Back to virtual

Oh Omicron - I dislike you! Omicron has infected numerous friends and family and sent the kids' school to virtual this past week. Luckily, we haven't heard of anyone being serious ill for which we are very grateful. We hope that you are staying healthy and safe! 

We have had a cold blast of weather so Wren has been getting some inside time. She is such a fatty! 

Nola worked at the Mantles mucking stalls - thank goodness for warm clothing!

Matt and I took a walk - bit of snow. The farm that Brenner works at in the summer is behind us. 

Monday night we headed to the Mizzou game with the Defenders! Nola and friends opted for face paint!

Tiger Paws giving encouragement at the start of the second half. 

Brenner reluctantly came along (as did Grandma Val - not reluctant on her part!). I chuckled when I read the signage behind him - Crisis Counseling is a must with parenting 14 year olds - but there is HOPE lol!

The Mizzou Women's team lost to Georgia but we had a fun time!

Go Defenders! 

He kind of looks like a poorly wrapped present.....

Carbivore! The kids have been enjoying homemade bread lately! 

Nola was awesome at virtual learning - no angst, got her work done, was super productive. 

Brenner virtual learning. It was different for him ;) Let's just say that I love working from home. Alone.

Nola played with the Chargers on Saturday - she had some nice shots! 

Box out, girl! 

Grandma Val and Mackinzee came to cheer on!

These three have been playing together for several years now - very proud of them!

The boys headed to the cabin to lay more tile and deal with freezing water issues. Matt said it got down to 2 F Friday night - brrrr! 

On Sunday, I took the girls to open gym and to the Mizzou women's basketball game. In between we ate Mod Pizaa where they said their names (for calling out when your pizza is done) were Ranch (Ella), Mayonnaise (Nola), and Mr. Cupcake (Morgan). The workers thought that they were quite funny!

Nola and Morgan met up with some church camp cabin mates (Kate and Molly) - fun! They were selected to be the entertainment (hungry hippos game) between the 1st and 2nd quarter!

Fun time with friends!
 

Snow time

The week started off pretty mild but we got some snow by the weekend. We all kept busy and mostly healthy - Nola and I both had a quick tummy bug but that didn't keep us down for long. Omicron is pesky so kids have a "snow day" next Tuesday to give the school a four day weekend for deep cleaning and recovery (short of teachers and subs). We hope you are all safe!

Nola practicing some hoops after school early in the week (yes short sleeves in January). The Defenders played in a tournament over the weekend - going 1-1 to play for 3rd place on Sunday. But the other team forfeited for unknown reasons (we did beat them last week so maybe they were scared ;)). Nola played well despite the tummy bug....but now she will relax (play with Wren and paint). 

Sunrise and sunset on the same day. God is good! 

Let it snow! We got a couple of inches only - pretty wet but not a show stopper! 

Brenner enjoyed spending part of Saturday in the shop with Matt. 

Saturday afternoon selfies per Brenner (yes - shocking!). 

Brenner said that I would look younger if I put my hair to one side - he fixed it for me. That kid. 

He insisted on taking this picture as he loves to show how much taller he is than me. 

Nola commentary work on cloning. 

Nola also reported that she LOVES fractions. 

Tehehe - I will just let you read these on your own!
 

What do we have going on today?

Each day the kids seem to ask "What do we have going on today?". With classes back in session, so are other activities with basketball in full force for Nola and futsal starting up for Brenner. We are enjoying the ride and taking it a day at a time. We still sit down for dinner together - even if that means 5 pm before jetting off to practices!

What I am reading right now - both are very fascinating! 

So many things about this picture make me laugh - hobbit feet, finger toes, hairy legs.....he definitely isn't a little boy any more! 

