march madness

March Madness is upon us. I'm about basketballed out and it's only the second day of the tournament. Between brackets and games and the basketball hoop in my kitchen, it's time for everyone to be OUTSIDE. We did, however, have a full week of school this week. I guess we did last week too. Everyone was pooped by today. 

Ben has been at the WV high school boys basketball tournaments in Charleston for the last several days. When we lived there he used to spend a good chunk of 4 days at the Civic Center each year. Since we've been in Morgantown, he goes down and hangs with the guys for the better part of a week. The kids and I have gone down sometimes, but this year, we just needed a weekend with not a single thing on the calender. And that's exactly what we have on the agenda for the next two days - NOTHING. (Which really equals yard work, a date night and basketball till our eyes bleed.)

A couple of weeks ago we met the Santen's for dinner at Stonewall Resort. It was a fun evening of catching up. We haven't seen them in forever. This was supposed to be a great picture with a beautiful snowy lake and mountain in the background. But really it's a blurry, washed out picture. I guess you get what you pay for when you ask your waitress to take your picture with your phone.

Last Saturday the kids turned in one of their Christmas coupons and we went to the WOW Factory to paint some pottery. Sophie made a flower vase.

And Ted made a plate to complete our "it's your special day so you can use the special plate, bowl, cup dinner set."  Watching my kids paint at the Wow Factory always brings to light my control issues.

The weather has turned and it is awesome! This was right after that big snow a couple of weeks ago. Sophie lived outside for a couple of days. She rode her bike up and down the street for hours. Even having her after school bowl of cereal outside.

 And doing her homework in the sun. Can't say I blame her.

 That is Sophie in her new swimming suit (because you always wear your new swimming suit in March as much as possible) helping Ted sort our out of control laundry. The change of seasons is always lovely because it requires me to stay on top of laundry less because we're wearing different clothes. But it also means that laundry piles way higher. This particular day was a bit out of control. I did 3 loads in a row and I thought Millie was going to die of a heart attack. (In case you missed the last blog she's developed some serious anxiety in regards to the washing machine. I think it might be the thing that sends her over the edge and causes her poor heart to stop.)

We had a family fun night at the Kozels last weekend. The boys did XBox gaming.

The (big) girls drank wine from a bottle shaped like a cat. Can't say I've ever done that before.

Then the boys played games on their own.

And the girls dressed like princesses and played Play-Doh. 

 Ted has strep again on Sunday. So I kept him home half a day on Monday to get 24 hours of antibiotics in him. We stopped by the Young Life office to deliver lunch to Ben, Cameron and Daniel who were doing interviews for new leaders. While we were there Clay helped Ted fill out his brackets for the Mountaineer Area bracket challenge. This is a very big deal for Ted.

Sophie also filled out brackets. Usually she just picks the team with the coolest name or best mascot - think Gonzaga. This year, she did her due diligence in picking the team with the better seed throughout the entire tournament. Until she got to WVU in the 3rd round which will most likely be against Kentucky. She said, "Mom, I know they probably won't win, but I just have to pick them." She picked them to win the whole thing. She is her father's daughter. Which is hilarious because when we take her to any sort of WVU sporting event she doesn't care one bit, asks which team is which, wonders who won at the end, and only cares about getting a Zules frozen lemonade.

This is North Marion High School's 1st Young Life Club last night. We are so excited about it. The best part - this is our first school with two teachers as leaders. Our staff associate is also a leader, but we are excited about the potential of developing more rural schools with the help of teachers.

This boy had to go to bed at the end of regulation of the Cincinnati/Purdue game. This morning, he got ready for school in approximately 4 minutes so he could watch Sports Center in it's entirety and catch up on a crazy first day of the basketball tournaments.

I really don't even know the complete story behind this picture that I got via text today. But from context clues, I think Henry made his first appearance at the high school basketball tournaments. (I'm using the "Section 135" in the background as context clues.) Always a sober, sober kid. Love him!

We are in a lull in between Ted's basketball and baseballs seasons which is nice. Next week is WVU's Spring break which is also very nice. The weather is on the up and up. Everyone's winter clothes are getting holes in the knees. We are not wearing our heaviest winter coats. The house is warm without the help of space heaters. Ted informs me that testing is a month away. Spring has sprung and we couldn't be happier!

Happy 1st day of Spring!

winter books

Now that it's officially Spring (or it's been about 50 degrees for two days in a row), I officially put this set of books into my Winter pile. Keep in mind we were on sabbatical and I had a lot of free time on my heands.

