January 2013

January was pretty uneventful. I seem to recall not much going on, but then we were busy all of the time. The boys started basketball through the YMCA. They both really seemed to like it...maybe Charlie a bit less than Jack. They have practices on Tuesdays at the same time and then they each have a game on Saturday. It's made for some Saturday madness. Both have quite a few friends on their team, so practices tend to be a little social. But they've learned a lot.

At the beginning of the month, we drove back to Cedar Rapids to visit Doug's family for Christmas. The boys loved seeing everyone. They love hanging out with their cousin, Kiley.

I have still been running a lot in January. I have gotten faster thanks to running with my neighbor Greg and some of his friends. It's been great and kept me active all winter. I am still running with the new group at Lake Z and Chalco. We've all been out a few times together and I've made some great friends in the group. Doug likes hanging out with them as well.

Charlie had his 9th birthday party with friends this month. We had it at a sports place called Going Vertical. We rented the field and the boys played football, soccer and kickball. They had a blast and ran and ran for two hours straight. I could hardly get them to stop for pizza, cake and presents. Charlie declared it was the best party ever!

In the middle of the month, I met up with some friends in Austin, TX. There were four of us and we went for a long weekend. We relaxed, walked, shopped and ate. It was a lot of fun. We even went out and partied one night and stayed up way too late. Whoa, we are crazy! We had a great time and plan to do it again, next time in Denver.

We finally were able to get started on our fireplace demo. We took down the mantle and added tile to the entire wall. I love how it's turned out. Looks so clean and modern. In the below photo, it's not quite finished, but you get the idea. Next we paint the first floor and will possibly add new doors and trim. Haven't decided yet. We love how it looks compared to how it once did! So much better!