Took the boys to Dillon Nature Center for a few fall pictures this week. 
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Our weekend.....our LONG weekend.
Oh my, what a weekend we had! I know it is already Wednesday but I am going to tell you about our weekend (and by weekend I mean Thursday through Sunday of last week)! It all started earlier in the week with a call from my parents telling me that Grandma Smith (my dads mom) had another stroke. She was in the Hospital in Hiawatha and was stable but unable to move her right side, swallow or speak. I was very stressed by this news, as well as the rest of the family. I was unable to get up earlier in the week but it worked out that both Erin and I had a long weekend planned so we drove up Thursday night to Topeka and stayed the night there before getting up on Friday morning and driving up to visit with Grandma Smith.
Once we got to Hiawatha Erin the boys and I got to tell her how much we loved her, Kale talked to her about God. He also told her that he knew that Great Grandpa and God were good friends and having lots of fun in Heaven. She was very happy to hear this and gave Kale a smile and even cried a little. The boys wanted to take her something so we stopped and bought her two (one from each kid) mums. She held onto the one flower that fell off Maks' plant until we left. She always loved them and it was nice she could see the boys give them to her and we could see the enjoyment from her.
We all hope Grandma gets better but she is almost 96 and at this point is just tired. We really just want her to be comfortable and happy. Since she was tired we stayed for about 15 min and then left so she could get more sleep. In the next few days she would develop a fever and struggle to stay hydrated once the IV was removed.
After visiting with Grandma our long trip began. The long trip that consisted of driving to Ohio and back within 3 days! Ya, that's right up and back! We literally drove to Defiance, OH and bought a car (which took all of 1 hour) then hopped in the car and drove back!
It all started a few months ago (maybe years) when Erin decided that he wanted a new car and was tired of his Pilot. You see he bought the Pilot new in '08 and since that time I have driven 3 different cars! :) I may have a slight problem, but I don't see it as a problem I see it as good business decisions (meaning I didn't lose money on any of them). So as Erin started looking around for cars he knew he wanted an SUV and I knew that I didn't want a big one! We started looking around and at first he was looking and SUV/trucks such as the Chevrolet Avalanche but those were just too big for me. Next we started looking at Ford Flex's. We fell in love with the convenience and space. I loved that it drives like a car but has the space of an SUV and he loves all the technical features they offer. So we set out to find the perfect vehicle, first we had to agree on a color, then on the number of seats (they come with 6 or 7), then the trim level we wanted and all the features we HAD to have and what we could live without!
You see this process for me is much easier. I just want a Honda, it can't be gold, green or red, it must have Alloy wheels and the rest well it's whatever I can find the best deal on when dad goes to the auction. But this process does not work for Erin so we must nit-pick everything for months before we commit. After finally finding what we thought was the perfect vehicle (in Michigan) the car sales man that we had been working with had it driven down but turns out he didn't get a vehicle with all the features we had asked for, so long story short I had to tell him "NO", he was a jerk and I will never do business with him or his company again. So we went back to our preference, finding vehicles our selves! So we found a car, in Ohio!
Erin talked with the guy a few times and we decided that it was worth the drive. At first we weren't sure we wanted to drive but then they decided that would work a trade with us and that sold it for us. We knew it would be a stressful weekend with Grandma not being well but we knew that we couldn't change the outcome and that if we sat around and waited to travel that long trip would have to be made in an even shorter time frame since we didn't have any other long weekends coming up and with Erin starting a new job he doesn't want to start asking for days off already!
So off we went. We drove to Ohio for a car and made a family vacation out of it along the way. Below is a map of our trip!
Here are a few pictures from the drive back.
Maks listening to his headphones as we drive through Ohio.
There is a long story about all the "Welcome to" signs. Really the story goes, I try to get a picture of every sign on the way, but I always seem to miss them. So this is the excellent picture I got on the way back through Illinois, I should mention we drove past it but by this point in the trip I had missed so many of the signed I made us make a U-Turn then stop to get my picture! ;) And here you are enjoying it, guess it was worth it.
We drove into Saint Louis to stay the night and enjoy some time out of the car. This was the view of the Arch as well drove in that evening. I was worried the clouds were going to be too low the next day but it turned out to be cool to see that evening and just fine the next day!
The boys needed to get some energy out so they were jumping on the bed in the hotel room with their Dragons.
Once we got to Hiawatha Erin the boys and I got to tell her how much we loved her, Kale talked to her about God. He also told her that he knew that Great Grandpa and God were good friends and having lots of fun in Heaven. She was very happy to hear this and gave Kale a smile and even cried a little. The boys wanted to take her something so we stopped and bought her two (one from each kid) mums. She held onto the one flower that fell off Maks' plant until we left. She always loved them and it was nice she could see the boys give them to her and we could see the enjoyment from her.
