Skating and Gymnastics

Last week the weather was really nice all week so we took advantage and went skating. I took Ivy once when the older two were at school and we went two more times after dinner. Going that often was just what Ivy needed! She figured it out and is coming along nicely on her skating skills! One night there was a hockey game going on in the big rink so we skated on the small rink and we were basically the only ones there! Chris and the kids played a little hockey and we just skated around. It's nice to have this rink less than 2 miles from our house. Makes for an easy, quick activity in the evenings!

Last Saturday Mya had her first gymnastics competition of the season. She was pretty nervous and excited about the whole thing. She competed at JO level 2 (I'm just figuring out what all of this gymnastics lingo means so if you don't know...you're not alone!) and did the beam, bars, vault and floor. She has been enjoying gymnastics a lot and did really well! It's a little like swimming in that she competed for less than 2 minutes total, but we were there for 5 hours:) Chris took Max and Ivy to swimming so he watched it on video afterwards. We are very proud of her and are excited to learn more about this sport along with her! Next competition is in early March.

10 things on a Sunday night

1. Max has totally figured out Sundays. Around 3pm on Sunday afternoons, he starts to get sad and whiny about the weekend already being over. I don't get the "Smondays" as much as I used to when I was working, but I still get a little case of them because Chris has to go to work and the kids and I have to get up and going the next day. I love Sundays. Especially lazy Sundays!

2. It was cold here the past few days. Last night my mom posted a pic of the weather in Okinawa and it was 70 degrees. We were 87 degrees colder than that here! Even Chloe (who loves to lay out in the snow) hated yesterday. 

3. But as you can tell...today warmed up a whopping 49 degrees from last night! So we took advantage and went out sledding. Ivy was the big winner today on the jumps. check out this air she got and the muscle shot she wanted me to take afterwards to show how strong she was! 

                                                

4. The sledding was after we watched the Vikings game:( What a heartbreaking loss. We were all pretty sad around here...even the kids, as we got them into the game  making signs, eating yummy food and wearing their jerseys. We even used Vikings napkins my mom sent me months ago! 

5. I'm going backwards here, but on Thursday I went and got Ivy a new mattress and box spring. She had been sleeping on her toddler bed and it was definitely time to upgrade. Long story short..I got the mattress/box spring, had a grumpy guy at the furniture store load it on my car for me in the freeeeezing cold and a few miles down the road, the mattress flew off my car in traffic at 3pm. It was not pretty. I was a wreck until the nicest young man in the world...not someone you would ever assume would stop based solely on the way he looked, stopped, drove back and got the mattress, brought it to me and helped me secure it on my car. I learned a lot of lessons this day. And it took me 3 hours to calm down. Thank God no one was injured during this crazy deal. 

6. Ivy's activities start back up this week thank goodness! Last week got a bit long for her without her art and gymnastics. At one point she was walking around with one eye shut. I eventually asked her what she was doing and she replied that she was a shopkin named Becky. Pretty sure there is no shopkin named Becky, but I give her credit for the creativity. 

7. I happened to catch a few sweet moments between sisters this last week. They definitely battle (and the youngest often wins) but they also get along very well at times and I'm thankful that they have each other! I've been talking to Mya so much about being careful with how she talks to Ivy. Whether she likes it or not, she's a role model and Ivy is copying her every move. I put a sweater on Ivy the other day and she said she would not wear it because Mya would not like it. Makes me sad that she is already influenced by what others think. 

8. Max got an elements book from his book order a couple months ago and has been obsessed with them ever since. If you saw us at Christmas, you know this to be true. The other night I was out and came home to find this on the refrigerator. #nerdalert:) 

9. We had a great first visit to a new dentist last week. The kids all did great. Especially Max and Ivy. Ivy sat through the entire cleaning and exam for the first time on her own. She has gotten abbreviated forms of it in the past, but this time they didn't hold back and she did great. Max got a baby tooth that was lodged in his mouth funny, pulled out and he also did great. In a moment of weakness while tears were streaming down his face during the numbing part, I said the tooth fairy would for sure pay big for this tooth:) 

10. And lastly...I sent this to Chris and he never responded. I guess he thought he couldn't win with a response. He was probably right:) 

appliance christmas

Who knew I could be so excited to get an appliance for Christmas! I must be getting old. Santa brought me a BlendTec which I've been wanting for awhile. I was making green smoothies in my regular blender, but I was chewing the greens. They're not chewy anymore! Even the kids are loving green smoothies. It took Max and Mya a few days to get used to drinking green, but Ivy loved it right away.  (Max gagged the first time he tried it, but then saw Ivy suck it down so he thought he could give it another try!) We stocked up on frozen fruit from Costco, fresh fruit and lots of greens and have been making tons of different recipes. 

