Back at home...

After over two weeks in Wisconsin, we arrived back home on January 4th. On January 5th the boys had a chance to open a few presents that we had recieved from some friends at church.

Then we unloaded the Christmas presents from the car and the boys set to playing with their new toys in the toy room. Our toy room is overflowing with new toys! The boys recieved several sets of K-nex toys which Zeke is playing with here. They also recieved other building toys and a new set to add to their train box.

Christmas Day...

On Christmas morning we are not the early to rise family. We don't usually have the kids out of bed before us because they have learned that we usually will go to church before we start the gift opening.

This year, we had the blessing of spending Christmas day with my Grandparents. We drove up to Wabeno, Wisconsin after church. My Grandma lives at a nursing home now, but for Christmas day she came home. After going to church, driving north and then waiting for Great Grandma the boys were ready for their presents. A few years ago, I was tired of the waste of wrapping paper and I sewed a bag for each of the boys to put presents in. Now each year they open a gift bag with a gift or two from Chad and I. Usually someone crawls all the way into their bag to find the gift at the bottom.

This year, the boys each got a big semi-truck for hauling!Note also that there is a speed racer car and Noah is also holding an airplane that Grandma and Grandpa got them.

Snow Flakes...

There hasn't been much snow on the ground in Indiana yet... (I hear there is a possibility of a few inches tonight). The boys, however, are always getting out their scissors and cutting things out. Today I got them started on a project that is sure to leave more little clippings all over our house for months to come! We opened up a package of Coffee filters and the boys began folding and cutting.

JJ, in typical JJ fashion, was very careful and artistic.

This was one of his first attempts, and his favorite because it has little hearts in it. He also created several that he thought looked like flowers and butterflies!

Noah is rarely able to concentrate on anything without sticking his tongue out... Which is why this picture is so odd!

He was thrilled with his creations!

Zeke tried a variety of different techniques of cutting.

He was always excited to unfold the new snowflake!

Seth got really good at cutting out the center.

His snowflakes all had various size holes for him to look through!

Balancing Act

Science Central, our local kids museum, hosts Homeschool afternoons where they offer a science class for homeschooled children in the area. Today we headed out the door for Zeke's "The Math is Right" class. We got there a little early, so we grabbed one of their adventure back packs to learn a little bit about the physics of balancing.


The first explorer bag had two dolls and the boys had to balance them on their heads and feet. Then they were to discuss why they could or couldn't get the doll to stand up.

It was discovered that the doll with the heavier head would stand on her head and the doll with the heavier feet would stand on her feet.

The next bag gave them the task of balancing 10 nails on the head of a nail. After several unsuccessful attempts we looked at the answer and Zeke successfully balanced the nails by hooking them together.

When we returned to our table and pulled out our last bag, the task was to balance a popsicle stick on the end of their finger. The boys all immediately knew that this would not work and thought it was a silly request, but they tried it anyway. But of course this was not the end of the lesson. The next set of instructions were to create a set of counter weights to enable them to balance the popsicle stick on the end of their finger. After a few minutes of attaching pipecleaners and paperclips to their toothpicks they were all able to successfully balance their popsicle sticks.

Flag Football Season Ends

The season for flag football ended on a cold fall day. We were making up a game that was rained out earlier in the season. Between the blustery wind and the upper 40 degree temperatures there were a lot of cold boys and girls on the field.

JJ and Noah played first and kept a positive attitude throughout the game despite the cold temps. After the game they were awarded a participation medal!

Zeke played next and did his best. Cold fingers caused a dropped pass or two. He was also awarded a participation medal. He wanted to show off both of his medals (the other one is from baseball this summer).

Seth, of course, wanted his picture taken too! He can't wait to play football next year!

Grandma and Grandpa at Flag Football

On October 18th, Grandma and Grandpa Breeden came to visit. Zeke, JJ and Noah had a chance to show off their football skills!

Zeke's game started bright and early at 8:30. He had a great game and his team won their first game this year.

Zeke helped out on defense by pulling a couple of flags.

After the game, Grandma, Grandpa and Zeke posed for a picture.

We had a half hour break and Noah and JJ's games started at 10:00. JJ had a great run that lead to a touchdown!

Noah got the ball and ran in the right direction!After the game we got Noah and JJ together for a picture with Grandma and Grandpa too!

It was a beautiful fall day and after the games we went to Cabella's for lunch!

Flag Football

Every Saturday for the past few weeks we wake up and head to the YMCA where Zeke, JJ and Noah are involved in flag football.

This is the second year for Zeke. He plays on the Jaguars. He is doing great and has learned a lot since last year. His friend Max plays on his team too!

JJ and Noah play together on the Panthers in the PreK-Kindergarten league. This is JJ's second year and he has also improved. He keeps his head in the game and listens to his coaches. He has even scored three touchdowns and come close on a couple of other runs! When he gets the ball he takes off running and when we see him on the sidelines he is always excited to point out how fast he ran!

Noah is in his first year. Noah is having fun! The coaches work weekly with him and the other younger players to help them understand things like, the word "hike" means go in football and when you are on defense your only job is to get the flag of the player with the ball. The first time he got the ball this year the coach (after needing to remind him several times that it was his turn to get the ball) he took it and started running away from his endzone... He is learning though and having fun!

Michigan Trip

We had an opportunity to get away to the north for a couple days. Some friends of ours from church have a cottage on a lake in Southern Michigan and we started our trip there. The boys had a great time splashing in the water.

Zeke spent the day perfecting his use of the snorkel.

JJ spent the day searching for minnows, sea shells and other water treasures.

We all took a ride on the pontoon boat and spent some time combing the shoreline for turtles.

Thanks to Jack and Lois for a wonderful day in the sun!

From Coldwater we headed north to spend a day in Battle Creek. We had a great time playing in an indoor/ outdoor water playland called Full Blast (not a convenient place for a camera though so I have no pictures). After another day in the sun and water we headed home and finished our mini-vacation with a pizza and movie night in our living room!