life with my 4 boys

100th Day

2012-02-17T22:32:00.005-06:00

Kyle's kindergarten class celebrated the 100th day of school today. One Hundred days - means there's only 80 days left, where has this year gone?

The class celebrated with all things 100:

Making cool "100th day" hats:

Stringing 100 fruit loops can take a lot of time!

Mine has more than yours... , count again!

Making trail mix for snack:

I'm glad I was able to celebrate with them:

Bridge Over Frozen Water

2012-02-16T22:02:00.004-06:00

You'd be in trouble if you didn't take the bridge... what looks like snow covered ground is really a frozen - or thawing - lake!

Jumping In

2012-02-15T23:08:00.001-06:00

Kyle and Drew were playing outside at the neighbors this afternoon. I come outside to get them and I hear Kyle yelling "I can't get out". I hear the little neighbor saying "Drew is not allowed back over". I don't hear much from Drew.

I go over to investigate what happened.

Here's where I find my two boys:

Most all the homes around here have basements. This house across the street has windows in the basement, but they are below ground level. So they have a brick wall around them so there is some access to the basement from the outside.

Drew threw a ball down there, then jumped down to get it. Then Kyle jumped down. Then they were stuck. Apparently none of them would have been down there had Drew not instigated the whole thing by throwing the ball down there. That is why, Drew will probably be hanging inside with ME when Kyle goes on a play date :)

Happy Valentine's!

2012-02-14T21:21:00.001-06:00

Happy Valentine's!!

Fresh Snow

2012-02-13T23:22:00.002-06:00

We got about two inches of snow today! This is looking down the road from Kyle & Luke's school. I love looking at the tree lined streets - especially when the bare trees are covered with snow :)

Book Club

2012-02-12T23:03:00.002-06:00

Tonight I got to spend the a couple hours with my book club buddies.

I enjoyed a hot chocolate

and discussed a local book:

Great way to end the weekend!

Social Ice

2012-02-11T21:43:00.003-06:00

I guess one good thing came from the arctic blast we got this weekend - Social Ice didn't have to worry about a melt down.

Social Ice is the very popular yearly event where they have a huge ice bar and lots of ice sculptures in the downtown plaza.

We went today about 2 pm before it got really busy. They have a live band each evening and it gets packed! Even in the afternoon with the windchill it was about 0 degrees. Our little family looked a little funny as we were decked out with snow pants, snow boots and all - but I guarantee we were warmer than a lot of people out there!

Especially this happy couple:

ok, the bride doesn't look too happy. She must have been FREEZING with nothing
on her hands and sitting on solid ice!!

Here's a warmer looking bunch:

Sean didn't hear me when I said bring hat and gloves!! Least he had pants and jacket :)

My photo of the day looks like they're trapped in a block of ice:

They're sitting on the other side of the double-sided bench

I keep telling myself there couldn't be that many germs on an ice cube sitting out in the sun:

Other icy shots:

This afternoon the ice sculptor was there letting kids "carve" a block of ice. Luke really thought he was carving the ice til he looked around and saw everyone was "carving" hearts:

Drew LOVES Kyle!

thought this was cool with the reflection of the buildings in the windows

BRRR...

2012-02-10T22:05:00.002-06:00

For some reason, winter temps decided to show up this weekend. Today temps were in the single digits. Tonight it feels like -4. BRRRR!!

Just when I thought things would be thawing out...

I'm not sure how frozen this lake is, but looks pretty cold!

Pho - yum!

2012-02-09T21:58:00.001-06:00

My pho turned out pretty well!! The broth tasted great, but I didn't slice the meat thin enough so it was a little tough. But all in all is was good. I have however decided it's WAY cheaper to just go to the restaurant and buy a bowl. At least I can say I'm trying to expand my cooking repertoire :)

I even impressed myself by adding the garnishes :)

Busy, busy

2012-02-08T22:45:00.002-06:00

It was a busy day today!

First I learned how to make Pho. You might remember I wrote about our favorite Vietnamese restaurant a few weeks ago and how Rickey LOVES Pho!

My friend Mimi offered to teach me how to make it. After dropping our little ones at preschool we scooted around town to the Asian market and another grocery store getting supplies. Then it was back to my house to make the stock.

You start out with a good piece of meat, an onion, ginger.

You grill the onion and ginger:

Parboil the meat:

Then you put the meat, veggies in the pot and add this handy dandy Pho soup base:

So this is the easy way. Mimi's mom used to do all the steps and add each of the ingredients individually

Then you just let it simmer:

It smelled really good! We had dinner plans tonight, but Pho will be our meal tomorrow night. Hopefully I'll get the presentation somewhat like our favorite restaurant - Pho Chau:

Tonight Luke had his last den meeting as a cub scout. He's been with the den three years, but a lot of the boys have been together since first grade:

Some will cross over to boy scouts next month and continue with the craziness :)

I got hooked up with a 365 group on Flickr thanks to my friend Beth. I post my daily pictures on their board for all to review. You can also participate in their weekly assignment contest. This week's assignment is to find composition with man made repetition and patterns. I found this downtown tonight and thought it was perfect for the assignment. Here's my picture of the day:

My Body Guards

2012-02-07T22:24:00.004-06:00

I didn't have have to worry about my safety today.. I had a bounty hunter, a storm trooper and a transformer to protect me!

Yearbook Overload

2012-02-06T21:54:00.001-06:00

I was hoping this year I would be able to attend the PTA meetings for the elementary school. I made the first two in August and September. Then AWANA started at our church and it meets on the night that the PTA meets. Since I volunteer at AWANA it was hard for me to skip, but in January I skipped church and went to the school meeting.

Guess what happened - I got asked to put together the school yearbook. hmmm - maybe I shouldn't skip church again :)

I was a bit overwhelmed at first. Nothing had been done with the layout of the book. The cover should have been chosen two months ago, and the first deadline for pages is now 5 days overdue. After meeting with the publishing rep, I got a better handle on things. I sort of volunteered my neighbor to help and got another response from a mass parent email. Now with three of us working on it, the yearbook is shaping up and might actually get into the hands of the kids before school ends!

I feel a tad less stressed out now that a few pages are complete. I'm even planning on organizing it again next year (hopefully with the help of the other two gals). I figure if I start at the BEGINNING of the year, it will be much easier - and more organized!

Here I am trying to get ideas from the boys past yearbooks:

Car Wash!

2012-02-05T22:25:00.001-06:00

When you're trying to take a picture a day, you're always looking for something interesting to shoot. So today while Rickey and I took his truck through the car wash, I took some photos. They actually turned out pretty cool!!

Photo of the day:

Wagon Rides

2012-02-04T22:03:00.001-06:00

Rochester's Winterfest started Thursday. It's two weeks filled with fun events around town to help people get out and have some fun since they've been inside so long with the cold winter - plus it raises money for nonprofit organizations. Only problem is this year, there really hasn't been a cold winter.

Some of the events planned were cardboard sled races and downhill derby. They both had to be cancelled due to LACK OF SNOW! How crazy is that, not to have snow this time of year.

We went to the Rochester History Museum today where they were going to have sleigh rides. With the snow pretty much gone, we went on a wagon ride through the mud. But it was fine as we still had a fun time.

Drew was apprehensive at first to get on the wagon.

but once we started going he really enjoyed it. Plus halfway through we got off and had cookies and hot chocolate!

Here's my day #35 photo :) - can you believe I've blogged 35 days straight!! Neither can I!

look at all the MUD:

If you want to see what a sleigh ride looks like, follow this LINK to my post two years ago!

Little Cheeseburger

2012-02-03T22:20:00.003-06:00

My favorite place for cheeseburgers - Five Guys. Drew loves the free peanuts and the regular order of fries that will feed a family of 10!

Friday night's supper:

Runner Up

2012-02-02T22:33:00.001-06:00

Luke finished his second session of bowling this school year.

His team, which consists of him and two other boys, were beaten by HALF A POINT. The winning team was a bunch of GIRLS - :)

But it doesn't matter, they all just have fun bowling for an hour each week. He'll start the third session next week and it will end in April.

The last day of the session is always the fun night. The scores have been tallied up the previous week, so the last day is just for fun. They have cake and turn off the main lights and have the neon lights going. It also makes for some unique pictures!

Luke with two other kids from his school. The girl was on the winning team!

2ne place trophy

they made the split!

When not watching bowling, Drew and I made words and shapers with Reese's Pieces!

In a fog

2012-02-01T22:43:00.001-06:00

We've had a dense fog advisory all day. Just one of those gloomy days.

Rickey was supposed to fly in Minneapolis then take a little commuter plane to Rochester and get home at 11 pm. Flights were cancelled out of Minneapolis due to poor visibility. All the shuttle buses were booked by the time he arrived at MSP. So he had to rent a car to get home. This is par for the course with Rickey trying to get from MSP to the Rochester airport.

Not much to take photos of today, but I tried to capture the "fog" during the day and night:

our neighbors yards in the back

Walking Folly tonight

Best.Mom.Ever

2012-01-31T22:33:00.002-06:00

I'm the best mom ever - and I've got the badge to prove it :)

Rickey flew to Texas for an overnight trip, so that means I had to cook. You know what that means - we went out to eat! Burger King offers .99 kids meals on Tuesday so how could I say no to feeding us all for less than $5!! (i ate Drew's cheeseburger and he ate the fries, so I only had to buy 4 kids meals)

I have no idea what these two are doing. Looks like they're throwing something on the table at the same time!

one of my princes

Highs in the 40s

2012-01-30T23:03:00.004-06:00

At least my little two enjoy getting their pictures made!

It's the end of January, but it feels like March. We reached mid 40s today. This January is going to go in the books as one of the top 10 warmest January's on record!

We're supposed to have "warm" weather all week so I figured we better take a "snow" stroll around the hood to enjoy the white stuff while it was still here.

In some spots the snow is fairly deep:

You almost have to crawl to make your way through it, or at least that's the way my 3 year old kid likes to make it seem:

Spring "might" come early this year. I'll keep you posted!

Hitting the trails

2012-01-29T23:57:00.002-06:00

I finally got to go cross country skiing today! The trails around here haven't been great but Rickey has managed to go a few times. Today we had some extra time this afternoon so we got to go on a little excursion. Here's the pictures to prove it:

first trek of the season!

Rickey was getting annoyed with my picture taking.. He left me in the dust!

I made it - and didn't fall!

Pinewood Derby

2012-01-28T23:59:00.004-06:00

Today was Luke's last pinewood derby. He'll crossover to Boy Scouts in a month! Of course, just like last year, he didn't put a whole lot of time and effort into the car. He and Rickey whipped it out this morning, but the car did keep winning and came in 5th place overall!

Derby photo highlights:

the competition

Luke's round-o car

the second car - the keyboard car - ended up winning it all!

a little better view of the competitors

the derby tracks are so cool now a days. No having to second guess who won the heat

Sean and some other boy scouts volunteered to work the concession stand:

My chocolate loving Sean helped out on the candy side, while the other sold hot dogs and drinks.

I wished I could have stayed for the entire race, but one little boy said VERY LOUDLY that he was tired and wanted to go home!

PJ Day

2012-01-27T22:28:00.002-06:00

It was pajama day at Drew's preschool. He was very excited about getting to wear his Christmas PJs. They served french toast sticks for snack, but my picky eater wouldn't try them.

His teachers:

Mrs. Newhall

Mrs. Steege

Party like it's 2012

2012-01-26T22:20:00.001-06:00

Luke's fifth grade class had their "winter party" today to celebrate the end of the second nine weeks. They spent the last hour of school getting to play outside, play games inside, hang out, eat junk food and listen to music.

The music wasn't played on an Ipod or CD player. The tunes came from old 45 records, played on a record player. - Luke had NEVER SEEN a record before! How old does that make you feel? Makes me feel pretty darn old as I can remember having my own little record player I could tote from room to room. And I was constantly breaking the needles so my grandmother would have to take it to Radio Shack to get fixed.

Remember these?

Luke and some of his buddies:

Luke isn't the only boy sporting long hair:

How is it we don't have a twister game? I think Drew and Kyle would love it!

Can't believe we're half way through another school year. Eighteen more school weeks and I'll have another middle schooler!

Backyard Friends

2012-01-25T23:22:00.002-06:00

Folly has two girlfriends that live right behind us: Gracie & Bella. Everyday he goes out and runs to their yard and chases them. Gracie enjoys the chase, Bella is still young so she plays a little hard to get.

Gracie snuggling up:

Catch me if you can!

Folly's turn to be chased:

Let's take a breather:

Bella is still a little intimidated by Folly:

The backyard gang:

When Folly gets tired he'll cross the boundary back into our yard - just far enough so Gracie & Bella, who wear shock collars jealous, can't him.

Puzzled

2012-01-24T22:37:00.002-06:00

Drew LOVES puzzles.

At Christmas he got a small 12 piece puzzle. He did that puzzle over and over for days.

I bought him a 24 piece puzzle and he finished it in no time flat. I went to the basement and pulled out more. The boy LOVES to sit at the table and do puzzles. It's really helped his attention span. He'll sit there quietly putting together puzzle after puzzle.

When he had some preschool testing done they said he had a very high score in the visual learning area. I'm guessing that's why he really enjoys puzzles so much. I'm really not a puzzle lover, but Rickey is. So I already see them in a few years putting together the 1000s piece puzzles.

Drew wanted to try the 100 piece Buzz Lightyear puzzle today. It might be awhile before he's able to conquer this one!

A little easier task: