Family Pictures

  A few weekends ago we went to Winfield to have some long overdue family pictures taken.  We were originally scheduled to have them taken back in the spring, but due to an unexpected baseball game we had to cancel at the last minute.  Luckily Laura, who is a fellow blogging friend and photographer, let us wait and reschedule when she did mini-sessions again this fall.  Here is a sneak peek at one of our shots . . . we are so excited to see the rest of them.

After our pictures we met up with all of the great-grandma’s at Nieves for lunch.  It’s rare to have both boys and all three great-grandma’s in the same place at the same time so naturally I wanted a few pictures.  It’s amazing the difference in how the boys behave when I’m taking the pictures vs. Laura.

Take #1 . . . Miles!!!!

Take #2 . . . ok Grant, quit trying to act like your brother!!!Take #3 . . . seriously, this is not funny Miles!!! Take #4 . . . I’m not kidding, this is NOT funny!!!Take #5 . . . let’s see if we can really make mom go crazy!!!  {It worked}

This seems to be the only good picture I got . . . I can’t tell what’s more cheesy, the queso or Grant’s smile!!!After we got home the boys {reluctantly} helped Jeff do a little yard work and played basketball and football.  Here’s Miles setting up the ball so Grant can kick it.

It didn’t work so well when Grant tried to do the same thing.  Here he is rolling around in the grass after Miles missed the ball and kicked him in the foot {by accident of course}  with his size 13 shoes!!!

Another Terrific Tuesday

Tuesday’s are always terrific {I don’t have recess duty and I get a 90 minute break while my kids at are in PE and library} . . . but today was better than ever. 

It all started this morning before I ever walked out the door.  

I reached in my back pocket and found two freshly washed {and pressed} $5.00 bills.

Then after I got to school I had two students greet me with goodies as they were coming in . . . and it wasn’t even my birthday!!!

On kiddo brought me a few bags of yummy Halloween treats and a festive fall notepad.

And this little sweetie  brought me some beautiful flowers. 

I told Jeff he had some competition . . .

I also managed to get my report cards {almost} done during my big break and get the rest of my November stuff filed away and organized. 

The only thing that could make this Tuesday even more terrific would be if the dishwasher would unload itself and I would open the paper I started writing for my  Instructional Design class and see that it was all done.

Fall Ball

    For the first time ever Grant is playing Fall Basketball.  There are a few kids from his regular {winter} team and then a few new kids he’s never played with before.  They’ve been practicing for the last 3 or 4 weeks and looked pretty good on the court today.  This was their first game of the season.  Even though they lost I have to admit I was pretty impressed.  It looks like Grant has finally figured out how to use his size and weight on the court to his advantage.  He was more aggressive than I have ever seen him {yea}!!!

Here are a few pictures from today’s game. . . Grant is #24 

I’m so glad I got a picture of him shooting . . . SWISH!!

He called this the “Double Stuff”

Grant’s Birthday {continued}

It seems like for the last few months I’ve gotten in the routine of posting everything just a little late here!!!  Last weekend we went to Winfield to wrap up Grant’s birthday celebration.  My parents were both so busy the week of Grant’s birthday that we didn’t get to celebrate with them.  My mom was working the ESA sorority booth at Bluegrass and my dad was at the state fair everyday working.  So, we packed up the car and headed to Winfield on Saturday afternoon. 

Grant was VERY eager to open all of his gifts so we did that within minutes of arriving. 

He was so excited about the Adrian Peterson {Vikings} jersey that he got from Nana.He was even more excited about the Drew Brees {Saints} jersey he got from Grandma Norma. 

So excited in fact that he put it on right over the other jersey.

  

He also got a few baseball themed gifts too.  A weight for his bat and a reaction ball to practice fielding with.   

A gift that has given him {and daddy} hours of fun is the new Tiger Woods Xbox 360 game.Here’s the birthday boy with Grandma.  She made him his new favorite cake.  A Neapolitan layered {chocolate, vanilla, strawberry} cake just like mommy gets every year for her birthday.The birthday boy with Nana and Grandma Norma. . . . and the birthday boy relaxing with Spiro after he ate too much cake.

On a sad note . . . the Drew Brees jersey didn’t last long.  He wore it to school on Monday and I got a call from his teacher that afternoon.  She said Grant was pretty upset.  While he was at recess he was playing on the swings and when he jumped out the sleeve got caught on the chain of the swing and ripped.  It’s not as bad as I imagined.  I think with a little black thread it will be as good as new.

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Here’s a little story I couldn’t resist sharing . . .

Last night Grant got in pretty big trouble while he was outside playing with the neighbor girls.  Long story, but let’s just say it involved a pellet gun . . .and a walk with daddy over to the neighbors house to apologize.

Jeff was on the phone when it all went down so I took charge of the situation. 

I guess I was a little more angry than I thought.

