Cary Band performance

The Cary Band had another sterling performance on Friday night.  We took the boys to this last year and they loved it.  This year, they wanted to go again so we went again.  They were really interested in what color of jacket the band members wore.  Last year it was green.  This year it was black.  The band, made up of regular city citizens, played a compilation of  turn of the century songs that were either composed or about women.

The boys were a little tired when we arrived so we didn't last as long as last year.  But the boys still had a real good time.

Here is a video of them intently watching the performance:

Snowman

Everything we had done today was planned.  This last thing wasn't.  Let's get real.  It was 63 degrees yesterday.  Today, we had snow.  A decent amount of snow.  We had about 2-3 inches of snow on the grass, but the roads were too warm for the snow to stick.    However, plenty of snow to build a snowman.  The boys had never made a snowman before.  No time like the present.

So we put our boots, gloves, toboggans, and coats on and went outside to make a snowman. 

How did we do?  In our opinion, we did pretty good for some Southerners.

Is this really snow...in late February?  - Jack and Mark

We need to smile now so we can get out and make a snowman.  - Jack and Mark

Not sure if you can tell but the boys are holding the "hands" of our snowman.

Three happy people:  Jack, Mommy, Mark

Hugging the snowman.

Three happy boys:  Jack, Daddy, and Mark

NC State vs Virginia Tech

So as if we hadn't done enough on this day, we had another place to drive to in the snow.  It was time for the NC State basketball game against Virginia Tech.  It should have been a pretty easy game as the Pack was a 14 point favorite over the cellar dwellers from Blacksburg.

Early in the game, the boys were excited as they saw their soccer coach, Dave, walking down to the student section.  He is a student at NC State while also being their soccer coach.

The fans around us continue to be amazed (by this time of the season they shouldn't) by the basketball knowledge of Jack and Mark.  The fact that they can tell anyone the starting lineup, who the head coach is, who calls the timeouts, who scores (sometimes), etc.  To Heather and I, it is normal.   But I guess to most people it isn't.  But those are our boys.

At the end of regulation, Virginia Tech tied it on a putback off of a missed free throw to send the game into overtime.  Mark looked at us and said "This is the start of a second game.  They played the first game and nobody won.   Now we are going to start the second game.  And NC State is going to win."  And thankfully he was right.  The Wolfpack won 90-86 in OT.

Next up, Florida State on Tuesday night.

Valentine's Day Present - Build a Bear

For Valentine's Day, we decided to give the boys the opportunity to go to Crabtree Valley Mall to the Build a Bear store.  They were real excited about this.  When we left the soccer fields, it was snowing really hard.  We got into the car after soccer and Jack wanted to take off his coat because the coat had snow on it.  But they didn't mind going into the mall because we parked in the parking garage and no snow would fall on them on the way into the mall.

Once inside, we went to the Build a Bear store.  They picked out their bears (OK, Jack picked out a duck), and went through the process to make the bear and then dress it.  They both wanted a NC State basketball jersey to put on their bear.  Unfortunately, they did not have one that was for the Wolfpack.  So they wound up putting on a Carolina Hurricanes uniform.

The names of their bears are as follows:

Mark named his bear:    Scott Wood
Jack named his duck:     Hockey Player

Here are a couple of pictures from today:

Now that the boys have picked out their bear/duck, they watch in wonder to see how it is made.

So when I step on this pedal, my duck get big.  Cool.  - Jack

Jack, did you mean this pedal?  - Mark

This is one duck who is full.  He doesn't miss a meal.  - Jack

This is my bear.  He is really cool.  - Mark

My duck is ready to take on Stormy as the next mascot.  Go Canes!  - Jack

Come on Jack, this is the best mascot to overtake Stormy.  Go Canes! - Mark

Last Soccer practice

Today was a busy day as you will see in this and the next few posts.

It all started at the last soccer practice for the boys.  The boys have really loved learning soccer drills as well as it being their first organized sporting experience.  After the practice, the boys were surprised when we all found out that the team was going to have a party.  Today had a little bit of everything for them.

We look forward to the next soccer class, which starts in a few weeks.

