Chores...

This year we opted to leave our trampoline up for the winter, rather then do all the work to take it down and find a place to store it... This does mean though, that the kids end up with the added chore of having to clean it off every time that it snows. Not such a big deal when we have our normal not too frigid winters. More of a big deal when the temps don't rise about negative for weeks at a time. Brody has been a trooper though and he is the one that is usually out there clearing it off... Bet they love that trampoline right now! :)

day on the town!

Since my birthday is coming up and Josh has to be out of town for work, I asked for a day in Brainerd to do some shopping and spend some time with the family, away from our house! :) It was a lot of fun and the kids were super well behaved the whole time we were gone!! Bonus day!!

Braxton obviously loves the jello that they had at the Chinese buffet!

Beau wanted a picture in front of the dragon...

We had time for a line up of haircuts... The boys all needed a little cleaning up and Bella decided she wanted in on the action also!

New York Mills Wrestling

A rough night of wrestling on Friday night for our boys. They both ended up with 4th place finishes. Brody drew a really tough kid to start with and I was super proud of him for not getting pinned... Beau needs to work on not bring his guys down on top of him and he will maybe be able to get a few more wins under his belt. They both had fun though and we are happy for them and how hard they tried!

Puzzle making kind of day...

With this winter being so particularly brutal, we have taken to a lot of new activities to keep us entertained. The kids have always enjoyed doing puzzles, but we haven't done them nearly as much as we have this winter... Due to a no school day and the weather not as nice as it should be to send the kids out, we busted out the puzzles and the kids had some no tv time!

Taking after mama!

I was making a quick lunch of ring bologna and mac and cheese the other day and Bella decided that she MUST help me make it. She didn't move a step from that stool the entire time either and then insisted that the boys tell her and I thank you for such a delicious lunch! :)

Pinewood Derby

We had the cub scout pinewood derby the other day and the boys had a blast. This was the first one that Beau got to be a part of and he was ecstatic!! He ran the length of the track each race that his car was in and hopped up and down the entire time! Unfortunately he lost to only one other kid and ended up in 2nd place, but he had so much fun it didn't matter! Brody decided that he was going for the coolest looking car and made his into a light saber. It didn't win, but he worked very hard on it and it turned out pretty dang good! They are already making plans for their space derby shuttles...

Big boy!!

It's so close that I can taste it!! The beginning of a world without pacifiers, bottles, cribs and DIAPERS!!! Braxton has decided that he is a "big boy" and he doesn't need to wear a diaper anymore... So, the potty training has begun. The first week and a half was a constant battle of peeing and pooping in our underwear, but we have seemed to have gotten it somewhat figured out! We are on day 4 of no accidents and mom couldn't be happier! When we are on the go somewhere, we put a pull up on, which to him obviously looks like a swim diaper because he keeps talking about going to the water park. So, we went with it! We told him that if he makes it for 7 days without an accident we will take him to the water park... 3 more to go! :)

Homecoming 2014

This year, my niece was chosen to be flower girl for this year's homecoming festivities... Ellie looked adorable up there and did a great job! Plus, Roxie had to be on the ball with the dress that she was wearing, because it is a preview of the dresses that all of Rusty's nieces are wearing for his and Lindsay's wedding!

My latest project...

I have seen these growth "charts" on pinterest a few times and have been wanting to make one for a while. I love the idea of having something portable and that won't be painted over (since you all know how much I love to paint quite frequently). So, I found a board laying on the garage, made my dad cut it down to size for me, had Josh stain it and went to work on the rest... I couldn't get the best pictures, but here is what it looks like. I love how it turned out!! Now to get my dad over here to hang it for me - I love having family that is in construction and has all kinds of snazzy tools!

Rink Time

Our friend Craig has worked hard for the past 2 years to put a ice skating rink in his back yard. We were invited over this past weekend to play some hockey with him and his kids and my kids were in heaven!! I'm sure they are thinking that they would love to have one in our yard also, but they will have to settle with going to visit the Walter family whenever they will let us invade!

Adding Lessons...

As always, I am trying to find new and inventive ways to work with my kids on their education! :) That may or may not include a few black jack dealing sessions... sometimes m&m's are involved, this time it was chocolate chips... Start 'em young I say! It cracks me up a bit when this is the game that Brody picks for "his" game when we have a game night!

Menahga Wrestling Tourney

This past Saturday was our second tourney of the season, in Menahga. Since it was on a Saturday, Brody had the conflict of tournament for wrestling or practice for basketball... To my surprise, he chose practice over a match! Could this be the beginning of the end?? I guess we will see... Beau however was super excited to wrestle again, so the rest of the family headed out to wrestling. He had a rough day and got pinned three matches in a row, but as always, left with a smile on his face! His one comment? "Isn't this the teeniest trophy that you have ever seen mommy?" Yep Beau, it is, but you tried your best! :)

More basketball!

Although they don't have a lot of tournaments on the 3rd and 4th grade basketball schedule, they get a lot of games in during the varsity half times! So, it is only about 10 minutes here and there, but the boys love it and we love to watch them...

Bath time!

Being the youngest, Braxton doesn't get a lot of alone time, or bath time for that fact.... Usually it is a quick shower to end the day and hop into bed. So, when bubbles and a bath all alone is involved, he is pretty excited!!

and that's how we roll...

The weeks of being cooped up in the house due to the cold has been getting to everyone lately and it has shown in the fabulous behavior that the kids have had! One night after a little too much whining, crabbiness and out of control fighting, 3 out of our 4 ended up with their noses against the wall. You know mom couldn't pass up this photo op!!

Beau's first tooth!!

In the midst of wrestling tournaments and basketball tournaments and running wild and crabby boys that refused to have their picture taken, Beau lost his first tooth. It has been hanging on for a little while (which grosses mom out!) and he finally lost it during school last Friday. He was pretty dang excited to have his first visit from the tooth fairy that night!

Basketball!

3rd grade is the grade that the kids get to start basketball in Sebeka. Brody decided for this year to do both and see which one he likes the best. He had his first wrestling meet last Friday night and his first basketball tournament on Saturday... Talk about a weekend of sports and running for our family! :) But, we packed up the snacks, ds's, ipods and toys and headed out for a morning of basketball. It was a little rough since they are all pretty new to playing and there was only 4 of them, so Teagen got pulled up to play with them, but it was a lot of fun to watch them out there! They ended up placing 3rd out of 3 teams... I can't wait to see how much better they become in the future. So far Brody is enjoying it a lot.

4 out of the 5 players at the tournament... Brody, Teagen, Eion and Dylan

fan club! (or the lucky younger siblings that get dragged to all the sports that their older siblings do!)