January in review

Here are a few highlights from one of my favorite months of the year:

*We have enjoyed some very cold weather mixed in with fabulous 70 degree days. My parents brought Mary Beth this scarf and hat from Ireland last May. We were finally able to pull it out for good use last week!

Typical Mary Beth! ;)
Possible the greatest Christmas gift EVER! Bryon got me a Nespresso espresso maker this Christmas, and we use it every day. I love just a plain, no frills espresso.....
...but also love making cappuccinos. I have become a barista! Bryon and I enjoy our cappuccino happy hour every day.
I was very behind in archiving family memories, so I ordered 4 YEARS of digital prints off the computer and put them all in boxes labeled with the correct year. This job was very time consuming, but such a treat walking down memory lane. I can't believe how much the kids have changed.
I knit all the time. With every project, I try to learn a new skill. I have just learned how to double knit, which is knitting on both sides of a project at once. Mary Beth is a slave driver, and if I am sitting down, she calmly brings me my knitting bag, so I can finish her Valentine's scarf on time!
Gotta give a shout out to Gus. The kids spent four days in Conroe at the beginning of the month. When they came home, Mary Beth ran in with bright eyes. I thought she was going to give me a big hug. Actually, she saw Gus and ran over to give him kisses instead. Yes, I have been replaced by a dog.

If it's winter time in our house, it's Upwards Basketball time! Bryon has coached every year since Matthew was a 1st grader. This is the first year that all three kids could play, so he is coaching all three kids. In the 15 plus years that we have been together, I have never found a single activity that wears this man out.....until this month! He adores coaching all three kids, but he is a zombie every Saturday night. It's a miracle!

I have taken quite a few pictures of Miss Mary Beth playing basketball. She LOVES to play! She is also quite horrible at it. :) It really is our comic relief of the week. I'm sure she will improve over the years, but as for now, well, we aren't keeping our fingers crossed for a basketball scholarship!

Doing the splits-an essential part of any basketball game.
Matthew got to help assistant coach on Saturday. He loves helping his Daddy!
Taking a breather in between quarters.
Here, Mary Beth is "guarding" her best friend, Whitney. Insert lots of giggles here...
Tee Hee Hee!
What she lacks in basketball skills, she makes up for in reading skills. Baby girl LOVES to read!
And do homework! She brings home homework twice a week, and immediately sits at the bar to get it done once she is home.



I have only once halfway decent picture of Thomas. Apparently, I am talking to much to friends on the team. I will do better next week. Three of the five boys on this team are future offensive lineman in high school. They are killer on defense. A few weeks ago, we were in a defensive struggle with an opposing team. In fact, with one minute to go, the score was only 8-6 (we were behind). Then, Thomas got the ball, dribbled down court and shot from quite a distance out (he swears it was in 3 point land, hmmmm) we were behind the basket but had a perfect view of the swish! He tied the game up. We were so proud!
Matthew is doing great as well. This is his first year to play full court, and he is loving every minute of it. We always enjoy watching our intense little man playing man to man combat. He scores 6-10 points per game, lots of assists, and rebounds. He is on a great team this year and cannot wait to play each week.

Speaking of man to man combat sports, we have had a huge turn of events in our household. After lots of talk and prayer, we have decided to drop baseball from our activities this year. We were tired of the relentless schedule, free time killing, political nature of kid baseball. Matthew has decided this spring to go back to playing soccer. He wants to play football in the fall, and thinks that soccer will help him prepare better than baseball. We will not know what to do with ourselves without baseball in the spring, as it has been a part of our lives since Matthew was 5, but are thrilled with the prospect of only having three soccer games each week. I love watching Matthew play soccer 10 times more than I love baseball, so we are excited to see what the spring holds for our family!





Matthew loves cooking breakfast for the family. I love sitting down and taking pictures of him doing so!

New Year...New Smile!

Well, Matthew's smile changed forever today. For years, the dentist thought that Matthew would not need braces because his teeth were coming in perfectly straight. This devastated Matthew, who had always wanted braces.

Then, his canines popped through. You could say that those canines cost us $3,600, but whose counting, right? ;)

Matthew looks adorable with his new metallic smile, and I can't wait to see what his new and improved smile will look like in about a year and a half!