Black Walnut Cake....YUMMY!

A few weeks ago Shane and Abigail gave us a bunch of walnuts and pecans! For those of you who have had the pleasure of cracking black walnuts; you know that it is A LOT of work! So, I had to find something to do with the walnuts that would be deserving of all of the hard work! I found a recipe for Black Walnut Cake....I didn't want to just toss them in any old recipe...I wanted one that was tried and true to the black walnuts! It turned out fantastic....plus the boys got cooking lesson #4 out of the deal! I am impressed with my little chefs.....they are getting very handy around the kitchen!

Snow Ice Cream....It's What's For Breakfast!

I admit....I am not one of those people who love snow! I know it's crazy, but I can't stand it! In my opinion, we have had way too much, but since I have no control over it....I have come to the realization I am just going to have to embrace it! So, I think I have found a way to end up loving all of this fluffy stuff....SNOW ICE CREAM! Some of my Fredonia friends were talking about this stuff, so I did some searching and found a recipe....it's awesome! The best part...we have an endless supply....well, at least until the sun comes out and the temperature is above 0!

Of course, snow ice cream is not complete without caramel and chocolate sauce!

Because We Like To Go Out With A Bang!

After the boys participated in the Augusta Tournament on the 22nd of January, our little family decided we were ready for a break. So, we decided last week would be our last week and we would have a two month break from practices and games before baseball starts up! Well, Gabe just couldn't end the season without a little drama! On Tuesday night, him and his buddy, Mike were wrestling...long story, short...Mike did a chop arm (totally legal and performed correctly) and Gabe got hurt. So, we checked out his arm, he was still able to move it...it hurt, but moved and it wasn't swollen. We decided to give him some tylenol and send him to bed and see how he felt the next morning. On Wednesday morning he was still complaining about it, so I had him lift up the arm of his sweatshirt and his arm was about twice as big as usual from about 2 inches above the elbow to the tips of his fingers. Well, I got on the horn and we were at the doctor an hour later. An x-ray showed something "funny", so we were then referred to an Orthopaedic Specialist/Surgeon! On Thursday we saw the specialist, who confirmed something looked a bit off--great, glad we can all agree on that!--but he wasn't sure what the line on the x-ray meant--it was either a vertical break in the humorous or a tear or rupture to one of the ligaments in his elbow. So, we were then scooted off to an MRI.....Mind you Gabe was still moving his arm, so I was still thinking, it really couldn't be that serious! Well, on Friday we finally got the results...it turns out he has a torn ligament in his elbow....it was almost ruptured. We have so much to be thankful for, had it actually ruptured, we would be sitting in a hospital waiting on our little guy to be getting out of surgery, but thankfully, the match was stopped fast enough on Tuesday night, that no further damage was done and thankfully, Gabe does not cry wolf....we believed he was hurt and took him to the doctor, instead of telling him to suck it up! and thankfully, the first doctor was unsure of what he was seeing, so he sent us on and thankfully the specialist was also perplexed so he sent us to get an MRI. Had any of these things not have happened the outcome would have definitely been different! Right now, he is in a splint and sling....later this week, he will have an "especially made for Gabe" brace that he will wear for at least 3 weeks. At the end of that, he is expected to make a full recovery....well, as full as someone with an elbow injury does! Because he is young they are hopeful that he will be able to extend his elbow fully, but I guess elbows are funny....they are the least forgiving of any body part. So, the moral of this story.....if you are wrestling, DO NOT LOCK YOUR ARM while someone is doing a chop arm on you!

Grady Loses A Tooth!

On Saturday Grady lost his first tooth!!!! This little tooth had been loose for at least 6 weeks and really loose...like I mean moving back and forth while he was talking for a week! While we were watching KSU get spanked by KU on Saturday evening, Grady decided he was ready for the tooth to come out, so he grabbed an apple and went to town! A few minutes later he was holding the little treasure...beaming a bloody little smile!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Ah yes, the big day has come and gone.....but it sure was fantastic! So, I ordered up the perfect weather as one of my presents and what do you know....I got it! I have NEVER in all of my 33 years of existence had a birthday as fantastic as this one...it was a sunny 70 degrees on January 29th this year! Not only did the weather spoil me....but my 3 guys did their fair share as well! I woke up to a yummy breakfast of biscuits and gravy! We then lounged around for awhile enjoying coffee in the sunshine! That afternoon we headed into Wichita for lupper at Knolla's Pizza and hiking and sightseeing at the Great Plains Nature Center! We ended the day munching on some Marble Slab Creamery Ice Cream by Bradley Fair's Fountains and presents after we got back home! It was an absolutely beautiful day.....it will certainly be tough to top this one! Thanks everyone for the cards, presents, phone calls, emails and texts!!! You certainly know how to make a girl feel loved!

Gabe's Award!

