Life Lately {First of February}

Caleb and I went to the zoo and had a great time! And for whatever reason, he has decided to call me "Boo."  He will say, "Hey Boo, can you help me?"  He is totally a mess and I love him to pieces. This day he was most intrigued by the python. We had to visit him twice. 

I just love getting these little writing pieces in Dylan's folder. His writing is really flourishing and it's fun to watch! 

Dylan had a great behavior day at school so just the two of us went to Barnes & Noble and got him a couple new chapter books to read. He picked three by Kate DiCamillo. 

Everyone gets tickled at how much Ben likes a good belly rub.  Can you tell?!?!?

I'm certain his favorite thing is basketball. He can't wait to play. This was at Idlewild Park on a big goal and he didn't even seem to care that his shots weren't even close. He just loves it no matter what! 

We enjoyed a lunch together while the little boys were at school! 

Caleb and I walked to the Old Mill and had a blast. He rode his scooter part of the way. We played and explored. We ate dinner at Moe's and then enjoyed watching Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked downstairs. He said, "I didn't know this couch made a bed!" We watched the movie on the sofa bed and he was on cloud nine. We had a great night together while the big boys went to Stuttgart. 

Pop picked Caleb up Saturday morning and took him to get donuts! 

Dylan and Daddy spent the night in Stuttgart for Youth Hunt. This was Dylan's first night at the duck club and his first youth hunt. He and Cole killed 6 ducks. Dylan hit a mallard but didn't kill it.  He had a blast and shot 8 different times. He borrowed Cole's old 410 and loved it! 

I love my little boys in their grandpa sweaters for church! 

We had our Super Bowl party at the McConnell's. Dylan played Nerf guns with all the kiddos and Caleb played basketball the whole time! We are way too much food but had fun watching the first half and halftime show before heading home! 

Looking forward to Valentine's activities to come! 

Life Lately {End of January}

Dylan had karate camp and earned his red belt (wrong belt pictured). He was excited bye cause his friend from school, Carter, was at karate camp too! Caleb and I spent the morning drinking got chocolate and playing board games! 

Dylan celebrated the 101st day of school and got to dress up like a Dalmatian for the day! 

Daddy and Ben had a good duck hunt! 

Caleb had Hibernation day in Pre-K 3. He got to wear his pajamas and take an animal to share that hibernates. He picked "Batty" the bat! He was proud and learned a lot about hibernating animals this week! 

Dylan spent a week learning about Cowboys! It ended with him getting to dress up like a cowboy for school. This was definitely right up his alley! 

Caleb loves basketball so very much! We played in the driveway on a seasonably warm winter day! We worked on dribbling and passing! He beat me 10 to 4. Or so the story goes! 

We spent one Saturday morning watching the 3rd and 4th grade basketball teams play basketball! Caleb was glued to the games the entire time! Dylan was their biggest cheerleader! It was also cool that they got to see Gus and Tim play. They love those big boys! 

We went on a date night for the first time in a month! We enjoyed dinner at Samantha's. So happy to take a few hours to re-energize! 

First snow day of 2016!

January 22, 2016

It was the perfect snow for throwing snowballs and building snowmen! The boys built two different snowmen. Mommy and Daddy helped on the giant one! Dylan named him Snowman Joe. We had a lot of fun. Caleb still loves the snow so much and wanted to eat it or roll in it. Dylan was more focused on throwing snowballs and building snowmen! We warmed up by the fire! 

January Joy

Here's what we were up to the beginning of January:

We went to Purple Cow on Mew Year's Day just like we've been doing forever! 

We played lots and lots of games. This is Star Wars Hands Down (think Slap Jack) but Caleb calls it "Ham Zam". 

We had a play date with Walker and Savannah!

Dylan really has started doing some great writing at school!

Dylan went on his first early morning  duck hunt!

Dylan made this rice snowman at school. His name is Rockstar and he gets warmed up and sleeps next to Dylan every night. 

Caleb is still taking naps. He takes two a week at school and usually one or two at home. So he's down to 3-4 naps a week! When he doesn't nap he goes to bed at 6:45pm. Seriously. 

Caleb has learned all his letters thanks to help with letter cards every night before bed! He's so proud and has started spelling everything he sees! 

We painted our wooden tractor and army tank we got fro Christmas from our cousins! Hey love to paint! 

Caleb is learning about winter at school! He has so much fun! 

I have been enjoying weekly Thursday morning coffee dates at Boulevard Bread with two of my besties. This vanilla latte and breakfast sandwich may be the best I've ever had! 

The boys had soooo many fun things they did at school for the 100th day! Caleb took 100 pieces of cereal for a big snack mix they made, and Dylan took 100 paper clips! 

Stay tuned for some snow fun!

Happy New Year!

We enjoyed our New Year's celebration with the boys this year!  We also were pretty excited that Nana and Pawpaw let them spend the night with them on New Year's Eve after our family celebration!  Jonathan and I got to go out for New Year's Eve dinner for the first time since 2007 we think!
We reflect back on our year and thank God for the blessing He has given to us.  We try each and every day to remember that the "things" that we have are just that: things.  We hope that we remember that giving is way more important than receiving.  We are excited to make new memories with our family in 2016.  As they get older, we face new challenges, but many things become easier.  Going on vacations, going to the grocery store, going out to eat are all a little bit easier than they once were!  We sure don't have all the answers, but have dear friends walking this road of parenthood with us.  We have formed some new lifetime relationships with dear friends and we continue to watch other friendships grow.  We have sad so long to some things that come with growing up and navigating life.  We are blessed with awesome parents that are super involved with our children and that live so close and can be involved in our lives.  We certainly do not take that for granted.  Here's to 2016 and whatever it may hold.
My prayer is that I can let God be the leader of my life.   I pray that He will be my focus as WE raise these boys in Him.  It ain't easy, but ain't that life?!?

Christmas Day is Here!

Santa granted the boys wishes and brought them each a red four-wheeler for Christmas! We were totally "that" family out at a 7:00am on Christmas morning letting our boys ride up and down the street!

 They got new Star Wars plates from Mommy and Daddy!

 Dylan and Daddy played with his new Luke Skywalker Lego bionicle!

 The surprise from Mommy and Daddy this year were new Nabi DreamTab tablets!

 Caleb woke up with an ear infection on Christmas morning, so amidst all the fun, we also got an antibiotic called in for that!

Merry Christmas from our family!

 Lunch is always at my parents house on Christmas day!

 My parents got them these new pedal cars for their house!

 They had fun getting some"tech" time with their cousins, Cauy and Westen!

 We celebrated a few days late with Jonathan's parents.  The boys got their very first duck calls!  They also got new camouflage backpacks and hunting gear!  The apples don't fall too far from the tree!

Even with Caleb being under the weather, we enjoyed Christmas!