Say Yes to THE Dress!!

So, I admit it....I have a HUGE fascination with Princess Diana.  I have loved her from the moment she and Prince Charles announced their engagement back in February of 1981.  I watched the royal wedding, I read and cut out any articles I could find about her.  I have TONS of books, photos, clippings etc regarding her and her life.  LOVE. HER.

I have longed to go to England, to be able to see her family home, and where she is buried.  I even have tickets to Althorp in an album when they first opened it after setting up a Diana museum there.  I am SOO going there someday!!  

I have been watching the coverage of her son, Prince William's upcoming wedding to Kate Middleton with great interest.  Can't wait to watch it on TV!  Every week the Today show has a segment on the royal wedding, and I watch it on my computer since I am at work during the day.  To my surprise, they had Princess Diana's wedding dress at their studio last week.  They talked about a traveling exhibit that comes to the US once per year that THE dress is part of.  Oh, how I have wanted to see this!!!  It has never been even close to coming here, so I have not been able to go.  To my HUGE surprise, they announced it was coming to KANSAS CITY, and opening on March 4!!!!  

OH. MY. GOODNESS!!!!!!

My Mom was the first person I called.  She had a Dr. appt in Kansas City scheduled for .....yes! March 4!!!!  I was going to see THE Dress!!!!!!!

The exhibit is entitled, "Diana, A Celebration" and it is currently on display at Union Station in Kansas City.  This is the view from outside:

 The outside banner:

Proof I was there!!  Haha!

This is "THE Dress!!"  (So the pictures are from my phone... they are not the best quality, but I have proof I was THERE!!)  The dress is in a HUGE glass case (there may, or may not have smudge marks all around it from my nose being pressed up against the glass!!  haha!)

This is from the very back of the glass case at the end of the 25 foot train.  

The exhibit also includes 28 of her dresses and photographs of her wearing them.  So interesting to see them in person.  Her tiara, shoes, etc are also included.  There are family albums with all of the actual photos in them, childhood items, family videos, and letters she wrote.  There is also a room devoted to her death, and all of the many condolence books are on display.  The original copy of Candle in The Wind by Elton John is there, and it is playing in the room.  So very sad.  There is the copy of her brother, Charles, Earl Spencer's speech given during her funeral service, with parts crossed out, and notes.  It was so surreal to be right there with all of the things I have seen pictures of, right there.  

I know she was just another person, but she really was someone who I have always admired.  It was a dream to get to see it all.

I am going back before it goes back home to England in June!!  Anyone wanna go?  :-)

It's Great to be 8!! Happy Birthday Tearney!

My little girl is 8 today!!  Tearney was super excited last evening when her cake arrived courtesy of her best birthday friend, Kassi.  You see, Kassi filled in for mom one year when I was at the hospital with Mylee.  Ever since then, Kassi is the official cake baker!  She has topped each year with an awesome cake, and this year was no different.  Tearney was SOOO excited, and hollered, "my cake is here!!"  

A picture of the "Cake Bosses" (plus Jentree) and the flower cake.  It looks awesome!!  Tearney couldn't wait to show it off to her Dad and brothers when they got home. 

  

Tearney, I just love your smile!  You are so happy, and have the kindest heart.  You are always seeing the best in everyone, and you love to help out in any way.  You try so hard at everything you do, even when it is something you may not enjoy.  You absolutely LOVE to paint and draw.  If it has to do with art, you are right there!  You handled your broken arm with such bravery, and you never complained ONCE the whole 8 weeks you had that cast on!!!  I have never seen anything like it. 

We love you bunches, and hope the next year brings nothing but happiness to you!!

 

Happy 11th Birthday Calder!!

Calder is 11 years old today!  He is SOOOO excited for his birthday!  You see, he rarely gets too worked up over very much.  He is a pretty quiet guy, and usually goes with the flow.  Not much gets him worked up, but boy, bring on a birthday, and he is ready to party!  :-)

Calder is really pretty quiet, and a guy with few words--unless you find a topic he is really interested in.  He is so willing to help out, and is so incredibly kind with his younger sisters...even on many occasions when I am sure he would rather not be!  He still loves animals of every kind, and is always asking if he can bring some new type of creature home.  

We love you Calder!  I hope this next year brings everything you want and more in life!

Tearney's Newest Accessory

Tearney had an appointment with the doctor yesterday to check on her arm.  All is looking good, and it was time to switch to a new cast.  She got her wish......

 

Blue with a red stripe.  She LOVES it!   It was a pretty popular sight at the doctor's office.  Everyone was coming in to check it out.  I will say, colors aside, it is the coolest cast I have seen.  :-)

Christmas 2010 Highlights

Christmas 2010 was full of fun, traditions, and making new memories:

Mylee and her new baby

 

 Calder

 

 Tanner

 

 A tradition every year--Reading "The Night Before Christmas," and "The Polar Express."  This year, the kids read along with me.  :-)

   

Hanging the Santa Key outside on the mailbox so Santa can get into our house since we don't have a chimney.  VERY IMPORTANT!! :-)

Picture on the stairs.  They were all laughing at Willie, who was peeking through the French Doors.  Then, off to bed after getting a plate ready for Santa.

