Valentine's Day 2018

How was your Valentine's Day? 

We had a great time celebrating with our three favorite Valentines. The girls had a special field trip to hear the symphony, and George had some special activities at school. The fifth grade class had been instructed to dress up for a day with the symphony, and their class looked so sophisticated in their finery.  

For George's class we made chocolate chip cookies, and they had some special treats and passed out Valentines.  Also, we had some school wide candy grams available for purchase and that is always fun.  

After school, we had a few Valentine's goodies.  

The trio had gotten up at 6:00am to make cards as a breakfast surprise. This was our favorite part of Valentine's Day by far.   

Pixie went to the groomer last week and looked especially festive with her heart themed bows.  

We had planned to have steak for dinner. However, Skip and I had a big lunch out yesterday, and decided to postpone our dinner until tonight. We love extended celebrations so this works out fine for us.  

Happy Valentine's Day!  

Enumerated Update

Happy Friday, friends!

We have had a productive week. As mentioned previously, illness, part three, continued this week, and Skip had to travel to Minnesota and brave the -4 degree temps. In the meantime, we made progress on a little construction project we have going. I will get sidetracked if I mention it in detail, but will post about it next week. Long story short, George is getting a new room, and the girls will no longer be sharing a room. Everyone is excited, including me!  Again, more details soon.

In the meantime, here's where we are:

1) Social Media: We have pressed pause on social media. Sometime before Christmas, I had this epiphany while scrolling. I have a positive association with social media... I don't have any issues with comparison... I wish everyone well... much success, happiness and all of that. I LOVE vacation photos, and I genuinely want to know how your family is doing. So this isn't a commentary about the "perfection" that is often associated with social media. It's just that it's not productive, and it's hugely distracting. While I love keeping up with family and friends, I don't need to know when everyone gets stuck in traffic or goes to Wal-Mart. I cannot absorb any more "rants," however sympathetic I may be to that person's plight.

Social media is something that we are using sparingly. Skip has never really been into it at all, and I only get distracted by it every now and then. During the winter break, I didn't really check it at all because there was no need to monitor the trio's classroom pages, etc. Life was better. Definitely, I want to stay in touch with family/friends, but I don't want to rely on social media to accomplish that.

Even my beloved Instagram was further altered, and I detest the new version.

This article from Wired definitely resonates. The idea of disconnection being one of privilege is sadly accurate.

2) Blogs: I still have a soft spot for blogs. A carefully curated and planned blog can come across as fresh and informative. I love Design Mom's collection of predictions for blogs in 2018.

3) Last Dig: My last Facebook criticism of the day.

4) Something fun and happy. And I love that she built it with her dad.

Have I mentioned that my dad (and mom! proper credit!) converted an old Golden Flake truck into a camper when I was little. I really wish we had photos of it. We camped in that thing for years!

5) LaCroix is having such a moment now. Skip and the trio have been drinking them for years.

The trio love all the flavors, but we save the cerise-limon (cherry-lime) for special occasions, like vacation.

What's your favorite flavor? Skip's is pamplemousse.  Personally, I am not crazy about sparkling water, but lately I'm feeling like I'm the only one not on board with LaCroix.

Do you have big plans this weekend? The trio have their final basketball games Saturday so we will be spending our last day on the hardwoods.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Spelling Bee 2018

One of Lauren's favorite hobbies is learning to spell words. She proudly learned to spell "chameleon" in kindergarten, and has had a passion for words since. She participates in the school's spelling bee each year. In third grade, she finished the 20-person competition in third place. In fourth grade, she finished second. This year she was focused like a laser, and she studied for weeks and weeks. She learned every word on the sheet, even the alternate spellings. She knew the hyphenated words, accent marks and the proper pronunciation of even the most obscure words (coquelicot, we are looking at you). She spent much of her Christmas break studying, and she caught an unexpected break when there were some weather days leading up to the spelling bee, allowing for extra studying time. She tirelessly went through the list of words, even when doing so took two hours each time.

As for Gracie, this type of thing isn't her passion, but she fully supported Lauren by calling words out to her at home and during recess at school. It was a team effort.

Finally, the day of the spelling bee arrived, and Skip and I went to school for the event. Although there has never been significant parent turnout for this, there were a lot of people in attendance this year, confirming my suspicion that Lauren's classmates had also used the weather days to study. She had prepared for such a scenario, and knew she would have to spell the simplest words VERY CAREFULLY to avoid making a simple mistake.

Ultimately, she did it. She got through the simpler words without misspeaking, and then she was prepared for the more difficult words. She was so excited to finish first!

Congratulations, Lauren!

2017 Spelling Bee 
2016 Spelling Bee

The Lost Month

We had such great intentions of starting off the new year strong. Actually, we kind of did start strong. The girls hit the ground running with activities; we resumed all activities; we started some home construction. We were crushing it that first week or two.

Then, like everyone else we know (perhaps you, too?) illness struck. For the past three+ weeks, our entire family has been sick. Skip, me, the girls, grandparents... everyone but George has been sick, and even he has had a persistent cough and was given an antibiotic last week. Today he is the last to fall, as he is running a slight fever.

He has been so proud of being resistant. When the girls missed a week of school, their teachers called George over to their table in the lunchroom to ask about them. He told them, "They're all sick. My whole family is sick but me. I'm not sick."

We aren't complaining 1) because it's just various illnesses (bronchitis/sinusitis/strep/flu) that aren't especially serious (thankfully) and 2) apparently everyone is dealing with illness this year. The trio had not had sick visits in more than 18 months, and we have gotten to the point of not dealing with illness often at all. We know it's just our turn to be sick. So while we have been trying really hard not to complain, admittedly, we are ready for healthier days.

This is why most people dislike winter. I'm not ready to give up chilly weather and cozy layers, but I have to concede the downside. The germs are not good.

Posting has been light because, basically, what we have to report is the copious use of Lysol spray and wipes (not sponsored), medication schedules and cough drops. In an effort to prevent spread of germs, our home reeks of cleaners, and laundry is constantly current. We are at war, and the battle is lengthy. And bleach-infused.

To amuse ourselves, we have engaged in the following:

1) Football: We watched the Super Bowl. Our team lost.

2) Skip has been watching basketball.

3) I finally finished Episodes, and it was surprisingly good.

4) Obviously, we have been reading a lot.

We are looking forward to a complete turnaround in February. We have to get well for Valentine's Day!