More Susie Surprises - MA

My last full day with my sis we left early to drive to Massachusetts.  This was definitely a different kind of adventure.  Who knew about this hidden treat - ziplining?

It sounded like great fun, though I'll admit that in reading and signing the liability release,I did hesitate for a second.  Mentions of injury or death, 60 MPH and even extra fees if you chickened out and made someone escort you down the mountain on foot.  Gulp... why not?  After a ski lift to the top of the mountain, they started us off on some smaller lines.  Good to figure out what was going on.  It really was fun and not nearly as daring as repelling off a mountain is (I have my stories to tell from my "youth" on that).  There were 7 lines total that we went on, in a group of 15 people.  The last two were the most impressive - up to 50 & 60 MPH respectively.

Here we are getting ready to ride on one of the longer ones - we got to race against each other here.

These were our "guides" through the canopy.  It was obvious they enjoy their jobs and they made the day plenty of fun for all of us.  Below you can experience the 50 MPH ride on the 2,300 foot line (not the longest one of the day).  It was AMAZING!!!

  

Thanks so much to my man and my sis, Susie, for making my birthday EXTRA special this year.  I love you guys!

Susie's Surprises - NYC

To celebrate my 40th birthday this year, my man bought me a ticket to fly out East and see my big sis - Susie.  Sweet huh?  Well we finally found a time that would work and I flew to CT this month.  Susie picked up the birthday surprises by planning a full and exciting weekend for the two of us.   The very next day, she wisked me off to New York City for the day!  Now I have no desire to live in the city but visiting is another story.  We took the train and the subway and walked all over the place (mostly in Chinatown).  What an adventure....

Here I am standing next to some dragonfruit.  I have no idea what it tastes like but it was some of the coolest stuff I'd ever seen.  We went to Jing Fong Restaurant where they brought a continuous selection of dumplings and such.  Delicious!  Then we had a pedicure - my first ever.

The coolest thing about this place was the massage chairs.  We were pampered from neck to foot.  And check out those daring colors we chose....

By the end of the day, we went to see The Addams Family musical on Broadway.  Third row seats!  It was a pretty funny play and they did a great job.  I guess that's why they get paid to do this. :)

We got back to Susie's place at 2:30 am after a very full day.  That's cool though since I was able to sleep in as late as I wanted - that never happens at home!  That evening she took me to The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant that was scrumptious.  Who knew?  I really ate well that weekend.

Transformation

I've been quiet here but plenty busy at home.  Our house has gone through a transformation this past month and we LOVE it!  Always on the wish list and finally on the to-do list was replacing our kitchen cabinets and refinishing our hardwood floors.  Though the photos don't convey just how bad they were, the particle board cabinets were warped, sagging and falling apart.  We decided to put our tax return to good use and fix some things and by the time we were done, we also rearranged things as well.  This is the before shot of our little (crowded) galley kitchen.....

Not only was it dilapidated, but as we found when things were torn out, there were some other serious problems going on "under there".  It so nice to know that the wall, floor, pipes, etc are all in tip top shape now BEHIND the new kitchen.  There was lots to fix.

And here is the before photo of our old wood floor (unfortunately it was down to bare wood in many places).  It's been needing refinishing since we moved in 6 years ago but the timing wasn't right until now.

And the amazing effects after....

The hardest part of doing the floors and kitchen together was having to move EVERYTHING out of the two rooms we use the most.  All my bookshelves, homeschooling stuff, dining furniture and kitchen needs all had to find a temporary home for the remodeling efforts.  I'm so glad it's over with!

And the big finale....

Ta Da!  The custom, all wood cabinets should last us forever (hypothetically speaking) and were built and installed by a local carpenter, Bob Korff.  I highly recommend him if you're in need.   Nothing in our kitchen was "flush" or straight and customizing was a must.  We love the look of the rustic hickory and I just couldn't change my apple green color scheme so I didn't. :)  There is more space in the higher cabinets but the biggest improvement is the layout.  I have much more usable counter space since we moved the fridge and I can now open my oven door without gouging the wall.  Other than getting used to where everything is located in the new kitchen, it's such a breeze to work there now, even with room for the kids to help.  What a huge blessing this has been!  My favorite Mother's Day gift EVER.....

Spiderman's Proudest Moment

This was a very big day.  Spiderman went out for youth turkey season with my man and the weather was gorgeous for a change.  They left at 5:30 am so we waited to hear how it was going.  When they came home around 9:30 am, we were told that they had only heard one gobble all morning.  Of course they were pulling our leg and had a good laugh as Spiderman announced he shot a  huge gobbler.  He was BEAMING!!

