STARS!

We had gotten Steve tickets to a Stars game for his birthday, and the game was last night. It was appropriate that, on the day we were headed to a hockey game, we woke up to *snow*! See that little layer across the grass? The real feel temp was around 20, and it was the most wintry day we've had this season.

 After a full day of cheer and two soccer games, we headed downtown to the AAC. Everyone was excited!

 The was the girls' first time to attend a professional hockey game. They asked lots of good questions before the game started and throughout, including whether there would be refs (Emma's question) and whether there was any shot ever worth more than one point (Sara's question).

 They each only got up once to go to the bathroom, and otherwise had their eyes glued to the ice.

 I love hockey and it made me so happy that the girls loved it, too. The arena was full and very festive.

 Silly kid. This is the face I got when I said we should take a selfie.

 Sara kept her coat on for most of the game. We were by ice, after all. 

The Stars got the win and it was just a really fun night. After a long and stressful week, this was the quality time our family needed. Lots of cheering, some booing, and plenty of laughter!

Big Day

It's BRACES OFF day for this cool kid, who is a believer that sometimes, you just need a slice of gas station pizza.

I'm excited to see her beautiful metal-free smile this afternoon!

***UPDATE...

January 2018 vs. January 2019

busy new year

It's been quite a month already! We celebrated Steve's birthday with two 1/2 pies because we couldn't decide on just one. Market Street sells halves, which is awesome. We had 1/2 cherry and 1/2 lemon. Not the right number of candles, but they did the trick. I would like to say we had a nice evening of celebration, but really we went to soccer practice and then picked up burgers. His present was tickets for an upcoming Stars game, which we're all excited to attend! 

 We had a work day before the start of the semester, and the girls had to come hang out with me for a while at school so Steve could run to a meeting at work. They kept themselves busy wandering around, and I was shocked to see this picture of Sara with Striker! He lives in 5th grade, and I don't mind him in his cage, but I usually keep my distance. I am proud of this brave girl!

This picture of Emma barely shows the bright red, sweaty face that came off the soccer field after three back-to-back games last weekend. We've decided it's time for her to join an academy team. She went to an eval one night last week, and was asked to play in two games on Saturday (on top of her already scheduled rec game). She played so well ... three games, three goals. I'm so proud of her focus and her work ethic. It'll be fun to watch her continue to improve with great coaching.

 Between an exhausting week, then all the soccer, a full morning of cheer practice, and a baby shower on Saturday, I was feeling beat and behind yesterday. As I was doing load after load of laundry, I realized it had been a while since I'd done any ... that stuff piles up! You would think with a mostly free Sunday I would have made it to the grocery store, but it was cold and gloomy, so the best I could do was order for pick-up tonight. Nobody was disappointed that we had to go out for pizza last night. Sara has been working hard on her two Harry Potter sets.

Tonight I'm blogging from soccer practice while Sara is at cheer ... and I'll be back in these bleachers again tomorrow night.  These are the days! 

The Best Break

It has been so nice to have winter break continue for a few days into the new year. We have really been able to relax!  During the day on New Year's Eve, we went to Six Flags. It was crowded, but we still got on tons of rides, and enjoyed the beautiful day, which was sandwiched between many cold and rainy ones.  This is the only picture I took - Emma enjoying rainbow Dippin' Dots after we rode the antique cars and waited for Steve and Sara to finish a huge roller coaster.

Both girls got Lego sets for Christmas. Emma was proud of this nearly 600-piece resort she put together. This came on the heels of completing a smaller burger stand set. Sara's Harry Potter castle set is still a work in progress. I enjoy watching them both work through the building process; it's often harder than it looks and takes lots of concentration.

 Emma has been in an afternoon soccer camp this week with a couple of her teammates, which has been great. She was ready for some structure back in her routine, and of course soccer is always the answer for her. Before camp started on Wednesday, we had to go get her new shoes. When we were at Six Flags, I noticed that her toes were nearly about to pop out of the front of her running shoes!  We decided to get actual turf shoes since her team is in the middle of the winter indoor season anyway. While she was at camp, Sara and I went to the mall so she could use her Justice gift card (and then some...). Then we went to Country Burger for lunch. She's been craving it for ages and was thrilled when I pulled into the parking lot!

 Yesterday while Emma was at camp, and it was super cold and rainy, Sara and I did yoga. We first did a thirty-minute yoga workout, and then completed yoga challenge poses. Lots of fun for us and good times for our muscles! It was clearly different than my usual gym workouts because I'm good-sore today!

 We had to use up the last of our Christmas Rice Krispies (about two cups worth), so we made RK treats in these cute individual bread pans my mom gave me. Perfect single servings.

 Emma has also been into drawing portraits this week. She's super proud of her work! She'll disappear into her room for a while and emerge with new drawings. Everyone wheres stripes.

Today while Emma was at camp, Sara and I went to Target. We picked out some modest make-up for her upcoming cheer competitions, and just enjoyed slowly browsing the various sections. We only bought a *few* extra things. Sara was super excited to have lunch in the Target cafe, and I reminisced about how we always bought a sleeve of popcorn during our Target trips growing up (don't you all remember the white paper sleeve-bag that was like fifty cents? The best!).  I've been very thankful for my quality time with Sara this week during soccer camp hours. We've had some great conversations and lots of laughs together.

This afternoon was nice outside finally, so I worked on cleaning up the back porch/pool area and the girls rode their scooters on the path behind our house.  As we wind down to prepare to get back to reality, life winds up: tomorrow is cheer, soccer game, a birthday party, big Cyclones game versus KU, and a Cowboys play-off game. I also need to run to Sam's to get some items for my staff for Monday morning. I'm ready to go back to work (the girls aren't quite ready to go back to school), but it sure has been a great winter break. Feeling very fulfilled and ready for the new year!

Book Talk

I love that Steve always gets me new books for Christmas and that, over the break, I have plenty of time to read them.

 The Wife Between Us was a great thriller. It first seems like it's just the story of a jealous ex-wife, but as the story unfolds, there are so many layers. I found myself flipping back to earlier chapters in the book frequently as new clues were revealed and I tried to piece it all together. There were still some loose ends for me when the book finished, which I guess is part of what makes it a good mystery.  This was a hard one to put down. I even read in the car on the way to and from San Antonio - and I'm a terrible car reader.

Nine Perfect Strangers felt a little different to me than Moriarty's other books I've read. It did still have a perfect element of suspense, as nine strangers find themselves at a high-end health resort for a ten-day cleanse. They've all ended up there for different reasons, and their time together is nothing short of bizarre under the leadership of the resort's owner. I really liked the variety of characters and the story about where they all came from and where they were going. Another excellent page-turner. 

"Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson