update from the frozen north...

....well, not really north, but my friend on facebook does like to point out on a daily basis, that Alaska is currently warmer than the midwest.  The kids were off school today.  I can't count the number of snow days they have had, but I do know that they will be attending school into June now.  Tomorrow promises temps in the double digits and I am hopeful for a 2 hour delay, or, *gasp* a full day of school.

Travel basketball regular season is over now.  Marcus and Cale will have practices in preparation for the playoffs.  Being on the teams have been a good experience for both of them.  They have enjoyed all the extra chances to play basketball and we can see improvement in them as players.  I would have liked to have seen Cale played more on his team, but what playing time he had was good for him.

Rec league is in full swing as long as the weather agrees with us.  Cale's team has had maybe two practices total due to the others being cancelled for weather.  It's fun watching the kids play and it definitely makes for a busy Saturday.  There have been a couple of games that have gone into overtime, which is always very exciting.

Cub scouts is still going strong.  I am currently overseeing the 3 younger dens with another adult.  I have a love/hate relationship with scouts.  I like being a leader, but it is hard to do right now since Kinley needs my attention, too.  Not to mention Kella and Liam.  Oh, and Ewan acts like it's killing him when I tell him it's time for scouts.

I am almost done with Liam's 1st year scrapbook.  I have spent part of this evening going back through this blog for information from Liam's first year to fill in his baby book.  I knew I kept this blog up for a reason.  All the pages are laid out just waiting for me to label photos and I will be done.  Kella's scrapbook is over halfway done and I have started on Kinley's.  Finishing these scrapbooks is one of my resolutions for this year.

And, right not I am catching up on some television viewing.  You may not care, but I have my list of shows that I like to watch that includes:  Downton Abbey, Sherlock, Sleepy Hollow, Psych, Grimm and Almost Human.  I've especially been loving the new season of Sherlock right now.  In fact, I watched the first episode 3 times, the last time with the boys who also really liked it.  

around the house....

the mysterious bandits are having some milk

we tried to build the marble tower like the picture on the box-we had to make some modifications

can you tell this girl has 4 big brothers by her choice of toys to play with? oh, and she picked out her outfit by herself.  we were staying in today anyway.

becoming Ben Franklin

Marcus's class, along with a couple others, had a wax museum on Thursday.  The kids dressed up has different famous folk from history.  His class dressed as heroes from the Revolutionary War and Marcus, specifically, was Benjamin Franklin.  The kids each had a little bit they said for the visitors-other classes and parents.  I thought it was very cute and I bet the kids learned at least a little something about history.  

Marcus knew B.F. well.  I would quiz him on the way to and from basketball practices, asking him to tell me something cool about Ben.  Marcus was always able to give me a new fact.  He was pretty involved with the costume process, too.  Marcus did not want to be the older, plumper, balder Ben.  He opted for the younger Ben.  While I thought he should still wear a wig-I thought everyone wore powdered wigs-Marcus shot me down on that plan.  We went to Goodwill to get the costume pieces: a white button down shirt that's a little big so it can be puffy in the arms, a vest with a design on it, some black capri sweats that we tucked into some black basketball socks for the appearance to knickers and tights, and some women's shoes with a little bit of a heel.  I think we forgot to cut out buckles for the shoes, but it looked pretty good all put together.  I also took and old cowboy had we had and attempted to make it a tri-something hat-one with three points on it.  Marcus made himself a kite with a key attached as part of his costume, too.  Marcus was pleased with the results and he looked pretty good at the wax museum.  He also had some of Ben's quotes to pass out to visitors.

Liam was pretty excited once we got there to see Marcus.  He had to drag a chair over to sit down next to him.  Marcus wouldn't smile for the pictures.  He said B.F. never smiled.  I don't know about that...

Kella needed her turn, too.

And, I needed my picture with B.F.!

Christmas in January

The kids are well-loved.  Grammy Pammy's visit was also accompanied by Christmas presents from Lanny-another fun thing to happen over our Christmas break.  The kids had fun opening the presents and playing with their new toys.

Liam got a marble run game.  I remember having on growning up.  Liam really liked the piece that made the marble swirl around and go down the pipe.

The sci-fi set: a Dr. Who yatzee game, UFO flyer, and Dr. Who bank

A building kit for our tinkerer.

Kella got a Bitty Baby.  The eyes open and shut.  She spend some time playing with those.

Liam got a shirt that he did not want to take off.

Ewan got a demolitions kit.  Future explosives expert?

Kinley got a car.  She shared it with Kella.

And, Kella shared her baby with Kinley.

Thank you Lanny!

it's the Christmas break that keeps on giving....

