Halloween Night

We had a pretty awesome day for Halloween. I thought it was going to be a little shaky this morning when both Lily and Jon climbed into my bed around 6am. But they ended up being pretty well behaved while we goofed around the house. Then Jenni's parents called and wanted the kids for the morning to play in the leaves and I let them go and have a good time.

We were invited to a Halloween party over at one of the kids' freind's house so as I started rooting around the house for the proper clothes and costume peices I realized that I had to dress Kayla up as a Snow Princess and I had no idea on where the little girl makeup might be and also that Jenni had all of the hair care stuff with her on her trip to Dallas this weekend. So, I called Deb and asked if she'd help me out and get Kayla all prettied up for her costume. She of course agreed, and with some help from Dave (that Grandpa can paint nails and comb hair too) Kayla was ready to go.

Now, Jon was a pretty easy costume fitting. He's big enough to dress himself but Lily was a little difficult. She was suppose to be a little toddler witch, Jenni bought her the costume a long time ago, but during our Halloween decorating Lily found Kayla's old pumpkin costume and wanted nothing to do with the witch. So, we have the picture below.

We headed to our party and had a great time. Suzanne did a fantastic job keeping the kids entertained with little crafts and cookie decorating. Then we all strapped the costumes on the kids again and hit the road trick or treating. The kids made out pretty well and we had a great night.

Halloween (part 1)

Here we are the week before Halloween, so it's now time to start thinking about decorating the house for the big event. So tonight it was pumpkin slaughter night (a.k.a.- jack o lanterns). It was definitely a little less stressful this year, all the kids have finally gotten over there slimy finger phobia's and cleaned out their own gourds leaving Jenni and I with the ever important task of carving the infamous orange veggies. We started out letting the kids draw the faces on their pumpkins, they did a pretty awesome job. I am amazed and the artistic improvements in them as the get older.

Then after I popped the pumpkin tops Jon and Lily dove in and cleaned out the yuck.



And after an hour or so of family fun, this is what we were left with. It was a nice time.

Part 2 will obviously follow after next Saturday's night of fright.

Grandpa

Many of you know that recently my Grandfather past away and it was during his memorial service that the attendees were given the opportunity to share a story about Grandpa. I sat in my seat trying to suck up my tears and gather my thoughts to tell my story, but the service moved on and I missed out. I regret not being more prepared to share this story and I wanted to re-tell it and share one of my most favorite moments with my Grandpa.

It happened about four years ago while I still worked at the radio station and had my own morning interview show, every now and then we'd get a really cool opportunity and one day I got the flier to take a flight in a WW2 aircraft. I thought that would be pretty awesome adventure and I found out that I could take another person with me, so I called my dad and asked him to go with me. I told him that I would be flying in the B-25, dad told me that that was the airplane that Grandpa flew while he was training in the Army Air Corp and that I should call him. So I did and of course he said he wanted to go. Dad ended up going with us to take pictures and to have lunch with Grandpa and me, but the trip took a drastic turn for the better.

It turns out that the night before our flight the KC 4th of July fireworks malfunctioned and the whole show went off in about thirty seconds, so all of the KC media covered that story and ditched the free media airplane ride on the B-25. I did my interviews with the owners, they shared stories of the plane with Grandpa, and then as we were loading up they asked Dad to go to. Since the plane was empty they made and exception and let all of us go. So there we were three generations of Rineharts flying on an old WW2 airplane and crawling around inside it just as Grandpa did 50+ years prior. Let me tell you the inside of that plane is pretty small to crawl around in, but Grandpa found himself in the tail gun, the nose gun, and everywhere in between.

I sat down with Grandpa after the trip and talked about it with him and featured him on my program, I encourage you to take 20 minutes and listen to the show (that I'm trying to get uploaded). It starts out talking about the plane and then about my Grandpa, I just listened to the show again and hearing his voice again made tears come to my eyes. I love my Grandfather and I'll miss him dearly.






If you'd like a digital copy of the recording or full resolution pictures just send me an email. I'll keep working on this upload thing, blogger is being stupid.

Soccer Season

This fall Jon decided he wanted to play soccer and we signed him up. As usual the league was looking for more coaches and I also decided that I'd sign up as well, so here is the beginning of Jon and I's youth soccer season.

I just look like I have this little guys full attention, I'm a great coach.

And here's our little soccer star.


