Squeezing it all in!

I don’t even remember the date this happened, but I had to share the pictures. Our carbon monoxide detector went off in the middle of the night one night. We checked around so see if it was battery or what and just decided it was a glitch and took it down for the night. The next day, I put fresh batteries in it and it did fine the whole day. Apparently, while I was in the pick up line, it started going off again. When I got home and pulled into the garage, I heard it going off. I called the non-emergency number and asked them to come check it out. Boy, did they! I joked with the Fire Chief when he showed up in his own car that I was so relieved there were no fire trucks and police cars. I didn’t want to cause a scene in the neighborhood. He laughed and told me to wait, they were just around the corner! The kids and I were shocked to see the big, red fire truck pull up right in front of our house. The fireman gave them a tour and was very nice and only a few neighbors stopped to ask if we were ok! Ha!

So the big game didn't go as we had hoped. Our Cyclones lost pretty bad, but we didn't let that ruin our weekend. Nick and I left around 1pm on Friday to drive to Iowa for our weekend away. I had a brunch that morning, so I dropped the boys off at school, headed into town for a MOPS function, then back to the school to have lunch with Evan. When I got there, Evan wasn't with his class. After a quick panic attack, I found him in the nurses office. He was having his ears and eyes checked. I waited for them to finish and they came in and found me waiting there.

The nurse was happy to see me. "Mrs. Larsen, Evan is having trouble seeing." Boy, was I shocked. He had been tested in May at his 6 year check up with no problems. I had him redo the eye chart test with me watching and he was getting some letters wrong and squinting to see them. Because he had failed the test, I pretty much got notification that I would be taking him to see an eye doctor within 60 days or they would call DHS on me. Of course, I was heading out of town that day, so I got some numbers to call and went on to eat lunch with my boy.

Nick and I took our time getting to our hotel in Ankeny. It was the first time we didn't have to drive as fast as we could cause our kids were driving us (quite literally) crazy from the back seat! We  rolled into Ankeny around 7:30 pm, got all checked in and decided to drive up to Ames to Strawberry Patch (the big ISU gear store) to get some T-shirts for the kids. The place was packed. You couldn't move in there and it was 10 minutes to closing. We thought it'd be less busy Friday night than on Saturday when every Cyclone and Hawkeye fan in the state would most likely be walking thru their doors.

On Saturday morning, we were up and out of the hotel by 7:50 am. Kickoff wasn't until 11 am, but we were hoping to make it to the spirit walk and get a chance to take in some of the scenery. It was funny to me, once the spirit walk started, I had no idea what to expect. I noticed Coach Rhodes coming down the row and then just took pictures til it was over. I didn't even know who most of the guys were. I'm only used to seeing them all decked out in uniform, not these spiffy suits they were wearing. I got a few high fives and some goosebumps as the band played. It was really cool to see!

When they opened the gates, we headed up to find something to eat. Nick and I had skipped breakfast so we could get to the field early (which by the way, we still had to park and walk for MILES!). We had pizzas at 9:30 am. Perfect game day breakfast, let me tell you. We made our way to seats and sat around talking and watching the guys on the field. Then, it was time for kickoff.

Our Cyclones stared off so good-even got the first score, and everything went downhill from there! Turnovers and penalties killed any chance we had at all to win, but I'll TELL you what, I was still a Cyclone fan. I still stood with the band and cheered on my team. I refused to leave early and even managed to keep my cool with a couple of rude Hawkeye fans. I only had to address one-and only one time! ;-)

 

Anyway, after the game, we met Jerry, Kathy and Meghan for a late lunch where we all stuffed ourselves and mourned our loss. lol Then Nick and I saw an old friend or two and headed back to the hotel to watch even more football (and still without kids!! Have I mentioned that yet?) We had a great weekend and the ride home was once again, FABULOUS! It's just been a long time since we went anywhere without a child in the backseat. We even stopped for a sit down meal in Kansas City which we never do.

The following week, Evan’s class had a Grandparent’s Day celebration at school. This was the first year any one of his grandparents lived nearby enough to go to something like that, and so, Mom and I went (me, so I could take photos, of course!) We ate lunch together in the cafeteria (yuck!) and the kids did a little presentation and then we did a craft together. Evan was so excited to see us there. It was a really nice afternoon.

That Sunday was “team day” at church. They encouraged us to wear our favorite team gear so we got all decked out in our ISU stuff. Annabeth was too much to resist in her ISU cheerleader uniform. What a ham! lol

    

We finally made the leap from crib to big girl bed. I’m getting ready for a huge garage sale and decided now was the time to take down the crib and get Annabeth’s room ready for a big girl! We had the bed up already, and just had everything squeezed in. Here she is showing off her new big girl room.

Then, last weekend, we took Evan to his first ISU game. We left Annabeth at home with my Mom and we made the drive up on Friday night. We got in late and went right to bed so we could make the most of the next day. Saturday morning we got up and around and headed to Ames. We met Jerry, Kathy and Meghan for lunch at Hickory Park and then headed to the stadium. Evan was so surprised at how big it was. We made it to the Spirit Walk again and then hurried in to watch the game ball be delivered via paratrooper. Then, the Blackhawk helicopter flyover came! It was AWESOME! Evan got so into it. Way more than we expected, but we were proud parents. He knew when it was time for the big Iowa State FIRST DOWN! chant and and waved along to “Sweet Caroline”. He even asked Nick for his keys so he could jingle them on kickoffs! It was simply priceless!

   

The Army was a classy group! After the game, they all lined up for the band to play and let me tell you, the crowd stopped! Everyone froze! It was so neat to see. I get goose bumps just thinking about it!

We've been going non-stop for the last few weeks. Between T-ball, Bible study, PTO and MOPS, I am busier than ever. I’m finding nights at home, even days at home are fewer and fewer. My blog posts are even fewer than that! I hope you all enjoy the updates anyway!

Gotta get to the pick up line!