February 2015

It's crazy to me how you start a new year...and life just keeps getting BUSIER!? January was fantastic...February was FABULOUS.

The boys were still in basketball, I started a restorative yoga training, we continued to trip up to see OSU basketball games, spring SPRUNG which meant the farm chores did too, we had a super special Valentines Day, we had several play dates and GG fell FULLY in love with Princesses, we went to the Children's museum with Desi's class, we got our basketball hoop up, had one last blizzard, went for cold walks in the woods, and got a NEW VAN!

Whew!

Here are all the random photos from the month. More to come!

Aunt Lis got the kiddos these adorable monogrammed hoodie towels for Christmas. The boys are baseball players...GG's is a sparkly zebra!

GG and I love to play ponies. We brush their hair, line them up, and have pony parades. She likes to assign each one a mama. :)

KK brought us a bunch of hand-me-downs and I am NOT exaggerating that she wore this pink dress for 49 days straight. It is Princess Anna's coronation ("ora-ration") dress in case you were wondering.

We had a few play dates. Here GG is with Megan having a tea party!

Here's Desi showing off his new haircut (and ninja moves!)

 See? Weeks later...still wearing the dress. Always with an outfit or jammies underneath. I would get her dress and think, "Oh she looks so cute" and sure enough she would bring that dress to me and say "Mama! You forgot my ora-ration dress!"

She is still napping on the couch. :)

We watched or listened to all the OSU basketball games and the boys called this their good luck dance. It cracks me up! They would do it continually during games to cheer on their Cowboys.

This is GG "getting ready" while Brad is in the shower. She is so sweet. She loves to put on my deodorant and perfume and lipstick.

January - Basketball

The time has come. That day I both anticipated with excitement and with a bit of dread. The time in our life that every wise woman told me about..."Just wait." They all said it. "You think you are busy now, just wait until those boys start their activities." I wanted to punch those women in the face. Seriously. It drives me crazy when people try to diminish your experiences and the time of life you are currently in. But, they had a point. Life with little ones IS crazy. But life with TWO kids in activities gives it a run for it's money. Ben AND Des were in basketball. Two kids with evening practice and two kids with games on the weekends. Plus a hubbie-coach. It's a whole new ballgame (pun intended.)

But the pride! The joy! The fun seeing your kids playing and competing and smiling and trying and being a part of a team! It's worth it.

Des loved getting to be like his big brother. His two VERY best friends Nate and Cole were on his team (and their moms were the coaches!) It was absolute hilariousness. Des is quite the little baller. He could follow the game, and score the points, and play defense...when he wanted to. Sometimes he just wanted to goof off with his buddies. Totally understandable and it made for some awesome courtside entertainment.

Ben made up a chart with each game's score for his and Des's teams. Des's team lost two and won two in January. I know Des scored in every single game which is big deal when you win games 14-12 and what not. :) Ben's team lost their first 3 games which was hard on him because they were undefeated last year. He is a great ball player and understands the game on a high level. His body movements are beyond his 7 years because he is automatically mimicking the hours of basketball he has watched. He dives for balls, he plays great defense and always goes for the 3 pointer (because he says the crowd cheers louder!). Brad had them learning a few offensive plays which Ben loved and they actually executed them a few times. He was the teams top scorer and the last week in January they finally got a win. He was so happy!

 And these two. Papa never missed a game and made sure to cheer loud for his favorite boys. That is when GG would let him watch the game. :)

 

We love this church league. They really keep it fair with everyone getting to play the same amount of time, really kind refs, and they do all they can to make it special for the kids. They have a huge blow up tunnel and before every game (which is sometimes 5 times) they turn out all the lights, get the spotlights going, blow up that tunnel, set off the smoke machine, and announce each and every player's name as they run out. It's exciting! The kids LOVE it and so does G!

Here's a video of it. It's dark and terrible but it gives you an idea.

September 2014

In September, we found our groove with school and found time to get more chicks, sneak away from school for a quick visit with Lala, Jess and Breckin, start an OUTSIDE Saturday morning yoga class, tailgate for SHS Homecoming Parade among other things. It was a beautiful month to be outside and play with our friends!

 

Here's the latest round of chicks. Only 2 are still around thanks to a very evil, very sneaky fox that took out 2 HUGE flocks of hens over a 4 month period. It's so sad. But come spring, we will TRY, TRY again.

 

Lane and Jess were in Oklahoma to celebrate the birth of their niece. They were busy with the Royall family but we got to sneak in a meal with Mimi at Pops.

They had to head back to the hospital, but we weren't ready to turn around and drive back home so we spent the afternoon at Mimi's house. As usual, there was chocolate involved! :)

 

I was having so much fun walking the lake that I decided to add a Saturday morning yoga class. It was a huge hit and we all loved being outside in the sunshine!

 

 

I spent lots of time at home being silly with this girl...

 

Turns out she likes to do yoga outside too...

We like to sit outside on our back porch to drink our coffee, eat our lunch, or play with our pony dolls...

The SHS Homecoming Parade is a fun tradition. It's Friday after school and we always watch it in front of my dad's office. I decided to add a little more to the annual fun by bringing a tailgate of green themed things and inviting as many friends as we could!

This after school drawing Des made cracked me up!

 

And my first grader learned about vertices!?!?

 

So many fun things happening!

August - While the boys are at school

Having three kids is hard, but having one kid by herself that is used to having 2 brothers might be even harder.

The transition to having her 2 best friends gone all day wasn't too hard on Genevieve at all, but it was sure hard on me! Suddenly I became her sole playmate and honestly, she had never really learned how to play by herself. She wanted me to do everything with her and if I wasn't actively participating, then I had to be watching. She needed constant entertaining and her attention span was shorter than short. We would play kitchen and ponies and go on walks and paint and color and cuddle all before 10 am! It took some getting used to!

Here are some glimpses at some of the stuff we were doing while the boys were busy at school.

 

Painting (still her favorite thing to do ever.)

 

Cuddling/sleeping on the back porch.

 

Daily yoga (she's pretty awesome.)

 

And of course practicing our animal noises!