movember update

as movember comes to a close
i thought i'd take a look at where we've been this month

we have the biker stache

 

AND
we have the mario/luigi stache



they're fun

BUT
i think i'm ready for him to have his decembeard back

if you haven't gotten a chance
head over to his movember page
to check out why he does this craziness
and maybe even show him a little $ love $

the thanksgiving 'love' we spread

this picture of our counter pretty much sums up why i have been MIA

our family caught some bug

and it has been relentless

we took it with us to wausau

it got even worse

we thought we were on the mend

and then it completely took me out for most of this week

BUT

i FINALLY turned a corner

i have all 3 kids back at school

and it's time to catch up ;)

but i have to be quick because my new camera is getting delivered today

WOO!!

taking pictures with my phone has gotten quite old ;)

the hard questions

alex:  ben, i just don't understand how reindeer can really fly

ben: well it's just hard to explain.
it's kinda like he throws magic dust on them.

alex:  oh, ok.

notes

love how alex leaves himself notes now ...

in his element

drew took an afternoon
and went walking with my dad into his backyard -
which happens to be the back of rib mountain

of course -
they took a gun with them ;)



and drew was in heaven!

 

 

TOTALLY his element.

thanksgiving visits

 while in wausau we also got to spend some time with staceys mom
and the boys cousins,
noah and keaton

we don't see them often
so it was nice to catch up!



love you guys

strike!

as we always do ...

on thanksgiving night

WE WENT BOWLING!

we took over 3 lanes

my lane was me and all the kids

because then i can use bumpers ;)

and bowled the night away.

 

i won the first game

and was thinking it was my fabulous form ...

but then drew killed me in the next.

guess there's always next year

hoops

the 60 degree weather
that we were blessed with on thanksgiving
was PERFECT for the boys

it meant they could spent a lot of time outside
which meant they could play basketball with uncle alex

AND
of course
it meant they could do it in as little clothing as possible

 

  is it too much to ask that christmas
be 60 degrees as well?!

 

meal planning

excited to have alex's help this year



i'm liking his menu ;)

typical saturday night

joe  ben  alex

tournament fun begins

this weekend brought ben's first basketball tournament

with this being the first year of traveling
we had no idea what to expect
but the boys did fantastic!

 

 

 

 

they won the first game 30-14

 

 

 

 

 

 

and won the 2nd game 29-3
which put us in the championship game against irondale
bright and early sunday morning

let me just say
that irondale must be putting something special
in their school lunches
because their kids were HUGE

sam is our tallest player
and you can see how he compares ...

that meant ben
didn't have a chance ;)

it didn't keep him from trying

 

and eventually
 he did find a way to sneak under their arms
and grab us a few points
BUT
in the end
we still came up short
and lost

we took 2nd place overall
and for our very first tournament
i'd say that's mighty fine!

way to go blaine 4A!

AND
nice job, ben!

 

it's in the book

i took alex and ben to the library tonight.
alex said he didn't want to get any books.
i asked if he was sure
and he said

i'm just too into the Bible right now

good answer, little buddy.
good answer.

just sayin'

in my next life

i am going to be really good at either the fiddle or the violin.

not that i believe in reincarnation.

but if i did.

just sayin.

yes PLEASE!

sample a cinnamon dolce latte

why ...

yes, PLEASE!!

chicken fried

on saturday night
stacey and i got to see the zac brown band



they were A-MAZ-ING

we like so many of their songs
and
they are even better live

they threw in a few fun covers
like
devil went down to georgia
and
sweet emotion

and
with the exception of the crazy drunk girl behind us
who ACTUALLY lit a cigarette
IN THE TARGET CENTER
are you kidding me?!?!
the concert was PERFECT!

as was the quiet house that we came home to
thanks to all 3 kids sleeping at friends houses -
THANKS GUYS!!

what matters most

so ben says today -

if romney were to win tonight
would michelle obama's health plan go away
so that we can have the good breadsticks back for school lunch?



i wish, ben.
i wish.

worth it's weight

as i mentioned previously
ben got 8 lbs of candy
drew got 6.4 lbs
and
alex got nowhere close to either of them

SO ...
we were talking about how ben ended up
with a full pound and a half more candy
than everyone else.
they all went to the same houses
and ben didn't dump anyone's bowl in his bag -
i did ask ;)

THEN ...
it dawned on us.
the only explanation is
that he was trick or treating with a viking and 2 lions
AND
even in vikings country -
everyone still loves the packers most ;)

movember 2012

it's that time again
BUT
this year is a little different
because before movember could officially begin
stacey had to get rid of what's become the norm since last year



he is now clean shaven
for a few days

 

he says he feels naked
but
is getting ready to rock the best stache ever ;)

you can check out his page if you are curious about
what movember is
why he is doing it
and
how you can help support him
http://us.movember.com/mospace/2177976

AND
you can bet that i'll be posting updates here as well

* sweets *

yesterday was sweet day!
of course

we had our very own nerd



our own clay matthews

AND
our own mini darth vader!

i started the day in first grade
with a fun party -

 

 

and ended the day
following around a group of boys
who i should add
were running as fast as they could from house to house
THE ENTIRE WAY ;)

ellie didn't come trick or treating
but they brought her out for a little time with all of her friends ;)

 the boys went strong until dark

  

and in the end ...

ben was the big winner

with an unofficial 8.0 lbs of goodies!

although ...

in reality i think am the big winner

as i am the one that stays home all day with 3 big bags of candy ;)

 

hope everyone had a happy halloween!!! 

we sure did!