Dance Camp 2015 - January 16th

While I was in Des Moines, Henry pretty much signed himself up for dance camp.  I had asked Dave if Henry wanted to go, but I never heard back.  The next morning Henry informed Dave he HAD to return that form today.  So Dave wrote a check and Henry was officially signed up.  

Instead of going to church after school, Henry and some friends got to stay at school all week and practice their dance.  They then performed at the half-time of the varsity boys basketball game Friday night.

Sam was VERY excited to watch his brother perform.

Henry and the other boys did a great job!   I totally got teary.  Who knew I'd need Kleenex for Dance Camp.  Ha!

These boys are growing up WAY too fast.

Spock - January 15th

Henry loves to draw.  He drew a picture of Spock today in art class.  Spock came in for a picture with the art he inspired.  He was thrilled, as you can tell.

Robe Model - January 10th

Sam really likes the robe I got for Christmas.  This boy cracks me up.

Breakfast and Bulls - January 9th

I was scheduled in Audubon Friday morning, so I decided to stay in Ankeny to minimize drive time   I met up with Mom, Linc, and Dani for breakfast before I had to head out.

 

After work, I stopped to visit Albert the Bull because I knew Linc would be impressed by this giant creature.

Freezing your tail off to take a selfie with Albert the Bull to impress your two-year-old nephew, that's love.

Judicial Branch Building - January 8th

As part of my duties for ICRA, I got to travel to Des Moines to meet with the state court administrator and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.   The Judicial Branch Building is amazing, and we had quite a view from the conference room window.

And things are always more fun when you have one of your besties with you!  Everyone takes selfies in the Judicial Branch Building; right? 

On another note, please don't ever order the Reese's cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory.  It has 1600 calories!   (OMG ... it was totally worth it!)

I didn't eat all of it, and thankfully I didn't get a to-go container because I would have polished off the rest before yoga as a snack.

Christmas Gift From Sammy - January 5

Since Henry didn't have school, Sam got to stay home too for Christmas break.  When we went back to school, I found the Christmas gift Sam had made for us waiting there.  The boys made ornaments each year at Little Blessings, and they are my favorite things on the tree.  

Here is Sam's ornament from this year.  It's my favorite so far!

Puppets

The boys wanted to make sock puppets (Thanks, Special Agent Oso) and while I was taking a nap, Dave and the boys made these.  Pretty good work!

Home again - January 1st

After another fun trip to Ames, we loaded the car up and headed home.

 

  

Some of us had more comfortable travel arrangements than others.

Home!

New Years Eve - December 31

We were VERY lucky and received a friend's tickets to the Iowa State game on New Year's Eve.  Another friend stepped in and gave us their pair of courtside seats to complete our set of six tickets.

Henry decided to start the evening off right with cotton candy.

Sam got to test out the awesome seats first.  He decided it was too loud.

He came back up to join us in our other seats (which were also excellent) and steal his brother's nachos while Henry tested out the courtside seats.

We found Cy for a photo-opp as well before half-time.

I got my clone cone (which is really the main reason I like to go to games!)

After a fabulous game (Go State!) we came back home and played some more games and enjoyed a few more snacks.

The boys made it to 11, and we watched the ball drop and had a little celebration.

Bill accidentally bought noise-makers that were filled with glitter.  It resulted in a fun and amazing mess.

Happy New Year!

Happy Day - December 30th

We aren't really talking about it, but it was a happy day. 

A picture is worth a thousand words anyway, so here are a few ...