Kickin' It in Kansas

Sweet Autumn Days

2011-11-14T09:47:00.000-08:00

Ben has taken advantage of the awesome fall weather to take the boys on some long (8 mile) bike rides on the trails.

Handsome boys! They look like they are standing in front of a picture! I swear its REAL!

What would Fall be with our a few trips to our favorite Cider Mill? The Cider slushes were our favorite this year!

And Brooke has loved her first Fall. She fits right in with whatever we are doing, she makes us laugh and smile every day! Oh how we have loved this sweet season!

Too cute for words!

2011-09-27T14:41:00.001-07:00

Picnics, Lemonade Stands, and Baby Brooke!

2011-06-23T15:40:00.001-07:00

Oh, the joys of summer time! We are loving our summer sun and extra time to extra fun things! We are enjoying every little bit of Cousin Kaylie time as we can get, we are excercising our entrepenurial skills (not spelling skills) and loving our Baby Girl!!

Any takers?

Oh how we love her, and can't believe she is 5 months old!

Sundays are our days to dress up!

Temple Run Fun

2011-05-03T11:45:00.000-07:00

A great day, last Saturday as we ran and ran and ran! Ben and Krissy Brooke ran a 5k together, I lagged (just a little) behind. Scott, Kate and Brett each ran a 100 yard dash AND a mile run. It was wonderful. A great way to spend a Saturday and a great way to celebrate the temple-to be coming soon!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T21:14:00.001-07:00

Just wanting to say we are grateful for so much! 3 years ago today we moved to Kansas! So many blessings and too late to count them all...good night!

I love to see the temple...

2011-03-23T12:32:00.001-07:00

...being built! We are so excited at how quickly the temple is progressing! It won't be long before the open house! What a special time to share as a family and we are so glad that Aunt Laura and Uncle Steve live right by it so that we can watch it go up!

Dressed in White

2011-03-03T08:25:00.000-08:00

Kate shared her baptism day with her baby sister, Krissy Brooke and her baby cousin, Kaylie.

How sweet 6 can be!

Sister Power!

What a special, special, special day!

No WAY!

2011-02-22T07:39:00.000-08:00

How can so much time have passed so very, very quickly!! I suppose I could use my pregancy and the arrival of our sweet baby girl as an excuse, and it is true! Time really does fly when you are having oh so very much fun!!

Since I last posted, we have had a great summer, a busy fall and the most exciting news of all...our new baby sister, Krissy Brooke. Oh how we love her! She was born the beginning of January and she has started the new year off just right! She has just started smiling at us and her head always glistens with leftover kisses from all of us, but most especially her big brother Brett!

Superhero School for Boys

2010-05-25T09:24:00.000-07:00

What a wild ride it has been! Such and an adventure of a school year that has sped by faster than a speeding bullet! Many memories were made as we explored the world of ABC's! I cannot believe the school year is at its end! Four superhero buddies! I doubt they will ever be able to think of superheroes and not remember their time together in preschool!

Our field trips were so fun! Once a month we all got together and explored a new place. We tried to apply it to what we were learning that month.

As seen above, the boys are all fluent readers! At least when it comes to Dr. Seuss!! Each superhero day was busy, busy, busy with all kinds of fun things to learn about!

S is for sword! S is for SUPERHEROES! S is for silly boys having a silly time.

One of our favorite activities was writing our letters in shaving cream on the counter. A great way to disinfect your counter and get those fingers forming letters at the same time! The kids think they are getting away with something and you look like a really cool mom!

Spring Break

2010-04-01T16:19:00.000-07:00

Nauvoo, Illinois is a super special place. We so enjoyed our two days there. It was quiet and peaceful and our gratitude to our pioneer ancestors increased. As did our testimonies of the Gospel.
I hope Scott and Brett will always have a close relationship. Hyrum and Joseph were brothers who stood by each others' sides, no matter the cost. They were loyal to one another. We are grateful for their examples and their sacrifice.

We learned about working together as a family. We made a rope that was strong. We understood that our family can be strong as we work hard and help each other.

We are grateful for the blessings of the temple. Families our forever. Time was well spent in Nauvoo.

I also have cute pics of our time in Kentucky and Indiana, but I don't have them on the computer yet!! Hopefully soon!

Divine to be Nine!

