And the Toy Bowl Begins

I love Basketball season. With both boys now playing it means that most Saturdays will be spent in the car but they will be so much fun.

Danny's game was first today at Prince of Peace. His game was at 12, which means be in Hoover at 11:30. No problem. His team won 21-13. It was a great game and I was so proud of how well all of the boys' did. I know that they were glad to get their first game out of the way.

We decided to go eat lunch with Teresa, Aunt Paula, and B since they came to Danny's game and were going to follow us to John Michael's. It was nice spending some time with them this afternoon.

John Michael's game was at 3:00 at Our Lady of Sorrows. Even though Brandon and the turns into OLS seemed to be at odds we made it. John Michael's team is almost entirely Kindergarten and First graders, I think there are 2 Second Graders. The OLS team that we played was 6 Second Graders and 5 First Graders. We had them until the last minute though, the final score was 6-7 OLS. It was a great game. I saw several old friends there from our days at St. Barnabas. Well, I know I saw one because I talked to her, I am pretty sure I saw another one but by the time I could get out the door she was gone. It is always nice to run into old friends.

Amy, Terry and the kids came over tonight so we could let the kids exchange presents, yes it is still Christmas :0) It was a great night, we had a good time with everyone just hanging out and talking. We all tend to be so slammed through the holidays we do not get to just chat. It was a lot of fun.

Today was a GREAT Saturday. And for the record I pulled the flip flops back out! I need a pedicure!!!

FRIDAY!!!

So today while the boys' were at school Brandon and I had decided that we would use some of the gift cards that I seem to have been collecting.
Well, it was fun, but I only used one and actually got one in return because we had to get razor blades at Target :) I love shopping and if I had the money I would do it so often. There was a lot that we found, but it was outside of the gift card budget.
We had a great time just looking around and spending time together. Definitely no complaints!
The boys had great days at school, which makes me super happy! John Michael finished out the week with all green faces. Danny finished out the week with a great job on his math test.
We had basketball practice tonight, well John Michael did. They did a scrimmage with the girl's team and even though they seemed to be dominated by the ladies they did really good. I am so excited about game time tomorrow.
Well, I am off to bed. Super busy day but I am so so excited! :0) I hope that everyone has a weekend full of many blessings.

Report Cards, Practice, and More Practice :0)

So today was report card day. Even though I can view their grades online there are always a few nerves that come with this day. Danny got all A's and B's. I am so proud of him. He even brought his semester average up to all A's and B's for the first semester. I knew that he could do it, especially since the one C he got was really a mishap and not all his fault. This came from his teacher, not me. John Michael did very well too, of course his grades are not like this yet, but he seems to be a pro in Kindergarten or at least working on becoming one.
John Michael planted some seeds at school and brought the "tree" home for us to water and help it get sun and start to grow. Hopefully we will be successful. Danny and Brandon are the two with green thumbs, John Michael and I are working on it. Maybe this will be the turning point. I am not sure it is a tree I think it is grass but we shall see, he knows it is a tree!
After school we had Epiphany practice. We just hung out at the school. Did all of the homework and read and celebrated the awesome report cards.
Epiphany practice went great. Danny is now playing 2 parts, he is the soldier and a king. He is excited, so is John Michael. I am hoping that I can get Brandon to film it for me. We shall see. I think I will e-mail Mary and ask her now if it is okay. Fingers crossed.
After getting fitted for costumes Danny had basketball practice. He did great as usual.
After practice it was time to come home eat, take showers, and go to bed.

Christmas Season School Mass

So today was a great day, I got up early enough to enjoy a few minutes before waking the rest of the family up. They were excited to wake up to breakfast being ready. Well, it was ready when Brandon left, but when the boys got up. So it worked, the boys ate at the table and Brandon took his to work. It was a great morning.
Today was the school Mass, and it is the one school Mass during the Christmas season. I love the fact that they prepare for Christmas through Advent together and then are able to celebrate Christmas together. I am also very thankful that I was able to go to Mass and celebrate with them. This is my favorite day of the week, it is just a very personal time with Jesus and my boys.
After School we had Scouts, it was the den meeting so I took the 3rd grade boys to the scout room and we got to work. We had to discuss fire protection, water protection, and ice protection. We also played the card game Sorry Revenge and talked about the rocks and minerals found in Alabama. It was a productive meeting and I am so glad. We are on schedule to get all of the boys' their Bear Badges next month! This is what I wanted to happen, then we can focus on the elective the rest of the year.
We came home and I was about to start cooking when Danny informed me he wanted leftovers. John Michael wanted cereal so yeah, I decided their idea was much better than mine.
Well, I am off to bed, I hope anyway. The boys are in bed, homework is done and I have a lot I need to talk to God about. Know that you are all in my prayers.

