quiet start to 2020

Our new year was off to a good start. January was a pretty uneventful month, but the first few months tend to be a little slow. The girls are usually happy to be back at school and back into their normal routine, and in between dance, soccer and gymnastics there were some fun things going on at school. 

Each year Cece's school hosts their annual bowl-a-thon, where they raise money to help with school costs. Between the years of Olivia and Cece being at Peace they have participated in many bowl-a-thons. This would officially be our last bowl-a-thon at Peace Montessori as Cecilia will be joining her sister at Canterbury next year. As we enter the second half of the school year, we are faced with doing many things for the "last time". She had such fun bowling with her buddies, and it's sad knowing it is her last time.

In early February Olivia's school hosted a Valentine's Day social. As a 7th and 8th grader you get to enjoy a handful of school dances throughout the year. The Winter Social was more formal, but the Valentine's social was just as fun! I think what Olivia's enjoys most is getting together with her friends and dancing the night away. They always have a blast!

We hadn't gotten much in the way of snow this winter, so whenever we would get a dusting, Cecilia would dash outside to play in it. On this particular day we got just enough for Cece to test out her penguin snow mold. She practiced making the perfect penguins for a few hours, but I think within a day or two it had all melted.

We always look forward to celebrating Valentine's Day with the girls each year, but this year we had to celebrate a few days early as Olivia was getting ready to head off on a ski tip with her friend Sara. But we couldn't let a year pass by without making our heart shaped pizzas. This tradition has carried on for many years now, and I think this year they turned out better than ever! They were tasty too!

Each year in mid-February Olivia gets a few extra days off from school on President's Day weekend. Last year she was invited to go skiing in Boyne, Michigan with a friend from school. It was her first time skiing and she mastered it immediately! Well this year, her best friend Sara invited her to go along and she couldn't say yes fast enough! So on Valentine's Day weekend she was off to Boyne once again!

Throughout the weekend I got updates from Sara's Mom, reassuring me that they were having a great time and she hadn't broken any bones on the slopes! It addition to being with Sara and her family, there were with many other Canterbury families that spend that weekend in Boyne each year skiing together. Each day they typically go off on their own to ski, meet up for lunch, ski more in the afternoon, and then all have dinner together. It was a super fun long weekend of skiing and hanging out with friends. I think she had even more fun this year, and I know she is crossing her fingers to get invited again next year!

The winter months tend to be quite a bit slower when it comes to all things soccer for Olivia. It It typically consists of regular indoor practices with an occasional tournament thrown in. This particular tournament, which takes place in late February was cancelled last year due to the weather. This year the snow stayed away and Olivia was able to enjoy the weekend with her team! Who knew at that time that it would probably be one of the last times they would play together for the season!

January and February were off to a good start. Who could have predicted that just a few weeks into March, the entire country would be on lock down while we try to stay safe from the Coronavirus?!? I don't think anyone saw that coming. How quickly things would change...

holiday highlights

By mid-December we were in full holiday mode. The girls were wrapping up school before the break, which meant special programs. Olivia had her winter choir concert and she even had a small solo in one of her songs. Cece did not have any programs but we did enjoy a fun cookie exchange at her school.

One thing we always try to make time for around Christmas is checking out some of the impressive light displays. We look online to find the best ones in town. We even have a few favorites that we return to see each year. It's so fun!

And just like that Christmas Eve was here! Our tradition is to get dressed up and attend the childrens service at our church. Always love seeing my girls in their pretty dresses! After church we always go back to my Mom's for food and stockings! The girls love having something to open on Christmas Eve. Waiting until Christmas morning is just too tough!

Watching the excitement on their faces as they open all of their little goodies is so fun! Even better, I enjoy watching them get along and enjoy spending time together. They may bicker and get on each other's nerves often, but deep down they love each other so much!

The girls may be getting older but they still get super excited come Christmas morning! At 13, I am sad but not surprised that Olivia's belief in Santa no longer exists. It does however exist for the sake of her sister, who still believes. I have a feeling that will not be lasting much longer either. As you can imagine I am soaking up every last second of my youngest still having a belief in something so special. Those smiles on Christmas morning are something that I never want to go away!

After opening Santa's gifts, which included Descendants dolls for Cece and a new suitcase for Olivia, we commenced the family present opening. It was challenging picking out gifts for the girls this year. They really don't need much, and the things they want tend to be pretty pricey these days. So after a few fun gifts we surprised the girls with something big. A new phone for Olivia (which she agreed to help pay for) and Olivia's old phone for Cece (which she still only uses like an ipod). As you can imagine we had two pretty happy girls!

Next it was off to Nana's to continue the Christmas celebration. Nana sure loves to spoil her girls on Christmas! We all take turns opening presents, but it seems the girls spend much more time opening gifts than anyone else! It's a special day that happens one time a year, so I think a little spoiling is quite acceptable.

With the passing of Todd's Mom this year our Christmas night was a little different. We would usually spend the evening with her and the rest of the family. This year we had to create our own Christmas night tradition. We thought we would go out for Chinese food, just the four of us. It proved to be much more difficult than I expected, but we did manage to find ourselves a Chinese buffet that had room for us. Next year we will plan ahead. We wrapped up our busy day back at the house opening our stockings. It was a long, but very special day full of family time.

It's always sad to see Christmas come to an end. Even more sad is knowing we still have many months of cold, dreary weather ahead of us. The girls were still on Christmas break from school, and spending time with friends was top priority! Cece was thrilled when she was invited to a get together with some of her besties at Skyzone...one of her favorite places!

Come January the girls were back in school and it was business as usual. We had little to no snow so far this winter, but finally during one weekend enough fell for the girls to run out and make a small snowman. I think the snow melted about as quickly as it fell, but at least they got to play in it. 

Every year Olivia and her dance studio perform at the basketball game of our local college, Purdue-Fort Wayne. The girls may not have had their dance completed, but they pulled it together enough for the performance, and it actually looked pretty great! It's always fun to perform at these games, especially when the mascot comes to say "hi"!

Late last year, my nephew Jake had a little baby girl. Every since we laid eyes on her sweet little face we have been begging to watch her. One weekend they were in need of a sitter for a few hours and we quickly offered to help. Sweet little Ayla reminds me so much of what my girls looked like when they were babies. I think having her spend the evening with us gave the girls an idea of how challenging babies can be. I quickly reminded them that I went through this and much more when they were that age. Not sure how they would handle another little baby in the house full time. Good thing they will not have to worry about that!

The winter days can sometime be long and boring...stuck inside with limited options, and searching for things to do that do not involve being on electronics! Well, Cece came up with brillant idea...head to the mall to use the Build-A-Bear gift card she got for Christmas! It was burning a hole in her pocket and she couldn't wait to add to her ever growing stuffed animal collection!

Cece also kept busy with a dance camp followed by a performance at a basketball game at our high school alma mater. She learned the dance in one day and remembered it well enough to perform it weeks later. My girl loves performing and it shows!

Winter isn't over yet. We still had to push through February, knowing that Spring would be right around the corner. As I type this in mid-March who would have thought we would be where we are with everything happening in the world. I'll dive into that next time.