Let It Snow

We left Manhattan last Thursday afternoon to hopefully avoid potential bad roads. It started snowing right as we pulled into Atwood Thursday night. We left 60+ degree, go-to-the-park-in-shorts weather for single digit temperatures!

The big kids (minus Reese, who was on the D.S.) ready for some sledding.
Miles going down the big hill in front of the Braxmeyer's house. Notice Edie and Newman on the neighbor's porch :(
Raly and then Owen sledding down the same hill.
Eventually the kids talked Grandpa Mike into driving the truck to the bottom of the hill and pulling them to the top each time.

The kids were hoping it had snowed in Manhattan...no such luck. I say if it's going to snow, we might as well get enough for a snow day :)

New Year's in Atwood

Since we didn't make it to Atwood for Thanksgiving as planned, we decided to head out over the long New Year's weekend. Fortunately Adam's sisters and their kids were able to come as well. The kids trashed Grandma Rosie's house with all of their projects, cold-weather clothes, Christmas toys, etc. I'm sure I contributed as well, given that I only left the house for an hour the whole time we were there (treadmill in the basement so I was set :)

The boys received marshmallow guns from Mike and Rosie. You can shoot one big one or a bunch of little ones (BB style). They are a lot of fun. Mike took the four big kids to the grocery store when it was closed on New Year's Day so they could shoot/hide/talk strategy on the intercom. I heard it was a blast!
Reese REALLY LOVES playing the D.S. He was either playing it or watching Owen play Mario Brothers nearly the entire time.
We finally got to meet our nephew/cousin, Jack (on the left). He's 2.5 months younger than Graham and Brody, but bigger than both--so cute! Brody (on the right) just had his surgery two weeks ago and looks great! These three are going to get into all kinds of trouble I'm sure...

Old Friends

It somehow worked out that both Sharla and Amy (and me) were around Lebo for Christmas. I was lucky to see them both for a little while.

Amy practicing on Graham--she's going to have her first baby in two months!
Since Sharla has kids we tend to take their pictures and not our own. Brady got a D.S. and our boys got a second one so they spent most of their time together on these little gadgets. I guess we shouldn't worry too much about their "D.S. time" given that we used to go to Sharla's house and hole up in her "Nintendo Room" and play Mario Brothers over and over and over. Owen and Brady are playing the same game--twenty years later???

Merry Christmas!

We spent Thursday night through Sunday at my parents' house. It was a wonderful Christmas, and Santa did manage to find us in Lebo. I didn't take many pictures, but here are a few.

We opened gifts with Grandma and Grandpa and Quint and Susan on Christmas Eve. The boys were thrilled with these Under Armor pullovers, socks and hats from Uncle Quint and Aunt Susan. They dig clothes :)
Owen's number one item on his list of wants was an Oregon Ducks jersey. Miles wanted a WHITE Texas jersey (since he has this same one in orange from last Christmas). Thanks Grandma Jean and Grandpa Harlan! I'm just glad Oregon made it to the National Championship so the jersey is a guaranteed hit until January 10 :)
Graham got a pillow dog from Grandma and Grandpa. All three boys now have the same kind of dog from their first Christmas. The big boys still sleep with theirs.
Miles helped Grandma make an angel food jello cake. He was more excited about the ice pick than the cake :)

Santa found us and brought an additional DS (so now they both have one), some games, shoes, clothes, and a few other odds and ends. From aunts, uncles and cousins they got Jacob Pullen jerseys, remote control tarantulas, and Star Wars Legos. They've been enjoying their new loot all weekend. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! (still thinking about getting our Christmas, now New Year's, cards out)

In Training

Owen has been training Graham to sit by himself. He takes him to the middle of a bed and times how long he can sit before he falls over. It's very cute when he picks up Graham and says, "Mom, we're going to practice."

Gingerbread House

Miles invited me to be his guest at his pre-school last week. We built and decorated gingerbread houses. Oddly enough, I don't think this is something I've ever done. He had fun piling on the candy--and trying to eat some on the side. The house made it home, but lasted less than 24 hours. If you're thinking, "I bet Newman took that down," then you'd be right! Nothing left but a STICKY floor. I suppose I should be thankful it didn't make him throw up all over the place.

Hi Santa

We enjoyed brunch at the country club today. Bad pictures--maybe the professional photographer got something better. Up close, I thought Santa was about 18... Owen keeps talking about "Fake Santa" and "Real Santa" but still believes (for now).

(Sorry you have to wear white socks Graham. You can't have your new ones until Christmas.)

Focused...

We took the boys to the high school game Friday night (strange not to be there at 5:30 with the cheerleaders). I had to take these pictures to illustrate how different they can be. If there is a ball involved, Owen is completely consumed by what's going on. We even caught him yelling "Ohhhh" like they do at KSU games when we are on defense.

On the other hand, this child... while interested in the game, was also there for the snacks and the atmosphere. During the first time out, he says to me (with his sucker), "Hold this for a minute, I need to dance."
Sidenote: They had just gotten their hair cut before the game. Miles really didn't care what Kevin did, so long as he left with a mohawk.

Enough with the hair pictures!

Okay, this is it. Oddly enough, Miles wanted to look like Grandma Rosie (Adam's mom if you didn't know already). Thinking he'd change his mind (and pick Tom Brady), Adam said it would require a curling iron. He was all for it. What do you think Grandma Rosie?

We added glasses to enhance the resemblance!
Alright, I'm done. I will try to post something related to Christmas next time since it's only 10 days away. Sidenote: Owen is VERY into the Oregon Ducks, therefore, Miles likes them too (but not as much as K-State or Texas). Thanks Grandpa Mike for the duck PJ's.

Another Look

We call this look "Grandpa Mike"--side part and every hair in place. He really likes this style since he really thinks he looks like Grandpa Mike.

