fun (and busy!) times

Apparently another two months have flown by. Wow. We were able to rest a bit on a family vacation, but since then we've had a lot going on. We are experiencing sports leagues for the first time. Violet wanted to play in a lacrosse league and Olivia in a soccer league, so we signed them up. We didn't really know what to expect; it has been fun, but lately we feel like our evenings have been frantic! Violet started lacrosse league at the end of April. She is enjoying it even though she is the youngest age on the team; the team consists of second through fourth graders. They've had a handful of games already and she is starting to come around with figuring out the rules and how to play. Olivia just started soccer yesterday, she enjoyed it and is looking forward to her first game next week. I am proud of both of our girls for trying something new; they signed up without knowing anyone else on the team, which is sometimes hard to do!

Here is what else we have been up to recently!

Second Grade Concert | May 5, 2016
All five of the Robbinsdale Spanish Immersion school second grade classes performed "La Mejor de Segundo Grado" (the best of second grade) on May 5. Each class performed their own dance, and then together they sang about eight songs. Olivia and Violet were very excited because they had been practicing for weeks! It was a great concert, the songs were fun and the kids really got into it.

Olivia performing her class dance

Violet as a princess during one of the songs

California Trip | April 23 - May 2, 2016
We went on a family vacation to southern California at the end of April. I could go on and on about our adventures, but here is the brief version! We drove about a 500-mile loop around the southern part of the state. I really enjoyed the various landscapes we encountered; we spent time in the desert, the mountains, the beach...quite a variety! We went to three state parks, one national park, Disneyland, Legoland, Huntington Beach and more. We also drove part of the Pacific Coast Highway with the top down on our rental convertible, which was pretty fun! Perhaps one of the most interesting stops was a Reptile Zoo where the girls held snakes, iguanas and as a family we held a huge Burmese python. Olivia and Violet loved it and asked if they could work there! We had a great time and enjoyed spending time together as a family (even though we got on each other's nerves at times). :) Each time the girls get asked what their favorite part of the trip was, they say something different, so I guess it is hard for them to pick one favorite part!

Burmese Python at the "Reptile Zoo"

Disneyland Park

Meeting Chewbacca!

Cruisin' with the top down

Font's Point in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Olivia's art on display at the public library | March 2016
One of Olivia's school art projects was selected to be on display at a local library. It was an oil pastel drawing she did of a butterfly in the sky. She was pretty proud of it!

Olivia showing off her drawing

Easter week | March 27, 2016
My parents came down to visit us on Easter and spent part of the week with us. They went bowling with grandkids Olivia, Violet, William and Noelle. They also visited me at work, took the kids out for ice cream, and also to the park. We really enjoyed spending time with them! They also took Olivia and Violet to get their hair colored. It turned out really cute but unfortunately didn't last very long!! Olivia and Violet really enjoyed spending time with Granny and Grandpa.

Bowling!

Violet's hair color

Olivia's hair color

High Tea | March 19, 2016

Auntie Terri took Violet to her church's high tea on March 19th. This is the fourth year of this tradition between Violet and her godmother. It is a fundraiser for the youth of the church; they put on a meal and entertainment for those that attend. This year's tea had a Disney theme so the youth re-enacted scenes from Disney movies. Violet thought it was very fun! She was also very excited because their table was the FIRST ONE into the infamous "dessert room"...literally, a room filled with all-you-can-eat desserts! She had a great time and really enjoys this fun tradition.

Violet and Godmother Terri heading to high tea

spring is coming!

Wow, have I really not posted anything since January 8th? Since spring is almost here it's probably time for an update! The past few months have flown by, even though we've pretty much spent them hibernating. The biggest thrill for Olivia and Violet was Valentine's Day. Other than Christmas, it is probably their favorite holiday of the year. They love making valentines for their friends and having a party at school. We made their Valentine cards this year, they both decided to go with a Star Wars theme. We punched a hole in the cards and inserted a glow bracelet to look like the light saber. The girls were pretty happy with how they turned out, although we kept accidentally snapping and activating glow bracelets when we were putting them together! Oh well, good thing we had extras. This is what their cards looked like without the glow bracelets.

Olivia's Valentine Card

Violet's Valentine Card

A few weeks before Valentine's Day, we were looking at some old pictures of mine. The girls found one of me and my sisters with the valentines boxes we had made that year, I was probably about 10 years old. They asked why we made boxes, I explained that we used to do that for school and that's what classmates would put your valentines in when they were handed out. Well, Olivia and Violet thought it was a cool idea and decided they wanted to make their own valentines boxes. They came up with several ideas before Olivia decided to make a soccer field and Violet decided to make a toilet (yes...as in the flushing kind). So one Saturday we got our supplies together and they worked on their boxes. Olivia cracked me up when she made a scoreboard for her soccer field, the score was Minnesota-92 against Spain-38. I don't think there will ever be a soccer score that high! They had a valentines party at school on Friday, February 12, and both of their teachers said they could bring their boxes in. They were beyond excited!

