February 2018

            We have resumed our busy schedules this month as Deb and I took a ski trip to Utah along with a family ski trip to West Virginia.  Throw in a home improvement project along with our normal schedule, and we find ourselves looking back at how fast the month of February went by. 

 

            Deb and I flew out to Utah the first day of the month and arrived with almost all of our luggage.  One bag was lost and it made it to our condo by 10PM that night.  We got into town, had a nice lunch, got our groceries and unpacked.  We decided to go into town and get my skis and enjoy a beer before going out to dinner.  Now, since we had lost one of our bags, we went out to nice steak dinner and Deb was wearing yoga pants and I didn’t have a belt!  We got up the next morning and skied pretty hard all over the mountain.  Park City resort purchased a nearby resort called the Canyons and put a gondola to attach both resorts.  This created the biggest resort in the US, which means that even though we skied 4 days, we probably never skied the same slope more than 3 or 4 times.  I did my best to keep up with Debbie and we enjoyed being outside, skiing together and not having to deal with being on a schedule.  We stayed in a studio apartment which was fine for us and it was right on the bus line which took us to town for dinner and the slopes for skiing.  The girls stayed with Nana & Granddaddy while we were gone and I think it went better than previous years as it gets easier each year they become more independent.  They managed to get the girls to their basketball games, church and also a family picnic at school while were gone. 

 

            For President’s day weekend, we pulled the girls from school on Thursday at noon and made our way to Davis, WV.  This was only my 2^nd trip to Davis since Allison was born and Deb’s 3^rd.  The first day we were there, they probably got 2 inches of rain.  So, we stayed inside, ran some errands and the girls played.  On Saturday, the rain stopped and we went skiing.  Allison and Sarah did well on the first two runs on the bunny hill, so we took them to the top of the mountain and went down Salamander (2 mile long green run) and decided to do it again.  That was when the wheels fell off for Sarah and she wasn’t happy.  We had lunch and reset the clock.  We kept Sarah on the bunny hill with Debbie and I took Allison down the greens on the mountain.  That kept everyone happy and having fun.  We decided to go sledding that afternoon at a local state park.  It was snowing like crazy, but it was fun to go sledding with the girls.  We went skiing again the next day and with all the fresh snow, the slopes were in a little better shape.  We enjoyed some time with John & Beverly & Kathy who are family friends who also have homes in Davis.  We enjoyed some homemade brew and wine, along with the Makers Mark that is usually part of the weekend and tasting other bourbons!

 

Sarah’s Things of the Month

Sarah is participating in basketball and seems to be having fun.  I’m not sure if she likes it or just does it because I’m coaching and Allison plays.  She does enjoy swim lessons and is doing very well.  It would be nice to not have her need to wear “floaties” this summer, but I think I’ll be more comfortable if she wears them. 

 

Allison’s Thing of the Month

            Allison has really taken her basketball to another level with some pretty intense defense.  She routinely is guarding someone a year older than her and is chasing them all over the court.  She has been swimming well and is learning some different strokes with her swim lessons.   

A few more items from this month:

• The day we got home from our ski trip, Sarah seemed to have caught the flu.  Nana & Granddaddy watched her the first day she stayed home and then Grandma helped out for 3 more to get us to the weekend.  She did well with being sick and was a good patient eating and drinking while she didn’t feel well. 
• Since Sarah was sick, I was the only one from our family that was able to attend a birthday party for Chelsea at Frank and Jan’s house.  It was fun to see her along with plenty of family and friends that were able to attend.
• We went to a Mardi Gras party for the school.  We participated in the silent auction and won a pancake breakfast with the Kindergarten teachers next Christmas break.  The girls were really excited about this! 
• We hired a neighbor to replace the ceiling in our basement.  It was a drop ceiling and we are replacing with drywall and new can lights.  We hope to have it put back together the first week of March.  It’s going to look amazing!
• Lent started this month and Deb and I decided to try give something up a little more difficult than usual…alcohol!  We are doing well, but we will see how the month of March goes! 
• Allison went to a birthday party for Reese at the Monon center and enjoyed swimming with her friends. 
• We went to an event in the school gym after mass for young kids.  It was great to meet some new families and some of them had kids that would be in Sarah’s class. 
• We went to a wrestling meet at school to support our kindergarten neighbor, Henry.  It was pretty cool to watch and he did pretty well. 
• I met up with some Hurco buddies, Kevin & Bennett.  It is nice to know that even after being gone for about 9 months, these guys still like meeting up to catch up.

