New Year's Resolutions (Plural)

Well it is the end of the year and I have done an awful job of keeping this blog up.

I have several New Year's Resolutions and one of them is posting something at least once a month, but hopefully I can find something every couple of weeks.  Landon is growing so fast and is into so many new things I doubt it will be too difficult.

In addition to the blog, I will lose weight and get in shape this year.  We are in the process of converting our home office into a gym.  I have decided after almost 10 years to stop selling Mary Kay, so there is no need for the office any more.  Plus this will give us a place for the exercise equipment with a door so Landon will not mess with it.  He wants to walk on the treadmill or stand on the eliptical and there are so many stories of little ones getting hurt on them even when they are turned off, but plugged in.  I don't want anything to cause injury to my little man.  I am sure being the roughhouse boy that he is, he will do enough harm to himself.

And the resolution I make every year and never keep is to keep my house clean and picked up.  Of course I still blame my parents for making me the messy person I am (they promised me a dog that I never got growing up).  Ok, so I realize that was around 25 years ago, but I have to have my justification, right?

I wish everyone who reads this a healthy, safe and prosperous 2012.

Get Your Rear In Gear - Des Moines 2011

Tazz, Landon and I headed up to Des Moines on Friday, Sept. 30th to participate in the Get Your Rear In Gear with Ryan's family.  We were part of Home Team's team, but wore our Team Ryan shirts with pride.

The runs and walk were Saturday morning at a really beautiful park.  We could not have asked for better weather.  Well, it could have been a tad bit warmer, but it was still a great morning.  Tazz started the day off running in the 5K run and did a great job.  He was aiming to run it in 24 minutes and I think once the chip timing is in he will be really close.  When he crossed the line it read 24 minutes and just a few seconds.  Then Landon participated in the kids run.  He took a little spill near the start, but Daddy saved the day and finished the run with him.  Landon recieved his first medal as he crossed the finish line.  He is very proud of it!  I think we definitely have an athelete in the family.  Then we walked as a family in the walk.

It is sad to say there are so many great things we do not learn about until some drastic happens to friends or family.  One of those things for our family is the Get Your Rear In Gear runs for Colon Cancer.  We miss Ryan and wish he would have won his fight against colon cancer, but perhaps we can help to raise awareness so others will.

Now we just look forward to the runs next year in Kansas City and Des Moines.  I even noticed there was the first run in Denver next year, so perhaps we will go visit some friends and participate in their race, too.

Our 5th Wedding Anniversary

Tazz and I celebrated our 5th Wedding Anniversary on September 23rd.  At times it does not seem like it has been 5 year and other times it seems like we have been together longer (not in a bad way).

On Friday, September 23rd we had Oklahoma Joe's Barbeque (ribs and fried) and exchanged gifts.  We decided to keep the gifts small with all the charity events and traveling we are doing in the next month or so.  Since 5 years is wood, I got Tazz a K-State wood plaque for the basement when we get it finished.  He got me a really nice frame and Landon picked out a musical card...Daddy helped with the card, but Landon really likes the ones that have sound.

Saturday Grandma Griffen and cousin Torie came over and watch Landon so Tazz and I could go out.  We ended up have a really nice meal at Gordon Biersh (not sure on the spelling) down in the Power and Light District.  We were surprised to get right in and finished dinner earlier than expected.  So, we did what most parents do on a night out...we went shopping at the mall and Toys R Us.  Very exciting times.

Landon's New Big Boy Bed

We decided we would try the toddler bed idea again with Landon.  Only this time we bought a new Cars bed instead of converting the crib to see if it helped.

Off we went to Target to get the bed, bedding, pillow and a new Cars books.  He was very excited about the whole idea.  I am not sure he completely understood, but it was still a lot of fun.

We got home and Mommy started to get all the pieces out of the box to start putting the bed together.  Landon wanted to help with this and hit mommy several times in the head with the excitement.  For the most part it went together easiliy until we had to put the sides on and Mommy lost her patience.  Daddy came to the rescue and we got it all put together.

We have left the crib together and in the room for now until he gets used to the bed and he has options.  He was really excited and bounced on the bed until we read our new book.

It was finally time to go night night.  He did manage to sleep in his bed until about 3:30am and then he decided he needed to sleep with Mommy and Daddy.

Fun party at Fun Run

Landon was invited to one of my friend's daughter's 5th birthday party at Fun Run,  It was much quieter this year since it was a private party so Landon played more.  We had a blast.  Landon loved the bouce houses with all the slides, played a car game (glad he is no where near old enough to drive!!!) and learned all about skee ball.

Landon loved this turtle!

