Winter Happenings

We've had a good last month. At the end of January, Connor participated in his first-ever Pinewood Derby with the Boy Scouts. "Jet Car" was cut from a block of wood, painted, and weighted just so....and for our first time out, we did pretty well (as someone pointed out, "It's a block of wood on wheels! Who knows what it will do?"). Thanks to Daddy's engineering, Connor's car placed 2nd in his heat, and he ended up in 18th place overall (about halfway up the chart).

Here are the finished products. Kylee wanted to create a masterpiece, too:

A proud finish:

Soon after the Pinewood Derby, Valentine's festivities started. Both the kids had parties at school.

Kylee had a great time making crafts and eating snacks...and even entertained her sister at her party:

Ms. Tiffani, who was also one of Connor's teachers, was kind enough to pose for a picture:

I was held captive as a station leader at Connor's party, so didn't get many great photos of his celebration. He was very nice to allow me this photo op in his classroom:

Along with being a willing Valentine's Day party attendee, Hadley is continuing to grow and change with each passing day. She now sits up independently, and loves to eat anything she can get her hands on (you can see the biter biscuit remnants on her face in this shot). I thought this one was pretty precious:

This year, we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day by doing activities together rather than by exchanging gifts. Connor and Daddy, along with Grandpa Carlson, attended the Monster Jam show at the Sprint Center. Grave Digger is our fan favorite:

The girls and I enjoyed a more feminine celebration...Kylee and I went and got our nails done together, and all three of us ladies ventured out to see the Princess and the Frog at the movie theatre while the boys were getting splattered with mud and dust by monster trucks.

Life keeps on moving around here...the chaos is plentiful...and filled with joy.

Fancy

Last Friday night, we decided to go out to eat. Brandon and I were in the mood for something more than our usual fast-food haunts....something FANCY. I explained our mission to the kids and asked where they wanted to eat.

Kylee's choice, as per usual, was to stay at home and eat. When given the choice, her choice is always "stay home". I'd like to think this is a testimony to my wonderful cooking. Instead, I know it is because she doesn't want to change out of the sundress that she's inevitably wearing to go out into the cold weather.

Connor immediately said "I'm not really in the mood for a fancy place." He then thought for a few minutes and said "Mommy, I know somewhere we could go that's nice and pretty fancy!"

"Great, Buddy! Where?" I replied.

"Ci-Ci's Pizza!"

We are fancier than most families could ever hope to be.