Disney on Ice and Seahawks are Going to the Super Bowl

We started off the new year by going to Activate with our kids plus Eleanor's friend Evie. We really enjoy this place.

Bradley had a sleepover with his buddy Evan. Evan selected our house because I am way more lax than his mom and let them stay up past 10:30 and play unlimited video games. I mean, they also played ping pong and some board games. It's all about balance.

Bradley and Nathan go to the driving range together now. Well, it's tricky during the winter months but they took advantage of a warm day and hope to be able to do this much more frequently when it gets warmer.

Bradley got to drink a soda. He was very happy.

I also made some unwilling children (Eleanor) participate in a family game evening. We played Super Mega Lucky Box, it was very fun.

And Juliet and I have been super into Martian Dice.

She's quite the reading champ these days

Juliet complains about her dance class every week but then goes and has a big smile on her face for the entire class.

Nathan got a bunch of puzzles for Christmas and was relieved to finish The Great Wave. It was very difficult.

Juliet made Stella play Zombie Kidz Evolution with her. They had fun!

While Eleanor has been doing the school musical she's been doing the advanced rock climbing class, which meets later in the day. This means Nathan gets to take her sometimes, which he has enjoyed thoroughly.

Gross, embarrassing.

Nathan and I have had some Friday date outings on his Fridays off. I was really excited about trying this Greek frozen yogurt dessert with honey. It was ... not that amazing.

Game time for Juliet and Bradley!

Juliet started having basketball games. She's cute and they are fun to watch!

Although sometimes she has to go complain to the coach about what he needs to train them up to do better. She would appreciate more passing. Oh Juliet.

After her first game

Lucky Bradley

Juliet likes to take pictures sometimes

Who is cuter in this photo??

We love cozy winter cuddles

Girl Scouts is often happy chaos

We went to a High School orientation night. Bradley says it was worth it just for the cookies.

Goofy but cute

Meg does what she wants

I refuse to buy regular bread so we survive off of my mom's butter horn rolls and we have to send her messages of panic whenever we run low.

Eleanor talked me into badminton

It was very windy and started to snow

Juliet was thrilled to get in on the action. It was so cold. These kids are crazy.

The next morning (Saturday) I came downstairs and was starting to get breakfast ready and Juliet asked for McLains. I said yes! We were both thrilled with the wise decision.

Aunt Diana had sent me a few more of the fancy hot air balloon wall art for Christmas and we got them put up. It's so pretty and cozy in the library!

Bradley got a D&D game for Christmas and was our dungeon master for a game.

He actively rooted against us because he wanted us to win but just barely. It was very entertaining.

I set up tennis time with Somer, the daughter of a pro at my tennis club. Patrick had a blast and won pretty handily. He's getting very good.

Then they had a special elementary school day at Activate and Patrick got to run around with Grayson and Luke.

Juliet and I were prepping for Disney on Ice and discovered that Juliet was a hard no on wearing a princess dress but fluffy beautiful coats are a go.

Meg has been demanding a lot of cuddles from Bradley lately. He picked her up like this and she was purring so loudly.

Reading time for the cozy crew.

The kids don't even comment that I walk around like this with Meg all the time.

Meg accepting dog proximity.

Remy was rather surprised to have Bradley pick him up the other day but he accepted it. Remi is not light.

Meg demanded cuddles then crawled onto my shoulders. We are one.

More Eleanor rock climbing. Whenever Nathan goes he takes a bunch of pictures.

I was quite proud of how I did Juliet's hair for school one morning.

The school is teaching Juliet to show more assertion of all things. I would like to let them know that is not a concern for any of my children.

School Bingo night.

Juliet was a big winner! Twice!

Then there was a big snowstorm that cancelled everything on Saturday but we still made it to Disney on Ice on Sunday morning!

Juliet was supposed to go with her friend Addie but she got sick, so Patrick was a champ about subbing in.

We had a lovely time.

At one point Juliet and Patrick were invited to come up near the stage by one of the people running the event but Juliet got nervous and said "no thank you." To be fair, we were already in row 6, we were probably close enough.

Seahawks won their conference championship and are headed for the Super Bowl! There was much joy in our house.

Meg joining me and Juliet for a game Juliet invented.

More cute Girl Scouts. 

Bradley and Meg. She will come down to his room and yowl outside his door until he lets her in for cuddles.

Meg also helps Eleanor with homework.

The kids had free time so I told them they should start working on their Valentine boxes for school. Juliet did a very cute job cutting out wrapping paper to decorate a shoe box.

And Patrick made a tennis court. The boy is obsessed.

Patrick and I got up early and skipped church in order to watch the Australian Open finals between Djokovic and Alcaraz.

Alcaraz won but it was very exciting.

Cute basketball champ!

Nathan made a deal with Juliet that she would get bonus screen time for shot attempts and lots of rebounds. It increased her motivation quite a bit.

And for the day before her birthday Nathan took Juliet and Patrick out to McDonald's, the best restaurant in the world. They had an absolute blast.

Meanwhile, I went home for important time with kitties.

If only Meg could have been more cozy.

My mom made a bunch of cookie cakes for Juliet's joint birthday party with Rosalynn the next day

We sang happy birthday and had a little family celebration

Good news, Juliet enjoys getting presents

Juliet helped Grandma with the decor earlier in the day and had strong opinions about the amount of frosting until she tasted it and realized it was delicious. None of my kids are big on frosting except for the chocolate frosting my mom makes. It's amazing!