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

I read this book in St. Lucia and LOVED it. It's about a woman who falls at the gym, hits her head and forgets the last 10 years of her life. She woke up thinking she was madly in love with her husband, pregnant with their first child and loving life. When in reality she was in the middle of a terrible divorce with three kids who she didn't even remember. Her life was total chaos. Although this book is fiction, it really makes you think. She really couldn't understand how she had gotten to the spot in life where she was because it was everything she intended not to be. It was kind of appropriate to read on an anniversary trip and thinking about who we had become and where we are in life and that we're thankful for that. You should just read it. 

Cold Tangerines by Shauna Neiquest

This book is full of essays about real life. They are like reading a good friends blog. I'm working my way through some of her other books.

Simplify - Bill Hybels
We listed to this sermon series. The first 3 are great and have been real game changers for us.

Breathe by Beth Moore

The past couple years Beth Moore has done a teaching series and then published it. It's a 6-week series about the Holy Spirit that went along perfectly of what I was reading in "Forgotten God."

Freefall to Fly by Rebekah Lyons

This is a book about a woman's battle with and victory over anxiety and depression. I've really enjoyed reading memoir type books lately.

Speak by Nish Weiseith

This book is about how we all have a story and how we all need to tell ours. Our stories matter and have an impact on others. It was an easy read on one of our flights.


Forgotten God by Francis Chan

Loved, loved, loved this book. You should read it. I read it with my Monday night girls and I'm so thankful we read it together. The Holy Spirit is tricky, and this was so helpful in thinking and understanding.

snow day #9 (and the past two weeks)

So it's Snow Day #9 today. #10 tomorrow. We actually have snow this time though. For two days it rained and rained and rained some more. And then all of a sudden, it changed to snow and snowed 9 inches. The meteorologists had been predicting this since Monday - it's the first time they've been really accurate all Winter. I'm hoping this is our last hurrah for snow and cold.

So a little catch up.

 Two weeks ago we went to Pittsburgh for a Festival. Courtney and I got Ben and Andy tickets for Christmas. We had a great time and totally met the Advent Conspiracy idea of giving more meaningfully.

The kids stayed with Doh & Pap in New Martinsville and had so much fun together.

It snowed over night so we delayed our trip back to Morgantown. Ted earned some gold dollars from Pap for shoveling some snow.

 While Sophie read to Henry.

Last week Sophie came home from school and said, "We're learning about teeth at school so I'm going to pull my tooth now." And away she went. This tooth has been loose since before Christmas. The 5 teeth previous to this have been pulled with many tears and much drama. She pulled this one on her own - and then it fell down the sink drain.

Just some lite reading on the couch cushions. You know, because we all do this.

Last week, the weather was looking iffy (possible 2 hour delay) for Wednesday so I suggested to Ben that he try to find us some tickets to the WVU/Texas game Tuesday night. We got last minute tickets but no 2 hour delay on Wednesday. The 10:00 pm bedtime was a little rough but it was a fun family night.

Millie (who turned 12 in February) has developed some anxiety related to hearing the dishwasher and washer running. Sometimes she chooses to lay on the mat by the shower when she's shaking from being so scared (mind you I've done laundry almost every day of her life!). She got herself stuck in the bathroom earlier in the week while I was out running errands and did this to the door. It's much worse than it looks. 

We were at Rockbridge last weekend. Ben led worship for the DC Metro Region Leader and Committee Weekend. Ted was reunited with his buddy, Ryan. They picked up right where they left off in August and had a great time together. This is a newer and fun part of Young Life for our family as our kids get older.

Rockbridge had gotten quite a bit of snow the weekend before so there was over a foot of snow on the ground. I've never been there in the winter. This is from my favorite spot on Walton's front porch where I've spent time every day we've on assignment there. Definitely different than hot and humid and getting ready to walk to the pool.

Sophie and Eliza (friends from this Summer also) collecting ice balls.

Ben and his ducklings walking to the other side of the lake to sled.

Frozen lake.

Doing some sledding on some icy snow. Super fun!

We also got to visit with Chris and Meredith for a little while and see their super cute apartment.

So this was yesterday out at Cheat Lake. It's not a good picture but the best I could get while I was driving. There had been ice all over the lake that had been broken apart in the rain taking all the docks with them. It was a river running through the middle of ice jams.

Today we woke up to this snow man in our yard.

And this really cool fort. According to our neighbor, he saw people over here around 2:00 am. The kids had so much fun with it.

WVU was cancelled today - a definitely rate occurrence. These friends (and some others that had left earlier) came over to "sled" at the park today. I use the term sled loosely as we had one sled, some cardboard boxes, a kids skateboard, plastic lids and a few garbage bags in super deep fluffy snow - none of which did well. It was more like enjoying each others company.

The kids spent a chunk of their day watching old and new Young Life Camp Welcome Videos and Operas on YouTube today. They had no idea there were others out there besides Ben, Kirk and JB. So it was a really good day.