Another Hound

Because we apparently need a little more hound dog love in our lives...

Meet Barrett, the beagle.
He is 12 weeks old and the kids' Christmas present this year.

He and Bo have gotten along just swell.

For a puppy, he's pretty mellow.

Kai is still perplexed.
He often calls him "that little puppy" and has continued to ask
if the puppy is sleeping at our house and when he is going home.

Definitely puppy love at our house!

The Big One: Vacation 2017

Last year, we attended Nubability Camp with Zeke, just the adults and Zeke.  The camp featured limb difference coaches who mentor and coach limb difference athletes.  The biggest take away for us has been Zeke seeing people who look just like him and seeing those people, especially the adults, succeed and do all the things everyone else does.  This year, all of us attended. It's in southern Illinois so that in and of itself was an endeavor.  Did I mention we were going to take our travel trailer?  Because we are slightly crazy.  And then it seemed like we should take advantage of being away from home and see something new.  Lake Michigan sounded good.  So Nebraska to Illinois to Indiana then back home.  I think we managed to hit all of the major Midwestern cities, Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, and Omaha.  (We skirted them but it still sounds pretty cool.)  Eight days on the road which may have been a day or two longer than what was really wise.  Here are the highlights.

Swimming with Coach Lefty...yep there's a reason his nickname is 'Lefty.'

Kenson trying out lacrosse.  He loved it and returned to play for 5 of the 6 open choice sessions.

Volleyball for Conleigh 

Zeke and  Kenson's focus sport was football.

This was the group of campers who participated in football for their focus sport plus their coaches.

Zeke really enjoyed Coach Eddy who is the coach on the left.  

Conleigh's focus sport was cheerleading.

They worked on two cheers to share with the whole camp.

She was quite excited that they got to do lifts.

Kai was not old enough to participate but he still got to do some fun things like have his face painted by the talented Tisha.

Batman!

And a pirate!

We all look happy.  

(No one wants to hear the audio of the actual sibling arguments and the parents who are losing their cool.)

Chilling in the camper-we camped for 5 nights in a row. 

We also stayed in hotels for a few nights so we camped 6 out of 8 nights on the road.

Yes, I feel like I deserve an award.  

(But my cousin in currently a full time rver with his four kids so I guess my medal will have to wait.)

We really experienced the gamut of camping experiences from torrential rains to semi sketchy mobile home parks to a very nice KOA to no showers on site. 

The last part of our vacation-Indiana Dunes on Lake Michigan.

 This was the first time my kids had seen the beach.  

They had so much fun.

 Football in the water with Dad, sand castles, wading, skipping rocks, digging holes-lots of smiles all around.

50 in January

It's 50 in January in Nebraska.

Forget scooping snow.

Scoop leaves instead.

Don't stop until you make the tallest pile you can.

Then jump in!

As the three of them grabbed hands and yelled 1-2-3!

I hoped with all my might that this would be one of those memories I wouldn't forget.

Bury yourself.

Or make some leaf confetti.

No matter what you chose, 50 in January is a pretty swell thing.

Thanksgiving Too!

Does it seem wrong that I posted Christmas pics before the Thanksgiving ones?  Again, this is real life, where things don't always go in order.  We spent Thanksgiving at my aunt and uncle's.  It was also a pretty typical Thanksgiving.  Lots of food and family and stories.  These pictures though capture the highlights.

My cousin, Quinn, has created  medieval weapons from duct tape.

So of course, all the boys wanted to play.

What could possible go wrong?

The game they invented was a riot to watch.

Basically, if an opponent touched you with his weapon, you lost the use of whatever body part the weapon touched.

So they played on their knees, with arms behind their backs, etc..

I'd like to think the neighbors were surprised but I'm pretty sure they were not.

And yes, even the little boys who were 3 and 4 wanted in on the game.

Of course, there were no duct tape weapons left for them so we gave them a wooden stick and a wooden toy rifle.

We're wise like that.

Because we believe in gender stereotyping, the girls did something much more refined.

My cousin, Brenna, planned a tea party for the two little girls who were thrilled.

Christmas Photo Dump

Christmas has a way of filling the month of December and this year was no exception.  From presents and parties to programs and time with family, this year was pretty normal.  My pics are in reverse order and a bit lacking as I ended up being sick on Christmas Day and went home early.  (So no photos of the parakeet pillow, the tin cans with no labels, the saran wrap gift game, the beard hats, the gigantic stuffed shark hat, or the rest of my family.)  Guess that is the real life version of sharing Christmas photos, seeing as life is often backwards and full of crummy stuff.

Matching PJ's gift, dinosaurs this year

"Who wants to open presents?"

Kai does!

Envelopes from Grandpa Dave and Grandma Joann...with some money of course.

Perhaps the best gift Conleigh has every gotten. 

Grandma got her pans to make cake doughnuts and then the ingredients for three different recipes.

Add in the sign and the apron and she was already planning how to get Dad to build her a hut to sell her doughnuts out of.

D trying out the old school electronic basketball game that the boys got in their stockings.

Same for Zeke.

The big kids' gift from us this year was a surprise trip to Stuhr Museum's Christmas and an overnight in a hotel with a pool.

We managed to keep it a secret until the very day, leaving Kenson's basketball game and not telling them until they started asking why we weren't home yet.

One of the kids' favorite activities was in the tin shop where they got to pull a tin icicle ornament.

We also stopped in the train depot for cocoa and cookies.

See?  We're backwards.

Getting the tree ready.

One of the best parenting choices I have ever made is to let the kids do the tree all by themselves

I love watching them get out their old ornaments, both the ones we have given them and the ones they have made.

Those ornaments bring up so many memories for them and it's fun to hear them talk.

Here's the caboose.

Because why wouldn't you decorate the Christmas tree with part of a scuba mask in your mouth?

More Birthday Bashes

We have five birthdays within the span of 40 days in our family.  We celebrated each one a bit on the day, just within our family, but we waited until Labor Day weekend to celebrate with Grandmas and such.

Kai is now 3.
Along with Paw Patrol and doing puzzles, he loves diggers and cement trucks.

Yes, there is a glint in his eyes and yes, it's normally there.

Ready to blow

And all done!

Zeke's chilling in the recliner with Grandma 2, waiting for things to begin.

Opening presents

Two boys of a similar age pondering a Nerf gun-it was a good conversation, I'm sure.

Mom and Kai selfie

My aunt and cousins love to torment my husband with their gift giving.
He's gotten a head in a box and a fake dead bird.
This year, there was some mention of a bat.
He always proceeds with caution, even if it's just a box of chocolates.

An ocean of felt for the ocean lover

Cousins