Off To The Zoo!

Monday was a great day to head to Des Moines with a bunch of 1st graders to visit the zoo! They were all so excited! Trevor's class is blessed with a great group of "hands-on" parents so there was plenty of supervision. I was in charge of Trevor. That's it. Piece of cake! His best friends, Birk and Bella also had their Moms along so the 6 of us sort of became a group.

The disappointing part of the zoo was that half of it was under construction. I know that they will be great improvements but it didn't help us! There were trucks and construction equipment driving around. Some of the paths were closed so we had to backtrack to get back out of the zoo for lunch. The other problem was that there were a lot of animals that weren't out for our viewing. Here, the kids are looking for the Prairie Dogs, and we never did see them.

We visited the petting zoo and bought a cup of food. Trevor was too chicken to get too close, so one by one, he threw the pieces of food into the pens for the animals.


Crazy kids just kept popping up and down out of this egg....they were wanting to know what it was like to be hatched!

There were so many animals missing that after lunch the kids spent most of their time playing on the playground equipment at the picnic area. We then walked through the gift shop, where all 3 Moms stayed on the same page and refused to buy them anything. 3 Mean Mom! :)

The kids were bored and ready to go home. We made them pose for this picture, and the adults thought it was hilarious. They were confused. Bella asked us "What was that for?" I told her it was for the adults.

HEAR NO EVIL, SEE NO EVIL, SPEAK NO EVIL

They always think they need a goofy picture!

What will these 3 do without each other this summer? They are all hoping to be in the same class next year! (I'm hoping the same thing!)

BIRK, TREVOR AND BELLA

Flash Back-Team Life Savers: Cancer Sucks!

This was the 2007 Relay for Life in Gilbert. It isn't a very big event, but it is completely organized by the FCCLA at Gilbert High School, and I feel like the kids do a great job. The only other Relay that I have done was in Grinnell, and it is a large community event, with very reverent moments. Although the survivors lap and the caretakers lap around the high school track are very reverent, there is also dancing on the front stretch and loud music. I liked to see all of the kids turn out and have fun on a Friday night for a few hours.

My kids have even started to ask when it is each year. They look forward to waking around the track and finding their friends. 2007 is the year that my Aunt was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Her luminary is on the left. The other 2 are for my Dad who is (to date!)a 10 year colon cancer AND lymphoma survivor. (Yes, he had them both at the SAME time!)

Trevor (with his signature sunglasses!) was only 3 this year and I can't even begin to tell you how many trips his little legs took around that track. He was such a trooper and had the time of his life. We kept finding new people to take him around.

This was not my first year to Relay, but it was the first year that I was part of a team with friends and neighbors. We met at my house and made our shirts. Those are Life Savers that we hot glued onto our T-shirts.

Here are the backs of our shirts. ("CANCER SUCKS") Love stencils and fabric paint!! We each picked the type of cancer that had effected us personally and then used the color that is associated with that cancer. I chose blue (colon cancer) and lime green (lymphoma)

My shirt is still hanging in the closet........

Happy Birthday, Abby!

Today is the 17th. birthday of my niece--

ABIGAIL KAY

I just couldn't wait to become an Aunt. I had waited for her for a long time. She was so very loved before we ever laid eyes on her. Before we even knew if she was boy or girl. I was the first person my brother called after Abby was born. (I even beat out the Grandparents!!) After about 18 hours of labor, he called around 12:30 AM to tell me all about her. I remember saying a quick prayer through some tears that everyone was safe.

This is the first time I met her. She was about 12 hours old:
She was such a cutie when she was small, and has grown into a beautiful woman...both inside and out!

Here she is at this year's prom. She was absolutely S.T.U.N.N.I.N.G.!! I wasn't able to see her in person, so she texted me her picture, and I got choked up! She took my breath away. Blake was one lucky guy!! I am CERTAIN that she was the prettiest one there!

Happy Birthday, Abby Girl! Your Aunt Heidi is so proud of the lovely young lady that you have become. You simply light up a room when you walk in. No matter where your dreams take you in this world, you will most definitely make an impact. And don't ever forget that I will always be one of your biggest fans! I LOVE YOU!!

Handsome!

Cale had a band concert a couple of weeks ago, and although I wanted a picture with his trumpet, I had to take what I could get! I'm lucky that I got this much from him, although he was MORE then happy to stand for the photo when I threatened to take the picture AT school in front of his friends!! (Did I mention that it is my goal in life to think of new and creative ways to embarrass my children??)

