Finally....SNOW!!

 So far this winter we've had barely any snow.  I was actually just complaining to a friend because I told her that at least if it was going to be cold, I wanted snow the boys could play in.  Looks like my wish was granted.  We finally have snow!  We took full advantage of it and went out and played.  Snowmen, snow forts, snow boarding....we did it all!

I've been wanting to try to build Olaf for awhile, so I took my first stab at it today.  I may be biased, but I think he turned out pretty good!

Just when I thought the day couldn't get any better, our neighbors delivered us bloody Mary's!

Best day ever!! ;)

Let the 40th Birthday Celebration Begin!

 In just a few short days, Ryan turns 40!!!!!  I know...hard to believe.

Tonight we started the celebration by having Tim, Val and the kids over for dinner.  Ryan picked sushi for dinner and Dairy Queen Oreo Blizzard ice cream cake for dessert.  It's one of the boys favorite!  SO good!!

Happy Birthday Ryan!  Looking forward to celebrating you more soon!

A little about 9 Year Old Owen

 Happy 9th Birthday Owen!!

Height - 55.5 in (88th Percentile)

Weight - 75 lbs 6 oz (83rd Percentile)

This has been such a crazy year!!!  With the COVID-19 pandemic, you haven't set foot in your school in almost a year.  Can you even believe that??  Some day you are going to look back and that will seem so crazy!  You've been doing everything remote, which means sitting at a desk we set up for you in the living room and having school via Zoom video chats.  Even soccer practices have been via zoom.  You've actually adapted really well.  There are definitely times where I need to remind you to pay attention, but overall you do a great job!  

I know one of the biggest things you miss about school is seeing your friends and having "real" play dates inside someone else's house.  I've started to notice you're a little more shy than normal and you're more concerned about what other people think. 

I'm not sure if it's the Zoom and constantly seeing yourself on the screen, but you've all of a sudden become very aware of making sure your hair looks just right.  You use your fingers to brush it over to the right side.  Even if you're just wrestling with Dottie for a minute, or outside snowboarding in the backyard....if you feel you did something that made your hair move out of place, you quickly rebrush it over to the side.  Trying to get you to wear a hat outside, even when it's below zero, is a losing battle.  Same thing goes for helmets.  I couldn't figure out the helmet thing at first.  I thought it was because your helmet had spikes and was all of a sudden too kid-ish for you.  But then when the hat thing began it made more sense.  You don't want to put anything on your head that is going to mess up your hair.  The funniest part about it is you don't even put any product in your hair or style it.  You just have a certain way you like it to lay across your forehead. 

You've always had a bit of a perfectionist in you.  If you can't figure something out right away, you get super frustrated.  Thankfully you're very athletic and most things sports related come natural to you.  But if you're learning something new and you don't get it right away, you get super upset.   We're really working on problem solving and teaching you to take your time and work through things before freaking out.  You tend to go from 0 to 100 quickly, so we're trying to help you slow down and work through things.  But as soon as something goes wrong, one of your favorite phrases is "I hate this day!" or "I hate (whatever might be on the receiving end of what made you frustrated)".  Thankfully those moments don't last long.  We can either tickle you into a good mood again or you can take a few minutes up in your room to calm down and emerge back to your old happy self.  

Even with your occasional temper flare up, you are the still the sweetest boy!  So thoughtful, loving and affectionate.  I still get lots of hugs, which makes me super happy!!  Dottie probably gets even more hugs than me.  You can't walk past her without walking over and giving her a huge hug or kiss.  And you love spending time as a family!  Especially having movie nights...mostly because we make a huge bowl of popcorn, which is your favorite!  :)

Right now your favorite thing to do is play Fortnite on Nintendo Switch.  You would probably play it all day long if we'd let you.  You play it far more than you should, but with the pandemic I've had a love/hate relationship with Switch.  I don't like you to be on video games too much, but it's how you're connecting with your friends.  You're able to use headsets to play online and chat back and forth while you're playing.  With us not being able to go in each other's houses and play like we normally would, this is filling a void of being with friends and allowing you to keep those connections.  Not only with local friends, but recently you and Simon (your oldest preschool friend who moved to Ohio) connected on Fortnite and you've been playing together.  I think that is so cool!!  When I was young, if a friend moved away, that was it.  But you're able to jump on your game and do what you love with a friend you haven't seen in years.  Like I said, it's a love/hate relationship.  It's hard to hate something that brings you so much joy.   

