Week Three: 1/16-1/22

January is flying by! Just one full week left and then it's February. The older the boys get (and the older we get), time just goes faster and faster. This week had a lot going on. Let's see what we were up to:

Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the boys were out of school. Cole went over to his buddy Luke's house for most of the day (and apparently got to go through is first drive through car wash - fun stuff!!). Eli & I pal'd around and ran some errands. He got new shoes and then we stopped in Target to let him spend some of his birthday gift cards - yes from August. He wanted to get a Nerf Vortex football. The boys love football and do so well outside playing and catching. 

I finished reading 'It Ends with Us" - it was really good. My 5th book so far of 2017! 

Happy with two new pairs of sneakers

While cleaning up, I found these two Regal Movie Gift cards. Checked them and they each still have $10 on them - SCORE!! 

Tuesday morning, while getting ready for school, the boys cracked me up. I went into the bathroom to make sure they were brushing their teeth. Turns out they were timing each other's morning poops. Yes. Eli was proud of his being 44:19, Cole was 1:19. No idea why they decided to time each other (yes I do, they're boy!!); it was so hilarious. 

Wednesday was apparently Red Day. The boys both dressed in Red and Cole wore his new Red, White and Blue shoes that arrived on Tuesday. Eli decided to dress in color themes this week - Blue, Red, Black and All American (red, white and blue). Wednesday night, Eli had swim so Cole and I got a chance to pal around and go to Target so he could spend a Christmas gift card. He, of course, opted for Legos. =) 

Cole's 2nd pair of shoes came in. They're fitting for Mr. Red, White & Blue

Red Day. This week Eli dressed in a different theme - Red on Tuesday, 

Red Shoes

Eli's class is doing a Live Wax Museum next week. He's Ulysses S. Grant so I'm going to attempt to make this costume. Wish me luck! 

Wednesday's grocery store run - four gallons of milk is the NORM! 

Decisions. Decisions. What to pick.....

Cole was super excited that he got the Batman mini-figure he wanted on his first mini-figure pick. 

Putting together his two little Super Hero cars - I love this boy! 

Read this book this week. Tim & I have been watching her show on A&E about the abuses of Scientology and people who have left the "church". It is beyond crazy. No idea how in the world people can get sucked into this. It's all just so unbelievable. 

Thursday I ventured to JoAnn's to find felt to make Ulysses S. Grant and stumbled upon this gorgeous fabric. I couldn't leave the store with out it. Planning to use it for our kitchen window. It has so many fun happy colors. 

Friday was Eli's red, white and blue day. He didn't realize it but it was very appropriate since Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President. The Inauguration is such big pomp and circumstance. Wow. I watched some of it and the history and ceremony is pretty spectacular. 

Trying to figure out how to make this soldier jacket

A start  =)

Eli's Friday night swim practice. I love how swim gives the boys exercise and structure. 

Saturday and Sunday were busy - swim meets for both boys. Cole had the 8 and Under SnowFlake meet and Eli had Distance Day. Cole got to be a part of his first relay on Saturday and it was so much fun. It was the 100 yard freestyle relay and he got to lead off - his relay team's entry time was 11th place and they finished in 8th place, 10 seconds faster. Yay for improvement!! I officiated both days (five sessions, close to 13 hours on deck and was tired when it was over!). It was so much fun watching the boys and all of the kids. I love it all!! 

SNOWflake WARS. Such a great shirt!

Back side. "In a swimming pool not so far away there were 8-unders who ruled the pool. Armed with suits and goggles they took over the pool and destroyed their times. This is where the story begins," LOVE IT!! 

Coach Courtney as the Snow Queen

Cole and his best swim bud Grayson before the meet

Saturday's events - 25 free, 25 back, 25 breast, 100 IM. I didn't know about the relay. 

Go Cole!! 

Cole has gotten really good with his "track starts". I think he feels like a "real" swimmer. 

25 freestyle - Cole's in Lane 6 at the top of the picture. Notice Eli & I also there. =) TIME 20.89

25 Backstroke - TIME 25.26

25 Breaststroke - he's such a good breaststroker - TIME 30.88

100 IM - Fly leg

Backstroke leg

Butterfly leg

Freestyle leg to finish it off - GREAT JOB COLE!!! 100 IM TIME - 2:14.65

Distance Day for Eli was after the girls and boys sessions for 8&U on Saturday. He only had one event - the 500 freestyle. He had never done that distance so he was excited and a little nervous at the same time. In these longer events, you have to provide your own lap counter and timer. I was worried about that since I was officiating. Thankfully they had timers and Eli wanted Daddy to count laps. He had the option of having a friend/teammate do it but he wanted Daddy. I love that! In freestyle, Officials only have to watch to make sure the kids touch the wall at the turns and it takes fewer officials so I was able to sit on the side and watch Eli's swim. He was in Lane 6 and Coach Courtney was on his side of the pool cheering and coaching him. He seemed to be doing pretty well. She commented to me after half way that he was still pushing off the wall strong and doing two dolphin kicks before coming up for air (I can't do that!). He finished in 6:38.13 - less than one second off an "A" time! When he finished, for the first time ever, Coach Billy yelled at him from across the pool and told him that he had a Great Swim. Eli was BEAMING!! He was so proud of himself. He was almost 37 seconds faster than his entry time and finished faster than Coach Billy thought he could do. He almost won his heat, finishing 2nd just 1/4 second behind and he was the fastest 9 year old. He's building such a strong foundation; maybe he's meant to be a distance swimmer? He woke up Sunday morning still talking about it. So glad it went well for him. 

500 yards?! 

Daddy the lap counter

Sunday....Day 2 for Cole. Today was longer events - 50 free, 50 back, 50 breast, 50 fly. Cole did so great. He improved again in almost every stroke and had a good day. Unfortunately his Momma DQ'd him in the 50 Fly for alternating kicks off the wall instead of butterfly kick but he wasn't phased. I didn't want to tell him but late this afternoon he asked me if he got DQ'd for anything. When I explained he did and what it was for, he just gave me a hug. Thankfully he wasn't mad at me. Just gotta do my job. =) I am so proud of him for being able to do these longer events!!!  And even more proud that he made it to all his events, didn't miss a single one. That's a win! 

Today's lineup

Take your mark.....

50 Free - TIME 49.55. I think he can beat me now! 

Backstroke start

Backstroke - TIME 1:01.02

Breaststroke - TIME 1:07.36

So now it should be no surprise that this Momma is TIRED! It was a busy fun weekend and I'm so proud of Cole & Eli. Swim meets are always so much fun and so exhausting. The week ahead is a full school week (1st one of the year!) and we have Ulysses S. Grant and Cole's Pinewood Derby to look forward to. 

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. 

 Sunday afternoon - FOOTBALL TIME!!

 Cole is getting much better at catching. 

 Eli's one-handed O'dell catch. Has to be the awesome receiver gloves from Uncle Jeff. 

 He caught it! 

 Play calling with Daddy - Eli has one play. "All the way"

Cole & Daddy strategizing. I think this included some sort of foolery.