Christmas 2022

 We had a great Christmas and Christmas season this year!  We celebrated with a couple nice dinners out as a family.  We went to dinner at Seasons 52 on the Plaza early in December.  We also went to Kyoto Grill with the whole Howell extended family.  The kids enjoyed trying to catch shrimp in their mouths.  We drove around one night looking at lights and drinking hot chocolate.  We took the kids by the Penguin house in Olathe, since it was the last year for all their inflatables.  We took Mike's staff out to shop and have dinner on the Plaza. We ate at Capital Grill.  We also took the kids to see Santa at Bass Pro.  I know the years are numbered on getting the big two to continue doing this.  Wyatt didn't want to go without them and I was pleasantly surprised how well Drew and Anna went along with the visit.  

This year magic of Santa was strong inside our Wy-Man.  He was super excited about Christmas and our elf, Buddy.  We often found him talking to Buddy and he always looked for Buddy right away each morning.  Wyatt made a list of about 18 different football/basketball jerseys he wanted for Christmas.  Most of the football jerseys were from other teams besides the Chiefs.  It was hard for Mike to allow him to get another team's jersey...Santa ended up getting Wyatt a Vikings jersey - Justin Jefferson.  Wyatt has already worn in many times!  Wyatt also wanted an iPad and a real football helmet.  He asked Santa for all of those, but Santa had to make a hard decision and not bring a real helmet.  Wyatt was sure Santa could afford any and all things kids ask for..but we prepped him that wasn't the case.  Christmas morning came and went and Wyatt seemed very content with what he got.  He did end up getting a new iPad in addition to the Vikings jersey.  

We did our family visits a bit different this year.  We went to an Open House party at Greg and Kelley's on the 23rd.  We went to church before the party and enjoyed the candle light Christmas Eve service - it is always so beautiful and a great reminder of the real reason for Christmas.  Wyatt is so proud that he got a real candle again this year.  He used to get the battery operated candle and was never happy since the big kids had real candles.

On the 24th we enjoyed a relaxing day at home and watched the Chiefs.  Then we went over to Mike's cousin, Clint's house for dinner and enjoyed catching up with Mike's cousins, aunt, and uncle.  It has been several years since Mike's parents have had their Christmas Eve open house now and it does feel strange not having that anymore.  But times do change and we have to roll with the punches.  

On Christmas Eve Mike read Twas the Night Before Christmas to the kids and they all picked out cookies for Santa and left him some milk and carrots for the reindeer.

On Christmas morning we told the kids they could come wake us up at 7:30.  Drew was the first in our room.  Soon after the other two joined us and we made our way downstairs to open presents.  

Here are some of the kids gifts:

Drew - portable phone charger, gatorade bottle, new ultra boost shoes, BV socks and stocking hat, KSU basketball hoodie, KSU sweatpants, old football card packs, sport books, cologne, gift card to Lululemon and AMC, fuzzy crocs, and many more

Anna - All 4 Hunger Games movies, Nike high tops, fake nails, Jesus hoodie, KU sweat pants, Kendra scott cross necklace, lulu shirt and shorts, crocs, blanket, charlie hustle current tee and hoodie, ku tee, jewelry stamping kit, and more

Wyatt - Justin Jefferson jersey, Stephen Curry Jersey, Nike High tops, Deuce Vaughn and UMKC tee, blanket, iPad, headset, toon squad jersey, desk pets, catcher helmet and mask, swim map, Juju Jersey, and more

We went over to Pa & Toots' house for Christmas dinner and present opening.  Great Great Aunt Thelma gifted Anna all of her jewelry, she really wanted Anna to have it, which was very sweet.  

We played a game with the kids on Christmas - saran wrap ball/doubles.  The ball of saran wrap hand candy wrapped in it and it seemed to be a hit.  

The next day on the 26th we went over to Ma & Pa's for a Christmas brunch.  We also played a round of saran wrap ball with the kids.  Once again the candy was a hit.  We enjoyed food and opening of presents. 

It was a fun year of celebrations and the kids are excited about all the time they have off from school and sports.  It should be a nice and relaxing rest of the break.  

Wilbur B. Pickles Howell

 Wilbur joined our family on June 24th.  The "B' in Wilbur's name is after Willow Boggs, we wanted to keep her memory alive in our family.   We picked him up from the same farm we got Willow at - Grimm Girls Farm.  It is about a 4 hour round trip to the farm.  This time Mike, Anna, Wyatt and I went to pick him up.  Anna had been waiting a while to get another bunny.  She missed having a bunny roommate after we lost Willow.  We wanted to make sure she had time to grieve before getting another bunny.  We almost got a bunny at a place closer to home, but the bunny ended up being a different breed and we wanted to stick to a Holland Lop since we know the breed well.  We are so happy it all worked and that Wilbur is part of our family.  