You also love taking walks.  Typically our routine after school is to go for a walk past Asher's house.  He's come to expect us, so he's normally waiting by his front door.  When we walk by, he comes out and plays for a bit.  Since it's one of the only times you get outside for the day, I love this little routine of ours. If there's anything that I know for sure, it's that you and your brothers need some time to burn some energy!  It's typically one big wresting match on the walk there, a wrestling match when we get there, and then another wrestling match on the walk home.  Whatever works!

It's been so much fun watching you grow and mature.  It's crazy to think you're already nine, but I love seeing where life keeps taking you and I'm excited to watch the next 9 years.

Happy Birthday Buddy!

The Boys' First Ski Day

Today was the day!!  We finally got the boys out skiing!!  I have been wanting them to learn, so I was so excited to finally start the process (key word: process!).  And what a perfect day!  After hardly having any snow, we got a storm last night that brought 5" of fresh snow.  We woke up, ate breakfast and drove the hour and a half to Wilmot Mountain.

I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous when Miles started melting down the minute we stepped outside the rental shop because his boots were too heavy.  He laid on the ground crying, begging us to take them off and I could only imagine the long day we were going to have.  I mean, let's be honest...those boots are terrible.  Even I hate the feeling of them.  But after a few rides up the magic carpet and down the bunny hill, he was able to pull it together.   

Ryan and I knew we couldn't handle teaching the three of them on our own, so we enlisted the help of some friends.  The dads of two of Owen's best friends just happen to be past ski instructors.  They offered to help us teach the boys and we totally took them up on the offer. 

Owen got the hang of things real quick.  He's athletic, has good balance and above all is fearless which made for a terrifying combo.  It wasn't long before he was riding up the chairlift with his buddies, flying straight down the hill.  I was so proud of him and impressed with how quickly he caught on, but in order for me to feel better about him skiing, he needs to learn some control to keep himself (and others) safe.  

One of my favorite memories of the day was when Ryan and I were riding up the chairlift with Miles and Joe.  It was early on in the day before Owen had even had too much time to practice.  We looked at the hill below us and saw his friend Ronan bombing down the hill, closely followed by Owen.  I looked at Ryan and said, "Is that Ronan?....WAIT!  Is that Owen??"  I proceeded to scream off the chairlift "Owen, Pizza!!  Slow down!  PIZZA!!!" encouraging him to try to slow down and gain some control as he whizzed past beneath us.  He just looked up and waved at us and continued to fly down the hill.  By this time I was turned around backwards watching him speed down the hill, praying he didn't crash, and caught the two people on the chairlift behind us laughing at the whole spectacle.  I mean, I would totally be laughing too if I were them.  It was kind of a hilarious scene to watch!

Thankfully, for my blood pressure, Joe and Miles took things a little slower.  We only spent a few runs on the bunny hill before taking them up to a green run.  Because of the fresh snow the bunny hill was almost too slow for them to do anything, so we figured they'd learn more on a run with a little more of a slope to it.  

They were super excited to ride the chairlift...meanwhile I was internally freaking out riding with them.  It's SO high and I couldn't help worry about one of them falling off.  They're so small, the boots and skis are so heavy, the seats are slippery and there's hardly anything holding them back.  Crazy the things you never think about until you have kids of your own.  

Between Brian, Andy and I we took turns skiing down the hill with Joe and Miles.  More often than not they were either between our legs skiing with us, or occasionally I'd ski down backwards holding my poles out in front of me like a bar for Joe to grab on to.  That way he was still skiing on his own, but I was stopping him from gaining too much speed.  They each had little moments where they skied on their own, but overall they preferred having the stability of someone else to hold onto.

Can we pause for a quick moment to talk about how cute these little guys look in their ski attire??  It's honestly one of favorite things...little kids with skis.  So stinkin adorable!!

Brian had to leave early, and Andy wanted to get some runs in, so our last run down it was just Ryan and I with Miles and Joe.  Ryan had no choice but to help Joe down.  I know he was nervous, so I'm so proud of him!  He did such a great job helping him!  

After that Miles and Joe decided they had enough, so I caught up with Owen and got a few last runs in with him.  We even did a black diamond, which he was so proud of!  I'll give it to him, he may fly down the hill, but he's able to stay up and in control.  We'll work on adding some turns into his repertoire, but for his first day, he did an amazing job!

I'm so proud of these boys!! They not only did a great job, but they were good sports and had fun doing it.  I'm already looking forward to going again!

Owen's 9th Birthday Interview

 My Favorite.....