My man was just as excited for him as they took a million photos, weighed the bird (a whopping 25 lbs.), and proceeded to cut it up.  Even Spiderman had fun with that.  The men are working on mounting the tail fan which made the boy all that much more excited.  What a special memory they will share.  Way to go little man!!!

Goose's Birthday

We are still alive!  I'm a little late in posting this but my little girl turned 10 last month.  Unfortunately she was pretty sick with temperatures up to 104.3 and slept for days on the couch.  We tried to make her birthday special but she wasn't even up to eating her birthday pizza and cookie for a few days.

One thing I have learned this winter is to be thankful for good health. Maybe that's because it's been so rare in our home this season. I may make some good plans but I can't control whether or not we'll all be well enough to follow through with them.  We had to reschedule Goose's sleepover party for a couple of weeks but at least by then she had the energy to enjoy herself.  Here are the girls who made it to the party.  I took this photo at midnight, right before instructing them to keep it quiet if they were going to stay up any later.  I heard that bedtime was 2 am for most of them.

The interesting twist for the party was that that week we learned the girls final basketball tournament was scheduled for that same weekend.  We ended up driving all the girls to the tournament (all but 3 were on the team), watching the game, and then coming pback to finish the party.  Since we got home from the game close to 10 pm, you can see why they had so much energy to stay up and giggle.

It was a wonderful way to end the season.  Though the girls were not a "championship team", they had such great attitudes and had so much fun.  It was the first year playing basketball for almost all of them and 2 or 3 were actually 3rd & 4th graders (it was a 5th & 6th grade league).  Coach Chang did a wonderful job and they are all hoping she'll coach again next year.

Introducing....Conservationist of the Year for 2010

I don't stop often enough to brag on my man.  Well this post is all about him.  Don't let the tie fool you, it really IS my man (in disguise).  I think he chose this interesting facial hair to try and counteract the effect of a tie and dress shoes. :)

Saturday we all drove to the Lake of the Ozarks for the annual banquet for the Conservation Federation of Missouri.  This was a first for us due our special invitation to award my man the title of Conservationist of the Year.  This was a pretty big deal as the federation is made up of many different agencies in Missouri (I have to brag a bit here).  It was wonderful to see him get noticed for all the amazing work he does day in and day out on the job.  It was even more special to see the respect he has from his peers and superiors.  Way to go Babe!

The kids had a great time and thought that the 300 person banquet in the grand ballroom was the "FANCIEST" thing they'd ever seen.  Good thing they had kid meals on hand as the "Fancy fare" would have been a disappointment to them (though quite delicious).  The best part of the night was seeing him grow in their esteem, especially Goose's.  Let me explain...

(Below is my man with Goose as they headed out to their 3rd annual Daddy Daughter Dance together the night before.))

You see, he was supposed to receive the award the previous evening but he told them he wasn't able to attend because he had a date with his daughter.  It was a sacrifice at the time but he knew this little girl (who had been planning this Daddy Daughter Dance with him for months) would be heartbroken if he cancelled.  What a gift when they told him they would move the presentation to the following night's banquet.  Goose was clueless about the decision, until....

Everyone we encountered at the banquet approached us and asked, "so who were you on the date with last night?"  After this scene repeated itself a few times, Goose asked me quietly, "How do all these people know I went on a date with Daddy last night?"   I had the pleasure of explaining to her how her Dad thought their date was more important than accepting this award and that it had been announced to all these people the previous night WHY he couldn't be there with them.  I swear she walked even taller the rest of the evening as she knew how much her Dad valued her.  I had known for a week the sacrifice he made and knew he made the right choice but I was so impressed to see and hear how much people respected him for putting his family priorities first.  Yep, that's MY Man!  Not just Conservationist of the Year but maybe Daddy of the Year as well.

Congrats Babe - I'm so proud of you!

Welcome to America

We recntly had a special day with some special friends.  We cancelled school and went to St. Louis with "just the girls" for the day and witnessed a new soul become an American.  My dear friend brought home her newest daughters around Thanksgiving and Hope now has two sisters.  Aren't they beautiful?  Due to her age, the oldest needed to come in person to swear the oath of citizenship and we got to be there to celebrate with them all.  Congratulations Yordie (& Hana)!!!

After the event, we visited the Gateway Arch and the museum underneath.  Goose and Boo were glad to come along for the day and I got to spend many hours talking and laughing with my friend during the long drive there and back.  How precious to make such memories together.

Though they didn't choose to eat lunch there, we stopped at the Ethiopian Restaurant and purchased a BUNCH of injera to bring home for the kids.  Spiderman was thrilled when I made his old favorites the next day and had the authentic injera for a change.  Just icing on the proverbial cake.