Here are some pictures from today's soccer time:

I see a possible goal.  I am running to the ball.  - Mark

This is what the coach calls a blue light.  - Jack

The boys with Coach Dave.

Now when we run this corner kick, where should we go coach?  - Jack and Mark

I got my certificate.  - Jack

I got my certificate.  - Mark

Our Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was a lot of fun at our house this year. The boys were most excited about taking their mailboxes that they made to school and then bringing it home full of Valentine cards! Jack's teacher sent us an email on Wednesday telling us that his class was having "Pajama Day" on Valentines. So, this put a little crinkle in Mommy's plan of the boys wearing their Valentine shirts to school. Mark wore his Valentine shirt, while Jack wore his pajamas. Then, on Friday, Mark's class had "Pajama Day" and Jack wore his Valentine shirt. It all worked out and they were both happy each day!

Mark showing off his cute shirt (made by one of Mommy's elementary school friends!)!

 Jack showing off his cute shirt (of course, also made by one of Mommy's elementary school friends!)!

On Thursday night for dinner, Craig went by our favorite Italian restaurant and got our favorite dish as take out. While, at home, Mommy and the boys made heart-shaped pancakes for dinner. The boys absolutely L.O.V.E pancakes and have so much fun helping to make them. They were very excited about the heart shapes. It's the little things that make big smiles!!!

And, after dinner, we opened all of our family Valentine cards. Whew, there sure were a lot of them!

And, then we captured some pictures of kisses from our sons!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of our blog followers! Hope you and all of your loved ones enjoyed this day of celebrating LOVE!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day from Jack and Mark:

Circus

For the past year, the boys have consistently enjoyed looking at the Ringling Barnum and Bailey's Circus program.  I bet we have looked at it 75 times over the past year.  So, today, the circus came to town and the boys were really excited about going back (OK, Mommy and Daddy were excited too).  We had really good seats to watch the show.  The elephants, tigers, lions, and other animals (llamas, horses, ponies, dogs, and cats) were very good and the boys loved them.  Although if you ask Jack, his favorite part was the band.  We got a new program for this circus.  I am sure that we will be looking at it for many more nights in the next 365 days.

We did see something we weren't expecting.  We saw a couple of performers get hurt.  We saw a guy jumping on a balance beam type apparatus sprain his ankle on the landing.  In the steel circle, when there were 8 dirt bikes going around and around in circles, we saw a wreck in which one of the riders appeared to be hurt a lot worse than a sprain.  We hope that they are both OK.

Here are a couple of pictures from the circus (none of it as they wouldn't let us bring our camera into the event...crazy rules):

As fun as this is, I still need my beauty sleep.  - Mark

The happy family at intermission.

Hey look, it's a TV reality show celebrity.  It's Ron Shirley from TruTV's Lizard Lick Towing, based out of Wendell.

Making Valentine's Day mailboxes

The boys received their first homework assignment last week.  The assignment was to create a Valentine's Day box to receive their valentines in.  So, on Friday night the boys went out to decorate their respective boxes.  The boxes combine their sticker skills with both hearts and sports.  Here are a couple of pictures of what their boxes look like:

Getting ready to start decorating the boxes.  

I put the letters on my box.  - Mark

I put the letters on my box.  - Jack

Is this a good place for a heart?  - Mark

Check it out.  I finished the entire page of stickers.  - Jack

Do you like my box?  - Mark

I like how my box looks finished.  - Jack

What are they learning in Children's House?

Jack and Mark are learning lots of different things in Children's House.  They are learning the continents, math, transportation, sea life, artwork, and science among other things.  Next year, they will start taking French classes at the Montessori preschool.  Their respective teachers have sent us some pictures occasionally throughout the year.  Here are the last couple of pictures we have gotten.

After learning about different modes of transportation, one of Mark's friends, Chloe, had her daddy show up to Children's House with his truck cab.  

Jack and Alexa have been learning about the organs in our bodies.

Who just met Dave Doeren?

Last Saturday, as we walked into the PNC Arena for the NC State vs. Miami, we ran into the new head football coach for the Wolfpack, Dave Doeren.   Of course, we had to get a picture with Coach Doeren before we went into the game.  After Daddy introduced us to Coach, we said, "Boys, this is the new football coach. Do you remember his name?" They said they couldn't remember. We said, "Dave..." and in unison they screamed "Doeren!!!!!" He smiled really big! We hope he brings us lots of wins to smile about this fall!  

