Beasley's and the Basement...

We spent 5 great days in Hot Springs, AR with the Beasley's...Manley, Shirleen, and June. They are technically our friends, but I like to think they are my family. They lived across the street from us when I was in high school and Manley was the pastor of my home church. He even married Tyler and I 9 years ago. Our kids called him "Uncle Bubba" and her "Aunt Shirleen". They have an amazing place on lots of land with beautiful views, a pool, a huge deck, a fish pond, etc. So nice and relaxing. We swam every day, ate yummy food (including Shirleen's signature pancake breakfast and some delicious ice cream from "Scoops"). Overall, we just had a really fun, restful visit and enjoyed ourselves immensley. Porter and Piper were even little angels on the long car ride and entire trip! On top of a big hill looking out...
on the back deck after some yummy ice cream:)

Feeding the fish!

It's always good to be home after a trip, though. So, as we are unpacking the car, the kids want to play in their toy room in the basement. So, Porter goes down and yells up at me..."Mommy, Opie peed!" So, I run downstairs and see not Opie's little spot of pee, but an entirely FLOODED basement. We knew it rained while we were gone, but it apparently stormed enormous amounts of rain, so much so that our sump pump (for all you Texans, that is a pump in the basement that pumps water out from around your foundation during rainy times) got overwhelmed and couldn't keep up! YUCK! We frantically tried calling 20 different places to come get the water and carpet padding out, but they were all booked up since it also happened all over town. Thank GOD for amazing neighbors who rescued us with 3 wet vacs and lots of man power to take out the carpet and padding and donate tons of fans to dry up everything up. We came out of it with a few ruined toys and bags, a couple of split baseboards, and a dirty cement floor in our finished basement. However, we (unknowingly) had coverage for our sump pump on our insurance policy and the guy cut us a check the next day. So...NO more carpet (just in case). We are staining the cement and throwing down some big rugs. Yay! God is good and never fails to keep us humble, but also show us love, grace, and mercy! one of the many helpers and many wet vacs!

my wet couch slip cover--eeewww! Washable, though:)!

July 4th in 3 parts...

FIRST we started the day at the top of our long street with a 4th of July parade. A police man led it and bikes, walkers, dogs, and wagons trailed behind (all decked out in red, white and blue). It ended at the pool for popsicles and fun. The best part was we met two sets of brand new neighbors that moved onto our street. They are our age with young kids and we hit it off right away. Later that weekend, they even came to a neighborhood bbq. I see new friends in our future:)SECOND we went to another part of town called Prairie Village...very cute, quaint, older area. They had "Village Fest"...all kinds of booths, free give aways, animals, parades, you name it! It was fun! After that, we ate at a great new place, Blue Moose, where the kids got these animal masks. Piper fell in love with hers (a cow) and wore it for 2 days. Even if she was eating, she would keep it on and just flip up the bottom to put food in her mouth:)
THIRD we ended the day having dinner with friends, Paul and Missy (expecting their first baby girl soon!), at Spin Pizza on the patio...our favorite! Then all headed over to Corporate Woods to watch fireworks. It was amazing weather--don't think we ever sweated! Paul and Missy brought their little doggy, Toby, that the kids loved, and we just hung out till the sun went down and watched a great fireworks display.
What a memorable 4th! Some people recently asked me about doing stuff like this with Porter and Piper since they are so young, get in bed late, etc. But, to have experiences and live life once in a while is all worth the grumpy kids I have to deal with the next morning:)!!!! We will always sacrifice and do our best so they have some fun family memories!

Fun in this City

Have I shared how much we like it here?? First of all, it has barely hit 90 degrees and it's July!!! And there is always fun stuff to do with the kids that's accessible...no traffic to fight!!! So, this past weekend we went to the Overland Park Farmer's Market. It's in cute downtown OP...street gets blocked off, lined with vendors of all sorts of fruit, veggies, bread, herbs, flowers, etc. We ate an amazing breakfast sandwich on the sidewalk, saw a really good little band perform, and popped inside a few cute shops. We got some good stuff to cook and grill that night, too! I just kept thinking how neat it was that we could do that with our family...I never got to do stuff like that! Then, Sunday after church, I heard about something on the Plaza near downtown KC called the "Duck Derby". I thought they put rubber ducks in this creek there and race them. Well, that was only part of it! They also had streets blocked off, tents set up with all sorts of things for kids, food, free stuff, etc. If you "adopted" a duck to race, the proceeds went to a children's therapy center. They also had this group that played drums and danced come down the street and perform. They were of all ages and some were tiny, but amazingly talented! SO good and the kids loved watching them. Then, one of our local favs, "Funky Mama" performed and P&P sang and danced and Porter cried when it was all over.

