3.23.2013

congratulations to both justin & nathan for getting up

at 430am today and boarding buses at 515am to head

to san antonio for the texas state junior historians meeting.

justins paper on the immortal ten won him a medal

and check.

well done j-dog!

3.22.2013

i didn't even know what an aurora borealis was 

BUT i do now!

thanks colin.

nice job.

3.19.2013

because somedays you get lucky when cleaning the house 

& find your favorite episode of sex & the city on.

3.18.2013

things that make me smile:

++ watching colin at sunday school yesterday as he attempted to get an oreo cookie 

from his forehead to his mouth without using his hands.

++ sitting on the back patio at sunset watching the flames jump around.

++ sunday night papa murphy pizza tradition.

++ "oops ! you have too many active games.

++ entertainment weekly is still appearing in my mailbox on fridays.

++ nates ability to plan mindcraft with his headset on 

and hear me talk in the next room.

++ when justins can fix my iphone problem in two seconds

after i tried for 20 minutes.

3.17.2013

read many reviews about this book.

often compared to gone girl.

really?

2.5 stars out of 5 stars for me.

probably disappointed after all those reviews....

3.15.2013

spring break = road trip

spring break = north bound

spring break = allen texas

spring break = hudson hood

spring break = family fun

spring break = washer games

spring break = football fields

spring break = splitsville lanes

spring break = great memories!

3.14.2013

i read this book in 6 days and want to backpack 

thru the pacific crest trail solo over the next four months.

(ha - not really!)

impressed. i could have never done this. ever.

4 out of 5 stars

3.12.2013

hello flag football practice.

hello green grassy fields.

hello cleats, water bottles & mouthguards.

we missed y'all!

3.11.2013

todays gratitude journal:

a good weekend at work.

picking up a pile of reserved books at the library.

three boys on spring break this week.

sleeping in today - see above.

started watching season two of homeland.

saturday night live this weekend.

sonic happy hour today.

grocery shopping is fun with 3 guys to help today.

season finale of the bachelor tonight - finally - will not waste 3 hours watching it!

3.7.2013

blogging from the iphone today. just had to quietly pull my phone out of my pocket to capture this simple moment. while running thru my to-do list, multitasking at its finest, folding laundry while talking - i had to stop and find the source of this noise and there it was - sitting on the kitchen window sill - a beautiful dove just basking in the afternoon sun. it appeared not to have a to-do list nor was it multitasking. it was just sitting and enjoying the quiet sounds of the blue sky and the warmth of the rays sun. so i stopped for a minute or two and soaked in the joy of the day, the smell of spring seeping in thru all the open windows, the light of the sun streaming in and the quiet blessings of life. it's my reminder to slow down once in a while and just breathe! enjoy your dove outside your window today!

3.6.2013

gratitude journal for today:

1) whipping up a batch of reeses bars for dessert tonight. my sil erin introduced these to us last summer and its still justins favorite. quick. easy and perfect for those late night cravings. it reminds me of baking a treat in my little blue easy bake oven as a kid.

2) reading a quick excerpt from the dinner online today. even better, just reserved the book at the library via the online request account.

3) early release day today. something special about getting out of school early on a sunny warm day.

4) watching season one of homeland on our free showtime offer - nothing better than actually finding a great series on tv.

5) starting a new book today. wild by cheryl strayed. i'm plowing thru it - 

its an eat, pray, love kinda book.

3.5.2013

{tonights treats}

justin rarely askes for anything besides 0.5mm pencils and chicken parm for dinner so when justin asked if we could go to a college fair, i said sure.

little did i know that it was on a school night.

little did i know it was at the austin convention center.

little did i know how informative this night would be.

justin, nathan & i jumped into the minivan &

headed downtown at 5pm.

we arrived at the sxsw edu event and found ourselves

the center of attention.

we had walked into an event that was not highly advertised.

we had walked into an event that was filled with promo pens, advertising backpacks and handouts galore.

we had walked into an event that was starving for people to share their brochures, their schools and their financial aides.

we had walked into an event that was ready to share with us.

we were wined, dined and loaded down with books and t-shirts.

we were able to talk one-to-one with harvard, rice, ut and texas tech.

we were slightly overwhelmed.

we were exhausted from filling out our email address.

we were tired of actually having to say 'ummm, not interested.'

-

we already have this marked on our calendar for next year!

