lazy beautiful Sunday!

While the boys took a 20 mile ride, Alyssa chose a shorter easier ride to our local barn park where she, Alyssa (her doll) and I enjoyed a picnic... technically she ate, and I tried to soak in the sun and take a nap!

get moving!

This morning I rounded up several girls from our Girl Scout troop and ventured to the university for a special Engineering department workshop for the Junior Girl Scout Get Moving journey. I wasn't sure what to expect but the last time we went when they were Brownies was pretty incredible and very well done.

The photo above is waiting in the lobby, while the rest are mostly of Alyssa at the workshop.

They had to design a home or building to create.

... and then test different materials for insulation.

Alyssa's group created a fairly elaborate building to include solar panels, a deck and a chimney to release steam?!

They then put a bag of ice in the building, and closed it up.

Then they used an infrared camera to test how well insulated their building was. I didn't grab any good shots of that but the finished building is above. 

It was a really dynamic workshop and the girls loved it!

on top of the world

What better way to spend a day off from school with another beautiful day of skiing with the kids? This particular photo made me think of the song by Imagine Dragons...

"... I’ve had the highest mountains

I’ve had the deepest rivers

You can have it all but life keeps moving

I take it in but don’t look down

‘Cause I’m on top of the world, ‘ay

I’m on top of the world, ‘ay..."

She's on top of the world, 'ay!

empty bowls

Empty Bowls is a local fundraiser for OUR center. A place that helps people in our community in need of food and other necessities. It's an amazing local community center and for the past few years, I look forward to participating in their annual fundraiser. It's a two part fundraiser. People go paint and donate a bowl for Empty Bowls. The actual Empty Bowls is an event in which local restaurants cook up yummy soups and individuals buy tickets to attend. For attending, each person can pick out a donated painted bowl to take home and try out two soups, have some yummy bread from Great Harvest and a small dessert. There is a silent auction as well. It is all hosted in one of our local high schools cafeteria on a Saturday afternoon. It's a great community event and now a tradition for our family to attend.

A few years ago, our Girl Scout troop used our cookie funds to pay for the girls to come to Crackpots and paint an Empty Bowl. They first did this as 2nd graders and many were excited to paint but at the end were still slightly confused about why they didn't get to take the bowls home. Despite not taking their bowls home, they asked if we could come back and do it again each year. 

We did it this year and had a small handful that could come.

Alyssa did a fun bowl that was very patriotic...

And turned out pretty cute!

I even did one this year!

The girls with their bowls.

Now I just hope we can find our bowls at the event!

old man extreme's daughter

If only I would have caught the moment just before this... Alyssa skateboarding along to school and somehow managed to run into the rocks of someone's landscape. She almost falls but catches herself and then says with a missed moment "Epic failure. Old Man Extreme's daughter!"

I try to not double over laughing and text Dennis what just happened. He doesn't reply!

winter band concert

Tonight was Jaiden's 2nd band concert this year. And for the most part the photos looked the same as his first concert... but performance wise? This concert was definitely a demonstration of their progression. The pieces were a little more complex and interesting to listen to. 

In the above photo, he stood with other classmates to be recognized for participating in the Solo & Ensemble a few days earlier. You might be able to find him standing in the back row, off to the right of the photo by a huge tuba... I think he might actually finally be taller than the tuba!

And in this photo, he is still in the back row but actually sitting down and playing!

dinner conversation

No photos for this particular conversation but I had to record it. The things that are said in this house sometimes really make me laugh especially when it's interactions between Alyssa and Dennis. Their logic is often on the same par and so out there, all I can do is laugh. 

Tonight was one of those nights. Alyssa was telling us that Sophie didn't eat her pizza crust last night and she tried to tell Sophie that it's the same dough that is under all the sauce, olives and cheese.

Dennis immediately capitalizes on a teaching moment and asks Alyssa "Have you ever heard the expression people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks?"

A: No

D: What do you think it means?

A: You will break the glass.

D: Well, that is true but what else does it mean?

A: You don't have any privacy.

(oh, I love these moments because it just makes me laugh!)

D: Well, that too. But what it means is that if you have problems, you shouldn't judge those of others. For example, you are very picky about what you eat and now you are telling Sophie she should eat her crusts!

A: Oh, okay. 

Yep, in one ear and out the other! 

solo & ensemble

We started the morning with getting ready for the Solo & Ensemble Festival that Jaiden and another boy in his class decided to do a duet for. The Solo & Ensemble Festival is a completely optional opportunity for band students to perform a 2-3 minute piece in front of a judge and then receive a mini clinic at the end of their pieces.  Mrs. Clanin (the band teacher) stresses this is not a required activity and that the kids who signed up for this are going above and beyond to be part of this.

Practicing in the "practice room"

Reading and double checking their parts. 

 And here they are in the room introducing themselves and their music.

 The boys did awesome! I still can't help but snicker when I see how enormous this tuba is and how small Jaiden is but he did a really nice job. Dennis said Jaiden was leading the first half and then in the second half they switched and Aidan took the lead. 

