Winter Fun

Here's a few different pictures that don't quite deserve their own post.

Jonathan and Drew love playing Lego Star Wars with Chris. I am a secret fan as well. It is so much fun!


When the weather is really cold I make the boys wear ski masks. They feel like ninjas and robbers. This picture captures Drew's essence so well.


After a big wind storm we can always count on a bunch of branches in our yard. I think the boys were using these as light sabers. They always have so much fun playing outside no matter how cold or warm it is.

Kalahari Adventures

Chris and I found an incredible deal for Kalahari that we just couldn't pass up.

The water park has recently expanded and claims to be "the largest indoor water park."

We had so much fun! It was a much needed break for all of us and now the boys keep asking when we are going to go back...

Drew enjoyed the lazy river and the hot tub while Jonathan preferred the wave pool and the hot tub. Even though Jonathan had his preferences he wanted to go on all the rides! He is fearless and rode even the biggest slides on his own.





At one point Chris decided I needed to go ride something by myself. I chose one of the new slides that combined a tube ride at the beginning with a toilet-bowl like experience at the end.

I was so nervous. I'm not sure what my problem is but as I get older I am not as much of an adventure seeker as I once was. I used to ride any roller coaster and go on any water slide. Not so much anymore. So, as I was walking up the stairs I could feel my heart beating faster, my palms were sweating, and I was having second thoughts. You see, the only way to exit this slide is to be dropped out of the bottom of the toilet bowl. The diameter of the opening is about as wide as I am tall.

I noticed on my way up the stairs that there was a girl lifeguard at the bottom of the ride. That gave me a little bit of re-assurance...I felt better looking stupid in front of another girl than a guy lifeguard.

Half way up the stairs I made small talk with another lady and she told me that the ride I was headed to was scary. Nice. Once I was at the top the lifeguard asked me if I had ever rode this particular ride before. I told her that I hadn't and that I was scared. She blew me off, told me I would be OK, and sent me down. Mind you, this is a body slide, not an inner tube slide so I had to lay down, cross my ankles, and put my hands behind my head.

The tube part wasn't that bad. The toilet bowl was actually fun too, but I kept watching how many times I would be able to swirl around before being dropped into the water below. Another thing I had to keep in mind was that I wanted to fall feet first, not head first or back first.

I think I counted three times around the bowl then before I knew it I splashed down (on my side.) The water was too deep for me to stand up and water was pouring down over my head from the bowl. I was so disoriented that I think I went under a couple of times. I finally swam out from under the water, gasping, and tried to touch again. Again, I could not but this time I saw a guy lifeguard watching me drown. I felt like such an idiot. When I reached the steps I gave him an akward chuckle, smiled, and walked away humiliated.

I went back to where Chris and the boys were (the wave pool) and told him I almost died. He laughed hard. In my face.

What an experience!

On a yummier note, Andrea called Kalahari's candy store (The Candy Hut) and had chocolates delivered to our room. We were so impressed! I have to admit that Chris and I watched the Republican debates in bed with the box of chocolates between us.




Thanks Andrea!

January Heat Wave

Northeast Ohio experienced a short heat wave at the beginning of 2008. The boys enjoyed playing outside without hats or gloves. They were able to draw on the sidewalk, ride around on their bikes, and run around my parents' house.





Yes, if you were wondering, my boys were still in their pajamas. I confess that if we don't have anywhere to go there are days that they don't change. Am I a bad mom or is this more common than I think? I figure I should take advantage of it while I can because next year Jonathan will have to be at school everyday. Uh. I don't even want to think about that!

Random December Fun

Here's some cute pictures taken throughout December. Enjoy!

Drew loves to read books. I thought this picture was great!

The main focus points of this picture are the swords in Drew's back. He has been putting swords in his back since he first discovered the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He frequently wants to sleep with the swords in his back as well. What a personality!!!

Our family loves eating at Chipotle. Yum!



This is a video of the boys at Chipotle dancing (seated in our booth) to the Muzak. You'll have to turn the volume up to hear it but I thought it was quite cute.

Welcome Home!

The Heim and Jones families came home a couple of days after Christmas to spend time with family and friends in Ohio.

The Jones family actually stayed with us. I think their visit went well and we had a good time but you'll have to ask them if they felt the same way. I hope they'll come back!

While both families were home the women were able to get together on Saturday morning and catch up. It was so nice to be together again. I miss my Bible Study friends!!!


The following day we had a soup luncheon reunion for our old Sunday School class. We ate lots of yummy soup and played the game Apples to Apples.

The following pictures are of the whole group trying to pose for a picture...


No, we don't have another son that no one knows about...he's the son of one of my friends!!!

