Party on Bourbon Street

It was a rockin' night at Hickory Hall Saturday night for the fourth annual adult prom.  Mardi Gras masks and colorful spirits were in full swing to enjoy an evening of socialization and music with the Cues.  

The better looking half of this duo, (that's Betsy in case you were wondering) is one of the originators and planners of this event.  Aaron carpools with her hubby, Joe, to work everyday, so I love getting all the lowdown on the party planning.  As of a couple days before prom, they had sold around 420 tickets!  Holy Moly!  All proceeds at the end of the night are donated to the American Cancer Society.  Even the wait staff was generous enough to donate all of their tips to the cause.

Can you tell Aaron and Joe collaborated when purchasing their masks?  They are quite the pair.

My favorite thing to do is people watch all night long.  The person I found to be the most intriguing was the pregnant lady who proudly decorated up her baby bump!  I was too chicken to take her picture so my neighbor went over did it.  Ironically enough, it turned out to be someone she knew.

We even talked a couple of the neighbors into joining us this year. Despite my pleas to just people watch and socialize, the crazy neighbors and Ace did get me out on the dance floor a couple of times.  Since I'm rhythmically challenged, I was thankful there were TONS of other people on the dance floor hiding my pathetic moves.  I was hoping my mask would help disguise me a bit too! They will NOT be calling me to appear on Dancing with the Stars or So You Think You Can Dance anytime soon.

We had a ton of fun rockin' the night away.  I even made it WAY past my bedtime!  Amazingly I didn't even turn into a pumpkin once midnight came and went!  Until next year...

Front roll, back roll, stradle

I'm so proud of my sweet niece, Rachel!

We had the pleasure of watching her gymnastics competition today. She ended up taking third place in her division and was simply spectacular!  I am so jealous of her agility and flexibility.  It was fun listening to her telling me all about what she would be doing and how much practice time she had been putting in. Maybe next time we're together, she can teach me a thing or two :)  On second thought, that might not be such a good idea for this old lady to give gymnastics a try.  I could would hurt myself!

WAY TO GO RACHEL!  WE LOVE YOU!

Sock Hop

This is probably the boys' favorite event of the school year.  They LOVE the sock hop. I think it would even top the school carnival in their minds. They sweet talked me into letting them miss basketball practice so they could go.  Dancing to all the recent hits (something they DO NOT get from their mother) and hanging out with all of their friends while eating popcorn and drinking pop is right up their alley!  Of course there's lots of screaming (by the girls over Justin Bieber songs) and running around too (mostly the girls chasing boys)!  A little different than the middle school dances I'm more accustomed too, but definitely no need for chaperones to separate couples :)

Carter, Drake and two of Carter's best buds.

Showing off moves to the "Cupid Shuffle".

The kids started a HUGE conga line.

Even little Braden got in on the action.

Looks they had a great time!

 

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday Dad!  

Yes, there are tons of birthdays for us in February!  Actually, January 2 through March 1 hits the birthday celebrations of my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, me, son, brother, husband, dad, and nephew.  Whew!  That's a lot of birthdays!  

My dad is quite an amazing man who has set a great example for us as to what it means to be a Christian.    He has always been and continues to be someone who believes in fairness (even though I swear my brother got away with far more than I did!)  He's pretty darn level-headed and thinks through an entire issue before reacting or responding (hmmm...I wish I had inherited a little bit more of this trait! I think that must be a recessive gene!)  He shows unconditional love for his children and grandchildren (even when we might be a little difficult - my brother that is, not me :)  He leads by example. More than anything, he truly puts family first.  If any of us ever needed anything, he would be there for us.  He's shown that time and time again.  What a blessing it is to know that he is always there.

I'm so proud to call him MY DAD!  Happy Birthday Dad!  I love you :)

Happy 39th Birthday Ace!

Happy Birthday to my amazing husband!  It's his last year in the 30's and he's ready to live it up :)  If you know my husband at all, this won't be much of a change from his usual ways!  He definitely doesn't let a lot of grass grow under his feet.