So, it's not perfect here by any means, but we truly do love it! I think it's even appreciated more after having the longest winter ever of my life:) We still mourn the distance from friends and family and will always do so (but we sure love visits)!! Texas will always be our home. However, we are glad that this is our home away from home.

River Rats...

Updates...

-Children are potty training like champs this week. Finally! Porter is 5 for 5 pooping in the potty! Didn't you all need to know that:)?!?!

-The warm weather is here and so nice...we LOVE the pool! Porter is a brave fish and it's so crazy! Piper is a lot more timid, but warming up to it more lately.

-The kids can both get in their car seats and buckle themselves. When I tell them "You don't need Mommy anymore...so sad", Porter tells me I can still buckle his top buckle and he'll just do the bottom. Sweet boy:)

-Last but not least, we just vacationed with some of our best buds and had a blast...

On the Illinois River in OK, we rented a cabin and had a most memorable week...

Tarrah's head could not be placed more perfectly:)

coming in from their 6 mile float

throwing rocks in the river...favorite past time

SMORES!

3 Years Old Already???

A week ago today, I celebrated my 3rd Mother's Day and my precious twins' 3rd Birthday. What an extra special day! We had a fun time having a party at Deanna Rose Farmstead the day before (despite the cold and rain kicking us out a little earlier than we'd planned). Then, on our shared celebratory day, Sunday, we had brunch at Classic Cup and had BIG pancakes which all three of us share a love for, then walked around the Plaza in the pretty weather. After naps, Uncle Patrick took the kids to Build A Bear which they (and I) thoroughly enjoyed. Back home, we all got some neat presents (as if we needed anything more) and ate outside on the patio for the first time this year. How nice! Being a mommy to my two beautiful 3 year olds is a joy of my life. I would never trade it or change it. I love Mommyhood and I love those to whom I am "Mommy". It is HARD, but it is GOOD! And God is good and humorous and teaches me so much through these little wonders. As my heart swells with love for them more and more each day, I understand more and more, how the Father loves us and the eyes He sees us through.

I've Been Tagged...

Julie B. tagged me this week (unless it was another Amy??)

Four jobs I've had:
1) Nutritionist
2) Human Resource Manager
3) Preschool Teacher
4) mommy

Four movies I have watched more than once:
1) Coal Miner's Daughter
2) Raising Arizona
3) Good Will Hunting
4) Land Before Time (and still counting, folks!)

Four places I have lived:
1) Richardson, TX
2) Austin, TX
3) Katy, TX
4) Kansas!!!!!

Four TV shows I watch:
1) The Office
2) Lost
3) The Hills
4) American Idol

Four places I have been:
1) Hawaii
2) Cozumel
3) Puerto Rico
4) NYC

Four people who email me regularly
1) Allison
2) Sara
3) Tarrah
4) Tyler

Four of my favorite foods:
1) pizza
2) ice cream
3) sandwiches
4) chips and dip!

Four places I'd like to visit:
1) Italy
2) Colorado (no, I have never been!)
3) Canada
4) Africa

Four things I'm looking forward to this coming year:
1) Family camp
2) camping with our friends
3) WARM weather!
4) two cousins' weddings, one of which our kids will be in!

Four friends I'm tagging:
1) Angi
2) Tarrah
3) Sheila
4) Julie

5 Days of FUN!

"Wanted Dead or Alive"

2 weeks ago today, Tyler and I went with another couple to see Bon Jovi and Chris Daughtry!! What a fun night!!! Probably the biggest concert we've ever been to and it was a BLAST! We ate downtown with our friends, then walked over to the new Sprint Center. Thank goodness my mom gave us her umbrella when we dropped the kids off with her, because we would have been soaked...many people were! Anyway...we were high up, but it didn't matter--so fun (and my camera has a nice zoom!)! I think I want Tyler to get a Superman tattoo now:)

Then, the next day, our wonderful friends, the Lancasters...Adam, Tarrah, Sage and London drove all the way from Dallas to see us!! I hope they thought it was worth it because we had a wonderful time!!! The kids loved playing together and Sage and Piper had a special bond and held hands everywhere they went:) London also had a little crush on Tyler--too cute! We ate some good food, went to Crown Center, the Farm, church, roasted marshmallows, and played a little guitar (thanks, Tarrah for all the entertainment!). They also taught me Boggle which I immediately excelled at. Ha! JOKE! So, now periodically, Piper says, "I miss my Sage", Porter, "I miss my London" and Mommy and Daddy say we miss our Adam and Tarrah:( So, anyone that hasn't come to visit us yet, I hope you come soon...we are FUN!