January 2018

We had an amazing New Year celebration with our friends. We started out with a fun little happy hour at the McCabe's where we played Drink-O and then came to our house for some appetizers and then to the Budde's for more food and drinks and a fun gift exchange. The kiddos did a squishy exchange and had a blast just hanging out. We played Telestrations and before we knew it, it was 2018! New Year's Day was spent running errands, picking up a security system for our house and assembling some shelving for the girls' rooms. This led to Adam and I having a serious discussion about slowing down in the new year and a good talk about our goals for 2018! 2018 = slow the eff down!!

Alexa and Lilli were back to school and dance on the 2nd after a nice long winter break. I went to a Theology of the Body meeting at church for Alexa and started steaming dance costumes at Synergy with Christy. Our friend Mike turned 41. Adam went with him and the guys to celebrate. The girls had a sleepover at their friend Emily's for her birthday party and Adam and I had dinner with our friends Craig & Michelle at Carbone's. Adam played in a bean bag tournament in Owatonna. Unfortunately, he lost. We had brunch with our friends the Sharp's & Beissel's at The Hen House in Minneapolis and then went to watch Emily's cheer competition at the Convention Center. She took 3rd place. They all came to our house for pizza after a quick drive around Lake of the Isles.

[Ellie, Lilli, Kaylee, Izzy, Alexa, Emily & Kenzie @ Emily's Cheer Comp]

January 9th was a big day for Alexa - she got her braces off after 2 years and 3 months. She was so excited and spent the afternoon fielding facetimes and texts from friends just dying to see her smile and staring at herself in the mirror. As if she could get anymore beautiful!

[No more braces!!!]

Jolene and I continued our teachings of 4th grade Faith Formation, Lilli took a field trip to The Works Science Museum with her classmates and Olivia (my bosses granddaughter), Adam and I surprised Lilli with McDonald's lunch at school. Adam went to the doctor for a sore foot and found out he has gout. Adam and I took advantage of the girls' busy dance schedule and had a dinner date at Celt's. The girls had a leadership meeting at Synergy after they both had morning dance classes and Lilli went with her friend Ellie to open gym at FGC and a Subway lunch. We went to the Sharp's and Adam helped Bryson make chile out of the molcajete we got him for his birthday. Alexa had a 2 hour extra hip hop practice on a Sunday. We watched the Vikings beat the Saints in an amazing Minneapolis Miracle of a game with the Beissel's. January 14th was Javiera's 4th Birthday!

[Nickelodeon Universe MOA - Ellie, Lilli, Kaylee, Alexa, Izzy, Emily, Kenzie]

Adam, Craig, Stacey and Tammy took all the kids to Nick Universe at MOA on their day off for MLK Day. They had a blast riding the rides together. I started my new workout program, 80 Day Obsession, with Beach Body. Alexa sang at the H.S. for her 7th grade choir concert. She sang so beautifully and looks so grown up without her braces.

[Choir concert - Alexa & Emily]

Alexa got her retainer that she'll wear for 4 months (and then just at bedtime after that). I had a visit with my friend Val at her house. I owed her a bottle of wine for letting Alexa use Rachel's dance shoes. It was nice to reconnect. The 2nd quarter of school ended for Alexa. We kept Lilli home from school Friday due to a bad cold. I brought Olivia from work home so that I could be with Lilli. She was pretty good all day, but developed a terrible cough that evening.

She went to dance class Saturday morning, but spent the rest of the day on the couch, except a short walk around the loop for some fresh air. Alexa had duet practice in the afternoon with Kenz. They got their super cute costumes!

[I don't know why Alexa's head is cut off, it's not like that in the original picture]

Adam went to Mendota Heights to watch his cousin Joey wrestle. Lilli woke up a couple times Saturday night hot and wanting her fan on, then again because she was having trouble breathing. We let her come in our bed, but she struggled to breath, wheezed and couldn't sleep. I took her to urgent care Sunday morning. Her oxygen levels were low and she was diagnosed with Influenza A. They prescribed her Tamiflu and an inhaler. She spent the rest of the day on the couch and slept for 2 hours in the afternoon. Poor baby girl. She missed her extra hip hop and jazz practices Sunday afternoon. We watched the Vikings play the Eagles in hopes for a win to get to the super bowl, but they played terribly and lost..bad. At least our decorations were on point....

