Our 7th Anniversary!

Monday was our 7th wedding anniversary! Matt surprised me with a dozen roses delivered to school. They are GORGEOUS! It was so cute because 2 of my former students brought them down to my room. I got lots of eyes and compliments! I took an "aerial" view of the roses because they just opened up and are so pretty.

And here we are (young and skinny) on our wedding day! It was a WONDERFUL day!!!

We really didn't go out to celebrate...instead we played volleyball! We are on my school's recreational volleyball team this year and it was our first game. We didn't win, but we had a lot of fun! Since our game was at 8:00, we got a baby-sitter for the boys, so we did go out with some of the other players for a little bit after the game.

I didn't do great with pictures this week, so here are a couple from Jo's house:

Zane & Ryan

Mason watching the rain

My school building is turning 75 this year so we are having lots of celebrations throughout the year. In doing a little research, my principal found the first teacher at my building. She is 94 years old and is such a sweet lady! We had a special day for her this week where there was an assembly, breakfast, and she stayed for lunch with the kids. Jo is in charge of the 75th celebration so she took Thursday off. That meant that Grandma came down to watch the boys. She came Wednesday night and stayed until Friday. It was very strange, and nice, to be able to just get myself ready in the morning and not have to get anyone to or from daycare/preschool! Must be what it's like to have a nanny! The boys had a great day with Grandma. Zane was so tired he fell asleep at 6:00 and didn't wake up until the next morning! Mason is already becoming a Grandma's boy and prefers her over me! Makes me feel good that they love their grandparents so much!

Saturday morning was our second soccer practice. We're not professional yet, but this week was a lot better than last! We talked about it all week long to prepare him and I think it helped. He actually wanted to go in and play! By the end of the season we may even see him kick the ball and try to get it to the goal!

Practicing


Warming up

After soccer, Matt and Zane headed to Iowa for a special race Chris was racing in. He ended up 7th and was pleased. It was strange to just have Mason and I here! I did lots of laundry, things for school, paid bills, and got some things ready for our race weekend at the Kansas Speedway. The house was very quiet...kind of nice but also eerie!

Zane-isms

• One day when Zane was going to the bathroom he hollered out to me, "Mom, come here!" I said "Is everything okay?" And he responded, "My poop is melted!" (He had eaten a lot of fiber earlier in the day)!
• As we were leaving the house one day, Zane said something to me and I wasn't completely paying attention, so I didn't hear what he said. I asked him to repeat it and he said, "Mom, do you have bugs in your ears?"
• We were playing in the basement one day and Zane said, "Mom, can I have a nose ring?" I said "NO" and asked him why he was even saying that. He saw it in a movie (a cow had a nose ring) and thought he needed one!

The Circus, Soccer, and The Apple Orchard

As the title of this post proclaims...we have been very busy here lately! (So busy, in fact, that I realized yesterday that I forgot to take Zane to his hair appointment...whoops)!

At the end of the summer, Jo invited us all over to tie-dye and grill out at her house. This week she had all the kids wear their tie dye to her house. Here are a couple of pictures. I made Zane and Mason matching shirts! Didn't they turn out cute?

Zane & Sammy playing Mario Kart

Mason looking like he's saying "CHEESE!"

Thursday evening my mom and dad came to our house. They got here about 8:00 so were able to see the boys for a little bit. They had a hardware show in Overland Park, so they came down a night early and stayed at our house. They were our first visitors that slept on our hide-a-bed in the basement! Zane was excited that they were here. Friday morning the boys hung around here a little bit and went to preschool/Jo's house a little late. Zane asked Papa and Grandma if they wanted to go to his preschool with him, so they were able to see his school and drop him off before heading out.

Friday evening Jo and her girls offered to take Zane to the circus with them. We took him last year and he wasn't too impressed (of course we sat in the nose-bleed section), so we weren't sure what he would think this year, but he wanted to go! They also took Madelyn so the two of them got to spend some time together. He came home telling us about tigers, lions, and had a horse cup that he got a snowcone in. Jo is so good to our kids! While they were out, Matt, Mason and I shopped for Zane's soccer supplies and went out to eat. It was weird having only one child with us!

Saturday was our first sporting adventure with Zane. We enrolled him in "Fun Soccer." (That's really what it's called)! It all started with us going to the wrong park, so we ended up being late (we were 1/2 hour early to the WRONG park)! When we got there the kids were all just kicking their soccer balls around. Zane seemed to be having fun with that, but didn't have a clue what he was doing. Then they began playing games, and Zane did NOT like it when they were kicking his blue soccer ball! So that kind of started a downhill spiral for him. After the first half hour, they play a "game" against another team. They play three kids from each team against each other. I'm pretty sure most of the boys on the other team have played before, they were pretty good and knew what they were doing. Our team has some rookies...we kept kicking it into our own goal! Zane went in a couple of times, but seemed more interested in standing there or looking around. We'd get him all ready to go in and play, and he'd want to immediately run in, so then when we told him "hold on," he'd start to cry. I think he was a mixture of tired, worn out, and didn't want to share. He was "the kid" who was bawling. It was a little embarrassing for mom and dad, but oh well! We'll have all week to talk about it in hopes he'll do better next week!

The orange team stretching out

Zane warming up
"I'm tired of this!"

Not so bad...

And now we're done...

