Cats and Dogs Part 2

 It is now the day before Happy goes home. The cats never really made friends with Happy. He kept getting way too excited to see them. He never barks, except one time to go outside and one time to come back in. But then, when he sees the cats, he barks like a maniac in their faces. Needless to say, the cats still aren't happy with Happy. They've spent most of the week upstairs, or on the stairs, staring down at him. The past day or two, they have snuck down past him and hurridly jumped to the highest post on the cat tree. Since Happy is old, he doesn't always notice, and they make it to safety. And if we don't call attention to them, he won't even know they're there. If he does discover them, he tries to get as high as he can to bark at them, and it's all over! Otherwise, it's been fun to have Happy around. As always, when we watch a dog, I'm glad we don't own a dog ourselves!

He's very chill.

Luke and Leia, eating at the top of the stairs because Happy has free rein downstairs.

Just before I took this pic, Luke stealthily crept behind Happy to take a sniff, then ran away almost as quietly. Happy perked up when he heard Luke in the distance when he made it to safety. 

Luke, squashing Leia on our bed.

When Leia made it to the top without being noticed, her look of annoyance says all that she feels about Happy.

The barrier that somewhat discourages Happy from getting upstairs, though he is crossing it more and more. 

Cats and Dogs

 We have a family group text among all 6 of us. It's fun and a great way to make an announcement, ask an important question, or relay information to everyone at one time, which is extremely hard to do nowadays with everyone's schedules. 

The thing that we share the most on these group texts, however, is the pictures that everyone shares of our cats. They're our main source of mutual entertainment. Here are some recent ones.

Leia loves to stretch out in the sun.

Awaiting dinner.

Take advantage of those sunny days here!

Luke loves to sleep in Jason's spot as soon as he gets out of bed.

Sneaky

Lazy

Leia started taking Luke's spot.

Kade is Luke's absolute favorite!

Sometimes they rest together.

Leia reminds me of a chipmunk sometimes. 

Trying to hide.

I spy Luke!

And this week, we are dog-sitting again. Victoria was out with the Livonia Sisters last week, and they were visiting a family in that ward who were lamenting that they didn't have anyone to watch their dog this week while their family went on a cruise. Victoria offered up our family's dog-sitting services, and since she's a service missionary, she's doing it for free. So, we have cute little Happy this week. He's pretty chill and reminds me of Toto. The only thing is that he had never seen a cat before, and so he's pretty excited when he sees ours. They are not even close to his level of excitement and are unfortunately not adjusting as fast as they did to Daisy, Pepper, and Ellie, all of whom were much bigger than Happy, so it's kind of funny that the cats are so put off. Anyway, all the animals will survive, and Luke and Leia will be happy when Happy leaves next week!

February Fun

We actually had fun activities this past week that didn't involve any of our kids' activities.  They were just pure fun and social.  

Last Sunday we went to the Kish's house for the Super Bowl. We never used to watch the Super Bowl.  Jason's not into pro football, and while I always thought the commercials and halftime show were entertaining, I couldn't care less about watching them, especially when our kids were young.  The past few years, our boys have been more interested in pro football, and even the rest of us, since the Lions were in the Super Bowl. We were happy to be invited to watch the game at the Kish's with friends.  Kade didn't end up going, and we left after half-time, but it was so fun!

The Moms

On Monday, Victoria hosted a Galentine's party at our house for the sister missionaries. Four companionships came, plus Victoria's friend Payton, who was set apart as a missionary two days later and is starting the MTC tomorrow. Each companionship brought a snack to share, and they all brought a "favorite thing" gift to give to another sister. Victoria crocheted those heart keychains I included in my last post. (That evening was also book club, which I go to every month, but after having been visiting at the Galentine Party and then going to book club with Valentine-themed snacks, it was like an extension of the party. Even my tap class the next night was Valentine-themed and seemed like another special occasion.)

We put together a charcuterie board.