Surprisingly enough, the real picture turned out quite nice!

I miss the Heim and Jones families so much! It's just not the same without them here...

Merry Christmas!

Jonathan brought home the cutest ornament for Christmas this year...





I love it! That ornament is definitely one of the best things he's brought home since starting preschool.

We had another whirlwind Christmas this year that started on Christmas Eve. It was nice to see some family that we only see about once or twice a year. The boys were spoiled again, as usual, but I only included their two favorite toys...

Jonathan had been asking for a Darth Vader Death Star Transformer since the first time he saw it on T.V.

Drew decided he could not live without the Darth Vader Laptop after seeing one in Wal-mart.

I'm quite proud that this year Chris and I actually bought the favored gifts. Normally they come from one of the grandparents.

I hope that amidst all the hype about presents the boys still were able to remember the true meaning of Christmas...Jesus' birth.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

The boys and I made our annual Happy Birthday Jesus cake this Christmas. I wasn't as brave as Beth in terms of cake decoration but I think the boys enjoyed making it none the less.

The BFFs

Beth and the kids came up for a quick visit before Christmas. I love spending time with them!

Here's the rest of the gingerbread men....

I think Drew and Xavier are finally becoming buddies!

They think it's destiny...we'll see!

I also captured a video of Jonathan and Brooklyn dancing together. I love it!

All the kids got along really well during this visit. I still wish we lived closer but at least we make an effort to get together!

***

Beth and I snapped some pictures of the two of us but I'm not willing to share them on the basis that I look terrible. Uh.

My friend, even though I didn't include our picture I still think you're the coolest cat around. I heart you my BFF!

Do You Know The Muffin Man?

Many of my faithful blog stalkers will remember the infamous Ninja Bread Men the boys and I made last year at Christmas time. I truly believed Ninjas would be a tradition in the King home but, sadly, I was mistaken.

It didn't seem right to make Ninja Bread Men when the boys could both say Gingerbread Men this year. So, being the creative genius that I am, I decided to try my hand at making real gingerbread men. The boys enjoyed decorating the cookies much more than eating them (and if the truth be told I still have them all in a storage container on my counter.)





You'll notice in a future blog that I made so many (what is my problem???) that our friends from out of town were able to help us decorate some as well...

Minty Demons...I mean...Delights

I found this awesome recipe for after dinner mints shaped like snowmen a couple of years ago. This year, Andrea and I decided to make them. The recipe only made 8 so I decided to not only double the recipe but, as Andrea and I liked to say, octaviused the recipe (multiplied all the ingredients by 8.) It seemed like a good idea at the time because then I would have as many minty snowmen delights as other cookies and they could be included in my holiday cookie entourage.

I quickly realized that the 64 snowmen would be ginormous (that's for you Sam) the way the recipe called to make them so I (swiftly) decided to make smaller snowmen. Actually, we rolled out 64 bottoms and 64 heads (that might be a conservative guesstimate.) After a somewhat difficult time of attaching the bodies and heads we started decorating those suckers.

Andrea had all along made fun of me for being so ridiculous about the amount of minty goodness we made. By the time we started decorating I was cursing my bright ideas. Decorating was worse than attaching the bodies and we only made about three dozen before throwing in the towel.

Granted, the three dozen were cute but they were so not worth the labor (and powdered sugar) put into them. We ended up with what seemed like hundreds of white minty balls besides the snowmen we created.

To top it all off not many people consumed our masterpieces and I still have a whole sandwich bag full of little white balls.

So much for creativity. I think next year I'll just stick with chocolate chip cookies...from a mix.

TRUE THAT
MAN DOWN

Hey Joseph and Mary!!!

Jonathan had the privilege of playing Joseph in our church's children's program this Christmas. A little girl named Alison played Mary. They did a great job!

I think Pug was a bit confused with Jonathan's outfit.

The happy couple.

Backstage awaiting their theatrical debut.

Joseph was very gentlemanly and helped Mary up the stairs onto the stage. Unfortunately, Joseph's mom forgot to have him spit out his gum and he chewed it like a cow the whole time he was on the stage.


The same night of the children's program we had somewhat of an ice storm. I thought the tree looked cool so I snapped a picture. Go figure.

Fun in the Snow

The boys (especially Jonathan) rediscovered their love for the outdoors this winter. They also got a surprise visitor who threw snowballs at them one afternoon on his lunch hour. Papa decided to leave when he no longer had the upper hand.

On one particular afternoon of playing outdoors, Drew came crying into the house. I couldn't imagine what was wrong but quickly saw that he was carrying one of his boots and had walked across the yard in his sock! Poor kid.