Loomis Larsons

let's try this again...

2009-09-01T21:39:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try to jump back on the blogging bandwagon! i have so much to show you.....

tball games

lake time

trip to colorado

emma lost her first tooth

first day of 2nd grade

first day of preschool

addie's birthday parties

the list goes on

you can hope for the best and expect a little less....ha!!

Happy 5th Birthday, Adeline.

2009-09-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

this is one of my favorite pictures....addie's birth day....september 1, 2004

1st birthday
happy 2nd birthday...the first of many princess birthday parties3rd birthday....she was not a happy girl on this day. i don't have one picture of her smiling or looking at the camera. what do you expect? she was just 3.

4th birthday at the lake....another princess party!

and today, she is 5! we love you beautiful princess adeline!

Addie's Bible Verse

2009-06-03T20:47:00.001-07:00

The girls went to Bible School last week and since then Addie has wanted us to start memorizing verses...which is not a bad idea...but she makes theses versus up.

Here is our verse for Wednesday, June 3rd.

spring came. jesus came to life. come on let's play. it's spring.

psalms 82:5

I actually got a sticker for memorizing this!!

Oriental Chicken with Cashews

2009-06-03T08:24:00.000-07:00

This recipe involves more time and preparation than the other recipes, but it is worth it!

1 tsp instant chicken bouillon

3/4 cup water

1 T cornstarch

1 t. soy sauce

1/4 cup cold water

2 T oil

2 chicken breasts (I usually use 3 or 4)

3/4 cup sliced carrots

1/4 med. onion cut in 1" pieces

1 cup or 6 oz frozen pea pods, thawed, drained

4.5 oz sliced mushrooms, drained

1/3 cup whole cashews

hot cooked rice

Dissolve bouillon in 3/4 cup hot water. Stir cornstarch and soy sauce into 1/4 cup cold water, set both mixtures aside.
In large skillet, heat oil over high heat. Stir-fry chicken in hot oil until opaque. I season the chicken at this point with Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt. You could use whatever you like.
Add carrots and onions, stir fry for 1 minute.
Add dissolved bouillon; cover. Simmer over medium heat for 3-4 minutes.
Add pea pods, mushrooms, and soy sauce mixture. Stir fry unil liquid thickens and pea pods are crisp-tender.
Stir in cashews.
Serve over hot cooked rice or chow mein noodles.

Memorial Weekend

2009-06-02T19:05:00.000-07:00

We had a really great Memorial Weekend. Nice weather for the most part and fun times with family and friends!

What did we do?

Attended a fun wedding and reception

Went golfing in Bertrand

Walked around the cemetary - we've done this every year with the girls to show them where our family members are buried

Saw 'Night at the Museum 2'

Watched Joe's high school friend fly a fuel tanker over Loomis

Spent time at Johnson Lake

Joe 'the pro' ready to teach the girls how to golf.

Emma did a great job, but they were most fascinated by the ball-washing contraption.

Terrible picture, but here is Wade Holen flying over Phelps County in his fuel tanker.

We went to the lake, but it rained in the afternoon so they kids spent time in the cabin watching a movie.

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Ben and Luke in a water gun fight....although they're not even facing each other....so I'm not sure what is going on here.

Addie's Pre-School Graduation

2009-06-02T18:37:00.000-07:00

Addie graduated from Trinity Pre-School last month.

The most wonderful pre-school teachers ever! Mrs. Sue and Mrs. Lana

Recieving her diploma

Expect to see another post similar to this next year. Since she will just be 5 in September she is going to attend pre-school for another year. Another year with Mrs. Sue and Mrs. Lana is Heaven for Addie!!

20 Minute Cheeseburger Macaroni

2009-05-27T21:14:00.000-07:00

I'm telling you now, that the recipes I post on here are not going to be anything fancy. I'm almost embarrassed to post this recipe because it's so easy and I'm practically cheating by using a box of Mac and Cheese. But it's very kid-friendly at my house so hopefully it will be at your house, too.

You will need....

1 lb hamburger

1 box Macaroni and Cheese (I think the Kraft 3 Cheese is the best)

1/3 cup tomato soup, undiluted

1 T mustard

2 Cups water

garlic salt

Brown the hamburger and drain fat.

Mix in soup, mustard, and water.

Bring to a boil. Add macaroni ONLY. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add cheese packet and season with garlic salt.

Taco Crunch

2009-05-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

This recipe comes from my school days at R-4, a rural school north of Holdrege. When the cook, Joyce Bergman, retired someone put all her recipes in a cookbook and gave them to the families of R-4. When R-4 closed last year and a reunion was held at the school, more cookbooks were passed out. The recipes are written to feed 100 (or so) kids and adults so it takes some time to convert into a recipe for a family of 5 for one meal. Otherwise we'd be eating Taco Cruch for a month or more.

So here you go....

1 lb ground beef

1/8 cup chopped onion (I use minced onion)

1 package taco seasoning

1 can pinto beans

1 can tomato soup

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

a few handfuls of crushed Doritos

Brown meat. Season with minced onion. Drain grease.

Mix in taco seasoning, beans, and soup.

Put in 9x9 baking pan.

Top with grated cheese and crushed doritos.

Bake for 30 minutes @ 350.

Sloppy Daddies

2009-05-15T14:21:00.001-07:00

I'm going to start posting some of my family's favorite recipes on here. I love to get new recipes because it gets pretty boring eating the same things all the time. I hope you'll try some of these for your family, too.

Sloppy Daddies (sloppy joes)

There are a hundred recipes out there for sloppy joes, but this one is by far our favorite. My kids would eat this everyday if they could. And sometimes I'm tempted to make it that often because fruit roll-ups and Cheetos don't carry much nutritional value.

