Happy 9th Birthday Abby!

Fun time of making Abby's pinata together :)

Abby had 4 friends over for her birthday. Lydia was kind to make a treasure hunt for them. One clue led them outside and they are ready to run to the next one! Once they found the treasure they engaged in free play and 'girl talk.'  No eavesdropping here ;)

We made one tough pinata. Everyone got a turn or two.

Tegan, Abby, Brooklyn, Carolina, Emma

Friends! or "Thunder Sisters!" (Croods 2 ;)

This was a hungry bunch. FOOD! CFA nuggets lunch :)

Pictionary

Musical Chairs!

Animal-lover, baby-lover, artist, sweet friend and daughter.

Happy 9th Birthday Abby! You are the sweet treasure at the end of the rainbow-we LOVE you!

Mmm...cinnamon roll

Survival Break

From, “yay, it’s snowing!” to “CFISD will remain closed through Friday, Feb. 19 due to several schools with major water damage, continued widespread power outages, unreliable water service, total loss of food in at least a dozen campuses, and countless staff and community members dealing with broken pipes.” I'm calling this, "SURVIVAL BREAK 2021!!"

Sunday night. Excited about snow. Went to bed with power. Ben has pipes wrapped and plants covered.

Ice and Snow!

Freezing in Houston

At 4:30am, power out and Ben drained the pool pipes. In the morning, we ventured out for only 10 minutes.

Partially frozen lake. Don't walk out on it!

Thankfully the house held temp at 50 during our 58 hours without power and outside temps in teens. The girls liked this fort set up.  Rio was the BEST heated blanket. He LOVES the snow and LOVES cuddling with us.🥰

Thankfully we have a gas stove and I am always prepared with puppy chow ingredients in case of emergency.  Double boiler for the win! Twice daily deliveries of boiling water to neighbor who has electric stove. Lesson #1-when you grow up and get a house-make sure you have a gas stove.

The soccer fields turned into snow hills! I felt like this would be a collective memory in the community I had FOMO on. We braved it on Tuesday, so much of the snow had melted. We felt better out in the sun. I knew we moved these saucers for a reason.

Found some old hand warmers for this snow outing...and what a JOY!

Ben led us in family story time for entertainment. The kids played well together with LEGOs and such. We finished a card making kit. Lydia made snowballs with the neighbor. Hours spent in a family heap like newborn kittens. Forced activity of sweeping the entire house to warm up. No cell service or internet. Sputtering water. Minimal freaking out. Ben and I drank Rose by the fire at night. We still love each other. Thankfully our pipes didn’t freeze. Boil Notice in effect. 5 Second Rule game by flashlight, world domination by day. Every day's an adventure!

Happy 11th Birthday Lydia

Lydia's Saturday birthday started with a balloon avalanche and was followed by her favorite things, face calls and friends. 

Lydia's streamer situation was perfect for "balloon 4 square"

"Happy birthday to you"

They had CFA nuggets, Dole medley juice, and white cake

Halle, best friend from class

Kenzie, friend from after school

playing Pictionary

They also played on the hammock, did make up, talked, scavenger hunt, musical chairs. 

Lydia planned it all out!

She's such a gifted, beautiful, smart, confident, cooperative, fun-loving girl. I was a little sad to say good bye to my 10 year old, but I am so proud of the young lady she is becoming!

Happy Birthday Ben

Happy Birthday Ben!

While the years keep passing by, I treasure every moment with you!

Saved this treasure for his special day... Racine Kringle!

(I can only find them in December here)

Christmas Home

Back home, Santa had a few presents for us. 

Abby's big gift was rollerblades!

Lydia's was Bitty Baby!

Lydia wanted to stay up till midnight this year, and I think she did. (The rest of the family just slept through the fireworks!)

Now everything is more fun (like washing cars) in rollerblades!

Over MLK weekend, we went to the zoo and rode the carousel.

We spent a lot of time with the Giant Otters since we caught them at feeding time and also going down the slide. :)

Christmas Sheboygan

Merry (post) Christmas with all the grandkids ...

(Abby took care of Naomi)

COVID style!

So glad we could make it happen to all get together. 

As the cousins were leaving, it started to snow...we got our snow!

The girls were thrilled to make baby snowmen.

 

Snow angels too

We even made a medium sized snowman.

Great to spend time with Grandma Linda!!