What a girl!!!

Nicole debated and contemplated & changed her mind many times.  But the girl who has had her hair long ... FOREVER ... decided that she would donate her gorgeous locks to those who have lost theirs.  10" later and this is what we have.  The one comment made was it would be nice to know who her hair went to after it was made in to a wig.  Now, it's time to send the envelope to Locks of Love

It's not the team

We are Payton fans & with that ... Go Broncos!

Snow Days

This is how much I love freezer meals!!!!

We have a snow day & I make 3 more freezer meals to have on hand.  How I managed life with this before, I'm really not sure.  I LOVE IT.

Here's a new recipe!!!  Thanks to my dear friend, Stacy, for sharing it :-)

Hamburger Rice Casserole
1 lb hamburger, brown & drain
1 can cream of mushroom soup
      (I use my homemade cream of something soup I found on Pinterest)
1 can Italian stewed tomatoes
      (I blended them up in the blender so the kids wouldn't "see" tomatoes)
1 cup of rice (uncooked)
Cheese

Mix everything except the cheese in pan and cook on stove until boiling (first bubbles I saw, I pulled off!) Put in 9x13 pan, add desired amount of cheese to top.  Bake on 375 for 20-30 minutes.

Fun First!

It's been practiced & thought about ... the opportunity finally arrived. Mason stole the ball just past half court and headed down the court ahead of the pack. He finally got to dunk the ball in a game :-)

And all the thanks for capturing the moment goes to Carrie Towns Photography for being there with her camera!

Coughing

I hate the "crud."  I've battled it off and on all winter.  Last week ... the week we actually had no activities going on, I started coughing.  Dane started coughing.  It was absolutely miserable.  The kind you can't sleep at night, no one else sleeps much either because all you hear is us coughing.  And NOTHING would make it stop ... trust me I tried.  Prescriptions, home remedies, vicks on the feet, pinterest recipes ... you name it, I tried it.

I finally gave up after 7 days and decided that I was stuck in a perpetual state of no sleep due to cough.  So Saturday night I decided I was going to quit taking anything and everything.  I still coughed Saturday night but on Sunday (still taking NOTHING) I took a 2 hour nap, slept all night the last 2 nights with minimal coughing.  Same thing with Dane ... he didn't cough much Saturday night.

Isn't it amazing ... our minds are trained that we need medicine to "fix" ailments and guess what worked for us ~ taking NOTHING.

MCL Basketball Tournament

A big THANK YOU to Carrie Towns Photography for coming to the game.  She does an amazing job with her sports sessions ... absolutely worth it.  Mason spent some time on the bench in foul trouble and I still have 90 amazing pictures of him playing during this game.  Plus, it was a first round win for the boys 62-55 over Ellis.  Slow start, but the boys never gave up and fought back.  So fun watching them play!  So many more pictures, if you want to browse through them, let me know and I'll share the link to them all.

KSU v KU

Had a fun weekend in Lawrence/Topeka taking these 3 to the basketball game.  Dane's first experience at Allen Field House was all I had hoped it to be :-)

We supported our Cats in the sea of red & blue even though they didn't play very well

My boys

We hung around after the game waiting for Marcus Foster ... since he is from Wichita Falls, TX we had to get a quick picture for my niece, Lydsie cause she lives there.

Watch Out World

We have another driver in the family. Nicole got her permit today to start driving me to and from work.

Sweet Mia

Took my sweet Mia in for a haircut today. She looks so much better and was ornery as all get out when we got home.

Freezer Meals

I FINALLY did it ... got organized and now have 22 meals in the deep freeze for supper simplicity in our crazy ~ wonderful life.

However, I will post this disclaimer ... I don't really follow recipes.  I used these mostly just as guides and poured and dumped to what I thought looked good.  Some of these we haven't tried yet - which most of the time the looks on their faces when I tell them it's a new recipe is rather priceless.  And most of them will probably be tweaked after the first time we try them.

I would recommend that any of the recipes that include cheese - don't add it and freeze it.  Wait and add it when you are using that freezer meal.  But, that is just my preference.  All you have to do is write on the bag or pan cover to add cheese to remind yourself (well, that's what I have to do or I definitely would not remember to add the cheese)

Hope you enjoy & if you feel like trying this too - good luck.  I think I could easily get use to this!!

Crockpot Freezer Meals

Freezer Meals

Intensity

This young man is intense. He's vocal and just gets in to it :) I can't wait to see how his focus guides him through life

New Year's Eve Party

Not much of a celebration tonight. Abby has not been feeling well for the last 4 days, so we changed our plans and stayed home. Cory came over for the evening and Mason spent the evening with his friends.

Snuggled on the couch with Abby is a pretty good way to spend the evening for me ... just wish she felt better.

Happy New Year ... May 2014 be a blessed year for you!

No more baby "teeth"

Dane lost his last 2 baby teeth in a 12 hour period. Yesterday, we went to Kearney & he kept telling us he couldn't eat much because of his loose teeth. After crawling out of bed this morning - they're all gone. Bitter sweet moment for me ...

17 & Counting

My first little baby turns 17 today. He's an amazing young man with a heart of gold! Love him dearly ... Happy Birthday, Mason

Home Game Crowd

The basketball teams had their first home game last night. The boys won by 30 or 40 points & Mason had quite the family cheering section. Collin, Delaney, Brayden, Aunt Mary Ann & Uncle Ron made it from Michigan and Brianna & Jenna from Hays, plus everyone from here. It was the first time since his baptism I got a picture of him with his God Parents, Uncle Russ & Aunt Mary Ann.

Recital

Abby played her first piano recital.

She was nervous & not sure she wants to play anymore cause she made mistakes.

Attached is one of her songs and she's only been taking lessons for 2 months.

Very proud of her!

Busy Weekend Recap

Mason took Dane out this morning on the last day of deer season.  Dane was able to shoot his very first buck today. Beyond excited for him.  Looks like we'll be having some deer meat in the near future.

 

 Nicole played her final time on the basketball floor as a middle school athlete.  It was a year of struggles in wins/losses but they were able to do some good things and played hard the final game losing on a last second shot.  I love getting to see her play and am very proud of her.

 

Next to come - Abby will be having a piano recital on Friday at the hospital.  Looking forward to hearing her play the music she works so hard on with Mrs. Halbleib every week.



Topside Tip-Off

Mason receiving his 2nd place medal

Mason & Braydon were selected to the All Tournament Team!

The team and coaches :-)

We played in a 3 day tournament at Goodland. The boys beat Burlington & Goodland and then lost to Sharon Springs by 3 in the championship. It was such a fun game to watch - the boys did an amazing job!

Winter Concert

Dane & Abby had their vocal concert last night. This was Dane's last elementary concert! They sang a variety if songs and danced for us.

Abby played her recorder. Dane had quite a few speaking parts and did a very good job.

2013 Deer

After a couple long days - at the end of the 2nd Cody & Mason shot their deer!