2010-04-01T16:09:00.000-07:00

Scott and I share a passion for oreos, cookies and cream and dirt cake! He requested a repeat this year...he loved his cake last year and so we did it again! Why change perfection? We had a low-key celebration with family, including a super special surprise visit from our sweet Aunt Debra.
One of the highlights of Scott's bday celebration was going to meet a favorite author/illustrator of ours: Brian Selznick. We gave Scott a copy of the book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret for his birthday. I found it on half.com for a fraction of the cover price. When Scott had it signed Mr. Selznick told hime he had a rare copy of the book. Only 1500 were printed like it! Hah! I love a great deal and it was so fun to meet him and have Scott take a picture with him.

We love our Scott and we are so grateful for him!! Happy Bday, buddy!!

It's Heaven to be Seven!

2010-02-03T20:46:00.001-08:00

Kate picked the perfect theme to celebrate her 7th birthday this year. She wanted to use Littlest Pet Shop. Little did she know that we would be taking her to the pet shop on her birthday! She unwrapped a little fish tank after a dinner featuring a Macaroni and Cheese buffet. The buffet included no less than 3 types of mac and cheese and various toppings to put on top. Peas, sliced hot dogs and spaghetti sauce were among the choices. ANYWAY, we traveled to the pet shop right away to pick a fish to put in the new fish tank! She has chosen a beautiful blue Betta named Molly! (pics to follow!!) She has been a sweetheart all day and what a joy she is to have as such an important part of our family. We love her very much.

Her cake was a mother/daughter project over the last several days. It was a fun time!

I love this cake because it looks so tricky, but it is not and that is the trick! Bumblebees and ladybugs adorned this petland dream. Kate designed fireflies to go on the cake as well. She wanted to have 7 of everything. 7 ladybugs, 7 fireflies, 7 bees, etc!! So perfect!

Yummy!

This was before we put all of the Littlest Pet shop characters on the cake. You gotta love blue jello! (You can see the fireflies at the back of the cake.) Fun ways to make fun memories!