Finally, I'm not really sure how this happened, but it is a cool picture.

Bruce's Memorial

First thing, one of the people in my life that I've always admired and believed was one of the bravest people in the world was my cousin Bruce. He was quite a bit older than me and lived a good distance away so I didn't spend a lot of time around him, but he taught me more than most people I know. Bruce had Cerebral Palsy and could not walk without the use of crutches and he never let that affect his quality of life. He taught me that we can't ever judge a person as inept just because they have a disability and that you can do most anything you want with pure determination. Sadly, Bruce passed away recently and we gathered in his hometown in Illinois and celebrated his life with the family.

As with most funerals, you get some good out of the experience. In this case it was spending some quality time with my family. My sister flew in from Denver with her son, my other sister and her family attended, as well as my siblings still at home with Mom and Dad (yes there are a lot of us). After a long drive on Friday, we spent the day on Saturday playing. We splashed in the pool in the morning, attended the terrific memorial service, and then headed to my cousin Stephenie's house and played the rest of the day away. Stephenie and Jason have some farm animals that Lily and Greysen liked to terrorize, it was one of the first times the two kids got to actually play together.

There was also a zip line there and that gave us all kinds of entertainment. All of the kids gave it a go and the babies in particular loved it, check out the looks of joy on both Lily and Greysen's faces as they held on for dear life.


Although, my sister Paola, looked like she didn't quite trust me when it was her turn to take the ride.

It was a fantastic trip and I'm so glad we made that long drive to Illinois.

The first day of school

The kids have all been going to the same day care for just about their whole lives and this year we actually had to send our baby off to the first day of school. Jon reached that magical milestone and he is a little peeved that he doesn't get to ride the bus, he has to go in with Jenni since they are in the same building. And here is Mommy dropping that little boy off at his classroom door.

She told me she didn't cry...she teared up, but didn't cry.

The flower girl made her daddy cry

It's true, the flower girl at a wedding we went to recently made her daddy cry....but that isn't saying much her daddy is kind of a pansy. Jenni's cousin, Charley, asked Kayla to be her flower girl for the wedding and of course Kayla said yes. So we made the trip up to Nebraska for the event and went through the normal wedding weekend hoopla. I had dropped Kayla and Jenni off at the hair stylist early in the day and then went back to the hotel to kill some time with Jon and Lily until it was our turn to participate as guests. I had seen Kayla in her dress at home and yet I still wasn't prepared for what I was about to see when I got to the church, my little girl was a little princess. She had her hair done, her dress on, her high heels, and all I could think about was, "What am I going to do when this is Homecoming, Prom, or HER WEDDING?!?" I was a little over-whelmed and teared up a little, just look at her, I'm sure you understand.



The events did wear her out a little, she took a quick snooze at dinner with her God-mother Ashley.

Friendship Festival 2009

"Cruisin' Through Lathrop" was the theme of this year's Friendship Festival and once again it was an activity that the entire family thoroughly enjoyed. I think that we participated in more of the events this year than we have in the past. For example, this year I braved the Children's Day in the Park all by myself with all three in tow. I'm glad I did. They had so much fun! They had horse and pony rides, a moon walk, various little games where the kids could win little prizes, and a hot dog lunch followed by a ventriloquist act. I could have probably done a better act....let's just say that there was a lot of lip moving! But, alas, the kids really enjoyed it and that is all that matters! Jon and Kayla's favorite part of the day in the park was the Smoke House that the Fire Department put on. They actually got to go into a small mobile home and hear a presentation about how to be safe if you are in a fire and other various safety things. At the end of the presentation, they filled the house with smoke and let the kids practice crawling out of the house. They talked about the things they learned during those 20 minutes all weekend long! The only down side to the activities in the park was that there wasn't a lot of stuff for Lily to do, she just knew that she was at the park and wanted to swing and slide! But we did have our own little snack picnic under the trees while Jon and Kayla were in the Smoke House. That's where I got the cute little picture of Lily by herself!

Friday night we upheld our promise and took the kids, along with Grandma and Grandpa, to the carnival. They had a BLAST! Kayla was not quite big enough to ride on the rides without an adult, and I wasn't quite ready to let Jon try them solo.....(I know, I know!!) So, we got three all you can ride bracelets and let the kids go wild. I was the one who ended up with the third bracelet. We rode everything!! I personally think that their favorites were the "Umbrella" and "Sizzler", which I have to admit went a lot faster than I remembered! Everyone made fun of me for that statement until Grandma and Grandpa rode the "Sizzler" with Jon and Kayla. They said it was faster, too!

