Life has been pretty good for us all lately. The report cards came out last week and everyone looks to be doing well. Some grades went up and some went down, but we are satisfied…all A’s and B’s (and S’s and E’s for satisfactory and excellent for Anika).
Mike was gone in Utah for our traditional St. Patrick's Day meal, but we celebrated anyway. Corned beef and cabbage cooked in beer, red potatoes, and green pudding! What a fun holiday.
On Sunday last weekend, my co-leader and I took our older Girl Scout troop ice skating. You know how my girls love that! We had a great time. Most of the girls had never been ice skating before. They all tired out after about one hour or so, except Kelby and one other scout.
At our meeting that week we had a guest mom bring a baby in to talk to the girls about taking care of babies. We had a fun time watching baby Maddy crawl around!
Friday was the school’s walk-a-thon. The girls were supposed to raise money, but weren’t really motivated. They had nice weather for their walking at least!
On March 1st we got a new addition to our extended family. Baby Zane was born to Zach and Melissa at a hefty 10 lbs 13 ounces! He is so cute. We visited them in the hospital and the big girls held him, but Anika wasn’t too interested in holding a baby.
Doesn’t he look like a 3 month old?
Girl Scout cookie season is finally over now. We’ve been out selling cookies at the grocery stores for the last three weekends.
Apparently I didn’t take a picture of Tegan selling cookies…but she did the best. She even earned the stuffed animal prize. She’s definitely the least timid sales person in our family!
On March 4th the girls didn’t have any school so we hard a little day out together. I took the girls out for Chinese…and no really…it wasn’t just because Chinese is my favorite food!
Then we made our way to Anacortes. I stopped at this place out there called The Donut House and got each of us a donut. They were huge! I can’t wait until we can get out there again. Their Fritters were spectacular! We went out to catch a little hike in Washington park and braved the cold and rain to play on the playground there!
I was just trying to get us out and moving!
The next week the girls tried out for the Missoula Children’s theater play at school. Anika and Tegan got a part, but sadly Kelby didn’t. She was disappointed, but handled it very graciously. The play was “King Arthur’s Quest”. It kept those two busy all week with practices and on Saturday all day with two performances.
They both did a really great job! We were proud of all their hard work and dramatic acting!
On Tuesday night Kelby had a band concert…so luckily she also got her moment in the spotlight. The band did a really good job and have improved greatly since their last concert. Kelby was excited for the concert…but mostly because she’s wanted to switch to the flute, but we wouldn’t let her until after the concert. We’ve already rented the flute, so for the past two weeks she’s been playing both. She has really picked up the flute playing easily and totally on her own. She can’t wait to play it officially in band!
She was in the second row this time, so it was hard to see her!
So, I guess it has been a pretty busy and fun couple of weeks! I am still running if you can believe it…and also occasionally doing “Zumba” on the Wii. I can’t get enough that latin beat and salsa dance as exercise! I ran 4 miles the other night on the treadmill without stopping…very slowly…but still! I realized that was the farthest I’d ever run in my whole life!
Next big project…I started ripping wallpaper off the wall in my downstairs bathroom yesterday! I have hated that wallpaper for 5 years!!! It was time for it to go. So, now there is no turning back, I need to keep at it until it is done. Sadly, no texture on the wall under this wallpaper either…so that adds in another step! Wish me luck!
So, after that fun and exciting last installment about my trip to AZ and Valentines day, it seems like time has flown. It has been mostly full of Girl Scout cookies and snow!
We had some really nice weather right after I got back home…maybe I brought it with me? We got our Girl Scout cookies and walked around the neighborhood with a wagon to deliver pre-sales and to sell some more. The sun was out and we LOVED it!
That Saturday, I took Kelby and her best friend to a Girl Scout event called “Sleepless in the Mall”. The 6th grade and above girls got to spend the night in the mall. They had stuff to do all night, but my two girls are sleepers…so they only made it until midnight. They loved sleeping in the middle of the mall though. We had air mattresses, so it was comfy. They set up in the children’s play area. FUN!
On Sunday after church, Mike took us down to the zoo…so we could appreciate some of the sun while we had it. They all love taking pictures of the animals like their daddy!
Then there came warnings of snow! and after all those pretty sunny days! Little did we know how much we were in for. On Tuesday it came and went, but they cancelled school on Wednesday because there was a few inches on the ground.
That evening we went to an AWANA pine wood derby. The girls had worked hard on making their little cars and they really wanted to see them race. The event wasn’t cancelled for snow, so we just had to try to go. The snow started really coming down at about 5:00, so we had doubts about going, but pushed on through so the girls wouldn’t miss out. We were hoping for the race to get underway fast, but they dawdled. We were beginning to freak out, so after each girls’ car made it down once (they are supposed to race for times) we left. During the hour we were there, eight inches fell. That is ridiculous and NEVER happens around here. Getting out of the parking lot was difficult and Mike had to get out and push us once. We drove home super slow…Tegan cried all the way because she was scared. I think we ended up with at least 18 inches that night! So, no school on Thursday either!
That night was Mike’s birthday day! We were snowed in, so I couldn’t get him anything for a present. At least I had already bought him a Red Velvet cake at Costco! His birthday was kinda boring, but he didn’t seem to mind.
Now we are into Site Sale Season. On Friday night Tegan and Kelby and I sat out in front of a store selling Girl Scout cookies. It was 21 degrees out there…brrrr! We sold lots of cookies…sympathy factor I think! Sold cookies again on Saturday and Anika and I are geared up to do more cookies sales this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday! I actually enjoy doing it. It has been a good experience for the girls….helping them to be girls of courage, confidence, and character!
I have decided to aim toward running a 10K race (six-ish miles) someday! I asked Mike to train me, so for the last week and a half I’ve been running on the treadmill regularly. It feels so good. He’s a good trainer…not too hard on me yet. I’m SO out of shape! I hope to run a 5K race this spring. I want to see myself set and make a real, tangible goal! Here goes nothing!