Pinewood Derbies and Superheroes

2010-02-02T12:59:00.000-08:00

Last week Scott and I participated in our first pinewood derby. We followed the age-old secret to success…(pull the wood block out of the box 1 month prior to the race and let it sit untouched for the next 3.5 weeks.) Three days before the race my panic level rose enough to get us into action. We borrowed a hand held coping saw from a neighbor and stared at it for a day before we found a fellow ward member who owns a small band-saw. Scott said he wanted his car to look like a torpedo. The blade on the saw moved more the bottom than the top and when I finished the cut I could tell by his face it was not what he had in mind. I assured him it would look better when we sanded it but even I was skeptical. In the end it actually turned out pretty good. We could not figure out what to use to weigh it down so, in the end we drilled a hole from the back and filled it with bb’s. We could not get it to weight (per Sara’s kitchen scale) so, we also crammed a short steal rod in the back. The care ended up being WAY overweight the day of the race so we drilled a small hole into the bb chamber and shook most of them out. We carefully put the wheels on only to discover that we could not get all four of them on the ground at the same time. I was just hoping his car wouldn’t lose every race. Scott designed it, including colors, to match his basketball jersey and school mascot.
The Sunday before the race Sara gave a fantastic talk on sacrifice. In the talk she shared a story she had found about a little boy who had had his father sabotage his pinewood derby car so a disabled boy could win a race. It was a great story, and timely before the ward pinewood derby. So Sara watched in horror, and I in shock, as Scott proceeded to win race after race. In the end he took a very close second. In retrospect, we dumbed our way into a great design. We ended up with a hollow car with all the weight in the back resting on the back two wheels. In the front there was only one wheel causing friction. Scott (and Brett) is already making plans for next year. I told Sara, we would not be able to repeat this year’s design genius. We also don’t know how many of the cars had been self-sabotaged as result of Sara’s talk.
Because of our various responsibilities we always end up with two cars at church. Unless I have to stay after for meetings Scott usually volunteers to ride home with me. It has become kind of our thing…a chance to ride home following the spiritual rejuvenation of our Sabbath meetings… Last week Scott pondered the eternities and asked this thought provoking gem… “Why does Superman need a secret identity?” (please feel free to sound off on the debate…) We spent the next 20 minutes debating it. Scott pretty much convinced me that it’s essentially unnecessary. “What’s wrong with just being Superman?” An excellent question. Scott finally reasoned that “if everyone knew he was superman then there would be…like 10 people waiting outside his house every morning wanting an autograph…It’s like Hanna Montana.” Yes he did…he compared Superman to Hanna Montana. Somewhere Superman was feeling like less of a man… I was glad Brett wasn’t in the car.
Superman wasn’t the only one to have his manhood called out this month... It has been nearly 18 months since my car was stolen and it is still a subject of fascination for the kids. It came up again at dinner recently. Midway through the conversation Brett said “I wish Dad was a superhero.” He then reasoned that if I were a superhero I could have prevented the car from being stolen or at least apprehended the criminal. I looked helplessly at Sara. He continued “Mr. Ken could have put on his army clothes and saved our car.” Mr. Ken lives across the street. He is a Marine and looks the part. I can’t compete with Mr. Ken. At this point Sara tried to come to my aid. She told Brett “Dad is a superhero.” Upon hearing this Brett jumped from his chair and yelled “So am I!!!” and started punching the air. I suggested we all go watch Hanna Montana…
Brett’s latest fascination is with army men. For Christmas he got camouflage pajamas that he’d wear 24-7 if Sara let him. For his birthday he got a tank, an airplane, army men, etc. Kate is actually his best playmate when it comes to the army men. Last week they came to me because they could not get the cockpit to the airplane closed with an army man and two Polly Pocket dolls inside. Kate said they needed to get the door closed because they were taking the A-1 Warthog “(Tank Killer) to a “fancy restaurant”. I helped cram the soldier, dolls and accessories into the aircraft and they went back downstairs. From the sound of it, they were taking heavy fire on their way to dinner.
Sundays can be difficult when you are 5 years old. Sitting on a chair is the most common form of punishment at our house and, when you’re 5, Sacrament meeting is essentially an hour and 15 minutes of sitting on a chair. Most Saturday nights, the anticipation is enough to send Brett into a moaning state of depression. Recently, during the opening hymn of sacrament meeting, Brett came pushed his way down the pew, gave Sara and me a hug and said goodbye. I explained to him that this was the opening hymn and that we still had a ways to go. He told me he knew, but that he was getting his goodbyes done know so he could get out of the meeting that much faster when it ended.
In December Brett had to go in to get a cavity worked on. Since then he has been almost obsessive-compulsive about flossing. He won’t let us forget…or get lazy. Speaking of teeth… Last month Kate gave a great talk in primary. During the talk another mom leaned over to Sara and said “Who’s daughter is that?...The cute one with no teeth?” And last week we had a Hockey game on while the kids and I were wrestling. Brett stopped and exclaimed “Look, he’s missing the same tooth as me?”
Brett snores enough that we are thinking about mentioning it to the doctor. Recently it has gotten bad enough that Scott complains about not being able to get to sleep at night so he’ll come ask me to roll Brett onto his side so he can get to sleep. Last night we were driving home from visiting some friends when Brett told his mom “All my buggers are gone and now I can smell out bof’ my noses.”
Scott is playing basketball and having a good experience with it much to our relief. Brett wants to play so bad he can hardly contain himself each week during the game. Kate has discovered cheerleading and, if she has her way, may never play a competitive sport again…
Next week after church I’m going to ask Scott who would win a swimming race between Superman and Aqua-man…

Christmas fun!

2010-01-03T13:19:00.001-08:00

Santa brought Bendaroos! Have you ever played with them? They are hours of fun, but DONT play with them on granite counter tops..they leave waxing smudges that do not go away..learned that from a friend BEFORE we got them! (thank goodness.) Kate gets the credit for this McDonalds masterpiece.

Do you think the American Girl Doll is happy in her new home? I hope Kate likes her! They have been inseparable since Christmas morning.

We had a magical white Christmas. The snow was very dry, so Ben thought to pack it in buckets to make a snowman since the snow would not roll into a ball. Genius. He looks like he is made out of marshmellows! (the snowman, not Ben...he is made out of STEEL!)

My Christmas baby is 5!

Happy New Year, every body!

Cute Cookie Exchange

2009-12-15T10:49:00.001-08:00

Kate the Snow Queen attend the cutes of cookie exchanges. She and I dipped 48 cookies in choclate and stuck teddy grahams on top...super easy and super yummy!

Ice-Skating!

2009-12-15T10:39:00.000-08:00

Scott skated like a pro within SECONDS of setting his skates on the ice!

Our crazy man Brett can skate/march across the ice with the best of em!

