Hello Dear Readers,
I thought we better post a winter update before we celebrate spring's official arrival very soon. At least we hope we'll be celebrating that soon. It's been a long winter in the Grove house. Between sickness and the weather we haven't had many adventures away from home the last couple of months. Randy and Jess did get an awesome weekend away in the big Apple while the kiddos stayed with Grandma and Pappy. It was amazing and felt more like a week away! We're so grateful we can have those opportunities every now and then.
The most exciting part of winter was that we had a little over two feet of snow at the end of January during an east coast blizzard. We had a great time being snowed in together for a few days, but that was enough snow for one winter. We're ready for warm weather to come and stick around for good. We have big plans for more playtime in the backyard, cookouts, and planting the garden. Faith helped me pick out seeds a few weeks ago and now she is VERY anxious to get them in the ground. Surprisingly, she's been a really great helper with all of the weeding we've been doing to prep the garden. It requires close supervision so we don't loose any plants or flowers, but so far so good (mostly).
Speaking of Faith, she is all of the sudden such a big girl. She still loves school and especially her hero/teacher, Mrs. Julie. She loves reading and writing her letters and can write her name so we can actually read it now! She even wrote her own name on all of the Valentine cards for her classmates this year. It only took three different nights after dinner to get them done, but she did it. Are you sensing a theme? Everything she does - she has to do it herself. Everything. She also loves to help cook and bake. She got a very cool set of kid safe knives for her birthday. So now she is the official veggie chopper in our house. It's really great to be able to give her actual tasks to help with dinner instead of the "here - stir this bowl of salad dressing" type tasks I used to have to give her. She's so full of life and energy that it's exhausting - but in a good way most days :-)
Daniel on the other hand is the most chill kid on the planet. He's loosing his baby look and becoming an official toddler. He's walking, but funny enough still chooses to crawl around quite a bit. We "joke" that it's so he doesn't get knocked down by the whirling dervish that is his sister. He's had a pretty rough couple of months with too many ear infections and other illnesses to count. Most of them we didn't even know he had until we was at the pediatrician for another reason, which means he either has a very high tolerance for pain or he really is the most chill kid we've ever met. Some of his favorites these days are: brushing his teeth (aka chewing on the toothbrush), flushing the toilet over and over and over again, feeding himself (he actually does a great job with a fork and spoon) and climbing on anything and everything. He climbs on stairs, chairs, tables, stools, books, boxes, really anything that will get him higher off the ground. It's hilarious and terrifying all at the same time.
Hopefully the next time you hear from us it will be nice and warm and we'll have our garden planted and lots of backyard photos to share.
Much Love,
The Groves
A little hot chocolate makes the pre-blizzard shopping more bearable
a little dot art work
tickle time with daddy
When did he get so big?
Such a happy boy
Ready for the snow
First trip out to play with just a dusting
Learning how to make a snowball
Snow sliding
The next morning - Daniel could barely see over it
We were snowed in for 3 days so a little Cosmic Yoga helped pass the time
Along with a lot of jumping on the trampoline
And a few more trips out to play in the snow
Crazy frozen hair after rolling around in the snow and she loved eating the snow
Daniel was happy to stay inside and cozy warm
A little hot chocolate with marshmallows to warm up
And finally Daniel was ready to check out the snow
Although it was a little intimidating
Loving it!
Helping daddy with a "little" shoveling
My little snow bunny
Daniel trying to figure out what the heck this white stuff is
Mommy and her boy
Post snow movie time
And snuggle time
Back out to build a snow man
Daddy and his girl
Hanging out at Grandma's
I got a little snuggle time with Scarlett at Ben's birthday party
The birthday boy
Faith still obsessed with baby Scarlett
The whole crew
Just chillin
Faith is a great big helper
Selfie time
Happy girl
Starbuck date while the van was in the shop
Daniel and his lion that he sleeps with every night
Faith explaining "feelings" to Daniel
Snuggles on mommy and daddy's bed
Working on those valentine cards
And then she got to pass them out to her friends at school
Love the hand on the hip
Valentine's party at school aka how much sugar can one kid eat in one sitting?
He LOVES baths
Look how long his hair is when it's wet!!
Proof of the climbing
Faith and Luca playing in the mud pit that is our yard after all that snow and rain
Best buddies
The oh so favorite teeth brushing
More climbing
Quite proud of himself
The only time of day when she's quiet and still :-)
We love watching them love each other
Cuties!
Ready for the Daddy Daughter dance with Daddy (can you tell Daniel is ready for bed?)
Mommy was at the dance too helping as a volunteer
Faith and her buddy Elisabeth
Love this one!
Enjoying one of the last days of February which felt more like Spring
