He Shoots! He Scores!

Toot! Toot! That's the sound of my horn because Cole made a basket today at his game! And yes, I went C*R*A*Z*Y! To provide an indication of just how happy I was for him, my friend Amy heard me whooping it up from the opposite side of the gym, and came over to see if all the racket was because Cole scored! I should probably be embarrassed to be *that* mom on the sidelines, but no way! I was just so proud of him!

I was too busy screaming and shouting and stomping and jumping to catch the pivotal moment on camera, but here are the moments immediately following the basketball shot heard and felt around the world. Okay, perhaps that's a bit too far, but that's kind of how I felt. (I know...I really am *that* mom. )

Victory sprint to the sidelines to hug and jump and holler with me! (This was my favorite part of the whole splendid affair...that he immediately ran over to me to share the joy!)



Sweet jubilation!




Sweet hugs!




Sweet pride!


I'm pretty sure we'll be riding the wave of this glorious little moment for a long time to come. Or maybe just until next Saturday when he hopefully does it again! Way to go, Cole Robert Boyd! Farewell to the four-season drought! Toot! Toot!

The Skinny Grinch

Chad labeled Chase Ryan the "skinny grinch" the moment he saw Chase in these jammies. He's skinny and he's kinda grinchy, so it makes sense even without the Dr. Seuss look-a-like outfit. I say this with a truly loving heart...I adore my skinny grinch!









Interestingly enough, although Chase does not under any circumstance want to be called "cute", or "little", or "baby", or anything of that nature, he has no objection to being called "skinny grinch". I find this perplexing and a little intriguing. Hmmm...who knows what really goes on in the mind of a skinny grinch!

Chase 'n Poppy

It's a rare and wonderful thing when one of the Boyd boys gets some one-on-one time sans brothers because, well, there are three of them and only one of everyone else. So it was a very special treat for Chase when Poppy came over while Cole was at school and Caden was napping.

They started out with some finger paints. At one point, Chase got some paint on Poppy's artwork, and Poppy said he was going to cry. Chase looked closely at his face and said, "Well, I don't see any rain drops coming out of your face." I love his literal interpretation of things.




Next they moved on to Candy Land. Poppy got to experience Chase's unorthodox method of game playing. Lets just say Chase doesn't care for the intended rules of Candy Land.

Eventually one-on-one time came to an end when the baby woke up to join in the fun. Poppy made a collapsing bridge with his legs for Chase and Caden to run under.

Finally Cole came home, so Poppy took all three of the boys outside to swing and slide.

This is the aftermath of Poppy's visit. So much adventure leaves a boy winded!

Thank you for the good times, Poppy! We love you!! (Sorry some of my pictures are a tad blurry...somebody needs a new camera. Hint hint, Chad Boyd!)

Looking Up(ward)!

Things are looking up for Cole's athletic career. He started his first season of Upward basketball a few weeks ago, and oh my word, he's actually playing! His interest in the sports we've had him in thus far has been, shall we say, abysmal. Highlights from his soccer career include finding a dead bird and digging for worms, and I won't even start in on what a flop t-ball was. It's so much more fun and exciting to watch him do something that he actually likes and is totally into. He's really trying out there, and I love it!


Here are some basketball highlights:


A quick pregame huddle at home with the brothers.




His basketball career began with a display of the all-important wristbands to opposing team members. I'm pretty sure Cole felt like a super hero.




Here he's waiting patiently for a teammate to pass him the ball. After he says, "Pass it to me!" three or four times, the patience subsides and he starts shouting, "JUST DO IT!" This happens at every game.




Look at him guarding his man. "Do you want a piece of this? Do you? DO YOU? I don't think you do!" (He doesn't really say that, but I think he should.)




He tries very hard not to travel. Just look at him dribble. He's doing it!




Gettin' low with it.




He likes to run over to the sidelines after every basket to tell me his team just scored a point.




Coach Daddy presenting him with a patch for his effort on the court.




Now, it must be mentioned that in the four seasons of sports that Cole's participated in, he has never contributed a point to his team. (Sorry to out you like this, Cole.) Given that basketball seems to be going pretty well for him, I have high hopes that he's going to make a basket this season and put a point on the scoreboard for the Cheetahs. Should this happen, get ready for me to go C*R*A*Z*Y on the sidelines, and most likely make an utter fool of myself. I am so hopeful that Cole's going to make a basket, that literally every time he has the ball I am out of my seat, on my feet, and shouting (yes, shouting) at him to SHOOT IT! He's made several attempts so far, and he's gotten pretty close. There are five games left in the season to make it happen. . . . .

