As soon as I woke him up he was dressed and studying his yardage book and practice round scorecard.  Brian and I are gathering waters and breakfast food.  Same order as yesterday at the Pine Scone Cafe because we are big fans now.  Jake is too nervous to eat.We arrive at Pinehurst 8 and it truly is beautiful and so is Brian’s caddie bib!  ha! This is the first time I’ve seen him in a bib and it’s quite lovely.  He’s really looking the part today.

I missed a little bit of the first bit but here’s some of the tee off on #1.  I really need to get with the program if I’m going to be good at documenting! 

He started out with a perfect drive and he’s playing with a kid from Sarasota FL and one from Charlotte NC.  Brian has already warned me that one of them either has a swing coach or some sort of professional coach watching and have discussed every hole for 30 min.  We might be in over our heads here or just annoyed, I’m not sure which.  It’s boiling hot and water is unavailable on the course due to COVID so better pack your back packs full!I was doing my best to keep the scorecard, not pass out from heat and dehydration, and check out all beautiful pine cones along the way.  I do love the exercise and the beauty of the course and these kids are impressive!! 

This is a very difficult course and his opponents are rock solid golfers.  For whatever reason, Jake is just not in the zone he was in yesterday for his practice round.  Maybe it’s nerves, maybe it’s the pressure, and maybe it’s just not his day today.By hole 14, the struggle bus had arrived and Jake had a front row seat.  As much as I hate to see my guy agonizing, he’s pushing through this and his competitors are fantastic.  He’s learning and playing with the best.

He isn’t meeting his own expectations and having some mental struggles but he’s persevering and I love watching him play regardless.  Nothing is breaking my spirit here folks, I’m here for the long haul and if I have to carry him to the end kicking and screaming, I will (which would never happen because he’s way to composed for that and I might be keeled over by then).The round finished in pretty good time and no weather factors other than heat.  He shot an 88 which was 13 shots worse than his practice round yesterday.  His opponets were even and +2. He is very disappointed and this is undeniably one of the worst rounds he’s had this season.  This is the cruelty of the game of golf.  One day you are on and another day you are off.

We head straight back to the hotel and he’s not even in the mood to practice or go to eat.  I guess it’s a good thing because a storm blew in and players are all pulled off the course and play is suspended.  Brian and I went to eat Lisi Italian by ourselves!  How sad is that!?  Don’t worry, he’s not deprived, we brought him a large pizza back.

Jake, you are one heck of a competitor, you have so much talent and I love you endlessly. Thank you for having me here this week!  There’s more golf to play and we are here to experience ALL of it.  The good and the bad.  Let’s do this.

Love, Mom

Jake slept in his golf clothes from yesterday.  The reason for this is two-fold.  The first is, he is just so excited that he can barely see straight.  The second is, he didn’t bring enough golf clothes.  He failed to factor in that he was going to practice on the day of arrival.  He slept on the couch and I covered the couch in a sheet and gave him a blanket.  He literally needs nothing to sleep.  He had a bed available to him but he chose to use the couch.  I love this kid.

We had already decided that we were going to change from the Spring Hill Suites to the Residence Inn down the street.  It really wasn’t that bad, but it was old-ish with popcorn ceilings and dated furnishings.  Who really cares…we are going to be in here like NEVER!!  And my sweet mom has already asked me if it has been perfectly sanitized.  I’m going to go with YES it has!  In my head, everything is sanitized and my mask is working perfectly.  Plus I have received multiple compliments on my mask because Morgan made it for me and it’s beautiful! So we’ve moved to the Residence Inn which also has popcorn ceilings but Jake has his own room and bathroom and all is right in the world.

As we set out for the course for his practice round, we stopped at PineScone for breakfast.  Adorable.  The breakfast sandwiches were delicious and decor was perfect.  Poor Jake found this corner and you know a picture was going to be taken!  I want to put one of this hanging swings in my basement…PRONTO!  Complete with an adorable sports fanatic, please.

Finally this boy was able to take a full practice swing today!  The range was closed yesterday.Today we are on Pinehurst #8 for his practice round and we are able to use carts.  It’s a billion degrees here guys!  Actually, it may be the same as KC but what a blessing it is to be here playing golf among some of the best teens in the world!

We are already delayed a bit and we are only one shot in and one teen is being berated by his dad for not charging his range finder.  It was awkward.  I won’t go into the actual language he spoke to him.

What a beautiful course.  The smell of the pines and the abundance of pine cones, I was in absolute heaven.  And I get to spend the day with my sweet boy who is perfectly in love with this sport and full of composure.  He puts up with all of my crazy cart driving and just flashes a smile at me and says, “it’s ok mom.”  I smile back and just do my job of keeping stats because I would literally do just about anything for this child.Please enjoy just a few pictures I took along the way of enjoying my first time on this golf course and feeling so happy I can be here this week!

These two are carefully looking over the yardage book and Jake is making notes after every hole.  This is amazing!  Can you imagine how perfect his grades would be if he took such careful and precise notes in school!?In the meantime, one of the kiddos in our group continues to be verbally abused by his dad and my heart breaks for him. What a privilege it is to be here this week and I want all kids to have a favorable experience.  The other athlete in our group has been here every year since the age of 8 and has a wonderful demeanor and his language to Jake is so mature.  All three boys are doing their best and even with outside forces creeping in, absolutely mentally tough and keeping composure.  That a way boys!When the practice round was over, Jake checked in for his round tomorrow and received a box of goodies.  This is the fun part!  We set out for lunch because Jake still hasn’t eaten his breakfast sandwich from hours before.  He is simply not hungry on the course.  Other than a few twizzler bites out of my bag, he has eaten nothing today!  As you can see by his super slim figure!  We stopped by Sweet Basil for take out on a recommendation from my wonderful friend Kayla, who lived here for a time.  Jake decided to go ahead and eat his sandwich from breakfast!After a pit stop for showers, we made it back to the the course for driving range practice and a run on the Par 3 course.  It’s all golf all the time.  We also made a stop into the pro shop for some souvenirs.  This is not easy folks!  We left the shop for a bag fill of items that does not include anything for me.  I really wanted a sweatshirt – and yes, it’s 95 degrees here!  I’m just thinking ahead for my fall KC days.

Jake would literally practice forever so we decided it was time to take a break, stop by the store for a battery for his range fiber, neosporin for his blisters on this hands and a cheeseburger.  And come to find out, he had eaten his leftover BK cheeseburger that had been shoved in his backpack from yesterday. OMG…he ate it!  What in the actual heck!?  This cannot be safe.

Well he’s not throwing up, so I guess it’s ok.

So it’s good night for now as we rest for tomorrow!  He shot a solid 75 today in his practice round.  Go Jake!More to updates to come!

On Thursday, our family was supposed to be taking a much anticipated trip to St. John, USVI.  However, due to the Covid pandemic that has escalated rapidly since I’ve been out here in blog world, we had to cancel.  On the bright side, Jake qualified to play at the US Kids World Teen Championship in Pinehurst, NC.  Brian and I both decided that we didn’t want to miss this event since it is a bucket list item for Jake.  So today, Brian’s Ford Explorer made it’s way to KCI airport with a set of golf clubs, a pull cart, 2 suitcases, and 3 backpacks for the first time since March 11th maybe!?  I’ve completely lost track of time.  Honestly.Without a doubt this is the most strange traveling experience I’ve ever had.  We wore our masks religiously and before we even left the ground, Jake was already watching golf.He loves this sport through and through. But by flight #2 to Raleigh, he was passed out on the tray table.Traveling with Jake makes me think back to earlier times of him scurrying through the airport with tiny crocs on his feet and a perfect outfit looking up at me with big brown eyes and needing my help, usually with a smile.  Today I am feeling thankful for the time that I look up at him his beautiful brown eyes and still always making sure he is by my side.  He doesn’t need my help but I’m so happy to be here, needed or not.

After finally arriving in Pinehurst, we checked into our hotel and went straight to the course for a little practice.  He could barely wait 1 minute to get there.  I’m trying to document this as best as I can you see, so we had to stop for an embarrassing picture.  The first thing I noticed is, I have hit the mother-load of pine cones here.  Jake just laughed as it is a family joke that I picked up a back pack full of pine cones at a previous tournament.  Honestly guys, it’s the little things that make me happy.  Even pine cones. 

As he met up with a friend and spent a few hours out there practicing, I enjoyed a little time reading a book and enjoying the time that isn’t spent in a mask or in my home or obsessing over what will happen with the start of school.  This is bliss for him and for me. I am insanely proud of this young man.  He’s 14 and let’s all remember back to our days of being 14.  They’re hard.  I was hard.  I remember that I knew everything possible in life.  I still do!  Just ask Brian and my brother-in-law, Scott, and my sister.  It’s a long-standing joke.  I love his passion for sports.  I love his focus and I’m happy that we can get him here to NC to play with some of the best in the world.  I don’t care what his score is (and those of you that know me know that is the very honest truth!).  I am truly blessed to be a part of this journey with Jake this week!  In large part to Morgan who is helping me out so much.  You ROCK!

After a little practice, we were able to look around this amazing and adorably quaint town, and have dinner.  He reluctantly took a picture in front of a flower pot (it’s a family joke!)And he’s already tired of my documentation and we just arrived!!Back to the hotel and he’s already on the chipping/putting area here.  He’s in the ZONE you guys.  He can only think about golf right now!And then we just go ahead and come up with some short game options in the room.  This is what I’m dealing with here folks, traveling with a 14 year old boy and his golf clubs!Check out a couple little videos I managed to capture before he caught me and told me to stop;) 

and finally he is settling in to go through all of his golf paraphernalia.  This just cracks me up…It’s like me going through my bags after an amazing shopping experience! Also settling into a little PS4 to top off the evening. Practice round tomorrow and he can’t get there fast enough!

Good night for now…

We are certainly living in weird times at the moment with Covid, but I want to take a departure from that madness as it seems to be all encompassing.  Last night as I was driving over to my sisters to satisfy my kids thirst for puppies, I overheard the best conversation in the back.  The topic came up about what Morgan was going to study in college.  This is always a hot topic since she is now officially a senior in high school!  This always makes me excited and sad at the same time but to hear her siblings discuss it, is just plain cute.  The conversation continued and Drew asked Reece, “what are you going to be when you grow up?”  She said, “I think I’m going to be a doctor.”  I was delighted to hear these aspirations as she truly is a smart little girl but it was definitely the first time I had heard it.  Then this came out…“except I don’t really like blood or throw up.”  Oh yes, that could be a problem.  Drew said “you could work in our doctors office, there’s never any blood or throw up.”  “Drew, what are you going to be?”  Without hesitation he said, “I’m going to be a professional basketball player and Liv (Stowell) is going to be my agent.”  Liv is our neighbor across the street.  Reece immediately says, “well I want to be your agent!”  “Well I’m sorry, that is already taken, but you can be my lawyer”  Ok fine it’s settled then.  Drew is going to be a professional basketball player and Reece is going to be a lawyer.  There you have it.  The wisdom that is created and shared in the back of my minivan is priceless and I wouldn’t want it any other way.  Dream Big, kiddos, you can do it!  Can’t wait to be sitting court-side.

During this quarantine, Drew has been working so hard.  Harder than all of us.  He is doing fitness and drills and cooking and making lists and checking every box.  So proud of you Drew!

Meet Zoey, Shauna and Scott’s new fur baby (thanks to the quarantine).  She’s a long haired apple head chihuahua and she’s tiny!

And of course my crew is always lobbying for a dog.  They truly give the best presentations but I just can’t do it.  Not even a quarantine can seem to change my mind! We are settling for two little turtles that Jake found on the golf course…Buttercup and Milo.

More updates to come!

Since our drive home from Colorado on March 16th, the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic has escalated at an extremely rapid pace.  An order released from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, recommended a quarantine for people that visited certain counties in CO.  That was us.  So we immediately started a 14 day quarantine.  WELCOME BAAAACK!

Out of “an abundance of caution” has been taken to a whole new level.  A level we’ve never seen in our lifetime.  I went from doing pretty good and proceeding on with our normal St. Patty’s day tradition of green pancakes and Reece creating an adorable “shamrock photo booth”…

to a puddle of sadness when I heard school was cancelled for the rest of the school year!!  This means I will never see Jake walk out of Prairie Trail Middle School ever again.  And I quite possibly watched Morgan’s last high school soccer game and didn’t even realize it.  That is very very sad to me.  I feel especially heart-broken for anyone that has a senior.  Their senior prom, their graduation, their sports.  Oh my gosh, NO SPRING SPORTS!  For some of them, it would be their last time ever playing.  For someone who shuttles a lot of kids to sports every single day, that hit hard for me.

It has definitely taken numerous days for all of this to sink in and each day I discover more and more things that are impacted.  We have made it to day 14 of our family quarantine and it’s been interesting!!  We have gone from the most over-scheduled family ever to having nothing on the calendar at all.  This is a HUGE adjustment for us!  We are used to running around crazy from game to game to practice to youth group to meetings, etc.

