JM&MB Triathlon

As it's Spring Break with Calvin out of school ALL WEEK, we definitely had to do a Just Me & My Boys day!  Yesterday was the day, and boy did God deliver with the beautiful weather.  Seriously, 80 degrees and just the right amount of breeze, and plenty of sunshine.  I'm pretty sure this is what heaven must feel like.  Anyway, we left our house at 9:30 a.m. and returned about 6:00 p.m. and it was a marathon-type day for sure.  Well, actually more of a thiathlon-type day, but I'll explain more about that in a bit. . .

Our first stop was the Hall of Fame inside Allen Fieldhouse.  With selection Sunday just a couple of days ago and March Madness in full swing, I thought we should all get in the "spirit of the season" in preparation for this weekend's big games (as if I need that!).

 

Who are those good-looking players on the right??

 Oliver's hand compared to Raef LaFrentz, and Calvin with Nick Collison. . .

 Oliver's foot compared to Julian Wright, and Calvin with Kirk Hinrich.

 Then it was time to check out the wingspans. . .

. . . and check their reflex time (not that great in case you were wondering).

 

Perhaps their favorite thing to do was "On the Air with Max" where they got to play announcer.  This was a area where they would record you announcing a clip from a game and then you could listen to the recording. They decided to announce "Mario's Miracle", and let me tell you, they were naturals.  I think the playback sounded something like this, "Hi, this is Oliver! That guy is shooting the basketball. Hi, Hi, Hi! (laughing) What are you doing, Calvin? (more laughing)"  It was hard to tell the difference between them and Max & Bob. . .

 Afterwards, Calvin told me his favorite thing was seeing TRob's locker.  We won't tell him it wasn't his actual locker. . .

 They checked out the original hardwood and some of the distant history. . .

 

. . . and then oooh-ed and aaah-ed over some of the more recent history!

 

It wasn't only about basketball, though.  They checked out the other sports like baseball, golf, swimming, tennis, rowing, and of course, football.

 

Seeing this trophy made me realize I was wearing my Orange Bowl Champions shirt under my jacket!

 Oliver's favorite thing was the old-school mascot.  He thought the boots were hilarious.

 Before leaving, the boys took many, MANY attempts at determining their best vertical.  I think Oliver's ended up being 8 inches, and Calvin's was 11.

 Naismith, Dwyer, Dwyer, and Allen.

Just Phog and my boys.

 

After leaving the fieldhouse, Calvin decided on McDonald's for lunch (and the boys were able to use their gift cards they got for Christmas).  We took our lunch to the train depot and sat at the picnic tables watching for trains.  I think I see one, mom!

 When they were sure they heard the whistle off in the distance, the boys climbed up on the fence to watch.

 If you look closely at Oliver's face, he was TERRIFIED when the engine passed!  He said, "I wasn't expecting it to be so loud!  I've never been that close to a train without being in a car before."  In his defense, we really were only about 6 feet from the train, and by the second and third train, he got much braver and was actually excited for them to come.

 We finished our lunch and left the train depot. . .

 . . .to start our bike ride on the levee.  Part one of our out-of-order triathlon.  The boys stopped to watch some of the construction going on at the river (a new dam, we think).

 And then they were off!  My bike wouldn't fit in the car, so I was hoofin' it to keep up!

 After our bike ride was complete, we found a good hiking trail on another part of the river by Burcham Park (hike/run = part 2 of our triathlon).

 The entire hike, the boys were begging to put their "toesies in the water" and finally I found a spot where we had relatively easy river access.  They were so excited!

 

My scary moment of the day was when Calvin slipped on the slippery mud and ended up knee deep in the water.  I was afraid that could put a real damper on our JM&MB day if I had to jump in the river after him!

 

They were a complete muddy mess by the time we were done!

 The best we could do for a self-portrait group shot.  Love these boys so much!

 

We washed off as best we could with the water spigot at the park and the boys played a bit to dry off again.

