Week Two: 1/9-1/15

The headline of this week.....we seriously went from 0 degrees and snow/ice to over 70 degrees. NC Weather for you!

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday - the boys were out of school. Tim was home with us Monday and Tuesday, just me & the boys on Wednesday. When we found out they were able to have Eli's swim practice on Monday afternoon, you better believe Tim got him there. =) The boys both had swim on Tuesday so we made that happen too! By Wednesday, the roads were more clear and getting back to normal.

Monday I made them finish their Christmas thank you notes before they could watch tv or play on the computer.

Monday still snowy and icy. It was VERY cold.

I read Eli's 'Middle School' book and then we watched the movie Monday night. It was a cute book and movie. The boys loved it.

Tuesday morning....jackpot pancakes. Why not?!

Collecting ice pieces in the back yard.

The boys actually did really great layering themselves up and making sure they were warm.

Street ice luge.

Our neighborhood roads stay pretty icy because of all the trees - and cold temps! We actually saw a snowplow come through Tuesday night. Never in 14 years have we seen that. It came through twice on Wednesday as well!

Eli though it would be cool to run and jump on the sled disc and ride it into the ditch.

Only a good plan if you land on the disc.

Cole was really good at it. They were doing tricks where Eli would fake jumping on it and then Cole would actually do it. They've watch a few trick shows / videos and want to do it themselves. Thank you Dude Perfect and Crashletes.

Tandem

Didn't make it far.

Tuesday afternoon we took a family trip to the pool. Tim drove (yay!). Cole had 1 hour practice and then Eli had a little over an hour. I decided to swim during Cole's practice. Tim read and then during Eli's, he ran to the grocery store. And because of ALL the togetherness over the past few weeks, I let them play on the Nook while the other practiced.

It's cold outside but swim practice goes on!

Tuesday night, my little baker wanted to make cookies. We've been watching a lot of baking shows on Food Network and he's super interested. I made him read the recipe to me as we made them.

And he tried the scooper to put the dough on the cookie sheet.

Eli just wanted to lick the spatula when we were finished. Cookies baked, everyone is happy including Daddy!

Wednesday was a busy day. No school again and we had to run a few errands. I let the boys play in the morning but around lunch we had to get going. We picked up 40 pounds of ground beef (love my Zaycon orders!) and made a quick grocery store trip. The coolest thing during that visit was that we saw several DOT workers with their trucks / plows in the parking lot where Harris Teeter is. The boys & I talked about how hard they've been working so we decided to drive back around and tell them Thank you. My heart just swelled over these sweet boys (when they want to be!) and you could tell by their smiles that we really made the DOT workers' days. We made a quick pit stop by the house to unload and then went to pick up some used books from the Who Is/Was Series. Super exciting! Rounded out the day with Eli's swim practice and Tim's Scout Leader meeting. Getting things done!

The snow and ice wasn't quite melted on Wednesday - the boys didn't have to layer us as much to search for ice blocks.

Their collection of various ice blocks.

My boys!

Thursday we had an appointment for my truck so it was nice to have a little quiet time. One of my front lights has been acting up. Unbelievably it was the cheapest service I've ever had - not even $60!! Both boys had swim Thursday night so Tim & I tag teamed that. After Cole's practice, he got to play Coach for Eli's practice. He has been waiting to do that again since Coach Courtney let him do it in the Fall. She promised him "after New Years" so he was excited. It really is good for Cole to have this experience because Courtney tells him what to look out for so it helps reinforce what he is learning in his group.

Coach Cole with Coach Courtney

Watching his team

Keeping an eye on Lane 1 - gotta make sure those super fast kids keep good form.

Lots of work processing all that beef - 10 pounds plain cooked ground beef, 10 pounds Mexi flavored ground beef and 20 pounds of hamburger patties. Where's the beef? In our freezer!

Friday afternoon, Tim decided to wash our trucks. Eli & Cole wanted to help. They told Tim that they had it. Granted, it included some playing as well but they really wanted to get my truck clean. We let Eli skip swim practice (we usually just do 5 of the 6 practices each week) and had Family Movie night (again!). This time we watched 'Storks' and it was a really cute movie.

Eli started out washing himself first.

For some reason, Cole's #1 priority was my license plate.

Saturday was a fun day. Both boys had swim practice. Since Cole's was right after Eli's, Eli hung out and we got donuts after practice. Then we took Cole to get new shoes. That process is quite simple - and funny. They measure Cole's foot and bring out whatever will fit him that doesn't light up or do anything crazy. Then he can pick whatever he wants. He is growing so much! Now wears a 4.5 wide shoe so his choices are somewhat limited. I'm sorry Cole the you got my wide feet. We bought one pair and then ordered another. That means a package is on the way!!

In the afternoon, both boys got to go to their friend Fisher's Nerf gun birthday party and boy did they have fun! Two hours of shooting Nerf guns with friends AND jumping on the trampoline. While they were at the party, I went to the Y to get a swim in. Nice Mommy time.

Saturday diving practice

Cole is getting so much better at his "track starts".

Looks so good!!

Duck Donuts - our fav!! The boys got chocolate covered with rainbow sprinkles. I got one with vanilla icing and Oreo pieces - and shared, of course.

Saturday afternoon, Eli's buddy Ryan came over for a bit. His Mom & Sister were selling Girl Scout cookies so we asked if he could stay and play while they were selling. In a rare still moment, the boys played Rubiks Race. And they actually did for about 20 minutes!

Found this in the frig when I was cleaning it out. I bought this Diet Mtn Dew last year to take to my Grandpa. I forgot to take it with me and stopped to buy him another one in my travels. It made me pause to think about him and added a smile to my day.

My "clean" truck. ;-)

I REALLY wanted to take a nap while the boys were at Fisher's party but I swam 3,000 yards instead. Was proud of that and then I saw this picture on Facebook. 100% true every time. I need to give myself credit for sticking with it - good swims, not-as-good swims and everything in between.

Saturday night, the boys were pretty tired and I thought Eli was resting under his blanket. Turns out I was fooled. He had snuck the iPad under there and was playing Geometry Dash. Stinker!

Snuggled down watching more Food Network.

The calm never lasts long. For whatever reason, Cole got his karate kicking thing and was trying to kick it. Notice Eli's outfit, it made me laugh. He looks like a little old man with his boxers and black socks.

Sunday, the only "scheduled" thing was church. The rest of the day we got to hang out and take it easy. Tim went out for a quick bike ride. The boys & I played around the house. And, of course, that included football.

I substituted in 3rd grade class and it was nice to watch the boys sing and participate without knowing I was watching them. Eventually Cole figured out I was there but it was awesome to see him singing and praising.