We always beg for TIME and now we have it!  I just wish it was under more pleasant  circumstances. We have used this time to get some things done that always fall to the bottom of the list.  It started with a complete clean out and sanitation of my van.  That was quite an eye-opening experience for the kids.  They were in shock at how many times we had to clean out the bucket of dirty water!  On a daily basis, we just get the trash out and the sports bags.  The cleaning…welllll, it just doesn’t happen!

We washed and sanitized every single thing that went to Colorado with us and also washed every piece of bedding in our house.  This 5 month summer break is not very glamorous so far!

Just before we left, we had a water heater leak in the basement that flooded my craft room.

Getting that room put back and organized was a good 7 hour project.  Look at it!  It hasn’t looked this tidy and organized in years!

We’ve cleaned out the game cabinet and proceeded to play pretty much every game in there.  Generally, there are few family game nights because we’re always gone!Generally, there are few family game nights because we’re always gone!  A good game night is always a blast.

We’ve already had several virtual birthday parties via Zoom conferencing.  It’s hard to be in a celebratory mood sometimes but having something to look forward to that’s not a soccer practice or online school, is now our new form of fun!

I even got to attend a birthday party myself!  We were supposed to be on a girls trip in Mexico celebrating, but the next best thing in these times, is hopping on Zoom with a beach virtual background and a bottle of wine.  New normal.

We are now watching church online and Jake is doing his confirmation classes via Zoom.  Our pastor was broadcasting from the sanctuary but now she in her home doing it.  We won’t be in church on Easter Sunday?  Will we even dress up?  I guess not.  All of this is uncharted territory.

We’ve cleaned out our storage closets in the basement and Morgan has learned to patch walls and paint.She’s preparing our playroom to be her bedroom when she leaves for college.  A place she can come back to to store her things and have a nice place to call her own.  A little premature to be doing this since she’s only a junior, but we have the time so I guess we should start!  The boys are about at the end of their patience sharing a room, so that will free up a room for them to separate when she goes.  So proud of you MoMo!!

About 1 day into the quarantine and Reece was already starting craft projects and using up all the tape.  This girl loves tape!  Look how incredible this project is!!

I adore this creativity!

Jake has been hard at work perfecting his golf game.  No shock there.  Hoping for a Division 1 scholarship after all this…

I’ve been doing my grocery shopping via facetime with a friend.  So thankful for my friends right now!!

And cleaned out kids drawers and closets – including my own.  It was bad – my drawers were to the point of barely opening.  Why do my boys have almost 70 hats?  This is clearly a problem.

We’ve turned my bedroom into the workout room and I HATE working out at home.  But I cannot go without exercise or I will lose my mind! Thankfully I have some cute workout buddies from time to time!

And we are doing family wall sits and a lot of walks every day as well.

Thank goodness because we are eating and drinking like crazy.  It’s not the “freshman 15” it’s the “Quarantine 19”  We have had a bunch of family meals and sharing in the cooking duties.  Kids are researching recipes and learning life skills!  Brian is amazed that we are running the dishwasher pretty much every day now.  It’s the little things we are amazed with now I guess!

Sports practices are now all online and I can assure you that these kids would rather be on the field or in the gym.  This will continue for weeks and it’s just not the same!!

#quaranastics

This week would’ve been Morgan’s 1st two JV soccer games and we put on our Ravens spirit wear in honor of the occasion.  I’m beyond sad that this season finished before it even started.  I had even volunteered to be the JV team mom 😦

a little garage basketball practice (video)

Online learning starts tomorrow but it’s optional and doesn’t impact your grades so we will be doing our best but not stressing over any of it.  Luckily, the high school students have the opportunity to improve their grades while the younger students will end the year with their 3rd quarter grades as they were.   Kids are using Zoom to communicate with teachers and I have sent a few emails out to teachers, as have my kids, just to let them know they are missed and appreciated.

I’m really scraping to the bottom now with my house projects.  I replaced all the felt pads on the kitchen furniture and cleaned out my makeup bag and brushes.  I mean we aren’t wearing makeup right now, are we!?  But this is getting ridiculous…someone save me!!  Or let me be your inspiration to change out your furniture felt pads 😉

I finally changed out my pictures in my bedroom to include our youngest child, Reece.  She’s about to be 10, if anyone was wondering!  I am the WORST at changing out pictures.

