Another Ice Storm

My snowboarding boys

Joshua didn't want to try snowboarding.

It seems like these ice storms are becoming a yearly tradition here in Tulsa. It's a tradition that I don't really care for too much. This time we actually had one in December and now one in January also. So, the schools have used all of their snow days already. Starting tomorrow Union will have to make up the days - probably at the end of the school year. Kenneth got to be home with us part of Monday and all day yesterday. That was nice! He went back to work today. The boys are starting to get bored and they're fighting more since they're tired of each other. Needless to say, I'm ready for them to go back to school. They should be able to go back on Friday. We decided to try out some sledding today. We needed to get out of the house for a little while. I wasn't sure if it would be too icy or not. Since Joshua's sledding accident a couple of years ago, I am a little more nervous about taking them sledding - especially when Kenneth can't go with us. It was more slick than last year when we went sledding. We went pretty fast. Caleb and Jacob tried out our new snowboard but it was hard to do because it was too icy. Pure snow would have worked better. They had fun though and it was good to be outside for a little while. Amazingly, it didn't even seem too terribly cold.

Back in the Fast Lane

Joshua's team is the Yellow Jackets.

Jacob's team is the Scarlet Knights.

I love how they pray before every game!

Tongue sticking out - the face of concentration.

I haven't been on here in quite a while. We had a nice Christmas. Got to spend time with family which we always enjoy. Kenneth got to be home a lot which was great. Things were really in slow gear for a couple of weeks - which is wierd for us. Caleb got to spend a week in Missouri with his friend Kyle. He loved that! I don't think they did a whole lot but he's at the age where he would rather do nothing with a friend than be home with his family. He is definitely turning into a teenager (don't know how that is possible). Things definitely picked up speed this last week. Caleb got through his week of finals. He did really well - 96 was his lowest grade. We have also been busy with basketball and scouts. Joshua and Jacob had their first basketball games yesterday. Jacob stole the ball and made a basket. Joshua got really close to making a basket twice. It's a lot of fun to watch them play! I ended up having strep throat this last week which wasn't fun but I survived. I'm thankful that we didn't all end up sick. Kenneth is really busy at work right now so we haven't seen him much the last few days. I'm ready for him to be done but I'm so thankful that he only has one week of busyness versus three months. We are so happy that he will be home more this winter/spring. His new job is such a blessing!

Twister Fun

Beth and Kelli

Kenneth, Brian and Joel

The guys lasted a long time - except Lane

Great pose from the boys - Cole and our boys

Lane & Kelli dressed in Twister colors

Saturday night was so much fun. We had friends over for dinner. Great food, great conversation, lots of laughter! Our friends were inspired by one of my previous blogs and decided that we should play twister. The men went first. They lasted a long time. I was impressed. I got lots of amusing pictures. The women went next. We didn't last nearly as long. The kids wanted to get in on the fun. Caleb had a definite advantage with his long legs and long arms. We ended the night by playing Catch Phrase. It's a fun game - especially when Kelli is playing. She really gets into it and is very animated. One of the things I am most thankful for during this holiday season is our wonderful friends. Love you guys! Looking forward to many more nights of living, loving and laughing together.

December Craziness

The last two weeks have been crazy busy! I love Christmas but I'm pretty much worn out already and it's only the middle of the month. We've had multiple Christmas parties, a winter band concert, a Christmas program at church, along with decorating our house, wrapping presents, etc... Thankfully, we've had most of our shopping done for a while now. I finally got around to taking pictures of the boys in their Santa hats (a yearly tradition). We usually do it the first part of December but we've been too busy. This week will be a little less busy but we've still got two basketball practices and Joshua and Jacob have their school Christmas parties on Friday.

Caleb will probably have some finals this week since it's their last week of school before Christmas break. He's excited because he gets to go spend some time in Missouri with his friend, Kyle, over the break. It's definitely a challenge to focus on the real reason for the season amidst all of the craziness but I'm sure going to try.

When are you too old for Twister?

I thought everyone might get a kick out of these pictures. They were actually taken the end of October but I just received them recently. The boys were playing Twister at their grandparents house. Kenneth got the crazy idea that he and I should play. Needless to say, the boys were greatly entertained (as were Kenneth's parents and his aunt - she took the pictures). The game didn't last very long. I finally gave up because I just couldn't hold my position any longer. I don't know if there is an age limit on the box but it's definitely harder to play Twister when your body no longer bends like it used to. Oh, the joys of getting older!

Missing People

No, I don't mean that people are missing and I don't know where they are. I mean that I am missing people right now. Those of you who know my husband know how important relationships are to him. Even though it's not quite the extent that it is with him, relationships are very important to me also. I HATE living far away from the people that I love! If I had it my way, everyone that I love would live within a couple of hours of me. I'm really missing my brother, sister-in-law, nephews and niece. I haven't seen them since June which is way too long. I'm missing my husband right now since he is out of town AGAIN. Hopefully this will be the last time for a while. I'm missing my good friend, Holly. It's been a year since I've seen her.

I'm also missing my mom a lot. This time of year always makes me miss her more. She loved Christmas and I have inherited that love from her. Christmas just isn't quite the same without her and without my brother and his family. I think there is a good lesson to learn in this. When I am with Holly, Chris and his family, or someone else who I don't get to see very often I treasure every minute that I'm with them because I know the time will go by quickly and it won't be long enough. Really, we should be that way with all of our relationships. We should treasure every minute that we have them because we really never know how much more time we have left. My blog is called LiveLoveLaugh because it is a good reminder for me. I need to live in the moment. I need to love with everything in me. I need to laugh more and worry/stress less. I encourage you to treasure the moments and express your love and appreciation more often. Time is precious and fleeting! There's no guarantee that we will get another chance.

Caleb - the Drummer

If you're reading this blog, you need to also read the previous two blogs. I decided to blog about each of the boys individually. Now it is Caleb's turn. Caleb is in the band again this year. He really enjoys percussion. He's also learning how to play the drum set from our new youth minister, Lane. He really loves that - partly because it's the drums but mostly because he loves spending time with Lane. He pretty much thinks that Lane walks on water. We are so glad that Lane and Kelli (and Canon) are here. We are enjoying getting to know them better and I love to hold Canon any chance I get. It's always nice to make some new friends.