On Friday the 13th, Jeff's concert choir hosted its 2nd Annual Valentine's Dinner Concert.  (The girls and I like to call it the "Sweetheart Banquet.")  It's a fundraiser for the choir and this year, the money raised went towards their upcoming choir trip to Louisville, KY in May.  It was a delicious lasagna dinner, catered by the school's cafeteria and served by members of the choir.  After dinner, members of the choir sing songs about love.  There were solos, duets, trios, and a few songs by the whole choir, and we heard a wide variety of genres as well.  It was a very fun, successful evening and I fully expect there to be 3rd annual event next year! 

 

Last Wednesday night was "Crazy Hair Day" at Awana.  Some kids really get into it (bright colors, gel, spikes, etc.), others do nothing.  I go for crazy-looking, but simple to undo!  This was Ella's 2nd year to do it, but it was a first for Lucy.  For several days after, Lucy kept asking me, "You make my hair crazy?"

 

This weekend we enjoyed a fun get-away to our alma mater.  On Friday night, Jeff had to accompany at a show choir competition about 3 hours from  home.  Since it was less than an hour from where our good friends, Chris and Cheryl, live, we made arrangements for our whole family to go and then spend the rest of the weekend there.  Our girls had fun playing with their son, Nicholas, and we enjoyed taking a walk all around campus on Saturday.  We even ran into several people we knew, which was pretty unexpected after being gone 5 1/2 years!  Aside from spending the time with our friends, the next best part was getting to attend our former church there on Sunday and catching up with our church family there.  No matter how long we are gone, it always seems like coming home when we go there.  Most of our friends from college have moved on, but there are many families and older folks at the church still there.  It was especially fun seeing how much the little kids have grown.  Babies we kept in the nursery are now in middle school, and kids I taught in Sunday School are now in college!  They are the ones who really changed the most.  I wish we would have had even more time to visit with people and to drive around the city and see all the changes.  Hopefully it won't be so long before we go back again.

Thankfully, this blustery, cold, snowy weather did not prevent us from driving to my parents' house this weekend to celebrate my birthday with my side of the family.  In fact, because Jeff had a 4th snow day on Friday, we were able to go in the morning and have extra time there!  My mom invited some friends out for homemade pizza and sledding.  We had a great time with them, as always, and our girls got to experience real sledding.  My parents live in the country on a big hill, perfect for sledding, and we made good use of it!

 

On Saturday, my brothers, sister-in-law, nieces, and nephew came over and we got to go sledding again!  Brooke and Cassidy helped Ella and Lucy build a snowman, which they had really been wanting to do, and Troy made a special snow puppy, just for Lucy.  She named him "Pluto."   Saturday evening, my mom fixed a wonderful lasagna dinner and we celebrated my 33rd birthday, complete with a peanut butter-chocolate ice cream from Dairy Queen (my favorite!).

 

After a 2-hour school delay Monday morning, things seem to be back on schedule at school and home this week.  It is still VERY cold (wind chill -1) and there is still some snow on the ground, but the roads are pretty clear now and most people around here have electricity again.  I continue to be thankful for that huge blessing!

 

Potty update: Lucy continues to do pretty well going on the potty when we take her.  Within the last 24-hours, she has gone #2 on the potty once and told me she needed to go potty BEFORE she went once - both of those for the first time!  Too early to tell if they were just a fluke or if she's going to make progress there, but either way, I think the "potty train" is headed in the right direction!