Two girls who can rule the court!!

I was invited awhile ago to go and see Morgan and Melanie Ransom play basketball. I had the privilege to be their Jr. High basketball coach. This is Morgan's senior year at Walther Lutheran High School and Melanie's sophomore year. They are not only amazing basketball players, but they are incredible girls! I was able to enjoy their game against Chicago Christian High School on Tuesday night, and then Chris & I took the boys to their game last night for Morgan's last home game as a senior. We had a great time, and I can't wait to see what God has in store for Morgan as she moves onto the next chapter in her life, college!!!

Melanie, taking it to the hoop!

A great put back, by Morgan!

A nice look, by Melanie!

Gotta love museum FREE days!

Yesterday, the boys and I took a trip to the Museum of Science & Industry. Thank goodness we went on a free day, since parking was $18.00 and 2 drinks were $5.00! Malachi helped pack our lunch...it was adorable, even though there were chunks of jelly in the peanut butter container! lol

This was Keagan's first trip to the Museum of Science & Industry, and it's been over a year since Malachi was there. They have a really neat exhibit on Storms. That was my favorte exhibit! The boys also enjoyed climbing in the John Deer farm equipment, and travelling down into the Illinois coal mines!

It was a great day, with some extremely well behaved boys, followed by naptime! What more could a mom ask for? :-D

The storms!

The Fireman!

The Science of Storms, VERY cool!

Checking out the storm!

Checking out where Daddy used to work!

Learning how the farmers harvest the corn!

Waiting to check out the farm equipment!

Goofing around!

More Construction...

As many of you know, the majority of our basement has been finished since September. We had held off on doing the basement bathroom, because it wasn't even roughed in, and the price quote we got was RI-DIC-U-LOUS!!! So Chris just left the area blocked off, along with Malachi's future closet.


Well, a few weeks ago, a client of Chris' referred a plumber to us, and we had him come and give us a quote to rough in the bathroom. (Chris will be doing the rest of the work) The price was MUCH more affordable, so Chris is going to start moving forward with the project. I can't wait to see the final product & soak in the spa tub! Malachi is extremely excited to have a closet and "his own bathroom!"

Yesterday Chris & Malachi worked on building the walls. They made great time and finished the walls, now we'll wait on the plumber to rough everything in. In the meantime, we have to pick out fixtures, tile, etc.

Here are a few pictures of the "men" working!

Explaining that they were building walls for "his new bathroom"

Malachi said that only the "men" were allowed in the work area!

Fun with our new camera

For Christmas Chris & I bought a Nikon SLR camera...I am loving the crisp pictures it takes!!! Here are a few pictures from January. We finally had a day that it was not too insanely cold, so we went outside and played in the snow. This was Keagan's first experience with the snow, and he enjoyed it....for a short period, at least!!! Malachi could have stayed outside playing all day! He loves to shovel and throw snow! He also enjoys eating the snow...I made sure to tell him to only eat WHITE snow!!!!

Looking Back at 2010

I just wanted to take a few minutes to look back at 2010...2010 was a whirlwind of a year for our family...In this past year...

• Chris started his own company, C + K architecture, which has had grown in ways only God could have planned!! Chris is hard at work to continue the growth of the company!
• Keagan had many firsts: tooth, solid foods, crawling and finally on Christmas eve his first steps!
• Malachi joined his first basketball team & art class...He has shown a huge interest in coloring, drawing, painting or any type of art in general!
• I began my 2010 with a goal of losing weight and getting in shape for myself & my family...to date I have lost a total of 75lbs....I also started my business My Sugar Satisfaction, and have enjoyed making some custom cakes!
• God has done some amazing things in our lives as a family...things we did not see coming: He has brought us to a new church family Second Place Church...Chris has taken the position of accounts payable, and I have been teaching the K-5th grade children. It has been a joy to be part of such a great church family, we have met so many new people and families, we thank God each and every day for bringing them into our lives! We are excited to see what God has in store for us at Second Place!

Moving on to 2011! I have so many personal goals that I would love to start working on, but from experience, taking small steps will help me reach my goals quicker! Here are a few steps I'd like to start taking:

• Doing a daily devotional time with Chris
• Planning & preparing healthy meals for my family
• Organizing & staying organized!
• Stay up to date with my blogs!

These are just a few of my goals for the coming year...I know that God has much more planned for my family this coming year, and I pray that He will lead Chris & I on the path He has for us!

Catching up some more...July 2010

Just a glimpse of what we did in July:

Keagan's 9month pictures!

First night in his crib!

First night in his Chicago Bulls room, downstairs!

Relaxing with Grandma Krestel!

Sailing the Tall Ships!

Just a typical picture of Keagan, with spit up all over!

Kiddie Park, roller coaster!

Fourth of July!

Having fun at Ignite Chicago!

Toasting Marshmallows w/ Christian, Kayleigh & Kendra!

Cousins goofing off at the Children's Museum!

Out of the mouth of babes...

Malachi is getting to the age where he picks up sayings very quickly...they are sometimes used out of content, but so hilarious! It's also interesting to hear the phrases I use most often...Here are some of my favorites:

• "That's Impressive!"
• "You've GOT to be kidding me!"
• "If you want to!"

The latest remark came as we were leaving Lifetime Fitness...he says to me, "We can go to Jamba Juice...if you want to!" TOO cute....he's a sly boy, must get that from his mom!!

I just can't get enough of my big boy!!!