 Christmas morning--Santa was here!

 

Makenna

Tearney and her Go-Go Pet.

Jentree 

 

Mylee talking to Uncle Brent via Skype.  She was thanking him for the Elmo camera. 

  

It was great fun, and now for the clean up!!

First Wrestling of 2010-11

 Tanner and Calder participated in their first wrestling tournament for this season on Saturday.  It was in JC, so it was nice and close.  Both boys did well for it being their first outing.  Tanner even survived his first time wrestling a girl.  :-)  He wasn't quite sure what to do--he asked me, "What do I do, Mom?"  I told him to pretend it was a boy!  He won, so that ended up well.  ha!

Calder

 

Tanner

 

Showing off their hardware:  Tanner 2nd Place, Calder 4th Place.  Way to go boys!

Jentree's First Program

Jentree has been sooo excited this week for her very first Christmas Program.  She was PUMPED!!  She would practice her songs for anyone who would sit still long enough to listen.  So, today was the day in her mind.  She has sat through countless programs for her brothers and sisters, and her moment had arrived!!

 

 They performed a version of the Nativity, and she was Mary.  She took her role very seriously as you can see in the photo.

 

 She was so serious in fact, that baby Jesus was not wrapped in his swaddling clothes for a bit, and was wearing his birthday suit!  She got a little caught up in the whole moment, and apparently did not carry out her motherly duties!  haha!

 

It was a very cute program, and to top it off, she got to see Santa!!  Nothing could top that!

Third Grade Christmas Program Time

 Makenna had her 3rd Grade Christmas program tonight.  It was really cute, and very fun to watch.  She loves to sing, and even got to do a little dancing too!  She was also one of the narrators for the program and did a great job!

 

 Dancing away!

 

 All smiles after the concert.

Not Exactly The "Break" We Were Looking For!

Apparently things were way too quiet around here, so we thought we should liven them up a bit?!  Ugh.. Poor Tearney was the delegate chosen by her siblings to be the accident victim this time.  On Sunday, she fell off Jentree's bed, and broke her left arm.  One would think that perhaps she was acting out the whole, "Monkeys Jumping On The Bed" poem, but alas, no.  Just was trying to step off the bed, and her foot got caught on the footboard (how aptly named!), and down she went.  Poor girl!  She was a trooper through it all, and has one MASSIVE tolerance for pain!!!

I have included the x-ray of her arm, so if that isn't something that you can look at while drinking or eating, you may want to quickly move to the second picture down!

Nope, not a bird....just Tearney's arm.  Kind of looks like a dinosaur doesn't it?  That is what she thought!  OUCH!

  

The ER doctor tried to set it, but was not successful, so she had to have surgery.  Here she is in her bed modeling her lovely PURPLE cast.  Actually, she reallllly wanted a KU color (red or blue), but since the hospital is located right across the street from K-State, they did not seem to have those colors in stock.  Hmmm...

They were able to get it into place without having to pin it--YIPPEE!!  He did say we have to watch it very closely the next few weeks as it could slip out of place.  So....she has to take it easy.  She did great through the surgery, but had a reaction to the anesthesia and couldn't keep anything down.  That got us an automatic sleepover.  Fun stuff I tell you......

 She was much better today, and kept that breakfast down like a champ!  So, we were able to be set free again!  You can see her pretty cast (she actually likes the color purple, it is just the whole KSU thing she isn't too fond of--hahaha!).  The stripes on it are actually tape.  They had to saw her cast as she has a huge amount of swelling from getting it back into alignment.  This was already planned to allow for the cast to not be so tight and cause problems.  The tape helps hold it together. She will get a new cast in a couple of weeks.

We are hoping that this satisfies the kids' need for excitement around here for a good long time!!!  :-)  Or, maybe we could encourage them to find ways much more fun than hospital visits to spend our free time?!?!  haha!

Happy 5th Birthday Jentree!!

Jentree is 5 today!  And let me tell you--she is EXCITED!  She LOVES birthdays, and is very happy to tell everyone she meets that it is her special day.  

Seems like you should still be 4 months old! 

 

You took dance class last year for the first time, and really liked it.  You are going to pre-school three days a week, and love it there.  You so enjoy playing with all of your new friends.  You and Mylee are the best of friends, and you two can play all day long together and not have a problem in the world.  

You usually have a smile, but if you are in a bad mood--watch out!!  :-)  We love you to bits, and can't wait to see what this next year has in store for you!  Happy Birthday!!