Finally...

I am finally caught up with all my posts. It seems summer life has us gone quite often, but I guess that makes up for the rest of the year we spend at home. The girls are enjoying their summer. Cooper has tennis on Monday and Wednesday. Campbell just goes with the flow and follows her big sister around when she can. We try to stay indoors during the day, especially during these 100+ degree days, as my fair skin-red headed girls can't handle that heat. We try to get to the pool once a week, even though I'm sure they'd like to go more often. Campbell is so brave and always wants to jump right in and doesn't want us to hold her up at all. Cooper and I have been doing new crafts, which she really enjoys. It's been fun to not do anything at all most days.

Even though I haven't been blogging much, doesn't mean I'm not reading your blogs too. I try to keep up with everyone and enjoy finding out how you all are spending your summer too.

Happy Reading all my posts on the happenings at the House of C's!

Locks of Love

On Monday the girls had appointments for haircuts. Campbell just needed a trim, as if there is any way to manage her "mess" with all this humidity. Cooper was cutting her hair for Locks of Love. She has been growing her hair for a long time and each time Lori measures it, it just hadn't been long enough, to still leave enough hair that Cooper would be happy with. This time though, there was enough. Lori cut off 10" of Cooper's beautiful red hair. She immediately looked different, like not our daughter. We were so used to seeing her with a ponytail, that we couldn't believe her hair was gone. She too had to get used the idea that it was short, so much cooler, easier to comb and wash in the shower, and of course she didn't have to put it in a ponytail anymore. She is really happy with her new "do." She really wanted Lori to "cut her bangs to the side" which really just meant that she does NOT want bangs anymore mom and so those will continue to grow out and catch up with the rest of her locks. She is so happy that her act of kindness can help another child somewhere.


Cooper before the cut. She is always making faces.


Lori finishing the cut off. I had put her hair in a ponytail and braided it before we went.


Cooper's new do. She looks so grown up now.


The back of Cooper's new do. She really loves it a lot, and I'm so glad.

Kansas City Getaway for Father's Day

We went to Kansas City this past weekend with Chad's family for Father's Day. We took in a KC Royals vs. St Louis Cardinals baseball game. Despite the 1 1/2 hour rain delay, the girls actually tolerated sitting under ponchos looking like drown rats, we did ok. The bonus was the Cardinals won! Afterward, we ventured to our hotel which was by the Plaza and walked down to a Japanese Steakhouse for a late dinner. The girls were a little scared by the big flames that were in close proximity, but otherwise thought everything else was great. After dinner we went for a horse drawn carriage ride around the Plaza. Both girls were so excited and thought they were really "big" stuff by this point of the night. On Father's Day Chad and I took the girls to the KC Zoo. It was HOT and HUMID, two things that don't work well for my family. So after 2 hours we left and headed to the Legends Shopping Area to buy Chad some shoes and show Campbell the T-Rex restaurant. Campbell loves dinosaurs and likes to watch Jurassic Park. But to our surprise she was afraid of the big dinos and wouldn't let us put her down. I drove us home, while everyone slept, and we were glad to be home to our air conditioned house. It was another crazy Kansas Adventure. June 20-21, 2009.


Cooper showing me that she was eating MY cotton candy.


Campbell had Beth's camera and wanted to take lots of pictures.


Chad with his girls! They bought him a new outfit for Father's Day.


Chad and the girls at the KC Zoo.


Campbell and Cooper already HOT and riding the Tram over to Africa.


We HAD to see the elephants, because Campbell loves them. Cooper was not thrilled at all!


We all rode the Carousel. Campbell really likes this ride.


Chad and the girls at the T-Rex Restaurant.

Colgin's 8th Birthday

It was another hot celebration, but still very good. My two older stepbrothers and their families were in town, so we had a large crowd. All the kids were excited to release the balloons up to Heaven. At 5:09pm (the time Colgin was born) we say a prayer and send the balloons up to him. We bring flowers or decorations to stay at his stone. Then we go back to my mom's house for dinner, cake, and ice cream. June 19, 2009


Everyone waiting for 5:09pm.


The balloons going up to Heaven.


Chad, the girls, and I at Colgin's stone.


My nephew Ryland at Colgin's stone. This is his first year to help us celebrate Colgin's birthday.


The kids blowing out the candle on Colgin's cake as we sing Happy Birthday.

California Trip

I could post so many wonderful pictures from our trip to California, but there is only so much space, so I've selected a few to showcase. It was an important trip for two reasons. 1. We were invited to tour the Colgin Winery (something that very rarely occurs). 2. We needed to bottle our 3rd Lohman Family Estate wine, Campbell's wine, a Cabernet. Now to my surprise Chad had asked my dad & stepmom, Marie, to join us. So they met us in the airport and surprised me. It was a fun trip and San Francisco and Napa Valley are both so picturesque, that's it's hard to take a bad photo. We enjoyed our time and accomplished both goals. June 11-15, 2009


Myself, Chad, Marie, and dad (Mike) in front of the Colgin Winery. What a great tour!


