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!