We all hope Grandma gets better but she is almost 96 and at this point is just tired. We really just want her to be comfortable and happy. Since she was tired we stayed for about 15 min and then left so she could get more sleep. In the next few days she would develop a fever and struggle to stay hydrated once the IV was removed.
After visiting with Grandma our long trip began. The long trip that consisted of driving to Ohio and back within 3 days! Ya, that's right up and back! We literally drove to Defiance, OH and bought a car (which took all of 1 hour) then hopped in the car and drove back!
It all started a few months ago (maybe years) when Erin decided that he wanted a new car and was tired of his Pilot. You see he bought the Pilot new in '08 and since that time I have driven 3 different cars! :) I may have a slight problem, but I don't see it as a problem I see it as good business decisions (meaning I didn't lose money on any of them). So as Erin started looking around for cars he knew he wanted an SUV and I knew that I didn't want a big one! We started looking around and at first he was looking and SUV/trucks such as the Chevrolet Avalanche but those were just too big for me. Next we started looking at Ford Flex's. We fell in love with the convenience and space. I loved that it drives like a car but has the space of an SUV and he loves all the technical features they offer. So we set out to find the perfect vehicle, first we had to agree on a color, then on the number of seats (they come with 6 or 7), then the trim level we wanted and all the features we HAD to have and what we could live without!
You see this process for me is much easier. I just want a Honda, it can't be gold, green or red, it must have Alloy wheels and the rest well it's whatever I can find the best deal on when dad goes to the auction. But this process does not work for Erin so we must nit-pick everything for months before we commit. After finally finding what we thought was the perfect vehicle (in Michigan) the car sales man that we had been working with had it driven down but turns out he didn't get a vehicle with all the features we had asked for, so long story short I had to tell him "NO", he was a jerk and I will never do business with him or his company again. So we went back to our preference, finding vehicles our selves! So we found a car, in Ohio!
Erin talked with the guy a few times and we decided that it was worth the drive. At first we weren't sure we wanted to drive but then they decided that would work a trade with us and that sold it for us. We knew it would be a stressful weekend with Grandma not being well but we knew that we couldn't change the outcome and that if we sat around and waited to travel that long trip would have to be made in an even shorter time frame since we didn't have any other long weekends coming up and with Erin starting a new job he doesn't want to start asking for days off already!
So off we went. We drove to Ohio for a car and made a family vacation out of it along the way. Below is a map of our trip!
Maks listening to his headphones as we drive through Ohio.
My view from the front seat.
There is a long story about all the "Welcome to" signs. Really the story goes, I try to get a picture of every sign on the way, but I always seem to miss them. So this is the excellent picture I got on the way back through Illinois, I should mention we drove past it but by this point in the trip I had missed so many of the signed I made us make a U-Turn then stop to get my picture! ;) And here you are enjoying it, guess it was worth it. 
We drove into Saint Louis to stay the night and enjoy some time out of the car. This was the view of the Arch as well drove in that evening. I was worried the clouds were going to be too low the next day but it turned out to be cool to see that evening and just fine the next day! 
The boys needed to get some energy out so they were jumping on the bed in the hotel room with their Dragons.
Maks loved seeing all the Sweet Potato Vines! He made me take a picture for him to remember it forever.
Walking up to the Arch you walk down a long path through lots of trees. This was heaven for Maks as he was still on his Lorax kick at the time. There was one tree along the path that had been cut down so Maks stopped to see if he could see the Lorax standing on it. He looked and looked at the trees and was in ahh the entire time walking through this area. On the way back to the car it began to rain so we stopped under the trees for shelter and he loved the leaves kept the rain off of us.
The boys standing in front of the Arch. 2012
Touching the Arch.
Maks and I getting ready to go up in the Arch!
Kale and I inside the "capsule" to go to the top.
We made it to the TOP! The boys loved the ride I have been to the top before but I swear I didn't ride in that tiny thing before! Ugh, I was happy to be to the top but knew we had to get back to the bottom again!
Maks checking out the view.
Kale was pointing to the baseball stadium he wanted us to see.
The Dreiling's at the Top of the Arch (or World as the boys liked to say)!
Me and my boys on the way down.
All four of us on the ride down.
These were backgrounds painted on the walls in the museum. Kale said this looked like home.
There is my Kansas Sign on the way back home!
