tomorrow is february

This is the special event at their school, sea lion exhibit, much research and many projects.  

And we spaced it out and were not there.

Disappointing and stupid.  It looks like a really fun night and our student worked pretty hard on this.

As a gesture of my regret we got pizzas and cupcakes after work on Friday night and headed up there for supper.

Julia and Tim came along and we had a really good time, lots of wildness and video games.

And this contraption which did not lead to any injuries however painful some of the stunts looked.

Heidi was babysitting this little guy for her friend.  His name is Teddy and how adorable is he??

Apparently he's quite mischievous and Heidi was very worried he'd get into one of his troublemaker moods and eat something weird while under her supervision, so she kept him on a leash.

Anyway, today it was over twenty degrees and we made it through this very long January.

Tomorrow is a new month.

February we're counting on you.

Love, Val

 

wednesday

These kitty cats!

Love, Val

happy birthday you beautiful girl

 Look at that smile.

Grandpa's birthday buddy, nothing better!

Cousins all around

And right in the middle of your family.

We are so happy you're ours.  You've brought us so much happiness, can't imagine life without you.

Happy Birthday and best wishes for a fabulous year ahead. 

Love, Grandma and Grandpa 

happy birthday jay

It was a great party, a great way to spend Sunday afternoon.

We haven't been all together since Christmas, and everyone seemed happy to see each other and enjoy a meal.
 

Cake time!

Gifts!

Smile nice, Jule

Ahh, hahaha

Lava lamps went to James and Kenya's house.   

The comment was made, "They're awfully hot.'

Well.  I mean, lava.  That's to be expected.

But the cats are too curious and these need to go.

And you?

Another year older!

This keeps happening.

Lucky little old us.

Love forever, Val

friday

This amaryllis is taking off again, even after half a dozen times.    Not sure if it'll bloom or not. Sherry gave this to us years ago, big red flowers. 

We'll see.

These are the windows this morning, full of ice.  They only get frosty like this a couple days each winter.  I guess this is the coldest it has been in seven years.

The frost was gone after the sun came up and it'll be back tonight, but probably not again after that.

Julia re-did the Barbie houses as she sorted, figuring out what is worth saving and what we can toss.   It's a good job, looking GREAT.

And this girl showed up tonight for a little Guitar Hero. That was a fun surprise.

From this morning:

And from this afternoon, crazy huge protests, so many people protesting all over the city today.

Pretty impressive.

 Love, Val

cold

Tim gave us the white bulbs for Christmas, and Sherry gave us the red ones.  The red may bloom again.  They're just sooo pretty. 

A little youth basketball for tonight, was a fast moving, very rough game.   Number 12 said it wasn't that much fun to play in. He got banged around a lot.
 

Coldest night of the year is tonight and the coldest day tomorrow. School is cancelled because it isn't safe but by Sunday afternoon it is supposed to be up around ten degrees again, so that's good.

Love, Val

helpful

That little yule log the cat has his nose on--my mom and I made those on an afternoon at her house.

In 1996!

That thing has held up.  

But there are always the straggler Christmas decorations that don't get spotted on the first round of clean up, or the second.   Maybe this one is on the third pass.   

It's put away now.

Got these papers done anyway.  They were on the list for last weekend.  Ta-da!

Love, Val

 

this year

The cold snap this week is super unpopular.

It has us looking at pictures of Mexico.

We decided to skip it this year, and that's still the right choice, just feeling a little wistful when the high for Friday is like -15F.

This baby dog is the reason we decided to stay home, and she's worth it, yes she is. 

Who is a good girl?  

Who?

Is it you?  

I think it is.

Soon it will be February which is that much closer to March.

Love, Val