January 2023

Blake and Claire are so cute together!  I was surprised Blake was willing to share his blanket.

Greg and I got our first facial together for our Christmas present.  I had streaks down my neck afterward and was worried it would look like I got mauled by a cat but it faded slightly by the next day.  The lady said Greg was a good candidate for this but didn't notice much on my skin.

Grant had a Friday off of school so we took the kids to Minnesota to the Mall of America.  My parents watched Claire and we just took the boys.  It was a last minute decision but we pulled it together pretty quick. We got joining rooms at a hotel with a cool looking pool close to the mall.  On Friday we went to the Nickelodeon world and rode all the rides.  We loved being there during the week because there were no lines or waits!  We tried to go back Saturday and it was packed.  The boys loved all the rides. They went on their first roller coaster and Grant was not too sure about it at first but loved it after another time or 2 riding it.  We met up with my friend Kelly and her girls for dinner Friday night and went to their house Saturday morning for breakfast.  The kids all got along very well.  We went to Greg's friend Kirt's house and the boys found a new toy the HAD to have.  It was fun to catch up with our friends.  We went to the aquarium Saturday afternoon and saw some sharks!  Saturday night we planned on hanging out at the pool and ordering pizza but the pool was packed, hurt Grant's eyes and not as much fun as we expected.  So we hung out in our hotel room and watched football.  It was a great short vacation and we all had a really good time.  It was nice to get away and have some fun.  We missed Claire though!  She had fun with Nana and Papa but she was so excited when we got home she refused to nap. :)

Grant has been playing basketball at the Recplex.  He got hid in the eye on accident and it caused a swollen eye.  Luckily, it went away pretty quickly and he didn't bruise bad.

Claire has my set of doll chairs and table in her room that was made from me when I was a little girl.  She loves playing with them, sitting in them and sitting her dolls/stuffed animals in them.

I caught Claire nicely reading books alone in the play room.  I love catching moments like these.

We got a Nintendo Switch game for Christmas that is similar to the Wii called Mario Olympics.  We race nightly and Claire thinks she is playing too.

This month was the one year anniversary of Cal's passing.  It is a hard day to know what to do.  Greg's family decided we would have a fish fry to remember the good times. Greg did a really good job of cooking the fish and it was a nice memory together.  Our family let off balloons earlier in the day to send up to heaven to Grandpa.  Grant's got caught in a tree and he was so sad, rightfully so.  So he and I went and bought 2 new balloons and he got to pick the colors and send them up.  The first time we went to raccoon river park and the second we went to the pond by the library.  Both places we have fished with Grandpa.  Grant and I went and got a donut after that since it was so sad his first one got caught in the tree.  The only picture I took of the night is Claire and Chloe playing together so nicely.

I love seeing these pictures of all our kids sitting nicely together without fighting.  Claire and Grant are even holding hands.

The boys were giving Dad "shots" and all the kids thought it was hilarious.  Cute laughs all around.

It was Woodland Hills night at the Varsity basketball game and Grant was able to shoot a basket at halftime.  He was hesitant to go at first because he didn't want to miss the game but was eager to go once he found out what they were doing! 

Claire loves to dance to the next songs she learns at daycare.  Here we are dancing to Happy and you know it, Hooray!  She loves her Mommy so much these days and I will take it!  Cries when I leave and only wants me when I am there.

I noticed Claire has a lip tie on her top lip.  I talked to her ENT and she said to go see a dentist so I made an appointment with a dentist for early February.  They should be able to fix it with a laser so hopefully she wont have to go under anesthesia.