scavenger hunt with Dad

I went on a hunt with my sister and Dad.
It might have been the most fun I ever had.
We had to find lots of stuff.
But we didn't need a piece of fluff.

We counted our points and we had a big score.
195 points, no less and no more.
But much too soon the hunt came to an end.
What a great way to spend,
Our night. - LE

I loved our scavenger hunt.  We went to Bill Miller's BBQ (b/c it started with the same letter as my name, a task assigned).  We went to the park to take a picture.  We ate salmon and took a picture behind the seafood counter.  In the end, we got 195 points.
Then, I made myself a strawberry surprise ice cream.  So, that means it was AWESOME!! - Boo

Mimi and PawPaw 's Barn Home

If you haven't heard, my parents bought a 1930's farmhouse about a mile and a half from Ben's parents.  A few weeks ago, we took the kids for a weekend of projects as they had never seen the house.
My parents told us over the Thanksgiving holidays they were contemplating buying the fixer-upper.
Over the Christmas holidays we were able to get in the house for the first time and discovered the people were hoarders in every since of the word.  As in they hoarded their trash.  They were evicted and left this trash, years and years of trash.  There were three out buildings floor to ceiling trash, the plumbing stopped working so they used their chicken coop as a port-a-potty.  The house was full of trash.
Our first weekend to work on the house was the last weekend of January, so my parents had gotten all of the trash out of the inside, but the outbuildings were still full of trash.  Dad rented a bobcat to clear up the outside of the property and we had a burn party.  As we started hauling trash we discovered trash bags full of clothes, toys, and of course trash.  We found out the wrong way had fireworks in it, which had us stuck in the house until the explosions halted.
It was an all hands-on deck weekend.  HR's favorite job was pulling staples out of the shiplap.  The other kids helped haul paneling to the bonfire and metal to the scrap pile.

mailbox workshop

A few weeks ago, we stopped into Home Depot to pick up some things for RSB.  When we arrived they were having  a free workshop for kids, building Valentine mailboxes.  The kids hammered, screwed and painted their projects and have been writing each other messages for their mailboxes since.  Gotta love free Saturday morning fun.

I never saw another butterfly

Boo had the opportunity to design the cover for the playbill for the production she will be in.   She water colored the background, designed the butterfly and painted the fence post.  Daddy helped her scan them into the computer and then add details in photoshop.

Very proud that she is using the talents God gave her.

In case you missed it...

http://www.kvue.com/videos/news/features/2016/02/04/austin-boxing-gym-helps-people-fight-parkinsons/79806300/

Last Wednesday, I got a call as class was ending.  Normally, I wouldn't have answered my phone, but that day I did.  It was Kris Betts from KVUE asking if she could come right then to the gym.  Luckily no one had left yet and they all agreed to stick around and tell our story.

preschool fun

Our lives have become a little more sane over the past few weeks.  Don't get me wrong, they are still busy, but with a little more consistency and structure.
I am home every morning now (with the exception of Thursdays, but that is coming to an end soon).  I leave for the gym between 1 and 1:30 each day and beginning this Friday we start co-op again.
The boys have officially begun pre-school.  HR is beginning to talk more and now knows all but two of his colors, he refuses to say green or yellow.  He counts and recognizes his numbers from 1-7.
R2 is loving school. He got an experiment kit for his birthday and we try to do two experiments each week.  We also read, sort, pattern, cut, paste and cook each week.  I have been so worried about starting school with them.  But, with a little bit of discipline (on my part mostly), we've been starting school at 8 am each morning and we usually wrap up by noon.  Then, lunch and some trampoline jumping or bike riding before I head out to the gym.

2015, year in review

10. a sad goodbye to all of my fitness classes except RSB
9. Beyond the darkness wrapped and the movie was released
8. Kids' Beach trip, with Gigi an PopPop, a first for the boys
7. kids' date nights were instated every Tuesday with Mom or Dad
6. Africa trip canceled, because of the terror attacks on Christian students
5. Cruise, consolation prize for not being able to travel to Africa
4. Colorado trip, the first time the kids saw snow
3. Indianapolis trip, our first vacation success
2. Rock Steady Boxing became a reality on November 4th with three boxers, now 25 boxers currently enrolled
1. Boo asked Jesus into her heart at camp and the Heavens rejoiced

Goodbye, Colorado

Thank you Mimi and PawPaw for including us on this fun trip.  We had so much fun and made so many memories.  My heart is happy

New Year's Eve party

Mimi gave us some really cool games for Christmas.  My personal new favorite is kings in the corner, but it was Uncle Troy's phone that provided the most fun.  He suggested we play charades.  Paw Paw opted out, the boys picked Paw Patrol and some Crown and Coke helped liven things up.  Boo and LE were team captains, Boo picked Daddy and Uncle Troy for her team; LE picked Mimi and I.  Some how Uncle Troy kept forgetting to mark our team's score down, so it came down to the final round.  LE's team was victorious.  We were able to stay up and see the ball drop in NYC, but most crashed before it turned midnight in the mountains.

sledding day #2

We had so much fun sledding in Creede, we decided to get a second sled and find a real hill in South Fork.  It was much harder getting back up the hill, so the kids didn't enjoy it as much as the adults.
We had loads of fun with the slow-mo feature on our iPhones.  They say it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, I can attest as much.