My love-hate relationship

For those of you that don't know, we currently are renting a house in State Center. Last June we finally sold our house in Sioux City, but decided to just keep renting for awhile until we decide for sure where we want to be.

That being said, I have a love-hate relationship with our rental. More specifically, with the kitchen. I love that it is so big and spacious and has tons of counter and cupboard space. I hate the floor and cupboards! Refer to the pictures below:

My "lovely" white cupboards

My nemesis: the kitchen floor!

I love the house. It's an old two-story farmhouse that was moved into town. It has 4 bedrooms. A huge kitchen. It is in a nice location.

I hate that everything in the house is white! Maybe you've noticed in pictures that I've posted that the walls are always white. They're like that in every room. It makes me feel like I am in an institution! I prefer color.

Anywho, the kitchen floor drives me nuts. Batty. I cannot keep it clean, no matter how hard I try. Two kids and a black lab, I can't win! :)

At home weekend

We had a nice weekend at our house. No basketball - woo-hoo!! We hardly knew what to do with ourselves. Saturday, we had some fun with Jenna. She wanted to wear a "tank", capris, and flip-flops, so I decided we should have a picnic. We laid a blanket in the living room, made hot dogs, had chips, pineapple, and for dessert some root beer floats. Jenna thought that was so cool!

Sunday afternoon we took the kids up to the gym to burn off some energy. That is definitely one of the perks of having a husband who is a teacher and coach - free access to the gym! :) Sunday nite the kids were in bed by 7:45 PM and we were in bed by 9:30 PM. Nice!

Forgot to mention...

I forgot to mention that the girls lost their basketball game on Tuesday nite, so the girls' basketball season is officially over. You would have thought that life has slowed down a little, but it hasn't. Our boys basketball team is rated #4 in 2A and it looks like they have a good shot at making it back to state this year. I have been covering their games for the paper. It's a pretty good deal to get in free and get paid to watch a game you would go to anyway! :)

Aaron has a new adventure. He got asked to be the "color man" for a radio station that broadcasts the boys' games. He did his first game last nite and although he was a little nervous at the start, he said it was fun and the radio guy wants him to keep doing it as long as the boys are winning.

Is it Spring yet?

So, I have to admit that I have always liked winter. I love snow (as long as I'm not driving in it) and the cold has never really bothered me. Well, that seems to have changed this winter. Having an almost-3-year-old has made me wish for Spring. Jenna has started watching more t.v. than she ever has and I think she's bored with her toys. When we had those 60 degree days we got the stroller out and went for walks and it was heaven being outside. I think we are all experiencing cabin fever. We're supposed to get a couple more inches of snow tomorrow, but I am ready for Spring!


The other day I got out Aaron's shaving cream, sprayed it on the table, and let her go to town! She practiced her "J's", made pictures, and made a mess. Jenna had so much fun! (Thanks for the idea Brooke!) So, if any of you out there have any more fun indoor ideas, please pass them along. I would love to hear them!

First Steps

Brody has started to take his first steps! We are so excited about it. He was taking a couple of steps in between Jenna and me last Thursday and it progressed throughout the weekend. He can generally take three or four steps in a row before he loses his balance. Brode is so cute because the more steps he takes the faster he tries to go. He also walks with his arms straight out like Frankenstein and he always has his mouth wide open. Too funny!

Soooo Romantic

Ok, I'm being sarcastic. We did not have a romantic Valentine's Day at our house, unless you consider watching a girls basketball game romantic. I don't think it was either, but we had the first round of districts on Saturday nite. The girls ended up winning by about 20, although they were up by 15 and it got to within 3-4 points, they pulled it out in the end. The next round of district play is Tuesday against a really good Roland-Story team, so we'll see.
By the way, although I do think V-day is kind of a cheesey, Hallmark holiday, I do think it's a nice excuse to go on a date with your significant other! :)

Rub-a-dub-dub!

I love giving the kids a bath! First of all, it's an easy way to keep them in a confined area and secondly, they are so cute when they play in the bubbles. Jenna likes to be a big helper and put the soap in little brother's hair and Brody likes to try and "catch" the water when it comes out of the faucet. It's so funny! Here are some pictures of their fun in the tub:

This is Jenna's Santa Claus look

And Brode, sporting the mohawk!

Beautiful!

Aunt Mandy and a few of our friends have encouraged us to write down the funny things that our kids say. I have decided to take their advice. Here's the latest:
I was in the bathroom getting ready for Aaron's basketball game and Jenna took "her eyeshadow" into the living room. I yelled into her a few minutes later to come in and go potty so we could get going to the game. Jenna yells back at me in a very dramatic voice, "Mom, I am TRYING to be beautiful!"

My husband, the volleyball player

Just a little update on the adult volleyball league that Aaron and I started. We were only going to do it for two months, but people wanted to keep playing, so we just started month three.

I just want to tell you how far Aaron has come in that time. He was always athletic and could bump, set, and get a good spike now and again. The problem was that he could never get his timing just right for his hitting. Well, he has found his timing! The last two weeks he has been pounding the ball. Last night he hit one INSIDE the ten foot line. I was pretty impressed and so was everybody else. My one complaint about his play is that it was just him and me at the net and...he blocked me! GRRR, I'm too competitive and that just ticked me off. :)

Now this I can handle...

Everybody knows I am not a big fan of dresses and Miss Jenna is! Well, she wanted to wear a dress the other day and I said only if you wear jeans with it. Here's the end result. I think it's pretty cute and I can handle dresses worn this way. Jenna was hamming it up for her dad.

Head Coaching Debut

Aaron got to be the acting head coach for the basketball game last nite. The regular head coach had a funeral and he couldn't make it back in time for the game. Aaron was kind of excited about the opportunity and the girls won an UGLY game against NU High. I also learned I am way more nervous during varsity games when Aaron's the one in charge! :)