Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Wildcats Win! (Brinnly's First Basket!)

It has been a very busy basketball season for our Elm Grove Lutheran Wildcats, with unfortunately not very many wins. The girls have been playing hard, but seem to be often up against older, taller, more experienced players. This week they did manage their second win, thanks to the two Ward girls on the team!  Brinnly scored her first-ever game basket and quickly followed that with her second one!  Mali then contributed two points of her own and their team won 22-5. Well done, Wildcats!

 (Excuse the blurry picture, but that is a shot of Brinly in a different game under the basket)

It's our tradition to celebrate a first basket with custard after the game. At Culver's, Grant mentioned that he wanted soda, but we told him no, just custard. Somehow when we walked back to our table, he came up behind us, drinking what looked like a big cup of soda! An employee came up to us laughing, and said that after we order and turned around, Grant went behind the counter and helped himself to a soup bowl, and quickly filled it up himself with Sierra Mist from the dispenser! We apologized and offered to pay for it, but the employee and other customers were just laughing at his antics. That boy!

Friday, January 26, 2018

Winter Fun Days

We have been doing our best to enjoy winter so far. The twins love playing in the snow together and take advantage of it every chance they get.  We also took advantage of a day off from school to head to an indoor play area with lots of themed rooms and laser tag for the older girls. They were good sports about playing pretend with the twins too. Our next big goal is to get all of them ice skates to take advantage of the lakes and local parks around here.
(Yes, it was mild enough outside that she was allowed to dress herself)

Grant looks like a prairie dog here. 


Tired out after sledding






Also, Grant loves to hear Mali play the clarinet. She's getting ready for some fun pieces to play in pep band soon!

Big Girl Everly!

We are down to one (count them, one!) kid in diapers!  Everly met her potty training goal and was able to choose a toy from the store. She had been eyeing her cousin Julia's twin baby dolls for a while and was really excited to pick out her own set. They are named "Everly" and "Grant", of course, and she is a most dutiful mother. Doesn't she look like a natural when it comes to caring for twins?

Friday, January 12, 2018

12th Day of Christmas

We had our traditional family Christmas last Friday night, on the official "12 Day of Christmas". We always have fun planning a menu for that night, even though we're usually still recovering from lots of other yummy foods and treats. This year, I roasted a (lemon-rosemary) whole chicken in the Instant Pot for the first time.  It was a hit with everyone.  Delaney chose wild rice as a side, and Carrigan helped whisk together a homemade dressing for a salad.  Jonathan brought home a baguette (also good to dip in the dressing) and we finished the meal with pistachio pudding.

The kids receive their final gift from us then and usually an ornament and a few little stocking stuffers. I think their favorite though is the "Secret Sibling" exchange and they receive their gifts from each other. So sweet!  Some big hits this year were Delaney's "Beanie Boo" hat and gloves from Brinnly, Carrigan's Peppa Pig jammies from Everly, a Hermoine bobble-head to Brinn from Mali, and Delaney's garbage truck gift to Grant.

It would have been pretty much a perfect night if it would have ended at 8 pm. But, as life would have it, right after all of the festivities, we discovered a jammed sink in the bathroom.  Right after Jonathan fixed that, we discovered the leaking water heater in the basement.  And then Carrigan was up sick during the night.  But, we are thankful for the bursts of fun and joy we have together in the midst of such challenges.  Merry Christmas! 





He was really excited that the pudding was green.

Wednesday, January 03, 2018

Six!









Six years ago I received the best belated birthday gift ever. Our Delaney Fay was born and fit just perfectly into our family. She was sweet and sassy from the get-go with a personality all her own. It has been such a joy to watch her grow from an easy-going baby, to a silly toddler, and now to a big Kindergarten learning to read and take on the world.
Laney is our dear night-owl and still struggles with the morning. Thankfully, she loves school and her teacher, so she takes it in stride. (Just very slowly). Most days you'll find her wearing her trusty cowgirl boots and she definitely has an opinion on fashion. Owls are her trademark symbol. She still likes blue but now likes orange too. Her food preferences are eccentric, (no cheese but yes to most things spicy) to say the least, but we love her in spite of them. And I'm happy to keep packing her a sandwich/fruit/veggie combo as her go-to lunch. Her new favorite pastime is Lego building and she and Carrigan love spending time on their creations. She's a natural with the twins and they just adore her.
Delaney's probably the most flexible personality in our family but one of her struggles over the past year has been her seasonal allergies. She's often dealing with feeling somewhat yucky.  It took awhile for us to even realize that as a cause so it is a work in progress on how to deal with it. This cold, snowy weather may actually be helpful to her.
We celebrated our girl this year with a birthday Kringle and then a belated friends party, complete with pajamas and pancakes. She received some lovely gifts and has spent the days since creating and pretending. Delaney-cakes, you are such a special part of our family. You make all of of laugh in the best possible ways and fill our hearts with love. None of the rest of us may ever understand your love of Roald Dahl books or that sense of humor, but we love you for the unique personality you are. Happy birthday, six year old!