Sioux Basketball Reunion

I've been so blessed to reconnect with my college bball girls many times over the years. We've had celebrations for Coach Roebuck, Hall of Fame weekends, and this past weekend the Sioux/Bison rivalry brought many back to The Grand Forks! The Sioux won! We had a little celebration right at the Betty with Roebuck, current and former players, fans and booster. And then the girls that I played with all went out to watch the Sioux hockey team and catch up some more.

 Hanging out at the Betty

 Jaim! Love this girl!!

 Jenny Crouse (right) and Kami Danner(college roommate). The three of us all graduated together and went through so much of life, college and hoops together. We wanted a pic with our championship banners overhead:) 

 The after party! Good times. Love these girls!! 

Thankful List

I forgot to post our family Thankful List from this year. It's a tradition that we started doing a couple of years ago. I thought it would be fun to look back over the years to see what things we were thankful for in different seasons of life and at different ages.

1. Playlands (Cooper)

2. Grandparents

3. Cousins and two new ones!

4. Halloween (Carter)

5. The number 11 (Crosby)

6. Family

7. The Library

8. God (Cooper)

9. Jesus dying for our sins (Carter). But we aren't thankful that He go owies (Cooper).

10. Baby on the way

11. (The kids wouldn't let us stop at 10)...Food, toys and Christmas lights!

 And here is our "Turkey Door". Random but fun for the boys:)

Things That Surprise Me About Boys

Growing up, I was a tomboy-and that might be an understatement.  So when we started having boys, I didn’t think much would surprise me. But even though I liked legos more than dolls and baseball more than tea parties, I am still a girl! I know not every boy is like this and I’m guessing many girls fit into these categories too but I just am amazed at how…

      Every high five is a chance for them to show off their strength

                Every park needs to be conquered

                Every girl needs to be protected

                Every argument needs to be won…with physical force

                Every tree needs to be climbed (or peed on)

                Every change of clothes is an opportunity to flex their muscles

                Every walk is an adventure or mission

                Every bird needs to be scared away

                Every mud puddle or dirt pile needs to be played in

                Every stick, spoon, or long object becomes a sword or gun

                Every bodily function is hilarious

                Everything is a competition

                Every destination becomes a race

                …I could go on!

-I’m surprised daily by the amount of pee that misses the toilet. And how often I need to clean the bathroom.

-I’ve been surprised at how simple it is to dress boys. Pretty much any shirt goes with any pants. But I’m even more surprised by how much our boys actually care about their clothes. Every day is a chance to dress in superhero gear and it’s like getting dressed is putting on their armor.

-I’m often surprised by how physical they are. You would think I would get used to this but it continues to amaze me. It’s like they have an energy release valve and if it isn’t let out through playing outside or wrestling, they won’t nap or sleep at night.

-They can turn anything into a competition. I asked them to sort laundry into piles of each of their clothes. It became “whoever has the biggest pile wins!” I asked who tooted and it turns into “who can make the smelliest or noisiest toot.” Really? Really!

-With all their energy and "violence" I’m surprised by how cuddly they can be. I LOVE this!

-I had no idea boys were born with a built in repertoire of sound effects for guns and bombs. When Cros was one year old, he took 3 bites out of a piece of toast, declared that it was a gun and had sound effects demonstrating how it worked.

-The noise! Oh my, the noise! Why be quiet, really??

-When they actually do settle down, I’m amazed at their focus and attention to detail with crafts or legos.

-I’m surprised by how long they can sit with me and read.

-I can’t believe how much they love roughhousing, wrestling, and physical play. They look forward to Tim coming home at night and just take it out on him. They’ve even started putting on work-out clothes or taking their shirts off just to get ready for the great wrestle-mania.

-I’ve been surprised by how violent their fights can be but then how quickly they can make up.

-I’m still surprised by how much they love potty talk and being naked. They think it is sooo hilarious.

-The boys have never seen Star Wars and have only seen a couple Superhero cartoons and yet they somehow seem to know everything about them. There is like this magnet with them and anything that has powers and fights for justice.

-I think it is quite funny to see how curious they are about typical girl things like fairies and princesses. When we have playdates with friends that are girls they love putting on dresses and heels!

-With each boy the volume and physicality seems to exponentially grow and the roughhousing gets rougher. It’s like they all spur each other on. It feels like a madhouse half the time and still surprises me!

-They are still so young (5, 3 and 2) but I honestly can’t believe how much milk we go through and how expensive our food bills have become. I can only imagine what things will be like 10 years from now!!

I'm sure I'm missing a bunch and I know the list will grow as the years go on. It is hard to imagine them getting more competitive, more rough, more hungry, more daring...but I know it will come. And I'm sure I'll still be surprised. But with that, I'm so thankful! They are soooo fun!!!                

Energy-filled Boys

Some friends gave us a bunk bed and with it came an old mattress. We have found a good use for it...GET THAT ENERGY OUT!!!

Also, for whatever reason, the boys shirts seems to fly off these days. Whenever they get excited and want to wrestle or jump, off they come. Pick your battles, right?? 

Thanksgiving Weekend in Stillwater

We traveled to Stillwater for Thanksgiving and spent four nights with the Sparks. We also got to see the extended Carroll family on Thanksgiving day as they were celebrating in Hudson. How perfect! We had a nice weekend, enjoying family, food, and lots of Hawkeye basketball and football.