Chad and I inside the Colgin Winery cellar. Notice Chad's big grin!! So happy to be there.


Chad and I at a tasting room. Of course lots of red wine to taste, too bad my palate likes white wine.


Chad and I bottling the 3rd Lohman Family Estate wine. A Cabernet, Campbell's wine, on shelves this Fall. My first time to bottle.


Chad and I on the streets on San Francisco.


Dad, Marie, and I on the cable car ride. What fun!


Chad and I in front of the Fisherman's Wharf sign. He loves this place too.


Ghirardelli Square for some yummy ice cream treats.


Chad and I with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. We were at the Pacific Ocean at the Cliff House. Ahh - beach at last.

This is Kansas

When you say you are from Kansas, most people think of wheat fields. So here is a classic picture of what Kansas looks like to most people. June 7, 2009

Kansas Adventure #2

Manhattan is a college town, but also filled with a lot of history and we've never taken the opportunity to explore much of that with the girls. So the day after the Topeka Zoo trip we explored areas around Manhattan for our next Crazy Kansas Adventure.

There are two "popular" hills in Manhattan. The KS hill and the Manhattan hill. I've never been up to the KS hill so Chad took us up to see the sights of the city. Both girls were happy to go for a hike and check things out. June 7, 2009


If you enlarge this picture you can see the "KS" on the hill. This picture was taken from the Manhattan hill.


Chad, Cooper, and Campbell hiking up to the "KS" letters.


Cooper looking down on the "KS" hill.


The girls and I with the Manhattan city behind us.


If you enlarge this picture you will see the "Manhattan" hill. This picture was taken from the KS hill.


You can walk on all the letters in Manhattan. Chad took our picture from down below.


Chad and the girls sitting on top of the "A" in Mahattan.


Meet "Johnny Kaw." In City Park this statue stands as Manhattan's own version of Paul Bunyan. We've been to city park lots of times, and I don't think the girls ever noticed the statue before we actually talked about it and took pictures with it. Cooper went home and found my storybook of the Paul Bunyan story. Now every time we drive by the girls say hi to Johnny.

Kansas Adventures #1

Each summer I think to myself, this summer will be it, the time that I get done everything I need to get done, the time I'll do lots of things with the girls, the time when we won't be so busy that we'll get to have fun and enjoy each day and really cherish the moments. Yet again, another summer has begun and again I haven't really followed through on a lot of those things. But I have successfully had a game night, movie night, and a few Crazy Kansas Adventures for the family.

Crazy Kansas Adventure #1 was a trip to the Topeka Zoo. It was really nice, lots of shade, animals within close proximity of each other, not too many hills, and a very enjoyable experience. A must see for visitors. June 6, 2009


Chad, Cooper, and Campbell ready to see the animals. The giraffes in the background.


Campbell and I watching the elephants. Campbell LOVES the elephants.


The girls watching the lions. Luckily there was glass in between them.


Campbell enjoying the view from daddy's shoulders.


There was also a petting zoo and Cooper was brave enough to feed the goats.

Happy 8th Birthday Colgin!

Happy 8th Birthday Colgin! We all love and miss you greatly.


(I promise to add some new posts soon.)

Have a great weekend everyone and Happy Father's Day.

Done!

You need to read the last 3 posts in order though and then you'll understand where I am at now.

Last week we were still cleaning up, wrapping up & shipping Ebay items, leaving Ebay feedback, still collecting donations, making calls, depositing money, doing the bookwork to calculate how much we raised this year, and of course still doing the day to day normal stuff one must do.

Thank You's aren't always done in a reasonable amount of time, but it's not because we aren't Thankful to all of you, but just because by the time this is all over with, I AM EXHAUSTED! I'm sure you can understand.

At this point the amount raised is at $9,200. We are so excited at yet another successful year. We have already started thinking about things to do for next year, and so the process begins all over again.

For those of you interested, please plan to come for the 10th Annual Colgin Tanner Lohman Memorial Golf Tournament. It will be held on June 19th, 2011. This will be the over the top blow out! Promising great stuff.

Thanks for reading & thanks for your support.
Chad & Chris



This is what a hole sponsor sign looks like for those people who give donations.

After The Tourney

We usually arrive home about 3:00 or 3:30, just in time as the babysitter has had her hands full all day. *Usually my sister brings her kids here so the sitter watches all 4 kiddos.* The kids are excited to see us, but we still have more work to do. We must clean up the house (kids stuff all around) and get ready for the traditional family/friend celebration at our house every year after the tourney. We usually have 40-50 people here that night. So the list of things to do continues on.