Food: Apples
Drink: Root Beer
Treat: Ice Cream Cake
Toy: Swords
Color: Black

TV Show: Grizzly and the Lemmings

Movie: Avengers End Game

Outfit: Black and Red outfits

Game: Fortnite

Animal: Cheetah

Song: "Mi Gente" by J Balvin

Book: Big Nate Books

Place to go: Disney World

Things to do outside: Play baseball

Thing to do at school: Math

Thing you like to sleep with: I like hugging my pillow to make me cooler because I get hot in my bed

What do you want to be when you grow up?  A baseball player

What makes you happy?  When I see my cousins

What makes you sad?  If someone broke their arm

Who are your best friends?  Ronan, Asher, Shea, Dev, Simon, JP, Niles, Dezi

What's your favorite thing to do with Mommy?  Go for walks

What's your favorite thing to do with Daddy?  Relax and watch football

What's your favorite thing to do with Joe?  Play Legos or Fortnite

What's your favorite thing to do with Miles?  Tackle with him

How old is Mommy? 39

What does Daddy do for his job?  He donates toys to the super big ships and they bring them to people
What do we love to do as a family?  Go for walks and movie nights

Anything else you want to tell us?  I got a huge Lego set and it takes 3 days to build!

Personal Space

 So can we talk about personal space for a minute....or lack thereof?  Today was a long day, so once we got home from Owen's party I laid down on the couch for a minute to rest.  Not even sleep, just lay still for a few minutes.  It wasn't long before Miles was laying right on top of me.  Soon after, Dottie jumped up on the couch and snuggled into the little space I had in front of me.  Sure some personal space might be nice here or there, but for now I'll settle with the cuddles from my two little shadows.

It's Party Time!

 This year with COVID, birthday parties look a little different.  We may not be able to get a ton of friends together, go to a big trampoline park or do anything in an indoor space...but it doesn't mean we still can't celebrate Owen with a couple of his best buddies.

We decided to keep it low key and get Owen and his friends together at Taylor Park.  Since there's no real snow yet, sledding wasn't an option, but there was still plenty to do.  They had the whole field to run around in, play soccer, football and I bought a bunch of foam glider airplanes that kept them busy for a large portion of the time.  We ended the afternoon with DJ Marshmello cupcakes in honor of Owen's love for Fortnite.

   It may not have been the big birthday party we're used to, but it didn't matter to the boys.  They're just happy spending time together!  💗

Happy 9th Birthday Owen!!

Happy Happy Birthday Owen!!!!

This morning Owen woke up to the usual....streamers hanging from all the doorways, birthday signs hanging throughout the house (one per year you are old), a special drawing from Daddy, and a pile of presents on the table.

But in the spirit of quarantine, we decided to go a little above and beyond.  Back in November I had won a balloon display as part of a running challenge I did.  They gave me the option of putting it up then to celebrate or using it for an upcoming birthday.  It was a no brainer...What a great addition to help make Owen's birthday extra special!!

And with him doing school virtually, I thought it was only appropriate to make him feel special during his school day as well.  I hung streamers from the ceiling behind his desk so when he was on his call his background was full of birthday love!

His meal choices for his birthday started with sprinkle pancakes for breakfast, grilled cheese for lunch, and Chinese takeout for dinner with his cousins.  Owen LOVES chicken fried rice!!

We also enlisted our neighbor Kristi to make a super special Fortnite cake.

Happy Birthday Owen!!!!  We hope you felt extra super special today!  We love you!!!!   

Next year...double digits!!

The Brown Cow Ice Cream Cake Contest

Restaurants in Oak Park are getting super creative to keep business coming in while COVID has things slowed down.  The Brown Cow ice cream parlor is a perfect example.  They've been having monthly "Do It Yourself Kit" contests.  Last month's was a Gingerbread House and this month is a Chocolate Ice Cream Cake in honor of National Chocolate Cake Day.

The minute I saw the post, I knew we had to get ourselves a kit.  The kids LOVE ice cream cake, and I've been wanting to try one from Brown Cow for quite awhile.  They give you everything you need, you just have to assemble it, decorate it and of course (my favorite part) eat it!

Here is the boys' submission for the contest:

I know I may be biased, but I think their cake turned out pretty amazing!!  

It was pretty delicious too!!

Snowboarding Fun

 We got the tiniest bit of snow last night, so we went out this morning to get a little practice on the snowboards.  It's so sad that it's already mid January and this is what our snow situation looks like.  If we're going to have the cold, at least give us some snow so we can get outside and have some fun.  In the meantime, we'll take advantage of any opportunity we get!

After the boys had their fill of snowboarding, they decided to play in the snow for awhile.

I know I should be careful what I wish for, but hopefully we'll get a little more snow soon!