He was born on May 4th 2022 and is called a Harlequin.  He's striped with brown, black, tan and looked much like a bumble bee when we brought him home. If he stands all his back two leg you can see from his chin all the way down he's half black and half tan.  

Wilbur is much like Willow in the fact he doesn't loved to be picked up.  In fact, he may fight it a bit more than Willow did.  He does however love to interact with everyone and often runs up to anyone who comes into his room.  He may be a bit more friendly that Willow and is very loving.  He likes to run around Anna's room and also loves hiding under her bed, just like Willow.  

The second night we had him he squished through the bars in his pen and Anna couldn't find him at first when she woke up.  We were shocked her could squeeze through those bars, but he showed us how he did it one more time. He quickly got too big for that trick.  He is now a free roam bunny in Anna's room and does a good job behaving himself.  He doesn't seem to be as big as a chewer as Willow was.  Let's hope that continues.  

In the last few months he's started circling Anna which is a sign he's ready to mate.  So right before Christmas we got him neutered. The surgery went well, but we did take him back the day after surgery since he wasn't eating great.  The doctor gave him an extra shot for pain and encouraged us to start him on veggies.  Up to that point he was just eating hay and pellets. We got Wilbur some spring mix greens on our way home from the vet and he's been happily eating veggies since.  He loves his meal times!  Anna gives him a digestive tab vitamin every morning first thing and he hops right up to her and gets on his hind legs. She said since she gives it to him right after she turns on the light each morning he's often squinting.  

We are enjoying our sweet Wilbur boy and he keeps Anna very busy.  Winston has not met Wilbur, we are pretty sure Winston would have a hard time controlling his prey drive so this time around Winston is not meeting his bunny house mate.  It worked out better with Willow since Winston came after Willow and Winston was easier to control as a puppy.  

Bunnies are a lot of work but he is worth all the work to Anna.

Wyatt's 8 year stats

 9/29/22

Weight - 50 lbs 20th percentile

Height - 51.75 inches 73rd percentile

Summer 2022

Summer of 2022 was definitely our busiest summer to date.  It wasn't like the kids had a ton of camps.  They all just had different activities that lasted about an hour and just needed to be taken and picked up many times in one given day.  I wish I would have clocked how many hours and miles I was in the car.  

Drew got his first summer job and ended up enjoying it quite a bit.  He worked at the Leawood City Pool in the concession stand.  He either worked in the concession stand or was a deck attendant (had to clean bathrooms).  He worked about 3-4 shifts a week and each week was 4.5 hours.  He met some new kids and had fun hanging out with them when he worked. 

Drew also did a high school basketball camp and then made the summer league team.   He worked out every week day in June with the high school coaches and then played in a league for two weeks in the evenings.  It was fun for him to experience what high school basketball will be like.  Tryouts for the official high school team will be in November.  

Drew also did the high school soccer camp and did a couple soccer kick arounds with the upperclassmen a couple times a week most of the summer.  

In July Drew start working out at PSP3.  He gets workouts tailored to the sports he plays and goes twice a week.  It has been fun seeing him motivated by the gains he's making.  He's lifting more and more weight each time he goes. He isn't a kid of many words, but he's always happy to share what exercise he's doing at PSP3.  This is definitely one area the two of us both enjoy and can talk about.  

Anna and Wyatt both did swim team again this summer.  Wyatt practiced 8-9 every day this summer and Anna practiced 10-11.  They both enjoyed the daily practices and especially the weekly meets.  They both had amazing first meets and then stayed stagnant in their times until the last meet of the season where they both had some great PR's.  Swim team is a lot in a short time, but it is so much fun and I absolutely love watching them swim.  Wyatt especially loves to swim and never wanted to miss a practice.  he even chose to go to a couple camps late so he could finish his swim practices.  

Wyatt did a few camps this summer.  He did two vacation bible camps and a basketball camp.  He swam with friends quite a bit and also spent many days playing with some neighbor boys.  Wyatt and the neighbors played a ton of baseball, bike riding, football, skateboarding, and some Pokemon card trading.  

Anna enjoyed a lot of time at home just relaxing.  She read/listened to the entire Hunger Game series.  Once each book was read she would watch the movie.  And then she watched the movies over and over again and became a bit obsessed with the whole series.  It was fun watching her get hooked on a book/series.  Anna also volunteered at our church's VBC and loved every minute.  She worked in the 4 year old room.  She did such a great job the head lady of the children's programming asked if Anna could help every Sunday.  Unfortunately Anna won't be able to help that often, but hopes to help when she can.  Anna got to get together with her bestie, Brooke quite a bit.  Anna also took a reffing class with her friend, Leah and got certified and now is a ref.  She's worked a couple weekends already and absolutely loves making money and is very motivated.  We opened a bank account for her and she now has her own debit card.  

