" Theres Frank "

Harper & Frank meet for the first time over a can of chicken

now in the garage - since it's raining

They both like Frank

Explaining that Frank is our friend and cannot be our pet

Good-bye Frank

Last Saturday night Matt was in his garage and in came a black cat... He came upstairs to check on us and we were watching CARS. He went back down to the garage and was sitting at his bench. The cat just jumped up on his lap and starting snuggling. He then had a name... FRANK. For those of you who have seen CARS you will understand where the name came from, "Franks gonna get ya!" Against my better judgment we fed Frank.. a can of chicken.....Matt was hoping that Frank would come back and be shop cat, but he didn't show - - until tonight! We had not put Harper to bed yet and we were all outside and all of a sudden there he was, looking for chicken. Luckily we had one more can left (you know, cat food would be a heck of a lot cheaper then canned chicken). I went up and got the chicken while Matt and Harper sat on the driveway and played with Frank. He went to town on the chicken in the driveway but then it started to rain - so we moved the feast into the garage. He ate all the chicken and then just kind of hung out with us. Harper loved it. (as so did Matt). She wanted to know where Frank lived and what his parents name were. She also wanted to know why Frank could not be our pet. We had to explain to her that Frank is just a friend and he only comes over to visit every now and then. They (Matt and Harper) played, pet and held Frank until it was time for Harper to go to bed. By this time it is almost 10, she was tired, and nearly had a melt down because she was sad that Frank had to leave.

2009 (1st) Running of the Sprinkler!

Not really sure it was hot enough today for her to be running in the sprinkler, but she has been asking and asking and asking, so I finally gave in and let her do it. She had a great time!

Preschool picnic & trip to Omaha Zoo

Harper & Daddy

Harper & Daddy (my favorite)

Aren't they cute

Harper & Mommy

Harper

Harper and all her friends at her Preschool picnic

Harper and Daddy playing at Antelope Park

Thursday was a very busy day at our house. Harper had her end of school year picnic at Antelope Park at 11:30. Matt & I both worked until 10 and then went & picked her up from Preschool and headed to the picnic. I had packed up a picnic lunch of PB&J, chips, bananas and peanuts (in the shell). We ate, the kids sang a few songs and then we headed to Omaha to the Zoo. We had not told her about the Zoo because we knew she would be so excited she wouldn't know what to do with herself... The Zoo was a lot of fun. It was a beautiful day (about 80) being it was a Thursday and school in still in session it wasn't all that busy. The only disappointing thing was the train was not running until Saturday. We told Harper that it was broke - which really upset her. Since the moment we walked in the front gate she wanted to go to the Train! We did a round-trip of the Tram and that seems to satisfy her. We were all pretty tired from all the walking and headed home.. She fell asleep on the way home but got her second wind when we pulled into the drive way and wanted to go around the circle in her big wheel!

Dance pictures...

Last night we went to the studio for Dance pictures... It went very well considering there were 6 four & five year olds. They did individual pictures first then an the whole group. I can't believe how much older she looks with her hair done and all that make-up on. Matt had not yet seen what she was wearing until we got home. We changed at the studio and put the outfit away for safe keeping (in my purse) ... In a Zip Lock baggy that it came in when Ms. Amber gave it to Harper. Anyhow - we got home and Matt was in the garage (playing). He asked where the outfit was and I took the Zip Lock baggy out of my purse and held it up.. YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE LOOK ON HIS FACE!! Priceless!

Flowers

When I got home tonight - Matt & Harper were busy planting flowers. Last year our neighbor Vickie had given Harper a flower pot and she loved it. She and Matt also had many tomatoes, peppers & green onions 'growing' on our trailer. Those of you who saw that wonderful spectal will remember our portable garden. We no longer have the trailer, but Matt wanted to have some flower pots and also do a few tomatoes, pepper and onions again. It is Harper's job to water them every night when she gets home.

Flowers

What a weekend...

Last weekend was so busy - I could hardly keep up what was going on.... Harper had dance class Saturday morning. The recital is at the end of the month and the costumes had come in, but needed to be altered a bit. All the girls had to try on the costumes and they just looked so darn cute. They are dancing to Itsy bitsy yellow poka dot bikini. After dance we hurried home so we could get changed and head to Seward for Brianna's Graduation party. Mitch and Brandy rode with us. Matt didn't get to go b/c he was working at the hardware store. The party was fun and Harper even got to Bowl a little. She really liked and I think I heard Uncle Mitch say that maybe he and Brandy would take her bowling sometime..... hint hint Uncle Mitch!! After the party we heading home so Harper and I could have some quiet time before our evening adventure. We no longer make Harper take a nap on the weekends, but we have her take quiet time. Either playing in her room "quietly" or laying on the couch watching a movie and resting. Anyhow... Matt finally got home from work and we headed out again... Matt and I were going to a surprise 50th birthday party for Lisa @ work and we were talking Harper over to the Hughes. She had a BALL with Sara, Doug & Vickie. Kelsey was at Prom. Vickie said she was wonderful and they had a lot of fun.... Harper of course TALKED their ears off.. But most of you know that she is a talker. I think she gets that from Matt! The Birthday party was fun and we had a LOT of laughs. I need to hang out with work people more often (away from work!).

