The conversation went something like this...

"Mark, how tall do you think our Christmas tree is?" "Oh, about 7 feet." It actually measured 9' 3" tall. If it were 9 inches taller, we would have been in trouble. The tree we picked out this year is the tallest tree we have ever had. It's absolutely gorgeous. Next year, we will take a tape measure with us.

How an eleven year old handles a bad hair day

He takes matters (scissors) into his own hands. His mother "flips out," so he tells his friends at school. The bad part in all of this is that he had a scheduled hair appointment that day. I guess having to wait 9 hours for a professional haircut must have seemed like a lifetime for a 6th grader. "Scissors are for cutting paper."

It's Back!

After a one year hiatus, Mark's Christmas letter is back in all its glory. I'm not convinced that this is his best work, but I still had a few belly laughs. Be on the look out if you are a usual recipient of this non-traditional letter.

The Compassionate vs. the Greedy

The boys took time this weekend to write out their Christmas lists. How can the same mother and father produce such two different children? I wonder what Santa will think?

Jonathan's list to Santa:


Jonathan's last entry reads "Presents for poor kids around the world".


Morgan's list to Santa:

We sold our 2 bedroom bungalow because...

... the boys were getting older/bigger and we needed more space.  So we sold it and moved into a brand new 4 bedroom home.  The boys instantly had their own room for the first time since JonJon was born.  Now for the past two weeks they have decided to sleep in the spare bedroom together.  Here's a shot after they crashed last night.  

Now I am wondering why I went to such great efforts to decorate their individual rooms.  Morgan is Colts crazy, and JonJon is all about the Ohio State University.  Here's hoping that someday he will attend OSU on an academic scholarship and I will never ever have to redecorate his room!  

Windy city

Mark and I have known each other for 14 years.  This past weekend was the first vacation I have taken without my husband and children.  I headed to Chicago on Friday with 7 other women.  We had a blast, shopped on Michigan Avenue and enjoyed each others company.  We returned on Sunday.  We are already talking about our next adventure...maybe Vegas?

Snow is in the air...

    (Spring Break 2008)

It's opening day in Breckenridge, CO. Last night we purchased our airline tickets to spend our 3rd consecutive Spring Break in Breck. Can't wait!

The Athletic and the Ghoulish

      Neighborhood Friends  

 
   Off and Running

 
     Older boys on their own

Has it really been 5+ years?

Saturday's football game resulted in a win and a trip to the ER. Morgan kicked off the ball with less than 3 minutes in the game. The other 10 players on his team failed to tackle the opponent in a timely manner, which resulted in the "kicker" having to chime in. In the process of tackling , he was tackled as well. Ouch. Mark carried him off the field. After the game we headed to the local ER. I was actually amazed when the registrar recited our address as 119 L... We haven't lived there since 2003. I couldn't believe that Morgan has not been seen in the ER since then. (Then I thought, wrong kid. Jonathan is the one who earns frequent patient miles...possible fractures, respiratory distress, just to name a couple of our last visits to the ER with Jon.) Back to Morgan...nothing was broken, just a strained, bruised and swollen left knee. Great news. He was back to normal Sunday evening. Oh, did I mention his stats from Saturday? He was 2-2 on extra points, and had a 20 yard field goal...and a tackle:) Morg's team had another game tonight, but they didn't need him. They never scored.

Backyard Science

My fourth graders have been learning about erosion, topsoil, subsoil and bedrock. After school today, I decided to throw on my water socks and climb down our bank to take pictures of all four vocabulary words mentioned above. I didn't have to go far. After I did my homework I even snapped a few pictures of the fall scenery that surrounds our home.

Season Ending

Today was the last day of regular season football for the boys. Jonathan's team won 20-0. Jonathan finished out his season scoring on an extra point conversion. Morgan went 4-4 on extra points. He ended the regular season 11-12 on extra points and 1-1 on field goals. Both boys have been selected to play on the all-star team for their grade. Jon graciously declined saying that he wanted to end his football season on a good note, and that he would rather watch his brother kick. Morgan will be kicking for the 6th grade all-star team.

Jonathan after the game


Morgan during a kick last weekend

Just Kickin' It: The Computer or the Football?

I have spent the last several days trying to upload a video of Morgan making an extra point in Saturday's game. No such luck. Sorry Morg. Mom tried. Instead I get to bore you with old pics. A football travels with us on all our vacations. I was fortunate enough to capture Jonathan kicking a football into the Atlantic Ocean during the Summer of '06 (Outer Banks, NC). The other picture is one of my all time favorites. The boys actually look like that they like each other...and "yes", we do feed them! Oh, to have Jon's metabolism.

Jon (white #2) running quarterback keeper

Thumpin'...to be continued

Jon's football team received their first thumpin' yesterday...ouch. With 5 minutes in the fourth quarter of Morgan's game, mother nature kicked up a nice thunderstorm which was long enough to postpone the game until tomorrow night. The score is 24-8, with Morgan's team in the lead. (Morgan is 3 for 3 on extra points.)

The Rains Came Down and the Floods Came Up

Weather forecasters are predicting lots of rain tomorrow. Someone even said we could get up to as much as 5 inches. While I don't mind an occasional rain, more than normal amounts of rain make me nervous. This past June marked the second major flood we have had in this area in 5 years. This video was taken in June. Cut the picture in half and that halfway mark is our property edge. Fortunately, our only losses have amounted to erosion of the bank, and 1 downed tree. We've been blessed!

