A week of fun!

We are really enjoying our summer! Even though we usually don't have plans, we seem to fill up our days doing lots of fun activities! Uncle Brent came to see us a couple of times this week since he was still in town for work. Zane showed him how he could use the t-ball that he and Aunt Marcy gave him for his birthday. Here's Zane the slugger at work:

Then after playing baseball, Zane had to cool off. We put the crazy sprinkler out for him and he went through it. It's so funny to see him run through a sprinkler...he loves water, but doesn't seem to care for it spraying on him...so he goes cautiously!

Matt and I gave Zane a bicycle for this birthday. He really hasn't seemed interested in it until now...he seemed to be a little bit scared of it actually. This week he got his helmet and pads on and climbed on his bike. He did really well for the first time! I didn't capture the first big crash on film, but it was a doozie! He was brave and climbed right back on to ride again...pedaling and crying at the same time! It was priceless!

We ended up staying in KC Friday evening and going swimming as a family. We got up Saturday, loaded everything, and headed to Iowa. We dropped Zaner off at Gaga and Papa's and headed to town for the races. We had a good night racing, Chris won his heat race and got 4th in the feature. Much better than 2 weeks ago!

Sunday we headed to Matt's grandparents for dinner. Keaton was there and those two boys had a blast! They played hard all day long and were worn out by the time we left!!! I didn't take a picture (figured it wasn't really appropriate), but they ended up spraying each other with the hose, so most of the afternoon they spent in only their underwear while we dried their clothes! Lucky for them there were on the farm where noone could see them! Here is a cute video of the boys trying to hook the 4-wheeler onto the tractor and some pictures of them playing.

Zane says so many cute things anymore, I decided to decicate a part of the blog each week to funny things he has said! So here goes:

In Zane's Words...

Zane likes to talk to Bobby in my belly...and I told him Bobby was growing in there. So I asked him where he grew before he was born. He thought for a minute, then said "Pizza Shoppe!" (A restaurant that I've been craving, so we go there a couple of times a week).

If you ask Zane what he would like in his happy meal, he will tell you a "cheese bah guh guh" (cheeseburger).

Zane and Papa both have a mini tape measure. When Zane says it he says "tee bur bur bur bur bur." I don't know why it has so many syllables!

Zane LOVES to jump! The other day he was jumping from our bed onto the recliner in our room. One time it tipped forward. He got up, looked at me, and said, "Oh, close one!"

We installed a celing fan in Zane's new room this week. He was really excited to have his own fan! When he went to bed that night, he didn't want to go to sleep, but we kissed him good night and walked out. On the way out the door, Matt turned the fan off. We heard Zane in his room crying and crying. We figured he was just mad he had to go to bed. We went in to check on him and he was out of bed, sobbing, and falling on the floor. He looked at Matt and said "My new fan broken!" He didn't realize Matt had turned it off, so he thought it was broken already! Poor kid, he just wanted a working fan!

Baseball Game and Swimming Lessons

This week we decided to head to a T-Bones baseball game (a local minor league team). We have always heard how kid-friendly the games are, so we thought we'd try it out. We had a lot of fun there! Zane wasn't real happy at first, all he wanted was cotton candy! As soon as we got some for him, he was fine. We probably all enjoyed the entertainment between innings (and the food of course) more than the game itself! Towards the end of the game we took Zane over to the playground and he had a blast! I'm glad we didn't show him that area any earlier or we would have had to stay there the whole night!


We also began swim lessons this week! This is the first year Zane was able to take them, the youngest age is 3. His class is called "Aqua Tots" and is for kids age 3-5, so it's a little bit of a range in age. I took him on Monday and it was NOT very pleasant. He seemed excited to be going, ran all the way to the pool, but when I tried to leave him with the teachers, he started crying, reaching, and calling for me. Talk about breaking your mama's heart! The teachers tried and tried to get him to stay, but after about 5 minutes, he ran out to me. I couldn't get him to go back, so we just sat and watched. I was so disappointed...I figured he'd love it!

Tuesday we went again. All day Monday Matt and I talked about it and tried to get Zane excited about going back. He didn't ever act scared or like he didn't want to go...so we thought maybe it'd be okay. Again on Tuesday, as soon as we got there, he began clinging to me and not wanting to go with his class. There was a different teacher that day and she got him to stay a little bit longer...but he was fighting her. So finally she brought him back to me and asked him if he would come back tomorrow and stay/play with her for 5 minutes. He agreed and we left early.

Wednesday it was like a complete 180! We got there and Zane told me "5 minutes." I said "yep, just 5 minutes, then you can sit with me." We go inside and took him towards his teachers, and he began to cling to me a little...but I handed him to his teacher and he sat on her lap...yea! He didn't cry, fight them, or try to come to me. Instead, he followed all of the directions and stayed not 5 minutes, but the whole 30 minutes! I was so proud I almost cried! He was laughing, giggling, and turning around waving to me saying "hi mom!" Afterwards, he came up to me for a huge hug, told me "fun, mom," and then asked if he could have "gum now?" We did bribe him a little bit with that...but I thought he deserved it after the turn-around day!

Ever since Wednesday he has been excited to go and has stayed the whole time. We continue with lessons this week and they will be over on Thursday. Here are a few pictures and videos of him at swimming lessons.

The sun is in my eyes!

Hi mom!
They play "monkeys jumping on the bed"

I must say he impressed me with his creativity...they play "Simon Says" and tell the kids to put certain parts of their body in the water. Zane was doing it...and then she said "Simon says get your forehead wet." He reached into the water, got his hand wet, then put it on his forehead! Then he looked up and said "Zane did it!" He did that again with his ears! I wouldn't have ever thought of that!

This week Brent was in town for work, so we got to see him a couple of nights. He also rode back to Iowa with us on Friday. Saturday was a beautiful day. My brother and his girlfriend were in town and wanted to go to the races, so I rode with them. We got there, got our food, sat down, ate some, and then they cancelled the races! There was a storm moving in and it wasn't long before it began pouring and hailing...we got a little wet! We have only had 3 races so far and it's been every other weekend, what a strange year!

This morning we woke up early and headed back to KC. Matt's parents and Brent came down also. We took the boat to Smithville and spent the afternoon on the lake. It was a beautiful day for boating! It was hot, sunny, and the water was nice and calm (not like the last time when Nemo bit the propeller)! We really had a great time and enjoyed the time together. Zane was very good and especially enjoyed going to the beach!

Summer is already going fast! We are just trying to have as much fun as we can and enjoy each moment! We're also trying to get as much done, ready, and prepared for "Bobby" now while we have the time!

Have a great week and check in on us soon!

Zane's New Room!

We have been very busy this week getting Zane's "big boy" room ready! We began on Monday by moving things out (we sold our computer desk and bed) and getting the room "paint ready." Then Matt fixed a couple of spots on the wall. I started painting that evening. I painted Tuesday and Wednesday and was finished on Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday evening Matt shampooed the carpet. Thursday we moved the new furniture in and it was a room! Here are some pictures and a video of painting. Zane wanted a "blue room," so we painted one blue wall and three tan.

Zane really seemed to like his room when it was finished. He went in and said "Oh, blue wall. Zane like it!" In the next picture he's standing in front of the wall saying "ta-da!"


Here are some pictures of his finished room. The bedding has cars and trucks on it. We will be adding some pictures to the walls soon! I'm trying to talk Matt in to painting some pictures for him...he is very creative with that stuff!


The bed seems SO BIG with Zane in it!! He slept in his new bed Thursday night for the first time. He was a little unsure, but did okay. I thought it'd be tougher because he'd want his old bed, but he now says that's Bobby's bed (the name we've been calling baby #2). He's still scared of monsters and we really struggle with that at nighttime. I hope it's a phase that's soon over! Here he is on Friday morning before we woke him up:


This weekend we headed to Iowa. We were unsure if there would be races or not (remember the flood pictures?), but went to stay with Adam since my parents were out of town for the weekend. Apparently there were a ton of volunteers helping pump water off the track and working on it all week, so the races were on! I couldn't believe it. Unfortunately for us, it wasn't a good night for our racecar...I guess that's racing!

We spent yesterday with Matt's family. We were glad we could all be together to celebrate Father's Day! Zane and I got Matt a new mower...he just has to decide which one he really wants!

Have a great week and we'll hope the rain quits for a little while!

Zane is home!

Our boy is back home! We sure did miss hm! He had SO much fun at Gaga/Papa Farmer's house! He ended up being there a little over a week, with a visit from us on the weekend. We are so fortunate that they are willing and able to help us out when we need them! Here are a few pictures of Zane on the farm!

Zane and Big

Zane helping Papa

Zane carrying Rich

I was done with school on Wednesday. With Zane out of town, I was able to get a lot of work done at school. I even got a lot of things ready for the fall! We got a few odds and ends projects done around the house, which was a little easier without our little "helper." Our house was WAY too quiet though...we didn't know what to think! We sure missed the little guy, but every time we called home, he was too busy to talk! We were just glad that he was happy where he was instead of crying on the phone for us to come get him!

There has been some nasty weather in Iowa...one night we called Zane and the electricity was out. He was trying and trying to get the tv to come on but couldn't figure out why it wouldn't! He did think it was fun to use a flashlight to get around everywhere! In Corning, where we go racing every Saturday, they were slammed with rain. The racetrack was completely under water. Here are a couple of pictures to show you how bad it was! Needless to say, the races were cancelled this week and may have to be cancelled for longer. It has been quite a year for racing!

This is the track...completely covered!

What you see is the concession stand and top of the fence.

The local Pizza Hut

We met up with Gaga, Papa, and Zane Friday evening in Maryville. We were nervous that Zane would be mad that we were taking him home, but as soon as he saw us he had a huge smile on his face and gave us big hugs! We ate supper then headed home. We had them bring the boat down since we figured we'd have time to go on the lake!

We took the boat out Saturday late morning. The water was rough! The sun never did come out, but it was humid and a nice day to be out on the boat. We were having a really good time, then all of a sudden we heard a loud noise! One of the blades on the propeller broke completely off! I was so nervous that we'd have to swim our way back...and we were probably 5 miles from shore! Luckily we idled it in and there was a very nice gentleman who drove Matt to the pickup so we could load up and head home. That was very scary and not something I'd like to have to repeat!

Yesterday we spent doing things around the house. We are starting to work on Zane's big boy room. He wants us to paint blue, so blue it is! I'm anxious to see how it all turns out!

We have officially begun our summer and I must say it's nice! I'm looking forward to having some fun with my Zaner, but I do know how fast it will all go...so I'm trying to savor each moment!

Take care and check back in soon!

Zane in Iowa!

What a week! We really enjoyed actually being home on Memorial Day. We got quite a bit of work done around the house! This first video is of Zane hiding in a box:

On Monday for lunch, we went to BD's Mongolian Barbecue, one of our favorites that is quite a ways away from our house, so we don't go there too often, but thought we'd go since we had the day off...and it was raining! Zane LOVED it! He really enjoyed using the chopsticks. Watch the video to see more!

We are starting to try to get things out of our guest room, which is going to become Zane's "big boy" room over the summer. One of the things to move is the computer desk and computer. We will be moving it into our bedroom, but needed a smaller desk. Here is Zane "helping" dad put it together (Matt said he was more help than necessary...)

When I went to pick Zane up at Jo's house on Tuesday, she had just fallen off of her porch and her ankle was really hurting her. After all of the kids were picked up, she went to the emergency room to have it checked out. Unfortunately, we received a call that she would have to be closed the rest of the week. She didn't break it, but pulled a lot of ligaments, which is worse than a break! She has an air cast for 6 weeks and crutches for 2. She is having to be closed the rest of the school year. I hope she heals soon, I am sure that is no fun at all!

We are so fortunate to have wonderful family support! We called Matt's parents, who met us in St. Joe on Wednesday night. We then handed Zane over for the rest of the week. He is also there now and will stay until Wednesday, when we go to pick him up. He is having a BLAST! We really miss him, but I'm not so sure he misses us so much...on Saturday when he woke up, Gaga told him "Mom and Dad are here." He said "NO!" I think he was afraid we were there to bring him back home and he was having WAY too much fun! He has been planting beans, playing outside, and just plain old getting spoiled! Zane is so lucky to be so loved by so many!

Yesterday we took the boat to the lake and had a great afternoon riding around and catching some sun! Zane loved driving the boat, and really liked going fast! He got very worn out, as you can see in the picture!

I had a whole day of school today and half a day with kids tomorrow. Then we have work time in the afternoon. Wednesday is my last full work day then welcome summer! Iam anxious to have some time to hang out with Zane...our last summer with just the 2 of us!

Have a great week and check back in soon!

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