Mom's Birthday

My kids and husband were extra nice to me on my birthday this year.  It happened to be the day of the freezing rain/ice storm, so that was interesting.  Dan called me at 9:00 am saying he was still on the freeway (he normally gets to work by 7:00).  We had planned to go out to dinner, so I didn't make any dinner, but we were a little nervous to go out in the storm.  It turned out fine, the roads were actually sanded pretty well so it wasn't too bad.  We went to Holy Smoke BBQ in Layton for some yummy BBQ.  The worst part was getting the van stuck at the bottom of our driveway, because it was too slick to drive up.  

Bethany made me this cute cake, she frosted and decorated it herself.  I thought it turned out really cute.
When we got back from dinner, we had cake and ice cream.

Dan gave me these awesome classic books with a piano keyboard cover.  When you line them up alphabetically, they form one octave of a piano keyboard.  I thought it was great!

Andrew's gift for me was a big bear hug.  Violet joined in.  I loved it!

Dan is a sweetheart to buy me flowers occasionally.  They are especially welcome in dreary January.   

I really need to get some more decorations for my shelves.  I just haven't had time!

Violet at 9 months

Yesterday was Violet's 9-month mark.  And now I am finally caught up on this blog.  Whew!  We've been busy!

Spelling Bee

Bethany won her class spelling bee again, so she got to go to the school spelling bee.  She studied really hard, and got her practice word right - then got out on the first round.  Her word was titration.  Which, oddly enough, Google spell check is telling me I spelled wrong but it is right (actually, the spell check isn't recognizing it as a word at all).  She knew at least the next 20 words. She was pretty disappointed, and didn't want to go back to class all teary-eyed.  She thought her classmates would make fun of her.  But of course I made her go back to class, and she had several friends who made her cards of congratulations.  It was pretty cute, and cheered her up.

Daddy's Badge

When Daddy gets home from work, Violet gets so excited - because she loves to play with his badge!  (She loves Daddy, too, of course!)

That's Daddy's badge in one hand, wooden spoon in the other, banging on a stool.

When she needs a snuggle, she comes to Mommy.

Snow Day!

It started snowing on Thursday, January 10th, in the afternoon.  It got pretty bad pretty quick.  It took Dan almost 3 hours to get home from work that night.  The roads were so awful!  Amazingly, the school district actually cancelled school on Friday.  I was so glad I didn't have to drive the kids to school that morning.  We got at least a foot of snow, and the back yard, with the Christmas snow still there, is 2 feet deep in the shady spots.  But of course it is fun for the kids to play in!

Look at the snow built up against the door frame.

Our rain gutters are frozen solid full of ice, and we are having problems (again!) with a leaky window/drywall just above the kitchen table.  We thought we had fixed it (new roof and everything) but it looks like we need to install some heat tape in the rain gutters.  Unfortunately, we can't do that until the ice melts out, which might not be until spring.  We are just hoping it doesn't ruin the new paint job in that area.

Pack Meeting

Sisters

Violet - 2013

Bethany - 2002

I came across a picture of Bethany in this outfit that Violet wore a few days ago.  Yep, they are sisters alright!  Even down to the drooly tongues.

Piano Music

This is what my piano room looked like while I was filling up my new shelves.  I fit most of it, and the rest is either seasonal and can be stored elsewhere, or I am donating it to DI.

New Year's Eve

Our kids are old enough (the older ones) that they wanted to try staying up until midnight.  So we loaded up the treats, put in a movie, and played games until then.  They made it!  About 11:30 the boys both got really tired and ready to stop, but they managed to stay up till 12:00, then went straight to bed.

Violet joined us until it was her bedtime.

Happy New Year!  This was right at midnight.

Dan is tired.

Baker Christmas Party

The Baker family got together the Saturday after Christmas for a meal, visiting, and cousins gift exchange.  We had the cousins each draw a name of another cousin to get a gift for.  We met at Annie's place in Nibley, and everyone had a good time.

Violet loves to pull my hair.

And eat my hair.

They had a pretty fun little sledding hill off the porch, so the kids all had fun sledding.

Jorgen was taking a fit about something.

I love Andrew's big-tooth grin!