I see Red people!

First Nebraska game of the season! First of all- I really like football, but I LOVE Nebraska football. I knew nothing about football until I met John. He took me to my first Husker game while we were dating- and I've been hooked ever since! There's something about being in the stadium, the atmosphere, the excitement and never ending sea of red! Its addicting!

I've been to quite a few games- but it was crazy red on Saturday! We went to the game with my little brother and his girlfriend, Wes (a friend of John's) his wife and son- and our three girls.

We tailgated prior to the game- which was fun! I didn't realize how much planning went into tailgating...we've went tailgating with the family before but my mother-in-law would always take care of everything. Major kudos to her! I think I'll make a checklist next time!

It was seriously hot- but we were in the shade once we got into the stadium. Here are some pix from the day:



Getting our Husker gear ready...








Kynna, Pucca and Brogan...











Our little cheerleader! She charmed everyone around us!









The girls and Uncle Trev-o










Its tradition to let off balloons after NU's first score...








hundreds of balloons!







Pucca learned how to make the cross-bone "D" sign...she really liked cheering the D on- it was super cute!!!






On a more sentimental note...the girls are the 5th Kelly generation to sit in those seats. The people who sit around us remember my husband going to games as a kid. John's grandpa played for Huskers in the early 40s and its really become quite a family tradition!

One staple to all my game experiences was a man named Ralph (John's great-uncle). I can still picture him squeezing down the row with his headphones on and sporting a white cap. Even when he was put on oxygen- he would come bringing along his o2 tank. I only knew him for a little over 7 years- but in that short time came to admire and love him. He was the cutest, sweetest, wittiest and most determined 'grandpa-type' you'd ever seen! I always looked forward to going to the home games for two reasons (not necessarily in this order!) 1) to watch the game and 2) to sit with Ralph and visit.

These past two seasons of Husker games have been a little off with out him there... I often wonder what he would have said about how the program's pitfalls and now its rebound with Osborne and Pelini coming back. And I wonder his reaction at seeing the 'new' generation of Kelly's filling those seats...

Bus ride...gooooood!

Today Kynna learned one of the benefits to having to ride the bus. We were half way to the bus stop when she remembered she forgot her spelling homework. We didn't have enough time to turn around, go home and make it to the stop on time. So we worked on it in the car the rest of the way and she'll have the entire 30 minute bus ride to finish it.


See the bus isn't so BAD! :)

Poor Gma T

John's gma took a little spill this weekend while visiting. Nothings broke - but when your 92 you tend to be a little fragile! She has some bumps and bruises. And has spent the last few days recovering at St. E's.

She perked right up after the doctors told her she wasn't dying and nothing was broke...she's loving the attention- though! :0) Gotta love that woman!

Turning 1!

Our nephew Ryan turned one this past week and we celebrated his bday in Omaha with family and friends. It was alot of fun. Happy Birthday Ryan!

Ode to Caden

Today was the last day of watching Mr. Caden. It was a really great time and we all had a blast spending time with the little guy. The girls became quite attached. In fact, Corynn asked Deb if it would be ok to have Caden over for a playdate with her. She's 5 and he's 6 months...I'm sure it would work! :)

Anyway- we'll miss him. And I'll miss our daily conversations over the lunch hour...my conversations with Deb not Caden! :) It was fun conversing with an actual adult...and comforting to know we really have a lot more in common than I had originally thought!

We'll miss you guys...we'll definitely have to keep in touch!

C-A-D-E-N
by Corynn and Kynna

C- cute
A- ahhhhh!
D-drooler
E-extra sweet
N- nice

Corynn and Kynna worked on this tonight and wanted me to post it for Deb and Caden.

Here are some of the nick-names Corynn had for him.

Mr. grunt-grunt
sweet and sour
drooler man
Mr. Man
and sweetie pie

she's going to miss ya, little man!

Perks

There are some definite benefits to having all three girls in school all day.

My house actually stays picked up!
I have time for me- which helps with my sanity. Oh and I've gone to an exercise class both mornings...its really convenient- on the way home from Pucca's school.
Cleaning- I'm cleaning out closets and going through storage like a mad-woman.
Energy- Pucca is worn out when she gets home. Which helps- because she can pretty much bounce off the walls all day long.
Getting along- the kids have been getting along better at home- not so much bickering. It been nice- hope it lasts!

Everyone survived...

Everyone came home happy and ready to go back tomorrow- so I would say that's a good sign! The girls don't mind the bus...except there was this one funny thing.


When they got home this afternoon and were emptying bookbags, I asked about the red tags zip-tied to their backpacks. Kwynn told me that the tag was so the teachers made sure she got on the right bus after school. McKynna's response, "I just wish it didn't clash with my bag!"

Such a girly thing to say! But it was cute!

We also had our final Dinner with Director at Lincoln Children's Zoo. It was super fun- we met the bobcat and he did some tricks for us. Then we went in to the leopard holding facility and met one of the leopards. He even did some tricks for us. I really recommend to everyone- upgrade your membership to the Family Fun Pack- its worth it!

Then we had Dairy Queen for dessert...a first day of school tradition!

First Day of School

All three of our girls are at school- and the house is sooooooooooo quiet! This morning went off great- except we pulled up to the bus stop just ahead of the bus...ooops (we'll have to leave just a tad bit earlier!)

Here are some pix:


The twins picked out their own clothes. They wore just normal outfits- none of their new stuff. Owell...

Corynn on the other hand has outfits picked out for the next ten days. And of course- she had to have bows in her hair!







Corynn wore her 'lucky' socks so she would have a great first day! They have little four leaf clovers on them.







Here are the twins and all of the other kiddo-s who are at the same bus stop.







Getting on the bus! They were really nervous about the whole bus ride situation- but after our dry run last night and being on a bus with a bunch of people they know- I think they're feeling much better!






Bye- bye!







Waiting in line- and already made a new friend!








She has been so excited about school- and that didn't change this morning! She was so sweet!







And there our baby goes... she grew up way too fast!

We did it... sort of

Pucca really wanted to have a family backyard bbq and have all us play yard games together. She went out first thing in the morning and set up the croquet set and laid out all the sticks and balls. Then all day- she kept asking "Can we play yet?"

Finally it came time. We only played for about 4 minutes before it became an all out water fight. Somehow John was the only who walked away dry- the rest of us...soaked through! The backyard and patio were completely soaked and muddy - so we had to move dinner inside. We picnic-ed on the tv room floor.



Even Emma got in on the action- she LOVES water!









We had ribs for dinner Pucca LOVES ribs! She ate almost half a rack!












pasta salad...yummmmmmm






It was a fun time!

Friday FUNNIES!!!!

This is a day late- but it took a little bit for me to think it was funny.

Yesterday Pucca was sucking on a cinnamon disk candy. When she took a drink - she half way swallowed it and it lodged in her throat. She wasn't completely choking- bug gagging and throwing up for like 10 minutes. I was starting to freak out when Deb got here (to pick up Mr. C). I was afraid it would go down further and cut her breathing off completely. I'm trained in CPR/First Aid and a certified instructor. Her half choking- half not status completely threw me for a loop. Anyway- after about 5 more minutes of puking she finally got it out. She's perfectly fine now. By the way- none of this is the funny part...it was far from it.

But once the situation was over and Deb was heading out the door- Kwynn asks "So I suppose this is going on the blog." Then Kynna says "Oh, ya- that's totally blogworthy."

I just shook my head (why would I blog about my daughter almost choking to death? and the irony is I am)- but now I think I've created some blogging monsters. Can't wait to see what they post when they enter the blogging world...

Last Days

School starts next Wednesday and we're winding down on summer. Pucca is finishing up her zoo class (day camp at the Lincoln Children's zoo) this week (the twins' class was last week).

Despite this being our last week of vacation- we're keeping busy! Here's what the calendar says

Today- zoo class in the a.m., picnic at the park, mow yard, achievement days (hopefully finishing the lesson before hand!!) and watch Phelps snag another medal
Tomorrow- Mr. Caden all day (more play than work really!), zoo class in a.m., playdate and lunch with friends in the afternoon, and hopefully make it to the grocery store.
Saturday- Spend all day in GI visiting my gma and John's gma.
Sunday - church, fertilize the yard, dig out school supplies and make sure they are clean and ready to go (lunch bags, bookbags etc), backyard bbq (Pucca really wants some baby back ribs- so we're going to eat outside and bbq, complete with lawn games)
Monday - Mr. Caden all day, finish grocery shopping, pay bills, mail packages to cousins in utah, open house thing at Pucca's school- she finally gets to meet her teacher!!!
Tuesday - Dentist appts, twin's open house complete with bus ride (they are being bussed off site this year while the school is being worked on). Help the girls pick out their clothes so they are laid out and ready to go in the morning. (I know that seems simple, but with 3 girls- trust me , it can take awhile!) Get to bed early---school the next day!