A Day to Remember

Jonathan (#2 white) as QB


Check out the scoreboard...3 points!

Jonathan had a great football day. His team won their game, and he also placed first in his age group for the local Punt, Pass, & Kick competition. Morgan had a great day as well. Morgan successfully kicked his first ever field goal attempt during a game. It was a 29 yard field goal, which was kicked from the left hash. Way to go boys!

Two Pets Aren't Enough?

Meet the newest addition to our family...our resident snake. S/he (not sure which) greeted us Sunday morning in the landscaping out front. "It" was extremely docile (if that is possible)...let us snap pictures, basked in the sunlight and collected the cool drops of water from the sprinkler. Most people don't enjoy the company of snakes. We have learned to co-exist with them (yes, plural) since we were the ones who invaded their grounds. I finally went fishing in the creek with my biggest kid, Mark. After about an hour of no luck, I finally caught a bluegill and then a catfish. Mark and Jonathan have caught several catfish recently. This is the first year (we've been here 5 years) that we have actually caught catfish in the creek. I'm thinking the flooding from June might have something to do with it.

Wordless Wednesday

Mismatch

Most people wouldn't understand...but kickers do.  Last year I overheard a woman sitting in the bleachers commenting to another lady about the poor boy on the football team who didn't even have matching football cleats.  Morgan was that boy and is that boy again this year.  It's not that we can't afford to buy him matching cleats.   It's that he needs a smaller, less bulky cleat for his kicking foot.  He gets two new pairs of cleats each year.  This year he chose UA football cleats and Nike soccer cleats.  The soccer cleats are exactly 1 size smaller than his football cleats. He wears only the left football cleat and the right soccer cleat.  The smaller soccer cleat allows for more of a solid kick.  The soccer cleats cost us a whopping $1.97.  Not bad considering the left cleat has never left the shoe box.  

First Games of the Season

It was a great day for the boys.  Jonathan's team won in double overtime 7-6.  He ran the football in on the conversion to win the game.  (He's the QB for his team.) I arrived to Morgan's game 20 minutes late, but just in time to see him attempt his first extra point of the season...which he missed.  Such pressure at such a young age.  His team did score again and this time the extra point was good.  His team won 14-0.  It sure makes life in our house a lot easier when both boys win their games.  Today we had to juggle team photo times and games that overlapped.  Next week I plan to take more pictures/video of both games.  Here's a video of Morgan's successful extra point.  

  

Kick is Really Up

Mark loves the title of my blog but asked tonight if I have ever posted a picture of Morgan kicking. So I've scrolled through a few pictures of Morgan practicing his kicking this past May. I finally found one. Tis the season for football. We are a football family 6 out of 7 days a week. Seven out of seven if you count watching the NFL on Sunday....which we do. More football pics are headed this way as the season progresses.

Here's a picture of Jon Jon practicing his punting skills.

Say It Isn't So

Is it really that time of the year? I headed back to school on Monday... with students arriving today. Morgan and Jonathan started school today as well. Morgan is officially a sixth grader and in middle school. Jonathan is now in fourth grade. Here are a few pictures from this morning.


                                         
                                                    

Our Girls

Our lives wouldn't be complete without our girls!

     Mollie is a little camera shy.

        Sophie is always on the move.

Birthday Boy

Where has time gone? It's hard to believe that Morgan turned 11 on July 4th. He now thinks he is old enough to sit in the front seat of the 4-Runner. He also has been asking lots of questions about driving. I'm afraid he might be following in his dad's footsteps. When Mark was 12 he would wait until his mom was asleep, then he would take her car, pick up friends and go driving around town. Looks like I'll need to hide my car keys. Here's a picture of Morgan on his birthday.


  Here are a couple of photos of years gone bye.

                                                        Morgan - age 3

                                                         Morgan - age 1

Minus 1

Morgan left for football camp yesterday. He won't be back until Wednesday late afternoon. This is his first trip away from home other than spending the night at a friend's house. Morgan was pretty excited about camp. He was rooming with a friend. He called us twice yesterday. Haven't heard from him yet today. It's quiet in our house. Mark is at work, Morgan at camp and Jon spent the night at our neighbor's house. What's a girl to do?

Specs

The Better to See You With

It's amazing what you can find out about your child at one visit to see the eye doctor. When all was said and done we learned that Jonathan has an astigmatism and he is also color blind. Needless to say Jonathan is now wearing glasses. He has handled the news surprisingly well. The hard part in all of this is teaching the boy not to touch the lenses. Oh well, he will eventually catch on. Here's hoping he won't lose them once school starts back in August. I'll post a picture of him in his new specs later on.

First Catch of the Season

Yesterday was the first day we went exploring in our backyard creek since the flood two weeks ago. It's amazing what the power of water can do. Massive sycamore trees have been uprooted. The creek is still up a bit from it's normal water level. The boys had a good time. Jonathan caught the first and second fish of the season (bass). Mark and Morgan caught their lines on trees, roots and grass.

It's official!

Decisions, decisions.  I had no idea how hard it was going to be to give this blog a title.  We are a football lovin' family. I met my husband 14 years ago when he was a special teams coach at a local high school. We dated for 48 days before becoming engaged and were married 4 months later. Our oldest son has developed his placekicking skills, and our youngest son loves to punt. Our life is full of kicks and it is "good"!