It Was Bound to Happen

This is what happens when your living room doubles as a basketball court. I was thinking I needed to redo my mantel decor anyway.

Current Obsession

This paper is a snapshot of the current obsession at our house. Carter had to write the names of 10 famous people for something they did at school. You can see he had a one-track mind.

Proud Mama

At the beginning of this year, Owen was really struggling with reading. He was well below where the "average" second-grader was supposed to be. So we decided a little motivation in the way of silly bands might help our reluctant reader. (See my previous post about sillybands and reading here - http://threeharmsboys.blogspot.com/2010/10/catalyst.html ) Those silly bands worked wonders for a while, but then we moved on to Bakugon, and most recently football cards. Each boy gets a football card for every 10 minutes they read. And they have been reading like gangbusters! Oh my goodness. Both boys read for three hours yesterday!

Today, a sheet of paper in Owen's backpack bore the result of all those hours logged earning silly bands and bakugon and football cards. All that reading at home along with some extra help at school pushed my below average reader over the benchmark for mid-year second graders! He has more than doubled the words per minute he was reading at the beginning of the year, and is reading with 99% accuracy. It has really been amazing to watch the transformation. I am so proud of my boy!

New Years In Fremont

Arggh! We've got pirates among us.

Lewis and Dustin playing a little air hockey. When Lewis opened his gift from Dustin and Erica, he said, "This is just what I have wanted my whole life!"

Owen and Ian convinced Amina to tie together a bunch of balloons.

Band Hero. I have to say, I think it's more entertaining to watch than to play. There is nothing quite like listening to Corey sing Mr. Roboto.

What a Difference a Day Makes

The above pictures were taken on 50 degree Thursday of a baseball game in Grandma and Grandpa Harms' backyard. The picture below was taken on 10 degree Friday of some sledding in the street in front of Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Britt Christmas Pics

Great-Grandma Nelson came to enjoy the gift-opening festivities.

This may go down as "The Year of the Hair" for Owen. Can't believe he still doesn't want it cut. I'm not complaining, though. He takes care of it, and I actually kind of like those blonde locks.

The boys had a fun time playing with my brother's almost two-year-old, Lucas.

Corey and Lucas playing Band Hero.

Christmas Pics

Namesake Autograph

The most fun gift to give in my house this year - a Cris Carter autograph for my own Carter.

For those of you who are not Vikings fans, Cris Carter is one of the best NFL receivers ever, and is actually where we got Carter's name. So this year, I found out that he coaches his son's high school football team, sent a letter to that school and prayed that he would get the letter and be kind enough to send back an autograph. I was thrilled when I got the autograph in the mailbox. He actually signed a photo I had taken of the boys in Vikings uniforms. Now it hangs on the wall by Carter's bed.