A Belated Valentine's Day Party

We had a very belated Valentine's Day Party with EB.  The original party got cancelled for a snow day, so it ended up two weeks later, which made it a little weird, but it was ok.  There were games and crafts.  The kids learned some songs.  They had snacks and Valentine's Day Bingo.  And of course they exchanged Valentines.  Gwyn wasn't feeling well at all, so she sat most of the activities out, but Celee and Lyla had fun.  I think Ameoba Tag is the favorite game.  Happy late Valentine's Day!

Happy Birthday to Me!

This crazy picture sums up my birthday well.  I was up super early, busy all morning, we went out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory and by the time we got home, we all crashed.  I got some really great presents.  The girls and Jason are always so thoughtful and sweet!  And I got a nap - which is awesome.  So happy 38 to me!  I joked that 38 feels like its going to be a lot more fun than 37, so here's to it!

It's a Tragedy

We've been studying Ancient Greece and this week at our history club, we talked about early Greek theater.  We made our masks and then acted out Antigone.  It was really cool to hear the kids put so much inflection in their acting!  I was impressed.  It would be cool if they weren't having to read the script through tiny eye holes, but they did good with what we had.  And we got to experience a real Greek tragedy where nobody ends up happy.

Women of Grace Retreat

The Women of Grace retreat this year was all about creating whitespace in your life.  The speaker was Bonnie Gray, who writes the blog Faith Barista and the book Finding Spiritual Whitespace: Awakening Your Soul to Rest.  It was an amazing weekend.  The worship was sweet and powerful.  The sessions were poignant and meaningful and fun.  The workshops were full of discernment.  There were even yoga and workouts that were just what I needed.  The hotel and food is always excellent.  The women are amazing and make it feel like a big huge family reunion - even for the new comers.  I came away this year feeling lighter.  That's the only way I can explain it.  I think I went to the past two retreats so heavy burdened, almost wounded spiritually, that it was a hard thing to experience and then come back from a retreat to the real world.  This time I feel like I came back ready.  I wasn't as wounded going in, and I definitely came back feeling like I experienced some of that whitespace that God wants for us.  Like Bonnie pointed out, Jesus calls us to come away with him and rest.  We all need that and it's important to make time for that.  Being busy is part of life much of the time, but there has to be whitespace, for rest and meeting with the Lord.
It wasn't all serious and preachy though.  Bonnie isn't a preachy speaker at all.  There was plenty of room for laughter and some silliness.  Nae Nae showed up and did the Nae Nae.  She shows up at each retreat.  She's hard to explain, so we'll just call her the comic relief of the Women of Grace retreat.

I also got to spend some time with some wonderful ladies that I don't get to see nearly as much as I'd like.  I'm so thankful for these ladies that befriended my family when we moved to Maryland and have been such sweet friends since!  We all tried out the Dobbin House and hung out together. That's something I don't get to do very often - just hang out with people I like.  It's very refreshing.  

So this year's retreat was a shining success to me.  I learned a little about myself, about who Jesus made me to be, and how to protect some of that space in life to just be.  And I got to do things I enjoy - like eat cheesecake, hang out with friends, meet new people, worship through song, yoga, and read.  It was a very needed and wonderful weekend.

World Thinking Day

Celee's troop chose Ireland to learn about for their World Thinking Day celebration which was held at Winter's Mill HS.  It ended up a little weird because another group also did Ireland (they all are supposed to sign up ahead of time so I don't know how we got the same country)  but Celee's group definitely put a different spin on theirs.  They incorporated learning about Ireland with doing their Comic Artist badge.  They all took different Irish folk tales and re-told them in a comic strip form.  They also had a yummy Irish dessert at their display for the girls to try - It was a popular table!

All in all Celee's troop did a nice job of learning about and teaching other girls things about Ireland (like it's Irish name, Eire) that were different from the usual name, location, currency, etc.

Chicks!

Our first two eggs hatched!  The first one was a day late and I had given up on the second one.  I actually got up to go get the egg and throw it out when I noticed it was hatching.  Whew!

Here we have little Calcifer.  (The girls recently watched Howl's Moving Castle, so I think there's going to be some little anime-named chicks)

Here's little Sakura.

And third we have tiny Sosuke.
They are sooo cute!

The Last Swim Meet

Gwyn swam her last swim meet of the season on Saturday.  It was the Piranhas v. Towson.  No one threw up in the pool so it was a good day.  Gwyn did good and improved her times in two of her events, backstroke and breaststroke.  She choked in the freestyle though, so no time for that one.  Bless her heart, I know she wanted to finish it so bad, but she couldn't breathe and finally just had to stop and walk to the side while she caught her breath.  It happens.  It's good to get things like that out of the way while her meets aren't too competitive.  It really is just about improving her personal times and getting more experience at this point.  She really did improve a lot his year too!  She's getting much smoother in her strokes.  And she's finally comfortable with the dive in.  She's our little fish!

Lent

This year for Lend we are trying out some dinner table activities.  I found a Medthodist Family Lent activity guide that has daily things to do at the dinner table, some silly some serious.  It has the Wesleyan Covenant Prayer as a focus for each morning at breakfast.  And on Sundays there is a bigger theme for the week that is discussed at the table.  I'm excited to have this kind of thing to stir conversations in the evenings.  :)

Core Strength

Man!  These girls are getting strong!  They have crazy core strength!  And Hillary just keeps on challenging them to do more and cooler things!  I love it!

Mardi Gras

This is a pitiful excuse for a king cake.  It's one of the plagues of my mind that I don't think about the specifics I need until right before I actually need them.  So we made due.  It still tasted good.  And Gwyn got the baby.  So next year she makes the cake right?

Snow Round Two

We got our snow again!  It's so beautiful when it sticks in the trees.  I feel like we live in some alpine cabin when I look out over the back deck.  And its pretty sticky, so hopefully the girls can make some good sled tracks and snowmen.

World Thinking Day Prep

Lyla's troop has picked Aruba to learn about for World Thinking Day.  I wouldn't mind going there and learning about it is fun too!
I didn't realize Aruba is an arid island.  Or that it is packed with Iguanas.  The girls are learning the Aruban national anthem, Aruba Dushi Tera.  And they are going to have dried fruit to sample for their food.  Pretty cool!