Incredibly Sorry....

I want to begin by saying I am so sorry for not posting in so long. between two computers going ca-put and forgetfulness I did not mean to go so long without posting.
I'm posting tonight some video from Andrew's second baseball game.... the first one he was the starting pitcher! I'm just a proud mom- posting a strike out and an at bat.....
for all our neighbors, Mason was the catcher....

The Steam Engine

Thanks to dad, we learned that the largest running steam engine was coming through Jeff City.... and the boys happened to be off school! It was running late, but it was still really cool to see a real working steam engine...




These men were putting grease sticks in the puffer joints (I'm sure that's not the technical name)

they hooked these water tankers up to the fire hydrant to refill

happy boys...

proof I was there!

Happy Birthday Drew!

Can you believe my baby turned 9!!!!??
I thought I do double duty and post some pictures of the first day of school, too... can you believe we're in 3rd and 1st grade now? As much as I hate time flying by, my boys get better every year, so I'm excited to see what this new year brings....
and I'll hopefully get better about posting!

end of summer

I have been pretty bad about posting this summer....and now it is over...
We tried to get in some last minute fun.... the Washington Fair-the boys always have a good time, and on a beautiful day we managed to squeeze in the Runge nature center, which they love to visit.....

Can you see Papa O and Drew on the bumper cars?

the boys playing in soy beans

Drew milking a cow...

Austin driving a combine....

At the Runge....

going up a fire tower...

Bass Pro visit....

Summer baseball...

So last weekend, Drew's baseball team played in the show me state games.... here's a picture of Drew catching (his favorite position).....
And then tuesday Randy got offered tickets to the Royals game on Wednesday.... and they were playing the Twins! The boys were so excited... we got there before the gates opened, and Drew and I went straight to the twins dugout to wait for Joe Mauer- Drew's favorite player.... unfortunately, this was a 1:00 game and the heat index was like 105, so the players didn't come out until 30 minutes before the game....but we still saw him warm up, closer than we've ever been... it was still really cool (Drew said his legs were shaking!)

lions and hippos and stingrays, oh my!

Lauren came home for a visit, so me and the boys took her and Matt to the zoo and art museum yesterday. We went to the zoo's stingray exhibit and it was amazing! It is so worth going to see...you actually get to touch the stingrays, and the boys got to feed them...there is a video of Austin feeding at the end of this blog...









The hippos were playing/fighting right in front of us...

It's summer!

Summer is finally here... which is a good thing because I get my boys for the next few months, and I somehow survived Austin's kindergarden graduation! We had vacation bible school and boyscout camp this week, so we've been really busy, but here's some stuff from the last week or so....

This is Austin's class...they dressed in a cowboy theme for graduation

Austin getting his "diploma"

Austin and the best kindergarden teacher in the world!

The other weekend we decided to go to the museum of transportation...the boys loved it (all 3!) Here they are riding a train...

looking at the snowplow engine...

In front of another engine

Walking trough a caboose...

Happy adoption day Chevy! I got Chevy on the Memorial Day weekend 11 years ago! I hope she's around for many more!

One of MANY bowls of strawberries we have picked the last few weeks! This is our 3rd year of growing them, and they have spread like weeds. We have picked so many I have not had to buy ANY from the store... for my boys that is saying something! And they've actually been big and pretty, too...