Winter Photo Dump

I just went through my phone photos from 2021 so far and laughed to myself at how telling they reflected my mental space in January.  As soon as I made it through the holiday photos, my storage space was consumed with screenshots of mini golden doodles, dog toys and chews, and puppy emergency guides.  Entering the world of puppy ownership was all very new to me and picking a "designer dog" from a breeder introduced me to decisions I had never considered.  And nothing like a good ole decision to make me go a little crazy.  But alas, we're nearing a month in from this new life and for the most part (I hope I get to a point where I never have to smell enzyme spray again) we are all in as a dog family!  But boy did it feel amazing to hit the delete button on so many pictures of random dogs I sent to our breeder. ;)

In between all those dog pics, though, were a lot more pics of what made up our January...

A little NYE action with Susongs.  We usually go bowling, eat Chinese, and drink rum punch out of fishbowls, but since bowling was out of the question (hello COVID bowling shoes), we played games, ordered Chinese, and still drank rum punch out of fishbowls.  And actually made it to midnight this year!

We spent our last day of winter break with Charly, Hayes, and Harper.  The little gals wore their matching dresses from Grandma, the bigs played downstairs for hours, and then they made makeshift ice cream sundaes with snow and a bottle of butterscotch topping!

Definitely proud of the reading I accomplished in 2020!  I think it was one of the only goals I actually achieved! ;)  Lots of great reads thanks to book club and that wizard we named our puppy after!

We celebrated birthdays!  Mila's 7th birthday fell on a Wednesday so she had her bestie, Adrienne, over for the afternoon.  They wore their matching sweatshirts and mostly used their time to spy on Cruz.  And giggle nonstop.

And sweet Lyla turned six and celebrated her birthday by dropping off sweet vet kits to some friends.  It was the perfect timing for our new little dog lover and we all had some fun playing vet (while also giving our real furry friend his first bath).  We have a lot to learn and are grateful for puppy owner friends who are paving the way a little ahead.  And Harry and Milly are pretty much the best of friends already so...

We've also enjoyed a few surprise snow days thanks to an abundance of snow this month.  Snow days usually include something special for breakfast, creating messes at the table, piano practice in our pajamas, and hot cocoa and an extra chapter of Harry Potter.  

 

Lots and lots of board games...and floor games. ;)

And lots and lots of yummy food.  Pantry cleanouts lead to all the best snack boards, a flourless chocolate ganache cake for NYE, omelets for New Year's Day, a Super Bowl spread, a yummy bruschetta board for January book club, and always chocolate chip cookies on a snow day. 

Birthday cupcakes and well-wishes from sweet friends.  We're all big fans of the triplets next door and they're all big fans of us (okay, Cruz and Mila mostly).  I love the letters they write each other.  This one included a fake dollar bill taped to it.  And Mila's card for Chase on his birthday was just too much!

But mostly I feel like we've hid under blankets a whole lot!  And watched the entire season of Bridgerton in a day...

We did get away our last weekend before Harry.  Beau and I decided on a complete whim to take the kids up to Minneapolis.  We did some shopping, stayed at a hotel with a great pool, grabbed a bunch of snacks from Trader Joes, and ordered in from the hotel restaurant.  The kids were so excited to stay in a hotel and we had a great time together.

Then we made more Valentine's snacks and Mila designed individual bookmarks for every student in her class.  Oh and the kids' Valentines had to quarantine... 

And sweet Harry!  I just adore this picture his amazing vet clinic snapped of him at his first appointment.  He weighed a whopping 5.75 lbs!  And two weeks later, he's already 9.6!  I'm so sad he already looks big in Mila's arms.  He's still such a butter ball though and seems to becoming quite accustomed to our little life over here.  He's also gotten to meet some puppy friends, including his cousin doodle, Stella.  Ha, when "Harry Met Stella" they immediately ate each other's food and did a lot of sniffing each others' butts.  And I'll just leave it at that... 

A Day for LOVE

 

I always love when a holiday falls on a weekend.  On Saturday, we celebrated Valentine's Day with a little day for love.  Over the years, I've gotten pretty close to mastering the art of a simple celebration by throwing in a few out-of-the-ordinary touches that make everything a little special.  Some of these touches have turned to traditions we expect and look forward to - birthday pancakes, cinnamon rolls on Thanksgiving morning, a sleepover under the Christmas tree or a campout under the stars on the last day of school, but it's also fun to change things up and introduce new surprises along the way.  And this year for Valentine's Day, I traded in a dozen red roses for a dozen red balloons.  Not only were they a lot cheaper, they gave this mama a pretty fun photo op all weekend long... :)   

I threw some white wrapping paper on the table and created a personalized place setting for each of us.  Then throughout the day we played musical chairs and took turns writing things we loved most about each other.  This was such a simple, intentional way to spark meaningful conversation and joy around the table - so much so that my wheels are now turning about ways I might invite writing on the table more often!  

After breakfast, we spent the majority of the day taking turns doing things we love to do together.  Cruz wanted to burn some energy downstairs so we played "don't let the balloon touch the ground" and had a snowball fight.  Mila wanted to play pretend vet center thanks to the birthday girl Lyla gifting Mila with the most adorable vet kit.  Beau chose an early dinner at the new Lark Brewing with a few games of Pass the Pigs while we waited.  And I chose a photo shoot with two sweet kids and a dozen festive balloons.

Sidenote: It's amazing how much fun an inflated balloon has provided our household this winter.  We make up games - "Don't Let the Balloon Touch the Ground," and add in challenges: you can only touch it once before passing it on, your group has to count each touch and make it to 100, you have to yell out a food or a name before you touch it, etc.  After dinner we'll often ask the kids what they want to do the rest of the night and typically it's Just Dance, Mario Kart, or "Don't Let the Balloon Touch the Ground!"   

Oh, the many faces of Mila!

Our final love notes to each other...

And a Valentine's Day just wouldn't be complete without some chocolate fondue.  Who knew potato chips would be our favorite dipper.

It was an extra sweet Valentine's Day with my fave three.  Or four, if we're counting our new little love pup.