Miles...

Adam started drying Miles' hair at night so he wouldn't go to bed with it wet. Well... drying turned into styling, and styling turned into naming, and now it's a game pretty much every night. Here Adam was going for the "Ace Ventura" look. Miles didn't understand, but we thought it was funny. Stay tuned for more do's...

Found: Toes

Graham discovered his toes today--exciting stuff when you are 5 months old!

Get This Off Me!!

I bought Graham this cute hat in Kansas City. Either their sizes are off or his head is huge because I had to shove it on and it squishes his face. Kingston, we hope you like it--it's coming your way!

5th Annual Shopping Trip

I met the Papio girls in Kansas City for our annual shopping/night out trip. Great times! Miss this bunch!

Five months

Graham is getting so big!! At five months he is: sucking only his right-thumb, sleeping on his tummy, waking up STARVING every night about 3:00, drooling like crazy, laughing at the big boys, going to KSU basketball games, sitting by himself a little, and starting to bust out of his 3-6 month clothes.

Wildcats in KC

We headed to KC for the CBE Tournament this past Monday and Tuesday (Adam's first time taking off a week in five years!!). We stayed two nights in the Marriott which happened to be the hotel where all four basketball teams were staying. Adam got sick Monday night but we still had a very memorable couple of days.

Miles wore his Duke jersey for the early game on Monday, and then changed into K-State gear for the second game.
We ran into the K-State players many times in the hotel. Since Adam wasn't feeling well, I left whoever was napping in the room with him and took the others exploring around the hotel. I'm sure people thought I was psycho as many times as we were on the elevator, escalator and covered walkway. The kids thought the hotel was the greatest thing ever, which suited me just fine since it was cold outside and I didn't really want to be out walking around. (Will Spradling looks so young!)
Miles was excited when Jacob Pullen said, "What's up little man?" to him. Sidenote: they also talked to some Duke players, particularly Nolan Smith, on one of our elevator trips which Owen thought was very cool.
Jen Walker tipped us off when the players were leaving the hotel to go to the game, so we checked that out too. My thoughts: Why so many bags? Computer?
They had a pretty cool pre-game/player introductions for the championship game. I didn't think the pictures were any good, so didn't bother taking more during the KSU introductions. The random Duke fans in front of us were not happy with the two KSU fans in front of them because they stood up and cheered a lot (the girl happened to be Miles' old soccer coach).
This covered walkway connected the two parts of the hotel and passed over an intersection. The boys spent a lot of time "jumping" on cars.

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving! I am very thankful today for all of the great things in life, particularly my three little turkeys.

Our original plans entailed a trip to Atwood, but Adam got sick Monday night and is just now on the mend, so driving 4+ hours didn't happen. We are enjoying our time hanging out at home, just the 7 (hey, the dogs count too) of us. We took the kids shopping this evening to pick up Thanksgiving dinner. They chose turkey (pre-cooked, ready-to-serve), mashed potatoes (heat and serve), gravy (yep, from a jar), "appetizers" of sausage and cheese and M&M cookie ice cream sandwiches for dessert. That's my kind of cooking!

Side Note: If you think it looks like Owen is standing in an empty room, you'd be correct--still working on putting the basement together. More on that later. Trying to get all my projects done before I show you before and afters.

Early Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving early with my family at Aunt Nancy's. It was a great day to eat and play outside. Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures. It was nice to see everyone and eat more food in one meal than we have in our whole house!

The big boys played football and then tag (ganging up against Uncle Quint). Poor Quint hadn't taken a bite before Owen was asking him if he was ready to play. Came home with plenty of grass stains! The little dude hung out and watched with Grandma Jean.

Sorry

Our kids get up so early that not only do they have time to get dressed, make beds, brush teeth and eat, they also have time for a game of Sorry (this is probably after they've been caught trying to watch Sponge Bob or some i-Carly type show). All before 7:30!

Basketball Starts

Another season of KSU basketball is underway. The boys (especially Owen) really like the games. I think Owen already knows everyone's name and number, while Miles thinks he's Nick Russell (he's actually wearing Owen's old Bill Walker #12 jersey--whatever, we'll go with the Nick Russell angle). Owen brought his buddy Dayne to last night's game (and Miles insisted on a picture too).

Mohawk

Adam and Owen got their hair cut on Saturday; Miles just got his styled. This is what he picked out. The amount of product in his hair was about the same as mine in 8th grade!

Will Model for Gum

This grouch was willing to model some headbands (so I could see if they would fit who they were made for) for a couple pieces of gum. I sooo wish he'd let me braid his hair just to see what it would look like! I'd probably have to let him eat his whole bag of Halloween candy! Just wait until you see the mohawk he came home with (from the barber) this past weekend...still need to upload those pictures.

KSU!

The boys got to go to the game last weekend (not this weekend, sorry guys) and had a great time with their buddy Jackson, 5. Owen was completely into the game--no surprise there--and Miles was worried about Willie and the guy in front of us with "The Good (KSU), The Bad (Missouri) and The Ugly (KU)" on it. Fantastic weather!!

Small, Medium, Large

We've got all sizes! Miles was so excited to have Graham dress like him today (outfits courtesy of Grandma Jean).

And we've got a roller--front to back, back to front, he can do it all!

Season Finale

Owen's soccer team finished up last Thursday. They were happy to win a close game against a good team. Although the start of the season was a bit rocky, they improved during each practice and game and ended up with a good little team. Owen really enjoyed the other boys and the coaches (here is Coach Alex with the team). And, it didn't hurt that we had great weather this fall....

After the game we enjoyed a pizza night with the Henry's. As we were leaving another group was counting all seven kids--kind of felt like the Dugger's for a minute :)