Weeeeeee're Baaaaaaack!!

We enjoyed our little mini vacation in Las Vegas - met some great people and were treated to a Nascar Truck race at The Las Vegas Motor Speedway. My dad and his wife flew in to see the boys race and extended their stay for their own vacation. They are staying at the MGM in one of the fabulous towers in a very nice suite and we were invited back to their "place" to swim once the races ended on Sunday afternoon. A little background on the pool we went to...it definitely WAS NOT kid friendly...there were private cabanas all around the perimeter of the pool area...more lounge chairs than people...wait staff...towel/cabana boys that offered you a fresh towel the minute yours got a little damp!!...a full bar that offered drinks with skewers of fresh fruit and umbrellas and such - I could go on and on but let me just get to the good stuff. There were quite a few people bopping around the pool, sipping champagne cocktails, talking about the best place for sushi...blah-blah-blah and then there were my boys - fresh from the race track. Pretty grubby and very wound up!! They were doing cannonballs off of the side of the pool and were the only little humans under 25 years of age. Oh, and did I mention the topless ladies who were sunbathing?? I couldn't help but tell A.J. that if he wanted for them to sit up and flash him, he just had to "accidently" spill ice cubes on her back and I'm pretty sure she'd sit right up - no problem!! My dad laughed, Nick thought about it...and A.J., well, he came really close to doing it!! My dad's wife on the other hand...she couldn't believe that I even suggested such a thing - hee-hee... BUT SHE was the one who invited us to her hotel for swimming...and those ladies could've covered up when they saw the kids...why was it my bad??



***Click on the photo to see it larger...***
So... here's a group photo of the kids at the track - I've labeled my boys and Adam from our track in Colorado... Mindy McCord from Montana was there also, She's standing right next to Adam... I'm glad to be home - but I'm still waiting for one piece of luggage to return from a trip to WASHINGTON?!?!? Oh well... At least we didn't have any trouble... Have a great evening!!

Warning - - we will be in Las Vegas in a matter of days!!

Just thought I'd give that little warning before the Hankins' family decends on Las Vegas on Thursday night!! We are going to participate in a promotional race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. By participating, our whole family receives tickets to the Nascar Truck race at the BIG BOY TRACK on Saturday night!! We're soooooo excited!!

BUT - there's a matter of this past weekend at our "home" track - to see more visit here... So, we were having our last Monza race for the year and it was VERY eventful!! One of our favorite older boys, Johnny Boos, flipped his car - NOT ONCE, NOT TWICE, Buuuuuuuttt... THREE TIMES!! Let me just say...this is not something NATURAL that a mother wants to see her nine year old boy (or girl) do!! To see how traumatized Michelle was...I could seriously just bawl on her behalf!! Johnny's the sweetest kid and just watching him race is a load of fun. This little guy loves what he does. He hangs in there and passes when it's appropriate but truly seems to be enjoying the heck outta what he's doing! I just don't think that flipping over and NOT being in control of your vehicle has got to be unsettling, for anyone! However the story doesn't end here...my boys did a very good job this weekend participating in the events they raced in. A.J. is doing very well and it's just like we saw last year. It takes him a half of a racing season to "come around" and race his best. He's really starting to enjoy himself. FINALLY!! Let's just see what we can make of ourselves in Vegas, baby!!

SO - you have a great day, O.K.?? XOXOXO ~ Susan

...one more thing...

Hee-Hee-Hee...I just had to share!!

I was surfing and noticed that I'd been tagged - this little list was quite fun to do - THANKS, Pam!!

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)
Anastasia Mustang .... errr…or Anastasia Expedition (I had a cat named Anastasia) and Mike’s working on putting a motor in my mustang – can that count?? It sounds cooler than “Expedition” - - would Anastasia Ford sound better??
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
Mint Chocolate Peanut Butter (hmmm, weird!!)
3. YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) S HAN
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Blue Basset
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Renee Denver
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) Han Su – this one kinda works, ey??
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put "The")
The Green Merlot
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)
Carl Martin – this one works well, also!!
9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy)
Happy Snickers - ::giggle-giggle::
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's & father's middle names )
Ann E – (I totally swear, my dad’s middle name is “E” that’s it!!)