Lily really enjoyed riding the on the Super Slide and Motorboats. By the end of the night she had even made a new friend. I think that Daddy is in BIG trouble!

After all of our carnival fun we settled down with some ice cream and listened to our favorite performers of the festival, Soca Jukebox, the steel drum band. Then it was a walk back home in the moonlight and a REALLY late bedtime for everyone. But it was well worth it!

The three R's......

.....could stand for so many things. The three little Rineharts....(sure)...... In the life of a teacher we could be talking about Reading, Riting, and Rithmatic (but hey, it's still summer...so we are not going there!) No, today the three R's stand for Rollerskating, Riding Bikes, and playing in the Rain.

After receiving roller skates for his birthday Jon could not wait to try them out. And, like any normal little sister, Kayla saw how much fun Jon was having and had to have a pair of skates for herself. They both got to try them out today and they had so much fun! They really did catch on pretty fast...but, we still had our fair share of tumbles.




It really makes me laugh to think back to Tracey and me roller skating on the small cement pad in the back yard. We always pretended that we were ice skating and tried to do all the tricks that we could copy: turning in circles, skating backward, trying to lift our leg behind us....(roller skates are HEAVY!) I know that there is no way that Mom and Dad could have gotten us to put on all the safety gear that I piled on the kids...helmets and elbow, knee, and wrist pads....they must have had a heart attack every time we put those silly skates on!

Just as Jon and Kayla were getting the hang of rolling around on their skates it started to rain on them. At least it was a nice summer rain without the lightening and thunder of a storm. So instead of calling it a day they decided to play in the rain. They rode their bikes and all three of them found some puddles to splash in. I think the puddle splashing was Lily's favorite part!! They were soaked, but had a great time!

Getting Older

The boys in family keep getting older and older. It is hard to believe that Jon is now 6 and Jamie is solidly in his third decade!! At least he will always be older than I am....that makes being 30 a little easier to swallow.

Jonathon got to have a small celebration on his actual "birth" day and got a new Dinosaur DS game from Mom and Dad. However, we saved the big party for Saturday so that we could celebrate both Jamie and Jon's birthday together. We had a great time. The party was at Jim and Debbie's and the majority of the family was represented. It was so nice to hang out and talk with everyone.

Jonathon wanted an ice cream cake for his birthday...which took the pressure of baking a cake off of my shoulders. Probably a good thing since the family isn't big into cake but can eat our weight in ice cream!



So who exactly is turning 6 and who is turning 31? A little hard to tell the difference!


Jonathon got his own little birthday cake on Wednesday so that he could blow out the candles on his own.


The one thing Jonathon really wanted for his birthday was a pair of roller skates. They were repeatedly asked for and moved to the top of his birthday list. Great Grandma and Grandpa Rinehart made his wish come true. As you can see he just lit up when he saw them. Not to worry for the safety conscious....he also got all the safety gear that goes with them!


Jonathon was spoiled with so many great gifts. He is still into Star Wars (much to Daddy's delight) and got some cool new toys to add to his collection. He also got lots of new clothes, video games, toys, and some of Grandma's homemade chocolate chip cookies. Now we just have to find room for all of his new stuff.


Happy Birthday Daddy and Jon!

And the winner is......

So, Jonathon won the prize for "First Visit to the Emergency Room", Kayla got the prize for "First Surgery", but Lily had to push the envelope and surge ahead of both of them, not only did she receive the prize for "First Extended Stay in the Hospital" a mere week after she was born....oh no, that wasn't enough for her!! Today she shoots to the head of the pack and wins the award for "First Child to Get Stitches".

After her shower this morning, Lily was playing in the living room on her little purple chair, when she got a little over excited when Clifford came on. She started rocking her chair and over it went! Her poor little face went straight into Jamie's tuner. She totally split her lip open. Blood everywhere and me wrapped in my towel!!! Why is it that these types of accidents never happen when you have two parents at home? Nope, it's me all alone trying to figure out whether I am over-rereacting and her injury isn't really that bad, or if she really does need stitches. I hate making decisions like this!!