 Watching the Macy's parade...

 ...in case you were wonder where they got their tv watching while standing idea:)

 A little bonding with Ezra!

 The boys love to wrestle with Mike! He is such a good sport, even when Tim joins them for a 4-on-1 match!

 Three generations of Hawkeye fans!

 Cousins! 

 The boys with Great Grandma Gigi

 Mimi surprised the boys with some cute sweaters for Thanksgiving! She might have been more excited then they were but they thought the cars were pretty cool!

 I think this horse is supposed to be a one-man horse. Oh well!

I think they were pretty worn out by the time we headed home on Sunday! Thanks for hosting us Bev and Steve! 

Crosby's November 2013 Update

Lots of pics of Crosby this month!

 He is by far the most cuddly of the Spark kids. Love his hugs, kisses and snuggles:)  

 I have so many pics of Cros sleeping in the van. He's so sweet I can't resist!

 The other day he brought all his tools outside to fix the door:) This was before all the snow as you can see.

 Kimmie's Sioux jersey

 Our last day at the park this fall.

 We go to the Gymnastic's Center quite often. Last time we went Cros held onto this football for the entire hour! Sometimes he was eating it:) 

 I found him up on the table the other day. He gave me a "deer in the headlights" look. I'm guessing that taking a picture didn't reinforce me telling him to get down.

 Classic Cros-Mom's hat, Santa bear scarf and a big smile knowing that he is so funny!! 

He loves wearing other people's things...dad's hat and mom's glasses!

He takes this bathroom stool every day and uses it to turn on lights, try to sneak food, etc. He is resourceful!

Crosbyisms from the past month:

-He loves taking his pants off and then yelling, "I'm naked!!"

-He is a kisser and as we read books he wants to kiss all the animals. It's sweet!

-He told his first joke this past month:

Cros: "Mom, your pants are off!"

Me: "No they aren't silly!"

Cros: "Just kidding!"

-When you ask him if he wants more food or something and he is content he'll reply with, "No thanks (sanks), I'm good!"

Carter's November 2013 Update

 Kimmie's Sioux jersey

 Carter learned how to swing by himself late in the fall. He is so proud!  

 Hawkeye football!

Carter goes in spurts with Legos and this past month was a big month. Just yesterday he asked me how to build one of the Star Wars aircrafts. He was shocked when I told him I had no idea! He asked me to show him some pictures on my phone and then he created all of the spaceships above.

 Here is his dragon and rainbow castle on the left. And all the Ninja Turtles and Shredder on the right. I love his creativity!

Carterisms from the past month:

-Carter: "Mom, can I color?"

Me: "Of course hon!"

Carter: "Great! I'm feeling very inspired today!"

Me: "By what?"

Carter: "Everything!!"

-Carter: "Cooper that was not nice. I'm not going to forgive you."

Cooper: "Come on Carter. You know you are going to forgive me."

Carter: "Ughhhh. You are right. But it still wasn't nice."

Cooper: "Carter, I'm sorry."

Carter: "I forgive you. Want to wrestle?"

-Carter loves colors. He has for years. Lately though he tries to incorporate every color into his outfits each day. For real:)

-In the middle of the night he came into our room and told us his ear hurt. Tim asked him about it and Carter said: "And here is the worst part. It's my favorite ear!"

-His favorite expression lately is: "Are you kidding me??"

-Whenever I compliment somebody he immediately asks me if he is bad it because I didn't compliment him. We are having lots of conversations about this lately as he can tend towards perfectionism. It's so hard seeing our sin and struggles come out in the kids:(

-When we told the boys we are pregnant they started talking about whether it will be a boy or a girl. Carter responded with: "Whatever we get, we won't fuss a bit!"

Cooper's November 2013 Update

 Coops made me a Princess crown the other day. Tim helped but it was all his idea:) When we told him we were pregnant he said: "I hope it is a boy. We already have one girl and that is all we need!"

 His go-to face!

Cooper talks all the time. Oftentimes he is talking to himself and telling stories with all his superhero guys. I caught this video the other day where he sat down with a board game and he just started making things up. 

 We got to see cousin Ezra over Thanksgiving and Cooper was so excited to hold him! 

Cooperisms and memorable moments from the past month:

-For whatever reason, Cooper LOVES the letters H and E. Anytime he sees them in a book he stops me and gets excited.

-He uses the word "hilarious" quite often but pronounces it "high-larious". It's hilarious.

-He has resorted to baby talk a lot this past month. Maybe the baby on the way or just wanting attention??

-He loves the word "yahoo"! It is adorable when he is excited and says it:)

-Cooper to me: "Were you alive when Jesus was born?"

Me: "No. How old to you think I am?"

Cooper: "91"

-Coops has a bit of a short temper lately and has been challenging me a lot!

-Me: "Cooper, please don't push your brother."

Cooper: "I wasn't pushing. That was a ninja blocker move."

-Tim was out of town for a week with work. When he got back Cooper ran up to him and said: "Hey! I remember you. Let's wrestle!"

-He loves superheros and justice. He is always talking about defending people and taking down the bad guys. The other day I overheard this conversation:

Cooper: "If anybody attacks us boys I would whack him with this table."

Carter: "Uh buddy, I don't think we should repay evil with evil."

Cooper: "Errrr. Whacking would be so much more fun!"