a little bit of Christmas in Decatur

Ha! I finally got the computer for a second to finish uploading photos from Christmas! School has started up for Andy again and he is busy on the computer every day doing work for his masters program.  Lucky for me, this is it for the photos for December.  And, I haven't taken a ton of January photos, so lucky for me again, I guess.

Anyway, way back in December, after we left my mom's house, we drove through the beginnings of some heavy, wet snow to Decatur to Andy's brother's house.  The boys were excited to see their other cousins, and I think they knew they were going to get more presents, extra bonus.  They didn't have to wait long, and that afternoon got to open some more gifts from their grandparents and uncle/aunt/cousins.

little dartboard for Ewan

a game for Marcus-the boys played it the other day-they had fun

game for Cale

Dr. Iron Man Liam

All the boys got Illini  hoodies from Grandpa

a microscope for new scientist Marcus

Andy in his cold weather riding gear

geek :-)

worn out

we indoctrinated everyone with saving the GUBS

It was New Years Eve that night, but we put the boys to bed early and even I went to sleep before midnight, still tired from my weekend of work.  Liam woke up crazy early and I got him to go back to sleep in the living room.  You can see him on the floor and the feet of the other kids all busy on their DSs.

Cassie, Marcus, Cale, Marie

And Liam slept through some of the morning...

Parting shot of the cousins with their grandparents

We had to leave mid-morning to go home.  Andy had a sports practice that evening he had to be at.  The ride back was better, the kids were entertained with new stuff, we stopped to eat at Cracker Barrel (yum!) and made it home in time to make some fresh coffee, Andy to empty the van and take off in his car to practice.  

And, that was the end of our winter break.  Marcus, Cale and Ewan went back to school the next day.

Another basketball update

The boys each had a game on Saturday.

Cale played first, the 8am game, of course. It was a rough start, with the other team shutting out Cale's for a while. Shots were put up, they just wouldn't go in. Finally, in the 3rd quarter, Cale got the first points for their team. He got 2 baskets, played hard defense and stole the ball from the other team several times. He was very excited about that. The team lost 14-8, but the team is playing much better than at the beginning of the season.

Ewan played next and Andy got to see most of the game. Ewan scored a basket again and I think was very excited that Andy got to see that. Every week, you can see that Ewan understands the game a little bit more.

Marcus played last. Once again, I didn't see the game since I took the small ones home for a nap. They played well, but lost by 1 point! So frustrating to hear. Andy is proud though that he can see improvement in each of his players.

Potty training, take two

It's been about two weeks now since we started, again, working with Liam on using the potty. He just has not been interested. Lazy? I don't know. Part of me thinks he likes being taken care of and likes seeing himself as a "little boy".

Well, this "little" boy's mama is tired of changing pull-ups and is happy to report that we are making potty progress! Liam wears underwear now every morning that we are home. He goes to the bathroom with prompting and rarely has accidents. We graduated from the little floor potty, which he was too big for, to a little potty seat on the actual toilet (a big change for him that he freaked out about). He had worn underwear to the grocery store with no problem and was so excited to wear his underwear to preschool and "put wets", as he says, in the potty. Still wears a pull-up at nap time and after naps if we are going places-karate, scouts, church, basketball-so pretty much every afternoon. Probably the next step is working on independently going to the bathroom on his own, without us prompting him every hour or so to go. I think he can do it, with practice, of course.

We are excited and Liam is so proud!

Basketball from last week

Last Saturday we were kept busy with three games, Ewan bb pictures and jr husky appreciation night at the high school game. The boys also got haircuts, badly needed.

Cale played at 8am, of course. I stayed home with the little people and Andy sent text updates. Cale's team lost 21-13 against a team that had shut them out last time. Cale played a good game, scored some of the points and played some great defense against the other team's best player. Andy told me this as well as the coach's wife.
Marcus's team lost by 10 points. Andy said the boys just did not do what they had practiced. This week he is trying a new strategy that he, his assistant coach and his high school girls coach is excited about.
Ewan's team played at the same time as Marcus's team, so I got to see that game. Ewan got his first basket in that game! He was so excited. His team ended up tying 20-20. Those smart coaches decided to leave it at that instead of playing overtime.
That night was the appreciation night. A separate post for when I have a chance to get me hands on the computer. Andy has started his classes again, so he is usually busy on there doing class work.

