6.30.2010

and the classics just keep on climbing out

of the game room cupboards.

games i thought i'd never see again

have made a comeback in the sippel household.

look what we are into this week - yatzee!

its the perfect game for this group of boys -

a mix of poker, luck & strategy in a blue plastic cup &

pours out in the form of 5 dice.

i can only imagine what game will emerge

next week...

pacman?

atari?

merlin?

may your day be filled with game board memories,

missing pieces and crushed game boxes.

share a childhood memory today.

grab a deck of cards & build a card house.

find a picture of a summer day.

draw hopscotch on the sidewalk.

enjoy today.

6.29.2010

tuesday morning pieces.

everywhere.

hard to say no to this project.

1000 wonderful colorful parts.

everywhere.

we've attempted before - unsuccessfully.

we are ready to try again.

we have divided straight sides from not.

we have our canvas laid out.

our stage has been set & moved from center stage.

we are ready.

watch out mickey mosaic puzzle -

we are determined to complete you this time!

6.28.2010

weekend recap.

new lego catalog arrived in our mailbox on saturday.

colin read it, studied it & slept with it all weekend.

it went everywhere he did - church included.

nathan spent his weekend pacing over sports.

fila game on saturday nearly gave the boy a heart attack.

the grass is cut, the minivan is washed,

we've made it to church, the domain & dell diamond.

we've hit whole foods, papa murphys & home depot.

we went swimming & watched happy gilmore.

we read, we bejeweled & we played payday (still!).

we tracked an itouch all weekend long -

still has yet to arrive at walmart -

but getting closer.

how come weekends fly by so fast?

today was spent at the orthodontist, the grocery store

and the laundry room.

happy monday.

6.25.2010

friday night sunlight.

5 boys watching baseball.

hot dogs & sodas.

warm breeze & cold cocktails.

blankets & foam fingers.

doesn't get any better than this.

happy weekend y'all.

6.25.2010

early morning visits.

just like old times.

6 boys swimming & floating the day away.

can't believe its been a year since y'all

moved away.

time truly does fly by!
can't wait to do this again soon.

6.24.2010

its official.

i'm over a year behind in scrapbooking.

i just finished this page from june 3, 2009 !

yikes.

but it is fun looking back.

but it is fun searching forever for the perfect photo

hidden somewhere in this laptop.

but it is fun to slip the completed page

into a binder.

but it is fun to look into the rear view mirror for

a quick glance every once in a while!

6.23.2010

don't think.

run.

don't procrastinate.

do.

our summer projects continue.

found these sneakers in nathans art folder that he

brought home from school at the end of the year.

had been looking and searching for the perfect way to

showcase them.

not easy do to their unique size but we

finally found the perfect frame at ikea,

did a little x-acto knife cutting and trimming,

placed and moved several times and

finally hung the frame.

over the bookcase.

in the game room.

for all to admire.

one more project off the to-do list!

6.22.2010

on todays to do list.

toy story 3.

nathan made us get up early so we could make the first showing of the day.

$1.25 saved per seat =

$ 5.00 saved.

enough for a large bucket of popcorn.

you can only imagine when we found out it was free

large popcorn refill day.

nathans eyes lit up with little dollar signs.

even more challenging was watching him

try to figure out when he could leave the movie to get his free refill.

torn between free popcorn & missing a minute of the movie.

popcorn won (barely).

it was free large soda refill too!

nathans mind was so overwhelmed with joy

i'm not sure he even watched the movie.

needless to say, we were not hungry for lunch.

great movie.

pure classic.

we all enjoyed it - regardless of age!

6.21.2010

what is justin holding?

report card? no.

tickets to an upcoming concert? no.

receipt for an 32g itouch purchased on walmart.com

with site to store free shipping in the next 2 weeks

saving him $40.000 + shipping costs? yes!

see that smile & camera pose?

both extremely rare for our 13 year old.

congratulations justin!

we are so excited for you & proud of all your hard

work to reach this goal!

heres to itunes & apps galore!

6.20.2010

happy birthday justin!

the big 1 -3 !

the day was filled with musical balloons(briefly), birthday confetti,

cinnamon rolls with candles, church, afternoon swims

and a birthday dinner at fridays -

complete with the singing waiters &

waitresses.
heres to a birthday filled with

everything itouch!

6.18.2010

justin and i have been addicted to hgtv lately.

honest - how funny is that.

it has motivated us to do some of our own diy projects around the house.

this used to be a mismatched tv stand in justins 'new' room -

(justin and nathan traded rooms a couple months ago -

furniture and all)

a trip to lowes, some sand paper, one can of spray

paint & 8 hands later....

one updated table!

it makes such a huge difference in his room.

we're off to find more diy projects.

6.17.2010

see cute dove bird sitting on top of our patio fan.

see cute dove dragging sticks & twigs all over the place.

see cute dove bringing home all kinds of friends morning, noon & night.

see cute dove go bye-bye.
problem solved.
no more twigs, feathers or parties!

