Frozen

We enjoyed going to see Frozen 2 in the theaters. Frozen was Willow's first movie in the theater when she was 4. 

2014:

2019:

2014 (when chairs "ate" her)

2019 (no lap needed)

The theater by Nana's had been redone to have recliner seats!

The tickets were a bit more that usual due to the upgraded theater.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We enjoyed participating in the Drumstick Dash again this year on Thanksgiving morning! 

Hannah and Willow were up for running, so the moms ran too. I don't think I'd run since last year's race! We quickly learned that my "run" is the same pace as Willow's speed walk. Oh my!

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year due to Nana and Grandpa's floors being torn up in the process of being replaced. The kids enjoyed playing at the house while the meal cooked.

The kids had fun playing outside!

The kids enjoyed "Just Dance" on the Wii after eating.

I got to practice my brush lettering for these printable placemats. 

Owen came home with this sweet thankful spinner:

School Pictures

Owen - 2nd grade

Willow - 5th grade

Kim's Marathon!

Kim ran her first marathon two years ago and was crazy enough to try another one. Willow and I were excited to chase her around town and were able to see her at 6 spots again. Meagan was running this time, so we stepped up and made some signs in her absence. It was fun to see runner react to seeing them. When I was holding this stranger sign, a lady crossed the lane to come shake my hand saying, "My name's Mary Beth. Now we're not strangers." Someone else said, "Thanks for coming, random stranger!" 

I'm not sure how she could be smiling when Willow and I were freezing in all of our winter gear! The high was 40 (likely in the afternoon) and there were gusts of wind!

Not pictured, but fun, was a "Free High Five" sign. I loved how people would cross the lane to come get a high five!  

This was another favorite sign, which we had near the bottom of a steep bridge. Again, people would cross the lane to come tap it. Some would double tap or say "I hope this works!" A few would tap it then dash off like it really gave them power. So fun!!

Still running!!!

Although she did enjoy watching the marathon, her face did match the sign both places where she held it. One runner commented it was the best sign she'd seen while running and took Willow's picture with it. 

She didn't hear us cheering for her but there she goes past mile 26 on the downhill dash to the finish line!!

We're so proud of all of her hard work and dedication in training then her determination to finish even when things got tough!! 

Good job Kim!!!

Willow

Willow has enjoyed being an SCA representative for her class this year. They've been learning songs for the Veteran's Day assembly and a sweet grandmother took and sent these pictures since I wasn't able to be there. 

Willow has started basketball practices and the team is exactly the same as last year. Hopefully with them being older and more used to 10U, they'll feel a little bit more success! At their first practice they were doing some dribbling drills and at one point the girls were dribbling two balls at a time down the court and back. One of the girls was visibly frustrated and fighting back tears while the team waited for her to finish. While my heart broke for her (empathising with how she felt!), my heart absolutely burst when our sweet girl when over to give her a hug and encourage her. Shortly after this picture they took a water break and Willow sat beside her with her arm around her the whole time. We're so proud of her sweet heart!

In other news, we've received multiple things in the mail about middle school and I'm NOT READY FOR IT!! She's had a chance to try out what choir is like and she's interested in that. She's gotten a paper about being selected to be in the advance math courses and recently we got our time slot for registering for all classes. Eeeek!!

Owen

I guess you know your child was born in the south when HE knows how to correctly spell y'all! (I also always get a kick out of when the kids do fancy things to their writing!)

While they miss their buddy Jacob, who moved, Owen and Canton do a great job of playing together. 98% of the time when the doorbell rings, it's Canton coming over to see if Owen can play. 

Enjoying tackling in the trampoline.

Owen has enjoyed uploading pictures to the Lego Life app. We'll have to watch him closely when he gets social media because he was so excited that his picture had 11 hearts (11 people liked it). 

He loves giving explanations of his sets.

Here's a writing prompt from school that was about "if" you had a treehouse. Lucky kid already has one!!

The sweet boy saw his dad give me a foot massage one day, so he's been giving me massages too!

He's been writing his name in cursive on his school papers and when he comes home with his two dictated spelling sentences I've been having him practice writing them in cursive on the back. He's got great penmanship!!

Random

Besides learning how to eat spaghetti before Owen goes on a date, we've also added "How to eat bread" to the list for both kids!

Your finger is the perfect way to hold a bagel apparently!

I've taken in my wedding ring to be inspected every 6 months since April 2005. At the time, seeing the April 2019 line seemed soooooo far away it was hard to imagine what life would be like then. Well, here we are!! As I got down to the last few lines to be signed I'd asked what happens when I fill it up (hoping for a gold star, free pass, something cool...). It was the ultimate let-down when she told me they'd print me a new sheet! It was pretty anti-climatic when I had the last one signed because of the employees lack of reaction (I was hoping for bells and whistles to go off!!) BUT when I went back in October for my new sheet (whomp, whomp, whomp) the two ladies working were both impressed and said that they rarely see a full one - usually they have a few missing here and there. I jokingly mentioned (ok, not joking) that I was hoping for a gold star and one of them said they might have some in the back theeeeeeeeeen came out with one!! I was so happy!! I feel like I should frame it!

Alli and I still enjoy our naps together! Who needs a weighted blanket??

If Alli is outside when I get home, she'll often meet me outside the car when I pull in. She's never shown interest in getting in the car but one day she hoped right in to check it out!

 Owen took a picture of her enjoying these boxes as a "perch" by the window:

A few other pictures Owen took "because she's just too cute."

 

The kids enjoyed learning how to play Skip-Bo!

"Someone" had a "big" birthday a few weeks ago. We enjoyed celebrating at Nana and Grandpa's house and Grandpa enjoyed teaching Hannah and Hunter to play Sevens.

Nana and Grandpa got me a magical cake!!

Apparently a floor mat works as a good blanket!