For The Love Of...

My bookclub! I love, love, love it! It combines some of my favorite things into one magnicificent cluster; books, food, laughter, and friends. Bookclub usually consists of a long lunch or dinner, but this weekend we parlayed the festivities into a weekend long event at Molly's river house.

This is the view from Molly's porch. It is so beautiful!

Molly and I went over Friday, and met the rest of the girls in Leavenworth on Saturday. Here we are in all our bookclub glory!

We usually do a really good job of actually discussing our books at our get-togethers, but this time we didn't do quite so well. The book was my choice, The Space Between Us, and sadly it didn't end up as one of the club's favorite books. (However, I LOVED it!) We probably only spent about 15 minutes talking about the book over the course of the entire weekend. Here is what we did the rest of the time...

Yes, that's right, we laughed. And laughed. And laughed some more. For nearly two days straight. It was so much fun. I love these girls!!! (Even if they didn't love my book choice.)

Caden's Personal Style

Caden very frequently finds creative ways to accessorize himself. The following is a presentation of his fashion-forward personal style. These pictures were taken just over the last few days, demonstrating just how often he updates and changes his look.


And here we have...

Sassy Baby (This hat [previously owned by Chase] is what he was wearing when he came out of his room yesterday morning. Skin protection - in the dead of winter - inside of the house - is a priority. We don't want our skin to prematurely wrinkle.)



Fancy Baby (This crown belongs to me...obviously.)

Mickey Baby (These are Cole's ears, but Caden's taken possession. He loves Mickey Mouse!)

Safety Baby (This is Cole's helmet.)

Target Baby (This sticker lasted an entire day in its' spot atop his head...even through a nap! And it actually belonged to him!)

Cozy Baby (These are Cole's socks that he's wearing over his foot-y jammies. And they match his outfit perfectly! I doubt this was a coincidence.)

Gold Medal Baby (This is Cole's Chuck E Cheese birthday medal.)

Cool Baby (These sunglasses once belonged to Chase, but have been permanently seized by Cool Baby, and are his favorite accessory. He often requests them before we leave the house, and will wear them for hours at a time - upside down, opened or closed, it doesn't matter.)

Although it's clear that Caden borrows (or steals) most of his accessories from others, I love his unique personal style. Who knew that one of the Boyd men could be such a little fashionisto.

Goodbye To Cute And CoCo Puff

I've recently been informed of two important changes that I apparently need to make when referencing my oldest children.

1. Last week when I was getting Chase (3 1/2 yrs old) ready for preschool, I told him that he looked cute. He quickly responded with, "I am not cute. I am COOL." I explained to him that it's possible to be both cute and cool. However, he strongly disagreed, reiterated to me that he is COOL, and asked me (or more accurately told me) not to call him cute anymore. Hmph!

2. My nickname for Cole (6 yrs old) has been "CoCo Puff" or "CoCo" ever since he was a tiny baby. Suddenly he's decided this just doesn't work for him anymore. (I guess when you're six, it's not acceptable to be called CoCo Puff or some variation of.) Instead, he's requested that his nickname be changed to "Cody" or "Cody Maverick". Hmph again, I say!

Here is my picture of the day for P365. Sorry my darling boys, but you will always be CUTE and COCO PUFF to me!

Chad's New Ride

We finally said goodbye to the Jetson Mobile (my 1996 Honda Civic that was actually cool when I bought it in college, but isn't so cool 14 years later with 150,000+ miles), and replaced it with Chad's dream truck. This truly was a momentus occassion for both of us. We've made many sacrifices so that I can be a stay at home mom. And a big one was Chad's willingness to drive the Jetson Mobile until the wheels fell off (which I felt might literally happen at any minute). When I think about how our lives would be if I continued to work, what kind of cars we would drive, what kind of house we might live in, what vacations we would take; I realize that I have absolutely no regrets. I haven't wasted a moment of my time being at home with my babies, and I will always be grateful to Chad for supporting us in the many ways that he does.



Congratulations, Chad Eugene Boyd, and welcome home, Adventure Dodge! (That's the name assigned to the truck by Cole because, and I'm quoting Cole directly here, "It's called the Adventure Dodge because it's manly and precise.")

Caden's Photog Skillz

Caden got a hold of my camera without my knowledge, and somehow managed to snap over 30 shots. Most of them consisted of his immediate surroundings, (ie. carpet, wall, couch). But here are the pictures he took of himself. We can see from this photo session that he's got a very artsy approach to the self portrait genre of photography.