Our big adventures

This week we've just been living life - going to work and school, grocery shopping, the usual. And it still feels different here. Even though, according to my mom, I "don't get home until about the time I would have anyway," (meaning that I get home around 6 most days, which is when I got home living in Blue Springs) there's still more time in the day. You see, now the store, dinner, ice cream or anything else we need is always less than 5 miles away. We spent a couple of evenings this week just letting the boys ride their bikes out front. This let us visit with neighbors and enjoy the weather. The resident 12-year-old told me this week that there are 20 kids under the age of 12 in this neighborhood - on three streets. Baby time! And not for us, if that's what you crazy people may be thinking. I just wanted to shout out to Donato Carroll Ruggeri, Dave and Karen's new little guy who was born on Sept. 19. AND to Carson James Gift, my cousin Erika and Landon...

The big news Karen had her baby!! Donato Carroll Ruggeri was born on Sept. 19 at 6:23 p.m. at St. Mary's Hospital in St. Louis. He weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces and everyone is doing well. Congratulations, Karen and Dave! If you'd like to send them well-wishes, Dave's e-mail address is davidruggeri@yahoo.com. A new car First of all, Shelly Thorington, if you're out there, the day finally came. I traded in my 8-year-old Xterra and bought a 2009 Honda Accord on Thursday. They gave me well over blue book for the trade-in of the Xterra (wahoo!), and we got an extra set of tires and wheels thrown in with the car. If that didn't sound strange, read it again. We got an EXTRA set of TIRES and WHEELS. So here's a tip for anyone going to look at new cars. If the car you want has wheels other than what came on it as stock, or if you want them to put something else on, don't let them charge you for the tires and wheels that they took/take off and don't give to you. My...

Hurricane Ike was supposed to have brought rain to Arkansas the entire weekend. As my good friend Julie Nurski says, "Since when did Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas get hurricanes?" Well, we only got rain on Friday night and Saturday, and it was a nice, gentle rain. Grandma Zellers and Granny came to visit this weekend. We went to see bull riding at the Benton County Fair on Friday night. And on Saturday, the boys and Nate met them at Denny's Diner for breakfast. The rain stopped just long enough for Brayden's 2 p.m. football game. Go Raiders! (I can't believe I just wrote that.) So if you've been keeping up with my blog, a few entries ago I went on a rant about how I couldn't believe that there was no football here for kids younger than the second grade - and how we finally found it. Boy, did we find it. Here's my shout out to Mutt and Lisa Ketteler for responding to the quiz about the football team name. It is, in fact, the Raiders. Ugh. Double ugh tha...

When we got to school on Tuesday after Labor Day, we found this poster that said Beau was a "Star Student!" Here's what he has to say: I am a star student because. . . I put my hands in my head at snack time. What I like most about school is. . . going outside. I am good at. . . riding my bike outside. My favorite subject is. . . play with the purses and phone. When I grow up I want to be. . . a speed racer. I am proud of myself because. . . I'm a big kid when my mom brings me to school.