Saturday, December 31, 2011
A Christmas Story
As in years past, the kids were up before the sun on Christmas morning to see what goodies Santa had left for them. Most years, each kid gets one big gift and many small things. Cole's big gift was a drum pedal. Trent got a Kindle Fire. Reed received a PSP. Riley got a Leapster Explorer.
"These are a Few of my Favorite Things"
(Pictures taken at Mom and Dad's house on December 23, 2011.)
Christmas Cookies
As in years past, we helped Grandpa and Grandma Suchland bake Christmas cookies again this year.
A Night to Remember
In early November, I entered a Biggest Flyer Fan contest through the Uhl Agency's Facebook page. On December 5th, I received an e-mail that I won the contest. I received two court side tickets to the UD vs. Alabama game on December 7th as well as our picture being in the game program and shown on the video boards during the game.
The difficult part was deciding who would attend the game with me. I so wished that I could have taken everyone. Steve quickly decided that he would rather have one of the boys have the experience than go himself. Cole sat down fairly low with one of his friends last season. I decided that Trent should go with me. He was thrilled.
Alabama was ranked 15th in the country and UD had lost its' two previous games to not so good teams. We didn't have high hopes that UD would win but decided to enjoy the experience whether they won or lost. We got to the game early and enjoyed watching the team warm up and the starting line ups being announced.
As soon as the game started, it became clear that the Flyers had come to play. They took a nice lead early on and held onto it for most of the game. With a few minutes left in the second half, UD hit a slump. Alabama scored many unanswered points and pulled within four. UD had a couple of three point shots go in and never looked back. They won 74 to 62.
It was by far my best UD experience yet. Trent and I had such a great time. We were on our feet as much as we were sitting in those court side seats. The arena crowd was rocking. It was so neat to see the action up close. We could hear the players talk to one another, feel the ball bounce on the court and see the joy in the Flyers' faces when they knew they were going to win. It was a special memory and a night neither Trent or I will soon forget.
The difficult part was deciding who would attend the game with me. I so wished that I could have taken everyone. Steve quickly decided that he would rather have one of the boys have the experience than go himself. Cole sat down fairly low with one of his friends last season. I decided that Trent should go with me. He was thrilled.
Alabama was ranked 15th in the country and UD had lost its' two previous games to not so good teams. We didn't have high hopes that UD would win but decided to enjoy the experience whether they won or lost. We got to the game early and enjoyed watching the team warm up and the starting line ups being announced.
As soon as the game started, it became clear that the Flyers had come to play. They took a nice lead early on and held onto it for most of the game. With a few minutes left in the second half, UD hit a slump. Alabama scored many unanswered points and pulled within four. UD had a couple of three point shots go in and never looked back. They won 74 to 62.
It was by far my best UD experience yet. Trent and I had such a great time. We were on our feet as much as we were sitting in those court side seats. The arena crowd was rocking. It was so neat to see the action up close. We could hear the players talk to one another, feel the ball bounce on the court and see the joy in the Flyers' faces when they knew they were going to win. It was a special memory and a night neither Trent or I will soon forget.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
A Few at the Zoo
We have been loving the beautiful weekends that we have been having. We have been so busy doing things that I didn't think that we were going to make it to the Columbus Zoo as we had hoped to do again this Fall. When I saw that Saturday was going to be sunny with a high of 56, we decided to go. Trent, Reed, Riley and I got an early start and were out of the house by 8:30 a.m. The morning was chilly so we bundled up, but it turned out to be another beautiful day. In the Fall, the crowd at the zoo tends to be half of what it is during the busy Summer months. We had a great time. As always, the monkeys and gorillas were a highlight for us. They are so funny to watch. Riley still says the flamingo is her favorite animal. (I wonder why.) She even posed for a picture on one foot like the flamingos stand. Ha!
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Fright Night
The Great Pumpkin
The kids and I carved pumpkins on Saturday afternoon. That isn't quite right. This is how it really went:
Riley was eager to help. Once she saw what was inside of the pumpkin, she didn't want anything more to do with it. She did pose for a nice picture though.
Trent helped until his hands got too cold. (The pumpkins had been setting outside for a couple of weeks so they were pretty cold inside.)
Reed helped longer than the other two. He managed to get quite a bit of his pumpkin guts cleaned out. Unfortunately, he didn't manage to get much of it in the trash can.
