Still Here!

So sorry about the lack of updates lately! Excuse the broken record, but basketball season is so busy for all of us. We're all good. We seem to have some sniffles being passed around the younger set, but otherwise, couldn't be better.

Mike News: The Hurricane are now 10-4 and continue to absolutely destroy the "ordinary" teams on the schedule. The four losses were to the No. 8 team in the country, the three-time defending Georgia state champ, the No. 1 team in Ohio and the No. 3 team in Ohio. Jordan is finally healed and back on the court, just in time for two key conference games against Walnut Hills (this Saturday and next Friday).

This picture is classic. Mike was totally annoyed with my picture taking. But, he will be so happy I got a picture of his beloved TV in the background. Goodfellas was on, which is why I was on the other side of the room.

Mike has been trying out P90X. Michael crawled under him mid pushup. :)

Taylor News: Taylor got her mid-year report on Monday. She got "Excellent" ratings (out of three possible ratings) across the board. Her teachers wrote, "Taylor is a sweetie. She's doing great." We're very proud of her. She's most recently enjoyed Pajama Day at school and has already filled out her Valentine's for the big class party in two weeks. I think she's looking forward to it! The Worm is doing a great job learning at home, too. She knows tons of sight words and can read/write simple stories.

So cute in her PJs. I joked that I wished I could wear pajamas to work. Later that day I talked to her on the phone from work and she told me to go into "the man's" (what she calls my boss) office and tell him so.

Taylor is always putting together crazy outfits. Yes, that's a coat hanger.

They play together so well sometimes. Here, Taylor is drawing Elmo pictures for Michael.

Michael News: The Pear just continues to grow! These old bones feel every bit of those 32ish pounds on my back when I'm carrying him around (which he still very much enjoys). He's smart as a whip. Counts everything, knows most of his colors, some letters and says pretty much whatever he wants. Sometimes that's not a good thing - "I DON'T WANT THAT!!" "Go lay down!" (to Champy) "I don't want Mommy, I want Daaaaaddy!" He's so funny and loves to make people laugh.

We went to see the Chipmunks movie a few weeks ago. Both kids liked it and were so good. It was Michael's first real movie at the theatre.

Taylor really wants to be Brittany, the lead Chipette.

A silly picture of the Pear and I.

Kellie News: I'm still busy juggling work, home, kids, basketball, freelance work and workout time. I wouldn't have it any other way. I feel so fortunate to be able to work part time. It's perfect right now! I'm so happy to see it warming up a bit. Whenever the snow starts melting and the sun shines again after a frigid spell, I feel like singing "Ave Maria" like in the final scene of the movie Alive. Those of you who have heard me sing know that's not a good thing.

My big, fat, lovable Champy. He's so squishy.

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

Let's Bowl!

As I mentioned in the last post, sometimes I feel bad dragging the kids around to basketball games. I ran into a classmate of Taylor's and his dad at a game last week. The next day, he bragged about how his kid lasted through three quarters, which is probably really good for a 5-year-old. I expect my poor kids to get through the entire game without acting like buttheads. They do a great job with it, so we rewarded them with something fun for them on Sunday.



Bowling!



Taylor had been bowling once before, but was probably too young to really remember. This was the Pear's first go at it. Luckily, the bowling alley we chose had bumpers and training rails for the kids. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to use the devices and proceeded to show why I rarely bowl. I'm horrible!





The Worm approached bowling like she approaches pretty much everything - uncontrolled excitement!







Michael had fun, too, and kept trying to pick up the balls by himself. **Grunt** "Hebby, Mommy."







Taylor giving it a go without the rails.







Much better.









Getting a hand from Daddy.





Giving it a push!





The cutest bowling shoes EVER!









Mike takes bowling seriously. Imagine that.







Despite the fact that my giant, Amazon hands make it look like I could toss the ball like a marble, I suck at bowling. I don't let it get me down, hahaha.


One final cute picture of the Pear playing at his sand and water table. Yes, I let them play with it in the house when it's cold out. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

A Day of Hoops at OSU

We get into the rut of going to basketball games this time of year and sometimes I feel a little bad for the kids. Don't get me wrong, they have fun, but it's a lot for all of us. Of course, an opportunity like Saturday's - the Hurricane played against No. 3 DeSales at the Schottenstein Center at my The Ohio State University - was too much to pass up.

