Today we tried out Forest School with Maedreigh. It was such a beautiful day!The kids found all kinds of sticks and goodies!Lu took the opportunity for dancing while we waited for Maedreigh and Ms. Brandi to find us.Alex loved trying to “chop” down trees. We did have a talk about respecting a nature preserve as well. 😉William kept finding snails for the girls. They liked them best when the snails would peek out their eyes. 🐌 Lucy LOVED throwing the gravel into the pond. I think she could have done that for hours had we let her.More snailsAnd more snails.As we were leaving the pond habitat, we found a wasps’ nest. It was a great learning opportunity for our kids, as well as the ones walking by.The girls found some great mud puddles to stomp in while the boys found crawfish. The boys also discovered some pretty cool tracks. We think they might have been from a coyote. Maedreigh went searching for some ducks, and found the mud. Her mommy was very prepared though. Clean clothes were waiting in the car for later, so they could get as dirty as they liked. I would say Forest School was a success for the day! 😊 To end our crazy day, since Daddy was out of town, we loaded up with Orange Leaf. At least Lucy likes frozen yogurt

So I ran across this little girls clothing company, RicRac & Ruffles, that has some pretty cute outfits for great prices. This past week, one of the moms on the site sent us this adorable romper to try out.

We LOVE it! Can’t wait to try out some other outfits! They are SO cute! (Now to decide if we are going to try and remove the ‘A’ and monogram with an ‘L’, or just leave it. 😕 I do not want to ruin this!)

Lucy has gotten quite good at her balance beam skills. She can stay on the entire way most of the times now. (As long as she doesn’t get goofy!)Her coordination is really coming along. Between dance and gymnastics, she is getting that body awareness figured out.Her most favorite thing is the pit!She loves climbing out as far as they will let her go.

Lucy loves to dance! But she LOVES eating her pretzels too! Today that’s about all she wanted to do after church was to eat her pretzels and dance.She loves to push the button on her alphabet magnet on the fridge and dance away.That is until she is discovered by the video camera! Then she gets all shy and you can only get her back. 😂Lucy is really getting good at the piano. She makes me sit down with her and play while she sings. I am amazed at how well she can carry a tune. I know she is going to have some incredible musical talent.

Lucy has a huge personality. With that, she loves to make sure she has everyone’s attention. We are currently working on weaning her. Yeah, it’s not going very well. She is VERY set in her ways, and with what she wants. Last night, she got so mad at me in the middle of the night, she was yelling and crying at me, “Mommy! Take your shirt off!” 😮 Oh the joys of a very verbal one year old! I guess she feels it is so great to nurse, everyone should. At breakfast, she came up to me while I was eating, handed me Lilly in her blanket, and told me to nurse Lilly! I draw the line at little humans! They are hard enough! Baby dolls are not an option! When I wouldn’t, Lucy kept telling me, “Feed Lilly! She’s hungry.” Crazy girl! When I went to get a shower later on, my little sidekick had to come along. She gets so mad if she thinks she is getting left out of the bathroom when I take a shower. Her new time passer is to stand IN her potty and play with her toys or watch me. She thinks it is so funny!  I think we have a class clown in our future!(Or a sheriff! 😂 She took over Colten’s police car at STEM today. I’m not sure I would be so brave, but she didn’t blink an eye!)

Lucy has decided she LOVES to paint. With the gorgeous Texas weather today, she spent over an hour outside painting away. After about a half an hour, I kept asking her if she wanted to be cleaned up. It was always, “No Mommy! I’m painting!” I guess I know what to have her doing if I need her occupied. 

Today it finally snowed! It was SUPER cold and windy, but we were not sure the rain would actually come through. Well it did! Lucy did not know what to think. When she went outside, she could not figure out what was going on. It was so funny. When she finally decided to go check it out, she kept telling it to “Stop it!”Khaliyah was not sure about it either.Lu could only handle so much before she ran inside. “It was FREEZING!”She came back out after a little bit to check out the small bit on the ground. It didn’t last long though, and she wanted to go back inside. The big kids were completely unimpressed. Welcome to a short lived Texas snow!

We decided to take the kids to Great Wolf Lodge one more time as an entire family before Brianna goes on her mission. With the timing of the holidays and Brie’s break, we had to take Nate and Natalie out of school for a day and a half. I don’t think they minded a bit. It was 28 outside, and we were swimming inside! 😂Lucy LOVED it! The last time she went to Great Wolf, I was pregnant for her in Virginia and didnt even know it yet.The view from our room was beautiful! We could even watch all the planes landing. After changing from swimming and resting up a bit, the kids got ready for a bit of MagiQuest.Lucy enjoyed meeting all the characters first though.Lucy was mesmerized by the wizard.Alex was quite an adventurer!Lucy did not take much of a nap, and ended up falling asleep before story time. I was so sad!She, however, loved the clock tower show in the morning. The big kids on the other hand, went back to finish their adventures.We took Daddy swimming after breakfast,visited a few more “friends”,beat the dragon,Then had to say goodbye for now. It was fun to spend these moments with all of us together.😊

Our schedules have been off a bit with the holidays and Brie being home, so Lucy has been taking a nap whenever she gets a moment of downtime. However, they don’t last long, and we are off to something else. Tonight we took Brie to get a Frozen Hot Chocolate at Coffee Conversations. Boy they are good, but they make Lucy crazy! She didn’t want to leave. She kept wanting to sit in the chairs on their patio, but it was getting pretty cool and windy.Brie and I were finally able to pry her away and get her home to play soccer with the new ball Alex got her for Christmas. At some point in the evening, she hijacked my phone and would not give it back. I was able to switch mine out for Brie’s to get their picture though. Lucy loves Brie so much! It is like Brie has never been gone when comes home on her breaks. She is so patient and loving with Lu. I am so grateful for their special bond, even though there is 18 years between them.❤

How do we handle New Year’s Day?Pictionary turned into Charades with a crazy mutt,and Miss Princess Cupcake Girl completely enthralled with the Wiggles, turning it into a dance party.We might be crazy, but I Love My Family!❤