Decorah Christmas and trip home

We got down to Decorah on Sunday afternoon and spent the next few days relaxing, having cousin sleepovers, spending time with family, seeing a movie (just Chris and I...first time in years!!), playing tennis a couple times, and shoveling snow! Well, I didn't shovel much, but Chris did! We got to Decorah and there was no snow and left with 11 inches or so on the ground! The kids had so much fun.  (thank you so much to Chris's mom who picked up some snow pants for the kids at goodwill....the forecast did not have that snow in it before we left!)

Chris made the kids a luge track and we had a nice time sitting by the heater watching them:)

Tuesday morning we decided it would be a good idea to go play tennis at 6am before the streets got plowed! We made it there just fine (downhill) but didn't quite make it home! Thankfully, the neighbor and my dad were able to shovel us out and push the car home!

Wednesday we spent the day packing up and got a nice visit from our friends the Neymeyers (from Parkersburg) that evening! We hadn't seen them in a year and it was so great to catch up! We had Mabes pizza and unfortunately didn't take any pictures. Next time!

We headed out early Thursday morning. It's always hard to say good-bye. My dad drove us to the airport...I had a suitcase on my lap, but we fit everything in! We checked 1 bag on the way there and 3 on the way home, but checked baggage fees is way cheaper than mailing things to Edmonton! It was good to be home at a decent time on New Years Eve. We "partied" with the neighbors until 10pm and went to bed exhausted from a long day and trip!

Waterpark Christmas!

That title is a little strange, but this year we decided to surprise the kids and meet my family at a Waterpark in Minneapolis for Christmas! My brother and family were coming from Northfield where Amanda's parents live, my parents drove up from Decorah and we drove from Maple Grove and all ended up arriving within 7 minutes of each other! We pulled up next to each other in the parking lot and shocked the kids! After the immediate shock, the kids figured out where we were and we headed inside! We had three rooms. Two of them had bunk beds and overlooked the waterpark and my parent's room was across the hall with two double beds and lots of room to spread out.

                    Looks like we were staying for 3 weeks!

We did a few presents, had a surprise FaceTime with Tara where her and Tony revealed they were having a GIRL for baby #2 and then headed down to the waterpark! Everyone was shocked to hear Tara was having a girl...everyone thought for sure it would be a boy! We were pretty happy for them and loved seeing them for a few minutes on FaceTime. Hopefully this is the last Christmas for a few years without us all being together. This was the 4th in a row that we have been separated and we're all pretty tired of it!
                                               

              New matching boots! With soon to be 6 granddaughters, I'm not sure how my mom is going to get away with not buying the same thing x 6! (boots size 10,11,12 and 13:)

 SURPRISE!! 

We saw Quinn in her favorite spot...on the table! She is typically on the counter or climbing on something every time we see her:) She's probably thinking...why are all of these people looking at me??!?

Matching jammies and a pizza party for the kids! 

These two...Grady was a big fan of Max and vice versa. It's the little brother Max always wanted:) 

Some cards that started as an adult game and ended with lots of kiddos needing attention!:) 

Saturday morning the kids swam and then we surprised the girls with a trip to the Mall of America and the American Girl doll store! We had lunch at the cafe...complete with high chairs for the dolls. It was such a magical experience. We did some shopping and pierced the dolls' ears and headed back to the hotel. Chris's mom came with us so it was so special for my girls to have both of their grandmas there!

Sunday morning the kids and dads got up to swim and we packed up the rooms and headed to Decorah! Our pack job was amazing and we only managed to forget one suitcase! #success:)