After we all {me} cooled down and talked about what happened Jeff and I decided to take away Grant’s iTouch for the rest of the week.  It may not sound like a huge punishment, but to him it is!!!  Grant was relieved when we told him what the punishment was.  He said he was afraid it was going to be a LOT worse. 

{Sometimes I think he’s harder on himself than anyone.} 

Trying to be funny Jeff said it was either the iTouch or we would just stop loving him for a few days.  To which Grant replied “mom already quit loving me for like 10 minutes tonight already”.

Grant’s Birthday

Last week we celebrated another birthday at the Bumgardner house.  Grant turned 10 on Tuesday {14th}.  He’s been so excited about being two digits for several weeks.  I guess I forgot how exciting that was!!!  We surprised him with a special gift before school.I think it was a BIG hit because he’s been out almost every day since his birthday practicing.  This summer he will finally be old enough to take junior golf here at the golf course in our neighborhood, which he’s been wanting to do for years, so we thought this would be the perfect gift.    After a day at school and a trip to the driving range Jeff’s family and my sister {Aunt Karen} all came over for a little birthday celebration.  Grant got lots of fun gifts.  He really loved his new Nickelodeon slime themed mini laptop from Granny and the Halo Reach game for his Xbox 360 from Grandpa and Grandma Debbie.  It was just released earlier that day so he was lucky to get it!!!

    

We also had special visitors from California here to help Grant celebrate his big day.  Here’s the birthday boy with his cousins Maggie and Lorelei.

   

Maggie even helped Grant blow out the candles on his birthday cake! (Hopefully you didn’t notice that there were only 5 candles on the cake.  I didn’t even think to check in the cupboard to make sure I had candles before it was time for cake.  Turns out I only had a mismatched combination of 5.  So we got creative and lit them twice so Grant would have 10 candles.  I felt like such a super mom!!!)

I was busy with parent teacher conferences on Wednesday and Thursday night last week.  Grant didn’t have school so he got to go to the State Fair with Grandpa, Aunt Melissa, Uncle John, Maggie and Lorelei.  I sent along his camera but he only took two pictures.  One was of me sweeping the kitchen floor before I went to work . . .   and the other was of the tattoo he got at the state fair.

Friday I got the day off too se we relaxed around the house most of the day.   Then after basketball practice Grant invited a few of his friends over for a birthday sleepover.   I love the way they were all gathered around Grant’s little iPod touch screen watching a video in this picture.e You can always count on a crazy night when you get a group of 9-10 year old boys together.  They can really be silly . . . which you can obviously tell from some of these pictures.     Saturday we celebrated another birthday.  It was Aunt Melissa’s big day.  We met everyone at Abuelo’s for dinner and then went back to Grandpa and Debbie’s house for birthday ice cream cake and grasshopper pie from Baskin Robbins.  Melissa also made a peanut butter pie that I have got to get the recipe for.  Here’s Uncle Jeff and Miss Lorelei enjoying some dessert. Then after dessert he played airplane on the floor with the girls.

While all of this was going on Grant was being tickle tortured by Uncle Nick.  I need to get Debbie to send me a few of those pictures!!!

This weekend Grant’s birthday festivities will be continued.  We are planning to go down to Winfield on Saturday evening for more birthday cake and presents with my family.  Then on Sunday Grant’s looking forward to taking his new golf clubs to the driving range and using a few of the range balls Grandma Norma keeps collecting in her backyard.  I guess it’s one of the perks to having your house back up to a driving range!!!

Jeff’s Birthday

Last Sunday we got together with both sides of our family to celebrate Jeff’s birthday.  My side of the family showed up early in the afternoon so they could spend some time visiting with us.  Everyone was interested to see Jeff’s new iPad.  We had few good laughs showing Nana some pictures from {The People of Wal-Mart} website.  I don’t know what was funnier, the pictures on the website or Nana’s reaction to the picture.     

Here’s the birthday boy, right before the battery on my camera died!!!

Jeff was very excited about the new {Swiss Army} iPad case he got from his dad and Debbie.  He also got several other great accessories that he can use with his iPhone and iPad when he is traveling as well as some new KU shirts.

Just for fun his dad threw in a book he found at home when he was cleaning.  He thought Jeff had always loved this book, but he was the one who was surprised when Jeff admitted he actually hated it.  My dad however found it very interesting.  I love the expression on his face in this picture. We kept the book, but have put it away for awhile.  There are a few human oddities Grant does not need to see.

Just before the battery on my camera died I got a few final pictures of Jeff with his new birthday shoes.  I have to admit I have always hated Croc’s, but he really wanted a pair to wear while he works in the yard.

Luckily they were slightly too small and the next size up was slightly too big so Jeff’s fascination with Croc’s has passed.

Next up at the Bumgardner house . . . special visitors and another birthday celebration!!!