A few more things February...

Biggest snow storm of the year... one of the only times there was enough snow to go SLEDDING! Built "cutter" the snowman, thanks to the cute kit Andrew's sister sent. The snow never stays long here in Missouri... it was gone the next day.... but we do enjoy getting to play in in every once in a while!

Our boys enjoying the snow (Cooper, Gunner, Beckett). Beckett and I got to ride in the car to the sledding hill down the street.
The other two got to go for a ride!
Also got to go to this really fun place, Paradise Park. A great place for a winter adventure. The boys LOVED the little face painting crayons (you just dip them on the water sponges and paint away). They also made some cookies at "cooking class", and braved the semi-cold February weather to play on the playground. Their favorite was pretending to be "Spiderman" on the web.

This ball pit was really neat. When the kids throw the balls into the target, they cycle through this ball sterilizing machine. Pretty cool!
Beckett loved his version of a ball pit in the padded "infant room".

The Broyles Visit

We just love Todd and Karen! Todd was in Andrew's residency program last year at Scott Air Force Base in St Louis. "Two peas in a pod" as Karen once put it. That is how we met them, but we grew extremely close to them through their pregnancy, and then losing, their sweet angel, Kloe. You can read more about their experience here on my blog. The last time we had seen them was at Kloe's memorial in Boise in August, so we were SO EXCITED when they said they were going to come out and VISIT US! Our boys counted down the days!

This a picture we snapped right outside my house. Aren't they hot! :) Seriously, though, I only wish I could keep up with their workout routines! You guys rock!

They were only here for a few days, but we made the most of it! They are such great sports when it comes to dealing with the chaos of our 3 boys! Our boys just LOVE all the attention the give them! We went bowling on-base, and had a blast. 

Beckett was just a few months old the last time we saw them, and he just loved all the attention! They often mentioned they were going to take them home with them, and I don't think he'd of minded a bit. He'd get a lot more attention at their house! :) 

They even got to catch a basketball game of Cooper's. You better believe he was so happy to be able to show off his skills! He is #5 ("like I'm 5 years old!"), at point-guard in the picture below.

After the game we made it to Monetti's for the famous Gargunda pizza. Yum! Our boys just think this pizza is the coolest thing ever!
We also stayed up WAY late talking, and laughing, and we just wish we lived closer so we could do it more often! Miss you guys like crazy! 

Valentine's Day 2009

February is the perfect time to throw in a LOVE holiday. The Christmas magic has faded, but the cruddy weather is still here. And Valentines Day just warms the heart! 

Cooper did a great job writing our all of his Valentines for friends and family. "You are just 'plane' awesome!" was the theme, and it was a paper airplane with directions that they could take home and do later. And, of course, some fun-dip candy rolled up inside. His party was adorable. He really paid attention to every detail and thanked each person for their valentines.
Andrew and I discovered we may just have developed one of our own family traditions! For 4 years now we have had some sort of heart shaped pizza on valentines day. The boys even remembered this year! This year we switched from pepperoni to ham, as that is what they now prefer. Gunner is alway helpful (or maybe I should say "wanting" to help) in the kitchen. They figured out how to make B-2 bombers out of their square pieces of pizza and they thought it was really fun to fly them around! 
A week before Valentines Day, Andrew and I "gifted" each other tickets to the Brian Regan comedy show in Salina, KS. Everyone thought we were crazy to drive 4 hours away (8 hours round trip) in one day to see a comedy show, but this guy is worth it! (If you ever get a chance to see him, it is a must!) It was our 3rd time seeing him, and Andrew still laughed so hard he cried the whole way through. If anyone has watched anything funny with my husband, they know his laughs out LOUD! :) I warned our friends, the Bells, who came with us. (Thanks guys, it was tons of fun!) The worst was the few jokes he had already heard when he was laughing before the punch-line. We've decided comedy (as long as it's clean) is a great date. It is pretty neutral for both sexes to enjoy. Not like sports, or chick-flicks, which are fun, but definitely one person prefers over the other. These pictures aren't great, thanks to Andrew's steal-of-a-deal (worth only what we paid) camera. :)

My friend, Jaime Bell, and me. 

The picture I tried to take without a flash, and still got in trouble for.

Bustin' a gut!

I also had a chance to run the Valentine "Heart Healthy" 5K on the Air Force Base here. We'd been training for our half marathon, and I wanted to do it, but it was in the middle of the day. My friend, Jennifer Reed, called to volunteer to watch my kids so I could run. So nice! Her husband, Rich, took first over-all. He is amazing. (He is the Young Men's president at church, and Andrew is 1st counselor.) Her girls are amazing too! They both smoked me! I ran it in 27:26, which I was ok with.