The high was in the 20's so we bundled up and had the rink all to ourselves!

Fun, fun, wintertime fun!!!

The first days of schools...

2009-08-28T08:15:00.000-07:00

Brett and two buddies have just begun preschool. Superhero School for Boys that is! We had a great first week. They are pretty pumped, as you might imagine!

Here is our preschool room. Brett is watching our classroom pets that live in the window well. We called them Super Mice because even after eating the poison our exterminator left for them, they continued to live life uninterrupted. That is until Super Dad killed 6 of them this week! (I guess we will find another class pet!)

And, of course, my two sweet elementary students, on their way the first day of school. We are really enjoying having a school so close we can walk to it!! We love it!

The Very Hungry Catepillar

2009-08-08T09:16:00.001-07:00

Our day began with the reading of Brett's new book The Very Hungry Catepillar. Little did we know, we had a very hungry catepillar of our own!

Kate had captured this little guy the day before. We put a dandelion in his jar and it was GONE (the dandelion) within minutes.

We then headed to the annual Butterfly Festival at Powell Gardens.

Scott wore white to attract the butterflies. I think it worked!

The face does not get better than this...

More butterflies...

2009-08-08T09:10:00.001-07:00

Silly moments with some very silly butterfly hunters.

Rambo the Butterfly Catcher??

Scott wins the award for record time spent catching butterflies. I pulled him away after 45 minutes or so.

Kansas butterflies, anyone?

Which is the barrett and which is the butterfly?

Magical Moments

2009-08-07T07:08:00.000-07:00

I find myself being such a sap these days. The end of summer is coming fast and the beginning of a new school year. I am excited for my kids and all the new adventures the school year will bring, but I miss them and the flexibility our summer schedule allows. This pic just captures a moment, a silly summer afternoon.

Summer of Science #4

2009-08-07T06:35:00.000-07:00

Scott got a crystal growing kit from a friend last Christmas. There have been some very fun experiments we have enjoyed. This particular experiment required Scott to mold his own geode. He made them out of plaster and then we added a solution of purple chemicals. After waiting patiently for a week, we took them out of the solution and this is what we got! They are actually very pretty. As you can also see, Brett was not in the best of moods when we took our pics of the crystals.

Take me out to the BALLGAME!

2009-07-25T09:06:00.001-07:00

Friday night family fun! We had a great time watching the Kansas City Royals lose for the 10th straight game! (Not their best season.) But, our family had a blast.

Three cute baseball fans!

But the best was the fireworks. It was Fireworks Friday and that was well worth the trip out. The only thing better than watching the fireworks was watching our kids faces. Magical!

Take me out to the ballgame, take me out to the crowd! We didn't buy peanuts, but we ate more than our normal intake of candy! Fun memory.

Summer of Science #3

2009-07-16T15:14:00.000-07:00

We like bubbles!! We tried two different recipes for bubble solution and here is our favorite: 1 part Joy 10 parts water and 1/4 part karo syrup. Get some string and a bucket and have some fun!! It works great even with your hands!

The Berry Patch!

2009-07-13T21:05:00.001-07:00

Our trio had a bunch of fun at the berry patch last week, picking blueberries til their fingers were blue (purple). There is a fun berry patch not 15 minutes from our house. It was fun for us to discover. We tried a new recipe for blueberry muffins, but we are still looking for the best muffin recipe ever...feel free to submit one!

Brett us demoing the best way to pick a blueberry.

Kate also demonstrating how to be your cutest while picking blueberries.

Swim Lesson Sweetness

2009-07-07T12:19:00.000-07:00

Brett participated in mommy taught swim lessons..these last two weeks. He and several of his buddies were swimming freestyle all the way across the pool!

Summer of Science Experiment #2

2009-07-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

Rock candy rocks! We had a lot of gooey fun watching our rock candy grow...it took a few days to start and then, after 3 weeks just look at the fun! We decided that next time we make rock candy we will add a little flavoring as well...maybe some peppermint??

Swimmers, take your marks!

2009-06-15T20:13:00.001-07:00

Click on the picture of Kate for a giggle. She ALWAYS finds the camera. Scott and Kate swam in their first meet on Saturday. SO CUTE! I swam for most of my growing up years...til I graduated from high school. I got the biggest kick out of watching my kids have some of the same experiences I had. You gotta love the swim team experience. I told them your biggest competition is the clock! All you gotta do is beat your own best time! ( That is what my mommy used to tell me.) I now try to apply that same principle to folding laundry and putting it away, how fast can I get it done? Not fast enough!! (It is waiting for me upstairs as I type away the night!) Good night and happy folding for me!

