UPWARD Dragons

This is Zach's 2nd year for Upwards Basketball at our church.  Kevin is co-coaching with one of our favorite people, Jeremy.  The team has 5 guys on it however the one kid rarely comes to practice and has been to 1 out of 3 games.  He's a great kid and basketball player too, so his is missed when he is not there.  Most of the time its just these 4 amazing boys.  They have a very fun time playing and don't take it too serious! 

I love Upwards because it teaches the basics but more importantly it teaches sportsmanship, teaching others to be like Christ, and how to be a good winner and loser.  So proud of Zach!

COOKIE!!!

MaMaw & PaPaw got a new pup the week after Christmas!  We knew that it was a possibility and we were anxiously awaiting to see if she would get to be a part of our extended family. Of course when PaPaw went to check her out he couldn't say no.  They brought home the pup while we were in St. Louis. The boys couldn't wait to see her.  My inlaws named her Oreo Cookie but are going to call her "COOKIE"!  Zach was trying to name her while we were driving home from STL. He really thought her name should be Freckles because of her spots but was ok when she was already named.  

Cookie is a German Shorthair

 Will really liked "Tookie"  In fact he follows her around wherever she goes.

 Zach loves Cookie too.

I'm thrilled that the boys "got a dog" without us having to "get a dog". I am just not ready to be up at night with a puppy or outside in the cold with a puppy. We keep saying one of these days but I'm not in a HUGE hurry!

Trying a popular TV restaurant

When we were in STL for our mini-vacay over Christmas break we decided we needed to eat at the infamous "Crown Candy Kitchen" in STL.  It has been featured on a couple food tv shows lately as the oldest fountain soda in the city.  They are known for their 1 lb BLT.  Since we were on our week off from being healthy eaters we figured it was a perfect time to try it.  WOWZERS!  We waited outside the building for approx 1 hour to get in and sit down.  We had a blast waiting outside because their was a reggae steel drum band outside…well not actually a band but a man. THe boys loved it.  There was also pantyhose mannequins that scared Zach to pieces. Will loved them.  Go figure.  

 This is as close as I could get Zach to stand to the panty hose mannequins

 Finally in an old fashion booth.

 Here it is the Heart Stopping BLT as seen on TV.  HOLY SMOKES this was a lot of bacon!

This is just 1 half of the sandwich. Kevin and I should have just ordered one! WOAH!  It sure was good but nothing really that great.  Basically it was a BLT with 1 lb of bacon. That's all.  We are glad we went but we don't need to go back. We just need to get on the treadmill.

Their old fashion shakes were really good. The boys shared a Strawberry Shake. Kevin got a butterscotch malt that was AMAZING. My favorite thing. 

It was a fun stop. Some thing we can cross off our bucket list.

A little more than a splinter...

On New Years Eve day I was taking down all of our Christmas decorations and putting the house back together. The boys were home and helping me which was great!  After everything was put away I was just getting ready to vaccum and immediately felt like I had stepped on a tack or nail.  I was so glad it was me and not one of the boys.  When I felt in the carpet I found a half broken tooth pick.  My toe was bleeding and sore but I could not find any thing in it. I just thought I got jabbed with the toothpick.  

Then about 3 hours later my toe was throbbing and super sore.  I tried all the tricks you see on pinterest to remove a splinter but nothing seemed to help.  I decided that I would call a foot doctor on Jan 2nd.  Then on New Years it started to feel much better.  I showed my mom and she said that if there was a splinter in there it would work its way out and just to let my body heal.  So I did not go to the doctor.   On Wednesday night while we were at the office taking showers I started to inspect my toe.  It looked like I could just squeeze the splinter out.  I started to do that when Kevin suggested he "numb' my toe so I could get in their a little better.  I think he was joking but I totally insisted.  We scrubbed it up and got sterile tweezers.  I had to beg Kevin to give me the carbocaine in my toe. Immediately it went numb and I was able to pull out the splinter.  Let's just say it was a lot bigger than I thought.  Here is the wound after the splinter came out.

 Here is the splinter…OR the entire end of the toothpick! FOR REAL! I never imagined that was in my toe.  Kevin felt terrible because he thought I was over exaggerating my pain that first couple of days.

This ones a little blurry but here's the pic of the splinter next to my toe.  You can see Kevin with the bandaid and antibiotic ointment in the back ground. Hilarious!  Glad it is out. My toe felt 100% better once I got it out.

