Snowball Fight

We had another beautiful snowfall all day yesterday. It was perfect in the fact that it didn't stick to the roads at all.
Zander had a Dr. appointment (for a persistent cough that's been going on for over 2 weeks), so we had to get out in it. When we got home, Philip hurried out of the car and ran outside. All the kids were still in the car so I went to see what Philip was doing. He was hiding with a snowball in his hand. He was ready to pelt Eli and Emma Kate when they got out of the car.
Emma Kate came out first but she immediately spotted him. She remained quiet and we all waited for Eli to lolly-gag take his time getting out.

Eli finally came out and WHAM!!! He had no idea it was coming. When I saw how much fun the 3 of them started having trying to hit each other with snowballs, I ran inside for the camera.

Zane and Zander had been waiting patiently in the car while all the snowball fun was going on. I got them out and Zander went straight out into the snow with the most priceless expressions....

Momma caught him and snapped a picture with him. You can tell by the look on his face that he would've rather been running around....

We tried to get Zane to come out in the snow but he would have none of it. He stayed in the garage where he could see us and vice versa and played with balls.

I know we are under-dressed (no hats, no coats, etc...), but we were literally walking from the garage to inside our house when this impromptu fun took place. And we were outside for less than 10 minutes. We survived.

Mr. Bubble

My little boy that likes to pilfer (that would be Zane in case you don't know) has been at it again. He and Zander were in the bathroom with me yesterday morning while I was getting ready. All was going well. They were playing with various things. I proceeded to talk to my sister on the phone. Apparently I got really wrapped up in the conversation because I look over at the boys and find Zane doing this....

By the time I spotted him, almost the whole bottle was emptied. All over the floor and the side of the bathtub (see Zander spreading it around below?)

Of course I immediately ended the phone conversation and had a split-second decision to make. 1)Gather up the towels and start cleaning like crazy. or 2)Run to get my camera and take pictures like crazy. I chose #2! And I'm so glad I did so that I could capture this moment....

Yep. Fighting over the now-empty bottle of Mr. Bubble. Zander must've thought that Zane's idea of pouring it all over the place and making a mess looked like bubbles of fun!

At that point I thought I would get all the towels out and have them help me "wipe." They think that's so fun and the distraction ploy worked!

In case you're wondering about Zane's headband, click here to read the original post about his love of this thing. Seriously he finds it everyday and wears it. He covets that particular one. No one else can wear it. No one else can touch it. It is HIS!!!!

Emma Kate's 7th Birthday "Party"

Emma Kate's birthday falls right in the busy time of gymnastics meets, so we usually have to do it mid-week or wait a couple of weeks after her birthday.

This year we waited until 2 weeks after her birthday when she had a weekend off from gymnastics. Rather than a traditional party, she wanted the 4 other girls from her team to go out to eat and then to a Gymbacks Gymnastics Meet. (yes, everything for her revolves around gymnastics. She seriously needs a shirt that says "Eat. Sleep. Gymnastics.")

I was thinking we'd go someplace cheap for dinner like Cici's Pizza, but she wanted Shogun. I immediately said no, but not 5 minutes after saying that we happened to be driving by Shogun and saw a banner that said $4.95 kids meals. Wow. That is cheap. So I called Cici's and their price for kids is $4.76. So I could totally justify taking the girls to Shogun. It's a win-win for me too because I don't really like Cici's to begin with but I love me some Japanese!!

One of her teammates was going out of town so it ended up just being 4 girls total. Emma Kate, Lauren, Sammy and Amanda.

It wouldn't be Japanese teppanyaki without the fire....


The chef was soooo good with the girls. He gave Emma Kate an egg to hold (look in her lap) and told her to come inside the cooking area to crack it, but she said no. That is typical Emma Kate. Doesn't like to be the center of attention as you can see by this look on her face.

Something tastes good using these kids chopsticks....

Once again a disgusted look on her face. They lowered the house lights and turned flashing lights on so the whole restaurant could sing Happy Birthday to her. She was not thrilled.

Once the lights were turned back on, our little group of girls sang Happy Birthday to her and she was much happier.

She picked out these sparkler candles (I didn't even know there was such a thing). They were a bit tough to blow out.

Mmmmmm, cookie cake.

Then we were off to the Gymbacks Meet. The girls were H-Y-P-E-R by this point. They skipped and sang a made up song from our car all the way to the arena. The song went something like "This. is. the. best. night. EVER."

Inside, propped up on a balance beam display...

Still all smiles at the end of the meet!

Happy Birthday to my 7 year old. Can't believe you are already 7. My quiet, sweet, helpful Emma Kate.

Gymnastics in January

January is a busy month for competitive gymnastics. We had 3 weekends in a row of meets.



1st January meet was in Kansas City. Emma Kate's coach took the picture above while she was stretching. The picture below is her and her teammates. All the girls from her gym are considered part of the Aspire team, but then their are groups and levels among those. The 5 girls pictured below are the TOPs Level 5 girls.





