Finite

Hallelujah!  We are done with the basement!  It was a little touch and go there with the inspectors at the end, but we so desperately wanted to get everything checked off, that Jeremy got a little creative to get those final signatures.  We're done!  We're done!  As soon as the carpet was installed it felt like home.  

The kids wasted no time in requesting their toys that have been hiding in the crawl space for the last nine months.  It is always so interesting to me to see the kids rediscover their toys.  Cambrie showed the boys how to play with the doll house.  McKenzie and Cambrie pulled out their American Girl dolls and dressed them up for the first time in ages.  The boys started building forts with the giant building blocks.  Even though we don't have furniture downstairs yet, it is full of the cities they are so fond of building.  Little toys everywhere.  The kids couldn't be happier and it definitely feels like home.  

I am thrilled that we have a dedicated spot for our bikes again, and we can bike at strange hours without annoying each other. What I'm most excited about is having designated storage for all of my decorations!  The closet that was so carefully designed, does in fact hold all of my totes!  And the closet under the stairs does indeed hold all my wreaths!  Is it sad that I'm excited about storage?

  The boys have pulled all of their gaming beanbags downstairs now so that they can play their Nintendo Switch, which is a much better arrangement than playing under the piano.  We'll eventually get around to decorating it, but for now there is a bed for grandparents, a functioning bathroom, a real laundry room, and a place where the kids can run around and be wild that isn't their bedroom.  What a relief to have it done! 

Hamilton

Cambrie received Hamilton tickets for Christmas, and it was finally time to enjoy the show.  I watched the production on Disney+ so I at least knew what expect, but I was nothing compared to Cambrie.  She's been blasting the soundtrack for months.  She can sing every song and let out a little squeal when Hamilton came onstage.  I chuckled because she was literally bouncing in her seat with excitement.  She had such a hard time not singing along the entire performance.  I caught her a couple times singing under her breath and she just blushed.  It was an incredible show and so much fun so share the night with Cambrie!

 

Valentines Day

What do you do when you're supposed to making a holiday special for your kids, but your head is so full of other things you think it might explode simply handling life?  You muddle on anyway.  I was awful this year preparing anything special for Valentine's Day.  That morning I was able to pull out pink waffles with fruit and strawberry milk.  

I also had the foresight to pick up some special macaron cookies for them earlier.  

But I'm afraid that's all the celebration we had this year.  There were no flowers, special love notes, or a candlelit dinner.  I tried making heart-shaped pizzas...but they ended up as normal circles.  As more years pass, I don't know if it's a natural part of having my kids grow up, or if my capacities or expectations have changed, but these holidays are getting harder for me.  I remember when they all had fun new festive T-shirts ready to wear to school.  I had a whole day, or whole week, of fun meals planned.  I remember making special crafts, special treats, or having little parties with their friends.  Sometimes I like change, and sometimes change makes me really sad.  Sometimes I wish I was still that young mom full of fun activities and energy.  Sometimes I feel bad for my kids that pink waffles is all I can handle.  But I guess Happy Valentine's Day anyway?  

40 and Over the Hill? I don't think so

Holy cow, this handsome fella turned 40 years old this year!  

I know that many will have grand over the hill parties when they turn 40, but that didn't quite seem to be fit.  First of all, who says that 40 is over the hill?  I don't feel like we are "old."  In some ways, it still feels like we should be in our late 20s.  At 50 we'll consider throwing an over the hill party, because then maybe we'll feel old enough for that.  It was an incredibly quiet birthday party for Jeremy.  The girls had a youth temple trip that night, (McKenzie's first) and that was exciting.  The rest of us simply waited for them to come home so that we could celebrate.  Daxton was anxious for Jeremy to open his gifts and was a great little gift elf.  With the Olympics on, it was easy to become distracted by the flips and gold medal runs.

  

  One of his gifts was an electric ice-cream maker.  It took four of them to get it out of the box!

  

I also found a company who makes custom ski trail signs.  How cool?  

For his birthday dessert, he requested oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I've never put candles into cookies before, but I'm happy to report that they all stayed where they were supposed to for him to blow them out.  

These kids love their dad.  McKenzie compiled a list of 40 things she loves about him.  She did such a good job, that I'm including that list here:

1-You tuck me in at night

2-You like to jump on the tramp with me

3-You make funny voices

4-You listen to me when I tell you about my day

5-You work so we can live in this house

6-You can understand what I'm feeling

7-You are creative with food and other things

8-You make me smoothies

9- You try to do gymnastics

10-You workout with me

11- You are supportive of my dreams

12- You tell jokes

13- You read me stories

14- You care about our family

15- You watch football with me

16- You race so we can go on trips

17- Your hugs

18- Your determination

19- Making my birthday cakes

20- Going on father-daughters dates

21- You love mom

22- You make delicious food

23- Your smile

24. You play games with me

25- Telling me to be the best I can be

26- Helping me try new things

27- Your kindness

28- Your intelligence

29- You are the best bug remover

30- You can fix anything

31- You taught me gun safety

32- You let me sleep with you

33- Riding the longboard into the sewers

34- Your love for me

35- You picking me up from gymnastics

36- You like the Olympics

37- You let me stay up late

38- How you give me flowers on Valentines Day

39- You take me swimming

40- You're my Dad

Recognizing awesomeness

This girl was chosen as one of the Grizzly Core students of the term.  She has adjusted to middle school really well, and I am shocked by how responsible she is.  Her grades are top notch and she does her homework sometimes weeks before it's even due.  

I'm so proud of you kiddo!

 

Back up at Keystone

Skiing is officially underway this season!  I have four kids who are so excited to be on the slopes, and I'm excited to see what they can do.  It took us a few runs to shake off the rust from the off season.  The very first run of the day we lost Daxton in the trees.  He was so fast that he took off down another run before anyone had seen which way he'd gone.  Luckily a kind mother found him and skied down to the bottom of the hill with him and her other children.  I expected Daxton to be upset, but he was smiling and just happy to be there.  After that we did a better job of staying together.  Our crew was so comfortable that after lunch we ventured off to some of the other peaks we haven't explored before.  With fresh snow I think those runs would have been fantastic.  Unfortunately we found ice which made it rough on the little legs with little muscles.  It was a great day full of sunshine, which was perfect.  

At the top, Cambrie found a sheet of eye stickers and decided to give McKenzie's helmet a bit of an upgrade.  Perfect!  

Yay for snow piles.  Sometimes I think the kids like climbing those more than sliding down the mountain.  

Hello ski season!

We're getting close

I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but we are making progress on the basement!  Jeremy finished building my barn doors, and I absolutely love them.  It was then up to me to get the things painted.  Ee gads, that took a lot of work.  Thankfully they look even better than I hoped. 

We also finished the laundry room last night!  I have a laundry room for the first time in three years!  It looks so pretty!  All we're waiting on now is shelving for the closets and carpets.  So, so close!