Day Dates are the Best!

My sisters and I have talked about taking each other's kids so that we can go out on a date without having to pay for a babysitter; the last time we were all together, we actually decided to make it happen! I have always liked the concept, but I never want to pick my kids up late from someone's house and then have to come home after a date and put tired kids to bed late. So we decided to do a day date and go up to the mountains for some cross country skiing! We dropped the girls off at Kelsey's house around 8:30 and headed up to Mt. Baker. (They spent the day playing legos, coloring, and taking a walk to the library.)

Yesterday was pretty cloudy and rainy at our house so we weren't quite sure what the conditions would be like in the mountains, but it worked out quite well! The sun tried to come out and then it started to snow; about 30 minutes before we were finished, it turned into a really wet snow and we were really wet by the time we made it back to the car. 

We went to the same place that we normally go to, Salmon Ridge Sno-Park, but this time we were able to make it significantly farther than we've gone before. It was so pretty! We took Shelby with us and she loved it...and pretty much hasn't moved today! 

Lunchtime along the Nooksack River

The Rest of January

January has been a pretty dreary month with a lot of rain and snow so we haven't been able to spend too much time outside. That means that there has been lots of time inside for art projects, dancing, reading books, and playing legos. 

Kyle took Annaliese to the Y to play racquetball. She loved it!

Coloring by lantern...the power went out one afternoon.

Thane made these shelves for me for Christmas...I love how it turned out!!

Lydia, Annaliese, Nora, and Haleigh...Kyle went on a hike with the girls and his friend Justin while I was hoping sleeping. 

Homemade playdough creations

Malachi and Lydia playing in the puddles at Hovander.

Lots of water across the trail!

January went by really fast; now we're already a week into February. I would say 2020 has been off to a good start. We starting using a new book called 1-2-3 Magic to get the girls to be better listeners and it has made a huge difference at home. They are so much more fun to be around! It's good to be back into the rhythm of school; we have a fun small group that meets every Monday night; church is starting a new kid's ministry that sounds super exciting; we know what the plan will be for school for next year; Kyle has been super busy with his business and is seeing an increasing number of clients. We're a month into the new year...it's exciting to see how the rest of it will unfold!

Winter Break...Number 2

After Christmas break, we had a week of school before we got hit with an arctic freeze that brought snow, ice, freezing cold temperatures and an entire week of snow days! Unfortunately, I had to work most of the time, but the girls still managed to have fun. Sarah, our babysitter, is amazing and took all 3 girls (instead of just Lydia) on Monday. On Tuesday, I was home but it was too cold and windy to go play outside, so we hung out inside and then watched tv all afternoon so I could take a nap before I ventured back to work Tuesday night. Wednesday, Grandpa and Grandma came and picked them up and they spent the day at their house. They ate donuts and made bird-feeders for the birds! Plus, Grandpa and Grandma just bought a new truck so they thought it was pretty cool to get to ride in it! 

By Thursday afternoon, I was done sleeping/working for the week and the sun was finally coming out, which meant we were finally able to get outside and play in the snow! 

We had several house projects planned for the weekend, with the biggest project being to paint the office. It was an ugly yellow with red, fake wood blinds. We painted it the same beige color as the rest of the house and put up new white blinds. It is amazing how much bigger and brighter the room looks. And thanks to Mom and Dad who came over and helped paint! And thanks to the Magic School Bus for keeping the girls entertained!!

We rounded out our week off by heading up to Canada for some 5-pin bowling on Sunday afternoon. Kyle stayed home and put the office back together while I took the girls to Alder Alley for some bowling with Kim, Thane, Elias, Malachi, and Grandpa and Grandma. We had a lot of fun; the bowling alley was really dark with weird lighting so the pictures are pretty terrible. We had the kids on one lane with the bumpers up and the adults on the second lane...with no bumpers. And a trip to Canada isn't complete with donuts and coffee from Tim Horton's so we stopped there on our way back. 

Haleigh

Annaliese

Lydia

Cheering on Lydia!

Discussing donut options...it was a big decision!

The rest of Christmas Vacation

It's hard to believe that 2019 is over; but here we are, several days into 2020 already, at the end of Christmas vacation and ready to head back to school. We've spent the past week and a half since Christmas busy playing with Christmas gifts, getting together with friends, and preparing ourselves for the next year. 

On Thursday, the day after Christmas, we were able to get together with some good friends who were in town for the holidays. John and Mandi Potter, along with their kids, came over for lunch. It was Keziah's birthday, so we were able to celebrate that as well. It's always amazing to watch how the kids just play together as if they see each other every day! 

Annaliese and Keziah

Haleigh and Faith

The girls requesting lots of art supplies for Christmas, so there has been a lot of drawing, painting, coloring and creating happening around here. We also tried making bath bombs which turned out rather disappointing. But we have more supplies, despite what Lydia spilled all over the carpet in her room, so we can try again!

We inevitably came to the point where nobody could decide what to do. Kyle came up with the idea to set up the tent and camp in the living room! Nobody spent the night in the tent, but there was lots of pretend-sleeping and it kept them entertained for hours!

Last weekend I was sleeping/working and Lydia wasn't feeling well, so Grandpa and Grandma took Annaliese and Haleigh up to Mt. Baker to go sledding. It sounds like it was a beautiful day, everyone had fun and even Grandma got on a sled!!

One of our other goals for the vacation was to get to the Trampoline Zone. We've never been there before but Annaliese received some free jump coupons for her birthday (Thanks Auntie Laurie!) and we were finally able to make it there. We went on New Year's Eve, which was probably a terrible day to go because it was so busy (nobody had school, Tuesdays are 'buy one hour, get an hour free' day) but they still had so much fun! We invited Savannah, one of Annaliese's friends from school to come along and her family was able to join us. Most of my pictures are blurry, but I guess that's what happens when they are jumping!

Annaliese flipping into the pit.

Kyle, throwing Lydia in...you can see her head amongst the foam!

Lydia

And, of course, we tried to get outside and do a little hiking. We tried to go to Point Whitehorn but once we arrived, we realized that dogs aren't allowed at all. (Kyle and both thought they were allowed but had to be on a leash. Wrong. No Dogs Allowed.) Close by is a road closed to cars on the refinery property that is open to walking/biking on; someone at the trailhead recommended we head over there so that's what we did. Shelby was able to run off-leash, the road wasn't muddy, we could soak in the sunshine, and walked until we had a beautiful view of the water. 

Tomorrow we head back to school; we get back into the routine of getting up early, making lunches, gymnastic classes. We've implemented a new way of getting the kids to stop whining/arguing/being annoying and new tactics to encourage them to start doing the things they should be doing (like making beds, taking showers, getting ready.) Thanks to the suggestions in the book 1-2-3 Magic, we are hoping for a more positive household, less time saying no and more time saying yes, and overall, the ability to have more fun together as a family.