6 Years...that's a wee bit of time, eh?

This week...as many of you know, I celebrate my 34th birthday..years have never bothered me, and I seriously doubt they ever will. I just don't care about numbers....probably why math has never been my thing?! But something that does bother me is time....in this case years and what has and will happen, in those years. You see, I had to renew my driver's license this year...I had completely forgotten they only do that every 6 years, and while I was standing there in the FOREVER AND A DAY line at the Driver's License Office, I got to thinking about all that had changed since the last time I had the pleasure of standing there. For one, Grady is potty-trained...at the time I was still making bottles, stomaching the smell of baby food and diapers, and lugging around a 20 pound 8 month old on my hip...it's probably a miracle he wasn't in my last picture! I now have two incredibly intelligent boys...one in the first grade and one in the fifth! Our family embarked on an incredible adventure of relocating to Washington for 3 years...where we saw more and did more than most people have the opportunity to do in a lifetime! I quit my job to stay home with my boys...a job that monetarily may not pay top dollar, but the benefits can't be beat! I lost that baby weight....YAY! I found the courage to start back to school! We moved to the country...or as country as I will get! But then, I started to think about the next time I will be standing in that line....and then I started to get teary eyed. You see, I will have a son that will be a junior in high school and one that will be in the 7th grade. There be fewer things they need me for...as I will have hopefully prepared them properly for the future. I will be turning 40...I will let you know if numbers still don't bother me! A 1.5# meatloaf will probably no longer feed my family....as well as many other meals of which there will never be any leftovers! I will hopefully have finished school....and may be starting a new career! We will hopefully have had many adventures as a family...going on enough trips and making enough memories for the boys to take with them when they have their own families!! So, what I'm saying is 6 years is a long time and so much happens.....and thanks to the LONG line at the Driver's License Office, you got to jump into my mind for a bit to see what I was thinking about! Thanks for listening to my rambling!

Weekend Sports Update!

Well, we survived another weekend! Gabe had a wrestling meet in Augusta and Grady had his basketball game here as well....I thought that would make things more simple....but, I was wrong! By having both boys in the same town...I just felt like I couldn't miss one...I ended up missing quite a bit trying to run around! Someday I will learn! Anywho, Gabe finished 3rd in his second open tournament. He won two and lost two....last year in this same tournament, he wrestled the novice tournament in Augusta and didn't win a match or a medal...so this year there was definite improvement..he wrestled the open tournament, won matches and a medal! Grady hit the hardwood again, and again his team came away with a pretty big win. This game was a lot closer than the last two, but the Hot Rods never fell behind. Grady had a pretty good first half...he played pretty aggressively...complete with stealing the ball once! He also got his first foul! I think he has the playing aggressively thing figured out! Grady has the early game next week....not sure what Gabe has going...we are looking for a novice tournament....he has novice championships coming up in a couple of weeks, and we think it would be good to see a little "easier" competition to build up confidence! We'll keep ya updated! Thanks everyone for coming out to watch our kiddos....we love the cheering section!

And She's Off!

Today was it....the first day of school! Well....I can tell you this..I made it through class one of two! I am only taking two classes...the first one Psychology and the second Information Processing Systems...so if this school thing doesn't pan out long term...I will at least be able to analyze each of your personalities and then put the information gained in spreadsheet form on the computer! In my psychology class, I was far away the oldest one there...at least the instructor was nice...he said there was no way that I had been out of school for 15 years....the girl next to me was a little surprised as well....so at least I don't look like the oldest one in there! The majority of my class are high schoolers doing the dual credit thing....so I don't think this will be a building relationships sort of venture! I did do fantastically on my first test....judging from the amount of my classmates that stood up and said, "I have reached number 9 and I am the leader of following directions".....I would say following directions may not be their strong suit. Being around the block a time or two has taught me to fully read all instructions before just diving into the task....it saved me answering 15 questions and standing up in front of class declaring my leadership abilities....at least I have learned something! So class one...a success! Keeping my fingers crossed class two goes as well!

**Also, please note my fantastic new messenger bag!! My guys have me looking very cool my first day of school!!

That's Why There Are Two of Us!!

Same story different day.....Shawn and one fella head one way, me and the other in the opposite direction!

Gabe and Shawn headed down to Eureka for Gabe's second wrestling meet of the season! He did very well...bringing home 2nd! His first 3 matches were fairly easy...all ending in pins, but the 4th was a real booger! Gabe did make it to the 2nd period and scored on the kid...which was something no one else was able to do...so at least that was a plus! He took the loss sort of hard....but nothing a little Arby's on the way home couldn't fix!