 Then it was time for Oliver to choose the treat for the day, and I was quite pleased with his selection!

 Our final stop of the day was the Aquatic Center for part 3 of our triathlon-type day.

As we were driving home, I wasn't surprised at all to see two sleeping boys in the back seat of the car.  It was a wonderfully exhausting day, and I am so thankful for Just Me & My Boys Days!!

Brycen and Baylor

Last night we were so excited to have Baby Brycen's family over for dinner.  If you recall, Brycen was Violet's handsome little roomie at Children's Mercy where they both were having heart surgery.  It was so great to see him looking so healthy without any tubes on him!

When we originally invited them over, the plan was to have a great rivalry for the Big 12 Championship game.  You see, Brycen's family are HUGE Mizzou fans, and of course we bleed Crimson and Blue.  Unfortunately, Baylor ruined the fun for us; we still attempted to keep a bit of competition going, however, by breaking out our green and yellow.  If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right? (We still came out on the wrong end. . .)  Here are all of the kids including adorable Brycen and his beautiful big sis, KayLeigh.

Before the evening was done, we stripped off some shirts for pictures.  Violet was so in love with Brycen, we had to be careful of how much she expressed her love! Doesn't he look a little worried?

And please excuse my children's messy faces.  You'd think I could have at least cleaned them up a bit before pictures!  Here you have a 0, 2, and 4 year old after heart surgery.  Pretty sweet bunch, if you ask me!

Everyone in this household was pretty smitten with Baby Brycen, with Russ possibly the most.  

He just kept saying, "I can't believe how much he reminds me. . ."

". . . of someone else as a baby."  This is Oliver at the same age:

The resemblance was almost uncanny.  I'll be so curious to see if Brycen continues to look like our Oliver as he gets bigger!  We had such a great time hanging out with Brycen and his family; looking forward to the next time!

Aspiring Home Builders

Today was such a beautiful day and I had a lot of cleaning to do, so I was very thankful that the boys played outside ALL DAY LONG!  After they'd been out for at least an hour, Calvin came running up, saying, "Mom, you gotta see the shelter we built! And bring your camera!"  I know it's something they are proud of when I'm instructed to bring the camera. . .

Quite the structure, wouldn't you say?

And just to prove that it truly is a "shelter" as they were calling it, they showed me how they could get inside. . .

And in case you are wondering where they got their supplies for their building project. . .

. . . the boys have an endless supply in this lovely brush pile.  Anyone who has been to our house has been greeted by this huge eyesore of brush.  Anytime I mention to Russ that we really should burn it, the boys throw an absolute fit!  After all, it is their favorite playground!

It really is amazing how many hours of entertainment this brush pile provides for the boys.  And they nearly always come back with multiple scrapes all over their little bodies, but they don't care in the least.

So I apologize for the eyesore if you are visiting, but just think of it as building supplies for my aspiring home builders!

I just love days like this when the boys show that they are not only brothers, but best friends, too.

Sticker Shock

The statements from Violet's recent heart surgery at Children's Mercy have begun finding their way to our mailbox, and let me tell you, these are always quite entertaining to peruse through.

 First, we got the bill from the various doctors who helped take care of Miss Vi during her hospitalization.  The most interesting part of this bill is that for some reason, we have the billing department at CMH thoroughly confused with our two kiddos.  On more than one occasion, they have applied a payment for one of Violet's services to a very old service for Oliver (which resulted in a "credit" on Oliver and a late charge on Violet -- ughh!!)  So this statement, again, has both Oliver and Violet on it.  The interesting part is that Dr. O'Brien actually repaired an ASD on Oliver as part of his big heart surgery.  The charge was $3,200 over 4 years ago, and the charge for Violet's repair was $3,956.  I'd say that 'inflation' isn't too terrible. . .

So that was the doctor's bill. . . Here is the hospital bill.  And yes, it is "continued on next page" (but the biggest stuff is all on this one).

