February

 

 February started out well...a trip to the indoor climbing place called Peak Experiences. Anabelle impresses me with her 'no fear' attitude about climbing.  That's her at the top.

  That's Elise way up at the tallest point.  It took her seconds to get there.

 Sadie said on the first climb that she couldn't do it.  We encouraged her to keep trying and she made it!  All of the climbs following that, she didn't hesitate once :0).
 The girls all geared up.

 A week into Februrary, the flu hit hard.  We fell like dominoes.  It was awful!!!!!!  It took us out for an entire week.  At least Calvin got lots of love. 

 We all perked up after the Tamiflu and we went to see the CYT performance of Wizard of Oz.  It was fabulous!! 

 Sadie even wore her costume!

 On one of the days after we were feeling better, Anabelle &  I went on a walk in Woodlake by ourselves.  It was such a beautiful day & I really enjoyed spending that one on one time with her.

 I had to snap a few shots of my beauty.  Through the lens I realized how fast she's growing up.

 Everyone also got back into their extracurricular routines.  Here's Elise at gymnastics. She's the one upside down on the green mat. 

 Here's Elise practicing some of her moves.  Although she loves gymnastics, she's going to give softball a try in the spring.

 

 Here she is w/ her buddy.

 

Just last weekend I got back from an early childhood education conference. The workshops I attended talked a lot about play especially sensorial play and play in nature.  I loved watching my girls play in the sand.  Most 11 year old kids these days wouldn't know what to do in a sand pit.  I'm glad my girls are creative enough to enjoy it.  We were in this spot for an hour.  

 



 

High Bridge Park

 Last weekend we drove to Farmville to check out High Bridge trail.  It is a 30 mile hike, but we only did about 3.  It would be a great place to take the kids on their bikes!  This is the most popular part that was just opened last year.  It used to be a railroad track and they turned it into a very high bridge with awesome views. 

 

 When we went on the hike, it was a few days after it had snowed.  Apparently, Farmville got more snow than us because it was still on the trail.  The girls found some pieces of ice and thought it would be fun to toss it over into the Appomattox river below. 

The splashes they made were amazing.  I was a little nervous about them falling over the side even though the railings were very high.

 

 I can only imagine this stretch of the trail being VERY busy in the spring & fall.  We prefer hiking without crowds, so this was perfect for us.  I may actually take the kids out of school early one day in the fall next year to check out the leaves.  I'm sure it's spectacular!



Snow~*~*

 We've been lucky enough to have two snows so far this year.  They were only an inch or two, but still fun!  Here's Sadie with the biggest snowball ever (she took up most of the snow from my neighbor's yard).

 Sledding into the street.  Yes...that's fun in the snow in Richmond. 

 Snow slushies as the snow begins to disappear.

 I made them wait until 8:00 to go out so they didn't disturb the neighbors.  We couldn't wait too long though because it was supposed to melt quickly!

 Mmmmm....yummy snowballs!

 By 10:00 most of the snow was gone, but these guys weren't. 

Here's Calvin having fun, too!  We think he thought the saucer was a giant frisbee :0).



 Anabelle performed in her first ever play called 'The Grinch' written & directed by her librarian Mrs Rader.  Anabelle took drama classes since October to prepare.  She asked to play the part of Grouchy Grinch (interesting role for a bubbly 11 year old girl!).  She did a great job and we were so proud of her.  She remembered all of her lines and delievered them in the grouchiest way she could.  Here she is with her special friend who played the main grinch (there were 10 grinches all together ranging from grouchy to worried to happy).

 Before the show started.

 Delivering one of her lines.

 With a few other grinches at the end.

Grouchy Grinch and her flowers...all smiles~



Christmas Cheer!

 

Our Elf on the Shelf aka 'Snowy' has been up to no good this year!  He's made lots of messes that mom has had to clean up!  Here he is having class w/ some animal friends.

 Gingerbread house time!

 Breakfast with Santa & friends at the  Boathouse.

 Did Elise just tell him she wants a limo?  Yes...she did.

 

 A view of our house from the neighbor's balcony across the street.

 

 Passing out candy canes during the Tacky Light Tour.  The girls had 300 and came close to running out last night.  Danny just went to buy another 180 for tonight!

 Sugar cookie time!

 

Singin' Sadie

All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth

 

 I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Catch up~

 Wow...it's been a while!  Well, in that span of time, Anabelle turned 11!  She had some friends go bowling to celebrate. 

 She also got her ears pierced.  I was impressed by how brave she was.  This is the same kid who turns white and throws up when they do a finger prick at a check up.

Anabelle also became a patrol!  She loves her post by the front door.  She says there's lots of drama there (aka. coffee spills and shoe tying)

 

 Elise was chosen in October as the class Core Value student!  It's really hard to get chosen so early in the year.  We were super proud of her.  I hate to spoil the surprise, but Anabelle & Sadie were chosen in their classes for November!!!  Woo Hoo!!!!  We are some proud parents!  (Maybe we're actually doing something right...haha)

 For Thanksgiving, we went to spend time with Danny's family in Covington VA. 

We went on a hike to Falling Springs Falls which was BEAUTIFUL!!! 

 There were big caves underneath the falls.  Fun for Danny & the kids, but very scary for me!  Elise found bones in there!

Once we got back home, Danny got to work on his light display.  It's done and looks amazing!  43,000 lights!  Crazy!  He says he's not doing it next year.  We'll see if that's the case.