Grady and I stayed in Augusta to hit the hardwood again! His team came away with another win...16-2! Grady played a lot more aggressively this weekend....in practice they told him it was okay to steal the ball away...watch out world...Grady is now on a mission! If he had the chance to steal the ball on Saturday...he took full advantage! He is still working on what to do once he has the ball, but I'm sure that will all come in time! HA!

We have another full weekend, next weekend...but they are both in Augusta....might make things a little easier??!!

Honors Band!

Yesterday, Gabe was selected to be a part of the Southern Plains Honor Band! We are so proud of him! He was one of seven selected by Mr. Hollis from the St. James/Ewalt combined 5th grade band!! He will go to Andover Central High School on Saturday, February 11th and practice all day, and then put on a concert with other 5th grade musicians from all over Kansas at 3:00 that afternoon! The letter stated "he was recommended for this prestigious honor based upon his talent and diligence"!!! WAY TO GO GABE!!!

Well Hello Deer!

Well, after 12 years of doing the same drive...it finally happened....Shawn hit a deer on Monday morning! He is fine, but the car is a little crunched! It happened just over the hill from our house...not even a quarter of a mile from the driveway....isn't that what they always say though, the wreck always happens close to the house?! Anywho, we are still waiting to hear what the insurance company wants to do with the car....Shawn and I are keeping our fingers crossed the damage was not bad enough to total it...that little Mazda has been an awesome car and we are just not quite ready to part with it...plus, we really don't want a car payment...how nice is it without one?! The poor car is 11 years old...so it has done it's time....but, we really don't want to see it go out like this.....keep your fingers crossed we get to keep it a little longer...we just aren't ready for the final goodbye!

Grady's First Basketball Game!

On Saturday, Grady had his first basketball game! Final score 36-16! He did pretty well! He is on a team of 6 second graders and 3 first graders, so the 2nd graders sort of dominate the game, but the little guys do get a little time with the ball! He had a couple of pass ins, dribbled the ball a little, and ran up and down the court a lot! He did have a little issue with putting his hands in his pockets...he tends to do this when he is nervous, but we have alleviated this issue...he is now wearing shorts without pockets....pretty easy fix! Last night during practice, he was doing a much better job defending..amazing what happens when your hands don't have anywhere to go but up! He plays again this Saturday...same time, same place! WAY TO GO GRADY!! WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOUR HARD WORK!!! GO HOT RODS!

Happy New Year!

Keeping with tradition we headed to a Japanese steak house for New Year's Eve! We then headed home and snacked our way to midnight! Poor Grady didn't quite make it...he was trying so hard....he made it until 11:45...so close! The next day after church we headed down to the Fox Farm for a little get away! Shawn did some hunting while the boys and I "adventured" our way around the creeks and ground on the south side! We all met back up in the evening for burgers and movies and then spent the night! It was a wonderful way to finish up our Christmas break before getting back on our regular schedules! Happy New Year's!

Legos Out The Wazoo!

One of the only toys either boy asked for this year was legos....and boy, did everyone deliver! I'm not sure how many different sets they received, but I think the number was somewhere around 15 between the two of them! So, needless to say...our house is bursting with little lego pieces everywhere...here are the first two they completed over Christmas Break! Gabe's lighthouse actually lights up and has mechanic goings on inside....very impressive! Grady actually completed this log cabin with only minimal help! The doors and windows open! We are so proud of these two little builders!

Faces of Christmas!

We did it...we survived Christmas! We had a wonderful Christmas...we got to spend tons of time with family...had good laughs and tons of great food! All 4 of us were spoiled rotten.....I thought it would be fun to do something a little bit different this year with Christmas pics...I usually post pics of us opening gifts and such...well this year enjoy our faces....some of them were priceless!

Was this face because he really was surprised about the KSU titanium necklace he had been begging for or the early hour...well, we'll never know, but he hasn't had the necklace off for more than a couple hours since receiving it!

I was completely surprised....my camera had fallen during the wrestling meet the weekend before, but the crazy thing was still working even though it was missing parts! Well, my awesome boys took pity on me and bought me the snazziest, fanciest camera!!! I am loving it! Check out the picture on the top of this post...I took it using a fancy feature...only highlighting red!!

Grady has the best little smile...especially his sweet smile minus one tooth!

Poor Shawn....we saved this for the very end ...only because I couldn't wrap it and it had spent it's time hidden in the basement storage room!...but, for all of the excitement the boys had...Shawn was probably thinking there would be a Lexus parked in the basement not a hand truck! I'm not sure which face I liked better...Grady's sweet, excited smile, or Shawn's...so this was what the excitement was all about?!