I guess it would just be easier to say this. I carved pumpkins on Saturday afternoon.
Riley wanted a Rapunzel pumpkin since she was dressing up as Rapunzel for trick or treat. I searched around on the Internet and found a pattern to use. Trent and Reed picked Phineaus and Ferb (one of their favorite cartoons). Riley's Rapunzel pumpkin took about an hour to carve. It was a lot of detailed cutting. After that, Phineaus and Ferb went pretty quickly. The patterns were more simple, and my carving skills had improved. We were all happy with the way they turned out.
I told the kids we will have a pumpkin carving contest one day. I have a feeling I may be the only one with pumpkins to enter in the contest. Theirs pumpkins may be at various stages of being done. Ha!
Riley was eager to help. Once she saw what was inside of the pumpkin, she didn't want anything more to do with it. She did pose for a nice picture though.
Trent helped until his hands got too cold. (The pumpkins had been setting outside for a couple of weeks so they were pretty cold inside.)
Reed helped longer than the other two. He managed to get quite a bit of his pumpkin guts cleaned out. Unfortunately, he didn't manage to get much of it in the trash can.
I guess it would just be easier to say this. I carved pumpkins on Saturday afternoon.
Riley wanted a Rapunzel pumpkin since she was dressing up as Rapunzel for trick or treat. I searched around on the Internet and found a pattern to use. Trent and Reed picked Phineaus and Ferb (one of their favorite cartoons). Riley's Rapunzel pumpkin took about an hour to carve. It was a lot of detailed cutting. After that, Phineaus and Ferb went pretty quickly. The patterns were more simple, and my carving skills had improved. We were all happy with the way they turned out.
I told the kids we will have a pumpkin carving contest one day. I have a feeling I may be the only one with pumpkins to enter in the contest. Theirs pumpkins may be at various stages of being done. Ha!
Happy Trails
Over the past month, we have been mountain biking three times. Steve, Cole, Trent and I went to MoMBA trails at Huffman Metro Park twice. Last Sunday, Steve, Trent, Reed, Riley and I went to John Bryan State Park in Yellow Springs. The trails at MoMBA are too difficult for Reed, and he really wanted to try it out. He did great at John Bryan.
Cole started mountain biking earlier this summer with his drum teacher. Steve went out a couple of times and enjoyed it too. Now, we are all hooked. I love being outdoors. Being in the woods in the Fall is even better. It is great way to get exercise and for everyone to have fun at the same time. I have a feeling it will become an activity our family will now enjoy for years to come.
Of course, Riley is too little to even try mountain biking. She and I walked the trails at John Bryan on Sunday. It was a mile into the woods to get to one of the trails, a 2 mile trail and a mile back out. I didn't realize the length of the trail before we started so I was getting a little worried that Riley wouldn't make it. She never complained once about being tired. What a trooper!
Riley and I saw a couple of deer while we were walking. The deer started to run when they saw us. Riley said, "Catch it Mom.". I told her deer were too fast for me. She said, "Too bad Cory isn't here, he knows how to catch deer." I told her Cory shot his deer. She said, "No, he didn't. I saw the picture and the deer was smiling. He wouldn't have been smiling if he got shot." I couldn't help but laugh and let her keep her innocence a little longer.
Cole started mountain biking earlier this summer with his drum teacher. Steve went out a couple of times and enjoyed it too. Now, we are all hooked. I love being outdoors. Being in the woods in the Fall is even better. It is great way to get exercise and for everyone to have fun at the same time. I have a feeling it will become an activity our family will now enjoy for years to come.
Of course, Riley is too little to even try mountain biking. She and I walked the trails at John Bryan on Sunday. It was a mile into the woods to get to one of the trails, a 2 mile trail and a mile back out. I didn't realize the length of the trail before we started so I was getting a little worried that Riley wouldn't make it. She never complained once about being tired. What a trooper!
Riley and I saw a couple of deer while we were walking. The deer started to run when they saw us. Riley said, "Catch it Mom.". I told her deer were too fast for me. She said, "Too bad Cory isn't here, he knows how to catch deer." I told her Cory shot his deer. She said, "No, he didn't. I saw the picture and the deer was smiling. He wouldn't have been smiling if he got shot." I couldn't help but laugh and let her keep her innocence a little longer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)