Madeline started gymnastics here at the first of January and totally loves it. I think she is quite talented. Last weekend she got to "compete" in her first gymnastics meet. It was super cute and very fun for her. She loves to perform and did an amazing job.
The following day she had her first basketball game here in Pullman and scored her very first basket!!!!
She is quite busy with activities including Spanish, Girl Scouts, Basketball and gymnastics. For now Jude isn't doing anything but in the spring will start soccer and t-ball. My goodness kids!!!!
I think I can make it!!!! I just have to make it through tomorrow and they will be back where they belong! HAHA School. I am so sorry I ever took you for granted. Actually this has been a pretty easy week. The kids were great and really had a great time. I am just ready to be back in the swing of things.
The snow is still here but I'm not sure how fun it is anymore. It has been kind of iced over as the temp has risen and could be a major hazard if we got too crazy. Which they most definitely have been. The hill right next to our house is quite steep! And one of the runs that they created has developed quite a jump.
Ok snow day one = tons of fun
snow day two = still fun but kids a little cranky
What will snow day three bring????? That's right. We are starting the third day of no school. The kids aren't up yet but I am pretty sure Madels will be sad to hear that school is closed because she will have to miss gymnastics and Jude will probably be thrilled to have another day of fun. And I, well I don't know. We will see.
Yesterday our snow became a little icy and wet. That made for quite a mess coming in and out of the house. Thank goodness for a tiled entry. It also made for a mom that didn't go outside much. I should take a picture of my entry way it's quite a sight with all the snow boots and gear piled up as the kids come in for a hot chocolate break!
One of my neighbors gave us a mini donut maker and so I thought a snow day would be a perfect day to give it a whirl. I think they turned out perfect! And the kids snarfed them.
There were several recipes that came with the donut maker but they all called for things I didn't have, so I found a recipe online that worked great! Check it here. I also knew what I wanted to use for my frosting so I called my sissy and got the recipe from her.
We had lots of fun making snow ice cream too!!! Our fun neighbors brought down all the fixings and the kids loved covering their snow cream with all kinds of treats. This was also my first time making snow ice cream that wasn't sprinkled with bits of leaves and gravel! HAHAHA I remember making it with Lindsey and Grandma Merlyn any time we had snow!
For now. I am not going to try and catch up on the last month but I thought I would share some fun pictures from our last couple of snow days!
School was cancelled Wednesday and Thursday and the kids are loving every second of it! There has been about 189473874 cups of hot cocoa consumed along with 5798759248754 marshmallows. Our neighborhood has lots of great sledding hills and the kids have had so much fun running all over the neighborhood with friends. Some hills are good for sliding down on your tummy, others sitting upright and then of course there is one that is great for surfing. aka snowboarding.
We didn't get any new snow over night but I did just look out to see that it is at it again. From what I saw on the news we have got about 12" over the last three days!
Cocoa Break!!
The Boys!
Today is another snow day! Not sure when we will head out to play but I know the kids are looking forward to a lot more fun.
I will leave you with this video of Jude from last night. Sorry it is so dark.
I am changing the title of this great song to Christmas without family. And I think the line in the title of this post is oh so fitting for my firework selling family!
It's no secret I'm a family girl! And who can blame me? All around I have a pretty awesome family.
I mean seriously did any one else's Uncle and Aunt dress up as the Mr & Mrs Claus this year?
and how about these amazing cousins! They chatted with me on skype while our mothers did the dishes. You know we wouldn't want to break tradition and actually help in the kitchen.
I'm a pretty lucky lady if you ask me. And also if you ask me I have done some pretty crazy things to make sure I was at these awesome get togethers in the past.
There was the year I broke out the tears while working at Candy Tyme!
Definitely did some major begging and pleading with co-workers at Nordstrom to switch shifts and the most famous, or shall I say infamous would be the syrup of ipecac incident!
You read that right. I did it. I took that awful potion while at work to get out of working on a day that I wanted to be with my family. I won't go into detail but I will say I did eat clam chowder and orange pop for lunch that day.
But this year, this year was different. I didn't have a co-worker to switch shifts with, a manager's trash can to vomit in or anyone to cry to about why I can't miss this Christmas dinner with my family! It's a weird feeling. So this year for the first time in forever I didn't get to run around to 328473897 Christmas parties but I did manage to make it look like I did.
Thanks girls for taking me around at the Kume Christmas Party!!!
Now believe me I am so so sad to have missed these parties but I kind of feel like a grown up because of it.
I didn't throw any fits! What a big girl I am.
Now don't feel too bad for me. I will be at my parents house for the next week and will get to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day with our family and as a bonus I get to spend Thursday night with some pretty great friends too!
And just for the record this is where the Jer man ended up!
I may or may not have woken up in a slight panic at 12:30 realizing Jerry hadn't made his move.
I think it is pretty obvious that I didn't consult Pinterest on this one! hahaa
So tonight we will hit the road to Spokane and hop on the train. And guess what that awesome family came through again and Matt's amazing cousin Torey has spared us a bus ride and is picking us up and taking us to Albany!
Here is what we woke up to saturday morning! ha The kids got a kick out of it. And then of course proceeded to eat all of the marshmallows!
Our Saturday was a nice relaxing day. Matt didn't have to work so that was just wonderful. The kids played with the neighborhood friends most of the day which they hadn't done in a while so they were thrilled!
This is our wonderful bittersweet chocolate cake with coffee ice cream! HOLY FRIJOLES!!! It was so good!
Matt and I had a date in the evening to a wonderful restaurant here in town called Swilly's. It was nice to have some time just the two of us since we haven't had much time together since Matt has been working like a mad man on his latest project. Click here to keep up with his project.
Yep, that's right. Jerry went for a ride in the night! HAhaha The kids are cracking up and wondering where in the world he found that string. They are coming up with all kinds of ideas as to where the string came from. It's pretty awesome. I love that they totally believe that he is magic and is doing this all on his own. Now we have to figure out how to get him to Albany with us. I am going to have to sneak him in the bag at the last minute and then have mom quick grab him when we get there. You hear that mom? I'm going to need your help.
Speaking of, going to Albany. We are quite excited to be taking the train this time! The kids and I will be taking the train early tuesday morning. We will hop on the train around 2:30 am so I am hoping that we sleep most of the time. Then once we are make it to Portland we will take the bus!!! Yippeeee. Now that is going to be an experience.
Matt will meet up up with us on Friday for a crazy weekend of family fun! We are so looking forward to spending time with our family!!!
So that being said, I had better get my buns going and get our stuff packed! Yikes. I haven't started and we are leaving tomorrow night.
