A Dress the Heart Gala

Scott and I attended the A Dress the Heart Gala Saturday night to benefit Mercy Regional Hospital's cardiac initiatives. What a fun event with so many great people! Good times!

Purple Power Advanced to Bracket play-YES

Kiersten's Konza VB team finally won a game and advanced into the finals this past weekend. This is great, considering they are playing 12 year olds. They ended up with 3rd place, and were mighty happy. Great job girls!

My baby has braces......

I cannot believe my 11 year old is in braces. Good Grief, where did the time go? Kiersten had her upper braces put on a couple of weeks ago, and boy does she look like a teenager. Cutest smile ever!

Career Day at School

My kiddo's dressed up for career day at school last week. A nurse, and Firefighter, and a professional Volleyball player. Gotta love it!

Karli's 1st Gymnastics Meet

Karli had her first gymnastics meet last week. She competed in bars, vault, floor, and beam. She did excellent, and received 5 medals and a plaque. Great job!

PB2 Anyone?

I just had to share this AWESOME product, that has changed my life!!!

My girlfriend, Susie just told me about PB2. Hello! Have you heard of this stuff? Powdered Peanut Butter that has only 1.5 grams of fat in 2 tablespoons….and only $4.00 per jar!

Here is the full breakdown of its nutritional value:

PB2: Powdered Peanut Butter
Ingredients: Roasted peanuts, sugar and salt.
Serving size: 2 Tablespoons (12 grams)
Servings per container: 15
Amount per 2 Tablespoon serving (when mixed with water):
Calories: 45
Calories from fat: 13

Value and % Daily Value*

Total fat 1.5 g 3%
Saturated fat 0 g 0%
Trans fat < 0.01 g
Cholesterol < 0.01 mg 0%
Sodium 94 mg 4%
Total carbohydrate 5 g 2%
Dietary fiber 2 g 8%
Sugars 1 g
Protein 5 g

That is correct, only 45 calories with only 13 of them from fat.

They even have it in Chocolate flavor too! Mix it with a little water and BAM….peanut butter.

Here is a GREAT recipe.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Shake:

1 cup milk

1 scoop chocolate protein powder

1 tablespoon PB2

1 cup spinach (for me only…seriously…he would never)

1 cup ice

approx. 190 calories and 35 grams of protein! ENJOY!

A little Purple Power Anyone?

Kiersten started playing traveling VB this year with KONZA. Her team name is the "Purple Power". They are the youngest team in the league and have many things to learn. Their first tournamnet was this past weekend. They played 6th graders, and lost their 2 matches, but not by much. I can't wait to see their improvement throughout the season.

Hoop, Shoot, and Holler FINALS

Kiersten made it to the finals for her Hoop, Shoot, and Holler contest at school. She shot hoops at the KSU mens game on New Years Eve. Although she was not to happy with her debut performance, we are so proud of her that she made it this far. She earned her name on a plaque at school. Great work Kiersten, your efforts have paid off!

Christmas Eve gift opening

Each year we head over to Scott' s parents for Christmas Eve and are treated to an amazing meal, lots of wine, and lots of gifts, this year was not exception. The kids had a blast ripping into their packages and watching their siblings open gifts.

"Running" Christmas Party

Every year for the past 5 years, I have had my running partners over for a small "gift exchange". The gifts get better and better each year as our running group grows. I was a slacker this year, and did not take a lot of pics, but below, are a few that were captured.

I do want to put a shout out there to all my girls....Aimee, Juls, Ang C., Ang, P, Bob, Kim, Dedra, Shay, Ashley, Ang T. Kitra, Deb, Marti, and Tanna........I am a better person because of each and every one of you. Running is so individual, yet all of you have impacted my life in so many ways.....thanks for the encouragement, the confidence, and the amazing memories we have made! Catch you on the road!

Santa Brunch!

I can't believe a full year has gone by already. I literally feel we were just sitting down having brunch last year. My my how this year has flown by. We were able to meet Scott's parents for brunch and then the kids were able to talk with Santa. Good Times

Kade's Taekwondo Testing and Party

Kaden has been doing Taekwondo, now for 5 months, and is an orange belt, but currently earned his Tiger patch during testing this week. He works hard on these moves at home, and I think he was pretty nervous to show his moves in front of all classes and parents yesterday. He did great. Great job Kade!

5th Grade Holiday Gift shop

The fifth graders have been working very hard on an economics unit that has emphasized loans, promissory notes, security agreements, and much more. They were given the task to make a craft item, they thought might sell. Kiersten choose key chains, hair clips, and pencils (thanks to my good friend, Jeanne for the AWESOME idea!) We started this project back in early November, to ensure we would not run into a "crunch" down the road. She learned a lot about borrowing and even interest (which she was not to excited to pay me.... btw) She also donated the profits to the Red Cross as her charity. What a great learning experience, and a ton of fun for the kids.

Kiersten's 1st orchestra performance

Kiersten's 1st Orchestra performance.......Kiersten just started playing the viola in September and just tackled her first 5th grade concert. I can't wait to hear the improvement this Spring :)

Kaden's Thanksgiving Feast

Kaden's Kindergarten class celebrated Thanksgiving last week by making pilgrim and Indian outfits and sitting down for a feast together. The kids highly anticipate this event for several months. They are so cute!

Hoop, Shoot, and Holler contest

Kiersten participated in a free throw contest at her school a few months back, and ended up being the overall female winner for the 5th and 6th graders. She then went on to compete with other 5th and 6th grade girls from other schools in our district. Kiersten shot free throws at the KSU woman's BB game last week, and became a finalist. She will now move on with 3 other girls and shoot free throws again at the KSU men's BB game on NYE. Congrats to my amazing little ball handler and great job Kiersten representing your school. We are so proud of you!