February - Snow Much Fun

On February 2nd (fitting for Groundhog Day) it was a gray day outside.  Overnight, we got this gross freezing rain/sleet mix so the ground was pretty slick.  We all worked from home the next day and the kids didn't have school.  Late afternoon, it started to snow - on top of all that iciness.  And it was a decent amount of snow.  We all stayed home again on Friday.  Cadence's final "tournament" (there were only 2 teams in her age group this season) game was postponed, but Colin's sports still happened.  We also went sledding with Pops on Sunday!

While Danny was working in the basement, and I was on a conference call, the kids whipped (literally) up this concoction.  They said it was a Frappuccino.  Cadence has seen me make a meringue using egg whites.  I think she did that and added sugar to make "whipped cream."  Oh, she's creative.  I'm assuming she told Colin what to do.  I believe they made chocolate milk; maybe added coffee syrup.  You can see the chocolate syrup on the edge of the glass (nice touch).  They also crushed up chocolate chip cookies and M&Ms and put them on top as garnish.  It actually tasted pretty yummy!  They didn't even make any for themselves.  I shared mine with Colin.  I was a little nervous about the raw egg 😆 

 

The snow!

We're so lucky Pops plows the driveway for us.

Sledding fun!

Mason joined us after the boys had baseball practice (which was before their basketball game).

They are crazy - I did not join in the "train."

Cadence's team finally got their final game in - they won!  And brought home some sweet trophies!

Startin' off 2022 a Little Like 2021...

After New Years, I was feeling a little run-down and had a dull headache.  Michelle and I at work were talking about how we are so paranoid anymore about each and every little symptom we have.  I just chalked it up to staying up too late the previous weekend.  As the day progressed on January 4th, my nose was getting a little stuffier.  I also got a text from Jessica (Mason's mom) saying that she & Mark tested positive for COVID.  We were around them at Colin's basketball tournament (where we didn't wear masks) and we also went out to lunch with Mark & Mason on Wednesday, December 29th.  That night, to make sure, I took an at-home test and it was positive.  Whomp, whomp.  We were around a lot of people the week before that, so who knows where I actually caught it. The new strain, Omicron, was seeming to be even more contagious and spreading pretty rapidly.  Right before Christmas, there were a bunch of people at work saying family members had caught it.  Luckily, Omicron was also proving to be less serious, and was causing infected people to just feel like they had a cold.  Aside from a mild headache, some minor body aches, that's what I felt like.  I didn't have a fever, I didn't really cough.  Just an annoying stuffy nose.  I'm thankful that's all I had to deal with and it wasn't worse. I feel like I lost my sense of smell for a day or two, but maybe that was because my nose was so stuffy.  Poor Danny still can't smell or taste anything the way he used to...

I stayed home and skipped the kids' games on Saturday, but I was feeling better on Sunday, so I wore my mask and went to Colin's game.  Check out the nice action shot Lisa Siders Photography captured!  Colin's #21

A week later, Cadence was invited to her friend's sleepover birthday party.  The kids didn't have school that Monday, so she had a lot of fun with her friends.  She's got a really good group of friends this year. Not a lot of drama and they have a lot of fun.  I heard they stayed up until 3:00 in the morning! 😲

During some of Colin's basketball games this season, Cadence would work on sketches.  Some family members of teammates had noticed her work - Mark mentioned to Cadence that Mason would love a drawing of Fernando Tatis, Jr. from the Padres.  Yes, she had images from the web that she used as reference, but check this out!  So impressive!

At the end of the month, Cadence wrapped up her regular, undefeated season!  She had improved so much from last season.  She was more aggressive, more in tune with what was going on in the game, and was just more sure of herself.  She scored a lot of points and showed a ton of hustle out on the court.  We're very proud of the basketball player she's become!

Here's Cadence and her little "sister," Cora.  She's Darren's little sister and loved to play house with Cadence at basketball games.  

