Week of 5/18 Events

Sunday 5/18

Graden recently discovered the joy & cheap entertainment of feeding Oz marshmallows. From the dining room balcony he tosses them down to the lower living room at Oz and Oz jumps about 5 feet in the air to snatch them up. Quite impressive. Check his ferocious looking teeth out in the picture! He is serious about his marshmallows I guess!

Later that night the boys played a little basketball while Oz rolled around in the yard. Dayne and I watched for a while then we all went to Dairy Queen for a treat!Wednesday 5/21

A few months back, Dayne told us she was going to audition for the school talent show. I signed the permission form, but never thought she'd actually go through with it. I thought she was way too shy! Well, I was wrong! On Wednesday Dayne had her school Talent Show! She sang along to Miley Cyrus' "See You Again" with one of her neighborhood/school friends, Madison. We are so proud of her ... she was very brave to get up in front of the entire school and sing!

> Video coming soon!

Nana really wanted to be here to see Dayne perform, but since she couldn't, she made arrangements for the Flower Fairy to deliver a rose to our Star Performer:

This is nothing profound ... just a snapshot of one of the peaceful back roads on my way to work. I love to watch the trees on this road change with the seasons. I am going to try to remember to take pictures of this road in the fall & winter.

Looking forward to the upcoming holiday weekend! We are headed to Grand Lake in Grove, OK to spend time with Graden's aunt & uncle!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all my mothers!

> Mom - Thanks for all you have done for me and supported me through. Every time I tell the story of how/when I found out I was pregnant with Hunter I am reminded of supportive you have been since day one. No other teenagers (that I am aware of) were told, "Congratulations!" when she had to tell her mom she was pregnant. That moment remains a very special one for me. Your love and adoration of my children is also very imporant to me and I am very happy they have such a wonderful Nanny! Thank you, Mama!

> Mom #2: My mother in law, Donna - Oh ... where do I even start!?!?? When I think of how special you are and how blessed my whole family is to have you in our lives I get teary eyed! You are such a phenomenal woman and such an inspiration to me and my kids. You are such a giving, kind hearted soul and if the world were filled with more people like you it'd be a better place. Our world truly is a better place because you're in it. You are my rock ... I am sure I'd explode if I didn't have you to bounce my emotions and feelings off! Thank you for sharing your son with me, he makes me happy and makes me feel complete. You raised a very fine man.

> Mom #3: My step-mom, Susan - Another woman I am very grateful to have in our lives. Susan is woman filled with patience & genuine care for others, what every nurse should be. Nursing is the prefect career for you. I am thankful for what you have brought into my dad's life and you, too, inspire me to be a better person and find some way to make a difference in this world. Thank you for all you do for me & my family.

Thank you to each of you. You each add such special things to my life and I am grateful for all of you. How many women can say they have three wonderful mother figures? Hugs and kisses ... I love you all.

Tiffany

We're baaaaaaaaaaack!

Hello! It is has been TOO long since I last posted. Life gets busy, but that is no reason to neglect my blog! I will do my best to give some updates on what has happened in the past (almost) three months since I last posted!
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Easter:
3.22 & 23: Gretchen and the kids and Nana visited Lee's Summit for Easter this year. We rotate each year which house we have Easter and this was our year to host! Gretchen and the kids stayed for a few days, and Nana stayed for about five (wonderful!) weeks!

Here are some pictures of the kids decorating their eggs and enjoying their Easter baskets!

Dayne decorating her eggs!

Hunter even had fun decorating a few eggs!

All the kiddos had a blast decorating eggs! They dyed them, stamped them and put stickers on them!

The kids enjoyed their Easter Baskets! The "little ones" each got a new Webkin and Hunter got some speakers for his iPod!

Gretchen and the kids left the Sunday after Easter and Nana stayed with us until the end of April!

*****

05.01: Scary weather! Graden was en route to Iowa, taking Donna home & attending a wedding reception, and we had some exciting weather that night! There were tornados in the area and several areas damaged due to straight line winds (I had never heard of them). The tornado sirens were going off ... we even had a cubby to seek shelter in the "dungeon" (our lower, sub basement) and had Hunter's mattress down there with us - - prepared to use it to protect ourselves! We also had candles, my cell phone (and camera ... although not sure why!) and a weather radio! I was releived when the warning was lifted and we went without any damage.