All in all it was a great trip. We had to drive through an unexpected Hurricane most of the way. So there were lots of clouds and rain but it added an element of excitement to our drive! The boys did great. We stopped as we needed along the way and they really enjoyed the extra time in St. Louis. it made Erin and I realize that we have boys that will be great in the car and so we will be planning another vacation/road trip at some point in our near future!
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Football Mom
The boys and I took in our first football game this past weekend. They love watching the Blue Dragons and Devonte! Devonte was my workstudy in the office but has quickly been adopted by the entire Dreiling family. He is number 53 I have more pictures of him playing but not on my phone so I will post them another time!
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Star Wars in Wichita
Today we took the boys to Exploration Place in Wichita to view the Star Wars exhibit. They had a great time! The boys (and Erin) loved seeing all the ships and characters. I don't know much about it, nor do I really care to. I mean being the mom of boys does require me to learn about lots of different things I never watched of played with as a child. Transformers, Super Heros, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles all fine...Star Wars, no. Well anyway I still enjoy watching the boys checking everything out so here are a few pictures from our trip. I am not even going to try and caption them, so if they have captions it is because Erin logged in and added them! ;)
Friday, August 3, 2012
Lawn boys!
The boys love helping Grandma and today was no different. We hosted Great Grandma Smith today and the boys were very excited to help water her plants....and everyone else's!
See why I love my new sprinkler system!
My nice green grass! I tried to get a photo while the sprinklers were going off but I waited a little too long!
Monday, July 2, 2012
Alright it's been a while, I know, but seriously when posting to FB and updating my status and adding photos is so easy what do you expect from me! Well here is a brief overview. In April I flew to Long Beach California for a 5 day long conference. This was the first work trip I took by myself, I flew into LAX for the experience (my choice, which turned out to be a bad one). I have now had the experience and won't ever do it again! Let's just say the Department of Homeland Security was detaining someone less than 10 feet from me at one point! The conferences in Long Beach was fantastic but it was the National Conference for On Course (the new book we are adopting for the Orientation class at school) and I attended the National Conference prior to the Session 1 and 2 trainings. So I left with a lot of excitement for the subject but a lot of missing pieces on how to use it in the classroom. Just 3 short weeks after returning from Long Beach, I flew back to California to attend Part 1 of the training in San Francisco, CA. This time I few out 5 days early and took Erin a long with me. My parents watched the boys in Topeka while Erin and I took a much needed vacation. We have never left the boys for this long of a time frame or even been this far away from them. We expected them to miss us at least a little but but they didn't want to leave Grandma and Grandpa's house once Erin came back. I ended up being away from them for 11 days that trip! Once I came home from SanFran I was there for 2 days then flew back out to Baltimore, Maryland for 5 more days. This was for Part 2 of the conference. By the time all the training had ended I was jet lagged and exhausted. I was mentally drained from all the training and the time change was starting to catch up with me! I am happy to be home and very excited about my new skills. Due to attending this training I will be able to create a new course for our students to take once they finish their GED's but prior to starting College. We are hoping this will make the transition a little smoother and the students success rate higher! Guess we will see! All I can say for now is I am glad my next flight isn't for another 3 month! At that time I will be returning to Long Beach to give my own presentation at a National Conference! I am excited and nervous at the same time!
At home we have been keeping busy with outdoor projects! The garden is doing well this year but I wish I would have planted more lettuce, corn and onions and fewer cherry/grape/roma tomatoes, I love growing tomatoes but no one in the family eats them, especially the small ones, so we struggle to find a good use for them! Right now they are solely being watered for Maks entertainment! He loves to pick them and put them in his bucket but like me he never eats them! My cucumbers look great but they are not producing in this heat and the potatoes got taken over by weeds so although when I dig them there are more than enough they are sure hard to find in all the weeds! My shade garden was neglected during my travels so I am struggling to bring it back but our new sprinkler system is helping but one end of it is not watered much so I still have to drag he hose out there for part of it.
Did I mention I got a new sprinkler system? My dream has finally come true. We had a well drilled a few weeks ago and the sprinkler system was put in shortly after. I am still feeling out the sprinkler system. I had gotten estimates and had it laid out but they changed it when they arrived. I am going back and forth now on my decision to not add the extra zone (which would allow me to water the gardens on their own) but I guess we will see. I can have them come back out and change it if I want but I am testing it for a few weeks before I make a decision. The other thing is that we got a new play set for the boys and in the back yard the sprinklers are the oscillating ones that spray into the air. With the new wooden playset I am not sure I want that. I think we may switch out the heads and go with the fountain ones to help control the spray a little more. We also got our new concrete poured for the new patio! I am loving the look but the stain sure makes it hot during these summer days!