Emma started calling them Sloppy Daddies because her dad's name is Joe....get it?!?!?!

Sloppy Daddies (from allrecipes.com)

2 lbs ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion (I just used minced onion)

1 cup chopped celery (optional. . .I've never used it)

1 can condensed tomato soup

1/4 cup ketchup

1 Tablespoon white vinegar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1. Brown ground beef. Season with minced onion, salt and pepper. Drain grease.

2. Stir in all other ingredients. Heat to simmer over low heat, and cook until thoroughly heated.

3. Spoon onto buns.

Larson kids give it 3 Thumbs Up!

A bunch of what not

2009-05-15T13:57:00.000-07:00

Meet our new dog, Otis!

We adopted him from the Humane Society in Kearney a few weeks ago. He is a 10 month old black lab. Isn't he cute?? This is our first dog as a family. He has been really good with the kids. And except for a few minor problems - read below - he is a great dog!

I had to share this. . .This is something Addie did at PreSchool.
Emma's last day of 1st grade was May 8th.

In the last couple of weeks, these two ducks have been living in the draw that runs along the south side of our house. It's a male and a female. I don't know much about ducks, but I'm surprised that they don't ever leave and that they stay together. Maybe we'll have ducklings someday??

Here is one of several landscaping projects we need to get started on. These are bricks to be used for the retaining walls under the deck. We are also going to use them for a terrace on the south side of the house.
Last week, a windbreak was planted on the north side of the house. Not much to see now, but it will be nice to have some big trees along here for protection from the wind....as long as Otis stops digging them up. Bad Dog!!

Emma's 7th Birthday

2009-05-07T10:40:00.000-07:00

Emma celebrated her 7th birthday on April 24.

Here she is on the day she was born.

3
4
56 7
Make a wish. . .

She celebrated with family the night before her birthday.
She was excited to try out her new Wii games. Littlest Pet Shop game was her favorite!
Friday morning. . .Emma's 7th Birthday! She invited 7 girls over on Friday after school. We went swimming at the YMCA in Holdrege, had pizza for supper, and the rest of the night was spent playing wii, running around, and making lots of NOISE!

Addie was mad because she couldn't sit at the table with the big girls. Poor Addie....

Movie time!

Emma and Chloe

Natalie, Emma, and Darla

Easter '09

2009-05-07T07:46:00.000-07:00

Easter 2009

The girls and I decorated Easter Eggs.

We hunted for eggs at the 3rd Annual Circle Easter Egg Hunt. Thanks again, Joni!

Wes and Ben Trompke

Easter Morning

The table is ready for dinner. We had my family over for dinner and then Joe's family came later to have dessert with us.

My sister, Anna, with one of her twins.

Grandpa Jeff with Baby Jeff

Uncle Joe and Sam

Emma and Jeffrey

Grandma Doris

Grandma Carolyn brought a pinata for the kids to play with.

Finally!! Candy!!

Luke

2009-05-07T07:25:00.000-07:00

Luke has had a long couple of months with sickness. After many months of coughing, with no other "cold" symptoms, we were referred to an infectious disease doctor at Children's Hospital in Omaha for a possible immune deficiency. We met with a doctor in March who was able to rule out allergies, cystic fibrosis, acid reflux, and an immune deficiency. Although we were glad to find out it wasn't any of those things, we never had an answer to what is going on. And we still don't. For the rest of March and April he was still on antibiotics off and on, but it has slowly tapered off. We hope that with the weather change things will get better. The doctor also suggested that he will grow out of this.

This is how he spent most of January - March.

But he did find time to stick blue M&Ms up his nose....

and paint his own fingernails.

The Month of March

2009-05-07T06:47:00.000-07:00

Back! By Popular Demand!

And by popular I mean the 2 of you that have asked what happened to the blog.

Well, here we are!

These are pictures from the month of March.

The girls did self-portraits.

Luke checked out auction bills and tractor magazines.

Has anyone seen Imagination Movers on Disney? My kids LOVE that show! They seriously don't move a muscle for 20 minutes while it's on.

Addie sniffed glue sticks.

Addie performed in the Mother/Grandmother Spring Tea at Trinity Pre-School.

She is the short one, 3rd from the left.

Addie and Mommy

Addie and Grandma Gigi.

Addie and Grandma Carolyn

Our nephew and cousin, Graham Clinton Trompke, was baptized at the end of March.

How cute is he?

Luke's birthday, farming, and dancing

2009-02-17T08:10:00.000-08:00

Luke's Birthday Party

John Deere Tractor Ice Cream Cake
Aunt Erin, Aunt Anna, and Cousin Jeffrey

Grandpa Jeff playing with the kids.

Just hauling some Cascade to the elevator....

this was quickly replaced with some rocks!

Dancing to his Valentine Day Card.

Happy Birthday Luke!

2009-02-11T20:42:00.001-08:00

Two years ago, this little guy was born

Monday, February 12, 2007

Luke Stephen Larson

4 days old

1 month
6 months

1 year

18 months
2 years old
I love you Lukie!

Valentines, Tummies, and Tortillas

2009-02-09T12:31:00.001-08:00

The girls and I have never made "homemade" Valentines so I thought it would be fun to do that this year. (I must have forgotten to take my meds the day I decided this!) Last week they picked what they wanted to make, Saturday we made a trip to Kearney for supplies, and Sunday we created. Emma made ipods and Addie made heart-shaped crayons. For the record, these were not my creations. We found them in the magazine Family Fun. I love this magazine. There are fun crafts, recipes, parenting articles. Look into it!

For ipods, you start with a box of candy hearts. We also went to the Family Fun website for the templates of the front of the ipod that Emma already cut out.

We taped 2 Reece's Peanut Butter Cups to pieces of yarn for the earphones and then taped the yarn to the box.