So, overall, I’m feeling sad but also feeling productive!  Brian has done an excellent job of cleaning out the garage.  Our garage is enough to stress anyone out!  This family of 6 is rarely in this house at the same time and Brian is rarely in town this long!  So it’s been an adjustment and something we will be talking about for years to come.  Not to mention, we’ve had 3 trips impacted, including our 20th anniversary Alaskan cruise.   Our time has been filled with some laughs and also a lot of frustration and fighting but a realization of how much our friends and family mean to us!

Take good care everybody!  We’ve got this!!  More updates to come…

This Tuesday morning my kids were supposed to be strapping those giant, super-heavy school backpacks on and heading back to school after a fun-filled Spring Break.

With the threat of Coronavirus looming just before spring break, most families that I knew were carrying on as normal and still planning to travel to their spring break destinations.  Our plans were still on track to head to Breckenridge for a short ski trip and getting back in time for spring sports practices (mostly gymnastics…it’s crunch time for the state meet).  The culmination of the season and countless hours of practice.  However, each hour things were changing so I purposely didn’t pack anything.  We were in contact with my brother, Greg, constantly.  Should we go?  Should we risk it?  What if we get there and they close the ski resorts?  Kids were begging to still go, they’ve been looking forward to this for what seems like an eternity.  I tuned into president Trump’s address to the nation concerning Covid-19 (and I am NOT a news watcher), started pulling out the snow gear tubs and an assembly line of sandwiches.  We don’t buy lunch food on the mountain, people, it’s too expensive for a family of 6.With 16 sandwiches in hand, clothes literally thrown in suitcases, and a constant pulse on the corona virus situation in Colorado, we hit the road to Manhattan to meet Brian’s brother and family for dinner, catch up on life, and get two hours of our drive marked off the list.  We had a wonderful time catching up with them and the kids, who are not so little anymore, played games and goofed around.We got up super early and started the rest of our journey to meet up with Greg at our meeting spot in Russell, KS.  McDonalds.  It’s our spot.  With spray hand sanitizer in hand, we started our constant sanitation process that occurred the remainder of our trip.  Greg said, “it’s a really good thing you made those sandwiches because the mountain is not serving hot food in an attempt to avoid crowds.”  We were refreshing our feeds on the ski resorts every second to make sure we were still ok to make the trip.  The drive was like a walk in the park compared to the last time we did this when we white knuckled the steering wheel and the highway shut down due to bad weather.  Hmmm…starting to see a pattern of bad luck on these trips!!

We made our way to Frisco, CO for a late lunch at Greco’s Pastaria.  The owner is a friend of Brian’s and it’s quite possibly becoming a tradition for us to stop there en route to Breck.  Although it seemed unusually vacant in town, we had a great meal and ski resorts were still open. Sidenote: The Italian Wontons and Red Sangria are absolutely amazing if you’re in Frisco.  Still dreaming of when I might get to have that plate of amazing again.  They are hand-made from scratch every morning and I’m wondering if he would ship them to Lenexa, KS!?  I’m certain it’s a secret family recipe that could never be shared.

We arrived in Breck, checked into our respective hotels, and loaded our gear into the rooms.

Just after this photo was taken and one refresh of the Breckenridge ski resort website later, our worst fear had come true.  The Ski Resort was closing as of the next morning for 1 week out of an “abundance of caution.”  How many times have we read and heard that phrase  over the last week?  It’s part of our normal vocabulary now.

Frantically we are all scouring our phones for other ski resorts.  Maybe others are still open?  Maybe we can go night skiing?  We jumped in the car and went to Keystone to try to get on the slopes for the night skiing session.  While they were still allowing people to ski that were already on the mountain, they would not rent equipment to those who were not already there suited up.  So, that plan failed.  It was a great idea though!  We went back to Breck and I was determined to make the best of this situation.  Right outside our window, we spotted a sledding hill so we jumped on that opportunity.  We had the best time and I laughed and laughed and laughed.  For some reason, watching your kids fly down an icy hill and repeatedly slam into a fence while rounding the corner was actually funny.  Maybe we were delirious.

Morgan worked so hard on this wall barrier to try to help with the slamming into the fence!!

Colorado is really the most beautiful place!

We enjoyed dinner out with a constant sanitation process! and we came back to the room still holding out hope that maybe we could ski Copper Mountain.  It was still open, but by 10pm all the surrounding resorts were closed so we did a group brainstorming of things we could still do in this beautiful place we drove 10 hours to see.  Collin and Jake led the discussion with brochures from the lobby.And ate a ton of snacks of course!!  We come prepared….I have teenage boys on this trip!

