Drew's 2nd Grade Music Program

A month ago, Drew told us he had volunteered for a speaking part at his 2nd grade music program.  For many kids, this is not a big deal.  For Drew, this is a big deal.  He is generally very shy so it was a little shocking when he said he volunteered for the speaking role.  I was nervous for him, but he did great and didn't appear nervous at all.  Guess I was worried for nothing.

Still Busy

Swimming lessons, basketball and baseball are in full swing and keep us BUSY every weekend.  It takes two of us to get everyone where they need to be.  When Andy had another work trip to Australia in January, things got interesting for me!  If you were wondering, it is not possible to be in two places at once.  Times like this, it would be really nice to have family in town.  But, we got through it just fine!  

We dropped Andy off at the airport on Saturday morning and headed straight to swimming lessons.  Drew had baseball practice right in the middle of what should have been Ryan's nap and thankfully one of the other parents offered to pick Drew up because Andy was out of town.  The kids had a basketball game right after Drew's baseball practice finished.  Kayley made her first basket ever in a game!  And she didn't stop there.  She got a second one!  Guess how many I got on video?  Neither one.  :-(  I just wasn't ready for it the first time and then on the second one, Ryan was pulling on my arm so I didn't get anything.  She was SO proud when she got done and wanted me to make sure I sent Andy a text to let him know!  Drew had a good game and I did get some video of him scoring.

After basketball, we headed to my friend's house for the evening.  Drew and Kayley had fun with her kids and Ryan loved all of the attention he received.

All three kids missed Andy so we made him several videos while he was gone.

Drew and Kayley had what was supposed to be their final basketball game today (they just scheduled one more for next Saturday).  And guess what?  Yep, Kayley scored again!  And I got it on video this time!  You will have to take my word for it that it is her shooting the ball!  I was on the other side of the court, but when you upload it to Blogger, it looks even farther away.

Here are a couple of pictures of them getting their trophies and one of the team:

Eight Years Old Already?!?!

Drew turned 8 on Thursday.  How did that happen?!  It doesn't seem like it has been 8 years since these pictures were taken:

At age 8, Drew is a kind, sensitive, sometimes shy, and smart boy.  He is a great big brother to both Kayley and Ryan.  He plays with Kayley way better than I remember Matt playing with me!  And Ryan just adores Drew.

Drew is still a little shy when it comes to new things, but he is getting better at getting out there and trying new things.  I about fell out of my chair at dinner the other night when he told us he volunteered for a reading part at his upcoming school music program.  The gymnasium is packed at those events.  I'm nervous for how he will react when he sees all the people, but I am proud of him for volunteering to do it.  He would never have done that a year ago!

Drew is doing well in school and thoroughly enjoys it.  His best subject is Math, but he loves Reading too.  I just hope he continues to enjoy both!  He is so great about doing his homework.  He likes doing homework so when we tell him it is time, he doesn't mind at all.  (That leaves us free to focus our homework energy on his sister!)

He still loves sports.  His favorite seems to be whatever sport he is in at the moment.  It was all football in the fall and currently basketball.  He just started baseball practice though so we'll see how he does with basketball and baseball at the same time for a few weeks.

He told me just the other day that he plans to be a football player, maybe a baseball player, when he grows up.  ;-)

For his birthday dinner on Thursday, he had picked to go out for pizza.  Instead of having a birthday party with friends, he chose a quick trip to Fun City in Iowa today after his baseball practice.  Unfortunately, his birthday didn't go according to plan.  I picked the kids up early from after care on Thursday and Kayley was really sick.  We came home and she complained of a sore throat and had a high fever (pediatrician confirmed it was strep throat on Friday) so we gave her some Motrin and she just laid on the couch the rest of the night.  Poor girl was miserable.  Drew took it well and said Casey's pizza would be good enough!

My parents FaceTimed with Drew when he was getting ready to open his presents so they were able to watch.  We finished the night with cake.  We also broke the news that we weren't going to be able to go to Fun City with Kayley being sick.  He took it really well.  Much better than Kayley did when she found out this morning!

Below are a few pictures and videos (you will want to mute our singing) from Drew's birthday.  As you will notice in the pictures and the video, Ryan was doing whatever he could to get the attention on him.  He was not understanding why only Drew got presents and he wanted to open his "birthday presents from Santa."  It was his cake too.  Got love 2 1/2 year olds!

