Thankful #3

I'm thankful for the many kind and giving people in this world, who think of others before themselves.  We had an excited trick or treater at our house this year, thanks to the generosity of Carlos Anderson, a UNI football player.  Connor wanted to dress as his idol, and through a few connections, his dream came true.  Carlos generously loaned him two of his jerseys to pick from and a helmet for the big night.  What a guy!

Our own little Carlos!

The real Carlos in action!

Thankful #2

Oh, how thankful I am to have time in the kitchen.  I'm sure some would not see this as a reason to be thankful, but rather a burden.  However, I truly do enjoy trying new recipes, cooking, and baking.  Homemade applesauce is a favorite in our house and even though we had a busy fall as usual, the boys and I squeezed in a little time for a batch.  There's nothing better than a warm bowl of fresh applesauce, with cinnamon of course.

Thankful #1

I've never attempted to post daily, but I'm going to give it try.  Short and sweet...I can do this!

Easily, my first thankful post is my boys.  Even though we had a crazy evening involving two separate wrestling practices, basketball practice, baseball practice and to top it off I had to work an event at the high school and Ron had a meeting.  Yep, still love the boys, but man are they hard to keep up with.

Halloween 2012 Goblins...Carlos Anderson (Connor), Batman (Owen), Carlos Anderson (Mason).  A big thanks goes to Carlos Anderson for letting us borrow his jerseys and helmet.

Changing of the Seasons

Around here changing of the seasons means a change in focus.  Focus as in, let's go from swinging the bat in the backyard with kids in the 'hood to strapping on the football pads.  Nobody pays attention to the change in weather patterns, temperatures cooling, or the pretty colors of summer changing.  Nope, it's all about the season of sports!

So it happened.  We went from cheering at around 80 games for the North Stars...

and Full Count...and Cardinals...

and the Ninja Cheetah Tigers (yep you read that correctly) to cheering for...

the Southdale Cardinals...

and the Blue Dragons...

and the Panthers (he looks like a one man team doesn't he)!

Now, we're wrapping up our fall sports season and moving on to winter.  I'm sure we'll ignore the snow falling on the ground, below zero wind chills, frozen ground and white landscape.  Instead we'll be focusing on the echoing sounds of bouncing balls in a gym, the sweaty smell of wrestling mats, and countless hours on a bleacher.  We wouldn't have it any other way!

Off We Go!

Summer has come to an end, and after 80+ baseball games, multiple days lounging at the pool, a couple of trips to the lake, and oodles of memories made, we're ready to head back to school.  This is the one and only year all three of the boys will be in the same school.  From here on out, we'll have at least two schools and several years of three boys - three schools!  Add my school to the mix and we'll be juggling four schools.  I'll just scream now...arghhhhhhhh!

I am so grateful to have children who LOVE school and all look forward to a new year.  Boys being boys, they don't get worked up about what they're going to wear on the first day, but instead worry about what day PE will fall on and finally being able to wear their new tennis shoes.  Following the tradition started by his big brothers, Owen learned how to tie his shoes before entering kindergarten, so he was rewarded with a new pair of "tie" shoes too! (This is one of those skills I insist on because I can't imagine being a kindergarten teacher with 20+ kids who don't know how to tie their shoes.)

Check out the new shoes on Connor and Owen...Mason's still fit and are fine!

So, we headed out the door today.

Mason as a 6th grader...

Connor as a 3rd grader...

Owen as a kindergartner...

And myself as a 3rd grade teacher, ready to greet 19 kiddos!

O-Dog It Is!

My little Owen wants to be referred to as O-Dog now...seriously!  He often has the nicknames of O-man, Owie, Owster...but really, O-Dog?  He is definitely his own personality (which we love) so I guess it's fitting.

This little man has been busy.  He's turned 5 and finished up preschool, so kindergarten here we come.  He's played another season of soccer and just finished up t-ball.  This was his conversation on the way to his last t-ball game.

Owen:  Mom, I'm slippin' if they try to get me out.

Mom:  Do you mean sliding?

Owen:  I'm slidin' if they try to get me out.

Mom:  Owen, do you even know how to slide?

Owen:  Yeah, you put one leg out and go down.

A little quality time with the coach.

According to Owen, he hit a home run.

For the first two or three games Owen thought he had to touch the base WITH the ball to get the runner out.

Time out for a cheesy smile.

I guess he really does watch his brothers play ball! This poor guy is a spectator at sooooo many games, so I'm happy when he finally gets to play a sport and his brothers get to/have to watch him!

We have a serious fish on our hands. I'd never put him in swimming lessons, but he's very comfortable in the water and last year he taught himself to float and swim underwater.  Well, after a couple of rounds of swimming lessons this year and a few tips from his big brothers, he's now swimming in the deep end, across the pool, retrieving items from the bottom of the six foot, and diving!  Yep, he can even a do a jump dive!    We went to a friend's pool with a diving board, and wouldn't you know it, Mr. Owen was jumping off the board for two hours straight!  So, of course when we were back at the Falls he insisted on going off the boards there as well...I caved and let him.  Now, it's his favorite form of exercise...jump, swim to the side, walk to the board and do it all over again (times 50)! And, he's diving off the board too!!!  So, I guess he's hangin' with the big dogs now...O-Dog is rather fitting!

We enjoyed a fun day at the beach and of course he's just as much as a fish there as he is at the pool!

Another big feat this summer is learning how to ride his bike.  He wasn't really gung-ho on the idea at first, but with some encouragement-bribing, he accomplished his goal.  Now he goes everywhere on two wheels, and we saw Brave in the theater and feasted on popcorn and pop (AKA the bribe.)

Amazingly, we haven't even had any scraped toes and he wears flip-flops ALL the time.

"Look Mom.  I don't even need to pedal!"

Off he goes.

Owen has always been on the social side, but now that he has wheels he's constantly asking to play with friends in the neighborhood.  It's nice to finally have him at the age where he can go venture out on his own and play with his buddies.  Gee, I wonder what a real set of wheels at age 16 will mean for this boy?

Little Mr. O-dog had a special job this summer as well being the ring bearer in his cousin Jason's wedding.  One word describes it all.  EXCITED!  He couldn't wait for the big day and I have to say he looked pretty darn handsome in his tux.

Owen and MaKaylee waiting patiently for pictures...for 3 hours!

So cute!

Handsome O-dog.

Happy 8th Birthday Connor William

As a teacher, having an early January baby was great.  I didn't return from Christmas break until the middle of March.  As a parent, having an early January baby is a pain!  I barely wrap up all the shopping and activities from Christmas and I'm right back at it again planning a birthday!  However, Connor William was a blessing 8 years ago, and he continues to be one...most of the time!

Happy 8th Birthday!

Connor is our little go-getter.  He loves sports of all kinds, but especially has a love of wrestling, football, and baseball.  I'm pretty sure he enjoys the social aspect of school just as much, if not more than the academics.  According to one report card this year, he is quite chatty, but hopefully that's taken care of now!  He is an excellent reader and is great at solving mental math problems.  Now if we can just get those subtraction facts memorized!

Last year Connor requested breakfast in bed for his birthday, and once again Mason obliged.

Breakfast and presents in bed.  What a way to start your day.

A few friends helped Connor celebrate his birthday with a sleep-over.  Mason and Connor had fun planning the  party and had everything scheduled out nicely...laser tag, hide-n-seek, pizza, movie, xbox, wii, etc.  Basically, anything a group of eight year olds would enjoy!

Birthday fun!