We all agreed on a snow mobiling excursion and Greg got us all booked for the next afternoon.  Go Team!

You could see a little bit of sadness in peoples eyes or perhaps a bit of “I’m lost” as we walked around the town the next morning.  The slopes were closed and that is the primary reason most people come here!  We did a little bit of shopping and then ventured about an hour away to our snow mobiling destination.

Our guide was Steve.  He was a talker!  I discovered his best friend lived in Olathe and worked at Hallmark all his life (he was moved to tears talking about him!!) His son was an insurance agent in Lawrence, he lives in Silverthorne, he’s divorced, and he had toured a big group of high school boys that morning from Olathe, KS and on and on!  We had a great time and although, it’s not skiing or snowboarding, it’s something we can check off our bucket list!We stopped at a tubing spot and despite my fear of careening down an icy mountain on a tube, I managed to overcome it and it was quite fun!  Between the tubing and the race track portion, those were the favorites for the group.  I also really loved the Aspen trees.  Gorgeous!!

By the time we made the hour drive back to Breck, we were so hungry!We ventured out to find some food (burgers and shakes of course!) and it was at that point that we realized that it was not the same.  Everything was pretty vacant.  Shops and restaurants were closing and it was not a happy feeling.  When you feel like you’re now the only one in the hotel and the ski racks look like this….It’s time to head home!  On the way home we stopped at the New Jerusalem Badlands State Park in Oakley, KS for one last bit of spring break fun.  I had heard about it from a few people and Collin loves an adventure like this.  I’m so glad we made this stop.  This is a gem right in the middle of western Kansas!

Sometimes life doesn’t always go as planned but we certainly made lemonade out of lemons on this adventure!!  Don’t worry….we’ll be back to the mountains!  And as my funny twin brother would say…we’ll be “shredding the slopes duuuude” when the time is right.

Much love to my adventure crew…love you guys!!

It feels great to be back out here writing!  I’ve been down for the count with bronchitis.  The kids were convinced I had the coronavirus, the current world-wide scare.  It’s definitely the hottest topic in the media at the moment.  I honestly never get sick – lucky I guess.  But every once in awhile in February I come down with something.  This was my February!  Even sweet Jake was worried about me (and 14 year old boys are not always conscientious about much!)

Jake, it warmed my heart so much when you told me you prayed for me to get better and I received this email from your youth leader…  He’s working his way through 8th Grade Confirmation this Spring and I’m so proud of him!

As Brian and I set off for Cancun for his annual work trip, I started coughing like crazy.  We stayed at the JW Marriott resort and it’s always beautiful, the most turquoise water you’ve ever seen, fantastic restaurants, and it’s the only time I actually get to read a book cover to cover.  I might of missed the welcome beach party because I was so tired that I slept through it, but let’s try to keep that on the down-low.  Oh well, there’s always next year, we hope!  We ended up coming home a day early and didn’t even get one picture together while we were there.  Who actually leaves a free trip early!?   We should really step up our game!

In the meantime, Morgan was a rock star as usual and we weren’t out of the house but a few hours, and she already had everything running better than I do!

Momo, you are AMAZING!  I want to be like you when I grown up!! 😉

Nanny and Papa graciously agreed to take Reece to St. Louis for a gymnastics meet.  We have the best family ever!  She didn’t do as well as she had hoped, it’s been a rough start to Level 4 gymnastics this season, but her team took first and Nanny got to learn all about Tik Tok!

You have to watch these videos and turn your sound on!  GO NANNY GO!

All the while, we have had a very fun and super busy basketball season for Jake, Drew, and Reece.  Morgan decided not to play high school basketball this year and we were sad that we didn’t get to see her play.  Actually, Papa was the most sad as he’s the basketball super fan!  It freed up some time for her to just be a high school junior for a little bit!

Jake’s 8th grade Prairie Trail Middle School B team is undefeated!  They’ve been a blast to watch this year!

At one of Jake’s games, we had one eye on the game, and one eye on trying to get this little cutie ready for the daddy/daughter dance!  She refused to wear a dress this time so we settled on a super stylish sequined shorts romper.  I’d say that qualifies this little athlete for best dressed!

Morgan worked the makeup station at the dance.  YIKES…maybe a different volunteer station would’ve been a better fit!?

Drew has played on two teams this year.  The Ravens are his school buddies and they have so much fun together!  He also tried out for a competitive team this winter and has learned and grown in the game so much.  You’ve never seen such a kid hustle!  We are so proud of you, DREW!

