2nd grade play

This afternoon was the plays in Carson's class. They performed six that had a little twist from the originals.

Carson is the Cicada Prince and Gabriella is Spiderella. During this scene the Prince had everyone try on the 8 glass slippers to find who was at the ball. Now he is playing music for Spiderella, who he wants to become his wife.

All the plays were great! Everyone knew their part and they talked loud enough so everyone could hear.

In Little Red Riding Hood there was a Tricky Monkey instead of the wolf. 

Now Carson is dressed up at Grandma. (I was in the second row of a very crowded room.)

miss this girl

Bailee suggested to FaceTime!!! She must be missing us...finally!!

We had a fun, silly conversation today. Look at Karlee. She's making faces too! I sure love my girls.

Saturday fun

Some friends of ours gave this tent to us years ago. The boys have loved playing in it. Especially Carson and Adam. But no one has EVER slept in it. Until now.

Carson has so much stuff with him there's barely room for him. He said he slept good, till he heard Dad snoring at 4 AM.  :D

We've had a light out since we moved in. But not any longer! This ladder was a Christmas gift for Brian. Just want you to know that Brian is 6'5". He doesn't look so tall on that ladder. It's scary at the top. I got up there trying to help. I didn't last very long and told him we can survive just fine with only 3 lights if he wants. :)

Mason loved the camp out, of course. They have another scheduled for May and June too. Plus Scout Camp is July. He's getting very excited. 

Karlee had a basketball game today and they won!!  All the girls played very well. Karlee made a couple baskets. She shot many many more times but they never went in. Oh well. That's how life is sometimes. 

tornado ally

When we left Texas I thought we would be finished with tornados. Little did I know that we would be at the north end of tornado ally. Wednesday tornados touched down in central Illinois. We had winds gusting to 60 miles an hour. Luckily no tornado but still damage.

We gave the kids this trampoline for Christmas. They've been on it twice! Now it's destroyed. Luckily it got caught on this tree or it world have smacked into our neighbors house.

Now we need to decide if we're going to replace it. Life sure is expensive.

camp out

I just dropped Mason off at the church to go camping with the scouts. It "feels like" 17 degrees outside. I'm glad they will be sleeping in a cabin tonight. Brrr...

He's super excited!!

fencing

Trying something new! The boys loved it!! They now want me to buy all the gear after one class. Baby steps boys. Baby steps.

playtime

This is how Brian and Carson play together in the snow!!

she can fetch!!

Finally!!!

love FaceTime

McKinzie had the day off today so it was a perfect day to FaceTime! 

Retta stayed on McKinzie's lap longer than usual. She kept trying to kiss the phone. What I would give for a kiss from her. In this picture she's biting her nails. I've never known a baby to do that. This is about the only time she sat still enough to get a picture. After awhile Adam was encouraging Retta to bite him. Then they would both laugh!

McKinzie needed to put Retta down for a nap so Adam took me to his tent to play. It was great!! He introduced his friends to me. He has a bunny named Pickles. Two Thomas the Trains. A frog named Bounce A Lot, and another frog that I can't remember his name at the moment. It was fun, a little motion sickness but fun! He also showed me his Wocket. He didn't put it in his pocket though... Down his pants!!

He made me laugh and laugh! I miss them so much!! All of them! Some days I just ache. 

more snow

There were times it was snowing so hard I couldn't hardly see the houses behind us. I think we got at least 6" today. 

This is what Carson looks like when he plays in the snow blower while Brian is clearing the driveway. Crazy boy!!

skiing

The kids were so excited to go skiing!  The process to get our skis almost killed the excitement though. We arrived at 10, wanting the kids to have lessons at 11. By the time we got outside we only had 15 minutes till lessons. (In hindsight it's probably good we didn't try to take them down the bunny hill first.)

It was a beautiful morning!! Probably 15 degrees but no wind!! Perfect! While the kids had lessons Brian and I went skiing by ourselves. After a few runs I decided I wanted to try a jump! Crazy, right?! 

Brian wasn't up for it so he watched in case I hurt myself. The first time I was amazed with my speed after the jump. The second time I caught air, which was amazing! I feel backwards on my back but still moving down the hill. I started to get back up then I bit it!! I rolled and rolled and came to a stop on my stomach. I did the jump one more time, caught air, and landed!! Loved it!!! It was so much fun!

Karlee and Mason decided to snowboard. It was challenging for them to turn or stop, but they kept going. I'm so glad they did! Of course they got better and better. Their bodies hurt tonight though. 

Once Carson was ok with speed he did great!! He would go straight down the hill and turn to get back in line to go up again. 

Karlee and Carson both went on the lift with me. Karlee kept struggling to not fall but she's a fighter. Carson didn't hardly "snowplow" as he headed down. Kind of a do or die mind set. He made me a little nervous. 

Over all it was a success!! Everybody is a little sore, ok Brian and I are more than a little, but are up to do it again!! Wahoo!!

valentines

This year Carson couldn't attach candy to his valentine cards. We both thought, "No candy for valentines!! No way!!"  He told me because of ants. (I thought, lame!) Then I read a note that came home today that mentioned allergies. (OK, that's reasonable.) 

I started checking out Pinterest for ideas. Carson liked them ALL until he realized how much work they would be. He settled on these. 

I printed out the template, Karlee cut them out, them I cut slits in them for Carson to slide a pencil through. :) Can I say he made them? 

I couldn't find valentine pencils so I found colorful ones. I actually like them better. 27 homemade valentines. Super easy! Super cute!!

party party

Carson's party was fun! They played bingo, made a Valentine, and decorated a cookie. 

Carson's group was last decorating that the boys started putting the icing in their strawberries and on their popcorn. Carson was even putting icing and popcorn in his strawberry. 

He was a little bummed they couldn't open their Valentines at school. There's never enough time to do everything. 

all hearts...and kisses

I left Valentine notes around the house for my boys. 

Karlee isn't able to have breakfast with us because of early morning seminary so when I took her to her Ortho appointment this morning I had a surprise for her. That's whip cream in there too. It was a yummy breakfast for all!

Giordano's deep dish pizza is the best!!

Brian left some kisses around the house for me. Love him!!

For an extra surprise we told the kids we're taking them skiing tomorrow! The first time skiing for all of them. I hope they have fun. I'm super excited to go myself. 

💝 Happy Valentines Day!! 💝

honor roll

On the Honor Roll again!! Way to go Mason!! I love you!!

teeth

Karlee has had braces for 25 months! That's an Ortho appointment every 6 weeks, mostly lunches and a few donuts together. It's been fun! I'm amazed at how much Karlee has grown over those two years. She is so dang cute!!

Early January her Dr told her February they could come off. She's been counting down ever since. Especially once February started. Today finally arrived.

Doesn't she look beautiful?! Those teeth weren't cheap!  Keep smiling girl! Love you!!

still cold

In the month of January we didn't have one full week of school. We ended up having four days cancelled due to temperatures too cold. The first two days we had temps -40 with windchill. The Friday before MLK day we were out then of Monday for MLK. Then the next week we had two more days out for more cold. We're ALL so tired of the cold.

One cold morning in January I found Carson laying on a vent trying to warm up before he went to get ready for school. He thought the vent was way too small. 

I just took a look at the forecast and in five days we're supposed to above freezing, FINALLY! Then in 10 days we should be above 40!! I can't wait! With how cold it's been that almost flip flop weather. A girl and hope!!

new driver

Yesterday Karlee and I went our for another drive. We've only driven 4 or 5 times. I figured she was ready for more than our quiet neighborhood roads. We headed over to Randall Rd, four lane, shopping center, and more traffic. We had been driving 20 minutes or so and were headed home.

She had a green arrow to turn right. As she was making her turn she was hit. She handled it very well!  She quickly stopped the Yukon and put it in park. No anger, no yelling, nothing. I was impressed! In fact, she enjoyed all the excitement that went along with an accident.

The South Elgin PD and FD were amazing!  They were nice and arrived quick. A witness stayed around to talk with the police too. All in all it was a nice experience considering the situation. 

Hopefully she doesn't need to experience this again. Been there, done that. :)

classroom help

A couple Fridays a month I help out in Carson's class. Usually the moms help publish their work. (Type in Word then print.)  Today was a little different. We helped them with scenery for their upcoming plays. Carson is in two, "Little Late Riding Hood" and "Spiderella". All of the kids are very excited!! Carson practices his lines almost daily.

I love how organized their boots are. ;)

Here is the cast for "Spiderella". Five girls and Carson. He's the Prince! That's the reason he wanted to do this particular play. He asked Mrs. Kinney if he could bring a plastic sword as a prop. They did a great job today! They drew it out then I outlined with a Sharpie. Carson is working on the castle. The play will be in March or April. It will be exciting!!