January Jumble

I suppose it's only fitting that with my goal of being late, I'm am really behind posting anything this last month. Life has felt busy as always, and I've actually been going to bed a lot earlier most nights lately, sometimes at 8 p.m. when I put Peanut to bed, which has meant less computer time. But here are a few of the high lights.

 

Starting with Daddy-o, even though it was one of the most recent events, we celebrated his last year on this side of "the hill", and the end of our January sugar fast, with the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake that we all love. Although, as seems to be tradition for Daddy-o's cake, things didn't turn out quite right. Sometimes the ganache sets up just right, sometimes it doesn't. I had to whip it this year because it wasn't going all smooth and glossy how it should have, but no one seemed to mind too much.

 

And we decided to give him a toy this year. He'd had a lot of fun playing on the Rip Sticks at his brother's house a few weeks ago, so we thought he'd like one of his own. The kids also thought he'd share, which made them pretty excited this gift. He's been generous with the new toy and it looks like I need to put in some practice hours if I want to be able to keep up with everyone.

In other athletic news, these two joined me for the Trail Race this year because they really wanted the hoodies. 

 

They were also excited to run with a friend--friends keep the whining down so we can all enjoy it a lot more. Luckily, for all of us, it once again rained a bunch the day before the race and we were only able to actually run about 1.5 miles of the 4 because a lot of the trail was really slippery.

 

I wish I'd gotten a better picture of the mud because this one doesn't do it justice, but I was too busy trying to keep my balance on the trail and never even thought of pulling out my phone. Both kids said it was the best race ever and wear their sweatshirts non-stop, so I'd say it was a success.

 

Next up, Bug: He started Lego club after school this month and has had fun building one a week with friends. This week's challenge was to create a creature or home. Bug and his partner made "Big Nosed Al".

January is also Pinewood Derby month, so Bug got to make a car as well.

 He opted for a double-humped sport car shape, which didn't end up being the fastest, but it looked pretty cool. Notice the Panthers car in the background--pretty much the whole room was cheering for that one. We've had fun watching the Panthers win and are hoping for one more!

 

I got to drive on Bug's field trip to the retirement home a couple weeks ago, and as always, got teary as they sang to the residents. I love these service learning trips and these kids.

 

I also got to help put on the first Recognition Night we've done with Activity Days Girls in this ward. We borrowed a theme I found online, It's In the Bag, and each of the girls prepared a bag with three items that represent things they have done in Activity Days or while working on their Faith in God award.

 

Bean shared a spoon, representing a healthy meal she made for our family, a picture of the pedigree chart she made, and her pinewood derby car from last year that she made and raced in the sibling category.

 

We had a popcorn bar for refreshments (because then we could use popcorn bags to go with the bag theme).

 

We may have picked out the theme for them, but the girls made all of the decorations for that night--these tissue paper flower pens, that we put into a bag vase,

 

and these paper bag flowers, as well as filling out the tags that we hung as a banner across the front of the room with all the things they've worked on.

 

I have so much fun working with this group and Bean loves it, too.

 

Bean also made a pinewood derby car this year. It was a last minute effort, because even though she really wants to make the car, she also has a million other things she really wants to do with any free time she has. Plus, I think our entire family works best under pressure so why mess with tradition.

 

Bean's still been busy with basketball. Their team got their first win this month and has had a couple other really close games. Even though the coaching hasn't been quite what we think a team of beginners probably needed, they have improved quite a bit.

 

She's had fun and is looking forward to being able to play church ball as well next year.

 

And then there's Peanut, the little one who gets dragged to basketball games, pinewood derby's, and church activities, and then left behind for some of the fun stuff that just doesn't work for a 4 year old. Luckily, there are other little brothers at these things and he's made some friends over electronics. 

He actually surprised me the other morning when I was getting ready and realized, as I got out of the shower, that he hadn't come up to hang out in the bathroom like he usually does if we're the only two people home. It was pretty quite and I was afraid of what I might find when I came out, but instead of making messes, he had gotten ahold of Bug's tablet and found a game and was happily playing at the desk in the living room. I've been a little more liberal with screen time for him and I have to say we're both happier for it. Parenting ideals don't always work out with the realities of life, especially for the youngest, so he gets to watch DVD's if we're in the car for longer than a quick run to the schools and back, play games when we're stuck waiting, and should have his alphabet memorized any day now with how many times he's watching Letter Factory each week. I tell myself it's educational, but whatever it is, it's better than him yelling at me, so I'll take it.

And that is pretty much our January, with the exception of the snowstorm, which gets its own post.

Hoops

Middle school means sports and Bean was really excited to be a part of that. They only have a few options throughout the year, and swimming isn't one of them, so it means she gets to try something new: basketball!

Bean has never played basketball before, but one advantage of being the oldest grade at a small school is that there's a lot of room for people who want to learn. 12 girls tried out for the team, and 12 girls are now on the team.

They had their first game, a pre-season game against a middle school with 6-8 graders on their team, which meant their was a BIG overall height difference as well as experience difference, but the girls were so excited (nervous, too, but very excited.) Bean was grinning the whole time. She loves the energy at sporting events and getting to be part of the action makes it even better for her.

 

They lost 40-9, but we were so proud of them for those 9 points. They played hard, and improved drastically from the first half to the second. Bean actually touched the ball a few times, which was good for her to get broken in and see what the games will be like. This is going to be such a good experience for them all and I think they are going to have a fun season.