 So a measly $107K for the PICU stay, $21.5K for respiratory therapy, and $20K for pharmacy.    The biggest bargain was possibly the Radiology/X-ray at $6K, because the girl seriously had at least 20 chest x-rays while we were there.  It's also interesting that Dr. O'Brien's charge was just under $4,000, but for the rest of the OR services the bill was over $35,000, making the surgery itself nearly $40K.

 But you know what?  This sweet face. . .

 . . .is worth every penny. . .

 . . . a million times over.

 That being said, we're all very thankful that Blue Cross is picking up the lion's share of those figures!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Suess!

Today finished up Dr. Suess week at school for Calvin, and what a fun week they had!  They had a different theme each day based on one of his books, and they got to dress up and do lots of fun activities along with that theme.  They even got to meet the Cat in the Hat!  Calvin is becoming such a little budding artist!

Today was Green Eggs and Ham day, and I went in to help out with the big breakfast.  While the moms were cooking, the kids listened as their favorite lunch lady read the book. . .

Then they got to watch the movie!

 

As the movie was playing, the green eggs and ham went from this. . .

 . . . to this!  Not sure it looks any more appetizing, though.

 To round out their gourmet breakfast, the kids were treated to bananas, apples, grapes, donuts, and juice!

 The kids came back in the classroom, got their plates, and started chowing down!

 Out of everything on his plate, surprisingly Calvin said the green eggs and ham were his favorite!  I was kind of shocked that my pickiest eater would even try them!

 He had so much fun with his friends at their special breakfast.

 Today was "pajama day" and although you can't see it in the picture, Calvin even convinced me to wear my pj's to his class.

 With the conclusion of school today, Calvin is officially on SPRING BREAK!  Yippee!

Keys Please. . . and Thank You!

You may remember this picture from last Halloween with Grandpa Frank.  Well just a couple of short weeks after this picture was taken, Grandpa Frank went to be with Grandma Phyllis in Heaven.  Although those of us left here were sad, we couldn't help but be excited for him and the wonderful reunion with his bride.

Just this week, Grandpa Frank "gave" Oliver something pretty unbelievable. . . Check out this key ring!

 Anyone who knows Oliver knows how much he LOVES keys, and Frank's kids knew exactly who these keys should go to!

 I have no idea how many keys are included, but I can bet that Oliver will know the exact number within the week!

Now if only we had all of the locks for these keys. . . The kid would be entertained for the next 2 years at least!

Kansas Weather!

Yesterday marked the first day of March, and I can definitely say it came in like a lamb.  It was 72 degrees and sunny, Spring weather without a doubt!  This entire winter has been extremely mild, such a contrast to the past several years of snow, snow and more snow.  This winter we had a whopping ONE DAY of snow.  And it was a Monday, which is the only day of the week I regularly work.  And it was my first day back at work after Violet's Children's Mercy debacle.  And when I got home that evening, I was tired and felt sick and went straight to bed.  And Tuesday morning when we woke up ready to play in the snow?  Yeah, it was all melted by then.  I felt like such a terrible mom with all of my friends posting adorable pictures of all of their snow bunnies making snow angels and building snowmen and sledding and doing all of the fun things kids do in the snow.  Meanwhile, I had not one picture as evidence that there had even been snow on the ground.  It was gone THAT FAST.

At Violet's class this morning, we were discussing the gorgeous weather yesterday and I was explaining how I had failed as a mother regarding the missed snow opportunity. . . The next thing we know, there are ginormous snowflakes falling outside!  The really heavy, beautiful flakes that stick to everything, but only for a moment when the temperature is still in the 30s.  Violet's teacher even let the kids go outside briefly to experience the wet and pretty snow (I'd say Violet enjoyed this experience more than most of the kiddos in her class!).

And when we returned from her class, Calvin's wonderful teacher had emailed me this picture of Calvin with two of his absolute best buddies!  Does he look happy or what?!?

You know what they say in Kansas. . .If you don't like the weather, just stick around for a couple minutes; it's bound to change!  I'll be very curious to see what this Spring has in store for us!