21 Years

As of yesterday, Brian and I have been together for 21 years and married for close to 17 of them!  This day usually brings me gorgeous tulips which is my absolute favorite flower ever, sometimes we can squeeze in a meal out minus kiddos, and we are also reminded how fast time flies.  I had to actually do the calculation a few times because I wasn’t sure 21 years was correct.  I’m a bit of a second guesser/double checker!  Much to Brian’s dismay.  He frequently says I have a PhD in everything.  😉

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Just to add to the ever-mounting events that make me feel old, Jake visited the middle school he will attend next year for lunch yesterday.  We are pretty sure he spent about $30 in the lunch line – chicken strips, a breaded chicken sandwich, beef jerky, donuts, and milk.  Half of which, probably made it in the trash can because he didn’t have enough time to eat after spending so much time in the line.  Let’s chalk this up to a learning experience!  I’m hoping he will take Morgan’s advice and bring his lunch each day instead!

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Trey McKee, Jake, Nolan Sullivan at Prairie Trail Middle School

 

Opening Day at the K

We have been fortunate enough to get out to Kauffman Stadium to see the Royals on opening day for several years.  Ok so maybe last year didn’t work out for us…remember when the tickets went unused in Brian’s pocket while his Bulldogs pulled out a championship win!?  oops!

We are definitely ‘Raised Royal’ as they are saying now with the new slogan here in KC…

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Morgan had already left for school when this was taken but she was supporting in her Royals gear as well 🙂

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Even though they didn’t pull out a win today, the weather was gorgeous and the fans never disappoint with their passion for the Royals.  Opening day is a very big draw around here!  I saw one of the craziest outfits yet and I’m kicking myself for not taking a picture (right, Jamie!?)!  You’ll just have to take my word for it and imagine this in your brain…this girl had on extremely large furry, striped legwarmers.  I wonder why her boyfriend didn’t tip her off that it looked like a really bad Halloween costume?!

We enjoyed a big tailgate with food, drinks, and a great live band!  Brian’s clever friend decided to put this little pic collage together.  Thanks BG for making us look so cool.

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Happy baseball season everyone!

Tulsa – The End

We played our last game Sunday morning and despite our best efforts, we lost 1-0.  So we ended the tourney 0-1-2 and overall I was very pleased.  Every game was close which means we were evenly matched.  Although, it’s hard to look at the bright side, when you are an ultra competitive 11 year old…we both agree that this weekend was super fun.

So my little Tulsa vacation is over, my bottle of wine is still full because we had minimal downtime, I have a stomach ache from eating out for 3 days, my wallet is recovering from the constant overuse, but I’m still smiling ear to ear because I got the opportunity to spend some one on one time with my Jakers!   This weekend was a blast for me and I’m going to give myself a pat on the back for rocking it getting us everywhere we needed to be on time (if not early), and keeping us right on track.  That’s my OCD kicking in…

We hustled out of town immediately following our game, never stopped, and pulled straight in to catch the end of Drew’s baseball game.  We were hoping to advance to that championship game as well but it wasn’t meant to be.  As we always say, one bad inning really kills you.  Needless to say, I was thrilled to see Drew and my girls!  We figured out that they really are not used to me being gone!  Maybe I should scoot out a little more often as it seems to make them like me a little more!

Here’s a few final shots of Jake in the Tulsa Cup…

IMG_3835He almost got one here!  The goalie took him out hard to the ground which caused a tough hit on the hip and the ball went just barely left of the goal.  The take-down resulted in a penalty in the box and our team missed the PK.  ugh!IMG_3836IMG_3838IMG_3839IMG_3840

Here’s my super boring passenger for the 4 hour trek home!  Thank you Jake for an awesome weekend and for giving it your all.  I will gladly be your date to any future tourneys.  You’re just going to need to step up your game in the ‘entertaining the driver’ department!

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And look at this adorable note and art from Reece that greeted me when I arrived home. Love you Reecie Cups and thank you for missing me 😉

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XOXO,  Mom

 

Tulsa-Part II

Somehow I have accumulated a ton of soccer boys in our room (all of them I think!).  I’m happy to have them but I must say they smell like boys (and they haven’t even played a game yet), occasionally they talk in a fake British accent, and discuss girlfriends or lack thereof.  Oh heavens, I’m not ready for all this!  Jake set up a PS4 in our room so we have drawn a crowd and if we don’t get kicked out, we are sure to get a noise complaint at any second.  I might have to pour myself a glass of wine and it’s only 10 am.

