Zane is Three!

Our baby is three! It's hard to believe. He's grown, changed, and learned SO MUCH in a mere three years! We continue to be amazed by him and try to savor each moment (even those trying moments...).

Playing in his new sand table

Zane trying out his new roller skates

Zane's birthday week started out at home as he had a fever, so I stayed home with him Monday and Matt stayed home with him Tuesday on his actual birthday. His last fever was on Monday evening, so he felt back to normal on his birthday. Tuesday Matt kept telling him that we were going to the "dinosaur place" for supper and Matt said that's all he could talk about. So after I got home from work, we headed that way. He was very excited to go there. Once we got to the restaurant, he was happy to see the big dinosaurs, but clung onto Matt when they growled. We were seated, and once he realized we were there to eat and not just to look at everything, he was not a happy camper! He kept saying "no eat." He finally calmed down and started watching all of the animals and action going on. He kept looking back at one of the dinosaurs saying "No, no dinosaur, don't eat us!"

The "dinosaur place" (it was sunny!)

Showing that he's three

Video of Zane "talking" to the dinosaurs

The Bakers at T-Rex

Zane being sung to

Yummy birthday dessert

Pumping stuffing into his dinosaur

Washing and combing Bobby

After dinner, they came and brought him ice cream and sang happy birthday. He didn't quite know what to think of that, but he had a little grin on his face! Before we left, we went to their "build-a-dino" section and Zane built a dinosaur. Lucky for us, he doesn't yet realize you can get a bunch of accessories, so we got off pretty cheap! He named his dinosaur Bobby.

Wednesday, Zane had his party at Jo's house. He got lots of nice gifts from his friends there! Jo really spoils the kids and always knows how to make them feel special!

The rest of the week was very busy. I organized a retirement party at school and we had our annual kindergarten picnic and end-of-year party. I was tired by Friday! We headed to Iowa Friday night and got to Gaga/Papa Farmer's house around 9:00. When we left home it was 80 degrees and warm. By the time we got to Iowa...it was 53 degrees...what a change! Needless to say, the races were cancelled for the sixth time this year! We were able to spend a lot of quality time with Matt's parents this weekend!

We decided to head home today instead of waiting until tomorrow. We got home around 5:00. We were able to mow, do some laundry, unpack, and do a little shopping. Zane even ran through the sprinklers! It was almost 90 degrees here!!! What a change from Saturday's temperature in Iowa!!

Checking out the water

Running through the sprinkler

Fun in the sprinkler

Only 5 1/2 more days of school!!! Some schools are already out and I'm jealous! I'd love to start my summer already! I'm sure the end will go quickly and soon I'll be getting ready for the first day again. I'm going to try to make time slow down to enjoy this summer...wish me luck!

Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy everything that matters to you!

Jo's Daycare Photo Site: http://web.mac.com/djlongenecker/Jos_Daycare

Zane's 3rd Birthday Celebration!

Zane's birthday celebration has begun! We love to celebrate birthdays! We are so thankful that we have Zane and can celebrate that he has been with us for three years...my how time flies!

On Wednesday, Aaron came up to bring Zane his present and spend some time with him. He was unable to be at Zane's party, so we were glad we could see him! Zane hasn't seen him since Christmas, so of course he began "showing off" right away. He warmed right up to Aaron and they had fun together! We wish we could see him more often, but all of us are busy!!!

Zane & Uncle Aaron

Catch me!

Jo was closed Thursday to attend a field trip with her daughter. Matt stayed home with Zane. They brought me lunch and stayed to visit for a little while, my students loved it! We had Zane's 3 year pictures taken that afternoon. He's not so cooperative, but we still ended up with many good pictures!

We headed to Iowa Friday after work. This weekend we stayed on the farm. Saturday was a super nice day...Zane was up and outside playing by 7:00! We went in to town, played at the park, and ate pizza with Matt. Keeta and I noticed that Zane wasn't quite acting like himself...a little sluggish, and to me he felt hot. We gave him some Motrin and he took a long nap. She said he still wasn't quite himself (I was at the races) so they took it easy all night.

At the park

I was a little worried about Zaner because we had his birthday party scheduled for Sunday. He woke up early Sunday and still seemed a little warm, so we gave him Motrin again. He was much more himself, so we were glad for that! Everyone began showing up around 10:30 and most were there by noon. We were going to have a bonfire to help get rid of extra limbs from the winter storms, but it was too windy, so Matt was busy grilling hot dogs and hamburgers for awhile. We had lots of great food that everyone brought!