Sunday morning (MOTHER'S DAY)... Harper and Matt had talked about letting me sleep in while they headed to the grocery store Sunday morning. But I needed to get up and put curlers in Harper's hair to 'practice' for the dance recital again. So after I got that done they headed off to Walmart. Matt said Harper got a lot of laughs with her curlers in her hair. After they got home (returned home with Flowers - THANK YOU VERY MUCH - I love you guys) Matt headed out to do some errands and Harper and I had some quiet time before heading to the Children's museum. We had a good time! I had signed us up to make a stepping stone together. We did get it finished, but she was more excited to go back out and play with everything.

Below are pictures of the weekend! Hope you all have a great week!

High curly pigtails for the recital!

OMGosh - is 2022 already????

Mitch, Brandy, Grandpa & Deb @ Bri's graduation party

She loved bowling!

Harper & Sarah

Harper & Aunt Jayne

Mother's Day @ the Children's Museum

making a stepping stone together

Riding the horse...

Grocery Store

The BIG CHAIR

Playing the piano

Just finished another lap around the circle

I think Harper's in bigger??

Fishing with Daddy, Uncle Mitch & Grandpa!

Trying to figure out these... curly pig tails for the dance recital

Harper & Aunt Sonja playing

Anybody seen 'tommy boy'

Harper's Humor Chapter 7 page 3

As you will read below we had a garage sale this weekend..... Stephanie and Harper had been out and about and were on their way back to the house. Steph asked Harper if she thought Mommy had sold a lot of stuff and then said something about Jon & Kate plus 8 coming to buy stuff since they have a lot of kids. Harper told Steph and they wouldn't come and buy anything because they "live in the TV"

Busy Weekend....

We had our first annual Garage Sale on Friday & Saturday! Or maybe I should say my first & last ever Garage Sale. We decided it was time to get rid of all of Harper's baby/toddles cloths and all the baby things she had. Oh the work involved! I took Thursday off to get things ready and then I had Friday off from work already (Arbor Day! - yes it sometime pays to work for the State of Nebraska). Friday the weather was absolutely beautiful! I took Harper to DD's for the day so Matt and hung out and 'sold' things. Sonja came up for the weekend to help and hang out. She got to the house in the afternoon.. as did Stephanie. So Harper was in heaven - she had both her favorite aunts to play with and show off for.... Jim also drove up from Kansas Friday night. Saturday morning it turned out to be cold and rainy! I opened the GS up anyhow and just put everything in the garage. Matt of course was a little concerned as he didn't want people looking at all of his treasures in the garage. I told him I wouldn't sell anything - unless I could get a lot of $$ for it. :-) Stephanie took Harper to dance class for me and they had a great time spending time together after. They went to lunch and then to the mall. Anyhow... it turned out to be a good weekend as I made some $$ and got to spend time with family!

Farewell Alphabet

Harper will be done with her first year of Preschool in about a month. She has learned so much and absolutely LOVES IT. We have enrolled her next year at the same place for Tue/Thur morning again since it worked so well with my work schedule. Today this was sent home with her and I thought I would share.

A - is for Alphabet - which we know how to say

B - is for Busy Bodies - at work and at play

C - is for Colors - red, black, blue & green

D - is for Drawings pictures - the best you've even seen

E - is for Exercise - to keep our bodies strong

F - is for Fun - we've had as we gone along

G - is for Good friends - we made them throughout the year

H - is for Happy faces - filled with love and cheer

I - is for Imagination - used at every turn

J - is for good Job - and praises that we've earned

K - is for Kindness - we've shared with everyone

L - is for Learning - more and more each day

M - is for Minding - and showing our respect

N - is for Numbers - one, two, three, correct?

O - is for Obstacles - we've learned to overcome

P - is for Puppets - and playing on a drum

Q - is for Questions - we've asked them throughout the year

R - is for Reading - stories that we love to hear

S - is for Snacks - several different kinds we've tried

T - is for Talking - it's not to be denied

U - is for Unusual - it fits some things we've done

V - is for Volunteers - parents and friends every one

W - is for World of preschool - now we are through

X - is for X-traspecial - it's him, it's her, it's you!

Y - is for Yes - it has been a GREAT YEAR

Z - is for Zest - We're ready, have no fear

Playing ball @ Uncle Mitch & Aunt Brandy's

Come on Dad - Pitch me the ball!

The Outfielders!

Our little ball player not sure who was pitching..

Maybe Uncle Mitch?

Sunday we were over at Mitch & Brandys for our first cook-out of the summer. The food great but the company was better. Grandpa got Harper and new bat and 6 balls (now we don't have to chase it after every pitch) THANKS grandpa! She loves to play ball - she can even hit in. Now we just need to get her a glove and practice throwing. She bats right handed but 'sometimes' throws left handed?

Easter Pictures!

Easter Stuff!
Easter Basker/Bubble/Peeps - you name it!

Harper & Jayne @ the Easter Egg hunt in Chester

Harper & Grandpa

Harper and Chester Grandma!

