Halloween and A Birthday Boy

We took our annual trip to the Tulsa Zoo for HalloZOOeen with some friends. The kids had an interesting time picking out costumes this year! While shopping through the Halloween costumes in the JBF consignment sale this Fall, I came across a leather "biker" jacket. I just knew Kade would be excited to be a "biker dude" for Halloween so I decided to buy it for him, plus it was only $3 bucks! Mckynlee had been telling me for weeks previous to the sale that she wanted to be "Mary Had A Little Lamb". I wasn't quite sure if we could pull this off, but I was determined to try! While browsing through the girl costumes, I found a cute, ruffly, dress w/ matching ruffled pantaloons. Perfect!! I could make this work for Mary Had a Little Lamb and it was exactly Mckynlee's size (and a bargain...$3.00 too!!) Confident I had found the perfect costumes for Kade and Mckynlee, I returned home and announced my findings to the family. They too thought I had found the perfect costumes...until we went shopping for Jacob's costume! He initially said he wanted to be an "Army Guy" for Halloween. Easy enough (so I thought). One evening after school, the kids and I loaded the van for a shopping trip to Target to get Jacob's "Army Guy" costume. While walking down the never-ending aisle of Halloween costumes, Jacob spotted a Spiderman costume, complete with muscles!! That was enough for him to change his mind from Army Guy to Spiderman! We had the discussion that he would HAVE to wear the mask ALL night in order for the costume to be complete. He agreed and we started to leave Target. That is until Kade spotted the Black Spiderman from Spiderman 3 (I later learned the Black Spiderman is the "evil" one??) So a debate began about whether or not Kade should be the black Spiderman. I explain to Kade that he too would HAVE to wear the mask the entire night or he couldn't be the Black Spiderman. Not wanting Kade to feel "left out" (you know...the middle child syndrome) I gave in and let him pick out a Black Spiderman, also complete with muscles. Besides, I had only spent $3.00 on the leather jacket so I really wasn't out anything (I found another use for the jacket anyway...you'll see later in this blog!) So, w/2 happy boys with Spiderman costumes in hand, we leave Target. So far, Mckynlee was still content with her "Mary Had a Little Lamb" costume....until....we made a stop in Wal-Mart on the way home in search of Spiderman gloves to accent the costumes we had just purchased. Spiderman HAS to have gloves you know! As soon as we walked down the Wal-Mart Halloween aisle, Mckynlee spotted a Spider Girl costume and announced to all with in hearing range that she was going to be Spider Girl so she could "fight her brothers"! (Yes, my sweet baby girl!) So, I had already given in to Kade. What kind of mom would I be if I didn't give in to my daughter! How embarrassing it would be for her to be the only Simpson child not in a Spider "person" costume! So you guessed it...she was Spider Girl for Halloween! Don't worry...I did find cute Spider clippys for her hair. I tried to make it as "girly" as possible!

So the moral of my story is...no matter how perfect of a costume I think I have found for my kids, the only "perfect" costume in their eyes is the one they pick out themselves! So much for my thrifty, early Halloween costume shopping!

I have to say, the did make very cute Spider people. In case you were wondering, we did find the Spiderman gloves and all was well Halloween night!

My "Spider Children'

On the way to the Zoo

Trick-or-Treating w/their friends

Exactly a week after Halloween, my baby boy Kade turned 4!! I can't believe he is 4!! He had a Cool "Rock-n-Roll" birthday party with his friends! This was his first "big kid" party that we allowed him to invite several friends.

When Kade woke up the morning of his birthday, he ran in to my bedroom and woke me up to show me how much he had grown overnight! He announced, "Look mom! I'm so big now because I am 4! See how tall I am?" Yes, he is big. Too big! I'm so proud of him and the big boy that he is!

I'm glad to say that this birthday was uneventful in comparison to last year's birthday! On November 7, 2008, the day Kade turned 3, we spent the evening in the ER getting stitches in his head! I kept reminding him all day Saturday to be extra careful so we wouldn't get birthday stitches this year! Whew...we made it! :)

Kade w/his "Birthday Bear" (he takes his pic w/this bear every year on his birthday!)

Kade w/brother and sister on his birthday!

Kade w/his cake

(Notice the rockin' leather jacket...yep, that's the one. It makes a nice Rock-n-Roll jacket too!)

Mom, Dad and Kade

Kade's friends!!

All the cousins...Mckynlee, Corey, Clay, Kade,

Jacob and Drew

Kade's favorite present....Transformer "Bumblebee" costume w/laser gun!

(Thanks Aunt Jessica, Corey and Clay!!)

