Friday, October 30, 2015

Nathan Wins

This fall we have been partaking in the stereotypical family festivities.

Fall in Nebraska = Husker Football
We have been having a good ol' time attending home football games and spending time with family in Lincoln.



  

My in-laws are super fun tailgaters and avid game goers but after another Husker loss they were not quite as social. Hopefully they were calling for help because unfortunately this year our team needs some.



We made our annual visit to the local Country Pumpkin store and selected a few of our favorites to bring home and decorate the front porch. We also decorated the inside of our home with all things autumn.

Then we visited a local pumpkin patch by Glenvil and let the kiddos run wild and free.












This week we held our annual, family pumpkin carving competition and this year Nathan recruited Grandma and Grandpa McKenzie.








As always, Jentry was the judge and she selected Nathan's Broncos pumpkin as the winner. This award may not seem like much to most, but to Nathan it was a HUGE trophy. You see Jentry has always selected Mommy to be the winner of well, pretty much everything. The fact that she chose Nathan meant everything to him.

That night when Nathan gave her a hug goodnight, she leaned in a gave him a kiss. This was the first time she has ever shown Nathan such affection. As a mother, this melted my heart completely. Nathan was shocked and overjoyed. As he crawled into bed he said, "I won big time tonight!" Indeed he did.

Friday, October 23, 2015

Make A Friend

Yesterday Jentry had yet another dentist appointment. The girl has a wicked cross-bite which equals lots of time and money spent at the dentist.  She is 7 and on her second appliance! She started complaining about how boring it is to go all the way to Hastings. I quickly replied, "You think it's boring? Think about your poor mom who has to drive all the way there just to sit in the waiting room and stare at the wall.  Then turn right around and drive all the way home."  Without hesitation Jentry says, "There are TVs, 'mazageens'....you could make a friend. Did you ever think about that?"  

Touche, Jentry, touche. 

Monday, October 19, 2015

The First Ride

Grandpa John wanted to spend some quality time with Mason Friday evening.  When Nathan learned that he was planning to take Mason on his very first combine ride, he insisted on being there too. I think it is fair to say the "boys" had a great time in picking corn.


Look Grandpa, vroom vroom! Here it comes.




Completely memorized. 




Oh the memories that are being made. Mason is one lucky little boy.

I didn't tell Jentry about the boys' night in the field. She was already in tears when she realized that she wasn't going to get back to Orleans in time to ride with Papa Bose this year. We may have to ask Neal Carpenter if he wouldn't mind another cute, little, blonde in his cab.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Horror Movie

This morning, like every morning, Jentry went into Mason's room to get him out of his crib. This morning, however instead of hearing her sweet voice saying, "Ahhh good morning punkie poo" I hear a frantic, "Mom, he has blood all over his face!"  WHAT??!?!


This is what Mason's face looked like. His small hemangioma by his nose had broke open and bled all over. I quickly cleaned and bandaged him up. No worries but oh my did it scare me. Aunt Kelly said it looked like a horror movie. So thankful it was nothing serious.

My Heart

I don't think it is any coincidence that our clematis plant grew into a beautiful heart this year. You see, I have this amazing husband who was kind and talented enough to build me the perfect trellis. It is the result of his very own heart, which I am grateful to call mine.


It All Started with Sweet Corn

August and September completely monopolized my spare time.  Of course I could blame it on two children, a full time job, house projects, community boards, church activities, family gatherings, medical appointments, school, etc. However, blaming the entire months of August and September just seemed easiest.

At first, I was feeling really guilty about so many moments and photos passing by without a free minute to post them to my blog. Then I realized...that is just ridiculous!  Why on earth would I allow myself to feel at fault?  I was simply occupied living my life. The fact that my family was busy making memories is a wonderful thing. Involvement means we are all healthy enough to be participating in the everyday activities. However, these moments are special and are very much worth documenting...even if the date of the post doesn't match the calendar. Therefore, the following is my attempt to summarize the last 60 days (or so), with my most cherished recollections.

According to my records, it all started with sweet corn. After that, my days were pretty much a whirl wind of well...life.

As always, the sweet corn was ready at exactly the wrong time. Nathan was golfing in a tournament all weekend, Jentry was at her dad's and the in-laws were out of town. This left me and my little helper to do all the work. We picked, husked, boiled, cooled, cut and bagged eight dozen ears of sweet corn. By the end of the day my feet were swollen and I swore that I wasn't going to share one kernel of my hard work. I have shared the yummy corn since, but next time I am going to seek help from at least one other person that can see over the kitchen counter.



At least Mason stayed occupied rearranging my cabinets.

Papa made a surprise visit on his way through to an airshow. He was just in time to supervise the washing of Nathan's truck.


Jentry took a few minutes break from pestering her brother to read him his favorite book. Of course mom had to capture this rare moment on film...or on digital?...or on her phone?...whatever the technical term is now a days.

Jentry played dentist one evening and poor Nathan was her first patient. Open wide!

We played in the sweet smelling rain.

The annual Travis Carpenter Tournament was another awesome weekend in August. We always enjoy seeing friends and family. It seems to me that the dugout has more and more kiddos each year.




We went for a cruise in the Jeep.

Jentry pulled some teeth while Mason worked on growing some molars.

Mason climbed into and onto everything imaginable while his sister scolded, "Don't even think about it, Mister."


We soaked up the sun, played in the sand and splashed in the pool one last time.



On August 19th, Jentry started 2nd grade and Mason was right there to wish her a great year of learning. 




On August 22nd, I took the kids to Harlan County for Sam's wedding shower. Jentry spent time with her dad while Mason and I spent quality time exploring on the farm. We even got to chase a mouse with cousin Easton. 











Papa shared his favorite "vroom vrooms" from when he was a boy.

We knew Kindergarten was tiring and 1st grade hard work but 2nd grade is exhausting.

Jentry worked on her culinary skills and created this fabulous dish. I gave her a purple ribbon for presentation, however the taste was.... well, down right horrid! I don't even want to know what was in that concoction. Looked scrumptious though.

Labor Day weekend we traveled all over our great state. First we drove to Alma to take Jentry to her dad and eat supper with mom and dad. Saturday we left Mason with Grandma and Papa and headed to Lincoln for the first Husker game of the season. 

Grandma spoiled Mason by allowing him to eat out of the yogurt with a spoon. Sometimes I wonder what goes on when I'm not there.


On Sunday, Nathan stayed in Lincoln while I rode back to Sutton with John and Jan. I immediately got in my car and drove on to Orleans to spend the rest of the weekend family and to bring the kiddos home. It was a lot of driving but so worth it. Monday we spent the glorious afternoon in the river. Mason ate. it. up. We could not get over how much he enjoyed running and splashing in the water. He is definitely a River Rat. Just like his cousins.






There have been some amazing sunrises and sunsets this September. I was fortunate enough to capture this one on my way home from John and Jan's one evening.  God is awesome!

On September 24th, Mom, Kelly and I went to Lincoln for our 3rd annual Bose girls getaway. We shopped, we ate, we laughed, we ate, we drank and we ate. It was fabulous. My in-laws were kind enough to let us stay at their condo too. 




On September 26th, Nathan took Jentry to her very first Husker football game. She was so pumped and Nathan was just as excited to give her the experience. It was a great day.





I just love this time of year. Even though we were here, there and everywhere the last two months, we made some unforgettable memories. Some good and some not so great but we experienced life together and will forever be changed.