This is how the day went (and pretty much every game day):

1) Primp for the game.

Taylor couldn't wait to sport this cute little outfit. She was so excited to go back to OSU. She said she's going to college there. She also wanted to know if Daddy was going to help me drive her back and forth each day, haha.

2) Get settled in. Drop $15 on snacks of choice.

The Worm loves soft pretzels. The saltier, the better.

The Pear digs basketball popcorn.

3) Dump said pricey snack out "just for fun."

4) Watch a little bit of the game. All six quarters of it today!

Nyles, Q and Kyle.

Daddy in the huddle.

5) Take cheesy pictures in the stands.

6) Steal Mommy's camera while she's actually trying to watch the game and take 20 random pictures of your thumb. Blogger is far too slow with picture uploading to show an example.

7) Dance to intermission music. Warm the hearts of all around.

8) Spend any time after the third quarter wrestling Michael off of the steps and somewhere near a seat. (Hands obviously too tied to take a picture.)

9) Console Daddy after a tough double overtime loss to the No. 3 team in the state. (We don't lose much around here!)

10) Get all giddy posing next to OSU sign near the Buckeyes lockerroom. (Okay, maybe

that was just me.)

11) Come home. All sleep well.

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

P.S. One more cute picture from before Friday night's game.

Hurricane Update

Thought it was probably time to give the scoop on my favorite high school basketball team (has nothing to do with the fact that their coach is a hottie).

Hard to believe we are already at mid-season! The 'Cane are 7-1 and ranked 19th in the Associated Press Ohio Division II poll. Their only loss came to Dayton Dunbar back before Christmas. Dunbar is the top-ranked team in Ohio and we actually had the lead much of that game. We're still playing without Jordan, last year's FAVC Player of the Year. Hopefully, his ankles/foot will be healed enough to play this weekend. You've got to hand it to the rest of the team, though. They've played hard and upped their games in his absense. It's been fun watching them blow teams away!

It will be interesting to see what happens this weekend. Mike's team has three games in four days (insane!). They've got a conference foe at home Friday, then two national powerhouses in tournaments on Saturday and Monday. I watched tape on one of the teams, Christ H.S. out of N.C., and boy they are TOUGH! They are ranked No. 20 in the latest USA Today national poll and have six kids who have signed with Division I programs. Their big kid is playing for my beloved Coach K at Duke next year! One thing is for sure, though, the Hurricane won't play scared. Nope, not these kids. I love that about them.

The family is doing well. After bragging that I never get sick, I was blindsided by a stomach bug last week. Booooooo. Toughed it out for the most part. Taylor is happy be back at school and Michael has been a riot lately with all of his talking and actions. I'll have to get a video of his "routine". So funny.

The Pear and the Worm, ready for Daddy's game.

"Nachos and lollipops at my Dad's game."

Jordan played about two minutes before injuring his good ankle. :(

Quinten applying pressure. Q has signed to play with Miami U next season.

Random shot of the kids enjoying popcorn and Nemo.

Until next time,

Mommy Kel

Jump Up, Jump Up and Get Down!

The kids' big present from Santa this Christmas was a giant inflatable bounce house. You know, the kind you see at carnivals with the loud fan, etc. Well, the cold weather and cabin fever has been too much, so we busted it out in our LIVING ROOM this week! The Worm went nuts right away; the Pear had to warm up to it, but then had a blast too.


Jump around!



Michael enjoyed the included sports equipment.


Look how huge it is! Another couple inches taller or wider and it wouldn't have fit in our living room.



They put their blankets inside and wanted to sleep in there.

Love the rosy cheeks.

Here are a few other pictures from the week.

Taylor had another birthday party to attend. This one was at Chuck e' Cheese.

Michael trying out his new chair from Jordan and Quinten.

I love this picture! That's Jordan Berlin, Mike's star guard who is sidelined with an injury right now. I dropped the Pear off at Mike's practice the day of Taylor's party and Jordan walked Michael in. He's is such a great kid and the kids adore him.

Back to freelance work!

