Sad Day for Rick

Any of you that have known Rick for awhile probably know that he is a Peyton Manning fan.  He ALWAYS has been.  So, when Manning didn't play this past year due to his neck injury, it was not a good thing in Rick's mind.  And when the Colts announced that they released Manning from their team, that was an even worse day.  But the worst part of the whole thing was watching the press release video of Peyton Manning saying good-bye to Indianapolis!  It was a sad evening in the Heck house...

(and I won't say if there were or weren't watery eyes as the video played on.... but I will say it was sad!)  ;)

Sledding, snowballs & snowmen

Almost two weeks ago we had a wonderful day of snow.  It was really the first substantial snowfall where it actually stuck to the ground.  The boys had school, but after school we delayed doing homework so we could go outside and play before the sun started setting.  I just love the days when we throw the routine out the door and we have fun!   

The snow was AWESOME packing snow!  So, of course, we had to make a snowman after playing on the sleds for just a bit.  Rick had to go into work at 4am on this particular day and much to our surprise he was able to come home a bit earlier than normal and came to play in the snow with us.  And everyone knows that when Daddy plays in the snow it leads to a snowball fight!  It was one of the best 'after school' days we've had in a long time!

Our snowman. Complete with stick arms, blue golf ball eyes, a cucumber nose and pink chalk smile.  Oh and some straw (that was on our grass from fall) as hair

Ethan was trying to sneak up on Dad

Pick Me Up

Sometimes as a parent you forget that even your oldest child needs time to feel like they are still little.  One of the things I miss most as Ethan and Trevor get older is picking them up.  Rick and I still pick up and hold all three of our boys on occasion, but not nearly as much as we used to!  I miss that!  And obviously, last night Ethan did, too!  Thanks for making him still feel little (and so very loved), Rick!

A New Look

In January, after 10 years of wearing the same thing on his face day in and day out, my dear hubby decided to make a change.  Ladies, can you imagine wearing the exact same make-up or hairstyle for 10 years??  I know I can't!  Anyway, he was a bit hesitant to begin with, but I think it was a good change.

He went from this....

To this...

cool dudes made by daddy

Dad has a thing of putting glasses on the boys.  With Ethan it was his actual glasses.  And he was a mere 6 weeks old, defenseless and couldn't do something about it even if he wanted to.  (and Daddy even gave him a mohawk to go with the glasses)

Cooper, well, Dad waited a little while to do it to you.  But it finally came.  You are 6 months old and could have swatted them off if you wanted to, but you actually enjoyed having them on.  You even gave Daddy a smile or two with them on and just continued to play like nothing was different. 

A New Place To Sit

(I'm starting my catch up posts once again....)

Over Labor Day weekend we were planning on making a trip to St. Louis just to spend the weekend doing fun stuff.  After thinking about the weather (and heat) we were supposed to have and combining that with a 2 month old, we decided that right now was not the time to take that trip.  Instead we did something even more fun....

We DEMOLISHED our deck.  It needed to be done, however, how it all started was a bit more sporadic than origininally planned.  Rick thought he would try to pull up one board to see how easily it came off.  Next thing we knew, half the deck was off and we found our weekend plans. 

So, here's the rundown of progress in pictures...

The Deck Before (it doesn't look bad, but there were rotten boards that were only getting worse with time so it needed to be done)

The demolition starts...
see the grill and patio furniture is still on the deck - we were not expecting to pull it all off right then.

but that all changed quickly and the demolition continued...

and continued some more...



Now, once the demolition was completed we realized that we needed to get some wood to put it back together.  Note #1... we live in a small town.  Note #2... it's a holiday weekend.  Noting those 2 things brings us to the point where we have to travel at least 40 minutes to get the first load of boards because the one place in town that carries lumber is closed on the weekends after noon on Saturdays AND it's Labor Day weekend so they won't even be open on Monday.  So.  We.  Drive.  Rick went the first time by himself to Lowe's to pick up the corner posts to get started. 

New corner posts are on

Then it was time to get the main boards for the walking surface.  Again, remember - small town, holiday weekend.  We needed to drive.  But this time, because the other store didn't have much of a stock pile, we went to a different LOWE's that was almost an hour away.  Both vehicles so that we could carry more back in one trip.  All three kids - one of which is only 2 months old.  What an adventure it was!   But we got some of the boards and Rick went back to work measuring, cutting and installing.

The first row of boards goes on!



and more to follow...

and then the helpers were getting restless from their lack of Daddy time so they came out to help

Trevor smiling, but wondering if I am going to bust him for wanting to play with the drill.

Just trying to figure it out.  No drill bit so I was a-ok with him checking it out

Wheeee... this is fun to play with!

Kelty wasn't much help, but she did enjoy having a place to lay down again

Getting instructions from Dad on how the "hammer drill" works
oh yeah, did I forget to mention that Rick bought a new tool in order to do the deck?  Of course, every new project needs a new tool, right??

Time to help attach some boards

Ethan feeling like a man while working with the drill

All the walking boards are on!  Now it's time to stain...

There are no pictures of the staining process since we were either working on it together or I was doing it alone so the pictures didn't get taken.
 Maybe it was just Rick's way of making sure it looked like HE did all the work ;)
Anyway, here's a picture of the fully stained deck.  But the railing is going to have to wait til spring...

Boy Scouts

In September, Ethan started a new activity outside of school. Cub Scouts.  He had been waiting to start in this, but had to wait until 1st grade and was so excited to finally be old enough to start.  The first year is very fun for the boys. Just a lot of learning "common sense" things.  Like, if you're lost in the woods, don't keep wandering.  And working as a family to determine the fire escape route in your house.  Or learning the cub scout sign, handshake, motto and the Law of the Pack. 

In addition, to these types of things, they also have special events like tours of the emergency vehicles, the annual cake bake auction, and later in the year the pinewood derby and regatta races.  All super fun activities for the boys and their adult partner.    I know Rick is looking forward to the pinewood derby, but I think the cake bake was one he wasn't expecting for "boy scouts". 

This cake bake auction is just what it sounds like.  The boys have to design and bake a cake, decorate it with all things edible and then there is an auction amongst the parents and other members/businesses of the community.  It was quite a production.  All in all, there were approximately 17 cakes and there was $2100 dollars raised.  Not just twenty-one dollars, but twenty one HUNDRED dollars!  It was a lot of fun and Ethan and Rick did a great job on their cake, the race car.

The start... forming the chassis of the car

Making of the pieces and parts... the Tootsie-Roll Windows, the frosting, 

Frosting the cake and decorating



The Final Product

Complete with donut tires, crushed Oreo road with Good n Plenty center line, Tootsie Roll windows, M&M head lights, Hershey bar spoiler and green tinted coconut grass and #430 because it's their pack number.

 

They worked very hard on this car together and it might not have been the "prettiest" cake at the show, but it was one that Ethan helped a lot on and that was what mattered. And the effort paid off because he won 1st place for the Tiger Cub division. 

Great job, boys!!!

Big Boys' Time

Ethan and Trevor have been so good since Cooper was born.  They love him to death.  They want to hold him.  They want to know what he is doing each moment of the day.  However, it's hard because a lot of my time is being taken up by Cooper so not as much of the fun stuff is going on these days.  When Rick had a chance to get tickets for the Sunday night St. Louis Cardinals baseball game we knew it would be a great thing for the big boys to have time with Daddy.  So, even though they start school tomorrow, we decided that the three of them should go to the game while Cooper and I stick at home. 

I'm so glad that they went... they really needed the time with Rick and they deserved something fun that was just for them!