Love and Loss-Making the Most of the Time We Have

It's another Wednesday on this Earth of ours. Life at my house is as similar as ever. Kieran's doing his afternoon thing--playing and I am doing mine when I have the chance...I am going to try to work on my paper today as well.

A lot has happened over the past few days. I got over my illness...still have some trouble being in that stinky cooler/deep freeze at work. We also traveled to Nini's house. It was nice to visit. The kids had a great time together. Collin and Cassie are wonderful cousins. Kieran had his first ride on a carousel with Mommy and Daddy. He also had his first ride on a train...well, sort of. It was a nice little train that runs around the park there in Independence. It was very exciting. Daddy only had issues with leg room. Sunday we visited Joplin, Missouri. It was nice to be closer to Springfield. I can't wait till we can go on an official visit!!

Monday we experienced a bit of a damper on the end of the weekend. We lost a dear member of the family. Karen lost her Grandpa. Though he wasn't technically our Grandpa, he always treated Brea and I like we were granddaughters as well. He was a wonderful man who would have done anything for anyone. He will truly be missed by us all and Karen and the rest of her family is in our prayers. His passing is a reminder to us all to cherish the time we have on this Earth with our friends and loved ones.

C'mon get down with the sickness...

Yeck, I have been sick for the past few days...nasty cough, temp, lots of snot...I just wish I would hurry up and get rid of it...I can feel it in my lungs...goodness I hate getting older...I say things like I feel it in my lungs, or I can feel it in my bones, etc. I still creak when I squat down and get back up again, LOL. Getting old is so much fun. And, by the way, I am NOT that old. Just old enough to creak and squeak. Don't know if I am going back to work tomorrow or not...still feeling kind of puny after trying to get back into the swing of things today.

A Brand New Day

Another weekend is nearly passed and I have found myself sitting here in the living room with Jared while Kieran naps. We had a somewhat busy day today. Went and ran some errands earlier in the morning and cleaned house, yay. At least it's done now, LOL. The three of us joined up with Lucy this afternoon and ran out to Towne East so Jared and Kieran could get fitted for their tuxes. Kieran's going to end up having to buy a tux as the smallest they rent is a size four and there is no way my little chunky monkey is going to be THAT big by September, LOL. They did slip a jacket on him and he looked so sweet!!
After our jaunt to the mall we came home and grilled up some dinner and now we're just chilling. I need to be working on my paper for school, but it so doesn't sound like as much fun as doing nothing!! I think we don't have very many calm days ahead of us. They're dismantling Sam's and we've got a full social calendar on the way. Yikes!
I reckon we will see what the evening brings!

Christmas in August!

Another Thursday is nearly gone and we are rounding the turn to the weekend. It has been a semi-long week. Jared's been plugging away out in the field and I've been cleaning like crazy at work. Only three more days of rotisserie chickens, though, so life is about to get better...in that respect anyway.
Yesterday I was feeling sentimental so I played Nat'l Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. I am SO Clark Griswold. I would love to have a fun, old fashioned family Christmas (I guess I have had a semi-old fashioned family Christmas) with the family now that we have Kieran. I'm not digging up a giant evergreen tree by the roots to display in the house, but I could conceivably think of "off-ing" an elderly uncle if he burned down the "symbol of the spirit of the Nolen family Christmas," LOL!! And well, the cast of characters comes into place just naturally. I love Christmas!
I may have to watch another Christmas movie tonight or tomorrow just to satisfy my hunger for all things Yuletide. It's going to be so much fun since Kieran will be older this year!

Monday, Monday

It was a nice weekend at our house. Saturday was a workday for Mommy and by the time I got home I was exhausted. Jared and Kieran cleaned the house and worked on the laundry while Mommy took a nice little afternoon nap. After naptime, we braved the furnace known as the outdoors and went out for dinner. We went to the mall afterwards and walked around and found Kieran a couple of cute little outfits. Okay, they weren't so little, LOL, but they were cute!
Sunday morning we made breakfast and took Kieran over to see Grandma and Grandpa. He had a blast! Grandma watched the little man while Jared and I went to see a movie and enjoyed some time together. Thanks to the Warren we managed to see two movies for the price of one! Definately recommend them both...G-Force 3D and Julie&Julia. It was funny to see a movie about a blog when I had just started one myself. J&J did inspire me to maybe look into a few of Julia's recipes and give them a try! It was an awesome weekend! We're looking forward to the coming weekends...Ryan and his fiance Laura are getting married in September. Our dining room will eventually be finished as well. And in October we are planning a little weekend trip to Springfield and we're thinking about heading out to Independence to go trick-or-treating with Collin and Cassie. We're winding down the summer and heading for the Fall! Yay!!

Today Kieran and I had company! Cousins Noah and Eli came to visit for a few hours this afternoon while their Daddy helped out with things at church. It was quiet at first, since Kieran was napping. We had about an hour of quiet playtime before Jared joined us on his lunch break. Right after Jared stepped in the door, Kieran made his status known and thus the fun began.

It is very cute watching the boys interact now. Noah is very animated and talkative and Kieran is kind of "grab and go" right now. So, they make an interesting pair! The pic above of Noah and Kieran reminds me of Karen and I when we were little. They are so handsome! I hope they will grow up to be as good of friends as she and I are now. Noah did potty in the toilet btw! What a grown up little guy! I can't believe how big Eli is getting too! I have nicknamed him "Littlefoot." It will not be too long before he DOES give the big boys a run for their money! It's going to be interesting watching them growing up together! :)

T.H. came and got the boys a little bit ago and Kieran and I are sitting here having a snack (milk and graham cracker sticks) and watching a little Golden Girls, lol. I am glad the week is nearly finished. Work is really taking a toll on my old bones!

The Beginning

This is the first time I have ever done this, but I thought to myself, everyone else is blogging, so why shouldn't I? So, I have undoubtedly given into peer pressure. I am hoping this will be an exciting and interesting blog, and maybe a little easier to mess with than Facebook.
Kieran and I had an exciting day today. We visited Grandma's office and Mommy got an adjustment. We had an awesome nap this afternoon as well. I am wondering, though, if maybe we shouldn't get a potty chair for Kieran since he is starting to show some interest in the potty.

Perhaps I am a little premature in that, but I don't think it's going to hurt to introduce him so he at least won't be scared of the potty when the time does come! Kieran has also taken to spinning himself around in circles until he is almost ready to fall down. The spinning kind of resembles his dance moves, lol, which he is also busy perfecting.

Jared and I are in the processes of finishing assembling Kieran's swingset. It is functional, lol, but we do have to swap a leg in order to attach the teeter totter. It was very nice of the swingset company to label their parts--yeah, right! It will be nice when it's all done and it is a constant reminder of all the things we want to do with the backyard. Jared's going to order a kill on the backyard pretty soon so we can seed it in the fall. It'll eventually look as awesome as the front yard!

The color picture I posted really reminded me of a the Carter side of the family...I definately see all sides of all the families but in that pic with his short hair, he sure does look like a Carter. I thought everyone would like those.