The Snow I Didn't Think Would Fall

It is the end of February. I was pretty sure this would be the school year we DIDN'T have any "snow days". After last year's crazy snowfall and all the snow days, I was actually glad for a reprieve.  With the warm and beautiful weather last week, I was sure we were in the clear.

Apparently mother nature had other ideas!! It started snowing early Monday morning and by the end of the week we had one early release, one full snow day, and one late start due to the white stuff! It was a fun time for the kids, and I'll admit I enjoyed it as well!!

 We didn't have a lot of snow on the ground Monday (President's Day.. so no school), but it was pretty and the kids needed to go out and play!

It started to snow Monday night but it was forcasted to just rain after a little bit of snow. The "big" storm was coming Tuesday evening. Well it just would NOT stop snowing Tuesday morning, and the school district decided to get kids home sooner than later to avoid any issues so they ended school at 1015.. a mere two hours into the day. 

I don't take it for granted how fortunate I am to be able to stay home with the kids. When they called school early, I got several texts from friends asking me if I could grab their kids until they could come get them. Thankfully I could say YES! And I headed home with TEN kiddos in tow that morning! 

 I really didn't mind. And these kids are great kids. Truly! I made cocoa to warm them up after our walk home and they all played together really well. 

 By lunchtime I was down to 6 kids. They enjoyed the Olympics on TV and the boys threw a nerf football and wrestled as only they know how! :)

At one point a ball was thrown across the room and it hit a plate of food and sent it flying. All was fine, but at that point it had stopped raining (of course the rain did come and it rained the rest of the day...haha) and I sent the boys outside to play. 

 They made a cute little snowman with the snow that was left!

The snow did indeed come fast and furious Tuesday night and dropped about 2 inches by morning. School was called off for the day and the kids were super excited to go out and play! Being that it is almost spring and the temperatures, although cold overnight, were slated to warm up and probably melt a lot of the snow so we got out early to enjoy it while it lasted. 

 

We had lot of fun sledding both at home and at the middle school. But indeed quite a bit melted away by afternoon. 

It got below freezing again Wednesday night and more snow came, but since it was forcast to warm up quickly, schools only had a 2 hour delayed start. 

It was beautiful and fun while it lasted, and we made some good memories for sure. But spring is near, so the pretty glow and silence of a snow covered neighborhood will be something we can look forward to hopefully seeing again. NEXT winter..haha!!

Spring Music Concert

It's that time of year... Spring Music Concert! This year is a little bittersweet for me as it is Evelyn's final music concert at Fir Grove. It has been a joy to be able to come to every one of her school concert's over the years, and fun to look back  and see how much she's grown!

Kindy 2013

 1st grade 2014

Second Grade

3rd Grade 2015

Sadly I don't have any photos from last year's (4th grade) concert.... I need to look into that..ugh!

And then there is this year...

So. Grown. Up. Sigh...

I'm thankful that Evelyn and Matthew's classes have always had concerts together!

If I am honest, I at times don't look  forward to these concerts. Not that I don't love to see the kids perform, but the concerts tend to run long and it gets really hot in the gym. But.. this year's concert was probably my most favorite concert by far! It was only an hour long, the music was fun, and the gym stayed cool. It was fantastic!

Both kids did so well! Evelyn sang with poise and confidence and with a smile on her face. She and one of her besties Elle preformed a duet on their recorders. They had practiced so much for this and they did an amazing job! Super proud of Evelyn and all the 5th graders!

In the past Matthew hasn't been a big fan of performing in front of people. He continues to amaze us with his growth and confidence in so many areas of his life, including performing. He was actually excited about the concert, he smiled and sang with confidence, and he, too, had a special part by playing an instrument for one of the numbers. We are so proud of him!!

Thankful for such good friends for my 5th grader! 

 Sam and Matthew have been buddies since they were 3 and I am so glad they are friends!! 

Grandma and Grandpa Doug came, too!

A fun and enjoyable evening indeed! Great job, kids!!

A Fun Afternoon Hike

We have had beautiful spring like weather here the past week.. it's been glorious to see the sunshine and be outside!

This afternoon I grabbed the kids and a couple of their friends and we headed to Highland Forest Park.. a fun woody park right in our neighborhood. It was a great time.

I got serenaded on the way home by these to recorder rock stars! They really do sound amazing (for a recorder). Evelyn and Elle were even picked to do a duet at the music concert next week!. 

These woods are amazing. Lots of trails to run on and old logs to climb on. The kids just ran and ran. It was a great way to get some exercise and get their energy out for sure!

We ended our day with FroYo! :) 

Thankful for the sunshine, thankful for our neighborhood, and thankful for such great friends for our kids!