The next weekend we went to the Texas Prime Meet near Dallas. It's a tough competition. This is Emma Kate's 2nd year to go. She got 2 medals last year and 3 this year, so we can say that she is improving each year!

After the meet, waiting for the awards to start....

receiving a medal for beam....


a salute for the All-Around....

The Texas Prime Meet was on her birthday. So this big smile afterwards means we can go have a birthday dinner at Rainforest Cafe with Philip's parents!

Below are pictures of her doing each event. These were taken at the 3 meets in January. They are in no particular order. Some were taken with a camera and some are snapshots made with our Flip video. (if you don't have one of these, and you have young kids...you must get one!) (you should be able to click on the pictures to see better)

Beam

Floor

Bars

Vault

The last meet in January was our gym's meet so we didn't have to travel to far for that!

Emma Kate and teammate Lauren before the meet....

2nd place on bars....

3rd place All-Around....

Emma Kate and her cousin Haley (who also does gymnastics) after the meet....

Thankful for the 1st weekend in February off before starting up again!

Peek-a-Blocks

The little boys received a LOT of Peek-a-Blocks for Christmas in 2008. (that is right, not the Christmas we just had. But the one over 13 months ago) They haven't played with these blocks very much until the last couple of weeks. They suddenly enjoy building block towers with them.

I got down in the floor with them a few days ago and took picture after picture.

I want to remember how:

• they sometimes each build their own tower
• then will suddenly start helping the other one build his tower
• they like each block to be sitting upright rather than laying on its side
• serious the expression is on their face when putting the next block on
• their face turns to pure excitement when they knock the tower over
• something so easy as blocks can keep them entertained for so long
• even though its so hard having 2 at one time, it brings tears to my eyes when I think of the massive huge amount of love I have for these boys.

Early Bird Boys

Two of my kiddos are early risers. The firstborn and the last born. Eli and Zander.

A few years ago I made a rule for Eli that he couldn't come out of his room until 6:30am. If he wakes up before that, he can get out of bed and read or play quietly in his room. He just has to be in his room. That may sound harsh, but if there were not such a rule...he would be in the living room with a bright smile ready to start the day around 5:30am.

Take this morning for example. I got up at 5:00am for my quiet time. Philip left for work around 5:30 and I continued with my time in the living room. At 5:45, Eli comes bounding down the stairs. I told him what time it was and he gave me a confused look. He had misread his clock and thought it was 6:45. So back up to his room he went.

I finished my quiet time around 6:00 and headed to the shower. The baby monitor is in our bedroom and while I'm in the shower I hear a very loud noise through the monitor. (you know it's gotta be loud if I can hear it while I'm in the shower).

I quickly turn the shower off, wrap up in a towel and can hear that it is Zander. He isn't crying but kind of moaning. I go upstairs to their room and he tells me "vee veet bah-bahs." Let me just clarify in case you don't know Zane & Zander lingo. "Vee veet" is fix it. "Bah-bahs" is pacifier or passy. So he wants me to fix his passy.

He hands it to me and it looks like this....

I know right about now you're probably thinking that's funny. But, I do not. That is at least the 3rd pacifier he's done that to since December. The real kicker is that Target and Wal-Mart do not carry those pacifiers anymore. I can only find them at Babies R Us or online at Amazon. The closest Babies R Us is 1hr45mins away in Tulsa. Errrrrrr.

Thankfully my day settled down and was a bit more normal after 6:15am.

Sledding Fun

January was a month full of winter weather here in NWA! Those of us who are recent transplants are LOVING it!! The first time it snowed this year, we weren't equipped with a sled and I vowed that we'd have one by the time it snowed again. The first sled I found wasn't what I had in mind, but it worked (and saved me from having to tote 4 kids all over NWA looking for a "good" one).

Friday morning around 7:30 or 8:00am it started snowing. And it didn't stop. For about 12 straight hours it snowed. and snowed. and snowed. We had a grand total of somewhere between 5-7inches. It was beautiful coming down all day long. I wish I could capture that and save it for other times when I'm needing a warm, comfy, cozy feeling!

When it started snowing Friday morning, the older kids immediately asked if they could put a bowl outside to catch the snow for snow cream. We did. And we ended up leaving it outside almost all day long. The bowl was nearly full when we brought it in. Philip was sent home from work about 3 hours after he got there. He is a snow cream fan. I am not. So he made snow cream for himself and the kids. They lapped it right up.

The big kids spent the weekend playing in the snow and sledding down hills. Both of these activities were ALWAYS followed by a warm mug of hot chocolate. That's something else I'd like to bottle up. The thrill of being cold out in the snow followed by coming inside, shedding those wet clothes, and warming up with hot chocolate.

Eli and his neighbor friend Alex, and Alex's dad found a good hill for the boys to sled down. (actually they got kicked off the first hill they went to. It was one we'd been to before, but this time mall security told them it was private property...ha! So they found another hill closeby.)

Here are some pictures taken by Alex's dad.

I love the look on his face. He was having himself a gooooood time!

Thanks Mr. Greg for taking the boys and for the pictures!