The Twelve Days of Christmas, Not Really...

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, 12 basketball games in one week.  Just kidding, but it sure does seem like we spend more time in a gym than at home these days.  Miles is playing for the undefeated Nets team this season.  He's hooping it up with his buddy Hunter (left).

 It's hard to believe this is his last year of rec. basketball.  I'm not sure how passionate he is about continuing on with the sport past 6th grade.  I asked him at one point if he thought he'd try out in middle school, and he seemed indifferent about it.  I love watching him! He's exciting on the court, and he's good.  I'm hopeful he'll continue with it, but time will tell.  He might also have the opportunity to play on the boys golf team in middle school, so I guess we'll see how everything plays out next year.  Until then, we're having fun with the current season!

Quality time is spent together at Rich Pond Elementary School gym/cafeteria.  It's sometimes the only time Matt and I can hang out throughout the week.

 

Our Special Olympics friends on the BG Express and BG Force played last weekend.  It's always a treat watching them compete. They are always excited to have SWHS fans there to support them.

 

 Karson continues to power through basketball season.  I especially love the picture above captured by the BG Daily News.  I love how she's attempting to block-out.  I call this picture "Short Girl Problems."

 

 

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, 11 crazy relatives...I've certainly got more than that, but we made our annual family trip to Opry Mills last week.

 We begin the trip at Dave and Busters where the kids spend tons of dough to come away with Fun Dip, Sweet Tart Straws and Nerds Ropes.  At least we didn't end up with stuffed animals this go around.

 We did a little shopping and ate lunch at Claim Jumpers. Normally, we do an IMAX movie, but Isaac wanted to get back home for the Youth Group Christmas party.  Plus, Karson and Matt wanted to go see the Special Olympics b-ball games (mentioned above).

Isaac loves GPYM and our fearless leader Brian DeHerde.  He came home with a Spiderman Chia Pet which is currently nestled in my kitchen window waiting to sprout.

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, 10 Gingerbread Houses and three cute builders.  Every year SKyPAC hosts a fundraiser called Gingerbread Homes for the Arts.  One of the layers is our Community Day where families can come in, watch/listen to entertainment, visit Santa and build a Gingerbread House.  We usually have quite a few leftover which means I always bring one home for the kids to build.  I snagged one for Mae Kathryn this year.  She was extra cute assembling her creation.

 Me: Mae Kathryn who's your #1 best friend?
MK: Mouse (aka Miles)
Me: Who's your #2 best friend?
MK: Mouse
Me: Who's your #3 best friend?
MK: Eyeyik (aka Isaac)
Me: Who's your #4 best friend?
MK: Karson
Me: Who's your #5 best friend?
MK: Pap

Doesn't get much cuter than age 3!!!

All my favorite people who help me keep my sanity at SKyPAC School Day Matinees.  We welcomed around 900 kids to SKyPAC during the GHA event.

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, nine winter formals...and finding attire to wear.

Isaac and his 8th grade buds at the South Warren Middle School formal. Thankful my nephew Evan Maglinger supplies us with a steady stream of clothes.  Isaac doesn't sport a lot of "dress" stuff, but it comes in handy for events like formals. 

 Karson and her friends at South Warren High School's Winter formal which was the SAME weekend as the middle school.  Aren't they lovely?!?  Hard to believe we're already halfway through K's sophomore year.

I LOVE this picture.  It reminds me of something off The Bachelor.  This young man, Harrison, and all his dates.  Such a cutie!  He did buy Karson's ticket to formal, so I'm guessing she ended up with the dramatic FINAL ROSE - hah!

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...two notes that made my heart happy from teachers...

If you know Isaac, you know he's a character.  He's witty and loses (or gets grounded from) his phone on a constant basis because of his smart mouth.  To know him is to LOVE him!!! I got the funniest text from his Future City teacher last week.  Such a ham!  Karson's Spanish teacher sent me this email a few weeks ago.  We've been surrounded by great schools and teachers in Warren County.  I'm thankful my kids are so loved!!!

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a farewell to Thanksgiving lunches at Plano.  Miles group was the last to go this year.  I haven't attended the lunch in year's because the boys never really seemed interested in me coming.  This year Miles asked at the last minute if we'd come eat with him.  Sniff, sniff - love my little Panther.

The three amigos playing in the leaves!

 On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, more SUGAR than I can handle.  Good grief!  What is it about this time of the year where you pig out on SWEETS 24/7.  I've eaten Puppy Chow, Chocolates, snack nuts, flavored popcorn, and the list continues.  It's insane how terrible and AWESOME I feel.  Tis the season for belly aches but totally worth it!

Karson and I made her new favorite Christmas treat - TIGER BUTTER - this weekend.  It's almost gone.

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, THE POGUE FAMILY CHRISTMAS.  We spent Sunday afternoon visiting with my dad's extended family for the holidays.  Since Christmas is a tricky time for getting everyone together, we try to do our family Christmas early in the month.