Baby girl makes 6!

Well, the ultrasound tech is feeling pretty confident that this little one is going to be a girl! It's exciting to think that Kella will have a little sister. Everything looked great and the doctor took the time to go over all the photos that the tech took, discussing the heart, spine, facial structure- all normal. Next step, a name for this little one.

then we went to Dorsey

At the end of the Christmas week, we made an overnight trip to Grammy Pammy's new house in Dorsey, IL. It was a five hour trip in the car after I got off working my second night in a row.  Long journey. But, the kids were mostly good.  Liam had the roughest time, not wanting to take a nap. Rough for him, rough for us. We got to celebrate more Christmas (no complaints from the boys) and see some more family.  It was a crazy, too quick trip.  Can't wait to spend some time down there later this year.

the beginning of present opening chaos

Cale with a new Wii game

Legos for Liam

balaclavas for the boys

best. shirt. ever.

Liam got some new costumes

me and Bitsy-it's the "before" and "after" work photo-me the "after", and Bitsy the "before"

stockings for everyone!

Kella ate at her own little table

the kids got to eat in the kitchen

and the adults got the kiddie table in the living room-hmm.

new jammie pants made by Grammy

So, I tried to get a picture of the cousins-on the couch: Abbie, Liam, Cale, Maddie, Marcus, with Kella and Ewan behind them (pretty sure Andy is holding up Kella).  Jacob wasn't feeling photogenic.

played some checker and scrabble the next day

Grammy Pammy and the kids

Then, we drove off through the start of some snow to Decatur for another Christmas celebration.

What a difference one day makes! Snow!

The exciting news the day after Christmas was the "blizzard" that we experienced.  The news was all over this event with coverage lasting all day the pre-empted any other television show.  It started late Christmas night with blowing, cold wind.  Then the snow came with some white-out conditions.  Lucky for me, I was called off from my shift to work that night and got to stay home snuggled in my electric blanket.  The next day, the kids got to go outside and have some fun.  I have to say that I'm pretty sure we only got, like, 3-4 inches in this "blizzard".  The worst part for people was probably that the road crews couldn't keep up with the road initially, what with all the blowing and everything.  The funny thing is, on Friday of that week, we got another good 5-6 inches of snow that fell overnight. I was at work for that.  The news wasn't quite as excited that day...

pulled out the sleds 

Made a snowman

Mr. Orange and the Anna Kitty took advantage of the fireplace being on

A couple games of GUBS rounded out the evening

Christmas at home

Christmas morning the boys were up nice and early to see what Santa had left under the tree.  Santa had also left a little present for each of them under the little tree they had in their room.  That kept them happy until almost 7am.  Andy was the good parent that went downstairs and made breakfast and coffee so we could gather our strength for some present opening.  First up, the stockings.  Each kiddo got a DVD, toy and some candy in those.  The under-the-tree presents came next.

Cale and Marcus with matching presents.

Liam with his Big Boots.

opening a dinosaur toy

Ewan and a DS game

Ewan has been asking for a big Buzz Lightyear for probably 3 years now.  Santa finally decided to bring him one.  I think the smile on his face says it all.

Kella woke up later than the boys.  I'm not too sure if she was totally aware of what was going on.  The boys were excited for her to open her presents.  It took her a little bit to get into the first one-a little dog that makes noise and moves around.

And, she was done after that.  Didn't care what other present there were for her.  Didn't want to open anything else.  Just wanted to play with that dog.  Drove the boys nuts that she didn't want to open other gifts.  They were very generous and offered to open Kella's presents for her.  She eventually decided to see what else Santa brought.

Cale and Marcus trying out their new skateboards.  Thankfully, it was nice enough out they could go outside and do that.

Playing with some bey blades.  Kella is a big fan of watching the action.