Zane & Keaton

Matt, the griller

After we ate, we opened presents (Zaner sure is spoiled)! He just wanted to open all of the presents as fast as he could...he did not even stop afterwards to realize what he had gotten...so I was spending time trying to keep cards and gifts straight! After that, we had cake and homemade ice cream. Then many of the family members spent time outside enjoying the weather, playing basketball, flying kites, and playing with Zane and Keaton.

Keaton and Zane "scaring animals"

Sorry it's sideways...I need help to turn it!

I can hardly believe my baby is turning three! There's not much baby left in him! He is at such a fun age and makes us smile every single day!

Today I'm home with Zane. He is acting MUCH better and only has a slight fever, about 99.4, but we want it to go away for good! We're hoping he feels good for his actual birthday (Tuesday, May 20th). Lucky Matt may get to stay home with him and spend his birthday having fun!

Thanks for checking in on us!

Jo's Daycare Photo Site: http://web.mac.com/djlongenecker/Jos_Daycare

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to everyone out there! I hope you were able to enjoy your day and spend it with those that you love!

This week has been a busy one! On Monday we got our new furniture. Zane's reaction was so fun! When we got home, I told him to go upstairs and see what was in the living room. He said "Oh, new couch. Two new couch!" He started crawling all over it and "testing" it out!

This week the weather was pretty nice! Zaner wore shorts to Jo's house every day! He has really been wanting to help out with everything lately, so Matt put him to work! Here's a video of him hammering the nails on the porch. He's quite the worker...but needs some work on his hammering accuracy!

We headed to Iowa to celebrate Mother's Day with our families. The races ended up being cancelled AGAIN...the fifth week in a row! We'll race one of these days! We were able to spend time with both moms...we hope they enjoyed their Mother's Day!

I was spoiled by Matt and Zane! They got me a new camera...I've been relying on my very first camera to take my videos, so they got me a new, slim camera that can do videos as well. I also got some yummy chocolate and a nice card. I was glad to be able to spend the day with both of my boys!

Zane scaring Uncle Greg (a.k.a. Buzzard)
Zane trying to get Sarah off of his beanbag!

We have another busy week ahead of us...but isn't that just life? Thanks for checking on us...see you again soon!

Jo's Daycare Photo site: http://web.mac.com/djlongenecker/Jos_Daycare

Spring has Sprung (Finally)!

Another week has flown by, and we are excited to be seeing more spring-like weather! You may have heard about the storms that went through Kansas City Thursday night. We were very thankful and lucky that we did not receive any damage from the storms. However, many people in neighborhoods pretty close to ours did not fare so well. Some of the damage can take your breath away...houses completely gone, roofs blown off of houses, trees uprooted completely and laying on their sides. We hope that they can quickly recover and get back on their feet.

Recently I showed Zane a fun computer game that we show all of the new kindergarten parents each year. It works on letters, sounds, reading, etc. He LOVES it and askes to play "Letters" all the time! He could sit for probably an hour and not get bored with it! Here is a little video of Zane playing "Letters."

An update on Chris...we visited him on Sunday before heading to Iowa and he was doing well, just really sore and taking it easy. He has a terrible bruise where he was stepped on...it looks BAD! Matt has talked to him quite a bit this week and he has really come a long way this week and feels a lot better. We were thankful to hear that the races were cancelled this weekend because we wanted him to have more time to heal before having to get into the racecar! Another week will be really good for him and will hopefully allow him to get back "on track!"

We stayed in KC this weekend and have gotten so much accomplished! We bought living room furniture, Zane's "big boy bedroom" furtiture, washed the insides and outsides of our cars, mowed the yard, cleaned the carpet in the living room to get ready for the new furniture, and cleaned out the garage! Wow, what a lot of jobs to get done! The weather has been beautiful this weekend, especially today, so we took full advantage! It was also nice to be able to go to our church again since we've been out of town the last few weeks.

While I was cleanin out the van today, Zane helped by scrubbing the floor mats. He just kept scrubbing and scrubbing...and also enjoyed filling up the bucket when it got low! Here's a picture and video of him cleaning away!

We are really excited to start the week...our furniture will be delivered tomorrow! Zane's also excited that it's (finally) May! When I told him, he said "Zane birthday, May 20!" Thanks for checking in on us!

Jo's Daycare Photos: http://web.mac.com/djlongenecker/iWeb/Jo%27s%20Daycare