Some Old and Some New {Photos}

Here's an OLD photo from when Luke was visiting me.  

Luke having a good time with the slinky dog

Kyle and I are in the process of making a set of the games bags!  They aren't finished yet, but here's a photo of Kyle priming from the beginning of the project!

My little hubster hard at work

Some NEW photos from Cole's graduation!

Our little Graduate

The whole family with the graduate :)

Home Sweet Home.

Well Cole did it, he graduated!  It was a weekend filled with graduations, parties, food, family, and friends.  We had a great time in Illinois!  We arrived Thursday afternoon, and were able to have lunch with my family.  Thursday night, I was able to meet up with a bunch of my girl friends for drinks, dinner, and shopping!  It was so much fun to see them and hang out again!  Kyle went to karate with my dad and brother, on Saturday he got his orange belt!  Congrats to him, I'm so proud of him!  Friday we spent the day working and preparing for the party.  Kyle worked with my dad and ran errands with him the whole day.  We didn't see each other until dinner.   Saturday, I got my hair done!  Woo!  I love my new haircut!  Then, we had a party to go to, and Kevin graduated on Saturday night!  It was super hot in there, and sweaty sweaty sweaty!  Sunday, we prepared all the way until graduation for Cole's open house.  It was so crazy!  We had so much to do, and so many people came over for the party!  Cole's graduation was nice, but it was down pouring when we arrived, so we were soaked!  Ironically, right after we got out of the car.  UGH!  Tons of people came over to celebrate Cole's graduation, and our cousins from Indianapolis came too!  It was so nice seeing them, we hadn't seen them since Kyle and I got married.  Monday, we relaxed all day and Tuesday, we woke up early and came home.  Whoa, we were so busy!  That was our long weekend!

Coming Home.

We're heading home tomorrow.  I'm super excited!  I love going back to Illinois.  On this trip home I get to meet up with a bunch of my girl friends!  I cannot wait, I can't believe it, but I haven't seen them since my wedding!  That was over 5 months ago, which is also unbelievable!  Time flies!  The MAIN reason we're headed back to Illinois this weekend is COLE is graduating high school!  I also can't believe this!  This whole weekend is full of disbelief!  Absolutely crazy isn't it?  I must say, I feel so old.  This morning we were looking at old photos, and Cole looked so young!  The photos weren't super old, and Cole looks about 10 years younger than now.  Ugh.  WOW.  Crazy.  Time really flies, I know, I am redundant, but that's what I'm thinking about and this blog is for my thoughts, so it's more for me than you.  So, I'm aloud to be redundant.  It's like I'm letting you in my head, so feel welcome, and also privy :)  Cheers!

Too much spinning!

Well yesterday I was going to write this blog, but blogger, if that's what this is called, was down.  Kyle and I finally used our passes to Worlds of Fun.  It's an amusement park about 15 minutes from our house.  Yesterday wasn't busy at all, since all the kids are still in school.  We made it through the park in 2 hours.  I just feel like I'm too old for riding rides anymore.  I get so scared and nervous!  I am always wondering if this will be THE ride that has something horrible happen while we're on it....I am a worrier I guess.  Also, waking up this morning, I found my body to be all achy, I believe it's due to the fact I was thrown around yesterday like a rag doll on all those dang rides.  Kyle loves them though, so that's the main reason I do it.  The final ride yesterday was the bamboozler, I'm not sure if that's the correct spelling, but who really cares....  So it's a spinning ride, I've been on it before, and it's not bad, but yesterday, I thought I would die there.  You stand up, while ride spins so fast that you're pressed against the side, plus it moves up and down, and on both sides.  The ride guy, I think he hates humans, let the ride go on for almost 10 minutes because no one else was in line.  DEATH by spinning.  I was so sick.  I was sick walking off the ride, walking to the car, the drive home, and the first 2 hours of being home.  It was awful!  I don't think the bamboozler is anywhere in my near future at worlds of fun....warning to anyone who may go there.  DON'T do it!

