A big week in 1st grade

Every other week or so, the hot lunch menu has a "Lucky Tray" day. On this day, if you have a sticker under your tray, then you get a prize. I'm not sure how many trays are lucky each time, maybe only one. Jenna has been choosing to have hot lunch on Lucky Tray day every time it comes around since the beginning of school - hoping each time that she'll get it. Well, Monday, February 10th, will go down in history as the day that Jenna got the Lucky Tray! She was so very thrilled! The prize was a little owl stamp.

Tuesday, Feb. 11th, the first and second grades had a music performance during the day. First grade sang "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain," "The Do Nothin' Blues," and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Jenna was in the back row, to the right of the microphone, wearing a white dress and white headband with bow. (See videos in "Jenna 1st Grade 2013-2014" pictures folder.)

There were some really cute modernized lyrics to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." "Take me out to the ball game. Take me out to the dome. We'll have have some bratwurst and nachos. We don't care if we pay through the nose. And we'll root, root, root for the home team if they don't win it's a shame. For they just might move out of town later on this year."

"Charge!" was clearly their favorite part!

At the end of the concert, the first and second grades combined and sang "Yankee Doodle." Jenna was on the front row on the right this time.

Jenna's class Valentine exchange was Thurs. Feb. 13th. She had a great time showing me all the cards and candy.

On Valentines Day, I finally remembered to ask Jenna for a picture of her with her prized owl stamp from Lucky Tray Day. She obliged, but wanted to also include her Valentine stickers from Grandma & Grandpa. And then, brother had to join in, too, of course! We also went to the dentist. Jenna has one cavity - bummer! And, I have three - argh!

Saturday after her bath, the queen of the silly pictures took control of my phone. (These are just a few of the better ones. She took MANY.)

And, she made this "Mickey Mouse" train design. Pretty creative girl!

A Fun, Full Weekend

Friday, Feb. 7th, Kevin's band performed at the CSU-Pueblo honor band weekend. So, we drove down, enjoyed the concert at 4pm, had dinner with Kevin and then drove back.

We decided to spend the night at Papa and Mima's. Papa got a set of bunk beds to use for grandkid slumber parties and the kids were eager to try them out! Turns out, Kellen was a little too excited and couldn't settle down to go to sleep, so he got kicked out of the slumber party to come sleep with me.

Saturday morning, we decided to get one more sledding time in before the snow from the last snow storm completely melted.

It had already melted so much compared to a week ago.

Jenna's getting really good at going all by herself. Even on this steep hill that I wouldn't try!

Here's the top of one hill that we discovered could allow you to go down not only this one, but cross over the trail and keep going down another one!

This is my favorite run because it's long. You can make it all the way down and over a little bridge.

Saturday evening, Papa took Jenna to a Daddy/Daughter ball. Kevin took Jenna last year and they had a great time. But, this year, Kevin was still at the honor band weekend in Pueblo, so Papa volunteered to take her. He even bought some roses and Mima made a wrist corsage.

Kellen wanted to go so badly! We talked to him about why he couldn't this time and then I overheard him saying to a cousin in a sad voice, "I can't go to the ball, because I'm not a Daddy." He was happy to be in the picture, though.

Pretty girls!

Papa danced!

Sunday afternoon, Kevin treated us to a little adventure to Denver. We went to the Aquarium and had a fun time!

Love her funny picture faces!

These domes let you peak up inside the fish tank.

It's cute that Kellen can barely peak in!

Fish face!

Before the Aquarium, we made a trip to IKEA and wandered all around. The place is huge! It was fun to treat them to new toys apart from Christmas or their birthdays. We don't ever do that. They were so excited to get home and play with them - it was hard to wait through the aquarium, the pizza dinner treat, and the drive home!

A train set for Kellen (and for me - I've been wanting this set for years). And, a doll living room set for Jenna. She quickly turned the box it came in into a kitchen and office, too! These are so reasonably priced at IKEA and have provided hours of enjoyment! Such a fun spontaneous day!!

The Great Spider Caper

Jenna redeemed arcade tickets for this spider sometime back and has taken to having some fun with it this week. (All on her own without any prompting, I might add.) Earlier in the week, I opened this drawer and found him.

Last night, I pulled back the covers to get into bed and found him! 

And, this morning, she put him in Kevin's suitcase. (I may or may not have inspired her to do this.) So far, she hasn't been around at the moment of discovery. I'm sure she has intended to scare us and get a big reaction, but instead, we've just laughed. She's really enjoyed it when we tell her that he was found - so proud of her trick! I think we may have started a new tradition and if so, I think this spider (or "pider" as Kellen says) needs a name. So fun! Love our girl!

Smart phone

Sunday, Jan. 26th, I got my first smartphone! It was a debate between the iphone 4s and the galaxy 3. Even though, most everyone I know has the iphone, I decided to go with the galaxy. The great consumer report and the better camera ultimately sold me. The pictures in this blog are some of the pictures I've taken with my phone so far.

Thursday night, Jan 30th and all through Friday, we got quite a lot of snow. Kevin and Jenna got a snow day Friday. It was such a blessing to be able to sleep in, especially after Kellen had been sick the night before.

Saturday, Feb. 1st, we slept in and then went over to Papa and Mima's house for some awesome sledding in Pulpit Rock Park. Lots of powder and not too cold - perfect. I wish I had brought my camera, but we have fun memories in our minds. Kellen was so worn out that he begged to go to bed without eating lunch! After lunch, the bigger guys had a Beyblades tournament while the littlest guy had a nap.

Saturday afternoon and evening, it snowed even more. I think we got around 9 inches total. Sunday morning was so pretty with everything all snow covered, the clear sky, and the sun shining.

I took this from inside our house - pretty good zoom.

We drive past this sign several times a week. I finally remembered to take a picture. I think it's so quirky/funny! Glad I got this picture with the pretty snow covered background.

Another snow day today, or rather an extreme cold day. (It's currently -10!) Jenna requested a French braid and I had no idea how to do that. So, we looked up a youtube tutorial. And, voila! My first ever French braid. I clearly have some practicing to do, but Jenna's not a critic and was thrilled!

And, what do you do on an extreme cold/snow day? You go to the mall of course! Daddy indulged them in a ride on the monkey train. Then, as we were discussing what to do for lunch, we saw Papa and Madilyn coming up the escalator! Mima was in the area and showed up, too! So, we decided to all have lunch together at the food court. After lunch, I took Kellen home for a nap and to have some time to myself, while the guys took the girls to see Frozen. A pretty fun day - yay for snow days!