Snowdude says,
"There will be
S-NO-W School
all week!"
Yes, that is a carrot mohawk.

Heaven and Nature Sing!

This week we enjoyed the heavenly music of children's voices at the boys' annual winter concerts and right on cue, mother nature chimed in with a blanket of Christmas snow! The little boys had tears streaming down our faces as they caroled away in the best NAPS Christmas pageant ever and the middle schoolers' Lullaby on the Wind brought peace and joy to our hearts.

... and it's still snowing, right outside my kitchen window!!!!

Merry Christmas!

Rock-a-Bye Baby

So I found this picture on my camera this morning which means Daddy snuck in and took it sometime after midnight last night when he finished grading final exams for the night. He, I guess, is documenting Pierce actually sleeping in his crib since all week I have been putting him to bed, waiting for him to drift off, and then hauling him back out again fast asleep so I can rock and snuggle myself to sleep with him in my arms because he is just so sweet. What a gift, each and every little child of God. Night-night Little P.

Peace in the Sorrow

As we walked through the last week, our tears fell all along the way. And yet, we lift up our hearts and are glad that at Christmas we remember the true and living birth of that one baby boy whose great work and glory it is to bring Mariah and even all of us into eternity together. Families are forever. Sweet Mariah, hugs and kisses to you and your angel friends.

It's the most wonderful
time of the year.... officially!

This is the 2009 version of the giant, fresh Christmas wreath we make every year and donate to hang on the front of Owen and Reilly's school. When we go to and from school in December, it reminds us that the true spirit of of Christmas is in the gifts we give and not the ones we receive.

Happy Thanksgiving

It started out the way every cold, windy, wet Thanksgiving should... Pierce and I bundled up on the couch in our pjs watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade while Peter took the hooligans to the ward Turkey Bowl. And then they came home....
We had to pause the parade recording, start some serious laundry and provide the traditional Cothran lunch of cheese, crackers and deviled eggs along with the traditional Graeme snickerdoodles before we could restart the parade, this time with everyone watching, including those who can come up with 1,001 ways to make fun of marching bands, marching band uniforms, marching band names, marching band music... you get the idea....
Some people just can't take the marching bands at all and the broadway musical cast performances of various stage "favorites" sends them in search of a good book.... but, I have to admit, it really is a good book... and it's nice to see Peter reading something he doesn't have to grade for a midshipman.
Left to their own devices, the hooligans went tribal and broke out Settlers of Catan. This made us miss the cousins for at least the 10th time out of 30 in one day.
I beat them all while cooking the turkey and ham and pulling the toddler off the table repeatedly. Pierce and I walked Ranger while we gloated. And then it was time for dinner.
After much cajoling, we managed to get the hooligans to come up with a reasonably long list of people and things they are thankful for that begin with the letter J (for Joyce, of course), most especially Jesus Christ and Johns Hopkins. We were also all very grateful.....
that Pierce slept through the entire dinner, giving us the requisite peace and quiet for candlelit cajoling and list making. He did wake up in time for dessert!
... which we all agreed was delicious. Way to go Reilly on making the pumpkin pie! You might think that was the perfect end of a Thanksgiving Day... but one more essential delight was yet to occur....
...watching the Horns whoop A&M, staying undefeated and right on track for a national championship bid in January. Maybe that's what Pierce is asking the big guy for this year...
Or maybe he's asking Santa why he didn't join us for the morning-after USNA 5K Turkey Trot?! Hmmmm. And... YES, we had to bribe the hooligans with milkshakes just to get them anywhere near the mall Santa. And... NO, there is not a photo. BUT, as we turn the calendar page, may we be among the first to wish you unseasonably warm weather for hanging your Christmas wreaths and say that it most certainly is okay if pizza already sounds better than a cold turkey sandwich!

Live, Love, Laugh... and then do the laundry.

Lightning Soccer
Graeme's team finished their first season of travel soccer by winning 2nd place in the Mountain Road Tournament last weekend. Graeme played forward and wing this season and had several goals and assists. His team (together for the last four years) definitely experienced some growing pains leaving county soccer and entering the Baltimore metro league, but were proud to say they managed to win some, lose some and tie an astonishing 6 times against top competition. Graeme is already off to a great start in the winter indoor league, scoring two goals yesterday for the Lightning with the whole family cheering from the stands. Connor says, "Go G-rama!"

We are the Champions
Reilly's soccer team had an undefeated season and won the club tournament in a shootout with Reilly scoring a goal and ending the game as star keeper to finish out their clinic careers. Peter and Reilly have been playing with the same group of kids since they were three years old and this was a great way to cap all the fun they've had together on the pitch. We took a moment to remember all the ups and downs of the last four years, including the two seasons Reilly spent more or less cheering from the sidelines with his broken leg and then learning to walk and finally run again and thinking back on some of the crazy team names and jersey colors they've had: Red Race Cars, Orange Tigers, Blue Whales, Turquoise Tie-Dye Surf, Lime Green Lizards, and finally the Red Raptors. It didn't matter what color they were, they pretty much dominated the other teams every season (think of Peter as Will Farrell in Kicking and Screaming and Reilly and teammate Henry as the ITALIANS) and are now ready to move on to competitive county soccer. You're one of the big boys now, Reilly. Way to go.

Soccer is a BIG Dad and Reilly thing and I didn't really do much, but I came up with a great cake for the team party, right?

Even the orthodontist said the day before Halloween is
"Bad Timing"
for getting braces!

Happy Halloween!

