Kimese had an entire night planned which was kicked off with a broom ride:
And what Harry Potter party is complete without magic wands and scarves:
Midnight was complete with the official count down, the ball drop, noisemakers, sparklers and fireworks. Aerial fireworks are now legal in Utah and they did not disappoint!
We definitely took the year out with a bang! Thanks Kimese!
Ellie tried a new look for the new year but it didn't last long because the milk tasted like plastic.
Every time I go to Ellie's school and other parents are there, Ellie seems to request a play date with a friend or two. January was a pretty calm month so we took advantage of a free Friday night to have what Anja described as "Girls Night Out....with Kevin." We ate at The Old Spaghetti Factory and then took the girls to see the movie Puss in Boots.
In January we had what was probably only our third snowstorm of the year and so it was time for Kevin and Ellie to play in the snow. I should mention that Ellie was done about two hours before Kevin. They decided that they were going to built a snow fort, but Kevin did not want to stop until he had 11 levels - he finally quit with cold hands and sore knees at 9.
Ellie, catching snow on her tongue - I love the innocence of this.
Ellie, just cute as ever:
Kevin, working hard at it:
Ellie, helping with the fort:
Ellie, getting bored with the fort and moving on to something else:
Ellie, before coming in:
Kevin, two hours later with his masterpiece (it is quite impressive):
Like I mentioned, January was a lot calmer for us so I started a few craft projects. I decided to make a wreath and Ellie was interested in helping me sew. She used the machine to sew the majority of the pieces I needed for the wreath. It took me several days to complete it, but I had a great helper on the machine!
The finished project:
I also took some time to bake. One night I made some banana nut bread that was so yummy. When Ellie ate it she said, "Oh nuts, I'm going bananas." She comes up with the wittiest things and has become pretty quick about it.
Now that Ellie is an official girl scout she had her first experience selling Girl Scout Cookies. The troop set a goal for each girl to sell 40 boxes. I thought, that's doable. Then we got home and Ellie told me she wanted to sell 500 boxes! I thought there was no way.
The first day she could sell was a Sunday and Jed was over for dinner. And after she sold to him, she took him next door to make her first official door sale.
The next day we took another step and posted this picture on Facebook to try to get a few more sales. She also gave a form to her dad and one to Kevin to sell at work.
Her next step was to go door to door. I let her go out with Sage and Taj in our neighborhood. The girls were all so excited. I drew them a map with houses so they knew where to go. One took the map, the other the pen, and the third the form. It was fun to watch them from the window. It was probably one of the first times they had that much freedom and responsibility outside. They were so excited they came back a second day to help.
Ellie and I also went door to door one day, which was actually a really nice way to meet our larger neighborhood. We ran into a few no soliciting signs, I explained to Ellie what it meant and told her I didn't really think it applied to Girl Scout Cookies, but she was still a little hesitant with those houses.
As the month went on, Ellie's goal became within reach. In the end with everyone's efforts she sold 557 boxes! The second highest in her troop!! It was a good experience for Ellie and she really enjoyed the selling, not so much the delivery - but as a family we got it all done.
In school for the new year, Ellie is now writing 100% in cursive. One night she said to me, "I love doing cursive J's." Cursive is a really good way to describe Ellie, it just fits her personality.
At home, I thought she could learn a few more chores, so I had her help me sort laundry. She wasn't very excited about it, but she was good at it! And she did NOT want to touch Kevin's unders!
We also made it to a Jazz game with Grandma and Uncle Jed on another stormy night. Ellie and I did not prepare our feet so by the time we had walked to dinner and then into the game our shoes and socks were soaked! Kevin even carried Ellie to the game, after grandma tried to dry her off at dinner, but they were still wet. We made a quick trip to the Jazz team store and bought us some fancy and warm socks.
Kevin created a game out of the game, where we all picked players and then added points for their baskets, rebounds, etc. It made the game more interesting but poor Ellie did not like how her players were playing - it was fun to listen to her talk about it during the game. It really made the night fun for all of us. Kevin, of course, won.
But...he was not so lucky in a little home battle. I usually make toast for Ellie, but occasionally if I am not home Kevin will make it for her. Ellie says Kevin makes gross toast and I make good toast. Kevin was very doubtful that she could really tell a difference so one day she wanted two pieces of toast and Kevin was insistent that I do one and he do the other (both without Ellie seeing) and then Ellie had to decide which piece was better. One bite in, Ellie declared which piece was mine and which was Kevin's - and she was right. It was a sweet victory for both of us.
