Snow Days

We have been having quite the wet season with snow this year! It's going to make for a wonderful summer hiking season. Needless to say we've enjoyed days off, late starts and even having Jody have time off... God bless the new Republican Governor that is doing one thing right.

 

Maria's Sweet 16

We started off the day looking at baby books and me being overwhelmed with gratitude for this little girl who is not so little anymore. Maria at 16 is just an amazing soul. She is diligent, hard working, driven, caring, loving, willing to play board games at any time, willing to give time to others, FUNNY AS HELL, and so very witty. She is kind, thoughtful, and grateful. She is truly such a blessing to our family and I thank God everyday for her. 

I took the day off and we did whatever she wanted, which included sleeping in, getting a non-chocolate cake, getting pho downtown (pho 999 was closed), buying one pair of pants at (gasp) Windsor, and having alfredo pasta for dinner which she cooked. 

Jody got the cake. We got another one. Sugar for days!!!!!! It was a lovely day being together. Happy birthday sweet girl. Thank you for being who you are always.

 

Reading/Kindness Night

Our school puts on small but fun events. The reading portion was lame, but the activities Ella had a good time doing. I was exhausted, but enjoyed our after date for pie at Western Village.

 

10 mile cold run

Cold running is not for the faint of heart. My skin was beet red, but I felt great!! 4 miles in, going uphill, I felt like I could run forever. I couldn't. I didn't have water or food and by mile 8 I was exhausted. But I plugged along and made it home at mile 10. Hopefully this will make the marathon easier if it's not 20 degrees outside and I'm clothed.

 

Ella turns 9- Sloth Party

Ridiculous. That is all I can say. There were literally so many children there we couldn't play games. They entertained themselves, played, ran, ate and surprisingly no one barfed! I had a few activities set up, a create your own sloth stuffie, coloring pages, and yeah.... some did it, some did not. It was pure chaos and happiness. I honestly think there were 40 kids there, not including adults. Ella kept inviting everyone and their mom. Next year is the last party and we do it at a venue. A lot of kids from school came and some parents spoke only Spanish. I'm so grateful Jody was there to talk and mingle. I had a blast with our neighbor who I haven't seen in years. The party started at 6 and I was in bed at 10:00 when the last guest left. It was a great time and a big thank you to Dad who hosted the madness and Manny and Josh who helped to clean. Joe was a trooper and was with me all day gathering stuff and running errands. Maria and Nina were on hair and tsaziki duty. I love how we all work together to pull these things off. Sidenote: No one ate the meatballs.