2014 So far...

We've been busy, but no complaining allowed here!  We are healthy and employed with wonderful kids!  Daddy is loving his new job in Training and that has had a positive effect on everyone! 

Samantha learned a hard lesson when a treasured friendship ended.  She made some mistakes, but the important thing is that she learned to not make the same mistakes again.  We have struggled with her teacher this year which has brought more anxiety to Sam, though I've said her teacher just isn't as awesome as other teachers she's had.  I tried to turn it into a "teachable moment"/life lesson.  Time will tell if I succeeded.  Samantha has been loving dance lessons and now does ballet, tap, jazz and hip hop.  We won't be adding any other activities any time soon because it's a lot with Hebrew School!  I keep working on her with nutrition and finding her inner calm.  I love the discussions we have!  Samantha has a kind and friendly soul who is willing to help anyone anytime.

Sofia has made huge strides with her social skills.  (Really?  I'm talking about a six year old here!)  She isn't excluding kids or being mean at school anymore.  It seems like we nipped that bad habit in the bud.  Sofia is vivacious, energetic and makes her own magical world.  It's always fun when she shares it!

The winter weather was HARD.  School was cancelled so many days due to the cold.  I had intended to take the girls cross-country skiing with me, or take up snowshoeing, but all we got to do outside was ice skating a few times.  Thankfully it is officially spring and soon the weather will be a memory!

We've had plenty of adventures so far this year and we have plenty of plans for the upcoming year.  We'll go camping for a few weekends and visit St. Louis.  Our family has started looking for another dog (Ely's choice) so that will bring plenty of adjustments too.

Some winter highlights:

Sledding with our neighbors... Ely enjoyed running down the hill with the sled, but refused to ride in the sled!

A night out with Dad at a water park.

Winter Holidays delivering goodies to neighbors and seeing family:

We made it out to ice skate a few times.

Coding with Scratch:

Birthdays!