After soccer, we headed to the apple orchard for our annual apple-picking adventure. We have always gone to Vaughn's, but we had heard they didn't have many apples, so Matt called and they said their apple picking ended last weekend. So Jo told us about another one called Alldredge's. It is a lot closer to home, which was nice. It was smaller than Vaughn's, but a LOT less crowded! They have some animals, a tricycle path, hay bales, apple trees, and a bakery. We found some yummy apples and wanted to get some things from the bakery, but there was a long line and we were all hungry and ready to leave. So we came home and now have apple cake and caramel apples that we are enjoying!

The boys at the apple orchard

Happy fall!

Wanna race?

Get that one, way up there!

Gimme!

I'm going to get it, then eat it!

Thanks for checking in on us! Have a fabulous week!!!

Walking and More Teeth!

Our baby continues to grow before our very eyes! Just a week ago, he was taking a few steps at a time, and now his preferred method of travel is walking! He doesn't have it perfected yet, but he is doing pretty darn well for a 9 1/2 month old! He's a little ahead of his big brother. Zane wasn't walking until about 11 months and didn't get his first tooth until a week before his birthday. Mason has 6 teeth already!

I did not do well with pictures this week and have none of my own! All of the pictures I'm posting are from Jo. Her site has been down, but is now up and running. Feel free to visit her site to see some of the other kids (click on the link at the right).

Smiley head Mason Zane, Sam, Ryan in their "fort"

Zane blowing bubbles

Sam & Zane blowing bubbles

Mason "hides" to make messy diapers at Jo's house!

This weekend was the last race in the regular season. It sure was a year of ups and downs for the Hogan crew! Last night Chris's car looked awesome and he finished fifth in the feature. Overall, he ended up finishing 10th in points. Not bad for getting 2 engines claimed and not even racing 3 nights! We are glad that we will get to stay at our home on the weekends now, but are sad that we won't see as much of our family and friends! Our door is always open! Come visit us!

Adam is now in Tulsa ready to start college tomorrow. Mom and Dad won't know what to do with themselves! I'm sure they'll stay busy. I hope Adam enjoys school! We will sure miss seeing him every time we go home. It'll be a long time until Thanksgiving! :) Keep in touch Adam and come visit us anytime!

Have a great week and thanks for checking in with us!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, OH MY!

This week started with a sick little boy at our house! Sunday and Monday mornings Mason woke up and was not moving his legs and he would cringe when we touched them. It was so hard to watch him that way! Matt stayed home with him Monday and he spiked a fever during the day. We took him to the doctor that evening. They tested him for flu and strep throat, which were both negative. It ended up being a virus and the doctor said he was probably just sore and achy which is why he wouldn't crawl/walk and acted like his legs hurt to be touched. I stayed home with him Tuesday. He was MUCH better Tuesday and was back to his ornery self. I was so worried about him! We felt good Tuesday night when he walked 7 steps in a row! Of course I didn't get the best one on camera, but here he is walking a little bit!

Mason walking!

Zane showing how Papa uses his "weapon" on the cows...

Brent has been in Kansas City all week for his job, so we have had him over every evening. We even had him baby-sit one night so we could go to a meeting at Zane's Preschool! He rode back to Iowa with us for the weekend. Sunday morning we woke up, got ready, and headed to Omaha to go to the zoo. We went with my parents, Adam, Matt's parents, Marcy, and Brent. It was a beautiful day to be at the zoo...nice but not too hot! It was so nice to be able to take our time because we were spending the night and had today off. Usually we have to rush to get through everything so we can head home! Here are a few pictures from the zoo. Check our Flickr site for many more!

The boys ready for the zoo and Mason on the statue!

The Bakers at the zoo

Zane on the statue

All of us at the zoo

A polar bear eating a watermelon!

The boys petting goats

Adam, Zane, Marcy on the carousel

Mason's first carousel ride

He was posing for eveyone!

Mason, all tuckered out!

We waiting an hour and a half to ride this darn train for 15 minutes...never again! I was so proud of Zane and the patience he showed...he was more patient than all of the adults that were with him...including me!

Zane & Matt on the train

My favorite part, the giraffes!

My second favorite...the penguins!

As we were walking through the aquarium, we ran into Zane's buddy, Sammy, from Jo's house! Zane could barely contain himself he was so excited! He could not believe Sammy was at the same zoo he was! Zane's going to miss Sammy so much next year when he goes to school!

After the train ride, many of us lost interest in the zoo and were ready to leave! So we headed to the coolest pizza place...stand back Chuck-E-Cheese! It was called the Amazing Pizza Machine. It has a very good buffet, loads of games, party rooms, a go-cart track, and a miniature golf course! The place goes on forever! We spent more money playing games than we did eating! It was such a fun place to go...and I'm glad we don't have one closer to us or we'd be there a lot! After eating, we headed to our hotel. Zane was ready to swim! The pool was very nice and obviously made for kids! They had a spray thing in the middle, a frog slide, and a bigger slide. The kids and adults with us enjoyed the pool!!

Mason, a little unsure of the water...

Me going down the slide

Zane going down the slide (acting cool)

Matt going down the slide (also acting cool)

Zane copying the big boys!

Be sure to check out our Flickr site...there are tons more pictures of the zoo and everyone else going down the slide! (Special thanks to the McGinness family who suggested the Pizza Machine and hotel to us...you didn't steer us wrong!)