Christmas Cookies

Since we had a snow day today, Paige and I baked and decorated Christmas cookies. The pictures below are a little out of order.

And if you'll notice, she's wearing the same pj's she wore to her X-mas concert. They're "Christmasy"so she thinks she needs to wear them everyday until Christmas.


Cutting out a Christmas Tree

Mmm Mmm Good!

I know, they're just beautiful.

She is so proud of her cookies.

Decorating the cookies

She really like the sprinkles

Notice the frosting on the forehead?

Cookies, check....Frosting, check...Sprinkles, check

Like the cover of a magazine

Her favorite cookie....she already ate it!

Christmas Conccert #1

Paige had her first Christmas concert today at the Elementary school. She was one of "Santa's Sleepyheads" and had to wear her pajamas and slippers.

Singing her little heart out. The Kindergarten sang I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause and Jingle, Jingle Little Bells. They also sang a couple songs with all the other classes.

Dan, Grandpa, Grandma and Cameron enjoying the show. Grandma saw the camera and ducked out of the way.

Grandma, Grandpa and Paige after the concert.

Wrestling Practice #2

Paige was very excited when another girl showed up at practice. They partnered up right away and learned all about take-downs.

The Busiest Weekend Ever!!

It all started on Thursday with a wonderful Thansgiving dinner at the Eaton's with the Hohensee family. Paige had a great time playing with Erin and Emma Strohman (Josh's cousin Katie's twin girls). We ate way too much and played some cards and had a great time.

Late that afternoon we headed to Grandma Snow's house. Almost everyone was gone by the time we got there, but did get to visit with Grandma and my mom.

I wanted to get up and do a little early bird shopping on Friday, but Josh won that battle. He had to get some racecar parts in Huxley, so we did some shopping in Ames. We are about 75% done with our shopping already.

Saturday was a crazy day......We put up our tree first thing in the morning, had lunch at the Pizza Ranch for Ella's 3rd birthday party, went bowling that afternoon, to church in the evening and then to a party at the body shop. Wow are we tired today!!

Paige was getting tired of the camera! :)

But Dad......

The other day, Paige brought home a sign-up sheet.....for wrestling.

When she asked if she could go out, I told her she would need to ask her dad. Of course, dad said no. This was the conversation that followed:

Paige: But Dad, Luke is the toughest boy in my class and I know I can beat him.

Josh: You don't need to go out for wrestling, you're a girl.

Paige: But Dad, girls can do anything boys can do.

then Cameron thought he needed to interject his opinion: She's not wrestling, she's a girl

Paige: Well Cam, why do you always wrestle me then?

Paige is now signed up for wrestling!!

One year later.....

Ok, so our computer crashed, I was working a job with CRAZY hours....... I just haven't kept up with the blog.

So here is the last year in a nutshell:

Not much happened all winter long. That's our "off season".

But our summer was extremely busy with racing, of course. Josh did really well in his Hobby Stock so he decided to sell that and move up to the Stock Car class for next season. Of course he's already busy working on that even though the races don't start until April.


Josh's '08 Hobby Stock

We went on vacation to St. Louis this year and hit all the hot spots there. Such as, The Arch, Grant's Farm, did the Budweiser tour, Six Flags, Josh and Cam went to a dirt track in Peveley, MO and saw a bunch of Nascar drivers racing late models. We also went to Meremac Caverns.

Mississippi River

Some of the drivers at I-55 Race Track, Pevely, MO

Anheuser Busch

Paige feeding a goat at Grant's Farm

Meremac Caverns

Hannibal, MO

You can't tell unless you look closely, but those flowers are full of butterflies.

I switched jobs in August. We had been working some horribly long hours at Jack Link's. Not only were the hours long for me, but for the kids, too. Paige was at daycare from before 7 in the morning and I wasn't getting home until after 6. We were also working 6 days a week.

The breaking point came for me when I realized that I was not much fun to be around anymore, the kids got completely screwed out of having a fun summer and Josh was having to not only do his job, with also has crazy hours, but pick up all the slack at home. Sometimes the money you make just isn't worth the stress it causes on a family.

Anyway, a job opportunity came up at a school district about 12 miles from home at the Pomeroy-Palmer Community School as a Paraeducator (teacher's associate). I jumped at the chance to get back into a school district. I really enjoy working with the kids and find it very rewarding.

Paige and Cam started school on August 20th. Paige is in Kindergarten this year and Cameron is a Freshman.

Kdg. pic First Day of School: I didn't notice until I posted she was wearing the same dress

Cam-9th grade

School is going well for both of them. I think Cam is enjoying being in High School. Paige loves to learn and is soaking everything up like a little sponge.