Then we covered the boxes in red paper and glued on the templates. You'll have to look at the picture close-up to see the song titles.
All done and ready for the party!

For Addie's project we started by peeling the paper off crayons.

Even Luke got into this! His favorite part was making a big mess!

We filled the heart shaped muffin tin with the crayons and put them in the oven for 15 minutes at 250 degrees.

Just out of the oven.

I thought these turned out pretty neat!
We haven't completely finished them. Here is a copy of the magazine page and how the finished product will look.

************************************************************************

On to the "Tummies" portion of the title.....

We got some TCBY for our ride home from Kearney on Saturday and Addie informed me that whenever she eats "her tummy has a party"!

**************************************************************************

And later that day she told me that my stinky feet smell like tortillas.

Nice.

Hey Kid - No Peeing in the Pool!

2009-02-03T20:24:00.000-08:00

Family Vacation

2009-02-03T16:06:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we took a little trip to Omaha for a family vacation. Emma didn't have school on Friday so we left Friday morning and stopped in Lincoln for lunch at

CHUCK E. CHEESE!!

(where else??)

The kids were not interested in getting close to Chuck. They picked the table that was as far away as possible from the stage.
Luke tried to sneak a peek, but you can tell by the look on his face that he was concerned with the huge, robotic, dancing, singing mouse .

Joe had never been to this wonderful establishment before. He was having a blast, can you tell?

After a delicious pizza, it was GAME TIME!

With the 200 tickets we won, the kids each picked out 2 prizes. They each got a mini tootsie pop, Addie got a slinkie that lasted all of 12 hours, Emma got a ring that she left at the rest stop 10 minutes later (a lot of tears were shed over the ring), and Luke got a spider that he threw away as soon as he got to the hotel in Omaha.

Next stop:

Coco Key

This is the kiddie pool where we spent most of our time.

These are other pictures of the water resort. It was very quiet Friday afternoon when we first got there. But Friday night and Saturday were crazy!

The girls wasted no time getting in the water. Luke watched for a long time before he decided to get in.

But once he did, he loved it!

Especially these fountains on the side.

The girls went down these slides at least 45 billion times. Luke would climb up there, but then just play. See Joe at the bottom telling him to come down? He never did. Except for the time I pushed him. He didn't like it.

Colin and Shelley Kramer met us at the water park on Saturday morning. This is Emma with Nathan. They also have an adorable little girl named Addie.

Riding on the Lazy River.

Saturday afternoon we hit the zoo. It was perfect weather for January.

Here are the girls in front of the Desert Dome.

Walking into the bat cave. I couldn't get out of here fast enough!

Addie sharing her knowledge of the dung beetle with Luke. I'm sure it was interesting.

Emma wanted to know everything about everything.

Walking on the bridge in the Jungle.

On Saturday night our friends, Brad and Heidi, met us at Coco Key. And they brought the gorgeous girls with them.

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Zoe

and Ella.

We had pizza and played in our hotel room. This is Heidi and Zoe.

Awww.....they were asleep before their heads hit the pillows.

Emma is tired of me taking pictures!

Fun with Binoculars

2009-01-27T07:36:00.000-08:00

We took the kids to CNPPD's hydroelectric plant on Sunday afternoon to see bald eagles. On a good day you can see several bald eagles and maybe even see one grab a fish out of the water.

Joe helped the girls with their binoculars and told them where to look so they could see an eagle.
Emma found a few way down there but the eagles weren't doing much. Just sitting in the trees. It was pretty cold on Sunday. Emma loves this kind of stuff, and she really liked it even if she didn't see any eagles up close.

She clearly was not looking for the eagles. And really didn't care!

Top 10 Reasons I Haven't Been Blogging

2009-01-21T20:53:00.000-08:00

In no particular order....

Number 10:

We moved to our new house!!

Number 9:

Disney on Ice in Kearney

Emma, Addie, and I went to the show back in December. The girls LOVED it! If you know Addie, you know she loves everything Disney Princess. And all the princesses were there. This picture shows each one dancing with their prince.

Bruce the Shark from Finding Nemo.
It's a Small World After All

Did I mention the girls loved it?? This is how they looked the entire time:

I realize Emma is not smiling and looks bored, but she was very intently taking it all in.

Number 8:

Christmas!

Here is Christmas with my family.

Emma, Addie, Luke, Jeffrey and Samuel

Luke ready to eat with Great-Aunt Dorothy and Great-Grandma Doris.

Addie was in heaven when she opened this gift!

All of Disney Princesses in one box!

Emma had the best reaction when she opened this Webkinz from Anna.

Luke got a 4-wheeler. He has put a ton of miles on it already.

Christmas Morning at our house.

The girls love Littlest Pet Shop!

Luke loves anything John Deere.

Chirstmas with Joe's family.

Emma and Addie got these cool memo boards from Aunt Carrie.

A John Deere hat for Luke!

Emma, Addie, and Luke with Wes, Ben, and Graham

Number 4:

New Year's Eve Party

This was taken close to midnight. They all made it for the big countdown!
Steph and Nancy

Kendra and me

me, Joni, and Leigh

All the guys were there, too, but didn't get any pictures of them.

Number 5:

I signed up for Facebook a few months ago and am now putting myself through Facebook rehab. This was the most addicting thing I've ever done! It was fun to catch up with old friends, but in the meantime all of my "blog followers" (you know, the 4 of you) were being neglected.

I'm so sorry about that!

Number 6:

The Bachelor is on!

I also love watching American Idol, The Biggest Loser, and True Beauty. AND we now have DVR. Wow! How did I survive without it? I can record all my shows and watch them after the kids go to bed. I am loving it!! By the way, I'm guessing the final two are Naomi and Jillian.

