Mitchell continues to keep us smiling....

1 - Mitchell, my Dad and I were shovelling the drive way last week.  My Dad said he was taking a break to come inside and Mitchell piped back "But there's work to be done!"

2 - Me "Mitchell, we're going to eat pizza at Minsky's" 
Mitchell "Like down the mountain?"
Me "Umm....Mitchell, I don't know what you're asking" 
Mitchell "Men skis down the mountain?"
Not quite :)

3 - Mitchell saw our neighbor pull his car into his garage and said "Mom, isn't it silly that Brady parks his car inside his house."  We've been storing basement stuff in our garage and this was a good reminder that we FINALLY needed to clear it out and start parking in there!

4 - We all had CABIN FEVER during the umpteen snow days we had a few weeks back.  I knew I couldn't really take the boys anywhere, but in an effort to GET OUT of the house, I'd pack up the boys and head to Sonic for corndogs.  Apparently we went a few too many times because once after the car hop dropped off our order, Mitchell said "See you tomorrow!"

5 - Mitchell saw our friend's home phone and asked "what is this for?"  Yes, we're too cheap to pay for a home phone and just use our cell phones! 

6 - Jacob often refers to Mitchell and Maverick's size..."Mitchell, you're too little to do that", etc.  Mitchell will respond by taking his little hand down to his toes and tracing his body all of the way up to the top of his head while saying "Daddy, Look...the size of me is big!" 

And countless others.....  one of Jacob and I's favorite daily conversations is "what did Mitchell say today?"

Hoopin' it up!

Well, it has begun. The days that every parent endures of spending countless hours watching their children play organized sports.  If you added up all of the hours my parents spent watching soccer, softball, swimming, gymnastics, dance, basketball, volleyball, and karate, it would likely be close to 3 years!

Mitchell started his first little organized sport...basketball.  There are 20ish 3-5 year old kiddos (mostly boys).  They don't play games (would love to see that chaos!), they just have practice. 

(Mitchell is the third one from the left)

Here they are doing a little dribbling drill.  He feels the need to update the coach after each attempt :)

The coach will also be Mitchell's gym teacher at your neighboring elementary school.

He really enjoyed the first week and was so-so on the 2nd week.  We'll see how he does tonight!

Bust a Move

Here's a short video of the boys bustin' a move on Christmas morning.

I'm thinking I'll hold off on submitting this to "So You Think You Can Dance"

Let It Snow!

We've got 8 inches of snow and counting!  Schools are closed, gym is closed, I'd probably get those "what kind of mother would take her boys out in weather like this?" looks anywhere we'd go....so we're staying in and making the most of it!

Can you see Maverick's smile reflection in the window? :)



Jacob bought Mitchell some new Superman pajamas, so we broke them out today.

He paired them with his cowboy boots and immediately sang "Woody is here to save the Day"

I LOVE looking out of our kitchen windows to see the pretty snow covered trees!

Tex isn't phased by the snow one bit.

It's hard to believe he is TEN this month! We don't know the exact day...I adopted him when he was 1 1/2, and just know he was born January 2001.  I guess he gets a month long celebration :)

A snow day tradition for my family was always to make Snow Ice Cream.  YUMMY!  During Mav's morning nap, Mitchell and I made ourselves a batch of snow ice cream.

Snow Ice Cream Recipe

1 Gallon of Snow (non-trampled on, non-yellow)

1 Cup of Sugar

1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

2 Cups of Milk

Mix and Enjoy!

I think Super Boy enjoyed it :)

Christmas in Maine

Despite the blizzard that blanketed the East Coast in snow, we were able to visit our family in Maine over winter break!  As always, it was a full house....it was so good to see everyone!

We had a late Christmas celebrate upon arrival on Dec 28th.

Allie (our niece)

Katy & Jordan...the newly engaged couple who will be getting married the summer of 2012!  We can't wait :)

Think this kid needs any more presents?

Jacob was excited to get a new Huskers sweatshirt

Skyler (Jacob's youngest sister)

Maverick was a little under the weather...he was running a fever for a few days, probably from airplane germs.  He bounced back quickly though!

Look how cute Maverick's little snowman socks are :)

Mitchell LOVED playing with Greyson (his cousin).....indoors and outdoors!

Amber (sister-in-law) is Queen of the kitchen.  Cooking, cleaning, you name it.  You rarely find her anywhere else! :)

We had a little birthday celebration for Mitchell, so Maverick helped me whip up a dinosaur cake

Everyone needs help cleaning the mixer

Skyler officially submitted her 10 college applications while we were there.  We're so excited to find out where she chooses!

Our niece Allie made use of her Christmas present (Kindle)

Connor, Jacob's younger brother helped entertain Mitchell on the trip!

Greyson loving on his Aunt Skyler

Some birthday party action :)

Grandpa Folks was good at pairing wine with all of our meals.  He also took Mitchell to see Yogi Bear the movie...which Mitchell LOVED. 

Greyson and his Uncle Connor

Reading a book with Grammy

The boys were GREAT on the flights!  Here they are wrestling a bit on our return flight back to Kansas City.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip.  We enjoyed getting to spend lots of quality time with family!  David and Diane go through so much work to host everyone and we really appreciate it!

Skiing in Maine!

We just returned from our annual Christmas trip to visit Jacob's family in Maine.  Other than spending lots of quality time with family (more family pictures to come), the highlight of our day was our ski trip where Mitchell skiied for the FIRST TIME!

Look at that little pro skiing down the mountain

The beginning date for ski school is 3, so we signed him up for the day after his birthday (Dec 28th).  BUT a winter blizzard caused our flights to be cancelled on our original date of travel (Dec 26th).  We decided to spend Mitchell's birthday at home instead, re-booked our flights for December 28th and moved our skiing reservations to December 30th.  I think God might've had a hand on our travel delays because there was a big Ski Lift accident at the resort on the 28th, the day we originally planned to be there.

At ski school they take the kids back up the mountain on these little bench sleds pulled by a snow mobile instead of using ski lifts.  Mitchell was BEGGING to ride a ski lift, but we didn't tackle that this year...maybe next!

Look at the view from the top of the mountain...breathtaking.

Jacob and I enjoyed some alone skiing time while Mitchell was in school.

Our little skiier

The happy skiing family (minus Maverick...who Mitchell asked about no less than 5 times that day.  "Where's little Mav?")

Skiing with Mommy

We can't wait to take him again!