Fabulous February

When I hear February, I usually think of the coldest, grayest month of the year.  Not the case in 2017!  The weather was absolutely gorgeous for almost the entire month and the kids took full advantage of it.  Perfect sprinker-on-the-trampoline weather!

 

It was also pretty great for some ripstick battles with the garbage cans.

I have no idea where the kids came up with this one, but I laughed so hard when I looked out the window.  

We took a nice bike ride to the lake nearby and found a tiny little turtle friend.  Somehow I managed to say no to bringing this little guy home, as much fun as he would have been for a pet.

 Alex played his first scrimmage as a Phillie and his team looked pretty good.  He always loves to see a picture of himself crossing home plate :)

While Alex had a makeup piano lesson one perfect sunny day, Ben and I soaked up some sunshine and fed the ducks nearby.

This little guy was so precious!!

Ben is on the Yankees again and my favorite part of the season is the parent-kid scrimmage.  I faced off against these intimidating players and somehow I ended up playing 3rd base for the parents (harder than it looks!).  It was tons of fun...the kids took the early lead but the parents mounted a comeback and I got to score the winning run.  We celebrated with a team dinner at Cici's so everyone was a winner.

January

The new year greeted us with an extremely cold and wet weekend, but thankfully not quite cold enough to freeze the roads.  I was still surprised to see ice on our trees when the wind chill dropped below freezing.  The weather forecast said an overnight low of 30F and when we woke up it was 19!  Coldest night we've had in this house, but thank goodness the only thing that froze was the overflow valve on our sprinkler.  And of course, being Texas, it was back up to 80 degrees the next week.

 

We spent lots of time in January working on science fair projects.  Alex tested which materials weakened the wi-fi signal the most (move your router away from metal - that was the worst!) and found that human bodies have little effect.

Ben did a very cool experiment on an optical illusion and tested each of us with his two different methods.

They both got judged at school and I was so thrilled and proud of them when they each brought home first place in their respective categories!  Science is cool in this house!!

We had a fun afternoon playing with Grandma at the mall and seeing a movie.

Grandma is a trooper - she even went on the spinning teacup with Alex!  I get motion sick easily and I was so happy when Alex was tall enough to ride the carousel alone.

I had a wonderful day trip to Gruene to see two of my very favorite people in the world.  We met in the dorm at A&M almost 20 years ago! 

 

I found a bacon soda at the Gruene general store and had to get it for Ben.  He couldn't wait to try it but found out it was as good as it sounds (disgusting).  He loves bacon and he loves cokes, but not at the same time.

Poor guy got his bottom braces on and needed a day at home to load up on advil and drink all his meals.  He's a tough kid, so when he says the pain is bad, I know it's bad!  Luckily, Casey was ready to take care of him.

Even though it's still (technically) winter, we're back at the ballpark again.  Time to gear up for another season of spring baseball!

Happy New Year!

We rang in the new year like the party animals we have been in the past - with some fireworks on the street around 7pm!  (In our defense, we were planning to wait until later but the kids all got together and coerced the parents outside)

 

Fun with sparklers first...

...then on to bigger bangs.

Then we sat back and enjoyed the real show.  As much as I hate listening to fireworks for weeks, it's pretty fun watching the displays all as far as we can see.

Finally, we finished up with the kids' favorite part - the burning of the trash.  Technically not in our neighborhood codes, but it had just rained a few hours before so we let them go bigger.

And go big they did!  They emptied all of our recycling boxes from the garage and enjoyed every minute of it.

The aftermath.  Another successful celebration in the books.

It's hard to believe another year has come and gone so quickly but 2016 was a happy year for our family.  We're looking forward to 2017 and wish our loved ones all the best!

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration this year...school let our early so we had plenty of time to relax and prepare.  Matt and Ben spend a weekend hunting so Alex and I worked on the Christmas cookies together.

We also checked out his very favorite house for Christmas lights...they do an incredible display every year.

When the hunters returned, Grammy and Grumpy joined us for a few days of eating and playing.  Luckily for the kids, Bart the elf brought tickets to iFly.  Alex is a natural!

 

 We spent a few days at Grandma and Grandpa's and opened some gifts there.  Ben was so excited about his mebo!

Alex was pretty thrilled to get the "Millelium" Falcon but was a bit intimidated by its size.

Holly was pretty interested in the mebo when it was carrying treats!

My favorite church service of the year - the candlelight Christmas eve service.  Such a peaceful and joyful hour, even if we walked out into 78 degree Houston heat.

Back home, we left out our cookies for Santa, who still visits our house :)

Love these boys so much!!  Christmas is twice as fun as a parent.

They wanted a quick pic with the inflatables before bedtime.

Ben got his Christmas wish...an electric guitar.  He's done so well with the acoustic that we figured he'd earned it and that kid went to bed with blistered fingers Christmas night because he played ALL day.

Alex was pretty excited about everything but especially for this chemistry set from Mr. Scott and Miss Lou Anne.

He got two minecraft lego sets and got straight to work assembling them.

Minecraft mine...done!  In one day!  The Kirkhams joined us for a relaxed Christmas day at home but this doesn't seem to be my year for taking pictures.  I dropped the ball the entire week.

Ben got busy on his X-wing and finished it up the next day.

The Millennium Falcon took a bit longer but this boy stuck to it and only needed help a few times.  He's a master builder now.

We did lots of science projects together and learned lots of kitchen chemistry.

The boys and I spent a few days at Aunt Stacey's and Ben had to prove to me that he still fits in the tiny car.  I really think this will be the last year, but who knows?

Sweet Ben loved reading to Carter and playing with him.

 

Cousin fun!

There was some serious minecraft and mario time...even Carter "played" with a disconnected remote!

We were so thankful for all the time we were able to spend laughing and playing with our loved ones this year.  Christmas is the best time of the year!

Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

My holiday chief (Alex) was adamant that the Christmas decorations come out as soon as Thanksgiving was over.  The kids on the street were thrilled to see another inflatable show up on our lawn this year.  Casey was unimpressed and only stayed for the picture because there was a treat in my hand.

 

We love the Christmas show, Celebration, at our church and enjoyed our annual visit. It's always a beautiful celebration of Jesus' birth.

 

We wrapped up baseball with the end of season party and I was so thankful that the team mom scheduled it after Thanksgiving. It was fun to celebrate with the kids.

The first non-participation trophy for either of our kids!  A second-place finish for the regular season meant that the team earned a real trophy from Pony.  I hope these kids can play together again in the spring.

Alex begged to open a Christmas gift early, so we let him open the Imploding Kittens expansion pack to Exploding Kittens.  Not at all because I was anxious to play the game.  We have played it almost every day since!  Tons of fun...especially the cone of shame!!

 

Now school is out and we are looking forward to the serious business of relaxing, enjoying, and celebrating the season.  Merry Christmas to you and yours, and may your Christmas be blessed with joy and laughter!