Happy Easter

Keaton and Cyrus happily posed for a picture on Easter morning. This was the first year Keaton didn't have his Easter basket - he had to be happy with Cy's toy basket. (Keaton's Easter basket is packed away out of reach while Matt is remodeling the basement.) We had a pretty low-key day full of lots of basketball - watching some on TV and some with Matt & Keaton playing. We had a traditional ham dinner and even Cyrus had some ham and potatoes with us (after he got some from Keaton's fork).

End of the Trimester

Not only did basketball season officially end, but the second trimester at school ended last week as well. Keaton had five exams last week and a well-deserved long weekend. They didn't have school on Monday or Tuesday, so it was strange having to get up early this morning. Keaton ended with high marks again and we're very proud of him. He had a rough basketball season and some tough classes that compounded to the stress he felt. But, he has a good schedule and golf practice officially begins today after school. He has a lot to look forward to: golf, AAU tryouts on Sunday, spring break in Tennessee in April, and only nine more weeks until school is out and he officially becomes a Junior. The time will fly by as quickly as the snow melts. Yikes!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Brrrrrrrrrrrr! Another cold day in Michigan, but at least the sun is out. We had another round of snow the other night and everyone here was disappointed to be one of only two schools open in the entire county the next morning. Tonight is our last regular-season game and then we begin playoffs on Monday night, taking on Paw Paw. We've beat them twice now, but anything could happen. If the boys win on Monday night, the next game will be on Wednesday night. Our girls' team just lost last night in their race to become district champs, so their season is officially over. Things are cooling off on the hardwood court, but that means that things will start warming up on the golf course for Keaton. First, we'll have to wait for all the snow to melt so we can even find the course!

Update

It's been a busy couple of weeks. We went out snow shoeing again with our friends and had a great time. This time, we went to a nature preserve and then headed over to a state park for our adventure. One trail had stairs on it which made for quite a challege. Since I didn't feel like spending the rest of winter in traction, I opted to be creative and slide down the stairs on my natural padding - my big booty. After warming up and taking a nap, we headed out for another birthday celebration with friends. We went to hear a live band play and had a great time out on the dance floor. I haven't decided yet if I'm done celebrating my birthday. I might have one more day because I get a new outfit everytime we go out to celebrate!

Last week, I did nothing but hang out on the couch. I had to admit defeat to the flu. I didn't do my hair or makeup for five days, so that's concrete proof of how sick I really was. It wasn't pretty - me or the illness. We had two snow days and did a lot of sleeping and shoveling. The sleeping was much more fun than the shoveling.

Basketball has been going well for Keaton. He's been starting and his level of confidence is improving. We won against Paw Paw and had another game cancelled due to the snow. He had a really good game against Vicksburg. We won in overtime and he had the 3-pointer that put them ahead. Whew! It's tough to sit in the stands and watch. It's a good thing I'm not a nail-biter or I'd have nothing but stubs left. We lost to Allegan last night, but deservedly so. Our defense was awful and Allegan doesn't miss ANYTHING. On the positive side, we had a snow day again today, so the boys can all sleep in and rest up for the tough practice they'll have today.

                           

The snow continues to fall. Poor Cyrus has been wearing his little t-shirt and cuddling up with us under blankets. He just got a hair cut, so he's been really cold. He doesn't like the snow and does his business as quickly as he can so he can get back inside and get back in the blanket. He's so spoiled that Matt shovels out little grassy areas in the yard for him so he can go potty and not have to walk in the snow. Is there anyone that spoiled (well, besides Keaton)? That's our boy!

Wicked in the Windy City

Our "Wicked" weekend was wickedly fun! After picking up our friends, Dave and Kelly, our first stop on the way to Chicago was to the Four Winds Casino where we donated some money to the local Indian tribe. Then, we continued on to Chicago and stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel. It was awesome! It was right downtown and easily accessible to everything. We met up with our other friends, John and April, at the hotel and went out to grab some lunch. We wandered around downtown a little and then got down to business of planning our summer vacation (it's to Florida - Orlando, Key West, Naples, and St. Augustine). We primped (well, I primped) and headed out for dinner at Tavern at the Park which was a great restaurant. After a fantastic dinner and a few drinks, we were off to hit some clubs. Our first club wasn't much to brag about and was pretty empty, so we only stayed for a drink. We went to a piano bar where there was a crush of people, but we were able to get a table after plowing our way through. We hung out there for a while, but with so many people, it was just loud and hot. The next morning, we headed out for breakfast and did some shopping along the Magnificent Mile. Surprisingly, the only thing I bought was some candy from Hershey's for Keaton. Our next adventure was to head to the theater to see Wicked. We had a little glitch with our e-tickets and they only had four tickets for our group of six people. Uh oh. We had to buy two more tickets and were lucky enough to get some in the sixth row that someone had just returned. So, since I'm the birthday girl, I got those seats and let Matt sit with me since he wasn't getting on my nerves that day. The show was INCREDIBLE and so much fun!! Now I'm spoiled and only want to sit really close to the stage from now on. It was great to be able to see the actors' facial expressions. We said our goodbyes to our friends from Wisconsin (Go Packers!) and headed for home. My birthday dinner was a quick trip to Burger King, but we were all anxious to get home to see the kids. We were happy to have Aaron able to come and stay with Keaton which allowed us to enjoy a fun, relaxing weekend without any worries (thanks, Aaron!). We had a wonderful, wicked weekend!!

New Year's Night

Keaton and Cyrus enjoyed some downtime on the couch New Year's night watching a movie and just being still for a change. After a whirlwind week of Christmas presents, basketball practice, and lots and lots of video game playing with friends, it was nice for Keaton to be home and just relax. Cyrus was pretty happy to have someone to cuddle with too.

Snow Shoeing Adventure

We woke up on New Year's Day to about 6 inches of fluffy, white snow. It continued to lightly snow so we decided to try snow shoeing. We went with our friends out behind our neighborhood on a trail that leads to a park. It was awesome! It really was just like walking, but with really big shoes. The best part was that I didn't fall once!

Happy 2008!

This year we spent a quiet New Year's Eve down at our friends' house. We played cards and counted down to the new year with the kids. After we rang in 2008, we had a great time playing Rock Band (or trying to play!). We hope that 2008 is a memorable year for everyone - filled with lots of laughs and love!