Goings On

Just a few pictures from our weekend and the end of last week... First--tomatoes!

The continuous hot temperatures have been so great for the cherry tomatoes in our backyard and we continue to get bowls that look like the one above! Today feels closer to fall than ever so I'm thinking we will start to slow down but it has been a great year for tomatoes if for nothing else... Next--a cute kid in a football jersey!

Wait, in our house? Yes that's right. My friend Mandi has passed down a Pembroke Hill football jersey that belonged to her sons and it fit Jonathan like a glove. He wanted to wear it the day after she gave it to him. He looks like such a big boy! Finally--crepes!

On Saturday, we went to the French Market in Prairie Village where they boys relived their gastronomic enjoyment of French treats by ordering delicious crepes. Chris had the salted caramel and J had the Nutella. I had a lovely espresso and we called it a morning! A note to everyone coming to visit us in the near future, the French Market will be a definite stop!

Vroooom...

We got a new car!

There comes a time in a car's life when the cost of the repairs exceeds the value of the car. After 12 years with our dear CR-V, we reached that point and traded her in for the blue Civic pictured above. The boys were very excited and after three hours of test driving, questioning, negotiating, and paying, we drove home in the new vehicle. If you talked to Chris about it, you would have thought we bought a Ferrari, but alas, we have a good old reliable Civic that we intend to keep for another 12 years (at least!).

Yessss Queens...

The well-deserving queens of the backyard...

Comfy Cozy

When I returned home from dropping the boys off at school, I found that Athena had made herself very comfortable in a new spot on the couch...

Spoiled puppy!

Family Appreciation Day

Yesterday was the O'Riada Manning Family Appreciation Day gathering. We all got together and did a little "tailgaiting" in the OM parking lot with some popcorn, snow cones, hot dogs and games. Kids and adults alike had a great time!

 Jonathan especially enjoyed playing Transformers with his friend Savion and his new friend Jack!

It was a great afternoon and we are thankful to have found our "dance family!"

Pretzel Time

The boys and I were inspired by an episode of Mister Rogers where he goes to a pretzel factory and learns how to make pretzels...

Now, I have not had much luck in my cooking life when it comes to adding yeast to flour but this time I did! We followed a pretty easy recipe and the boys helped mix and knead the dough. We gave the molded pretzels a "baking soda bath," added some salt and then baked them in the oven. I can't say they were exactly like NYC street vendor pretzels but we all thought they came out pretty good. (For the record, Christopher thinks they are better than NYC street vendor pretzels!)...

Painter

Mommy finally set up the easel in the playroom for Jonathan to paint on! In our quiet afternoons before we go to pick up Chris, J has been working on his artistic creations... The other day, while Chris had a private dance lesson, J and I visited with Grace. It is a running joke that one day, Jonathan is going to save enough money to make a competitive offer to buy this chair from Grace!

This time, J offered to trade his beanbag chair for it. Every time he goes to the studio, he makes his move to take his spot on the chair... And this morning, we had to wait a few minutes for a store to open so J and Daddy were looking cool and being silly in the car...

Whoever blinks first...

We had some extra time this morning before school and the boys requested some outside playtime, so as they were riding bikes, they came across multiple cicadas in our driveway. In particular, we found these two cicadas in a stare down right under the basketball net! I don't know what it is about this time of year, but the cicadas are everywhere right now. I'm sure there is a perfectly good scientific/seasonal reason for this. Holly and Athena are certified cicada hunters and when we walk early in the morning, they rid the world of as many as possible! (I'll spare you the gruesome details).

More Irish Fest Pictures

We have a mom at O'Riada Manning who takes amazing pictures at all of our performance events. Here are a few that she captured of Chris!

Harvest

Check out today's harvest. We did have some decent carrots!

The tomatoes just keep on coming! We'll use those for a Mexican polenta recipe this week. I also made kale pesto with the kale and steamed carrots. I love our garden!

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend is synonymous with the Kansas City Feis and Irish Fest for us now! Yesterday, Christopher competed against two other boys in his second OC competition. He placed third out of the three boys in his group but he was definitely in some tough company! The boy who won placed 2nd at Oireachtas last year and was 19th in the world and the boy who placed second won Oireachtas, won last years Nationals and placed 9th in the world. The nice thing is the boys all kind of stick together and Chris says they are pretty nice. The kid who won also won the previous week when Chris competed in St. Louis and he and Chris worked together later in the day to hand out awards at the award ceremonies.

Chris also competed for the first time in a two hand and a four hand ceili dance with girls from his dance school. The girl he danced with, Millie's dad covertly recorded them! I was happy because I was working a different stage and didn't get to watch that part of his dancing...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=153-IluelTo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-n-1q_xWOk

And today was Irish Fest! The dancers had an amazing crowd turnout and they did great! Here is J with me while we waited for the dancing to begin...

And Christopher's best friends came with their families to watch as well!

Here are some of the numbers that Christopher was involved in...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctZOoVatTb8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzj7j89EEGw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNflPrzAF_s