Friday we had the chance to spend the afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa Crooks to see Grandpa use his Racing Experience Gift Certificate at the Kansas Speedway. As much as he enjoys racing, the kids all went together and bought him a Gift Certificate for a 6 lap ride to see what it is like to go 160 mph in a NASCAR Race Car. We all enjoyed getting to see him do this, and it was neat to be down in the Pit Area of a Major Speedway. 
The Grandkids cheered as Papa made his racing debut!
Well, we decided to go to the James Lewis Elementary playground today, but due to some construction work at the school they had the school property closed. We then headed just down the street to the Pink Hill Park to spend some time on the playground equipment for a while.
After 45 minutes of playing at the park we decided it was time to drop by and see if Mom needed any help at the store, but on the way Kendall spotted a large helicopter coming in for a landing and it actually landed at the James Lewis Elementary where we originally wanted to play so we stopped to see what was going on. The school was replacing some Air Conditioning units on the roof and the helicopter was removing the old ones and lifting the new ones into place on the top of the school. The helicopter company from St. Louis was very nice and brought Kendall over a sticker while they were hooking up the chains to the first piece and another guy brought Kendall some Safety Glasses to wear to keep the dust and dirt out of his eyes when the helicopter was down so low. It was very cool to see the helicopter lift them up and hoover over the school to put them on the roof.
Well, Kendall's T-Ball game was rained out last night so we hope to get his game in tonight. Lizzy has Cheerleading Practice during the game and I have to work in Knob Noster so we will miss the game, but I am sure he will do as well as he did the first game. Good Luck Buddy!
Well, its that time of year again when Daddy gets to keep his little one at home while Miss Ami is on vacation. We plan to do something fun and exciting every day while still helping Mom out at her new store when we can. We will also be dropping and picking Lizzy up from Summer School and taking her to Cheerleading Practices and getting Kendall to and from his T-Ball Games and Practice, since that does not leave us much time to do anything too demanding - we will be spending our time at local parks again this year and doing some fishing when we can.
Lizzy is attending Summer School through the day and has Cheerleading Practice three days a week at GAGE. She has made a Competition Cheerleading Squad that will practice throughout the year and Competes throughout the midwest in the Fall and Winter. We are looking forward to seeing her compete in something she really enjoys.
Kendall has started T-Ball this year and is quite the little athlete. He has one game and one practice a week unless they have a rainout to make up the next week. The first game his coach put him on third base and he had numerous balls hit to him and decided that if the first baseman would not catch the ball, that he would just run it over to first and get the batter out (he did this three times in one inning). He hustles to the ball, in fact he was the first one to the ball from third base when the ball was hit to right field....? It is great fun watching them play and he is learning the fundamentals of where to throw when and how to run the bases - we have a new nickname for him and it is "The Defense."
She is a 12 week old Yorkie-Poo that is a ball of joy.
The kids have not given her a name yet, but will
decide on a name in the next day or two.
We received about 6-8 inches of snow total
and it was lots of fun playing in it this morning.
Kendall has been sick lately so we didn't get to go
sledding or anything this time, but I did take the
time to build a snowman and let the kids decorate
her while I shoveled the driveway (that doesn't
seem to be a fair trade) and they had a good time.
The kids are ready for Christmas, they had a
chance to visit with Santa to tell him everything
they wanted this year. Kendall wants everything from
a Monster Truck to Dinosaurs and anything in between.
Lizzy really wants a puppy, but I don't think Mom and Dad
are quite ready for another pet right now... so, she has
decided that CD's, Clothes and Games would be better.
I am done with work for 2006 and I am looking forward
to a change of pace when I return in January. My job will
change from taking School Portraits to more groups and
sports for a while, then towards the beginning of March
we will start taking spring portraits until the end of the
school year when we will start Proms, Graduations and
Summer Sports Leagues until the end of June...
Happy Holidays!!!
Tim, Fonda, Lizzy and Kendall
Our little daredevils talked me into taking them sledding
Kendall was like the Energizer Bunny...
He just kept going and going and going!
He was such a sport and kept climbing the hill for
more even when he would tumble down the hill.
Lizzy liked spinning around and around all the way
down the hill (she's a little dizzy most of the time anyway),
and going down head first until she took on a face full of snow.
Lizzy has been out of school Thursday and Friday
because of the weather, and both of the schools that
I have been scheduled to photograph these two days have
been cancelled too. This gave me the weather I wanted to
photograph our house with the Christmas Lights
all lit up. I hope to get out later today to take
some other scenics in the snow too. 
Thursday we had Thanksgiving Dinner at our house
and enjoyed having the family together for the day.
Fonda and Ramona fixed an awesome feast and
we all spent the day around the house while the
kids enjoyed playing outside in the 60 degree weather.
Ramona and John left for the Chiefs game and
after it got dark we went back to the Festival of Lights
to view the Christmas Lighting Display - it was just
too busy Wednesday evening to fight all the extra traffic...
Friday, I got up early (2 a.m.) and went out on my
Annual Black Friday Shopping Spree. I ended up
getting what I had hoped for and made a
good start on the Christmas shopping list.
Friday evening we were able to spend some
rare family time carving our pumpkins.
Kendall made the ghost and Lizzy made the Bat.
The kids all dressed up in their
Halloween Costumes!
Lizzy is Miss America and
Kendall is a Football Player.
Well, we bought one extra ticket for her to
take a friend and since the concert was
scheduled on the second day of school,
we decided to take them out of school after
lunch and spend a few hours at the fair
before the concert. It was Hot, but Fun!
Fonda and Lizzy had made them cute
little shirts to wear and they were the
talk of the Fair that afternoon before the
concert. Everyone loved them!
After the Concert was over, Carrie came
out to the Souvenier Table and signed
numerous items for the fans...
Lizzy and her friend had their shirts
signed while they were wearing them,
and we also had her sign their concert
shirts that we bought at the booth.
To say the least, the girls were flying
on cloud nine the rest of the weekend!
It was very exciting to take the girls to
their first concert and it be an
experience that they will never forget!
First Day of Fourth Grade!
Lizzy started the Fourth Grade on Thursday and after a nice summer, I think she is ready to tackle another year too. We got to visit her Classroom and meet her Teacher last Wednesday evening and it looks like she should have another great school year. It does not feel like my little girl should be in the Fourth Grade! Before you know it she be headed to College!
