Wrapping Up The Year....In A Messy, Lazy Post of Pictures

Lots of warm days this "winter" playing outside with friends....

Lots of fun morning dates with this guy on Tuesdays and Thursdays while the big boys are at school.

School holiday parties were in full-effect....

Crazy, lazy Sundays at Lolli and Pop's house....

A case of croupe.....

Brother wrestling

Field Trip with Owen's class

The darn elf came back...he was pretty lazy this year.

Lights!

The last days of school before winter break...

Second grade does Market Days where they are put in groups and have to come up with a product, make it, advertise their product, price it, and then have the opportunity to sell their items to the rest of the school. It was such a cool project! Eli's group made Minecraft ornaments out of wooden blocks that Blaine cut up for them. 

Their group was really successful--they sold out! Owen even got to come and shop all the different "vendors" and wrote about it in his journal that day- his teacher texted it to me that afternoon!

We had a pretty low key holiday break this year. We spent time at Lolli and Pop's house, we did some baking, getting together with friends, slumber parties in our room, visiting Blaine at the station, time with cousins, and I fiiiiiiinally finished a 1,000 piece puzzle that I had been working on for way to long.

Owen got to put in the very last piece. 

We did a little party hopping on New Years and in between parties, we stopped off at home to do a few fireworks Blaine had stashed in the garage.

Our last stop was at the Ladd's house where they had some pretty impressive fireworks this year. We made it almost until 11 before we were dropping like flies. But this was a record for us!

Christmas Eve

I started the morning with a nice run! When I got home, we quickly got everyone dressed and met my cousin Noah, his wife Danielle and their two kids Nate and Andrew at the movie theatre to see Sing. It was a really cute movie and the boys loved being there with their cousins. I wish we got to see them more often.

The only hiccup we had was that when we got back out to my car, we discovered that someone had hit the entire back of the drivers side of my car and left. So instead of meeting them for lunch, we just headed home so I could get over the frustration of mean people and figure out what I needed to do.

Blaine headed into work on Christmas Eve, and we headed out to the greenbelt for some exploring and fresh air. We needed it. It has been an extra warm winter break, so when Cash slipped into the water it wasn't such a big deal. I did draw the line at letting them swim though--the water was frigid. Plus, we did not go prepared with towels and changes of clothes. 

We found the best spot and just hung out there, threw in rocks, jumped from rock to rock, watched people go by and even saw a guy scale the cliff up to a little "cave" to do yoga. We had a fun time being silly coming up with ideas of how and why the "cave guy" was up there. I think we decided he was half bear:) It was a beautiful way to spend the afternoon with my boys.

Since Hanukah started the night of Christmas Eve, we ended our day at my cousins, Sara and Ryan's house for their annual Latkepalooza Party.  Not many pictures were taken, but a lot of latkes were consumed and a lot of gifts were opened!

Sometimes, When You Are Really Bored At Home.......

Mom turns 91!

On the eve of Mom's 91st birthday, we were hanging out at my parents house, like we do every Sunday. I had been wanting to interview my grandmother for a while now, but never found the time do it. I thought that day would be perfect. I found an interview app and got it all ready, along with my questions. We sat down together and she talked for a good 40 min. And then. The damn app did not save my interview. 

But just because I don't have the interview to prove it, I hope I will always remember sitting there on the couch with her listening to her tell her stories. 

She talked about how her dad was so influential in  her life. He was blind. She had no idea how be became blind, and she really wished that she knew. That did not hold him back and he could do anything. He would fix his children's shoes when they were worn out and replace the soles. She told me a story about how one time he fixed a clock that was broken that hung on the wall in their house. He was able to wire the lights in the house to turn on and off on their own for Shabbat. 

In the mornings when he would come and wake her up, he would gently feel her face, so sweetly to feel what she looked like. When I asked her who was someone who really influenced her life, she said her father. 

She talked about her marriage, and how awful it was. How it was such a dark time in her life. I was hoping to get a lot of stories about being born in Tunis, and what happened there before moving to Israel. She briefly told a story about trying to get the right papers to come to the United States by her mom rolling them up in a tin of cookies she sent her. It was not the best day for an interview with her, she was not so clear this evening. So I hope to try again soon.

The next evening we all gathered again at my parents house to celebrate her turning 91. The day before she kept talking about how when she was young,  she would make a tower of cream puffs and what a wonderful memory that was for her. So Ethan, made it his mission to make that happen for her. If only I could have gotten her reaction on camera, it was perfect and she loved it.