I didn’t mean to

 Anchor defended.  "He wasn't listening to me so I smacked him in the face." 

How do you even respond to that, let alone keep a straight face?

Pretty much that sums up the interactions for this week. Brevick played a great game of basketball on Saturday. He was super aggressive and he got 4 rebounds which was awesome. The score was neck and neck the whole game and our team just barely pulled out the win.

Emmerlyn and Charley went sledding with our church group. They were gone for a few hours and had SO much fun! They also had fun riding on the snowmobile back up the hill instead of having to walk.

William finished up his volunteer hours for National Honors Society at the Simplot Games on Saturday which was fun for him. (He seems to have a good time doing whatever he has to do as long as it is with friends)

The kids built a dog house for Pollee out of cardboard. It was the source of great fun and great tears when I cut them off with the tape gun. The house includes wallpaper inside and a welcome mat just outside the door. 

Anchor and Pollee had a grand time playing in the snow. What I didn't realize until after they came back in was that it was only 0* outside. That's a little chipper. My bad. Anchor warmed up with some Hot Cocoa with 87 marshmallows in it so I think he's good. (Pleas excuse my window screen shot they were just so cute playing together in the snow)

This is Jack. Jack is pouting because all the kids went into Emmerlyn's room to play. Without him. He was devastated. 

Emmerlyn came home late one night to find these guys asleep in her bed. She was relegated to the mattress on the floor for the night. (Please excuse her messy room. she is 11)

Our exciting story of the week: Anchor was playing outside and I was keeping an eye on him through the window. Pollee started barking which is not uncommon but Charley looked out to see what she was barking at. It was a Coyote just jogging down the sidewalk on the other side of the street. Broad daylight like it was nothin'. Panic ensued as I ran out the door in my socks to get Anchor just in case there was another one. It headed off to the ravine and we haven't seen it since. (this is not totally shocking because we hear them all the time. It's just always a surprise when you see them chillin')

Everyone be Quiet and Listen to Bob

 Ross. Bob Ross.

We had two snow days this week because of a raging snowstorm. The first one was fun with just a little concern because it was Valentines day. The second one, Emmerlyn was devastated because her class was supposed to be going cross country skiing and who knows if that will ever be rescheduled. (We found out today that it was in fact rescheduled for March sometime so hopefully it comes together.) By the time the afternoon of the second day rolled around people were getting a little bored so they turned on some Bob Ross to work on their landscape painting skills. 

This post is coming a little late today because I had to go to the dentist and get a crown. Again. I really need like a subscribe and save to that place because all my teeth are breaking and falling out of my mouth. 

William has to get service hours for National Honors Society so today and Saturday he is volunteering at the Simplot games at the Holt Arena. Doesn't he look so official?

This is with the photobombers Pollee, and Brevick

Emmerlyn did some boredom baking and it did not go well. The one in the cake pan turned out basically raw so she cooked the muffins a little bit longer and they were crispy. Don't we all have days like that! She is actually turning into a good little baker on a larger scale. I think the recipe was faulty.

For the first time ever my kids are sharing clothes. Just kidding. Anchor stole Brevick's sweatshirt and wore it because he was a little chilled. Brevick was NOT impressed or willing and he commented on it angrily every time Anchor walked past. 

So Anchor stuck around just to tick him off.

In an effort to keep the peace and get Anchor to go to sleep well every night we watch the good night show. (Youtube cars videos and a cooking show) It has turned into an event for Emmerlyn, Brevick, and Anchor to enjoy all snuggled up together. It's quality bonding time right? This has only been going on for years with no end in sight.

In this picture Anchor is showing off his "zombie clothes" Do you see that they are brown for the two legs and green for the dead body?

Anchor was vacuuming the couch. He likes using this stick vacuum but HATES it when anyone uses the big vacuum.  Silly kid. It's kind of funny because he knows that the vacuum won't hurt him yet he still can't stand it. He is just sensitive to the noise level. Like all my kids have been.

Valentines Dance! It was girls choice Top Gun themed and he was pumped to be able to go.

Since his date can't drive yet her parents took her to the dance and William drove himself meeting her there. No fashionably late for these guys they were right on time to get in all that dancing fun. Well they had a lot of fun and then it ended and William had to drive himself home. Naturally he hit a deer coming up the hill so he was all kinds of wired up when he got home. Thankfully he was going slow, the roads weren't slick, there was no one else coming, and he was just a minute from home. It shook him up good, put a tiny dent in the hood, and a tuft of hair above the front headlight. So not too bad. Which we are so grateful for. He is such a great kid I hate it when bad things happen to him.