We had a great winter break that turned into a break that wouldn't end.  The kids ended up being out of school for 3 weeks.  We didn't go anywhere, but we tried to fill our time with fun at home.  Here's some of what we did

the older boys got to go shoot around the gym at Andy's work

Christmas, of course

basketball tournament for Cale and Marcus

practices

and, the day before school was to start again, we had a record amount of snow. crazy watching the news and how people cleared store shelves before the snow came in.  gas stations also ran out of gas as people filled up their tanks.  little bit of panic going on. we were prepared and had what we needed. so the snow came.  almost 12 inches of it.  no school the next day, of course.  in fact, no school that whole next week.  roads were slowly tended to and it was only toward the end of the week the roads started looking good.  Which was good, because we had run out of milk.

I took a fair amount of pictures.  Be prepared.

To keep the kids entertained, I pulled out a bunch of board/card games they hadn't played in a long time.

Here's one of the stacks we worked through.

While the snow was coming down it was still pretty warm (34 degrees).  You know we sent the kids outside twice to play that day.

And, the next day left us with sub zero temps and blowing and drifting snow.  The kids thought is was cool that the snow drifted up against the patio door.

Other pictures from our never-ending break....

some more board game fun

Once temps warmed up, the kids got to play outside again.  Liam liked playing around the house especially in the big pile of snow created by the snowplow.  Andy was able to take the older three boys sledding two mornings that week.

Kella looked through ads with Grammy Pammy who was brave enough to drive some horrible road to our house.  Her drive went from 5 to 7 hours because of yucky road conditions.  She also got to see the boys play some basketball games.  By the time she left, the roads were much better.

played some games with a princess

and Ash the pokemon catcher

painted my nails, Kella's nails and Liam's toenails

brought the little Christmas trees inside.  Kinley liked the lights

I had to go to work the night the snow came in.  Lucky me, I'm considered "essential personal"and can drive even when the county is telling everyone to stay home.  It really only took me and extra 30mins on my way in.  The next morning just took a little over an hour driving home once my car was warmed up and de-iced.   My drive home from work on Monday (1/6).  There was a rainbow around the sun.  I promise, I am driving on the road.

Another view of my drive.

look at how cold it was that day!

found a recipe for snow ice cream

pretty cold at night too

In a moment of brilliance, I took the kids to Gamestop to spend their giftcards the day before the snow came.  All the boys had new games to amuse themselves with.  We even got a new/used Wii balance board so we could play Wii fit again.

we made snow ice cream a couple times.  the kids thought this was awesome

Cale, showing how deep this snowdrift was.

And now, the kids have a week back at school under their belts.  I think they were excited to go back and I was ready to be a more normal routine for us.  It has snowed the past two days with more snow promised for Saturday.  And, it sounds like it's going to get pretty cold again next week....

Let's hear from Cale

It's Cale's turn now.  He will quite willing to fill out the questions for me.  One of the things that Cale really loves is board games.  He has been loving Christmas break because we have played board games every day.  Here are Cale's favorite things....

color-silver
toy-Skylander Giants (it's the new Wii game he bought over break with his own money)
stuffed animal-stuffed puffin
favorite thing to sleep with-nothing (but, Cale has a ton of toys up on his bed)
fruit-banana
cereal-frosted flakes
breakfast food-eggs
lunch food-chips
dessert-snow ice cream (we just had this for the first time Tuesday night)
drink-smoothie (Andy will make these for the boys)
animal-panda
book-The Titan's Curse (by Rick Riordan-what Cale is reading right now)
song-he didn't list any, but Cale likes pop music, I catch him singing along to groups like Imagine Dragons, Mumford and Sons and Phillip Phillips
game-Ticket to Ride (me too, Cale)
tv show-nothing listed (Cale likes to watch Doctor Who, Cartoon Network shows and cooking shows where people get eliminated)
movie-Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters
fav thing to do outside-play in the snow
best friend-Alex Eubanks
what do you want to be when you grow up-Cale left this blank.  I guess we will be surprised!

Let's hear from Ewan!

Ewan turned 7 in September.  He has a great imagination and I think sometimes would rather play by himself then share his imagination time with others.  He is very private with his thoughts and information about himself.  In fact, it about killed him to answer this questions.  I always say that Ewan is the one waiting for/looking for and adventure.  Let's see what Ewan has to say about his favorites.....

favorite color-gold
toy-every toy (I would say that Ewan especially likes action figure people of all kinds)
stuffed animal-stuffed stingray
favorite thing to sleep with-"very old yellow blanket"
fruit-banana
cereal-honey nut cheerios
breakfast food-bacon and eggs
lunch food-ramen noodles (it's true-Ewan asks for these all the time)
dessert-cherry pie
drink-rootbeer float
animal-stingray
book-Avengers Assemble (the book that was in front of him at the time)
favorite song-doesn't have one
game-Indigo
tv show-Cartoon Network shows
movie-Animaniacs (he got Season 1 on DVD for Christmas)
favorite thing to do outside-run around
best friend-Enzo ( rides his bus, was in kindergarten with him)
what do you want to be when you grow up-go into space