Wintering

It's been a true winter in North Texas with lots of cool temps, rain/sleet, and - today - even another "snow" (cold/ice) day for me. The girls were in school, but my district is just a littler further north and that made all the difference. I really would have preferred to be at school since the roads were fine and now it means a make-up day, but I did enjoy finishing a book and having extended time at the gym!

The last month has been filled with all the usual life stuff! Sara's comp team went to UIL, where they unfortunately didn't make it to finals. Their first performance wasn't as sharp as they wanted it to be, but this team has had a lot of adversity and should be proud of a successful season. I clearly didn't buy the pics - just screen-grabbed!

They finished up basketball season, and now are gearing back up for try-outs. The free time has allowed Sara to get back to the tumbling gym. She definitely wants to bring her best to try-outs in March!

Sara recently had a dentist appointment and sent me this selfie from the chair. She would hate me putting it here, but nobody looks at this blog and it's for my memories anyway.😁

While we've had lots of cold, my birthday fell on the most beautiful Sunday. We tried out a new brewery and enjoyed some Mexican food. I was so thankful for the sunshine and time with my family that day.

My coworkers went overboard decorating my office and showering me with gifts. I had purchased this life-size Elf for Christmas festivities in December, and we just keep finding uses for him. The gift that keeps on giving!

The following weekend, we enjoyed (?) the Super Bowl on a cold rainy day with steak sandwiches made on the blackstone.

Valentine's Day landed on a Friday. Sara and Zach had a special date night, while Steve, Emma, and I enjoyed Mexican food after her volleyball practice.

The following day, we were able to squeeze in a Cyclone game watch - a WIN! - between softball and soccer. Sara was working, so she missed this one.

More and more often, it's Steve, Emma, and I together -- or even just the two of us without kids at all! Sara is so busy between school, tumbling, work, friends. Emma is busy with school and balancing all the sports (currently soccer, volleyball, softball, and still helping occasionally on the basketball team), and understandably, she often just craves downtime at home. I love this season with the girls, but it's crazy how I can just feel the shift in dynamic as their priorities take over. The spring will be busier than ever, but we're looking forward to a family week in Florida over spring break!

❄️Snow Days!

Steve and Jim's birthday celebration was all the more exciting this year because by the time we left school on Wednesday, we knew we'd be out for a snow day on Thursday. It felt crazy because Wednesday afternoon was beautiful, but the forecast called for wintery weather going into Thursday. Before it hit, we went for a burger at Ford's Garage and came home for cake.

Serious photo ... this one took some work!

Happy photo!

And candle photo!

The weather predictions turned out to be incredible accurate, and we got several inches of snow on Thursday. By late Thursday morning, school had been canceled for Friday. So after three days back from winter break (two for the girls), we were off yet again. Crazy! We've gotten used to winter weather and closures in late January/early February, but FB memories showed that this same time four years ago was when weather hit.

We got quite a bit more snow this year ... like real snow! Big, giant flakes fell for most of Thursday and into Friday. We took advantage!

Sledding Video

I took this picture of the park on Saturday. The sun had returned, but a nice layer of snow remained. It was really pretty. 

And the roads cleared enough to allow us to get out for a happy hour!

Now most of the snow is gone, though there are several snowmen and huge snowballs at the park that will take a while to melt. While we are used to at least a few days of ice each year, it was fun to get some real snow. None of us remember what a five-day week feels like, so this one might be rough, but so worth it for the memories and extended time together!

Winter Break

 Our winter break was about as low-key as it could have possibly been, but it was great and I think we all needed it! We overindulged in so many ways ... holiday treats and eats, lots of happy hours, late nights, and sleeping in! 

Emma continued to experiment in the kitchen and made these amazing peppermint macarons.

We used our mule mugs ... a seasonal favorite!

And of course had to make lots of chex mix to snack on. This one's a tradition.

Our fam on Christmas Eve, celebrated with the Brittains.

No matter how old they get, we always have to leave cookies and milk for Santa. We were out of carrots so Rudolph got bell peppers this year.

The girls slept until about 9:30 on Christmas morning. The start gets a little later each year, but no less excitement! Jim especially could hardly wait to see what was in his stocking.

Before ...

... and after. The girls were happy with their haul!

Between Christmas and New Years, the girls spent time with friends, at the mall, hanging at home. We did some organizing and collecting of donation items, read books, gave the house a good clean ... the things that are first to go when we're busy! We also joined our DFW Cyclones for the Pop-Tarts Bowl game watch. We didn't have high hopes going in, but it was a great game and our Cyclones were victorious in a hard-fought battle versus Miami!

On NYE, Sara had parties with friends. Steve, Emma, Jim, and I enjoyed a fire in the solo stove and watched the ball drop on TV.

On NYD, I made black-eyed peas that the girls refused to eat, as usual. Steve and I enjoyed them. May the good fortune rub off on all of us this year!

The girls went to see "Wicked" and Emma also saw "Moana 2".

Cheesy grin from our #1 souvenir lover!

We had quite a bit of rain over the break, including even a bout of hail. I was so glad I had just gotten home with my new car! We had a few days of really beautiful weather, and now the cold front is arriving. It's going to be c-ooooo-l-d as we head back to school!

The girls have one more day off as tomorrow is a teacher work day, and I'm all packed up to head back to school in the morning. This guy will have to adjust to the quiet house ... but this face looks a little bit like he's ready for all of his rest time to return to normal. Ha!

Although part of me is wishing I had planned something more for winter break, everyone seems satisfied with the way it turned out. I'm thankful for the time together and the chance to rest before we hit the ground running for second semester.

Merry Christmas

 

Celebrations!

 Our weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas have been filled with a variety of celebrations! Emma performed with her choir on the big stage at our district's fine arts center. She is loving choir and plans to continue next year.

Steve and I spent a Saturday at the Big XII title game! We weren't planning to go because the girls had a lot going on that day, and we were assuming the Cyclones would end up at one of the bowl games in Texas. At the last minute the night before, we decided we HAD to go. Found great tickets, worked out a plan for the girls (thanks, Big Steve!!), and prepared to head out early for the 7:30 a.m. Cyclones tailgate at AT&T Stadium. The weather was terrible ... and honestly so was the game ... but we had the best time and were so happy to be there!

We seriously had amazing seats! The atmosphere was so much fun, and we loved being a little part of Ames in Dallas.

Pretty sure they didn't score (again) on this drive (in fact, this might have been the missed PI call ...). Oh, well. They ended up with a great Bowl game, but not one in TX so we were all the more glad to have gone to the championship game.

My APs had just purchased these overalls for me! I wore them to school the day before and broke them back out for the game. I'm not sure when their next appearance will be, but when the opportunity presents, I'll be ready!

Sara and Zach had a fun evening decorating cookies. Apparently it was a contest and Sara won.

December at school was SO much fun! I brought back my usual variety of celebrations for the the staff. This year, I added in a life-size cutout of Elf, which brought so much laughter, excitement, and *fright* as we wrapped up the semester. Possibly the best $50 I've ever spent.

The biggest celebration of all was Sara's driving test!! It was on the afternoon of her birthday and she was so nervous (I was too!).

She scored a 96! Woo-hoo! After the test at the driving school, we headed to our appointment at the DMV. Getting those appointments to line up took lots of planning many months ago, and I'm so glad it all worked out!

Also glad she passed since the bulk of her gifts were car-related!

Sara has been asking for years to eat at Bob's, and we finally indulged her for her Sweet Sixteen. We had a cozy booth among the dark wood paneling, and it was everything she had hoped it would be. She was so impressed that they had a birthday card waiting for her, and the GM even came over to wish her a Happy Birthday.

Sara's main birthday gift was a trip to Tulsa to see Zack Bryan. We bought tickets several months ago, and last weekend made the trip to Tulsa for Sara and Ally to attend the show.

I went to the plaza with them to buy merch, then we grabbed something to eat across the street before they headed into the venue. Don't let their outfits fool you ... it was cold. But they sure looked good!

We hit a super cute Starbucks on the way out of town. I'm so glad these BFFs had the best weekend! We made it home in time for them to do their last minute studying for finals.

It was a crazy week at school, but super celebratory and lots of fun. We had a successful staff party, and everyone left on Friday tired but happy. Of course I immediately met Steve at one of our favorite spots to toast the winter break!

Emma has started playing volleyball - a new sport for her! She was introduced to it in pre-athletics this fall, and wants to try to make the team next year. She and a friend from school are on this beginner team, and they're doing pretty well. After years of doing the same sports, it's fun to see Emma try something new!

Last night, Steve got last minute tickets to the Mavs game so he and Emma headed downtown. They had a blast! Sara and I went out to eat and then she sucked me into a new Netflix show that I didn't necessarily enjoy, but was glad she asked me to watch with her.

Today we made cookies! Emma has been a big help this season - she's done a bunch of our wrapping and made our gingerbread dough. She has plans to make some peppermint macarons, too.

Tomorrow we have a full day of doctor's appointments before Christmas. The next few days will be busy and festive ... and then our restful break will really start. I have big plans for the closets and visions of lots of donation bags, so hopefully I can get everyone on board with that plan. First, we're just going to continue the celebrations!