March Randoms and Great Wolf Lodge

Read Across America Week: On the Friday of that week, the kids had a Hat/Pajama Day at school. They spent the whole school day reading. The school had a goal of reading 1,200 books that day and they did it!


I got to spend a day with my favorite two-year-old. He is seriously the sweetest little boy that I know!


The things I will do to save a few dollars. Taking this photo entered me into a drawing for free shipping for some books I was ordering. The good news is that I won!


Working out is always more fun when there's someone to do it with.


Bad photo, but a beautiful sunrise that morning.


We're officially on Spring Break, so we returned to Great Wolf Lodge again this year. I didn't take too many photos since my phone and water don't mix. But we definitely had a great time. I think there is something special that happens when a family gets away from home to do something fun together. There is a different kind of bonding that occurs as we create new memories together.












This bathroom tells the story of a family who had a great day at the waterpark.


There is an arcade at the lodge as well, so after drying off that night, we went down to play some games. This little bowling alley was a hit.






There are different programs at the lodge throughout the day. At 9pm, there is a little goodnight story and song. We went to this last year and the song became somewhat of an ongoing joke that we sang throughout the year. I was hoping they wouldn't have changed the program, because I wanted a recording of that song. They didn't! This program is definitely geared towards kids who are younger than ours, but it was worth it to attend and get the recording of that song!


Breakfast in bed!


Andy's birthday is coming up. One of the things he wanted was a new gym bag. Andy started doing CrossFit last month, so he wanted something to keep his stuff in. Each of the kids had different ideas about which bag he should get.




Spring Break continues through this week. Yesterday morning, Andy and Bella left for a trip down to North Carolina with a group from our church. They are helping with restoration after some hurricane damage. As our kids get older, I'd like to find more and more opportunities for them to serve. It's a great way to increase their awareness of different needs around them, to experience the joy that comes from helping others, and to open their eyes to how good they have it. I'm looking forward to hearing all about their time down there.

Basketball Season

Here are some highlights from Bella's basketball season.








Proof that I need to work on my sports photography. I got the basket going in, but Bella is almost not in the shot!


This is a fun sequence that I'm glad I captured. Bella is playing defense.


She steals the ball from her opponent.


And goes in for the layup! Towards the end of the season, this was a play that she did more and more of.


Curtis is proud of his big sis!


The season ended at the beginning of the month. At the awards banquet earlier this week, she was awarded the team MVP!! We are so proud of all her effort!




The ceremony was a little long. It included 7th grade spots up to 12th grade and included all of the girls basketball, boys basketball, and cheerleaders. We were there for about two-and-a-half hours. Curtis got a little bored.


Basketball season was a pretty busy time. Bella's practices were generally around 5:30-7:30pm and if it was a game night, she'd easily be gone from 4-9pm if it was an away game. I really value our family eating dinner together, so that was kind of challenging during this time. Because of this, I really thought I'd be more excited that her season ended; but when it happened, I felt a little sad. I really enjoy watching her play and will miss it. But, I will admit that the extra free time in the evenings is nice. And she has already started track practice, so we'll get to watch that soon!

Life in February

A day of non-stop heavy rain left our front yard looking like a river. We live up on a hill and have never had an issue with flooding; but many around us weren't so fortunate.


We meant to buy new living room furniture when we moved here. Four-and-a-half years later, we are finally getting that done. Andy really wanted furniture that reclines. I don't love the look of the reclining sofas, but I do agree that they will be comfortable. Our new furniture should arrive in a couple of weeks!


Hard at work on valentines. It felt a little weird that Bella didn't make any this year. Elementary kids have all the fun.






We got this Golden Girls chia pet as a white elephant gift this past Christmas. I had intended to re-use it in another exchange, but Curtis wanted to use it. Now Sophia watches us while we eat our meals. And her hair is starting to grow!


Look what I found in Mabel's pillow. I guess that solves the mystery of the missing puzzle piece from last month.


A Valentine's Day surprise arrived from Mimi Jane. These cookies are SO delicious! She is too good to us!


The kids also got some exciting mail from her! Thanks again, Mimi! We love you!


Our traditional Valentine's dinner had to be postponed to the weekend this year. I had a class that evening and Bella had a basketball game. Too much going on to be able to enjoy ourselves. Waiting a couple of days was much better. (Do you see Sophia looking on?)


As always, I served heart-shaped pizza.


And chocolate-covered strawberries.


I also grabbed some raspberries this year. I didn't tell anyone what they were for and didn't hide them well enough, so most were eaten before I could even put these little treats together.


We went around the table and shared what we love about each other. It's always fun to hear what everyone is going to say.


Selfie!


There is a sweet family from church who supplies us with our eggs. Check out that huge monster egg! I've never seen one so big before. Andy was the brave one to crack it. There were two yokes inside.


Curtis was here. Only he would think to take the dumb bells and make them into a statue.


After having our fireplace for almost three years, we finally got a permanent mantle put in place. It helps to have handy church members who can do things like weld a metal bracket and hollow out a solid wood beam. Not to mention all of the measuring and trimming.




It looks so good and solid.


Bella and Mabel had a little sibling rivalry this past week. Bella's retainer went missing. She took it out while eating her snack. After some time passed, she realized that she couldn't find it. She searched the table, the couch, the dishwasher, the trash can, etc. The next morning, we found it underneath the coffee table - all chewed up. Mabel had found it first. Bella was so upset. She was mad at Mabel all week. Finally, they made up this weekend. Bella gets her new retainer tomorrow!

Hello February!

We made it through January. I generally don't like to wish time away, but January is one of those months that feel so good to get through. It's been really busy in our house. My three classes give me plenty of work to do. In addition, I'm spending one day each week at the elementary school doing my counseling practicum - individual and group counseling with the students. Bella's basketball schedule keeps our evenings full. The boys have joined 4-H this year. At their first meeting, Curtis was voted in as the devotional leader and Graydon is co-leading health and safety.

Our school week was shortened this past week due to cold and snow. We had one full day off and several two-hour delays. While I don't love that we'll have to make that day up, it's nice to have an excuse to slow down and stay indoors.

Graydon living his best life.


Bella spent part of her day off cleaning her room. She went through some containers and looked at old journals and trinkets.


After seeing Bella look through her baby box, Graydon and Curtis wanted to see theirs as well. These boxes contain things like hospital bracelets, baby hats, and little mementos from that phase of life that we wanted to save. It was a nice walk down memory lane.




We received this amaryllis from Andy's Aunt Tammie right before Christmas. It arrived as the red bulb at the bottom. We literally had to do nothing - not even water it. Just place it by indirect light and watch it grow and bloom. It's so pretty.


Curtis got some candy at a basketball game that turned his tongue blue. He wanted me to take a picture of him so that he could see it.


I decided to do yoga one evening. Nobody was hanging out in the living room (and that space beat going down to the cold basement, which is what I usually do), so I did it in there. Curtis joined me.


Post-yoga selfie!