He played in two 3v3 tournaments this session and absolutely killed it in the last one.  6 games in one night, losing by 1 in the final seconds but I think he could’ve kept playing!  Thank  goodness it ended though, because my bleacher butt couldn’t take it one more minute!

Reece’s 4th grade Pink Thunder team has had a rough season but they have fun together and it’s the CUTEST!

All kids play indoor soccer/futsal in the winter too.  Listen, we don’t like to have spare time.  Might as well fill it up with some games!

In the meantime, we managed to squeeze in several games of Monopoly and Yahtzee, golf, practice soccer flip throws in the basement,  repair the microwave (Brian tried to electrocute himself and break the microwave all at once) and snowboard in the back yard….WITHOUT SNOW.  I can’t make this stuff up!  I bought this snowboard for Reece and she’s been patiently waiting for it to snow so she can try it out.  I hate to say it…but I think Spring has officially sprung.  Sorry Reecie!

YES…that is a soccer ball sailing straight into our bar full of glassware!

Watch this!!

Ok so these are not some of our finer moments!!  It’s probably best that Spring is here.  We need to get outside and get some fresh air.

One last thing…our Grammy moved into a new assisted living apartment!  She’s the best!

More updates on the Conley Crew to come…

You gotta fight for your right to PAAARRRTTTYYY!  Perhaps you have to be a KC Chiefs fan to understand this phrase or at least a Beastie Boys fan.  Certainly if you’ve been following the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl, you know that Travis Kelce has brought a whole new life to this phrase.

I will forever remember this as it relates to my amazing, sports-loving, Chiefs-loving, ultimate stats keeper, cheeseburger-eating, 12 year old son, whom we partied and cheered with to celebrate his 12th birthday. 

On January 12, we gathered friends and family to celebrate Drew and watch the all- important Chiefs game against the Texans.  I’m sure many would agree with me here, you can’t help but adore this little guy.  He has a personality all his own, he is so kind, he will have a conversation with you and later you will scratch your head and remember it as being so grown up and perfectly thought through.  He’s a sports fanatic, always asking questions and rattling off stats and players names. So when it came time for his birthday, which always sneaks up on me in January, it was only fitting to have Chiefs party.  My first one – I can’t believe it!!  I’m born and raised here, and I’ve never officially done a Chiefs birthday party!  Brian was traveling for work, Morgan’s car was broken down and being towed, it was snowing like crazy, and I spent every minute that I wasn’t driving or feeding kids, pulling a party together.  Thankfully, I had done a football theme for Jake in October, so I grabbed some of those decorations, and some red accessories from from Scott’s 60th bday party I helped with, and went for it!

Drew made the menu himself (complete with his favorite frozen party pizzas) and he checked in on me from time to time to make sure I was on track to have this party perfect before Sunday arrived.  He’s the cutest!!

When guests arrived and the game started we were all filled with hope.  Before long, we were down 24-0 and I was hoping I hadn’t thrown the worst birthday party of all time because our beloved Chiefs were losing!  We had superstition creeping in as we started assigning guests to sit in certain spots and not move, my sister had to wear this obnoxious necklace for the rest of the party because when she put it on, the game started turning around.  Chiefs fans do everything in excess!

poor holly had to sit in the corner by herself until the Chiefs turned it around!

We laughed, we almost cried, we celebrated, we discovered that Morgan’s friend, Emma, has unusually long arms, we discussed Morgan’s favorite stuffed animal octopus family at length, and we watched Drew in his element — shouting “yessir,” woo-hooing, and high-fiving. The Chiefs pulled off the biggest comeback in  history with happy guests and a birthday boy that was thrilled.  SUCCESS!!  LET’S GOOOOO!!

I took the biggest sigh of relief!!

My sweet boy pooled all of his birthday money to give to two charities, The Center of Grace, and Shadow Buddies.  I told you–he has the most kind heart EVER!  Happy birthday Drew Boo – you are so LOVED.

a hand-painted cheeseburger card from Liv Stowell

McCaffrey jersey – it was on his christmas list

On his actual birthday, 2 days later, he requested we bring him lunch from McDonalds, a big order, I might add!! He said he wanted to be able to share with friends.

To cap off his night, his bestie Dan Dearmore and family, brought over the perfect gift…a mini pool table.  An inside joke from some lucrative betting that occurred around a pool table before the holidays.  Those two really like to mess with each other.  Thank you Dan!

