Volleyball Tournaments

I am playing on a volleyball team this year and it is so much fun.  I haven't played competitively since before Estelle was born.   I had the perfect combination of people to create a team this year; everyone on my team is an alumni of West Springfield where I coach.  Three players are seniors this year and two others are old players that now coach with me and then a couple other former players.  Even our subs, when we need them are alumni or coaches.  It is so much fun because we all know each other well and we all know how to play to together.  I have never played on a team with less drama than this one.  We are really quite good and it makes me feel young to be playing club volleyball again. 

Our Tournament on Saturday was one of the longest tournaments I have ever played in.  We played a total of 18 games and I think every muscle in my body is hurting, but it was definitely worth it. 

Spring Time Snow

We welcomed in Spring with a snow storm!  We missed two days of school of school and then went back to school for one day and then Spring Break started.  It doesn't feel right having snow right before Spring break, but the girls were really excited and they had a great time playing in the snow.  Hector took them sledding and we drank hot cocoa and ate hot homemade bread.  Now we are all really ready for warm weather.  

More Cake

Happy Birthday, Sienna

Logan, Madison, Sienna, Liana, Kimi, Estelle, Natalia, Christian
Peter, Kensie, Kaelyn, Lucy

My Sienna is 7!  She has been so excited for her Birthday.  Her Birthday was on a Friday so we kind of had a two day celebration.  She picked sugar cereal for breakfast (gross...but easy for me).  I never buy that stuff, so it seems special for them.  I was able to surprise her and have lunch with her at school.  After school we had a Girl Scout Cookie Both.  Sienna actually thought it was awesome that we were doing this on her birthday.  She wore her birthday crown and I think it actually helped her sell cookies.  She did a really good job and it was fun hanging out.  Natalia and Estelle helped out too.  We came home and ate pizza and watched Estelle's birthday movie.  

Sienna's birthday movie (The Greatest Showman) has not come out yet, so she and Estelle came up with a great plan.  Sienna got to open Estelle's movie and on Estelle's birthday, she will gt to open Sienna's.  It worked out great.  

Saturday we celebrated Sienna's birthday with a party.  It was really fun and thankfully the weather worked out to do our outside activities.  I would not have survived if we had to stay inside because Sienna kept inviting people and we ended up with 12 kinds including our own.  

We did a treasure hunt.  The kids were in two teams, blue and orange (Sienna was the captain of the blue team, of course) and they really got into it.  It was cute.  They found guns at the end of the hunt and then we used them to shoot at targets.  We sent them outside for a scavenger hunt after that while we got them some lunch ready.  They found some gross things outside, but they had fun.  

We fed them, opened gifts and ate cake.  Sienna loved it all.  She got lots of Lego sets and some fun toys and games.  She was really happy and grateful.   It was loads of fun.  

She had another girl scout activity that afternoon and it felt like the birthday celebrating never ended.  It was the perfect activity for her.  They learned martial arts and self defense.  Basically Ninja skills...so she was in heaven.  She told me that she couldn't show me the moves because she didn't want to hurt me.  I love her.  

She got a  new bike from mom and dad.  It is blue and she loves it.  It is just the right size for her and she looks great riding it.  It was really fun celebrating with Sienna.  She loves everything and everyone.  She really is one of the most loving kids I have ever met.  She was happy all day and now she loves to tell people that she is 7!

I stayed up late working on the cake because I just didn't have time to work on cakes during the day and I had an order I was working on at the same time.  I totally spelled Sienna's name wrong.  Neither Hector or I noticed.  Sienna thought it was funny.  

boo-boos

My little Estelle is going through a clumsy phase.  She fell down hard on the sidewalk a few days ago.  Her knee got banged up and she did not hold back her screams as she let the whole neighborhood know how she felt.  Her face got scratched up too.  Since she couldn't actually see her face it didn't bother her.  Every time she looked at her knee...it somehow started to hurt again...there was lots of on and off again limping around the house.  

Clue

Hector and I had a Clue themed dinner party the other night.  It was run dressing up.  I was Miss Scarlet and Hector was Mr Green!

Random February Fun

Sienna and Hector love to shoot their bows together and the cold never stops them. 

Hector took the girls to Reading night at the school.  They had a professional story teller come and the girls loved him.  It sounds like it was a blast.  All the girls love books and stories.   

Who does not love Ice Cream when it is freezing outside.  We did not get snow in February, but it sure was cold...except for a couple random 80 degree days.  

Hector and I went and saw an awe inspiring show at the Kennedy Center.  It was called Dragon Boat Racing and it was a performance by a Chinese company.  So good.  I also celebrated my birthday in February.  It was fun hanging out with Hector while the girls had a slumber party at Grandma's house.  

Fancy Feast

We love Valentine's Day at our house.  Seriously, my kids love this holiday.  We pick names a few days before Valentine's and then we secretly do nice things for that person and leave them special gifts.  It is fun and a great way to remind the girls to think about others and to look for opportunities to serve family members.  We finish our celebrating with a Fancy Feast.  The girls get dressed up and they get to wear makeup and my jewelry and then we set the table all fancy and have a four course meal.  Someday they will grow out of this and it will make me a little sad.