U-S-A!!!!!

Our family has pretty much been watching as much of the Olympics as possible- which isn't hard since its showing almost 24/7. It has been so fascinating and exciting! There are some sports I've never heard of - example: The Clean and Jerk.

Our favorites have been watching the Men and Women's sand volleyball, swimming (we have such super talented kids swimming for us!) and last night we watched the men's gymnastics. The Men's gymnastics team had a bunch of bad luck coming into the games, our two former gold medal olympians were injured and our team had 3 of 4 alternates competing. Medal hopes were nonexistent. But somehow those guys pulled out a Bronze- and some of their routines were just crazy good.

If you haven't been watching- I recommend that you at least watch the following events on youtube or here.

Men's 4x100 relay
Men's gymnastics (highbar rotation)
Any of Phelps' races
Men's 100 Backstroke (we snag 1 and 2)

Tonight starting at 7pm on NBC is women's gymnstics (we're a gold medal contender) and at 9pm starts the swimming (Phelps is going for 2 more medals).

Interesting tidbits

We found out some interesting things while on our cruise - so I thought I'd share!

1. When in Canadian waters- a Canadian captain must sail the ship. Here's a picture of that Canadian captain getting off once we hit US waters outside of Alaska.

This little boat pulls up to the BIG cruise ship, they open a door and he hops over to the other boat. CRAZY!










2. Daylight hours. In the summer- Alaska has super long days. There are even a few days in June when the sun is out all day long- seriously nuts! When we were there, the sun (grayness) would subside around 11:30pm and then come back about 3:45am. We didn't see much sun while we were there- just grayness. But it made for long days.

This is one of the only sunsets we saw- and it was 11:10pm when this picture was taken.






3. We also learned that the population per square mile is 1 and that Alaska (including permafrost areas) is three times the size of Texas. 87% of all towns have no roads going in or out....so all supplies are brought in via barge or airplane. And most travel is done the same the way.

Here is a supply barge- you see them all over the place. Gas in Alaska was almost $5.






4. Land prices in Alaska are definitely appreciating... Here is a picture of an island that is currently on the market for $30,000,000. No electricity, no water, no leveling- just an island full of trees...


It's only about 2 square miles too...crazy when you think all of Alaska (662,327 sq. miles) was bought for just $7 million.






This next tidbit isn't about Alaska- but happened on the cruise. About an hour after leaving port in Seattle- John and I were hanging out in our cabin we heard a 'code alpha at the pool' called over the intercom. It was only on hour into the vacation and there was a serious incident.
We came to find out a little boy had been swimming in pool, slipped hit his head and became unconscious in the pool. He had to be rescued from the pool and taken to the onboard clinic. He was then taken off the boat to a tiny island just over the Canadian border then airlifted back to Seattle. Here's a picture of him being offloaded from the ship.

His mother got off with him while the rest of his family stayed. He had some neck injuries aswell. He was in serious condition most of the cruise, but on the last day we were told he was downgraded to stable. Hopefully the little guy is doing well.

Zzzzzzzzz

I'm seriously lagging this week! I can't seem to get motivated and my energy level is waaaayyy low! Perfect week to start working on school sleeping habits. Everyone to bed by 9pm. And trying to get everyone up by 7am this week and 6am next week. Crazy to think school starts just two weeks from tomorrow! Hopefully everyone adjusts well!

Monday MUNCHIES!!!!!!

The girls and I made this tonight - Can't wait to have it tomorrow...maybe for breakfast! :)

DIRT CAKE

8 oz. cream cheese
1 c. powdered sugar
2 sm. pkg. instant vanilla pudding
3 c. cold milk
1 lg. carton Cool Whip (12 oz.)
1 lg. pkg. Oreo cookies

Crumble cookies in small pieces and set aside. In medium bowl mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth. In large bowl mix pudding and milk; add cream cheese mixture and Cool Whip to pudding; stir until smooth.

In a large flower pot (about 8 1/2-inch saucer) layer cookies, pudding, cookies, pudding, thick layer of cookies to cover pudding. Best if chilled overnight, add silk flower and serve.

If you want something really good, you will not want to miss out on the DIRT CAKE... when you crumble the Oreo cookies up be sure they are sort of coarse, Looks like dirt!