 The kids were so good this year, they got presents from Santa Claus!

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, my YEARLY Snapfish photobook.  This sucker is a Labor of LOVE each year.  I usually don't complete the current year until almost an entire year after the fact.  Thank goodness for this blog account - I'd forget all these fun details and memories!

 

 On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, school Christmas parties to round out the week.  I'm happy Matt is able to be at Miles's school events.  He was able to go to his Winter Party on Friday.  He told me Miles's face lit up when he came in the classroom.  It's hard to believe this is his last round of Plano parties!  Graduation is looming...

 

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a STATE CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTBALL TITLE for the South Warren Spartans!  What an exciting season they have had!

 On the first day of Christmas, my true love (Matt) gave to me, three of the greatest Christmas blessings I could ever ask for!  We are truly grateful to have these three in our lives.  At the end of the day, family is what really matters.  We couldn't ask for a better one!  Happy holidays from our family to yours!!!

A Sad Farewell!

We said good-bye to my grandmother on Sunday, November 18, 2018 at her home her in Bowling Green.  She was 89, and we all loved her very much!  The last few years have been tough, watching her go through Alzheimer's.  She'd have her good moments and bad moments.  Sometimes I was Becky and Matt was Dennis and other times she'd know exactly who I was.  The Thursday (prior to the 18th), Mom asked us to come over and see her.  They'd taken her off all her medicines (that last week) and she was alert and seemed to recognize all of us.  It was a special moment being there with her.  I was able to see her one last time on Sunday and left around 4 PM - she passed at 5 PM with my mom holding her hand.

I worked on a collage to display at the funeral home and gathered lots of pictures which churned up lots of memories! Shannon and I were her only grandaughters.  During our childhood, teen and young adult years, we spent lots of time in Louisville visiting our extended family there.  It was such a drastic difference going over to Poppy and Memaw's when we were young.  The Pogue's, my dad's family, was a FULL house - Dad is the oldest of six.  Everyone of his siblings married and had a couple of kids.  We had cousins everywhere - it was loud, it was fun, we were constantly entertained by games, toys, new gadgets, stories, everything.  Poppy and Memaw's was quiet - my uncle never married and Shannon and I were the only kids.  As we grew older, we appreciated time away from the wild and crazy, but when we were young, we entertained ourselves.  Memaw would always siphon out toys from cereal boxes and lay them in our bedroom when we came over to stay.  They had bathroom/shower that connected through a secret passage to our bedroom so that was a fun, new world.  They had a full bar downstairs in their basement which had lots of interesting paraphernalia and a typewriter Shannon and I would peck on.  There was usually some sort of box of chocolate - Russell Stovers or Whitmans.  Memaw never minded that I would push my finger through each one of them, to inspect the insides and select the one's I liked. The basement had a bumper pool table, puzzles, a piano, lots of Mason jars and collectibles, and our favorite - old old gumball machine.  When Memaw and Poppy would take bus trip/vacations, they liked to travel around, they would always bring us back a souvenir of some sort - usually a shirt.  During the holidays, Memaw liked to treat us to Christmas shopping at the Oxmoor Mall.  She'd race down the Watterson Expressway like Cameron Diaz in My Best Friends Wedding and yell at all the "old women drivers" out on the road.  We'd get our shopping done and eat at The Blue Boar which was her favorite.
   Christmas was her favorite.  She always sing off-key and miss her queue when we'd sing our yearly carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas."  I always liked that she'd let me have a glass of wine - Manischewitz was their favorite.  When we were older and she'd give us Christmas cash, she always made us give her the card back for reuse each year. She loved playing cards and yelling at her partner and always LOVED cleaning.  It was her mission to always have clean everything - house, dishes, laundry.  Shannon and I learned quickly to hide our my precious clothes when she'd come to town because CLEANING was high on the priority list.  She shrink a sweater or pair jeans quick.  I lost a couple of my favorite pieces to my miniature Barbies when she'd come to our house and do laundry.  She lost her mom during childbirth, and I know life must've been hard but she was spoiled and continued to spoil us, her grand-girls.

  We did the Mannequin challenge back in 2016 - wanted to post it because it was a funny memory with her.  She was a character, and although we'll miss her, we're glad she's reunited with her mom and not suffering anymore.  Love you Memaw!  Thanks for being a wonderful grandma!  And thanks to everyone who has poured out love, cards, flowers, food and totally made this "new normal" tolerable.  We're blessed!

 For posterity:
Bonnie Hartwein, 89 of Bowling Green died November 18, 2018 at her home. The Louisville, Ky native was the daughter of the late Edward Kiray and Elsa Dollenbach Kiray. Mrs. Hartwein was a member of St James United Church of Christ.

She is survived by her husband, William H. Hartwein; her son, Michael W. Hartwein and her daughter, Diane H. Pogue (Lindle). Also surviving are her granddaughters: Shannon P. Maglinger (Paul) and Tiffany P. Deaton (Matthew); great grandchildren: Karson Ann Deaton, Evan Michael Maglinger, Elizabeth Drew Maglinger, Isaac Matthew Deaton and Miles Collin Deaton as well as her brother, John Kiray and several nieces and nephews.

