Snowfall

It snowed again last night while I was at work. Everything was so beautiful this morning that I had to slow down and take a couple pictures. That's 2 snows in 3 days for us. I love that it feels and looks like winter here.

it was my birthday!

My birthday came and went in the whirlwind that was the week before Christmas, complete with a preschool program, shopping and me working 3 days-including my actual birthday night.  That's okay, since my birthday was on a Monday this year, we went out to eat on Sunday night as a family.  Mexican food is what I love to eat and we went to a great one.

So, the kids actually don't get Mexican food.  I think they got corn dogs, cheeseburger and Ewan got popcorn shrimp.  They also got root beer, which was very exciting.

For not going out to eat in a restaurant very often, the kids behaved very well.  They always do.  I'm sure we frighten the wait-staff when we walk in with our brood.  I bet we surprise them with how well the kids act.

with my kids

pretty sure Kella thought the birthday cake was for her...

...and the presents

a great year to be me!

Marcus's music program

A few weeks ago, Marcus had his required school music program for his grade.  His music teacher asked that all the students dress up like Christmas-y characters.  I thought Marcus would be reluctant to wear a costume since he normally doesn't like attention drawn to himself.  But, to my surprise, he decided he wanted to be a reindeer.  Let's be honest.  I was a little miffed that the teacher wanted everyone to dress up and let that responsibility fall to the parents.  I might have been the only one to feel that way, who knows.  There were some elaborate outfits at the program which tells me that some parents dove right into the assignment.  Andy had games, again, so my videographer, Cale, recorded about half the program. 

Not the fanciest costume, but Marcus was happy.  I was excited to have found a brown fleece pullover for him to wear.  And, I had to put black electrical tape over the red nose.  Apparently there could be only one Rudolph.

Liam played on the floor almost the entire concert.

A close-up of Marcus.

Kella had my phone and was trying to take pictures with it, to the delight of surrounding adults.

the videographer

I'm glad that's over, but I have to say that the kids sounded okay.  I couldn't understand what they were saying a lot.  Bad gym acoustics.  But, their ability to stay on pitch has definitely improved since kindergarten. 

sweet conversation with Ewan

Ewan, last week, informed me that Santa was bringing him a 3DS XL for Christmas.

I said, "Those are $200.  I don't think Santa is bringing you one."

Ewan replied, "Santa doesn't have to buy it.  He builds it."

Then, Ewan's friend said, "Ewan, you can't have a 3DS until your eyes stop growing." (okay, I want to know which of his parents told him that)

I asked, "Ewan, will you be satisfied with what Santa Claus brings you?"

He said, "Yes."

Well, thank goodness, because Santa is almost done with the Christmas shopping.

another basketball post

This week saw a double header for Cale with losses for both games.  I think the first game was a harder loss for Cale-probably because he didn't score any points.  His team got shut out 26-0.  ouch.  I was unable to make it to the first game until the very end, but it sounds like the team really didn't try to shoot the ball.  I guess Cale tried and they didn't go in.  I'm sure that was frustrating.
The next game was a better game for Cale.  He scored 6 points and had some nice lay-ups.  He also made several more shots that would circle the rim and then go out.  Robbed!  Score for that game was 19-12. 
Cale's making progress. 
Marcus's game that afternoon was also a loss 26-22, I think.  I stayed home to let the little ones get to a nap on time.  Even though they lost, Andy said the team came away feeling good about how that played.  They scored lots of points off the fast-break move they practiced and redoing the rotation to have certain players on the floor opposite each other made a difference, too.  Andy said that they could have won the game if they would have had another half a quarter to play.
We get a break now for Christmas. 
Games resume in January.

around the house

Just some recent photos of the kids around the house....

an early Christmas miracle!-Liam and Kella getting along, sharing and playing together

Marcus made his first diorama for school.  This scene is from Caddie Woodlawn.  It might be hard to see, but the scene is when Caddie falls into the river after her raft falls apart.  Marcus did most of the work himself.  I did help with some creative thoughts and stringing up the "logs" for the raft.  He was really proud of his work.

Ewan wanted everyone to know that he made a pinch-bowl in art class.  He was proud of his ceramic project.

Cale is loving his new Hot Wheels wall toy.  Oh yes, it is on a 4 foot by 2 foot portion of of our wall.  It's moterized and shoots the car up onto a ramp.  I told his aunt that we may pay them back in  kind for this gift.  The kids are having a lot of fun with it.

Santa Hustle

Sometimes, when you work night shift, things sometimes seem like a really good idea at 2am.

This time, it was.

My friend and I decided to sign up for two 5K races this fall.  Back in August, we had lots of good intentions about exercising and showing off our progress with these races.

Then, I hurt my back and ended up going to the chiropractor several times a week.  No running for me.  And my friend wasn't doing that great with her running program.  Needless to say, the first 5K came, and neither of us were prepared for it at all.  We made promises to do the next one-a race where you got to dress up like Santa Claus.

I still wasn't looking forward to getting up and driving to downtown Indy for the race.  And I still hadn't run since September.  But, I also knew my friend hadn't been running either.  If she hadn't have picked up my race packet, I probably wouldn't have gone.  But, she did, and we made plans to walk the course.  At least it would be nice to see each other and get good exercise.  Another friend from my old unit was there, too.

For the midwest in December, the weather was fantastic.  Partially cloudy, slight breeze, 50 degrees.  We wore our awesome gear and had a great walk.  That's the most exercise I've had in a long time, which is not something I'm proud to admit.

A great morning with some good friends!

pre-race me, Kelly and Rachel

as part of your race packet, you got a beard and hat

post-race

we ran the last 0.2 miles to say that we actually ran across the finish line

I think we're going to sign up for another race-maybe one on St. Patrick's Day

basketball, week 2

The second week of basketball has come and gone.  We had a win and a loss this time around.

Cale's team again played the 8am game.  When I got there, early in the 2nd quarter, the score was 2-1 in favor of Cale's team.  Guess what?  The score remained 2-1 until halfway through the 3rd quarter when someone on the other team got a free throw.  2-2.  I had some fears that this game was going to go into over time, but no worries, a little dude on Cale's team went on a scoring run and helped lift the final score to 10-2.  Cale played some awesome defense, held onto that ball after rebounding it, got punched in the back once and ran into by another player, hard.  Who knew 2nd grade ball could be so rough.  This weekend is a double header that starts at, you guessed it, 8am.

I got to see Marcus play last week, too.  I didn't realize how rough it would be for Kella not to be able to go over and be held by Andy or how much Liam probably needed to take a nap about the time the game started.  We all survived, and eventually, Kella stopped crying.  The team Marcus played had a lot more 5th graders on it, again.  That year can make a big difference in size and skill.  Marcus's team got out-shot and could not defend against the fast break.  I think Andy plans to fix that in practice this week, as well as tweak the rotation of players out on the court at the same time.  Poor boys.  They need a win.  They were looking a little discouraged after that game which they ended up losing 43-23.  I will say, they hung in there for most of the first half.  It was that fast break pass to a guy under the basket for the easy lay-up that they were not prepared for.  Hopefully, a win is in their future.

Ewan has one more week of K-1 camp.  He really likes it and will shoot baskets with the bigger boys in the morning before the bus picks them up.

Basketball is upon us

It's the start of basketball season for all the little junior huskies out their. Marcus and Cale both started playing games last weekend. Both teams came away with losses, but both boys have improved in their play. Cale did not enjoy the loss. I have to say there were some threats from his parents to straighten up if he wanted to keep playing for the season. It's hard for him to lose anything, and last year, he
played on the team that won their division. We just really try to stress improvement of play over winning. It's a tough lesson to learn.
I didn't get to see Marcus's game. I was home with younger one who needed a nap. Andy is coaching that team this year, a first time to coach bb for him. From what he told me, the team did well...when they did what they worked on in practice. His team is all 4th graders and 1 5th grader and in the first game, size of the kiddos was also a bit of a factor since the team they were playing had all 5th graders and 1 4th grader. The seasons is long with plenty of time for improvement.
Ewan doesn't start games until after the new year. Apparently he actually has a clue about basketball.
Games this weekend include a 2nd grade match up with a team that includes a very aggressive player. The kids have been coached on how to guard him and I'm sure one of the primary one will be Cale. Should be interesting.
Stay tuned.

