Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009 - Our last Christmas as a family of 5!
Christmas Eve was spent preparing for the big day.
Cookies
Ginger Bread Houses (hoping to never do those again
Children's Mass
Brotherly Love
Mom & Dad still had to wake the boys us to get Christmas started
White Christmas
Santa delivered just what they wanted
Too Many Presents

We braved the "Blizzard" conditions
Dad helped get a car unstuck so they could get to the casino
Ate carb free (at least mom did) lunch at the gas station
1.5 hours extra time in the car...movies galore!
Lots of Stops to clean the wind shield due to frozen wiper fluid
Cousins, more presents,good eats
Taco Pronto (I missed you carb loaded burrito)

2 days in good ole GB
Presents tempting little ones
More Cousins
More presents
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Shooting the Air Soft BB gun
Daddy's 1st Communion suit

Another good tour of Kansas!

What you learn at 3 when you have big brothers

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sweet 'O Kale

Kale climbed into bed to watch TV with me before bed, 'cuz he needed to snuggle. Rarely do I say no to snuggle time and this was no different. Soon I fall asleep (not uncommon as growing a human can wear a girl out) and Kale needed more chocolate milk. So I feel him carefully climb over me and slide out of bed, grab his cup and head towards the door to go get Daddy to help him as he didn't want to wake me up. Just at the door I sense him stop and just a second later a little kiss is placed on my lips and off he runs.

I hope I never forget how sweet Kale is. That boy is good to his mama.

Ballers

We're playing basketball again this year...Baptist style. Practice for the B Boys has begun in the Upward league. Logan is playing on the 1st/2nd grade team with his buddy Connor and Lucas is being debuted in the Kindergarten League. They are actually doing really well. Watching a group of 5 year olds trying to put together a game is quite as spectacle. There's a lot of falling. Logan is tearing it up in the drills and actually gets after it. In the one scrimmage they've had he did slip back into his old habit of letting the game go on around him. He's pretty good though!

Games start in early January... you know after just a couple of practices these kids should have this game all figured out.

Watching them play sports is something I really love. To see them interact as part of a team, the pride they have in themselves when they do well, learning how to lose and still have fun... I love that they get out there. Pretty amazing to watch them grow.

Fayetteville Lights

A tradition we started years ago is to visit the Fayetteville Square to see the lights and eat Tiny Tim's pizza. This year did not go by without that trip. Meredith and Connor joined us for the annual trek and we had a ton of fun. It was stinkin' cold and Kale was the only kid that willingly wore his coat, hat and gloves. Apparently it's cool to freeze your A off when you're a kid. Who knew. Kale took his first horse drawn carriage ride and none of the B boys were brave enough to ride the pony or a camel so Meredith had to join Connor for the camel ride. Thank goodness for baby A in the belly as I too avoided the camel ride. Steve and Meredith took advantage of having a DD and downed a couple of pitchers with dinner thus requiring a pit stop at Meredith's before driving around Rogers looking at lights. It was a really good time!

Kale is still very sad that big daddy didn't put up a single Christmas light. Apparently next year is going to be the year of lights for us. Hmmm...we'll see how well that promise holds up.

Santa Visit

Today we took on the anticipated trip to visit Santa. This is the boys big chance to tell Santa the one gift they really want. After carefully sorting through the options...fish tank with 20 fish, new bike, DS/Wii games, Roller skates, etc. they landed on the one choice item. Logan convinced me to allow him to ask for an Air Soft BB gun, Lucas was going in with a Scooby Doo DS game but upon hearing Logan he quickly switched to a Air Soft BB gun. I'm sure Santa was surprise, 'cuz mama definitely was. Kale presented Santa with his entire list but at the top was an Army Tank with a motorcycle in the box. Apparently, it's very important to K-K (It's ok to call him that again) that this all come together in the box. Now the waiting begins to see if Santa delivers.

Kale was very proud of him self this year for not being afraid of Santa at all. He may not of been afraid but the look on his face doesn't make it look like the man in red is his favorite guy.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving brought:

A trip to Kansas
Tons of fun playtime with Cousins
My favorite...Taco Pronto
Just a little shopping

Kids were most thankful for the chance to play with their cousins

Domination!

After hours of research and engineering studies, many prototypes and test runs. The dominating rocket was built to the tight tolerances of the final specs. The paint job was equally well thought out. We meant business this year at the space derby. Last year our rocket barely moved. This year it was like lightning. The minutes hours we put into it paid off big time. It began with quick defeat of his fellow den members. Then the wait until the other dens raced to be the one to compete against this 2nd graders rocket in the championship rounds. The first race of the championships...no contest. The final round was a photo finish with a collision at the end. The judges declared Logan victorious! The 2nd grader won the pack championships over all the grades up to 4th or 5th grade. All of Logan's parents hard work showed at race time. Logan was pumped to say the least. If we keep having these successful experiences I will never be able to get him to quit! Why, Oh, Why to we have to be so talented?!

