Happy Easter

After the early mass this morning we headed to Lebo to spend the day with family.  We were so lucky to have such a nice day--Miles had been worried about where we would hide eggs if it was raining.  The boys made out like bandits!  The Easter Bunny actually brought them each a practical gift (baseball bag or shoes) since he knew how much candy they would get elsewhere.  Grandma Jean scored points by finding them more Nike socks in some cool new colors (and in sizes for Miles).  Aunt Nancy came prepared with 150 Easter eggs full of candy--not to mention the baskets from grandparents and aunts/uncles.  

 Graham totally understood what to do this year and managed to fill his bucket twice.

 The boys and cousins, McKinley and Maggie, waiting for the official "Go" to get started hunting eggs.

 This is as fancy as we get around here--neon collared shirts for Easter Sunday.

 Scoping out the next egg...

After emptying out the eggs, they played "Egg-Pong."

House Update 2

Mid-Late March:  We have footings.  Lots of metal rods sticking up everywhere.  I think I can see the shape of the house.  They have to put in a concrete wall on the lower side (to build on) due to the soil being looser than they expected.  

This will be the garage.  The white house in the background is where one of Miles' good friends lives. We've already discovered that they can yell across the way and easily make plans to come/go to each other's houses.  When I had the boys over looking at the hole, Aiden saw us and right away asked if Miles could come play.  I have a feeling there will be lots of trips across the "prairie."

Basement?  

Taken from the back looking to the front.  The house across the street (on right) is where one of Owen's best friends lives, so you can imagine he's excited to get moved in.

House Update 1

Early-Mid March:  We broke ground and as expected, hit rock.  A lot of rock.  Fortunately most of the excavation costs were planned for, and we weren't too far over this amount.  According to our builder, this should be the only flexible expense, unless we decide to make changes to the plan.  They dug the hole and removed the rock in just a couple of days.  The kids enjoyed climbing on the rocks and would probably be happy if we left a pile of it in our back yard.

Maybe we could have saved some money by having these guys remove the rock :)

Spring Break

The first half of spring break has been very enjoyable. No big plans which has actually been nice given our normal routine of being constantly on the go. Ryan and Kelli invited us over for tacos and KSU vs KU basketball over the weekend. The boys enjoyed baby Eli.
We met my mom in Topeka on Monday for some shorts shopping and playtime at Going Bonkers.
On Tuesday the Stockwells came to Manhattan and the boys did their best to wipe out the Pizza Hut buffet. Too bad the weather didn't allow us to go to the KSU baseball game as planned.
Wednesday was national "shred, file, or trash every document sitting on your desk day." I love those days! Now to get cracking on the school work I wanted to get ahead on...

Spring?

80 degrees on Friday! First sunburns from lots of outside time at BLAST. Too bad this weather isn't here to stay. I will keep my fingers crossed that it warms up while we are off this week.

Man Trip

Adam and Casey took Owen and Miles on a little man trip this past weekend.  They headed out early Saturday morning to cheer on the Cats in Stillwater.  Unfortunately the game didn't turn out in K-State's favor, but they still had a great time.  As you can tell, they were a little early for the game :)

 After the KSU game, they drove to Oklahoma City and stayed in a hotel with a fun pool so that they could go to the Thunder game on Sunday.  This was their first NBA game.  I don't think they were expecting so much entertainment throughout the game (music, blimp, contests, etc.).  They must've suckered Adam into these new T-shirts.

It sounds like there were lots of laughs on this road trip.  Although I don't want them to grow up, it's nice that they are old enough to go on fun outings like this.  I have a feeling this might become a yearly adventure.  Meanwhile, Graham spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa in Lebo while I shopped WITHOUT KIDS in Kansas City.  And I came home with a carload of freezer food that mom made for us while I was out spending money.  How's that for a good day?

Runner Up

We spent the weekend in Kansas City watching the last tournament of the year for the 4th grade Wildcats.  They called this tournament state, so the boys thought it was a pretty big deal.  The kids played great all weekend against tough competition.  They came up 3 points short in the championship game and had to settle for second place.  It was a fun season--kind of amazing how much they have changed throughout this season.  Owen loved every minute of it!  I think he'd be really sad now if he didn't have the end-of-season party to look forward to on Friday.

This tournament offered fun little contests during the down time.  Here the boys are competing in the team 3-point contest.  An official timed them to see how long it took for the team to sink 30 3-pointers.  Owen chose free throw contest (made 7/10) for his individual contest.

Owen had his own little fan club cheering him on.  My parents, brother and SIL, and Sharla/boys/Marcella.  I told Owen we were going to start cheers--he'd be totally embarrassed if we did.

These are the cookies my mom brought (and I pretended like I made, just kidding, but I have done that before) for the team.   They didn't last long.

During the two games on Saturday the opposing coaches chose a game MVP.  Owen was excited to be selected during the second game.  As you can see, Miles comes suited up as well.  He stays courtside and runs out for a couple of shots during time outs and halftimes.

Stacy told Miles to throw salt over his shoulder for good luck.  He was convinced this was a sure-fire means to win, so we grabbed a handful of salt before we left the restaurant to head back to the gym.

I'd say 2nd place is pretty darn good, but you can't tell from the looks on their faces here.  Great season Wildcats!  Now...batter up!