Josh actually got to go with to take Paige trick-or-treating. He has had to work every other year. Paige's Halloween Costume: She went as a gumball machine

So, that about covers the last year in the very (un)exciting lives of the Hohensee family. Hopefully, now that I have more time I can actually update more often. Or at least when something exciting happens.

Love to all

Busy Thanksgiving Weekend

It all started on Thursday...........we had an awesome dinner at Darwin and Debby's house with the Hohensee family. That evening Cameron and I went to Fort Dodge so he could do his Christmas shopping.


I had taken the day off work on Friday, so the kids and I put up the Christmas tree and the other holiday decorations. Josh even put up the outside lights. Although this time of year he likes to refer to me as Mrs. Griswald. I'm sure most people have seen the movie National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.

We like to dress Casey up as a "reindog" while we are decorating the tree.



Friday evening we got together for supper in Palmer with Josh's mom and dad, brother, Brian and his wife, Sarah, their kids, Logan and Kyla, his sister, Alyse, her husband, Charles and their daughter, Ella. We celebrated Josh's mom's birthday, but I'm not saying which birthday because I still want her to like me! After supper Josh and I went to the Bee Movie with Brian, Alyse, Roger, Ella, Logan, Paige and Cameron.


On Saturday we had lunch at Pizza Ranch for Ella's 2nd birthday party. I can't believe she's two already.

We enjoyed another family supper on Saturday evening. This time at Roger and Ellen's house for another Thanksgiving feast.

After supper we came home and painted our kitchen. Apparently we weren't quite tired enough from all the running we had been doing all weekend!

After church on Sunday we headed to Fort Dodge once again. This time it was Josh's idea and Cam, Paige and I just tagged along. We now have 99% of our Christmas shopping done. Whoo Hoo!!!

We had a weekend full of activities, but it was great to be able to spend so much time with family. We don't do it nearly often enough.

Little Witch

Paige was a witch for halloween this year. She had so much fun trick-or-treating this year. Espcially at the nursing home, which really suprised me. She learned a "pumpkin song" at school and sang it to everyone there. So cute!!

Cameron stayed home and passed out candy at our house. He was thrilled to do it. (note scarcasm here)

Carving Pumpkins

Since Halloween is just a few days away, we decided we should get the pumpkins carved.


Paige did an excellent job digging all the guts out. She thought it was very fun but a little "gross".


They turned out very cute. We have a cat, a vampire and a regular jack-ol-lantern.

Kansas Speedway

Josh and I made our trip to Kansas for the Nascar race.

On the way down Saturday, we stopped through Des Moines for some "family time". We finally got to meet our new niece, Kyla. She's adorable! After we left Brian and Sarah's house, we met Charles, Alyse and Ella for lunch at Carlos O'Kelleys. We had a great lunch with them.

We went for supper at Smokehouse Barbeque in Independence, MO. http://www.smokehousebbq.com/ It was so good. Our motel was only about 6 miles from where we stayed on vacation so Josh knew his way around the area pretty well.

On Sunday morning we were up bright and early to head to the track. We thought the traffic would be alot worse than it was, but we were so early I think we missed the biggest part of it. We had plenty of time to hit all the merchandise trailers for t-shirts.

I stood in line about 45 minutes to meet and get an autograph from Jeremy Mayfield, my favorite driver. (no comments from any Nascar fans on here, I already know how everyone feels about him) Of course, Josh and I realized about an hour from home that we had forgotten the camera, DAMN!! Oh well, I got one on my phone.

The race had 2 rain delays but we had a great time anyway. I'm really glad we went.

We made it to Nebraska City, NE before Josh was too tired to drive any further. We were still about 3 hours from home.

We finally made it home about 2 today. What an exhausting (but fun ) weekend. We've talked about making this our yearly anniversary trip.

Josh's Birthday

Josh will turn 31 on the 13th. Since he will be racing at the Spencer Fair that night and is leaving before we all get home, the kids and I decided to do his birthday cake and presents tonight.

As you can see from the picture, it DOES run in the family to eat cake from the middle first. Here is Josh's Red Velvet (yuck) birthday cake.

The kids and I got him the movie "Blades of Glory". And tickets to the Nascar race in Kansas City on September 30th which I put inside a 12-pack Busch Light box and wrapped. Sounds like a "you might be a redneck....." just waiting to happen!

He was VERY excited about the tickets. I'm so glad. It should be alot of fun.

Paige is 5

Paige turned 5 yesterday.



She got to take cupcakes to school. She even helped bake and decorate them. Of course, I forgot to take a picture. But trust me, they were gorgeous!


She invited her friend, Olivia, to go out for pizza and then to our house to play.




We haven't done a birthday party for Paige yet. I think we are just going to invite some family over this weekend for cake and ice cream. Paige has been celebrating all week, so we're not going to go all out.