Lighting McQueen bounce house with slide.

The perfect slide for Landon.

The cake was VERY yummy!

Learning to drive...well it you can call it driving.

Skee ball...after we ran out our tokens he asked for more.

Early Grandparent's Day at the Griffen's

We went over to my parent's house for dinner and got to say Happy Grandparent's Day one day early.  My sister and our nieces were there too.

The girls and Landon love spending time together.  Unfortunately with our busy schedules we don't get to see each other that often.  We were finally able to do the Father's Day stone for my dad tonight.  Here are the kids working on it on the bottom deck.  We will always need to remember the order of the handprints since Landon and Maggie's hands are almost the exact same size.  Landon is 2 and Maggie is 5.  Now it just has to dry out and Papa Griffen needs to just let it stay where it is until it dries.

Mixing the 10 pounds of cement.

Adding the mosaic tiles.

Handprints from the top left and going around - Landon, Torie, Abby, and Maggie.

The grandkids!  It is hard to get all 4 to look at the camera at the same time.

Almost done...Maggie, Landon, Torie and Abby.

Playing catch up!

Wow!  It has been awhile since I have posted anything so I am going back a bit to catch everyone up.


We had Landon's birthday party on one of the "nicer" days of July (it may have only gotten to about 98 degrees).  Tazz bought a mister and hooked it up for the adults to stay cool.  The kids had a pool, a bounce house, water table and Landon's new play set to keep them occuppied.  The theme was Go Deigo Go and I had to laugh when we all came in to have dinner the kids asked if they could watch Deigo while they had their picnic dinner in the family room.  Here are a few pictures from the party.

The cake and chocolate suckers were a hit!

The bounce was enjoyed by kids of all ages (it was big enough for the adults, too).

The cooling off pool!

Most of the adults stayed in the shade on the lower deck and enjoyed the mister.

The kids dinner picnic.

Landon was able to blow almost all his candles out by himself.

The giant teddy bear and K-State blanket was a hit!  He still has to take naps and sleep with his K-State blanket his cousin Torie made him. 

 After the birthday it was time to start his new school.  We found a great place and after being there just over a month we are very happy.  Landon loves going every morning and can't wait to get to his room and play with the other kids.  It is a completely different attitude toward school for him.  I used to have to bribe him to get ready and once we were there he would have to give a ton of hugs and kisses.  Hind sight tells me he did not want me to leave, but now he is off and running and really comfortable.  The only sad part is I hardly ever get a kiss or hug goodbye.  Oh well, I can do without if it means he is happy.


We also enrolled Landon in a class at My Gym.  It is a children's fitness center.  He gets to go to Free Play with daddy on Monday nights for an hour and on Saturdays it is mommy turns to take him to the parent/toddler class.  We are meeting more kids and he loves it there.  He struggles with the circle time since he has to sit still and follow along, but with all his energy and physical ability he does a good job with the new skills he learns. 


I think that is just about every thing, but I am sure I am missing stuff.  We are very involved with several 5k run/walks over the next couple of months and that will keep up very busy along with our every day stuff.  After participating in Get Your Rear In Gear in KC we have sparked a light in us to do more for the fundraising for cancer research.  I hope to put together a fundraiser soon for Team Ryan and will let you all know about it.

Landon is Two

It is hard to believe, but Landon turned 2 on Wednesday!  We had some fun at home just us that night to celebrate and tomorrow is the big Go Diego Go party.

We had our 2 year check up today at the doctor's office.  He is 36 1/2 inches tall and weighs 29 lbs 12 oz.  I was pretty sure the 3ft measurement was going to be there, but I was almost certain we would have hit 30 lbs.  He did a great job, no tears until the shot.  I think he flexed his muscle while getting it, because he had an "owey" for almost 2 hours after he got it.

Here are some of the pics of his cake for tomorrow.  More pics to come, but have to show off the cake tonight.  It took my mom and I a long time to do and my poor hand is crippled for life.   Well, I guess it it not that bad since I am typing, but next year we are going to have to think really carefully about the party theme.

Sorry, I don't know how to rotate, but here his the start of the cake.

And the colored stars have been started...

Almost there!  At this point my hand was tired.

Finished project!

The Fountain

Tazz and Papa Worcester worked out in the rain and then the sweltering heat today and completed our fountain for the seating area.  Hopefully tonight when in cools off we will work on hooking up the water and electricity and make sure it is working.

The back wall was completed just before lunch.

The final project.



This is the one pictured on the box...I think ours looks just as good if not better!

 Now it will be on to the paved seating area and building the fire pit.  Next year I hope to put some plants around it and clean it up. 