So now our family joke is gross toast. One night I was saying it was a good thing we had Kevin for some reason and Ellie said, "Good thing we have you, or we'd have gross toast."
Kevin wants to name our wireless router "gross toast" and we as a family agree. January was a slower month, but we had so many fun family moments and it was a perfect start to the new year.
And one little extra, an Ellie-made video to enjoy!
Ellie, catching snow on her tongue - I love the innocence of this.
Ellie, just cute as ever:
Kevin, working hard at it:
Ellie, helping with the fort:
Ellie, getting bored with the fort and moving on to something else:
Ellie, before coming in:
Kevin, two hours later with his masterpiece (it is quite impressive):
Like I mentioned, January was a lot calmer for us so I started a few craft projects. I decided to make a wreath and Ellie was interested in helping me sew. She used the machine to sew the majority of the pieces I needed for the wreath. It took me several days to complete it, but I had a great helper on the machine!
The finished project:
I also took some time to bake. One night I made some banana nut bread that was so yummy. When Ellie ate it she said, "Oh nuts, I'm going bananas." She comes up with the wittiest things and has become pretty quick about it.
Now that Ellie is an official girl scout she had her first experience selling Girl Scout Cookies. The troop set a goal for each girl to sell 40 boxes. I thought, that's doable. Then we got home and Ellie told me she wanted to sell 500 boxes! I thought there was no way.
The first day she could sell was a Sunday and Jed was over for dinner. And after she sold to him, she took him next door to make her first official door sale.
The next day we took another step and posted this picture on Facebook to try to get a few more sales. She also gave a form to her dad and one to Kevin to sell at work.
Her next step was to go door to door. I let her go out with Sage and Taj in our neighborhood. The girls were all so excited. I drew them a map with houses so they knew where to go. One took the map, the other the pen, and the third the form. It was fun to watch them from the window. It was probably one of the first times they had that much freedom and responsibility outside. They were so excited they came back a second day to help.
Ellie and I also went door to door one day, which was actually a really nice way to meet our larger neighborhood. We ran into a few no soliciting signs, I explained to Ellie what it meant and told her I didn't really think it applied to Girl Scout Cookies, but she was still a little hesitant with those houses.
As the month went on, Ellie's goal became within reach. In the end with everyone's efforts she sold 557 boxes! The second highest in her troop!! It was a good experience for Ellie and she really enjoyed the selling, not so much the delivery - but as a family we got it all done.
In school for the new year, Ellie is now writing 100% in cursive. One night she said to me, "I love doing cursive J's." Cursive is a really good way to describe Ellie, it just fits her personality.
At home, I thought she could learn a few more chores, so I had her help me sort laundry. She wasn't very excited about it, but she was good at it! And she did NOT want to touch Kevin's unders!
We also made it to a Jazz game with Grandma and Uncle Jed on another stormy night. Ellie and I did not prepare our feet so by the time we had walked to dinner and then into the game our shoes and socks were soaked! Kevin even carried Ellie to the game, after grandma tried to dry her off at dinner, but they were still wet. We made a quick trip to the Jazz team store and bought us some fancy and warm socks.
Kevin created a game out of the game, where we all picked players and then added points for their baskets, rebounds, etc. It made the game more interesting but poor Ellie did not like how her players were playing - it was fun to listen to her talk about it during the game. It really made the night fun for all of us. Kevin, of course, won.
But...he was not so lucky in a little home battle. I usually make toast for Ellie, but occasionally if I am not home Kevin will make it for her. Ellie says Kevin makes gross toast and I make good toast. Kevin was very doubtful that she could really tell a difference so one day she wanted two pieces of toast and Kevin was insistent that I do one and he do the other (both without Ellie seeing) and then Ellie had to decide which piece was better. One bite in, Ellie declared which piece was mine and which was Kevin's - and she was right. It was a sweet victory for both of us.
So now our family joke is gross toast. One night I was saying it was a good thing we had Kevin for some reason and Ellie said, "Good thing we have you, or we'd have gross toast."
Kevin wants to name our wireless router "gross toast" and we as a family agree. January was a slower month, but we had so many fun family moments and it was a perfect start to the new year.
And one little extra, an Ellie-made video to enjoy!
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