Until next time,



Mommy Kel





P.S. Congrats to Coach Tressel and my Buckeyes on the Rose Bowl win! Great way to start off 2010.

Christmas 2009

I think I've recovered enough from our whirlwird weekend to finally blog about Christmas. Once again, I feel so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life. It was so nice being around family, extended family and friends! We don't get to see everyone as much as we would like, so Christmas time makes all of the driving and hectic running around worth it.

We went to Christmas Eve mass after the Pear's nap and then headed straight to my dad's house for dinner. Gotta' give props to Pops - he single-handedly prepared a ham and turkey breast (to accommodate his high-maintenance princess who doesn't eat ham), as well as side dishes. I don't like most meat on the bone (just typing that makes me shudder), but the turkey was delicious! After dinner, exchanging of presents and visiting with my parents, brother and his family, we were off to prepare for Santa.

My nephew, Jacob, and my mom. He's only 12 and taller than G-ma now!

G-ma with the Worm and the Pear.

Four of the cousins. The oldest (Jacob) and youngest (Michael) were off doing other things.

Pops, posing with the crew in his favorite flowered chair.

All looking at the camera and smiling. Whoo-hoo!

My Christmas cuties.

The kids were pretty pooped from Christmas Eve (little did they know how much we were going to drag them around over the next few days) and I actually got a workout in before waking them up Christmas morning. Once they saw the loads of presents, the excitement set in. I think Santa did well this year, without going overboard.

An excited Christmas Pear.

My annual no-makeup, pose with the Worm, Christmas morning self portrait.

Michael digs the Elmo tent!

Yes, even Champy was spoiled.

She was so wound up!

Daddy assisting the Pear.

Like I mentioned above, the Pear was not ready to wake up!

Next, we cleaned up, packed up and were off to Pittsburgh. We headed straight for Aunt Linda's house for the annual Christmas dinner/gathering. Mike's dad's family is huge and I'm serious when I say that I adore every one of them. Such fun, nice people! The house is huge and the countless kids have fun running around and exploring. Michael spent most of his time playing basketball with his awesome cousin Matt (I swear, my kid has a radar that allows him to immediately seek out any teenage/pre-teen male in the room) and Taylor buddied up with her aunts and Benny, Linda's dog.

Aunt Diane and Emily.

Some of the cousins (and Benny, too).

Aunt Diane and Ryan.

Aunt Linda, Aunt Ginny, Frank, Aunt Nancy and Taylor

Rich, Pat, Taylor and G-ma Marilyn

G-Pa, Michael and Suthie

Michael playing "shootball" with Matt (Ray is looking on). They were buddies.

Noreen and Ellie wrapping and rapping.

Uncle Jeff and Brittany

Mike

Stan and Suthie

Aunt Linda and Michael. All of the kids love their Aunt Linny!

Matt and Michael. We needed Matt the next night when the Pear was a little crabby.

Aunt Amy, Mike, Lauren, Cassidy and Steve

Our family hanging out in the house where G-pa N grew up. Pretty cool!

We spent the next at G-ma N's house, which was beautifully decorated for the holidays. My mother-in-law is an artist and always comes up with unique and breathtaking displays. I wish I'd gotten a picture of the Christmas forest she created in her living room. It was enormous and the kids loved it!

Michael checking out his Tickle Me Elmo hands.

Always smiling.

After breakfast Saturday morning, we checked into our hotel for a little rest and relaxation. We stayed at the Embassy Suites and I highly recommend it. We had a separate bedroom area in our room (such a key when you have young kids) and very much enjoyed the heated indoor pool. The kids could have stayed in there for hours! No pictures because I was playing, too. :) We headed back to Marilyn's for a delish roast beef/chicken dinner and to visit with our niece Kayla and Mike's siblings. We were all pretty tired by this point, but still had so much fun.

Pretty Kayla and the Worm.

Taylor has always had a special bond with her Aunt Katy.

Once we got back home, it was like Christmas all over again! The kids didn't have a chance to tear into everything before we left, so we spent all night Sunday and all day Monday playing!

Taylor's marble race track is really cool!

The Pear, modeling new snow boots.

I walked in the living room and had to get a picture of this. Check out what they're playing with!

Until next time,

Mommy Kel