Winter is Still Here
I thought maybe this was a good picture to start this post. I feel like the older I get, the less tolerant I am of cold and winter. However, Gracie and Owen, as well as other kids, remind me that even if we don't like something, we can certainly make the best of it. Owen is our winter child and can play out in it for hours and hours. I think Gracie is becoming less impressed with the cold and snow unless it involves getting the 4-wheeler out. I think these pictures were taken on January 24, one of the seven snow days that they have had so far this school year. That day was a heavy wet snow and fairly "warm" temperatures, so they spent a lot of time outside playing. The University also closed campus that day, so I got a day off, as well.
Mr. Snowman
He didn't last long. They built him right in the middle of the driveway so Nick would have to run him over when he got home. However, they were not patient enough for Nick to get back and decided to take matters into their own hands.
The tackle
Gracie pushing Owen off of the remainder of Mr. Snowman
Ruby is having fun too!
Unicorn??? Gracie's hair. I don't know what else to say about it.
At the begining of January, Nick and I finally bought replacement furniture for the sofas we have had for over 10 years. They arrived the last week in January and of course, it had snowed again, so the drivers got stuck at the end of our driveway. I'm glad Nick was there to deal with that and not me. Anyhoo... we have new furniture and I love them! Now if we could just get the old ones out. :)
Another trip to Iowa
The kids and I headed north the first weekend in February to celebrate River's 5th birthday! Mom rode along with us for the festivities. Nick went the opposite direction and headed to Florida to help his mom out in her moving process. She bought a villa by the ocean and is settling in there. Our trip to Iowa was short, but we had a really good time. River's bday party was at Seven Oaks and the kids got to ski and snowboard again. I also participated in the activities and made Gracie get her own skis this time. We started around 10am and didn't finish until almost 4pm. It was a great day, and luckily the sun was out and the temps were in the 30's. It could've been way worse. We had pizza and cake and lots of fun! Gracie was pretty independent and spent most of the day skiing by herself or with friends that she met at River's party. I got to hang out with Owen while he got better at boarding. We're ready for Colorado!
Here's the family!
Gracie and I are ready to ski!
Owen's ready to go too!
Taking a break to eat some cake and open presents
Happy birthday River!
Owen with me on the chair lift
He was really getting the hang of it by the end of the day.
There was no hesitation going down any of the runs. He kept going over this little jump trying to get some air. He was a pretty happy kid.
Kaia and Gracie snuggling after the fun day.
We went back to Annie's after our day of fun and had spaghetti for dinner and watched a movie for a relaxing night. We didn't stay long the next morning and made it back home by 2pm that afternoon. The kids and I watched the Superbowl and got ready for another busy week. Nick didn't come home until late on Tuesday 2/4, just in time for more snow/ice. Perfect!
These pics are actually from the Hallsville Tournament on 1/19. I don't think I've posted them yet. He did pretty well at this tournament and ended up placing 2nd. It was a pretty good competition and there were 3 of them that went 3-1 and it came down to whoever had the most pins taking first. Owen seemed content with his performance and went on to do another tournament, so I guess all is well.
Owen taking the down position
Single-leg
Owen competed in the Jeff City Tournament last weekend (2/8), which was also my mom's birthday. Gracie had her own basketball tournament in a different city, so mom got to spend her birthday in a gym packed with wrestlers. I heard he did well again and placed second. This might be the last tournament of his season. He is reluctant to commit to any more. He still loves going to practice, though. Thanks mom, for the pic.
Owen wrestling in Jeff City; Nick coaching in the corner
While Owen was competing in his tournament, I was back up in Hallsville with Gracie and her team watching basketball. Owen and Nick headed up as soon as they were done in Jeff City and caught the last game of the day. We had two games that day and won both going into the championship on Sunday afternoon. We would have to play one of the teams that we beat again, since it was a double elimination tournament.
Gracie getting ready to jump at tip-off of one of the games.
High fives to her teammates.
Ready to jump again. This time it was against one of her Galaxy softball teammates who attends OLLIS (in Columbia).
Same girls in OT of the championship game
Gracie, Sadie, and Hayden after the game
All 8 of them together
Amelia, Lainie, Sadie, Mae, Andersyn, Gracie, Hayden, and Lydia
Such a fun group of girls!
Hugs for Gracie and Lainie after the game.
Can't wait to see them in the future
When have I had time to do this?
Yep, I gave the upstairs bathroom a little face lift. I like it so much better than the bright blue. I also repainted the kitchen and dining room (same colors), as well as the mudroom bathroom. The paint had never been touched up when we moved in after all of the cabinets and appliances when in. The paint has been pretty chipped and scuffed since then, so I just did all of it over again. After I did the upstairs bathroom, Gracie deep cleaned it for me. That was about 3 weeks ago, and I think it definitely needs it again already.
I've been looking back through some old posts and I'm so glad that I started this over 11 years ago when Gracie was born. We have so many great memories and things that we can be thankful for! It's fun to see the things we've done and the places we've been. While not every day is a great day, this is way to remember that the good days outnumber the tough moments that we go through in life. If we look for the good, we will always find it. Nothing happens by mistake and there is a reason for everything.
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