Ahhh...the Joys

...Of car ownership. We have been very happy with our Subaru Outback, but have had our few frustrations. Today was one of those. It always seems to happen the day before something special, like visiting mom and dad in El Dorado, or meeting mom for Starbucks in Wichita...hmmmm.

Today, as I was driving, I continued to notice a more rumbly sound. Nothing real bad, just louder than it used to be. As I pulled into a space at Walmart, it sounded downright gravelly. I dropped Ollie off at Andrea's (where he spends 3 afternoons a week) and then drove to school. As I pulled off the exit ramp, my "check engine" light came on, flashing. Then, as I neared the school, it just stayed on. Luckily I got there fine--but Joel and I wondered if this was at all related to the issue we had a few weeks ago in Kansas City. Hmmmm. Joel did look at it and tighten the bolt to the belt which had come off last time, but I'm going to drive the truck tomorrow, just to be safe. No air conditioning. Thank goodness a cool front's coming through!

Beautiful Summer Evening

Yes, I did say that. And we do live in Kansas. Tonight we got a little cool front (thanks to Tropical Storm Erin) that brought some rain and MUCH cooler temperatures. We sat out on our porch swing for a while with Ollie. It was so nice.

Back To School!

These are pictures of my classroom this year. Amanda and I (the girl I'm job sharing with) have been working hard the past few weeks to get it ready. Kids come Thursday, and we're almost there! We so far have 20 kids, which is great!!! I've never started with that few!

Ollie has been going to Andrea's house this week--I think it's gone really well. He's had nothing but good things to say about it! :-)

Pseudo-Jumping

We got a Johnny Jumper from Kendall's parents for Ollie to use. We (actually mainly Joel) couldn't wait to use it! I cautioned him though, "it says 4 months and up!". Joel pulled it out about a week early, and Ollie couldn't really get the hang of it. In fact, he couldn't quite get both legs out--one hung awkwardly in the air, while the other tip-toed on the ground. So, we put it away (while I humbly didn't say "I told you so!" Isn't that good of me?) So last week Joel got it out again. We've tried it a couple of times now. "Age 4 months and older"? Check. "...and must be able to hold head up"? Check. He's not really jumping yet...in fact, he just sits there.
Hmmmm....I'm not sure what we're missing......

And, I'll add this other pic that Courtney took while on our weekend trip to KC. It was just too cute to leave off...

Steamy

For all of you not in Kansas check out the weather for Newton. Boy are we lucky!!!!!!!!!!!
Newton Weather Link

My Worst Nightmare

Wellll...that might be exaggerating just a tad. But really-imagine in this space
a GIANT brown recluse spider...long legs, small brown body...Well--that's exactly what I found in Ollie's room Tuesday!!!!!!! I actually DID take a picture of it--but to be honest--that picture gives me the greebles every time I see it--I decided the last thing I wanted was a giant picture of it on our blog!!!! We've had many spiders in our house in the last 2 weeks. Finally, my hero husband sprayed for the stupid arachnids.

Anyway--the other news from our house is that I start school next week. I have been busy spending hours up there getting ready. I have to say, it is nice though, to only worry about half the load! My co-teacher, Amanda, is doing part, too. I only have to think about and plan for reading and social studies/science. Yay to Mr. N (our princi-PAL) for letting us job share!!!!!

Finally, Ollie. He is the loudest boy in the world. I'm realizing he has his dad's talker... He will shriek and scream for anyone to hear! It is hilarious, but very loud. I'll have to post a video sometime soon...

Welp, see ya!
(what movie is that from?)

Our Weekend in KC

Okay, okay. If you read Courtney and Tyler's blog (my bro and sis) then this will be redundant. But for those of you who haven't--here's a brief summary of our short weekend to Kansas City. We went to visit my brother and his wife, Tyler and Erin, and their cute little girl Addilyn. They live (for a few more days) in North Kansas City. It is actually a town! It's very nice--and they have a really cute apartment.

This is Oliver and Addilyn "playing" together.

Ahh, good times at Nebraska Furniture Mart...

Saturday we played Frisbee Golf on an amazing course just north of the city. I was carrying Oliver, so I didn't do that well...(that's my excuse...) I think Joel picked up a bit of poison ivy...again.


Sunday we went to a big shopping area. We ate lunch at Chipotle (mmmmmm!) and then walked around. We also went to an arcade (which I can never remember the name) and then to Scooters, a great coffee place.


Oh yeah, Saturday night we went to the Plaza and ate at a great Italian place called Boca's (there's more, but I can't remember what it's called). It was delicious. And our car stopped running correctly--so Joel and Tyler had to spend a while fixing it...luckily they have the "know-how".

It was a great weekend. If you want to see better pictures of the weekend--go to Courtney's blog link--she had some good ones!