William finally cooked up his spoils from hunting season last fall. They have just been chillin' in the freezer since then. He served up fried duck and pheasant He liked the duck not the pheasant. Nobody else really liked it but we all tried it. (Side note, I HATE frying things at home. We never do it so naturally when I was dumping the oil out of the frying pan it spilled all over the counter and made me think of all the bad words that I know. Lucky for me hunting season doesn't come again until fall.)

This is him prepping to make the food. He didn't want to get oil splattered on his hoodie.

This is him when I told him I needed a shot for the blog.

Funny dude. I should probably make a men's apron to have around as these boys learn to cook.

I don't have a picture but Charley had his districts math counts meet on Saturday at ISU. He had fun, tried hard, didn't win, BUT  his has discovered he is a HUGE fan of the dorm cafeteria. So he is sold on on-campus housing if that was their goal.

Ben is working.

I cut my hair and hate it.

I think that covers the basics of our week. 

Cupcakes Today

 Yeah as we are not surprised at all to find that we have missed our adventure challenge again for the week. We may have to just leave those on the piano until we are a little less busy or something and then get them going. We need Emmerlyn to remember because then she will prod us into doing them since she loves stirring our pot. 

I picked up Anchor from school on Thursday and he was DYING for cupcakes. With blue frosting. And sprinkles. He was adamant that we make them that very day as soon as possible. He was angry with me when I made him wait until after lunch and rest time. But not to worry, the cupcakes were made. He did a lot of helping and frosted them himself. He did add sprinkles but that was after the picture. He put "whips" (lips) on them for valentines day. 

He also sampled the frosting for quality control. 

Which it passed.

Charley and Pollee took some time on Saturday for a midday nap. Pollee is always up for a rest especially when there is someone to snuggle with.

Anchor reached out to his artistic side again and spent some time painting. He is an independent fellow and had to squirt out the paints. You can't see it but inside I was waiting for the whole bottle to be released onto that paper. He did great though and the painting went well right up until the paint palate blew off the table and landed on the floor. Upside down. Luckily if you are right there and wash it up then it's easy to clean!

I don't even know what this picture is supposed to be of but I DO know that he is wearing his favorite jammies so that's a win.

A tragedy almost happened and I almost lost the rest of this weeks pictures. Luckily all is well and here is the rest.

William has been practicing his guitar and learning some songs to play. He is also learning that it is hard to play and sing a long if you don't know the words or the notes very well so he has to practice. That word puts fear into the hearers everywhere but it does serve a purpose and makes a huge difference.

For Christmas Ben got a bonsai tree complete starter kit. Which I thought came with the tree already growing and you just went from there. Nope, it came with seeds. You have to plant 'em and let the grow up into a tree. First you have to re-hydrate your dirt, then you have to squeeze the water out of the dirt, then you soak the seeds in water overnight THEN you plant them and then you have to wait for years for the trees to grow and get big enough to do anything with. Not to worry, Ben is on the path. He also had a few sprouts come up last week which he is super pumped about. They keep him company as his hours are starting to creep of in that little office of his. Thanks Tax Season. Ben is doing good, his uncle passed away this week which was unexpected and hard for him so that is always a struggle to through. Luckily he has these little trees springing into new life to help him through.

Anchor has played a lot of Play-doh. Hours of play-doh. He loves this little cake factory and has been creating inedible culinary masterpieces in all of his spare time.

Emmerlyn in her search for a new hobby has taken up botany as well. She studied it out and then drug us around town to find the perfect succulents to start her career. Naturally she persuaded a couple of her pals Brevick and Anchor into purchasing the perfect plant so now we are carrying them around like pets and checking to see to all of their comforts. She checks to see that they are in direct sunlight and the soil contains just enough water to keep the plant happy but not so much that it is drowning. I didn't get her picture but I should.

I asked Anchor to do his job and this was his response. Those are 5 papers that say NO on them written himself. I am not sure who taught him how to spell that word but they are fired.