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We’ve also played a little parking lot soccer…didn’t know there was such a thing, but with this group, there is!

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It’s actually a beautiful day here and Jake and I have a lovely  view from our room…

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I’m kidding!  In the far distance there is water…but for the most part it’s a gigantic Wal-Mart.  Many of the boys have been walking over there for entertainment and buying random snacks and stuff.  Jake never asked to go over there probably because he knew my answer would be a resounding NO!  He’s a smart boy…sometimes.

A better view is out the front lobby of the hotel which is this magnificent praying hands sculpture in the entrance of Oral Roberts University.  It’s very impressive!

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FINALLY it’s time for some soccer…the reason we are here right!?  The first game was a physical one against an Oklahoma team.  A windy and warm 86 degree day and we tied 1-1.  Most of us were pretty thrilled with this outcome as this team has won many tournaments in the past.

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After the game we met up  with the team at Buffalo Wild Wings for a late lunch.  I’m not going to lie, I’m a bit of a food snob (right, dad!?).  BWW would never be my top choice of an eatery, but Jake loves it so I’m up for whatever makes my guy happy.

IMG_7242 (1).JPGWe did have a little bit of drama in there when the manager discovered that some of our boys had smuggled in Jersey Mike’s subs.  I’m pretty sure we are now officially banned from this restaurant in all states.  He even posted a sign on all the doors saying no outside food allowed.  oops!  Let’s just pretend like that never happened.

I’ve now spent about $900 on toll roads going back and forth to this soccer complex and I may have a warrant out for my arrest for blowing through several of them.  I’m sorry…I don’t always have exact change for .40 or .85 cents!  Come on Oklahoma…are you serious with these tolls!?  I will not be sad to never see another coin in my lifetime!  I’m already stressing out if I have enough to get me through tomorrow!

Game two was against another very talented team and we are on the field that Jake played one of the best games I’ve ever seen him play (2 years ago).  It will forever stick out in my mind.  He played so hard again today, scored a goal and they tied this Oklahoma club team 3-3.  It was a hard fought game among surmountable conditions.  The wind was gusting so hard I’m surprised some of them didn’t blow right off the field.  They couldn’t even keep the ball still to kick it off!  Another tie was not what we hoped for because it makes it a long shot to advance past our game tomorrow morning.

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Jake, I absolutely love watching you play and I’m so happy to be here with you this weekend!  I feel very blessed!

We had a quick 45 minutes to shower and walk over to our team dinner at Zio’s across the street.  80 people jammed in a back room that was a million degrees.  ugh…not ideal conditions, but I did get to catch up with some of my friends from our old team (the 2006 boys), we had a nice meal, and I have to hand it to the staff…what an undertaking to accommodate all these people ordering off the menu at once.  yikes!  By a shear miracle our bill was correct and we made it out of there about 2.5 hours later.  By the way, even if the bill had been $100 I probably would’ve paid it anyway, just to to be done with it!

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We did have quite a laugh when they decided to open the back door right by where I was sitting and a giant gust of wind came through which caught my hair.  The dads busted into singing Whitesnake’s “here I go again…on my own…”  Remember that song when Tawny Kitean is blowing in the wind out of the car window in the music video? Ok I’m totally dating myself here because I think that video released in 1987, but it was quite hilarious!  I’ll probably never live that one down!  It could be a “you had to be there” type of moment to get the humor.

Meanwhile, Brian is doing an awesome job keeping me updated on Drew’s baseball and soccer tourney games and he’s had 2 wins and a tie – so a great day for Drew boo!  The only bad part is, he now has to choose between his baseball and soccer tourney tomorrow as all the games happen at once.  ugh!  And it appears Morgan got to choose tonight’s dinner spot…Salty Iguana baby…that girl loves Mexican restaurants.  Or should we basically say, she loves cheese dip and chips!  Miss these cuties!

