Life in February

My Uncle Brian passed away on January 28th. Here is one of my favorite photos I had taken with him when I was about one. 

This was the last time I saw him a few years ago when I went down to Texas to celebrate my brother's 40th birthday. 

I flew down the second week in February to attend his funeral. Uncle Brian served in the Air Force for over twenty years and was buried in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. The service they honored him with was very moving and I was so glad to be there for it.

Back home. . . I walked by the backpacks in the hallway and saw this note Curtis wrote to himself on his backpack. It gave me a giggle and also made me feel proud of his responsibility. 

Another day another instrument that Graydon wants to play. This is the Euphonium. 

Bella and her teammates at the team sectional lunch.

The ladies on their way to the sectional game on February 3rd. 

One more stop at this town landmark before officially hitting the road to Switzerland County. 

They won their game and it was also the coach's 100th win!

Unfortunately, they lost in the championship game the following evening. Still, they gave us an exciting season!

The next morning, the boys had their Solo & Ensemble contest. Up until two days prior, we just thought Graydon was participating. I was sitting next to another mom at a basketball game and she told me she thought Curtis was also participating because he was part of a trio with her son. "No," I told her. "Not that I know of." Just Graydon, I thought. Well, I went home that evening and asked Curtis about it and he said, "oh yeah, I guess I forgot to tell you." Good thing I talked to this other mom! Here is their trio on that Saturday morning.  

They got a gold! 

Graydon participated in a saxophone quartet. 

They also got a gold.

Later in the morning, Graydon played his solo. He also did great and also earned a gold! 

Super proud of these boys! 

After taking a few days off to attend my uncle's funeral, I came back to school feeling a little behind. While I was gone, several students filled out forms wanting to meet with me and several school staff members emailed and left messages about student concerns. I saw this meme and laughed at loud!

I helped Bella put together this bulletin board after school one day.

Homework woes. Curtis definitely has a lot more homework this year that he has ever had in the past. Graydon doesn't seem to have as much this year, so maybe 8th grade will go a little easier on him next year.

Bella always has a lot. 

I made our traditional heart-shaped pizzas for Valentine's Day. I made two and only took a photo of one. I also made our chocolate-covered strawberries again, but didn't take a photo of those. 

We are almost through the two coldest and longest months of the year! Sooooo ready for spring! 

Cruising Through January

These are the days of basketball. We have seen SO much improvement in Curtis this season. He loves playing and spends so much time throwing the ball around in our driveway.

I really like doing puzzles. Here's another one I recently finished.

At the end of the month, Bella and a few classmates were inducted into the National Honor Society.

And. . . more basketball. Bella's JV team competed in a tournament and won their division!

This sport does not come without its bumps and bruises. That bruise on her right knee was new that evening and by the next day, the area all around it was also black and blue.

We had a lot of fun theme nights for our home games and I was able to help with some of those. This was our Pink Night where we raised money for individuals battling cancer. 

Our athletic boosters have done a great job this year with promoting all the games on social media. This was one of my favorites.

This shot was taken during the girls' last home game of the season. The team lost, but Bella had a great night personally and was named Player of the Game. This photo made our paper. 

Bella and Adrianna after the game. Adrianna is a senior and this was her very last home game. Lasts like these make me so sad. We will miss her and her family so much next year! 

Curtis' season ended the first week of February. He already can't wait for next year! 

January Days

This year's Christmas tree may be the one that broke us from the tradition of getting a real tree. It dropped needles in the bunches throughout the season and, by the time I got the lights and ornaments off, the majority of the needles were on our floor. We've been getting real trees for over ten years now and have never had this happen. We scooped up what we could and vacuumed the rest and ended up breaking our vacuum cleaner (it was probably on its way out, but still). Not only that, but both Curtis and I had allergic reactions (bumps/rashes) on our hands to this particular tree. And, these needles were incredibly sharp. It was pretty painful to step on one. Plus, the tree farm we've been going to out here closed its doors after this season (its owners wanted to retire). I think those are a lot of signs that maybe it's time. We'll discuss it as a family next year to see what we all want to do. 

Winter mornings are hard for me. It's dark and cold and I don't want to leave my warm bed or my warm house. I always feel a little bit jealous of Mabel all snuggled up in the blankets. These are always the months when I want to be a dog. 

Graydon bought a bari sax! He's been wanting one for a long time. Thanks to some money he had already saved plus Christmas and birthday money, he was able to purchase one! 

Bella had a Saturday basketball game that was about a 45-minute drive away. She also had the school winter formal that night. She and her date were joining other friends for dinner before the dance and she needed to be ready to go by 5:15pm. We didn't leave the other school until after 4pm. But we came prepared because we knew time would be tight. I curled Bella's hair during the drive home! 

We got home at 4:55pm and she was ready to go by 5:10! Here she is with her date, Sam. We took some quick pictures and they were out the door to meet up with their friends. 

Isn't she lovely.

In all the rush, we didn't take any photos with her beforehand, so we took a quick selfie after she got home. 

We enjoyed hearing about her night. Sounds like it was a fun one!