10 years!

A few weeks ago on January 21 it was our 10 year anniversary.  On January 21, 2005 we got married at the court house in Knoxville with our parents and Hayden present.  I honestly had no idea what I was getting into at the time but God has an amazing way of working things in His time. 

Our anniversary was on a Wednesday this year and that is a pretty busy day for us.  The boys headed to school and Jeremy to work.  Aubrey and I had Coffee Break in the morning and then ran a few errands before coming home.  It wasn't quite lunch time yet so we settled on the couch to watch a little Netflix.  I was a little bummed because we weren't going to have time to do much to celebrate our anniversary that day.  Then Jeremy walked in the front door with flowers and asked if I wanted to go out for lunch!  His mom was here also to watch Aubrey and had picked up a happy meal for her at McDonalds.  It was such a wonderful surprise!!  He had taken the rest of the day off work so we didn't have to hurry and we enjoyed a nice lunch at Applebee's.  That evening we had a light supper and headed to church. 

Nile is 8!

Wow it is hard to believe I have been a mommy to more than one child for 8 years already!  Nile was 6 days late and by far my most difficult pregnancy, he was also our one "planned" child.  Nile can be sure sweet, helpful, and kind or the complete opposite.  Luckily for us he saves all of his less desirable behavior for home.  Not sure this is always so great but at least he does well at school and other activities.  Nile seems to have more of my side in him, at least physically.  His features and body type are more like my brother and I, long and lean - at least I used to be lean :).  Nile is crazy about sports and has recently started collecting basketball and football cards, just like his daddy did!

We opened gifts as a family the night before Nile's birthday since we knew it would be busy after school on his actual birthday.  For his birthday Jeremy took they day off and took Nile to Culver's for lunch while I was home with Aubrey and one daycare child.  That evening we went to Subway for supper and afterwards the boys headed out to Grimes for the Pella basketball game.  Saturday was basketball in the morning and then Nile's friend party in the afternoon.  Wow 5 7-8 year olds can go through a few planned activities fast!  Sunday after church we had the family party for lunch.  It was a fun, busy birthday weekend for our middle guy. 

Nile is named after Nile Kinnick, the only Heisman trophy winner from Iowa.  His middle name is Edward.  Each letter is for a male family member.  E - Eugene, Papa Larry's middle name.  D - Duane, my dad's middle name.  W - Wilbur, my maternal grandpa.  A - Armour, my paternal grandpa.  R - Robert, Jeremy's paternal grandpa.  D - Daron, my brother.  Just a fun little fact!

Basketball

Both of the boys have been playing basketball with Pella Junior Hoops for the first time this winter.  Hayden started practices twice a week in early December right after we got back from Florida and started playing games every Saturday morning in January.  Last Saturday was his last day.  It was great to see him improve and have fun each week. 

Nile's age just does Saturday mornings from January through Valentines day.  They started with working on drills and now are playing games.  He is really enjoying it.  I would highly recommend the programs.  In the past we did not participate because I was watching every penny we spent on extras like sports but this year we decided it would be good for them to have a winter activity since they really wanted to play. 

The past four Saturdays in January we were at the Madison gym from 9:30 until 11:45 AM.  This is a long time for a little sister to sit and "watch" her brothers each take their turns playing basketball.  We brought her backpack with fun activities and her Frozen ABC binder we made.  She has done really well so I am hoping she does better at baseball games this spring.  Now that Hayden is finished we will just be there for 1 hour the next two Saturdays. 

Last week at the gym they had cotton candy for $1 to help an orphanage where one of the daughters of the Pella Junior Hoops coordinator was adopted from.  Aubrey and Nile both enjoyed a bag while Hayden played his last game.