Bachelor Jason:

Number 7:

School started!

Since we now live in the country, Emma gets to ride the bus everyday. This is what she was most excited about when we decided to build a house. She gets on at 7:15am and is home by 3:50pm. Second one on, second one off.

Number 8:
Luke has been writing on the walls.
Look how proud he is of his masterpiece.

Thank goodness for Magic Erasers!!

Number 9 :

Playdates
Luke and Cousin Samuel

Addie and Cousin Jeffrey
Addie and Emma with Cousin Graham

Addie and her friend from preschool, Georgia. They played dress-up all afternoon.

Can't you just see the embarrassment on Addie's face?

Number 10:

I've been decorating my house with Uppercase Living.

I promised Joe I wouldn't put this in every single room of the house.

But I did get these up last weekend.

It's hard to see, but it says "Welcome To Our" about Home. I just ordered a lighter color to replace it. This is by our fireplace and you see it when you walk in the front door.

In the playroom downstairs A picture of the girls' bathroom

This is upstairs by the TV area

In Luke's bedroom

In Luke's bathroom

I will show you more pictures of the house later. I still have little projects to do around the house - organize the store room, make curtains, paint furniture, get pictures hung, knick knacks scattered around the house, etc. I'll keep you updated and it won't take me 2 months, promise!

i'm still here!

2008-12-28T21:32:00.000-08:00

WOW! It has been a very long time since I last posted. I have soooo many pictures to share, more than anyone is really interested in I'm sure. I will get around to showing you some of those one of these days.

We are in our new home! We moved on December 13th and are still slowly unpacking. The place feels like "home" already! We did get a Christmas tree and nativity scene up, but that is about it. I don't have pictures on the wall or knick knacks scattered around the house yet. We are going to buy some new living room furniture after the new year so I'm waiting until then to decide where to put everything else.

We had a great Christmas! We spent Sunday, the 21st at my parents with my family. Christmas Eve was at my Grandma Doris's and my Dad's side of the family. Christmas Day we were in Red Cloud for Joe's Mom's family. Last night we were with Joe's Dad's family - all 50+ of us. We will have Christmas with Joe's family on New Year's Day.

On Christmas Eve I smashed my camera on the tile floor of our house. I was sooo mad. Thankfully, one gas station was open in Holdrege so I could get a disposable camera for pictures on Christmas morning. I was so angry with myself for breaking it right before the most important day of being in our new house together. But it all worked out...I hope the pictures turn out ok.

Hope you had a very Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!!

This weekend

2008-11-10T10:42:00.000-08:00

The kitchen countertops were installed on Friday. It's kind of hard to get a good picture of it, but it has black trim around the sides and top.

This is the door to the piano room. It still has the protective covering on the glass so it looks messy.

We went to Madagascar 2 on Sunday. It was a good movie. The girls loved it! I read on my cousin Ashley's blog about buying costumes on clearance so when we were at Kmart we looked through the costumes and found this cat costume that Addie refuses to take off. It's a little big, but that's ok since she has already decided to wear it for Halloween next year. We also bought the Little Red Riding Hood outfit. We got both of them for $5, originally $20. They will get a ton of use during dress-up time.

And Luke got a big boy haircut.

Seriously, is there anything cuter?!?!?

I didn't think so.

Halloween

2008-11-04T08:52:00.001-08:00

Happy Halloween!

My aunt bought this great outfit for Emma at a garage sale this summer. She loves it!

When Addie plays dress up with her numerous princess dresses, Emma wears this around the house. Tinkerbell

Mr. Monkey. I bought this for him this summer thinking he would need something to keep him warm. Not this year, he was actually sweating.

MORE house pictures

2008-11-04T08:45:00.000-08:00

The kitchen cabinets have been set up.

The countertops should be installed later this week.

Wood floors are in the upstairs living area and kitchen.
Luke's room is done:
Emma's room is done:

A New Baby in the Family

2008-10-28T08:37:00.001-07:00

Joe's sister, Carrie and her husband Justin, welcomed another boy into the family last night.
Graham Clinton Trompke

This is their third boy. They have Wes (3) and Ben (15 months). They are going to be just a tad bit busy with these three little ones!

Beautiful Blocks

2008-10-18T20:04:00.000-07:00

My nephews. Read more about them here.

My cousin Ashley from Raising Allikaye makes these adorable blocks. She has an esty shop where you can purchase these for yourself. She does names or just single words like 'grace'. Jump over to her etsy to see what creative shananigans she's up to!

Reference Photo

2008-10-18T19:54:00.000-07:00

This is my mom. The picture was taken in front of the trailer they lived in from 1973-1978ish.

Do you see the colors of the trailer!?!??! You will need to reference this picture in the next post.

House Updates and Paint Colors...

2008-10-18T17:36:00.000-07:00

Cabinets are in, but are sitting in the garage for now...

Doors are being stained...
Garage doors are in.....
Now for paint. This is Luke's room with just sheetrock.

Luke's room painted -"Great Accomplishment". There will be black stripes around the top of the room. They're not done yet.
I don't have a before picture of Emma's room. But it is Budding Beauty on the top and Brandywine on the bottom. Her closet is to the right. She wanted it painted blue which is the color of their bathroom that I forgot to take a picture of. It is called Spa Day.
Addie's room. Forgot a before picture. But there are two walls of Budding Beauty and two of Solaris (yellow). That is the bathroom to the right.
Downstairs sliding doors

All of the brown color is Great Accomplishment (where do they come up with paint names?)
TV Room/Toy Room/Family Room in the basement

Master Bedroom....ceiling....
wall and area leading to master bathroom

Brown Sugar and Oak Barrel.

