You Win Some, You Lose Some

Yep, you win some and you lose some. But I've got to tell you, there was a whole heck of a lot of winning going on around here this weekend.

Congrats to the Steelers on their record sixth Super Bowl victory!

The whole fam, decked out in our black and gold (or pink and white in Taylor's case).

Wow, what a great game! Can I get a "woot" for Super Bowl MVP and former Buckeye Santonio Holmes? That was an incredible catch. Gotta give the guy props for stepping up his game when it mattered most.

Those are some strong toes.

Mike was so nervous at the end of the game. It's funny to see, because he never appears nervous when he's coaching or pretty much any other time. I'm happy for him. He's a real fan to the core. I'd also like to point out that the Steelers won the Super Bowl when Taylor was 1 and when Michael was 1. No, we're not having more kids. :)

Mike, pre-game.

There was another big win this weekend. Mike earned his 100th career coaching victory Friday night at Amelia. I'm so proud of him, not because of the numbers, but how he handles himself as a coach. He teaches his players about so much more than basketball. His goal as a coach is to see his players succeed in life. It sounds cliche, but with him, it's right on. He's been blessed to coach some great kids and I've thoroughly enjoyed coming along for the ride. I love it when his former players come to visit. Hats off to Mike and the current and former players from Wabash and Wilmington.

In between all of this winning business, we had some time for shenanigans. The weather finally improved, so we got to play outside! Champ got two long walks this weekend and Taylor and I built a really cute snowman on Sunday. The snow was almost like clay yesterday.

Our masterpiece.

She's so proud. Side note: Did you know that Super Glue works on carrots? Taylor insisted on a carrot nose, but all we have are mini carrot sticks. I glued a few together for the nose.

Champ was beat after his long walks. This picture totally describes Taylor, by the way. She's in a football jersey and pink Princess dress, relaxing with her beloved dog.

I've resigned to changing Michael on our bed now. He almost flips himself off the changing table and just takes off when I attempt to change him on the floor. The kid is so strong! He gets distracted by the fan in our room so I get about 3 seconds to change him. What an adorable smile.

He's in the "attack the camera" stage. It's so hard to get a picture of him without being charged.

I have to admit, we skipped Mike's game Friday. It was over an hour away and the weather was still pretty bad. Instead, we got him a cookie cake and congrats card. To pass the time, I took the kids to McDonald's PlayLand (and brought the Clorox wipes and hand sanitizer).

Taylor loves playing at McDonald's.

Michael is getting big enough to enjoy the smaller playsets!

We do have a playset at home, but it didn't look too appealing this weekend...

Back to work now. Hope you have a great start to your week!

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

Hoops, Hollywood and Hines

All is good in our world. Despite gross Ohio weather, we're having fun right now. Mike had a particularly good week last week as his basketball team went 3-0 (beat a conference rival Tuesday, an undefeated team Friday and a defending district champ at OSU Saturday). Then, of course, the Steelers put a butt-whoppin' on the Chargers Sunday to advance to the AFC championship game (with home field advantage, I might add. Titans, thank you very much for choking.) Mike and Jason will be headed back to Heinz Field to watch Hines and Ben take care of business Sunday.



Mike's hoops team is now 9-0 and ranked fifth in the state in the latest AP poll. They've been pretty impressive! Saturday was a lot of fun. We got to Ohio State a little early and I took the kids over to the Scholar house to show them where Mommy lived for five years. It was 11:30 a.m., but we had trouble getting in because everyone was still asleep. Some things never change, haha. Finally, a kid with tossled hair stumbled out with his dog (I assume the dog's bathroom needs were the only reason the guy was awake and moving) and let us into the building. Taylor thought it was pretty cool to see my old abode, even though it was really messy and kind of stunk. According to one of the nice Scholars that emerged from his room (wearing just PJ pants), they had hosted a party the night before. Plus, they've just built a new building a few blocks away and are preparing to move. I told him no need to apologize - I was there once, too.


Taylor and Michael posing on the bar in the Scholar rec room. Neither wanted to sit up there (Michael is whining and Taylor is faking it), but I couldn't pass up the opportunity.)

The game was fun and I almost forgot how AMAZING (that's for you Lauri) the Schottenstein Center is. Both kids were on the big screen several times. One of the local photographers took a picture of Taylor on the big screen and it was in today's Wilmington paper. Too funny. She's a little celebrity. I keep calling her Hollywood. You can check it out at http://www.wnewsj.com/. Click on Electronic Edition on the left side and go to page B8. If will be there on Tuesday and you can still find it after that by clicking on archives (after clicking Electronic Edition).

People always comment on how good my kids are at the games. I have one word: snacks.



He's not really eating them; just holding them.



Don't you love his little shirt? Side note: he doesn't drink out of a bottle during the day anymore, but I left his sippy at home. That's one of the bottles Taylor uses for her dolls and it was in the backpack.

Not much else going on. I feel like Michael went through a time warp the last few weeks. He takes several steps now, eats almost all table food now, is off the formula ($$$$$) and is starting to become more verbal. He said "cookie" tonight while he was eating an animal cracker. Taylor and I had fun painting Valentines today (yes, in the middle of winter with nothing else to do, you start with the Valentine activities a month early). She is such a good little artist. I showed her one time how to make a heart and she was drawing them like a pro. She made an awesome Valentine for me and a Valentine with a picture of Hines (her idea) for Mike. Cute, cute, cute.

Alright, back to mommy time. Michael is sitting on my lap right now and I fear for the safety of the keyboard.



Until next time,



Mommy Kel