Happy New Year!

Happy 2019 from Hadley and Savannah! When the girls woke up this morning, they each wanted two braids like Anna from Frozen...and Mommy made it happen!

Everyday Moments

Life...unedited. 

These random iPhone photos are dark, blurry, and untouched,

but they capture everyday moments from the last couple weeks.

On Dec 9, we suffered some winter storm damage when a tree branch broke from the weight of the snow and narrowly missed damaging our neighbor's home:

A couple weeks ago, Tal cleaned up the storm damage, cut down two trees on the side of our house, and hauled the debris to the landscape landfill. The trees were 19 years-old, and in recent years they had grown tall and required too much maintenance. In the spring, Tal will dig up the stumps, plant some low-maintenance bushes, and spread some new mulch in the area:

While the girls and I had snow days on Dec 10-12, we went swimming at the Y in our neighborhood. We enjoyed getting out of the house and burning some energy:

Hadley loves the water! She does a good job putting her head under water, kicking her legs, and paddling with her arms. She can even swim the short length of the pool with her floaties on!

On Dec 11, the girls and I had a snow day. Since the roads were clear, we got out of the house and ate a lunch snack at Burger King and played in the play area:

On Dec 12, Tal and I had the afternoon off from work. We had a day date, wrapped the girls' Christmas presents, and put them under the tree:

Thanks to Grandma Judy who gave Savannah and Hadley some money for Christmas. We used some of the money to buy sleds for the girls:

From December 16-20, our water heater was broken, and we didn't have any hot water at our house. For four days, Tal, Savannah, and I got up early and took showers at the Y before work/school. Thankfully, we got a new water heater on Dec 20:

From Dec 13-21, Hadley stayed at Grandma Barbara's house. While Hadley was at Grandma's house, I took Savannah to the pool at the Y:

Savannah put together a map of the United States puzzle:

During the holidays, I loved the glow of our Christmas lights and fireplace at night:

On December 20, I attended Savannah's classroom celebration:

During the celebration, Savannah participated in five rotations. At the rotation below, Savannah made a reindeer craft:

At another rotation, Savannah made and ate a gingerbread house:

Although I enjoy my career as a teacher, it is stressful and demanding. However, during the holidays, I received some sweet gifts and notes that give me hope that I'm making a positive impact in students' lives:

In a previous post, I mentioned that Hadley had an allergic reaction to shellfish during our family Christmas on Dec 22. Her left eye was red, itchy, and swollen. Thankfully, Hadley's eye looked normal the next morning (as shown below) after we put ice on her eye and gave her some Benadryl:

During our family Christmas, Savannah and Hadley were blessed with many gifts, including the ones below:

Tal and I put together the pink kitchen that Grandma Barbara gave Hadley:

The ice dispenser is Savannah and Hadley's favorite feature in the pink kitchen. Plastic ice cubes fall into your cup with you press the button!

Savannah loves her electric scooter from Grandma Barbara!

Hadley: "I love my high heels from (my cousin) Harper so much!"

Hadley: "I'm going to a party in my high heels!"

Savannah and Hadley asked me to take a picture of them both wearing high heels:

Everyday Moments

Life...unedited. 

These random iPhone photos are dark, blurry, and untouched,

but they capture everyday moments from this week.

When the girls woke up on Saturday morning, they wanted to make crafts:

First, they made several creations with Perler beads:

Hadley made a dolphin, while Savannah made a square and star with Perler beads:

 Next, the girls made some window art. We used a kit that included 20 sun catchers, as well as paint bottles, suction cups, and string:

  

We let the sun catchers dry overnight. Then, we attached some string, hung the girls' sun catchers from the suction cups, and stuck them to our green kitchen door. 

Hadley's butterfly

 

Savannah's peace sign

On Saturday afternoon, the girls and I met up with my dear friend Emily and her family, who were visiting from Virginia. Emily and I enjoyed chatting at the hotel pool, while Savannah, Hadley, Xavier, and Felix swam for two hours: 

On Saturday night, Savannah and her neighborhood friends Liza and Sky had a sleepover at our house. They loved making three craft projects that Savannah received for Christmas: squishies, slime, and sand art.

Squishies 

Sand art

 Happy Birthday to Grandma Judy, who is celebrating her birthday today!

Hadley enjoyed spraying detangler and brushing Savannah's hair.
Hadley: "No more tangles, Savannah!"

Everyday Moments

Life...unedited. 

These random iPhone photos are dark, blurry, and untouched,

but they capture everyday moments from this week.

The girls and I are enjoying a staycation this week. On Wednesday, we ran errands and then ate lunch and played at Chick-fil-a:

On Thursday, the girls painted at the kitchen table:

 Then, they painted their fingernails and toenails: 

For lunch on Thursday, we ate at PDQ. Our lunch was free...thanks to a $20 gift card from one of my students: 

After eating lunch at PDQ, we returned our books to the public library...

...and checked out some new library books to read:

After visiting the library, the girls and I enjoyed swimming at the Y in our neighborhood:

On Friday, the girls and I had a McDonald's playdate with our friends Amanda and Tyson. Hadley asked me to take a picture of her wearing her new outfit from Grandma Barbara: 

After having lunch with Amanda and Tyson, the girls and I made crafts with Perler beads: 

We put beads on a pegboard...

...and then fused the beads together with a hot iron and tracing paper:

my star

Hadley's heart

My flower

Savannah's dolphin

Savannah's dog 

Savannah's heart

Savannah's car

While the girls and I were making Perler bead crafts, Savannah's neighborhood friends Liza and Sky came over and made crafts with us for a couple hours:

 In all, we made about 20 Perler bead creations in one afternoon. Below are some of Liza and Sky's creations.