Bantam Champions!

Nicholas' Bantam team won the championship!!!  They fought hard and it was a very exciting game!  Nicholas scored a goal and my eyes filled with tears.  I was so happy because he was so happy!

He is in the front row 3rd in from the right.

So very proud of my handsome boy!

Oh and he ended up in the penalty box...twice.  Bad boy.  You can see when the buzzer goes off at the end of the game, Nicholas hops out of the penalty box to join his team.

Hall of Fame and more...

Julia competed her new solo for the first time last weekend at Hall of Fame. She did a beautiful job.  I wish I took more pictures but we were so pressed for time. We arrived a little late, 6:45 a.m. - ugh, and then she had to compete at 7:30 a.m. That didn't leave much time at all to stretch and practice...

I bought this picture but it hasn't come yet.  This is just the proof.  Isn't she beautiful?  She had to go on second out of 98 solos!!  Crazy big competition! She held her own and got a platinum, the highest score in the open category, a special judges award for "precision" (only 6 specials were given) and she placed 12th overall.  Not bad for her first time out!



Ugh...the snow.  Just look at all the snow...

It snowed three mornings this past week which meant more shoveling.  I hate to complain about it but I am so done with the snow.

I think the worst is behind us now and it is slowly starting to melt.  Yay!!!  I cannot wait for spring!  I'm looking forward to seeing green grass, opening our pool and eating meals outside on our screened in porch.  Ahhhh.  That will be so nice!!

All the kids have been sick with a cold/fever bug.  Nicholas was first, then Gianna and this past week it was Julia's turn.  She didn't get it as bad as the other two thank goodness.  One day home from school was all she needed...

Gianna's hair looked so pretty after taking it out of the bun maker we just had to take a picture.  She really does have great hair...

Julia went to a birthday party yesterday at one of her favorite places, Arielle Arts...

And Nicholas' Bantam team won their playoff game yesterday and is playing in the championship game later this afternoon!  He scored the first goal yesterday. It was a very exciting game!!

Nicholas is team captain...front row third in from the right...

My handsome boy before the game.  I love how the kids decided to dress up before the playoff games all on their own.  So cute.  The team is headed to Canada next weekend to play in a tournament.  He is super excited!!

That's all for now.  I know that was a lot of randomness but that is how my life is right now.  Just super crazy busy...running in all different directions every day. But I love it!

Weekending

So the kids are back in school...finally...since last week was school vacation. They need to be in school and they need to get back into their routines!!  We didn't do a whole lot of anything over school vacation. The kids played with some friends and the girls had lots of rehearsals for dance as competition is coming up soon. Nicholas rested his arm until this past weekend when he had two hockey games.  He looked a bit tired out on the ice but he did score goals in both games!  Yay for that!

The girls got new tricks at tumbling yesterday.  Julia has been working on her back aerial with a spot but now she has it all on her own!!  And her legs are looking straighter too!

But the BIGGEST surprise was Gianna!  She's never done a back aerial before and did it all by herself with no spot!  She amazes me sometimes because she is such a cautious child and then she does this!  All by herself?? Crazy.

This is how she started to learn...

And it turned into this after just a couple of tries...

Wow!! I'm amazed!

I took Julia sledding yesterday.  It's funny how 38 degrees felt warm to us!! The sun felt so good!

Snow Snow Snow

So much snow these days.  This was taken last week while Gianna waited for the school bus just before another big snow storm was coming.

We had to take this snow off the roof from a previous blizzard before the next foot of snow arrived...

There are icicles everywhere...HUGE ones...on practically every house and building around here...including ours...

And this is my dining room window overlooking the pool...

Yes, there is a pool under there somewhere...

The snow just keeps getting deeper and deeper...

My poor mailbox...but this is the way all the mailboxes look around here...

And it snowed all day today...only a few inches...big fluffy flakes that almost looked fake.

And I was the one wishing for snow!  Maybe I wished a little too hard?  

Happy Valentine's Day

Gianna came up with this idea all on her own...

She wrote each of her classmates a Valentine to say something she thinks is special about them...

She has such a big heart!


And my boy hurt his shoulder in a hockey game the other night.  It's just a slight shoulder separtation.  He'll be just fine.  He said he got lots of attention at school wearing that sling.  The teachers let him leave class first so he wouldn't get bumped by other kids and the girls carried his books. He'll be milking this injury for a while I bet...

Snow Days

We've had lots and lots of snow storms these past few weeks...which means lots of no school days for the kids.  Like SIX snow days so far and it's only the 10th of February! Yikes!

There is so much snow on our porch roof that it's covering the upstairs windows...

And I don't ever remember seeing this much snow on our pool...

The pool is under there somewhere...

Yesterday was a no school day (and today too), so to entertain themselves they made a video on "how to make chocolate chip cookies"...

So cute!  Gianna was the director and you could hear her yelling "Quiet on the set!" every two minutes.

I love the whiteboard being used as a cue card and look at the lamp for extra lighting...

My handsome boy...

Later the girls took a bath together and snuggled up on our new recliner to watch a movie on the kindle...

Pictures from today after the storm...

It snowed off and on for almost three days...

And there is more snow in the forecast.  It's been really tough.  There is nowhere to put all this snow.  Especially in the center of towns and in the cities.  

But the biggest issue for us has been all the no school days.  It has been especially hard for Nicholas.  He has a hard time focusing on school to begin with.  Then you add in 6 snow days and 3 sick days due to a virus and then next week is February vacation...well, that's a recipe for disaster for him.  His tutor is coming today thank goodness and I've been busting my behind trying to keep him focused on doing his homework and helping him study for his midterms coming up this week.  You should hear me help him with his Spanish.  I took French in school!! 

Spring???  Where are you??? 

Sneak Peak

Here's a quick peak at Julia's new solo and her duo with Alyssa.  Competition season starts real soon...

Another snow storm

The wind almost broke our screen door!  Oh no!  : )

Back Aerial

Julia at tumbling today...