On a happier note, we babysat for Alana and Luke yesterday evening.  It was a lot of fun.  Luke's getting so big!  I cannot believe it!  He's running and playing and just wild, it's so fun!  Alana is also getting so big!  She's observing her surroundings and just bright eyed!  My favorite part of babysitting yesterday was putting Luke to bed.  We read before he goes to sleep, and he only wanted Kyle to read to him.  Kyle was laying on the floor next to Luke's little chair, and on the very last book, Luke curled up next to Kyle and put his little head on his chest while he read.  It was soo cute, but I didn't have my phone to take a picture with, because I wasn't sure where it was because Luke was playing with it earlier.  It was the sweetest thing ever!  It was heart melting.

Weekend Madness

Our weekend was a complete whirlwind!  We left Missouri on Thursday, and the rain followed us all the way to Illinois.  We fortunately made it safe to my parents house, and were able to just relax.  Kyle went to karate with my dad, and my mom and I ran some errands.  Late Thursday night, I went to Delavan to help out Ian and Sonia (they were getting married Saturday) at Deb's house.  We steamed/ ironed the wedding dress and made the wedding program.  Friday was crazy, well it started out not so crazy but then as the day went on it became crazier by the minute.  We went to Peoria to shop a little and get our nails done.  Well, I had some returns, and we were able to get everything done.  The nail salon was so busy because of Proms and mother's day.  It was so crazy, unfortunately, the manicures were not so great.  The people rushed through our manicures, and were very worried about me not paying for them.  Well I paid for them and we were off.  THEN we took Sophie to Claire's were she got her ears pierced!  She was very excited and they look so cute!  Friday night we decorated the church and had rehearsal and dinner.  It was a late night, and Saturday morning came super fast.  Saturday, I got my hair done with the girls, and it was super fun!  Then rushed home, ironed a lot of clothes and did Sophie's hair.  When we got to the church, we were rushing to get things done.  Finally, it was time for the wedding to start!  Everything went great, Sonia was beautiful, and the wedding was wonderful!  Sunday was mother's day.  I am so thankful, I was able to spend it with my Mom!  We went to First Wok for lunch, and then we went to a state park near by.  At the park we enjoyed the beautiful day and played bags (bag-o or corn hole, whatever you might call it), and we also were able to go kayaking there.  It was a lot of fun!  We had family movie night, and watched Kung Fu Panda, Kyle had never seen it.  We had a fun weekend and were able to stay through Sunday.  Well not such a fun blog to read, but that was our weekend.  Cheers!

Welcome Wednesday.

Well it's Wednesday morning, and I am loving today already.  It's beautifully sunny outside and I've already starting laundry! Today I am sore, yesterday Kyle had me run over 5 miles.  I'm not a runner, never have been, probably never will be.  I hate running, but I do like how it makes me feel.  After just two days, I feel like I'm stronger, but I am also achy!  Hopefully this will turn into my new spring/summer thing.  It would be so awesome.  The whole thing started because Kyle has a PT test coming up and he was working out for it.  I decided to try to go along with him on Monday, but geesh he's just too in shape for me to work out with him :)  Anyways, today I'm going to lunch with Becca and she's taking me to this cute little shop by her house!  I'm very excited, it's been a long time since I've had a girl day.  Tomorrow, we're leaving for Illinois, I can't believe how often we're going there.  I just looked at our calendar last night and we have the wedding this weekend, Kyle has drill next weekend, and then back to Illinois for Cole's graduation the weekend after that.  I can't believe that my little brother is graduating from HIGH SCHOOL.  That means he's going to be a college student in the fall.  It's so crazy!  I feel soooo OLD!
This is very random, but we started a free trial of instant netflix via xbox 360 and we love it.  It's so much nicer than renting movies, plus it's only like 7 dollars a month.  We can watch as much or as little as we'd like. I like it and so does Kyle, so I think it's a keeper.
I'm all out of thoughts for now.
Happy sunny Wednesday!

Finals, and I thought I was done...