In honor of his 39th birthday, here are 39 words or phrases to describe this terrific guy!

handsome. forgiving. father. ornery. Christian. strong. humorous. one of a kind. husband. spirited. quick witted. understanding. man of my dreams. handyman.lover of meatloaf. patient - with me! blue-eyed. loving. brother.  son. adventurous. Beatles fan. nearly bald (or as he says "follically challenged"). penny pincher. caring. organized. diet mountain dew lover. night owl. tailgater. terrific. coffee drinker. Panther fan.supportive. my personal garbage man. logical. son-in-law. friend. carpool driver.  Cyclone fan.

I love you Ace!

Please Pray

Two children, Cole and Allie, lost their mother in a tragic accident last night. Please pray for the family and friends of Amy Rogers, as well as all the children who are friends of Cole and Allie as they struggle to cope with this.  It definitely wasn't easy for Austin and Carter to hear this information about friends of theirs this morning. Please also pray for the teachers at school who are handling a tough situation with students that there is no lesson plan for.

Happy Birthday Carter!

This sweet boy captured my heart long before he arrived in this world nine years ago!  I never could have imagined what joy he would bring to my life and how deeply he would be entrenched in my heart.  Those baby blue eyes, sweet kissable cheeks, and sly little smile melt my heart.  

We've spent the entire day celebrating...since 5 am this morning when he woke up telling us it was his birthday!  He LOVES his birthday.  Happy Birthday Carter!  

Talk to Me (Awesome)

Heidi's starting the week off right by asking us to post what we think is awesome.  This week's topic is inspired by this "awesome" video!  I love when people focus on the positive things in life rather than the negative!  I decided to have the kids participate this week too.  I asked them to tell me five things in their life they thought were awesome.

My awesome list:
a cruise with my entire family
waking up to my hubby making bacon for Austin this morning before his ITBS tests because Austin told him bacon was his "brain food"
hugs and kisses from my boys
random acts of kindness
an unexpected diet coke from a caring co-worker and friend at lunch today 
visits with grandparents
a clean house
photos - memories that have been captured for a lifetime
my kindle loaded with awesome books that I can get lost in
summer
the good health of my family
crawling in bed at night to fresh, clean sheets
a God that loves me no matter what
scrapbooking
smiles on my kids' faces and love in their hearts for others
my kids wanting to challenge me to skee ball on the ipod
fresh flowers
weekend naps
my college roommates
a forgiving heart
my hubby


Austin's awesome list:
my ipod loaded with skee ball
Oreo and Scoots ~ my cats
my loft built by my dad
Papa and Granny
cheese pizza


Carter's awesome list:
my kitties
our house
friends
vacations
food - especially chicken nuggets

Costa Rica

Breathtaking. lush. green. Rainforest. adventure. Culture. Banana Plantation. Caribbean Sea. sloth. jumping waves. Authentic food. black sand. J.J. Pot holes. stifling heat.  margaritas. Rice and shrimp. restaurant on the beach. new experiences. Souvenirs. wooden jewelry. first time.

This was by far my favorite stop of the trip.  I love experiencing the authenticity of a new place rather than just the touristy spots.  There's something about seeing first-hand how others live in a culture so very different from yours. Of course, the fact that the countryside is so lush and green and the shades of turquoise of the Caribbean Sea are a feast for the eyes sure doesn't hurt!

It was sweltering when we got off the boat, but since dad had heard it was -14 without the wind chill in Iowa, we were not going to complain! :)  Mom and I headed over to the lineup of taxi drivers and tour guides vying for everyone's business. For some reason, mom headed toward J.J. He grabbed our attention with the variety he could show all 10 of us at the same time with the bonus of riding in an air conditioned van.  I'm not sure if it was the sights we would see or the air conditioned van that sold us!

