bunked beds!

Finally!!!  The beds are bunked.  The boys have been ready for quite a while now.  They were so pumped all day long knowing that Coleman was coming over to help with the beds.  They look great and open up so much more room in their bedroom.  (Although, it hasn't been cleaned yet, so there doesn't look like more room at the moment.)  They have been so excited to sleep in the beds.  Josiah was ready for bed almost as soon as they were bunked!  Poor Mercy isn't allowed to go on the top bunk without Mommy or Daddy, so she has gotten into trouble.  She is not afraid...she climbed the whole ladder the other day!  Here are some pictures!  

all on top!  and plenty of room underneith :)

Aedan with baby puma and Josiah with baby lion

Mercy is allowed on the bottom bunk without Mommy or Daddy present!

the cutest tobaggon EVER!

My friend, Danielle, made this little toboggan for Mercy Cate!  It is so fabulously cute!  I love it.  She also gave me some attachments for it (that her husband's cousin made).  Thank you, Danielle, for thinking of Mercy Cate.  She looks great in the toboggan :)

1st toboggan picture, with the white flower.  Danielle even sewed a button on it for the middle of the flower.

Sporting the bow look on the toboggan!

This one is three different attachments grouped together.  They can be separated too:)

Here it is with a brown bow that I had :)

Mercy Cate is super-stylish in this thing!  Look out!

quote of the week

"Josiah continues to knock the socks off of kindergarten.  He amazes me daily with his trivia and knowledge."

~Mrs. Moss (Josiah's teacher)

SNOW DAY

Today was a Snow Day!  School was cancelled for the second time because of snow, but this was the first time it was cancelled with actual snow on the ground to play in...a nice little four day weekend for Josiah!  It rained all day yesterday and the rain finally turned over to snow around 3:00.  Since it rained so much at first, it made the snow real muddy, and not the best for playing.  (You can see what I'm talking about in the pictures.)  The kids loved going out, though, and of course, the hot chocolate when we came inside.  It's always wonderful for me when snow days fall on Fridays.  Ryan can be here to play and sled in the snow with the boys.  Also, Ryan's classes haven't started yet, so there was no pressure to get up to the church to watch classes online or read, which is how he spends most Fridays now.  Classes start on the 23rd, so not too much longer.  Back to the snow...when we got up this morning, it was snowing again, but it wasn't a whole lot to add to the accumluation.  Missing a school day today, also means that the 100th day of school party is delayed a day, so it will be next Thursday, instead of Wednesday.  I think Ryan plans to go now that it falls on a Thursday:)  Here are some pictures of our morning:

All bundled up and ready to go!!

3 sweeties

Aedan sliding

Mercy and I  (I think I need to invest in some gloves...I don't have any!)

The boys enjoyed a snowball fight!

Ryan and the kids

Here are some videos~

Mercy jumping

We finally moved our little trampoline inside from the shed.  The kids love it, and it helps them get some energy out during the winter months when it's too cold to play outside.  My dad asked me the other day if Mercy could jump on it...yes, she can!  Here's a little video of her jumping!

O'Brien Bowl- o- Rama

We had a great time participating in the O'Brien Bowl-o-rama this year.  This was the first year that the boys made their picks.  (Next year, we'll let Mercy pick...maybe we can increase the family's odds..haha!)  We had fun cheering for our teams, and of course getting stressed out!  I think the game that stressed me out the most was the Georgia game, going into triple overtime.  I'm pretty sure they took a couple years off my life.  haha!  I think one of my favorite games to watch was the Oklahoma St vs. Stanford game.  Of course, it helped that I picked Oklahoma, so it was a blast.  (If only Stanford had a kicker.)  Hmmm...and come to think of it, if only Ga had a better kicker.  We were completely footballed out at one point during the Bowl-O-Rama (after the Saturday with many games).  We were glad to have the Sunday "off" before the 6 games on Monday.  The big winner was Jacob, then Nicholas, Dewey, Craig, and Aunt Fiona.  Josiah and I weren't too far down the list.  At one point, he and I were in the lead.  (If only we could have ended it after only 14 games.)  Ryan and Aedan were further down the list.  Poor Aedan loves football, but just can't pick em very well.

Other big winners included the officials (in the booth) of the Michigan/Va Tech game...I wonder how much they "won" from Michigan for the call they made on this play:


Hmmmm....looks like he was in to me and caught the ball.  I asked a football "expert" who is unbiased, of course, and this is what he said:

Of course, the MOST disappointing game for us was the Clemson/West Virginia game.  My goodness!  What a horrible game for the tigers!  We were pumped and ready to watch the game.

Check out these Clemson cuties!

Watching the game, eating their Clemson cupcakes.

Watching the game.  Very fitting that the defensive coordinator is on the screen...I mean the now former defensive coordinator.

My cousin, Michael and Uncle Sam were actually at the Orange Bowl.  Michael sent this picture from warm-ups!  Aedan was so excited to see Sammy Watkins in the picture.

We even did our own cheer for the Tigers:

Maybe the Tigers needed to see this cheer!  I'm sure it would've made a difference.

Lastly, the National Championship game...Aedan was the only one in our family that picked LSU to win.  (He cheers for all tiger teams.)  Ryan was out of town when the game was on, so it was just me and the kids.  We made cupcakes:

yum!!

Aedan wore a tiger costume the entire day!!  All he could talk about all day long was how the tigers were going to beat the elephants.

He wasn't so happy as he watched the game.  I let them stay up a little to watch the game, but eventually, they had to go to bed.  Aedan was crying because Alabama was winning, and also because he had to go to bed.  The next morning, I had to break the news to him.  He was so upset, and cried.  And, cried more when he heard the score.  Although, he still wore his outfit the next day.  Always a tiger fan!

Ready for revenge!

Thanks Uncle Bim for your organization!  We are ready for next year's Bowl-o-rama!

Interviews

My mom sent me a link to someting she found on Pinterest...20 questions to ask your kids every year.  I asked the boys the questions, so here they are...

 20 QUESTIONS : answered by Josiah~age 6

1. What is your favorite color? Red  

2. What is your favorite toy? Tranformer T-Rex

3. What is your favorite fruit? apples 

4.. What is your favorite tv show? Imaginex

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? blueberries and grilled cheese

6. What is your favorite outfit? comfy pants

7. What is your favorite game? hockey 

8. What is your favorite snack? animal crackers 

9. What is your favorite animal? cougar

10. What is your favorite song?  Imaginex song

11. What is your favorite book? Dinosaur book (4 stories) 

12. Who is your best friend? Emily 

13. What is your favorite cereal? honey nut cheerios

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? climb trees 

15. What is your favorite drink? grape juice (I think he means grape gaterade.)

16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? baby lion

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Honey nut cheerios and apples 

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? corn, chicken, fries

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Zoologist (not surprising!) 

 20 QUESTIONS : answered by Aedan~age 4 1/2

1. What is your favorite color? Orange, black, white

2. What is your favorite toy? Leapster

3. What is your favorite fruit? none

4. What is your favorite tv show? Dinosaurs

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Mac and cheese and mashed potatoes

 6. What is your favorite outfit? Clemson Tiger outfit

7. What is your favorite game? football

 8. What is your favorite snack? dinosaur gummies

9. What is your favorite animal? jaguar and alligators

10. What is your favorite song?  dinosaur song

11. What is your favorite book?  dino, animal, and family books

12. Who is your best friend? Daddy

13. What is your favorite cereal? frosted flakes and rice crispies

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside?  play soccer

15. What is your favorite drink? blueberry juice

16. What is your favorite holiday? August 30th

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? baby puma and peewee pillow pet that Vivian gave me

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? frosted flakes and rice crispies

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? cake!

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? paleontologist

Hopefully, I will remember to ask the same questions next year...please remind me :)