life in january

I spent a few hours with Emery one morning while Melanie and Jeff were at a doctor's appointment.  They were using the last of their frozen embryos in the IVF process, so it was nice to be able to help them out and also spend some special time with my darling niece. I totally underestimated her speed on the scooter and had to go back to grab a scooter for myself so I could keep up with her. 

Colby was invited to his friend Noah's birthday party at Main Event, so he was super excited about that.  Arcades are one of my least favorite activities, so thankfully the outings are few and far between. 

We pulled out all our snow clothes in preparation for our upcoming ski trip and it turned into a scattered mess.  I asked Colby to get it all back into the tote while the rest of us had other tasks, and I came back to this...

I was shocked and thrilled with his perfect organization!  Way to be an awesome helper, Colby Boy. 

No school on Monday meant a park date with the Lundeens...

The park date turned into a play date at our house and the kids were thrilled!  Brooke played dress-up with Harley and Rowan... 

Then they all played games together...

And yes, it's nearing the end of January and my tree is still up!  I intended to put it away last weekend, but the kids asked to keep it up, and since I was still enjoying the cozy glow, it stayed put.  I just wish I wouldn't have packed up my tree skirt.

Then we ventured back outside for some fresh air.  These boys worked so hard at piling leaves on the playground.  I'm not sure if they really had an end goal, but they eventually asked for a bag to clean it all up. Good deed done for the day! (They also left my rake at the park, but thankfully they noticed the landscaper using it later and went back to retrieve it.)

Monday night hockey!!  We were especially glad that our friends, the Petersens, drove down from Rockwall to join us.  They are definitely missed!

Softball Season has unofficially begun! Brooke is moving up to 10U and will be playing for a new team, so there's a lot to learn.  I really debated about having her play for the Diamonds because I think their team mentality is a big intense and a little cocky, but she really wanted to play with her friends Claire and Zalaya, so we agreed to give it a shot. So far, everyone has been super kind and encouraging to her. 

Colby and his teacher were twinning on "Team Up for Reading" during the Read-A-Thon last week.  We're not huge Cowboys fans, but when you have the gear (a jersey from Papa and a football he won),  you wear it!!

Brooke is still going strong with Daulton Dashers and is determined to win the end of year award for the girl with the most miles.  She loves running and I couldn't be more proud of her dedication and persistence.  

We went to see Midlothian High School's production of Greece and although the acting and singing was amazing, I forgot how much I dislike the whole storyline of Greece.  Not exactly age-appropriate, but hopefully a lot of the banter went over my kids' heads. 

We hosted a family dinner and gave Kinley her birthday money box.  I can't believe she is 11 years old! I love that we get to watch these cousins grow up together and build relationships that will last a lifetime. 

It was a busy month coming off of the holidays, but definitely one to remember!

maximizing vacation

Since Kevin likes to "maximize" his vacation time, we headed to Six Flags after unpacking our suitcases on Saturday.  (It's a good thing I'm such a "fun mom" and go along with his plans, haha.)  

I think this was the first time we've seen characters there, so Colby definitely wanted a picture.  They kept touching his hair, which was kinda funny.

Moments to remember: the kids chauffeuring us in the antique cars, Colby riding the Texas Giant for the first time, and photo ops in Boomtown.

I don't consider myself a big amusement park person, but we have really enjoyed our Six Flags passes this season.  We have so many fun summer activities to do as a family, so having something to do in the colder weather has been nice.  And when it's cold, the lines are super short, which means more rides for us :)

road trip-day 6

We started our last day with a drive through Caprock Canyon State Park, home of the Texas bison herd. 

It was pretty incredible to drive past the huge creatures, and even crazier to me that you can camp among them.  But our favorite critters were definitely the playful prairie dogs.  Now that's ALL Brooke's wants, haha. 

So thankful for a fun road trip/ski trip as a family!

road trip-day 5

A little post-breakfast workout session :)

Our last snow day was spent in Taos, where we rode a gondolita over to the sledding hill. It was a whopping 9 degrees (-6 with the wind chill), so although Kevin and I didn't plan on doing a lot of sledding, we both quickly put on our bibs (or "jumpers" as Colby called them) to stay warm. 

The kids didn't love the hike back up the hill, but I thought it was a super fun hill to sled on!  The pink sled was perfect for double riders, so Kevin and I even took a turn together. 

They filled their time with snow angels, snow piles, snow chairs, snowball fights, and snow "cones."

Colby and I tried playing catch with a snow chunk, but that was an epic fail, haha. 

After sledding, we wandered over to the ski village, had a yummy lunch, then grabbed tiny donut dippers on the way back to the gondolita. 

When we arrived back at the hotel, the kids begged to go swimming in the pool.  I didn't think to bring sandals, so we all had to wear our snow boots to the pool.  We were quite the sight, but they were absolutely giddy to go swimming since they hadn't been in months. 

As we were going to bed that night, Colby mentioned that his ear was hurting. He didn't wear his ear plugs in the pool, which seemed fine since he wasn't diving, but I immediately regretted our decision to go swimming.  Shortly after falling asleep, he woke up crying and was complaining of ear pain.  Kevin and I both started googling what you can do if you get swimmer's ear, so we tried blow drying his ear.  Kevin gave Colby a blessing and I was praying so hard that he'd be able to sleep through the night.  

We decided that I should sleep by Colby to help him during the night, so Kevin moved over by Brooke.  Colby slept comfortably through the night and didn't seem bothered by his ear the next morning.  Honestly, that was such a miracle and I felt like Heavenly Father was aware of my sincere prayers.  I'm so grateful for the power of prayers and the power of the Priesthood.