Best Photo Ever

So one Sunday after church we were leaving Firebirds at North Hills.  It was cold and windy and the boys had on their nicer heavy jackets.  They looked cute in them until Heather asked for a quick picture.  They had no interest in a picture as you can tell from below.

A New Tradition Unlike any Other - The Rodeo

The next night we went back to the PNC Arena for another event.  This time it was not a hockey game or a basketball game.  It was a rodeo.  We had never been to a rodeo before.  Over the summer, the boys watched a few bull riding shows on TV while we stayed up at Granna and Grandpa's while we were renovating our house.  We didn't know that Grandpa was a closet bull riding aficionado.

Jack and Mark said they really wanted to go to a rodeo if one came to town.  So it came to Raleigh in mid-January.  And the family was there.

Everyone had a really good time.  We wound up seeing some bull riding, horse riding, barrel running, and some little kids riding some sheep.  It was a lot of fun.  We definitely want to go back another time.

Here are some pictures from the rodeo:

Little kids riding sheep.

Watch out for a flying bull rider!

A close-up of the monkey who herds sheep.

Here is a video of the Whiplash the monkey:

Our two bull riders!

Hey! I know these people!

Hey Whiplash!  You having fun out there?

Football Sundays

With the NFL Playoffs dominating the area, with the Panthers playing so well, the boys enjoy playing a family football game on Sunday afternoons.  They start talking about the game at lunch after church.  They pick teams (some sort of combination of them vs. Grandpa and Daddy - unless they talk Mommy and Granna to take part too) and then come up with uniforms and plays on the way home from lunch.  Both teams have to color co-ordinate.  They have gotten end zone pylon markers as well as getting Grandpa to create some first down chains and a scoreboard.  Yes, they are official.  

We all enjoy playing these games.  Check out the boys before kickoff:

Don't mess with the DeVault twins.  They are ready to win!

Canes game

On Friday night, January 15, the family went to their annual Carolina Hurricanes regular season game.  We had a really good time as we were able to get some good seats downstairs for the game against the Vancouver Canucks.  The boys always enjoy going to hockey games.  They always like to watch the first period of games when we are at home during school nights.  They want us to tape the rest of the game so they can watch it in the morning.

The boys unfortunately have not had a great deal of luck with the games they have attended.  So far the Canes have not one a single regular season game that we went to.  And the streak continued on this night as well.  This time, the Canes at least sent the game into overtime before succumbing to a 3-2 OT loss.

The loss notwithstanding, the boys, Mommy, and Daddy had a really good time.  Here are some pictures from the evening:

Mark and Daddy

Jack and Mommy

Brotherly Love.  Too bad the Canes aren't playing the Philadelphia Flyers

I am a Caniac and It's Bo Time!! - Mark hoping for a free Bo-Berry biscuit with a power play goal!

NCSU Basketball and Ace's Towing

After Mark's dribbling prowess, Mommy and Daddy went to the NC State- Florida State basketball game later that night (Granna and Grandpa stayed at the house while the boys slept).  We took some friends from church to the game (Mark and Weston Moore).  Weston is a high school senior and one of Daddy's kids he teaches at D-Teams on Wednesday nights.  He is going to go to ECU next year, the same school Mark went to.

They are big basketball fans and wanted to go with us to the FSU game since we had a couple of tickets we were trying to sell.  We told them to park at Wendy's near the arena and we would pick them up from there.

We had a good time at the game, even though State didn't play well (an all too common theme this basketball season).  The Pack struggled and wound up losing 85-78.

After the game, which made the Pack 0-4 in the conference, we dropped the Moore's off at their car, which was parked at Wendy's.  Unfortunately, the car was not there.  There were some hard to see signs in the parking lot saying that parking for arena events was not allowed and would be grounds for towing (although there was not what I would consider a large amount of traffic at Wendy's, being at 9 PM on a Wednesday).

Anyway, we figured out that their car got towed by Ace's Towing.  We called the place and they had the car.  We drove to the car, which is past downtown Raleigh, off of Wilmington Street, and in a sketchy part of downtown.  Then again, several places are sketchy at 11:30 on a weeknight in downtown.

When we got there, no one was there to let us in.  We had to wait for about 10 minutes for the tow truck to come back with a car.  Mark got out and talked to the tow truck driver who let us inside the compound.  Then he paid the $100 fee and was able to drive his car home.

Heather and I felt terrible about it.  I mean come on.  We had previously picked up several people at that Wendy's with no repercussions.  It had to be some sort of power trip by the 3 employees at the store, even though there were signs about no parking for arena events.

Mark handled it pretty well and told us later it was a good life lesson for Weston.  Looking back at it, we have some pretty good laughs now.

Here are some pictures from the adventure in towing:

Weston and Mark Moore enjoying the game (wearing ECU gear).

Mark is on the phone trying to talk to someone inside Ace's towing.

Mark looks inside to look for anyone.

Mr. Tow Truck Driver.  Our friends told us for some reason it was OK to park at Wendy's.  They were way wrong.  Can I get my car back?  Thanks.   

Funny phrase

One of the most common phrases both Jack and Mark say is a combination of:

I don't care

and

It doesn't matter

Which of course comes out as:

I don't matter.

No matter how many times they say the combined phrase, we tell them that yes, they do matter.  You may not care what we do, but you definitely matter.  It is always cute when they combine the phrases.

Basketball Dribbling Show

One night at church Mark decided to show us his best dribbling skillz by dribbling two basketballs at once.

Pretty impressive.

Upward Basketball time

One of the boys favorite things is basketball season. Particularly, Upward Basketball season.  This year, the boys team name is the Hawkeyes.  They love basketball at church.  In one of the first practices, one of their teammates asked if they could dunk during a game.  I told them "Absolutely!!! If any of the players dunked during a game, I would buy all of the kids lunch that day."  I knew good and well that it was a promise that would have to be fulfilled.

The boys had several of their friends from church on their team:

Evan Ryan
Andrew Arthur
Austin Moye

Austin was on their team last year as well.  We had some other good kids on the team as well.  The Hawkeyes were ready to roll as the season opener came along.

Here are some pictures from Game One:

Ready for last minute instructions before the game.

I am open!  Pass me the ball! - Mark

Cheering on their teammates after a made shot.

Surveying the situation.  - Mark

With the spotlight on him, Jack gets into shooting position for the three-pointer.