I'm in the middle with the green shorts and black shirt...

Last, but definitely not least, our friend, Keva, watched our boys on Valentine's Day, and Andrew and were able to have a super fun date. We got a couple's massage at a spa and went to lunch at El Tapatilo. It was heavenly.... I am so lucky to have such an amazing man. I know, you're all jealous. :)

Who loves you???

{and... their mom loves you too... how will I show thee??? A GIVEAWAY!}

What a perfect way for ME to show YOU my love. 

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me, my choice, for you. ( I know. . . a little scary, but maybe fun, huh?)

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1 - I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
2 - What I create will be just for you.
3 - It'll be done by the end of March
4 - You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may scrapbook something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, or even me:)

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. A friend of mine, Sarah, did this on her blog, and I can't wait to see what I might get as a goodie! The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment asking me something they would like to know about me will then win a Fabulous homemade gift made by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

GO!!

The Next Big Thing

According to Daddy, Cooper is the "Next big Thing!" He is our little basketball superstar, and we have had so much fun watching him play this  year. The best part, is he LOVES going. 

Highlights so far this season:

• Coop scored the first basket of the season, for either team, a few minutes into the first game.
• Cooper is point guard and gets to dribble up and down the court. Word from the coach's wife is he came home from the first practice so relieved saying, "I've got one who can dribble!"
• Loves wearing his knee-high socks, just like Daddy.
• Beckett gets to practice clapping at his games.
• Gunner loves to shoot baskets during breaks.
• Grandma and Papa Larson got to come to a game! 
• You made a 3-pointer (smaller court) last game, and Mom even got it on video!
• Brought your Bulls jersey to preschool for "share day". 
• You love to do the team yells and throw your hand in the air.
  

I think my favorite part of these pictures is Gunner picking his nose. :)

Royals Blue Through and Through [for now]

We are hometown fans. Since we live just outside Kansas City, we are now ROYALS FANS! Of course, we still have our other favs. But heck, we need a few more hats in our house! We're well above 100... that's my educated guess. (and I may as well mention the box of old favs Andrew still keeps at his mom's house)

One thing we already know we love about the Royals... 4 FREE TICKETS for military members (that would be Captain Larson) Mondays-Thursdays, and discounts other days. Have a feeling we'll be making it to the ballpark our share of times this coming year!

While I was at the Old Navy Sale, the boys hit up the Royals FanFest. Lets just say, they were in HEAVEN! (and so was I) They went with Clifton and Zander Bell, and fellow dentist Mark Bain. 

Gunner, Cooper & Zander

They had tons of games, gave out bags, and were giving autographs. Another favorite was the discount souvenir shop where they got wooden bats, wiffle balls, and Royals matchbox cars.

The last picture (below) has a great story behind it. There was a machine that shot soft balls from the opposite end of the convention center. When they walked in, they were watching lots of older boys taking their chances trying to catch these LONG fly balls... without any success. Cooper, of course, wanted to try. Andrew consented, with his doubts. Doubts high enough to actually say, "Cooper, if you catch one of these I'll give you $20". Well, you can all probably guess what happened. Cooper gets in there... they shoot off the FIRST ball... and yes.... HE CAUGHT IT! 

No, he didn't get $20, but he did get $5, and surprisingly didn't push the issue. 

I'm going to miss THIS?

Am I the only one who's living room looks like this about once a week?! My current philosophy is to save the laundry for one day, when I wash all day, then fold that night (usually with help from my hubby) to a good show. That way it is ALL DONE at one time. If I do a load here and there, I never feel like it is DONE. I am trying to decide if my new philosophy will be to fold the laundry straight out of the dryer, into baskets for each person... the way my momma did it (for 11 people, I might add)???

By the way, the cushions are off the couch from the apple juice spill earlier that day.

Does anyone else feel like the amount of laundry and cleaning goes up exponentially with each kid. Get married -- it triples, first kid -- six times the work, second kid -- 12 times the work, etc. :) Obviously, I'm exaggerating... a TAD. 

Good thing the same "helpers" who create all this laundry, also "help" make cleaning so much "easier". :) 

Maybe someday they'll actually pull their weight, and make things truly "easier".... 

But, it is so "worth it" today!

I AM going to "miss this". He did say that, right?!