On top of all this fun, we arranged a day at SNOW CREEK with friends to go tubing on MLK day.  It was FREEZING and snowing like crazy, but it was a blast.  A perfect end to celebrating a perfect boy!

At any given moment, Reece has about 18 things going on.  She’s an athlete and she also loves to sing, dance around, and tumble for hours.  Her elementary school offers an option to do special chorus for 4th & 5th graders and of course she wanted to do it!  She even wrote an essay to be part of the leadership team.  Of course she did.  This is what Reece does!  We’re a couple months in now and it’s taken it’s toll.

Those early morning practices and extra retreats are about to do her in.  Plus she’s learning the recorder (aka devil’s flute) and is determined to pass all the levels as quickly as possible.  If she doesn’t pass soon with her ‘black belt’ this family is going to LOSE IT.  We’ve already been telling her to go outside to practice or get in the closet!

Never underestimate Reece Conley, she will pass these levels even if she has to pull all-nighters for a week!

We had our first chorus concert and we couldn’t even see her face for a second.  UGH!  We were all looking forward to the concert because she is generally a very animated performer.

somehow Aunt Jenn was able to capture this photo…at least you can tell she’s actually in the choir and it’s not just a stand-in.

I signed Morgan and Jenn to sell Manchester Park sunglasses after the show for a fundraiser.  I’m sure they were thrilled…those two are usually up for anything.

I can assure you, these little choir kids are practicing really, really hard because they were chosen to perform at KMEA in February.  I hope Reece can make it!  Her schedule is a BEAST.

Even though we couldn’t see her, we are certain she did a great job!  She always has a fan club…we are just thankful that Brian didn’t change his business trip to be there, he would’ve been a tad bit irritated!

More to come…

Awwww I used to love snow days.  I remember the feeling when my mom would get the call first because she was the school secretary.  This call would be on a land line (like a phone with an actual cord attached to a phone line in the wall!)  Mom had to start the calling tree to all the teachers and then I got to use the phone to call Lisa, my best friend.  It was a glorious feeling!

I still love snow days because I can imagine my kids feeling that same sense of excitement.  However, it also means my normal day is derailed a bit and I won’t get anything done on my list.  That’s a definite drawback.

We got a ton of snow in a short time and as we were heading to the store to get our gifts for the family we adopted, we got the notification.  Within minutes, Drew was already invited to a sleepover and Jake was making a plan for his friends to come over.  There it begins….staying up late, eating junk food, and pulling out the bins of snow clothes.

Party Pizzas.  How in the world can I let my kids eat these things!?  They have to be top on the list of the most horrible processed foods ever made.  My boys LOVE them and so do their friends.  YIKES!

Reece was ditched by her brothers, so she did her own thing and started snow boarding in the back yard.  I love a kid that will just take matters into their own hands and rock it.  I had her bundled to the max but before long, she was shedding clothes and building ramps for herself.  She gave up snowboarding last year but I’m wondering if this might spark an interest again?

Here are a few video clips—I’m doing this from the warmth of my house of course.  It was COLD!

In the meantime, Jake is at the Falcon Valley Golf Course hill – a hot spot for sledders.  When I passed by, they were putting on actual snow skis.  Hmmm….seems like a bad idea but most of them are when you’re a teenage boy.  They had built ramps for all to enjoy and I was driving all around town getting stuck on slick roads from time to time.

Reece’s girl scout troop even got their holiday party in, complete with ornament and cozy sock exchange!  Yay!Drew’s soccer team braved the extreme temps to serve the community being Salvation Army bell ringers!  I love this.We don’t let snow keep us from doing anything apparently.  We also got our Christmas cookies started.  We tried to take a short cut and ended up with Christmas crackers!This must be the season of “fails” because our fudge wasn’t up to our normal standards either and when we tried to go see Santa, his line was too long so we had to mail our letters and leave!  Ugh!

Don’t worry, Santa, we’re still coming!  We’re just trying to find a time that all 6 of us are in the same place at the same time before December 25th.

After Morgan took the ACT and a couple soccer games, we hit the road for Pittsburg.  We spent a wonderful day with my Grammy and family…we were down 2 of course due to basketball games.  Go figure.

We are officially one week away from Christmas day and we are gearing up to celebrate in various ways with friends and family and we are so excited.  The Christmas crackers, the non-creamy fudge, the lost Christmas letters….it will all be ok.  Sometimes the Christmas season isn’t always perfect, but it’s our perfect this year, and we’re still smiling.  Here are a few of our holiday memories so far!