Year in Review, Part 2

Finally, part 2 of my walk down memory lane from the past year.

~~ July 2009 ~~

Big trip for Carson. He attended a 2 week camp in the wilderness of Upstate New York. His 3 cousins all came down with H1N1, and we think he had it as well, which put a damper on the trip. It was hard having him so far from him but the trip was a lifechanging one for him.

The kids were glad to be back together, for a very short instant!

While Carson was in NY, Elise and I went to see Annie with her Brownie troop. She loved it!

~~ August 2009 ~~

Love this kid! I've already told him he can't start dating until he's 35.

Elise got to visit with her GIRL cousins! It was great having them visit.

First day of school, 2nd grade. It's been a fantastic year for Elise so far. Fantastic teacher, great progress, strong desire to do well academically.

First day of 5th grade for Carson. He's also having a much better year this year. We've made some changes to eliminate some of the drama with the child he had such problems with last year and that has helped tremendously. He has a great teacher and continues to do well academically.

~~ September 2009 ~~

Father and son. Carson's goal is to be as tall as his dad...and he's quickly catching up!

Carson's love for turtles continues and he often brings them home (and they are quickly "re-homed").

Elise loves her games!

And spends lots of time playing her beloved games.

~~ October 2009 ~~

Another visit from one of her GIRL cousins! Happy day!

Carson had a "Favorite team" day at school....think he likes the Bears?

~~ November 2009 ~~

We started our holiday baking right after Thanksgiving. Elise LOVES to help roll out the dough and make cut out cookies.

Carson even got in on the fun...although I think his motivation had to do with eating cookie dough.

And our football season FINALLY came to an end...WITH THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP! :)

~~ December 2009 ~~

Elise opening presents on Christmas Eve.

Elise playing with her cousin, Isaiah. He just adores her and loves to play with her. Well, he loves to play with all the big kids when he comes to visit.

I have to end this post with a picture of my kids getting along...so I remember that they actuallyt DO get along from time to time. In fact, I think I captured EVERY time they got along in these past 2 posts! :)

Year in Review, Part 1

I'm shamelessly copying my friend Sandra's usual yearly review in pictures. Sorry I've been so absent lately. Life just gets busier and busier and I find myself competing for computer time (my pictures are on the main family computer...I need to move them to my laptop, although the kids keep using my laptop as well!)

~~ January 2009 ~~

Measuring snow. Elise loved, loved, loved the snow. Unfortunately, we don't get alot around here.

Right before Elise's first drama club performance. My shy girl loves being a part of the drama club at school.

Not the best picture of us, but what is striking is how much taller Carson has grown during the year. The top of his head now reaches my eyes (that's like a 5-6" growth!!!). Is it any wonder he is constantly outgrowing his pants?

~~ February 2009 ~~

Celebrating Chinese New Year.

Showing some love on Valentine's Day. It didn't last long. :)

Carson's Pinewood Derby from 2009.

~~ March 2009 ~~

Elise and her BFF "V" holding their Young Author books. They both wrote and illustrated a book about China.




Carson during another Cub Scout ceremony when he moved up to the Weebolos.




And we can't forget the 2nd broken wrist. Here's hoping we don't have a 3rd broken bone in 2010 (did I just jinx myself?!?).




And the saddest part of 2009 was losing my Grandmother. This is the last picture I have of her with my kids. Still greatly missed.

~~ April 2009 ~~

Elise's new hair do! She got to the point where she hated having her hair brushed so she decided to have it cut off. She's not had her hair cut since this picture and has decided to try to grow it out for locks of love this year. We'll see if the snarls get the best of that intention.




And soccer started again for the spring. Elise's skills are really improving.



Carson's skills are also really taking off in soccer. He discovered he really enjoyed playing goalie.


But really enjoys all aspects of soccer.

~~ May 2009 ~~

Hmmm...did someone have a birthday in May?!? Oh, yeah, Elise! She reminded us every day from January to May!

Perry got a new tool...or toy? Not sure if the fun factor outweighs the functional factor, but the boys have fun with their new toy.

OK, did my son just age instantly?!? All I see in this picture is the beginning of a teenager. And to be honest, I don't think I like it! I want my cute little boy back! Not that this one isn't cute, but he's bigger, smellier and crabbier!

~~ June 2009 ~~

Elise's bridging ceremony into Brownies. She has the best group of girlfriends in her Brownie troop and amazing leaders.
Again, mini teenager?!?


At some point in the hopefully near future, I'll post part 2 of the year in review!

Happy 2010!

