!

Dessert was mini frozen lemonade pies (thank you Janet Benson) with fresh sprigs of mint from the garden.

Appetizer of bruschetta with basil from the garden and toasted pita chips

It was a perfect night for salads; oriental slaw, german potato with fresh chives from the garden, and a green salad with our lettuce and basil, more locally grown lettuce and to jazz it up yellow bell peppers, radishes, hearts of palm, avacado, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and Suzie's special dressing. The lovely centerpiece came from Sabrina's yard!

Our table centerpieces were all from the garden; mint, lemon balm and basil

Suzie & Carol

Friend, neighbor and sometimes florist!

In addition to goodies in the cooler we had lemonade with fresh mint, lemon balm and sliced lemons and water with mint, cucumber and lime slices

Silver Dollar City Round 1

Sabrina and I braved the heat to take these two monkeys to Silver Dollar City yesterday. They loved it! There was no shopping or browsing it was from one ride to the next! We barely got them to eat lunch! Ice cream of course was no problem!

Amazingly, Braden loved the American Plunge, which was the first ride for us! He asked to ride it again, and of course before we left, we did!

Braden: I know exactly where the log ride is! Will: Um, Braden are you sure you can read?

Souvenir of choice....a back scratcher. I hesitated because I fear this will become a weapon to Mason!

These were the first round and since there wasn't a good shot of both we had to retake them, but they were turned out great! They thought they were big stuff holding these guns!

Happy Father's Day to the Best Father in the World!

This is before church.....Mason having his own little parade complete with Braden's frog boots (on the wrong feet) and cymbals!

I'm not sure if Mason loves washing his hands and brushing his teeth or just playing in the water!

After church we celebrated Father's Day for Blake!

Trying to get a great pic of all three....this is Mason's "cheese" face because he's really saying "cheese" Where is Braden's smile?

Goofy Mason, great smile Braden, Dad is frozen in his pose (thank you!)

Now Dad is losing his composure because Mason is not cooperating, and Braden is trying to stay strong and hold his smile.....

Card from Braden plays the Rocky anthem

New shoes! Mason still listening to the card!

Mason still listening to the card, but notice how well Blake can multitask!

New Triathlon T-shirt!

Mason made this at school.

Blake had no idea why but was very cooperative when I asked if I could smear black paint all over his hand (4 times) and have him make hand prints on this paper. Braden's is in white and then Mason's is in blue. I thought it turned out great!

The Party: Mason's 2 Year Old Pals

We finally found a weekend to have Mason's birthday party! We celebrated on his birthday as a family, but we knew he needed to have a backyard bash with his friends! Between school and our friends, we had a nice crowd of "little guys"!

This is our friend Wes, who also happens to be at the Center. They were in the same class for a short time, and Wes was sad to stay, so Mason would always pat him and say "No cry, Wes"

These did not really match the invite and cake, but they were too cute to pass up! These hats and the giant bubble wands were our party favors.



Bubbles are a huge hit with this crowd, even the older guys (Braden, Zack and Will) we had a bubble machine and the bubble wands going!

We have literally worn our kiddie pools out! This will be the last summer for this poor pool! It's time for a new one. I love that big brother Zack is showing Dylan how to have fun in the pool!


Dinner! Blake did an excellent job of smoking chickens and we had dogs for the kiddos. This bench on our deck has served as the perfect table for the kids!

The cake! Or as Mason put it, "my cupcake"

The yellow tractors are actually candy, and they were on the cupcakes, too! Thanks Sweet Designs Cakery for making us an eggless cake!





We tried something different with the gifts this year! I first heard of it on an freelance invitation I designed, a gift exchange. We tried to get Braden to do it but he wasn't on board. For Mason's party each guest brought a $5 gift, then each kid got to pick from the pile, so they all got something!