Easter Morning

Harper & Holden @ the Easter Egg Hunt!

Matt called me a work on Thursday and said that he was going to go pick up Harper @ DD's and head to the lake for some fishing. They didn't catch anything but had a good time trying.

Easter Weekend....

Harper headed to Chester Friday afternoon with Aunt Jayne, Aunt Carrie & Cousin Holden! She of course had a GREAT TIME and each day since she has come back I hear another story or she says something about someone in Chester. Chester had their annual Easter Egg Hunt Saturday morning at the Park. I haven't been able to get her to tell me much about the hunt except that there were a lot of eggs and candy. She was also able to spend some more time with Luke & Lucy (her favorite horses in the world) Alan hooked up the horses to a wagon and they got to go on a hay rack ride. I hear that Allan ran a Stop sign in town (don't worry, we are talking Chester and there isn't a lot of traffic) and Harper let him know what he had done. Yes - she is our back seat driver.... If I go through a Yellow light she lets me know! and tells me that Yellow means... slowwwww downnnnnn. She had a great time and I'm very thankful that she is able to spend time in Chester with family.... I should have some Easter Weekend pictures to post sometime this week!

Harper's Humor Chapter 7 page 2

Harper went to Church Easter Sunday with The 3 Aunts - Judy, Jolene & Jayne. The minister had invited all of the children up to the front on the church for a children's sermon. Harper didn't initially get up and then she finally said "I'm a children" and asked to go up and join the other kids.

Harper's Humor Chapter 7 page 1

To start off this one - I need to tell you all that we have been trying to get Harper to stop Interrupting when someone is talking. Most of you know that she loves to talk and this has been a hard habit to break......I had just dropped Harper off at Preschool and was talking to one of her teachers. I looked at her and was just going to ask her not to interrupt. She looked at us and said... Will you please stop talking while I'm trying to interrupt you.

Harper's Motor Game Trivia

Which one of these parts is the intake?

Harper's knows!

Read post below to understand

Daddy - Daughter Day Out

Yesterday was Matt's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY! He had the day off from work and decided and he and Harper were going to have a day of FUN. Unfortunately she did not let him sleep in much - "welcome to my world" :-) They started off the day going fishing at 'their' favorite fishing hole. Didn't catch anything though. Matt told Harper it may be to cold to catch any fish and she told him the fish were not biting because they were having lunch.. They then did their good deed for the day. There was a old farmer who had come up to see if the fish were biting and when he went back to his car he couldn't get it to start. Matt tried to help him figure out what the problem was and when they couldn't get it started, Matt offered to drive him home... To Schyler! A bit down the road thes old guy saw a truck and a trailor that he recognized and told Matt that if he could flag him down he could catch a ride with him. After a few miles Matt got the guy to pull over and the off he went to Schyler. They then headed back in town to go Drag Racing! Yes - I said Drag Racing. Harper and Matt often watch drag racing on TV and whenever they go to O'reilys and Harper sees the Go Carts at Champions she wants to go... so they did! Harper is convinced that all racing is Drag Racing. They had a great time! When I got home from work they were sitting at Matt's bench playing the Motor Game... Matt is rebuilding the motor for his truck and the motor is on a stand in the garage. They look at one of Matt's catalogs and he points to a picture in the catalog and then he asks Harper to find that part on his engine. Harper and I then went for a long walk over the Mulberry Road... Check future posts to find out about Mulberry Road

Weekend in Chester...

Harper went to Chester on Saturday with Aunt Jayne, Aunt Carrie, Uncle Jan, Katie & Holden. It was Katie & Holden's birthday...HAPPY BIRTHDAY! She had a great time and had lots of stories. I've only gotten bits & pieces of each story so far... She didn't get to see the birds at Chester Grandpa's apartment because they were playing the piano (I'm guessing they were maybe having church) - She got to sit - not ride on one of the horses of one of the neighbors - She got to play at the farm with Aunt Jolene - She got to play at the north park in the big round thing - She got to eat at Runza (her favorite). I'm sure I will hear more in the next couple of days. Thanks for thinking of her and taking her with you... It's important to Matt and I that she gets to spend time in Chester whenever she can... Matt has so many good memories of time he spent in Chester growing up...

Harper's Humor Chapter 6 page 4

Last night as Harper and I were coming home from the store I looked back and saw her chewing on her hair (which Really bothers me). I asked her to stop and she of course did not. I then told she better stop doing that or I was going to cut off her hair. She was quiet for a moment and then got a little teary eyed and said.... "But mommy, if you cut off my hair I will look like daddy."........... I laughed a little and then explained that I would not cut off her hair, but would get it cut shorter so she would not do that anymore.. She said she understood - but who knows/?

Harper's Humor Chapter 6 page 3

While in the car this morning Harper noticed the sun. It was very big and low on the horizon as it was about 730. She said it was a very pretty color but wanted to know where the lines coming out of the sun were???

Helping Daddy rebuild the motor for the Yukkie Truck!

Helping Dad drain the radiator! Like the hat? - thanks Les

I want to help? Pleaseeeeeeee