These colors would never be my first choice together but when you see my bedspread it will all come together. There will be a lot of red accents in the room, too. I call this the 70s room right now because the outside of the trailer I lived in for the first couple years of my life was these two colors and white. **Please reference the previous post!** Quite a similarity in color wouldn't you say? Wow! That makes me laugh!

Master Bathroom
Trumpet Gold

Laundry room

I didnt' get a painted picture of the laundry room, but this is the hall leading to it. Great Accomplishment is the color here.
Joe's Office

From another angle. Same color as all the other brown. There will be some grid paneling on the bottom half of the room.
Mud Room
Great Accomplishment again..

The Piano Room:

Hot Chocolate
Powder room and coat closet by front door
The green color is called Native Dweller. In the powder room I striped with satin and semi-gloss paint. Same color, just different sheens. I love this!
Kitchen and pantry

Fireplace and stairway

So that is all for now. They started putting in the wood floor on Friday. Then trim and cabinets and carpet. At this point we should be in by Thanksgiving.

Now if we could just get the corn picked...........

still painting

2008-10-14T21:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a long time! We are very busy painting the house. I should be done this weekend and then I'll post pictures of the painted rooms.

Election '08

2008-10-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

I've decided on a new career.

Take a Nebraska Tour

2008-09-30T20:21:00.000-07:00

I have my own pictures of the latest events in my life, but I'm going to let Tara at Living A Dream take you on a tour of Nebraska. I'll share harvest and house pictures later on. Enjoy!

An Afternoon with Annie

2008-09-25T11:37:00.001-07:00

Anna and the boyz spent the day with us on Tuesday. She needed to get out of the house. So we spent the afternoon watching Annie. It was a blast from the past for us. We watched that movie a lot when we were little. We even had a record of the soundtrack (that's right, a record, not a tape or cd!)

Some pictures of the 5 cousins together:

in case you were wondering, no they did not sit like this through the whole movie

A Message from Luke

2008-09-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Fall Y'all!

I -heart- Band Geeks

2008-09-19T08:21:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my sister, Anna, for bringing back the wonderful memories of HHS Band. Yes, I was one of the drum majors and yes, everyone wanted to be just like me. Really, who doesn't want to be the leader of the band geeks?? You can read about her memory here

So for all you Bunco Babes from last night's party...especially Joni....here is proof of my prestigious position in the

Holdrege High School Duster Marching Band!

*These are pictures of pictures since I don't have a scanner. I'm not sure what makes me a bigger dork. The fact that I was a LOG (leader of the geeks) or that I know where these pictures are 13 years later. You be the judge.....just don't tell me.

There I am in the middle in the white. What a happy girl I was!
These were our uniforms my Jr. year. Noelle is your model in the middle. White satin skirts and jackets with gold sequin trim. A gold bowtie and cumberbund. White gloves. White keds with white sequin legwarmers. I kid you not....and I will wear those to Bunco next month.
My Senior year we got these. Nice hats!! Check out the trophy!
Two Bunco Babes are hiding in this picture.......can you find them???
This picture will give you a clue.

Have a great weekend!!

The Luxurious Life of Anna

2008-09-13T06:44:00.001-07:00

My sister, Anna, FINALLY has a blog. I've been waiting for this day to come! You will love her commentary on life and her a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e twins. She and I joke that with all the blogs I MUST read everyday the care of my children suffers. So Thank You Anna for giving me one more reason everyday to neglect my children. You are the best.

Go there now!! Click: theluxuriouslifeofanna.blogspot.com

More House Pictures

2008-09-05T15:18:00.001-07:00

Windows are in....

This is inside the piano room:

Inside the kitchen:
Inside of the front door:
Front (north) side of the house:
Fireplace:

Beginning of the deck:
Shingles:
Siding:
Addie started Pre-School at Trinity on Wednesday. She would not smile for this picture. She was very serious about starting school. When I picked her up I asked her what she did and she said, "I don't know, but it was sure fun!"

Addie's 4th Birthday

2008-09-01T16:42:00.001-07:00

Adeline turned 4 today!! We celebrated her birthday at Johnson Lake at Steve and Carolyn's (her grandparents) cabin.

No, I did not make the cake.
Daddy, Addie, and Mommy
Addie, Emma, and cousin Wes
Princess Addie waiting to open her presents.

Luke gave her 2 new movies.
She wanted 4 sets of 4 candles on her cake.
She had some trouble blowing them out so Emma helped her out.

We spent the afternoon enjoying our last time at the lake for the year.
Joe and Luke on the hammock:

Great-Aunt Dorothy and Great-Grandma Doris:
Addie in her new Barbie dress. It matches the Barbie she is holding.
Playing with Grandpa Jeff:
Blowing bubbles:

Go Big Red!!

2008-08-30T07:15:00.000-07:00

Nebraska opens the season tonight with a game against Western Michigan!

Go BO!
And our hometown boy....#23 Lance Thorell at Cornerback!

Amen, Sister!

2008-08-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

Addie is getting more frustrated with Luke all the time because when she's playing he's right there ready to mess it all up. She asked me why we ever had to have Luke. Then at lunch she prayed "Please don't bring us any more babies. Luke is enough!"

Luke, a very full fish, and Singing Babies

2008-08-25T08:45:00.001-07:00

Luke fed the fish for me on Saturday......

It looks like a snow globe after you shake it.....

The girls made some money at a lemonade stand on Saturday so we went to Dollar General yesterday to find some treasures. They wanted to get something for Luke so they picked out a DVD called "Singing Babies". It was on $0.20 (Big sale over at DG!!) and it is worth every penny. It's hilarious!!

1st Day of 1st Grade!