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Pajama Party

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Ok I’m ashamed to admit that several people in the family were dreading another music program at Manchester Park.  Seems like they pop up often and generally they are not the greatest.  ugh…I can’t believe I just said that.  This one was a first ever 1st grade music program.  So it could either be super cute or an epic fail.  And with Reece, she can either be amazing or a complete disaster.  I know she was well prepared because she had been practicing at home a ton and SO EXCITED.   Every day she would come home from school talking about it and anxiously awaiting the real deal.

I’m here to report that Reece rose to the occasion and stole the show!  She really got into this program with multiple mom’s pointing out her performance skills!  She knew every single word and motion and performed it with more enthusiasm than I’ve ever seen.  If only I could get that enthusiasm in the morning getting ready for school!!  It takes quite some time for her to snap into a normal mood for the day (right kids!?)

The theme of the program was a Pajama Party and all the lyrics were so cleaver!  Sorry Jake and Drew but these first graders put the older grades to shame!

I’m wondering if she has a future in the performing arts!?  I have lots of pictures that I’m dying to share…

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She had an adorable little speaking part…you go girl!

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Reece, we are so proud of you!!  All of your hard work really showed.

Tulsa or bust!

At 2:00 p.m. today I scurried out of town with my two besties, Jake and Aidan.  We are headed to Tulsa for these cuties to compete in a soccer tourney and I couldn’t be happier! I left behind Morgan in Branson performing in an orchestra concert, Drew competing in a soccer and baseball tourney (yikes!), and Reece in a soccer game.  This time I think I got the better end of the deal!!  Don’t get me wrong, I do hate missing all that is going on in KC but spending some quality time with Jakers is really awesome!

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Jake had their seats already reclined with the foot rests up and snacks between them…this is the life I’m telling you!!  Love you boys!

We have enough gluten, carbs, and sugary snacks packed to send us straight to the endocrinologist on Monday or at least the diet aisle at the store!  I’m thrilled to be a part of this journey with these boys and embracing every ‘smelly boy’ minute.  We made it straight through to Tulsa by 5:30p.m., unloaded enough bags for a week (I’m really not sure why Jake and I are the only ones that have a TON of stuff),  went to a Mexican dinner with soccer friends, and spent some time in the pool.  Love these families and the memories created here (Tim, I’m your girl, if you ever need margaritas smuggled out of  a restaurant in my backpack!)

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Only in Oklahoma do you run across a truck with dual giant Scooby Doo stickers!!

3.7.17 Tulsa Soccer Tourney (2)I laughed so hard when I pulled up behind this truck, I couldn’t help but take a picture! Jake and Aidan were mostly silent during our trip and engrossed in a movie so I had to find my own entertainment!

Remember when Drew was obsessed with Scooby Doo??  Here’s a flashback photo of him at his Scooby Doo 3rd birthday party which was SUPER fun by the way!!

How did I get from driving to Tulsa to Scooby Doo…I love spinning off into any subject. Thank you random Oklahoma truck for reminding me of Drew’s 3rd birthday!

In the meantime, Brian has been holding down the fort at home and apparently spending some quality time at Freddy’s!!  We will keep that a secret from Jake since that’s his all-time fave!

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More to come on our weekend journey!  Go Fusion!

Reece tid bits

You probably know by now, our Reecie is quite a character.  She really keeps us on our toes and we may have a few wrinkles and gray hairs now, but I wanted to share just a few recent photos and Reece tid bits.

Congrats, Reece, on passing all your math facts, getting a 95% on your math test, and getting the Pink Thunder award for being the best listener at soccer practice this week! You should be really proud of yourself!

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This girl is really squirrly when it comes to taking pictures…thank goodness my brother didn’t give up on her like I wanted to!  He wrestled her into this funny photo…3.30.17 Morgan 8GR Ensemble concert (7)

I was volunteering in Reece’s classroom yesterday and noticed she had written these precious notes to her teacher and they were hanging up in the classroom.  awwww, what a sweet student!  I don’t find many of these love notes to her brothers…we’re still working on that 😉

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And look what a great job she did setting the table for a family dinner!  With Brian’s travel and our kids’ activities, we rarely get to sit down together for dinner as a family of 6.  It’s a special treat when we get to do this and Reece jumped at the chance to set the table all by herself!  So cute!