Our Summer of Science!

2009-06-06T16:47:00.001-07:00

JUNE begins with Scott's idea for part of our summer. He got a book of Science Experiments and bookmarked each one he would like to try this summer (20). We began with Colorful Carnations! We tried blue, green, yellow and red food coloring. We split some of the stems to see if the colors would split on the flower. They did! The book said the colors would appear on the flowers in a few days...ours only took a few hours. (We may have gone a little overboard on the food coloring) OR we had really thirsty flowers! Now on to the next experiment...Rock Candy! Yum!

Meet me in St. Louis!

2009-05-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

We had a GREAT time in St. Louis last week! What a fun getaway for the fam! We stayed at the Marriot just down from the St. Louis temple..highly reccomend it! We also met our cousins who live in Kentucky at the zoo!

It is a 4 hour drive for each of us...talk about meeting in the middle! Literally! So, we made some memories and have to recommend the movie, "Meet me in St. Louis" with Judy Garland. Fun.

Two in One

2009-05-17T14:47:00.000-07:00

I posted two times in one day! Take that Debs!! I am on a roll. Here is the backyard so green and so wonderful!

Dedicated to Debra

2009-05-17T09:22:00.000-07:00

Debra threatened me that if she tried to get on my blog ONE MORE TIME and still see Scott in a cowboy hat (my post from December) that she may just...She left the threat open, and I decided not to find out what might happen. SO, I now post once more! We have had a great five months of 2009, many firsts have happened. We experienced our first winter in Kansas, although the natives tell us it was a mild one. We loved the snow and the cold and the excuse to drink hot choclate every day!

We have now hit our one year mark and BOY OH BOY, is it ever SPRING! It almost hurts it is so beautiful! I guess I better take a pic or two of the backyard and post it to prove it!! I will let that be my goal for this week!! Stay tuned....

2009, here we come!

2008-12-09T19:17:00.000-08:00

It truly has been a wonderful, adventure filled year for the Kansas Sawayas! We started the year out as Arizona Sawayas. As of May, we were officially Kansas residents. We have loved our time here. We hit the ground running, determined to make the most of this adventure.

Ben enjoys work in Olathe as a finance director for Honeywell.

Sara enjoys each day and takes each day one at a time!

Scott enjoys school, soccer and two new passions; basketball and piano.

Kate enjoys everything pink and being a "mother" to ladybugs and toads alike.

Brett enjoys bouncing out of bed each morning, tackling the day, and dropping into bed each night, falling asleep within minutes.

We enjoy our life, take joy in the journey and look forward to another adventure filled year! Here we come 2009!!

Why does summer have to end?????

2008-08-12T19:48:00.000-07:00

I am going to miss my kids. Kate is going to half day kindergarten and I find my self getting all nostalgic for my buddies. I love my kids! Do we really have to send them out into the world?? I have been really teary eyed this week and find myself plotting ways for Brett and I to hang out at the school...not really, Brett and I are going to have a lot of fun. I am excited to have some one on one with him. I just can't believe Kate is a kindergartener! It seems like once they take this step into elementary school, time starts ticking faster and they begin to really grow up. And then there is Scott, 2nd grader with no front teeth and raring to go! He says he is excited. I think he puts on a tough face sometimes just to protect me. He always is sensitive to my emotions, even if I don't think I am letting on how I am feeling. School year 08-09 here we come!

And We're Back!

2008-07-30T21:27:00.000-07:00

It has taken us forever to get back around to posting! We are now settled into living Kansas style and loving it. Kansas City has been a wonderful surprise. We cannot fathom all the blessings: from our neighborhood to our ward to the schools to new friends. It is good. And it is green! Summer has been super fun. Hiking and biking and swimming have comprised most of the summer months. I am not sure we TRULY want to head back into the school year...the lazy days of summer have been too fun!

2008-05-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

I think I figured out how to add a picture?? We are going to see. We are not in our home yet, work on the house is not complete and we will not move in until May 8th or so!

Trial Run...

2008-05-01T13:39:00.000-07:00

I am a little unsure of how a blog even works, but I wanted to at least attempt one to keep in touch with our loved ones and friends we left behind as we venture out into the great midwest!