So, to tag a few others to keep up with the fun... Kathy Mitts, Alicia Trussell, and Jeanne Tomshack - - let's see who notices...???

Mid-September - ALREADY?!?!?

When you hear, "My, how time flies" - I smirk because there are times that I feel like "sheeeesh, time is crawling!!"


Not this month...it's weird to think that the boys have been back in school for nearly a month and we have got to start thinking about halloween costumes

- - Nick has made his decision - -

he wants to be...

Nick's current favorite tunes: "Crazy, Crazy Nights" and "I Wanna Rock and Roll All Night" - OH DEAR!!

:::Hey, Kathy...remember when we sat in your room singing those tunes??:::

A.J. has decided to be a pirate...YEP - Nick was a pirate last year so that's an easy one!! A.J. wants a Captain's trench coat and a "better hat than Nick wore" - looks like a trip to the fabric store is in order!!

Now, how the heck am I gonna make platform boots for the Gene Simmons costume?? ANYONE??

We are racing this weekend and it's a two-day event - at least it's local. I've got so much to pack and a fruit/veggie tray to cut up plus a cold cuts tray to put together - - - last weekend the boys didn't eat very well. They ate Oreo cookies, fruit snacks, and Gatorade. YUM!! Well-rounded nurishment...no wonder they acted "so well" toward the end of the day!! I find that working up in the tower for the entire day isn't so good when I need to "police" some of the boys' choices.

Have a great weekend!!

...a moment of silence...

WHOA...

I just noticed that I haven't posted a thing since last weekend - - - I meant to... I just didn't get to it... sheeesh. Where did this week go?? Oh yeah, Monday was a holiday and Tuesday I spent catching up on stuff around the house after travelling to Montana. Wednesday...more laundry and catching up on returning phone calls. Thursday, yesterday, I had a hair appointment and so I ran other errands as well. We just had a HUGE grand opening of a really large chain grocery store in our little town of Bennett. I think I've had to find a reason to go there EVERYDAY since it opened...and I HATE shopping - but the fact that we now have a decent place to shop is just beyond AWESOME!! We had a little local place and it was fine but it was sorta grungy and the produce was not the best - it's kinda sad to drive by and see zero patrons. You can just guess that the little old gals inside are just sorta standing around and bitchin' about the new store opening... maybe if they HAD a personality and didn't make it so miserable to go there. In fact, Mike came home on a couple of occasions and had stopped by there for an item or two and he'd say - "geez, are those gals EVER happy at Bennett Supers?? It just sucks to have to go there." So, after a quick haircut and getting caught up on the "salon gossip" I went to the new grocery store and walked the place filling the cart with a few things. It took me over an hour to get through the whole place - AND I forgot to mention that our new store HAS A STARBUCKS!! I took my new Starbucks cup in there - - Terri Howard brought it to me from California - - THANKS!! I had coffee and wandered through the whole place "learning" where to locate stuff. I back-tracked a couple of times but it wasn't bad. Our produce department there is so big that we could hold a scrapbooking function there and not really be in anyone's way.

Enough about my excitement about the new store - - - today I went to my boys' school and helped both of their teachers grade papers and hang out and see what kind of class rooms the boys are in. YIKES!! Nick's class is handful for his teacher and what's worse - it's her first year as a teacher. I REALLY felt sorry for her. She's got a really rowdy bunch. A.J. class is pretty good - you could tell it was Friday!! Then the boys and I went - TO THE NEW STORE!! and bought ice cream!! Well, I got a Starbucks, they got little pints of ice cream. Well, I guess I'd better get back in gear and finish my cards for a swap that I'm in...I can't wait to mail them off. I look forward to seeing the results of this VERY creative swap. We swapped cards in round one and then made enough of our own design so that each participant makes a card with the paper and returns a card to the creator of the paper - I'll post when we get them all swapped out and have received the green light that it's okay to share my fellow swapper's work.

Enjoy the weekend!!