So you know the biggest trophy measure 32" and goes up to Kale's nostrils. That measures up to an awesome trophy...that does not fit on the trophy shelf.

Always an Enigma

Yesterday ended in a trip to the ER. Why? Because Lucas was covered in hives from head to toe. Hard to tell in the picture from my cell phone but the kid was miserable. Very itchy and he was on so much Benedryl that I almost slipped into a coma just thinking about it. Apparently he and I metabolize that med differently as he kept on ticking. After the second major flare up of the hives taking over his body and the meds not putting a dent in the situation, big daddy took him to the ER. Thankfully it only took about 3 hours and he was home by about 11:00 pm and the kid finally quit. He got a big shot in the leg and took it like a trooper. Now he will be on steroids for 5 more days. Thank goodness he is going to school so they get the bulk of his roid rage there! Bad thing is we have no idea what the cause is. Thinking maybe shrimp. Always an enigma!

K-K is gone

Our little boy man is growing up and is shedding his "baby" nickname. He is not K-K he is Kale...and he is losing his patience for people that aren't catching on to his sudden change. When he was brand new Lucas started calling him K-K and we thought it was a hideous nickname. But for whatever reason, in no time we were all calling him that and have been for the last 3.5 years. We have actually become quite fond of the name. Well enough of that! He is done with the nick name so immediately cease with the K-K.

Hog Fever

Kale had the fever...hog fever...and I'm not talking about his passion for the razorbacks. We're talking H1N1. He survived it without passing it to anyone else in the fam (keeping our fingers crossed!). Hard to believe since he was all about snuggles and by the end had a hacking cough that made it into his elbow about 1/2 the time.

Spooktacular good time

A monkey, a ninja and Boba Fet all walk into a bar...I'll stop as you all have probably heard that one before. This year Kasey and I never got our act or creative juices flowing so we abandoned our annual Halloween event. Fortunately Meredith had Connor this Halloween and she loves Halloween. All I had to do was stuff some kids in their costumes and show up at her house. Steve and I took all the kids trekking through their neighborhood while Meredith stayed back and made kids cry. Later she had 30+ kids chasing her through the neighborhood trying to identify who was behind the mask. Thanks to some fence hopping and the B boys and Connors help she was able to avoid them for quite a while. Thanks to Halloween our daily calorie intake will be doubled for the next couple of weeks. Thank goodness I have a scapegoat for packing on the pounds!

All Saints Star

Lucas made his on stage debut as a kindergardner. He did amazing! He stayed on the risers the whole time. No huge distractions. He kind of participated in the signing elements of the program. Then the moment came when St. Nicholas (AKA Lucas) introduced himself to the crowd. He marched up there with confidence and spoke clearly in the mic and said,

"My name is St. Nicholas. I love children and I gave all my money to help the poor. On my feast day I might leave a treat in your shoes."

He gracefully climbed back into the risers and completed the show with a piece of his beard on his finger like a ring. That was nothing compared to Ryan (wearing brown and standing to the right of Lucas in the second picture) who was swinging his beads and giant cross that were around his waste like he should be working on a stage with a pole.

Sleep Over

Logan braved a sleepover for his buddy Logan R's birthday this weekend. There was a scavenger hunt, cook out, hike, movies, games, etc. From what we gathered from the grunts and growls when he got home, he had a ton of fun. He even slept some. Getting a kid back from a sleepover is usually a miserable experience for the rest of the day. Logan was only mildly unbearable that day but he had trick or treating to motivate him.

The Patch

As a single mother for the week (thanks to conferences and being married to a college boy)I decided to spend the afternoon (after a morning of soccer of which I coached and parented during one game) with Meredith, Connor, Tyler and the boys at a different pumpkin patch in Ourtownissosmallwedidntevennameit, Missouri. For a while I though Meredith was leading us to an empty field to test our survival skills. Eventually we actually did run into the pumpkin patch and it was well done. There was a couple of slides, pumpkin basketball, corn cannons, hay jumping, hay rides, cow train, and a corn maze. We tackled the short maze like true navigational genius'. So why not go straight into the long maze, right? Goodness gracious that was a mistake. We were in there for an eternity. Not because we were lost but because halfway through the trail turned to mud and they weren't kidding when they titled it the long maze. They need an exit on those things. Good thing we did that first! Kids were wiped out by the end as was big mama.