Football marches on...

I'm going to blame football for my inability to post anything lately. Yes, football has still been ruling our lives. Perry's team once again moved on to post season play, culminating in a trip to the state championship game.


The championship game took place last night at the Edward Jones Dome (where the St. Louis Rams play). We have lots of football fans in our family, always up for watching a good high school game. This is Carson and my nephews Spencer and Cliff. The boys wanted to sit as close as possible and we literally got front row seats.

Others in our group decided not to sit so close to the action and found seats with a higher view of the field. This is my sister, her husband and her mother in law. Shawn is either not a waver or really into his nachos.

My brother, sister in law and dad sat behind us. We all raided Perry's closet for shirts. Good thing he had a lot of team t-shirts!

I have to admit, it was exciting being so close to the players in such a big stadium. These kids have worked so hard this season and this championship game was so deserved. Both teams had a 12-1 record for the season. Our team, however, was predicted to lose by 20 points. We played the other team in the championship game in '06 and lost 53-0 (B.R.U.T.A.L. game to watch).

This was an EXCITING game. I think Spencer was about to have a heart attack at many points! As soon as the other team (Blue Springs) scored, we would score right away on our next possession. The score was 7-7, then 14-14, then 21-21 until Blue Springs jumped to 24-21. Emotions were high as we waited for the predictable TD when we got the ball back. Not only did they score 1 TD, but they scored another one right away bringing the score to 35-24. The fight was on! So much for being 20 point underdogs!

The Hawk had a busy night cheering with the crowd.

There's my hubby! The team doctor (in the black suit), kept getting x-rays sent to him on his iPhone (he was on call). Is that not so cool?!? Fortunately, our team didn't have any serious injuries that required Perry and the doc to run out on the field.

And we finally reached the point where it was clear the game was ours. The kids were sooooo excited! It's the first time a team has won back to back state championships in Missouri (Perry's team won the championship last year as well).

It was a great end to the season. They have some great kids on the team and they so deserve this title.

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But, I'll be happy to have my husband home on Saturdays now that football is FINALLY over. Oh wait, we're heading smack into basketball and wrestling season. Ugh.

A special day for my boys.

They made the decision to be baptised yesterday. Not only did they make the decision to be baptised, they decided to do it together. I didn't even think of pulling out my camera at church, but this was taken as soon as we got home (yes, we attend a very casual church). I thought they'd go one after each other, but a 2nd pastor got into the baptismal and they went under together. What a special day for our family.

And I would have posted this yesterday but I discovered what happens when you play basketball with longish nails. You risk attempting to rip them off your fingers. This is how I spent my night...nursing my poor fingers. Did you know it hurts like the dickens? And I just about passed out when I saw my nails sticking up a 90 degree angle. I'm really hoping I don't lose the nails.
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And my engagement ring always falls towards my palm. What's up with that? It looks like I'm wearing 2 wedding bands. Really, I'm only married to one man.

Pictures from NY!!!

Part of the boy crew returned home today and I was able to snatch up their cameras and download some pictures. Sadly, my dad (who took TONS of pictures) had a bad memory card and the majority of pictures were lost. He was bummed.


Here's the camping crew on the famous pig stone which announces the entrance to Deerfoot. Wonder how many cans of grey paint have covered it over the years!


My brother is the original Deerfoot camper in our family. His wife's family has a summer house near the camp and they are vacationing up there the entire time our boys are at camp. It is reassuring to know that if something terrible happens, Aunt Merry is close by and can offer some motherly comfort (Eric would just tell them to suck it up, I'm banking on Merry for the caring role!). Eric has already calculated the years his boys can start camping at Deerfoot.

And this was the big draw for my dad and Perry. Fly fishing in the Adirondecks. This made the 1000 mile drive with 4 boys worth it.

After dropping the boys off at camp, they stayed a few extra days in the area and fished to their hearts' content. My dad was in Heaven. Dad grew up in upstate NY and knows this area like the back of his hand.

This is how they celebrated Father's Day, knee deep in water with a fishing rod. And they loved it. No schedule, no one reminding them of a "to-do" list, just fishing. All day.

And in this beautiful setting. It was perfect NY weather. While our heat index hovered around 100, they enjoyed temps in the 70's. I miss that type of summer day.

And fish, well, let's assume there were pictures on the disk that was damaged because I never actually saw a picture of a fish (but I was assured plenty were caught). Perry did "catch" this branch. Yum, tasty!

I'd say it was the perfect Father's Day. And, I'm glad they made it home safely. We missed them!