But I guess sometimes Brenner still acts like my little Brenner-bear ;) 

The Defenders were in a local 5/6 grade tournament (which meant they played mostly 6th grade teams - we have one 6th grader). They didn't show up to play on Thursday and lost by three. On Friday, they were H-O-T and the mom squad was all hoarse from yelling as they won by one! Nola scored 6 points (including the first four). Brenner noted that 5 of us mom's were louder than all of the other crowd. I am ok with that (as were the other moms)....we decided that we need t-shirts or something! 

Celebratory dinner at Maggie's afterwards. Grandma Val was present but we had Aunt Theresa and Uncle Chuck watching on Facebook live thanks to another mom! 

On Saturday morning, Nola ran plays with me! But she was adamant that I not post any pictures with arrows (she didn't want anyone stealing the plays!). 

Then she took a break for some other activities. 

Last game on Saturday night. Nola made a couple of free throws but was a best on defense - steals and great boxing out for rebounds. The whole team suffered from generally poor shots - but they won by two with the bench getting play time as well. 

These ladies did an amazing job going 2-1 in the tournament and being the only team to beat the tournament champions. We will see a lot of the same teams next weekend at the Pilot Grove tournament. 

Brenner with some Sunday afternoon reading while Matt hunted and Nola went to the Mantles. 
 

Goodbye 2021!

My dad often noted "Don't wish your life away" when I would complain about wanted to get something over with. It's good advice because we all know life happens so fast. While 2021 had challenges worldwide, I am grateful for the lessons that I learned, the loved that was shared, and promise of what a new year brings! May you all have a wonderful 2022!

My Aunt Ruthann gave me this beautiful last supper display. It lights up with that natural light. Spectacular! 

Monday was spa day for Val and the girls. It was heavenly - we thoroughly enjoyed our splurge! 

We were all suppose to head down to the cabin on Tuesday but Brenner was sick so Matt went solo and worked on tiling the shower. He learned a lot he said! 

Aunt Theresa, Uncle Chuck, PawPaw Floyd, and Grammy made the trip down to see the cabin!

I was at home with the kids....parenting. Nola broke this window "accidently" while kicking a rock with some neighbor kids. We had a talk about it, and I noted that a rock doesn't fly 4.5 feet in the air with enough force to break the window with a leisurely kick. 

What Brenner did most of his break once he felt good enough to be vertical. 

Nola made chocolate chip cookies. Note I didn't say baked - she made them to eat some raw dough but I told her to form balls with the majority for cooking at a later time. Check out the nice apron she got from Grammy for Christmas!

With Brenner sick, he asked if I would make homemade cinnamon rolls. I said sure.....

...the kitchen was coolish so the rising took for ever but he was pleased. I asked if he wouldn't mind doing the dishes to help me clean up. You would have thought I asked for a kidney. He noted that he doesn't like doing dishes and I noted that I didn't like making cinnamon rolls! He didn't wash them by the way. 

I love doing puzzles and got a couple for Christmas. My mom gave me this (250 piece) one of the Salmon River and Sawtooth Mountains (where we went in Idaho). Nola and I cranked it out in 90 minutes. 

I built up my confidence to do this 1000 piece of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon that Matt gave me. 

It took me several days (good thing for the ice storm that came through) to get it done. Brenner and Nola helped with a couple of pieces lol! 

Thursday night we headed to Mizzou Arena to see the Lady Tigers battle #1 South Carolina. Cousins along with Grandma Val and Richard joined us (mom and Richard were seated in a different section). 

Mizzou alum now WNBA player Sophie Cunningham was in attendance.

It was a tight game all the way. Mizzou went ahead by 1 with 0.1 seconds left in overtime. The arena went WILD!!!! 

Waiting while the teams took THREE timeouts with 0.1 seconds left. They made the shot after the buzzer for a Mizzou win. Not bad for Mizzou having only 8 players due to COVID absences (including 3 starters out). 

Cousin Eadlin and Nola was jazzed to shoot some hoops the following morning! 

Game time with Nola! 

Brenner had Drystan over to spend the night and play Minecraft. I made them take this picture lol but they gave me some smiles ;)