Zoom in. Do it you know you want to. If not I will tell you. William is sporting his new cowboy boots that he got for his birthday. He wears them constantly and won't stop commenting about how they look, and feel. I guess he really loves his birthday present. We are working on getting his class schedule all worked out which has been way harder than it should be due to the fact that William argues with every word I say and refuses to talk to the counselor about anything. Claiming "they don't know anything and I don't even know why they have a job." While I will admit it is a struggle to get the information that we need we are getting it. (Because I have their email and I use it regularly). 

Emmerlyn did this to poor Jack and was calling him her babushka. He just puts up with so much. You can see Pollee's head in the corner just thrilled that it wasn't her.

Thanks Allyn, this treat was on you and it was delicious. I miss you!

Last night we had the extracurricular and elective scavenger hunt at the high school for all incoming freshmen. Yeah, you read that right. Charley is wondering his way into high school this fall. He was super excited to see what there was to offer in the big leagues. He has a whole pile of options for the fall with different sports options and electives. It was fun to see where his curiosities lie. Interesting side note, the people we did not see there for all of this were the high school counselors...

I just thought this was the cutest thing. Yes Brevick was playing soccer in the living room. Yes I hate that but I live with it. I love that they are friends and they are close!

Zoom in again. Today was the 100th day of school. They dressed up with wrinkles on their heads, suspenders, bad backs, and a purse full of suck on candies, grandkid drawings and tissues. I hope they have a great day. Naturally I will be taking their little wrinkle faces to the orthodontist right after school today. so my kids can look dirty and like they don't know how to dress. Judge me, I dare you.

No Adventure

We didn't have an adventure challenge this week. We forgot to scratch one off and Saturday day ended up being a little busy. So that was a bummer. It doesn't look promising for the upcoming Saturday either because we haven't scratched one off yet. 

This week we got 2 snow days because it was more than -20 F outside. It was pretty chipper. Anchor still had to go on his day but got shuttled straight into the classroom. I had to preheat the car for him though so that we didn't freeze to death. The snow days were a nice break in the routine and we enjoyed getting to sleep in.

Brevick had his first basketball game on Saturday which went really well for his team. They won 12/8 and Brevick did a great job getting rebounds and guarding his guy (which was a kid who was on Brevick's team last year who Brevick wasn't overly fond of but a good player). He is more bold and in the game than our other kids usually are so that was different. William had rugby practice and they are practicing hitting which has him all kinds of excited. Charley found out that he placed 4th at the math counts meet and gets to move on to districts at ISU in a couple of weeks. He is SUPER pumped about this. Emmerlyn got to play a lot of times with her friends and avidly looking for a new hobby to keep her busy. She finger knitted like a 6 ft rope and is now out of yarn. 

Anchor claimed he couldn't do the dishes because Jack was getting him.

I'm not sure if this looks a little fishy to anyone else.

Pretty much that sums us up for this week. In a nutshell we are trying to get our jobs done, stay warm, and make through everything alive.

Sweet 16

 Wow that seems to have happened fast. One minute you were a preemie in my arms and the next you are driving at night, dating, and preparing to step out into the world. How did all of those exhausting nights that you stayed wide awake turn into years? I miss the baby you but in the same breath I am so amazed at the young man you are becoming. Strong and courageous. Respectful and happy. With zest for life and all that it holds. You are going to have a great life I just know it. Not because life itself is great but because you carry greatness in you. 

Happy Birthday young man. We love you.

Your car doesn't though. Well maybe it does, maybe it was just too cold to show it. You had a birthday surprise in the way that your car didn't start on your way to school. Then it didn't start after school and you had to fake cool sitting in it pretending to be on your phone while you waited for your mom to come pick you up. Luckily after being jumped again and a recharging drive to Sodamix it seems to be in a better mood. We celebrated the first half of your birthday with cake and presents we will go to Olive Garden on Saturday per your request. 

In your distress over the car not starting you went to school without your hat for the first time this year. That was a surprise for everyone. 

You got some cowboy boots for you birthday which you had to try on and were pretty pumped for.

You had raspberry cheesecake for your cake which is your favorite.

I think you do thumbs up in all your birthday cake pictures. 

Your favorite food is pizza or steak or anything really except tacos or chili. You want to eat all the time. You love dogs, cars, hunting, and sports. You want to be an engineer when you grow up and are making steps toward that career path even now. You are excited for your first date which is a lunch date today going to walk to donut bros. I don't know what else to say but just know that all the good things are you.