I ended up taking Lily in to the Emergency Room (we finally get to use the accident insurance that I signed up for and Jamie has to stop giving me a hard time!) and she did have to get stitches. Four of them. Two on the inside of her lip and two on the outside. She handled it like a trooper and got lots of compliments from the hospital staff. She even got a new teddy bear out of the event. It has lovingly been named, Stitches!

The worst day....

Today was one of the worst days I've had in a long time. It all started early this morning when I started off to work and got a mile or so from home and realized I forgot my sunglasses and eye drops at home, so I went back to get them. I then got to work and broke one of the kids toys I was giving to my boss as a hand me down, literally as I was handing it to them. A canceled testing session that ended up in me calling into an executive meeting via video conference. My golf cart ran out of batteries in the middle of the street on my way back to the shop. And Jenni called me about Lily's accident (read the post above). I got home and started cooking dinner on the grill, Jenni walked into the room and said, "ummm....the grill is on fire." I through the lid open and it was seriously on fire, some of the built up grease from the hamburgers the other day lit on fire. So, I turned off the gas and taught Jenni how to use baking soda to put out a fire.

All in all, it was a pretty crappy day.

Jon's bike ride

I don't know if you remember the blog posting about the dog awhile back where I explained that parents should not open their fat mouths until they know all the facts. Well....I didn't listen to my own advice. Earlier this summer I told Jon that I'd buy him a brand new bike as soon as he learned how to ride his without training wheels. I figured that would buy me some time, because no kid learns how to ride a bike the first time. Recently, Jon has been asking me to take the wheels off his bike because he thought he was ready to try it out. I, like a good dad, kept saying, "remind me and I'll take them off tomorrow." And tonight was the night, I no sooner climbed out of the car than he was attacking me with the request to remove them, so I obliged and told him to get his helmet because I was sure he was going to crash and burn. And here's the video of his first try.



I guess I owe the kid a bike.

Rock Stars

So the kids finished up bible school this week and remembered that we own a karaoke machine...that meant it was time for a rock concert in the living room.
Jon spent the week being a Red Raccoon and Kayla belonged to the Purple "smelly" skunks. They had a great time and Jon's group was the proud recipient of the prized "Golden Boot" four times. He will proudly tell anyone who will listen to him!! Kayla's favorite day was crazy hair day....it fit in well with our rock concert.

Slip and Slide

Alright, it's been years since you've even thought of a slip and slide...and I'll tell you why. BECAUSE IT ISN'T MEANT FOR ADULTS. Our friend Laura gave Jon a slip and slide for an early b-day present and we broke it out almost immediately. The kids really didn't get the idea of how it worked so ole dad had to demonstrate the proper slip and slide technique, but there were two things wrong with this idea:

1. Dad never had a slip and slide growing up and was winging it.
2. Slip and slides aren't meant for adults!

The new versions of this classic toy come with an inflatable sled, and my first pass at this toy was a success and kind of fun. Then I got cocky and tried it again, but on this pass I started running, entered into perfect face-first diving technique, hit the ground and started my slide...and all heck broke loose. The stupid sled skidded to a halt as soon as I hit the plastic, my momentum carried me over the sled at a good rate and the impact left me breathless and i proceeded down the track in such an elegant form that the kids, my in-laws, and Jenni (imagine that) were wiping tears off their faces from the laughter. I finally got the wind back into my lungs and rubbed the emerging red spot on my entire chest and officially proclaimed the slip and slide a kids toy. We all had a lot of fun with it.

Jon is a pretty good slider,

Kayla doesn't know how to slide (can you blame her for not wanting to learn after watching my debacle),

and Lily just likes to play in the water spouts. Being summer you can imagine all of the water fun we're having.

T-ball

One of the fun things about summer this year has been t-ball. We play in this little league that is called "Just 4 Fun" and that is how they run the league. The t-ball games don't keep score, every kid gets to bat, and coaches are on the field to help the kids with the rules of the game and for tips. Last year both kids played, but Kayla was the typical little girl player who was more interested in the flowers than the game. But this year Kayla was just as into the game as Jon and they had a blast playing both in the field and batting. Jon is getting to be a pretty good batter and will be in coach pitch for sure next year. I don't know how much longer old dad can help coach, my baseball knowledge only goes so far, but I'm having a good time. Maybe next year we can get that old softball spirit out of Jenni and she can take on the coaching duties?