Quote of the Day

"Mom, do you think there is a chance God might change His mind and give us a boy?"

Logan

New Specs

Guess who got new glasses (and picked them out himself)...it wasn't Connor. Doc says he has to wear then for real now so I ponied up for some blue spongebob glasses. I'm not the one who has to wear them. This purchase was made after a lengthy discussion on how dumb glasses are and how well he can see. Negotiations began and there is a clearly defined list of when glasses are or are not required. He had to sign his name in blood that he would adhere to the list prior to the purchase of these lovely frames. Just a couple more years and bring on the contacts!

What do the B Boys think?

How have the B boys taken this new, you ask? Well as you can imagine they all wanted at boy. They went to the ultrasound with us and they got to hear the news at the same time we did. When the tech made the big reveal we were all clueless to what we were looking at (should have be an immediate signal 'cuz we know what a boy looks like on screen!) Can you see the 3 lines? Nope. Do you see boy parts? Nope. It's a girl! I think immediately everyone grinned ear to ear. Then Logan says, "I'm not happy about this!" The other two kind of followed Logan's lead. However, Lucas, could really care less. He loves babies so any baby is good for him. Kale is secretly thrilled about it. The man has always had a thing for girls and this means girl toys and pink...two of his favorites (on the down low of course). They are boys and will adjust to the girl concept pretty easy. All in all the family is thrilled and completely surprised.

Unbelievable!

This equals

To say we were shocked is an understatement!

Visitors

The grandparents made the journey to see soccer genius out of the B boys. Mad skills were shown and we clapped with our frozen hands and our cheers were visible in the air. Okay...so maybe it wasn't that cold, but darn near. There was lots of eating out and a big K-State win! The B boys also took the G-Parents to Toys R Us to work on the their Christmas list and somehow ended up coming home with a toy each. Hmm...I wonder how that happened? Good times.

Roller Skating

Any B boys in roller skates is rare and it usually means there is a birthday party. That was just the case this weekend. Our good buddy Connor turned 9 (which is totally unfair that he is nine before Logan!). For Lucas and Kale it was there first time at the rink. The B boys...not so experienced compared to other kids. Who knew people still skated. One of the boys showed up with his own gear. Kale loved it regardless of his ability to stand. He wanted me to keep pulling him around. A big exhausting. Lucas hated it until we put him in training skates. Then he could basically just run. Logan gets better each time. He woke up the next morning with sore buns from multiple falls and I think he the wall is his new BFF. By the end of the party they were hooked on skating and all 3 have declared they will be having a skate party for their birthday. We'll see.

A day off of school

Being the amazing mom's that Meredith and I are, we both took vacation the day off of work to spend with our kids who had the day off. We drug the kids to a pumpkin patch and to the movie "Where the Wild Things Are". How did that work with 2 moms and 4 boys, you ask? Much like you think. A lot of silliness at the pumpkin patch as well as rolling around and instantly filthy boys. The movie was awesome. A little scary for Kale and the message flew right over the big boys heads. Not really what I expected but really good. One that we will buy.

Latest attempt at craftiness

I customized these onesies for my friend Amy who is days away from giving birth to her daughter Abigail. If you stand back and squint your eyes they look amazing. I have kind of a lead foot with the sewing machine...that makes decorative stitching not so pretty. As I like to say with all of my projects...they're made with love!

What is wrong with him?

Kale was exposed to H1N1 as his sitters son has the hog fever. So he got to spend the week at home as his mama attempted to work. We had a nice time and lots of interesting conversations. Here is just a sample:

K: When I grow up I'm going to be a doctor.
M: Really, what kind?
K: A white one.
M: That's not what I meant...fill in lots of doctor options...
K: A doctor that helps babies get out.

What is with him and color? Earlier I thought he was trying to diversify the family...now I'm not sure.

A proud Lucas

Lucas has done so well in Kindergarten. He as exceeded expectations...so far. Today he came home from school beaming. In the Terrific Tuesday Meeting (all school meeting) he was called up by the principal and was given a Christian Witness Award for Great Listening Skills of all things. A half sheet of photo copied paper in all it's glory that reads:

Lucas, wow! I am so proud of you and your good choices! You have shown me many times that you are able to follow good instruction because of your listening skills: remember to stop, look and listen closely. Also, I'm very proud when you move away from people and things that are a distraction to you. Keep up the great work! Love Mrs. M

As his parents we are super proud of him as well. Seeing him recognized for good work in areas he struggles in is awesome.