The Last 2 Months in Pictures

As promised...here are some pictures to bring you up to speed! Enjoy!!

Zoo Trip w/Cousin Drew

Mckynlee's 1st Big Girl Haircut

The "After" Picture

Kade's new "Big Boy" Haircut

(He called it a "Jacob Haircut" and was so excited to spike it up w/gel!)

Jacob's "Meet the Teacher" day

1st Grade Teacher - Mrs. Causey

Jacob's 1st day of 1st Grade!

Kade's 1st Day of School!

Mckynlee's 1st Day of School!

My School Babies! Aren't they cute? I love my class!

Mckynlee's 1st Day of Ballet Class

Mckynlee in front of Miss Kristy's Dance Studio waiting for Ballet Class to begin!

Mckynlee's Ballet Teachers - Ms. Sydney & Ms. Megan

Visiting the Tulsa State Fair

My Dare Devils taking a ride on the Fair Train

Jacob got to meet Frank Mitchell - Channel 8 Meteorologist.

(Last year he met & got on t.v. with Travis Meyer & Alan Crone from Channel 6)

Visiting the Tulsa Zoo during Fall Break

Hanging out with friends - Andrew & Jonathan

Our Annual Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

Jacob took this pic of us...he's a pretty good photographer!

I'm Back!!! Remember Me?

Told ya it would be a while before you heard from me again once school started! I wasn't kidding, huh? I've been a good girl and spent (almost) every free moment I've had on the computer working on National Board stuff instead of blogging, so sorry you've missed out on a few months of the happenings in the Simpson household. I've made it to Fall Break so I have a small window of time to catch up on things that I used to be able to do pre-National Board candidate.

So....just a quick "catch-up":

School is going great! I LOVE my class this year! Sweet kids...wonderful parents!!

Jacob is loving 1st grade! He has an awesome teacher and has made lots of new friends, which comes quite easy for him. We went to his parent/teacher conference and were pleased to hear how responsible and independent he is at school and that he is beginning to read on a 2nd grade level already! Yea Jacob! Fall Baseball is winding down and we're gearing up for another season of Upward Basketball!

Kade is loving school as well and now gets to attend a Preschool at the Methodist Church in Wagoner 2 days a week...the same place as his "daycare". He is becoming such a little man! He will be 4 in less than a month! He has found a love for writing, drawing and coloring! I believe we have a little artist on our hands! His self-portraits are far better and more detailed than any I've seen out of my own 4 & 5 year old preschool class and his coloring technique is unbelievable! He can also write his name very well and knows how to spell his name, "Jacob" and "mom" and "dad". He's working on spelling Mckynlee's name, but I'm afraid it's going to take even Mckynlee herself a while to learn to spell her own name! :) Kade already knows all of his letters and can write them oh so well! Even as a Preschool teacher...I find myself in awe of what he's already picking up!

To say Mckynlee is loving school would be an understatement...she is my social butterfly...yes, even more so than Jacob! Just as Norm entered the bar on Cheers, so does Mckynlee enter her school each morning to a chorus of "Mckynlee!!!!!!" Her friend (who happens to be a boy), Peanut is still in her class. She's becoming so big! She started Ballet class in August and has fallen in love with dancing and her dance teachers. A few weeks ago after leaving ballet class, Mckynlee asked me, "Mom, when I'm a grown-up girl can I be just like Ms. Megan and Ms. Sydney?" When we're at home, she puts on her Elmo CD and dance skirt and performs a mini recital in her bedroom! I love it!

So....that's a highlight of the last couple of months. Sorry no New Kids pictures this time! (I know you're deeply disappointed as am I!)

While I have the house to myself tomorrow, I will try to download some pics and post here! With a visit to the Pumpkin Patch, Halloween and Kade's 4th b-day in the very near future...I'll try to stay caught up a little better!

Happy Fall Break!

Jenn

I Survived!!!

I did it! I survived the 1st sleepover at my house! After going to a sleepover last year, Jacob has begged for me to let him have one at our house. We attempted to schedule one for his 6th birthday in April, but never managed to find a free weekend that he and his friends weren't playing baseball or soccer, so we put it off until summer. Last week the realization was made by both Jacob and myself, that we STILL had not had his sleepover as promised. So...I had to stick by my words. With school starting in a week we were running out of time so it was now or never!

We invited 3 of Jacob, Kade & Mckynlee's best friends over for our very first Sleepover! They had a blast! They played outside, inside, had Nerf gun fights, made pizza, ate sno cones and the fun goes on and on! Needless to say it was craziness in my house...2 six year olds, 1 five year old, 1 four year old, 1 three year old and 1 two year old! (all boys except Mckynlee!!) I must have been out of my mind when I agreed to this! Despite my uncertainty, everything turned out great! There had to be a few "reminders" throughout the evening, but all in all we made it out in one piece! The kids even went to sleep! Granted it was midnight before they all dozed off, but they did fall asleep!

