Unicorn bathrobe

A President's Day playdate

These two besties are just SO ADORABLE together!

A medal well deserved

Piper completed a four week, Saturday basketball skills camp today.  She had a great run!  Last year she played on a team and each week they had games, but this year we decided to go for some skill building instead of competition.  She really enjoyed it.  She was very energetic and 'bouncy' throughout practice and didn't get discouraged while learning new techniques. 

Today was her final Saturday, and she went out in style.  She's good at dribbling, playing some D, and passing, but sinking baskets have thus far been an insurmountable challenge.  She just struggles to get the ball up high enough.  In this skill building program there are six stations, and you stay at each station for about 8 minutes or so.  From station #1, Piper was trying for that elusive basket.  She knew it was her last chance to nail it.  By the time we got to station #6, she was so close!  But, not quite there.  I was practicing, in my head, the pep talk I would give her about the fact that what matters is how hard she tried, and the awesome perseverance and energy she's shown out on the court (all very true things).  But, in the last few seconds of the timer at the very last station, Piper Mac got her basket!  It was so exciting! 

If she hadn't, I still would have been just as proud of her as I am.  She truly showed up the 'right' way - with spirit, open-mindedness, and lots of hustle.  But there's nothing quite like that ball swishing through the hoop as a buzzer is sounding in the distance... it's movie magic, which rarely happens in real life.  But when it does, it's pretty freakin' fabulous.

Bowl me over

Tonight after work/school we took the kiddos bowling.  It was really fun!  We all had a chance to channel our inner Oma!

Both girls bowled well.  The bumpers helped everyone's scores.  We used our Ever After High made up additional characters names:  Piper = Brightly Shine, daughter of the sun; Teagan = Sunset Sparkle, daughter of the sun; Dan = Shadow Light, son of the moon; Laura = Dusky Glow, daughter of the twilight.  The folks who bowled next to us certainly got some free entertainment.  Not only did we publish those names on the score screen, but naturally we referred to each other in character throughout the night.;)

Ninja warriors!!!

Tonight Piper and Teagan were invited to their friend Christopher's birthday party.  We've known Christopher and his family for the past 4 years, and we love them.  Christopher's parents are great, and his aunts are wonderful people as well.  We met them at church, and we see each other at coffee and donuts almost weekly.  We've been going to Christopher's birthday parties, and he's been coming to Piper's, for years.  Last year when Piper started Taekwondo, we were surprised to learn that we attended the same dojo!  So every Thursday, Piper and Christopher take Taekwondo together, and Dan and Christopher's parents hang out (and entertain Teagan). 

This year Christopher's birthday party was the Ninja Warrior birthday party at the dojo.  It was a parent's dream with the weather being so cold - those kids were run ragged!  They had a mini Taekwondo lesson, and then got to play in the ninja warrior studio for the rest of the night, battling their way through obstacles and challenges.  Both Piper and Teagan tested their limits a bit, and both had successes.

I had planned to skip the party and stay home and mop the floors. I'm glad I didn't. It's always fun to see Christopher and his family, and it was fun to watch the girls pushing themselves to be stronger and faster in the studio.  To be honest, I was dying to get out on the course and test my strength and stamina.  It's probably best I didn't - the Taekwondo master who facilitated the party shared some stories of injuries sustained by parents who, at their kids' parties, were just wanting to show off a little.  There's a good chance that would have been me.  :)

It's a superhero... it's a missionary... it's...

We had a super busy day in Sunday school today.  It's always a good class when we send the kids back to their parents in full on disguise. 

Cabin fever!

We definitely do have cabin fever here in Minnesota.  It has been COLD for weeks.  Too cold to do anything fun outside.  That leads to some restless kids.  This weekend we went to our friends' cabin about 45 minutes up north.  We didn't travel very far, but we were out of our house and that's what mattered.  It was still too cold to be outside for more than a few minutes at a time, but being cooped up in new environment beats being cooped up at home.

And we did get outside.  We just had to do it in 10-15 minute blocks of time.  Being inside, we played with toys that aren't ours (which also makes all the difference), read, and watched a Lego movie.  We had big waffle breakfasts and simple, easy dinners.  We had nowhere else to be and nothing else to do, which for the grown ups meant no laundry, vacuuming, errands, or online work to divert us from being fully present.  It was just nice to get away.

And, as you can see in the photos below, we loved playing on the frozen lake. :)

 

 

Wild things

I don't know where they got their crazy from...

(Okay, okay, I do.)