Happy December 1st!

For once, I am on track to get the Christmas cards out early.  If only I had time to pick them up.  Please enjoy this picture of my kiddos all smiling for you.  If you're on my mailing list, you will eventually be receiving this card :-).  Happy December everyone!  Let the Christmas fun begin!

State 3A football game

The Saturday after thanksgiving, Andy and I took Marcus and Cale to watch their high school play in the state championship. It was the first time for the school to go, but not the first time that Marcus and Cale had been to Lucas Oil Stadium to watch high school football. I dragged them down to watch a game there a few years ago when Marcus was 5, Cale 4 and Ewan 2. Did I mention that game started at 7pm? Not so this year. This fame started at high noon. Andy's dad also came along for the fun.

Well, the team played hard, but did not win. It was cool to see so many fans of the high school come out to support the team. It seemed like they had more fans there, and both teams were local. The highlight for the boys was probably getting cotton candy at half time. I think they had fun seeing all the action, too. It was another fun thing to do over break.

time to decorate!

Missing no time, the day after Thanksgiving Andy took some of the boys to get a tree and I hauled out all our Christmas decorations.  I was determined to be able to enjoy them as long as possible.  I had bunches of help putting ornaments on the tree, including a neighbor boy, who was excited to help.

Of course, Kella loved the ornaments.

Our finished tree.  Many of the ornaments have since migrated to the upper branches thanks, in part, to Kella's eager hands.

Some more decorations...my Christmas snow globes and some of my snowmen.

The buffet with lights and another snowman.

I even put a pretty tablecloth on the table.  (I think that lasted for a day, but it looked nice)

Everyone's favorite, the Christmas lava lamp.  We are so cool.

Still have some pictures to hang up in the kitchen.  Art work from years past that the boys have done.  And, the kids stockings are hanging in the spare room, waiting for me to find a good spot to hang them.

Thanksgiving

Some scenes from Thanksgiving...

The traditional Indian that all the kindergartners do.  Done this year by Ewan.

We played some games.

Kella met Uncle Jeff and Aunt Lindsay.

We had some awesome dance moves going on.

Got an updated picture of the brothers.

Andy was so good.  I had lots of intentions of helping with the Thanksgiving meal prep, but was so tired from working the night before.  The only thing I did was finish prepping the rolls so Andy could bake them later.  Some of the sides were already prepared and he had done some of the cooking the night before.  And, we deep-fried the turkey, so that made things easier.  Hopefully, the morning went smoothly for Andy.  I woke up in time to eat and enjoy our company. 

glasses

Marcus and I went to the eye doctor a few weeks ago.  Lucky for me, my prescription hasn't changed much in the past few years, so I decided to keep rocking out the frames that I currently use and just get new contacts when I run out of the ones I have.  They dilated my eyes (which get big anyway) so I tried to take a picture to show folks.

Kella wanted her picture taken, too.

Look at how big they got!  Pretty sure the doctor got an excellent look at my eyes.

The big thing is that Marcus's eyes were finally ready for glasses.  He has been waiting for at least 2 years for the eye doctor to give the go-ahead and was excited to be able to pick some out.  He just needs them to see far away, like the chalkboard at school or the tv.  So far, he's been pretty good with them.  He takes them to school on Monday, so I hope it all goes well then.  He's not the only kid in his class with glasses and he should have a much better time seeing the board.

Ewan is hoping he gets glasses in January.