We Are Still Here!

Yes, we are still here. The holiday madness is just too much.  I was completely overwhelmed and exhausted.  But, we did make it through.  We did have a wonderful holiday break, that just went by way too fast.  We got some great family pictures:


 

 
And Dee even wanted some with her fur baby:


 

 
Who let her know when he was done with the photo shoot:


 
We also got some nice pictures with Great Grandma Imogene and the grandkids:


 

 
I had made a bunch of Christmas pillows as gifts:


 
and Great Grandma seemed to enjoy hers:


 
and everyone got some great gifts:


 

 
including Loki, who was completely spoiled:


 

 

 

 

 
I am getting a little brave with sewing and made gifts for Mom and Dad:


 

 
And Kyle even played some Christmas songs with Kenny's side of the family:


 

 

 
 Delaney even used one of her gifts to make cupcakes for a holiday party with her friends:


 
After all the holiday hoop-la, we just chilled out.  We slept in, played video games, went to see The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (after watching the first two first again)... basically just relaxed and had a great break. I also did another holiday puzzle.  Delaney was supposed to do it with me, but she decided it was more difficult than she anticipated.  I got a little help from her and from Kenny, but mainly it was all me.  It was the first puzzle I had done where the colors were pretty much the same throughout.  Looking at the picture on the box, was pretty much useless. 


 
Hard to believe, but it was New Year's Eve already.  The kids and I were ready to take the reigning champ down (Kenny) -- let the games begin!  Kenny pulled out a slew of games for everyone to pick from:


 
And the competition was on:


 

 

 

 

 

 

 
And Loki even was playing with us, look how much he grew since the previous New Year's:


 
And the final results, here are the wins:


 

 

 


Lady luck was my friend that night!  Kenny was dethroned; I was the undisputed champion of the evening.  And the kids were bummed.  That's right, bummed.  Not happy at ALL that Kenny wasn't the winner, they were upset that THEY weren't the ones who brought him down.  So much for our pact!  Here is my pile of winning games:



I'd have to say, what a great start to the 2015!  And with the new year, Delaney started up soccer once again.  She had a soccer combine to attend on her birthday, January 4th.  Then a tournament in Fort Wayne (at least it was indoors). 



Snowstorm time!  We got quite the snowstorm very quickly.  Kiddos even missed a few days of school!  Which is really fun at the time, but not all that great when you lose days later. 


 

 

 
Then school was back into full swing.  Delaney had semester finals, Kyle had the Taft Beach Bash, and of course, Delaney had soccer practices with Three Lions United.  Kyle is also doing great with his reading.  He has read all 20 of the Hoosier books and has over 660 points.  When he hit 500 points, he was able to get a new video game.  He chose Destiny.  Now he is reading a huge book by Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings.  We had read his first book written for young adults, The Rithmatist and loved it.  So we thought we'd try another series, since it wasn't specifically geared for young adults I read it first to make sure it was okay.  I loved it, and it was perfectly fine for Kyle.  So he's over halfway through now, and when he is done -- this ONE book is worth 58 AR points!  Crazy, huh?



And it was time to celebrate Great Grandma's 93rd birthday!  We were all able to get together on her birthday, January 17th.  We met at Marcella's and had some yummy garlic rolls and pizza, and Danah made her a beautiful cake.  We made Grandma a "snuggie" for her gift.



All our immediate family birthdays are in the first quarter.  So we've already had Dee's, then it was time for Kenny's.  Since we really never had a chance to celebrate Dee's, we had a belated get-together for her birthday and celebrated Kenny's at the same time at Tequila Restaurante.  Then, of course, the snowstorm hit and basically we were stuck at home for his actual birthday.  At least we had cake!!!



Now, if I could just keep on top of these a little better -- they wouldn't be so long! Oh well, there are times that I wish I could be a cat.  I want to be adored pretty much all the time, sleep pretty much all the time and eat without worries.  (* sigh *)


 


Hopefully we will post again sooner, rather than later!  Enjoy!

Ken, Dani, Dee & Kyle