And here are two videos from last week highlighting Drew and Kayley's dribbling skills:

Thiel Family Christmas

My parents and brother left on Saturday December 27th.  Andy's Dad and his brother Mitch arrived on Sunday for the start of Christmas on the Thiel side.  Chris, Jenny, Macie and Noah arrived Tuesday afternoon and Matt, Kim, Brandon, Madison and Jackson arrived Tuesday night.  We had a full house and a lot of fun!  

We had our traditional Christmas dinner of steak and crab Tuesday night.  Macie, Kayley and Noah loved the crab.  We aren't sure where we got Kayley.  She will try anything and usually likes whatever the new food is.  Not much like her dad and certainly nothing like me!

After dinner, the kids opened their presents.  Everyone was happy with their gifts so the evening was a success.  Ryan got 3 riding toys and all the kids seemed to enjoy them at different points during the week.  Macie got a snow cone machine.  I am not sure if she had more fun making snow cones for her cousins or if they had more fun trying all the different flavors!  Drew, Jackson and Noah had fun playing laser tag and Kayley got a lot of clothes for her American Girl doll and also matching PJs for her and her doll.  

Andy's family left on Friday.  We watched the very depressing Iowa game and then started taking down Christmas decorations.  Our house was so quiet Friday night!  I thought I would enjoy the quiet after having people at our house since December 20th, but I was actually a little sad it was all over.  Now we have to go back to work!

Our fun wasn't quite over though.  Kayley and I drove to Chicago Saturday morning to meet my law school friends for lunch and then the musical, Cinderella.  Mel brought her nieces and Ang brought Amelia.  The girls had fun together and Mel, Ang and I enjoyed catching up.  The musical was excellent!  I might have enjoyed it more than The Sound of Music in May and I loved that one.  Andy isn't into theater or musicals so it is nice to have Kayley to go with me! 

Swanson Family Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with my family this year on Christmas Day.  It has been a few years since we have seen them on Christmas Day and I think they enjoyed watching the kids open their presents Christmas morning and the kids certainly loved having them here for it.

Mom and Dad flew in last Saturday from Phoenix.  They were able to see Drew and Kayley's basketball game Saturday afternoon.  Mom saw one of Drew's games last year, but this was the first time seeing Kayley play.  The kids had fun and both are improving with each practice and game.  Kayley is not quite strong enough to get the ball to the hoop yet, but by the end of the season, I think she'll be able to do it!

Matt arrived on Christmas Eve day.  The kids were excited as always to see their uncle.  The kids were also a little extra excited for Santa to arrive.  They were bouncing off the walls most of the day.

We spent Christmas Day playing with the kids and their new gifts.  Santa brought Kayley a new bike so we spent part of the afternoon helping her learn to ride a bigger bike.  Starting and stopping are the issues.  She needs a little help getting going and then she is fine until it is time to stop.  She slows down and tries to jump off!

The kids have spent a lot of time outside this week because it has been so nice.  High 40s and low 50s, which is really unusual for this time of year.  But, no complaints here!  I just wish it was going to be nice next week when Andy's family arrives so all of the cousins could play outside a lot!  It isn't looking good though.

Here are a few pictures from cookie decorating and gift opening on Christmas morning and some video of our little singer Christmas night.

Wheels on the Bus:

Watching a video of himself singing Feliz Navidad:

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (with a little twist at the end):

Next up:  Thiel Family Christmas!

Time for Basketball

We are two games into the basketball season for Drew and Kayley.  They are on the same team this year, which is great for practices and games.  They were both a little unsure about playing on the same team at first.  Drew thought Kayley was a little young to be on his team!  And because this is Kayley's first year, she was a little skeptical about playing with Drew who is in his third year of basketball!  But, so far so good.  Here are a few highlights from the first two games.

Kayley with the assist to Drew:

Drew off of a steal:

Kayley dribbling and dribbling and then a pass to Drew:

Drew with a score:

Getting Ready for Christmas

I took Friday off to finish my Christmas shopping and I am so happy to report that I am DONE!  Now, to finish wrapping everything...

When Drew and Kayley got home from school on Friday, we picked Ryan up and headed to see Santa at Bass Pro Shops.  Andy met us there and I patiently waited in line while the kids and Andy walked around the store to pass the time.  Drew and Kayley had their lists and were ready to go when it was our turn.  We were unsure how he would do, but Ryan was great this year.  He said, "I want trains, trucks, cars Santa."

As you can see it went a little better than last year, when Ryan was not enjoying his visit with Santa: