Basketball, Bumps, and "Band-Ands"

Luke is playing basketball for the first time this winter, and it is so much fun for all of us.  I'm pretty sure that basketball is my favorite sport to watch so far- it's non-stop action, climate controlled and indoor, and adorable in the age 5-6 division.  The kids are learning the basics, and they have come so far from their first practice in November.  We thought Luke's basketball season was wrapping up next week, but just found out that it goes into next month, so we'll have our own version of "March Madness" to look forward to, complete with a tournament.  I've been waiting to post pictures because I can't seem to get good action shots of Luke during games.  It may be the strange lighting in the gym.... or the 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning game time... or more likely the fact that Mommy hasn't had a cup of coffee yet and isn't exactly quick with the camera at that hour.  However, I do have a couple of cute videos from the games that I can share.  The first one is the opening play in the very first game of the season.  We were shocked that the team looked so put together and executed such a great play... and were proud of our little's man's assist:

  

(Sorry these videos are so small/hard to see.  I am having trouble uploading them to our "Winterhoff Family Videos" site, but if the problem is corrected, I will include a link on this post.) 

The next video is Luke taking a foul shot.  It's pretty fun to see how excited the kids are when they score:

Each game has an official score board and buzzer, referees, cheerleaders, and stands full of cheering parents.  We love that Luke's teammates are comprised of his peers at school, and we are learning just how small Oak Ridge Youth Association is.  The same kids seem to cycle through seasonal rotations of soccer, basketball, and baseball, and it's delightful to have friends and parents that we know on Luke's teams.  His coaches are wonderful and the "Cobras" are having a great season together:

 If you are a loyal blog reader, you know that my strength as a mom doesn't lie in my sports knowledge or expertise, and several times this season Mark has had to gently educate me about some of the finer points of basketball... such as when I shouted out, "Don't foul, Luke!"...  and I learned  that sometimes fouling is good, so that the other team doesn't score.  Oops...  Or when I was confused about why the kids practice drills where they alternate hands while dribbling (vs. only using their dominant hand)... Or why in the world do they shoot a 1:1 vs. 2 foul shots, and for goodness sakes, what is a "pick" and a "brick"...and are there halves or quarters?  Sheesh.  Good thing I have years to understand all of this...

While Luke is currently our sports star, Leah wins a prize for being the bravest child in the world.  She fell running in our house last week and bumped her chin, splitting it open about 1/2 inch away from her scar from last May (when she required 3 stitches).  We raced to Urgent Care on Friday night, and Leah received stitches for the second time in 8 months.  The only tears that she shed were her initial fall, and her one request was that she wanted "Bubbie to come with me to the hop-sital".   Sweet girl.  She was unbelievably calm and the MD even gave Leah her suture kit as a souvenir of her experience, which delighted our little Doc.  This experience was less traumatic for Mommy for several reasons:  1) It wasn't moving day (like last time), 2) We have an established pediatrician here now, 3) I knew exactly what to expect and the course of treatment, and 4) Leah was completely fine with everything.

So, Leah sported a Doc McStuffins "Band-and" all week (and I may never encourage the correct pronunciation of that word) over her blue whiskers, and it was a non-event to have her stitches removed yesterday.   I didn't take any pictures of Leah's injury this time- I am hoping that these experiences fade from my memory... but here is a cute photo of our little girl, pretty in pink and wearing her usual sunny smile: 

Lots of excitement around here lately, with all the basketball, bumps, and "band-ands"!

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

 

Ok, so we really can't complain about January in North Carolina.  With the exception of one day recently when school was delayed and then cancelled at the last minute (due to the 1/10 inch of ice that covered the ground), this month has been fine.  In fact, we've had a few days in the 50's and 60's this week, which completely goes against the current blog title, but I started writing this post last week in the middle of the Arctic Blast, so we're going to go with it... 

 

To kick off our "cold" theme, Leah and I were given special VIP tickets to Disney's "Frozen on Ice" last month, and we had an absolute blast with other preschool friends and moms.  I did tell Mark that after experiencing a suite at the coliseum, I was not sure that I could ever go back to "regular" seats again.  He snorted at me. Besides the amazing show, the highlights were:  #1  The snacks... #2 The private potty.  Ahh, such are the delights of preschoolers (and their moms!).

 

Here are the kiddos waiting for the show to begin.  Leah, of course, snagged a seat right next to her BF, Elijah:

 

Peanut also received an Anna doll for Christmas to go along with her Elsa, and she and I are having lots of fun singing along to the "Frozen" songs and playing pretend with these characters.

 

 

Since it's been so chilly outside, we've been finding lots of fun indoor activities to do lately.  Last month, we spent a great morning at the Greensboro Children's Museum with our friends who live across the street.  Leah and Brooks are the same age and have become quite good buddies:  

 

First Date?!

Luke has had his share of winter fun lately, too.  This week, the first graders took a field trip to the National Figure Skating Championships at the Greensboro Coliseum, and Luke was excited to sit beside his best friend, Aiden:

 

The boys' favorite part of the field trip was the FanFest, where they played a ski-simulator video game:

 

 

Luke was a big helper last week when Bean and Poppy visited, as he served as an apprentice to assemble Daddy's new work bench.  Can you see in the picture that he is wearing shorts... in January?  So I guess it's not really that cold after all...

 

Poppy showed Luke how to use the vice and drill, and Luke was thrilled to practice his new skills with the many sticks that he finds in our yard:

We try to take advantage of the more temperate winter days to get some fresh air outside.  Last weekend, our little golfers practiced their swings at the town park.  I think that my favorite part of this activity was the adorable sporty attire:

 

 

 When not golfing outside, Peanut has been riding her new bike often.  She loves getting the mail every day and putting it in her basket.  Even chilly winter days don't hinder this cute letter carrier:

Winter also calls for lots of snuggling, and no one is better at this than adoring grandparents:

 

Winnie also likes to use the excuse that she has a cozy fur coat to climb up onto the couch/warm up her brother and sister:

 

 

Here's one more adorable tidbit that will certainly warm your heart, even on the chilliest of days.  We think that this recent video of Leah would even make Olaf melt!   Enjoy!

 

Williamsburg Christmas Celebrations

 

Part 2 of our holiday travels included our annual Winterhoff Christmas in Williamsburg at Bean and Poppy's house.  The children are always very excited to celebrate Christmas with their cousins, and there are many adorable moments during their time together: 

Sweet pajama clad boys.

 

 Part of the fun of cousin Christmas is exchanging the presents that the cousins find for each other, and as my kids get older, it becomes increasingly fun to have L&L help choose and wrap gifts that they think their cousins would like:

 

There are presents, presents, and more presents.  The kids did a great job this year taking turns and helping each other:

 

 

Of course, some people enjoy movement more than others, and more often than not, the boys were pretending to be robots, ninjas, or were on a heap on the floor wrestling.  Good thing there are some awesome Daddies who enjoy this sort of thing, too:  

 

 The weather was beautiful on Saturday, and the younger kids took a walk to Bean and Poppy's playground, which provided yet another darling photo op:

 

We all love our Sunday Williamsburg Christmas tradition of "Children's Church" at Bean and Poppy's house.  The kids dress up in holiday attire and each one contributes to the Christmas Story by doing a reading, playing music, singing carols, or presenting the Nativity Figures and gifts to baby Jesus:

 

 

 

 

On Sunday, we attended the Offutt Family Christmas Party, which includes Great Grammy's children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  This event is lots of fun for everyone, with even MORE cousins and young children running around and playing!  We love visiting with Great Grammy, and this is a special tradition for everyone:

 

Our whirlwind weekend was so much fun that the kids kept asking, "Can we PLEASE stay for just one more day?".  Thank you, Bean and Poppy, for making this such a treasured time for all.  How blessed we are to be able to have such wonderful Christmas celebrations with our family and friends!

Here is a slideshow of more pictures from our 2014 Winterhoff Christmas:

 

Birthday Festivities

Sometimes it is really fun to be the littlest cousin.  The big girls fawn all over you, pass down cute clothes and princess attire, and are great helpers when it comes to family celebrations.  When your birthday happens to fall right after the Christmas holidays, it's a GREAT reason to celebrate with your cousins over Winter Break!  In fact, Leah now anticipates our annual Williamsburg tradition and this year, called it her "mini birthday party".  

Last Monday morning, Leah's "mini birthday party" served as the grand finale to our wonderful Winterhoff Christmas Weekend in Williamsburg (blog post coming soon!).  Leah opened her special presents from her aunts, uncles, and cousins before declaring that she wanted to "take a break" from presents and have the special birthday treats that Bean made:

 Our birthday girl absolutely ate up all of the attention and everyone loved their "breakfast cupcakes" and hot chocolate: 

Next, Leah decided to return to the important business of presents and opened her gifts from Bean and Poppy, which included a new "big girl" bike!   B&P had secretly stowed this present in our attic the last time they visited us and gave Leah a picture of her bike at the "mini party", telling her that it would be waiting for her at our house.  We drove home later that afternoon, unpacked, and put the kids to bed.  Sure enough, the very instant that Leah woke up the next morning, she remembered her bike, and the first words out of her mouth were:

"Mommy, I CAN'T WAIT to ride my new bike!"



Presents from Bean and Poppy.

Leah is also the Star of the Day at preschool today and is celebrating her birthday there with her classmates.   She helped me make "Party Bananas" last night to take in for her special birthday snack, and we love how adorable they are:

Our sweet girl certainly has had a fun time celebrating her birthday over the past couple of weeks.  What fun it is to be 4! 

Leah is 4!

 

Happy Birthday, sweet Leah!  Our little Peanut has been talking about turning 4 for weeks and has planned many details of her birthday celebration.  She even decided to wear her new cupcake pajamas to bed last night in preparation for her birthday festivities.  Mommy has been out of commission with a stomach flu this weekend and has been directing birthday activities from bed, including sending the boys to pick up flowers and balloons this morning to surprise Leah when she woke up:

 

Our birthday girl certainly loved being the center of attention on her special day, and began her morning by opening cards and receiving her "birthday dollars!":

After church, Leah opened her presents and had lots of help from her big brother and furry sister:

 

 

 Daddy took the kids to Build-A-Bear this afternoon, and Leah loved her first visit to this special place:  

 When my gang returned home, Leah excitedly declared:  "Mommy, I picked Super Girl clothes for my bear, so that she can fight your germs!"   What a character!    

 

Leah picked Doc McStuffins themed plates and napkins for her family party, and was very excited about our last minute Plan B for her birthday cake, since I couldn't bake one.  She chose a delicious strawberry cake from among the beautiful creations in the Whole Foods bakery display case, and asked for her favorite food, "mac and cheese", for dinner: 

 

Happy Birthday to our sunny, happy Leah!  You brightened our lives when you entered the world four years ago today and are a ray of sunshine to all who know you.  Your joyful, happy spirit is contagious and you fill our hearts with love and laughter each day.   We love you more than anything in the world. 

Love, Mommy, Daddy, Bubbie, and Winnie