1. Get house picked up.
2. Set up tables and chairs.
3. Get all beverages ready & cold.
4. Get all food prepared, cooked, out and ready to eat.
5. Turn on music & get ready for a fun time.
6. Make sure all the kids have something to keep them busy.
7. Welcome guests. Eat, drink, be merry.
8. Sit and talk with guests & talk about the tourney.
9. Take pictures, play games, laugh, tell stories.
10. Stay up way too late.
11. Clean up!


Friends playing bags.


The guests talking.


Having fun with friends and family.

During the Tourney

So registration is from 8am-9am. **Hang up banner, put hole sponsor signs at each hole, get tables ready, get breakfast bags & water bottles ready, get scorecards ready, meet & greet each player and give instructions.**
Trying to get 100 people through that process is a challenge.

Once we've double checked all team members have arrived and are situated in their carts, the golf pro and Chad say a few opening words. At 9am, they are off! What a relief to know the tourney is underway and now for the next 4 hours we (the volunteers) and myself have more work to do.

1. Eat our own breakfast.
2. Catch our breath.
3. Pick up stuff from registration.
4. Get the beverage carts out on the course - with camera & raffle tickets.
5. Get a pair of volunteers out at the Tiger Hole.
6. Bring in all prizes.
7. Spread out raffle prizes. Tape a raffle ticket to each prize. Make sure there
are enough raffle prizes for each player.
8. Place all team prizes in order of placement.
9. Place hole prizes in separate area.
10. Rotate volunteers on Tiger Hole & beverage carts.
11. Answer any calls about missing pencils, sprinklers being on, someone needing
sunscreen, etc.
12. Eat our lunch. Check on speed of play.
13. Find raffle prizes for players as they come in to see what they won.
14. Give each player a goodie bag when they claim their raffle prize.
15. Start to total up scorecards, as teams come in from finishing their golf game.
16. Put scorecards in order of placement determined by scores.
17. Make sure hole prize markers are brought in.
18. Pick up all hole sponsor signs.
19. Keep everyone happy as they wait for all teams to finish up.
20. Announcements: Thank You's and round of applause to volunteers, etc.
21. Announce hole prize winners & hand out prizes.
22. Announce team placements & hand out prizes.
23. Announce raffle prize winner & hand out prizes.
24. Big Thank You for coming! See you next year.
25. Pick up all trash.
26. Load cars.
27. Pay golf course.
28. Drive home, tired, hot, sweaty, hungry, thirsty, and happy.
29. Breathe.



All the players heading out to their starting holes at 9am.


Chad's brother, Jeremy, and their dad, Tom, driving one of the beverage carts.


Sam & Michelle (2 volunteers) driving the other beverage cart.


Chad with his golf team. Heath, Scott, Chad, Brian, & Pat. Heath, Scott, & Brian all went to high school with Chad in Virginia. This was the first year they came out for the tourney, and my first time to meet these great guys. We all had a good time.

Preparing for the Golf Tourney

Being year 8 of Colgin's Golf Tourney, you'd think I could write a manual on how to prepare for this event. But just to cover the basics it is a lot of work and stress!

1. Choose a date for the tourney.
2. Have my tech guy update the website.
3. Send out save the date cards.
4. Send out pledge/registration/donation letters.
5. Begin receiving donations & registrations.
6. Gather items to list on Ebay & list items 10 days out from tourney date.
**Pay deposit at Golf Course.
7. Sort prizes to make sure there is enough prizes of 4 each.
8. Purchase items for breakfast bags & other items needed.
9. Put together breakfast bags.
10. Sort & assign prizes.
11. Put together goodie bags. This year each player received a goodie bag with a
CTL Golf water bottle, a golf towel, and a keychain.
12. Assign hole prizes.
13. Turn in list of donors/sponsors for scorecards & teebox signs.
14. Pick up scorecards. Assign teams to starting holes.
15. Get other $$ making ideas ready. We have a Tiger Hole, beverage carts, raffle
drawing, & mulligans.
16. Wrap up Ebay auctions.
17. Load everything up.
18. Arrive 7:30am. Set up things.
19. Register 100 players!!!
20. Catch my breath and get ready for the activities during the tourney.




Cooper gets more & more excited each year. She is getting older and of course wiser and can now help so much with the preparation for the golf tourney. These are the breakfast bags.


Cooper and Daddy making breakfast bags. We needed 100 bags. Every golfer receives a breakfast bag upon check in. It includes cookies, slim jim, granola bar, peanuts, bottle of water, & a raffle ticket. The raffle ticket is then claimed later throughout the day for various prizes.


Cooper & Mommy putting the raffle tickets on the bags.


Chad and the girls sorting out the prizes. Every player on every team receives a prize. So we needed 100 prizes (but really just 25 different ones).


The pile of prizes. We collect things all year round. Mostly we receive a lot of t-shirts and hats. This year we had a lot of things come in the last 2 weeks before the tourney. With the few single big items, we list those on Ebay through Missionfish and do a charity online auction that way.