That was my little excitement for the night! We now have a rule that all toothpicks must say on the kitchen table or in the trash.  The boys were making cabins out of the toothpicks & marshmallows which is why one was still in my carpet.  Again, I am thrilled this happened to me and not one of the guys!

Frozen

We are frozen! As of today we are officially on our 7th snow day for this school year.  I cannot remember a time when we have had 7 snow days.  I would have LOVED to have snow days when I was in school.  If we got one we were super lucky!  SEVEN and it's only January 8th!  Unbelievable! I am a HUGE lover of snow days that are unexpected and in the middle of the week craziness.  This time around it has been different. Zachary was off of school from Friday December 20th until January 5th.  He was supposed to go back from Christmas Break on Monday January 6. However we were hit hard with blizzard like conditions. In fact all of our church activities on Sunday January 5th were cancelled.

It was kinda fun doing church in our pjs with our coffee. We started watching one of our friends local churches online live. Then the internet connection was acting up so we went to our favorite Mark.Driscoll for one of his sermons on Malachi.  It was great!  The only issue was it took us about an hour & a half to watch a 45 minute sermon because the boys "needed" several things so we have a lot of interruptions. So thankful for extended childcare at our church!

 On Monday, I honestly felt like I was going to lose it. Part of it was hormones. Part of it was complete frustration. We were running out of food, running out of patience, and I was running out of ideas to keep my loves occupied.  We were officially on day 18 of no routine. Our family runs on a routine and schedule.  My boys are used to going to the store, running errands, going to places, and being outside.  Zachary thrives on riding his bike in the cul-de-sac or playing basketball in the drive way.  This time the weather temps were -12 with a windchill of -25 so I would not let him outside.  He was like a caged animal.  We had tears, yelling, sibling rivalry, and a few moments when I had to put myself in time out. Being 100% real I love my boys but I really needed about an hour to myself.  I honestly could not think of the last time I was alone.  Will has started to love showers so he has been showering with me so even that 15 minutes I had someone by my side.  Thankfully at nap time on Monday I told Z I needed some space so we spent about an hour in separate rooms. It totally revived me!

We made the annual "snow day" tent!

 We made targets to shot the crossbow at.

 We did a lot of laundry!

 Zach had the idea to read Charlottes Web in costume. He dressed at Ferns brother. I wore a straw hat to be the farmer. Will was a….LION!  He saw it in his closet and that was that. Hilarious!

 We had a lot of moments like this…remember I am keeping it real.  The boys truly enjoy each other but you could tell that they needed their space too.

  And we had a lot of this…Lots of messes! This one was my fault as I turned to see what was going on behind me and spilt Will's formula in his zippy cup before I shook it.  Total mess down the side of the oven.

 Later on Tuesday when I thought my bag of tricks was empty I remembered the bins of play dough.

 The boys created their own dinner spaces. Which was a hit!

 Then Will started to run a fever because his left ear tube came out but was stuck in his ear canal.  He became a cuddly little bear. Oh I hated he did not feel well but I loved his warm cuddles. Surprisingly after the 5 snow day we all got into a daily routine and it was very chill and relaxed!

 On top of the bitter cold temps and Will's ear tube issue on snow day #5 Kevin informed me that his shower was freezing. Sure enough our hot water heater was out.  We were #16 on the list for the plumber which meant they couldn't come on Tuesday. Really I was so thankful it wasn't the power or our heat.  We could go without warm water.  The plumber finally made it to our house on Wednesday afternoon but we discovered our hot water heater from 2004 was recalled and we needed parts from the company overnighted.  After 2+ days of no hot water we were running out of dishes and clean sippy cups, AND we needed more than a cold sponge bath. I packed up our pjs, a few of our dirty dishes, and went to Kevin's office.  We had dinner out and then came back to the office to wash dishes, shower, and play with daddy's drums.  Honestly it was a great change of pace and became a blessing in disguise.  The boys loved it.

 
Kevin has his drum set from high school at his office upstairs.  I think he loved rockin' out with the boys while I showered.  Then he gave Zach a few lessons.

 Ahhhhh! A warm shower!

 Today marks snow day #7. We were supposed to have MOPS.  Zach was supposed to have school.  But instead we are home.  I am thankful!  Thankful that I was able to get a shower yesterday, stock up on groceries, and thankful that they are supposed to come back today to fix our hot water heater today. Added bonus I can update the blog while the boys are watching morning cartoons.

