Weekend Wrap-Up

I am not a "I can't wait for Christmas break to be over so my kids can get back to school" kind of mom. I have seriously enjoyed time with my crew this break and wish we had a few more days together! I wanted to go ice skating! and skiing! and snow tubing! But, alas, they're off to school tomorrow and we sure did squeeze in a lot of fun together over the last week and a half.

Our New Year's plans were kind of up in the air until the last minute.  The last couple years we have had some family friends over but COVID is keeping us apart this year so we weren't sure what we would land up doing.  Kylee invited a friend over so they had fun with party hats and snacks, hot tubbing into the New Year and just hanging out.  Kael went to a friend's house for a sleepover and Kase had been with a buddy up into the evening so once he got home, it was just him, Kent and myself to hang out.  Kent pulled a super fun dad move and took the TV and xBox into Kase's room, along with our new giant bean bag and Kase was THE HAPPIEST.  He just kept smiling all night.  We had a great night just playing with him, then watching a movie together in his room.  He and Kent didn't make it until midnight; I took a little catnap during the movie then I did ring in the New Year with Kylee and her friend. By other people standards, possibly a bit of a lame night, by our standards it was perfect. 

 

The next morning Kael came home early from his sleepover and the girls kept on sleeping so Kent and Kael played some early morning board games then we made a fun bacon weave wrapped pork loin.  A total win! 

After a lazy morning in, Kent and the kids went outside to make a huge snow fort.  

It was pretty awesome!

Of course we had to refuel afterwards with hot cocoa and popcorn while playing a few more games.  We've been having tons of  family fun with Mario Kart on the Switch and Beat Saber on the VR!

Kylee wanted to squeeze in a quick bit of sledding before we called it a night so Kent loaded the tubes in the back of the truck and let the kids ride over to the school that way! Rule follower Kael chose to ride inside the truck.  I love it.

Is there anything better than sunset sledding and kids with rosy cheeks? Mostly they were having fun slamming into each other and trying to knock each other off the tubes but that's how we roll, friends.

Back inside we needed to refuel (again-ha) with pizookies!

Meanwhile a super sweet family stopped by with a New Year's gift for us.  Some people are so thoughtful.  Kase LOVED his new shirt and his buddy Clay stayed to play for a bit.  I had tried my hand at making deep dish (a family fave when I was growing up) and I haven't had much luck in the past but it turned out great! We had so much fun making our own pizzas and calling it an early night. 

Saturday was Kylee's first volleyball tournament! She has been putting in some serious time (3 two hour practices a week plus an hour of performance training before each practice) so we were anxious to meet her new teammates and see them in action

Kylee seemed just so...joyful all day long.  The girls played good but I wouldn't say great, so the fact that Kylee kept a smile on her face the whole time says a lot about how much she has matured and just how much she loves this club. 

It was a long day in Cedar Falls (we left at 5:20 AM, got home at 8:30 PM) and we were all wiped when we got home!

Meanwhile, the boys were hanging with Keith and Cindy. We really appreciated them  because the boys had way more fun doing that than being at the tournament with us all day.  They went to SkyZone with Kellen and Kevin too! They ate at a favorite restaurant and watched basketball and football games.  By all standards, a great day for them.

Sunday we had a nice day getting stuff done around the house.  Kase played with friends and went sledding, Kylee painted, Kent and I went for a walk, Kael helped Kent with a project at my parents' then Kylee had volleyball practice.  We spent the rest of our day just getting ready for the week!