2008-08-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

Emma went back to school today! She gets to ride the bus to Funk which is about 15 miles away. She is still a Loomis Wolf though! The Loomis High School was torn down in May so a new one could be built. All the 7-12 students are now in the elementary school and the K-6 students are bussed to Funk each day for class. The school should be complete by Christmas. She is most excited about the bus ride!

She picked out her own outfit and the headband is her favorite - a gift from Aunt Anna.

I'm 37!...or maybe 22?!?

2008-08-21T12:05:00.000-07:00

UPDATE!!

How many of you tried this? And did you do it more than once? The first time I got a 37, but then tried it a few more times. I think a low score is better than a high score. When I did my best I got a 22. Keep Trying....

Try this!!
This test will tell you if your brain is as old as your body.

The site doesn't know your age, but it will tell you the age of your brain power.

The website is at the bottom. Once you get there you won't be able to read the Japanese instructions, so follow these instructions:

1. Touch 'start'

2. The numbers 3 then 2 then 1 will pop up on the screen.

Immediately following the number 1, several numbers will flash on the screen for barely one second.

3. Memorize the numbers' position on the screen, then click the circles from the SMALLEST NUMBER TO THE BIGGEST NUMBER.

4. At the end of game, the computer will tell you in years, how old your brain is.Sounds complicated but it's really easy.

Think fast.

Let me know how you do!

http://flashfabrica.com/f_learning/brain/brain.html

Am I a bad mom?

2008-08-21T09:21:00.000-07:00

Is Easy Cheese an appropriate snack? They found it at the grocery store the other day and HAD to have it. Last time I looked they were spraying it directly down their throats.....

The

It's Coming Along....

2008-08-21T08:20:00.000-07:00

Looking at the house from the west.
Dining room/Kitchen windows:
Can you see Loomis in the distance?

East side:

Front of the house (it faces north):

Garage (faces west)Another view of the garage with the sheeting on: Southwest corner:
South side:
Front of house with the beginning of the roof:
East side with beginning of the roof:

House Pictures

2008-08-15T08:39:00.000-07:00

Stairway pictures:

Walk out basement wall:
Two windows with a sliding glass door that will go into family room.

House Updates

2008-08-10T08:48:00.000-07:00

Pouring the floor:

Garage floor:
Looking into basement:
Emma by her bedroom window:
Luke in his bedroom:
Basement walls:

Scavenger Hunt

2008-08-10T08:20:00.001-07:00

Our Bunko group went on a Scavenger Hunt last Thursday. Lots of Laughs!! We had list of several places and items we had to find. We took pictures of each with our digital cameras and then shared our findings at Joni's. Here are some of the things we had to find....

A sign with Joni's name on it:

The Mayor's house:

These houses that sit about an inch apart:

This horse and carriage:

The Henry Erickson wall:
Sam Schrock block:
Mr. Ed (he's back there somewhere):

Bob King's signature (local newspaper reporter)

If you're from Holdrege or grew up here, you know what a treat this is!!

a banana:
The door that leads to nowhere:
A Playboy:
This hair salon....long story....but so funny to those who know it!!

Phelps County Fair

2008-07-25T08:44:00.000-07:00

Luke didn't like the buffalo he was riding on.

Antique tractor display

Eating Cotton Candy for the first time. He didn't really care for it.

Jeffrey and Samuel

2008-07-25T08:39:00.000-07:00

Poor Luke isn't dressed in any of these pictures/posts. Oh well, it's summer!!

Pictures Taken By Emma

2008-07-25T08:34:00.000-07:00

See how chairs are laying on the floor?? Luke likes to climb on chairs, get on the table, then climb to the kitchen counter where he goes straight to the fish bowl. If we don't leave those chairs on the floor I know I'll find our poor fish on the kitchen floor someday!!

Luke and his cousin, Benson.

House Updates

2008-07-23T07:30:00.000-07:00

Dirtwork done...
Basement walls up...
View from the road...
Since this picture was taken, the plumbers have been working and the well was drilled in.

Summer Activities

2008-06-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

Everybody Loves A Parade! We hit 3 parades in 4 days last weekend. And now we have enough candy to last until next June.

Swedish Days Parade in Holdrege:

Luke, Addie, Aunt Carrie and cousins Ben, Wes, and Ella.
Grandma Doris, Aunt Dorothy, Cousin Stewart, Aunt Judy, Cousin Anne
The Schultz Family on their American Family Float
Leigh found this great car at the Car Show that afternoon. And it's FOR SALE!!!

Loomis Days Parade

Emma and Addie with Wes, Ashlea, and Paige. The other parade was in Bertrand on Tuesday. Oops...forgot the camera!

T-Ball Games for Emma!

Addie made a new friend this summer at the tball games - Clay.

Laying Out Pipe with Daddy.
Knee high by the Fourth of July?

Luke really wanted to be out helping Daddy, but he helped me drive instead.

Summer Play Date

2008-06-17T20:40:00.000-07:00

We had a play date with Lauryn and Zane last Friday.

Zane sat and listened to the whole book!!
He makes his mama proud!

The girls

Aren't the pictures of the boys so cute? It looks like they're telling stories. I'm going to guess they're talkin' farmin'.

The Twins Have Arrived!!

2008-05-28T22:52:00.000-07:00

My Sister, Anna, and her husband, Jacob, welcomed their twin boys

into the world on Wednesday, May 28th.

This is Jeffrey Jacob.

Born at 4:36am.....weighed 6lbs

Named after our dad and his dad

This is Samuel Mark

Born 17 minutes later....weighed 6lbs 7oz

Mark is Jacob's Dad's name

Congratulations, Anna and Jacob!!

The Events of Luke's Life - April/May

2008-05-28T22:40:00.001-07:00

Since you last heard from Luke....