Now... aren't you scared?

Spooky School

Dr. Toxic and Count Dracula gobbled down their breakfasts this morning and headed to school for the annual Halloween parade and classroom parties where they had a creepy time with all the other ghosts and goblins.

Scary second graders before Mom kicked off the party which included make your own green slime with borax, glue, water and food coloring and learning all about 'Dem Bones.

Fourth grade frieks warming up for a dance and karaoke contest headlined by Eye of the Tiger... don't ask me, I was downstairs with the little kids....
WARNING: The mad scientist and the vampire were scheduled for one-day-only appearances this year. They are now secluded in the eerie basement lab, preparing for a dramatic midnight transformation into their REAL Halloween personas... check back tomorrow... if you dare!

Happy Birthday to My Blog!

It's been one year since Jennie set up Bringing Up Boys! Thanks again for the sweet present. I would have missed sharing so many great (and not-so-great) family events if I weren't blogging with y'all. Now I can not only name all the cousins in birth order, I even know what makes them each tick... and why all of us moms have a tick! Peter, the boys and I are also very grateful for the outpouring of love and support we received from our friends by being able to share news about Connor's accident through the blog. It's the gift that keeps on giving.... along with the gorgeous cake Peter ordered all on his own, and the yoga mat the kids tried out for me last night!

This can't be happening to me!

It is a BAD day when the laundry equipment fails in a house with five boys, especially after a weekend of unending rain and muddy soccer games. HELP! Peter and the boys all sat down and watched a YouTube video on how to repair a broken dryer belt and now we're just waiting for the part they ordered to arrive.

In the meantime, Pierce and I packed the van full of filthy clothes and headed to the laundromat yesterday when everyone went to school. As I was lugging in basket after basket of laundry, I was very grateful the laundromat had an automatic sliding door. I was also grateful for the 55 lb. load washer. I was grateful there was a quarter machine on site, which I forgot to think about until after the sliding door thing and all the stuff was in.

But... by the time my five giant loads were done washing and drying, I felt wrung out myself after chasing Pierce all over the very DIRTY store, repeatedly dragging him out of the industrial dryers he would hide in, pulling him down off the folding counters he climbed onto, chasing him and back and forth through the automatic sliding door I was no longer very grateful for, and bending down 10,000 times to pick up quarter after quarter that he was having a blast throwing around the place. WHEW! Why can't that boy sit down and watch some "Price is Right" like everybody else? And WHEN is that replacement part coming....?

Building Friendships

Everyone enjoyed working on a castle together one rainy evening... and a whole half hour went by without use of a BALL, although Pierce did try throwing the blocks. Thanks Grandpa Joyce for the wonderful homemade toys!

Play
Like
a
Raven!

An amazing perk came our way as a result of Connor's hard work organizing the NJHS/Safeway 10% Back to School grocery rebate program! The regional Safeway marketing coordinator was so impressed with SRMS students' hard work and enthusiasm for the program that he offered us a unique school-wide incentive program to increase receipt donations. We were able to offer a random receipt drawing where Connor and 10 lucky winners from our school (Yeah Graeme!) received an awesome NFL Ravens prize package including (we still can't believe it).... a tour of the Ravens' locker room with your own name on a locker stocked with a t-shirt, football, yearbook and lots of Heinz products and pre-game snacks (an official sponsor), a trip through the game-day tunnel and on to the field to participate in a fun pass, punt, throw and kick competition, topped off with a buffet dinner (more Heinz products) on the club level of the stadium. It was incredible! Now Connor can say he kicked an extra point on the Ravens field and Graeme can say he nailed a 30 yard pass down the sideline. It was definitely a night to remember!

Meeting Poe in the locker room

Running through the tunnel
and imagining you are Ray Lewis doing his dance

Taking a photo because we were really in the RED ZONE!
OK... the PURPLE zone!

Taking a knee: Connor and Nathan

In the end zone: Graeme and SRMS 7th grade winners

...and it was ALL good!

Feed the Sharks!

... so we've quickly learned that the National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) is not all about candlelit pats on the back in suit coats! As part of his membership obligation this year, Connor has to perform at least 24 hours of service to his school and community. His first project was spearheading a grocery store receipt collection program to earn rebate money for his school PTSO. He and I organized 20 other students who worked for more than 70 hours over a three-week period collecting 1,000+ grocery receipts and entering their promotional 20-digit codes into a special website. We offered a pizza party to the homeroom that collected the most coded receipts and Connor et al stood in the local Safeway store lobby night after night with the cool shark mascot collection box. In total, Connor and his NJHS recruits raised more than $2,700 for SRMS! Great project, Connor (and Mom)!

Connor's
National Junior Honor Society Induction

In recognition of their contributions to Severn River Middle School and their community in the areas of scholarship, leadership, character, service and citizenship, Connor and 49 of of his 8th grade classmates were inducted into the National Junior Honor Society at a special ceremony this month after a rigorous application process. I have to admit I pretty much take this type of thing for granted mothering a great kid like Connor, but even I was amazed and inspired by what all of these kids have already accomplished in life, inside and outside the classroom. Not only are they all honor roll students, they are all also great examples to others as very busy athletes, musicians, artists, scouts, church members, volunteers, and family members. It was a night to sit back, take a break and notice not only how fast it is going, but, for a change, to also see how much is being accomplished. Congratulations, Connor; we are so proud of you.
This photo is just for Jennie so she can see that he really did fit into the size 16 suit jacket (required attire)! Thanks for the hand-me-around!