Basketball Season comes to an end...

Zeke's first season of basketball has come to an end. He enjoyed it and learned a lot about playing with a team and about the game. It was a huge success for him, when he got his first trophy. When we got home, he wanted me to take a picture with all of his awards... The trophy in the middle was from this Basketball Season.

Box Cages...

Over a year ago we recieved a book in a Happy Meal at Chick-Fil-A. It was called "Rainy Day Activities" Over the course of that year the boys have occasionally pulled out the book and always pointed to the project that displays a cardboard box turned into a cage for stuffed animals. Inevitably they ask me if they can make it... The problem.... in our house I don't keep boxes around very often. I am not a pack rat and boxes get broken down for recycling almost immediately.

After all the asking, I finally started saving boxes that we would get from the food bank. It took me a few weeks to save up 4 boxes that had tops. This was right before Christmas. In the meantime the book got put away again. Recently the book was pulled out and I was finally able to sit down with the boys and create cages for their stuffed animals (which have become a favorite toy in the house over the past couple of months... not to be surpassed by legos though).

The boys were incredibly patient as I moved around the table helping them with the cutting and some gluing. (I suppose it comes from over a year of waiting to make these boxes). Chad came home from school in the middle of the project and got in on the fun. The finished products...

Winter Gala...

Nights out for Chad and I are a rare treat. Nights out where we dress up and go dancing are even more rare. Each year the seminary holds a winter Gala and (for a small fee) they even provide child care.

So Chad and I got dressed up again... See pictures from Valentine's Day for the attire.

As we were getting dressed up again, the boys were excited to go play with their friends. We dropped them off in one building and then walked to the Student Commons for an evening of friends, fellowship and dancing.

We had a wonderful time out with friends and enjoyed an evening of getting dressed up and celebrating our love for each other as well!

Fabulous Flying Potts Boys

It happens often in our home. Daddy lays down on the ground and a wrestling match with 4 little boys begins. Lately the JJ's gymnastics class has been rubbing off on everyone. The boys enjoy flying through the air as daddy flips them over and over again!

So one day, Chad tells them that it is now their turn to flip him. This is what they looked like! They sure did try hard!

Happy Valentine's Day...

It all started on Tuesday. The Christian Radio Station in town does a Valentine's Banquest/ concert each year. On Tuesday they were giving away a pair of tickets (at $120 that was about the only way we could afford it). The catch, call in and share a story about something romantic that has been done for you or that you have done. We had no plans for Valentine's Day, so I called and shared a sweet story of all the wonderful things Chad did for me while he was deployed to Iraq... We didn't win... Oh well, nothing lost!

Then comes Friday... It was late afternoon and I was working and watching some friends kids. The phone rings. "Hello, this is John O. from Star 88.3, we have a couple of extra tickets to our Valentine's banquet tomorrow and were so moved by your story we want you to have them!" WHAT!?! Wow. Alright, sounds like fun, but now I have to find someone to watch the kids. We called a couple of places and in the end our friends the Peters said they didn't have anything planned. So I told Chad, get dressed up we are going to a fancy dinner! Yippee!

Anyway, it was a beautiful night. We dropped the kids off at the Peters' house and took a couple of pictures. This was one of those rare moments when we really get to get dressed up and I still had the bridesmaid dress from my sister's wedding in my closet, so I pulled it out!

We arrive at the Grand Wayne Center. When we picked up our tickets they let us know we were at table #3... Does that sound close to the front? It was! Front Row seats. Wow. Then we got our picture taken again and went in for a fabulous dinner. We started with Salad, then moved on to Chicken and rice and finished with a fabulous chocolate brownie and Chocolate Cheese cake. During the dinner we had the opportunity to hear a few songs from Mandisa. After Dinner and an inspirational message on marriage, we got a full concert from Mandisa. We hadn't really heard of her before, but she was on American Idol the year that Taylor Hicks won. She was in the finals and is now about to release her 2nd album. She was great and had a great and inspiring testimony!

What a beautiful and memorable Valentine's Day! Thanks Star 88.3 and the Peters Family!

A taste of Spring...

It is hard to believe that just 2 weeks ago we were celebrating a snow day... While we know that the fun of winter is not over, this week we have been given several days in a row of 50+ degree weather. We have taken advantage of it and gotten outside (our muddy shoes show it).

Today we took a walk through the woods along the river and did some exploring. The paths were muddy or snow covered, but we all had fun looking for treasures. After that we went and got our first taste of the golf course...

Of course, we know that it is only February and winter is not over yet... There is snow in the forecast for Wednesday night into Thursday. But no matter what the Ground Hog tells us, spring will come!

Basketball...

Since the beginning of January, Zeke has been involved in a basketball league at the YMCA. He plays for the Bulls. As you can tell from his answers to his Zeke at 7... post, he loves sports. Zeke takes the time to know the teams, the players and the scores. He is enjoying his basketball season and (since the Y doesn't keep score at his age level) he keeps a running score in his head. I am proud of his dribbling skills. You can tell that this is something he has worked on. He doesn't travel much and knows how to pass the ball to his teammates.
We have a good time watching him play each week!