Here is Coach Doeren with two of his recruits in the class of 2028:

Jack, Coach Dave Doeren, and Mark

More soccer time

At soccer last Saturday, the boys are starting to get more proficient at their soccer skills.  Here are some pictures of their improvements:

Those blocks can't stand when I practice my kicks!  - Mark

What jumped higher when I kicked the ball?  The blocks or me?  - Jack

Brothers that stack blocks together stay together.

After practice, Jack and Mark test out there goalie skills trying to stop shots from Daddy and Grandpa.

Jack goes to a birthday party

One of the kids in Jack's class at school had a birthday party that Jack went to after church the other day.  It was at Jumpzone, which has lots of blow up bounce houses.  The kids there had a great time jumping up and down and running around on one of the several bounce houses there.  Jack had a good time with his friends at Alexa's birthday party.  Here is a picture of the partygoers:

Happy Birthday Alexa!

UNC-CHeat game

On January 26, ESPN Gameday came to Raleigh for the NC State-North Carolina basketball game.  With Daddy in Myrtle Beach with his Sunday School class for their annual golf trip, Granna would join Mommy, Jack, and Mark at the game.

In the morning, everyone watched Gameday.  Mommy relayed this story to Daddy:

While watching Gameday this morning, Mark is very concerned about how they are going to play the basketball game tonight with those men talking and that desk on the court. "It's gonna be in the way, Mommy!" If I've heard it once, I've heard it 10 times already and it's only been on for 34 minutes!

Luckily for the Wolfpack, the desk was taken off the court and the game was able to be played.  State, who had lost 13 in a row to the Tar Holes, came out smoking and was up 45-26 at the halftime.  We had a couple of happy kids with that score:

I get 20 more minutes of watch the Wolfpack whooping up on the Tar Heels?!?  Yes, that is awesome!  - Mark

In the second half, the lead ballooned up to 28 points before a late run by North Carolina made the final score closer than it really should have been.  The final was State 91-83.  It was a great win for the program.

The entire family really enjoyed the game and Gameday!

Dinner Party

On a Saturday evening, our good friends, the Willefords, came over from an impromptu dinner.  There were four boys no older than 4 in the house.  We had grilled some marinated chicken and it was really good.  All of us had a good time catching up and watching the children play together.

It was the first time in our house that we had a true kids table.  All of the kids ate, sort of.  Scott, Keith, and Mark all ate pretty good.  But Jack was so excited that his friends were over that he only ate one bite of his dinner.  No worries, he REALLY ate a good breakfast the next morning.

Here are a couple of pictures from our kid table:

When is the food coming?  We are starving.  I need some pasta.  - Jack

OK guys.  If we are not going to get our food, we need to do something.  How about poker?  Whose in?  - Mark

Extra Soccer Practice

One Sunday afternoon, the boys wanted to go play some more soccer.  Well, it was a great afternoon to go out and play soccer.  So, Jack and Mark really wanted their buddy Alex to join them.  So the three of them went up to SAS and practiced their skills they have been learning at soccer on Saturday mornings.  They really enjoyed the large nets and kicking with Alex.  They all had a great time either scoring goals or playing goalie and trying to keep either Daddy or one of them from scoring goals.

This is something that the boys will be doing more and more in the next few weeks.

Here are a couple of pictures from the afternoon:

I just made a big time save.  - Mark

You all are going to have to make a much higher quality shot to get it by me.  - Jack

Home Alone - new actors?

Tonight we took Jack and Mark to Harris Teeter to get a couple of items.  Jack took the little shopper in training cart while Mark drove the big blue cart that doubles as a grocery cart.  They each had a grand time. When it came to checking out, the boys each put the items in their cart onto the checkout line for the cashier.  It was very reminiscent of the scene in Home Alone where Macaulay Culkin went to the grocery store to get some detergent, toothbrush, and a couple of other items.  It was so cute that I quickly pulled out the IPhone and started recording.  Check them out. 

First up, we have Jack:



Next up, we have Mark: