This is what play looks like

Winter has been a little wild this month.  It has snowed every other day for almost three weeks.  In between the storms we've tried to play outside as much as possible.  This day Kelton was lucky enough to have two friends over, Matteo and Max.  It's still weird for me to see Kelton outside with boys his age.  

Kelton and Daxton went to town drawing chalk bubbles on the sidewalk.  They were so disappointed when it snowed enough to cover them.  I'm pretty sure they were out there for two or three hours working on that.  

When it's cold, they're inside.  They made...weapons...out of coffee filters.  At least I don't have to worry about them injuring themselves.  

When they're stuck inside for too long however, the games just get weird.  Notice the chair completely turned on its side in the background?  Save me from the chaos!  

The kids also had student-led conferences this week.  One of Kelton's stations was to see how fast they could build a tower out of 100 cups.  It was a very fun station.  I'm just grateful that my kids know how to use their imagination and enjoy playing.

Little Sunbeam

On the way to church in January, I suddenly realized that Daxton was going to Sunbeams!  I completely forgot that he wasn't going to nursery anymore and that he was now a "big kid."  He didn't have any warning at all and was just thrown into class.  He is the only Sunbeam-aged kid in our ward, which is a little sad.  They put him with the CTR 4 class, which in some ways is nice because those are the kids he will be going to kindergarten with anyway.  At least knows Coleson, and kind of remembers Evie...so it's not horrible.  Anyway, he's been doing great.  I think he really loves singing time.  This kid loves music.  

Last week he was asked to give the talk in Junior Primary.  I don't remember Sunbeams giving talks just a couple weeks after being thrust into the system, but oh well.  He gave a talk on how Jesus wants us to be happy.  He got up there with no fear, ate the microphone, and faithfully repeated everything Jeremy whispered in his ear.  I was so proud of the little guy.

  

V-day up at Keystone

We had one more weekend trip up to Keystone planned for this season, and as a bonus the Werners were going to join us for our final day.  The first day was cloudy and kind of cold.  The kids did well, it was just so cold!  I can't complain too much though because we had the mountain to ourselves, and Daxton was skiing well enough that we could all ski together which was awesome!  

The next day was Valentine's Day and it was a much more pleasant experience.  We had a delicious pink breakfast of strawberries and crepes up at the hotel.  The sun was shining, and it promised to be a perfect ski day. 

 

Making our way to the mountain.  Have I said before how ingenious these wagons are?

We found the Werners pretty quickly and the kids loved it.  The kids are all roughly the same level so they can just go without worrying about leaving anyone behind.  Greg and Jeremy stayed up top with the little boys for the first part of the day while Ashley and I took the rest of the kids around the mountain.  

When we met up for lunch, poor Kelton decided that he was just too exhausted to continue.  He fell asleep at the table and slept there for almost two hours.  When he woke up he was doing much better and we were able to squeeze in a few more runs together as a family.  

Daxton was comfortable enough by then that he enjoyed going on the bumps with the other kids.  The kid adventure zones were a huge hit for everyone, and I was really happy that Daxton had enough control to make it through without too much trouble.  However, teaching a kid how to ski is exhausting!  My obliques were killing me by the end of the weekend simply from hauling him up and around.  

I insisted on one family picture before we left for the day.  The view from the top of School Marm is one of my absolute favorites.  Maybe we'll be able to find a way to find more passes before the season is over, because I know the kids are not ready to be done. 

38 only comes once

Jeremy's birthday this year was pretty low-key.  The most exciting part about the whole celebration was probably the wrapping of his presents.  Apparently we were completely out of tape, so Cambrie wrapped his presents in the crock pot, the insta-pot, the paper towel roll, and a tissue box.   

He received a random assortment of gifts this year.  He got some new mugs, a bendy drill bit, training fuel, new work pants, and some tickets to...Celine Dion!  He has said that he would love to see Celine Dion in concert, but I do not want to go to Las Vegas to make that happen.  Back in November I saw that she is going to be in Denver over spring break for one show.  Yea!  Now we can see her perform and not have to go anywhere.  Happy 38th birthday hun!

Snow sculptures

Things have been a little crazy around here lately.  I ended up with the flu which knocked me flat in bed for four days.  The first two days jeremy was at work, so I have no idea what the kids did while I was sleeping.  I'm pretty sure they ate their way through an entire Costco sized box of Eggo waffles.  On Sunday I was glad that Jeremy was home because the kids needed help, and I needed to go to the doctor.  Come to find out, I had THE flu.  They always say you should get the flu shot each year, and every year I ignore them because you can never be sure it will even be effective.  Well, now I know why they make such a big deal of it.  I just feel bad because I'm pretty sure Daxton and McKenzie also had it, but we did nothing for them except let them sleep.  Mine became a little more complicated in that I ended up with an ear infection and a perforated eardrum.  That was absolutely excruciating.  I think I scared the kids with how much I was howling.  That rotten eardrum changed a lot of plans: we couldn't go skiing the next day, I can't fly to Arizona with Jeremy on Friday, I can't swim for a month, and I can't hear out of my left ear.  Those are just the highlights.  It is absolutely miserable not being able to hear.  Unfortunately when I'm forced to be homebound I become really, really cranky.  I decided I needed to have some sort of adventure before I exploded, so I risked the altitude change and drove up to Breckenridge.  We haven't been up to see the snow sculptures in a couple of years now, and I missed them.  Daxton didn't have school, so he was my buddy.  Luckily Jeremy didn't have work either so it was the three of us on an adventure.  

Daxton loved finding giant icicles as we walked around.  

The sculptures were pretty impressive.  I had a hard time choosing a favorite, but there were plenty to enjoy.  

Daxton's favorite.  

Side one.  

Side two.  

I was just really glad we were able to get out of the house and go have some fun.  

Finally Four

This goofy kid has been counting down since McKenzie's birthday for his own.  He wanted to party all day long!  Unfortunately he is my only kid who has to deal with going to school on his birthday.  I made him go to school after breakfast.  What a mean mom I am.  

But as a consolation prize he received a crown that he wore all day.  

After he got home he kept asking about that pile of presents on the table.  "Can I open them yet?  Can I open them yet?  Can I open them yet?"  I told him that once everyone was home from school then we could open his gifts.  4:00 couldn't come fast enough.  

Finally it was gift time.  He got a Mac truck he's been asking for for years, a swing for the basement, Guess Who, and a Lego marble run.  

Cambrie wasted no time at all helping him set up his marble track.  

For his cake he requested an Optimus Prime cake.  We had gone to the store looking for an Optimus Prime figurine for the top, but just found a standard Transformer instead.  Jeremy ended up doing some fabulous fondant work for the kid and he was thrilled.  He had a fun surprise of having Papa and Dantley here for his birthday, and they helped celebrate. This goofball is four-years-old!  It's an age that seems just right for him. 

Playoffs at Lambeau

On a complete whim, the boys decided to take a weekend trip out to Green Bay to watch the Packers battle the Seahawks.  When I say "a complete whim," I mean they talked about it Tuesday night, bought tickets on Wednesday, Dantley and Bruce flew out on Friday, they all flew to Green Bay on Saturday, they watched the game Sunday, and flew back on Monday.  Judging by their smiles though, I think the spontaneous trip was well worth it.  It didn't come without its fair share of troubles.  The first obstacle they had to overcome was that their flight to Chicago was cancelled because of snow just an hour before they left for the airport.  In a frantic search they found another flight out to Minneapolis that they could barely catch.  We rushed them to the airport and they rushed to their gate.  Unfortunately Dantley realized he left his bag in security.  While he dashed back to get it, Bruce was running interference so they wouldn't take off without him.  Unfortunately he didn't get his bag (he had to turn around to catch the flight), and the flight attendants were not happy with their delay tactics. 

 Once in Minneapolis they needed to stop at the Mall of America to buy D some new gear.

  

The irony of that, was that the only cold weather gear he had with him were his boots...which he left at the hotel the day of the game.  Luckily the snow that was forecast for the game didn't come in full force and the guys didn't freeze.  Don't they look amazingly happy to be there?  

It was a dream come true for these guys to watch a game at Lambeau Field.  The icing on the cake was that the Packers won!  Sometimes crazy weekends are exactly what we need.