JJ told us the first thing we were going to do was be able to see a sloth.  I was definitely intrigued by this.  I am a chicken kind of wimpy when it comes to "critters", but as long as they have fur I don't mind them quite as much.  Scaley and slimy animals (the baby octopus from Cozumel) are not my friends and totally freak me out!  Little did any of us realize that JJ was just going to pull the van over to the side of the road for a young boy to show us his three-toed sloth!

I was brave.

Aaron was brave.  This is no surprise as he's a daredevil.  The sloth was nothing for him!

Tim was brave - kind of.  Check out the look on his face.  Notice he's not getting too cozy with Mr. Sloth :)

Granny was brave.  THIS WAS A TOTAL SHOCKER!  My mom is definitely not a lover of animals.  I was sure proud of her for stepping outside her comfort zone! This is about as close as the boys would get.  They would touch the sloth, but in no way shape or form were any of them going to hold it! 

Of course we were encouraged to give the young boy a tip to hold his sloth.  It was well worth the couple of bucks Tim handed him! After we got back in the van, I asked if the sloth was this kid's pet.  JJ informed me that it was illegal for people to have sloths as a pet, and the government would fine you $100 if you were in possession of one.  Strange that there was a lineup of vans behind us to see the sloth that supposedly wasn't being kept as a pet!

Our next stop was a banana plantation. I think it's safe to say that everyone found this stop to be quite interesting and a great learning experience.  The plantation was 315 acres and had a little over 200 workers who reside on the plantation. Each plant will produce fruit only one time.  Your bananas start as little miniature sprouts as you can see here.

From this point, it takes another couple of months to grow into a baby bunch of bananas.  

At approximately six months, the bunch must be covered in order to protect the fruit from insects and other environmental factors.  

At eight months, the bunches are cut down by hand and ready to go through the inspecting and cleaning process which you can see here.

The bananas get a light coating of wax and are then frozen before being loaded onto cargo ships for the three day trek to the U.S. coastline.  From there, the bananas are shipped all across the country.  I definitely walked away with a new appreciation for my favorite fruit!

After the banana plantation, JJ took us to an authentic Costa Rican restaurant situated on a beautiful beach with waves splashing from the Caribbean.  The atmosphere was spirited with a mariachi band playing, the drinks were STRONG, and the food was phenomenal!

Shrimp and rice that was to die for!

Fried plantains with beans, which was described by the natives as nachos!

The Caribbean waters are breathtaking.  The kids and I could have spent hours on the beach there and jumping waves!  The sand was soft and my boys wanted so badly to boogie board, but there just wasn't enough time.  They had to settle for jumping the waves as they rolled in.

Our day ended with a little souvenir shopping before heading back onto the ship.  It was a day that I will remember for a lifetime. The images and experiences are imprinted vividly on my brain. Costa Rica is definitely a country I would LOVE to visit again.  I want the opportunity to further explore and experience the lush countryside, visit the rainforest and see the animals in their natural habitats, and lounge on those beautiful beaches!  

  

  

Happy Birthday Tim!

I must interrupt the regularly scheduled trip update to wish my all-time favorite brother a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  Yes, I realize he's my only brother, even though he keeps telling people I'm adopted.  Is that any way to treat a sister who is so kind, caring, beautiful, loving, and wise?  I think not!  One of these days he'll realize how lucky he is to have me as his sister if he doesn't strangle me after this post!

Doesn't he look so good here with the red ginger flowers behind his ears that a little boy gave us in Costa Rica :)  I think he looks dashing!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BROTHER!

