We Love Wednesdays

Luke Turns 11
Luke's 11th birthday was a Thursday this year, the exact day he was born:)  He brought donuts to share with his class at school and Luke, Nora, and I had Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner while Brent had a work event.  Check out my other post for more on our growing boy.

Great timing - dinner and the Michigan game tip

And...they provide tablets for games

Weather
We had 5 days in the 50s this past week!  Need I remind you, it's February in Minnesota?!?!  Luke wore shorts to school, all of the snow melted from our yard, and the neighborhood kids were outside every night after school.  It was such a great treat for this time of year:)

SO much grass in February!

Weekend at Greg and Cally's
Last weekend, we got to see "cities cousins"...always an exciting times for all of the kids!  Mekhi's 10th birthday party was Saturday afternoon for Luke and otherwise we spent lots of time together at Greg and Cally's place.  We hadn't all been together since Christmas so it was great to get together.

Michigan at Minnesota Men's Basketball Game
Brent, Luke, and I went to the Michigan at Minnesota men's basketball game on Sunday, February 19 for Luke's birthday gift.  It was a close, exciting game that went into overtime because of a three point buzzer beater by Michigan.  Unfortunately Michigan lost in overtime.  It was extra fun for me being my first college basketball game.  It was a great night together!

Eleven

I spent some time reminiscing through Luke's birthday blog posts.  (If you're interested:  Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten.)  It was fun to read how Luke's interests have changed through the years, but I also started to think: "what can I say about Luke that I haven't already"...oh, don't worry, I came up with something;)

Our eleven year old is 4 feet 10 inches and 88lbs of boy!  This past year, he's kept busy playing spring soccer, running lots of summer races (sprints and 5Ks), summer 3-on-3 basketball, fall flag football, and winter basketball.  Although he really enjoys being active, he's also been learning more on the piano with Grandma Ruth (which is especially fun now that we have her piano at our house for him to play).  Luke is also a very thoughtful kid.  He loves time with cousins and friends and is often seen slowing down for the littler kids in the mix.  This thoughtfulness can ebb and flow with his own sister though...they are siblings after all;)  This year we also got to have some fun experiences with just Luke.  We saw Amos Lee in concert, got out skiing a few times, and saw the Michigan at Minnesota men's basketball game.

But, more importantly than all he's done and kept busy with this past year, I am proud of who Luke is.  This past year has presented a lot of change and new experiences: leaving the only school he's ever known (in Rochester), moving to a new home/school/neighborhood (in Stewartville), and meeting lots of new people.  These are all stretches for our introverted, sensitive, and quiet boy.  Before we decided to move, we asked him if he was up for the changes.  He, like us, was excited about the process and possibilities, but everything "on the horizon" with the move became his every day reality this past year.  Most of the changes have gone smoothly, but there have also been learning and growing experiences.  For this, I am proud of our boy.  We are all still in a learning phase as we meet more people and learn how school/activities operate in Stewartville, but Luke has certainly had the biggest everyday adjustment.  We were reassured by his teacher telling us at conferences that if he didn't know Luke was new to the school, that he would have never known by the way he interacted each day.  Luke continues to excel at school, especially enjoying math and science, and does a great job staying organized and on task with his assignments.

He's growing up before our eyes, this boy of ours. I try not to take for granted the little things that still show me he's a boy and not yet a tweenager. Like, when he still calls us Mommy and Daddy, still wants a hug before he leaves for school, and when he snuggles with us while watching a movie.

We are beyond blessed by this boy!

Here is a look back at Luke's past year...

Ice skating for his tenth birthday

Terrific Kid Award from Gibbs Elementary

With our Terrific Kid

Skiing last winter with Picker crew...he loves selfies;)

With Mekhi

With Daddy (who doesn't love skiing:))

Playing with Piper and Nora at Gma and Gpa's house

Date with Luke for the Jungle Book 

Color Run 5K in Stewartville

Post Color Run 5K

Sibling fun

Luke's last day of 4th grade

Breakfast out for first day of summer!

Pool on the first day of summer

Meeting cousin Parker for the first time

All Comer Track Meet with daycare friends

Gravitating to the little friends:)

Second generation friends

Como Zoo

Game face on for the Go for the Gold 5K

Go for the Gold 5K

Dad's mini-me

Another little friend to play with

Hanging with Parker

Birthday hug for Piper

Love this boy

Harvest Classic 5K

Last day of summer with cousins at Gma and Gpa's

First day of 5th grade in Stewartville

Survived his first day at a new school!

Piano with Gma Ruth

Flag Football

Amos Lee concert

Harry Potter for Halloween

Basketball team's first tournament

Skiing with Picker cousins this winter

Skiing with Moyers this winter

We Love Wednesdays

Shelves
When we built our house last year there were a few finishing touches we waited on because they could easily be added later.  After doing a research study with Mayo Clinic this fall and making a little extra cash, I decided to purchase/order one of the finishing touches on our list: floating shelves surrounding the fireplace.  Hutch's Custom Cabinets did all of our cabinet work when we built (including the fireplace mantel), so we had him build shelves to match the mantel.  We love the finished product!

Before floating shelves

After floating shelves installed

With a few touches from around the house

Basketball
We love basketball at our house.  Luke's been playing in a league and a few tournaments this winter most weekends.  Since Brent's been back on his feet, he's been back to coaching Luke's team.  This past weekend at league, their team had a slow start in the first half, but pulled out a win at the very end of the game.  It was a lot of fun to watch the boys rally together to come back and how proud they were of their effort and result.

Celebrating Luke
We have a tradition in my family of getting together with Beckmanns and Moyers for each birthday throughout the year.  We typically go out to eat, but we've gathered at Moyer's for the last few occasions and it's fun to have more time and space than a restaurant with all the littles:)  For Luke's 11th birthday, we ordered take out from Wong's, had Grandma's banana cake, and played Watch Ya Mouth.  The food was awesome, the kids were loud and crazy, and the game was hilarious!

Parker enjoying Luke's new basketball

Love this lil guy!

Snuggles with Papa bear

11 years old...I'm in denial!

Valentine's Dinner
Sunday night while the boys were at basketball practice, Nora and I decided to treat the boys to a fun Valentine's dinner.  I made a dessert that Brent said he wanted to try, lit candles, and drank out of "fancy glasses" (aka wine glasses).  Dinner was left over chinese, so nothing special, but we all love it!  We all shared things we loved about each other the kids thought it was really funny to have pop and juice out of wine glasses.  We topped off the night by watching the Lego movie together.
I was especially touched that our usually quiet boy made a comment to me the day after our Valentine's dinner "that was fun having our special dinner last night".

Place settings provided by Nora

Lovin her apple juice:)

My sweet, nearly 11 year old

My excited 4.5 year old

Snuggles for the movie

Valentine's Party
Nora got to have her first Valentine's Party at preschool this year!  This week they are also learning the letter N, so she got to have a crown for her name.  (You may remember she got a half-birthday crown last week...we hope it's not going to her head;))  She had lots of fun preparing valentine's for grandparents, cousins, great grandparents, neighbors, and classmates this year.  She is certainly our crafty child:)  Momma has fun with it too!

Queen N

Warm Weather
Since last Friday, it's been in the 30s and 40s!  Nothing to write home about in other parts of the country, but it's pretty exciting stuff here in Minnesota!  Luke's been loving all of the time outside with the neighborhood kids and the clear driveway for shooting hoops.  The next 6 days are forecast to be in the 50s and 60s!