Winter Musings

The start of the year went by quickly.  What little time I had to be on the computer was filled with editing the 70 individual shots for Justin's school auction.  Now that I am done with those, I can resume the slow pace of catching up.

This early winter and into spring has gone by quickly.  Justin is now riding his bike with no training wheels, though I am embarrassed to say I have no photos!  You will just have to believe me.  We took the trainers off February 5th and never looked back.  The game of the quarter played nightly at our house is Monopoly.  We play until the bitter end every time.  I have now bowed out of the game but Justin and Derek continue on their new round of game every few days.  Good way to learn about the value of money!  After two visits to the doctor for this and that Justin is officially 52 pounds, eats more than me for most meals, and is growing like a weed.



Justin's favorite gift from Grandma.  A fun way to drink our daily orange juice.

The night before my Aussie buddy Jenn came to stay with us I was fervently cleaning the house.  The Lord, in His sense of humor, kindly told me to stop when I heard a loud crash from the attic.  I walk out of our room to see this in our ceiling:

Thank goodness my hubby caught himself before falling the two stories down to the ground.  He tripped on a wire while putting away Justin's old clothes and had a nice golf ball sized whelp on his chin for a week.  Justin, who was right beside his father when it happened, was hysterically crying that our house as broken and we would have to move.  After assuring him it was okay, and cleaning up the mess, we eventually filled the hole in with more sheet rock. 

The next day brought this lovely face to my home: Jenn Heitzmann!  Though she came back for a family funeral, I got the privilege of spending some great quality time with one of my overseas besties.  We had a Mexican dinner with Kim, slept in, talked about how the Lord had been working in our lives, and had a wonderful day to just catch up.  With the major time difference, kids, and life in general, it's hard to keep up as well over the phone.  But it was such a treasure for her to fit me in her quick trip to the States.

We made a trip out to see Amy, baby Kate, & Meredith.  And then it was off to give Jenn to the next set of friends.  I enjoyed our time together, sweet friend!  Wish I had taken a few more photos!

In January, Derek and Justin took a boys trip out to Oregon to visit Tom.  Justin wasn't so sure of the tight fit of the Underarmor shirts, so Derek decided to help him out with his confidence.

Justin's turn at the camera.  Love that I am rockin' the dental hygiene shirt.  Because doesn't every girl have one in her closet?

Poor Roxy.  Always subjected to shame when Justin is behind the camera. 

The day after New Years' Day we lit the '4' sparkler.

Justin was in awe of the fire.  I foresee a future fire lover.

In the ABC Bible Verse Book, Missy and Bill have a treasure hunt.  Justin had been begging for weeks to do one, so I finally, and rather quickly, put one together using the verses form the book.  Obviously the next clue was hiding in....the spanking spoon drawer.

Justin loved the game, and had to keep all the clues in order.

It was fun watching him think about what the answer was, and then try and find out where I hid it.

Tada!  We finished.

And at the end was his treasure, activity books for those slow times of the day.  We have since redone the treasure hunt, and alas, no treasure was at the end.  But hey, it helps us keep our focus on Him.

Justin had wanted these three fellas to join the class party at our house in December.  I swiftly told him no, that the dynamic would change and 15 kids was too much on my own.  So Andrew, Jonathan, and John came over after school one Friday for a big playdate.

We of course had t have some races.  Justin all fall was asking us to call him Jonathan, and this is the only Jonathan he knows.  So I guess we like our Pre-K friend.  And John and Andrew were in Justin's toddler class at Holy Cross.  Buddies all over the school realm.

And lots of pirates were emerging that afternoon.

The weekend my nephew was born, Justin had a measly fever virus that lasted about a week.  To stop the stir craziness Derek took him out to Lochinvar to fish.  This, with those sick eyes, is the catch of the day.

Lastly, Derek took Justin to the Rockets game and sat on the floor with his boss's tickets.  The expression says it all.

But, Derek said the snacks were the highlight of the game.  To each his own.

Peters' Lunch

We had a day to catch our breath, and then my in-laws came up New Year's Eve to babysit for us.  Such a blessing, as I probably would not have gotten a sitter.  We had plans to go to dinner and a movie and decided instead to just stay longer at dinner and catch up.  The next day all the Peters' on Mary Beth's side of the family came over to hang out for New Year's Day.

The older Justin gets, the more we say he is built like a Peters.  To be more exact, he is built like his cousin Mason, though he might be a wee but taller.  Almost like a blend on this photo - Ryan and Mason put together into one.  Only the Lord knows, though it is fun to think what it will all end up to be.

The aunts brought gifts, which we busted out and played with.  Keyea, Kailey, and Joseph played some Toy Story Memory with the J man.

Joseph indulged Justin in some football.