Visitation for Bonnie Hartwein will be Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018 from 2 pm - 5 pm in the chapel of Cone Funeral Home (1510 Campbell Lane) with funeral services to be held at 5 pm.
Cone Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.

SNOWvember What?!?!

It's beginning to look a lot like SNOWvember!  What?!?  I can hardly believe how cold it is this week.  It's the kind of cold that's paralyzing.  Last night I totally slept in a sweatshirt (don't think that's ever happened) over my normal pajamas.  We've been using our gas fireplace quite a bit the last couple of days.  Makes the house feel nice and cozy.

     Basketball season is upon us.  Karson is playing for South, and Miles is playing for the Nets.  Karson had her first scrimmage last night against Edmonson County.  Click here for her varsity highlights.  Miles has had two weeks of practice, but he hasn't started ballgames yet.  They better start soon especially if we're already getting hit with winter weather.

    I know I say this every month,but it's true - feels like November was faster than ever!  Not sure how I managed to miss Halloween, but October was crazy, busy.  Halloween fell on a Wednesday night this year.  The weather was supposed to be awful but turned out to be a very pleasant evening.  Isaac is always particular about his costume.  This year he wanted to be Hans Solo.  We looked at the orange tent and actually bought a costume, but it turned out to be too small.  There is the kid on Youtube called the Costume Kid (I think).  He gave me some great tips for making my own, which primarily consisted of buying a pair of dark denim/black jeans, cutting the sleeves off a jean jacket and spray painting it black.  It's was pretty easy and didn't cost more than $10 ( thanks Goodwill).  Miles is easy peasy!  He never wants to go costume shopping.  He will resurrect whatever we have and make it work.  This year's costume was a size 8 Skeleton Ninja that barely fit, but he made it work.

Our house was full of boys and candy.  Matt made lil' smokies, and I fixed a crockpot of chili so we'd have a meal - cooking at our house doesn't happen much with our schedules.  I wanted to make sure if people came over, there was food there.  Matt told me the boys gobbled all the smokies immediately.  I was a little perturbed by one of our neighbors - not sure who or where in our 'hood' that it happened, but someone gave our older (8th grade) boys a guilt trip for being out trick or treating.  Isaac has never even thought about not trick or treating.  He can't wait to do it!  When he got back home this year, he said, "Mom this might be the last year I go."  He proceeded to tell me that one of the neighbors grilled them about being older trick or treaters.  I wish I knew who that was so I could buy them a couple of bags of candy for the teens that come through.  Who cares!?!  Isn't Halloween supposed to be a fun for kids of all ages?  Karson stopped trick-or-treating in middle school, but Isaac LOVES it.  We'll see how next year goes???  Matt and I aren't too old for dressing up.  This year's adult Halloween party featured us as the POPE and a NUN.



If I haven't mentioned it before, I have a pretty cool job.  I get to work with some of the most talented people on a daily basis.  One of my favorite programs that I take to schools is called Blues in Schools.  I work with the Kentucky Blues Society composed of Kenny Lee, Chris Carmichael and Lee Hammer.  We've done lots of workshops together. I was super excited when our principal at Plano approved us to come do the program with the 6th graders - which my son is a part of!

Two matinees this fall and another one tomorrow!  It's a hard knock life as an Education Coordinator!

We started the month of November off with a big 16th birthday bash for Karson and her friend Sydney. I'm not a party planner, but for those who are wondering about time frames....IF, you are thinking about having a sweet 16 with a DJ, trying to secure one during the summer for a fall party is way too late.  I started calling around late summer to try and find one for the fall and kept hitting dead ends.  Apparently, this time of the year is super popular for weddings.  We struck gold with Jeff Pearson though - he was recommended to us by another DJ and happened to be available.  I would highly recommend DJ Slim to anyone.  We got a great deal at IHCC with our membership.  The girls got together and crafted their guest list and song list, and had a successful event.  It's also a little easier on the pocketbook to share a party - love that it worked out for K and S to have birthdays so close together, be such close friends, and basically have the same peer group to hang out with.

Karson's been logging lots of drive time.  She even did I-65 for the first time over the weekend!

Lots of November birthdays - this month we celebrate Meme, Nana and Matt!  We went to Mellow Mushroom last Sunday for Mom's birthday.  Isaac wasn't with us - he went to Nashville to see the Tennessee Titans.  He LOVES going to the games and has been fortunate to attend quite a few of them this season.  No matter if it's frigid or raining, he'll go and love every second of it!  He's becoming quite the collector of memorabilia too.  We have a large flag, socks, hats, shirts, calendar, wallet and gear! Speaking of football (had to throw in the pic of K and her buds below), the SWHS Spartans continue play-off games this Friday against Owensboro Catholic!  Good luck fellas!