Monday, August 31, 2009

the eyes have it









As we celebrated Daddy's #33 bday last week with a nice evening @ the inlaws for dinner, cake and games - we were reminded that we only have eyes for each other. :) These pics just crack me up - too funny to not share.



Wednesday, August 26, 2009

"I wish I was an H******"

Photographic evidence of how much Mackenzie adores good friends Bob, Vicki & Caleb....please note she often choose to ride with them on rides during our trip to Adventureland.
















Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Sesame Street Live!

Aunt Kate & Mommy are quite excited while awaiting Elmo's arrival on stage. And look darn cool doing so, wearing special Elmo hats. (originally purchased for Will & Mackenzie, however they wanted nothing to do with them - so here we sit.)

Friday, August 14, 2009

my fave pirates




pirate ship

For some reason, this pic of the kids on the pirate ship remind me of adolesence when you may have held your tongue and said "I was born on a pirate ship" because it came out funny. (And Vicki and I have been known to do this recently as well - just for entertainment purposes)
Either way - Mackenzie, Will & Walker have fun and keep cool in the pool together.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

dream come true

Mackenzie's Favorite Things, Summer 2009:
*animals, but especially elephants and horses
*ice cream & popsicles
*strawberries & blueberries
*Dora & Diego
*babies and playing house
*dressing herself
*shoes


So you can imagine Mackenzie's delight at the Fair when she had the opportunity to ride on a real life horse/pony! And this is the only picture Jamey could get before being told he would have to PAY to take more pics (with our own camera)! Thankfully, it is a decent picture and the memory is forever. (and the darn pony kept outrunning Mommy, so I wouldn't have wanted a pic of that anyway) But the pony did whiney/bray a few times, which Mackenzie thought was really cool - she is still talking about how the pony "talked" to her.

fair fun

on quite possibly the HOTTEST day of the summer thus far - we headed out to the fair with friends, where Mackenzie had a great time doing the rides and looking at the animals. She also learned about not stepping in poop and since, has been "spotting" poop all sorts of places. Mommy & Daddy obviously enjoyed the food, beer and time with friends. Mackenzie would tell you that her favorite parts were the cows and the motorcycles.












Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Fire Truckin'


As Mackenzie was perched in the fire truck (thanks to a sheriff reserve friend of Jamey's, for this special priviledge) - she looked at us and said "I no drive this!! She also smartly decided to NOT honk the horn, much to the delight of our nearby ears.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

spoiled

Yes, dear blog readers - I do believe you have been spoiled with my regular posting lately!! Hope you have enjoyed it (even though my own sister is not a follower on the blog :( ) I too have been enjoying getting so many funny Mackenzie pictures and stories recorded and shared (may help me when it comes to scrapbooking them). I am going to try to continue the good blogging streak next week when I return to work, however you will understand why if there would be a delay in postings...


As for Miss Mac in this picture - she too, is spoiled - as she is wearing her special rainbow dress that she insisted Grandma Sharon buy for her one day when they were out shopping. "Oh Grandma - I lobe it! It is my favorite part!" I guess it reminds her of the beloved rainbow blankie.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

in the meantime...

While it is fun for Mackenzie to pretend to drive in the Honda - she realistically gets to practice in her yellow bug....





"Is there something on my windshield??"

"Cruisin', with the top down"
"is that road construction?"

"nope - just Foster"







Saturday, August 8, 2009

driving with Miss Mackenzie Jean


Things Mackenzie has said,
after riding while we help teach our niece Sadie to drive a manual transmission:
*"Give it more GAS!"
*"Sadie don't drive too good"
*"I think we hit a tree"
*"Be quiet Mommy - Sadie can do it"
Therefore, she decided to try out her own skills...

step 1 - check your mirrors

"Oh boy, do I look cute or what?!?!?!"

"Oh no - is that a booger? I thought mommy said no to picking while stopped!"

Step 2 - plug address into GPS....thank goodness for BBY technology to guide me!

step 3 - turn right on out of here....

and I am cruisin' now!!

look out world (in 12 years or so)

Friday, August 7, 2009

Amateur scrapbooker in the making


Mackenzie tries her hand at Mommy's favorite hobby...and finds she likes it (especially anything glittery or sparkly - just like Great Aunt Sue!) See the ice cream stickers - she picked those out herself one day when she accompanied me to the scrapbook store and was so excited to buy the ice cream stickers that I couldn't tell her no. (I am hoping I can steal a few to use on my projects) Either way, they were WELL WORTH THE $$ in that it kept her quiet and occupied for quite some time!! And i was happy to share my crafting love with her, as well. She is even working in her own special heart shaped album, that she will proudly show off to you. :)

Thursday, August 6, 2009

friends: old & new

(Sara calls this picture: "Guess who has the bigger boobs" - I just call it cute!)

so thanks to the wonders of Facebook - an old friend and I have gotten back in touch with each other, after a 13 year hiatus of losing touch with each other. Sara & I now keep in regular contact and see each other occassionally, including introducing our girls last Fall. But this past weekend, we decided it was high time for the whole families to meet - and Sara and I hadn't seen each other for a while, so we wanted some QT as well. We met in Iowa City and had a fabulous time together, making new friends and reconnecting with the old ones. :) Hopefully, a tradition to be continued for quite some time.

New Friends: Mackenzie, Rachel & Matthew


Old friends all grown up, with children of their own.



Hubbies and New Friends, bonded over Star Wars: Allen & Jamey

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

working for the hee-haul

So short story version is that we were in Iowa City this past weekend (more on that to follow), but due to move-in @ the University - there were TONS of Uhaul trucks in Iowa City and none in Bettendorf - in particular, at the Argo store. So got the opportunity to transfer some equipment with us on our way home. Probably nothing major, but please rememeber - I have never driven a Uhaul myself and we did have Mackenzie to think about as well. As seen below, Mackenzie loves "hee-hauls" in theory but was none to keen about the ride in one {even though it meant she got to ride up front (with air bag shut off)}. She was quite enthralled with the towing of the car beind us - seen below, her supervising of the loading of the car.





Getting her toys settled in the cab.
What I hoped my Uhaul would not look like upon arrival in Bettendorf.

Mommy made it safe and sound!

Mackenzie and Daddy in their truck -
obviously, someone is a little bit more excited about the road trip.



Ironically - i have been wanting/planning to get a picture of Mackenzie with a Uhaul so I could blog/scrapbook about "hee-haul" so this provided the perfect photo opp for that story!!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Happy Shark Week!!


In honor of Shark Week (and beloved Lake memories) -
Sarah acts out Shark Week in the hot tub, much to Parker's delight. :)
Tune in for the real thing this week on Discovery.

What is this?


Why it is a "hee-haul",
where Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Jon, Uncle Jason & Uncle Jason work.



Story and pictures behind these "hee-haul" pics to follow....