Is it the Great Pumpkin?

Eli saved some pumpkin seeds from our pumpkin carving at Halloween. In May, he planted them. In about 5 days we had sprouts! 22 sprouts. As they grew bigger, I thinned them out to 4 plants. Jude pulled one out and I could not save it. One of these three (on the left of the photo) really took off. The other two (to the right) are smaller. Each plant may produce 3-5 pumpkins. We're anxious to see what will happen.



The image below is of a "rogue" pumpkin plant that somehow got missed.
We didn't even notice it growing there until a few days ago. It's about as big
as the big one in our other bed.

BMX-E

July has been a busy month for Eli! Here he is finally racing in his first BMX race. It took us all summer to get here. He practiced several times over the Summer. Roger found him a bike that was more suitable for his size and speed needs (thanks Paul and Tammy.) Then he fixed it all up. Now with only 2 weeks of Summer vacation left, he finally raced his first race.


Before the race.


Action shot!


In the gates for his second race. Rog had to go up and
help him because he wouldn't put his wheel in the gate
for the first race. The announcer gave him a little ribbing
and Rog got upset. Eli was just scared, he'd never raced with
the gate before (they don't practice with the gate.) I can
see how it's a bit intimidating.


More action. He raced 3 times to qualify. He didn't
end up qualifying for the main event, but he didn't get
upset about it. We won't give him a hard time about
the fact that he got beat by 4 and 6-year old girls!

All I Want for Christmas (In July)

Yes, he's lost his second tooth! This time there was a Tooth Fairy snafoo, though. He forgot to put his tooth out, but the Tooth Fairy may or may not have remembered to stop by that night. Rog saved the day and told him they could send the T.F. an email. All was saved. She came and found the right pillow and paid up. Only like 18 more teeth to go, right?

Cousins

In June, we also got to see our niece, Leah. She was visiting from Denver. She's grown up a lot since the last time we saw her. It makes me sad! She's 12 now. Who told her she could be 12? Wasn't me.


We discussed the whole "Kissing Cousins" thing with
Jude later.


Well, at least he stopped kissing her.


I'm pretty sure Leah likes Jude, too. But not in that
way.

Railroad Days

Perhaps I should catch up on posting today. No, I did not win any prizes for my photos. Not even an honorable mention. Maybe next time around. It's not going to stop me from taking a gazillion photos, though. Just to get that one great shot.

Anyway, a couple weeks ago (ok. maybe almost a month ago) we went to an event sponsored by Union Pacific Railroad. The event is called Railroad Days. It consists of 5 stops for $10 for the entire family. You park your car at one of the five stops, then you can get on a bus or trolley to see the rest. You could choose from the botanical gardens (Lauritzen Gardens) in Omaha and 4 museums (all boasting railroad themes) in Omaha and Council Bluffs. We only made it to two places, but it was fun. Perhaps we'll go to the other three stops next year.



The gardens had trains on display.



And, of course, flowers.


A little train to ride!


And trains on display in the flowers.



And miniature architectural wonders.



Of course the bus ride was by far the most exciting
thing for the boys.


Jude had never been on a real school bus before!


Durham Western Heritage Museum.

Flower Power

So I took a chance and entered a photo contest. I don't know if I have even the slightest chance, but thought it would be fun. The subject was "Flower Power." I like taking close-ups, so that's what I submitted. They will announce the winners on June 15th. Which one is your favorite?


Purpuraceously Purple


The Beauty in the Barrel


Too Late Tulip


Simply Elegant

My Collages

Here are some collages of my children. I create these to share with family, but often don't share them with friends. I was just looking at Brian's (Boye-see links on left of this page) and saw the collage of his two adorable children. Kudos to you, Brian, for finding a professional who could do a good job. Most of them time I find that I don't like the job the pros do, so I do it myself. Maybe I'm just cheap. Anyway, enjoy.

Staycation - Not All Fun

Just to clear up any misconception, the staycation has not been all fun. The Jaeger's have also been hard at work.

I've put up an old "before" pic of the house from last year when we had it on the market. It now looks like a completely different house. Since last fall, it's had quite a face lift with a new roof, vinyl siding, furnace and A/C.


March of 2008


Today. We are going to paint the front door and
garage door white, too.



Rog powerwashed the house so I could paint all the brick on the back and sides of our house to better compliment the new siding we had put on in the fall (Okay, for the record, Rog did paint the second coat on the bricks in the back, but I did the rest. He only painted a little because I made him, so he wouldn't feel left out. He offered to let me stain some wood, but I declined.)


Rog is busy hanging lattice on the ceiling of our back porch so we can hang greenery and lights up there. (Know anyone who needs a nice back porch to get married on? We don't charge too much.)

He also cleaned up the wood on the outside of the porch with a wire brush and re-stained it. We will repaint the trim and replace the lattice in the next couple weeks.

Baseball-Cation

Today (Thursday), we went to an Omaha Royals baseball game. We had the fortune of running into a very generous man who didn't need his tickets or couldn't use his tickets, we're not sure which. He handed Roger four tickets for the blue section, that's the closest section to the field, folks! That's $40 worth of tickets absolutely free. Hooray for good karma. Hooray for more cash so Jude and Eli can eat hotdogs! Thank you nice man! To top it all off Jude got a foul ball and Casey (the Royals mascot) even signed it.


That's the opponent's dugout in just in front of us.
Our seats were straight out from first base.


These boys have baseball on the brain.


Casey's hoping to meet "Miss Right."


Action!


More action! Sorry, the Royals lost.



Jude and Eli won with hotdogs!


Hat head.


He lives for baseball. Can't figure out where he
got it, though.


This is one special ball.


Crazy posers!

More Staycation Days

On Sunday, we went to Grand Island for the Kosmicki family reunion (Roger's mom's side.) Below are a few "Polka" pics, because you can't be a Kosmicki unless you've polka-ed (at least once.)

On Tuesday, we made a return try to the zoo and found the crowds much less daunting. It was a bit rainy, so that kept the crowds away.


Some Kosmicki cousins. (L - r. Jude, Eli, Jacob and Henry.)
These boys are the sons of Kim and Doug Kosmicki. Doug
graduated from high school with us and Kim worked in
HR at Godfather's when I worked there.


Marlene, Brian, Alicia, JoAnn and Beth do
the chicken dance.



Rog polkas with his mommy.


Look, four left feet!


Look, we're above the Giraffes...


We're riding the Skyfari.


For something he wanted to do so badly, he's sure
holding on tight! He would not let me remove my
arm from around him. It made taking pics a little
tricky. He also proclaimed he thought he might be
sick when we first started out. At last, we've found
something that actually scares Eli!


Daddy and Jude followed us below.


Feeding the Koi.


Monkey on a log.


Pretty flower. I love the Garden of the Senses.


In the Butterfly Pavillion. The coloring on this one
went all weird, but I still like it.


Another flutter-by!