6.16.2010

images from today & summers past.

must be a tradition they like.

playing old fashioned board games.

on the floor.

the same game for a 'year'.

step aside wii, nintendo & ps2 -

watch out mail, deals, lottery & events -

we are dusting you off & putting you in neat piles

around the board.

heres to play money, dice and game boards.

heres to playing the same games i played as a kid.

heres to gathering together around a calendar

& making everyday memories.

will the boys someday carry on this tradition?

will they relive these days as their own sippel stories?

enJoy.

6.15.2010

summer project 2.

grow something real.

purchase ikea 99 cent seed packet and cute pot.

carefully follow directions for planting.
watch them grow - almost overnight !
its the new morning routine for all of us -
turn on the coffee maker -
check the basil -
inform anyone who is up of the progress !
simple everyday memories.
it doesn't hurt that i told the boys that the basil
would take 10 - 12 weeks to grow,
i think it was actually 10 - 12 days,
talk about exceeding expectations !
happy planting.

6.14.2010

summer projects under way.

time to clean out those closets & tackle some long overdue ideas.

the football cards were gathered from various spots around the house.

the closet, the gameroom, the car, the nightstand, the couch cushions to name a few.

one trip to office max & 3 binders later -

the football cards are all snuggled together in their

correct division - afc, nfc & special.

each binder has its own title page slipped into the cover -

some homemade, others computer generated.

they are all organized by teams in page protectors - each card

carefully placed in the correct slot.

the binders are now a hot item around the house.

its the "new" toy on the block.

everyone wants to hold, look, flip the pages, read the stats &

move the cards.

summer project number one.

done.

heres to many more to come.

6.13.2010

sunday was filled with sun, snow cones and softball games.

heres tae at bat right before her home run!

she nearly outran the player in front of her!

way to hit and run tae - the boys were impressed.

here are the boys sitting on the edge of their shady seats watching

each play in detail.
way to go texas trouble !
sunday fun.
church. swimming. lacrosse & pizza.
birthday calls to auntie lauren.
no schedule. no clock. no to-do list.
perfect weekend day!

6.11.2010

friday family fun night.

on a field trip to the clubhouse.

first, skip some stones in the pond.

next, get in line for some z'pizza.
third, strategically set up camp on the grass.
finally, sit back and relax and enjoy the movie UP on the big inflatable screen
while munching on popcorn & pretzels.

friday night fun.

under the stars.

with a warm summer breeze.

it doesn't get any better than this.

an everyday memory in the making.

happy weekend!

6.10.2010

can't imagine why this turtle didn't want to come out of his shell?

we played with it, tossed it, put it down, picked it up, yelled at it, whispered to it,

poked it, prodded it, flipped it over, flipped it back, carried it, ran with it

and then took 100 pictures of him.....

thursday night fun on the path.

(details - mr. joel found him at his pool, went walking with him towards the pond, the hudsons

volunteered to return him to the pond, we studied him for 30 minutes and then successfully sent him on his way...thursday nite excitement!)

happy birthday uncle mike!

we just dried off your birthday gift and gave him some lettuce.

hope you like him.

he's low maintenance.

6.4.2010

monopoly.

we are in full swing.

not sure this has ever happened to us before.

we are all in jail.

together.

at once.

no one is visiting.

nathan is trying to figure out the probability of this.

colin is laughing.

justin is selling property to get out.

i hoping for doubles.

we'll keep ya posted on who wins, who losses and

who just can't catch a break!

summer board game fun continues.

hasbro would love us.

6.3.2010

randomness.
2 dates i am anxiously awaiting today.
1 spiderman.
1 a/c man.
these are appointments you do not want to miss.
these are appointments i never knew existed before texas.
these are appointments you do not dare step in the shower for fear you might miss the doorbell ringing.
one spiderman was scheduled between 7:30 am and 9:30 am.
yes, i was up and drinking coffee when he arrived.
one down - one to go.
next one was between 8 and 12 noon.
8am - not yet.
9am - not yet.
no shower/no run/no miss.
10am - not yet - teaching the boys the art of watching hgtv.
10:30am - nathan now knows what a sump pump is.
11am - not yet - monopoly with the boys.
11:30am - boys now appreciate the value of a staged home prior to selling.
12noon - not yet - chess game in action.
can't call yet - no anxious - they might move ya to the bottom of the list.
12:22 knock on the door. finally.
2:30pm - one expensive fix - ac working - all is well again.
2:31pm - out the door on errands.
note to self: next time a/c guy fixes the a/c - check the temperature on the a/c before leaving the house for 2 hours on errands - house might be a tad chilly upon returning.
4:30pm - boys now know about scam artists who 'fix' your house.
off to football falcon party tonight.
justin is dog sitting.
nathan is so upset about the tigers loss of perfection.
colin has watched the tooth fairy twice.
summer vacation is in full swing.

6.1.2010

the cowboy boots are on.

we are off to dukes bbq

for a work celebration.

texas style.

brisket and potato salad.

cowboy hats and margaritas.

doesn't get any more texas than this!

5.31.2010

weekend recap.
church.
brunch at ztejas.
afternoon swims at the pool.
bejeweled and book reading.
turfcats and team shirts.
chicken wings.
the hangover.
ordering photos from jan thru may.
planning our summer schedule.
4.88 lacrosse sticks.
twilight golf specials.
starting monopoly.
horseshoe falls ride.
memorial weekend memories.