In Other News

Landon had his last day at Little Learner's Inc on Friday.  We are happy he is out of there.  It is sad we had to make the decision because they did not have their act together.  Landon has learned and grown a lot, but we need to make sure he is in a better environment.

I will get to spend most of next week with him and that will be fun.  I am hoping for some nice weather to try and get to the Zoo or at least Deana Rose Farmstead.  If not I have found a great website (http://www.dltk-kids.com/) with a lot of neat children's crafts that will keep us busy.  I may have to go and raid Michaels for some supplies, but it will be fun spending time with my "big boy".

Our next update will most likely be about Landon's 2nd birthday.  Wow, where did the time go?

Team Ryan Get Your Rear in Gear Kansas City 2011

After yesterday's blog update I realized I missed talking about a huge event we participated in...

Tazz lost a wonderful man and co-worker to colon cancer last August.  Ryan was just weeks shy of turning 30 when he passed on August 2, 2010.  He left behind a wonderful wife Ginny who is one of the strongest people I have even had the priviledge to know.  She worked with the Colon Cancer Coalition to bring the first annual Get Your Rear in Gear 5K run/walk to Kansas City.  There are races all over the US, but now KC has our own.

I decided to try to build a team, Team Ryan, to support the cause and Ginny.  I did not think I would come close to 10 team members, but to my surprise we had over 25 team members and raised $795.  Our goal was $1000, but for our first year that is pretty good. 

I feel really special to have so many people that want to remember Ryan and/or support a great cause.  We even won "Most Creative Team" for our t-shirts, sign and support ribbons.

I have decided not only to continue Team Ryan, with fundraisers throughout the year, but I want to help with the even next year and last of not least our family is planning on going to the run/walk in Des Moines where Ryan is from.  His family came and supported the KC even so we will support them in October in Des Moines.  We will be part of "Home Team" but will be Team Ryan at the same time.

I encourage eveyone to find a Get Your Rear In Gear in your area.  It is for all ages (Landon will participate in Ocobter) and is for a great cause.  Colon Cancer affects all ages but not talked about much.  We definitely want to raise awareness and early detection.

Here are just a few pictures from GYRIG KC 2011.

July

I had a feeling I would not be good at keeping up with the blog and I was right.  We have had a lot go on in the past month, but it is all behind us now for the most part and moving forward.

The most exciting thing for us is Landon's new playset in the backyard.  The manufacturer's directions said 10-12 hours and then another 2-3 for the slide for 2 people.  Well, all in all there were 5 different pairs of hands working on it for almost a month.  Tazz did most of the work in the mornings on the weekends before it got too hot.  I think he guessed it ended up taking about 40 hours.  The good news is Landon loves it and that makes all the hard work worth it!!!  Here are just a few of the pictures I took during construction and the final project.

One of the first pieces done...backward, but done.

Landon thinking about all the fun he will have and all the trouble he can cause.

Tazz, Papa and Grandma working hard.

Getting closer...

Everything but the slide, Landon loves to swing and hang on the rings.

Finally completed!!!

Now we will be focused on getting our outdoor fountain done and the sitting area.  Here is what it looks like now after a couple of hours of moving rock and dirt.  We have a long way to go, but it will be a nice addition to the backyard so we can relax while Landon plays.

Next week will be Landon's last week at his current Day Care and we are excited to see the end in sight!  Then it is party planning and a new "school".  Lots of stuff to look forward to!!!

Pilot Post

I have had friends asking if I would do a blog and since I like following their blogs, I am finally going to try this out.

My goal will be to update this weekly on our families activities.  It will be something we can look back on when Landon is older.

This Past Week

Tazz and I started to put together Landon's new play set for the backyard.  All I can say is our little boy is going to be spoiled once we get it put together.  Thank goodness we have great parents who live close. Landon's Papa and Grandma Worcester really helped out yesterday.  Grandma watched Landon while Papa, Daddy and Mommy started on construction.

The manufacturer who said it would take 10-12 hours for 2 people do not know us very well.  I hope we get it done by the time he goes to High School.  Plus that does not include the 2-3 hours to put the twisty tunnel slide together.  Perhaps he will have it done by the time he goes to college.

I have a feeling once it is done we will have a really hard time getting him to come inside.  There is nothing wrong with that, but I can already see the tantrums when we have to eat and go to sleep.

Landon has also decided he does not like his bed.  Not sure what happened, but Tuesday morning he started screaming and ran out of his room.  He has not wanted to even sit on his bed since.  He is sleeping on the floor in his new Elmo nap blanket.

Plans for Next Week

We hope to continue to work on Landon's play set and start planning his birthday in July.