Tag: ryan

Pre-Spring Break Break.

Today was the third day in a row I have received a call before six in the morning saying school is canceled due to inclement weather.  This is a picture of the ‘inclement weather.’ When did we get so wimpy Kansas! It is cold, and we have had some ice, but the roads are dandy. My kids have been out of school for a week now (parent teacher conferences…President Day…three snow days).  My kids have been loving the bonus spring break. Ryan and I have both worked this week so it has been a little tricky figuring out who can watch our kids last minute. Luckily we have awesome Aunt Lauren to help us out in a pinch. It is looking like there should be no reason to cancel tomorrow but I thought that the last two days. Fingers crossed!

Last weekend was the final basketball tournament games for Matthew’s season. We wanted to keep him busy through the off season for baseball so we just signed him up through the city of Olathe sports. His friend Finn ended up on the same team. The first practice looked a little rough but they had a great coach and they did really good. Their end of season record was 7-1. They were the winners for their division, and were bumped up to the next division for the tournament.  The trophies they are holding are for winning their division. They won the first game but lost the second game of the tournament. Matthew played pretty good. He is great at the steal and break away for a layup because he is so fast. He made a few threes too. He needs to work on his dribbling so he is more comfortable with his left dribble but he had a good, fun season.

Emilee is finished with her three basketball practices and has had her first two games. The first game she would run down and shoot the ball if she got it on offense, but when it was time for defense her and Reese went and SAT against the wall until it was time to run down the court again. Game two was better. She stayed on the court and held her hands up wherever she was whether she was standing by someone or not. We have been working on dribbling this week for her last game.  I love watching little kids play sports. It is so ridiculous if you sit back and take in the whole scene but it is a lot of fun for them. She is so proud of herself when she is done.

Alli's famous

A few years ago Ryan had Allison come to his work and take some pictures for some brochures they were making and other advertising stuff. They just redid some of it and added a video on their Facebook page. The last part ends with this picture. We showed Alli the video and I said, “Look Alli, you’re famous!” to which she replied in her best ‘mom you just don’t get it voice’, “Ya, I’ve been famous for years.” I hope she holds on to that confidence.

Ryan and I went on a group date with some of our friends to an Escape Room this last weekend.  We have done it once before a while ago. It is a fun time. The room had a 34% pass pass rate and we were able to figure it out before our time ran out. That made us all feel smart. Then we all went to KC Joe’s BBQ and had some delicious BBQ. I am becoming a BBQ snob, which is easy to do in  a city known for its BBQ. It is probably my favorite type of food too now.

Valentine’s is coming…

Aaahhh Valentine’s Day… I have mixed emotions about this holiday. Sometimes I get into it and it is fun, other years it is more of a hassle. This year I have been a little more into it.

For the kids I usually get them a little stuffed animal or something. My kids LOVE stuffed animals. They are going to take over our house someday. It really is something all three of them like though so it works well.

This year I am doing something fun that they have really liked. Each day I leave a little note with a treat or gift for them to find in the morning. I started on the 1st and the last one will be the 14th. Some of the favorites have been a balloon that says pop me on it with a note inside, or ones that have a cheesy note, like ‘I love you smartie pants’ with some Smarties.

This is the last weekend before Valentine’s Day so it has been full of Valentine festivities for the kids getting ready for the party coming up this week for school. They can make a box for their valentine cards and bring it if they want and then of course making the Valentine’s for each person. It made me chuckle how each kiddo did their stuff.

Emilee got an appropriate size bag to color and decorate with stickers and had fun sticking the candy on each card for her preschool friends. Took about half an hour.

Alli made a robot that opens it mouth to receive her cards. It is made from three cereal boxes, four 2 liter bottles, all covered with tin foil then colored to look like different colors of slime because it says “I love slime” all over it. She has been working on it for three days and still has some finishing touches. She also spent a few hours making her valentines and organizing them and checking and rechecking her list.

Matthew asked to have little individual bags of Skittles which he wrote ‘from Matthew’ on each one then put them in a plastic grocery sack which he said can also be his ‘box’. Took him a total of maybe five minutes.

Side note. In fifth grade I remember spending lots of time wondering and thinking about the perfect card for each boy. I stressed about the ‘meaning behind’ each one and wanted it to be very clear that I didn’t like them, or if I did like them then I had to make it obvious but not to obvious. Then after everyone handed them out at school I would come home and poor over the Valentine’s from the boys and try and figure out which ones were sending me a hidden message that they liked me. Haha! I now know that these boys (if they were anything like my boy) spent about two seconds doing their cards and had no idea that this was serious business and I would be agonizing over them wondering what they meant by giving me the one that said “you are the best!’ on it.

Ryan and I usually  keep it simple and plan a date somewhere close to the 14th and have a nice evening together. The last few years I have also given  him a homemade thoughtful, sweet, but slightly cheesy gift.  For example one year I made a little book with a picture of us from each year we had been married and decorated it over the top with hearts and glitter and flowers. One year I hooked a deck of cards together with an o-ring and mod podged a different reason I love him on each card. Another year I made a picture collage with pictures from the last 15 years we have been married.  He is getting a nice little collection for his dresser. 🙂 Ryan always makes sure I get a yummy supply of dark chocolate too, which I am already looking forward to.