This month Gabe was awarded the Citizenship award for his 4th Grade class at Ewalt!! He was modest as usual....when I walked into his classroom his classmates told me he won it...not him! He just shrugged and said, "I didn't think it was that big of a deal." Well, we think it is a BIG DEAL...he was voted on by his classmates and teacher! He was honored during morning announcements and then had lunch with Mr. Clark, the principal! WAY TO GO, GABE! We are sooooo proud of you!

SnOw DaY!!!!

Are there any sweeter words that "Snow Day"?? I remember sitting by the radio, waiting to hear those words when I was in school....and I will admit, I was sitting there again on Monday night....keeping my fingers crossed! But, in the age of technology you no longer have to sit and listen to the radio...the superintendent just gives you a ring or KSN sends you a text and an email....but none the less the excitement and anticipation was still there! Well with a snow day, the boys got bundled up and ran around outside like a couple of crazy monkeys! I stayed out long enough to snap some pics....but I'll tell ya, I can't do this cold! I sat inside, sipping my coffee, roaming from one window to the next...watching my little fellas flop around in all of that fluffy wonderful snow! They lasted a little over an hour...which was about 50 minutes longer than I had expected! Happy Snow Day!

Grady making snow angels....isn't he sweet?!

Gabe making tracks through the undisturbed snow!

Our Little Grapplers!

We spent all day Sunday in Valley Center at a wrestling meet! Oh My GOODNESS....I'm not ready for this! I had never been so sore and exhausted as when we walked out of that gym on Sunday afternoon....I really don't know if I have another 13 years of this in me! First of all, both of the boys wrestled in different gyms, so I was running back and forth the entire day.....I hardly had time to use the restroom...let alone eat! The way our boys were bracketed it was pretty much back and forth...one would wrestle and then the next one would be up about 10 matches later...and because there were a few forfeits and such the 10 could go pretty fast...so we were running back and forth! Plus the place was packed...there were around 500 wrestlers...so just add on a couple of spectators per and you get the idea....CRAZINESS! I'm sure the gymnasiums were in violation of every fire code under the sun...thank goodness no alarms went off...it would have been worse than the running of the bulls in Spain! Last, I do not usually see my boys live wrestle during practice.....I am just the pick and drop off person...Shawn is there coaching during practice, so I don't usually hang around for the entire time. I was a nervous wreck....both of the boys ended up with 3rd place.....we were very proud of both of them! This meet was very difficult, Gabe saw some very good competition....it has given him some moves he needs to work on...and Grady, well Grady is Grady! He did perfect for a 5 year old...I mean how critical can I be? He won 2 and lost 2, but gave a fight to the 2 he lost. He has vowed to work on the half nelson.....he got caught once in that, and was amazed how well it worked! Anywho, we have it all on video if you are itching to see it.....well, most of it is on video, after all I was the video tech and if I got excited you may only have a good view of the ceiling and floor with me yelling in the back ground.....maybe the tripod would have been a better way to go! WAY TO GO GABE AND GRADY! We are so proud of you!

Showing off for the camera....love those two little hams!

Happy 2011!!!

Well, our family was finally on the mend by New Year's Eve! We celebrated our kicking the bug that infested our family for 2 straight weeks by having lunch at Sumo and taking in Gulliver's Travels in 3-D!! We had a fantastic time.....there is just not a better time than a hibachi grill! I love the show aspect of dinner and well the food....it just doesn't get much better! Afterwards we headed next door to the Warren and watched Gulliver's Travels. I tell ya, anytime we go to the movie as a family it is always a struggle....Grady still likes the animated flicks, while Gabe has definitely outgrown most of those....Gulliver's Travels made everyone happy! Bonus! After the movie we headed out to spend some gift cards and got home before all the crazy people hit the road! I can't think of a more perfect way to ring in a new year than with my three fellas! Happy 2011!!

Merry Christmas!

The busiest time of year has come and gone....it is crazy how we work and rush through the last 4 weeks...and then it is just over! So, I finally have time to catch up! We started off our Christmas with our Fox Family on the Sunday before Christmas...presents, pictures, food and lots of laughs....the best way to start off the week of celebrating! Our next Christmas came the Tuesday before Christmas with my Dad and Sister! We had beef and noodles and black forest cake...yummy! On Christmas Eve we spent the first half of the day at my Grandma Seiler's and then the evening at the Koop Christmas! It was a wonderful day catching up with family and eating, eating, eating! On Christmas Day...the stomach bug found it's way to me...BUMMER! So, I spent Christmas on the couch, while Shawn and the boys reluctantly headed to Fredonia to have Christmas with my side without me! It was the first Christmas since our little family got it's start over 12 years ago that we have not been together! Fortunately, I slept through most of it...so I wasn't aware I was alone! They came back that evening and we had our little Christmas! I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and were able to steer clear of the stomach bug!