Well, it's finals week in the Nelson household, but before I get started on that, let me backtrack to earlier in our week.
Let me start off by saying first, I haven't been shopping in a long, LONG time.  That's saying something for me, I love shopping.  It's not even buying things that I love, it's looking at what stores/people are selling.  I love new things, used things, old things, weird things, just anything.  I love that when shopping you encounter so many different people.  I also love that in some instances very funny or odd things happen to you.  It's so fun.  I can shop alone or with other people.  I can shop with tons of money or no money at all.  It's just, well, I love going out and seeing what's for sale.  It's now garage sale time, and we haven't gone yet, but I hope to!  Back to why I said all that, I shopped Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  I know it sounds excessive, but  for me it was wonderful.  I shopped for Mother's Day gifts, Kyle, and tried to shop for myself, but that's proving to be more difficult than I thought.  It's much easier for me to shop for others.  Well, Kyle needed spring/summer clothes, Mother's Day is just around the corner, and I also need spring/summer clothes.  It was very successful for Mother's Day gifts and Kyle's closet, but my shopping experience for myself did not go so well.  I like the styles and colors out for the season, but I just didn't love what I saw.  And I know if I don't love it (Like can't wait to put it on when I get home) then I will not wear it when I get home.  I have plenty of pieces in my closet with tags still on them because I bought them just because it was a good deal.  As for Kyle, I bought him a blue Penguin polo, a gray Calvin Klein polo, white and blue graphic t's, and a blue and white striped oxford. I also picked up three new pairs of shorts for him.  He is set for summer now.  He is catching up with me on closet space used!  I have to say that Target was a great place for his shorts this year.  We shopped around, but the normal stores we usually get his shorts at were not right for him this year.  The shorts were too long, too baggy in the legs, and excessively expensive.  Target shorts were just right for him and all $20 or less.  It was also friends and family weekend at Macy's and I got a lot of good deals there!  I must say I felt so proud of my bargain shopping!
The weekend finally came, and Friday night Kyle took me out to dinner at Red Lobster.  It was really good, and he surprised me with a little pink rose.  It was so sweet.  On Saturday morning, we went to the Kansas City Market District.  It was great!  The sun was shining and we got a lot of great produce!  He also bought me a huge bouquet of yellow tulips!  They are so pretty!  While we were there, I saw the funniest thing in the whole world!  I call it the red neck train, but they just called it a train.  Picture this....A rainbow colored lawnmower, pulling a long line of plastic barrels with holes cut out and wheels attached to them.  He charged $2 a ride!  I watched as he pulled these kids a long, but I don't see why he was charging $2, it was so not worth it!  My description does not do it justice, but come visit us in KC and we'll take you on Saturday to the Market District and you'll see it first hand!
Saturday night was UFC 129.  Well we ordered it here, but it didn't work, so we had to order it again, and now I have to call to get issues taken care of.  Time warner was experiencing technical difficulties, and my hubby was not happy.  He stared at a blank screen for a solid 30 minutes.  So weird.  Well during the fights, I saw a fighter get hematoma ( I'm not sure if that's what it was, but that's my guess) the size of a large orange on the right side of his forehead.  It was awful!  I couldn't even watch anymore!  It was SO gross! Anyways...
Sunday we went to church and had our friends Jon and Rebecca Schilling over for lunch.  We had a lot of fun!  Jon was deployed in Africa with Kyle, and Becca and I got to know each other because they were friends in Africa.  They were married in October, we've been going to their church, and the guys have the same drill schedule...we have a lot in common with them.  Except, Becca is pregnant and I am not. :)   Anyways, we had a really good time with them and it was a great end to our weekend!
Now  back to finals week.  Well, I thought I was finished with all the jazz that comes with finals week, but with my hubster cramming for finals, I find that I am too.  I am helping him with all that I can, last night we worked on his English portfolio,  his Health study guide, and his health final project.  I know I don't have the pressure of taking the tests and making the grades, but I still felt the fatigue of hitting the books hard for finals. I also most thing I was more worn out than Kyle.  Thank goodness I after today, I should be finished with helping so much!  Geesh College!
While we were working so hard last night we saw the Osama (Usama) Bin Laden was killed.  People were celebrating outside the white house, and others seemed to celebrating around the US.  I logged into Facebook, and all of my stalker feed, AKA news feed, was about how bin laden was dead.  It was interesting to see the variety of statuses that were being posted.  Some great, some not so great.  Some were funny and some not.  Some were just plain weird and over exaggerated.  It was quite the variety to say the least.
This weekend we're going to Illinois once again!  We have a wedding on Saturday for Ian and Sonia!  I am so happy for them!  It's also a plus that it's Mother's Day!  AND First Wok, the best chinese food ever, usually has a buffet.  Let me just say YUM. :)
On last random thought, my plants are growing. My tomato plant is getting bigger, my flowers are budding new flowers, and my seeds are sprouting up!  I feel so proud! :)
Until next time!  Cheers!