Spring Break!!

Austin and I are on Spring break this week and plan to use the time off wisely. He spent yesterday "spring cleaning" his room (which it desperately needed!), and I got a pedicure :). OK...not fair, but now that he has his "dirty" work out of the way he has the rest of the week to have fun. His first track meet is this afternoon, and even though he had planned to just jump this year, his coach talked him into running the 1600 (again!) also. So, it's my turn today to do a little spring cleaning and then we'll be heading off to his track meet. The rest of the week will be spent doing a little shopping, taking a couple short road trips and visiting with friends (I think I'll even squeeze in a mini spa day somewhere:)). The weather couldn't be more perfect Spring break and we plan to shed that winter layer and get out enjoy it!

I'll try to get some good pics at today's track meet to post later. Happy Spring everyone!!

Austin's 15th birthday

Austin turned 15 a couple weeks ago and we celebrated with a family lunch at our house. As you can see...he's ready for baseball season! Of course turning 15 means he's just weeks away from getting his white slip--which is very scary!--and all he talks about now is car shopping. Ugh!! He's got a good start on his savings toward (his share of) buying a car, but I am putting that off as long as I can! lol!!

Basketball wrap-up

The basketball season is just a couple weeks away from coming to a close which you would think would mean things are beginning to slow down--but no. Austin has been dressing JV and that means twice as many games. I say "dressing" because although he plays almost the whole game as a freshman, he spends more time on the bench as a JV player, but he is perfectly okay with that. He was just excited to be placed on the JV team as a freshman! He does get a little bit of game time which is good experience for him. Tonight we'll be traveling to Decatur to play against St. Teresa, tomorrow will be a triple-header Hoops for Haiti Night at home against Argenta-Oreana, and Friday we'll be playing Central A&M. I don't have any stats or win-loss info (haven't been keeping track myself :)) because there has just been too much to keep track of (I'm sure Austin has all this info!). It's been a busy, busy season, but it's almost over.

Which means...track will be just around the corner...

(My new camera is ordered and will hopefully be here soon so I can post more pics!)

Blues vs. Blackhawks

We spent this past weekend in St. Louis at our first pro-hockey game. After going to several Rivermen and Thunder games, the pace of a pro-hockey game was quite a bit quicker. Ten of us (almost the whole family) all met in the city to see the Blackhawks play the Blues. As it turned out, I think there were more Blackhawk fans there than Blues fans (our hotel was nothing but Hawks fans)! (Maybe because the Blues don't have a very good record?)

Aside from losing my camera (yes...being a glass-is-half-full kinda person I'm choosing the word "lost" even though my aunt insists it was stolen since I knew exactly where it was, then exactly where it wasn't...), we all had a lot of fun. Pics are courtesy of my cousin. :)

The first fight of the night

Freshman b-ball

The freshman basketball season is in full swing and keeping us VERY busy. Beyond busy actually with practices every evening (and some early mornings!), games at least once or twice a week and pretty much every Saturday. They don't have the best record, but they've already won just as many games this year as they did all year last year, and are only half way through. Austin has been starting about half the games (maybe more actually) and has been having his best season ever! They played in the Okaw Valley Tournament in Niantic this past Saturday which was one game after the other and somewhat exhausting (and that was as a spectator! lol!! Can't imagine how the boys felt!). Here are a few pics from that tournament.

Playing guard

Shooting free throws after being fouled while trying to shoot a 3 (and, yes...that means 3 free throws! He made 2 of his 3 free throws this time).

Taking a much needed rest in the 4th quarter. And look at that mop on his head!! lol! After this game he decided he needed a haircut. Too funny...

Game night!

New Year's Eve at our house means GAME NIGHT! The last several years we've skipped all the parties, the clubs, and other traditional New Year Eve activites for a night of games at home with our friends. It's always a good time and no one wakes up hungover the next day (usually! lol). This year Austin actually stayed home with us rather than doing his usual (going to a friend's house), and played with us. It's always girls against guys and this year...the girls dominated!!

This is Austin and I in a head to head competition (look at the concentration! lol!!), and oh yeah... I got the win! He was so sure he would take his mom out which made the win that much sweeter!! (Not that we're competitive or anything...lol!)

We wrapped the evening up by watching the ball drop (wouldn't be New Year's without that, right?), and called it a night. It was a good time (and I'd say that even if the girls hadn't won!). It's New Year's Day now and we're spending the day taking the Christmas decorations down, clearing clutter and organizing. A nice clean start to the new year. And, who knows...maybe I'll be a little better about updating my blog in 2010. (But, don't hold your breath! lol!!)

Blogger bug

Not sure if I've been bitten by the blogger bug again or just boredom, but two posts in a 7-day period is certainly rare for me!

So, another Christmas has past and another year about to come to an end. As they say...time flies! Everyone had a fabulous holiday as usual. In keeping with tradition we spent Christmas Eve at my Aunt Bev's house eating too much, opening gifts, and playing games.

Austin helping his grandma with one of her gifts.

Christmas morning started bright and early at our house with Austin tearing through gift after gift (he told me later I went a little overboard--good to know he hasn't lost sight of what the season is all about. And, I thought I was scaling back!). He loved everything he got, was surprised by a few of his gifts, but I think his favorites were some of the least expensive gifts he received (t-shirts from Spencer's he'd asked for--which, by the way, were some of my least favorite to buy! lol)! His tastes are certainly changing! After we opened gifts at our house we went down to the in-laws for more of the same.The rest of the day was nice and relaxing. Austin spent the afternoon at his dad's, coming home just in time for dinner. Only thing left to do now...is take him shopping to spend all his gift cards! lol!

I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday!