Snow much fun!

Whew, we've been cooped up inside for way too long! For the most part it's been a pleasant tolerable winter with just the right amount of snow and not too much cold. We were thankful to NOT have the winter we did last year where we had 30+ days in a row that didn't get above zero degrees and we set a record for snowfall. But... January came. And the freezing temperatures. And then February too. And the bitter cold days stretched on. It was too cold for recess! And too cold to build a snowperson! And too cold to go sledding!

Until today...

Just look at the sun shining! And our happy faces! And our bright fun clothing! And we're outside! 

 These are the faces of some happy people!

 Khloe: The kid who will always choose swinging over any other activity in any weather at any time

Sleeping angels

There is nothing more precious and peaceful and beautiful than a sleeping child. Every parent in the world knows this.

I could stare at them for hours. We've been letting the girls start sleeping in our bed together at night if it's the weekend or if Aaron and I are going to be up late, or if one of us is gone in the evening at bedtime. This provides lots of opportunity for cute photos of sleeping cuddly girls before we carry them to their separate beds.

 The girls go through phases where they love to sleep with their robes on...

 ... or with their big pillows. I don't know how any of this can be comfy.

Little Big Red

Bubble gum, bubble gum

Cherry on top

We are the Little Reds

We rock!

A couple weekends ago the Port Huron High School cheerleaders hosted a cheerleading clinic for K-8th graders that attend schools that feed into PHHS. Kayla was interested in attending, along with many of her friends from school, so we signed her up. The outcome of the clinic was for the cheerleaders to choose a few select girls from each age group to come back and cheer at a high school basketball game. Out of a hundred girls, Kayla and her classmate Danica from Michigamme, were chosen to cheer!

This week she had to go to PHHS with the other girls to practice cheers for the freshman basketball game. Yes, to be honest, it was a little surreal for Aaron and I to see one of our offspring in red and white cheering for Port Huron High School. Never thought this day would happen! It seemed very unnatural and wrong, although we had to quickly get over it.  It was fun for me to watch Kayla interacting with the cheerleaders, who were so wonderful and friendly, while Aaron enjoyed flashbacks to the days of his freshman basketball career, and grandparents came to support Kayla too.

What a special honor and cool experience!

Getting ready to go with warm ups and stretches

 Half time show - the girls had to do their own pyramid stunt! Impressive!

 The entire freshman team and Little Red guests

 Lexie was selected to cheer too for the JV team

Taping into our inner Bob Ross

Our local art studio, Studio 1219, hosted their Lushes and Brushes painting class as a fundraiser for my Friends of St. Clair River group. The Friends group led a winter bird walk in the morning and then the Studio followed it up in the afternoon with this winder cardinal painting, all while enjoying wine and hot chocolate. I thought it sounded like fun to fulfill my dream of being Bob Ross for a day, wanted to support Friends, and decided to bring Kayla along for the experience. I thought we would work together on one painting so we shared a canvas ... turns out that Kayla ended up doing the entire thing by herself! I learned something new about myself that day... as a perfectionist and a control freak, it was REALLY hard for me to sit back and let Kayla do all the work without telling her how to do something or correct what she was doing. Sometimes I just had to get up and walk away from the table because it was almost impossible for me to hold in my words. 

Kayla loved every minute of  the class! Who knew that she is quite the artist and she can't wait to go back to do more. With this kind of talent, I can't wait to take her back and she what masterpiece she creates next!

The instructor sketched out the outline of the picture on everyone's canvas

Beginning with the background first, mixing light blue for the center and fading out to dark blue around the edges

The entire class

Kayla loved doing the branches the best. The instructor couldn't get over how good her branches were and kept complimenting her on them. Even a man next to us leaned over and asked Kayla to do his branches for him!

Adding the finishing touches - snowflakes

The instructor's painting above, and Kayla's final masterpiece

Amazing! We love it and it's hanging up in our foyer!

The entire painting class. It was such a fun afternoon!

BYOSS

One of our favorite  weekends of the winter - Bring Your Own Sled and Sleeping Bag day in Brighton! We love all these girls so much! Luckily we had snow but unfortunately we also had negative temperatures. The little ladies only stayed out for a little bit but the big girls got to go sledding with the dads for a half hour before signs of frost bite started to appear. We all decided to have the party on Valentine's Day so we had a fun valentine's day themed party! We can't think of a better way to spend Valentine's Day than with our favorite people that we love so much!

 Stella 9, Mary 8, Katherine 6, Emma 3, Sophia 7, Kayla 7, Khloe 3, Sadie 3

 The sleeping bag part of the night!

And more sleeping to catch up on sleep

My Valentines

We hand-made our valentines's this year, including Addie's, so one night we had a big valentine making party to make 90! Whew! Khloe's were monkey's, because she is our little monkey, that said "I'm banana's for you!" They turned out cute. 

Khloe's preschool Valentine's Day party

Little artist

Now there's some artistic talent! Notice the symmetry and color coordination of her design. Aside from all that, it's just that we don't endorse coloring on skin. So after the initial speechless shock of the big reveal, several long moments of trying not to laugh too hard or too loud, then snapping a couple photos, we went right upstairs to have a talk and wash it off. I was worried that she would be going to church and school for days with marker on her face, but luckily it was washable marker and came off in 30 seconds.

Yes, she is so completely proud and happy with herself!