Olivia with her "Soccer Field" Valentine box

Violet with her "Toilet" Valentine box

I took the day of February 12th off work so I could help with their school parties, which has been our tradition. Luckily, it worked out perfect that Violet's party was in the morning and Olivia's party was in the afternoon, with lunch in between. So I spent most of the day at school with them, which was fun. In each party, the kids rotated between four or five different activities - a game, a craft, a snack, a special activity, etc. I really enjoyed meeting some of Olivia and Violet's friends and getting a chance to see them in their daily school routine. It was a fun day!

Olivia and Violet also enjoyed playing soccer in the month of February. Violet was signed up to play lacrosse which took place at the same time as soccer, but the class was cancelled because there weren't enough kids signed up, so she moved into soccer class with Olivia. This was their first time taking a soccer class, and they both enjoyed it. Olivia actually asked to try soccer because she played it at school and (in her words) she is really good! :) And modest too...

The girls also participated in Junior Great Books at school. It's basically a book club that meets once a week to discuss what type of life lessons they can learn from the story they are supposed to read each week. Even though they have to get up extra early one day a week to make it to the meeting before school, they really love it and look forward to going each week.

On February 20th, we went to the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball game as a family. It was Olivia and Violet's first time at a Wolves game. They had a lot of fun, but the definite highlight for them was meeting the mascot Crunch! He walked up into the stands near where we were sitting so the girls really wanted a picture with him. They told me later that he was pretty soft and furry!

At the Timberwolves game with Crunch

The weather has been pretty lovely here for March! Another sign that spring is on the way was having our spring conferences at school last night. We are very proud of both of our girls, they are doing well in school. Their biggest challenge is to improve on the more social side of things - Olivia's teacher challenged her to try to be more patient with others (not too surprising) and Violet's teacher challenged her to talk less in class (also not too surprising). Otherwise, they are both doing well academically and appear to be on their way to moving up to third grade!

happy new year

Happy New Year! Hope you've had a great start to 2016. We had a really fun holiday season. We celebrated our own family Christmas on December 23rd. Jamie and the girls were home during the day, so they made the food for our family meal that we had once I got home from work. They made sushi, lamb roast, mashed potatoes, asparagus and cranberries. The girls also set the table with our fancy tablecloth and dishes. The meal was delicious!! After all the dishes were cleaned up, we exchanged gifts. Olivia and Violet made several gifts for Jamie and me, which was pretty sweet. My favorite was from Olivia, a bunch of rocks covered in glitter. She was really proud and said she made the rocks pretty for me. :)

Christmas Eve | December 24, 2015
On Christmas Eve morning, the girls woke up to find that Santa had come early. He left a note saying that he knew that we weren't going to be home on Christmas Eve night so he decided to come early. The girls were thrilled that they received what they asked for - Olivia wanted Geronimo Stilton chapter books, and Violet wanted Diary of a Wimpy Kid chapter books.

After lunch, we left for Alexandria. We met the entire Thronson family at 2:00 for church. We went to a family service which was great for all of the kids. After church, we all went to the Thronson farm for our family celebration. The kids organized a talent show again. Olivia sang a song in Spanish and Violet made a balloon hummingbird. At the end of the talent show, all of the cousins sang together while holding battery-operated candles (their idea). It was really cute. Then we opened gifts, played Pictionary, and then just hung out together. All of the kids received matching Christmas pajamas as gifts, so they all put them on. We all stayed overnight at the farm which has been one of our traditions.

Violet and Olivia | Thronson Christmas

Grandpa & Grandma with their grandkids

Cousins in their Christmas pajamas

Christmas Day | December 25, 2015
In the morning, the guys cleared off the pond at the end of my parent's driveway so all of the kids could go ice skating. The weather was pretty mild so it was a great morning to skate. The kids all had a blast together! We spent the rest of the day just hanging out and relaxing.

Ice skating at the Thronson farm

Suchy Christmas | December 26, 2015
We celebrated with the Suchy family on December 26th. We ate a delicious meal, then put our special name ornaments on the tree. Nicholas and Chelsey opened their gifts before they had to go to work, then the rest of us exchanged gifts. Violet had to keep Grandpa in line because he kept trying to open his gifts when it wasn't his turn! After that, we played games (Olivia beat Grandma in Battleship) and just enjoyed being together. It was a fun day!

Suchy cousins

Violet and Grandpa

I had the whole next week off work, so the girls and I spent some time at both grandparent's houses. We also visited my sisters at their workplaces, saw the new "Star Wars: Force Awakens" movie (which was awesome), celebrated New Years Eve with Grandpa & Grandma Suchy, visited Jamie's grandparents, stayed overnight in a hotel in Parkers Prairie, and celebrated Chelsey's 16th birthday at a bowling party. It was a fun and relaxing week! The girls were pretty happy to go back to school this week though to see their friends, and it was nice for us to get back to a regular routine. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with our families and look forward to making more memories in 2016!