The girls had a day off for a staff development day. All other schools around us are closed due to a predicted 12" of snow. The girls had scheduled some studio time at Synergy to practice during their day off of school, but Dana cancelled due to weather (snow + 40 mph winds), in fact all dance classes for the night were cancelled. We ended up getting a foot of snow. Adam spent the afternoon/evening snowblowing our driveway, the neighbors' driveways and standing at the corner of our street pushing cars through the intersection. It was a doozey of a storm. We haven't seen a snowfall like that in about 4-5 years. While it's certainly not fun to drive in or walk thru, it's kind of fun to have big piles of white snow. This is what a MN winter should look like. Farmington closed school the next day, too, calling for a Flexible Learning Day. Thank goodness both girls had their school iPad's at home and were able to log in to Schoology and get their homework done. Lilli's still not 100% but was anxious to have something to do rather than just watch TV. Dance was also canceled.

I have to admit, having these days off from school dance has been kinda nice - minus Lilli being sick, of course. But, we've actually had a lot of good family time, all together for dinner and watching a show together in the evening. We've been able to slow down and really relax, which I think has helped Lilli recover faster. The timing of sickness and snow really worked out to our benefit. We kept Lilli home again on Wednesday from school/dance. She's starting to get her energy back and is getting antsy, so we know she's feeling better. Alexa went to jazz production with the promise she'd take notes for Lilli so she wouldn't feel behind. And then had an hour duet practice with Mackenzie, since we have a week off of Faith Formation. We took Lilli out for the first time since Saturday to drive Alexa to and from dance and then for a quick dinner in between at Carbone's and she loved it. But, was pretty exhausted when we got back home. Lilli went back to school on Thursday.

She made it through the entire day and even went to dance. She was tired when she got home, but had a really good night sleep and was ready to go back to school Friday morning. Adam took Lilli and Ellie McDonald's for lunch. The girls both had some studio time Friday afternoon in prep for the expo and upcoming Innovate. We took the kids to Erbert's & Gerbert's for dinner and remenicsed about going there on our visit with Uncle Tiny & Auntie Courtney a couple years ago. Lilli had a longer musical theater class Saturday morning, then both girls danced at the Farmington Community Expo (Alexa Jazz & Hip Hop & Lilli Lyrical), then Alexa was rushed back to the studio for hip hop practice. They looked pretty good at the Expo, usually it's kind of a shit show since they are just finishing up dances and not having polished them up yet, but we were impressed and excited for what the dances will be during competition.

[Lilli's Lyrical - City Lights]

[Alexa's Hip Hop - Instruction]

We brought the girls home for lunch and to rest while Adam and I did some shopping for Stacey's 40th birthday party. Adam went with Craig to pick out a security system and the girls and I got ready for the party. We met everyone at the Sharp's at 5 - we had a mule and the kids ordered pizza. Then the adults went to Vivo for a nice dinner celebration and then took the party to Bogart's. They had a live band, we danced and had a great time celebrating Stacey. We played it safe and ubered home and picked up the kids. It was a great night.

[Stacey, Jolene, Dawn, Tammy, Michelle]

After church on Sunday (we sat with the Budde's) we picked up my car at Bogarts, home for lunch and then Adam took the grocery list while I stayed back and cleaned the house. That evening we met up with the Beissel's and purchased our tickets to NEW YORK in June! The girls had an adjusted dance schedule Monday and Tuesday, which had them home earlier than normal, which was nice. We woke up to another 2 inches of light fluffy snow. Alexa had an extra jazz practice in preparation for Saturday. She's dancing at the HS for a fundraiser for the senior class. Jolene and I had the kids play a Family Feud type game at Faith Formation with some of the categories being "The Ten Commandments", "Prayers" & "Sacraments". The Budde's & Jeff stopped over for a quick drink and Adam grilled chicken outside on the grill with zucchini, potatoes and brussel sprouts.