She looks so grown up

Pictures from Brenna's soccer party. I had straightened her hair for church earlier in the day and I can't believe how old she looks!!

The best part of my day

Talking over top of each other, shouts of "it's my turn", and "wait, I was going to go first" are the hallmarks of what has become a tradition in our family. And I love it!! (Wait, did I really just say that!) Tired of hearing "good" in relation to How was your day? we implemented asking the question "What was the best part of your day?" to which our child respond with wild enthusiasm! Even Tobin wants to chime in. Sometimes we need to remind Brenna that we are only supposed to share the best parts, and we have to encourage Noah to share more than "recess," but it always brings us into each other's day which is a nice feeling.

But last night was the best part of my day. Andy and I have been ships passing in the night for what seems like weeks now. We have hardly had more than dinner time together on any given day!! We are crazed with taking kids here and there, but last night...last night was a night to remember. While I don't remember who went upstairs to bed first, we ended up in our bed wide awake at 11:00 pm! This is so highly unusual I am looking into Guiness Records about this (I'm usually passed out, dead asleep). Taking full advantage of the situation, I wrapped myself in his arms rather than my blankets and it felt soooo good!! That is when I know that no matter what we are going through we are still connected. Somehow at night, Andy thinks I am funny (yes, he's tired). Those who know us Bumgardners might get a laugh out of that, because we Bumgardners had to marry spouses who are funny because we, ourselves, are not funny. But, in the magic of the night, Andy thinks I'm funny which makes me happy because I know how much I love Andy for bringing laughter into my house. So, we laughed and cuddled and talked!! Seriously, the best part of my day.

Great Wolf Lodge

After the voting fiasco, we hopped in the car and headed towards Great Wolf Lodge. Noah and Brenna still didn't know where we were headed and we didn't tell them!! Noah made a few guesses along the way, the beach and camping, Brenna thought we were headed to Chuck E. Cheeses!! We had a great time on the ride down. We exited the high way at one point to refill with gas. Near the gas station was a sign Kentland. Andy tried to joke with the kids about being back at home, but they weren't having any of it. And when I saw the price of townhomes for $170,000 I wasn't having any of it either. Andy saw a Dairy Queen and stopped for ice cream; as did all of the kids. Footloose and fancy free! I saw the lodge first and grew very excited!! We had debated telling the kids, and I was glad when they pulled up to the sign and read where we were and then turned to look at the lodge quickly with great, big smiles on their faces!! None of them had ever been here, so they weren't sure totally what to think, but they knew it was something good!!

The water park was great!! The ride that caputured Tobin and Noah's interest was the Florider, a ride where you ride the wave!! Brenna, Brenna loved it all. She was able to run around and do whatever ride tickled her fancy. She seemed to love all of the rides. Two of the rides were able to fir 4 people into one raft; those were my most fun moments, when most of us were together!! I loved seeing the smiles of everyone. It was so much fun riding the slides: laughter, shrieks and holding on!! The best part is that there were no lines! To go there during the week and when kids were in school was the best idea! We hardly waited at all for any one ride.

Having been a lifeguard, I always am aware of what they are doing, and I have to say I felt they did a great job. They were present, visible and clearly watching the pool. When Tobin hurt his toe on one of the rides, they responded immmediately. I have to say I was impressed and felt safe with the lifeguards there. I also felt safe letting Noah and Brenna do things a little more independently!!

Noah's favorite part though was the magicquest game. With a wand, you go around the hotel collecting clues for your adventure and then you beat the dragon in your quest! Noah was so determined to beat the dragon. He had a great time doing this and it definitely helped make the vacation for him.

Enough said, here are 1000 words.




Our room!!

Noah on the waverider.


Tobin--who determined to learn some tricks before he left. And succeeded so much so that I had another dad ask me, "Is he the local pro?"


Me with Andy and me with my children on my birthday!! It was a great day!

Twilight fans read on

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

You are observant, diplomatic and often aim to please. You are unaware of your
attractiveness and despite being uncomfortable with any form of attention, people enjoy your company. You can be impatient, stubborn and headstrong, but you are true to your word and mature for your age, often taking care of your family and enjoying a good book over chatting with girlfriends on the phone.

An auspicious beginning!

I was so excited about voting this morning that I woke up at 5:42 am. I thought about what I knew about both candidates. For the most part I thought I knew who I was voting for but I wanted to go over it once again! At 6:17 I knew I wasn't falling back asleep, so I got up and got dressed. I kissed Andy good-bye and told him I would have a spot for him. I walked up to the school and it was beautiful outside: calm and delightful, with no hint of what was ahead. I couldn't believe it when I realized there was already a line down the hall of the school. I sat down and pulled out my ipod, but I wanted to mingle with those around me. I looked around and estimated that there was only one younger person than me. I had a nice conversation with the women next to me. And I was happy to see Andy walk in after a few text messages. As the line started moving, I felt silly to feel this sense of anticipation. As we walked towards the polling room, I saw these 4th and 5th grade "Presidential" self-portraits on the wall with a paragraph underneath of what they had "accomplished." With only my cell phone camera, I couldn't get the self-portrait and the paragraph, so I chose to get their 4th and 5th grade view of the world (the part that made me laugh). Here are a few of them:







And then I...... (see post below)

Flawed System

didn't vote. After all this excitement, I can still, even now, feel my tears choked inside me. I must really feel strongly about this because usually my tears are free flowing. The first place you stop once you are inside the polling room is the voter verification station. Andy and I pull up right beside each other and that is where our similarities end. He tells his volunteer that he has moved and should he fill out a change of voter information form. His volunteer says "no" and Andy moves on to the voting box. Done!! Score! He voted. I say I changed addresses and my lady has a conniption fit.

Oh. oh, oh...wait...what do I do, somethings not right in Kansas!. Ok, let me read, wait please, read, read, read, peruse, peruse....it looks like you are going to...wait, judge..please come...
The judge reads, she's (meaning me) going to have to vote provisionally.

Now I think, wait a minute, Andy got through and voted. He told them he had moved. Why is this happening differently to me? This is not fair and is flawed. I tried to tell them I lied about the change of address, but they wouldn't buy it. (not really, but I really wanted to). My license still has what you say in your system. So, in my mind's eye, I see me coming back tonight with different volunteers, letting them believe what they want, and voting. So, I take the form they are filling out, hoping to erase my early morning visit. But I forgot that I won't be here tonight. Darn the luck and not follwing my vision through. So, I don't think I will get to vote. Do you think I can sue for harrassment, not letting my voice count when I am in the same circumstances as others you let vote? Just kidding.

Halloween night

Several neighbors love Halloween and decorate to the hilt. Here is one house I thought was particularly festive!! This is all one house.
This is the graveyard closer up. If you look closely on the left side of the picture is a bird's beak eating a pile of guts (ala spaghetti and blood red sauce).

I love the headless guy hanging from the porch rafters in this picture! There is so much to look at, it is hard to take in all of the details. Much better in person, I assure you.


Noah's friends: Annie, Carson and Christopher.

Brenna's friends, Shira and Brooke.



Tobin's costume: along with friends. This costume was a joint effort. One wasn't going to wear theirs without making sure the others wore theirs!!