As well as some good ole playtime on the swing set.  Joseph has always been the youngest cousin on this side, so it was fun to watch him be the older cousin as roles have reversed.  I love how sweet ALL of our older/young cousins are with my son.

When Mason wasn't part of the football action, bringing back memories of high school football, he was literally jumping the fence to get a stray ball.

I think Joseph needs some more swingset time.

All the fellas.  Tom pointed out that every one was sitting in a father/son pattern.  Ha - didn't even occur to me.  We were only missing Chris and Konnor in this photo (and Alissa), but Florida was too far a drive for a day trip.

The ladies were having too much fun to pose.  Apparently every one thought it was funnier than I.  Loosen up there, Shani.

We managed to calm down for some smiles.  The Lord blessed us which such beautiful weather that morning and enabled all of us to sit outside most of the day.

One of the things I threw at these West Texas kin was something I had over Christmas.  My mom served us an avocado bar, which you top your avocado half with sour cream, salsa, bacon, and cheese. 

Justin, the oldest daily napper out there, took a nap and we got a photo of the cousins.

Toss in the wifey as well.

Post nap there was more football to be had.  We busted out the new football and football flags from Papa and had game on.

It was Grandpa and Justin versus Derek and Ryan.

Lots of coaching was going on.

Lots of aggressive play as well.

Justin's favorite, kicking.

Even some secret plays.

The four Michaelis football players.

Lots of fun that evening, and once again wonderful weather.

I wish this photo had turned out better, but I always love a good hand shake.

Lastly, Justin wanted to try on some of his father's old baseball gear.

Just in time for t-ball to start.  More on that many posts down the road...

This ended our wonderful round of families over the holidays.  All of the Peters had not been together like this since Thanksgiving 2 years ago at our house.  We need to be more purposeful in getting together in the future, especially after watching Justin with the big kids. 

Baylor Bowl Game

The day we drove back from Lufkin we went right into Baylor Bowl festivities.  My parents went to pick up the Blevins from the airport and came to our place to stay a couple nights.  We had so much fun, though the game...well...I'll get to that.


We went to dinner that night with a group at Ciro's.  Just the right weather (though maybe a bit too cold) to sit outside and play some bocce ball.  Or at least Justin did.

After lots of laughs, we went back to our place to hang for a bit.  Steve and Kerry joined us for the evening of fun.  This entire group goes way back.
















The next day was full of rain.  We put on our rain gear, though I didn't let Coy take my galoshes with him.  My parents, Shane, the Blevins and I went to go eat some Demeris BBQ. 

Then we trekked it in the rain to go to the stadium.





































So hey there, Texas tailgate tent.  Were you even at a bowl game this year?




 And boy was the rain coming down.

So we sat in the car, nice and cramped, watching the rain and hoping for a break somewhere.  Though thoughts of tailgating were slowly trickling away, memories were made right inside a Honda Pilot.

We met up with some of the crew in our section.  Great seats on the cheap, Snuf!  My dad not only bought our tickets before the bowl announced Baylor was coming to Houston, but gave us daily play-by-plays of what was going on for the evening.  Our personal Baylor travel agent.

The team came out.  The crowd went wild.  And a good thing too, since there wasn't much more of it the rest of the night.  It truly was a fun evening, just disappointing that we didn't play better.

Derek was a trooper that night.  I did not even mention for him to wear green and gold though he somehow showed up in it.  Stayed home with Justin while he napped to stay up later for bedtime, drove through the rain and crazy traffic, and ran almost a mile through the rain while carrying our 50 pound son to get to the stadium.  All in the name of Baylor, where at our household is starting to suffocate him, I am sure.  But he's a great sport now that his son has the fever as well.

The kickoff, and then the game.  Who cares what the final score was.  Hey, it's our first bowl in forever.  And how great that I had to drive 15 minutes to cheer on my home team!  Fabulous!

My dad got these foam sticks for all the kids to wave around.  Justin and Braden getting some hugs.

The Browns were troopers sitting with all the fam and the crazy group we were with.  Our seats were on the bottom level so we got a great view of the game.  Justin deep down wants to live in the Brown world and all the kids that go with it.  Can't get enough of the Browns.  Especially when Ashley, with her serving and loving heart, will call last minute and have us drop Justin off on a whim on a weekday night for Derek and I to have a date night.  It gives Justin a temporary feel of living with the Browns...for a few hours.  We are thankful and blessed for their friendship!

Shannon got Julia and I into the special second floor section.
We snuck into the section where lots of familiar faces sat.  It was fun to catch up, though we didn't stay long.





















Justin and Brooks.  Buds.  Justin kept asking were Brooks and Barrett were since this would be the last time to see them before summer.  Come on summer!

Maybe next time, Bears.  But thanks for letting a lot of old friends get together for a fun time in Houston!