Cozumel

Cozumel was our first stop.  We knew we wanted the kids to experience the beach and actually be able to get in the water and snorkel.  They were excited for this new little adventure, and Austin was thinking that he might be brave enough to try parasailing while we were there. However, he wasn't totally sold on the idea, especially since he has a fear of heights. The beach was small but beautiful.  Of course, I'm not picky.  Give me sand, sun, and water and I'm one happy lady :)

Once we got there, everyone was quite intrigued by digging up shells.  It was amazing how many shells could be found, especially the large ones.  Aaron swam out a little ways and came back to me in the shallow water with a huge shell to give to me.  I was admiring the shell and noticing a hole on the top of it.  As I was looking in the hole, I noticed that there seemed to be a creature living in there.  Not being a huge fan of "creatures", I was hoping and praying that it would stay put until I could get to shore and put it down.  I didn't need anything trying to squirm out at me.  Needless to say, luck was not on my side.  It really never is.  All of a sudden, a slimy, black baby octopus (it could have been a baby Loch Ness monster for all I know) starting crawling out of the hole towards me.  Of course I did when any girl would do... hoped and prayed it wouldn't come all the way out.  When it did, I screamed and threw the entire thing back in the water and ran as fast as I could back to shore!  Aaron was mad at me for not catching the darn thing and letting him see it.  Not happening friends, not happening!

The kids had a blast just running and jumping along the shore and playing in the sand.  If this picture doesn't say "CAREFREE", I don't know what does!

I talked Carter into letting us bury him with sand.  He laid patiently while all of us scooped up sand to cover him inch by inch.  It was hilarious to listen to Braden giggle the entire time we were doing it.  He gathered as much sand as his little hands could hold. 

We even managed to drag Tim over to the beach and bury him.  There's something quite satisfying about burying your brother in the sand!  Amazing that he's still smiling at us :)  I'm sure there will be a payback for it sometime.

Snorkeling was quite an adventure.  Austin was all set to try it out until he saw a piece of seaweed float by him thinking it was a snake.  It took a bit of convincing him to get back out there and experience all the wonders of sea life.  Eventually all four boys gave snorkeling a try once Aaron and I took them out a little farther from shore.  It took them each a bit to get used to breathing through their mouths in the snorkel, but they were all able to see some saltwater fish and thought it was pretty cool.

As we were getting ready to leave, a man came around asking if anyone wanted to go parasailing. Austin first said no and then after the man brought out some pictures and talked to him a bit, he decided that he wanted to give it a whirl.  I was so proud of him but honestly feared once we got on the boat he might chicken out.  Thankfully, the guy started prepping him and Aaron right away, and Austin didn't have much time to think about it.  Before he knew it, they were strapped in for a tandem ride and headed up into the air.

We had told him it would be an amazing experience that he would truly never forget.  His eyes were wide with wonder from the moment he was strapped in.  He was able to see the majestic colors that God painted the Gulf waters from a perspective few experience.  He was all smiles and chattering away to Aaron the entire time.  What a priceless experience for the two of them!

This smile is just priceless to me!  To be able to watch your child experience something so truly amazing for the first time and enjoy every single moment is something that my heart and soul will never forget.  He was truly in awe and my heart was full!

As we headed back into shore, Austin couldn't wait to tell everyone about parasailing.  However, there was a slight problem as we were pulling into shore and our boat captain pulled back out about 50 yards.  I still have no idea what the problem was other than it was too shallow, but apparently it meant we needed a rescue boat to come out and get us in water that was only 5 feet deep.  We definitely could have just hopped out and walked into shore, but they would not let that happen.  One guy hopped out to get the rescue boat but couldn't start it.  I got a terrible case of the giggles, not believing this was actually happening.  He was pulling and pulling and pulling on the motor, but just couldn't get it done.  Another guy hopped in and in one try, got the boat started and came to our rescue!  I'm sure it was quite a sight for everyone on shore to watch us being "rescued" in 5 feet of water!   

We finished off our time in Cozumel with a little shopping. The boys were totally intrigued by all the souvenir shops and trinkets to be had.  They thought they were big stuff being able to pick out whatever they wanted.  After gathering up some souvenirs, we were heading back to the ship and noticed all the Doerings had made a pit stop at Fat Tuesdays for some drink and nachos.  They were being serenaded by a mariachi band and wearing balloon hats!  Of course, we couldn't miss out on that fun so we joined them!  

I miss you Cozumel, I miss you!