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...