At the boys' game at Dublin Scioto, Danny recognized one of their coaches.  He was Joey Galloway; honestly, I had never heard of him.  If you look him up, he's got a pretty impressive resume!  He was nice enough to take a photo with the boys.

More snow!

Christmas and New Years Fun

Christmas was nice and quaint (again) this year.  We were less stressed about COVID this year, though, since we were all vaccinated and boosted.  So that was a relief!  On Christmas Eve, the kids and I baked cookies all day (snickerdoodles, peanut butter blossoms, and Tollhouse bars [they didn't fare so well]) and then we went to Mom & Dad's for dinner.  We had seafood and pasta and it was delish!  We played Bananagrams (a gift I was given from Michelle at work) and were quickly addicted!  We played it most of the night!  Even the kids liked it!

When we got home, we got cookies and milk ready for Santa and the kids were in bed at a reasonable hour.

Santa came!  They both wanted some pretty big ticket items (they also had long lists), but I think Santa did a good job making sure they got things that they would actually use (without breaking the bank).  They both got new scooters since they had outgrown their others.  I think Cadence's favorite gifts were her skateboard and lifeguard sweatshirt; Colin's were his Nerf gun and remote control Lambo.

I love our tree every year

They're always so excited to see everything, they're a blur

He was speechless

How could I forget the karaoke microphone?!

Chocolate money - Yes, I think he was "making it rain" 😂

Mom and Dad came over for brunch and we spent the morning at our house.  Grandma & Poppa got them new sleds!  Now we just need some free time to enjoy them in the snow!

We went back over to Mom & Dad's house for dinner and we exchanged gifts with Mike & Gina also.  We had Italian for dinner and it was so good!  And yes, more Bananagrams.  Gina even got in on the fun.  We had a great day!

The week between Christmas and New Years, Colin had a basketball tournament at Fieldhouse at the Polaris Mall.  The boys did pretty well - they won one of their 2 games on Wednesday, and then lost their game on Thursday.  After their first game on Wednesday, we were going to stick around and watch the 5th grade boys play.  Their opponent never showed up, so the 3rd grade and 5th grade boys got on the court for a fun pickup game.  Even Danny got out there!  He was drenched in sweat by the time they were done.  It was fun to watch!  He was like a big kid out there!

On Thursday, Danny sent me this picture after the boys' game, while I was at work.  I wasn't sure who the gentleman was in the middle - I just knew he had nice teeth and nice shoes. 😂  Danny informed me that it was Braxton Miller!  He had a son that was playing in the tournament as well.

We spent New Year's Eve with Mom and Dad at our house.  We had pizza and spinach roll (Colin's new favorite) and played more Bananagrams!  I actually bought some liquor for a change and we had vodka/cranberry spritzers with lime and espresso martinis (the crew is always drinking them on Below Deck) - they were both really good!  We had a nice time and the kids even stayed up (well, Colin napped on the couch from about 10:30 to 11:45) until midnight!

The next morning, the kids and I had lunch with Erica at our old stomping grounds (O'Charley's) so we could exchange Christmas gifts.  It was really nice to be together and I think the kids enjoyed Erica's company as much as I did!

Here's Colin sporting the new pullover from Erica!  He loves it

That night, the Marinellis came over to celebrate Christmas and watch the Ohio State bowl game.  The kids got along really well with each other (and performed some self-written songs for the adults).  Ohio State played an awesome game against Utah and we had a really nice time!  We hadn't seen them since Halloween.

The pup turned 15 years old on January 2nd!  Danny and I can't believe she's still around.  She's doing great, but she gave us some scares in 2021 between her toenail falling off and her weird vertigo/walking silly spell in November.  She's definitely got 9 lives like a cat!

I made her a dog-safe (that can even be consumed by humans) cake for her birthday - it had applesauce, peanut butter, shredded carrots.  We gave her a little bit over the course of a couple days (and shared some with Olive).  As much as she can be a pain in the rear sometimes (drinking too much water and getting sick on the carpet, or eating trash out of the bathrooms), we still love her and we're glad she's ours.