Before

After

We made short work of two 17" pizzas!

That's better

Be careful! Behind those smiles are a bunch of ravenous wolves!

Silly as can be!

Final stop: Dewey's Pizza

I may have found a new favorite!

Johnny No-fear Barton

I have to give him credit for persevering! There was one time in particular that I was belaying him and told him I thought the wall was probably just too difficult for him. He refused to give up and kept climbing, eventually surpassing the point at which David had given up and making it to the top! Way to hang in there, Johnny (pun intended).

Ian, flexible and strong

Such a cool place!

It was really busy tonight, with climbers of all ages.

Johnny checks in at the front desk...

...from atop the bouldering wall!

Isaac the Conqueror

Isaac overcame his fear of heights and topped out ten times tonight on various walls.

Urban Krag, round two

Isaac and Ian really enjoyed bouldering a lot tonight and improving their techniques.

Enjoying a classic!

Raiders win!

Be sure to catch the local sports highlights tonight. That was an amazing finish! At 69-66 we thought we had it wrapped up until Idaho made a half court shot at the last second. So we were rewarded with a 5 minute overtime battle. Idaho came ahead with 3 seconds to play until Mays sunk it at the buzzer for the win! What a fun evening. The boys and I enjoyed ourselves immensely. We may all be hoarse tomorrow.

AMAZING GAME!

Looks like it might get a bit loud!

We're sitting right next to the pep band. Fun!

Let's get ROWDY!!!

Taking in a Wright State Raiders game tonight with my guys.

It's officially Christmas!

This is always the first ornament I hang on our tree, from my very first Christmas 39 years ago!

The weather outside was frightful...

But we made our inside very delightful! The boys are getting to be very good helpers when it comes to decorating the tree. I love to hear their excitement as they pull out familiar ornaments and recount memories (or laugh at my "REALLY OLD" ornaments from childhood).

So aptly named "laughter"

This is what happens when Isaac is put in charge of setting up the Christmas village. Of course, it turns into a Lego town, complete with people taking pictures, standing on a roof hanging garland, and even one stuck in a chimney!

Details

Lego City

Guess what we did today?

If you guessed went to church, you'd be wrong!

Brothers Bravely Bouldering

One of our favorite walls

Ian--bouldering

Climb? Climb on!

Here's Ian, just getting started on a route.

Isaac--bouldering

Ian got a shot of us

A good day!

We spent 5 1/2 hours today at Urban Krag, a climbing gym in Dayton. Forgive my lack of pictures of the boys on the ropes--my hands were a bit busy belaying them! Ian made it to the top of the orange rope you see just under the left-most rafter (it's the rope farthest to the right at the bottom corner of the picture) Brave guy! That's a long way up there! Isaac seemed to prefer the bouldering--closer to the ground but ropeless. I still feel like I have ropes running through my hands--they didn't let me rest for long. It was such a fun way to spend our day together and was something I promised to take them to a long time ago. They spent about three hours completely reorganizing and cleaning their room yesterday in order to go today. I'm tucking the memories of the day away in my heart. I love being a mom of boys--and I think my two are especially special!

And my favorite...

Let's just say we got a lot of good laughs out of photo booth today!

Thumbs up!

What do you think?

Definitely some Christmas card potentials here!

Now there's a happy face!

A wise investment?

Maybe I should have spent my money on a nose hair trimmer instead!

Tis the season...

My plans for a "lazy day" changed when I decided to take advantage of such beautiful weather in order to get the lights up for Christmas. Hard to believe it's "the most wonderful time of the year"!

Poor man's soft focus lens

Guess what I finally bought!?!

FINALLY!!!

It only took me two years, but I finally found dining room curtains that are perfect and just what I had in my mind's eye. The colors match my upholstered chair perfectly! Thanks Mom, Dad, Susan, and Larry for the birthday money that I finally spent. One more room with blinds left to conquer!

Stiff competition!

The track

Ian's entry

Ian got creative with his yellow Speedster, adding a cool looking back engine and Lego driver. I love their excitement as they plan and prepare! What a fun day!

AWANA Grand Prix

This was Isaac's second year to enter the Grand Prix. He designed this "Red Rocket", and though it didn't win any awards, it was definitely a lot of fun to build it together and watch it fly down the track. And yes, it helps if you wear a cape when designing your race car!

Candy elevator

Noodling around

Breakfast scramble

Nose dive

A bit dicey

Nut stacker

Belated birthday pictures

Here is Ian with his tenth birthday cake. I agreed to let him have a big "friend" birthday party instead of our usual small family get together since this was his big 10. He chose a Minute to Win It theme, complete with loads of fun games for everyone to try. Everyone seemed to have a great time. Ian asked that people donate money toward providing a water filter for a needy family through Samaritan's Purse instead of bringing him presents. He was so excited when he found that enough money was donated for TWO filters, plus two broods of chicks. Isaac surprised us both by emptying his piggy bank for the cause. I'm so proud of the giving heart I see growing in this boy. Ian is an eager helper and has a sensitive heart for others. He is such an encouragement to me with his kind words and grateful attitude. I love you, buddy!

Black and light

We spent an enjoyable day at the Air Force Museum today, including a trip to the Presidential Hangar where we got to hang out in several retired Air Force One planes. It was especially interesting to go through with Dave Barton as we got to the pictures of South Pacific airstrips from WW2, many of which he is now using in his trips to supply missionaries and deliver God's Word in Papua New Guinea.