3.26.17 Reece Set the table!

And why not throw in these two goofballs messing around with snap chat.  I’m hoping this snap chatting fad goes bye bye soon…It’s sort of taking over the teenage world (and spilling over into little sisters!)

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Drew’s 3rd Grade Bible

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Is it bad that I sincerely thought I had already done this blog post?  I had to review my previous posts several times because I was THAT SURE that I had done it!   I guess I was just dreaming that I did it!?  I don’t know how this fell through the cracks but apparently it did!  Sorry Drew 😉

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Last Sunday, this sweet third grader received his Bible at church!  Albeit a very busy and stressful morning, we made it…and we were actually early!  So early, that we shoved him into a Sunday school class that we thought was his 3rd grade Bible orientation but it really was the end of a different class.  oops!  A lot of confusion and eclectic outfits in the Conley Crew this morning.  I had cleaned and pressed an adorable plaid shirt and slacks for Drew and they were hanging ready in my room.  As we were walking out the door I noticed Drew did not have that nice outfit on at all!!  What in the world is going on?  I was so prepared and ready but I apparently didn’t tell Drew about the outfit so he just got up and put on his normal church clothes that he likes to wear (way too often, I might add) and with flip flops!  We were out of time and I was proud of him for trying his best to look nice on his own so I just let it go.  Reece had on a spring dress, sparkly gold shoes, and decided to pair that with a Christmas winter dress coat with fur collar.  She has her own style for sure, but this was over the top for me.  If a family pic had been taken it would have definitely made the bottom of the list for a Christmas card!  Jake was frantically going from a basketball tourney game to a soccer tourney game in opposite ends of the city while we were trying to scrounge up a ride for him so that we didn’t miss the Bible ceremony.  A lot went on in a short amount of time I’m telling you!

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Drewy, this is a very special day and we know you will treasure your Bible.  I still have mine somewhere and Jake and Morgan have theirs too.  Your spiritual life is yours to explore and may you be blessed always!

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You were so cute looking up the scriptures and trying to follow along with the church service!

 

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This is Reece much later in the day STILL in that crazy outfit and now adding in a pair of Winter wedge boots!  even worse!  I’m not a fashionista by any means but it is Spring, so we may need to pack away the wool dress coat and furry boots!

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Jake – 5th Grade PE

It’s not often that I wish I was back in 5th grade, but today I do!  When did they start riding bikes in PE class!?  Doesn’t this look super fun?  Back in my elementary days, I only remember the dreaded 100 yard dash, pull ups and climbing the rope (all of which I was horrible at)!  You’re so lucky Jake!

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Jake is in the orange shirt hanging out with a few classmates in Mrs. Dunnaway’s PE class.  shhh…she’s known as Mrs. Funnaway (get it!?  it’s pretty clever!)

For some reason I think this short little video clip is sweet…all of you look really cute in those bike helmets.  Hoping none of you collided today!

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Jakers, I know that learning about bike safety is not fun but it really is important (just ask Morgan who flipped over her handlebars and broke her wrist not long ago).  And it’s way better than doing pull ups and climbing the rope like I did at Scarborough Elementary.

 

Morgan’s 8th Grade Ensemble Concert

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3.30.17 Morgan 8GR Ensemble concert (3)Oh no, this makes me so sad!  This is Morgan’s last Orchestra Ensemble concert.  This time she really isn’t changing her mind.  She has decided not to continue her cello training.  ugh!  Despite my best efforts trying to convince her how extraordinary it is to be able to read music, proficiently play an instrument, and be musically inclined; she is on to bigger and better things I am sure.  But I still say, studying music is very beneficial for your brain and I’m certain there is some scientific proof somewhere to back me up!

I adore this concert.  The 7th and 8th grade orchestra students break up into small ensembles and perform one piece.  It’s spectacular music and they are super brave to get up on that stage!

Even though Morgan was less than thrilled about wearing a tuxedo shirt and bow tie and I was less than thrilled that her group only played for a whopping 50 seconds; I still believe these young musicians are totally awesome!

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MoMo, if anyone can pull off looking super cute in a men’s Tuxedo shirt, it’s you girl!!

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Here’s a short YouTube video clip of her performance…

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Morgan’s Fan Club…we love you!

3.30.17 Morgan 8GR Ensemble concert