This summer we got to the lake over Memorial Day, 4th of July, a 5 night stay at the end of July and Labor Day.  The kids and Winston had a great time.  They tubed a ton, swam, skied, played games, and just plain relaxed.  Mike also installed Starlink at the lake so we finally have working internet (good and bad).

And we also added a new family member to our household.  Anna got a new Holland Lop bunny!  We picked up Wilbur B. Pickles on June 24th from the same farm we got Willow from.  We are in love with the little guy.  

Drew's (almost) 15 year old stats

 Drew has his well check today and here are his stats:

Weight - 119 lbs 46th percentile

Height - 69 inches 80th percentile

Anna's 12 year old stats (May 26th)

 Anna had her 12 year appointment a little late this year.  

Here are her stats:

Weight - 93 lbs 49th percentile

Height - 65.5 inches 97th percentile

RIP Willow Buggs

 On March 17th we had to say goodbye to our Willow Buggs.  It was sudden and so very sad.  Willow ended up with a GI issue and after lots of extra TLC and a visit to a vet we couldn't save her and had to put her down.  Bunnies are very fragile animals.

It was hard on all of us, we didn't realize how much Willow meant to all of us until she was gone.  Anna, however had a very special bond with Willow.  Anna took care of Willow with very little help.  Willow also lived in Anna's room.  

Anna handled the whole situation very maturely, but was so very sad.  It was hard watching her go through this grieving process.  It took Anna many nights after we lost Willow before she could sleep in her room again.  

Willow taught Anna so many wonderful life lessons.  Anna did a ton of research before we got Willow and then each time a situation would pop up, she would go digging for answers.  Anna was always working on projects to keep Willow entertained or to keep Willow from chewing on furniture.  Mike and I were so amazed how well she did care for Willow.  Bunnies are fragile and also just so different from any pet we had ever had so there was a lot of new learning.  I have a feeling that bunnies will always be part of Anna's life one way or another.  

We miss Willow so much, but we all have funny stories we love sharing about her.  

Anna Turns 12!

 Happy 12th birthday to our baby girl!  This year we were visiting Pa and Toots in Florida on Anna's birthday.  It was a fun trip, other than Anna ended up getting sick on her birthday.  The poor girl had a fever.  She did however make it out to lunch were she got a milkshake and did a little shopping before she felt too bad and wanted to go back to the condo.  We were supposed to go to a nice dinner at Tommy Bahamas, but we had to cancel.  Anna was so disappointed because she was really looking forward to ordering a pina colada.  Toots came to the rescue and had a delicious lemon poundcake mix on hand and Anna ended up loving it.  

Once we got home from Florida, Anna celebrated her birthday with her BFF, Brooke.  Brooke came over or a sleepover.  The girls went to Target and picked out some matching pjs and then came home and made pina coladas.

Anna got some new Nike shoes she wanted for her birthday and a smart watch.  She also got some clothes and jewelry, including a Kendra Scott necklace she's been wanting for a while.  

It is so hard to believe we have one more year until our girl is a teenager.  Anna is such a great kid and we are so proud of her.  She's kind, smart, and very aware of how life works.  She sees the big picture and is often very mature and wise beyond her years.  She is also funny, full of energy, and just loves to be goofy.

I love that she still uses her imagination and enjoys playing, but at the same time she will act very grown up and mature.  We hope this next year is a great one for her!

We love our Anna Mae!

Wyatt September 13th --February 12th

Dear Wyatt,

I've been terrible again on updating the blog.  Life has been busy for you.  School is going great this year.  You love going (almost every day), you love your teacher Mrs. K, love your class, love school work, and love that you can play with all the first grade classes during recess.  You play a lot of soccer at recess and you also come home talking about playing "family."  Your good buddies this year are Easton, Sutton, Cora, and Harrison.  Your reading is coming along amazingly!  You are reading about around a J/K  level. You don't love reading when I ask you to read, but you often pick up books and are so proud when you can read them.  I'm hoping your love for reading will show up soon.

You loved playing flag football this past fall.  You love the game of football and know so much about it (just like your brother did at your age).  It amazes me how much you know, but makes sense your dad and brother breathe football.  You love the Chiefs and were absolutely heartbroken when they lost to the Bengals.  

Soccer is going well.  You enjoyed outdoor a lot and now are you fishing up your futsal season.  You don't have a practice during the week right now, so you just practice before your games on Sundays.  You are getting pretty good at the skills.  