Erin's job at the credit union is going well (oh ya, if you didn't already know Erin doesn't work for Dillon's anymore! He now works for Envista Credit Union). He is full-time now and starting to get the hang of all the paperwork that is required on Loans and such!
Kale has started at his new School (Central Christian). He really enjoys all the new kids and activities they do. He lost his spot at Early Ed due to employee kids and grandkids getting priority. This school has more bible content that he is used to but he is really liking it. He prays before meals now and loves learning about God. He teaches us his lessons each day when he gets home. He is very excited for Maks to start in August.
Maks is still at Miss Debbies until August. We felt that he would be best served if he switched when they were starting more structured classes rather than the laid back "summer camp" feel it has at the moment. He is really excited to start his new school but we are not sure how he will do in such large classes (10 kids per class). At Miss Debbies the most she has ever had at one time is 7 and usually it is closer to 5. Maks doesn't do as well with new as Kale does. This summer Maks has started to play his first team sport. T-Ball has been a great experience for him. He loves to hit the ball and is finally coming around to actually chasing the ball when he is in the outfield! Kids sports are very entertaining at this age to say the least!
Well that is about all on the updates right now! I will hopefully get more pictures added soon!
At home we have been keeping busy with outdoor projects! The garden is doing well this year but I wish I would have planted more lettuce, corn and onions and fewer cherry/grape/roma tomatoes, I love growing tomatoes but no one in the family eats them, especially the small ones, so we struggle to find a good use for them! Right now they are solely being watered for Maks entertainment! He loves to pick them and put them in his bucket but like me he never eats them! My cucumbers look great but they are not producing in this heat and the potatoes got taken over by weeds so although when I dig them there are more than enough they are sure hard to find in all the weeds! My shade garden was neglected during my travels so I am struggling to bring it back but our new sprinkler system is helping but one end of it is not watered much so I still have to drag he hose out there for part of it.
Did I mention I got a new sprinkler system? My dream has finally come true. We had a well drilled a few weeks ago and the sprinkler system was put in shortly after. I am still feeling out the sprinkler system. I had gotten estimates and had it laid out but they changed it when they arrived. I am going back and forth now on my decision to not add the extra zone (which would allow me to water the gardens on their own) but I guess we will see. I can have them come back out and change it if I want but I am testing it for a few weeks before I make a decision. The other thing is that we got a new play set for the boys and in the back yard the sprinklers are the oscillating ones that spray into the air. With the new wooden playset I am not sure I want that. I think we may switch out the heads and go with the fountain ones to help control the spray a little more. We also got our new concrete poured for the new patio! I am loving the look but the stain sure makes it hot during these summer days!
Erin's job at the credit union is going well (oh ya, if you didn't already know Erin doesn't work for Dillon's anymore! He now works for Envista Credit Union). He is full-time now and starting to get the hang of all the paperwork that is required on Loans and such!
Kale has started at his new School (Central Christian). He really enjoys all the new kids and activities they do. He lost his spot at Early Ed due to employee kids and grandkids getting priority. This school has more bible content that he is used to but he is really liking it. He prays before meals now and loves learning about God. He teaches us his lessons each day when he gets home. He is very excited for Maks to start in August.
Maks is still at Miss Debbies until August. We felt that he would be best served if he switched when they were starting more structured classes rather than the laid back "summer camp" feel it has at the moment. He is really excited to start his new school but we are not sure how he will do in such large classes (10 kids per class). At Miss Debbies the most she has ever had at one time is 7 and usually it is closer to 5. Maks doesn't do as well with new as Kale does. This summer Maks has started to play his first team sport. T-Ball has been a great experience for him. He loves to hit the ball and is finally coming around to actually chasing the ball when he is in the outfield! Kids sports are very entertaining at this age to say the least!
Well that is about all on the updates right now! I will hopefully get more pictures added soon!
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Maks riding his bike
Maks is my little outdoor boy! He loves anything with wheels! He is getting comfortable on the big bike now and loves racing his brother!
Kale climbing
Kale loves to climb and is always wishing he had a tree house...but for now this will have to do!
Monday, March 5, 2012
Yard!
My hyacinth are in full bloom already and my daisy's are as big as ever! The tulips are looking great so far .... hopefully I can keep the dogs off of them.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Our trip to the Kansas Cosmosphere
We took the boys to the Cosmosphere for a family filled fun Sunday! They
had a great time looking at the space ships and playing on the
interactive exhibits. Maks was a little scared when we first walked
down into the basement for the start of the museum but once he got
through the first area he did very well. Kale loved all the "spacemen"
and was very surprised to find out how big "real" spaceships were! 
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