One good thing that did come of all this .... Hunter was so very sweet to Dayne consoling her and telling her it'd be okay and patting her back. : )

*****

05.01: Dayne auditoned for the school Talent Show, singing with her friend Madison, "See You Again" by Miley Cyrus. She found out last week ... they made the show! She is so excited & we are all very proud of her! The show is on May 21st ... I will surely be taking some video of it and posting it for all to enjoy!

*****

05.02: Graden fished in a tournament at Truman Lake - - only about an hour from home. He left early Thursday morning and the kids and I joined him Friday evening after I got off work. We enjoyed some family time together Friday night: ate dinner at Applebee's and took the kids swimming.

Here are some pics and video of the kids at the pool:

Graden had to get up early Saturday morning so the kids and I had some time together on Saturday, until weigh in at 2:00.

We slept in a bit until about 8:45 then went down and enjoyed the contintental breakfast (love 'em!), then went for a swim in the pool ... then went back to the room to get ready and pack up our stuff!

The plan was to go see Graden weigh in at 2:00 ... but, being "directionally challenged" we didn't make it on time. We got there about 45 minutes late .. I was very disappointed. In my defense, I got bogus directions! The good news is that Graden did pretty good! He got paid anyway ... that is "good" in my book! Here are some pics of him waiting at the weigh in to get his check:

Dayne trying to stay warm!

Hunter trying to stay warm!

*****

School Pictures

Hunter: 8th grade

Dayne: 3rd grade

~~~ 10 days of school left ~~~ (Where does the time go!?!?)

Locks of Love

For the second time in her life, Dayne has donated ten inches of hair to the Locks of Love foundation! If you are not familiar with this program, please take a minute to visit their website! The organization uses donated hair to make wigs for children who have lost their hair due to illness, cancer, etc. It's a great feeling knowing we've helped a child feel a little bit more "normal" amid all the challenges they are facing with their health!

Several years ago a friend at work (Affina, if that tells you how long ago it was!) told me about Locks of Love and inspired me to chop all my hair off and donate it! As soon as Dayne's hair was long enough, I vowed to do the same with her hair. When she was 4 we donated hair ... and again today! Here are some before and after pictures and some video!

Before (this really was her idea ... She looks a wee bit tortured here but I promise she wasn't!)

Her hair sectioned off to make it easier to cut.

The four chunks of hair ... all ready to be packaged up and sent off! Looks like four dead animals I think.

After!

Happy Valentines Day!

This morning on my way out the door Dayne BEGGED me to come to her Valentine's Day Party. I told her I would look at my schedule that day and see what I could do. The day was crazy - as usual, but I was able to leave for a long, late lunch and go to her party! I don't think she was expecting me at all! I stood watching her for about 5 minutes before she realized I was there!

The kids excheanged cards, ate snacks and played Valentine Bingo!

I figure there aren't too many more Valentine's Day parties she will WANT me to come to, so I was glad I went!

Dayne decorating her Valentine's Bag! As I stood and watched all the kiddos decorating their bags and handing out their cards I could remember very vividly how exciting valentine's day parties were! Ahh ... to be 8 again!

Dayne and her BFF, Lauren! Throwin' peace signs.

Metal Mouth!

Hunter got his top braces put on today!

He will get the bottom ones put on in a few weeks. He has a tooth that we have lovingly dubbed "Caveman tooth" that grew in sideways below his bottom teeth that has to be removed first. Here is my modified version of a x-ray to give you all a better idea ('cause I am sure you're just itching to know ALL the details of a caveman tooth!)




This is how Hunter will look for the next two years! Sad to think he will be a Junior in high school when they come off!

(and yes, he DID comb his hair today. But you really can't tell that.)

Today's haps

Today was pretty uneventful but I wanted an excuse to post a video of Kylie - thus, my posting! I am sure her family wants to "see" her!

Hunter had a basketball game this afternoon. Unfortunately they lost 55-25. Next Saturday is his last game. He actually has a double header (is that what you call it for basketball, too?). Hunter said he's pretty excited to get beat badly twice in one day. Whoo-hoo.

After his game the girls went to lunch at Jason's Deli then went to the grocery store. Now we are all just puttering around the house - I am doing a bit of cleaning, Graden and Hunter are watching America's Most Wanted and Donna is "stretching out" (that's what she calls it when she naps).

Dayne taught Ky-Ky how to slide, so she's had some fun today doing that. It works really good on the kitchen floor!

She and Donna go home this Friday. It's been so great having them here!