Happy St. Paddy’s Day 2013

Picture courtesy of Luke.

In case you can’t tell, there’s a four-leaf clover, rainbow, leprechaun, person hanging on to said leprechaun and a pot of gold.

Valentine’s Day parties

Here are pictures from the boys’ Valentine’s Day class parties.  Luke was lucky.  Since he only goes to half day kindergarten, he to celebrate with his class and then again in the afternoon with Kenny’s class.

Better late than never winter parties

The boys had a snow day on their last day of school before Christmas break.  That meant their winter class parties were rescheduled for January (but that was better than them just being cancelled).

Ornaments 2012

For the sake of record keeping, here are the ornaments that the boys received this year.  My Nikon is getting fixed so none of these pictures of very good.

Kenny:

Red and gold teardrop – from ornament exchange

Stuffed snowman – from my parents

Glass globe with a tree and cardinal inside it – from my parents

Holy Communion – from us

Green half circle with vintage Santa on it – from Eric’s mom and Don

Luke:

Snowman – from ornament exchange

First 5k – from us

Stuffed snowman – from my parents

Glass globe with snowman in it – from my parents

Green, half circle with vintage Santa on it – from Eric’s mom and Don

And speaking of my MIL and Don, they got engaged towards the beginning of December and waited until Christmas to tell everyone (so all the kids could be there for it).  Congratulations to them!

Merry Christmas 2012

Advent calendar

Our advent calendar holds two pieces of candy and a slip of paper for each day.  The slips of paper for December 1-12 have to do with The Twelve Days of Christmas and how the things in the song relate to the Bible (I’m not sure how true everything is, but I like it) and then the remainder are bible verses.

Here is what each slip of paper says:

Dec. 1 - On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree.  The partridge is Jesus Christ, the son of God.

Luke 13:34

Dec. 2 – On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, two turtle doves.  The two doves represent the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

Dec. 3 – On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, three French hens.  The three French hens represent the three theological virtues – faith, hope and love.

1 Corinthians 13:13

Dec. 4 – On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, four calling birds.  The four calling birds are the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  The holy gospels proclaim the good news of God’s reconciliation to the world in Jesus Christ.

Dec. 5 - On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, five golden rings.

The five golden rings are the first five books of the Old Testament, known as the Torah or Pentateuch.  The five books are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Dec. 6 – On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, six geese-a-laying.  The six geese are the six days of creation described in Genesis.

Dec. 7 - On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, seven swans-a-swimming.  The seven swans are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit:  prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading and compassion.

Romans 12:6-8

Corinthians 12:8-11

Dec. 8 – On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, eight maids-a-milking.  The eight maids are the eight Beatitudes.

Matthew 5:3-10

Dec. 9 – On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, nine ladies dancing.  The nine ladies are the fruits of the Holy Spirit:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Galatians 5:22

Dec. 10 – On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, ten lords-a-leaping.  The ten lords are the Ten Commandments.

Exodus 20:1-17

Dec. 11 - On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, eleven pipers piping.  The eleven pipers are the eleven faithful apostles, including Simon Peter, Andrew, James the son of Zebedee, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Judas the son of James, and Simon the Zealot.

This list excludes the twelfth apostle, Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.

(The Gospel of Luke lists Judas the son of James instead of Thaddeus.)

Luke 6:14-16

Dec. 12 - On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, twelve drummers drumming.  The twelve drummers are the twelve points of the doctrine in the Apostle’s Creed:

1.  I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

2.  I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.

3.  He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.

4.  He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.  He descended into hell.

5.  On the third day, he rose again.  He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

6.  He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

7.  I believe in the Holy Spirit,

8.  the Holy Catholic Church,

9.  the communion of saints,

10.  the forgiveness of sins,

11.  the resurrection of the body,

12.  and life everlasting.

Dec. 13 - Philippians 4:4-7

Dec. 14 - Titus 3:4-7

Dec. 15 – Luke 2:14

Dec. 16 – John 3:16

Dec. 17 – Isaiah 7:14

Dec. 18 – 1 John 2:12-17

Dec. 19 – Jeremiah 23:5-8

Dec. 20 – 1 John 5:11

Dec. 21 – Luke 1:26-35

Dec. 22 – Luke 1:39-45

Dec. 23 – Matthew 1:18-25

Dec. 24 - Matthew 2:7-12

Dec. 25 - Luke 2:15-20

Fun Fact:  If you were to purchase everything mentioned in The Twelve Days of Christmas, it would cost you $107,300 this year.

Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving Day 5K 2012

We did the Sprint Thanksgiving Day 5K this year.  This was Luke’s first 5K and Kenny’s second.  The boys walked the first 2.5 miles and then ran the last .6.  They both were in a great mood and had a lot of fun, which was very different from Kenny’s first 5K, when he would randomly start crying.

Name                 Bib #     Age     Time            Place (age group:  Males 0-17 years)

Kenny     KS    3223       8          52:38.1        404

Luke        KS    3224       5           52:39.4       405

 

Things I’m lovin’

Here are just a few things that I’m loving right now:

1.  Starbuck’s Peppermint Hot Chocolate

Yum!  Even better, we had to wait in the drive through for 5 minutes the other day and they gave us our order for free.

2.  Dexter

I had three people, in just one week, tell me that I needed to watch this show.  I did and loved it.  It’s a little messed up (serial killer that only kills bad people) but different, in a good way.  I’m waiting to get season 2 from the library.

3.  Fork and Screen movies

What could be better than eating dinner while watching a movie in big, comfy seats?  And the food isn’t that bad.  I did make the mistake of ordering the fish the first time we went and it was definitely more difficult to eat in the dark.  Eric took me to the Fork and Screen showing of Twilight two weeks ago.  The beginning was so, so bad BUT the end completely made up for it.  It had a little twist that I did not see coming.  It was much better than the book.

I want to see the Abraham Lincoln and James Bond movies next.

4.  Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

One of my FB friends recommended it as a good read.  At first, I was kind of put off by the fact that it’s about college students but quickly got over it.  She is also writing it from the guy’s point of view (this one was from the girl’s) and it’s coming out in April.

I also read 50 Shades of Gray and I’m not sure what all the fuss is about (maybe it gets better in book #2 and #3).  If she mentioned biting her lip or her inner goddess one more time, I was going to lose it.

Next, I really want to read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  I’m still #121 on the wait list at the library.

My book club is reading The Life of Pi for our January read and I really hope it’s good.

I would LOVE some more book recommendations.  I need a new, good author/series.

5.  Groupon

I’ve already bought three Christmas gifts off of Groupon.

6.  Ebates

It kills me when I forget to go through Ebates when ordering on-line

7.  Luke and Kenny’s excitement for Christmas

Luke has been talking about Christmas since September.  Even though we’ve had to remind him a few times that Christmas is about Jesus’s birth, and not presents, it’s still really cute.  I am really going to miss it when they no longer believe in Santa.  I’m actually a little surprised that Kenny still does.

8.  Longview Lake’s Christmas in the Park display

This is the second year that we’ve gone to it.  The display is huge and they just really do a good job.  We took my parents along this year and we decided to make it an annual thing.

9.  Indoor soccer

I love soccer in general but I really love watching the boys play indoor soccer right now.  I love how fast paced it is.  Kenny’s games are just fun to watch because the kids are all starting to get to that stage where they are really good.  His footwork is getting so good and the kid can seriously get the ball away from anyone.  Luke is fun to watch because he likes to be the goalie.  Kenny and Luke are so different in that regard, and it really shows their personalities.  I feel like Kenny doesn’t like to be goalie because when he gets scored on, he takes it personally and feels bad.  When Luke gets scored on, it doesn’t bother him and he says he didn’t have any help (with a smile on his face).

10.  Eric’s schedule

I can’t believe I forgot this one at first.  Eric is now working Monday-Friday 8:00-4:00 like normal people do, with holidays off.  Unless a promotional process comes up, he’ll do this for the next four years.

Happy Thanksgiving 2012

Trick-or-Treating 2012

I was really lucky this year.  Kenny wanted to be a vampire again and Luke wanted to be a dragon again so I didn’t have to buy any new costumes.

I stayed home and handed out candy while Eric, Kenny and Luke went out with one of Kenny’s friends.

Pumpkin carving 2012

We added these cute stickers to two of our pumpkins on Monday and then carved our remaining one tonight.  There’s nothing like waiting until the last minute (once again).

Kenny’s Halloween class party

Luke’s Halloween party at school

Happy Halloween 2012!

Trunk-or-Treat 2012

Pumpkin patch 2012

The boys didn’t have school last Friday due to conferences.  After we talked to their teachers, we headed out to the KC Pumpkin Patch.  It was so cold!

Get ready for a lot of pictures.

4th of July 2012 pics

We spent the 4th at VillageFest and then had my parents over for KFC and fireworks.  The fourth of July may be one of my favorite holidays.

Happy 4th of July 2012!

Happy Father’s Day 2012

Happy Father’s Day to Eric and my dad!

Thank you Pinterest for another cute idea.

Memorial Day 2012

Today included:

- sleeping in

- lazy morning

- playing in the sprinkler

- tennis

- dinner with my family