I must say I have a greater appreciation of my parents for all of the sleepovers they endured for my pleasure. Thanks mom and dad! I owe you BIG TIME! I'm not sure what would be worse...a house full of wild rambunctious boys or giggly squealing girls like my parents had to put up with. I guess I'll find that out with time...I'm sure this wasn't my last!!

Here's a few pics of our evening:

Our "occupants" for the evening: Jacob, Zach, Isaac, Cooper, Kade & Mckynlee

Making pizza...(notice Mckynlee is eating the cheese instead of putting it on her pizza!)

Eating pizza...


"Goodnight!!" (look how calm and sweet they look!)

The Best Weekend, EVER!!

Wow! Where to start? Mike and I have been able to enjoy some much needed vacation time. Before I get to the "best weekend ever"part of this blog, let me fill you in on the last couple of weeks!

We were able to take our annual trip to Branson with our "game night" friends (minus children). Yes...a grown-up trip! Our main agenda is to have lots and lots of time to hang out together and ample time at the pool! We were able to enjoy 3 1/2 days of shopping, lying around the pool, talking and a whole lot of nothing! There is also a piano bar at Branson Landing called "Ernie Biggs" that we make a point to visit every year! We always have so much fun there! We're so blessed to have such a wonderful group of friends in our lives! They're more like a 2nd family to us!

Our annual "FRIENDS" picture in front of the fountain at Branson Landing

Welcome to Missouri!

Me & Mike @ the fountain


Just the girls...Me, Ali & Misy


After returning home from Branson, the very next day we took off for our yearly trip to Dallas/Arlington, Texas. Being the baseball fans that we are, particularly Rangers fans, we've made a point every year to attend at least 1 Texas Rangers baseball game in Arlington. I think in the past 10-12 years or so there have only been a couple of times we weren't able to make it. My parents go with us as often as they can. This year, our Texas trip was 2-fold for me. I found out that the New Kids on the Block were going to be in concert the same weekend we were considering seeing the Rangers play! ;) (More on that later...) Anyway, me, Mike, my parents and the kids were on our way to Texas! We had to pull over for a "pit stop" at the Travel Center just over the Texas border and so my dad had to make sure that everyone there knew that he is an OU fan and NOT a Longhorn fan. (see pic below)

While there, we took a tour of The Ballpark in Arlington. The last time we took the tour, Jacob was barely 3, Kade was 8 months old and Mckynlee was in my belly! We wanted to tour the field again now that all of the kids were old enough to enjoy it. When we first walked in to the ballpark, Kade was in awe! There's such an awesome feeling of walking in a Major League Baseball stadium for the first time and seeing the field. It's one you can't explain, but know what I'm talking about if you're a true baseball fan whose been to a major league ballpark. Despite the number of times I've walked into a major league park, I still get goosebumps each time! Jacob has had this experience before, but this was Kade's "real" first time to see it for himself. I wish I had a picture of the look on his face! As part of our tour, we were able to go down to the Rangers locker room (but not inside since it was a game day). We also got to sit in their dugout and visit their indoor practice facilities. The boys absolutely loved it!

Jacob & Kade outside their "future" locker room!

Family Pic in the Rangers' dugout!



We were able to catch 2 Rangers games while in Arlington. Although the Rangers lost both games, we had a great time! There's not much that can top being at a Texas Rangers game in the middle of the summer! (Except maybe one thing for me....)

Pre-game Pic!

Go Rangers!

Jacob-all smiles!

Mckynlee loved dancing to the music between innings!

Daddy & Kade (K is showing off his gum)!


As much fun as I had in Branson and at the Rangers' game, this is what made my Texas trip the "Best Weekend EVER"!!

Not only did my friends and I get to attend our 3rd New Kids on the Block concert in 8 months, but we got to meet them! If that's not cool enough, there's more! Here's my dream weekend in a nutshell (and the events leading up to it):

Concert #1: I reunite with my 2 best friends from Jr. High/High School to attend a NKOTB concert in Kansas City. This was part of the their reunion tour. We thought it would just be fun to go and relive our Jr. High years. FYI...we LOVED the New Kids and was convinced that somehow we would marry them! We would have done anything to meet them back in the day! We went to the concert and had a great time. We ended up having great seats (I think 10th or 11th row). We were content that we got to see them again close to 18 years after seeing them for the 1st time in Tulsa in 1990! We never thought we'd get the opportunity to do this again and we were glad we went to the concert. It was so much better than we had anticipated!

