Happy Valentine's Day

We celebrated Valentine's Day two ways this year. First of all with the kids we talked about who St. Valentine was and how the holiday came to be and then found something that each of them would truly appreciate and enjoyed giving them a gift. Second, we escaped for a romantic dinner and movie just the two of us. The kids are wondering when the next V-Day is. So are we...

A yummy heart sized jello treat never hurt the holiday mood.

My first game, when can we play all together?

A World War II historical DVD series and some legos...very fun and hours of entertainment easily.

Star Wars stuff!!!!!

Brett's Birthday Weekend

Brett had a wonderful birthday weekend this year. He started it off by taking the family to the batting cages and the speedway where he drove one of the two-seat racers with each of his eligible boys riding co-pilot. This was Bryce first time on a racer and he was a little hesitant at first, but once we got going, he loved the speed and feeling of the air in his face blowing his hair. Garrett was excited that Brett kept it full throttle the whole race, even through the turns. The next day, Brett played in his annual high school alumni baseball game. This year he was joined by two guys with whom he had played varsity ball. He enjoyed getting to play a couple of different positions in the field and accumulating two at-bats. Joy enjoyed a day outside in the sun and is looking forward to some more warm weather and baseball in the near future.


Daddy, we would love to look up for the picture, but that sun is pretty bright and we don't have shades like you.



The Alumni Team roster, from '76 to '10, there was a wide age range.

We all felt like we benefitted from Daddy's birthday, afterall, he got new Star Wars stuff--and we are gonna get to play with it!

We all liked Daddy's baseball birthday cake. Mommy made another good one.

We gave Daddy a little help blowing out his candles...we weren't sure he had the wind in his lungs to blow ALL those out.

Daddy gave us a "someday" thought of when all five of us will be out there driving racers competing against each other to win the race...we're all pondering that in my minds.

Garrett 5y9mo

Garrett has grown as a designer in the last month. He now will build many of his own ships or battle stations without any help at all. He is very proud of his creations and would love it if there were an infinite supply of legos as well as storage space for all that he builds. Thankfully we can take pictures of his creations and then he feels it is okay to disassemble them to provide pieces for new creations in the future. He definitely has a vivid imagination that he can put into concrete terms.


This is where I have been storing my lego creations...on display, out of the reach of my brothers.


I am the proud designer of the many lego ships and cannons at my feet.

Here is our train track building marathon, we're on our way to the living room.

Can I fly away in this tire if I spin it enough?

Bryce 3y 7mo

Bryce has been all about play this month. What could be more fun than to create and plan battles? He has also begun competing with his brother on who can say the Timeline cards first and who can recite Ephesians 6 first. Bryce usually lets Garrett do it first, but if there is a hesitancy, Bryce is all over it. The other exciting news for Bryce this month is that he found out that he gets to play teeball this year, so he tickled to get to pick out some cleats and batting gloves in preparation for his first teeball (on his big brother's team). We are excited also, because that means one practice for two kids and one game for two kids. We'll take it when we can get it.


Think you match up with this army?


I don't think so!

I am so happy to have my own Captain Rex!

I'm gonna lick the rubber off of these tires...

Garrett and I prepare for our D-Day landing re-creation on the beaches of Normandy.

Griffin 1y 10mo

Griffin wants so badly to be just like his older brothers that he is trying to last the whole day without a nap. He has "successfully" resisted a nap in preparation for not missing any action that he feels he won't want to miss out on during the daytime. Griffin enjoys playing with hot wheels, Cars, and Thomas trains more than anything else. He often will work his way into playing just about anything his brothers are playing with also. Since he had fallen behind on his vaccines, he got 5 in a one day, so the next day, his brothers took him to Toys R Us and picked out a new Cars toy for him and his sad mood improved.


I feel better with a new Cars track. When can I get my next set of vaccines?


The whole boy crew (Daddy included) play Star Wars with some of Daddy's toys.

I'm still working on keeping my cute "I'm the baby" smile.

We worked on building the longest train track we could, by connecting them from my brother's bed all the way to the living room. Choo choo!

Ah, the satisfaction of a good meal...and then I'm checking out for a nap.

February Homeschool

Garrett's homeschool projects this month centered around the Korean War and learning the geography and some cultural information about Korea. Garrett also went with Joy to the meeting with his Educational Specialist from the charter school. Mr. B as he is known to us shares a name with Daddy, except that Daddy has two "t's." We also did a short study on St. Valentine along with the usual cirriculum of math, reading, writing, spelling, and CC topics.

This is part of my Korean War folder that I helped make.

I enjoyed some Korean food too, but I've got some learning to do with chopsticks...oh, Daddy, please teach me the ways.

I love going to the meetings with my ES-Mr. B, where I get to tell him all about what I've been learning and the projects we have worked on.

My drawings of Valentine's Day: that's Mommy and Daddy holding hands.

February 2011

February was the month we got back to doing the blog after a month hiatus. We watched the Packers win the Super Bowl, marking the second consecutive family-supported championship. First the Giants and now the Packers (Joy's father's favorite team). Brett celebrated his birthday by playing in his high school alumni baseball game. We had a fulfilling Valentine's Day. Joy finished up 50 CME credits that were required by the medical licensure and Brett worked more days in a month than he has worked in some 4 years. We are happy to be moving on to a new month, one step closer to spring.