Birthday Ski Trip

This weekend, we headed up to Wilmont (in Wisconsin) for skiing  (for Dave's birthday).  It was a great place to go, because overall, it was pretty mild.  Also, we didnt have to board the dogs anywhere, so that is a bonus.

Nico was pretty much a gem all day.  He listened to his instructors and tried hard.  After he realized that he didnt need to hit the deck all the time, he actually ended up being a not bad little skier.  

We let Nico do a kids' ski class, which put him on the right track to try the tow rope and the bunny hill.  He hit that hill a bunch of times, by the end, pretty much having the hang of skiing, which was cool. After, we hung out in the lodge with the ipad and let Dave ski some more.  He reported that the lines weren't that terrible for the 6-7 lifts that were running.  There were some steeper parts, but largely, it was a very comfortable experience for people who hadn't skied in 10 years.  

We had Cracker Barrel for dinner on the way home.  Even though it was his birthday, Dave humored me and let us have CB, which was okay.  Even though I didn't eat what I normally would (because I am doing this gym Whole30 challenge.  Funny, when they told me about peer pressure in high school, I just assumed that there would be more booze, sex, and drugs involved.  And less "healthy eating". )

Basketball Boy

Wow, we have been busy, so busy.

Nico is reading.  Really reading.  It's awesome.  He is still into just about every sport imaginable.   As I write this, he is running around the living room knocking a ball at a goal with a hockey stick narrating with a play by play "Henry runs the ball down, but he can't hold on to it.  Lauren is onto it now, she's hit a shot onto the back post, but now Nicholas brings it back..."

It's pretty great.  

We also started basketball.  

Dave has been hired by a company that staffs charter schools with subs.  During the interview, one of the interviewers picked up on his real mission (to get back into coaching) and called him on it (in a good way).  She suggested that he use this as a way of figuring out if there are any coaching gigs out there.  

Me- I am not teaching this quarter- but I am no less busy.  I have the incredible ability to jam pack my schedule with stuff.  A lot of it is stuff I like doing, so it's not too bad.  

The Long Overdue Christmas Post

Wow... what a crazy month.

First, it started with the FLU.  Yes, we got it.  The worst time to remember that you didnt get a flu shot is the second after your kid's pediatrician tells you that he tested positive for flu.  That was me.

But we recovered pretty fast.  Nico responded quickly to the Tamiflu and was back at school quickly. Just in time for his winter performance.  The performance we interesting.  I think it suffered a bit from "too much going on".  There was a re-enactment of scenes from Frozen, not to mention some actual music playing.  Frankly, I feel like it would have been better to just sing songs and do little dances, but I admit, I am a strange duck.

Nico's class was very well behaved.  No one lost their mind while having to sit through the entire performance, even though it was quite hot and they were all over dressed.  Look at him. Isn't he precious?

Nico played hookie on the last Friday before Winter break.  We rented a MINIVAN and packed the dogs and Christmas gifts and drove to Texas to see the Cousins and Aunt Nicole and Uncle Cody.  It was a long drive... one that was punctuated early on with the sounds of Gordon having diarrhea.  In the way back.  So, our progress was slowed by stopping every hour to walk them and avoid that happening.

We got to meet Jojo, who'd been in the states for less than a month.  It was really exciting, because she is adorable, but also because she is learning so many new things.  Nico, Maddox, and Em are finally at an age where they can play pretty well together unsupervised... so they were a little rabble running around the house playing together.  Beckett is pretty close to being able to join in.  But he mostly played with Jojo and hung out with us.  

One of my favorite things was telling Beckett that I was the boss of him.  And he telling me vice versa.  It was fantastic.  

We also did this:

Note to self: Don't do that again.  Ever.  I had never done one as a grown-up, so I was curious.  This was completely edible... and we definitely picked at it a little... but it occurred to me that this is a perfectly good waste of candy.  And besides... I don't even like most of that candy.  So in the future, just buy the "good" stuff and eat it.... no need to decorate a house with it.  

We made it back to Chicago in time for Christmas eve.  We did some quick cleaning and shopping for groceries before I finished off the night with gift wrapping.  Even though I have been chipping away at it since Thanksgiving, it seemed like still so much to wrap.  

Nico made out like a bandit, per usual.  Some hits from this year: the food prep set and storm trooper set that Santa got him, the science fair kit from Dave and me, a Batman robot that Grandma and Grandpa got him, Legos from the cousins, and a compass and military book that Gran and Grampy got him.  

For dinner, we had a pork roast, green beans (with bacon), mashed potatoes, and chocolate pecan pie.  I did the roast and the green beans in crockpots, which was nice, since I didnt have to stand over the stove all day.  Grandma and Grandpa came to town and Dave picked them up at the airport.  We spent most of the break with them watching sport, playing sport, doing science experiments, and reading.  It was a pretty fantastic great holiday.