Dedicated basketball player

Things We Say

we have sure been in the basketball spirit lately. It has made the girls act more like cheerleaders. Leah has been saying that she wants to be a cheerleader in college and asks if that's ok. I've said, "We'll, I don't know. Let's just wait and see. (Aka highly doubtful, but I won't crush your thoughts today)" then the next part has a preface...the boys have asked what I would give them if they make it in the NBA. They have asked if I would give them $100. Well, I figure that's a pretty good deal. I've even said I'd give the, $500. They obviously haven't thought about that the last thing they'd need if they ever get to the NBA is $500 from dear old mom. But, it makes for a fun conversation. So then back to Leah. She asks abut being an NBA cheerleader. "Mom. If I be an NBA cheerleader, will you give me $100?" I reply, "Sure." I then have another child running off blissfully at the idea of a little cash that will never materialize under the current agreements.

After all of this talk, Anne calls out, "Mom, when I grow up, can I be a Princess?" ... And this is with a little grin and big eyes and much expression.

The other interesting comment comes from Catherine and Jacob. She's really been chatting up a storm. I'm sure she has her mind running and we are all left to wonder what the babbling means. It seems very intentional. I recently heard her say what I thought was, "hi." Jacob, however, disagreed. Thanks to his reading and English teachers (I should tell them, too), Jacob said, "No, Mom. She said 'oi', you know, the vowel diphthong." Oh, pardon me, how could I have misunderstood. What a funny guy (although her was quite serious).

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

So on Tuesday of this week, I packed away all the winter snow gear and gloves, hats, etc.  And what do you know?  It snowed more today and may this weekend.  Yikes.  I am ready for spring!!!  We had a couple of heavy snow storms in mid-late February I guess it was and the kids really enjoyed playing in it.  I think Anne enjoyed it the most actually.  We even got Catherine out there, which was lots of fun.  I think we had about 10 inches one time and then the next storm was more (and the first wasn't gone yet).  The kids had 4 or 5 days off school and I enjoyed a break from the routine of running around as much.  Sometimes it's nice to have a good reason to just not go anywhere (and enjoy that no one is sick, either!).  We were home and played and they actually are past the phase of bundling up for 5 minutes then coming back in.  What a nice treat for everyone!  They would stay out longer this year.  The surprise was that there was no interest at all in sledding.  Oh well.  One other funny thing was that after the snow was here a few days, I shoveled the patio and wouldn't you know, we had kids out shooting baskets with the snow piles to catch the loose balls.  It worked out pretty well.

Happy 1st Birthday, Catherine!

A year seems to go by more and more quickly.  And with my lack of time to note things on here, I fear I'll forget some of the cute things we've had happen or all the little cute things Catherine is saying these days.  She is really saying a lot these days.  She'll say, "-Eah" for Leah, "Hanks" for thanks, and when she wants something & I've said no, she'll say, "peez?"  It is so much fun when you don't expect her to respond and then she does with a fitting comment.  Her highest frequency word is probably, "NO!"  I can't say how it really sounds, but it actually has quite a bit of inflection and sounds enforcing.  She most often says it when others are really showing their "love" to her in ways that she maybe doesn't prefer.  But, she's a great baby.  She sure looks a lot like Leah did.  Hard to believe that she's heading toward 16 months already.  She's a good sleeper, loves to mosey around the house and see what everyone is doing, likes to look at books, and loves sitting in the little rocking chairs we have around.  She is another blessing - we feel overwhelmingly blessed in this house.  How did we get so lucky?   

Hmm, birthdays..

So now that I've finally noticed I have all the birthdays up & thought - there we go, 1, 3, 5, 7, & 2 x 9.  But then I realized - I haven't posted the "1".  Sorry, Catherine.  I'll get that up soon.

The girls on their recent "wedding day"

Little girls.  So much fun to catch their little moments.  We had some flowers recently and they decided to dress with heels on and carry flowers around and say that it was their wedding day.  Precious girls.

Happy 9th Birthday, Leyton & Nathaniel!

Unbelievably these little twin baby boys turned 9 somehow this year!  They sure have grown.  They are becoming very nice young boys.  Nathaniel enjoys reading, basketball, baseball, Legos, cap guns, listening to music, and helping Dad.  Leyton enjoys basketball, Legos, Wii, studying and reading (well, just kidding about the studying and reading), and listening to music.  Leyton LOVES seeing Catherine each day.  He can't wait for her to wake up in the morning and always spends extra minutes after school visiting with her.  They both really help out with their younger siblings.  Nathaniel will read to Anne and this morning he was doing puzzles with her.  He has such a gentle way of talking to her and it is sweet to hear.  It is crazy that they will soon be headed to 4th grade.  KU, Miami Heat, and St. Louis Cardinals are easily their favorite teams to follow.  They both work hard at school and are very responsible about getting their homework done pretty much on their own - a new change in this household!  We are very blessed to have such nice young boys and this year will be another fun year to see how our oldest boys grow and change.