January 2018

           

January has been cold and a little snowy.  We have enjoyed some quieter weekends and allowing us to catch up from the busy fall and holiday season.  The girls have had 2 days off from school due to snow and ice and also enjoyed many “pajama days” on the weekends.  With some trips and activities picking up in February, we know those types of weekends won’t be easy to come by. 

 

            The first week of January was the 2^nd week of Christmas break for the girls and Deb took that time off.  They enjoyed going to the library.  They were able to get outside and enjoy playing in the snow even though it was nearly 0 degrees outside.  They also went over to the Tedford’s house to let the 4 girls play together.  Everyone was ready to get the girls back into school and they were ready to see their friends. 

 

            On the 20^th, we went to trivia night for our school.  We enjoyed ourselves and it was fun to see so many good friends.  However, if you ever want to have a good team for trivia, you may not want to invite Debbie and me to be on your team.  We struggled to offer any answers our team didn’t already know, but we enjoyed the beer.  My birthday was the next day and while we made it to church and brunch with my mom, we crashed on the couches the remainder of the day watching football.  The girls and Deb bought me a portable fire-pit and some clothes.

 

            The last weekend of the month was started off with the girls and I going to the Butler Daddy Daughter Women’s game.  This is a pretty fun time where you arrive and eat dinner at Hinkle Fieldhouse and then get to watch the game from the sidelines.  This year, several other families from church came along so the girls had plenty of friends to cheer with. 

 

Sarah’s Things of the Month

Sarah had a parent-teacher conference this past week.  Sarah is very good at counting and behaving in class.  She needs to work on her not being as sensitive and her ability to not let others affect her attitude.  She also got sick this month, the night of the Butler game and seems to be getting better.  Sarah was supposed to start her YMCA basketball team (but she was sick) and they are the Indiana Hoosiers.  Once she learned her team was IU, she quickly started crying because she thinks “nobody would cheer for her since we like Purdue.”  I told her we would cheer for IU on Saturdays…as mentioned above, she can be a little sensitive.  I’m coaching this team and we have several of her friends on the team. 

 

Allison’s Thing of the Month

            Allison has started doing “speeches.”  These include her pretty much performing a song or dance for us whenever she wants.  She will make up songs and dances while entertaining us before going to bed.  Allison started her YMCA basketball team and they are the Arkansas Razorbacks.  She is coached by our neighbor and there are several friends of hers on the team. 

A few more items from this month:

• One of our babysitters and neighbor, Elaine Nickerson invited the girls to come attend her basketball game at Chatard so I took the girls.  They were excited to watch her play and even made signs for her! 
• The girls got back into the swimming lessons again this month.  It sure would be nice to have both of them be ready for the summer.  For 3 weeks, we have 3 activities going on with gymnastics, swimming and basketball, which is more than we want.  They have loved gymnastics, so we may get them involved in that this summer after the spring soccer season. 
• We enjoyed a spontaneous Saturday during the month.  We met up with the Sniadecki’s to play in the snow, which turned into beers and hot chocolate at their house, which turned into pizza for dinner and a few cocktails! 
• Jeremy and I met up to watch some NFL football and head to a comedy show.  We went to Ralston’s Draft House on Mass Ave and then enjoyed a comedy show by John Mulaney.
• Debbie had 2 nights out with the CKS Mom’s groups.  She tells me they are 2 different groups, but I think the moms are just trying to find different nights to get together! 
• We had a window well replaced this month.  We had some water seeping in on the side of our house, so we needed to have that replaced. 
• Gareth, Brian, John and I met up for some beers at BW3’s & Sahms this month.  It was a late night on a Tuesday, but it was worth it to catch up with the guys. 
• The finance department at work had an “end of year” party and it was good to see everyone.  While my role is technically in finance, I don’t spend much time with the group due to where my office is in relation to the remainder of the team.  It was fun to spend the evening hanging out with them and their spouses.  Deb stayed home to take care of Sarah who was sick.