Eliza had been asking to go sledding for a few days, so when we had a decent amount of snow on a Wednesday afternoon (the day with the easiest schedule) I took the younger three to a nearby Junior High known for its sledding hills. There was only one good sledding area that we could find which still had enough snow in the afternoon, but the kids had a great time going down over and over again for about an hour. I sledded down a couple of times but then just enjoyed watching and taking pictures. (I also made a video which I'll post later.)
We had a great time on Valentine's Day! We had the traditional conversation hearts, Valentines, and Rice Krispies Treats Hershey Kisses waiting for the kids when they woke up in the morning. The kids voted to have sourdough waffles for breakfast instead of the heart waffles we usually make.
After home church and everything, Suz's family came over for a little Valentine celebration. Eliza put up decorations (the different sized balloons were intentional) and set up a scavenger hunt all over the house; Suz and Whit brought a bean bag toss, musical chairs game, and a compliment game. Suz also made yummy and beautiful personalized traditional German lebkuchen necklaces for each of the kids!
We had a delicious fondue dinner, and even cooked our steak in a fondue pot instead of just doing cheese dip for everything. After a big dinner and a big chocolate fondue dessert we had our customary V-Day dance party. So fun!
The kids played really fun, mostly recognizable, pieces for their festival and recital this year and they did a wonderful job! They enjoyed learning their pieces and we loved hearing them!
Eliza's festival performance was in this organ room at our local piano store. Parents were asked not to go in because of Covid. I heard Eliza through the glass, though, and she did a great job. The judge thought so too, and Eliza was chosen as one of the winners!
I was able to watch Jack's performance, which was in a recital hall. Jack had performed his pieces very well during practice performances but wasn't at his best for the festival. I'm so proud of him for all the work he did to get them ready though!
I didn't get to watch Cat's performance either but she rocked it and was also chosen as a winner. There was a winner's recital for the oldest age group and she chose to perform the short, upbeat, and flashy Tarantella.
Eliza learned "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" by Peter Tchaikovsky and "Toccatina" by Dmitri Kabalevsky. These were definitely easier pieces for her; she had Sugar Plum Fairy ready in time for our Christmas recital, and Toccatina wasn't far behind, so she was able to do practice performances with confidence in the weeks leading up to the festival.
Jack learned "Minuet" by Anna Magdalena Bach and "Fur Elise" by Ludwig van Beethoven. Jack really loves learning familiar classical pieces. Fur Elise was a bit of a stretch for him but he buckled down and learned it really well!
Cat learned "Claire de Lune" by Claude Debussy and "Tarantella in a minor" by Albert Pieczonka. She's been interested in learning Claire de Lune for a while, and even though her pieces each had unique challenges and she wasn't sure if they would come together in time, they both did, and they both sounded wonderful.
We celebrated the kids' musical accomplishments by getting treats at a new ice cream place in Orem called Sweet Rolled Tacos, where the cooks (freezers?) make ice cream on a cold surface in front of you, then spread it out thin, roll it up into a spiral, slide it into a brightly colored taco-shaped waffle cone, and make it extra pretty and special with fun, festive toppings (and, in our case, a V-Day decoration since it was 2/13).
We've been making more regular visits to the library lately and the kids are loving it (as am I). Jack, especially, has gotten into Wings of Fire all over again and reads as much as possible, even at times when it's not appropriate. And even though Cat is only in one of the above pictures, she's been doing a lot of reading too. Her school books her sophomore year have included Dante's Inferno, Paradise Lost, Les Miserables, and Pride and Prejudice. In the last couple of months, she's read A Tale of Two Cities, The Beautiful and the Damned, Till We Have Faces, and a biography of Joseph Smith - for fun.
We read this story in The Friend and decided to have a similar family activity: we made a bunch of Valentine's sugar cookies, then everyone had the chance to choose a family with whom we could share a plate of cookies. The kids were eager to deliver cookies to the families in our neighborhood they'd thought of, and Ben drove a plate over to his brother's family.
Eliza and Luke had an extra long weekend over Valentine's Day (holiday on Friday plus President's Day on Monday) so their V-Day parties were Thursday. They loved playing games and trading sugary treats with their friends! Luke's class wasn't required to make Valentine boxes, but Eliza spent a lot of time on hers and had fun creating her own jumbo version of the Brach's Conversation Hearts package. I also liked her idea of a unique treat to share with her friends: KoolAid Bursts.
After we were finished with our sugar cookies, some friends brought us a sugar cookie decorating kit and the kids had fun with Round 2!
I really appreciated this sweet card we received from my aunt and uncle.
We wanted to take advantage of significantly warmer weather Sunday afternoon Feb. 7th when the high temperature got into the mid-50s. We decided on a walk along the Provo River at the mouth of Provo Canyon. We walked at a leisurely pace for a little over 2 miles, with Eliza getting some assistance during the return leg, due to a sprained ankle she got at gym earlier in the week.
These are some of my favorite things - getting out of the house and spending time outside with my family, just hanging out. When we're home we tend to spread out and do different things, but once we get out, we're focused on each other and just having fun. We've been trying to do more of this on Sundays while we have fewer things going on (hybrid church, no TabChoir, no in-person meetings, and very few visits/family dinners), and I'm so thankful for the opportunity.
