Happy Valentine's Day

We are ready for Valentine's Day fun at school! 

 Izzy has wanted for awhile to eat at a fancy restaurant.  However, I have informed her that she needs to practice etiquette before we go.  This prompted John to make plans for a fancy dinner for Valentine's Day.  None of us were prepared for how elaborate this fancy dinner would be....

Welcome to "Chez Izzy"!  John created an 8 course meal for us including horderves in the parlor, sorbet to cleanse our palate between courses, white & red 'wine' and a sweets / dessert plate.  Everyone dresses up including John.  He actually owns this red tuxedo.  Unbeknownst to him, Izzy had made a bowtie out of bubble wrap that day for fun.  She had no idea how useful it would be to complete his ensemble.

 Micah sporting his tie... his version of dressing up.

 Of course Victoria knew how to dress up!

Valentine's Day Fun

 Valentine's Day is a time to get our creative on!  We came up with another way to use John's pompom maker - heart shaped pompoms.  These pompoms were transformed into cupid hearts for Izzy to hand out to her friends at school.

Putting together Micah & Victoria's valentine's for school.

Izzy wanted a heart shaped braid after flipping through a new braid & bun book.  Not too bad for my first attempt.

Heart shaped school snacks for the munchkins.

Micah and Victoria's school asked that we send valentine's in their lunch bags for the week before valentine's day.  Their teachers read them out loud and then made a collage out of them for all to see / read.

Sledding Time!

 For Christmas, Oma & Opa gave the munchkins a toboggan.  It was a bit tough to open this present without any snow outside at that time.  You can imaging the weekend when we received 6-8 inches of snow what they wanted to go do.  We headed back to Jamaica Plain as there is a large hill called the Fish Bowl.  It's actually where 2 hills meet making sledding safer.  We also invited Izzy's best friend Bonnie to come along.  Ironically, Victoria was the biggest sledder and most adventurous.  She is still surprising me as her first sledding experience resulted in her staying at the top of the hill while Izzy, Micah and I sled.

Student of the Week

 Izzy was recently student of the week.  Her 2nd grade teacher provides guidelines for how to make this poster.  There are questions she wants each student to answer and certain pictures to include.  There is also a blank page for the parents to complete.  Most parents simply write paragraphs about their child.  Because is so love writing, I decided to do something else.  With John's help we created a unique way to describe Izzy.  The student then presents their poster to the class and answers questions.  It then hangs outside their classroom until the next student of the week.

My best loved answer of Izzy's was to the question of her favorite place.  Most student put down something like Disney or a trip.  Izzy said the Farm.  That brought a smile to my face and heart.

Another First... Skiing

We remained local for the holidays this year for several reasons.  On short notice we decided to take the kids on another 'adventure'... skiing.  Many of the closer resorts were booked solid by the time this decision was made.  One of my colleagues was instrumental in finding a resort that fit the ages of my munchkins.  Given an approaching nor'easter, we decided to head out the night before traveling half the distance.  We all agreed that was the best decision though we did drive for about an hour with snow falling.

 Our destination... Jay Peak, VT.  This is only ~10 miles from the Canadian boarder.  One of the main reasons (aside from them actually having availability) for choosing this resort, was the amazing indoor waterpark; Pump House.  We spent half of two days here enjoying the lazy river, water play area and water slides.  John and I also braved La Chute, an aqua loop.  The platform beneath you drops sending you 40 miles per hour down and up a loop.  At the end there is some swimsuit adjusting that is needed before you stand up.  According to John, he's "never felt cleaner!".

The following day the kids were signed up for ski school.  Two of them were excited.  One was not.  Can you guess which one?

 Much to my surprise, Izzy took to skiing quickly.  She was as goofy as always but didn't seem to be bothered when she fell down.

The Magic Carpet ski lift.



 Izzy skiing down the hill.  When she got to me, her comment was 'I can go much faster'.  Should I be worried?

Izzy's report card... says it all.

Watching Victoria was equally as thrilling.  She was a super cute pok-a-dot ski bunny.  At the end her instructors said she did well on balance but needs to work on making the pizza slice to stop.  Still work to be done. 

Sadly, I wasn't able to capture Micah on the snow.  He went down twice and then spent the rest of the time inside playing.  Many tears were shed as well.  The instructors were positive though saying he needs more exposure similarly to Victoria.

 While the munchkins were at ski school, John and I got a chance to relax.  I think John would have gone skiing but was content to spend time with me and my bum knee drinking a quick beer.

This may open up more skiing opportunities as everyone had a wonderful time.  We even watched the new year come in via fireworks from the mountain all in the comfort of our cabin.

Its Christmas Time!

 Christmas Eve let John and I have a romantic dinner at Aquitaine before heading off to Church for Christmas Eve service.  We were surprised to find they carried Bitburger beer... reminding us of the Dieckman's. 

 Though Izzy was worried Santa wouldn't find them, he did.  She even wrote him a note and put it in her stocking saying so.

 Micah & Izzy were the first ones up.  Sleeping Beauty (aka Victoria) arrived 30 minutes later.  Izzy & Micah were kind enough to only look at the gifts inside their stockings until Victoria joined them.

As soon as Victoria found she had acquired more accessories, off she went to put them on and proudly show them off.

 Micah has entered the realm of superheroes.  His favorite... Batman.  This was one cool mask that could alter your voice making you sound like Batman.  His eyes even lite up at the same time.

 John's Secret Santa gave him what he's talked about for awhile since he moved her from Minnesota... My Pillow.  I'm still waiting to here what he thinks about it.

 John had a lot of fun shopping with Izzy to buy my Christmas presents.  One that I have wanted since getting a new stove is a griddle for the middle burner.  How did she know I wanted that....

 On Victoria's wish list was more dress up closes.  Aunt Diane didn't disappoint with this glitter leopard outfit.  I might collect all the glitter and mail it back to her since it is EVERYWHERE.

 John found these pretty amazing boots that we both knew Izzy was go bonkers over.  Sure enough, she did.

 On Izzy's wish list was an Orbeez foot spa.  It uses tiny gelatinous beads that expand when placed in water for several hours.  The water is then drained leaving cool bead that shower your feet.  Oddly, it does feel good.  Mommy definitely likes this as it is not as messy.

 Oma & Opa gave the kids a toboggan.  Given its unusual shape and size, they have been wondering all month what could it possible be.

 Bring on the snow!