Celebrating Kevin's 36th Birthday with our Families

Our little family of 4 decided to take a mini-vacay over Kevin's birthday so that pushed back Kevin's annual birthday dinner at his parents house.  Karen loves cooking one of Kevin's favorite dinners for all of us over Christmas Break to celebrate Kevin.  

To be honest we loved the week delay. Poor Kevin's birthday is 2 days after Christmas.  He always says it's the worst day for a birthday out of the entire year. No one wants to get together. No one wants to eat. No one wants to go out to eat. No one wants to eat cake or dessert. No one wants to buy gifts. It's sad but true. After an entire month of celebrations, parties, and Christmas everyone wants to be at their house sleeping on Dec. 27th.  

Here's our annual timed photo. 

 Lots of help from the sons and nephews with all these candles.

Happy Birthday Kev!  You are the ROCK of our family.  You are my best friend, my #1 cheerleader and encourager, and the spiritual leader of our family. Thank you for your countless sacrifices and your unconditional love.  You are the best! May your 36 year be full of lots of love, memories, and fun times.

Here's a look into our previous birthday celebrations for Kevin!
Number 30!
Number 31! 
Number 33! 

Doing it myself!

We ordered a canvas collage from our annual family photo shoot.  We haven't ordered an entire collage since Zach was 3. Check out this post of how difficult it was to install 3 years ago. We decided it was time to add Will into the mix.  Out last collage is in a very difficult spot over our stairs. So we opted not to move it.  In 2010 we put up some custom vinyls that I loved. You can see that project here.  Unfortunately the letters in the bible verse were starting to peel off so we decided to take down the bedroom vinyls and put the collage up in our room.  Since November these canvas's have sat against our wall in plastic wrap.  I kept waiting for them to align themselves and go up on the wall but they didn't budge. Poor Kevin has been swamped at work. A blessing but it meant that any free time he had he was working on stuff for work.  So one morning I borrowed my inlays laser level and decided I could put it up myself. With the help of 3M command strips I did it!  I did it! I was so proud of myself. The boys were fantastic and played in their rooms while I got it up. When I texted Kevin at the office that it was done he was in complete SHOCK!  

When I texted my inlays that it was done I scared them to pieces. The assumed I did the stairwell all by myself. After a few texts I reassured them I was safe and did the install in our room.  They were relieved! I'm glad thats another project crossed off the list.

Shorty our Elf

My "Aunt" Kelli adopted our elf and gave him to us Dec. 1st, 2007.  We named him Shorty and we cannot wait to see him each year.  I know there is a lot of controversy over the Elf.On.The.Shelf. but for our family we enjoy his presence over the Christmas Season.  We totally celebrate Christmas because it is Jesus' Birthday. Our kids get that but we also enjoy the traditions of Santa and the Elf.  With that said our elf is a lot of fun.  Not really mischievous and sometimes he doesn't move spots because he is tired.  Occasionally he plans a fun return but those are few and far between.  We do notice that when Shorty is present in our house our children sleep in their own beds all night long.  Not sure how he does it but they do.  Now that Shorty has returned to the North Pole the boys are still sleeping in their own beds…ALL NIGHT LONG. THANK YOU SHORTY!  We owe you big time. 

Here are some of our favorite 2013 Shorty Spots….

His return on Dec. 1st 2013

This was Shorty's favorite spot in our tree. He relocated there several times this season.

 When our friends come the 1st weekend in December their elf, Buddy, finds them out our house. It's an annual tradition that Shorty & Buddy bring all the children pajamas.

 Rainbow Loom Elves….What a mess!

 After our 3rd snow day the 4th snow day was a complete unexpected surprise. It was technically an ICE Day but Shorty got a heads up from our school district and announced the day off.

 Shorty must have been talking to other elves because we have seen a lot of Elves on Pint.erest do to the sack races.  So thankful you have creative friends Shorty!

 This was our most favorite Shorty Spot day. "I Mustache you if you have been good"!

 The boys LOVED this surprise!

 Game Day Shorty Spot

 Snowball fight Shorty & Friends

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 And the best for last…the real reason we celebrate Christmas.  Shorty sitting with Baby Jesus.

Our boys miss Shorty and are hoping he makes some impromptu visits during the year to check in on them.