He was forced to dress up in princess gear

(but he actually looks kind of happy about it)

enjoyed some Sonic at the park
emptied kitchen drawers so he could climb in
rode in the tractor with Dad any chance he got
popped open a cup of pudding and spread it all over his car, the floor, his face, etc.
played with Alliekaye
spent the day with Grandpa Jeff on his birthday

played with Allikaye and her mom, Ashley
spilled a box of Cocoa Pepples on Great-Aunt Susie's floor
played at the park with his Great-Grandparents
was happy to welcome 2 boys into the family!!

The Events of Addie's Life - April/May

2008-05-28T22:18:00.000-07:00

Since you last heard from Addie....

She enjoyed Emma's birthday hats from her party.

She is still dressing like Cinderella.

Got a new bike helmet and knee pads - Disney Princess, of course.

Took a walk with Great-Grandpa Dave.
Got her face painted like a puppy.
Rode in the tractor with Daddy.
Helped Cousin Wes celebrate his 3rd birthday.

Wanted to be the center of attention at Emma's Birthday Party.

The Events of Emma's Life - April/May

2008-05-28T21:42:00.000-07:00

Since you last heard from Emma...

She turned 6!

And celebrated with friends with a pool party at the YMCA.

She went bowling for the first time...

...to celebrate cousin Wes's 3rd birthday.

She competed in the Loomis Elementary Track Meet.

but decided it was more fun to hang out with her friends on the blanket.

I only posted video of the high jump. She also competed in the

softball throw, long jump, and three races.

Finished Kindergarten. This is a picture taken on the last day of school.

Played with cousin Allikaye in Colorado over Memorial Weekend.

We were there to celebrate her Great-Grandpa Dave's 80th Birthday.

Got a sugar high from all the candy Great-Aunt Peggy bought her.
Played in the yard with Addie, Luke, and Allikaye.
Went on a long walk with her great-grandparents.

Met her twin cousins, Jeffery Jacob and Samuel Mark. This is Emma and Samuel.

Gooooo Team!! Happy Birthday Lauryn!

2008-04-07T06:56:00.000-07:00

On Saturday the girls went to their BFF Lauryn's Cheerleading Birthday Party!

With real life cheerleaders!
Long Live the Crimper!

For some reason I had in my mind that the crimpped look was standard for cheerleaders....then I remembered we are living in 2008. Oh well....it looked cute on Addie I thought.

Happy 5th Birthday Lauryn!!

this is Addie practicing before the party.

Casa de Larson

2008-04-01T13:39:00.000-07:00

This is the site of our new home. We hope to start digging this month.

The house will be 2 1/2 miles north and 1 mile east of Loomis.

Bela Karolyi, Here We Come!!

2008-04-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

The girls competed in their first gymnastics meet last Saturday. I'm calling Bela Karolyi next week to see if he has any opening for Olympic training.

When it was Addie's turn to compete, she wouldn't do it at all (video 1). Finally, in video 2 she went for it. Addie does things on her time and her terms!!

Love=Jesus+DisneyPrincesses

2008-04-01T10:58:00.000-07:00

Today when we were in the car, Addie was staring out the window at the sky. She said, "Mom, I wish Jesus would come down to Loomis soon". I said that would be really awesome if he would. And as I stared at her in all her preciousness she said "and I hope he brings the Disney princesses with him".

Big Day for Luke...but even bigger for Joe

2008-03-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

Luke got to ride in the tractor with Joe the other day. He loved it. Joe said he didn't move at all, just pointed at things once in awhile. I think Joe loved it even more! Luke has two words...dada and his version of tractor. Looks like we have a farmer on our hands.

I'm sure you can imagine how proud Joe is!

Beautiful Day Outside!

2008-03-28T07:15:00.000-07:00

It was so nice last Tuesday so we spent some time at the park....

....checked the progress of our tulips.....
....and the girls rode their bikes.
Emma has a project this summer - learn to ride her bike without training wheels.
Luke was not happy about coming back inside!!

Happy Easter

2008-03-28T06:47:00.000-07:00

Emma and I made Easter cookies last weekend.

The following pictures were taken by Emma. She was arranging them for each picture.

Easter Morning

Getting everyone to stand still for a picture is impossible at this point......

Random Pictures of Luke

2008-03-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

Favorite food: Mac and Cheese!!
...and chocolate chip pancakes!

The best sound in the world.....

Easter Egg Hunt 2

2008-03-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

The Schultz's held their 3rd annual Easter Egg Hunt at the Circle. Tons of kids and tons of eggs.

Thank you, Joni!

BFFs Ainsley and Adeline

Still waiting.......

2008-03-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

Front row seats for Emma's Homecoming!

Waiting for Emma....

2008-03-27T13:32:00.000-07:00

On days that Addie and Luke are not sleeping at 3:30,

they are sitting by the front door waiting for Emma to get home.

Notice Addie's princess dress?

There she is!! On this particular day, they stood there and

talked for about 2 minutes -through the door. I'm not sure why no one wanted to open the door.

Work with me People!

2008-03-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

I wanted one (ONE!) picture of the girls sitting so nice together. But do you think I could get both (read: Addie) to look at the camera?!? Not this time...

The Sweetest Thing

2008-03-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love to watch a baby sleep?

Look at those little baby feet......
And my favorite baby sleeping pose.....

Easter Egg Hunt

2008-03-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

The Annual Easter Egg Hunt at the school!!

Here is Emma and the rest of the Kindergartens out in the front of the school.

Addie and Luke were in the gym. For this age group, they just throw chocolate eggs all over the floor and the kids run around picking them up. Luke had a ball at the Easter Egg Hunt.

How they change in just a week!

2008-03-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

Addie, who is 3, has not been able to pronouce the 's' sound at the beginning of a word if there was a constanant following it. So snack = nack, snuggle = nuggle (my favorite), sleep = weep, etc. When we came back from Cabo, she had figured out how to pronouce these words. I don't think anyone taught it to her. But I miss those cute mispronunciations......