Concert #2: Out of the blue...the New Kids added another leg to their reunion tour which included Tulsa! We HAD to go to this one since it was so close! How could we pass up this concert?! We contemplated buying VIP packages this time which included backstage passes, but after taking in to consideration how much it would cost and being afraid that if we did meet them they might not be friendly which would totally burst our fantasy world bubble, we talked our self out of the VIP package and opted for plain 'ol tickets. Still good seats, but not backstage! The concert was even better than the 1st. Again, we NEVER thought we would have the chance to see another concert again. We did regret not buying the VIP passes and just knew that we let our 1 chance to live out our childhood dream of meeting the boys slip by. Oh well!

However, just a couple weeks after their Tulsa concert, Chanci called me on my way to school (on my birthday) and told me they had just announced NKOTB was doing a Summer Tour and would be in Dallas! Close enough! We knew that this was it. We HAD to buy VIP passes this time, no question, no thinking about it! We couldn't regret letting yet another chance to meet them go by! Luckily the tickets went on sale the next day (April 1st) so we didn't have time to analyze what we were going to do. At 1:00 (the exact time the passes were to go on sale) I was at my computer and on my way to purchasing 3 VIP packages! I've never typed so fast in my life! When I hit "send" and received my confirmation on my screen that said "Congratulations on your purchase of 5-star VIP package for NKOTB..."I nearly passed out! Did I really just buy backstage passes? Are we really going to meet them?? I called Chanci and Leanna and we immediately began to scream like 14 year-olds again! We did it! In less than 4 months we would be meeting Jordan, Joey, Jon, Donnie & Danny. No way! At least we had time to let it all sink in! By the way...the passes sold out in less than 10 minutes!

Now that brings us to about a week and a half ago...

Before leaving for Dallas, my friends (Chanci & Leanna) and I found out that Danny was hosting a party in Dallas the night before the concert in honor of his mom (who died of breast cancer) as a fundraiser for the Komen foundation. Of course we had to go! We knew Danny would be there, but wasn't counting on the others to show up. About an hour after arriving, we find out that all 5 guys are on their way! A few minutes later in walk the New Kids on the Block! This couldn't be happening! So we partied with the New Kids! When we arrived back at the hotel, we discovered that they were actually staying in our hotel! No way! Better than that, they were on the same floor as us! We never saw them come out of our rooms (we didn't stalk them that much) but we did sit at the pool with Jon. How cool are we?

The next day, was the Meet & Greet backstage and concert! I swear I was in a dream all day. We weren't really going to meet them, were we? We arrived at the venue about a half hour early. (I wasn't about to take the chance of being late!) While waiting, we met some other girls, who we've actually become friends with and have stayed in touch since then! While waiting for our Meet & Greet, I starting wondering what I was actually going to say. I just didn't want to pass out or throw up on their shoes! It all seemed to go by so very fast! As part of our VIP package, we were able to attend a pre-show BBQ, but I wasn't in the least bit interested in eating. How could I knowing that Jordan Knight was just a few steps away?? We were the 3rd group to go back. Other girls who had done this at previous concerts had told us to go to whomever you wanted to talk to the most and have your picture by first that there wouldn't be much time to "mingle". Fine...I had a game plan. I was going for Jordan and nothing or no one could get in my way! When they opened the door to let us in I swear the entire room went blank except for Jordan! I remember scanning the room until my eyes focused on him and then off I went, straight to Jordan! He was very sweet and picked me up to give me a huge hug! Awwwwww....I was in dreamland. I really couldn't believe that this was happening! We talked, but I honestly don't remember what I told him other than I've loved him for 20 years (I know, cheesy)! We took 2 pictures got hugs from everyone and then it was time to leave. They were all so nice! (and cute!!) I remember talking a little to the other guys, but couldn't tell you exactly what I said! It was worth the wait! We definitely have NO regrets this time! The concert was the best yet...better than #1 & #2, plus we had 5th row seats! While at the concert we found out about an "after party" at the same club where we attended the party the night before, so of course we had to go! We met up with our newly found NKOTB friends from the concert!

It's going to take a long time to top that weekend!!

Here are the pics from our Meet & Greet:

Me, Chanci & Leanna waiting to meet our guys!

Yes...we went all out w/customized shirts this time!



Here it is...the long awaited picture of me & Jordan Knight!!

This was the picture we dreamed of taking 20 years ago!

Leanna, Jordan, Me, Chanci & Joey!


Here's our entire Meet & Greet Photo: