lots of snow and sledding

Wichita received 14.2" of snow last week and they boys enjoyed two snow days on Thursday and Friday. (And as I write this on Monday, we are having another snow day, as a blizzard has been predicted for this afternoon... no snowfall yet!)

 So, back to last Thursday... snow was still falling and we had already gotten a ton of the white stuff!

 Check out the drifts in our front yard :)

I needed to get into work on Thursday, and Jerry had already left for work. The Tahoe ended up getting stuck in our cul-de-sac, and it took 4 neighbors plus myself to get us on our way! Here, Grayson is helping our neighbors scoop their driveway. He loves, loves, loves the snow.

 Fast forward to Sunday -- we took the boys sledding at a hill close to a local high school. They had a ball! (Grayson is on top, Carter is below)

 They are fearless!!

 climbing back up the hill to sled again!

 Here comes Carter!

 Jerry joined in on the fun :)

Grayson was flying by!

frogs only win in fairytales...

...was one of the funniest signs we saw in Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday during the KU v. TCU basketball game. (Sorry to any faithful TCU readers out there -- I didn't make the sign!)

 we made a fun stop at the Kansas Union before heading to the game -- Lawrence was pretty snowy!

 Grayson had taped a small frog in the mouth of his Jayhawk hat :)

 Carter and I found Big Jay -- he played with Carter for quite awhile, even wrestling and falling on the ground. It was cute!

 check out the halftime score! woo-hoo!!

(and the guys all wore vintage uniforms to honor the 1988 Championship Team)

 and at halftime, they also honored all the players who had ever played at KU -- 125 years of basketball... it was really cool!

 we invited our friend, Mike, to join us!

Carter doing his "W" for Withey, who had a GREAT game!!

Rock Chalk!

why not?!?

Wichita has almost made a record... we are now at the 2nd highest snowfall for a winter storm... EVER! Not since 1962 have we had this much snow. Over 14 inches to be exact. :)

 

Both Jerry and I got stuck trying to get out of our cul-de-sac this morning. I'm thankful for neighbors with snowblowers and lots of big snow shovels!

 

And, after work, Jerry agreed to pull the boys behind his truck on a saucer. Why not?!?

Here's Grayson:

Watch out for the fire hydrant!!

happy {fourth} birthday, carter!

Four years ago today, Carter Elliott Anderson was born! We had a fun, snowy day celebrating our favorite four year old.

 He received a Jayhawk gumball machine from us... and was just as excited to unwrap the bags of gumballs :)

 and a mini-basketball goal to hang on his door

 it's tradition to eat at Red Robin for birthday lunch

 Nana had just driven in from Ft. Worth and we were glad to see her, safe and sound!

 when Grayson got home from school, the boys headed out to play in the snow

 we got several inches today and are expected to get A LOT MORE snow tonight!!

So... it was kinda ironic that Carter had picked out a snowmobile cake for his birthday several days ago :)

 "I'm a wain-deer" translates to "I'm a reindeer" -- random, I know

 fun play-doh goodies from Nana and Gramps

 the boys loved playing with the Bubble Windmill -- 500 bubbles in just 60 seconds -- Wow!!

And, Nana gave Carter his own "Carter is 4" book that she makes each year. We loved looking through it and reminiscing about everything Carter has done over the past year. So fun!!

valentine's parties

Grayson and Carter both had Valentine's Day parties in their classes on Thursday, and I was able to go to both. They were lots of fun!

But, before the partying began, we had a little fun at home...

 We had pink, strawberry-filled pancakes for our Valentine breakfast, and the boys had some M&Ms and a Wings shirt waiting for them.

 Carter's party was first...

 playing numbers bingo with conversation hearts

 

singing "A Bushel and a Peck" in his class :)

 Grayson's party happened in the afternoon... they started off playing the Valentine-version of "Minute to Win It"

 stacking towers of conversation hearts... in a minute!

Grayson with several of his 2nd grade buddies after the party

 

Happy Valentine's Day

the year of the snake

Happy Chinese New Year!!

We celebrated by going to our favorite Vietnamese restaurant, Saigon, for dinner last night. They had dancers and lots of action!

the boys -- waiting for the dancers to come

here they come!

as Jerry noted, during the whole celebration, Sports Center is playing on the TV :)

the dragons/dancers come by your table and you are supposed to feed them a dollar bill

this guy's eyes were able to wink -- I think he liked the money ;)

staring at each other!!

 here's a little clip of the dancers,  music, and feeding them the $1 bills...
Happy Year of the Snake!

basketball pics

Grayson is playing basketball this winter. Let's just say it's an adventure, but they're making headway. :)

Most of these boys didn't play basketball last year... so there is quite the learning curve.

G is in blue -- getting ready for his teammate to shoot free throws

dribbling the ball...keeping the other guy at bay

Coach Jason and his trusty assistant, Jerry, on the bench giving pointers

Grayson HAD to be #23 in honor of Ben McLemore... but we won't talk about how the 'Hawks are doing right now...

taking the ball down the court

grayson's 8th birthday party

We had Grayson's friend birthday party last night at the Wichita Wings' game. A great time was had by all!!

 the "Wing Men" greeted us as we arrived at Hartman Arena

 both Grayson and Carter received official autographed balls

 the birthday gang

 Grayson's cake

 singing to the birthday boy

 the kids got to go out on the field before the game

 the GM introduced them to a few players

 with the goalie

 getting an autograph down in the locker room from one of the players

 with the mascot!

cheering for the Wings!