I'm not sure when he grew up on me! I told him today that I wish I had a dollar every time someone commented about how tall he's gotten. He's getting close to looking me in the eye!

Recital Weekend!

I left Friday morning and did a little shopping in Ankeny. (I did get a later start because I got engrossed in all of the Royal Wedding Coverage...I KNEW that was going to be an issue!!) I ran a few errands and had lunch with Keith and then I headed for Grinnell for my niece's dance recital. Abby is a junior in high school and will turn 17 this week and has been dancing since she was in 1st grade. The only recital I've missed was the year that her family was living in Michigan. I look forward to one of my 2 girl fixes of the year!! (Niece Maddie will have her recital in June!)

Here she is with my brother, Todd. He is so proud of her and I love to watch him as he talks about her and watches her do things. There is no hiding his pride in his little girl!

I am CERTAIN that she was the BEST dancer of the night!! She is every year! :)

Easter

We went to church at our church in Ames on Easter and then headed to Coon Rapids for dinner with Keith's family. I wanted a quick family picture which was nearly impossible thanks to a certain 13 year old! You can tell by this picture that he was not really so thrilled about the idea and was doing his best to distance himself from the rest of the family! Nice try, but this Mama was determined to get a picture!

My boys are getting too big for the Easter egg hunts and all of that. As soon as they got their clothes changed, and we finished eating they had grabbed their bat bags and were headed down the hill to the high school baseball field. My 3 boys had a great time there with Keith, their Uncle Kurt, Papa and their cousin Garret. I think my boys would be happiest if they could just pitch a tent at any baseball field and just live there!

One thing that was still the same was Grandma's bunny cake. The boys look for it whenever we are there for Easter.

Cy's House of Trivia

Last weekend we participated in Cy's House of Trivia with a group of our friends. It is held at Hilton Coliseum and is a fundraiser for the ISU Athletic Department. The first order of business was to come up with a clever name. I think we did OK in that department....

This is our group of easily Cydtracked friends. We had a great time and did a lot of laughing throughout the evening.

Aaron and Lisa Clayberg.....(We knew that nobody would have more fun then Aaron, but we had no idea that he was our ace in the hole! He was just a wealth of useless knowledge!!)

Logan and Brianne Anderson (Although a late addition to our team, they were a great asset! Since Brianne is a librarian, we thought she should have all of the answers....but she informed us that librarians don't have all of the answers....they just know where to find them!)

Andrew Ricklefs and Carrie Thielen (Soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Ricklefs!! Are they just the cutest couple ever?! They are newly engaged and we are so happy for both of them as well as their kids! That's one lucky and happy bunch!)

Heidi and Keith Jensen (OK, that's us and you know that!)

And our hosts and emcees for the evening were Keith Murphy and Andy Fales. You may or may not recognize them from the Channel 13 Sports. Let me just tell you--they are just as entertaining in person as they are on TV. They are great at this gig!

A little background about Cy's House of Trivia....there were 88 tables of Cyclone fans eating and drinking their way through the night. There are 8 rounds of questions with 10 questions in each round. Each round has a different topic...some of this years topics were "Big 80s", "One Hit Wonders" (parts of songs and we had to list the artist), and "Corporate Logos".

For most rounds you are given an "expert" or "celebrity" at your table to help you with your answers. Some of our experts were: Jamie Pollard (ISU Athletic Director)

ISU Women's Basketball Player Kelsey Bolte, who had just been drafted the week before by the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA.

And Shane Burnham--Iowa State's Defensive Tackles Coach. He didn't get to our table until one of the last rounds, and let's just say that he had made the most of the evening! :)

And although this guy never sat at our table, Carrie and I had been staking the situation out so we could get our picture with him! I'm not sure he needs an introduction, but it is the ISU Head Men's basketball coach: Fred Hoiberg, or you can just call him "The Mayor"! And let me just tell you that he's just as cute and polite in person, as he seems on TV. He was like royalty around there and every where he turned someone wanted a picture. He didn't turn anyone down, and HE always said thank-you. A true (adorable!!) gentleman!

Our goal for the evening was to NOT come in last place...and we didn't!! There were 88 tables and we came in 66nd place! I'm pretty certain that some how anyone in the top 10 must have cheated!!

I think that it's safe to say that we all had a GREAT time and are looking forward to doing it all over again next year! ( A year really does seem like a long time to wait!)