Snow day activities

We've had lots of snow days this winter, and lots of ways to spend them.  Yesterday we didn't attempt any sledding but opted to stay home instead.

Laine practiced her dance for Airband - a lip-sync contest that she is participating in at school this week.

She and her friends are dancing to "Gold" by Brit Nicole.  The group is calling themselves The Golden Girls.

She's worked hard to learn the moves and the lyrics - I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes tomorrow!

Mead and Cole ventured outdoors for a little while, attempting to jump on the trampoline but mostly just eating and throwing snow at one another :-)

And the kids also had some time in costumes.  I pulled these out because Cole has been asking to wear the girls' princess dresses lately.  I realized we needed some more "manly" options and got out the Halloween costumes.  A firefighter did the trick for him!

Until the next snow day...

Reading together

The kids got really quiet this afternoon for a while, so I started searching the house to see what they were up to.

To my pleasant surprise, this is what I found: Laine reading to Mead and Cole in her room!  So cool to see them hanging out together like this.

Last weekend I took Cole ice skating for his first time.  He did okay - mostly leaned on the bucket the whole time, but I pushed him around the rink and he loved it.  He kept saying, "Go fast!"  Maybe we'll work on the actual skill of ice skating next year :-)

Monkey Joe's Party

This was a "big birthday party" year for Mead.  (We let our kids pick a place to have a big party every 5 years.  The other years they have something smaller at the house or outside.)

So Mead picked Monkey Joe's.  She was so excited about the bounce houses and slides.

And the party came with tokens to play the games and ride the rides.

Cole and Laine loved playing some air hockey.

And everyone joined in on the basketball shootout.

After bouncing for a while everyone went into the party room for pizza, cake and gifts.

Sweaty boy was having a great time!

Monkey Joe made a special appearance and gave Mead a new t-shirt.

Happy Birthday, dear Mead!

Oh, and a couple days later I took her to the doctor for her 5-year check-up.

Here's her stats:

Height: 3'6" (52%), Weight: 38lb. 4oz. (40%)

She is just about average for her age, which is why Cole is rapidly catching up (and surpassing her!)

Happy Birthday Mead!

Mead turned 5 yesterday - such excitement!

We started the morning slowly with our traditional cinnamon roll breakfast.  Then she opened a few gifts from family.

About mid-day we took all the kids to the dentist for their check-ups, and then we went to Monkey Joe's for Mead's birthday party in the afternoon.  More pictures to follow...

Hanging out

Love hanging out with these kids!

Proof that all three will fit in the back of the Civic with booster seats.  Done one time just for fun; not to be repeated - we have a van for a reason!

Your friendly neighborhood Spider-man and Snow White!

Laine established a restaurant for lunch the other day.  Mead and Cole loved being served (PBJ and yogurt) by their waitress.

Winter break

I'm a little behind, so I'll post a smattering of our activities over Christmas break...

Opening stockings and ready for Christmas morning to begin!

All bundled up and ready to go sledding at the church in single digit temps!

Giving a make over to friends with her new make-up set.

Celebrating New Year's Eve (early in the evening) with friends.

Snow creations and amazingly cold temps.  It actually got lower than this, but our computer didn't track it all the way down.

Christmas Chapel

The night before school break, the kids participated in the annual Christmas chapel.

Mead's class led the school in a song and

did a poem about Christmas holding up the letters of the alphabet.

Then they sang GO! Tell it on the Mountain.

You can see the enthusiasm in their motions!

Laine's class was up later, 

and they sang Away in a Manger,

also with motions.

Much more subdued than the Junior Kindergartners, but they did a great job.

Love watching all the kids in chapel!