Friday night, Jason and I went to the 40th birthday party of a friend of ours. It was a karaoke party with fun snacks and a soda bar. It wasn't with an actual karaoke machine, but a version online where a group can just sing along with the words displayed. We enjoyed singing with our friends and letting loose!

Saturday was busy with cleaning the church, the Stake Youth activity of dodgeball for Jason, Austin, and Erik, and the Stake Adult dance that night, which was a first. I was pretty excited about the dance and felt warmed up after the karaoke the night before. Those who planned the dance were doubtful it would be well-received, but it was a big hit, and I have a feeling they will be putting together many more Stake Adult dances. Jason and I did some country swing, cha-cha, waltz, Cotton Eye Joe, and some other line dances. We even learned a new folk dance that switches partners. It was a lot of fun. 

Photo station at the dance. 

Our kids kept busy between the two nights with friends and work. Victoria attended a dance competition to watch Sammie Kish and some other Dancin' Feet girls who were so young back when Victoria last competed with them.

 I have to say that it was a really fun week. It made up for the fact that most of my students and a lot of staff members at Red Bell have been getting slammed with COVID the past 2 weeks, and there have been some interesting days at work. We need some light-hearted fun, once in a while!

I got my ring fixed up. It was missing a diamond, and the rings had separated. It's 27 years old!

Kade made pizza for the family on Friday night.

Victoria made pancakes on Saturday morning.

Jason and Kade gave me flowers!

Art Forms

Victoria and Kade, my adult children, are still just as creative as they have ever been. It's been a while since I've seen their art in ways other than music and dance because they have gotten so busy with other responsibilities. Here are a few of the things they have been working on over the past month.

Victoria learned how to crochet and crocheted a scarf for her friend, two hats (not using a loom), is working on a blanket, and is making a bunch of little hearts for the sister missionaries in our area. She also made a quilt for a baby in the NICU at the quilt shop she is volunteering at once a week now. 

The blanket is behind the hats.

She definitely learned this skill quickly and well!

She'll put the hearts on key chains for the sisters.

Baby quilt

At the very beginning of the month, Kade decided to finally paint the piece of tree trunk that we had saved from the old sycamore tree in our yard. We cut it down about 7 years ago. In fairness to Kade, I don't think I told him then that I wanted him to paint it, but maybe a year or two later I did. That piece of trunk has been on our deck getting weathered for some time. Just before all the piles of snow we have received, Kade brought that trunk in and painted it in a couple of hours. He wants to make it into a side table for the sunroom. I don't know how long that part will take, but in the meantime, I really enjoy admiring his artwork, which he can do so quickly and effortlessly. And miracle of miracles, there was a 2-inch gap at the bottom where it was the most weathered. Since painting it, that gap somehow closed up most of the way and is hardly noticeable! 

That little line at the bottom is where the crack was. 

Yesterday, I made whole wheat bread with my new favorite recipe. Kade actually offered to grind the wheat out in the snow, bless that child! And then he suggested making "bear bread" with some of the dough, which is an old tradition of Victoria's, Kade's, and mine from when they were really young. I don't think Erik was even born yet when we were in our bear bread phase. At any rate, he doesn't remember when we used to make it. Bonus: Victoria made us dinner, too!

How does Kade make it actually look like a bear? Pure talent!

Delicious chicken!

This is from when we made tortillas a couple of weeks ago.

Maybe the next time we make them, they'll be more circular, but they tasted so good!

My kids are all creative in various ways, and some of them I still can't even fathom how good they are at the art they create, as my creativity is very limited. And whatever art I feel inspired to do is spent on my preschoolers. It works out well, though, since my own kids like to do it in their own way and time. I just like them creating it in ways that I can enjoy it!

My Ski Trip

The younger three went skiing/snowboarding on Christmas Eve, as I had mentioned before, but I never got a chance to go over the break. Someone kept getting sick or had plans. Life with busy teens is tricky! I saw that January 24th would be a good day to go. No one had plans, and we were to have snow again, so I tentatively put it in the calendar about 10 days ago for Kade, Austin, Erik, and me to go skiing. (Victoria and Jason still opted not to go for the same reasons as before.) 