3.4.2013

{what a difference a day makes - justin is in his organizing mode - watch out}

a little sippel story.

in a time long, long ago 

back in the year 2004

three sippel boys saved their money

 to buy a ninetendo game cube together.

they enjoyed their video games and

super mario music filled the house.

then along came wii

and three sippel boys saved their money

to buy a wii system together.

they enjoyed their video games and

guitar hero music filled the house.

then along came playstation two

and three sippel boys saved their money

to buy a playstation two system together.

they enjoyed their video games and

football cheers filled our house.

then along came xbox

and two sippel boys could afford it

and a third had to buy into it after he saved

some money.

they enjoyed their video games and

silence filled the house as they wore their

video headsets and played with all their friends

near and far.

-

now their closet shelves are overflowing 

with outdated gaming systems

and hundreds of video games

so yesterday, three sippel boys packed up

all the games they didn't use, controllers they no longer

searched hours for and game systems that are now

classified as antiques and headed up to our

local gamestop to sell them.

we traded in yesterdays memories

for store credit.

we traded in yesterdays memories

for space in our closets.

we traded in yesterdays memories

for less cords on the floor.

we traded in yesterdays birthday and christmas gifts

for an external hard drive for xbox

to save more xbox memories!

well done guys!

3.3.2013

{ march 2008 }

{march 2010}

{march 2012}
-

i love traditions.

i love pictures.

i love stories.

i love looking back and finding these old photos

of the boys from our prior visits to explore UT.

it scares me how fast time flies.

today the boys decided to gather up all their old gaming systems,

video games and controllers and sell them to game stop 

instead of letting them collect dust in the closet.

they bought their first gamecube in august 2003 and

now almost ten years later they are selling it off.

life is a circle.

life is a never ending story.

life is constant.

enjoy.

3.2.2013

thing one and thing two - rudys breakfast tacos to start our day.

we haven't had one of these in ages.

then off to explore UT -

build a boat, check out the orange patio at the new dell building

and walk the campus.

wonderful yearly tradition carries on.

our quest for the best cheeseburger continues.

today we hit dirty martins - good burger but didn't win 

a spot in any of our top five lists.

the quest continues.....

tonight we watched the first four episodes of 

homeland on showtime.

ok - we're hooked....

i can see what we'll be doing this week...

3.1.2013

today i finished this book.

loved all 475 pages of it.

today i renewed our family membership library card.

best 40.00 of the year.

i love it when i hear a boy yell down

"hey mom, can you pick this book up from the library?"

or a text message in the middle of the day asking

"mom, can you swing by the library today?"

or a post it note listing multiple card catalog numbers.

we reserve. we renew. we search.

we are library junkies.

good stuff.

happy hour at our new 'creekview' - jack allens.

we love this joint.

no better way to start the weekend!

happy friday!

2.28.2013

favorite sippel february memories:

"i'm just loosening my arm" from here.

"i've got gloria" from here.
"patience grasshopper" from here.
"offensive line" from here.
"the headphone jack is going to be on the....BOTTOM" from here.
super bowl sunday with papa murphy pizza and beyonce.
high school orientation for nathan.
dvr the squid documentary on the discovery channel.
begging the boys to watch the above with me.
please note that the boys x 4 all enjoyed the above.
record high 85 degrees on february 7th - hello flip flops.
the grammys with papa murphy pizza.
colins 11th birthday with mcdonalds lunch and round rock donuts for class treat.
justin and nathans junior historian leadership awards ceremony.
cocktail parties to celebrate 7 years of memories with sarah & troy.
bittersweet mayflower truck on the path.
the last supper.
five fifth graders for a birthday celebration and sleepover.
king of the herd arrives.
finished scrapbooking 2012 - 98 pages & 196 layouts captured in all.
watching my surprise gift - downton abbey season 2 -  from steve.
we still watch modern family every wednesday night as a family.

february flew by.
we celebrated our 7th anniversary on fairway path.
i celebrated my 6th anniversary of blogging everyday memories.
heres to march memories!

1.31.2013

dear january,
where did you go?
31 days of memories filled with bucket list trips to round rock donuts.
facetiming with cousins.
a visit from poppa and grandma filled with lots of laughs and sippel story verifications.
flag football in the street in shorts.
potdoddys cheeseburgers for the very first time after waiting for 35 minutes in line.
science fair projects.
where did those days go?
why is time flying by so fast?
please slow down so i can enjoy these moments.
please slow down so i can blog all about you.
please slow down so i can breathe.
fondly,
me