Who's your daddy?

Young Steve compared to each of the boys at their current age. There is no question who Kale's daddy is!

St. Nicholas Showed up at our house!

On the eve of St. Nicholas' feast day, the boys left their shoes out for St. Nicholas to leave them a treat. You may be asking yourself, how on earth did Shannon know about this tradition. Well, I owe all the credit to the SVdP teachers that work deli gently to make sure all the K-1st graders come home on 12/5 anticipating St. Nicholas arrival. I happened to be up at the school yesterday and had advance notice that it was go time for St. Nicholas' trek and made a quick stop by the Wal-Mart. So before 7:00 am down the stairs hurried a sleepy Logan to check the shoes. Back up the stairs to wake Lucas up to tell him of their treats. Back down the stairs to show Lucas the shoes. Back up the stairs to take Kale his treats. So at 7:00 am all 3 of the B boys were awake which meant so were the parents who absolutely did not stay out way to late drinking beer at the neighbors Christmas party. God Bless St. Nicholas!They made sure to leave out a couple of extra pairs of shoes.

The History of St. Nicholas

Early in the Advent season celebrate a feast that has been popular for centuries in Christian countries, especially in Northern Europe. In our over-commercialized society, this holiday gives us a good "teaching moment" to remind children that Jolly Santa Claus, is, in fact, Saint Nicholas, a fourth century bishop of the city of Myra in what is now Turkey.

Saint Nicholas was renowned for his great kindness and his generous aid to those in distress. Among the kind and miraculous acts attributed to him are saving three young girls from prostitution by secretly providing them with dowries, raising three murdered boys from the dead, and saving sailors caught in stormy seas. For these reasons, he is considered the patron saint of children, unmarried girls, and sailors, among others.

Traditional celebrations of Saint Nicholas Day in Northern Europe included gifts left in children's shoes (the origin of our American Christmas stockings). Good children receive treats - candies, cookies, apples and nuts, while naughty children receive switches or lumps of coal. Sometimes coins were left in the shoes, reminiscent of the the life-saving doweries the saint provided. Today - especially in families of German extraction - children still put a shoe outside their bedroom doors on the eve of Saint Nicholas Day, and expect to find candy and coins or small gifts in their shoe on December 6th.

First B-Ball Practice

We had our first B-Ball practice last night. It was for the wrong team but whatever. They switched us to a new team and forgot to call us. Nice. So we have our first basketball practice with our real team tomorrow night...at 7:00 pm. That's a late night for my little first grader. He is totally pumped about basketball and has a legit uniform, which you know he loves. It's the Upward league so the Baptist sprinkle a little learning about God into practice. We have bible cards assigned to each practice. It's an interesting twist to a practice. He scored 2 baskets which is a big surprise to me. I was afraid he wouldn't even try to shoot. I get to go to this practice so hopefully I can get some better pix.

Rhino Man

This is Rhino Man. It is important to know that he only answers to Rhino Man. He has a partner in crime. It is baby gorilla. Baby Gorilla does not take pictures per Rhino Man.

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Turkey Lurkey

Okay, so I did a horrible job taking pictures this Thanksgiving. It's all Kodaks fault FYI. They are finally going to replace my camera but I had to mail it back to them ASAP in order to get the new one before Christmas. So I was stuck with my old camera that I also hate as it burns through AA batteries like Steve does a bag of chips. It's really that fast. So the few pictures I did take is because we were outside and the camera was easy access since I left it in the car.

The boring scenic trek across Kansas was as beautiful as ever. The boys played a new driving game...counting oil wells. There are a lot and they are easy to spot. We were in Wichita and then to Great Bend and then back to Wichita. We are kind of like Kansas nomads during the holidays. We had a great time seeing all of our family and missed those that weren't there. The boys had a great time playing with Myles, Ella, Rylin and Reese over at Nana's. A loved playing with Austin at Grandma's. Here's our Holiday round-up:

• Logan also picked up playing the game Sorry! which we now own.
• They were Ultimate Fighters with Uncle Jamey
• Colored some amazing pictures (FYI Reese thinks markers are chap stick)
• Ate 2 turkey dinners
• Lucas tried pumpkin pie and survived...ewww
• Logan at so much ochra, he is going to turn into one
• Played a family game of street football
• Climbed their first tree
• Played in the hide out under the stairs, passed the scary sump pump in GB
• Watched Kung Fu Panda for the first, second, third...times.
• Ate at Taco Pronto ...only once though. We have to better at Christmas
• Squeezed in a little Christmas shopping

Four more weeks and we do it all again but next time we should get to see all the family!

Beers with Beth

This Thanksgiving break I had the rare opportunity to drink beers with Beth. It's always hard to find time to hang out with old friends when we are in town but I made time this trip. It was a total blast from the past. There were at least 10 people that new Beth in the 3 hours we were at Old Chicago...in the afternoon...you think she goes out much?! I'm just jealous that I'm a lamo that hardly ever make it to a bar. A couple of the people were people that I know but I completely didn't recognize them...George Oxler and Ben Hanna & Deke Landwehr (via cell). Haven't seen these guys in years. We had a total blast drinking beers, talking about old times, good times and new times. The best thing about seeing Beth is that we pick up as though we never left off. I guess that can happen when you've know each other from before we ever made it to Kindergarten. We are so going to have to try and do it more often and next time Mandy has to make it! We missed you Mandy!

Tonto comes home from school

He went into to school as the white man and came out as a Native American... all in his pajamas. It's amazing what can happen at school! If you look closely at his baby pouch and his headband you will see how well he is beginning to draw. There is a tee pee, a deer, his baby has teeth and eyelashes. He's getting pretty good.

Angel of God by Kale

Sweet Kale saying his prayer:

So you know I'm getting a new camera. I'm so sick of this this one not working well. Any suggestions?

God is mad!

As I walk in the door tonight I am greeted by crazy man Kale. I am no more than one foot in the door when he launches into this conversation:

K: God is mad.
M: What?
K: God is really mad.
M: Why is God mad?
K: God is mad at Lucas.
M: Why is God mad at Lucas?
K: He stealed a peanut?
L: I gave it back to Daddy.
K: He's on the naughty list.
L: When did God get a naughty list?
K: Not God, Santa.

You don't tick of God and Santa all at once. It is over for Lucas.

Logan was quick to fill in missing pieces of the story and rat his brother out. Apparently, when they stopped at Harps on the way home and Lucas used the 5 finger discount and swiped a peanut out of the peanut bin...and that is stealing. God does not like stealing and that puts you on Santa's naughty list.

In case you are wondering, Kale is on the nice list and he will tell you that if you ask him.

Sir Mix a lot Kale is potty trained!

I like underwear and I can not lie.

You other brothers can't deny,

When a boy walks in with itty bitty buns

And an attitude on his face

You freak out!

Wanna pull up front

Cuz you notice those buns ain't stuffed.

Underneath those jeans he's wearing...

Big boy undies and I'm staring...

Oh, baby I wanna get near ya

And take your picture.

My brothers tried to tell me

But in the those undies

Me so dry now!