FFA Week and Mizzou Women's Basketball

Well the peepers didn't make an appearance this week - but I am still hopeful as signs of spring abound! 

Although we have had very little snow, signs of spring like these daffodils are very welcomed these days!

My kale was first to sprout but basil and tomatoes are also giving a show.

One of the dreary morning this week. I try to convince Nola that lugging this backpack around all day isn't good for her back! On a school note - she got her first tardy ever from Mr. V (social studies teacher). He sat with us at church today to give her a hard time and to try to convince her to play golf for him in high school. She is interested so we shall see!

I grabbed this photo off the BHS FFA page since Brenner isn't really into picture posing these days. They had an 8th grade orientation night and played dodgeball while we were at Ash Wednesday service. 

Injured my right pointer playing basketball with Brenner. Ouch! On Tuesday we had been at the doctor's office for Brenner's back. Luckily, he just pulled some muscles in his lower back - no bone/spine injury. Whew!

FFA members went to the Western Farm show in Kansas City on Friday. Brenner said he had a really good time. 

Sunday afternoon the Defenders headed to Columbia to watch Mizzou take on Florida. 

Nola posing for the Flex Cam.....

And making it onto the jumbotron! 

Coach Gary caught it on video. At the end we spied Turkey Hill Ranch Camp friends Kate and Molly so we got to say hello to them as well during the game. 

Valentine's Day

We had a pretty uneventful week with work, school, Valentine's Day, and practices. We did enjoy lovely weather (50+ degree days) - I bet the peepers are talking to us by next weekend!

My KidsHope mentee and I had fun celebrating Valentine's Day together!

Our family Valentine's was for everyone to pick one thing from Wal-Mart for dinner. One thing, no questions asked. Kids went for ice cream bahaha. It was fun but surprisingly hard even for me!

Picture of LSE student council - see someone's low ponytail helping out!

I watched a really interesting webinar on food sovereignty which got me really jazzed to start my seeds for the garden. It is amazing how much food gets wasted and the lack of nutrition in some foods because of modification. Nola helped me with the seeds! 

The current state of the Parker garden - gloomy skies but the temperature was really nice!

Nice enough to break out the grill for some wings - very tasty!

Brenner being silly when playing catch with the football. He tweaked his lower back a bit so we are watching that. He also started working more at the Veggie Patch this week - the paychecks are back!

Little extra focus.....

....mavbe not! Fun with dad for sure!

Backwards shot! 

Speaking of eating clean.....the fat from cooking one package of bacon! I am not a bacon fan for the most part but it makes me wonder how the Atkins diet ever really worked (but maybe that is the point!). 

This made me laugh out loud. Baylee joined Matt in his morning exercises! 

Sunday was a basketball tournament in Pilot Grove - we had lots of fans show up for Nola!

The girls went 1-2 (Glascow 21-16), Tipton (15-16), and Harrisburg (34-27).....they should have gone 2-1 but decided to not play in the second game! This age is so emotional with them just shutting down sometimes. Nola did work hard in game two - but fouled out (I won't waste my time mentioning the reffing). We can really tell improvement in her rebounding, speed, and post shots (keeping the ball above her head). Tough day but that is the way it goes!

Last futsal scrimmage for Brenner. You know he will rarely pose for pictures anymore!

Matt had started a bonfire for when we returned. It was nice to be outside!

My morning walk with Baylee on President's Day.

Brenner worked in the morning so the rest of us heading to Columbia to mattress shop. Nola (and every other 12 year old girl) seems to love Bath and Body Works. She had $40 from Aunt Theresa burning a hole in her pocket. Her knee was a little sore from basketball hence the wrap. 

Lots of mattress places.....wears a gal out! We chuckled at the Sleep Number demo - very thorough. sciency, and comfortable but no we won't be spending $13,000 on your mattress. Crazy! 

Girls just want to have fun

We enjoyed a bit of a break from ball games this week but enjoyed time with friends.

Nola joined some friends to cheer on Defender teammate's school game. Go Warriors!

The weather was great over the weekend so Nola enjoyed trying out Matt's hammock tree stand. 

The flowing locks! 

After helping with Youth group on Saturday morning (dipping strawberries for the Valentine's dinner), we grabbed lunch at McAlisters and went shopping for the middle school formal. Nola and Morgan enjoyed picking out silly outfits that they weren't interested in. First stop was Kohls. 

This was Morgan's favorite all day....she wants to wear sweats to the formal lol! 

I turn around for one minute and find these goofs. Yes that is one pair of pants....

A little simmer was found at the Dillards Clearnce Store. I didn't grab a picture of a white feather thing they wore......they looked like chickens lol! 

Too grown up (and no this continued as a silly options - no way she would be allowed to wear a dress like this!).

Flowing flowers. We struck out at this store but did find a lovely dress at Alter'd State...but you will have to wait until March for the big reveal. Nola looked amazing and danced around the dressing room signaling this is the ONE. (We then proceeded to return the gorgeous bold blue romper!)

Sunday football before heading to the Super Bowl party. 

They humored me by posing for this silly photo. 

Super Bowl party at Richard's house. We enjoyed eating, playing pool, and listening to the old folks yell at the refs lol! We appreciated hanging out with mom and Richard, Aunt Lynnie, Uncle Chris, and mom/Richard's card friends. 

Butker for the winning field goal! Nola ended up a little sick....so that dampened things a bit (she was out sick on Monday too). 

DeJa'Vu!

Whew it has been busy at work, and I just haven't found the time nor energy to post on the blog! We had a full week of basketball and futsal - 8 games total between the two kids - that had us driving around Mid-Missouri. Of course, there were time conflicts, but we made it work. Nola remains excited about school, Matt and Brenner not so much! 

The girls played in Fayette 6th grade tournament. 

They played well together. Nola was great on defense and assists. 

She did great on her free throws. They played two games Thursday night 29-9 against Glascow and 28-0 against Fayette. Nola got a nice compliment from an adult - he said the Defenders were a well-oiled machine and looked great. Nice from someone not associated with our team - and a good reminder always to have good sportmanship.

Saturday morning report (from Grandma and Matt) was that Nola played awesome against North Calloway. Defenders win 34-10 and take first in tournament. 

The Defenders started a new league in Columbia on Sunday. Note enough teams in 6th grade so they got bumped up to the 7/8th grade league. No wins on Sunday but they were strong the first game losing 29-23 (it was back and forth until the end) and got stomped by a HUGE 8th grade team in the second game (image, final score 50-11). Nola got a shoulder to her mouth early on resulting in bloody mouth/loose teeth. It wasn't meanness on the other team's part - they just outsized us. Regardless, it was good for the girls to have some better competition. 

I made it to the 8 am futsal game for Brenner. It was fun to see him play. 

The boys played pretty well considering they had to bring in three guest players so there was a bit of adjustment. 

All games were physical. Ravens lost 10-2 (ouch) and then tied 4-4 in the second game. 

On Sunday, the boys won 8-5. Brenner had the first two goals which pumped him up. He was excited to head into practice this week following their 1-1-1 record from the tournament.

I took the girls to their teammates school team game. It was fun to cheer them on!

There is an a la carte option at school. We had to shut it down for Brenner because he was overspending. I ran the numbers - ouch! He can bring cash to buy his own if he wants!

Recent trip that the FFA group took.

I cleaned Nola's closet which prompted her to clean her entire room - woohoo!

Now if I can just get Brenner to pick up his clothes from the bathroom.....

Wren snuggle time!