The judge gave them a mini clinic session and started off with asking the boys if this was their first instrument to which they both nodded yes but then quickly corrected themselves by answering guitar for Jaiden and bag pipes for Aidan... which then set the tone for the entire critique. The judge would ask a question and then one of them would answer in such a way we couldn't help but laugh. For example, he asked if either of them practiced breathing and of course, the boys are bewildered and answer yes, all the time! Or when the judge asked if either had taken a lesson from a professional and again the boys looked funny at each other and asked "does Mrs. Clanin count as a professional?" We couldn't stop laughing. It was almost like some kind of comedy going down, but the boys were being respectful and even the judge was laughing. 

As we left the room, Dennis said he overheard the judge say to Mrs. Clanin "Those two boys were certainly born tubists" and she laughed and said "Yes, they definitely were." I asked Dennis what that meant and his reply "I don't know but I am taking it as a compliment!"

Right after the ensemble, Alyssa and I headed over to where our cookie booth was to be set up. The girls were so cute! I snagged a couple of photos.

 But my absolute favorite was near the end when they came up with this adorable cheer. The two girls on the ends would say in unison "would you like to buy some... Girl Scout Cookies?" And right when they got to the Girl part, the middle girl would pop up from behind the sign and join in with them!

Totally adorable! Next up was a candy making birthday party, Chinese New Year celebration and finally relaxing at home!

chalk drawings

When I went to pick Alyssa up, I noticed this chalk drawing on the ground. I didn't think too much about it because often there is remnants of chalk drawings from recess on the pathway but today was different. Today, Alyssa came out and showed me her chalk drawing. She had drawn a self portrait of herself!

granny and papu overnights

I can't remember if I ever have written about this or not, so if I have please excuse the re-explanation. My mom's husband has a sister and her spouse that lives nearby us.  Technically, they would be called my Step Aunt and Uncle?! But the kids call them Granny Suze and Papu (pap-poo). In many ways, they are like grandparents to my kids. Every school year, they are invited multiple times to come spend the night and there are certain traditions they do. My kids know where to find the toys, they have "rooms" of their own and Papu stuffs pillows in between the bed frame and mattress for Jaiden so he isn't scared by the creaky coffin sound Jaiden thinks the old bed makes (all of this came about when Jaiden was into the Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine). 

Now that the kids are older, things are changing. First, we weren't even sure if Jaiden would still want to go and second was trying to find a weekend that would work that wasn't filled with Scouts, skiing or some other activity! We did find the weekend of Valentine's day was going to work well. 

When we drop them off, we always stay and help out with a few things, get the kids settled and whatever else but tonight was different, they didn't need much settling in and Granny was shooing us out the door. As I walked by the staircase leading downstairs, I caught a glimpse of this...

Papu and Jaiden all set at the Poker table and playing some version of Poker.

I turned to say goodbye to Alyssa and she was busy at the kitchen table making Valentine's with Granny. Clearly, neither kid had any issues staying!

Another part of the overnight tradition is that in the morning, Dennis and I come for breakfast. Susan always outdoes herself and we enjoy a huge breakfast, but one of my favorite things about coming to pick them up is to see the ways in which the kids play. This time, Alyssa had my old Sasha dolls mixed in with Granny's old dolls and tea set.

On a side note, Dennis and I enjoyed an amazing dinner out for a pre-Valentine dinner. I had this yummy Moqueca stew which is a Brazilian fish stew. It was incredible. It was also incredibly fun to just spend some time eating dinner slowly and not have to cut anyone's food up or tell anyone to eat!

Happy Valentine's Day!

foxy valentines

I always love the excitement around class parties and I was especially grateful that Jaclyn asked if I could help out this year which meant I would be in the class during the party! She handled most of the details including having the kids create cute bags to hold their valentines. I was on the class project to give the teacher which turned out to be a little more intense because only a small handful actually remember and send it in on time... the rest I chase down while I am supposed to be volunteering!

I thought I grabbed a few other photos of the decorations around the classroom but I could only find this one...

... and thankfully this one...

Alyssa's bag! 

I didn't have any photos of her valentine's this year but this year she chose to buy them. We found these cute fox and raccoon valentines with erasers. They were sweet but I was a little sad that we didn't come up with something clever and extra cute. 

Then it was time to give Mrs. Potter her class valentine. She's holding it up in this photo and I even managed to capture it while she is looking at Alyssa's page.

Then they played a fun game that involved a story with lots of rights and lefts...

... that made the kids pass a package around. It went right when Mrs. Potter said right and left when she left. It was fun and cute. The kids loved it.

At the end of the day, Alyssa enjoyed her class party but she told me that next year, we are making our own Valentine's! Apparently, another girl had similar Valentine's but with owls and owl erasers and she decided she liked having original, homemade Valentines! That made me happy... almost happy to start planning for her last year of class Valentine's since to my disappointment Jaiden had nothing special at school but he was cool with that!

experts only

A must have ... selfie by skull and crossbones... 

and yes, he skied the "West ridge" and loved it!

3 cheers for snow days

Truly, there is nothing more fun than another unexpected snow day!

The kids were (again) stuck with coming with me to the gym for my training session, but they happily went to the pool... of course, with the agreement that I would take them sledding after we had lunch.

We managed to round up some friends and spend the afternoon doing crazy stunts like standing on the sleds ...

... that ended up tumbling onto one another!

So maybe if we piled up...

... and with more friends piled on?!

But in the end, the "caterpillar" was the best way down in which they linked together on sleds and slinked down the way!

It was great to be outside but next time, I need to remember to dress warmer!