As the day grew closer, I saw that the weather was to be freakishly cold. So cold, in fact, that school was cancelled the day before, Friday, due to wind chills at -25 degrees. Saturday was to be a bit warmer, especially later in the day, I'm talking wind chills were expected to be in the single digits as opposed to negatives, but we decided to go with it anyway. I was pretty nervous for myself, I have to admit. I thought I would be way too cold, as I often have been the last few times going. I told myself that if I got too cold, I could just hang out in the lodge and stay warm. 

I was also still nervous about one of my kids breaking a bone (it was only a few years ago that I watched Austin break his arm snowboarding, and it isn't something I want to repeat ever!) 

We double checked to make sure everyone had all the things necessary to keep us as warm as we could, and off we went. I was wearing 6 layers on top and four layers on the bottom. If it had been helpful, I would have worn 3 layers on my feet, but the 2 were ideal because I still needed circulation between my socks and boots. I wore a thicker gator than I normally do, which was the best part for me, I believe. I remember the last time we went when it was so cold I actually got a headache from the cold when I was going down the slopes. I think it was because I was breathing in that cold air, and it was freezing my insides. I don't normally like to breathe with something fully covering my nose and mouth because I feel claustrophobic, but I didn't this time, thank goodness! The day before, when I was outside for 5 minutes loading up my car with granola for my Teffola job, I could feel the extremely cold air affecting my lungs. It's not good for people with asthma, another reason for Victoria not to go skiing here.

It was -6 when we arrived, with a real feel of -6. The sun was shining, and the wind wasn't blowing, so -6 felt ok. The slopes were just about empty, not too many crazy people going in that weather, which is a big plus. We had a great time! It's amazing to me that Austin and Erik got cold before I did and were ready for lunch and our 1/2-hour break to get warm. Kade was toasty and fine, but we all broke together, which was perfect timing for me. I didn't notice that my toes were numb, and I could feel them tingling as we ate, so I got the feeling back in them at just the right time. Austin added another sweater (so glad we made him bring an extra one!), and Erik got hand warmers (seriously, he didn't start with them!), and we were able to last a lot longer for the second part of our day. More people arrived since it got up to a balmy 6 degrees, but it still wasn't too busy. 

I got adventurous and followed my boys through the trees that took us on a path where we had to duck under a fallen tree and even do a little cross-country skiing (it was tricky for the snowboarders, unless they got their speed just right, which they ended up doing), and we could ski down a very powdery, very unbeaten path that reminded me of Utah skiing. It was great! We did that path multiple times, and I think it was one of the reasons we didn't get too cold because we had to work a little harder on the cross-country parts, sometimes pulling the boarders along with our poles, and we were in between lots of trees that kept the extreme cold out. I also followed my boys off a jump just about every time. Though let me clarify, I did not do the jump, I just rolled up and down it, which was plenty fun for me. The best part was watching them jump it and see how good they have all gotten. Austin is incredible on the snowboard now, Kade looks amazing, and Erik has some awesome ski skills; he can even ski backwards! 

We stayed together most of the time, but there was a bit of time when I was by myself and felt a little lost. Since there aren't many options for slopes here, I do get bored on the same slopes, but the thing that keeps me entertained, since I don't do tricks, is watching my kids and following them down the tricky areas that I wouldn't do by myself. 

And as I say every time I go, I really do love to ski! I get nervous beforehand, but when we go, I always have the best time and am so glad my kids enjoy it too. 

I could only manage a few pics, so I wouldn't expose my hand too much in the cold.

Erik 

This was before I put that gator under my googles, so you can at least see a part of my face here.

Kade, finishing a run.

Austin ( I had to remind him to cover his nose and mouth).

The gang!

Life Keeps Going

 We were hit by a crazy snowstorm a few days ago that I feel like we weren't given enough warning about.  Normally, before any kind of upcoming storm, we're forewarned so much about how bad it's going to be that we're always left feeling let down that the storm didn't live up to the hype. This time it was the opposite. I didn't mind, I was just surprised by how much snow accumulated on Wednesday and into Thursday. We had a legit snow day, which made it all even better. Many times, I feel like they call snow days unnecessarily. This one, however, was needed! The roads were bad for much of the day on Thursday, which would have been the day the kids went to school. Wednesday evening, they were the worst that I have ever driven on here. Erik still had to play at the Cluster Concert (another reason I felt we weren't prepared, they didn't even call off this concert because no one knew how bad it was going to be!) He had forgotten his trombone at his school (it was a crazy day, and no wonder he forgot it), and he was to play at the high school, so I tried to drive at almost normal speed to get his trombone and get him to the high school in time. I quickly learned that I couldn't do that as I slid through the intersection when trying to make a right instead. Even after I realized we couldn't rush, we were fishtailing and drifting all over the place. Erik thought it was great fun. I was just happy we didn't end up stuck on the side of a road, as some cars were. Anyway, we made it through, and now we have a nice covering of snow again. 

The Cluster Concert was a great honor for Erik to play at. Each middle school band teacher chose a select group to be in the honor band, which was the group of all the chosen middle schoolers together. They had a little performance on Monday for the parents. They performed for the Cluster Concert on Wednesday, which was only for the 5th-grade students in the district and their parents. I've posted about this concert before, but it's been a while. It's where 5th graders watch a selection of choir, orchestra, and band students perform to help them decide what they want to participate in when they reach middle school. My other 3 kids were all in the 8th-grade orchestra, and so were all required to go to the concert when they were in 8th grade. I think Victoria sang at it as well when she was in the choir. There are many more band students, so they have to select individuals they feel will highlight the band the best. Here's their final song and the main tradition at the Cluster Concert, a medley of songs by the Beatles. (It's like 5 minutes long, so no pressure to watch the whole thing. They sound fantastic, though! Jason worked hard to get more of Erik's head than we can usually get in a recording.)

To add another accomplishment to Erik's week, he had a late game last night, and his team won, which was a first in a handful of games. The best part about it was that Erik made his first score in many years!! The team as a whole worked well together, including when Erik scored. His teammate had a great assist. It's funny, because I had been recording some of the plays and I almost recorded the moment, but didn't. I did, however, record some similar moments with Erik. With him playing center mid, as opposed to defense, he was able to have the opportunity to score. It was a fun game to watch!

Since I didn't follow my instinct and record his score, I missed his genuine smile afterward. However, the score that followed by a teammate, he gave a similar smile that I was able to capture. 

My Missionary

 With the new year, Victoria has come up with a good schedule for her service mission. Her mission leaders are excited and hopeful that she'll even make it back to Mexico. Yes, she's got a good groove going on right now, but no, she most likely won't be going back to Mexico. Though she has improved, she still needs to work on the effectiveness of her medication and possibly needs to change a few things with it. Time will tell.

In the meantime, she's crocheting, teaching yoga, going out with the full-time missionaries regularly, working at and attending the temple regularly, keeping up with her language and Gospel studies, and working in one more volunteer opportunity. We have a good system with our cars as well- it's called communication! It's helping all of us, but especially me, so I don't worry last second who's driving what car. It's a life skill that my drivers are improving at.

Victoria attended a bridal shower with me last week for a girl a couple of years older than her. Victoria was the lucky toilet-paper-wedding-dress model in our group for a game. It was fun!

It's amazing what you can do with toilet paper!

She's decided that for her real wedding dress, she no longer wants it to be a mermaid fit. 

Last night, she helped with the dinner for a family who had just lost their great-grandma. Payton helped too, and they were twinning! Payton leaves for her mission in about a month, but a lot of people thought they were companions on a mission here. It was cute. 

Cuties!