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school.

Cameron is in 8th grade. And after much careful thought and consideration, we decided to put Paige into Pre-K (prep). I think she may have been a LITTLE more excited than he was. Cameron did pick out his clothes the night before, so I think he was ready. We also picked out Paige's last night since she had to make sure I picked out "something cute". Her exact words. She had an open house at school last night. She got to take her school supplies and meet her teacher, Mrs. Clausen.

I had to work this morning so Josh got the kids up and ready for school. Cam didn't want to ride with dad, so he rode his bike. But Josh took Paige to school and was a little "misty-eyed" when she just said "bye Dad". I'm glad she didn't carry on and cry. I think it was hard for him to send his baby to big school. She will go everyday, but only from 8:15 to 11:30.

Paige will turn 5 on August 28th. That's the biggest reason we chose Prep. She is still one of the youngest in her class. She also still takes naps and is very growly if she doesn't get one. We just figured one more year of 1/2 days wouldn't hurt.

Cam's last year of junior high started today. He's excited because he'll get to "rule the school" this year. I think he just likes to go to school for the social experiences!

I forgot.....

We stayed about 5 minutes from the stadiums where the KC Royals and the Chiefs play. We didn't see a ball game, but did get to go inside and see the Royals Stadium.

We tried to let everyone pick a place each night to eat supper. Paige, of course, picked Chuck E. Cheese's. I think Josh and Cam had just as much fun there.

I have added a link to look at pictures on our site. It's easier than trying down load all of them onto a post.

Thanks to my high-school classmate and blogger extraordinaire, Shannon Kunkle. I have also added a link to her site. Shannon's is the first blog I ever read and the one I am stealing all these cool ideas from.

The Rest of Vacation

On Tuesday we went to Oceans of Fun. Even though we applied sunscreen numerous times during the day, all of us sunburned, except Paige. I don't know how she got by without getting fried, but I'm sure glad she did. She did, however, get a few new "vacation freckles" on her nose and cheeks. She loved the wave pool. It's just like being at the beach, minus the sand! She had to wear a life jacket because of her height, so she just laid on her back and let the waves carry her around.

On Wednesday, we went to Worlds of Fun. We got a late start in the morning since nobody woke up until almost 9. We all must have been worn out from the day before. We stopped at IHOP for breakfast before heading to WOF. Everyone had a ball riding on all the rides. Paige was even brave enough to ride on some of the big rides. I think she rode the "Sea Dragon" 3 times.

She and I also headed to Camp Snoopy while Josh and Cam went to ride the "big boy" rides. She rode lots of rides there and even got to hug Snoopy.

Camp Snoopy also had this huge playroom with air-powered guns that shot foam balls. I'm not sure which kid, Josh or Cam, had more fun in there.

On Friday, we headed downtown to Union Station, a restored 1900's train station. We went through the train museum, the science center and saw 2 shows at the planetarium. We also headed to Crown Center and toured the Hallmark Visitors Center. It sounds kind of boring, but was very interesting. It was all about the history of Hallmark Cards.

We finally headed home Friday morning. After finishing up school shopping on the way home, we finally made it back to Pocahontas about 8:00. Now I have about 47 loads of laundry to finish up!!

Day Two

We ended up going to the zoo today. It's noot nearly as impressive as the Omaha Zoo. The layout at the KC Zoo is terrible. There is ALOT of walking involved in seeing only 1 or 2 animals in each area. It is set up in to different "continents". So in Africa, for instance, you see the animals native to that area. I think we walked a mile to see some zebras, giraffes, and 1 rhino. It was so hot, that most of the animals were hiding in the logs or in some cool corner.


We did end up seeing an IMAX movie called "Deep Sea". That was very cool. If you've never been to an IMAX theater, GO!! It's awesome.

After the zoo, we went to Cabela's for a little while and then off to Sadler's Indoor Raceway. Which is an indoor go-cart track. Josh took Paige in a double-seater and let Cam beat the doors off him. So, of course, Josh had to ditch Paige and get into a single car and smoke poor Cam. Josh is just a LITTLE competitive when it comes to racing, even if it involves his 14-year-old son!

After racing we ate BBQ at a little place next to our hotel. It's called the Rib Crib. It wasn't really that impressive, but after over a 100 miles today, it was close and convenient.

I think tomorrow we are going to Oceans of Fun. The heat index is supposed to be near 105 and the water seemed like a good idea.

Kansas City

We made it to Kansas City about 3:00 on Sunday. We checked into out hotel and then did a little school shopping.

We ate supper at Red Robin. Yummy!! Best burgers ever!!!

I think we are planning on going to the zoo today. Everyone is still tired from the trip down and nobody slept well last night so we wanted a "short" activity.