Week 4/52

Dearest Colton and Jax,

This week went by in a flash!  The fact that we're wrapping up January is honestly unbelievable!!  

Maybe it's because time flies when we're around this foosball table.?.?.

Or maybe it's because we spent the weekend in Houston?

 

We went there for Kaitlyn's 4th birthday and y'all got to play around at her gym.

The competition between the two of us is fierce.  Sometimes I win, sometimes you win, but the score is usually pretty close!

 

We wanted to talk to you, Colt, about your upcoming soccer season so we asked you to hop up on the island.  You propped yourself up there like a frat boy and Daddy and I were both deluged with visions of our future!

This week's soccer practice was special because you received your official team bag with uniforms, stickers, and equipment.

And tonight was just gorgeous!   We all went to the park and tried to swing the rust off of your baseball gear.  There are some try-outs coming up this weekend so we wanted to remind your muscles what to do (you haven't played in over 2 months!).

 Now we welcome February.  And I have a feeling it will go by just as fast, if not quicker, than January.

Oy!

Week 3/52

Dearest Boys,

Three weeks in and I'm already feeling thankful that I'm keeping up with life in this simple way.  Because here I am, posting only a few days "late", and I'm already struggling to remember what we did last week!  These small nuances are the exact things I'd like to hold on to...so here were ours last week:

 I have a teammate who really enjoys dressing up for the various special days we have at school.  She convinced us to become Star Wars characters and I laughed at us the entire day!

 I was looking forward to a night out with some girlfriends the whole day on Saturday so we took it really easy.  I did pause to take a picture of a VERY typical scene from our living room.  Dad is doing some business via laptop & cell phone and you, Jax, are ready for me to throw the ball with you.  (Colt, you were in the office on the computer.)

Travis had his 8th birthday party at WinKids on Sunday and you boys were all sweaty after trying their new Ninja Warrior stunts.

We celebrated MLK, Jr. and didn't go to school on Monday.  I saw my dream come to fruition when you two got haircuts!

We were right back at it come Tuesday...homework and all!

 Wednesday = soccer

After dinner at your favorite place (Blue Goose), we had a little lesson in teeth brushing.  I tried to prove to you that your 13 second quick-swipe isn't sufficient so I had you chew these disclosing tablets that we got from the dentist.  They turned your teeth bright pink (you could see better in the pic if you two weren't having a giggle fit over the whole thing!) to show you exactly where to brush.  That planned backfired as you loved the look of your new "cool" teeth and wanted to leave them that way!

You make the weeks go by so fast!

Week 2/52

Dearest Colton and Jax,

Week 2 started to pick up speed as you, Jax, had your first "official" practice with your new soccer team.  We knew that we needed you to experience a different type of coaching so we tried out another team for a few practices.  Well, they offered you a spot on their team, so now it's official.  This also happened to be the week where Dad had to put in a lot of extra hours at work.

Friday:  Soccer practice 

 Saturday:  "Planning Meeting" with the Vaughns for our upcoming trip.  

Kate picked out a dessert that was a big hit with you, Colt!

 Sunday:  It was about 10pm when I realized I forgot the daily picture!!!  (Which is a shame because you went to a super fun birthday party that afternoon!)  So I snapped a quick one while Dad & I cuddled later than we should have.  We were watching our latest addiction, a documentary called Making A Murderer, that really appeals to the psychologists in us.

Monday:  Reading together <3 and I remain in awe of your fluency!  And the miscues you do make are so adorable!

Tuesday:  Jax, your class won a pizza party so we had dinner at your school.  Watching you boys together made me pray a little longer for your teacher during prayers that night.

Wednesday:  Waiting together during another soccer practice.  

Thursday:  Guess who's cuddled in front of the tv again!?

 I'm hoping that Week 3 brings haircuts, some sleeping in, & motivation to start those 2016 health goals...

Week 1/52

Dearest Jackson & Colt,

Happy 2016, my favorite boys!!

While I won't use the word "resolve", I will TRY to keep up with life a little differently this year.  I want to try to take a picture every day regardless of the day we're having.  My hope is that you'll read through these letter-posts one day and it will jog your memories to not only the fun adventures we've had but also to the normal routines that make our family a unit.

Honestly, I've already tweaked this non-resolution once and we're only on Week 1.  At first, I wanted to take our daily picture(s) with my DSLR (with the added bonus of better understanding the dang camera by year's end).  But I quickly remembered how cumbersome it is to tote that beast around so back to the camera phone we went!  Therefore, I declare this:  The Year of Grainy Memories!

We welcomed 2016 with balloons, friends, and dominoes!  

We slept in on New Year's Day & then made the drive down to Fort Worth to cross something off our "Holiday Bucket List".  I read about this outdoor ice rink that I thought would be a fun experience.  We bundled you up and I had you pose by this sign on the way there.

  Then we rounded the corner...and were underwhelmed, to say the least.  : (

Considering we were all the way in Fort Worth, we had to do something!  Google to the rescue!  Before long, we were in these nearby Japanese Gardens...

Since we typically don't drive over 30 minutes to tour gardens, none of us had been there before but it was surprisingly great!  You two got the run and explore and we got to enjoy a SUPER yummy linner at a restaurant they have there!  

We rushed home so that we could join the Vaughns for their annual party.  We feasted on prosperous foods like black eyed peas, pork, and cabbage (a tradition I didn't even know about until we moved to Texas!) & stayed well after closing time ;)

We ran around doing our errands on Saturday and, Colt, you were looking too-cool-for-school while we were out and about!

 

We took a family walk on Sunday and headed to the equestrian center.  Not sure why we'd never done that before.?.?. but it was fun to check out the horses. 

You spent Sunday night and all day Monday at Grandpa & Grandma's since you didn't have school but both adults had to work.  On Monday night, I asked if you were ready to go back to school and this is seriously the look you gave me, Colton.  You make us laugh every single day, young man!

 Bro came over to play for a little bit on Tuesday and a foosball tournament took place upstairs.

 I tried a new recipe (tuna noodle casserole) on Wednesday night and it was liked by some people more than others.  The faces you made with each bite would lead some to believe that you were forced to eat razors!

 Thursday night we were all feeling blessed by having "an easy week" and the living room was unusually quiet as we watched tv before bedtime and felt thankful for only 1 more alarm left in the week!