Basketball is going great for you.  You love it and you have improved so much since last year.  You are a great little dribbler and shooter.  It is so much fun watching you play basketball (and all sports really).  

Mid-November you were sick for a week or so.  It ended up being an ear infection.  You went to the doctor twice, the first time your ears looked fine but a about 5 days later we went back in and you had a definite infection.  It was a bummer that you had to miss more school.  You had missed quite a bit when Drew and I had Covid early October.  But that is life these days!

This year you have enjoyed walking to school with Winston and I.  Were were walking 2 or 3 times a week until winter hit.  Those walks will be some of my favorite memories with you I'm pretty sure.  You never complain about how long the walk is, it is right at a mile if we walk to the back doors of your school.  

After school you and Harrison walk to the cars.  You two make every day an adventure.  We often let you play on the playground after school or you end up playing on a dirt pile right by where we park.  Eventually that dirt pile will turn into a new house and that day will be a sad one.  You and Harrison have found a garden of vegetables over by the dirt pile (squash, peppers, pumpkins, etc).  In fact, one day Harrison found a pepper and it was a hot one.  He ended up being burned by the pepper and was in pain for a good hour.  You two find sticks and have sword fights with them.  All you two do is smile when you are playing on your pile.  

We love you so much Wy-Man.  You are one fun kid!

Love,

Mom and Dad

Anna update (August 12 -Feb12)

 Dear Anna,

Oops once again I let way too much time go between posts.  To think I used to update monthly.  So let's see what is new with you?  Everything!  You are over halfway through six grade and you are enjoying middle school.  You are doing great at school, you get your work done, you remember to study before tests, and you are getting great grades.  We couldn't ask for more.  You have also made so many new friends, while keeping your old friends.  Dad and I have been so amazed how you have added so many new friends to your life.  You have been asked by quite a few new friends to do different things this year.  You went trick or treating with a new friend, went to movie with another new friend, and went to a birthday and Christmas party with new friends.  In the fall you helped out with the school musical, you were part of the set crew.  You were in charge of the curtain.  You enjoy being part of the musical, but decided it wasn't really your thing.  One thing to note is you have seriously only worn pants to school a handful of times.  For some reason you prefer shorts every day.  You have definitely become more interested in fashion since starting middle school, mainly with shoes and socks.  You are still our sporty girl and have never worn jeans to school or anything other athletic wear.

You have also been busy since August playing soccer with your new team.  It was hard to be new at the beginning, but now you are pretty comfortable with the girls and you are enjoying getting to know most of them.  You also like your new coach, but trying to get used to his coaching style.  

You broke your finger/hand, the spot right between your ring finger and hand on your left hand.  You were messing around and jumping around on the couch and fell off.  You caught yourself with your hand.  You were in some major pain, 6 days later we took you to the doctor since things weren't improving and you were casted for 3 weeks.  You are still wearing a splint right now and aren't supposed to play contact sports for another 3/4 weeks.  We are letting you play soccer, but basketball is on hold . 

It has been hard for you not to play basketball.  You loved playing the first three games you played in December.  You were on fire and doing so well.  So we are hoping you'll be able to play the last few weeks of the season.  

This past fall you played volleyball with your same team and had a fun season.  Your team didn't play great, but got second place in the end of the season tournament.  You girls came alive for that tournament.  

I'm hoping I don't let near as much time goes by before the next post!

Drew October 12 - February 11

 Dear Drew,

Lots more time has gone by, time flies when you are having fun!  Well you finished football and have started school basketball.  You loved football and it was fun watching you play a new sport.  You had school basketball try-outs in January right after break and you made the top team.  There are 5 different teams, so you were very proud to be in top ten kids in your grade.  

Back in October you also joined a new club basketball team, JC Hoops.  You ended up playing in two tournaments before school season started.  You will get back to playing with JC Hoops after the school season is over.  You are motivated to play high school basketball so this team is a great option for year round basketball.  

You have become a lot more social since the last time I updated.  You have been to several movies with friends, bowling, out to eat, walking around Prairie Fire and Scheels, and over to friends' houses. We've definitely learned that teens aren't great with planning ahead, so there are lots of last minute plans.

On Halloween you spent the night at Hudson's house and didn't want to trick or treat this year.  That was definitely sad that you are done with that tradition.       

You lost your last tooth on November 7th.

We also bought a used truck that we are calling our "3rd car", but you will be driving it next year when you get your restricted.  It is a great size for you and you are enjoying driving it.

We are looking forward to seeing what the rest of 8th grade is like for you.  We love you buddy!

Love,

Mom & Dad