In like a Lamb

We scored an extra day for February this year and luckily for us it fell on a Weekend so we didn't have a longer workweek!  The month is short but we packed plenty in as usual.  It is dance season at school as a prelim to prom and the older two had plenty of fun.  The weather and our schedule cooperated enough for Amy and I to get out for some skiing, and few hikes in the snow as well.  The dogs got shaved and Hazel had to wear a vest to stay warm.  Grace is playing plenty of Bball although she missed two tournaments do to illness and most recently strep.  Ella wrapped up a production of Sweeney Todd in an amazing melodrama, cannibalism aside.  Her story was that she was going to auditions to watch a friend....she left out the part about her also trying out for the play.  When the show is about murder and you are the cop, that is a pretty solid role.  She was a natural and in her element.  March came in like a lamb with a beautiful 50 degree and sunny day.  It put a pounding on the ice and the snow, but the smell of spring and warmth of the sun was evident.

The Reflective Month Comes to Pass..

January has all but faded and left some snow to cover the brown stubble once again.  We have had big snows, big melts and rain too.  Mostly indoor activities either due sloppy rain or basketball tournaments.  Grace is playing some great bball and her team took first place last weekend after two back to back nail bitter 2 point wins.  There was also her first Jazz night, a big fund raiser for the band, where Ella disappeared quickly to find a boy...I think we unknowingly drove her to a date.  A trend that would continue during the month as she unbeknownst to us tried out for the school play and scored a pretty solid part as a policeman in Sweeney Todd.  Sophia is still working out with the soccer team, but not convinced she will tryout next month.  Merrick is working his way through Karate and logged his first injury, a twisted up toe that swelled about three sizes and turned completely purple looking like a small eggplant.  Grace and I did get the dogs out for a run which then required a bath for them, but they loved it and we saw a golden eagle and found a fish vertebral column and deer femur...did I mention the dogs need a bath?

The Holidays Cometh...

The New Year has arrived as it always does with a flourish of hustle and bustle and then back to the grind.  The snow has mostly held off and while we had a white Christmas, we also had plenty of rain that gobbled up the ski trails and all of those plans like so much run off.  We spent the first weekend back in EC with laughter and a large campfire in the balmy temps.  Christmas eve was spent playing pool and the kids cashing in pull tabs in our second annual trip.  We ended at the Chatterhouse after finding out the Abbey had removed its table in favor of more seating and profits.  The evening found our bellies filled with pasta and the kids were able to open comfy anoraks that they basically lived in for a week. Christmas Day was a drive to TR for plenty of ham and laughter.  The kids collectively flowed through the house there was always a sleep over or a kid sleeping over somewhere else all break long but by New Years eve it was time to bowl.  We hit the lanes for two 'solid' games before ringing in the new year.

The week before Christmas....

 

A season to be grateful.  We are caught up in the full hustle and bustle of the winter season with the solstice upon us.  Merrick and Ella bookend the week with concerts and Grace and I jingled some bells at for a cause.  The cookies were made and iced with care, the best they have ever done to be fair.  We spent some time in Oshkosh for a B-ball tourney and Grace came out smiling and Sophia says she doesn't have a new boyfriend, but we assume she is lying.  Merrick will graduate to a new belt this week in karate and we are all getting excited for the pending vacay!

Tunes and timestamps

The Concert season has begun.  Grace had a massive support turn out with five grandparents in the audience, pretty good showing and much appreciated all the travel it took to get everyone there.  She played with two bands, the 6th grade band and the Jazz band.  She is loving the trumpet and enjoying the songs.  Ella had a couple pretty big rites of passage as well, getting a job and a her drivers temps.  She is having fun working in the bakery and trying to punch the clock and fit everything into a now very busy schedule. 

Oh, Tannenbaum

Its the second week of deer camp and with some hunting out of the way on Friday, Saturday was wide open to hit the woods for in search of the perfect tree.  There were squat ones and tall ones, purple, pink and black.  The place had a full size bus come in for a cut your own bonanza.  It was wall to wall people without a saw to spare.  With multiple rolling hills to traverse in search of the perfect tree we found a saw before Cheryl.  That is correct, our tree's name was Cheryl.  It said so right on the label.  We cut her down and hoofed her back over the hills and through the traffic and got her home before the first winter storm hit.  Saturday night was spent transforming the house into a winter wonderland of all things Christmas.  The outdoor lights are on hold, with only the ground effects lit up.  Too much snow in the gutters and blowing wind to trim the eaves.  But more weekends will come before the fat man so there is still time...although not much.

An early January....

Record setting cold snap across the whole region.  The temperature was 9 degrees this morning and there is enough snow to cover the leaves that didn't get raked.  Seemingly it is January only a week after Halloween.  We did get the pumpkins carved with only hours to spare before the Holiday and Grace headed out to knock on the doors in the neighborhood.  With a fresh inch of snow Amy and I sat near the campfire and passed out candy to all forms of hidden faces.  Ella had elected for indoor duties and book ended the evening and candy responsibilities.  Grace tallied up her take and even recorded it all in her journal...which was fortunate because Hazel broke into her closed room and ate most of it, so it was nice to know exactly how much chocolate the little dog ate....she is still alive so it was clearly under the lethal dose.  Merrick is progressing through his karate and enjoying it.  He has moved into the next stage is participating in open sparring.  Sophia has started soccer training again and says it feels good to get back on the pitch.  Ella just finished up in the pit band for a hilarious rendition of the Wedding Singer, complete with all the 80's allusions.  Grace's basketball season has started as well and there are weekend tournaments most every Saturday from now until June.  She is playing well and won 2/3 in Pulaski over the weekend with some great rebounding and some points on the board.