We bought the girls swimsuit cover ups and maracas. Luke also got a maraca and a t-shirt.Addie only modeled her coverup for a short time before she jumped back into her princess dress. When we are home Addie changes her clothes constantly. She is either wearing pajamas (with Disney Princesses on them of course) or dresses.
Check out Luke's hair. Wow it is shaggy!! It was the first thing I noticed about him. I got his hair cut a few days later and now he looks like Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber. No kidding!! The hairdresser had to make it quick because he was not a happy camper and the Dumb and Dumber look was the special of the day. I wish I had a good picture to show you, but I don't. When we returned from Cabo, we noticed he was walking and running so good. My sister also taught him to say "I don't know" with his hands. He holds both hands up and shrugs his shoulders a little. It's so cute.

Ashley - I want to give AlliKaye props on all her mad sign language skillz. I've been teaching Luke to sign 'please', but for now he just rubs his hips (with both hands at the same time -hilarious) or his diaper (also hilarious).

Just for the record, because someday I know I'll forgot this if I don't write it down now.....
Everyday Thoughts by Adeline M. Larson

Upon leaving the bathroom one day...."Well! My work here is done!".

Cabo

2008-03-27T11:50:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Cabo. There were 10 of us - 5 couples and 5 cameras - and we ended up with over 600 pictures! We were there for the first week of March. It was so beautiful. So relaxing and I felt like I had no responsibilities all week. Each day we would sleep in, eat a big breakfast, lay out by the beach - reading, sleeping, people-watching. Whenever we felt like it we'd walk down the beach to a restuarant and get something to eat. Then go back to the beach or our room for more reading or sleeping. There were a few afternoons we went to the little shops and walked around. There was also a mall near our resort. One afternoon the guys went golfing and the girls went to the spa. We would all get together in the evenings for supper. We all came back with great tans! And we were all ready to see our kids. But on the Monday after we got back, I came out of the shower to find Luke in the kitchen with a box of cereal spilled all over the floor, a cup of applesauce spilled, and he was chewing on a piece of leftover pizza he found in the trash. I called Joe to see if we could go back to Mexico.

It was a quick reality check back into the life of a mom!

Views from our room.

The 10 of us

Guys golf day by the ocean.

Mike and Nancy
Steph and Dave
Lona and Andy
Blake and Renee
Joe and I

I'm Back

2008-03-27T11:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted anything for a long time!! I know all of my faithful readers (all 3 of you!) have been anxiously awaiting my next installment. I have lots to share so stay tuned!

New background....I love this one because 3 weeks ago Joe and I were in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We had the best time except Joe was sick most days (more later). But I think about it daily and how relaxing and beautiful it was.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2008-02-15T12:53:00.001-08:00

Balloons are everywhere!!
Addie got a Butterfly Barbie.

Luke won't be getting any dates for Valentine's Day with this shirt.

No one wants a guy that still lives at home! And doesn't wear any pants for that matter.
Luke and his puppy.

Emma got a Webkinz Love Frog.

2008-02-15T11:57:00.000-08:00

Let me start off by saying - these pictures are not in the order I would have liked them to be in. Why can't I paste and copy? Is there a way to arrange pictures in the order I want? Someone Please Help!!

The kiddos and their sick dad.

He got this tractor and trailer from Great Grandpa and Grandma Price

and the animals from Addie.

Happy 1st Birthday, Luke!

Don't you love the hats?
Since Joe was sick with influenza, we had to cancel his party with extended family. Thank goodness Luke doesn't understand. Emma was very upset about not being able to have the party.

Here is got a semi and trailor.

This is a Zebra Bounce and Spin. It was hard for him to do it himself, but he loved it when Emma helped him out.

John Deere cake for Luke!

Sorry, no pictures yet.

2008-02-14T19:54:00.001-08:00

I know you're dying to see my cute kids :) but I haven't had a chance to get pics on here yet. We had a busy day of celebrating Valentine's Day. I am a room mom for Emma's Kindergarten class and we had her party this afternoon. It was fun. We made some sand art pictures and had Valentine cookies. Then they opened Valentine's and we sent them home wired and obnoxious from all the candy. When we got home, Addie was waiting for us so she could open her present - a Butterfly Barbie thing. Emma got a Frog Webkinz and Luke got the cutest talking dog from Hallmark. He loves it. (I will post pictures of this soon, too.) Joe's parents visited and we visited my parents for more presents. At school, Emma is learning about President's Day. After getting all these gifts today she asked if she'd get more on President's Day. She asked the same thing about Groundhog's Day last week. Do you think my kids are a little too spoiled with all the gifts they get??!?!?! You may have noticed I didn't mention a date with my hubby. Joe has influenza. He's better than he was on Tuesday, but still not the best. We are all on medication so that we don't get sick or, if we do, it won't hit us quite as bad.
Have a good night!!

Let's give this a whirl.....

2008-02-13T22:27:00.000-08:00

Here is my first attempt at the Blog-world. I hope to add many pictures to keep you - my family and friends - up to date on what's new in our lives. I just recently started browsing through and reading various blogs and have felt very inspired to try it out.
Check back periodically for new on the Loomis Larsons.
Maybe I should tell you why this is named "Loomis Larsons".
When Emma was 3 1/2 or 4 she would sign her name Emma Loomis Larson. By the way, Loomis is the town we live in. I guess she wanted to make sure everyone knew she was from the LOOMIS Larsons as opposed to the Holdrege Larsons or the Loomis Johnsons. It just came to me when I started thinking about a name.
Be back soon! I have pictures of Luke's 1st Birthday to share with you!
Until Next Time....