A few moments

Cecilia wanted to learn piano as soon as Sebastian started lessons. So she watched him play his song, Hot Cross Buns, and then copied him. Here he is giving her a mini lesson. So sweet!

She is starting to give up her nap (and therefore her pacis and crib since that is the only time she gets them!) but still falls asleep every few days. I will miss seeing my little sleeping princess.

 

Did someone pray for snow?

 All of our kids have been praying for snow every winter for the last few years. They may think twice before they do it again after this week! The snow blew in late Sunday evening, and ever since we have had rolling blackouts and crazy low temperatures. It was around 6" of the real "powder" snow not the icy stuff we usually see here. They had some fun playing in it, but the temperatures have been so cold they don't last long like they did a few weeks ago when it snowed.

It was strange to me that there wasn't much snow on the roof, but the wind was blowing so much while it snowed that it just didn't have a chance to stick.

Valentine's Day

This was really one to remember. The kids spent the week or two before making Valentines for all of their friends, thinking they would see most of them since it fell on a weekend. We had no idea the snowpocalypse of Texas was coming! We were able to see Lito ahead of time when he stopped by to drop of some treats and visit for a little bit. He and Lita gave Sebastian this cool spiderman mask which was perfect since he was quarrantied upstairs due to sniffles and congestion. He also has an upcoming surgery to remove an ear tube that went into his ear instead of popping out. It was originally scheduled for that morning, but we rescheduled due to his symptoms.

We ended up having some neighbors trudge over through the snow for dinner Sunday evening, which was a lot of fun.

Puppy love

 Cecilia just loves Emmie. She is starting to give up her nap, so one day after her quiet time we decided to take Emmie for a walk. She was so excited and enjoyed holding the leash. But make no mistake, small dog though she may be, Emmie is strong and full of energy. So she occasionally broke loose.

Baby snuggles

 We made a long day trip yesterday to meet our newest family member, baby Ryder, on his one month birthday. He is so precious and was so good, letting us pass him around all afternoon. 

Shortly after we arrived, Aunt Karen took the younger crowd for a walk down the street to see the neighbors' kangaroos. I failed to get photos of that. Then the baby holding...

Cecilia and Anastasia also tried on their flower girl outfits for the upcoming wedding and received these cute little silky PJ's from the bride-to-be to wear before while getting hair done. So sweet! They were so excited.

and baby feeding...

We also celebrated Aunt Karen's birthday since it is coming up in just a few days. Cecilia insisted that we light a candle and sing even though we were having pumpkin bread, not cake. ;) It was a long day, but the kids were so good and all agreed it was worth it for some family fun and precious baby time!

Martial Arts

 Since swim has had trouble starting back up, Stephen, Anastasia and Sebastian are trying out Jiu Jitsu. Some sweet neighbors' Dad from around the corner is one of the coaches. The are loving it!

A Beautiful Wedding

 We had the great blessing of being invited to a wedding this weekend for a family we have known since before we were married. Our whole family has not been to a wedding in several years, and this one was especially beautiful. We had such a wonderful time celebrating with them. The mass and reception were more sparsely spaced to follow covid restrictions, and only the immediate family/wedding party went without masks except during some of the dancing, so it was well orchestrated!

The little girls had a chance to dance with the sweet bride.

It was so precious...this little one belonging to some friends was really sleepy but wanted to dance. Mariana offered to dance with her and won her over completely. When she was done dancing, she insisted Mariana hold her and wouldn't let anyone else take her, even her own momma. They had to bribe her with chocolate covered strawberries so they could head home. So sweet. It reminded me of a time when something similar happened to me at a wedding reception, and that sweet girl who clung to me is now in college! (am I that old?!) Mariana certainly has a way with little people. :)