Back to a Routine

So this morning we slept a little later than we wanted, but everyone was on time, which is a definite plus to day one.
I got home and could not believe how quite my house was. There is so much to do and yet I found myself trying to catch up on the little nit picky stuff. At least I feel as if I accomplished something, not sure that it is visible to anyone else though. Tomorrow I will work on the more noticeable things, like getting the games back downstairs and in the game closet.
The boys had a great day at school. John Michael is so excited about some new things that they are doing in class to learn more about money. He also came home with a green face :0) Danny was excited because he was able to finish watching a movie that they started before Christmas. My favorite movie, A Miracle on 34th Street. He said that he liked it too.
Homework was minimal, but it was there! We managed to knock it out for both boys in about 30 minutes which was good for all of us.
As soon as we were done with homework it was time to change and head to basketball practice. They both had practice so it was 2 hours at the gym. It was fun though. Games start this weekend and I am SO SO SO excited! So am I. I am also glad that they are not at the same time so for this week anyway, we both get to go to both games :0) That is always great news.
Brandon came home after work and hopefully fixed the problem with the drain for the washing machine. We will see in the morning when I do laundry. I could not today, because of the problem. Praying that all goes well.
Well, I am off to bed, it is 11, and I was hoping for 9 or 10, but I got 10 yesterday and was after 11 before going to sleep. LOL! Maybe tonight I will just sleep!

Last Day of Vacation

I cannot believe that the boys go back to school tomorrow and Brandon goes back to work. We got up early this morning, even though everyone was late going to bed. This translates to it is 9:30 and the boys are asleep and as soon as I put this load of laundry in the dryer I will be headed there too!

I will miss them all so much tomorrow though. I am sure I will get more done in the house than I have been able to since Christmas, but still it will be sad with them all gone.

This morning I fixed everyone waffles for breakfast, and then we went to run some errands including going to the store. There is always something to do. Then we came home and the boys played football, I tried to stand out there, but it was too dang cold. Brandon had fun though. John Michael ended up playing Ghost busters, which was so funny. He even rewrote the song so that it was his "ring tone." Such a good day with fun memories.

Danny finally finished off the antibiotic for his spider bite. There is still a little bump there, and we will keep soaking it and watching it very closely. The good thing is the cellulitis seems to be gone. He was glad to be done with the medicine. I am just glad that we do not have to fight about him taking it anymore.

I started taking pictures of stuff for e-Bay. While I have gone back and forth I have to get some financial release and I am hoping that this will help. Maybe between this and the photography we will be okay. I was unsure until I walked downstairs and there was WATER everywhere coming from the washing machine. Brandon worked on it for a while, but we are worried we will have to call a plumber...which means more money. It will all work out, while I doubt I make enough to pay for a plumber right away if I can just make enough to help get the debt down we will be okay, I know that we can do it.

While there is the plumbing issue, hopefully it will work itself out sooner than later. I am going to try something tomorrow. Pray for good results :) Today was a great day with spending time with each other and just enjoying the day.

Hello 2012

Happy New Year to everyone and to Brittany Ann....a VERY HAPPY 17th BIRTHDAY! Yes, everyone 17, seems wrong to us, she was just a baby, I am almost sure of it!

2011 was an amazing year. So many wonderful things happened and blessings seemed to be everywhere. This blog was one of those amazing blessings as it made me seriously think about and be thankful for each day.

2012 I know will be full of many more blessings, it seems some are already appearing. So thankful for so many amazing things in my life. Especially my husband and our two amazing boys.

We kicked off the New Year with a kiss at Midnight. It is something we both think is important and a fun tradition. We were also surrounded by friends, and there is something great about starting a year with those you love! Thank you again for having us over Amy and Terry! It was great to see everyone there and meet some new people. Definitely a wonderful start to what we know is going to be an amazing year.

We ended up sleeping a little later than we meant to today, but it is okay, we all obviously needed it.

We went to the movies today which is a tradition we started last year, go to the movies each New Year (and hopefully more often throughout the year). Today we went to go see We Bought a Zoo. This was a GREAT movie, but I will say I needed tissues, so if you go see it taking a few would be a good idea. I love a movie that makes me laugh, cry, and genuinely smile. This movie definitely fit into these boundaries. It also makes me want to visit the zoo that it is about. Maybe one day. I love a good zoo....of course I always wanted to own one myself. Mainly because I wanted a pet Tiger. The boys really liked the movie too, which I was super glad of. I always like it when as a family we are able to enjoy something together and to enjoy being together.

I took some pictures at the movie, but I cannot find the USB cable for my point and shoot! YAY! Not really, another prayer to St. Anthony. He is going to be busy helping us find that and the wallet. These pictures are the last one from 2011 and the first 2 of 2012. :0)

Well tomorrow ends Christmas break for everyone. I hope that it is as good of a day as today was. I love spending all of the time with my family and will miss them so much as they head back off to work and school. I cannot believe that it is over.

Know that I pray all of you have an amazing 2012 you will all be in my thoughts and prayers! I know that there are many great things out there for all of us and I hope that they are abundant and in your palm this year and for many years to come.