Mid-Winter Break

Oh what do you do in the winter time, when all the world is wet, raining, freezing, and you can't go outside?....Oh yeah, have "Mid-Winter Break" aka "When mother's lose their sanity"

It seems like this year while the rest of Maple Valley went to Disneyland (I mean literally everyone we know) we stayed home.  I would say we slept in but it was more like I slept in, sat around in our pajamas, played games, stayed up late watching the Olympics, ate, cleaned up messes, fought, and you know burned daylight.  I was actually glad to have a little break from Cameron's homework as it is stressing me out, but that is for another blog post for another day.  We did however work on his science project and a whole lot of scout stuff.  Isn't that what all kids dream of when they think of a break in school?

 Laura sent me this picture someone posted on Facebook about kids science projects.  The only thing that I can add to this is AMEN!

This is a book Cameron had to make to earn his Fitness Activity Badge.  One of the last things he needed to do before he earns his Webelos badge.  We had a good laugh.  I know you wish you had a very important book of very important information too!

At the end of the week the Cameron, Julia, and Natalie got to spend the night at Grandma Stuard's house and Lucy at Grandma Swany's.  Mitch and I had a whole 24 hours kid free where we went out to dinner, slept in and went to every store we could think of that we didn't want to take kids to.  It was a nice 14th anniversary celebration.  The kids had a great time and it was a nice ending to the week.  Thank you Grandpas and Grandmas!

Winter Olympics

Our family enjoyed the Winter Olympics this year.  It was nice that Mid-Winter Break landed on the second week of the Olympics so we could all stay up late watching and rooting for our favorite athletes.  The girls absolutely loved the figure skating.  Julia has a new hero-- Yulia Lipnitskaya from Russia.  Natalie was in love with the outfits.  Whenever a new skater came on the ice Natalie would say something like, "Her outfit is just gorgeous! Oh, THIS outfit is the best!" The more shiny and sparkly the better. They were not fans of the male ice skaters though.  Cameron muttered something like, "That is just embarrassing" and when Natalie saw their outfits she kept saying things like, "Awkward!"  Mitch and I could hardly blame them... ha ha!  The kids were so cute while watching all the athletes, Julia said that she thinks that she might break a world record in something one day, she just isn't sure in what yet and Cam told us that he "thinks he would like to complete in the Olympics, but probably in running." We told them that we would be in the front row cheering them on when that happens.  The other week Cameron asked Mitch if he would be mad at him if he went to the University of Oregon for running (one of the best xc running schools in the nation.)  Mitch said, "Only for you Cam could I ever be a Duck fan, but if you went there I would be!"  So that might be fun to watch.... Mitch becoming a Duck fan....stay tuned for the future!

See you in four years!

What not to wear...

 

Julia came home from school today took one look at what I was wearing and said, "Kevin in Home Alone 2 has the same sweater as you."  I am not sure but I am guessing that this can't be a compliment.  A 9-nine year old boy from the 90s and me, twins.  Great...

 

 I just might need some new clothes....

Class Pictures

Today is class pictures for the kids.  As I was getting Natalie ready for school today she was discussing with me if she is going to be in the back row for the picture (the tallest kids are always in the back.)  Natalie is the tallest in her class, I swear by two feet.  The other day when I was in her class helping out I couldn't believe how she towers over the rest of the kids.

 

She cracked me up this morning when she said, "I am the tallest in the class but I know who the second tallest is....Ryan Darwin, he has a really long neck."

Best Day of the Year!

 

When Groundhog's Day and the day the Seahawks win the Superbowl fall on the same day, it becomes the best day. Ever. 

 

As you might know, we love Groundhog's Day around here. 

 

The first thing we do in the morning is to look online and see Punxsutawney Phil and if he saw his shadow or not. This year we discussed how cool it would be if we could go to Punxsutawney, PA and be there in person  to see Phil.  That would be so cool!  The only thing that dampened the mood of the day was that the pesky groundhog saw his shadow--6 more weeks of winter!  Bummer.  We are ready for Spring.

 

 

We went over to our friends house to watch the Super Bowl and had a great time.

 

To most of the country, they would say that this Super Bowl wasn't too exciting due to the fact that the Hawks destroyed the Denver, Broncos 43-8.  But to us it was BEAUTIFUL!!  What a perfect way to finish off the season.

 

There was enough candy, snacks, and food to feed a large army and Lucy was loving it!

 

The girls loved the half time show and DANCED, DANCED, DANCED!

 

 

By the end of the night we were tired! What a day!!

 

The Superbowl parade was on Wednesday in Seattle.  Mitch and I had such hard time deciding if we should take the kids.  It would be such a cool thing to see but the weather was literally 18 degrees and to get a spot on the parade route it was going to be hours and hours of waiting and standing.  Mitch also had a ton of work at work to do and to go would mean taking the day off. We finally decided not to go. The kids (Cam) was really disappointed but we watched it on TV and cheered!  At school most of the kids were absent and the ones that did show up watched it there.  The final numbers said about 700,000 people showed up for the parade.  Next time...we are going!

Have you heard?

 The Seattle Seahawks WON the Super Bowl

Yeah....so it has been a BIG deal around here.  It has been an intense party all month long.  My camera is filled with Seahawk pictures and not much else!

Remember this? 

 

Thank you Santa!!

 

All season long Julia has been asking to get her very own jersey.  In fact she asked Santa for it for Christmas.  Santa didn't really think that she was serious...boy was he wrong.  Julia knows football and her Seahawks. Finally Mitch made a deal with her:  IF the Seahawks made it to the Superbowl then he would buy her a jersey.  He then revised that statement to EVERYONE in the family would get a jersey if they Hawks made it to the Superbowl.  Little did he know, he was about to pay up!

 

 

The only rule for the jerseys was everyone had to pick someone different!  Lucy picked Blitz the mascot.

 

The NFC Championship game with the 49ers was so big that I kept trying to warn Cameron all week before the game that this might not happen for the Hawks.  The game was so nerve wracking we could hardly watch!  After it was over Cameron started to tear up, I think in sheer relief. That game was so close!

 

 

Lucy celebrating Lynch's touchdown

 

 

In order to really understand the Seahawk frenzy and 12th man you need to live in Seattle. It is REAL and completely crazy! The NFC Championship game started the party off and it kept going all the way through past the Super Bowl. The night the Hawks beat the 49ers we drove into Seattle to see the 12th Man flag on top of the Space Needle and to get a taste of the madness...and by madness I mean crazy celebrating in the streets!

 

 

An Olympic riddle

 

Question:  What does Mindy and Bob Costas have in common?

 

Answer:  They are both allergic to Chocolate Guy's hay. :(